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English Teaching

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he intends to publish for consultation the draft order with attainment targets and programmes of study for English in the national curriculum for pupils aged five to seven years.

Mr. Kenneth Baker : I have today published for consultation a draft order with an associated document setting out the attainment targets and programmes of study for English in the national curriculum, as I am required to do by section 20(5) of the Education Reform Act. The order relates to key stage 1--pupils aged five to seven. Those consulted are asked to respond no later than 21 April. I aim to make the final order in May and implementation will begin in schools this autumn. Copies have been placed in the Library.

The draft order reflects the recommendations of the National Curriculum Council, following consultations on our proposals for English for ages five to 11. I am most grateful to the council and to its officers for their work on


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this report. The attainment targets and programmes of study I am publishing today relate to key stage 1 pupils aged five to seven only, since requirements for pupils aged seven to 11 will not be implemented until 1990. They build upon the council's recommendations so as to set rigorous objectives, such as the council and I both wish to promote. I am also publishing a statement of reasons why the draft order differs from the precise terms of the council's recommendations, in accordance with section 20(5)(a)(ii) of the Act.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales is consulting on the draft order under the provisions of section 21(3) of the Act.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Remand Prisoners

Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time (a) before cases come to court and (b) for which remand prisoners are held before trial (i) in the Nottingham area and (ii) in England and Wales as a whole.

Mr. John Patten : National estimates of the time taken to process criminal cases in magistrates courts are published regularly in Home Office statistical bulletins--the most recent being issue 2/89 of January 1989. The table also gives the estimated number of days from offence to the date of first listing at magistrates court for Nottingham.

Information is not available centrally on the average time spent on remand in individual establishments. The information available relates to the average time spent on remand in all prison service establishments by untried and convicted unsentenced prisoners and is published annually in "Prison Statistics, England and Wales" (table 2.1 of the latest issue for 1987, Cm 547). Copies of both the bulletin and the Command Paper are in the Library.


|c|Time between offence and first listing at magistrates court |c|             

Days                                                                           

                         |England and Wales|Nottingham                         

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Indictable offences 1987 |63               |77                                 

Summary non-motoring                                                           

 offences June 1987      |103              |93                                 

Summary motoring                                                               

 offences June 1987      |117              |134                                

Butane Gas Sales

Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many retailers have been prosecuted in the last year for failing to obey the law in respect of selling butane gas canisters or gas refills to minors ; and whether he has given any advice to police forces about pursuing a more vigorous prosecution policy in this area.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : Statistics of prosecutions brought under the Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985 do not distinguish between the supply of butane gas canisters and of other volatile substances. In 1987-- the latest year for which information is available--15 people were prosecuted for supplying such substances to minors, and 11 of them were found guilty. Circulars have been issued to police forces giving guidance on solvent misuse and


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drawing attention to the provisions of the 1985 Act. Enforcement of the Act is an operational matter for chief officers of police.

Senior Police Officers

Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has for each police force


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of the number of (a) senior management, (b) detective inspectors and (c) officers in specialist crime squads, and as to the numbers of men and women in each group.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : Information on the sex of detective inspectors and officers in specialist crime squads is not held centrally. Information on the senior officers down to chief superintendent level in each force is set out in the table.


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|c|Police forces in England and Wales|c|                                                                                                                                                                        

                           Male                                                                                                    Female                                                                       

31 December 1988          |Chief Constable<1>       |Deputy Chief Constable<2>|Assistant Chief          |Chief Superintendent     |Assistant Chief          |Chief Superintendent                               

                                                                              |Constable<3>                                       |Constable<3>                                                                 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Avon and Somerset         |1                        |1                        |3                        |36                       |-                        |1                                                  

Bedfordshire              |1                        |1                        |1                        |5                        |-                        |-                                                  

Cambridgeshire            |1                        |1                        |1                        |5                        |-                        |-                                                  

Cheshire                  |1                        |1                        |2                        |8                        |-                        |-                                                  

City of London            |1                        |1                        |1                        |6                        |-                        |-                                                  

Cleveland                 |1                        |1                        |2                        |7                        |-                        |-                                                  

Cumbria                   |1                        |1                        |1                        |7                        |-                        |-                                                  

Derbyshire                |1                        |1                        |2                        |8                        |-                        |1                                                  

Devon and Cornwall        |1                        |1                        |3                        |13                       |-                        |-                                                  

Dorset                    |1                        |1                        |1                        |5                        |-                        |1                                                  

Durham                    |1                        |1                        |2                        |6                        |-                        |1                                                  

Dyfed-Powys               |1                        |1                        |1                        |7                        |-                        |-                                                  

Essex                     |1                        |1                        |3                        |11                       |-                        |-                                                  

Gloucestershire           |1                        |1                        |1                        |6                        |-                        |-                                                  

Greater Manchester        |1                        |1                        |6                        |26                       |-                        |1                                                  

Gwent                     |1                        |1                        |1                        |5                        |-                        |-                                                  

Hampshire                 |1                        |1                        |3                        |10                       |-                        |-                                                  

Hertfordshire             |1                        |1                        |2                        |9                        |-                        |-                                                  

Humberside                |1                        |1                        |2                        |7                        |-                        |1                                                  

Kent                      |1                        |1                        |4                        |10                       |-                        |-                                                  

Lancashire                |1                        |1                        |3                        |13                       |-                        |-                                                  

Leicestershire            |1                        |1                        |2                        |7                        |-                        |-                                                  

Lincolnshire              |1                        |1                        |1                        |5                        |-                        |-                                                  

Merseyside                |1                        |1                        |3                        |19                       |1                        |-                                                  

Metropolitan              |6                        |16                       |36                       |155                      |2                        |3                                                  

Norfolk                   |1                        |1                        |1                        |7                        |-                        |-                                                  

Northamptonshire          |1                        |1                        |1                        |6                        |-                        |-                                                  

Northumbria               |1                        |1                        |3                        |13                       |-                        |-                                                  

North Wales               |1                        |1                        |1                        |7                        |-                        |-                                                  

North Yorkshire           |1                        |1                        |1                        |7                        |-                        |-                                                  

Nottinghamshire           |1                        |1                        |2                        |8                        |-                        |-                                                  

South Wales               |1                        |1                        |3                        |14                       |-                        |-                                                  

South Yorkshire           |1                        |1                        |3                        |11                       |-                        |-                                                  

Staffordshire             |1                        |1                        |1                        |11                       |-                        |-                                                  

Suffolk                   |1                        |1                        |1                        |6                        |-                        |-                                                  

Surrey                    |1                        |1                        |2                        |7                        |-                        |-                                                  

Sussex                    |1                        |1                        |3                        |12                       |-                        |-                                                  

Thames Valley             |1                        |1                        |3                        |11                       |-                        |1                                                  

Warwickshire              |1                        |1                        |1                        |5                        |-                        |-                                                  

West Mercia               |1                        |1                        |2                        |10                       |-                        |-                                                  

West Midlands             |1                        |1                        |5                        |21                       |-                        |-                                                  

West Yorkshire            |1                        |1                        |4                        |19                       |-                        |1                                                  

Wiltshire                 |1                        |1                        |1                        |6                        |-                        |-                                                  

                          |---                      |---                      |---                      |---                      |---                      |---                                                

Total                     |48                       |58                       |125                      |577                      |3                        |11                                                 

<1> Includes ranks of assistant commissioner and above in metropolitan police and commissioner in City of London police.                                                                                        

<2> Includes deputy asistant commissioner in Metropolitan police and assistant commissioner in City of London police.                                                                                           

<3> Includes commanders in Metropolitan police and City of London police.                                                                                                                                       

Mentally Disturbed Prisoners

Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any proposals to institute a system of psychiatric bail hostels ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Patten : A consultation paper "Bail Accommodation and Secure Bail Hostels" was issued on 13 February 1989. Among other issues, the paper raises the question of bail hostels for the mentally disturbed and invites comments by the closing date of 9 May 1989.


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Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to keep mentally disturbed individuals remanded in custody out of prison or police cells for minor offences when those individuals declare they have no fixed abode ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Patten : Bail hostels and other accommodation for bailees are available for mentally disturbed individuals who have no fixed abode as for any other individual at risk of remand in custody. Courts have information about such accommodation drawn regularly to their attention.


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Armed Forces (Personnel)

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the percentage of service personnel who take up employment in (a) the police force and (b) the prison service after leaving the armed forces ; and what percentage of these are armed forces personnel who left before fulfilling their contract of engagement.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Animal Experiments

Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will list the purposes for which 111,313 classic lethal dose 50 or lethal concentration 50 tests were undertaken in 1987.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The figures, under the headings used in table 2 of the Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain, 1987 (Cm. 515), are as follows :


Primary purpose                                           |Scientific procedures                      

                                                          |Thousands                                  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A. Body-system studies (fundamental and applied)                                                      

   Respiratory or cardiovascular                          |6                                          

   Alimentary                                             |4                                          

   Other system of body, multiple, or system not relevant |39                                         

                                                                                                      

B. Applied studies or purposes                                                                        

   Diagnosis                                              |2                                          

   Safety                                                 |59                                         

   Production                                             |1                                          

                                                          |---                                        

Total                                                     |111                                        

Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to remove the requirement for LD50 tests where he considers these no longer necessary.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Home Secretary is not responsible for any such requirements.

Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what severity level was permitted in toxicity tests involving 1,902 beagle dogs in 1987 for substances used in agriculture, substances used in households, testing of food additives and testing for cosmetics and toiletries.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : This information is not available centrally. "The Satanic Verses"

Mr. John Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he received from Moslem organisations concerning Mr. Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses" prior to 14 January.

Mr. John Patten : About 90 letters. In addition, I met a delegation of ambassadors from three Islamic countries and the director of the Islamic cultural centre of London.

Bristol University Bombing

Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief


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constable for Avon and Somerset as to the section of the Prevention of Terrorism Act under which the 10 people arrested following the recent bombing at Bristol university were held.

Mr. Hurd : I am informed that 10 people were arrested in connection with offences of criminal damage and detained under the provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

Punishment, Custody and the Community"

Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those organisations and individuals who have made written responses to date to the Green Paper entitled "Punishment, Custody and the Community" ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Patten : We have received over 160 responses to the Green Paper. These came from judges, the Magistrates Association, benches of magistrates and individual magistrates ; from the Central Council of Probation Committees, the Association of Chief Officers of Probation, the National Association of Senior Probation Officers, some probation committees and chief probation officers ; from police representative organisations ; from the Justices Clerks Society and the Prison Governors Association ; from the Association of County Councils, the Association of Directors of Social Services, the British Association of Social Workers, the Conservative Women's National Committee, the Labour party, the Law Society, NACRO, the Prison Reform Trust, Victim Support, and other organisations and individuals. We are considering these comments carefully and a further statement will be made in due course.

Gibraltar Inquest

Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis as to the number of Metropolitan police officers who were assigned to duties in Gibraltar in March 1988 unconnected with the circumstances which led to the deaths of three terrorists and as to what advice was given to them as to whether to appear as witnesses at the inquest into the deaths of the alleged terrorists.

Mr. Hurd : I understand that four Metropolitan police officers were assigned to duties in Gibraltar in March 1988 to carry out inquiries into criminal activities unconnected with the circumstances which led to the deaths of the three terrorists. They were there with the permission of the Gibraltar authorities. It was a matter for the coroner to decide whom to call as witnesses at the inquest. Those four officers were not called.

Drink Driving

Mr. Patnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement on blood samples taken in drinking and driving cases in the Greater Manchester police area since 1986.

Mr. Hurd : All forces in England and Wales, other than the Metropolitan and City of London forces, are supplied with blood sampling kits by the Home Office. Between March 1987 and December 1988, police stations in the


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Greater Manchester police area were issued with kits in which the alcohol-free swabs had been replaced by the stores department of the force with swabs acquired from an independent source.

It was later found that these locally substituted swabs contained a solution with a very small percentage of alcohol. The blood analysis results in a number of these cases may therefore have been affected. The Home Office was notified by Greater Manchester police as soon as this knowledge became available. I am arranging to review as quickly as possible convictions which may be unsafe as a result and will also consider representations from individuals who believe that they were wrongly convicted.

This was a regrettable error within the Greater Manchester police. The unsuitable swabs were withdrawn from use in Greater Manchester immediately the problem came to light. This affects cases in the Greater Manchester police area only. Inquiries have established that no other force has substituted unsuitable swabs for those supplied by the Home Office.

Prisoners (Family Ties)

Mr. Harris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to promote prison inmates' family ties.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have taken a number of steps in recent years to help prisoners in maintaining contact with their families, in particular through increased opportunities for home leave, the introduction of payphones in open prisons and the abolition and relaxation of routine censorship of inmates correspondence in open and category C establishments.

From April the prison department will for the first time be able to make grants towards the costs of running visitors' centres outside prisons. Such grants may be made either to help start up new centres or to help existing ones in financial difficulty. In some cases these grants are likely to be crucial to the survival of the centres concerned. The department is also encouraging the establishment of creches within prison visiting rooms wherever practicable, to improve the quality of visits for small children and for their parents alike. The assisted prison visits scheme, under which close relatives on low incomes may have the costs of their visits to prisoners paid by the Government, is to be extended so that assisted visits to sentenced prisoners may take place straight after reception. Cardphones for inmates' use are to be installed in all category C prisons and their equivalents in the female and young offender systems later this year. Revised prison standing orders which come into force on 1 April will abolish long-standing restrictions on the purchase of stamps by inmates from their own money and relax restrictions on the purchase of phonecards. All these measures will help prisoners to keep in touch with their families while in custody and, we hope, help them to stay clear of crime after their release.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

British Shipbuilders

Mr. Amess : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on British Shipbuilders' external finance limit for 1988-89.


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Mr. Newton : British Shipbuilders' external finance limit for 1988- 89 was originally set and published in the 1987 Autumn Statement at £80 million. Against the background of the disposal and closure of British Shipbuilders subsidiaries, I have now set a revised EFL for 1988-89 of £145 million. This increase will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Tibet

Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to the Chinese Government regarding the latest actions by Chinese troops in Tibet ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Eggar : The Chinese Government are aware of our dismay at further violence and loss of life in Lhasa. We believe that the most promising solution to the problem of Tibet is through dialogue between the Chinese Government and the Tibetan people, including the Dalai Lama. We have called for the early start of such a dialogue which the Chinese Government have themselves proposed.

Brazil (Debt Rescheduling)

Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his discussion with Sir Kit McMahon, chairman of the Midland bank, about the rescheduling of debt to Brazil, and the consequences for Amazonia.

Mrs. Chalker : My right hon. and learned Friend has not discussed Amazonia or the rescheduling of Brazil's bank debt with the chairman of the Midland bank.

WALES

Roads

Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will show 1986-87 outturn expenditure, 1987-88 estimated expenditure and 1988-89 planned on (i) trunk roads, broken down into (a) new construction and improvement, (b) structural maintenance, and (c) routine maintenance, and (ii) local authority roads broken down into (a) new construction and improvements, and (b) maintenance, (iii) public transport administration and (iv) local authority car parks, broken down into (a) capital and (b) current (net), and (c) road safety in Wales.

Mr. Wyn Roberts : The information is as follows :


£ million                                                                                 

                                              |1986-87   |1987-88   |1988-89              

                                              |Outturn   |Outturn   |Planned              

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trunk Road Expenditure                                                                    

(i) New construction and improvement          |99.829    |119.090   |141.878              

(of which renewal of roads and bridges)<1>    |19.760    |15.925    |16.150               

                                                                                          

(ii) Current maintenance<2>                   |14.632    |13.341    |13.865               

                                                                                          

Local Authority Expenditure                                                               

(i) New construction and improvement of roads |66.867    |<6>81.523 |58.352               

                                                                                          

(ii) Maintenance of roads                     |81.925    |<6>94.074 |89.539               

                                                                                          

(iii) Professional and technical services<3>                                              

Highways, lighting, parking and                                                           

 road safety<4>                               |14.744    |<6>14.230}                      

Public passenger transport<5>                 |1.057     |<6>1.019} |19.334               

                                                                                          

(iv) Car Parks                                                                            

Capital                                       |1.602     |<6>1.689  |0.785                

Current (net of receipts)                     |-2.006    |<6>-1.873 |-2.189               

                                                                                          

(v) Revenue support for public transport                                                  

 and concessionary fares                      |14.494    |<6>14.177 |17.806               

                                                                                          

(vi) Road safety                              |0.673     |<6>0.720  |1.209                

<1> Formerly structural maintenance-capital.                                              

<2> Formerly general maintenance-includes routine maintenance; winter maintenance;        

maintenance of road lighting and communications and maintenance of vehicles, depots and   

equipment.                                                                                

<3> Used to be called "Local transport administration".                                   

<4> All expenditure relating to the administrative costs other than publicity and         

training costs. This expenditure mainly covers the cost of the surveyors and engineers    

department, at all levels, providing technical support and which has not been allocated   

to the cost of individual projects. Not including administrative costs recoverable from   

central government for trunk roads.                                                       

<5> All expenditure relating to the administrative costs of planning, tendering for,      

awarding contracts and overseeing public transport service subsidies and concessionary    

fares schemes.                                                                            

<6> Provisional.                                                                          

Housing Sites

Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how much of the 200 acres designated for housing in the valleys, housebuilding has started ; at what sites ; for how many dwellings ; of what approximate final selling cost ; and by what private companies or housing associations.

Mr. Peter Walker [holding answer 8 March 1989] : The current total figure for Land Authority for Wales land designated for housing in the valleys programme area is 245 acres.

Since the start of the programme the authority has sold or contracted to sell sites totalling 27 acres at Penpedairheol and Pontypandy, which will result in approximately 170 new starts on dwellings in the first year of the programme and are as follows : i. Penpedairheol (19 acres)--purchased by Wimpey.

Start 1st phase, 90 dwellings, week commencing 20 March 1989. Selling price --complete range of dwelling types from 2 bedroomed terraced to 4 bedroomed detached from £40,000-£95,000.

ii. Pontypandy, 8 acres--purchased jointly by Eastlake and Deri Homes, Caerphilly.

Start 80 dwellings mid summer 1989.

Selling price 30 per cent. under £40,000 ; 40 per cent. £40,000- £55,000 ; 30 per cent. £60,000-£75,000.

The land authority anticipates bringing forward 40 acres per annum, mid- year to mid-year, to cater for all sectors of the housing market and envisage further sales will take place between now and the middle of the current year.

In addition to disposing of its existing land bank in the area, the authority is actively investigating the purchase of additional sites throughout the programme area, and are also discussing co-operative ventures with Tai Cymru and the WDA.

EMPLOYMENT

Passive Smoking

Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the Health and Safety Executive's advice on passive smoking.


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Mr. Nicholls : The Health and Safety Executive advises employers to limit the exposure at work of non-smokers to tobacco smoke. I welcome the publication by the executive in November 1988 of a free booklet, "Passive Smoking at Work", which recommends that employers, in consultation with employees or their representatives, develop and implement policies to control smoking in the work place. I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Library.

Training Boards

Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what level of funding and what percentage of the training within each industry is provided by the statutory training boards ;

(2) in each industry for which statutory training boards exist, what is the estimated amount of funding spent on training outside the training boards.

Mr. Cope : The information is not available in the forms requested. Details of the activities of industrial training boards are published in their annual reports, which are available in the House of Commons Library.

Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what relationships he envisages between statutory and non-statutory training boards and training and enterprise councils.

Mr. Cope : Industrial training organisations, whether statutory or non-statutory, have important sectoral training roles including standard settings which were set out in the White Paper "Employment for the 1990s". The TECs will not set their own standards. We expect that ITOs and TECs will seek to work together to promote training and enterprise among employers in particular sectors at local level.

Job Clubs

Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment for what period unemployed people are enabled to make use of the services of job clubs for the purposes of seeking employment.

Mr. Lee : There is no time limit on job club membership. Members can stay for as long as it takes to find a job, provided that they continue to comply with the terms of membership.

ENVIRONMENT

Gravelines Nuclear Plant (Leak)

Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he was informed by the French nuclear safety authorities about the leak in the reactor housing of the Gravelines nuclear plant on the Channel in February ; and what assessment he has made of the danger it posed to members of the United Kingdom public.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We were not informed of this incident. We understand that there was no release of radioactivity to the environment, and consequently there was no need for Her Majesty's Government to be informed.

Historic Sites

Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a breakdown of central


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Government support for sites of historical interest by any convenient chronological classification of the date of the sites.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : It is not possible to analyse expenditure according to types or age of sites. Public funds for the recording, preservation or maintenance of sites of historical interest are provided through a number of channels.

English Heritage has powers to make grants for the repair or maintenance of individual buildings of outstanding architectural or historical interest and, where necessary, to acquire buildings or to assist local authorities or the National Trust to do so. It also funds rescue archaeology, aimed at making a record of important sites before development. Total central Government grant in aid for English Heritage's activities during 1988-89 was £66.1 million. Funds were allocated as follows :


                                           |£ million          

---------------------------------------------------------------

Properties in care                         |18.0               

Grants for historic buildings and ancient                      

 monuments/buildings in conservation areas |24.0               

Archaeology                                |7.3                

Activities equivalent to those of English Heritage are carried out in Scotland and Wales by the Scottish Development Department and the Welsh Office respectively.

The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England exists principally to maintain the scholarly archive on architecture and archaeology. In 1988-89, it received £3.9 million from central Government funds. Similar activities to those of the English Commission are carried out by its Scottish and Welsh counterparts. The National Heritage Memorial Fund is empowered to give financial assistance towards the cost of acquiring, maintaining or preserving land, buildings, works of art and other objects of outstanding interest which are also of importance to the national heritage. There must be some connection between the subject of an application for assistance from the fund and the United Kingdom. Grant in aid for 1988-89 amounted to £3 million.

The Redundant Churches Fund seeks to preserve certain Church of England churches of special historic, architectural or archaeological significance, which have become redundant. Central Government assistance for 1988-89 was £0.95 million.

The Department of the Environment has direct responsibility for managing and maintaining the royal parks and palaces estate. In 1988-89, the net provision for this purpose was £45 million. In addition, the Property Services Agency has a large number of historic buildings and monuments in its care, including the Houses of Parliament and major government buildings.

Amazon Rain Forests

Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will commission an urgent study of the effects on the climate of northern Europe of widespread destruction of the Amazon rain forest, particularly in relation to westerly air currents, originating in the area of the Andes.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Work on the potential impact of Amazon rain forest destruction on global and regional


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climate change is already in hand as part of the Meteorological Office's research programme. An international review of all aspects of the science of climate change, of which rain forest destruction is only one, is currently being carried out by the inter- governmental panel on climate change, set up under UNEP/WMO auspices in November 1988. The science review is led by the director general of the Meteorological Office, Dr. John Houghton, with funding from the Departments of Environment and Energy and is expected to report in mid-1990.

Public Service Broadcasts

Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the likely implications on public service broadcasts emanating from his Department of the White Paper, "Broadcasting in the '90s : Competition Choice and Quality."

Mr. Ridley : There is no reason to suppose that the proposals in the White Paper will alter the present arrangements whereby public service messages are broadcast by the BBC. It will be for the new Channel 3 and 5 licensees to consider whether they will broadcast such messages. The arrangements for paid Government advertising on television will not be affected by the proposals.

Rating Reform

Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will send guidance notes to community charge registration officers reminding them that any personal data held by them cannot be used or disclosed for any other purpose unless specifically allowed for by legislation or supporting regulations ; and whether he will make a statement.

Mr. Gummer : Detailed guidance on data protection and the community charge is contained in community charge practice note No. 4, which was published in August 1988, and in practice note No. 10, published in February 1989. Copies of all practice notes are in the Library.

Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, how many responses he has received to the regulations on students and the poll tax ; what was the balance of opinion in these responses ; and if he will list the organisations that have responded, and place their responses in the Library.

Mr. Gummer [holding answer 7 March 1989] : The Government have no plans to introduce a poll tax. We have received 43 responses to the draft regulations on students and the community charge. Most of the comments concern the detail of the draft regulations and it is not therefore possible to attribute a balance of opinion to the responses. The organisations which have responded are listed in the table. Their responses were not submitted on the basis that they would be published although anybody who wished could make their own response known.

Practitioners' Working Group (incorporating ADC, AMA, ACC, ALA and LBA)

Association of Metropolitan Authorities

London Boroughs Association

Association of London Authorities

Rating Officers' Guild

Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy


Column 371

Council on Tribunals

Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals of the Universities of the United Kingdom

Committee of Directors of Polytechnics

Standing Conference of Principals and Directors of the Colleges and Institutes of Higher Education

Heads of Research Councils

Churches Main Committee

Society of Education Officers

Association of Lecturers in Higher Education

Open University

National Union of Students

Cranfield Institute of Technology

United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting

English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting United Kingdom Council for Overseas Student Affairs

Association for Recognised English Language Teaching

Establishments in Britain

Aberconwy Borough Council

Alnwick District Council

Aylesbury Vale District Council

Blackpool Borough Council

Bolsover District Council

Cardiff City Council

Chester City Council

Dartford Borough Council

Dwyfor District Council

Eden District Council

Kettering Borough Council

Kingswood Borough Council

Lancaster City Council

Medina Borough Council


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