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Mr. Freeman : The Office of Population Censuses and Surveys does not intend to release small area statistics from the 1991 census in any form which would make it possible to match characteristics of identifiable individual people or households with those held on other databases.

Steps are being proposed, as for the 1981 census, to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of information on identifiable people or households, by modifying figures at random by 1, 0 or 1, and by not releasing any statistics for areas containing fewer than a specified number of people or households.

Dental Services

Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the fees for the provision of dentures and bridges through the hospital and community services, under notice FPN 472, will be calculated ; and how they will be funded.

Mr. Freeman : Hospital out-patients and patients treated by the community dental service are required to pay an NHS charge for dentures and bridges supplied as part of their treatment, unless they are in an exempt category. From 1 April 1989 the amount paid by patients is calculated as a fixed proportion, currently 75 per cent., of the fee which a general dental practitioner would receive if the denture or bridge were supplied through the general dental service. Costs of the hospital dental service are met by health authorities and the allocation of resources to them takes account of this service.

Complaints Procedure

Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements exist for the hearing of patients' complaints and disciplinary hearings following dental, hospital or community clinic prescriptions ; and what penalties may arise from such hearings.


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Mr. Freeman : Arrangements for dealing with complaints about hospital treatment or about community health services are covered by the Department's guidance (circular HC(88)37) issued in June 1988. Family practitioner committees deal with complaints against general dental practitioners who can be warned to comply with terms of service more closely, have an amount withheld from remuneration, be required to submit estimates for prior approval by the Dental Estimates Board or be referred to the NHS tribunal which can remove a dentist from the family practitioner committee's dental lists. Action may be taken against hospital practitioners under local disciplinary procedures or the provisions of HM(61)112 which allows for a formal hearing of disciplinary cases. Any complaint found proved may lead to a formal warning, suspension or dismissal. Complaints of a serious nature may be referred to the General Dental Council which is empowered, after a hearing, to order a dentist's suspension or removal from the dental register.

Adoption

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the rights of access to centrally and locally held information of a person who was adopted ; what is the statutory basis upon which an adopted person can seek and obtain information about birth and natural parentage ; and if he intends to hold any reviews of this procedure.

Mr. Freeman : Section 51 of the Adoption Act 1976 gives adopted adults the right of access to information on their original birth record. Those adopted before 12 November 1975 must receive counselling before being given this information. There is no statutory right of access to records held by adoption agencies. However, adoption agencies as part of their services will help a person whose adoption the agency has arranged with information about his origins and the circumstances leading to the adoption. A review of adoption law is planned and the question of access to information will be considered in that review.

Nurses

Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the nursing staff have accepted their gradings in each of (a) St. Thomas's and (b) the South Western ; what is the number of staff whose regrading is still subject to an appeal procedure ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Mellor : We do not collect the information centrally.

Regional Health Authorities

Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to be able to release the information contained in the regional health authority outturn reports of 1988-89.

Mr. Mellor : Regional health authorities are due to submit their outturn reports for 1988-89 to the NHS management executive by 31 July 1989. Decisions have not yet been taken on any arrangements for publishing the information they contain.


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Calibre of Aylesbury

Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health why the former grant of £8,000 a year paid to Calibre of Aylesbury, which produces talking books for the blind, was reduced two years ago to £500 a year ; why it has now been withdrawn ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Freeman : Calibre was set up as a charitable trust in 1974 and began receiving funding from the Department in 1976 under our section 64 general scheme of grants to voluntary organisations. The grant was reviewed in 1984 when it was decided that Calibre was in a healthy financial situation which no longer justified section 64 support. Accordingly, a three-year tapering grant was awarded with the final payment of £2,000 being made in the financial year 1986-87. Although we are no longer able to award Calibre priority over the other organisations seeking section 64 grants, I should like to emphasise the high regard which the Department has for the services which Calibre provides to blind people.

Health For All 2000

Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he instructed the Health Education Authority to cease work on the community participation aspect of Health For All 2000 ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Mellor : I refer the hon. Member to my replies to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) on 24 April at column 382.

Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice he has given, or he intends to give, to local authorities on achieving the targets set in the Health For All 2000 programme.

Mr. Mellor : The Health For All targets have attracted considerable publicity, but we consider it is for health authorities, local authorities and other public bodies to determine how far the targets should be reflected in their plans and priorities.

NHS Reform

Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is the aim of Her Majesty's Government that all general practices should end up, individually or in combination, as budget holders.

Mr. Mellor : The system of GP practice budgets as set out in NHS review working paper 3 is completely voluntary. From April 1991 onwards, larger practices with 11,000 or more patients on their lists and groupings of smaller practices will be able to apply to have a budget. Any extension to the scheme, such as a relaxation in the criterion of the size of practice, would need to be considered in the light of experience gained from the operation of the scheme.

Mr Maxwell-Hyslop : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what details he can give of his intentions for each band of supplementary compensation payable to general practices in areas of dispersed population.

Mr. Mellor : At our meeting on 4 May the general medical services committee negotiators and I agreed that


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the present system of rural practice payments needed to be updated. Work on revising the scheme has now been taken out of the present consultations and will be considered by the central advisory committee on rural practice payments. Detailed considerations will be a matter for this committee.

Ambulance Crews

Mr. Clay : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to publish the findings of the Ambulance Council working party entitled "The Problems of Long-Service Ambulancemen" ;

(2) what steps his Department is taking to reduce deaths in service and diseases of the circulatory system among ambulance personnel.

Mr. Freeman : I refer the hon. Member to my reply on 3 March to the hon. Member for Barnsley, East (Mr. Patchett) at column 368.

Mr. Clay : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received concerning the report from the Ambulance Council working party. "The Problems of Long-Service Ambulancemen".

Mr. Freeman : We have received representations from the trades union side of the Ambulance Council and from five hon. and right hon. Members.

Ambulance Council

Mr. Clay : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met the Ambulance Council ; and what matters were discussed.

Mr. Freeman : We last met representatives of the trade union side of the Ambulance Council on 13 March when we discussed pay determination and representation.

Nurses (Pay)

Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the increase in nurses' remuneration between 1 April 1974 and 1 October 1979 and between 1 October 1979 and 1 April 1989 ; and if he will also present the increase in remuneration during both periods after deduction of charges for accommodation and board.

Mr. Mellor : The value of nurses real terms pay has changed as follows :


Pay Round Years (1 August |Percentage Movement in                             

to 31 July)               |Real Terms Pay (a)                                 

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

1974-75 to 1978-79        |-21                                                

1979-80 to 1988-89        |+44                                                

Basic pay, after deductions for lodging charges, for the main grades of nursing staff fell in real terms in the five years to 1979, that is :--


Pay Round Years 1974-75 - 1978-79                                             

Grades (Maximum of Scale) |Percentage Movement in                             

                          |Real Terms Pay, after                              

                          |deductions for Lodgings                            

                          |charges (a)                                        

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

Sister                    |-23                                                

Staff Nurse               |-19                                                

Enrolled Nurse            |-17                                                

Nursing Auxiliary         |-10                                                

Student                   |-5                                                 

Note: Percentage movements in real terms reflect the percentage cash          

increase/decrease for the pay round year deflated by the increase in the      

retail prices index throughout the pay round year.                            

Lodging charges ceased however to be linked with salaries in 1981. Since that date the council responsible for negotiating nurses terms and conditions of service has agreed varying charges for defined categories of accommodation, based on the cost of providing that accommodation. Learner nurses and staff under 22 pay lower rates. Direct comparison with pay levels cannot therefore now be made.

Contaminated Food

Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consignments of imported food have been rejected because of bacteriological contamination in May ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Freeman : Records of rejected unfit imported food consignments are not held centrally.

Immunopathologists

Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish a table showing the number, and rate per 100,000 population, of immunopathologsts, in each constituent part of the United Kingdom ; if he has any plans to increase the number in Wales ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Mellor : The information requested is set out in the table.


Hospital Consultants in Immunopathology at 30 September 1987                                                                              

                       |Number                |Per 100,000 population|Whole time equivalent |Per 100,000 population                       

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

United Kingdom         |44                    |0.1                   |30.2                  |0.1                                          

England                |40                    |0.1                   |27.5                  |0.1                                          

Wales                  |0                     |0                     |0                     |0                                            

Scotland               |2                     |0                     |1.6                   |0                                            

Northern Ireland       |2                     |0.1                   |1.1                   |0.1                                          

Figures include permanent paid and honorary and are rounded to the first decimal point.

For further information about the position in Wales I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 20 March at column 718 by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Welsh Office.


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NHS Ancillary Staff

Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the latest figures available for the number of ancillary staff employed in the National Health

Service by scale and point, of standard payroll system code, under the terms and conditions of the ancillary staffs' Whitley council agreement.

Mr. Mellor [holding answer 22 May 1989] : The latest available information to this level of detail relates to staff


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in post at 30 September 1987. At this date the estimated numbers of whole-time equivalent ancillary staff employed by the NHS in England by pay scale and incremental point were as shown in the table.


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Ancillary staff-estimated incremental distributions by payscale in         

England<1> at 30 September 1987                                            

Whole time equivalents<2>                                                  

                      Points on incremental                                

                      scales                                               

Payscale    |Total   |1st     |2nd     |3rd     |4th     |5th              

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

Non-supervisors and chargehands                                            

Scale A     |69,114  |19,138  |22,566  |27,410  |-       |-                

Scale B     |24,541  |3,798   |5,401   |13,175  |2,168   |-                

Scale C     |10,236  |1,601   |1,752   |5,236   |1,648   |-                

Scale D     |794     |95      |171     |493     |35      |-                

                                                                           

Supervisors                                                                

Scale I     |3,890   |663     |624     |2,166   |467     |-                

Scale II    |2,349   |218     |593     |1,199   |340     |-                

Scale III   |1,753   |135     |306     |844     |468     |-                

Scale IV    |1,010   |63      |158     |481     |226     |82               


Orthopaedic appliance makers and fitters  

                          |Number         

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

                )         |4              

Trainee grades  )         |13             

                )         |4              

O A maker II              |56             

O A maker I               |69             

O A fitters               |3              

Trainee cooks             |34             

Upholsterers              |131            

Other grades<3>           |578            

Totally directly employed                 

  staff<1>                |114,579        

Source: Department of Health (SM13)       

Annual census of NHS non-medical          

manpower.                                 

<1> Includes Dental Estimates Board and   

Prescription Pricing Authority. Excludes  

some staff of other Statutory Authorities 

(484 whole-time equivalents).             

<2> All figures are independently rounded 

to the nearest whole-time equivalent.     

<3> Includes juvenile grades, other staff 

paid on ad hoc payscales, and staff of    

some authorities not on computerised      

payrolls.                                 

Male School Leavers (Nursing)

Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to attract male school leavers into the nursing profession.

Mr. Mellor [holding answer 23 May 1989] : As part of our national nurse recruitment advertising in England we are currently developing a campaign designed to attract more men into the profession. The campaign will be aimed at older men as well as at school leavers and those who influence them such as parents, career advisers and school teachers.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Assaults (Compensation)

Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish in the Official Report a table to show how many persons, in total and of these how many were councillors, and of what political parties, have been paid compensation after allegations of assault by (a) members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, (b) the Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve, (c) the Ulster Defence


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Regiment, and (d) the Army in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years ; what were the sums paid, the total costs including legal and other fees, in each case and the total costs to public funds including police costs for investigations and legal and other costs or as much of such information as is available to him.

Mr. Ian Stewart : The information is not available in the form requested, but I have listed below details of total damages paid over the last five years to persons alleging assault by members of the Army and the UDR.


Financial year     |Number of persons |Total damages paid                   

                                      |£                                    

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

1984-1985          |12                |11,775                               

1985-1986          |61                |118,527                              

1986-1987          |26                |71,561                               

1987-1988          |32                |64,351                               

1988-1989          |29                |51,469                               

Notes:                                                                      

1. In six of the cases (three in 1985-86; two in 1986-87 and one in         

1987-88) the claims involved allegations of assault, wrongful arrest and    

false imprisonment.                                                         

2. In three cases (one in 1986-87 and two in 1987-88) the claims were made  

jointly against the MOD and the Chief Constable.                            

3. The figures do not include legal fees or police costs.                   

4. Information in respect of the RUC and RUC(R) cannot be made available    

except at disporportionate cost.                                            

Firearms

Mr. McCusker : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many times authorisation has been given by the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary to police officers from the Irish Republic to carry firearms in Northern Ireland during each of the past six years.

Mr. Ian Stewart : I understand from the Chief Constable that no such authorisation has been given.

Mr. McCusker : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether authorisation for members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary to carry firearms in the Republic of Ireland has been sought from the appropriate authority in the Irish Republic when members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary have been visiting the


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Republic for the purpose of discussing anti- terrorist co-operation with their counterparts in the Irish police ; and on how many occasions this has been refused.

Mr. Ian Stewart : I am not aware that any such authorisations have been sought.

Election (Proof of Identity)

Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if he will now make it his policy, in the light of reports that persons were refused ballot papers at the local government elections in Northern Ireland on 17 May because they could not produce one of the specified documents to prove their identity, to make arrangements to seek the views of (a) the Northern Ireland political parties and (b) the staff employed by the chief electoral officer on that day as presiding officers and poll clerks, and to have an accurate count taken of persons refused a ballot paper for that reason at the European Economic Community elections on 15 June ;

(2) if, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Londonderry, East of 16 May Official Report, column 164, he has sought from the political parties in Northern Ireland, or from the staff employed by the chief electoral officer for Northern Ireland, any evidence as to whether any persons did not possess any of the documents necesary to prove their identity when going to vote at recent elections in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Ian Stewart [holding answer 22 May 1989] : I should be happy to consider any evidence or views which the Northern Ireland political parties may wish to submit to me. Polling station staff have not been asked to maintain records of persons arriving at polling stations without the required proof of identity, nor is there any statutory authority for them to do so. The chief electoral officer makes every effort to remind electors of the need to have in their possession one of the specified documents when they come to vote. I understand that it is his intention to give further publicity to this requirement during the run-up to the European parliamentary elections.

ENVIRONMENT

Water Companies (Foreign Holdings)

Mr Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing all known foreign holdings in British water companies as a percentage of the share capital in each case, together with the turnover of the companies concerned and the number of households supplied.

Mr. Howard : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 April to my right hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Sir J. Stanley), at column 400. My Department does not mention detailed records of foreign shareholdings in statutory water companies.

Housing Act 1988

Mr. Heddle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps his Department is taking to bring to the attention of local authorities section 129 of the Housing Act 1988 concerning grants to or for the benefit


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of their tenants to assist them to obtain other accommodation by buying or leasing a home, or by extending an existing property.

Mr. Trippier : The Department wrote to all borough and district councils in England to draw their attention to section 129, which came into operation on 1 April, and give guidance on the framing of cash incentive schemes. Twenty-one schemes have been approved to date and others are under discussion. Cash incentives can play a valuable part in helping tenants move into homes of their own and releasing vacancies for reletting in areas of housing shortage.

Domestic Rating

Mr. Hanley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table in the form of his answer to the hon. Member for Richmond and Barnes of 18 May, Official Report, column 262, showing, in descending order, the domestic rate in the pound set by the London boroughs for (a) 1981-82 and (b) 1982-83, showing for each borough the political control at each date.

Mr. Gummer : The information requested is as follows :


Domestic rate poundage and political control in London                                   

1981-82                                                                                  

                       |Poundage (p)         |Control at April 1981                      

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

Haringey               |188.7                |Labour                                     

Brent                  |179.1                |Labour                                     

Newham                 |176.0                |Labour                                     

Lambeth                |172.5                |Labour                                     

Southwark              |167.7                |Labour                                     

Waltham Forest         |167.5                |Labour                                     

Hackney                |165.2                |Labour                                     

Camden                 |161.1                |Labour                                     

Lewisham               |156.6                |Labour                                     

Tower Hamlets          |152.5                |Labour                                     

Hounslow               |147.5                |Labour                                     

Islington              |143.7                |Labour                                     

Harrow                 |134.0                |Conservative                               

Hammersmith and Fulham |132.9                |No Control                                 

Greenwich              |132.1                |Labour                                     

Barking and Dagenham   |129.5                |Labour                                     

Bexley                 |123.0                |Conservative                               

Havering               |120.5                |Conservative                               

Hillingdon             |112.8                |Conservative                               

Ealing                 |112.5                |Conservative                               

Kensington and Chelsea |111.5                |Conservative                               

Enfield                |109.5                |Conservative                               

Redbridge              |105.0                |Conservative                               

Wandsworth             |104.0                |Conservative                               

Barnet                 |101.0                |Conservative                               

Kingston upon Thames   |100.5                |Conservative                               

Merton                 |98.0                 |Conservative                               

Sutton                 |97.0                 |Conservative                               

Bromley                |96.5                 |Conservative                               

Westminster            |95.0                 |Conservative                               

City of London         |87.4                 |Independent                                

Richmond upon Thames   |84.5                 |Conservative                               

Croydon                |79.5                 |Conservative                               


1982-83                                                                                  

                       |Poundage (p)         |Control at April 1982                      

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

Haringey               |208.3                |Labour                                     

Brent                  |187.5                |Labour                                     

Waltham Forest         |186.5                |Labour                                     

Newham                 |183.5                |Labour                                     

Southwark              |179.0                |Labour                                     

Hackney                |177.5                |Labour                                     

Camden                 |173.9                |Labour                                     

Tower Hamlets          |167.5                |Labour                                     

Greenwich              |161.1                |Labour                                     

Lewisham               |158.1                |Labour                                     

Islington              |157.6                |Labour                                     

Lambeth                |157.5                |Labour                                     

Hammersmith and Fulham |156.3                |No Control                                 

Harrow                 |151.0                |Conservative                               

Hounslow               |147.5                |Labour                                     

Bexley                 |140.0                |Conservative                               

Hillingdon             |134.8                |Conservative                               

Kensington and Chelsea |134.4                |Conservative                               

Havering               |132.0                |Conservative                               

Barking and Dagenham   |131.5                |Labour                                     

Enfield                |128.0                |Conservative                               

Ealing                 |123.5                |Conservative                               

Barnet                 |122.5                |Conservative                               

Merton                 |120.5                |Conservative                               

Sutton                 |119.0                |Conservative                               

Redbridge              |116.0                |Conservative                               

Westminster            |115.7                |Conservative                               

Bromley                |114.5                |Conservative                               

Wandsworth             |114.0                |Conservative                               

Kingston upon Thames   |111.5                |Conservative                               

Richmond upon Thames   |108.1                |Conservative                               

City of London         |107.7                |Independent                                

Croydon                |93.5                 |Conservative                               

Disabled Persons

Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received on the effects clause 7 of the Local Government and Housing Bill will have on the employment prospects of disabled people registered under section II of the disabled persons' employment register, intending to work, or working in local authority workshops, sheltered placement schemes or homeworker schemes ; what action he will be taking ; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received no representations on this aspect of clause 7. The aim of the clause is to ensure that all local authority staff are appointed on merit. It will, however, be subject to certain existing statutory provisions, including sections 9 and 12 of the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944--quotas and reserved employment. The position of disabled people seeking local authority employment will therefore be protected.

Ivory

Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if Her Majesty's Government will undertake an investigation into the misuse of quota numbers for ivory tusks under the convention on international trade in endangered species.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Oversight of the ivory quota system is the responsibility of the secretariat of the convention on international trade in endangered species.

Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why ivory tusks imported into the United Kingdom from Zaire on 21 October 1988, with quota numbers that had previously been used, and then issued with new quota numbers, were granted import licences by his Department.


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Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks) on 25 May 1989.

Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he proposes to take in regard to the role of Ms. Lulita Minkshim and the Finance Investment Corporation of Panama in the unlawful trade in ivory or other transactions concerning parts of other endangered species like rhinoceros horn.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Department has no evidence that the person and company named have been involved in illegal trade in endangered species. Any such evidence should be passed to the police or to Customs and Excise, who are the enforcement agencies.

Elephants and Ivory

Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if Her Majesty's Government will consider seeking to put elephants in appendix one of the convention on international trade in endangered species ;

(2) if the Government plan to seek to change the present quota system of the convention on international trade in endangered species regarding the trade of ivory.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my noble Friend the Minister for Housing, Environment and Countryside on 23 May 1989 calling for a ban on trade in new ivory. The future of the quota system will depend on the decision taken with regard to listing the African elephant on appendix I of the convention at the next CITES conference in October.

Waste Disposal

Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he has any plans to ensure that in those areas where there are joint waste disposal committees there should be concern for all controlled wastes rather than a combining of responsibility only for hazardous waste ;

(2) if he proposes to provide financial support to assist in the effective operation of lead local authorities or waste regulation units in the field of hazardous waste disposal ;

(3) if he will implement the proposal contained in the Select Committee of the House of Lords concerned with hazardous waste disposal that responsibility within the metropolitan counties should rest with either single statutory authorities or with groups of authorities where power is delegated to a single authority under formal agreements ;

(4) if he will require producers of hazardous waste to register with the waste regulation authorities and to disclose the particular nature of the waste produced.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : These matters are being considered in relation to the report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology on hazardous waste disposal which was published on 16 May. A full Government response to that report will be published as soon as possible.

Correspondence

Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to the letter he wrote on 13 March enclosing a letter from a constituent concerning toxic waste and related issues.


Column 795

Mr. Moynihan : I have written today.

Dog Registration

Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the extent of public support for the introduction of dog registration and licensing ; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We have received a number of representations on the introduction of a dog registration scheme.

Cash Limits

Mr. Baldry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any changes to announce to his Department's cash limits for 1989-90.

Mr. Ridley : Yes. I propose the following changes, subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate. The non- voted cash limit for urban aid (Doe/UA1) will be increased by £91 million, from £559.454 million to £650.454 million, to provide for an increase in the external finance limit of the London Docklands development corporation to allow the corporation to maintain progress with priority transport schemes.

This increase will be offset by reductions elsewhere and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure. The non-voted cash limit for the new towns (DOE/NT1) has been reduced by £50 million, from minus £385.535 million to minus £435.535 million, to take account of receipts from disposal of property which are higher than forecast. There have been other reductions in non-cash limited expenditure.

Community Charge Leaflet

Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his current estimate of the legal, administrative and other costs incurred in the recent legal action involving the community charge leaflet by (a) the London borough of Greenwich and (b) the Department of the Environment.

Mr. Gummer [holding answer 22 May 1989] : Figures are not yet available, but Greenwich will have to foot the bill as well as the costs involved in correcting its own material distributed to 85,000 homes in which it falsely claimed that failure to pay the community charge would affect an individual's right to vote.

Bathing Waters

Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the estimated cost for each of (a) Herne Bay, (b) Joss bay, (c) Broadstairs, (d) Ramsgate, (e) Sandwich bay, (f) Deal castle, (g) Folkestone, (h) Sandgate, (i) Hythe, (j) Dymchurch, (k) St. Mary's bay, (l) Littlestone, (m) Hastings, (n) Seaford, (o) Newhaven, (p) Brighton, (q) Hove, (r) Southwick, (s) South Lancing, (t) Worthing, (u) Littlehampton, (v) Middleton-on-Sea, (w) Pagham, (x) Selsey, (y) Eastney and (z) Southsea of (i) a long sea outfall, (ii) full sewage treatment works with a short sea outfall, and (iii) full sewage treatment works with a long sea outfall to enable them to comply with EEC bathing


Column 796

water directive 76/160/EEC ; and when the appropriate solutions will be put in place, giving the estimated date of commencement and completion.

Mr. Howard [holding answer 24 May 1989] : Southern Water has an ongoing programme to bring its bathing waters up to EC standards. We are currently assessing with the authority the capital expenditure and time scale of the works involved. Consequently, I am unable to provide detailed information of the kind requested.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

Education Reform Act 1988

Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received about the working of sections 106-111 and 117-118 of the Education Reform Act 1988 since their implementation on 1 April ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Butcher : My right hon. Friend has received several representations on the subject of charges for school activities. He will keep a close watch on the impact of the new arrangements, once schools have had time to adjust to them.


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