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Mr. Malcolm Rifkind : The Government put forward a strong case to the European Commission earlier this year proposing that the Borders should be given eligibility for objective 5(b) of the structural funds, but the Commission did not accept it. The Government will continue to press the case as soon as the Commission indicates it is willing to consider additional areas for eligibility.

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Mental Hospitals

Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will increase the funding provided for mental hospitals.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : Allocations to health boards are not earmarked for specific purposes. However, both "Scottish Health Authorities Priorities for the Eighties" (December 1980) and "Scottish Health Authorities Review of Priorities for the Eighties and Nineties" (November 1988) identified care of the elderly with dementia and services for people with a mental handicap or illness as high priority programmes. Monitoring of expenditure on priority programmes began in 1981-82 and since then there has been a real-terms increase of 15 per cent. in the amounts spent by health boards on the three services.

Lennox Castle Hospital

Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received about the findings of the recent survey carried out in Lennox Castle hospital of widespread malnutrition among the patients.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : None.

Earnings

Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report tables showing the proportion of (1) manual, (2) non-manual and (3) all full-time employees earning less than (a) £157, (b) 160, (c) 163, and (d) half average earnings a week for (i) men, (ii) women, and (iii) all full-time employees excluding overtime, shift and public borrowing requirements premia, in each regional authority and borough.

Mr. Lang : Due to the extensive amount of information requested, I will write to the hon. Member.

Student Grants

Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the numbers of full-time students in receipt of student grants in Scotland under the students' allowances scheme specifying the numbers in receipt of (i) the full maintenance grant, (ii) maintenance grant reduced by assessment of parental contribution and (iii) nil maintenance, tuition fees only paid by Scottish Office, expressing each figure as a percentage proportion of the total number.

Mr. Lang : The latest available figures are set out below. They relate to the academic session 1988-89 and are in respect of all students assisted by the Scottish Education Department, excluding withdrawals during the session.

                           |Per cent.          

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

Full maintenance |21,940   |35.8               

Part maintenance |23,902   |39.1               

Fees only        |15,344   |25.1               

A fees-only award can arise from an assessment of parental income leading to a nil maintenance award or from an application for payment of fees only, in which case no assessment is made.

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Adoption Register

Mr. Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the rules concerning access to the adoption register in New Register house ; and what measures he proposes to take to ease access for those who have a right to see such files.

Mr. Rifkind : In accordance with the Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978, the registrar general will, for the appropriate fee, have a search made of the index to the adopted children register on behalf of any person or permit that person to search the index. Thereafter the registrar general will issue to the person an extract of any entry in the adopted children register that he or she may require. Access to the adopted children register is being eased by the conversion of the paper index to computerised format, due to be completed in 1990.

Sand Eels

Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he intends to extend the ban on commercial sand eel fishing in Shetland to cover the 1990 fishing season ; and whether he has any plans to extend a similar ban on sand eels to the Minch.

Mr. Lang : Officials will be discussing the latest scientific evidence on the state of sand eel stocks around Shetland with the fishing industry next month. Decisions on the 1990 fishing season will then be taken. We have no plans to ban sand eel fishing in the Minch.

Health Service

Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland of the total planned additional expenditure on health services in Scotland for the year 1990-91, how much comes from new cash, cost improvement programmes and income generation, and how much of the total is for primary care.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : Net expenditure on the National Health Service in 1990-91 is planned to increase by £223 million over 1989-90. All of this increase will be funded by the Exchequer. In addition, health boards should be able to generate a further £19 million from cost improvement programmes, and a further £0.5 million from income generation schemes under section 7 of the Health and Medicines Act 1988 over the levels achieved in 1989-90. Total net expenditure on primary care services is planned to increase by £68 million.

Inshore Fishing

Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to announce the outcome of the review of the Operation of the Inshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing and Fishing Methods) (Scotland) Order 1985 ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Ian Lang : A new order, the Inshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing and Fishing Methods) (Scotland) Order 1989, has today been laid before Parliament. The new regulations have been drawn up following detailed consultations with the fishing industry during the past 18 months on possible changes to the fishing regime in

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Scottish inshore waters. I believe they strike an appropriate balance between protecting the respective interests of static and mobile gear fishermen, and between commercial fishermen and sea anglers. Copies of the new regulations, which are due to come into force on 1 January 1990, will be made available to industry organisations and through Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

Straw Burning

Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on his policy towards straw burning.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 8 December 1989] : The extent of straw and stubble burning in Scotland following the cereals harvest is much less than in England and Wales and presents correspondingly fewer problems. While my right hon. and learned Friend intends to make provision to enable straw and stubble burning in Scotland to be banned in the Bill to provide new powers to control pollution and waste, he does not propose to exercise these powers unless a good case for doing so has been demonstrated.

Capital Grant Scheme

Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total number and amount of capital grant scheme awards made this year by the Scottish Education Department to village and community halls in Grampian region to the latest available date ; and what were the figures for each of the past five years.

Mr. Lang [holding answer 4 December 1989] : The information is as follows :

(

Year      |Number<1>|Amount of          

                    |grant £            

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

1984-85   |15       |177,912            

1985-86   |13       |157,851            

1986-87   |9        |94,642             

1987-88   |9        |171,665            

1988-89   |8        |198,780            

1989-90   |10       |69,871             

<1>Projects approved for grant.         

The 1989-90 figures include four projects which have been approved in principle. Further documentation is awaited to enable formal offers of grant to be issued.

The scheme has recently been reviewed and new arrangements for the allocation of grant have been introduced for 1989-90 and future years. The need to clear outstanding commitments from earlier years has required a temporary reduction, in 1989-90 only, in the amount of grant available for new projects. The funds available for new projects in 1990-91 will revert to a level similar to that of earlier years.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Straw Stubble Burning

Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received on his recent proposals to ban straw stubble burning.

Mr. Maclean : We have not received any representations, but our proposals have been widely welcomed as

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striking the right balance betwen the interests of the farming industry and the general public, particularly those who live in the countryside.

Pesticides

Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, which pesticides (a) he has already reviewed under his review programme, (b) he is currently reviewing and (c) he plans to review ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Maclean : The review of pesticides approved by my Department is undertaken by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides. Pesticides containing the following active ingredients (a) have been reviewed, (b) are under review and (c) are awaiting review.

a) Reviews concluded by the ACP :

Aminotriazole

Alachlor

Aldicarb

Aldrin

Binapacryl

Biological agents used as pesticides

Bitertanol

Captafol

Chlordane

Cyhexatin

DDT

Dieldrin

Dimethoate

Dinoseb

Dinoseb-acetate

Dinoterb

DNOC

Endrin

Ethylene dibromide

Fenbutatin oxide

Fentin acetate

Fentin hydroxide

Glycol ethers

Iprodione

Maleic nydrazide

Mercury compounds

Sythetic pyrethroids

2,4,5-T

Triazophos

b) Reviews currently in progress :

2-aminobutane

Bromoxynil

Captan

2, 4-D

Daminozide

Demeton-s-methyl

Demeton-s-methyl-sulphane

Diazinon

Dichlorvos

Dinocap

Ferbam

Furmecyclox

Ioxynil

Lindane

Linuron

Mancozeb

Maneb

Methyl bromide

Mevinphos

Monlinuron

Nabam

Oxydemeton-methyl

Propineb

Thiram

Zineb

Ziram

c) Reviews Planned :

Aldicarb

Alkylaryl trimethyl ammonium chloride

Allethrin

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Alphachloralose

Aluminium ammonium sulphate

Aluminium phosphide

Aluminium silicate

Aluminium sulphate

Aminobutane (2 )

Amitraz

Amitrole

Ammonium carbonate

Ammonium hydroxide

Ammonium sulphamate

Ammonium sulphate

Anthraquinone

Asulam

Atrazine

Azinphos-methyl

Aziprotryne

Bacillus thuringiensis

Barban

Benazolin

Bendiocarb

Benodanil

Benomyl

Bentazone

Benzalkonium chloride

Benzethonium chloride

Benzoylprop-ethyl

Bifenox

Bioallethrin

Bioresmethrin

Bitumen

Bone oil

Boric acid

Brodifacoum

Bromacil

Bromadiolone

Bromophos

Bupirimate

Butoxycarboxim

Calciferol

Captan

Carbaryl

Carbendazim

Carbetamide

Carbofuran

Carbophenothion

Carboxin

Cetrimide

Chloramben

Chlorbufam

Chlordane

Chlorfenvinphos

Chloridazon

Chlormequat

Chloroethylphosphonic acid (2 )

Chlorophacinone

Chloropicrin

Chlorothalonil

Chlorotoluron

Chloroxuron

Chlorphonium

Chlorpropham

Chlorpyrifos

Chlorpyrifos-methyl

Chlorthal dimethyl

Chlorthiamid

Clopyralid

Copper ammonium carbonate

Copper complex--bordeaux

Copper hydroxide

Copper oxychloride

Copper sulphate

Coumatetralyl

Cresylic acid

Cufraneb

Cyanazine

Cymoxanil

Cypermethrin

DB (2, 4 )

DES (2, 4 )

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