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Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children from Northern Ireland are at present receiving grant aid from the Department of Education, Northern Ireland, to attend specialist schools for the deaf in the Republic of Ireland.
Dr. Mawhinney : Twenty-three children from Northern Ireland presently attend specialist schools for the deaf in the Republic of Ireland and have their costs met by education and library boards, with the approval of the Department of Education, Northern Ireland.
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Mr. Denzil Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the total payments received by the agricultural industry in Northern Ireland were under the common agricultural policy in each of the last three years.
Mr. Hanley [holding answer 18 February 1991] : Total expenditure in the United Kingdom under the common agricultural policy in the last three years was :
|£ million ------------------------------ 1987-88 |1,611.1 1988-89 |1,362.9 1989-90 |1,230.5
Although it is possible to identify some of the payments which have been made to the agricultural industry in Northern Ireland--details of which are held in the Northern Ireland Appropriation Accounts 1987-88, 1989-90--it is not possible to disaggregate all United Kingdom common agricultural policy expenditure in this way.
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage the use of low- energy light bulbs in his Department's offices and other buildings.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Throughout the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including the Overseas Development Administration, high-efficiency tubes are being installed under a rolling maintenance programme. Standard light bulbs are being replaced wherever possible by compact fluorescent tubes.
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made in respect of Mikhail Ziskind of Leningrad and Demitri Yakubovsky of Kiev who have been unsuccessfully applying to leave the Soviet Union.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We can certainly raise these cases with the Soviet authorities. We have details of the case of Mr. Yakubovsky, but in order to make our representations most effective we shall need further details of Mr. Ziskind's case.
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Provan of 8 February, Official Report, columns 280-81, if he will give the dates of United Nations Security Council meetings held since 16 January at which the situation in the Gulf was discussed.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The United Nations Security Council met in informal consultations to discuss the situation in the Gulf on 17, 22, 24, 28, 30 and 31 January ; and on 6, 8 and 13 February.
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The council held a formal session on 13 February at which it was decided talks should take place in private. On the 14, 15 and 16 February the council met in closed session and will resume discussions on 19 February.Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals were put forward by the United Kingdom at the most recent meeting of the Security Council of the United Nations ; and how they were received.
Mr. Douglas Hogg [holding answer 18 February 1991] : At the meeting of the Security Council on 14 February, the United Kingdom representative proposed that in accordance with rule 48 of the provisional rules of procedure, the council should meet in private session to discuss the Gulf crisis. The British proposal was adopted by 9 votes in favour two against--Cuba and Yemen--and four abstentions. The council met in closed session on 14, 15 and 16 February and will resume discussions on 19 February.
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library details, including copies of any letters, of the Iraqi offer to withdraw from Kuwait as discussed by United States officials on 2 January.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We are aware of no discussion by United States officials on 2 January of an Iraqi offer to withdraw from Kuwait.
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information, in addition to that referred to in his answer of 3 July 1990, Official Report, column 381, he has received about the outcome of the investigation conducted by Zimbabwean authorities into the murder in Harare of Mr. Brian Angel.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The British high commission in Harare has received a copy of the police report on the death of Mr. Brian Angel. An inquest is due to be held in Harare on 1 March 1991. We expect that the police report will form part of the evidence presented at the inquest. A member of the British high commission will be present as an observer.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures he will take to prevent any mineral mining in Antarctica.
Mr. Garel-Jones : The United Kingdom will take no unilateral action concerning mineral activities in Antarctica. We believe that decisions on such activities must be agreed by consensus amongst the Antarctic treaty consultative parties before they are implemented. A consensus on mineral activity has yet to be achieved. However, at the XIth special consultative meeting in Chile in November, the Antarctic treaty parties renewed their agreement to a voluntary restraint on mineral activity in the absence of any formal agreement. The United Kingdom will abide by this voluntary restraint.
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Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress being made on negotiations on the reductions of conventional forces in Europe.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The first plenary meeting of the resumed CFE follow-on negotiations took place on 14 February. NATO and other delegations underlined the problems created for the follow-on negotiations by doubts over the Soviet Union's intention to comply with certain provisions of the CFE treaty. No new proposals were tabled.
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the meeting between the Minister of State and the Iranian charge d'affaires in London on 12 February ; what assurances were given about possible Iranian assistance to bring about the release of Mr. Roger Cooper and also of the British hostages held by Arab terrorists in Lebanon ; and what response was made to the allegations made by Mr. Khare Qani relating to the fairness of a trial of an Iranian citizen in Britain.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Iranian charge told me that Iran continued to do its best to secure the release of the hostages in Lebanon. I pressed for but received no assurances about Mr. Roger Cooper. It would be improper for me to comment on the trial to which my hon. Friend refers, as it is still before the court.
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those voluntary organisations giving aid to Romania, of which his office is aware.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Since I wrote to the hon. Member on 16 January enclosing a list of British voluntary organisations giving aid to Romania-- a copy of which is available in the Library--we have added to the list three more : Caring for Life International, Feed The Children, and Romanian Children's Aid. I shall write to my hon. Friend with full details.
Mr. Moss : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he proposes to make any further changes in his Department's diplomatic wing cash limits for 1990-91.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Subject to parliamentary approval of the late spring supplementary estimate the cash limit for class II, Vote 2--other external relations--will increase by £2,500,000 from £187,421, 000 to £189,921,000. This is to take account of a contribution to the International Committee of the Red Cross for its humanitarian work in the Gulf. This increase is within the forecast outturn for the planning total published in the statistical supplement to the 1990 autumn statement.
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Mr. Wilshire : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to (a) shorten the hours when night-flight restrictions apply at Heathrow airport and (b) to increase the night-flight quota.
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will state the numbers of staff of the metropolitan and south eastern traffic commissioners, respectively, and the number he expects to staff the proposed south eastern and metropolitan traffic commissioners ; how many posts will be eliminated over the range of their functions ; and if he will give a breakdown of the expected sum of annual saving in public expenditure.
Mr. Chope : There are 96.5 and 77 complemented staff posts respectively in the metropolitan and south eastern traffic area offices. The planned complement for the new combined south eastern and metropolitan traffic area office is 68 staff. This will reflect the transfer of work between traffic area offices in London, Eastbourne, Bristol and Cambridge. It will also take account of the transfer of staff and responsibility for road traffic enforcement to the Vehicle Inspectorate executive agency on 1 April 1991, and also the transfer of responsibility for vocational driver licensing to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency--DVLA--on the same date. The savings arising from the redistribution of work in the TAOs should amount to about £650,000 per year of which some £380,000 comes from the closure of the metropolitan traffic area office.
Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of total traffic is formed by trunk road through traffic on the western side of the Hereford ring road south of the A49/A438 roundabout.
Mr. Chope : Approximately 13 per cent., based on 1986 traffic surveys.
Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the current annual spending on maintenance of the trunk road in Hereford that is proposed to be de-trunked ; whether he has been asked by Hereford and Worcester county council to undertake any repairs found necessary to the Greyfriars bridge before it is de-trunked ; and whether it is his policy that any sum thus incurred will be included in the total cost to his Department of the Hereford bypass for economic evaluation purposes.
Mr. Chope : It is not possible to identify separately details of current expenditure on maintenance for particular lengths of A49 and A465 within Hereford and Worcester proposed for detrunking. Discussions with the Hereford and Worcester county council on the need for repairs to Greyfriars bridge prior to proposed detrunking are yet to be held.
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Repairs will be necessary to Greyfriars bridge at some stage and investigations are currently underway to assess the extent of works required. Such costs do not form part of the cost of the Hereford bypass.Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the additional distance between the A49 (north) and the A465 (south) using the proposed bypass as against using the present inner ring road.
Mr. Chope : Approximately 6.1 km or 3.7 miles.
Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of traffic on the proposed Hereford bypass between the A4103 and A438 and between the A438 and B4399 Holme Lecy road would be trunk road through traffic.
Mr. Chope : The details are as follows :
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------------------------------------- (i) Between A4103 and A438 |22|24 (ii) Between A438 and B4399 |25|27
The proportion of total through traffic on these sections of the bypass is expected to be approximately 30 per cent. of total flow.
Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in the Official Report the volume of trunk road through traffic passing through Hereford in 1986 and 1990 and projected for the years 1995 and 2010 between (a) the A49 (north) and the A49 (south) and (b) the A49 (north) and the A465 (south) for the whole day and for the morning peak hour.
Mr. Chope : Using the results from the 1986 surveys and the current range of national traffic growth predictions the details are as follows :
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Average annual daily flows projected |1986 |1990 |1995 |2010 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A49(N)-A49(S) |1,020 |1,300-1,350|1,400-1,550|1,800-2,250 A49(N)-A465(S) |810 |1,000-1,050|1,150-1,250|1,450-1,700
Separate estimates for the morning peak hour are not readily available.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will arrange for all relevant vehicle registration or licence application forms to carry a statement informing applicants of the items of personal data that will be transferred to the new police national computer ; whether he has any estimate of the cost of redesigning such forms so that future reprints carry such a statement ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : The DVLA registrations under the Data Protection Act 1984 indicate that details from both the vehicle and driver registers are given to the police. Copies of the registrations are freely available from the Data Protection Registrar. There is no requirement under the Data Protection Act to include additional references on application forms to inform individuals and, at present, the DVLA has no plans to do so.
Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he proposes to take to ensure that penalties for the offence of failure to provide information under the Road Traffic Bill take account of the different circumstances of companies and individuals.
Mr. Chope : Companies should have the same responsibility to provide information about drivers alleged to be guilty of road traffic offences as a private individual and it is right that a negligent director or other officer should share in that responsibility. Licence endorsement is not appropriate, however, where the connection with driving is remote. I shall today be tabling an amendment at the Report stage of the Road Traffic Bill to provide that in these cases the penalty should be restricted to a financial penalty.
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Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he proposes to take to respond to concerns about the effects of the new serious driving offences in the Road Traffic Bill on the organisation of motor sports.
Mr. Chope : I am very much aware of the importance of the motor sports industry nationally and of the need to ensure that sporting events which take place off the road are not jeopardised by the risk that the manner of driving might be judged by criteria more appropriate to driving on the public highway. I shall today be tabling amendments to deal with this point at the Report stage of the Road Traffic Bill.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his estimate of staff numbers in his Department involved in full or part- time work arising from responsibilities transferred from the Greater London Council.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Department assumed the powers of the former Greater London council in respect of 70 miles of roads which are now trunk roads. The Department deals with 215 miles of trunk roads in London. It is not practicable to estimate the number of staff whose work involves the ex- GLC roads. On abolition of the GLC the Department also assumed responsibility for traffic signals and urban traffic control and for running the Woolwich ferry. The Corporation of the City of London acts as the Department's agents for the former and the London borough of Greenwich for the latter, and employ the staff involved.
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Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give consideration to moving the Transport Commissioners to Eastbourne.
Mr. Chope : The traffic commissioner for the present south eastern traffic area is already based in Eastbourne. Under the reorganisation of the traffic areas, which will take effect on 1 June 1991, the traffic commissioner will assume responsibility for the new south eastern and metropolitan traffic area, which will comprise London, Sussex, Surrey and Kent. He will continue to be based in Eastbourne.
Mr. Speed : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the current constraints on investment in respect of the investment proposals by British Rail to introduce the Networker 471 train on Kent coast lines in Network SouthEast.
Mr. Freeman : Proposals for the introduction of class 471 Networkers on Kent coast routes are still being assessed by British Rail and my Department has not yet received a detailed investment submission. I understand that British Rail is examining whether the project might be brought forward in the light of other investment priorities and its overall financial situation.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether he will call for a report from the railways inspectorate on the number of stations in British Rail north-east region that do not meet new regulations on platform length ; and whether he will make a statement ;
(2) whether he will defer any deadline for closure of stations which do not meet the new regulations on platform length in order to allow British Railway to meet new standards.
Mr. McLoughlin [holding answer 18 February 1991] : British Rail has no plans to close stations on safety grounds. There are no new regulations on platform length but Her Majesty's railway inspectorate, has asked British Rail to consider a strategy for improving platforms which fall short of the long-established safety standards. Discussion between British Rail and the inspectorate will be resumed when British Rail has identified the stations in need of improvement and quantified the cost of remedial work.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will provide the additional funding needed to bring stations up to the standard on platform length specified in the new regulations.
Mr. McLoughlin [holding answer 18 February 1991] : British Rail is quantifying the work that would be needed to make all existing stations comply with the standard. Only when this study is complete will it be possible for British Rail, in consultation with Her Majesty's railway inspectorate and the Department, to develop a strategy for any necessary station improvements. Overall safety expenditure on the subsidised railway will be supported by means of the public service obligation grant in the normal way.
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Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he is making to the US Secretary of State for Transportation about his refusal to accept British Airways reduction of fares on flights to the United States of America ; if he will discuss this with the other members of the European Community ; and whether any counter- measures are being taken against US airlines flying to Britain.
Mr. McLoughlin [holding answer 18 February 1991] : My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State made it clear immediately after British Airways' fares proposals were turned down that he was surprised at the decision, particularly since it would disadvantage customers. He urged the US authorities to reconsider but we have just learnt that they are not prepared to do so. We are considering with those involved how best to respond. In the meantime British Airways have put alternative proposals to the US authorities. There are no plans for formal discussions with other members of the European Community.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the limit of savings a person can have to qualify for the emergency cold weather payment.
Mr. Scott : Savings over £500--£1,000 for people aged 60 or over--are taken into account on a pound-for-pound basis.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many persons received severe weather payments in the week beginning 4 February in each of the weather station areas ; how many were (a) pensioners, (b) disabled persons, (c) families with young children, and (d) other groups ; what was the total cost to the Exchequer ; and what plans he has to ease the eligibility condition requiring a temperature for seven consecutive days on average below 0 deg. C in further weeks beyond the first when this condition was lifted.
Mr. Scott : Information is not yet available regarding the number of cold weather payments made in the week beginning 4 February. With regard to the temperature criterion for eligibility, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Walsall, North(Mr. Winnick) on 15 February at column 630.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether a child with asthma over the age of five years in a family receiving income support, but receiving no invalidity or other additional benefits, is entitled to cold weather payments. Mr. Scott Cold weather payments are payable to people in receipt of income support, who either have a child under five or whose benefit includes a pensioner or disability premium. Savings over £500--or £1,000 for people aged 60 and over --are taken into account. A family with a child with asthma over the age of five years would be eligible for a cold weather payment if these conditions are satisfied.
Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for what reason the Berwick upon Tweed offices
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of his Department indicated to claimants on 14 February that it did not have instructions enabling it to approve payments of severe weather allowance and did not know when such instructions would be received.Mr. Scott : Instructions concerning the recent changes were issued to all local offices on 8 February and 14 February. Berwick upon Tweed office has confirmed that the first payments under those instructions were made on 14 February.
Mr. O'Hara : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give the number of liable relative officers at present in his Department ; and if he will give a breakdown of their civil service grades and their location in England and Wales.
Miss Widdecombe : The information is not readily available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to make the report drawn up by Price Waterhouse surveying residential and nursing home running costs more generally available to interested parties and the general public.
Miss Widdecombe : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State placed copies of the report in the Library on 24 October last year and officials of the Department have made copies widely available to major interested organisations which are welcome to copy the report to their members.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many backdated claims for social security have been received since April 1988 in England and Wales.
Miss Widdecombe : The information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at the disproportionate cost.
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Leeds, West on 6 February, Official Report, column 191, if he will show the main changes to national insurance benefits and the savings or expenditure which accrued from each change since 1979 showing the cumulative effect at 1991 prices.
Mr. Jack : Calculating the cumulative cost over a period of years of the changes listed in my earlier reply would require a detailed year-by- year analysis of many factors, including movements in expenditure on benefits, in prices and earnings indices, and in additional pension and occupational and personal pension entitlements. This calculation could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the net additional cost of increasing the basic retirement pension for a single person
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by £5 per week and for a married couple by £8 per week more than the planned uprating for April 1991 assuming (a) no corresponding increase in means-tested benefits and (b) a corresponding increase in means-tested benefits.Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 21 January 1991] : The net additional cost of increasing the basic retirement pension in this way would (a) around £1.6 billion with no corresponding increase in income -related benefits and (b) around £2.5 billion with such a corresponding increase.
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish, by valuation office, the number of appeals received relating to rating valuation assessments under the uniform business rate ; from what date he expects the first appeals to be held at the North Yorkshire tribunal ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : The table shows the number of proposals by ratepayers to alter their 1990 rating assessments, to insert new entries in the rating list and to alter assessments which have been revised by the valuation officer for each valuation office in England in respect of the period from 1 April to 31 December 1990.
The North Yorkshire valuation and community charge tribunal is currently completing hearings of residual appeals against the 1973 valuation list. It expects to commence hearings of appeals against the 1990 rating list from May.
Numbers of proposals received for alteration of 1990 rating lists Office |(1) |(2) |(3) ------------------------------------------------- Alnwick |3,429 |1 |195 Aylesbury |6,323 |1 |82 Barking |2,703 |2 |36 Barnet |3,041 |1 |7 Barnstaple |2,603 |32 |183 Basingstoke |4,406 |- |96 Bath |2,774 |2 |9 Bedford |4,477 |- |52 Birmingham |13,745|22 |44 Bolton |4,376 |2 |112 Boston |2,746 |22 |60 Bournemouth |5,646 |66 |55 Bradford |5,442 |2 |102 Brighton |5,893 |12 |51 Bristol |6,612 |13 |102 Bromley |6,835 |10 |44 Burnley |5,750 |1 |70 Cambridge |4,654 |6 |75 Camden |5,433 |11 |16 Carlisle |3,736 |276 |37 Chatham |3,972 |- |142 Chelmsford |6,920 |- |11 Chester |4,692 |2 |23 City of London |10,099|5 |448 Colchester |6,344 |32 |55 Coventry |4,751 |- |61 Crewe |4,559 |- |45 Darlington |4,153 |1 |62 Derby |4,472 |- |88 Doncaster |4,490 |- |45 Dorchester |3,045 |248 |40 Durham |3,523 |- |29 Ealing |5,068 |6 |69 Eastbourne |3,381 |2 |52 Enfield |4,438 |1 |63 Exeter |5,465 |186 |89 Folkestone |4,153 |67 |47 Gloucester |5,361 |25 |229 Greenwich |5,276 |4 |42 Grimsby |2,467 |2 |129 Guildford |5,310 |- |29 Halifax |5,916 |- |188 Hammersmith |5,235 |13 |29 Harrogate |4,465 |2 |123 Harrow |4,661 |1 |116 Hull |4,861 |15 |140 Ipswich |4,669 |109 |23 Islington |6,660 |46 |79 Kensington & Chelsea |4484 |8 |45 Kidderminster |5,709 |- |132 Lambeth |2,854 |9 |23 Lancaster |6,286 |29 |44 Leeds |8,941 |- |88 Leicester |4,645 |- |45 Lichfield |5,630 |2 |42 Lincoln |3,402 |- |78 Liverpool |10,083|1 |80 London Support Unit |6,333 |12 |77 Loughborough |3,484 |5 |25 Manchester |7,655 |11 |116 Mansfield |3,269 |- |55 Matlock |3,695 |16 |51 Merton |4,656 |4 |113 Middlesbrough |7,634 |1 |74 Newcastle |7,288 |7 |22 Northampton |5,254 |- |36 Norwich |6,782 |18 |157 Nottingham |5,164 |- |69 Oxford |7,111 |20 |26 Peterborough |5,491 |19 |128 Plymouth |3,815 |325 |28 Portsmouth |4,956 |77 |72 Preston |4,596 |1 |90 Reading |7,602 |- |146 Redbridge |3,530 |- |21 Reigate |6,078 |1 |117 Richmond-upon-Thames |3,447 |6 |110 Rochdale |4,188 |4 |22 St. Albans |5,518 |2 |199 St. Austell |5,498 |1,826 |70 Salford |5,500 |- |31 Sandwell |3,833 |2 |46 Sheffield |5,947 |- |53 Shrewsbury |4,202 |6 |60 Southampton |6,581 |2 |147 Southwark |3,603 |1 |21 Stevenage |5,245 |- |49 Stockport |4,316 |8 |16 Stoke-on-Trent |5,691 |1 |29 Sunderland |7,530 |14 |351 Swindon |3,596 |4 |34 Taunton |4,642 |5 |129 Tower Hamlets |3,549 |- |59 Tunbridge Wells |5,105 |3 |159 Ulverston |3,637 |476 |26 Wakefield |5,263 |- |99 Warrington |6,315 |- |145 Warwick |4,554 |12 |140 Westminster |15,503|47 |85 Wolverhampton |4,919 |5 |41 Worcester |6,071 |- |123 Worthing |5,104 |52 |106 York |5,224 |216 |74 Central List |17 |- |- <1>Proposals made against the 1990 rating lists. <2>Proposals to insert a new entry into the 1990 rating lists. <3>Proposals made against VO notices to alter the 1990 rating lists.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, as a matter of urgency, he will contact the Lambeth health authority to discuss the use of the South
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London hospital for women as a hostel for homeless people on the streets of London ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Yeo : I understand that the health authority is unable to make the hospital available for use by homeless people, or for other purposes, mainly because ownership of part of the site is at present the subject of an unresolved legal dispute. The Government have funded the provision of 700 additional bed spaces in emergency shelters in London during the very cold weather of the past 10 days. Most of the shelters have been full, but some still have a few spaces for rough sleepers to use. We are providing £96 million over three years to provide sufficient accommodation in hostel places and longer-term housing to ensure that it is unnecessary for anyone to sleep rough.
Sir Eldon Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his statement on the community charge reduction scheme, how this affects the provision of compensating grant to help make up loss of revenue from United States air force personnel who previously paid rates but are exempt from the community charge.
Mr. Portillo : The statement of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State about the community charge reduction scheme does not affect the payment of grant to local authorities in respect of members of the United States air force who are exempt from the community charge.
Mr. Critchley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to reimburse local authorities for community charge income forgone from service personnel normally resident in their areas who have been posted to the Gulf ; and if he will make a statement.
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