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Further Education
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he intends to establish a further education council to prepare for the funding and guidance of further education colleges as they move to corporate status ; when and how he intends to appoint the chief officers of such a council ; and what timetable he proposes for its early operation.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Subject to the passage of the Further and Higher Education Bill introduced on 4 November, my right hon. and learned Friend intends to establish the Further Education Funding Council as soon as possible. The Bill provides for the appointment of the chairman and the chief executive by my right hon. and learned Friend. The Department will be preparing the ground for the Council by collecting information it will need, and carrying out programmes to help ensure that the colleges are ready for their new role.
Student Grants
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what monitoring he undertakes of the time taken to make mandatory award payments to students.
Mr. Alan Howarth : My Department does not directly monitor the time taken by individual local education authorities to assess and pay mandatory awards to more than 500,000 students. We are investigating reports of delays in certain authorities, to ensure that they are taking whatever action is necessary to comply with their statutory duties in the interests of students.
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will meet representatives of the local authority associations to discuss how the payment of student grants may be expedited.
Mr. Alan Howarth : My Department is in regular contact with the local authority associations on student grant matters. Improvements have already been made in 1990 and 1991 in the grant arrangements to help expedite payments. We have taken actions with individual authorities reported to be facing delays. All authorities have power to make provisional payments to students, pending completion of grant assessments. We will continue to keep the position under review.
GCSE
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the consultations entered into with (a) parents, (b) teachers and (c) local
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education authorities prior to his announcement of a reduction in the percentage of coursework in GCSE assessment.Mr. Fallon : I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Fatchett) on 21 October, Official Report, column 362.
Schools Assessment Results
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he intends to publish the national results of the 1991 assessments of seven-year-olds ; and whether he will also publish the results in each local education authority in England.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I intend to publish both the aggregate national results and the aggregate results in each local education authority in England, as soon as outstanding information has been sent to the Department by local education authorities. The public is entitled to accurate national and local information about the 1991 assessments of seven-year-olds under the national curriculum. The results will provide for the first time both a national picture of the attainments of this age group in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science and a baseline against which to measure progress.
Cot Deaths
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money the Government have put into cot death research in the last 20 years.
Mr. Alan Howarth : I have been asked to reply.
The Medical Research Council, which receives its grant in aid through the Department of Education and Science, is the main Government agency for the funding of medical research. The MRC generally decides the research to support with the funds available to it. The table gives its expenditure on research into sudden infant death syndrome and respiratory distress syndrome for the financial years since 1979-80. Data on earlier years are not available, nor is there central information on relevant publicly funded research which may be undertaken by medical schools, university departments, the health Departments and the health authorities. We also welcome the contribution made in this field by medical research charities.
|£ thousands
------------------------------------------
1979-80 |79
1980-81 |134
1981-82 |208
1982-83 |207
1983-84 |244
1984-85 |242
1985-86 |283
1986-87 |476
1987-88 |405
1988-89 |434
1989-90 |297
1990-91 |798
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NATIONAL FINANCE
Income Tax
Mr. Grylls : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate what the reduction in the income tax revenue would be for 1992-93 on a full-year basis and assuming no behavioural changes (a) if there were no higher rate of income tax for individuals and (b) if there were no additional rate for trusts.
Mr. Maude : The costs in a full year at 1992-93 levels of income are estimated to be (a) £5.1 billion and (b) £30 million. These estimates are based on a comparison with 1991-92 tax rates and an illustrative indexation of personal allowances and the basic rate limit by 4 per cent.
No account is taken of possible behavioural changes or of any effect on receipts of capital gains tax.
Government Deficits
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list those member states of the European Community whose actual government deficit exceeded 3 per cent. of gross domestic product in each of the past five years ; and how many in the current financial year plan a deficit of a higher level.
Mr. Maples : Data and forecasts of Government deficits of member states are published by the European Commission in "European Economy", supplement A, May 1991.
House Prices
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a table showing the real increase in (i) house prices and (ii) average earnings in the United Kingdom: and in each of the six founder members of the EC between 1961 and 1973 ; 1973 and 1987 and 1987 to date : and if he will include an estimate of the amount of consumer debt in each case divided between housing and other goods and services.
Mr. Maples : Data for real average earnings growth are published by the OECD in "Historical Statistics 1960-1990". There is no central source of regularly collected data for house prices, or for consumer debt divided between housing and other goods and services.
Import Penetration
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer why no figures for import penetration overall and by industry have been published in the "Monthly Digest" since June 1989 ; and if he will publish a provisional estimate of the figures for December 1989 and December 1990.
Mr. Maples : Import penetration figures published in the latest "Monthly Digest of Statistics", September 1991, table 15.10, are the most up to date available. As a result of recommendations in the 1989 review of Department of Trade and Industry statistics, which considered the arrangements for collection of economic statistics by DTI and the burdens placed on businesses, quarterly sales data for most manufacturing industries, which are used in the calculation of this ratio, are no longer collected. Data for
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1989 and 1990 are therefore not available. A footnote was added to the table earlier this year, to inform readers of the reason for the absence of new data.Fraudulent Tax Claims
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individuals were the subject of (a) civil penalties as provided in the Taxes Act and (b) other prosecutions for fraudulent tax claims over the last five years.
Mr. Maude : The numbers of individuals taxpayers and partnerships subject to civil penalties as provided in the Taxes Acts during the last two years were as follows :
|Number
----------------------
1986-87 |20
1987-88 |15
1988-89 |12
1989-90 |14
1990-91 |14
Comparable figures for earlier years are not available. The numbers of successful prosecutions for false accounts or returns of income, and false claims to personal allowances, deductions for expenses or repayments, during the last five years, were as follows :
Vocational Training (Tax Relief)
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how he intends to ensure that further education colleges will not lose financially as a result of the administration and cash flow costs of operating the system of tax relief for vocational training on behalf of the Inland Revenue.
Mr. Maude : The Government's aim in providing that the new tax relief for vocational training should be given at source is to ensure that it will be available to trainees as quickly and as widely as possible. The Government accept that administering the relief will mean some extra work for training organisations. Additional costs will be offset to the extent that the relief encourages more people to train, hence generating more income.
The intention is, however, that the additional cost should be kept to a minimum and to that end the Inland Revenue is currently considering a number of important improvements to the original proposals in the light of responses to their recent consultative paper. The arrangements will be published in regulations later this year.
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether tax relief for vocational training applies (a) to payments made by an individual for his or her training, (b) to payments made by a parent or other person or organisation on behalf of an individual for his or her training and (c) to payments made by an individual for his or her training but paid to the individual by a parent or other person or organisation.
Mr. Maude : Tax relief for vocational training will apply to payments made by individuals in connection with their
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own training. This will include the situation where an individual pays for the training out of funds provided by another person or organisation, but not where that other person or organisation makes the payment directly on behalf of the individual.Non-North Sea GDP
Mrs. Beckett : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish (a) the index number for non-North sea GDP, both annually and quarterly, back to 1970, and (b) an explanation of the methodology and component series which go to make up the series ; and if he will ensure that the index on non-North sea, gross domestic product is included in the CSO database.
Mr. Maples [holding answer 5 November 1991] : The information requested is given in the table. The series is derived by removing from the output estimate of gross domestic product--GDP(O)--the appropriately weighted contribution from "Extraction of mineral oil and natural gas"-- class 13 of the 1980 Standard Industrial Classification. The weights reflect the importance of class 13 activity during various periods for which data are assembled on a given price base. On the final part of the question, the CSO is arranging for the quarterly seasonally adjusted series of GDP(O) less extraction of mineral oil and natural gas to be included on their database.
GDP(O) less oil and gas
extraction<1>
Index 1985=100, seasonally
adjusted
Quarterly
------------------------------
1970 Q1 |80.1
1970 Q2 |80.8
1970 Q3 |81.2
1970 Q4 |81.3
1971 Q1 |81.5
1971 Q2 |82.2
1971 Q3 |82.5
1971 Q4 |83.3
1972 Q1 |82.4
1972 Q2 |85.4
1972 Q3 |85.9
1972 Q4 |87.7
1973 Q1 |90.6
1973 Q2 |90.4
1973 Q3 |90.9
1973 Q4 |90.8
1974 Q1 |88.1
1974 Q2 |90.8
1974 Q3 |91.0
1974 Q4 |89.6
1975 Q1 |89.7
1975 Q2 |88.8
1975 Q3 |88.1
1975 Q4 |87.7
1976 Q1 |89.8
1976 Q2 |89.6
1976 Q3 |89.4
1976 Q4 |91.3
1977 Q1 |91.6
1977 Q2 |91.0
1977 Q3 |91.6
1977 Q4 |92.1
1978 Q1 |92.8
1978 Q2 |94.4
1978 Q3 |95.1
1978 Q4 |94.9
1979 Q1 |94.0
1979 Q2 |97.4
1979 Q3 |95.9
1979 Q4 |96.7
1980 Q1 |95.7
1980 Q2 |94.0
1980 Q3 |92.4
1980 Q4 |90.4
1981 Q1 |90.8
1981 Q2 |90.6
1981 Q3 |91.4
1981 Q4 |91.3
1982 Q1 |91.6
1982 Q2 |91.7
1982 Q3 |92.1
1982 Q4 |92.3
1983 Q1 |93.4
1983 Q2 |93.7
1983 Q3 |94.5
1983 Q4 |95.6
1984 Q1 |96.6
1984 Q2 |96.2
1984 Q3 |96.4
1984 Q4 |97.2
1985 Q1 |98.7
1985 Q2 |100.3
1985 Q3 |100.4
1985 Q4 |100.6
1986 Q1 |101.3
1986 Q2 |102.9
1986 Q3 |104.1
1986 Q4 |105.5
1987 Q1 |106.0
1987 Q2 |107.9
1987 Q3 |110.0
1987 Q4 |110.9
1988 Q1 |112.2
1988 Q2 |113.2
1988 Q3 |115.2
1988 Q4 |116.3
1989 Q1 |117.6
1989 Q2 |118.0
1989 Q3 |118.2
1989 Q4 |118.6
1990 Q1 |119.5
1990 Q2 |120.0
1990 Q3 |119.4
1990 Q4 |117.9
1991 Q1 |116.6
1991 Q2 |116.2
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Annual --------------------- 1970 |80.9 1971 |82.4 1972 |85.4 1973 |90.7 1974 |89.9 1975 |88.6 1976 |90.0 1977 |91.6 1978 |94.3 1979 |96.0 1980 |93.1 1981 |91.0 1982 |91.9 1983 |94.3 1984 |96.6 1985 |100.0 1986 |103.5 1987 |108.7 1988 |114.2 1989 |118.1 1990 |119.2 <1>Class 13 of the 1980 SIC.
Publicity
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give separate figures for the spending by (a) the Central Office of Information, (b) Her Majesty's Treasury, (c) the Department of National Savings, (d) Customs and Excise, (e) the Inland Revenue and (f) Her Majesty's Stationery Office on (i) television advertising, (ii) radio advertising, (iii) newspaper advertising and (iv) other promotional material in 1979-80 and in each following year ; and what are his latest estimates for 1991-92 and budgets for 1992-93.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer on 5 November 1991] : The expenditure by these departments on advertising and other promotional material is as follows :
For expenditure by the Central Office of Information, I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given by the Economic Secretary on 30 April 1991 at columns 144-45. The actual costs for 1990-91 were as follows : £51,360,000 on television advertising ; £1,640,000 on radio advertising ; £38,170,000 on press advertising ; and £33,500,000 on other promotional material. The forecast for 1991-92 is as follows : £34,500,000 on television advertising ; £1,000,000 on radio advertising ; £32,600,000 on press advertising ; and £34,200,000 on other promotional material.
Detailed decisions on estimated expenditure on advertising through the COI on behalf of other Government Departments for 1992-93 are for departmental Ministers.
For Her Majesty's Treasury, the expenditure for 1988-89 was £49,310, that for 1989-90 was £52,486, and that for 1990-91 was £43,581, none of which was on television or radio advertising. The latest estimate for 1991-92 is £84,193 none of which is likely to be spent on television or radio advertising. The advertising budget for 1992-93 has not yet been set. Comparable figures for earlier years are unavailable because of machinery of government changes and could be given only at disproportionate cost.
Her Majesty's Treasury is also running the advertising campaign in connection with the BT share offer, which began on 1 October 1991. This includes television, press and poster advertising. It is planned to end just before the close of the offer, which is on 4 December. The costs of the BT sale, including total marketing costs, will be reported to Parliament after the sale, in the normal way. For expenditure by the Department of National Savings I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given by the Economic Secretary on 8 May 1991, at column 458. The forecast for 1991-92 is now £6.1 million for television advertising and £2.9 million for press advertising, with the other figures unchanged. The advertising budget for 1992-93 has not yet been set.
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Her Majesty's Customs and Excise have not used television, radio or newspaper advertising for promotional purposes. The available information on other promotional material is as follows : £21,000 in 1984-85 ; £29,000 in 1985-86 ; £28,000 in 1986-87 ; £29,000 in 1987-88 ; £47,000 in 1988-89 ; £31,000 in 1989- 90 ; and £44,000 in 1990-91. The forecast for 1991-92 is £54,000. The advertising budgets for 1992-93 have not yet been set. These figures do not include recruitment advertising. Comparable figures for earlier years are unavailable.Expenditure by Inland Revenue is as follows : £15,000 for newspaper advertising and £300,000 for other advertising in 1986-87 ; £15,000 for newspaper advertising and £350,000 for other advertising in 1987-88 ; £20,000 for newspaper advertising and £250,000 for other advertising in 1988-89 ; £30,000 for newspaper advertising and £400, 000 for other advertising in 1989-90 ; £4,376,000 for television advertising, £2,155,000 for newspaper advertising and £679,000 for other advertising in 1990-91 ; and £20,000 for newspaper advertising and £300,000 for other advertising in 1991-92. The figures for 1990-91 include expenditure of £6.95 million on an advertising campaign to increase public awareness of the new arrangements for non-taxpayers to register for payment of bank and building society interest without deduction of income tax. The advertising budget for 1992-93 has not yet been set. Comparable figures for earlier years are not readily available and could be given only at disproportionate cost.
For expenditure by HMSO, I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given by the Economic Secretary on 8 May 1991, at column 460. The forecast for 1991-92 is £539,000 for advertising in newspapers and journals and £589,000 for other promotional material. The budgets for 1992-93 have not yet been set.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total expenditure by (a) Her Majesty's Treasury, (b) the Central Office of Information, (c) Customs and Excise, (d) the Department of National Savings and (e) Her Majesty's Stationery Office on press and public relations in 1979-80 and in each following year ; and what is his estimate for 1991-92 and budget for 1992-93.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 5 November 1991] : Expenditure on press and public relations is as follows : The expenditure for HM Treasury in 1988-89 was £548,264, that in 1989-90 was £564,691 and that in 1990-91 was £510,489. The forecast for 1991- 92 is £547,104. The budgets for 1992-93 have not yet been set. Comparable figures from 1979-80 to 1987-88 are unavailable due to machinery of Government changes and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
For details of the expenditure by the Central Office of Information, I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given by the Economic Secretary on 29 April 1991, at columns 5-6 . The actual costs for 1990-91 were £57,365 ; the forecast for 1991-92 is £66,919. The budgets for 1992-93 have not yet been set.
The expenditure by Customs and Excise is as follows : £63,000 in 1984- 85 ; £87,000 in 1985-86 ; £85,000 in 1986-87 ; £89,000 in 1987-88 ; £126,000 in 1988-89 ; £92,000 in 1989-90 ; £102,000 in 1990-91 ; and £86,000 in 1991-92. The budgets for 1992-93 have not yet been set. The figures for 1979 to 1984 are not available.
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For details of the expenditure by the Department of National Savings I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given by the Economic Secretary on 3 May, at column 354 . The budget for 1992-93 has not yet been set.HMSO has not recorded any expenditure on press and public relations.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Treasury has sent unsolicited direct mail as part of the distribution of publicity material.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 5 November 1991] : Yes. On both the 1987 BP secondary sale and the current BT secondary sale, unsolicited direct mail was sent to potential investors inviting anyone considering applying for shares in the offer to register with the share information office.
Tax Exemption
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all the exemptions available from taxation for the agricultural industry ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 6 November 1991] : The following reliefs and allowances are available to the agricultural industry : The same general rules apply to the calculation of a farmer's business profits as apply to other traders. But in addition, a farmer may claim to average his business profits over two consecutive years of assessment where the difference between them is 30 per cent. or more.
The Agricultural Buildings Allowance gives relief for capital expenditure on agricultural buildings and structures at a rate of 4 per cent. per annum straight-line.
For inheritance tax provided certain conditions are met, agricultural property relief is available at two rates. The relief operates by reducing the value of the property bought into charge by 50 per cent. for land with vacant possession and 30 per cent. for let land.
Working farmers can qualify for capital gains tax reliefs in the same way as other traders. These include rollover relief, retirement relief, and holdover relief on gifts of business assets or shares in unquoted trading companies. Holdover relief is also available on gifts of agricultural property which would attract 50 or 30 per cent. relief from inheritance tax.
Independent Schools
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the financial value of the tax concessions given to independent schools by virtue of their charitable status.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 6 November 1991] : This information is not available.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Drugs (Caribbean)
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures are being taken to tackle the drugs trade in the Caribbean.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The United Kingdom is active in promoting effective measures to tackle the drugs trade in the Caribbean, especially in the dependent territories. We have provided practical help, training and technical advice
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to enable countries to address every aspect of the threat. We have also recently undertaken a survey of drug trafficking and abuse problems in the anglophone eastern Caribbean. The survey makes a number of recommendations including : the provision of specialist equipment to the Trinidad and Tobago drugs squad ; the appointment of a regional customs adviser and training officer ; and advisory visits by the United Kingdom demand reduction task force. The action we are taking to implement these recommendations is a demonstration of Her Majesty's Government's continuing commitment to help the countries of the region deal with the scourge of drugs.SCOTLAND
Cot Deaths
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what research he has commissioned into the causes, epidemiology and cure of cot deaths in Scotland ;
(2) what research he has commissioned in Scotland on cot death syndrome.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : A variety of relevant research projects has been supported by the Scottish Office Home and Health Department throughout the 1980s at a cost of £230,000. In addition the Scottish Hospital Endowments Research trust has provided funding of £15,000 for one project.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what study he has made of New Zealand research into cot deaths and of the methods used in New Zealand to reduce the incidence of cot death.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : An expert group set up by the Chief Medical Officer for England and Wales has considered the New Zealand research along with other recent studies of cot death. Its recommendations were announced on 31 October 1991. The chief medical officer and the chief nursing officer in my Department will be writing to all doctors and other professionals in Scotland drawing attention to these recommendations.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what advice is issued by his Department on the way in which young babies should be laid to sleep to avoid cot death.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : No specific guidance on the sleeping position of infants has been issued in Scotland. However, I am aware of recent expert advice that avoiding the prone sleeping position when laying a baby to sleep reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome and will ensure that this information, and advice on other associated factors, is widely publicised.
Geriatric Provision
Dr. Reid : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has undertaken any study of the future demographic trends in Lanarkshire in the light of proposed changes to geriatric provision in the area.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Demographic trends is one of many factors taken into acount in my consideration of proposals affecting the organisation of health care.
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Contraceptive Advice
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the Scottish Office Home and Health Department maintains a register of centres providing specialist contraceptive advice for young people.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Such a register is not maintained centrally. Current guidance from the Scottish Office Home and Health Department about the provision of family planning services draws health boards' attention to the need for counselling facilities for young people.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which Scottish health boards provide a specialist contraceptive advice service for young people.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : This information is not available centrally. It is for individual health boards to determine the pattern of provision of these services and the extent to which designated facilities are provided.
Respite Care
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will increase resources to allow health boards to increase respite care provision as an integral component of effective community care ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Although resources will not be separately identified for respite care, the Government recognise the importance of the development of respite care in the effective provision of community care, and health board allocations will reflect this.
Eye Tests
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the number of people in Scotland who received eye tests during the 12 months ending October 1991 and the numbers receiving eye tests in the 12 months prior to the abolition of free tests ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information on the total number of sight tests carried out during the 12 months ending October 1991 is not available. In the 12 months prior to 1 April 1989 1,168,610 sight tests were conducted.
Operations, Glasgow
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on the numbers of patients in the Greater Glasgow health board area who, in the 12 months ending October 1991, have had to be admitted to NHS hospitals for similar operations to those which they have previously, within the same 12-month period, had performed at private hospitals ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : This information is not held centrally.
Parents Charter
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what calculation has been made of the additional staffing needs for Her Majesty's inspectorate under the parents charter ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 6 November 1991] : The proposals of the parents charter have implications for the work of Her Majesty's inspectorate. I am considering how these proposals are to be met in the context of the inspectorate's functions and responsibilities overall.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Custody Alternatives
9. Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional funding he intends to make available to the probation service and voluntary organisations for alternatives to custody projects for young people convicted of burglary and driving away a motor vehicle.
Mr. John Patten : The increase in probation service expenditure announced yesterday will enable the service to strengthen its work with these offenders. So too will the extra £1 million a year for the voluntary sector projects.
Bail Offenders
13. Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the offending patterns of persons on bail.
Mr. John Patten : Home Office researchers have been reviewing recent studies by the police and others of offending on bail. The findings will be made available soon.
Political Asylum
14. Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultation with immigrant groups he has had in relation to his new rules on political asylum.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : We made available a draft of new asylum rules when the Asylum Bill was published last Friday. We are in regular contact with interested organisations and will take account of whatever comments they may have.
20. Mr. Viggers : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on any proposals he has to control immigration by those claiming political asylum.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : An Asylum Bill was published last Friday. At the same time we made available draft asylum rules. My noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor made available draft appeals procedure rules. These measures will allow us to reduce substantially the current misuse of asylum procedures, while protecting the position of genuine refugees.
Dorset Police
15. Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the level of police manpower for Dorset ; and how his Department takes account of the additional resources needed for a county with a large number of seasonal visitors.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : At the end of August, there were 1,302 police officers in the Dorset Police, an increase of 14 per
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cent. since the Government first took office. In allocating increases in establishments to forces, my right hon. Friend takes account of a wide range of factors which influence demands on the police, with the professional advice of Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary on circumstances peculiar to each force, such as the volume of seasonal visits.Television Franchises
16. Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has made any assessment of the financial viability of the regional television companies following the acceptance of the new franchises.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : No. The Broadcasting Act 1990 requires the ITC to be satisfied that the winning applicant would be able to maintain the licensed service throughout the period for which the licence would be in force. In reaching its decisions, the commission had access to confidential business plans submitted by the bidders.
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