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Mr. Gerrard : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 19 January, Official Report, columns 698-99, when the hon. Member for Walthamstow can expect to receive the letter referred to.

Mr. Peter Lloyd : I wrote to the hon. Member yesterday.

Cannabis (Sentencing)

Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is (a) the average sentence and (b) the range of sentences for those convicted of dealing in cannabis in the latest convenient period ; and how many people are currently in prison for this offence.

Mr. Maclean : The information requested is contained in tables S2.28 and S2.31 of the Home Office statistical bulletin, issue 30/93 "Statistics of drugs seizures and offenders dealt with, United Kingdom, 1992 (Supplementary tables)", a copy of which is in the Library.

Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are in prison as a result of convictions for possessing cannabis.

Mr. Maclean : Information on the number of persons in prison on 30 June 1992--the latest date for which figures are available--is contained in table S2.31 of the Home Office statistical bulletin No. 30/93 "Statistics of drugs seizures and offenders dealt with, United Kingdom 1992 (Supplementary tables)", a copy of which is in the Library.

Contracting Out (Pension Rights)

Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued about the effect of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 and the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 on the transfer of pension rights in services in his Department which are subject to contracting out.

Mr. Howard : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 18 February, Official Report, column 1010.

Members (Statutory References)

Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the statutory references to hon. Members in respect of (a) parliamentary constituency boundaries, (b) disqualification and (c) any other matters.

Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information is as follows :

(a) There are no references to hon.Members in the legislation governing the drawing of parliamentary constituency boundaries. (

(b) The main statutory references to disqualification for membership of the House of Commons are contained in the Parliamentary Elections Act 1695, the Act of Settlement 1700 and schedule 7 to the British Nationality Act 1981, the House of Commons (Clergy


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Disqualification) Act 1801, the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918, the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, the Representation of the People Act 1981, the Representation of the People Act 1983, and section 427 of the Insolvency Act 1986.

(c) Information about other statutory references to hon. Members is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Fires (Letting Accommodation)

Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fires occurred, by fire authority, in letting accommodation not requiring fire certification as a result of six-bedspace legislation in each year since 1983.

Mr. Charles Wardle : The statistical information requested on the number of fires in such properties is not available centrally.

Urgent Inquiries

Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his target for replying to urgent inquiries from hon. Members.

Mr. Howard : I have no specific target for replying to urgent inquiries from hon. Members but I aim to do so as quickly as possible. Inquiries requiring urgent attention are identified by my private office which ensures that they are treated with priority.

Asylum Seekers

Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will respond to the resolution of the European Parliament concerning the deserters and conscientious objectors in former Yugoslavia ; and what action will be taken to assist those individuals.

Mr. Charles Wardle : We have noted the terms of this resolution. All applications for asylum, including those from deserters and draft evaders, are considered carefully on their merits in accordance with our obligations under the 1951 United Nations convention on the status of refugees.

Mr. Gerrard : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list, by country of origin, how many asylum seekers whose applications were made before the enactment of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 have since had their application determined ; how many were granted refugee status ; how many were granted exceptional leave to remain ; and how many were refused ; (2) if he will list, by country of origin, how many asylum seekers have made application since the enactment of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 ; how many of these applications have been determined ; how many applicants have been granted refugee status ; and how many have been granted exceptional leave to remain.

Mr. Charles Wardle : The table provides information on applications and decisions made in the period 1 August 1993 to 31 January 1994. A split of the decision figures between those where the application was lodged before enactment of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 and those lodged after is not readily available.


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Applications<1> received for asylum in the United Kingdom, excluding dependants, and decisions<1>, by nationality, 1 August 1993 to 31 January 1994           

Number of principal applicants                                                                                                                                

                                 Applications         Decisions<2><3>                                                                                         

                                |received<2>                                                                                                                  

                                                     |Total decisions     |Recognised as a     |Not recognised as a |Total refusals<6>                        

                                                                          |refugee and         |refugee but granted                                           

                                                                          |granted asylum<4>   |exceptional leave<5>                                          

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

Europe and Americas                                                                                                                                           

Bulgaria                        |55                  |20                  |-                   |*                   |15                                       

Colombia                        |175                 |70                  |-                   |*                   |70                                       

Romania                         |150                 |155                 |-                   |5                   |150                                      

Turkey                          |730                 |515                 |80                  |40                  |400                                      

Former USSR                     |195                 |25                  |-                   |-                   |25                                       

Former Yugoslavia               |620                 |155                 |5                   |100                 |55                                       

Others                          |325                 |80                  |*                   |*                   |80                                       

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

Total                           |2,255               |1,020               |80                  |145                 |790                                      

                                                                                                                                                              

Africa                                                                                                                                                        

Angola                          |195                 |145                 |*                   |*                   |140                                      

Benin                           |5                   |15                  |-                   |-                   |15                                       

Cameroon                        |35                  |15                  |-                   |-                   |15                                       

Congo                           |5                   |10                  |-                   |-                   |10                                       

Ethiopia                        |295                 |95                  |5                   |25                  |65                                       

Ghana                           |925                 |630                 |*                   |*                   |625                                      

Nigeria                         |1,200               |315                 |-                   |5                   |315                                      

Sierra Leone                    |475                 |170                 |*                   |5                   |165                                      

Somalia                         |600                 |760                 |10                  |615                 |135                                      

Sudan                           |145                 |120                 |35                  |10                  |75                                       

Togo/Ivory Coast                |180                 |95                  |-                   |*                   |90                                       

Uganda                          |185                 |205                 |*                   |15                  |185                                      

Zaire                           |245                 |250                 |*                   |5                   |245                                      

Others                          |905                 |420                 |10                  |50                  |380                                      

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

Total                           |5,405               |3,245               |65                  |740                 |2,445                                    

                                                                                                                                                              

Middle East                                                                                                                                                   

Iran                            |160                 |80                  |40                  |5                   |35                                       

Iraq                            |260                 |145                 |75                  |60                  |15                                       

Lebanon                         |145                 |50                  |*                   |5                   |40                                       

Others                          |145                 |130                 |10                  |15                  |110                                      

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

Total                           |705                 |405                 |120                 |85                  |200                                      

                                                                                                                                                              

Asia                                                                                                                                                          

China                           |120                 |40                  |10                  |5                   |30                                       

India                           |685                 |560                 |*                   |5                   |560                                      

Pakistan                        |545                 |330                 |-                   |5                   |320                                      

Sri Lanka                       |1,130               |235                 |5                   |50                  |180                                      

Others                          |315                 |130                 |5                   |5                   |120                                      

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

Total                           |2,795               |1,295               |20                  |65                  |1,210                                    

                                                                                                                                                              

Other and unknown nationalities |130                 |25                  |-                   |*                   |25                                       

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

Grand Total                     |11,285              |6,000               |290                 |1,040               |4,670                                    

<1>Provisional figures rounded to the nearest 5 with *=1 or 2.                                                                                                

<2>Figures exclude information on applications made overseas.                                                                                                 

<3>Decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in the period.                                                                                    

<4>Excluding south-east Asian refugees.                                                                                                                       

<5>Usually granted for a year in the first instance, subject than to further review.                                                                          

<6>Total refused includes: those refused after full consideration, those refused on third country grounds where the applicant had arrived from a safe         

third country, and those refused under paragraph 180F of the immigration rules for failure to provide evidence to support the asylum claim within a           

reasonable period, including failure to respond to two invitations to interview to establish identity.                                                        

NATIONAL FINANCE

Advertising

Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all television advertising, newspaper advertising, radio advertising and other promotional campaigns with a budgeted cost in excess of £10,000 conducted by (a) Her Majesty's Treasury and (b) his agencies (i) in the current financial year and (ii) planned


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for 1994-95, showing for each the objectives and mechanisms for assessing the effectiveness of the advertising.

Mr. Nelson : The information requested covering the Treasury is shown in the table. None of the Chancellor's agencies mounted campaigns costing more than £10,000. The information relating to campaigns to promote the sale of coins covers those which are paid for by the Treasury. It does not include campaigns mounted by the Royal Mint to promote sales of its other products.


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Campaign                                           |Objectives                                        |Cost £                                            |Effectiveness                                                                                        

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

HM Treasury                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

1993-94                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

BT3 share offer                                    |To inform prospective purchasers that the BT3     |13,500,000                                        | Effectiveness was assessed through market                                                           

                                                   |share offer was taking place and the key dates                                                       |research conducted on hehalf of the Treasury                                                         

                                                   |on which action had to be taken.                                                                     |and involving the Central Office of                                                                  

                                                                                                                                                         |Information.                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

£5 Coronation crown                                |To promote sales of the circulating of the 1993 £5|470,000                                           |Sales of the coin were monitored before and after                                                    

                                                   |coronation crown.                                                                                    |the campaign.                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

1994-95                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

£2 Commemorative coin                              |To promote sales of the £2 commemorative coin.    |415,000                                           |Sales of the coin will be monitored before and                                                       

                                                                                                                                                         |after the campaign.                                                                                  

Mortgage Protection

Mr. Battle : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will seek to assess the Financial Services Act 1986 to include the sale of mortgage protection policies.

Mr. Nelson : I have no plans to extend the range of insurance products which fall within the scope of the Financial Services Act 1986.

Mr. Battle : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department plans to take to encourage the development of mortgage protection policies for borrowers.

Mr. Nelson : The Government believe that the development of mortgage protection policies is a matter for the insurance market.


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VAT (Domestic Fuel)

Mr. Devlin : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue will be raised by the imposition of 8 per cent. VAT on domestic fuel.

Sir John Cope : Figures published in the 1993-94 "Financial Statement and Budget Report" show that imposing VAT at 8 per cent. on domestic fuel is expected to raise £950 million in 1994-5.

Insurance Premium Tax

Mrs. Roche : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received regarding the number of people who will not be able to afford house contents insurance due to his imposition of a 3 per cent. levy ; and if he will make a statement.

Sir John Cope : I have received no such specific representations. At the low rate proposed the tax is unlikely to have any significant effect on the take-up of insurance.


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Mortgage Repossessions

Mr. Battle : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what response his Department has made to the report by the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux on mortgage repossessions.

Mr. Nelson : I was interested to read the recent NACAB report on mortgage repossessions. I commented on the report in a letter to Ms Ann Abraham, the chief executive of NACAB, on 25 November 1993 and I am placing a copy of my letter in the Library. Since then, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has published figures showing a further significant fall in mortgage arrears and possessions in 1993.

National Tax Burden

Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate what the nation's tax burden as a percentage of gross domestic product will be in 1998-99 ; and what this figure was in 1978-79.

Mr. Dorrell : Estimates for the non-North sea tax burden are shown in table 2A.2 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1994-95".


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Tax Increases

Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the most recent representations he has received concerning the cost to the average family of the cumulative tax increases announced since last March.

Mr. Dorrell : Treasury Ministers have received a number of letters from correspondents about the impact of the Budget on their family finances.

Finance and Business Sector

Mr. Darling : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of gross domestic product for (a) the United Kingdom and (b) each region was accounted for to the finance and business sector in each year between 1983 and 1993.

Mr. Nelson : The latest available estimates consistent with the United Kingdom "National Accounts Blue Book", 1993 edition, expressed in percentage terms are as follows :


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Percentage of Gross Domestic Product in the finance and business sector<1>                                 

                   |1983   |1984   |1985   |1986   |1987   |1988   |1989   |1990   |1991   |<2>1992        

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

North              |5      |6      |7      |7      |7      |7      |7      |7      |7      |8              

Yorkshire and Humberside 5  5       6       7       7       6       7       8       8       8              

East Midlands      |6      |6      |7      |7      |7      |7      |8      |8      |8      |8              

East Anglia        |7      |7      |8      |8      |9      |9      |9      |9      |9      |9              

Greater London     |15     |15     |17     |19     |21     |21     |22     |23     |22     |22             

Rest of South East |13     |13     |14     |15     |16     |17     |17     |17     |16     |16             

South West         |8      |8      |8      |9      |10     |9      |10     |10     |10     |9              

West Midlands      |7      |7      |7      |8      |9      |8      |9      |9      |8      |9              

North West         |7      |7      |7      |8      |8      |8      |9      |9      |9      |9              

Wales              |5      |5      |6      |6      |7      |6      |7      |7      |7      |7              

Scotland           |7      |7      |8      |8      |9      |8      |9      |9      |9      |10             

Northern Ireland   |5      |5      |6      |7      |7      |7      |7      |8      |7      |7              

United Kingdom     |9      |9      |10     |11     |12     |12     |12     |13     |12     |12             

<1>Excluding rent on dwellings.                                                                            

<2>1992 results are provisional.                                                                           

Mortgage Interest Rates

Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table giving (a) the average mortgage interest rate for the leading building societies on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October of each year since 1990, (b) the average interest rate paid to investors by the leading building societies on each of these dates and (c) the differential between them.

Mr. Nelson : The table gives (a) the average mortgage rates charged by building societies, (b) the average share rates paid by them and (c) the difference between the two, on each date specified. The rates are taken from "Financial Statistics" published by the Central Statistical Office. The interest rate paid to investors has been enhanced to take account of withheld tax paid by societies direct to the Inland Revenue, on investors' behalf.


              |Mortgage rate|Gross share  |Differential               

                            |rate                                     

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

                                                                      

1990                                                                  

  January     |14.44        |13.28        |1.16                       

  April       |15.24        |14.21        |1.03                       

  July        |15.25        |14.37        |0.88                       

  October     |15.25        |14.44        |0.81                       

                                                                      

1991                                                                  

  January     |14.34        |13.41        |0.93                       

  April       |14.24        |12.71        |1.53                       

  July        |12.75        |10.61        |2.14                       

  October     |11.82        |9.77         |2.05                       

                                                                      

1992                                                                  

  January     |11.39        |9.69         |1.70                       

  April       |10.96        |9.23         |1.73                       

  July        |10.82        |8.84         |1.98                       

  October     |10.60        |8.41         |2.19                       

                                                                      

1993                                                                  

  January     |8.98         |6.29         |2.69                       

  April       |8.04         |5.76         |2.28                       

  July        |8.01         |5.80         |2.21                       

  October     |8.00         |5.77         |2.23                       

                                                                      

1994                                                                  

  January     |8.00         |5.32         |2.68                       

Source: Financial Statistics (CSO).                                   


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LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL

Bolton Institute of Higher Education

Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Lord President of the Council when he expects to make a decision concerning the application of Bolton institute of higher education to become a university.

Mr. Newton : No such application has been received. There is however an application for the institute to be granted powers to grant research degrees, which is currently under consideration.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Secretarial Allowances

Mr. Cryer : To ask the Lord President of the Council how many hon. Members pay their secretarial allowances into private or public limited companies.

Mr. Newton : There has been no significant change in the number of Members who have authorised payments from their office costs allowance direct to companies and other organisations from that quoted in my reply to the hon. Member on 19 July, 1993, Official Report, columns 23-24.

Automated Access Control

Sir Nicholas Fairbairn : To ask the Lord President of the Council what assessment he has made of the effect on Divisions of the House of the introduction of automated access control at the entrance to New Palace Yard ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Newton : No such specific assessment has been undertaken, but I am not aware of any significant difficulties having been caused in relation to Divisions. It is, of course, the practice for the side gate at the subway entrance to be open during Divisions, to avoid any risk of congestion at the turnstiles.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Korean Peninsula

Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the United States Government about tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Mr. Goodlad : We are in regular and continuous contact with the United States Government on Korean matters.

Sudan

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in the IGADD-- Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development--talks seeking to bring peace in Sudan.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : Intergovernmental Authority for Drought and Development leaders have had some success in reconciling the factions of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, who agreed on 6 January to a joint


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position on an agenda for peace talks. But progress with the Sudanese Government is more limited. On 17 February the Sudanese Government announced the postponement of a meeting between Presidents Bashir and Moi arranged for 18 February. We urge the Sudanese Government to respond positively to the IGADD initiative and make a serious effort to achieve a negotiated settlement.

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will press at the United Nations Security Council for a no-fly zone to prevent the bombing of civilian targets in southern Sudan.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : We deplore the latest outbreak of fighting in the south, and condemn the bombing by the Sudanese air force of civilian targets. On 21 February we and our European Union partners issued a declaration to this effect, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. We have not ruled out recourse to the United Nations Security Council but would not want to pursue this option unless we were confident that it would be constructive.

Kashmir

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress there has been in the talks between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Talks at permanent secretary level between India and Pakistan on Kashmir resumed last month in Islamabad after a gap of over a year. We were encouraged that both sides were prepared to discuss their differences over Kashmir at length. We hope that they will continue their efforts to resolve the Kashmir problem through bilateral dialogue.

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is British Government policy that the Simla agreement should form the basis for progress in talks between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We continue to believe that the best way forward on Kashmir should involve simultaneous progress on dialogue between India and Pakistan as provided for under the 1972 Simla agreement, an improvement in human rights in Kashmir and a genuine political progress there, and an end to external support for violence in Kashmir.

Somalia

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what significant changes in the United Nations position on Somalia have been made following the recent meeting of the Security Council.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Security Council reviewed the mandate of UNOSOM II during late January/early February in light of the decision by the United States of America and most European nations to withdraw most of their forces from Somalia at the end of March 1994. SCR 897 of 4 February 1994 redefines UNOSOM II's mandate as : (

(a) Encouraging and assisting the Somali parties in implementing the "Addis Ababa Agreements", in particular in their co-operative efforts to achieve disarmament and to respect the ceasefire ; (


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(b) Protecting major ports and airports and essential infrastructure and safeguarding the lines of communications vital to the provision of humanitarian relief and reconstruction assistance ; (

(c) Continuing its efforts to provide humanitarian relief to all in need throughout the country ;

(d) Assisting in the reorganisation of the Somali police and judicial system ;

(e) Helping with the repatriation and resettlement of refugees and displaced persons ;

(f) Assisting also in the ongoing political process in Somalia, which should culminate in the installation of a democratically elected government ;

(g) Providing protection for the personnel, installations and equipment of the United Nations and its agencies, as well as of non-governmental organisations providing humanitarian relief and reconstruction assistance.

The main difference between the new mandate and the previous one is that United Nations troops will no longer attempt to disarm factions by coercive means, but will instead rely on the parties to disarm voluntarily.

European Court of Human Rights

Mr. Boateng : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the average length of time for the disposal of a case before the European Court of Human Rights from the time of petition to the time of setting down for trial.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The average time taken from petition to the European Commission of Human Rights to judgment by the Court is about four and a half years.

Mr. Boateng : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many petitions have been brought by United Kingdom citizens before the European Court of Human Rights in each of the years since its establishment.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : Cases are referred to the European Court of Human Rights by the Commission or by the state concerned, not by individuals. We do not have a figure for the total number of petitions received by the Commission. Many are rejected as unfounded or frivolous, and details of these are not notified to the Governments concerned.

Mr. Boateng : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many judgments adverse to the British Government have been delivered by the European Court of Human Rights.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The European Court of Human Rights has delivered 31 judgments adverse to the United Kingdom.

Mr. Boateng : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many petitions brought by United Kingdom citizens have been accepted by the European Court of Human Rights as being within its jurisdiction in each of the years since its establishment.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : In all, 48 individual applications against the United Kingdom have been referred by the European Commission of Human Rights to the Court and resulted in judgments on the merits. The number of those applications which have been brought by United Kingdom citizens is not readily available and could be determined only at disproportionate cost.


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Hong Kong

Mr. Waterson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in the talks with China over Hong Kong's constitutional development ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Goodlad : A White Paper on the development of representative Government in Hong Kong will be published and laid before Parliament on Thursday 24 February. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The White Paper will explain the background to the talks with China on electoral issues in Hong Kong, give a summary of the talks, and an assessment of the proposals put forward by both sides against our requirement that the elections should be open and fair.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Electricity (Rural Properties)

Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assistance is available in Northern Ireland to connect rural properties to the mains electricity supply.

Mr. Tim Smith : I understand it is the practice of Northern Ireland Electricity plc to bear 40 per cent. of the cost of connecting rural properties.

Public Bodies

Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who are the members currently appointed to the Northern Ireland Higher Education Council.

Mr. Ancram : Membership of the Northern Ireland Higher Education Council is as follows :

Sir Kenneth Bloomfield KCB (Chairman)

Mr. Roy Bailie

Professor Peter Bush

Mr. Dan Harvey

Dr. Tony Hughes

Dr. Paula Kilbane

Professor Peter H. McKie

Mr. Declan Morgan

Mr. Finlay Scott

Professor Dorothy Severin


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