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Energy Division Personnel

Mr. Salmond: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received concerning the transfer of (a) personnel and (b) responsibilities from his Department's energy division to Scotland; and what plans he has to make such a transfer. [5112]

Mr. Eggar: In addition to those representations made by the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan, I have received representations from Grampian regional council and the city of Aberdeen district council about the scope for transferring additional jobs and responsibilities to the Department of Trade and Industry's oil and gas office in Aberdeen. A review of the current staffing position is taking place and, once this is complete, I will meet with representatives of the councils.

Estimated Funding

Mr. Nigel Griffiths: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list immediately the figures that determined the estimated funding of the (a) National Association of Citizens' Advice Bureaux, (b) National Consumer Council, (c) Gas Consumer Council, (d) Post Office Users National Council, (e) POAC, (f) Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, (g) DTI's consumer safety programme and (h) Central Rail Users Consultative Committee for each year from 1993-94 at 1995 prices, together with the percentage change (i) per annum and (ii) since 1993-94, including the 1996-97 figure following the November Budget statement. [5283]

Mr. John M. Taylor [holding answer 12 December 1995]: The information in respect of the earlier years was provided in the reply which I gave to the hon. Member on 6 December 1995, Official Report, columns 290-91. I shall provide the figures for the 1996-97 allocations when they have been determined.

Share Ownership

Mr. Cousins: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Derby, South, (Mrs. Beckett) Official Report, 5 December 1995, columns 154-56, what percentage of total shares and individually owned shares were represented by personal equity plans for the years referred to. [5636]

Mrs. Angela Knight: I have been asked to reply.

13 Dec 1995 : Column: 641

Table A shows the available information on the percentage of total shares held in personal equity plans.

Table A: Personal equity plans(3) as a percentage of total shares in issue(4)

	Percentage of Total Shares
December 1987	0.1
December 1988	0.2
April 1990	0.5
April 1991	0.8
April 1992	1.2
April 1993	1.8
April 1994	2.6

(3) Personal equity plans were introduced on 1 January.

(4) Fully listed UK companies on the London stock exchange. The

available data for PEPs includes investments in other companies as well as those listed on the London stock exchange. These other investments are thought to be very small by comparison and are unlikely to have a significant affect on the figures given in the table.

Estimates of the proportion of shares held by individuals in PEPs are not available because of timing differences in when data are collected. Table B shows the available information.

Table B

Shares held directly by individuals	£ million	Shares held directly by individuals in PEPs	£ million
December 1989	104,300	December 1987	300
December 1990	90,500	December 1988	490
December 1991	105,300	April 1990	1,380
December 1992	125,400	April 1991	2,440
December 1993	141,100	April 1992	3,550
December 1994	154,600	April 1993	5,710
		April 1994	6,870

Mr. Cousins: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Derby, South of 5 December, Official Report, columns 154-56, if he will state all holdings of personal equity plans with special reference to such holdings in the form of bonds, collective investments such as unit trusts or collective funds or directly held shares treated as individually owned shares. [5635]

Mrs. Angela Knight: I have been asked to reply.

I refer the hon. Member to figure 4 of the publication "Share Ownership, A report on the Ownership of Shares at 31 December 1994", which is available in the House of Commons Library.

ENVIRONMENT

Rating Appeals

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Enviornment how many rating appeals in England and Wales have been outstanding for more than one year; and what percentage they represent of the total number of rating proposals (a) submitted and still outstanding and (b) submitted in total. [4789]

Sir Paul Beresford: A total of 35,877 appeals against the 1973, the 1990 and the 1995 rating lists have now been outstanding in England and Wales for more than one

13 Dec 1995 : Column: 642

year. This represents 8.3 per cent. of all rating proposals still outstanding, and 0.6 per cent. of the total number of proposals received.

Valuation Tribunals

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average length of time taken from the acknowledgement of a proposal to a valuation tribunal hearing date. [4790]

Sir Paul Beresford: This information is not collected.

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Enviornment what is the average cost of a valuation tribunal hearing per case in England and Wales. [4792]

Sir Paul Beresford: Details of the costs of individual tribunal hearings are not held centrally. In 1994-95, expenditure on the tribunal service in England and Wales amounted to £11.6 million, and 807,500 appeals transmitted to valuation tribunals were cleared.

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of valuation tribunal members are aged over 70 years. [4794]

Sir Paul Beresford: This information is not held by my Department. However, no one who has attained the age of 72 years may be a member of a valuation tribunal.

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to ensure that each case heard before valuation tribunals is presided over by a single paid chartered surveyor or lawyer who is an expert in property rating. [4788]

Sir Paul Beresford: None.

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to introduce a statutory time limit for the listing of a valuation tribunal hearing in respect of rating appeals. [4791]

Sir Paul Beresford: None. Valuation tribunals are independent judicial bodies.

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many hours training per annum valuation tribunal members receive and what is the average cost of training per tribunal member in England and Wales. [4793]

Sir Paul Beresford: Around £100,000 is provided annually from my Department's votes for training by the National Committee of Valuation Tribunals for the 2,500 members in England, and £12,000 by the Welsh Office for the 285 members in Wales. Other training is also carried out by the individual tribunals themselves. No information is collected on the number of hours training provided.

Tyne and Wear Development Corporation

Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussion his Department has held with (a) the Tyne and Wear development corporation and (b) the city of Sunderland regarding the transfer and hand over of Tyne and Wear development corporation functions in preparation for 1997. [5121]

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Sir Paul Beresford: I discussed issues relating to the wind-up of the Tyne and Wear development corporation at the corporation's corporate plan meeting earlier this year.

The Department has not held formal discussions with the city of Sunderland about the wind up of the urban development corporation in 1998.

Battersea Power Station

Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he last received a report on the condition of Battersea power station; what assessment his Department has made of the current state of the building's fabric; and what applications have been received for demolition. [5313]

Sir Paul Beresford: The Secretary of State for the Environment has received no reports on the condition of the building. The building is regularly inspected by English Heritage and was last inspected on 9 November 1995. I understand that the next visit is scheduled for 5 January next year. We have received no applications for demolition.

Brent Irish Centre

Ms Armstrong: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library a copy of the district audit public interest report on the Brent Irish centre; and if he will issue guidance to the council on the status of this report. [5595]

Sir Paul Beresford: This is not a matter for Government, but for the London borough of Brent and its appointed auditor. It is the council's responsibility to make copies of the report available, under section 18A of the Local Government Finance Act 1991. Sections 5 and 6 of the Local Government Act 1992 specify the follow-up action that Brent council must take.

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