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Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Mr. Bayley: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much money the Medical Research Council has spent in each of the last 10 years and how much it estimates it will spend in the current year and each of the next three years on research (a) into the risk of transmission of the BSE agent from cattle to (i) humans and (ii) other primates, (b) into an early diagnostic test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and (c) effective treatment for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. [6187]

Mr. Ian Taylor: In 1994-95 the total spend by the MRC on research directly or indirectly related to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, including BSE, was £0.75 million. This included CJD related transmission studies to address the possible relationship between CJD and BSE in individuals who might potentially have been exposed to high levels of BSE because of their occupation. The corresponding figure for 1985-86 was £235,000. Data for the intervening years are not available. The major part of the MRC programme is funded in partnership with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council at the neuropathogenesis unit in Edinburgh.

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Although the MRC does not currently fund applied research into diagnostic tests or treatment of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, some of the fundamental research into transmissible spongiform encephalopathies aims to improve the understanding of the pathogenesis of these disorders in man and, thus, indirectly diagnosis and treatment. The Council has funded research into transmission of spongiform encephalopathies in primates in the past but is not doing so at present.

The Council's expenditure in future years is partly dependent upon applications received, assessed and awarded in the annual competitions, and it is not possible to predict the level of spend. The council does place strategic importance on ensuring that there is high quality research in these areas.

Fuel Prices

Mr. Battle: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list for each year since 1985 (a) the average beach price of gas, (b) the average pithead price of coal and (c) the average imported price of coal in unit prices. [5886]

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Mr. Page: The information requested is given in the table.

	Average beach gas price(6)	Average pithead coal price(7)	Average imported coal price(7)
	pence/kWh	£/GJ	£/GJ
1985-86	0.586	1.86	1.27
1986-87	0.523	1.77	1.06
1987-88	0.478	1.73	0.87
1988-89	0.500	1.79	0.91
1989-90	0.528	1.77	1.08
1990-91	0.575	1.77	1.00
1991	0.595	--	--
1991-92	--	1.83	1.03
1992	0.590	--	--
1992-93	--	1.84	1.02
1993	0.600	--	--
1993-94	--	1.51	0.99
1994	0.618	--	--
1994-95	--	1.40	0.99

(6) Average price of gas purchased by British Gas. Excluding the levy on indigenous supplies. Data ceased to be available on a financial year basis in 1991.

(7) The figures cover coal production and imports in the United Kingdom. The average price for imported coal is recorded at the port.

Regional Offices

Mr. Caborn: To ask the President of the Board of Trade in what ways the regional directors of the integrated regional offices are accountable to Parliament. [6693]

Mr. Eggar: The regional directors of the Government offices for the regions are civil servants reporting jointly to the Secretaries of State for the Environment, for Education and Employment, and for Transport, and to the President of the Board of Trade, each of whom is accountable to Parliament for the work of his or her Department.

Mr. Caborn: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what performance measures the Government are using to assess the effectiveness of the integrated regional offices. [6692]

Mr. Eggar: Each Government office is being set performance targets in the areas of competitiveness, regeneration and sustainable development, the

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development of partnerships, the internal management of the office and the administration of departmental programmes. These targets are being developed as part of the Government offices MINIS exercise, and will be published in the new financial year.

Mr. Caborn: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the programme expenditure for each of the integrated regional offices. [6694]

Mr. Eggar: The information requested is as follows:

Department for Trade and Industry: 1995-96

	Expected expenditure outturn (£m)
European Regional Development Fund Payment to third parties	47.6
Regional Selective Assistance	103.5
Inward Investments	12.4
Locally delivered Business Services(8)	135.8
Export Promotion Schemes and Services	55.7
Small Firms' Merit Award for Research and Technology (SMART)	11.9
Support for Programmes under Research (SPUR)	7.9

Notes: The table identifies the main DTI programmes in whose administration and delivery the Government Offices are involved. The Government Offices are not directly involved in administering or delivering the whole amount of the programme expenditure identified in the table. Regional breakdowns for DTI programmes are not available.

(8) Includes development of Business Links.

Department of Transport: 1995-96

Government office	Forecast outturn (£k)
NE	152
NW	75
YH	55
M	40
WM	46
EM	20
ER	38
SW	53
SE	91
L	6,062

Expenditure includes the costs of the Woolwich Ferry, transportation studies, statutory advertising and public enquiries.

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Department for Education and Employment: 1995-96

Budgets (£k)	NE	NW	YH	M	WM	EM	ER	SW	SE	L
Employers Investment in People/Investors in People	3,292	7,936	6,505	2,179	6,064	5,366	4,509	3,731	6,283	9,061
Skills for Small Businesses	439	975	876	267	966	719	905	857	1,430	1,566
Childcare Grants	976	2,020	1,712	548	1,917	1,438	2,003	1,626	2,653	2,225
Training for Work Fees	24,984	29,996	32,556	20,021	29,212	19,209	18,943	23,635	23,285	47,445
Allowances	26,030	31,251	33,919	20,804	30,435	20,013	19,736	24,624	24,260	46,996
Youth Training, Youth Credit and Modern Apprenticeships	54,987	102,821	76,354	31,974	73,680	61,130	63,398	54,509	77,395	59,120
Accelerated Modern Apprenticeship Starts	734	975	897	300	913	718	991	804	1,302	986
Pre-16 work Experience	325	407	284	118	740	280	642	385	1,082	437
Competitiveness Fund	1,164	2,588	2,124	713	2,609	1,521	1,943	1,903	3,209	2,813
Development Fund	588	1,307	1,072	360	1,317	768	981	961	1,529	1,420
Careers Service including London Central Careers Unit	10,783	21,680	20,741	7,084	20,404	14,658	19,549	16,621	27,690	26,202
Careers Staff and Teacher Training	237	481	462	137	441	313	418	350	587	534
Careers Libraries	83	179	159	46	172	128	171	149	246	190

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Department of the Environment: 1995-96

Forecast outturn (£ million)	NE	NW	YH	M	WM	EM	ER	SW	SE	L
Housing investment programme	64.9	134.4	119.7	37.1	136.7	84.3	93.6	97.8	136.8	337.0
Housing partnership fund	1.6	2.8	2.7	0.7	3.1	1.9	2.1	2.8	3.2	9.7
Cash incentive scheme	0.6	1.9	0.3	0.7	1.9	1.5	4.8	2.6	10.9	34.6
Specified capital grant for private sector renewal	12.6	52.0	32.3	13.5	49.1	25.6	24.4	33.8	43.6	49.8
Single regeneration budget	151.7	139.5	127.9	101.4	137.5	72.1	9.3	31.8	9.8	328.4
European regional development fund(9)	12.5	17.9	19.2	14.9	10.8	8.3	--	4.5	0.6	--

(9) Figures for European regional development fund are the period 1 April 1994 to 15 December 1995.

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Regional Selective Assistance

Mr. Caborn: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the average regional selective assistance expenditure per head of working population in the assisted areas for the period 1993 to 1995. [6696]

Mr. Eggar: During the period 1 April 1993 to 31 March 1995, average expenditure per head of working population in the assisted areas of England was £31.

Mr. Caborn: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the allocation of regional selective assistance between foreign-owned and United Kingdom-owned firms for the period 1994-95. [6697]

Mr. Eggar: The value of offers accepted in England was:

UK owned £ million: 101.2
Foreign owned £ million: 59.3.

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