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Nursery Education Vouchers

Ms Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if nursery education vouchers for parents of four-year-olds in receipt of income support, family credit or disability working allowance will be treated as income for the purpose of calculation of benefit. [11709]

Mr. Roger Evans: I have been asked to reply.

The answer is no.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Compliance Cost Assessments

Mr. Nigel Griffiths: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list those regulations laid since 1990 which have required compliance cost assessments. [12863]

Mr. Freeman: Details of compliance cost assessments issued since November 1993 on regulations are set out in the following Command Papers:

1 November 1993 to 30 June 1994: Cm 2719
1 July 1994 to 31 December 1994: Cm 2881
1 January 1995 to 30 June 1995: Cm 3075

Further Command Papers listing compliance cost assessments issued in the preceding six months will be published at six-monthly intervals.

Details of compliance cost assessments issued prior to November 1993 are not centrally available.

SCOTLAND

Housing

Mr. McMaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what restrictions are placed upon a tenant's right

6 Feb 1996 : Column: 135

to buy a local authority house if that house has been fitted with a community alarm system. [12220]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: Under section 69 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, any public sector landlord may apply to the Secretary of State for consent to refuse to sell a dwelling to a tenant seeking to exercise the right to buy if the dwelling has features which make it suitable for occupation by persons of pensionable age. Each application is considered on its merits. The presence of a community alarm system is one of the factors which may be taken into account in deciding whether to grant consent.

Cruden Bay (Landfill)

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list representations made in opposition to the date of the public inquiry into the planning application lodged by Caird Evered for a landfill at Cruden bay; [12250]

(2) what estimate he has made of the strength and basis of the opposition in Cruden bay to the date of the public inquiry into the planning application lodged by Caird Evered for a landfill at Cruden bay; [12249]

(3) if he will outline the history of the application being submitted by Caird Evered for a landfill at Cruden bay currently the subject of a public inquiry; and what amendments to the application have been accepted by the inquiry reporter; [12248]

(4) if he will make a statement on the interval between the lodging of a planning appeal for a landfill at Cruden bay and the holding of a public inquiry to consider this appeal. [12251]

Mr. Kynoch: The detailed information requested cannot immediately be supplied because the appeal papers are currently with the reporter.

I shall therefore write to the hon. Member as soon as possible and arrange for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Nursery Vouchers

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the new unitary councils in Scotland currently negotiating with his Department over the introduction of the pilot scheme for nursery vouchers. [12516]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: In their public responses to the August 1995 consultation, the following councils expressed an interest in discussions with the Scottish Office on the possibility of involvement in the pilot:

North Ayrshire
South Ayrshire
South Lanarkshire
East Renfrewshire
Clackmannanshire
Borders
Highland
Western Isles
Argyll and Bute

6 Feb 1996 : Column: 136

Discussions have been held with these and other councils.

Mr. Chisholm: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much the nursery voucher scheme will cost to administer annually. [11557]

Mr. Robertson [holding answer 14 January 1996]: The cost of administering the nursery voucher initiative from August 1997 will depend on the cost of a contract to be let by competitive tender.

School Boards

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department has spent on overseeing the election of members of school boards in each academic year since their introduction. [12502]

Mr. Robertson: The Scottish Office does not incur expenditure directly in overseeing the election of members to school boards as, under the School Boards (Scotland) Act 1988, responsibility for school board elections is a matter for education authorities.

Water Leakage

Mrs. Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made over the last five years of leakage from the public water supply on a comparable basis to those figures that have been produced by the privatised water companies in England and Wales. [13421]

Mr. Kynoch: An assessment was made in the report, "An Assessment of Demands and Resources at 1994", which was published by the Scottish Office in July 1995. The figures contained in the report are broadly comparable to those published by the privatised water companies in England and Wales. Copies of the report are in the Library.

Housing Budget

Mr. Chisholm: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he will reply to the hon. Member's letter of 27 December concerning next year's housing budget for Edinburgh. [13618]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member today.

Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much has been spent on external consultants in the tendering process of the private finance initiative in each year since its introduction (a) in real terms and (b) in cash terms disggregated by (i) legal fees, (ii) publicity costs, (iii) accountancy fees and (iv) management consultancy fees. [10964]

Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 22 January 1996]: Of the sectors in which private finance initiative projects have gone out to tender since the 1992 autumn statement, the only area in which the Scottish Office and its agencies have had direct responsibility for managing the tendering process is motorways and trunk roads. External consultancy costs were incurred in that field in relation to the advertisement, tendering and negotiation of PFI contracts only in 1995-96, and are shown in the table.

6 Feb 1996 : Column: 137

	Estimated cost £000
Legal	0
Publicity costs	30
Accountancy	330
Management consultancy	550
Total	910

Information on such costs to other public bodies in Scotland is not held centrally.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Fishing Vessels

Mr. Nicholls: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what is the aggregate total of vessel capacity units of the Anglo-Spanish vessels; [13136]

(2) what is the aggregate total of vessel capacity units of the 30 Anglo-Dutch vessels; [13137]

(3) what is the aggregate total of vessel capacity units of the United Kingdom registered and licensed fleet of over 10 fishing vessels. [13138]

Mr. Baldry: Following the introduction of the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Shipping) Regulations 1993, SI 1993 No. 3138, the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen no longer collects details of shareholdings in UK companies owning British-registered fishing vessels. This means that it is not always possible to be sure exactly which vessels are owned by Spanish or Dutch interests. However, we estimate that at 31 December 1995 there were 103 vessels with a significant Spanish interest, accounting for around 55,000 VCUs and 39 vessels with a significant Dutch interest, accounting for some 31,000 VCUs. This compares with an aggregate total of approximately 657,000 VCUs for the UK over-10 m licensed fleet.

Munitions Dumping

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of environmental contamination of fishing grounds in the Irish sea arising from the leakage of toxic materials from wastes and surplus explosives dumped into the sea off the British coast. [13348]

Mr. Baldry: The Department carries out a routine monitoring programme to assess the level of contaminants in coastal waters, including those which are part of the Irish sea. The results are published annually and show that fish are safe to eat. In addition, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland has carried out an investigation of the former Beaufort's dyke munitions dumping area. An interim report of the survey's findings was published on 8 January. Copies of the report are in the Library.

European Legislation

Mr. Steen: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on which occasions in the last three years officials have vetoed draft EC legislation on the

6 Feb 1996 : Column: 138

grounds that a fiche d'impact had not been correctly prepared. [13638]

Mr. Boswell: The correct preparation of fiches d'impact is a very important part of our consideration of proposals for EC legislation. It is one of the factors taken into account when Minister consider the UK's negotiating position on a particular proposal.

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