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Custody Services

Mr. John Greenway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will extend the scope of the Financial Services Act 1986 to cover regulation of custody services following the consultation carried out by the Securities and Investments Board. [28959]

Mrs. Angela Knight: I have accepted the recommendation of the Securities and Investments Board that the scope of the Act should be extended to those custody services covering the safekeeping and administration of investments. I believe that this will extend investor protection but am also concerned that it should not impose disproportionate burdens on authorised firms. I shall accordingly be seeking views on the terms in which the Act should be extended in a consultation paper which I hope will be issued shortly.

9 May 1996 : Column: 204

Stamp Duty (Unit Trusts)

Mr. Carrington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what stamp duty treatment he proposes for conversions of authorised unit trusts into open-ended investment companies. [28957]

Mrs. Angela Knight: In response to the consultative document which the Treasury published last year with draft regulations to permit the creation of open-ended investment companies--OEICs--the Treasury has received a number of representations that conversions of authorised unit trusts into OEICs should be exempted from stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax--SDRT--including conversions of two or more trusts into a single OEIC.

When regulations are made to deal with the stamp duty and SDRT treatment of OEICs, I intend to include in them an exemption for conversions of an authorised unit trust into an OEIC or a single sub-fund of an umbrella OEIC. The regulations will also contain an exemption from stamp duty and SDRT, for a period of some two years, for conversions which involve a merger, such as the conversion of two or more authorised unit trusts into a single OEIC or sub-fund, or the merger of an authorised unit trust with an OEIC.

We also intend to introduce legislation in the next Finance Bill to exempt mergers between authorised unit trusts from stamp duty and SDRT if the merger is carried out after the Bill becomes law and within a period of some two years thereafter.

These measures will give unit trust groups a unique opportunity to rationalise their range of authorised unit trusts, and to convert some or all of them into OEICs if they wish. At the same time, the introduction of OEICs will continue to widen the opportunities for share ownership for the investing public.

Official Hospitality

Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent on official hospitality by his Department and all associated agencies in the financial year 1995-96. [28574]

Mrs. Angela Knight: Expenditure on official hospitality by HM Treasury and associated agencies responsible to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1995-96 is included in the published running costs.

SCOTLAND

Closed Circuit Television

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which towns in Scotland currently have closed circuit television to assist with crime prevention; which will have schemes installed during 1996; what is his policy regarding further expansion of such schemes; if he will make further financial assistance available; and if he will make a statement. [27914]

9 May 1996 : Column: 205

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The towns which currently have CCTV installations are:

Aberdeen


Airdrie


Alloa


Ayr


Bathgate


Bearsden


Carnoustie


Coatbridge


Dalkeith


Dumfries


Falkirk


Galashiels


Glasgow


Glenrothes


Grangemouth


Hamilton


Inverness


Kilmarnock


Kirkcaldy

Kirkintilloch


Levenmouth


Milngavie

Motherwell


Paisley


Stirling


Wishaw

Towns which will have CCTV installed in 1996 are Nairn, Perth and Dundee. Towns planning to install CCTV, or to expand existing schemes, will shortly be submitting applications for funding from the Scottish Office closed circuit television challenge competition, which I announced on 13 December 1995. Some £4 million has been made available for the competition over the next three years--£1 million in 1996-97 and £1.5 million in 1997-98 and 1998-99. This will make a significant contribution to making further reductions in crime and the fear of crime in Scotland.

9 May 1996 : Column: 206

Health Boards

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what allocations he has made of bridging finance for health care to each of the health boards in Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [27915]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The total amount of bridging finance allocations issued to each of the health boards in Scotland in the financial years 1991-92 to 1995-96 are as shown:

Health Board	Allocation (£ million)
Argyll and Clyde	3.023
Ayrshire and Arran	2.051
Borders	0.791
Dumfries and Galloway	0.332
Fife	2.846
Forth Valley	1.791
Grampian	7.542
Greater Glasgow	18.083
Highland	3.936
Lanarkshire	3.616
Lothian	9.641
Orkney	0.210
Shetland	0.047
Tayside	2.182
Western Isles	0.497
Total	56.588

Bridging finance continues to be an effective way of facilitating the Government's care in the community policies.

Old People's Homes

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the number of places in (a) old people's homes and (b) nursing homes in the private, public and voluntary sectors for each of the new council areas in Scotland as at 1 April, indicating for each the vacancies. [27916]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The latest available information is for 30 September 1995 and is set out in the table:

9 May 1996 : Column: 205

	Residential care homes
	Local authority		Private		Voluntary		Nursing homes
New council area	Number of beds	Percentage vacant	Number of beds	Percentage vacant	Number of beds	Percentage vacant	Number of beds	Percentage vacant
Aberdeen City	364	10.4	22	0.0	378	7.4	715	6.0
Aberdeenshire	376	8.8	89	15.7	168	13.1	985	10.5
Angus	197	11.2	346	13.3	72	0.0	541	8.5
Argyll and Bute	173	10.4	433	10.9	72	15.3	303	9.6
Clackmannanshire	32	0.0	0	--	12	0.0	100	6.0
Dumfries and Galloway	274	5.1	271	23.0	99	13.1	519	7.5
Dundee City	401	4.2	152	8.6	184	15.8	650	26.2
East Ayrshire	127	0.8	71	9.9	79	2.5	775	17.4
East Dunbartonshire	40	0.0	15	0.0	31	0.0	195	8.7
East Lothian	169	7.7	80	3.7	100	10.0	396	8.2
East Renfrewshire	43	27.9	57	6.4	105	3.8	620	6.1
Edinburgh, City of	618	7.4	233	5.0	612	11.8	1,755	12.9
Falkirk	214	9.3	63	7.9	50	8.0	446	6.3
Fife	432	8.6	420	4.9	166	7.8	1,088	21.2
Glasgow, City of	1,202	4.3	289	8.6	570	5.5	2,213	13.9
Highland	370	7.8	495	15.8	222	7.7	1,137	9.0
Inverclyde	64	10.9	69	2.9	103	3.5	245	1.6
Midlothian	160	11.9	42	7.1	68	7.4	383	43.9
Moray	171	11.1	58	5.2	46	0.0	189	4.8
North Ayrshire	128	6.2	186	11.0	71	0.0	846	15.3
North Lanarkshire	437	5.9	146	4.4	45	11.1	996	11.5
Orkney Islands	71	5.6	28	21.4	0	--	0	--
Perth and Kinross	240	5.4	328	16.0	192	13.5	787	14.7
Renfrewshire	266	4.9	197	3.0	88	3.4	525	8.6
Scottish Borders	270	10.4	113	8.8	110	10.0	688	19.9
Shetland Islands	61	8.2	0	--	36	5.6	0	--
South Ayrshire	160	5.0	65	4.3	105	1.9	878	6.8
South Lanarkshire	396	9.3	78	5.7	151	10.6	1,734	15.8
Stirling	153	2.6	103	5.8	199	11.1	373	6.7
West Dunbartonshire	257	12.5	30	6.7	38	2.6	63	3.2
West Lothian	215	8.8	22	9.1	8	0.0	514	30.4
Western Isles	182	17.0	6	0.0	14	0.0	65	1.5
Scotland	8,263	7.6	4,507	10.1	4,194	8.4	20,724	13.6

9 May 1996 : Column: 207

9 May 1996 : Column: 207

Pre-school Education

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will conduct a survey of day care and pre-school education (a) to show how many in each category have (i) outdoor play space for their sole use and (ii) furnishings and fittings of a suitable size for pre-fives and (b) to establish whether they have to stow away equipment every day so that others can use the same premises. [27903]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The results of the first survey of provision for day care and pre-school education for young children in Scotland are included in a statistical bulletin published in March by the Scottish Office. Copies were placed in the Library. In deciding whether to register facilities under the Children Act 1989 local authorities have to satisfy themselves on the suitability of place spaces and equipment provided. There are no plans to conduct an additional survey to collect information about such detailed aspects of provision.

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