---

BSE

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will request the European Commission to publish the internal documents and correspondence on BSE which have appeared in newspapers in France and Germany. [2442]

Mr. Baldry: No, this is a matter for the European Commission and I see no grounds on which it would be legitimate for me to seek to intervene.

DEFENCE

Northern Ireland

Ms Mowlam: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many female officers served in the British Army in Northern Ireland in each year since 1969. [1104]

4 Nov 1996 : Column: 318

Mr. Soames: The number of female officers who served in Northern Ireland in each year since 1974 is as follows:

Year	Number of female officers
1975	22
1976	25
1977	21
1978	34
1979	31
1980	27
1981	32
1982	22
1983	24
1984	27
1985	28
1986	34
1987	54
1988	54
1989	59
1990	57
1991	62
1992	53
1993	79
1994	64
1995	57
1996	43

Figures for 1969-74 are not available and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

Ms Mowlam: To ask the Secretary for State for Defence how many Army personnel have been stationed in Northern Ireland in each year since 1969. [1106]

Mr. Soames: The number of Army personnel stationed in Northern Ireland in each year since 1975 is as follows:

Year	Number of Army personnel
1975	22,075
1976	22,446
1977	21,241
1978	21,011
1979	20,128
1980	19,116
1981	18,277
1982	17,776
1983	15,588
1984	15,802
1985	15,562
1986	17,419
1987	17,084
1988	16,741
1989	17,199
1990	16,894
1991	17,445
1992	17,996
1993	17,732
1994	17,118
1995	15,954
1996	15,490

Figures given are as of 1 April in the year concerned. They include members of Ulster Defence Regiment and the Royal Irish Regiment home service component but do not include Navy, Air Force or Territorial Army personnel. Complete figures for 1969 to 1974 are not available.

4 Nov 1996 : Column: 319

Tornado Aircraft

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all faults reported for the last two years to Tornado aircraft, indicating in each case the length of waiting time for repairs. [1153]

Mr. Soames: As with any other of the world's large military aircraft fleets, the number of faults found on Tornado aircraft runs into thousands each month, the vast majority of them trivial. The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Military Exercises (Western Isles)

Mr. Macdonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if there was military exercise activity by (i) United Kingdom forces and (ii) non-United Kingdom forces in the vicinity of the Western Isles on the evening of Saturday 26 October. [1343]

Mr. Soames: My Department is not aware of any such activity off the Western Isles on the evening in question.

Low Flying

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints his Department received about military low flying in (a) 1993-94 and (b) 1994-95. [1744]

Mr. Soames: My Department received 5,520 complaints and inquiries about military low flying between April 1993 and March 1994 and 6,077 between April 1994 and March 1995.

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims for compensation were submitted to his Department as a result of damage caused by military low flying in each year from 1990 to 1995; and if he will make a statement. [1743]

Mr. Soames: The number of compensation claims received by my Department in each year from 1990 to 1995 as a result of military low flying was:

1990: 568
1991: 383
1992: 431
1993: 400
1994: 412
1995: 366

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints of excessive military low flying his Department received from people resident in Wales in 1995-96; and if he will make a statement. [1745]

Mr. Soames: Records are not maintained in such a way as to identify such complaints separately and details could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Female Staff

Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many women are currently employed by his Department; and what proportion this is of the total. [1254]

Mr. Arbuthnot: At 1 July 1996 there were 33,976 permanent women civil servants employed by my Department and its agencies, representing some 31 per cent. of the total number of permanent civil servants in MOD.

4 Nov 1996 : Column: 320

Child Care

Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the (a) women who are mothers, and (b) men who are fathers who are employed by his Department have received assistance from the Department with child care. [1287]

Mr. Arbuthnot: The information is not available in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Plutonium Warheads

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to conduct an environmental impact assessment of the process by which gallium and indium are removed from plutonium warhead pits withdrawn from service. [1831]

Mr. Soames: None.

Manchuria 1946 (Public Records)

Mr. Terry Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence file WO 208/3736, reports on Russian military activities in Manchuria (1946), will be made available to the Public Record Office. [2227]

Mr. Soames: Arrangements are being made to review WO 208/4736 to see whether release into the public domain is now possible. I will write to the hon. Member on completion of the review process.

Public Relations

Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on (a) advertising, (b) public relations and (c) entertainment in each of the last five financial years. [1270]

Mr. Soames: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) on 16 October 1996, Official Report, column 925.

PRIME MINISTER

Prince's Trust

Mr. Allen: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the Departments which have an interest in the Prince's Trust, indicating in each case the nature of that interest. [1502]

The Prime Minister: At the relaunch of Prince's Trust volunteers on 4 June, I personally pledged Government support to the Prince's Trust's aim of recruiting 25,000 young volunteers per year by the year 2000. I have asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to promote the scheme across the civil service.

Government Departments work in partnership with the Prince's Trust to help meet the many and varied needs of disadvantaged young people. The following Government Departments work with the Prince's Trust in a variety of ways, from providing secondees to giving advice on benefits policy:

Department for Education and Employment;
Welsh Office;
Scottish Office;

4 Nov 1996 : Column: 321

Northern Ireland Office;
Department of Trade and Industry;
Home Office;
Inland Revenue;
Department of National Heritage;
Department of the Environment;
Department of Health;
Department of Social Security;
Customs and Excise;
Cabinet Office;
Department of Transport;
Foreign and Commonwealth Office;
Ministry of Defence;
Employment Service;
Benefits Agency.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Female Staff

Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women are currently employed by his Department; and what proportion this is of the total. [1252]

Mr. Howard: The Home Office and its agencies employ a total of 14,049 women which represents 27 per cent. of the total work force of 52,098 permanent staff. However, if the Prison Service is excluded, 5,956 women, representing 51 per cent. of the total work force, are employed.

Child Care

Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the (a) women who are mothers and (b) men who are fathers who are employed by his Department have received assistance from the Department with child care. [1285]

Mr. Howard: Although the Home Office collects statistical information on staff employed in the Department and its agencies, information is not collected on the parental status of individual staff because it is not considered appropriate to do so. Child care assistance is provided in a variety of forms. The Department makes available a number of subsidised nursery and holiday play scheme places, provides advice on out-of-school care and pays additional child care expenses incurred where the normal working routine is broken.

Over a 12-month period to the end of September 1996, 122 women and 58 men have used nursery places and 89 women and 14 men have used play scheme places. Over the same period, excluding the Prison Service, 58 women and two men have received payments in respect of additional child care expenses.

4 Nov 1996 : Column: 322

---