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Hawk Jets

Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which countries have outstanding contracts for the delivery of Hawk jets; and what are the numbers of aircraft involved. [14249]

Mr. Arbuthnot: Two contracts are currently outstanding with the Indonesian Government for 24 and 16 Hawk aircraft. There is a further outstanding contract, with another country, but information on this cannot be released as it would cause harm in terms of one or more of the defence, security, international relations and commercial confidence exemptions in the code of practice on access to Government information. These were the exemptions in the code referred to in my statement on defence exports on 23 July 1996, Official Report, columns 212-13.

SCOTLAND

Private Care Homes

12. Dr. Godman: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to modify the rules and regulations governing the ownership and management of private (a) nursing and (b) residential homes for the elderly. [12892]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The Scottish Office is currently consulting publicly on the standards and practice in nursing homes and is considering the recommendations made by the working group on registration procedures in residential care homes.

Local Government Finance

13. Mr. Michael Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current level of local government spending per head in Scotland. [12893]

Mr. Kynoch: The current level of local government spending per head of population in Scotland is £1,279. This is 32 per cent. higher than the comparable figure for England.

5 Feb 1997 : Column: 622

European Regional Development Fund

14. Sir David Knox: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total value of the grants Scotland has received from the European regional development fund since the fund's inception. [12894]

Mr. Kynoch: From the Scottish Office budget we have allocated approximately £1.6 billion behalf of the European regional development fund.

Brain Injury

15. Ms Rachel Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the mental illness specific grant with special reference to brain injury.[12895]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: In the current year, more than £1 million of mental illness specific grant has been allocated to head injury projects. The effectiveness of the grant and alternative funding arrangements are currently being considered.

Ms Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what resources are available to support the care programme approach for adults with brain injury in each local authority area in Scotland. [12879]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: It is a matter for local authorities, health boards and housing agencies to determine how much of the considerable resources at their disposal is used to support the care programme approach for adults with brain injury.

European Council

16. Mr. Booth: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the status of the Scottish Office ministers attending meetings of the European Council of Ministers. [12898]

Mr. Michael Forsyth: Scottish Office Ministers attend Council meetings as full members of the UK delegation. They are able to speak with the authority of the UK as member state.

Law and Order

17. Mr. Jacques Arnold: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the impact of law and order reforms in Scotland. [12899]

Mr. Michael Forsyth: We expect the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Bill to have a significant impact in terms of both public protection and deterrence. The Bill will also improve the effectiveness and efficiency of criminal justice in Scotland.

Constitutional Reform

18. Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent representations he has received concerning constitutional reform in relation to Scotland. [12900]

Mr. Michael Forsyth: In the last six months, the majority of representations that I received were in favour of the status quo.

5 Feb 1997 : Column: 623

Homelessness

19. Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what additional resources he proposes to tackle the needs of homeless people in Scotland. [12901]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 9 December that £15 million will be made available over the next three years for a new initiative to help rough sleepers in Scotland.

Blind Workers

20. Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he has taken following the meeting between the Minister with responsibility for industry and local government--the hon. Member for Kincardine and Deeside (Mr. Kynoch)--and the Scottish branch of the National League of the Blind in relation to section 2 workers. [12902]

Mr. Kynoch: Scottish Office officials have discussed with Glasgow city council the question of credit facilities for Blindcraft customers. The council agreed that the sensible way forward would be for Blindcraft to make arrangements with existing credit companies to provide services for its customers.

30. Mr. Michael J. Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what support his Department currently gives to (a) blind and disabled workshops and (b) Blindcraft outlets. [12912]

Mr. Kynoch: Funding for supported workshops is provided by the Employment Service, an executive agency of the Department for Education and Employment, and paid to Scottish local authorities as a specific grant within the overall amount of aggregate external finance. The total level of grant for 1996-97 was set at £4.4 million. The amount actually paid will depend on numbers of qualifying employees, but it is estimated that about £4.1 million will be paid in the current year. Of that amount, it is estimated that about £1.0 million will relate to Blindcraft establishments.

Dundee City Council (Finance)

21. Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent representations he has received relating to the financial settlement for Dundee city council in 1997-98. [12903]

Mr. Kynoch: My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations about this matter.

Local Taxes

22. Mr. David Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he has taken to ensure that local authorities collect outstanding local taxes. [12904]

Mr. Kynoch: The responsibility for the administration of local taxes, including the recovery of arrears, rests solely with the local authority concerned. However, on 17 January my right hon. Friend announced that he was prepared to offer local authorities an additional £3 million to invest on improving council tax and community charges collection.

5 Feb 1997 : Column: 624

Road Construction

23. Mr. Norman Hogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which major road construction works will commence in 1997; and if he will make a statement. [12905]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: In 1997, construction will begin, or has begun, on the upgrading of the final stretch of the A74 to motorway status, A828 Creagan Bridge, the M90 Halbeath interchange, the A9 at Logie Easter and the A96 bypasses at Blackburn and Kintore.

Automatic Life Sentences

24. Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the effect of his proposals for automatic life sentences on levels of serious crime. [12906]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Figures for recent years suggest that 20 to 30 offenders a year would be liable to receive an automatic life sentence under our proposals in the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Bill. The public deserves an increased measure of protection from those offenders who have demonstrated by their repeated serious offending that they present a particular risk, and our proposals will provide it.

A96 Keith Bypass

25. Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he will announce a commencement date for the construction of the A96 Keith bypass. [12907]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: My right hon. Friend made the necessary road orders for the proposed Keith bypass on 19 December 1996. The project's commencement date will depend on the availability of resources and its priority relative to other projects.

Scotland and Northern Ireland (Joint Projects)

26. Mr. Eric Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on projects which will affect the economies of both Scotland and Northern Ireland. [12908]

Mr. Kynoch: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland discuss issues of mutual concern from time to time.

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