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University College of Wales (Grant)

Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what is his most up-to-date estimate of the date, terms and conditions of the repayment of the repayable grant made by the University Grants Committee to University College of Wales, Cardiff in 1988 ;

(2) what representations he has received concerning the date and terms of repayment of the £4.4 million repayable grant made by the University Grants Committee to the University of Wales College at Cardiff in 1988 ;

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(3) if he will review the terms of the special £4.4 million repayable grant made by the University Grants Committee to the University of Wales College at Cardiff in 1988.

Mr. Jackson : A repayable grant of £4.4 million was made available by my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Education and Science to University College, Cardiff in September 1988. The covering agreement requires the college and its successor to apply the net proceeds from the disposal of surplus assets towards repaying the grant. To date some £270,000 has been repaid. My right hon. Friend has received no representations about the agreement, and has no plans to review it.

Student Loans

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what he estimates will be the cost of student loans in Scotland in 1990-91, 1991-92 and 1992-93.

Mr. Lang [holding answer 19 March 1990] : I have been asked to reply. The estimated cost of loans for Scottish domiciled students is as follows : 



                                


                                


1990-91 |15.7                   


1991-92 |25.5                   


1992-93 |25.6

DEFENCE

Holy Loch

Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what approaches have been received from the United States authorities concerning the deployment of a United States Navy submarine tender ship to Holy loch certified to handle, load, store and maintain nuclear and conventional Tomahawk submarine-launched cruise missiles ;

(2) what discussions have taken place, or are under way, concerning the continued use of Holy loch by the United States Navy after the date when United States Poseidon ballistic missile-carrying submarines based at Holy loch are decommissioned ;

(3) what information he has on the effect of United States plans for the future of its Poseidon SSBNs on the future of the facility at Holy loch.

Mr. Neubert : The long-term use of the Holy loch facility is a matter for discussion between the United Kingdom and United States Governments. No decision has yet been taken.

Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what facilities exist at Holy loch for the maintenance, repair, storage and transfer of Tomahawk submarine-launched cruise missiles.

Mr. Neubert : A normal range of facilities exist at Holy loch for the logistic support of United States Navy nuclear-powered submarines.

Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if current agreements between the British

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and United States Governments require the United States authorities to seek permission or inform his Department before a visit is made by a United States Navy attack submarine to the Holy loch submarine facility ;

(2) if the current agreements between the British and United States Governments concerning the use of the Holy loch submarine facility require the United States authorities to seek and obtain the permission of the British Government before the replacement of the current submarine tender with another vessel certified to load, maintain and store submarine- launched cruise missiles ;

(3) if the United States authorities informed his Department before replacing the previous submarine tender at the Holy loch with the USS Simon Lake.

Mr. Neubert : The Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States maintain the closest links over the use of the facilities at Holy loch.

Nuclear Weapons (Transportation)

Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the annual running costs for the transportation of nuclear weapons in road convoys ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Neubert : The number of nuclear weapon movements is kept to a minimum. However, it is the long-standing policy of this and previous Governments not to comment on the methods of transportation of nuclear weapons.

Running Costs

Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the annual running costs of storing and maintaining the Chevaline nuclear weapon and the air-launched WE177 weapon ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Neubert : It would not be in the national interest to reveal such information.

Intellectual Property Rights

Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will place in the Library the relevant extracts of the contracts, or a summary of them, relating to the improved United Kingdom air defence ground environment which relate to intellectual property rights ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Alan Clark : No. The contracts are commercially confidential.

Atomic Weapons Establishments

Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at what date he expects the proposed contractorisation of atomic weapons establishments to commence and to be completed.

Mr. Neubert : The invitations to tender for the interim AWE management contract due to commence later this year will be issued shortly. The timing of the subsequent transfer to full

contractorisation is dependent on the passage of legislation but will not be before 1992.

Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions his Department has had with the

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trade unions representing personnel in the atomic weapons establishments ; and if he will guarantee their pension rights when these establishments are contractorised.

Mr. Neubert : A consultative document was issued to trades unions on 5 December 1989. Although no formal response has yet been received, a preliminary consultative meeting with the non-industrial trades unions took place on 11 January and joint consultative committees are being set up to discuss the Government's proposals for the future of AWE.

Staff who are transferred out of the Civil Service cannot remain in the principal Civil Service pension scheme (PCSPS). It is the Government's intention to make available to AWE staff at the time of contractorisation new pension arrangements which would provide benefits which, taken as a whole, would be no less favourable than those of the PCSPS. Proposals for future pension arrangements will be subject to full consultation with trades unions.

MOD Vehicle (Road Accident)

Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the accident in January between a Ministry of Defence vehicle carrying radioactive material and a bus on the Dumfries-Annan road.

Mr. Neubert : We have no knowledge of any such incident.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Nuclear Test Ban

Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what current proposals there are for hearings on a comprehensive nuclear test ban in the United Nations permanent conference on disarmament.

Mr. Waldegrave : Discussions are under way at the conference on disarmament about the possible establishment of an ad hoc committee on a nuclear test ban.

Namibia

Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the extent to which the Namibian independence constitution abides by the principles formulated by the western Governments on 12 July 1982 ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Waldegrave : We have only just received a copy of the constitution as passed by the Namibian constituent assembly and are still studying it. The United Nations Secretary-General reported to the Security Council on 16 March that he was satisfied that the constitution complied with the constitutional principles.

Sudan

Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what diplomatic exchanges have taken place with the Government of the Sudan on humanitarian matters.

Mr. Waldegrave : We are in frequent touch with the Sudanese Government about humanitarian issues. We continue to press, together with other donors, for an early and effective resumption of the relief operation in Sudan.

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Coto Donana National Park, Spain

Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the EEC infraction proceedings against Spain in relation to the Coto Donana national park.

Mr. Maude : We strongly support the work of the European Commission in ensuring that EC environmental legislation is respected throughout the Community. We welcome the recent decision to publicise the record of member states in this area. But, except where United Kingdom interests are directly at stake, we would not wish to comment on individual cases.

European Bank

Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the total capital investment currently proposed for the European bank for reconstruction and development ; and when it is expected to commence operations.

Mr. Maude : We hope that the articles of the bank will be agreed in the near future and that the bank will commence operations as soon as possible thereafter. The size of the capital stock is still under discussion, but the figure currently under consideration is 10 billion ecu, 30 per cent. of which might be paid in.

Privatisation (Eastern Europe)

Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the progress of privatisation of industries in (i) Poland,(ii) Czechoslovakia and (iii) Hungary ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Waldegrave : We understand that legislation is in place in Hungary enabling state enterprises to be transformed into private companies : some privatisations have taken place. In Poland privatisation legislation has been approved by the Government and is now being considered in parliamentary committee prior to submission to the full Parliament. The Czechoslovak Government are considering legislation.

Internal Audit

Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the subject matter of the internal audit report that was drawn to the attention of a Minister in his Department in 1989.

Mr. Sainsbury : The contents of the report are the subject of investigations which are not yet complete.

THE ARTS

Advertising Expenditure

Mr. Cohen : To ask the Minister for the Arts what was the total publicity and advertising expenditure of his office and its predecessor and public bodies for which his office, and its predecessor, has responsibility in (a) 1979 and (b) 1989.

Mr. Luce : Press and publicity work for the Office of Arts and Libraries and the Office of the Minister for the

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Civil Service is carried out by the Cabinet Office press office, whose budget for 1989-90 is £205,650. My office did not incur any expenditure on advertising in 1989. Comparable information is not available for 1979. Nor is such information available for public arts bodies.

CIVIL SERVICE

Obligations to the Crown

Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service, pursuant to his answer of 5 March, what action he is taking on the issue of the obligations to the Crown in Parliament, as a result of the meeting on 7 February, when the head of the home Civil Service met the Civil Service unions.

Mr. Luce : No such action is necessary. The constitutional position of civil servants remains un-changed ; civil servants are responsible to Ministers and Ministers are responsible to Parliament.

NATIONAL FINANCE

Capital Allowances

Mr. Beith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the tax relief granted on capital allowances granted in the financial year 1987-88 on (a) plant and machinery, excluding private use motor vehicles, and (b) in respect of investment incurred in the first year for which capital allowances were due.

Mr. Lilley : The direct revenue cost of capital allowances for plant and machinery, including vehicles, claimed in accounting periods ending in 1987-88 is provisionally estimated at £6.6 billion. No separate estimates are available for private use motor vehicles, or for new investment in the year.

Beaulieu Group of Companies

Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his reply of 27 February, Official Report, column 104, what stage proceedings against four directors of the Beaulieu Group of Companies have reached ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Ryder : Jan De Clerck, Dominiek De Clerck, Luc De Clerck and Francis De Clerck are next due to appear upon a remand before the Harrogate justices on 26 April 1990. The prosecution will seek to pursue committal proceedings on a date to be fixed by the court following representations by the parties at the remand hearing.

European Investment Bank

Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to his answer of 13 March, Official Report, column 160, to whom the European investment bank loan was made.

Mr. Ryder : The European investment bank loan, referred to in my reply of 13 March, was made to Eurotunnel Finance SA and Eurotunnel Finance Ltd.

Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether European investment bank loans which are not repaid can be written off against tax as bad debts.

Column 528

Mr. Lilley : The European investment bank is exempted from all direct United Kingdom taxes by virtue of articles 3 and 22 of the protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Communities. The question of relief for bad debts does not therefore arise.

Czechoslovak Finance Minister

Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to meet Mr. Vaclav Kaus, Czechoslovakian Finance Minister.

Mr. Ryder : My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has no plans to meet the Czechoslovak Finance Minister.

Rateable Values, Lancashire

Mr. Jack : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information was collected for each of the Lancashire district councils at the last revaluation on the number of rateable domestic dwellings at rateable values of (i) up to £50, (ii) £51 to £75, (iii) £76 to £100, (iv) £101 to £125, (v) £126 to £150, (vi) £151 to £175, (vii) £176 to £200, and up to (viii) £250, (ix) £300, (x) £350, (xi) £400, (xii) £450, (xiii) £500, and (xiv) £500 plus.

Mr. Lilley : This information could not be produced without a disproportionate expenditure of time and resources.

Civil List

Mr. Hague : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the total amount payable under the Civil List Acts to the royal family in the calendar years 1989 and 1990.

Mr. Major : The information on amounts payable to the royal family in the present and previous calendar year is as follows :

Mortgages

Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the total loss or gain to the average mortgagor who is (a) a one- earner couple with two children and (b) a two-earner couple with two

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children claiming mortgage interest relief resulting from changes since the 1988 Budget in (i) direct taxation, (ii) increases in the rate of interest on mortgages and (iii) interest payments net of mortgage tax relief in all cases counting child benefit as a negative tax.

Mr. Lilley [holding answer 8 March 1990] : Information for a one-earner married couple with an average mortgage was given in my reply to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East (Mr. Brown) on 26 February, Official Report, column 13. The changes in income tax and NIC for a two- earner married couple with an average outstanding mortgage of £17,000 in 1987-88 and with average gross earnings of £22,500 are given in the table on the same basis as my previous reply. There has been no change in child benefit since the 1988 Budget. 



<1>After indexation.                                                            


<2>Before relief due under MIRAS and assuming that the income is all earned     


with the husband earning £18,000 and the wife £4,500, that no allowances or     


reliefs are available other than the married man's allowances and the wife's    


earned income allowance, that they are both contracted into SERPS and that the  


post-October 1989 NIC rates and limits apply for 1989-90.

Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the total loss or gain to the average new mortgagor in 1988 claiming mortgage interest relief resulting from changes since the 1988 Budget in (a) direct taxation, (b) increases in the rate of interest on mortgages and (c) interest payments net of mortgage tax relief.

Mr. Lilley [holding answer 8 March 1990] : I regret that information is not available on the changes in taxation of the average new mortgagor in 1988. I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East (Mr. Brown) on 26 February, Official Report, column 13, for the gain to the average mortgagor.

Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the gain to the average family on an average mortgage from changes made in the Budgets of 1988 and 1989 ; and what is their estimated increase in mortgage repayments, on the basis of the same assumptions used in the answer to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury, of 13 February, Official Report, column 128 .

Mr. Lilley [holding answer 13 March 1990] : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East (Mr. Brown) on 26 February, Official Report, column 13.

Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list in tabular form and at constant prices the amounts which would be payable each month at 15.4 per cent. on a standard repayment mortgage repayable over 25 years of each of the regional average new mortgages listed in his answer of 19 February, Official Report, column 518 to the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen).

Mr. Lilley [holding answer 19 March 1990] : The monthly interest payments, after deduction of basic rate tax relief, are given in the table.

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15.4 per cent.                                                                  


<1>Third quarter 1989.                                                          


<2>Assuming endowment mortgage.

Taxation

Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer at what level of income (a) a single person and (b) a married man currently pays a greater proportion of their income in income tax and national insurance contributions than they did in equivalent circumstances in 1978-79.

Mr. Lilley [holding answer 13 March 1990] : Since income tax rates have been reduced and the main personal allowances increased by substantially more than the rate of inflation, taxpayers will now pay a lower proportion of their income in tax than in 1978-79 unless their incomes have risen even more rapidly than allowances. Average earnings have risen rather more than this.

For taxpayers of working age whose incomes have increased in line with average earnings, average rates of income tax and national insurance contributions are lower than in 1978-79 for everyone except some married men with earnings up to and including three quarters of the average. On the same basis, real take-home pay is higher than in 1978-79 at all levels of earnings.

Company Cars

Mr. Pike : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on (a) company car taxation and (b) company car parking places taxation.

Mr. Lilley [holding answer 19 March 1990] : My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations on the taxation of the benefit to employees of the private use of a company car and the use of company car parking places.

BES Tenancies

Mr. Battle : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what monitoring his Department conducts of the (a) range and (b) average rental cost of BES tenancies per month ; and what information he has on the proportion of tenants in BES properties who receive housing benefit (a) in inner London, (b) in outer London, (c) in other metropolitan areas and (d) in the country as a whole.

Mr. Chope : I have been asked to reply.

This information is not available at present. The Department has, however, commissioned research into

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BES funded assured tenancy schemes, which will investigate, inter alia, the rents charged and the characteristics of tenants, including their incomes, savings and the benefits they receive.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

County Courts

Mr. Lawrence : To ask the Attorney-General what financial resources will be made available to the county courts to enable them to take over High Court work under the Courts and Legal Services Bill.

The Attorney-General : The Lord Chancellor has already announced his intention to increase the number of court staff by around 350 in the next financial year and subsequently by up to a further 100 during the transitional period while new initiatives are being introduced. In addition the introduction of a computerised summons production centre in January and, from next month, the curtailment of the county court banking function will, over time, release staff time savings equivalent to around 350 staff.

The injection of resources will take place during 1990-91 and will put the courts in a strong position to implement from 1991 onwards the new case allocation arrangements, and other reforms flowing from the civil justice review and the Children Act.

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT

Advertising Expenditure

Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the total publicity and advertising expenditure of the Overseas Development Administration and public bodies for which it has responsibility in (a) 1979 and (b) 1989.

Mrs. Chalker : The figures are as follows :

EC Aid

Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by how much has the European Community aid to developing countries increased from the 1989 to the 1990 budget ; how much European Community food aid has been provided to eastern Europe in that period ; and from which budget it was taken.

Mrs. Chalker : Provision for aid spending in the 1989 European Community budget was just under 980 mecu (about £660 million). The corresponding figure for 1990 was 1,102 mecu (£742 million). These figures exclude aid to developing countries under the Lome convention, which is financed direct by member states and not from the Community's budget. This rose from 1,299 mecu (£875 million) in 1989, to 1,319 mecu (£888 million) in 1990.

In 1989 and 1990 the European Community has also provided free food worth 158 mecu (£106 million) to

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Poland and 40 mecu (£27 million) to Romania. This has been financed from the agricultural guarantee fund of the European Community budget.

UNHCR (Budget)

Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the total United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees budget in the period 1980 to the nearest available full year.

Mrs. Chalker : The figures are as follows : 



                    


                    


1980 |497           


1981 |474           


1982 |407           


1983 |398           


1984 |444           


1985 |458           


1986 |441           


1987 |460           


1988 |552           


1989 |570           


Source: UNHCR.

Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the British contribution to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for each of the last 10 years.

Mrs. Chalker : The figures are as follows : 



                        


                        


1980  |6.98             


1981  |9.21             


1982  |7.50             


1983  |10.80            


1984  |13.52            


1985  |15.24            


1986  |16.90            


1987  |17.72            


1988  |21.94            


1989  |19.37

TRANSPORT

East London Assessment Study

Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress he has made in collating and analysing the (a) letters, (b) petitions, (c) signatures on those petitions and (d) other representations he has received about the east London assessment study ; and when he expects to be able to report how many were in favour and how many against.

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