asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated expenditure on local transport by each county in 1974–75; what is the level of expenditure accepted by him for each county in 1975–76; and what change this represents in each case over 1974–75.

The estimated expenditure for each county in England in 1975–76 accepted for transport supplementary grant is given in the following table. Comparable up-to-date estimates of transport expenditure in 1974–75 for each county are not yet available.Accepted expenditure 1975–76 at November 1974 prices:

	£ million
GLC	206·280
Greater Manchester	42·853
Merseyside	29·787
Tyne and Wear	43·218
West Midlands	52·140
South Yorkshire	22·565
West Yorkshire	42·870
Avon	10·153
Bedfordshire	8·069
Berkshire	11·773
Buckinghamshire	7·296
Cambridgeshire	7·875
Cheshire	17·342
Cleveland	13·958
Cornwall	4·629
Cumbria	6·676
Derbyshire	10·205
Devon	15·743
Dorset	7·025
Durham	7·103
East Sussex	8·872
Essex	15·987
Gloucestershire	5·753
Hampshire	24·840
Hereford and Worcester	11·971
Hertfordshire	15·868
Humberside	8·121
Isle of Wight	1·720
Kent	16·806
Lancashire	15·298
Leicestershire	8·577
Lincolnshire	7·617
Norfolk	7·796
Northamptonshire	11·875
Northumberland	6·280
North Yorkshire	10·230
Nottinghamshire	11·000
Oxfordshire	5·701
Shropshire	5·448
Somerset	5·014
Staffordshire	15·092

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will obtain, and publish in the Official Report, the total tonnage of crude oil and oil products that entered the Thames Estuary for each of the years 1964 to 1974, inclusive; and his estimate of the growth of this traffic over each of the next six years, assuming the proposed new refineries at Canvey Island and Cliffe are built and become operational.

Information has been provided by the Port of London Authority for traffic with destinations other than the Medway, and by the Port of Medway Authority for destinations in the Medway. Tonnages of oil moving in and out of the Thames estuary:

Units million tonnes
Period	Imports	Exports	Total*
1964	31·5	13·0	44·5
1965	33·0	13·3	46·3
1966	35·7	15·8	51·5
1967	37·7	15·7	53·4
1968	37·4	15·4	52·8
1969	37·8	13·7	51·5
1970	38·2	14·6	52·8
1971	36·6	12·1	48·7
1972	38·5	12·9	51·4
1973	38·9	13·9	52·8
1974	35·4	11·6	47·0
* The figures include oil brought into the estuary and subsequently re-exported.

Estimates of future tonnages are not available, but some indication of future trends might be derived from the terminal capacities proposed for the Canvey Island and Cliffe refineries, which, it is understood, are as follows:

Canvey Island:
Occidental	6 million tonnes per annum
URL	4 million tonnes per annum
Cliffe:
Burmah/Total	6 million tonnes per annum

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will obtain, and publish in the Official Report, information relating to the total numbers and tonnage of oil tankers which are expected to enter the Thames Estuary to serve each of the three proposed oil refineries at Canvey Island and Cliffe, respectively, and the total number and tonnages of tankers and other vessels

			Burmah/Total, Cliffe	Occidental, Canvey Island	United Refineries Ltd., Canvey Island
Crude petroleum 75,000 deadweight tons or larger	…	…	1	1	1
Petroleum products—
30,000 deadweight tons	…	…	—	1	—
20,000 deadweight tons	…	…	—	3	—
13,000–18,000 deadweight tons		…	1	—	2
4,000 deadweight tons	…	…	5	1	—
1,500 deadweight tons	…	…	7	—	20
1,000 deadweight tons	…	…	—	3	20
500 deadweight tons	…	…	—	—	20

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will obtain, and publish in the Official Report, information regarding the total number of oil tankers and vessels carrying other hazardous cargoes that entered the Thames Estuary in each of the years 1964 to 1974 inclusive.

Most vessels carry some form of hazardous cargo, ranging from paints and matches to chemicals and explosives. The following figures relate to vessels carrying crude oil and oil products, and liquefied natural gas:

	Number of Vessels
Period	Figures provided by the Port of London Authority	Figures provided by the Port of Medway Authority
1964	3,270	1,882
1965	3,450	1,833
1966	3,495	2,145
1967	3,762	2,251
1968	3,832	2,243
1969	3,908	2,166
1970	3,548	1,973
1971	2,940	1,924
1972	2,874	2,226
1973	2,557	2,344
1974	2,403	*
* Not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total acreage of derelict land in Scotland, Wales and each of the eight English regions served by an economic planning council to the latest available date.

Detailed results of the 1974 survey of derelict and despoiled land in

Estimates of the weekly shipping requirements given by the oil companies at the relevant planning inquiries are as follows:England, including the regional breakdown, are not yet available, but preliminary estimates are that the total amount of derelict land is just over 100,000 acres, of which about 80,000 acres are considered to justify treatment. The latest available figures for English regions, showing the position as at 31st December 1971 are:

Region	Total acreage of derelict land	Acreage justifying treatment (included in (2))
(1)	(2)	(3)
Northern	20,495	14,948
North-West	15,113	12,367
Yorkshire and Humberside	13,850	10,544
West Midlands	11,721	10,166
East Midlands	8,547	7,259
South-West	18,851	3,450
South-East	5,292	3,027
East Anglia	3,222	2,492

I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales that there are at present about 25,000 acres of derelict land in Scotland which are considered to justify treatment and that in Wales there is a total of 51,000 acres of derelict land of which some 27,000 acres are considered to justify treatment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of public sector houses completed in Scotland, Wales and each of the eight regions of England served by an economic planning council in the last year for which figures are available; and what were the figures for each of the last five years.

PUBLIC SECTOR DWELLINGS COMPLETED
		1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974 (first nine months)
Northern	…	12,866	10,949	11,201	8,115	6,646	6,648
Yorkshire and Humberside		15,725	13,412	10,843	9,702	6,828	6,428
East Midlands	…	8,182	8,667	7,620	7,413	7,604	6,259
East Anglia	…	4,562	3,977	4,433	3,925	3,942	3,174
South East	…	50,976	51,844	47,318	38,791	33,308	31,112
South West	…	8,141	7,121	8,347	5,950	6,321	4,748
West Midlands	…	21,268	17,384	13,722	8,008	7,245	7,086
North West	…	21,070	25,003	20,367	16,633	14,363	11,659
Wales	…	7,998	6,825	5,927	4,135	3,377	2,776
Scotland	…	34,302	34,947	29,130	20,155	17,818	11,711
These figures relate to the revised economic planning regions constituted on 1st April 1974.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the TRRL has revised its forecasts of vehicle numbers and use in the light of the higher fuel prices and lower population and growth forecasts now prevailing; and when he expects the results of such a revision to be published.

I hope to make an announcement soon.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will report progress on the proposals to start construction on the A303 bypass at Wincanton.

Subject to the satisfactory completion of the statutory procedures for the acquisition of the land needed for the road, work should start in July this year.

EXPENDITURE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES ON DERELICT LAND RECLAMATION (LAND ACQUISITION AND WORKS)
Region		1968–69 £'000s	1969–70 £'000s	1970–71 £'000s	1971–72 £'000s	1972–73 £'000s	1973–74 £'000s
(1)		(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)
Northern	…	736	1,183	1,407	2,562	3,175	3,750
North-West	…	153	256	1,002	1,999	1,727	2,640
Yorkshire and Humberside		112	171	318	576	1,023	1,105
West Midlands	…	75	126	260	666	765	1,200
East Midlands	…	35	78	328	620	649	825
South-West	…	59	34	67	52	149	53
South-East	…	23	—	81	154	49	31
East Anglia	…	11	21	5	1	13	3
Total for England	…	1,204	1,869	3,468	6,630	7,550	9,607

Figures for the first nine months of 1974 and for the previous five years are given below:

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what have been the total amounts of money spent on the clearance of derelict land in Scotland, Wales and each of the eight English regions served by an economic planning council for the last year for which figures are available; what were the figures for the preceding five years; and what is the estimated figure for the next three years.

The figures for England for 1973–74 and the five preceding years are set out below. Total expenditure for the current financial year is expected to be about £9 million. As stated by my right hon. Friend in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli (Mr. Davies) on Friday 31st January—[Vol. 885, c. 348.]—the rate of reclamation is to be increased, but he is not yet in a position to give an estimate of the expenditure.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total acreage of derelict land that has been reclaimed in Scotland, Wales and the eight English regions served by an economic planning council in the last year for which figures are available; what are the figures for the preceding five years; and what are the estimated figures for the next three years.

The figures for England for 1972 and five preceding years are set out below. Figures for 1973 and the first quarter of 1974 have been collected as part of the new 1974 survey. Detailed results, including regional figures, are not yet available, but it is estimated that some 6,400 acres were restored during the 15 months period 1st January 1973 to 31st March 1974, representing an annual rate of about 5,100 acres. Progress for the remainder of 1974 and the current year is expected to be of broadly the same order. As explained in the preceding answer, my right hon. Friend is not yet able to estimate the acreages to be reclaimed for the next three years.

	Acreage reclaimed
Calendar year	Scotland	Wales
(1)	(2)	(3)
1969	301	802
1970	329	748
1971	732	1,052
1972	414	1,024
1973	622	1,566
1974	1,028	710

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many accidents involving loss of life or injury have occurred on the Whalley-Clitheroe bypass in the last year; and how that figure compares with the previous year and the national average for similar roads.

There were 10 accidents during the first 11 months of 1974 compared with 24 in the whole of 1973. The accident rate on this stretch of road over the three years 1971–73 was about two-thirds the average for all rural A roads in Great Britain.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those proposed rail closures which have been stopped since February 1974.

They are: Cambrian Coast (Machynlleth-Pwllheli); Kyle of Lochalsh-Inverness; Ashford-Hastings; Bedford-Bletchley; Wimbledon-West Croydon; Stockport-Stalybridge.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is now the earliest date at which work on the next stage of improvement to the A320, Woking-Guildford road, at Mayford could begin.

This is in the first instance a matter for the Surrey County Council as highway authority.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give an estimate of the upper, lower and average cost per annum of maintaining an association football, rugby union and hockey pitch by local authorities; if an estimate can also be made of the running cost of providing a pitch and shower bath facilities; and if he will make a statement.

Costs may vary widely according to circumstances, and such information is not recorded centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the overseas borrowings of the nationalised industries for which he is responsible in each of the last 10 years, together with the value of their exports and the value of their imports of capital goods and services.

Overseas borrowings were as follows:

	British Railways Board	National Freight Corporation
	£m.	£m.
1965–70	Nil	Nil
1971	20	Nil
1972	8	Nil
1973	4	1·2
1974	Nil	5·5

Estimated values of exports by the British Railways Board were as follows:

£ millions
1965–69	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974
nil	0·6	2·8	3·3	1·0	4·4

The other figures requested are not readily available.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service (1) if he will publish in the Official Report details, by grade and Department, of the numbers of civil servants in the administrative, executive and clerical structure who are employed in offices outwith Scotland, but who have expressed a wish to serve in a Civil Service office in Scotland; and if he is satisfied that such figures are reliable as indicating the extent of the problem;(2) what efforts are being made to meet the wishes of those civil servants, employed outwith Scotland, who have expressed a wish to serve in Scotland;

Departments are responsible for the management of their own staff and do what they can to meet the wishes of individuals for postings to particular locations, including Scotland. Given the total size of the Civil Service—there are over 250,000 staff in the administrative, executive and clerical structure alone—it is not practicable to set up standing arrangements for inter-departmental transfers for staff who wish to move to Scotland or to any other location, but there is machinery in my Department for arranging such moves in compassionate cases.There is no central record of the number of staff who have expressed a wish to move to Scotland.As a result of the decisions on the dispersal of Civil Service work from London taken last July some 7,000 posts will be dispersed to the Glasgow area. This will provide opportunity for civil servants engaged on the work being dispersed, or elsewhere within the Departments concerned or the Service as a whole, to volunteer for transfer to Scotland.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he will publish the list of people available for public appointments known as the book of the good and great; what are the criteria for being included on the list; whether political affiliations are taken into account; and whether applications for inclusion are acepted from anybody.

No. It is the responsibility of Ministers to satisfy themselves that the people they appoint to statutory bodies are ones best fitted for the job. In making such appointments they are not reliant on the existence of lists, but are, nevertheless, always glad to hear about, and taken note of, people whose qualifications and experience might equip them for such appointments. There are no set criteria, whether political or otherwise.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether the medical facilities at Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, which permitted treatment to be given to 74 civilians on 4th February after an escape of ethylene oxide gas, are provided out of the Defence Estimates.

Yes. No charges are raised against the National Health Service, which, in turn, gives free treatment to Service patients.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the security forces have been killed or injured on Duncairn Gardens since 1972 after the hours of darkness.

Since 1st January 1972 no Service men have been killed but eight have been injured on Duncairn Gardens between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence in what areas of north Belfast the UDR is not permitted to patrol.

The UDR does not patrol in those areas of north Belfast where it might become involved in crowd control or riot duties. This restriction applies generally in Northern Ireland.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence, since July 1974, how many patrols and road stops the UDR has taken part in between Limestone Road and Clifton Street.

Records are not kept in a form which enables me to provide the information requested.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the level of unemployment in Scotland, Wales and each of the eight English regions which are served by regional economic planning councils to the latest available date; and what were the figures for each of the past five years.

The following table shows rates of unemployment for the

PERCENTAGE RATES OF UNEMPLOYMENT
		January	January	January	January	January	January
		1975*	1974	1973	1972	1971	1970
Scotland	…	4·8	4·5	6·1	7·1	5·3	4·3
Wales	…	4·7	3·8	4·6	5·5	4·2	4·3
South-East	…	2·1	1·6	2·0	2·5	1·9	1·8
East Anglia	…	2·9	2·0	2·5	3·6	2·9	2·2
South-West	…	4·0	2·7	3·2	4·1	3·3	3·1
West Midlands	…	2·7	2·1	3·0	3·9	2·3	1·9
East Midlands	…	2·8	2·1	2·7	3·4	2·6	2·2
Yorkshire and Humberside		3·3	2·8	3·8	4·6	3·3	2·9
North-West	…	4·3	3·4	4·7	5·0	3·3	2·7
North	…	5·2	4·6	5·9	6·9	5·2	5·0
* Figures based on a simplified counting procedure and for revised regions.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether all immigrants working in the catering industry are in possession of a valid work permit.

Several thousand permits are given each year to enable overseas workers to take jobs in the catering industry. There will also be many whose restrictions on employment have been removed, or in the case of Commonwealth workers were admitted for settlement before 1973, or in the case of EEC nationals do not require work permits.The Government are concerned about reports that people without work permits are being employed illegally in this industry. My right hon. Friend is looking into the matter in conjunction with the Home Secretary.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of Filipinos issued with work permits in the years 1968–74, indicated by sex and occupation.

Except for the year 1973 a detailed analysis of work permits issued is not available. The total number of permits issued to Filipinos for the years 1968–74 were as follows:

1968	252
1969	367
1970	591
1971	1,205
1972	2,677
1973	2,691
1974	991
	(including 246 men)

In 1973 permits were issued to Filipinos as follows:

Domestic and hospital work	1,524
Hotels and catering	799
Nursing	294
Entertainments	44
Others	30
Total	2,691

A similar analysis for 1974 will be available shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many members serve on each of the Manpower Services Commission, Training Services Agency and Employment Service Agency; and, of these, how many are resident in Scotland in each instance.

My right hon. Friend appoints a chairman and nine members to the Manpower Services Commission. One member is resident in Scotland. The Employment Service Agency and the Training Services Agency each consists of three members appointed by the commission. None is resident in Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many workers are self-employed.

In June 1973 the estimated number of self-employed persons, including those with employees, in Great Britain was 1,916,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) how many meetings audit engineers in the employment of the Offshore Supplies Office have had with Scottish industrial companies;(2) what contacts audit engineers in the employment of the Offshore Supplies Office have had with Scottish industry; and if he will state how many audit engineers are based in London and how many in Glasgow.

The audit engineers, together with other staff of the Offshore Supplies Office, have had numerous meetings with a very large number of British industrial and service companies, many of which are based in Scotland. Ten audit engineers are based in London and two in Glasgow.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will up-date his answer given in the Official Report, 31st July 1974, column 354, in the light of present costs.

The following table sets out the latest information available in respect of coal, fuel oil and natural gas, It is regretted that it is not yet possible to provide more up-to-date figures for electricity than those shown in the answer given on 31st July 1974.

FUEL COSTS TO INDUSTRIAL USERS
p/therm
	England	Scotland	Wales
Coal*	5·5–6·4	6·3–6·8	6·6–6·7
Fuel Oil*	9·5–10·5	9·5–10·5	9·5–10·5
Natural Gas†	3·8	3·6	3·6
* Figures relate to end December 1974.
† Figures relate to the period April to September 1974

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the current extent of North Sea gas reserves; and what steps he is taking to conserve its use.

Recoverable reserves of gas from proven and probable discoveries were estimated, in the 1974 report to Parliament, as about 35 TCF (10¹²) cubic feet. My right hon. Friend will be publishing revised estimates in this year's report. Conservation strategy for gas is being formulated as progressively more information becomes available.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will now take steps to establish an energy commission to co-ordinate the production, sale and use of energy in the United Kingdom and, in particular, to help avoid competition between energy industries aimed at increasing level of energy usage.

I am not convinced that an energy commission of this kind is needed. I shall be ready, however, to strengthen the resources available for advising me on energy matters if that becomes necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will take steps to end the higher current electricity tariffs for those who choose to generate their own electricity and rely only on CEGB supplies as standby.

The total charges for energy actually supplied under a standby arrangement reflect not only the normal cost of providing electricity but also the cost of maintaining the additional plant needed to meet standby requirements. My right hon. Friend will, however, be discussing this matter with the industry.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the overseas borrowings of the nationalised industries for which he is responsible in each of the last 10 years, together with the value of their exports for the same years and the value of their imports of capital goods and services.

The information is set out in the following table:

£m.*
1964–65
	Coal	Industry Gas	Electricity
Overseas borrowing	—	—	—
Exports	N.A.	—	—
Imports	N.A.	N.A.	—

£m.*
1965–66
	Coal	Industry Gas	Electricity
Overseas borrowing	—	—	—
Exports	N.A.	—	—
Imports	N.A.	N.A.	—

£m.*
1966–67
	Coal	Industry Gas	Electricity
Overseas borrowing	—	—	—
Exports	13·6	—	—
Imports	N.A.	N.A.	—

£m.*
1967–68
	Coal	Industry Gas	Electricity
Overseas borrowing	—	—	—
Exports	10·8	—	—
Imports	N.A.	N.A.	—

£m.*
1968–69
	Coal	Industry Gas	Electricity
Overseas borrowing	—	—	—
Exports	16·0	—	—
Imports	N.A.	N.A.	—

£m.*
1969–70
	Coal	Industry Gas	Electricity
Overseas borrowing	—	32·1	21·1
Exports	20·0	—	—
Imports	N.A.	N.A.	—

asked the Attorney-General if he will provide for people of low income who are receiving benefit to be entitled to be represented free before a local tribunal or commissioner.

I have been asked to reply.My noble Friend the Lord Chancellor is at present engaged in a study of the most appropriate manner in which legal services may be extended in Great Britain. I shall review the position in Northern Ireland in the light of any recommendation which may be made to provide legal aid for representation before tribunals in the rest of the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what is the number of children in England in full or part-time nursery education; and if he will express this total per 100 children of nursery school age;

On the assumption that the number of children of nursery age in any given new local education authority area may be taken to be about one-half of the 1–4 age group the figures are as follows: