asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will support a change in the method of calculating pigmeat monetary compensation amounts whereby the latter would be calculated on the same basis as cereal monetary compensation amounts.

I have made clear in the EEC Council my belief that action must be taken to correct the present unfair method of calculating monetary compensatory amounts on pigmeat. I have discussed this question with the Commissioner for agriculture, Mr. Gundelach. At our most recent meeting he reaffirmed the Commission's intention to do its utmost to find a permanent solution to the problem in the pigmeat sector.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what statutory provisions exist concerning fire precautions which must be observed by factory farmers for protection of their livestock; and if he will make a statement.

There are no statutory provisions specifically designed to safeguard livestock, but farm buildings have to comply with regulations and other controls designed to promote human safety. Statutory provisions for structural fire precautions to be observed in farm buildings, including livestock housing, are set out in Part E of the Buildings Regulations 1976, which are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has received the report of the Food Standards Committee on the definition, composition and labelling of beer; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. The Food Standards Committee has completed its review and its report is published today. The Food Additives and Contaminants Committee which, in conjunction with the Toxicity Sub-Committee of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Chemicals in Food and the Environment, is examining the additives and processing aids use in beer production, will be reporting in due course. Both these committees have taken evidence from a wide range of interests. Quite apart from its price, the composition, gravity, description and method of dispense of beer are a matter of public interest. In April 1974 the Government asked the two committees to examine and report on these aspects. The report published today exposes the many issues involved in a balanced and considered way. I believe it makes a valuable contribution to public understanding. We will now be inviting comments. Only when we have received and considered them shall we make up our minds on whether and, if so, on what further action may be required. We shall, of course, need to take account of any developments in the EEC bearing on the matter. Should we have proposals for regulations under the Food and Drugs Act there will be consultation in accordance with Section 123(6) of that Act.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many tenanted farms have become available for new tenancies since 22nd November 1976;(2) how many new tenancy agreements have been made for farms which have become vacant since 22nd November 1976;(3) how many new tenancy agreements were made for tenanted farms during the years 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976 up to 22nd November 1976.

I regret that my Department does not collect this information.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate has been made of the cost to his Department of the National Food Survey for the year 1977–78.

Sampling and fieldwork for this survey are carried out for my Department by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. It is estimated that, for the financial year 1977–78, the sum to be borne on its Vote for this work will be £147,800. Administrative costs in my Department are not separately identifiable.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cattle in the United Kingdom have been diagnosed as suffering from liver fluke.

As liver fluke infestation is not a notifiable disease the precise number of animals affected is not known. Few live cattle show signs of suffering from it. However, on the basis of statistics collected from a number of slaughterhouses in England and Wales, it would be reasonable to assume that in 1976 about 11 per cent. of cattle were infested. This figure was comparatively low because of recent favourable summers which have reduced the prevalence of the snail that is the intermediate host.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if it is possible for farmers to be notified if cattle sent for slaughter are infected with liver fluke.

While there is no formal machinery for notifying farmers of a liver fluke infestation it is open to any farmer who sends his cattle directly to a slaughterhouse to ask the operator for this information to be provided. Where cattle are sold through a market it may be more difficult at the slaughterhouse to link the animals with their farm of origin.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, from international sources available to him, he will give details of the wholesale price of butter at the latest

				Total costs (travel and subsistence)	Of which air travel	Travel costs refunded by European Community	Net cost
				£	£	£	£
MAFF	…	…	…	525,000	310,000	156,000	369,000
Forestry Commission	…	…	…	15,750	4,590	1,350	14,400

Information on wholesale prices for December 1976 is set out below. Some of the variation in prices between countries may be attributable to differences in quality.

Country	£ per ton	$ per ton
Belgium	1,840	3,088
Denmark	1,774	2,977
France	1,544	2,591
West Germany	1,973	3,311
Irish Republic	1,215	2,039
Italy	1,669	2,801
Netherlands	1,831	3,072
United Kingdom*	1,108	1,859
Austria	1,853	3,109
Finland	2,437	4,089
Norway	1,086	1,822
Sweden	1,280	2,148
Switzerland	2,702	4,534
Canada	1,414	2,373
USA	1,212	2,034
Australia	909	1,525
New Zealand	463	777
Japan	2,300	3,859
Converted from national currencies at average market rates of exchange for December 1976.
* Excluding consumer subsidy.
Source of basic data: Milk Marketing Board for England and Wales. The entry for Japan is partly estimated.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much money was spent on overseas travel by his Department and by the Forestry Commission, respectively, during the latest year for which figures are available; and of these sums, how much was spent on travel by air.

The information for the calendar year 1976, including details of amounts refunded by the European Community for travel costs to European Community institutions, is as follows:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many days' supply, in terms of estimated normal United Kingdom consumption, is currently held of each Common Market commodity surplus in the United Kingdom.

The only commodities held in official intervention stores in the United Kingdom are beef, butter and skimmed milk powder. In terms of normal United Kingdom consumption, the stocks of the first two of these represent less than two days' supply, whilst the skimmed milk powder stocks are equivalent to about eight days' supply.

asked the Attorney-General what factors the Lord Chancellor takes into account when advising Her Majesty on the appointment of judges.

All relevant factors are taken into account by my noble Friend, in particular the experience, ability and personal qualities of the man or woman in question.

asked the Attorney-General how many convictions after trials on indictment were quashed on appeal in 1974, 1975 and 1976, respectively.

I have been asked to reply.The following table gives the information readily available, including those cases in which convictions on certain counts were quashed but on others were not.

PERSON CONVICTED ON INDICTMENT WHOSE CONVICTIONS WERE QUASHED BY THE COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)—ENGLAND AND WALES
Year	Conviction quashed	Number of persons Conviction quashed but conviction for lesser offence substituted
1974	104	3
1975	130	6
Figures for 1976 are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider introducing a formal fixed and automatic remission in sentencing in cases where defendants plead guilty; and what is the position on this matter in other EEC countries.

I would be prepared to look at any considered proposal along these lines and the reaction to it of interested individuals and organisations. I start with some doubts whether it is right in principle, or workable in practice, to formalise in this way the practice of the courts to impose a shorter sentence in some cases when there has been a plea of guilty.Information about practice in other EEC countries in this respect is not immediately available to me, and would be of doubtful relevance given the wide range of approaches to conditional release and/or remission of sentence.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will outline the appeals procedure for visitors to the United Kingdom, who have deportation orders issued against them for taking actions prejudicial to national security; and how this compares with the situation in other EEC countries.

I would refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 18th November 1976 about the procedure in the United Kingdom.—[Vol. 919, c. 1567–8.] I cannot usefully, in the compass of a reply to a parliamentary Question, seek to draw comparisons with other countries.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has done any research into the feasibility of repatriating foreigners convicted of offences in the United Kingdom now serving prison sentences in the United Kingdom; and, if so, what were the conclusions of such research.

Consideration has been given on a number of occasions to the question whether foreign prisoners should be released early by the exercise of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy and then deported or repatriated. The conclusion reached has been that there would be serious objections to the general adoption of such a procedure and that it can be justified only in exceptional circumstances.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much time, on average, per day, prison officers spend outside the prison in the course of their duties.

I regret that the information is not available centrally and cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost and effort. But a survey carried out in 1975 showed that the time then spent on court/escort duties amounted to about one hour a day per prison officer averaged over the whole service in England and Wales. These and other outside duties are, however, undertaken by only a small proportion of prison officers. The majority work wholly within the prison, although in the case of open prisons outside working parties are more common.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the size of the prison population for each of the next five years.

As indicated in the recent White Paper "The Government's Expenditure Plans" (Cmnd 6721—II), Chapter 9, paragraphs 12 and 13, it is assumed that the average daily population held in prison custody in Great Britain will rise in the period 1980–81 as follows:

1976–77	1977–78	1978–79	1979–80	1980–81
46,185,	46,605	47,045	47,515	48,065

The figures for England and Wales are:

41,160

41,480

41,820

42,190

42,640

Average numbers do not indicate the maximum numbers the prison system may have to hold at any given time. Actual numbers vary considerably over the year, as may be illustrated by the following figures for England and Wales in 1976–77: 42,808 on 31st July 1976; 40,391 on 31st December 1976; and 41,520 on 15th February 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for each year in the period 1960 to 1975, what proportion of the total prison population of each of Her Majesty's Prisons were serving sentences of five years and over.

The following table gives the percentages for those prisons in England and Wales in which, on 30th June 1976, persons serving sentences of five years or longer comprised 1 per cent. or more of the population:

	Per cent
Albany	66
Ashwell	3
Askham Grange	5
Aylesbury	18
Birmingham	4
Blundeston	31
Bristol	21
Canterbury	2
Cardiff	2
Chelmsford	50
Coldingley	14
Dartmoor	31
Durham	3
Exeter	4
Ford	12
Gartree	96
Gloucester	16
Grendon	35
Holloway	3
Hull	98
Kingston-Portsmouth	100
Leeds	2
Leicester	9
Lewes	14
Leyhill	36
Lincoln	4
Liverpool	12
Long Lartin	95
Maidstone	60
Moor Court	3
Norwich	2
Nottingham	4
Oxford	3
Parkhurst	92
Pentonville	2
Preston	2
Reading	17
Shepton Mallet	2
Shrewsbury	8
Stafford	6
Styal	12
Sudbury	2
Swansea	6
Swinfen Hall	16
Verne	11
Wakefield	94
Wandsworth	11
Winchester	6
Wormwood Scrubs	31

There were 16 other establishments in which persons serving such sentences formed less than 1 per cent. of the population.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for each year in the period 1960 to 1975, what proportion of the total prison population were aged (a) 17 and under 21 years (b) 21 to 25 years (c) 25 to 30 years (d) 30 to 35 years (e) 35 to 40 years (f) 40 to 45 years (g) 45 to 50 years (h) 50 to 55 years and (i) 55 to 60 years.

The following table offers such relevant information as is readily available.

SENTENCED POPULATION OF PRISON DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHMENTS IN ENGLAND AND WALES ON 30TH JUNE: PERCENTAGES BY AGE
Age	1973	1974	1975
	Per cent.	Per cent.	Per cent.
17 to 20	22·7	23·7	24·8
21 to 24	20·7	19·9	19·7
25 to 29	19·2	18·3	18·3
30 to 39	20·1	19·8	19·2
40 to 49	9·2	9·2	8·8
50 to 59	3·6	3·7	3·6

The other Information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for each year in the period 1960 to 1975, how many long-term prisoners in total out of the prison population were serving sentences of five years or more.

The following table shows the number of persons in Prison Department establishments in England and Wales who on 30th June in each year were serving sentences of five years or more:

1973	4,356
1974	4,394
1975	4,499

I regret that information for earlier years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide a comprehensive list of all the research projects carried out by the Home Office Research Unit in the last 10 years, indicating for each study whether or not it has been published or is publicly available.

Lists of research projects carried out by the Home Office Research Unit have been produced annually since 1969. I am sending the hon. Member these together with a list of studies published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office. The results of research carried out by the unit are also published in its own bulletin and various non-official journals.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research has been undertaken by his Department into the effectiveness of community service as a means of reducing recidivism.

A Home Office Research Unit report which is relevant to this issue will be published in a few months' time.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date or dates he expects to bring into force the Race Relations Act 1976.

I am not yet in a position to set a timetable for bringing the Act into force but I hope to do so soon.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted of indictable offences for each year in the period 1960 to 1975; and how many of those convicted were sent to prison in each year in the period 1960 to 1975, broken down according to the following categories of offence: (a) violence against the person, (b) sexual offences, (c) burglary, (d) robbery, (e) theft and the handling of stolen goods, (f) fraud and forgery and (g) criminal damage.

The figures requested are given in the following table. They do not include suspended prison sentences or periods of imprisonment ordered in default of payment of fines. The figures are not comparable over the whole period shown because of changes in the age of criminal responsibility, in legislation affecting sentencing and in legislation affecting the classification of offences, in particular offences of theft and criminal damage.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research has been done into the effects of the introduction of half-sentence remission in local detention centres in reducing rates of reconviction.

Remission for those in detention centres who were aged 14 to 16 on sentence was increased from one-third to one-half in September 1975. Reconviction rates are published in the statistical tables issued annually with the report on the work of the Prison Department, but those for 1976 are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for each year in the period 1970 to 1975, how many people we were sentenced to prison for non-payment of fines subsequently paid them.

The available figures do not show precisely what is asked for, because most people against whom warrants of commitment are issued pay the fine to avoid being taken to prison and others pay part of the fine—or have cash in their possession applied towards payment—immediately on arrival, thus automatically reducing the term of imprisonment in default. A table showing the proportion of persons who are admitted to prison and subsequently released in consequence of later payments was published in the Prison Department Statistics for 1975, and the figures so published are as follows. Figures for earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

PROPORTION OF SENTENCE SERVED BY FINE DEFAULTERS DISCHARGED IN 1975
Proportion of sentence served	Fine defaulters (percentage)
Up to 10 per cent.	20
Over 10 per cent. less than 50 per cent.	16
Over 50 per cent. less than 80 per cent.	10
Over 80 per cent.	54

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he proposes to take to help combat delin- quency amongst young people and violence at sporting events; and what consultations he has had recently to this end.

With my ministerial colleagues from other Departments, I met representatives of the football organisations and chief officers of police last December to discuss the control of crowds attending football matches; and I plan to hold a second such meeting soon to review developments. The Criminal Law Bill will substantially increase the maximum fines and amounts of compensation which offenders may be ordered by magistrates' courts to pay when convicted of the sort of offences associated with hooliganism and vandalism.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the criteria for the granting of certificates of unruliness for young persons awaiting trial; and when he expects to do so.

Together with my colleagues the Secretaries of State for Social Services, for Education and for Wales, I have now completed consultations on the form and content of an order to be made under Section 69 of the Children Act 1975 prescribing the conditions which must be satisfied before a court can commit a young person to a remand centre or prison on the ground that he is so unruly a character that he cannot safely be committed to the care of a local authority. I hope to make the order before very long.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in view of the continuing increase in crimes of armed violence resulting in murder, if he will seek powers to use a referendum procedure to ascertain the views of the electors of the United Kingdom on the reintroduction of capital punishment for the following categories of offence: (a) murder of a prison officer in the course of his duty, (b) murder of a policeman or policewoman in the course of duty, (c) armed robbery resulting in death, and (d) acts of terrorism resulting in death; and if he will make a statement.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reconsider his refusal of vetting by the police of applicants for hackney carriage private hire operators' licences and driving permits.

My right hon. Friend has no power to refuse or assent. But his advice to chief officers of police, with which they agree, is that the vetting of hackney carriage operators and drivers would not be a proper use of police records of criminal convictions.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are made for the compensation from public funds of those whose property is damaged or destroyed by acts of terrorism occurring in England, Wales and Scotland.

INDICTABLE OFFENCES RECORDED AS KNOWN TO THE POLICE AND CLEARED UP—BY OFFENCE GROUP ENGLAND ADN WALES
Number of offences (000's)
		Offences known to the police			Offences cleared up
				Percentage change	1975		1976
Offence group		1975	1976	1976/75	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
Violence against the person	…	71·0	77·7	+10	57·6	81	61·4	79
Sexual offences	…	23·7	22·2	-6	18·6	78	17·2	77
Burglary	…	521·9	515·5	-1	175·6	34	173·4	34
Robbery	…	11·3	11·6	+3	4·5	40	3·8	33
Theft and handling stolen goods	…	1,267·7	1,285·7	+1	525·1	41	521·6	41
Fraud and forgery	…	123·1	119·9	-3	103·7	84	97·5	81
Criminal damage*	…	78·5	93·0	+18	28·7	37	32·2	35
Other offences	…	8·4	10·1	+20	7·8	93	9·4	93
Total	…	2,105·6	2,135·7	+1	921·6	44	916·5	43
* Excluding criminal damage where the reported value was £20 or less.

asked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement about the membership of the Committee on a Memorial to the late Earl Attlee; and if he will announce the terms of reference of this Committee.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall (Mr. Strauss) has agreed to act as Chairman, and the following have also agreed to serve: The Earl Attlee, the Lord

There are no arrangements for paying compensation from public funds for the loss of property caused by terrorist acts in Great Britain: owners of property are in general able to obtain insurance cover to the extent they consider necessary to provide appropriate compensation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the number of indictable offences recorded as known to the police and the number cleared up in England and Wales in 1976; and how these figures compare with 1975.

The number of offences recorded as known to the police in England and Wales in 1976 was 2,135,700, of which 916,500, or 43 per cent., were cleared up. The following table compares the figures for 1976 with those for 1975:Champion and the Lord James of Rusholme, my right hon. Friends the Members for Anglesey (Mr. Hughes), Huyton (Sir H. Wilson), and Midlesbrough (Mr. Bottomley), the right hon. Lady the Leader of the Opposition, the hon. Members for Bristol, West (Mr. Cooke) and Sevenoaks (Sir J. Rodgers) and the right hon. Member for Devon, North (Mr. Thorpe).The Committee's terms of reference are:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what action has been taken to give effect to the Dock Work Regulation Act.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how soon he expects the new Dock Work Regulation Act to be fully implemented; and what effect it will have on the cost of inter-European road transport moving in and out of Great Britain on roll-on/roll-off ferries.

I have been carrying out the consultations required under the Act about appointments to the new National Dock Labour Board and will be making a further statement about bringing the Act into force as soon as these have been completed. There should be no effect on such costs.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment when he intends to bring Section 59 of the Employment Protection Act 1975 which relates to time off for public duties into operation.

I now propose to bring Section 59 of the Employment Protection Act 1975, which gives employees the right to reasonable time off from work to carry

				June 1975 (000's)	Change since 1960 (000's)
Transport and communication	…	…	…	60·5	-41
Construction	…	…	…	31·1	-12
Mechanical, electrical and instrument engineering	…	…	…	39·1	-12
Shipbuilding and marine engineering	…	…	…	9·2	-14
Distributive trades	…	…	…	70·8	-27

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what are the regulations concerning the use of British carriers when public funds are used to grant-aid air fares; and if he will consider issuing instructions that where Government funds are used to subsidise air travel, British out a range of important public duties, into operation on 6th April 1977, together with the provisions relating to maternity pay and itemised pay statements about which an announcement has already been made.I intend to bring into operation the remaining time-off provisions—Sections 57 and 58 of the Act, which deal with time off for trade union activities and duties—as soon as possible once the code of practice on these subjects required under the Act has been finalised and approved.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report the number employed in the following industries in the Liverpool travel-to-work area for the years 1960 and 1977: docks, building construction, engineering, ship-building, ship repair, transport, distribution, warehousing, merchant shipping and telecommunications.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 2nd March 1977; Vol. 927, c. 168], circulated the following details:Following is the information available which relates to the industry groups containing the industries specified. The table shows the numbers of employees in employment in the Liverpool travel-to-work area at June 1975, the latest date for which information is available, and, after allowing for discontinuities, the estimated changes since June 1960.air carriers must, where possible, be used at all times.

I can only answer for the Civil Service where the Civil Service Pay and Conditions of Service Code states that whenever possible United Kingdom airlines should be used by officials and others whose fares are paid from public funds and that bookings should be made with a United Kingdom airline.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will make a statement about Her Majesty's Stationery Office proposals for the page size of certain parliamentary papers.

As the House will be aware, the House of Commons (Services) Committee, in their First Report of the present Session, made recommendations in respect of the future printing of the Official Report (Hansard) of both the House debates and of Standing Committees founded on evidence given by HMSO. In view of the interest of the House, more details of HMSO's proposals regarding the page-size of parliamentary papers, and information about the background to them, is given below.

	Present Size	Proposed Size
(i) Select Committees	Royal 8vo (9⅝" × 6")	Format is now under consideration.
(ii) Bills and Acts
(iii) Command Papers
(iv) The Vote Bundle represented by:	Crown 4to (9⅝" × 7¼")	A4 (11¾" × 8¼")
(a) Votes and Proceedings,
(b) Notices of Questions and Motions given,
(c) Order Paper,
(d) Marshalled List of Amendments.
(v) Debates	Large Royal 8vo (9¾" × 6⅜")	A4 (11¾" × 8¼")
(vi) Standing Committees

HMSO suggests that, if the proposals are approved, the changes in (v) and (vi) would not be effective until 1978–79 when the new equipment comes into operation; at a later stage, changes relating to (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) would be made.A change to A4 would provide the following benefits: (i) The use of somewhat larger pages would reduce the number of pages to be printed in a year by 17,000–27 per cent.—and consequently speed up production; (ii) Uniformity would reduce the time at present wasted in setting up the presses for varying paper sizes, again leading to a better service;(iii) The consequent uniformity of equipment would provide greater flexibility of machine utilisation and effectively increase the peak capacity of the presses.HMSO acknowledged that one of the objections put forward to its proposals was that the present size

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, in view of the large increase in food poisoning cases, his Department will investigate the use of sulphonamide drugs to treat diarrhoea and sickness, since these drugs do not eliminate salmonella organisms.

I would refer the right hon. Gentleman to my reply to his other Question yesterday.—[Vol. 927, c. 491.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of patients on waiting lists for geriatric beds throughout England and Wales; and how many of these are in the Greater London area.

The number of persons awaiting admission as in-patients to geriatric departments in NHS hospitals in England and Wales at 30th September 1976 was 4,809, of whom 466 were in the Greater London area.Geriatric departments are defined as those under the care of physicians in geriatric medicine or other consultant physicians appointed to care for geriatric patients.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the ratio of practising general practitioners per head of population in each of the regional health authorities of England.

At 1st July 1976 the numbers of doctors providing the full range of general medical services per 100,000 population were as follows:—

Northern	42
Yorkshire	43
Trent	41
East Anglia	44
North West Thames	49
North East Thames	47
South East Thames	46
South West Thames	46
Wessex	46
Oxford	44
South Western	47
West Midlands	43
Mersey	42
North Western	42

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report the details of the allocation of the Supplementary Estimate for the National Health Service; and if the Brent and Harrow Area Health Authority can expect any relief from the proposed heavy cut-back in services.

The Supplementary Estimates (HC 140) for current advances to health authorities make provision, within the DHSS 2 cash block, for those pay and price changes—including an increase in some London weighting allowances—which were not sought in earlier Estimates. The 1976–77 revenue cash limits, allocated to authorities last year and published in the earlier Supplementary Estimate (HC 484), included an allowance for the forecast effects of all pay and price changes during the year apart from the increase in London weighting allowances for which supplementary allocations have recently been made. Any change in the allocation to an area health authority is a matter for the appropriate regional health authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many representations he has received about the future of Cosford Hospital; and if he will reconsider his decision to close the hospital at the end of the year.

About 54,000, of which 53,000 are signatories to a petition. My right hon. Friend does not intend to reconsider his decision that Cosford Hospital must close on 31st December 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many local offices of his Department there are in Argyll; and where they are situated.

Two, at Oban and Campbeltown.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons have died from cancer in each year since 1969 to the most convenient date; and how many of these were under the age of 21 years.

Available information is as follows:

DEATHS FROM CANCER (ICD 140–239) IN ENGLAND AND WALES
	All ages	Under 20 years of age
1969	116,035	1,128
1970	117,076	1,085
1971	118,216	1,062
1972	120,285	1,079
1973	121,297	1,052
1974	123,022	980
1975	123,728	962

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what allowance is made by his Department, when calculating the essential revenue requirements of regional health authorities, for the additional energy costs of new hospitals;(2) if he will consider revising the basic formula for calculating essential revenue requirements of regional health authorities since this is based on the average needs of a number of hospitals and may not take into account the much greater running costs of new hospitals with complex layouts and sophisticated heating and ventilation systems;(3) what allowance is made by his Department when allocating funds to regional health authorities, for the additional cost of specialist branches of medicines, such as oncology, which require more highly trained staff.

The allowance made hitherto in the revenue allocations to regional health authorities in England for the running costs of new hospitals has reflected the known expenditure of a sample of hospitals of comparable size and function: the allowance for energy costs has been related to cubic capacity. Additions have been made to global sums so calculated where developments included special features with significant extra costs not adequately covered in the basic sum, for example air conditioning, renal units and major radio isotope departments. 1976–77 marks the end of the phasing out of special allowances in revenue allocations to regional authorities for the revenue expenditure consequences of capital schemes.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if the new computer in Washington New Town to process child benefit claims for one-parent families will be in operation by 1st April.

No. Initially the payment of child benefit increase for one-parent families will be paid clerically from our North Fylde central office. Until the new computer is installed at Washington, the remainder of child benefit work will be processed on the computers at Newcastle central office.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether there is a building in the DHSS complex at Washington New Town designated for tax credits.

No. One of the buildings at Washington was originally intended as a computer centre for the Inland Revenue for the Tax Credit Scheme but is now to be used as a computer centre for the Child Benefit Scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when the National Development Group for the Mentally Handicapped intends to publish its action plan for the improvement of services for mentally handicapped children; and whether he will make a statement.

The group's pamphlet "Mentally Handicapped Children: A Plan for Action" is being published today and a copy has been placed in the Library. It is being widely distributed to NHS and local authorities, to community health councils and to relevant voluntary organisations.I hope that the pamphlet will be closely studied by everyone concerned with the needs of mentally handicapped children. It makes a number of important recommendations about ways in which services can be developed in the current economic situation.The National Development Group has already published a pamphlet on joint planning between NHS and local authorities. Further pamphlets about services for mentally handicapped school leavers and about the provision of short-term residential care will be published shortly. A major pamphlet on day services for mentally handicapped adults is in preparation.As I said in my foreword to the development group's pamphlet "Mental Handicap: Planning Together" published last year, I am much in favour of the group using this means of publicising, quickly and directly, its ideas on services for mentally handicapped people and their families. These ideas can then he discussed; and authorities which consider them of immediate relevance to their situation can try them out as they think fit, and without delay.I should like to take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation of the hard work the group has put into the preparation of its pamphlets, and I await the results with keen interest. In the light of experience of the group's operation over the past two years, I am now considering how best to rationalise and strengthen the arrangements for providing policy advice on mental handicap matters to me and to field authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what investigation he has made into the statement of Sir Charles Stuart Harris, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Immunisation and Vaccination, that many of the cases of vaccine damage reported by doctors are not likely to have any connection with vaccination.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 28th February 1977; Vol. 927, c. 64], gave the following information:I believe that my hon. Friend is referring to the report in

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many voluntary aided schools there are presently in the United Kingdom;(2) how many voluntary aided schools there are in Gloucestershire.

In January 1976, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 5,066 voluntary aided primary, middle and secondary schools in the maintained sector in England and Wales. Of these schools, 64 were in Gloucestershire.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has considered the extent to which under-used facilities in small schools of the kind referred to in her recent guidance note could be made available to the under-fives, either by the addition of a nursery class to the school or by admitting children between the ages of four and five years to existing reception classes.

My Department has on a number of occasions drawn local education authorities' attention to the possibility of providing facilities for nursery education relatively cheaply by the adaptation of spare primary school accommodation, although this advice has not been given solely with reference to small schools.While the Government hope to provide resources for a modest increase in nursery education provision, their present policy is that the total number of under-fives in education should remain constant. Local education authorities have therefore been advised that in general no more under-fives should be admitted to primary schools except for rising fives where the call on resources is minimal.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science why the importance of the village school to village communities is not one of the factors which she has encouraged local authorities to take into account when considering the closure of small schools.

The most important factors when considering proposals under Section 13 of the Education Act 1944, as amended, are educational ones. My right hon. Friend does, however, consider other factors, including the effects of a school closure on a small community, and the document she has circulated to local authority associations and others for comment makes this clear.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science why she has not advised local authorities to seek ways of reducing the unit cost of small schools as an alternative to closure, for example by the use of shared teaching or ancillary staff on the lines of the shared headmaster experiment in Harbottle, Northumberland.

I am informed that the Northumberland Education Authority is considering a proposal for Harbottle and Netherton First Schools to share a head teacher but that a final decision has not yet been made.Unit costs are only one of a number of factors that have to be taken into account when proposals are made to cease to maintain a school and it is not an overriding consideration, as the document "Falling Numbers and School Closures" which was recently circulated for comment made clear. I am confident that local authorities are fully aware of the importance of reducing unit costs where this can be done without damage to the quality of their educational provision.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether, in view of the guidance she has given to local authorities on the closure of schools, she has any plans for changing the arrangements by which she considers objections to school closures under the Education Act 1944.

No. The present procedure allows full weight to be given to objections to local education authorities' proposals to cease to maintain schools.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will withdraw Circular 7/70 on the "Government and Conduct of Establishments of Further Education" and replace it by a new circular requiring that academic boards should have a majority of members elected from the teaching staff of institutions by the staff as a whole.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the total cost of printing and distributing administrative memorandum 5/77 (Welsh Office 3/77) on Commonwealth Day.

£614.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will state the total at January 1966 of new school places in England and Wales provided since 1945 and the comparable figure at December 1976.

The number of new places taken into use in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales since 1945 was 3,962,000 at January 1966 and 7,811,000 at the end of December 1976. Of these, some 60 per cent. in each case were in new schools or first instalments of new schools. The remainder were provided by extensions and adaptations to existing schools, in temporary accommodation or—in the immediate post-war years—by rehabilitation of war-damaged schools.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will state the total value of capital projects approved for polytechnics since they were first designated up to December 1976.

Major capital projects approved for polytechnics in England and Wales since they were each first designated up to December 1976 amounted to £76 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if she will state the total of full-time students in uni-

				Autumn Term of Academic Year
				1966–67	1975–76	1976–77 (estimates)
				Numbers (in thousands)
Universities (United Kingdom)—
(a) Arts*	…	…	…	84	135§	n.a.
(b) Science*	…	…	…	105	133§	n.a.
Total	…	…	…	189	268§	280
Polytechnicst† (England and Wales)—
(a) Arts*	…	…	…	32	63	n.a.
(b)Science*	…	…	…	26	33	n.a.
Total‡	…	…	…	60	98	113
Former Colleges of Education (England and Wales)—
Initial teacher training courses	…	…	…	84	87	56
Other Colleges of Further Education (England and Wales)—
Full-time and Sandwich courses	…	…	…	202	300	319
Part-time	…	…	…	1,514	1,465	1,425
* Science includes engineering and technology; medicine, dentistry and health; agriculture, forestry and veterinary science. Arts includes teacher training and all other subjects.
† 26 designated Polytechnics in 1970–71; all 30 in 1975–76 and 1976–77.
‡ Includes students whose courses are not classified by subject.
§ Provisional figure.
Year 1970–71.
n.a. = Not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if she will state the total of primary school teachers in State schools in England and Wales in September 1966 and September 1976;(2) if she will state the total number of secondary school teachers in State

versities in the United Kingdom in November 1966 and November 1976 classified broadly as to (

Following is the available information covering full-time and sandwich course students except where part-time students are specified:schools in England and Wales in September 1966 and 1976;(3) if she will state the total number of full-time academic staff in further education colleges in England and Wales in January 1966 and December 1976;(4) if she will state the number of full-time academic staff employed in polytech- nics in November 1970 and November 1976;(5) if she will state the number of full-time academic staff in colleges of education in October 1966 and October 1976;(6) if she will state the total number of full-time academic staff employed in uni-

NUMBER OF ACADEMIC STAFF IN SERVICE
England and Wales
Maintained nursery and primary Schools*	…	October 1966—153,615	September 1976—216,270
Maintained secondary schools*	…	October 1966—152,876	September 1976—241,009
Maintained further education establishments (excluding polytechnics)†	…	February 1966—37,422	September 1976—52,640
Polytechnics†	…	September 1971—11,404	September 1976—16,294
Colleges of Education‡	…	October 1966—7,888	September 1974—10,926
United Kingdom
Universities§	…	December 1966—24,025	December 1975—32,208
* Full-time staff plus the full-time equivalent of part-time teachers.
† Full-time staff only.
‡ Full-time staff only. For maintained colleges of education only the figures are 5,290 in October 1966 and 4,724 in September 1976; later figures are not available for voluntary colleges of education.
§ Full-time staff paid wholly from general university funds.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will state the total expenditure on all academic staff in further education colleges in England and Wales in 1966 and 1976.

This expenditure, including national insurance and superannuation, for grant-aided establishments of further education, including colleges of education, in England and Wales for the financial years 1965–66 and 1975–76 was £105 million and £525 million respectively at outturn prices.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will state the total value of capital projects for universities in the United Kingdom approved in the period January 1966 to December 1976.

Major capital projects approved for universities in Great Britain during this period amounted to £268·9 million. This figure excludes clinical medical projects in teaching hospitals.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will announce the membership of the steering group which is to study further the question of a common system of examining at 16-plus; and whether she will make a statement.

I regret that information is not available in some cases for the dates requested. The available figures are as follows:

I have appointed a steering committee with the following membership:—

Sir James Waddell, CB (Chairman).

Mr. R. H. Bird, Under Secretary, Department of Education and Science.

Miss S. J. Browne, HM Inspector.

Mr. Ron Cocking, Headmaster, Colmers Farm Junior School, Birmingham, Member of the Schools Council.

Mr. Walter Cooke, OBE, Headmaster, Highfield Comprehensive School, Gateshead. Member of the Schools Council.

Mrs. Lorna Denton, Parent, Secretary, Derby Federation of Parent Teacher Associations.

Mr. A. H. Jennings, Headmaster, Ecclesfield Comprehensive School, Sheffield. Member of the Schools Council.

Cllr. Peter Horton, Chairman, Association of Metropolitan Authorities Education Committee and Chairman, Sheffield Education Committee.

Mr. J. A. Hudson, CB, Deputy Secretary, Department of Education and Science.

Dr. Barbara E. Marsh, JP, Chairman, Shropshire Education Committee.

Mr. D. Mumford, CBE, Principal, Cambridge College of Art and Technology.

Mr. W. Pearson, JP, Chairman, Education and Training Committee, Birmingham Chamber of Industry.

Dr. William Taylor, Director, University of London Institute of Education.

Mrs. Pat Turner, National Woman Officer, General and Municipal Workers Union.

Mr. J. E. Williams, Headmaster, Prestatyn High School, Clwyd, Wales.

Miss Sheila Wood, CBE, Hon. Secretary, Joint Four Member of the Schools Council.

The committee will oversee a full study of the issues involved and advise me and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales on a number of specific matters of difficulty. This is a task to which I attach great importance.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will state the total value of capital projects approved for colleges of education in the period from January 1966 to December 1976.

The total value of major capital projects approved for colleges of education in England and Wales between 1st January 1966 and 31st December 1976 was £38·6 million.

1972
		Maintained		Voluntary		Total
Regions		Places	Per cent.	Places	Per cent.	Places
Northern	…	6,155	72·4	2,345	27·6	8,500
Yorkshire and Humberside	…	11,335	77·9	3,215	22·1	14,550
North West	…	12,130	68·2	5,650	31·8	17,780
East Midlands	…	6,860	78·0	1,940	22·0	8,800
West Midlands	…	9,985	81·0	2,340	19·0	12,325
East Anglia	…	170	1·3	1,330	88·7	1,500
Greater London	…	8,960	47·4	9,940	52·6	18,900
Other South East	…	13,860	72·6	5,240	27·4	19,100
South West	…	4,290	47·7	4,710	52·3	9,000
Wales	…	5,250	82·0	1,150	18·0	6,400
TOTAL	…	78,995	67·6	37,860	32·4	116,855

PROPOSED FOR 1981
		Maintained*		Voluntary*		Total
Regions		Places	Per cent.	Places	Per cent.	Places*
Northern	…	2,600	86·7	400	13·3	3,000
Yorkshire and Humberside	…	3,750	72·3	1,440	27·7	5,190
North West	…	4,300	60·1	2,850	39·9	7,150
East Midlands	…	3,050	76·3	950	23·7	4,000
West Midlands	…	3,900	77·7	1,120	22·3	5,020
East Anglia	…	Nil	Nil	1,050	100·0	1,050
Greater London	…	3,250	46·1	3,800	53·9	7,050
Other South East	…	3,850	56·6	2,950	43·4	6,800
South West	…	1,900	56·5	1,460	43·5	3,360
Wales	…	2,150	75·4	700	24·6	2,850
TOTAL	…	28,750	63·2	16,720	36·8	45,470
* Including 850 places in maintained and 1,500 in voluntary institutions proposed to be merged with universities.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the future of Rhodesian schoolchildren now in Zambia for guerrilla training.

Since the question of the schoolchildren was debated in the House on 3rd February, Her Majesty's

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will tabulate in the Official Report the number of places in colleges of education in each convenient region of England and Wales in 1973, and that planned for 1981, showing separately the number and percentage of places in voluntary and maintained colleges, respectively, and the appropriate national totals.

The following table shows the assessed capacity of colleges of education and polytechnic education departments in 1972 and the number of teacher training places now proposed for 1981.Representatives in Lusaka and Gaborone and Her Majesty's Permanent Representative to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva have maintained close contact with those organisations and individuals most closely involved with the childrenA representative of the High Commission in Botswana visited the camp in Botswana in which the children from the Manama Mission were first held and I subsequently received a report from the High Commission on this matter. I am satisfied that whilst the children were in Botswana they were given adequate opportunity to return to their parents: and that both they and their parents were properly treated by the Botswana authorities, particularly in view of the very difficult circumstances prevailing at the time.The question of what further action with regard to the children might be feasible and desirable now that they have arrived in Zambia remains under consideration. We have kept in touch with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the relevant United Nations agencies about the situation and the possible need for humanitarian assistance for genuine refugees. The children are presently in the care of one of the Rhodesian nationalist movements at a camp near Lusaka and as such are not under the direct control of the Zambian authorities.I wish to take this opportunity to express the Government's extreme concern at the involvement of children in the present conflict. Press reports that children have continued to leave Rhodesia for Botswana and Zambia are particularly disturbing and underline in the starkest possible terms the urgent need for a negotiated settlement in Rhodesia.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will ask the International Red Cross Society to investigate the conditions under which Rhodesians are held in Khami Prison.

We understand that, although the Rhodesian authorities have allowed the International Red Cross Society to inspect certain other prisons in Rhodesia, they have latterly refused to grant them access to Khami Prison. This refusal to grant permission to visit the prison is a matter of deep concern. It will strengthen suspicions about conditions there.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much money was spent on overseas travel by his Department during the latest year for which figures are available; and, of this sum, how much was spent on travel by air.

Expenditure on fares for overseas travel during the current financial year is expected—on the basis of actual figures for the first 10 months—to be about £5·1 million, of which about £5 million will be for air travel. I regret that exact figures for earlier full years are not available, since fares were not recorded separately from subsistence and other related costs.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response he has sent to the Romanian Government's request for aid following the earthquake disaster; and what type and quantity of aid has been sent already.

Immediately after the earthquake in Romania on 4th March, Her Majesty's Ambassador in Bucharest made an offer of disaster relief to the Romanian Government on behalf of Her Majesty's Government. In response to the Romanian Government's request for medicines and specific items of medical equipment, a consignment of 120 kg. of antibiotics was sent to Bucharest by air on 8th March. Further consignments have been held in abeyance in view of the Romanian Government's request later on 8th March that all further relief be held over until their requirements have been clarified. The Government will give urgent and sympathetic consideration to these requirements when they have been communicated to us.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he now expects to receive from the British Railways Board a review of its rail freight operations; and if he will make a statement.

My officials and the Board's are comparing their assessments of future commercial opportunities, but I do not now expect to receive a formal report.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport by how much rail fares have increased, in percentage terms, since the commencement of the pay policy in July 1975 to the present date.

Since July 1975 British Rail fares have been increased three times, by a cumulative average of nearly 45 per cent.