asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many stoppages of work due to industrial disputes took place in each of the years 1966 to 1976.

Following is the information:

Number of stoppages of work due to industrial disputes in the United Kingdom beginning in each of the years 1966–1976
1966	1,937
1967	2,116
1968	2,378
1969	3,116
1970	3,906
1971	2,228
1972	2,497
1973	2,873
1974	2,922
1975	2,282
1976	2,016

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many stoppages of work due to industrial disputes have taken place in 1977 up to the end of September.

The provisional number of stoppages of work due to industrial disputes beginning in 1977 up to the end of September is 2,057. The figures for the current year are subject to continuous review as fresh information is received. The figure given is, therefore, slightly higher than that published in the October Gazette.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the net loss of jobs in Wales which will arise from the establishment of the Hitachi factory in North-East England.

I have been asked to reply.No decision has yet been reached on the Hitachi proposals to establish a factory in North-East England.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many able- bodied persons were listed as unemployed at the Reading and District employment exchange during the months of May, June, July, August and September 1977, respectively.

The following table gives the total numbers registered as unemployed in the Reading employment office area and the numbers of those who were known to be disabled:

	Total unemployed	Number of unemployed disabled people included in total
May 1977	4,829	607
June 1977	5,199	604
July 1977	6,311	603
August 1977	6,079	596
September 1977	6,194	589

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the percentage increase in Scottish youth unemployment since March 1974.

I have been asked to reply.About 300 per cent.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the number of unemployed school leavers in the special development areas in Scotland.

I have been asked to reply.About 6,800.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is able to identify the employment sectors in Scotland where there is currently a shortage of skilled labour.

I have been asked to reply.There are no employment sectors in Scotland where there is currently a general shortage of skilled labour. Local shortages in specific skills arise from time to time; close and regular contact between my Department and the MSC and its agencies on the one hand and industry on the other ensures that such shortages are identified at an early stage and appropriate steps taken to alleviate them.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table showing the number of school leavers still without full-time employment in each Scottish region; if he will show the total number of job vacancies available; and if he will indicate how many of these young people are currently engaged in job creation or work experience schemes.

I have been asked to reply.

Region					School leavers registered as unemployed at 10th November 1977	Unfilled vacancies at 4th October 1977	Job creation at October 1977	Work experience at October 1977
					(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Borders		…	…	…	46	33	5	20
Central		…	…	…	467	61	79	227
Dumfries and Galloway				…	141	8	107	289
Fife		…	…	…	239	37	311	397
Grampian		…	…	…	149	131	34	64
Highland		…	…	…	217	82	106	135
Lothian		…	…	…	861	100	290	288
Strathclyde		…	…	…	6,785	180	1,039	1,172
Tayside		…	…	…	503	97	162	156
Orkney Islands			…	…	14	11	—	1
Shetland Islands			…	…	—	52	—	—
Western Isles		…	…	…	13	3	68	15
					9,435	795	2,201	2,764

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the total amount of money spent in the last 10 years on nuclear fuels; and how much of that has been obtained from private sources.

I am advised that capital expenditure on fuel cycle services by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and British Nuclear Fuels Limited over the last 10 years to the end of the 1976 financial year amounts to approximately £110 million. Borrowing from the private sector to finance this investment amounted to £20 million drawn down by BNFL from the £100 million private sector loan of which I informed the House on 14th July 1976. The balance has been met from reserves accumulated by the UKAEA and BNFL;

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is his estimate of the boost to refining capacity and jobs within the United Kingdom as a direct result of North Sea oil; and what proportion of this has been accounted for in Scotland.

Existing refining capacity in the United Kingdom will be more than enough to meet the demand for refined oil products both at home and for export for some years to come. There has therefore been no increase in refining capacity as such as a direct result of North Sea oil, although refineries in the East coast of Scotland and Wales are better placed to make fuller use of their existing capacity. This will not significantly affect employment.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will indicate the number of times during the past 12 months he has invited the British National Oil Corporation to give him advice under Section 3(3) of the Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975.

BNOC has tendered advice to me on many occasions over the last year.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how much petroleum he estimates the British National Oil Corporation will have available for disposal for each year up to 1985 including royalty accepted in kind.

In the early 1980s BNOC could have access to around 25 million tonnes of United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) crude oil each year from its equity share holdings in fields and through the exercise of participation options. In addition, the agreement with BP will give the Corporation access to substantial amounts of non-UKCS crude, and royalty taken in kind could be put at BNOC's disposal, increasing BNOC's total access to around 40–50 million tonnes each year.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is his policy regarding plans for marketing substantial quantities of oil from 1978 onwards; what consultation he has had with the British National Oil Corporation about this; and whether he proposes directing the British National Oil Corporation under Section 4 to make use of inter-Government deals or sales on the local market or sales through the Rotterdam oil market.

I am discussing disposal of United Kingdom offshore oil with the companies involved in its production, including BNOC.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what in his Depart- ment's estimate of the contribution which geothermal power will provide for United Kingdom power generation by (a) 1990, (b) 1995, (c) 2000;(2) what is his Department's estimate of the contribution which wind power will provide for United Kingdom power generation by (

Most renewable sources are at an early stage of development, and substantial further work is needed to establish their feasibility and reduce costs. As given in the Working Document on Energy Policy, maximum technically feasible contributions to enregy supplies from individual sources in the year 2000, if each were successfully developed, could be:

Solar
domestic space heating	1 mtce
domestic water heating	4 mtce
fuel from plant materials	3 mtce
Waves	up to 15 mtce
Winds	up to 8 mtce
Tidal	up to 4 mtce
Geothermal	up to 4 mtce
(mtce—million tons of coal equivalent)

The actual contribution that could in practice be expected from these sources by 2000 is probably nearer to 10mtce in total, and very possibly less than that. Of these sources only waves, winds and tidal would make their contribution by way of power generation. No estimates are available for earlier years.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many criminal cases, involving accused persons between the ages of 14 and 17 years, are currently before the courts in Northern Ireland;(2) how many persons under the age of 14 years currently stand charged with criminal offences in Northern Ireland.

The information requested is not readily available and coul dnot be obtained without disproportionate cost. However, in the period 1st January 1977 to 30th September 1977, 593 persons aged 14 and under 17 years and 192 persons under 14 years were charged and appeared before the courts in Northern Ireland.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many married women are receiving the attendance allowance at the higher and lower rate, respectively.

I regret that the information is not available, since records are not kept by marital status.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has made of the amount of money given out by his Department solely on sickness benefit during the latest 12 months for which figures are available.

£540 million in the 12 months ending June 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give any figures available to him as to the number of people suffering from Down's syndrome who have applied for the mobility allowance.

I regret that the information requested is not available. Claimants for mobility allowance are not asked to state the nature of their disability when making an application. In relation to awards, we maintain statistics relating to physical disablement only under headings which broadly correspond to sections of the International Classification of Diseases.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the recommendations of environmental health officers in the Surrey Area Health Authority's area of responsibility which have not yet been implemented, indicating when each such recommendation was first made.

I will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what recommendations of the Finer Report on one-parent families still remain to be implemented.

I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mr. Corbett) on 26th October.—[Vol. 936, c. 738–41.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the additional cost if maternity grant were made a non-contributory benefit.

Maternity grant is paid in respect of over 90 per cent. of births in Great Britain each year. Those who fail to qualify are, for the most part, those who cannot meet the contribution conditions. The gross extra cost of paying the grant without regard to contributions would, in the current year, be about £1 million. But this is something which could only be considered as more resources become available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what was the cost to the National Health Service of administering (a) Northampton hospitals in 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977 and (b) other hospitals within the Northamptonshire Area Health Authority;

This information is not readily available, but I shall write to my hon. Friend as soon as I have it.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will stop further staff cuts and hospital closures by Northamptonshire Area Health Authority until he has received a financial report from the area health authority;(2) when he receives the financial statement on moneys discharged by Northampton Area Health Authority if he will make a public statement on them.

I have asked the chairmen of the regional and area health authorities in the Oxford Region to let me have by the middle of this month a report setting out the steps to be taken to bring the region's finances under control in the short term and broad indications of the strategic approach to development of services into the mid-1980s. When I have studied the report I shall consider whether a public statement is necessary.Some changes in services have already been approved and are taking place. I am satisfied that these are necessary improvements and rationalisations of services, and that they should continue. I understand that no new changes are likely to be set in train before I receive the report I have called for. I also understand that the interests of the staff are being taken fully into account by the area health authority, which is keeping the local branches of the trades unions and staff associations concerned closely informed of developments.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if there is a limit placed by the Government on area health authorities' spending on entertainment; and what that limit is.

There is a limit of £500 per annum on health authority chairmen's entertainment allowances. This is a maximum figure and is subject to normal accounting procedures.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the cost of the administration of the Family Fund expressed as a percentage of the money paid out in grants has risen from 6 per cent. in its first year of operation to 10·8 per cent. in the year ended 30th September 1972; if he expects the proportion spent on administration to rise; how this proportion compares with the administrative costs of, respectively, child benefit and attendance allowance; and if he will make a statement.

I shall provide the information as soon as it is available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the net cost of paying social security benefits which are awarded specifically on account of disablement or incapacity for work to all those persons currently in the United Kingdom who satisfy all the conditions except the presence and residence in the United Kingdom qualifications, if those qualifications were extended to residence or presence in any country within the European Communities; and if he will make a statement.

The information is not available to answer the first part of my hon. Friend's Question. Under the EEC regulations on social security, periods of employment or insurance in another member state can be taken into account in certain circumstances for the purpose of satisfying the residence and other conditions for United Kingdom benefits covered by the regulations. These provisions do not, however, enable a person who is in another member State of the EEC to be regarded as present in the United Kingdom for the purpose of qualifying for benefit.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what consultations he has had concerning the use of joint financing money on local projects; and if he will make a statement.

Extensive consultation preceded the issue earlier this year of the current guidance on joint financing, and it is for health authorities in discussion with local authorities through the joint care planning arrangements to decide how their allocations for joint financing should be spent on individual projects.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what guidance has been given by the National Insurance Commissioner, following judgments on awards of mobility allowance, on the interpretation of the criterion "virtually unable to walk"; and if he will make a statement.

The National Insurance Commissioner has expressed the view in recent cases which came before him that the phrase "virtually unable to walk" means

"unable to walk to any appreciable extent or practically unable to walk".

He has also commented that

"in determining whether a person is virtually unable to walk, one should take into account such matters as whether the person can only walk very slowly, or with pain, or difficulty, or instability, or grotesqueness of gait, and so on."

We are in the process of seeking further guidance from the Commissioner in appropriate cases.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average number of patients per National Health Service dental practitioner's list in the Wirral Area Health Authority; and how this compares with the national average.

Under general dental services arrangements patients are not allocated to particular dentists. On the latest available information, the population per dentist providing general dental services in the Wirral Area Health Authority area is 4,048 compared with 4,016 for England.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births in the Wirral Area Health Authority; and how this compares with the national average;(2) what is the death rate per 1,000 population in the Wirral Area Health Authority; and how this compares with the national average.

The provisional rates for 1976 are as follows:

	Wirral Area Health Authority	England and Wales
Infant mortality rate (deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 live births)	12·0	14·2
Death rate per 1,000 population	13·5	12·2

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many doctors have left the National Health Service in the last five years from the Wirral Area Health Authority; and of these how many have left for overseas medical posts for each category of National Health Service doctor.

Between 1st October 1973 and 1st July 1977, 36 general practitioners withdrew from the general medical services in the Wirral Area counting only doctors providing the full range of general medical services. It is not known how many of these left the National Health Service altogether, nor how many left for overseas medical posts. Comparable information for other categories of National Health Service doctors is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average number of patients on a general practitioner's list in the Wirral Area Health Authority; and how this compares with the national average.

The average number in the Wirral area at 1st October 1976 was 2,262, compared with the England average of 2,351.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many vacancies there are for junior housemen, registrars, and senior registrars in the Wirral Area Health Authority.

This information is not collected centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will make a statement about the review of the Health Service Commissioner's jurisdiction that the Select Committee on the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration was asked to undertake.

The Select Committee has now submitted its report on the review of the jurisdiction of the Health Service Commissioner that they undertook at the request of my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mrs. Castle) and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales. The review was announced in my right hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Eccles (Mr. Carter-Jones) on 9th February 1976.—[Vol. 905, c. 85–6.]—I am most grateful to the Select Committee for the report. The Select Committee received a large amount of written and oral evidence from a wide and representative range of bodies. The problem of dealing with complaints to health authorities involving a clinical component is both difficult and controversial. My right hon. Friends and I will study the report and its recommendations with great care and we will be having early consultations with health authorities and with representatives of the medical and dental professions.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many professional economists are employed in the Scottish Office on economic planning.

The Scottish Office employs 28 professional economists, of whom 17 are in the Scottish Economic Planning Department.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the cash aid given from Government funds to the timber-using industry in Scotland; and what is his latest estimate of the number of jobs in this industry.

Statistics of all the various forms of financial support directly or indirectly available to industry from Government sources are not held in such a form that the total assistance given to timber-using firms can be estimated without disproportionate effort. For information regarding the number of employees in employment in timber, furniture, etc., I refer the hon. Member to the tables regularly published in the Scottish Economic Bulletin.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the number of buses owned and run by the Scottish Transport Group; what proportion of the total has been purchased in the last five years; and what is the average life of these public service vehicles.

I refer the hon. Member to page 16 of the Group's report and accounts for 1976.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the latest average costs of child minding known to his Department; how many persons are currently registered as child minders in Scotland; and how many non-registered child minders he estimates there to be.

461 child minders were registered by local authorities at 31st March 1976. Information is not collected centrally on the costs of child minding, and no estimate is available of the number of unregistered child minders.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the present situation pertaining to negotiations with the Scottish further education sector following the recommendations of the Ferguson Committee on the grading of courses at Higher National Diploma level; and when he expects a final conclusion to be reached.

The Ferguson Committee has made recommendations about the regrading of certain courses, including some Higher National Diploma Courses, to the three relevant salary negotiating bodies. The decision about the implementation of these recommendations in the further education sector rests with the Scottish Teachers Salaries Committee, which has the matter under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent representations he has received about the failure to eradicate anomalies in the salary structure of further education lecturers resulting from the recommendations of the Houghton Report and the implementation of Her Majesty's Government's phase 2 pay policy; when he expects these to be eradicated; and if he will make a statement.

59 representations have been received this year about the implementation of stage 2 of the Houghton Report in colleges of further education. Representatives of the Scottish Teachers Salaries Committee met my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Employment on 21st November, and I expect the Committee to consider the matter further in the light of that meeting.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to make a further statement about the future of the teacher training colleges.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, North (Mr. Fletcher) on 30th November.—[Vol. 940, c. 492.]

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is able to estimate the capital costs involved in extending North Sea oil and gas pipelines to the west coast of Scotland.

I have been asked to reply.The cost would depend on the amount of each substance which was to be supplied as well as on the routes chosen for the pipelines.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he is satisfied with progess being made toward the provision of a new centre for treatment and assistance to limbless persons in South Wales; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he is satisfied with the provision of artificial limb and appliance facilities in Wales, and in particular in the county of West Glamorgan; and if he will make a statement;(2) whether he will make a statement on improved limb appliance facilities for West Glamorgan.

Progress is being made as quickly as possible towards the provision of two new purpose-built artificial limb and appliance centres in South Wales to replace the existing centres in Cardiff and Swansea. Our intention is to build one in the grounds of Rookwood Hospital, Llandaff, Cardiff, and one on the site chosen for the new Morriston Hospital, Swansea. Work on the new centre at Morriston will proceed independently and in advance of work on the hospital project.There are certain legal problems relating to the use of land at Rookwood which need to be resolved before detailed planning and design work can proceed. Detailed planning and design work is already under way for the centre at Morriston with a view to a start on building early in 1979 and completion in early 1980.I attach great importance to the quality of service that is provided both at Cardiff and at Swansea. The buildings are far from ideal. In Cardiff improvements have been carried out during the last two years. I have been much concerned about conditions in the Swansea centre pending the move to Morriston. A programme of redecoration, refurbishing and structural alterations has already been drawn up and work is starting this weekend. It will proceed as rapidly as possible without disrupting the day-to-day service to patients. Whilst I recognise that the improvements will not remove all the shortcomings I hope they will make conditions better for users of the centre.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to be able to withdraw or modify his Circular 171/74 relating to restrictions on staff numbers by local authorities.

Circular 171/74 related to the 1975–76 rate support grant settlement, and has been succeeded by subsequent circulars relating to the corresponding settlements for 1976–77 and 1977–78. There will be a circular on the 1978–79 settlement in due course.The restraint on local authority expenditure since 1975–76 has led to a fall in local authority manpower. It is, of course, for the local authorities to decide on their staffing policies in the light of the public expenditure situation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of average rents and rates in Norfolk for (a) local authority tenants, (b) tenants of privately-rented accommodation and (c) owner-occupiers.

The average unrebated rent for local authority tenants in Norfolk at April 1977 was £270 per annum. No comparable information is available by county on rents of private tenants, but the average of unfurnished registered rents in Norfolk set in the period January-September 1977 was £373 per annum excluding housing association and decontrol cases. Average unrebated rates in Norfolk in the financial year 1976–77 were £82 per annum. A breakdown by tenure is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether any instalments of his Department's grant of £262,000 to the Harambee Project in Islington have already been paid;(2) what steps were taken by his Department to investigate the accounting arrangements of the Harambee Project in Islington before the decision was reached to make available to it a grant of £262,000;(3) whether his Department has now withdrawn its grant of £262,000 to the Harambee Project in Islington.

A proposal by Islington Borough Council to spend £52,500 a year for five years—a total of £262,500—on the running costs of the Harambee Project, a self-help hostel for homeless black youths, was approved for grant aid under the urban programme in June 1977. The council has since made two quarterly payments totalling £26,250 to Harambee but has recently decided to withdraw its support from the project. Under the urban programme, responsibility for selecting schemes to put forward and for making the appropriate financial arrangements to support them, if approved, rests with the local authorities concerned who must themselves find 25 per cent. of the total sums involved, urban programme grant is paid to the local authorities on any approved expenditure incurred under these arrangements. Under the standing arrangements for paying urban programme grant, local authorities receive payments mid-quarterly on the basis of estimated expenditure on all projects approved for grant. The grant payments which Islington has received this year include an element which relates to their payments to Harambee.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the total cost to date of the British Urban Development Services Unit; and what is the total value of the contracts secured by this unit.

Actual and notional expenditure to 30th September 1977 is estimated at about £350,000, and has been incurred in the expectation that it will be recouped over time from contracts to be secured by the unit; income in the same period amounts to about £25,000.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated total of water and sewerage charges expected to be collected by the Severn Trent Water Authority in 1977–78.

The Severn Trent Water Authority's total income from water and sewerage charges in 1977–78, excluding income from trade effluent charges and charges levied in respect of miscellaneous services, is estimated at £167,819 million.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the Property Services Agency is to be included in the current programme of management reviews.

As part of the general programme of management reviews of Government Departments initiated in 1972, a review of the Property Services Agency is now in progress. In accordance with normal practice, the review is being directed by a steering committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Executive of the Agency. The aim is to complete the review by the summer of 1978.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment which county authorities in England are equipped and have agreed to provide archaeological information to the Ordnance Survey after the rundown of its Archaeological Division.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland which county authorities in Scotland are equipped and have agreed to provide archaeological information to the Ordnance Survey after the rundown of its Archaeological Division.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales which county authorities in Wales are equipped and have agreed to provide archaeological information to the Ordnance Survey after the rundown of its Archaeological Division.

I have been asked to reply to all three Questions.38 English counties have appointed officers to assist the Ordnance Survey maintain a record of new archaeological sites in the future. Of those nominated, 31 are archaeologists.In Wales, four counties are making arrangements with archaeological trusts to provide the archaeological information.In Scotland, although six regional authorities have nominated officers of whom two are archaelogists there are particular difficulties which may need a rather different solution.The Ordnance Survey plans to improve and extend the new arrangements so that a comprehensive and effective system covers Great Britain by the time the rundown of the present system is completed in 1979.I will write to the hon. Member giving him the names of the authorities involved so far.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the main pieces of equipment used by firemen in fighting fires; and if he will specify the average periods of training necessary to operate each piece of equipment properly and safely.

A whole-time recruit to the fire service has to undertake a 12 weeks' training course to enable him at the end of the training to take his place in the brigade alongside experienced firemen. The training covers a wide range of technical and practical subjects, which includes the use of operational equipment and it is not possible to single out individual items as being the most important. Training in prescribed modules, including the use of breathing apparatus, continues during the first four years of operational service to enable-a fireman to obtain the necessary skills to become a qualified fireman and is continuous thereafter. Training in other specialist skills is dependent upon firefighting experience, individual suitability and local needs.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the threat by members of the-full-time fire services to withdraw permanently their servicing of the equipment used by retained fire fighters, if the latter-remain available for duty during the current strike, he will ensure that a condition of settlement of the dispute specifically debars any such undermining of the viability of the volunteer force.

I understand that retained firemen carry out their own routine servicing and maintenance of equipment, but receive some administrative support from whole-time firemen as appropriate and with whom they also work and train from time to time. It is not yet the time to be certain of the terms of any settlement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give consideration to the practices of rewarding firemen with a productivity bonus, as in West Germany, Belgian and the Republic of Ireland, as a means of resolving the current dispute.

I refer my hon. Friend to the statement which I made to the House on Monday 21st November—[Vol. 939, c. 1100–1102]—about the discussions on the firemen's pay claim which had taken place between the two sides of the National Joint Council for Local Authorities' Fire Brigades. Any productivity scheme which was introduced in the fire service would have to satisfy the criteria applying to all such schemes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give an assurance that information about the beliefs and lawful political

Index								Number of individuals covered	Date of operation
1. Vehicles reported as stolen, or as suspected of being used in connection with crime								—	Now
2. Owners of licensed motor vehicles							…	17·7 million	Now
3. The national main collection of fingerprints							…	2·2 million	Now
4. The names of people convicted of more serious offences							…	3·8 million	Now
5. Wanted or missing persons							…	50,000	1978
6. Disqualified drivers							…	170,000	1979

Access to the information in all categories is confined to the police, except information in category 2, which is available also to the Department of Customs and Excise and information in category 6 which will be available also to the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Centre.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what categories of information is it planned to store in the computerised Scotland Yard data bank; how many individuals will be covered by each category; who will have access to each category of information and for what purpose; and what date it is expected that each category of information will be added.

Information about political beliefs and activities is not held in the Police National Computer. Occasionally information about association with an organisation has been held for a limited period in the index of stolen and suspect vehicles when a police officer has judged it relevant when reporting a vehicle as suspected of being used in connection with crime.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what categories of information are at present stored in the Police National Computer; how many individuals are covered by each category of information; and who has access to each category of information;(2) what categories of information it is planned to store in the Police National Computer; how many individuals it is estimated will be covered in each category; who will have access to each category of information; and by what date it is expected that each new category of information will be added.

Following are the categories of information:

The computer will store information at present kept on paper in New Scotland Yard about crime, criminals and their associates and about matters relating to national security. The system will not become operational until next year; and, as yet, no precise estimate can be made of the number of people covered by the records to be put on computer. The information will be available only to a strictly limited number of officers in the relevant branches of New Scotland Yard.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will consider relaxing or amending the legislation concerning guard dogs protecting industrial property.

We have no plans at present to amend the Guard Dogs Act 1975. I should also refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to a Question by the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Hodgson) on 30th November.—[Vol. 940, c. 228).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests were carried out by the Metropolitan Police in (a) 1967, (b) 1970 and (c) 1976.

The available information is as follows:

NUMBER OF PERSONS ARRESTED AND CHARGED IN THE METROPOLITAN POLICE DISTRICT
Year	Number
1967	125,913
1970	140,619
1976	165,576

The above table excludes those persons, mainly juveniles, who were arrested in the Metropolitan Police District and subsequently cautioned.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is now the average weekly cost of keeping in custody after sentence: (a) an adult male prisoner, (b) an adult female prisoner, (c) a young male offender, and (d) a young female offender.

Cost information is not available in the form requested. Details of expenditure on the Prison Service appear annually in the Report on the work of the Prison Department. Cmnd. 6877 contains information for the financial year 1975–76 under four categories of establishment. The equivalent average weekly cost for males was £75 in prisons and remand centres; £86 in bor-

						Annual pay		Supplementary annual pay
Rank				Service in rank		London	Provinces
						£	£	£
Chief Superintendent	…	…	…	Less than 1 year	…	8,291	8,049	—
				After 1 year	…	8,510	8,268	—
				After 2 years	…	8,732	8,490	—
				After 3 years	…	8,948	8,703	—

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is now the average weekly cost of keeping in custody before trial and conviction (a) an adult male defendant, (b) an adult female defendant, (c) a young male defendant, and (d) a young female defendant.

The costs of keeping defendants in custody before trial and conviction are not separately recorded.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many armed robberies were carried out in (a) 1974, (b) 1975 and (c) 1976.

The information is as follows:

NUMBERS OF ROBBERIES RECORDED IN ENGLAND AND WALES IN WHICH FIREARMS WERE USED OR CARRIED
	Firearms used	Firearms found to have been carried but not used
1974	645	18
1975	949	27
1976	1,068	44

Numbers of robberies involving other arms are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will set out the new rates of pay for the police in England and Wales showing ranks and length of service.

The new rates of pay, being incorporated in Polce Amending Regulations with effect from 1st September 1977, are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to amend the law so that a foreign husband of a British citizen has the same rights to automatic citizenship as the foreign wife of a British citizen.

I do not intend to introduce early legislation to amend the nationality law. The possibility of enabling men to obtain citizenship in this way is among the ideas put forward for comment and discussion in the Green Paper on Nationality Law (Cmnd. 6795—Paragraph 50(i)).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times the Advisory Committee set up under the terms of the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 has met in each of the last 10 years; what major recommendations it has made; who are its members; what their qualifications are; and when they were appointed to the Committee.

The Advisory Committee met once in each of the years 1968, 1972 and 1974, on four occasions in 1975 and on four occasions in 1976. In 1977 the Committee has met twice and a sub-committee twice. They did not meet in 1969, 1970, 1971 or 1973. At their meetings they have considered applications for authority to perform experiments on living animals referred to them by the Secretary of State and have submitted recommendations on these to him. They have also begun a study of the LD50 test.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now appoint a full-scale inquiry into the scientific and moral justification for the continued use of live animals for research purposes.

No. Two Royal Commissions have already considered the use of living animals in experiments generally.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all the uses to which experiments on live animals are directed other than those which can be shown to have an obvious relevance to the treatment of prevention of disease.

The law requires that every such experiment must be per-

Date						Estimated population	Arrivals	Departures
December 1972	…	…	…	…	…	1,957 (census)	—	—
December 1973	…	…	…	…	…	1,874	737	847
December 1974	…	…	…	…	…	1,897	1,084	1,213
December 1975	…	…	…	…	…	1,905	1,301	1,303
December 1976	…	…	…	…	…	1,903	1,161	1,189
The figures for 1977 are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason of policy some small local charities have to pay £5 registration fee under the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976; if he is satisfied with the restrictions imposed on such charities; if he will provide some relief for the smaller charities raising small sums of money to maintain their activities in local areas; and if he will make a statement.

The Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 requires a society wishing to promote a lottery to register with the local authority and pay it an annual fee of £5. The purpose of the fee is to recover the local authority's costs. I do not know what restrictions my hon. Friend has in mind, but I would not feel justified in proposing an amendment to the provision of the 1976 Act which requires the payment of this fee.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide immigration and emigration figures for the Falkland Islands per annum from 1972 and on a comparative basis to date in the current year; and if he will give absolute population figures for a similar period.

The Falkland Islands Government are not staffed to keep full statistical records. I am therefore, unable to supply the hon. Member with the precise figures for which he asks. However, a check is kept in the islands of total arrivals and departures. On the basis of these records and the register of births and deaths in the Falklands the following table has been compiled:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of giving age relief on income tax to single women pensioners aged from 60 to 64 years.

The estimated cost in 1977–78 is about £30 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the yield to the Exchequer of individual

											Administrative costs on percentage of total yield 1976–77*
Inland Revenue:
Taxes on income, profits and capital gains					…	…	…	…	…	…	1·92
Stamp Duties	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	1·54
Capital Transfer Tax and death duties					…	…	…	…	…	…	3·57
Capital Gains Tax		…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	3·14
All Inland Revenue duties				…	…	…	…	…	…	…	1·94
Value Added Tax	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	2·1
All Customs and Excise duties				…	…	…	…	…	…	…	1·76
Vehicle Excise Duty	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	6·3†
* Because of the difficulty of apportioning administrative costs to specific taxes and duties, these figures should be treated as only approximate.
† This figure includes the cost of administering the vehicle registration system, which it is impossible to distinguish from the costs of administering the vehicle excise duty.

The costs of administering taxes and duties are published in the annual reports of the Commissioners of the Revenue Departments.There is no available information about the costs to taxpayers of complying with tax requirements but every effort is made to simplify procedures, consistent with legal obligations and revenue security.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a comparison between the amount raised in taxes per head of population from Scotland and England, respectively, which takes account of personal taxation and taxation paid in respect of industrial and commercial activities in the most recent year for which figures are available.

I will let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.

The yield to the Exchequer of individual United Kingdom taxes is published monthly in Financial Statistics (Tables 3.11, 3.12 and 3.13), copies of which are available in the Library. It is not always possible to provide a breakdown of the costs of administering individual taxes because in many cases, the same staff are employed to administer more than one tax. The present best estimates of the administrative costs of the principal taxes and duties in 1976–77 are as follows:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the revenue cost in 1976–77 of last year's concession to relieve from tax one half of the war widow's pension; and what is the present estimated cost of relieving from tax the other half.

At 1976–77 income levels the cost of relieving from tax one half of the war widow's pension was about £10 million. The cost, at 1977–78 income levels, of relieving the other half from tax, would be about £5 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update, in the light of his latest tax changes, the figures of total tax liability for 1977–78 given in reply to the hon. Member for Norfolk, North Official Report, 25th July 1977, columns 65–6.

:The figures are as follows:

ANNUAL INCOME TAX LIABILITY
		(a)	(b)	(c)	(d)	(e)
		Two single people	Married couple without children	Married couple without children where the wife is also working	Married couple with 2 children not over 11	Married couple with 4 children aged 16, 14, 12 and 9
		£	£	£	£	£
50 per cent, of average earnings	…	—	143·55	—	19·11	—
75 per cent, of average earnings	…	314·77	462·67	141·37	338·23	186·93
100 per cent, of average earnings	…	633·90	781·80	460·50	657·36	506·06
150 per cent, of average earnings	…	1,272·14	1,420·04	1,098·74	1,295·60	1,144·30
200 per cent, of average earnings	…	1,910·39	2,061·52	1,736·99	1,933·85	1,782·55

These figures have been based on the same average earnings figures as that used in the reply to hon. Member on 25th July 1977.—[Vol. 936, c. 65–6.]

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost in 1977–78 of granting to widows in receipt of a widow's pension with no dependent children the equivalent of the age allowance for a single person, and to widows in receipt of a widow's pension with a dependent child the equivalent of the age allowance for a married couple.

About £10 million and £30 million respectively at 1977–78 income levels.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the increased value of child allowances for a total increased expenditure of £100 million.

For an estimated revenue loss of £100 million all child allowances could be raised by about £22 in 1977–78.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of persons in the United Kingdom liable to income tax in 1977–78, taking married couples as separate individuals where appropriate.

The number of persons liable to income tax in 1977–78 is estimated to be 24,700,000, including 4,400,000 earning wives.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, taking account of the new personal allowances, what would be the additional revenue gained in a full year by abolishing the married man's allowance and replacing it by a single person's allowance.