asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Council of Ministers (Agriculture) meeting in Luxembourg on 30th and 31st October.

Together with my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, I attended the meeting of the Council of Ministers in Luxembourg on 30th–31st October.As expected, the council formally agreed to arrangements for the payment of an additional butter subsidy in the United Kingdom at a rate of about 6p per lb on 51,000 tonnes of Community butter, together with a reduction on the import levy on 17,000 tonnes of New Zealand butter. This is a very satisfactory outcome which will be of help to consumers here.The council reached provisional agreement on the technical details of three measures for the development of Mediterranean agriculture. The largest of these dealt with reafforestation and in line with our policy that such measures should be cost-effective we negotiated a significant reduction in the scope and cost of this proposal and agreed that it should be reviewed after three years of the five year programme had passed. We also secured reductions in the cost and scope of schemes for flood prevention in the Herault region of France and for irrigation in Corsica.There was a first discussion of Commission proposals for changes in the EEC wine regime which will include structural measures aimed at reducing surplus production. Discussion of these items was not completed but pending agreement it was decided to extend the current ban on new planting of vines.I raised with the Commission the recent change of practice which had deprived United Kingdom compounders of subsidy on purchases of skimmed milk powder. I received assurances that the Commission still intended the subsidy scheme to be effective and I expect to see this reflected in future Commissions decisions.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will report on recent developments towards the satisfactory renegotiation of the common fisheries policy.

At the recent Anglo-German ministerial consultations in Bonn on 18th and 19th October, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and I discussed with our German colleagues the negotiations on the common fisheries policy. The main difficulties were identified and it was agreed that a determined effort should be made to resolve them in the Fisheries Council. There will probably be meetings of this council on 23rd–24th and 28th November. I have, therefore, decided to defer the introduction of the United Kingdom national measure applying a 70 mm mesh size for all nephrops fishing within United Kingdom fishery limits for the time being.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied with the Manpower Services Commission's plans for the future as set out in its review and plan for 1978.

Yes. The Commission's Review and Plan for 1978, which was published on 1st November, has been approved by the Government, subject to the availability of resources. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House. In our view, it provides a sound framework within which the Commission can continue its vital work in helping employers find suitable workers and individuals find suitable jobs; in assisting industry to meet its needs for trained manpower; and in operating its special programmes for the unemployed. The Commission's plans should in particular enable it to make a valuable contribution to the industrial strategy and to provide worthwhile job and training opportunities for many of those who have been unable to settle into permanent jobs at this time of high unemployment.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to introduce legislation to make the wearing of front seat belts in cars compulsory.

In the present Session, probably in the new year.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on the Government's review of the need for further measures to insulate buildings around Heathrow and Gatwick from aircraft noise.

Following consultation with the British Airports Authority (BAA) and other interested parties, the Government have decided to introduce new noise insulation grant schemes for domestic dwellings around Heathrow and Gatwick Airports. The schemes will concentrate on those areas which are currently most affected by aircraft noise and which will continue to be subject to comparatively high noise levels in the mid-1980s. In addition, they will concentrate on the areas within which there is the greatest disturbance caused by night movements likely to awaken people. The boundaries of these areas will be intermediate between those of the inner and outer areas of the former schemes and will be defined by maps, copies of which will be deposited in the Library. One of the most significant improvements in the new schemes is that people living in these new areas who did not qualify for grants under the earlier schemes will now be eligible.The schemes will make provision for the BAA to pay the full costs of insulating two living rooms and all bedrooms of dwellings within the area specified for each airport. Full details of the schemes, which are estimated to cost about £19 million, as compared with expenditure of about £4·25 million up to 30th September 1978 under the earlier arrangemnts, will be published as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he has yet made a decision about the use of RAF Fairford as a base for USAF tanker aircraft, following his consultations with local authorities.

On 5th July I informed the House of my conclusion, on the basis of studies conducted by the Ministry of Defence and the United States Air Force, that RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire was the right airfield for the 15 extra KC135 tankers which the USAF wish to station in the United Kingdom. The memorandum published by the Ministry of Defence on the same day, a copy of which was placed in the Library of the House, explained in detail both the military requirement and the reasons for my choice of Fairford to meet it. This memorandum has formed the basis for subsequent consultations about my proposal with the local authorities concerned within the terms of paragraphs 4 and 5 of DOE Circular 7/77.In taking a decision, I have had to weigh the needs of the defence and security of the United Kingdom and its allies against the expressions of view on my proposal—particularly concerning its effect on the environment—which I have since received from the local authorities. I have now carefully and sympathetically considered all the comments made by those who will be affected by this proposal; but, in my view, nothing that has been said in the local authorities' comments calls into question my earlier conclusion that RAF Fairford is the right choice of base for the KC135s both in the short and long term. Extra resources spent on deploying the aircraft elsewhere would be at the expense of other measures of Alliance defence. I have accordingly decided that RAF Fairford shall be made available to the USAF for its KC135 tankers.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what contribution Her Majesty's Government are making to the Cyprus Government's request for aid for refugee relief.

We have recently approved a contribution of £500,000 in response to the Cyprus Government's request. This contribution represents the first response so far to the request for assistance and will be channelled through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to meet urgent social needs such as housing, health and education.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the latest development concerning BNOC's dollar financing scheme.

Under the agreement entered into in June 1977 BNOC raised $825 million by means of a forward sale of oil to BritOil, a non-subsidiary company incorporated in the U.S. BritOil was funded by a consortium of banks, $150 million in Eurodollars and $675 million in U.S. dollars. On 1st November BNOC reduced its obligations to BritOil by funding the prepayment of the $150 million Eurodollar element together with accrued interest. BNOC's decision was made with my full agreement and is fully consistent with Her Majesty's Government's policy for the management of public sector overseas liabilities as set out by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget Speech earlier this year. BNOC has funded this prepayment by BritOil by drawing on the funds available to it from the National Oil Account.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what increases have been approved in the Home Publicity Cash Limit of the Central Office of Information in the financial year 1978–79.

The home publicity cash limit of the Central Office of Information—COI 2—has been increased by £1·4 million in the current year. Of this £0·8 million is in respect of extra funds required for the energy conservation campaign for the Department of Energy: this is offset by an equivalent reduction in the relevant cash limit of the Department of Energy—DEn 3. The remaining £0·6 million is to publicise two new employment measures, the small firms employment subsidy and an extension of the job release scheme and has been met by a transfer from the Department of Employment's provision.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Community that met on 16th and 17th October.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade, my right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Department of Industry and I, represented the United Kingdom at the Foreign Affairs Council on 16th and 17th October.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on meetings of Foreign Ministers of the Nine in political co-operation which have taken place since the end of July.

The Foreign Ministers of the Nine held one of their regular quarterly meetings in political co-operation at Bonn on 14th September. The meeting dealt with relations between the Nine and Turkey in the light of the enlargement of the Community; arrangements to introduce Portugal and Spain to political co-operation; prospects for the 33rd United Nations General Assembly; Southern Africa; and the Middle East.On 19th September a political co-operation session was held in the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council at Brussels to discuss the results of the Camp David meeting on the Middle East. Afterwards the Presidency made a statement on the position of the Nine to the press.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Community that met on 19th September.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and I represented the United Kingdom at the Foreign Affairs Council on 19th September at which the principal subjects discussed were steel, the budget of the European Coal and Steel Community—ECSC—and the GATT multilateral trade negotiations.The Council considered the question of infringements of agreed pricing arrangements for steel and remitted the question to officials for further study. The Commission was authorised to hold consultations with Sweden, Finland and Czechoslovakia on steel imports, at which Britian and France would be represented. Agreement was reached on the establishment of an OECD steel committee.The proposed allocation of an additional 32 million European units of account to the ECSC was remitted to officials for further consideration. The Commission agreed to produce by the end of this year a study of customs duties on coal and steel imports as a Community resource.The Council reviewed progress in the GATT multilateral trade negotiations and expressed its concern over the possible expiry of the United States Administrations authority to waive the imposition of countervailing duties.The Council discussed Commission proposals for the agenda of the ministerial meeting between the EEC and the Association of South East Asian Nations—ASEAN—on 20th and 21st November.The question of tariff reductions on imports of citrus products from certain Mediterranean countries was remitted for further study.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any final decisions have yet been made about the future constitutional status of Banaba.

No. The matter will be considered at the pre-independence constitutional conference for the Gilbert Islands due to commence on 21st November to which the Rabi council of leaders has been invited to send representatives.