asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Ravensbourne (Mr. Hunt), Official Report, 23 June, column 22, on what basis the authorisation is given to representatives of the Press with authorised access to the Press Gallery; and whether such authorisation limits their reporting on the proceedings to their authorised Press interests only.

Seats in the Press Gallery are allocated to the various newspapers represented there, and are occupied by reporters nominated by the editors concerned.The use made by reporters of their material is entirely a matter for the editor of the newspaper.

asked the right hon. Member for Middlesbrough, as representing the House of Commons Commission, whether he will provide all the costs and charges so far incurred in the present Parliament by each Select Committee on visits outside Westminster, giving a detailed breakdown of the purposes of each visit; dates and itineraries.

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

asked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will make a statement on the price of the Official Report.

In order to contain the losses on Hansard within the agreed subsidy for 1980–81 it is now necessary to increase the price of the daily edition from 45p to 80p and the weekly edition from £1·25 to £2·20. There will he corresponding increases in the prices of indexes, Standing Committee debates, bound volumes and subscription rates. The scale of charges for reprints of Members' speeches appearing in the Official Report will also he raised. The revised prices will come into effect as soon as possible but annual subscriptions immediately become renewable at the new rates. Despite these increases, the publication of Hansard will still incur a substantial financial loss.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in the light of Russian aggression in Afghanistan, there was any discussion at the Venice summit of the case for stopping further provision of export credits to the Russians at consensus rates of interest; and whether it is her policy for taxpayers in the West to continue to strengthen the economic base of the Russian war effort.

The Venice summit noted that a consensus exists on interest rates for export credits for many countries including the Soviet Union. The rate of interest is about to rise by three quarters of 1 per cent. to a level which is only just below average domestic interest rates in certain of the countries in the consensus. A unilateral increase in the rate of British credit would merely divert Soviet purchases from this country to others.

asked the Prime Minister if she is satisfied that in the long term the accession of Spain and Portugal to the European Economic Community will not increase the United Kingdom's budget contribution.

The accession of Spain and Portugal to the European Community will necessitate a larger Community budget, and therefore higher gross contributions by all the existing members. It is not possible to say whether this will result in a higher net contribution by the United Kingdom. This will depend on a number of factors, notably the nature of any decision taken in the meanwhile on the CAP and the results of the 1981 review of the structure of the Community budget.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what aid is being given by the United Kingdom through the European Economic Community or otherwise to Somali and Eritrean refugees.

My hon. Friend stated on 22 May—[Vol. 985, c. 345–46]—that we planned to contribute £850,000 to the appeal by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for refugee relief in Somalia; and my right hon. and noble Friend announced in another place on 18 June that part of this contribution would be provided as 5,000 tonnes of bilateral food aid. On 20 June I announced in Khartoum that we intended to contribute £850,000 of assistance this year for the resettlement of refugees in Sudan; most of these refugees are from Ethiopia.

DATE OF IMPLEMENTATION
	1 January 1980 £	1 September 1980* £
Highest paid Head Teacher†	14,160	15,732
Maximum	14,160	15,732
Minimum	13,368	14,853
Lowest paid teacher‡	3,519	3,780

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average salary paid to a teacher in England and Wales following the recent Clegg award.

Following the first stage of the Clegg award payable from 1 January 1980 the average salary of full-time teachers in maintained primary and secondary schools is estimated to be £6,030. This will be increased by the pay settlement for 1 April 1980, now referred to arbitration, and the second and final stage of the Clegg award which will be payable from 1 September 1980.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list in the Official Report those education authorities that have now closed So far in 1980 the European Community has contributed some £3 million for emergency aid to Somalia, £180,000 for Jibuti and £1·8 million for Sudan, and will be sending food aid to the value of at least £14 million. The United Kingdom share of these contributions is about £4 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the salary of the highest-paid head of school and of the lowest-paid teacher under the recent Clegg award.

The pay settlement based on the Standing Commission's first published recommendations is being implemented in two stages, half from 1 January 1980 and in full from 1 September 1980. Information for both stages is contained in the table below.their nursery schools and classes in order to implement education cuts.

My Department has no information on any closures prior to 5 May 1980. From 5 May local education authorities have been required by section 12 of the Education Act 1980 to give two months' notice of proposals to close nursery schools. No such proposals are yet due for decision. The local education authorities for Coventry and for Hereford and Worcester have each published a proposal to close one nursery school.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give, from figures available to him, a precise breakdown of a school meal, detailing the amount of money spent on wages and salaries and other overheads, and the amount spent on actual food.

In the financial years 1978–79—the latest year for which information is available—the average cost of a school meal in England and Wales was 54·3p. This was made up as follows:

food costs		16·6p
Salaries and wages kitchen staff	24·6
midday supervision	4·2
other	2·3	31·1p
other overheads-fuel, lighting, cleaning, maintenance		6·6p
Total		54·3p

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, on what date circular 1/80 was dispatched from his Department.

Copies of circular 1/80 were sent to local education authorities on 1 May 1980. Distribution continued on 2 and 6 May and was completed on 7 May.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what percentage of the annual expenditure on education in the North-West of England is spent upon the provision of school books.

In the financial year 1978–79 expenditure on school books, educational equipment and materials amounted to 3½ per cent. and that on books alone to about 1 per cent. of the total net recurrent expenditure of local education authorities in the North-West of England.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average sum spent on the provision of school books for each child in the current academic year; and what is the estimated amount for the next academic year for (a) children in the Macclesfield parliamentary constituency and (b) Cheshire as a whole.

Figures of estimated and actual expenditure by local education authorities are not available for academic years or for the areas or parliamentary constituencies. The latest available figures of actual expenditure are for the financial year 1978–79: expenditure by Cheshire local education authority on books, educational equipment and materials, expressed per primary and secondary pupil respectively, was £9·4 and £25·5 at outturn prices. The equivalent figures for England and Wales were £12·8 and £24·2.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will consider special job creation schemes in order to encourage railways at present in private ownership.

Provision already exists for railway preservation companies to sponsor temporary employment and training schemes under the special temporary employment programme and the youth opportunities programme, both of which are administered by the Manpower Services Commission.There are no plans to make separate provision for privately-owned railway companies.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will take steps to extend the job release scheme, so as to enable more men to retire from jobs where younger unemployed people are anxious and willing to take over those jobs.

We do not propose to make any changes in the current job release schemes which are due to end on 5 April 1981. Decisions on the future of the schemes after that date will be made as part of the annual review of the special employment and training measures which will take place later this year.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are employed by each industrial training board; and what is the level of total expenditure on wages and salaries in each case.

Board	Number of full-time staff 1 April 1980	Wages and salary costs 1979/80*£m
Air Transport and Travel	76	0·769
Carpet	14	0·090
Ceramics, Glass and Mineral Products	112	0·952
Chemical and Allied Products	158	1·137
Clothing and Allied Products	70	0·442
Construction	812	4·914
Cotton and Allied Textiles	76	0·589
Distributive	436	2·878
Engineering	823	5·165
Food, Drink and Tobacco	175	1·349
Footwear, Leather and Furskin	45	0·336
Foundry Industry Training Committee	66	0·487
Furniture and Timber	100	0·872
Hotel and Catering	258	2·143
Iron and Steel	55	0·516
Knitting, Lace and Net	47	0·320
Man-made Fibre	5	0·048
Paper and Paper Products	75	0·547
Petroleum	101	0·852
Printing and Publishing	163	1·437
Road Transport	871	6·593
Rubber and Plastics	96	0·860
Shipbuilding	87	0·529
Wool, Jute and Flax	58	0·412

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the Official Report the number of notified redundancies and closures of firms in the Northern region in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available.

	Proposed redundancies (including closures)		Closures
	Employees	Establishments	Employees	Establishments
1979—
June	2,252	38	259	6
July	2,871	57	309	12
August	2,002	41	453	10
September	5,079	59	1,156	20
October	3,624	78	701	17
November	3,545	60	837	18
December	5,358	74	618	19
1980—
January	7,178	132	1,706	23
February	6,390	106	2,444	27
March	6,230	109	780	21
April	6,882	90	1,491	27
May	9,045	107	2,944	33
Total	60,456	951	13,698	233

During the same period, 12,198 redundancies at 122 establishments were formally withdrawn. There is no statutory requirement to notify the Department

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the information is as follows:

The number of proposed redundancies notified to my Department under the redundancy handling provisions of the Employment Protection Act 1975, including closures, in the Northern region, in each of the last 12 months is as follows:when proposed redundancies do not take place.I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the number of redundancies notified to it as due occur in the Northern region in each the last 12 months is as follows:

	Employees
1979—
June	2,401
July	1,627
August	678
September	1,363
October	880
November	1,869
December	1,175
1980—
January	1,866
February	2,508
March	1,541
April	2,074*
May	1,677*
Total	19,659
*These figures are provisional since some notifications are received late.

	January	February	March	April	May
Scotland	5,850	8,061	5,311	6,695	9,794
	(5,766)	(5,363)	(6,404)	(5,712)	(5,298)
Northern	7,178	6,390	6,230	6,882	9,045
	(8,184)	(1,028)	(4,246)	(2,799)	(3,219)
North-West	12,186	12,339	11,689	15,168	15,509
	(8,403)	(9,389)	(8,835)	(5,800)	(4,960)
Yorkshire and Humberside	7,150	8,415	9,789	8,735	12,410
	(4,575)	(3,460)	(5,705)	(4,679)	(4,580)
Midlands	11,631	14,757	17,601	17,537	25,250
	(8,144)	(9,310)	(9,221)	(10,074)	(5,845)
Wales	13,881	7,763	6,948	4,717	5,192
	(1,883)	(1,478)	(3,552)	(1,778)	(1,236)
South-West	3,760	3,198	2,341	2,469	5,707
	(1,883)	(2,777)	(2,400)	(1,503)	(2,054)
London	6,816	6,341	6,003	8,328	7,586
	(3,166)	(4,066)	(4,377)	(5,119)	(4,187)
South-East	7,938	10,775	6,834	4,914	7,811
	(3,487)	(6,042)	(5,374)	(2,449)	(4,311)
Great Britain Totals	76,390	78,039	72,756	75,445	98,304
	(45,491)	(42,913)	(50,114)	(39,913)	(35,690)

During the same periods the following redundancies were formally withdraw:

Scotland	5,740 (5,855)
Northern	8,626 (3,576)
North-West	17,733 (7,978)
York & Humberside	12,770 (8,396)
Midlands	18,556 (14,756)
Wales	8,420 (3,177)
South-West	1,516 (3,235)
London	1,488 (2,508)
South-East	6,801 (6,335)

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give on a regional basis the number of redundancies notified to his Department in each month of the current year and the comparative figures for last year.

[pursuant to his reply, 23 June 1980, c. 35]: The number of proposed redundancies notified to my Department under the redundancy handling provisions of the Employment Protection Act 1975, in each of the regions during the first five months of 1980, with the comparative figures for 1979 (in brackets), is as follows:There is no statutory requirement to notify my Department when proposed redundancies do not take place.I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the number of redundancies notified to it as due to occur in each of the regions during the first five months of 1980, with the comparative figures for 1979, is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the net job loss in Dundee over the past five years.

The total number of employees in employment in the Dundee employment office area rose by 1,721 in the period 1972–1977, the latest period for which information is available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the current level of unemployment in Dundee.

We are deeply concerned about current levels of unemployment, but the problems of Dundee—and of the country as a whole—can be solved only by a fundamental improvement in our economic performance and this is what our policies are designed to achieve.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many new jobs have been created in Dundee since it was granted special development area status; and how many jobs were lost in the same period.

Comprehensive information is not available in the form requested. However 2,305 new jobs were associated with offers of selective financial assistance made since 14 April 1977 to firms in Dundee under section 7 of the Industry Act 1972, and a further 962 were safeguarded. I have been informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the number of workers involved in redundancies of 10 or more notified as due to occur in Dundee from April 1977 to May 1980 was 6,020.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the amount of underspending or overspending on Health Service expenditure in the last available year.

For 1979–80 it is provisionally estimated that, on the income and expenditure basis used in health board accounting, the boards will be overspent on hospital and community health services combined current and capital account by some £11 million. On a cash basis—that used for Vote accounting—there is likely to be a small underspending on those and other cash-limited services.There is also likely to be an underspending, estimated at some £6 million, on the non-cash-limited family practitioner services. Expenditure on those services is determined by demand and the estimated underspending is due mainly to lower than expected demand on the pharmaceutical and general dental services.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of primary teachers and secondary teachers registered as unemployed in each region and island authority in Scotland.

The numbers of primary and secondary schoolteachers registered as unemployed in each region and island authority in Scotland on 13 March 1980—the latest date for which unemployment figures analysed by occupation are available—are set out in the table below.

Region	Teachers registered as unemployed
	Primary	Secondary
Borders	6	8
Central	55	15
Dumfries and Galloway	21	4
Fife	48	20
Grampian	50	32
Highland	11	14
Lothian	177	107
Strathclyde	300	115
Tayside	74	37
Orkney	—	—
Shetland	1	2
Western Isles	2	6
	745	360

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give East Lothian district council consent to proceed with the construction of the Prestonpans community centre; and what has caused the delay in reaching a decision.

Local authorities' financial plans contemplate a level of capital expenditure on leisure and recreation considerably higher than allowed for in Cmnd. 7841. I am, therefore, examining proposals in this area with particular care. I hope to reach a decision very shortly on the Prestonpans community centre.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) at the most recent date, what was the percentage of office employment to total employment in each of the employment exchange areas in Wales.

Information of this kind is not readily available.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many rural cottages are still to be improved in each council district in Northern Ireland; and of these how many in each area are not yet programmed.

This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, but I understand that the position is as follows:

District Council	Number of cottages still to be improved	Number of cottages not yet programmed
Antrim	10	3
Ards	283	274
Armagh	101	101
Ballymena	47	24
Ballymoney	352	318
Banbridge	100	21
Belfast	9	9
Carrickfergus	—	—
Castlereagh	44	44
Craigavon	134	134
Coleraine	244	187
Cookstown	—	—
Down	107	93
Dungannon	70	29
Fermanagh	12	12
Larne	13	13
Limavady	11	11
Lisburn	255	191
Londonderry	20	—
Magherafelt	7	7
Moyle	74	74
Newry and Mourne	10	10
Newtownabbey	3	3
North Down	46	43
Omagh	6	6
Strabane	32	20
	1,990	1,627

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the training courses attended by members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary outside

Course	Duration (weeks)*	Number of RUC members who attended
		1977	1978	1979
CID	1–10	120	122	121
Student Instructors	8	9	4	14
Crashed Aircraft Drill	1	3	4	—
Crashed Aircraft	1	—	1	7
Crime Prevention	4	5	4	8
Crime Prevention (Refresher)	1	9	1	—
Fraud Investigation	3	3	9	4
Drugs Detection	1	2	3	4
Port Training	2–4	2	3	3
Police Riflemen	3	—	3	—
Advanced Driving Instructors	6	4	3	5
Communications Officers	6	—	2	—
Computer Applications and the Police	2 days	—	6	—
Methods of Investigation	2	—	8	—
Fingerprint (Advanced)	2	—	1	5
Closed Circuit Television	1–2	—	1	7
Summer School in Alcoholism	1	—	1	1
Communications	2	—	2	—
Use of Protective Shields	3 days	—	9	—
Mountain Rescue and Cave Rescue Training	1	—	2	24
Manpower Planning	2 days	—	1	—
Colour Photography	2 days	2	7	10
Weapon Training	1	—	2	—
Scenes of Crime Officers	4	—	1	—
Ilfospeed Processor	3 days	—	2	—
Police Driving Course	4	—	2	—
National Checkpoint Scheme	2 days	—	1	—
Police Dog Instructors' Course	8	—	2	2
All Arms Search	1	—	6	—
Traffic and Road Safety	1	2	—	1
Stolen Motor Vehicles	2	1	—	8
Police Snipers	2–3	2	—	4
Management Instructors	2	1	—	2
Communications Officers	6	2	—	—
Negotiations	2	1	—	—
Key Point Surveyors	2	1	—	2
Army Liaison	3	2	—	4
HGV Examiner	4	—	—	1
Home Defence	1	—	—	1
Security Services	2	—	—	31
Police War Duties	1	—	—	1
O & M	3	—	—	1
Computers (General)	1	—	—	4
Senior Management	1	—	—	45
Inspectors	12	—	—	18
Special Care	52	—	—	2
Command Training	12–26	—	—	8
Mountain First Aid	1	—	—	12
Mapping	2	—	—	12
Community Relations	4	—	—	1
Search Adviser	2	—	—	7
Movement of Hazardous Substances	2 days	—	—	3
* Unless otherwise stated.
All the above Courses were held in Great Britain.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Department of the Environment will decide

The information requested is as follows:the total amount which will be available for lending by all local authorities under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act in 1980–81; and when the district councils will be informed.

This has not yet been decided. The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland will, however, be writing to district councils in the near future.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether, following the review of non-departmental public bodies in Northern Ireland, he has any plans to abolish the Historic Buildings Council.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many fixed penalty notices were issued by traffic wardens in each of the past four years and how many drivers failed to pay the fixed penalty; and how many were prosecuted and how many were convicted in each year.

The number of fixed penalty notices issued by traffic wardens in each of the last four years was as follows:

1976	25,779
1977	42,469
1978	53,340
1979	46,535

Fixed penalty notices are issued by traffic wardens and members of the RUC and records of non-payment and subsequent prosecutions are not maintained separately, so it is impossible to identify the cases where the notice was originally issued by a traffic warden. Records of convictions in cases where fixed penalty notices were issued but not paid are not maintained and the number could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the reason for the delay experienced by the hon. Member for Down, North in obtaining replies to letters sent to the Minister responsible for the Department of the Environment.

Every effort is made to deal expeditiously with hon. Members' correspondence and I would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to the hon. Gentleman by any delays. The hon. Gentleman should be aware that time is taken to consider carefully replies to hon. Members.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the strength of (a) the Royal Ulster Constabulary, (b) the Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve, full-time, and (c) the Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve, part-time, at 1 June of the current year.

The information is as follows:

Royal Ulster Constabulary	6,793
Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve (Full-time)	1,481
Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve (Part-time)	3,142

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what were the imports of formulated products containing derivatives of 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy acetic acid and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy proprionic acid in value terms and in tonnages for each of the years 1975 to 1979.

Herbicides derived from 2,4.5-T are included with a number of other herbicides in the Overseas Trade Statistics under SITC (R2) sub-group 591.3, but are not separately identified The information requested is, therefore, not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the United Kingdom's balance of visible trade with each European Economic Community country for manufactures less precious stones for each year since 1970 and the current year to date, together with the volume of imports and exports of manufactures in each case.

Volume data for United Kingdom trade by country are not available in United Kingdom official statistics. The remaining information is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will list conveniently available figures for United Kingdom trade with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, over the months from January 1978 until May of the current year.

The information is as follows:

	United Kingdom Imports £million	United Kingdom Exports cif£ million fob
January 1978	45·5	16·0
February	47·0	36·3
March	39·3	68·6
April	39·7	32·9
May	61·2	36·2
June	58·7	36·4
July	61·4	25·2
August	75·0	26·9
September	67·9	33·8
October	63·7	36·6
November	65·7	39·2
December	78·6	35·9
January 1979	56·0	29·4
February	58·9	16·6
March	55·9	34·4
April	93·6	26·3
May	39·0	52·0
June	52·1	52·4
July	48·8	34·3
August	70·9	16·0
September	100·3	48·6
October	95·1	48·2
November	51·3	23·0
December	78·1	38·3
January 1980	109·4	53·0
February	72·6	41·3
March	49·0	36·9
April	30·6	31·3
May	33·1	47·0

asked the Secretary of State for Trade how many of the staff of his Department are involved with the administration of the aviation security fund.

Nine, an increase of one over the number of staff who administered aviation security expenditure before the fund began.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement about diplomatic and consular appointments between the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe.

The appointment of Mr. R. A. C. Byatt CMG as British High Commissioner to Zimbabwe was announced on 18 April. His staff includes a consul. The Zimbabwe Government have not yet appointed any diplomatic or consular staff to the United Kingdom.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement about the representation of the European Commission in Northern Ireland.

The European Commission opened an information office in Belfast on 29 May. It has a staff of three, shortly to be increased to four. The office carries out similar work in Northern Ireland to that done by the commission's information offices in Scotland and Wales.There will be a formal ceremony in the autumn at which the office will be opened officially by the President of the Commission, Mr. Roy Jenkins.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the value of doors made from wood imported into the United Kingdom from the following countries in 1979 (a) Portugal, (b) Taiwan and (c) Indonesia and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 16 June 1980, c. 372]: The information is as follows:

asked the Lord Privy Seal how many meetings have taken place between members of his Department and diplomats of the Indonesian Embassy since January; and whether he plans to visit Indonesia before the end of the current year.

Members of the Department are in frequent contact with the Indonesian Embassy but no record is kept of the number of such contacts. My right hon. and noble Friend met the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Professor Mochtar, at the EC/ASEAN meeting on 6 March. Professor Mochtar called on my right hon. Friend and me in the same month, and I met him in Geneva at the Cambodia relief meeting on 26 May. My right hon. Friend has no plans to visit Indonesia this year but I was there in September 1979, shortly before the State visit of President Soeharto to this country.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence, in regard to the disposal of command ordnance depot, Chilwell, and its possible use as a site for Associated Television, East Midlands, whether any other commercial or industrial interest has been shown in the site; by what means any further interest is to be canvassed; what progress has been made in identifying the area of land and premises which are for sale; and if he will ensure that normal disposal procedures do not inhibit their earliest possible sale to those who have shown the means and will to proceed.

The Ministry of Defence has identified the area of land and buildings which are for sale. Planning the future use of the site to create alternative employment opportunities and canvassing commercial and industrial interests have been co-ordinated by the local authority. The disposal procedures are a matter for my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Environment.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what are his intentions with regard to the future of the national gas turbine establishment at Pyestock.

The national gas turbine establishment was included in the major review of the functions of the R & D establishments described in the Statement on the Defence Estimates Cmnd. 7826 paragraph 748. The report of the reviw is now being considered, and consultation with staff interests and others concerned will follow as soon as possible. I am not yet, therefore, in a position to make a statement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision is being made to provide new magistrates' courts within the Greater London area; how many courtrooms this will provide; and what is the time scale for such provision.

Approval has been given to the providing authorities concerned for forward planning on five major magistrates' courthouse replacement schemes in the Greater London area which, when completed should provide between 30–40 new courtrooms, an overall increase of 10–15 courtrooms. One scheme is due to start in 1981–82 and another in 1982–83; each should be completed within about four years. No start dates can be given for the remaining schemes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to reduce the present salary of the part-time chairman of the Horse Race Betting Levy Board from its current level of £11,046 per annum for a three day week plus £3,158 expenses.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward proposals to license private investigators in order to afford protection to members of the public, to make available a formal complaints procedure, to lay down a specific code of practice and to provide for controlled access to sensitive information sources.

The question of statutory control over private investigators is being considered as part of the current review of the private security industry. We hope to be able to indicate the Government's views in the near future.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many animals were killed during sanctioned experiments in 1979; and if he will list them by species.

Information is not available in the form requested. Statistics of experiments on living animals commenced in 1978, under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876, by species of animal, are published in "Statistics of experiments on living animals: Great Britain 1978", Cmnd. 7628. The corresponding statistics for 1979 will be published later in the year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines are issued to staff regarding the handling of telephone inquiries from individuals not known personally who seek potentially sensitive information concerning clients with whom the Department's staff may be dealing; and whether there are plans to revise these guidelines, in the light of any such information having been improperly transmitted.

All Home Office staff are advised of the need for discretion and care in ensuring that an inquirer on the telephone is a proper person to receive the information requested. There are no plans to revise the existing instructions but, if the hon. Member has information which suggests that they have not been complied with, I shall look into the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether the General Electric Company or any other company has expressed an interest in acquiring the

		Petrol		Heating oils*
	Date of change	Rate of duty (per gallon)	Change in† duty (per gallon)	Rate of duty (per gallon)	Change in† duty (per gallon)
		p	p	p	p
1945		34½		3½
1947	l5 April			nil	-3½
1950	18 April	60	+30½
1951	l0 April	71	+14½
1952	11 March	86	+21
1956	4 December	100½	+28½
1957	9 April	71	-28½
1961	17 April			4	+4
1962	10 April	68½	+6½
1964	11 November	75½	+11½
1967	11 April	75½	+7	4	+½
1968	19 March	80½	+7
1969	15 April	86	+11	4	+½
1976	9 April	51½	+13
1977	29 March	52½	+7½	3½	+2
	8 August	43	-7
1979	12 June	44	+8	3½	+½
1980	26 March	47½	+9	3½	+½
*Fuel oil and gas oil. Kerosene was generally chargeable with the same effective rate of duty as other heating oils until March 1977 when the Budget left unchanged the effective rate on Kerosene, other than aviation kerosene.
†10 per cent. surcharges were imposed on hydrocarbon oils from 26 July 1961—9 April 1962, 21 July 1966—11 April 1967 and 22 November 1968—15 April 1969.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the action planned by the Inland Revenue in the light of the finding of the 1979 sample survey of a 24 per cent. error in the examination of tax returns.

The Inland Revenue will reinforce methods of supervision and management in local offices. It will also

The intentions of companies in respect of the NEB's shareholding in Ferranti are a matter for them; my right hon. Friend has undertaken to inform the House of his decision in respect of the Government's policy.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will circulate a table showing the amount and changes in the excise duty on petroleum spirit and heating oils since 1945 in terms of current prices.

At May 1980 prices, the information is:strengthen regional office management by the introduction of approximately 60 inspectors whose function will be, by selective sampling, to monitor the quality of work performed by staff in tax districts and bring the results to the attention of management so that any remedial action can be taken.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total value added tax paid by Motability on each of the cars in its range before and after the Budget of 12 June 1979.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the number of taxpayers subjected to the investment income surcharge for each year since the surcharge's inception.

The estimated numbers of taxpayers liable to investment income surcharge are as follows:

	Numbers (thousands)
1973–74	296
1974–75	652
1975–76	729
1976–77	889
1977–78	704
1978–791	690
1979–801	345
1980–811	380
1Provisional

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what would be the loss of income in a full year if the standard rate of value added tax were reduced to 12½ per cent.;(2) what would be the loss of revenue in the fiscal year 1980–81 if the standard rate of value added tax were reduced as from 1 August 1980 to 12½ per cent.; and what would be the corresponding effect on the public sector borrowing requirement;(3) what will be the effect on the retail price index of a reduction in the standard rate of value added tax to 12½ per cent.

Excluding the change in tax paid by central Government, a reduction in the rate of VAT to 12½ per cent. would cost about £1,600 million in a full year and about £600 million if implemented from 1 August. The impact effect on the index of retail prices would be a reduction of about 1·2 per cent. I am unwilling to commit my Department's resources to giving the right hon. Member an estimate of the effect upon the public sector borrowing requirement for the reasons I gave in my answer to the hon. Member for Newham, North-East (Mr. Leighton) on 14 November. [Vol. 973, c. 622–623.] The right hon. Member may wish, however, to pursue his inquiry via his access to the treasury's economic model through the Library at the House.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, with reference to his written answer to the hon. Member for Warley East, Official Report, 19 June, column 629, regarding the elimination by administrative practice of 75 per cent. of the statutory tax exemption in respect of objects surrendered to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue in lieu of tax, an effect on tax debtors of such elimination by the commissioners is to benefit the commissioners financially in the first instance by increasing the amount payable in cash from the private sector by tax debtors to the commissioners, irrespective of any accounting procedures internal to the public sector which might subsequently ensue.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will institute a fund to compensate persons injured in, or the dependants of those who lose their life during, the course of attempts to save life in non-criminal circumstances.

[pursuant to his reply, 16 June 1980, c. 377–8]: No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the effect on the retail price index of an increase of 5 per cent. on the price of derv, setting out the effect on the retail price index after one month, two months, three months, six months, one year and two years, respectively.

[pursuant to his reply, 26 June 1980]: Derv does not enter the RPI directly. An increase in derv will, however, raise industrial costs, but the impact of these higher costs on prices is uncertain. The effects of such an increase can be examined using the Treasury model, which is available for hon. Members' use via the House of Commons Library.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cars were acquired by enterprises in each of the years 1975 to 1979 for their own or their employees' use; and what is his estimate of the amount by which the

Year	Total 000s	Non-company Address 000s	Company Address 000s	Per cent.
1977	1,278	715	563	44
1978	1,558	906	652	42
1979	1,703	945	758	45

Estimates of the amount by which the demand for cars under a company address would fall if measures of the kind described were taken are not available.

asked the Minister of Transport, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Bedford, Official Report, 4 June, column 746, why no information is readily available on the provisional outturn for 1979–80 for the following (a) requirements for new schemes proposed to start in 1978–80 costing in excess of £1 million and (b) requirements for other schemes costing less than £1 million each; when he asked for such information to be made available; and if he will publish such information when available in the form requested on 4 June.

The analysis of expenditure carried out for the purpose of monitoring the road programme does not provide information in the form requested. To do so it would be necessary to identify out-turn expenditure on the individual schemes concerned, which would involve more staff time and public expenditure than can be justified.

asked the Minister of Transport how many licensed invalid tricycles there are in the Greater London area at the present time.

At 31 December 1979 about 2,250.

I have been asked to reply.Figures are not available in the form requested. New registrations data show the number of cars licensed under either a company address or a non-company address:

asked the Minister of Transport when he expects to announce a decision regarding the sale of assets of British Railways, in particular Sealink and British Transport hotels.

I hope to be able to make a statement soon.

asked the Minister of Transport if he has any proposals to encourage local authorities to run voluntary local bus services similar to that initiated by Northampton county council.

Many local authorities already encourage and support voluntary bus services, but there is considerable scope for their further development. The Transport Bill seeks to remove unnecessary restrictions on this type of operation. Guidance notes are being prepared for local authorities and others to draw attention to the wider opportunities which the enactment of the Transport Bill will bring.

asked the Minister of Transport what is the present state of consultation on the application of "No Entry" and "Keep Left" and "Keep Right" signs to emergency vehicles; and when he expects to make revised regulations.

Consultations should be completed by the end of this month. The making of the revised regulations will depend on the outcome of the consultations, but I certainly hope that they will be made this year.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he has any plans to revise the methods by which his Department calculates and allocates track costs.

I have no such plans at present but I shall keep the matter under review.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will make a statement on the inland transport matters discussed at the Council of Transport Ministers of the European Community which met on 24 June.

Agreement was reached at the Council on the form of a directive which would provide for driving licences to be based on a common model; and for citizens of one member State of the Community who go to live in another to exchange their licences—subject to certain safeguards relating, in particular to licences for heavy goods and public service vehicles. Consultations with transport interests will now be undertaken before the proposals are put to Parliament. Meanwhile the United Kingdom entered a formal reservation at the Council meeting.The Council approved in principle a proposal for common starting dates for summer time in 1981 and 1982. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department made plain in answering a question by my hon. Friend, the Member for Meriden (Mr. Mills) on 10 June 1980, that the Government welcomed this proposal and would seek the agreement of Parliament.—[Vol. 986, c. 99–100] Meanwhile the United Kingdom entered a formal reservation at the Council meeting.A directive on inland waterway statistics was agreed. Other proposals on rail statistics, rail tariffs and combined transport, were referred back to the Committee of Permanent Representatives for further examination.In taking note of the European Commission's report on the implementation of the drivers' hours regulation (543/69) in 1975 and 1976 the Council stressed the need for effective and uniform application of its provisions.Progress reports were made on various other matters, including the European Commission's proposals on transport infrastructure.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will circulate in the Official Report a table showing the latest retail price of bread, beef, lamb, bacon, butter, cheese and sugar as a percentage of the retail price in January 1962 and the amount of the subsidy, if any; and how this compares with the increase in retail prices, excluding foodstuffs, over the same period.

The figures are as follows:

	Percentage change between January 1962 and May 1980
Bread(white, wrapped and sliced)	+516
Beef(home killed, chuck)	+572
Lamb(home killed, leg with bone)	+607
Bacon(back)	+457
Butter(Danish)	+399
Cheese(Cheddar type)	+571
Sugar(granulated)	+379
All items except food	+389

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will circulate in the Official Report a table showing the latest agreed common agricultural policy price for wheat, barley, maize, beef, lamb, bacon, butter, cheese and sugar as a percentage of (a) the open market price and (b) the guaranteed price in January 1962, together with the corresponding figures for the percentage increase in the retail price of motor fuel and of other fuels and light.

The nearest available information is shown in the following table. Since January 1962 the percentage increases in the retail price of motor fuel and other fuel and light are 463 and 467 respectively to May 1980.