asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the share of procurement expenditure on equipment purchased in Scotland in 1980 and 1981.

We estimate that the proportion of defence equipment procurement expenditure spent in Scotland is as follows:

	per cent.
1979–80	6
1980–81	6
1981*	7
*April-December.

These figures are for direct payments to main contractors and do not take account of payments made to subcontractors in Scotland. Expenditure on international collaborative projects is also excluded from these figures.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many principal professional and technical officers left AWRE Aldermaston in 1981 on voluntary premature retirement terms, in addition to Mr. Trevor Brown.

None, but four specialist staff in grades other than principal professional and technology officers did retire prematurely from AWRE during that year on a voluntary basis and on the same terms as Mr. Brown. A further 19 other PPTOs left on voluntary premature retirement terms from various parts of the Ministry in the same year.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence having regard to his observations upon the third report from the Defence Committee for Session 1979–80 Cmnd. 8129, whether the defence press and broadcasting committee has now reached a conclusion on its review of the D notice system.

The defence press and broadcasting committee has now completed its review of the D notice system and has informed the Government of its conclusions.The D notices themselves have been revised and reduced in number from 12 to 8. They have been kept in general terms in the belief that advice on details of application or interpretation can best be conveyed in consultation with the D notice secretary. D notices will continue to be advisory and the system will remain entirely voluntary with no legal sanction. The final responsibility for the decision whether or not to publish will continue to lie solely with the editor or publisher concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) written and (b) oral questions from hon. Members have been answered by him or his predecessor since May 1979.

898 oral and 2,912 written questions were tabled. My Ministers and I, and our predecessors, were able to answer 372 orally and gave written answers to the remaining 3,438.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) men and (b) women completed training opportunities computer skills courses during 1980 and to the nearest available date in 1981.

In the 1979–80 financial year 3,192 people completed courses offered under the training opportunities scheme in computer skills. For 1980–81 the figure was 4,041. Separate figures for men and women are not readily available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many redundancies have bean declared in the counties of (a) West Yorkshire and (b) Greater Manchester since May 1979; and if he will make a statement.

There are no comprehensive statistics of redundancies. The numbers of redundancies, in groups of 10 or more employees, reported to the Manpower Services Commission as due to occur, between May 1979 and February 1982 inclusive, in the counties of West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester are 55,867 and 98,612 respectively, including provisional figures for January and February 1982.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the average redundancy payment received by workers in (a) the wool textile industry, (b) the cotton textile industry, (c) the steel industry and (d) the construction industry for 1980 and 1981.

The average amounts of statutory redundancy payments received by workers in the metal manufacturing, textiles and construction industries in 1980–81 are as follows. Separate figures are not available for the steel industry or the wool textile or cotton textile industries.

	1980 £	1981 £
Metal Manufacture	1,516	1,533
Textiles	882	971
Construction	716	760

No figures are available for payments made to employees over and above the statutory amount.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the estimated total number of firms in the public and private sectors that voluntarily operate some form of industrial democracy; which systems are being operated and with what success; and if he will make a statement.

Employers use a very wide range of formal and informal methods for involving employees in the fortunes of their enterprise, and comprehensive information is not available. The indications are that the economic benefits of developing employee involvement arrangements appropriate to an enterprise's particular circumstances are becoming more widely recognised, and we are taking every opportunity to encourage further progress.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are employed in the manufacture, supply and maintenance of gaming machines.

The information is not available. My Department's employment statistics are analysed according to the 1968 Standard Industrial Classification, which does not separately distinguish the manufacture, supply and maintenance of gaming machines.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many redundancies there have been in the gaming machine industry in the last year.

The information requested is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what were the average weekly minimum earnings for men and women, respectively, in industries covered by the wages councils for each of the past five years.

Minimum rates set by wages councils are the same for men and women. The following table gives the information about earnings:

Average Gross Weekly Earnings, April (Full-time workers whose pay was not affected by absence)
Year	Men (21 and over) £	Women (18 and over) £
1977	61·9	37·8
1978	71·0	42·9
1979	77·4	48·9
1980	94·1	60·0
1981	102·5	68·0

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what percentages of all workplaces covered by wages councils in each of the past five years were visited by the Wages Inspectorate.

The percentages of all establishments covered by wages councils inspected by the Wages Inspectorate in the past five years are as follows:

	Percentage of establishments inspected by visit	Total percentage of establishments at which pay rates were checked
	per cent.	per cent.
1977	7·4	*8·6
1978	8·2	*11·0
1979	8·9	13·4
1980	8·8	12·8
1981	6·1	9·7
* Estimated.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he intends to seek advice from other merchant banks besides N. M. Rothschild regarding the forthcoming sale of the British National Oil Corporation's oil and gas assets.

As my hon. Friend told Standing Committee E on 11 February, at c. 161, my Department is appointing S. G. Warburg and Co. Ltd. as its merchant bank advisers in connection with the sale of shares in Britoil.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if there are any plans to develop the site at Inswork Point, Cornwall, for a power station.

I understand that Inswork Point is currently being assessed by the CEGB for its potential as a coal-fired power station development. Consent for an oil-fired station was granted in 1973 although investment approval to go ahead with construction was subsequently refused in 1978 on national energy policy grounds. No application has been made to my right hon. Friend for consent to build a coal-fired station on this site.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the approximate total capital expenditure in the United Kingdom of each of the main energy producing industries, gas, oil, coal and electricity, in each of the years from 1970 to 1981 at cash prices and at constant 1980 values.

Gross Domestic Fixed Capital Formation in the Energy Industries (£ million)
Current Prices	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981*
Coal Mining	56	61	60	61	83	150	225	290	432	518	776	745
Petroleum and Natural Gas†	49	60	109	213	592	1,374	2,070	2,108	2,168	2,064	2,389	2,817
Coal and Petroleum Products‡	83	131	118	50	73	111	106	98	189	314	375	424
Gas =	192	167	119	109	195	341	325	280	304	434	679	721
Electricity	487	505	483	524	602	775	879	876	870	930	1,088	1,386
Total	867	924	889	957	1,545	2,751	3,605	3,652	3,963	4,260	5,307	6,093
Constant (1975) prices
Coal Mining	103	103	88	85	103	150	193	220	297	314	405	349
Petroleum and Natural Gas	121	126	211	327	691	1,374	1,843	1,699	1,577	1,296	1,234	1,338
Coal and Petroleum Products	176	251	214	85	91	111	91	73	126	188	191	206
Gas	427	338	216	172	244	341	286	225	223	273	342	331
Electricity	964	898	797	797	754	775	754	664	596	563	554	643
Total	1,791	1,716	1,526	1,466	1,883	2,751	3,167	2,881	2,819	2,634	2,726	2,867

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what will be the estimated Government expenditure on alternative or renewable energy resources—excluding nuclear—in 1982–83; and how this will compare with the outturn of 1981–82 at constant prices so far as this can be calculated.

I am awaiting the advice of my Advisory Council on Research and Development for Fuel and Power on the future research programme into renewable energy resources. However, it will not be possible to insulate this area entirely from the savings which the Government are making in public expenditure. I hope that my Department will be able to devote between £11 million and £12 million to renewable energy 1982–83. This compares with an estimated outturn in 1981–82 of £13·6 million. There is no unique way of expressing cash expenditure in constant prices. One way is to deflate the expenditure by the change in the gross domestic product deflated at market prices, thus removing the general effect of inflation. The general inflation assumption is as in the Financial Statement and Budget Report, that is a GDP deflator averaging 8 per cent. in 1982–83. Using this assumption, the expected expenditure in 1982–83 corresponds to £10·2 million to £11·1 million at 1981–82 prices.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what meetings have taken place in March between Ministers and officials of his Department and private companies affected by the Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Bill; and what subjects were discussed.

The figures for capital expenditure in the United Kingdom energy industries are set out in the following table. Capital expenditure data in constant prices prepared by CSO use 1975 as the base year.

All oil companies operating in the United Kingdom continental shelf are likely to be affected by the provisions of the Bill in one way or another. I am in regular touch with those companies on a variety of issues.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he intends to make a further transfer of funds from the National Oil Account to the Consolidated Fund, as provided for in section 40(3) of the Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975.

With Treasury agreement, I have today made a transfer of £1,000 million from the National Oil Account to the Consolidated Fund.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juveniles were arrested in the area of H Division Metropolitan Police, in the latest year for which figures are available; how many of the se were arrested by officers from Bethnal Green, Limehouse and Leman Street stations, respectively; and how many of them were from ethnic minorities.

We understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that in 1981 in H District 704 juveniles were arrested for serious offences and dealt with by the police by means of a charge, referral to a juvenile bureau, a caution or in some other way. The breakdown requested of this figure is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many juveniles were stopped, had their names taken, were questioned in the street or at the station, but not charged, in the area of H Division, Metropolitan Police, in the latest year for which figures are available; how many of these were stopped by officers from Bethnal Green, Limehouse and Leman Street stations, respectively; and how many of them were from ethnic minorities;(2) how many persons under the age of 21 years were stopped, had their names taken, were questioned in the street or at the station, but not charged in the area of H Division, Metropolitan Police, in the latest year for which figures are available; how many of these were stopped by officers from Bethnal Green, Limehouse and Leman Street stations, respectively; and how many of them were from ethnic minorities.

We understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the information requested is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons under the age of 21 years were arrested in the area of H Division, Metropolitan Police, in the latest year for which figures are available.

We understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that in 1981 in H District 1,397 persons under the age of 21 years were arrested for serious offences and dealt with by the police by means of a charge, referral to a juvenile bureau, a caution or in some other way.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the total cost per year to police forces of detaining stray dogs under the Dogs Act 1906.

This information is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the Official Report a breakdown, in terms of type of weapons and circumstances, of crimes where guns or other weapons have been used in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

The information is published annually in Criminal Statistics, England and Wales—tables 3.1–3.4 and 4.3–4.5 of the volume for 1980, Cmnd. 8376. Information for 1981 is not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to tighten up the licensing and storage conditions for firearms, shotguns, and other weapons; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend is satisfied that the present provisions are generally adequate. Discussions on the security arrangements for the storage of firearms have been taking place with those concerned and will continue.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the last circular was sent by his Department to local education authorities concerning the admission to places of education of children allowed to enter the United Kingdom by the immigration authorities; and if there are any plans to update this guidance.

A joint circular giving guidance to local education authorities on the admission of overseas students to colleges of further education was issued in 1978. The contents of that circular remain valid and there are no plans to revise it.Advice on the admission of children from overseas to local authority maintained schools is, in England, a matter for my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and Science, who has issued guidance on the subject in the annex to his Department's circular No. 1/81.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether CR gas is made or stored in the United Kingdom; and whether he has received any representations against its introduction.

I have been asked to reply. Small quantities of the not control agent CR have been manufactured and are stored by my Department in the United Kingdom. The most recent representation was in the form of a parliamentary question in 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the Forestry Commission woodlands within Wales which he expects will be sold to private interests during the next three years; and if he will make a statement.

The selection of woodlands for sale to meet the financial objectives set by the Government is a matter for the Forestry Commission. I have asked the Commission to let the hon. Member have a list of the woodlands in Wales which are being sold at present.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what additional expenditure on home improvement grants and home insulation grants in Wales he anticipates as a result of the Budget Statement.

Of the £100 million extra provision for home improvement grants and home insulation grants announced in the Budget Statement, the sum of £4·867 million is to be allocated to local authorities in Wales.I would expect the number of grants being made to increase significantly as advantage is taken of the increased rates for intermediate and repairs grants for the limited period to 31 December and also the new maximum limits for home insulation grants, but no firm estimate of additional expenditure is yet possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people were claiming and how many were dependent on supplementary benefit in December 1981.

In December 1981, 3·7 million claimants were receiving a regular weekly payment of supplementary benefit. About 6 million people in total were then estimated to be dependent on supplementary benefit. The number of claimants now is probably near to 4 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, in the review of regulation 7 of the Supplementary Benefit (Conditions of Entitlement) Regulations referred to in his reply to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Handsworth (Miss Wright) on 1 March, Official Report, c. 51, he will take into account the possibility of amending the regulation to provide for the explicit exclusion of time spent in private study at home from the 21-hour period.

We shall bear my hon. Friend's suggestion in mind, together with other possible amendments to the regulation, in the light of the general principle that supplementary benefit should not be paid to those who have withdrawn from the employment field to devote themselves primarily to study.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of handicapped youngsters aged 16 to 19 years who are in full-time training or education, are in receipt of non-contributory invalidity pension or supplementary benefit.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services why those certified to be in need of hearing aids in Mansfield and district must wait for between 12 to 18 months for supply.

The work of manufacturing individual ear moulds and hearing aids is undertaken in Nottingham for the whole of the county. The Nottinghamshire area health authority is acutely aware of the delays in the provision of hearing aids throughout the area; caused by a shortage of trained staff and, in the case of Central Nottinghamshire, by a lack of facilities to increase the number of technician sessions at Kings Mill hospital for fitting patients' earpieces.In order to try to improve the service, some new temporary accommodation will be provided from the end of April which will allow the hospital to increase the number of technician sessions from two to five. For the longer term, the central Nottinghamshire district has provided funds in the 1981–82 period for the training of a student technician and it is hoped to make similar provision for another student in 1982–83. The students will have to do their training in Nottingham, but, when qualified, will work in the Central Nottingham district.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will set out in full the qualifications for membership of community health councils and the organisations from which nominations may be accepted.

All the information requested is in circular HC(81)15, which is available in the Vote Office.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will study the criteria for identifying industrial diseases with the aim of bringing into benefit those who suffer from diseases such as bronchitis, where the incidence level is significantly higher among those with employment history in certain industries such as mining, if the subsequent sufferers have worked for a given number of years in the relevant industry;(2) if he will list the diseases such as bronchitis where the incidence is considerably higher among those who have been, or are, employed in certain industries such as coal mining; and if he will set out the incidence of these diseases among those with employment history in the relevant industries as compared with the incidence in the population as a whole.

The hon. Member is well acquainted with the statutory requirements which have to be met before a disease can be prescribed as an industrial disease under the industrial injuries scheme. Without those requirements, which are set out in section 76(2) of the Social Security Act 1975, we could not continue to justify paying the preferential benefits of the scheme and my right hon. Friend has no plans to alter them.A disease such as bronchitis, which is extremely common in the general population does not meet those requirements and cannot do so unless some way can be found of distinguishing cases which are work-related from ones which are not. The present state of medical knowledge does not enable that distinction to be made clinically and, on its own, statistical evidence of a higher than average incidence of such a disease among workers in a particular industry is not an adequate basis for prescription, with or without the addition of some special condition, such as a minimum qualifying period of employment.In these circumstances, a list of the type asked for by the hon. Member would be highly speculative and misleading. Furthermore, for the reasons I gave him in my reply on 5 May 1981—[Vol. 4, c. 8]—there are no available figures comparing the incidence of bronchitis in the population as a whole with that among workers in particular occupations. The problems posed by the incidence of bronchitis in certain occupations were considered in a report submitted to my right hon. Friend in October last by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council—"Industrial Diseases: a Review of the Schedule and the Question of Individual Proof'. Cmnd. 8393. The hon. Member may wish to refer to paragraphs 144, 145 and 159 vi in particular.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, further to his statement in c. 419 of the OfficialReport of 17 March that £20 million of surplus land was to be sold in the current year, he will give a detailed breakdown of the amount of National Health Service land that was sold in the period 1979–80, 1980–81 and 1981–82 with the name of the purchaser and the price paid.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to her on 10 March—[Vol. 19, c. 440.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to promote and to make widely available the Department's booklet "Avoiding Heart Attacks".

The booklet "Avoiding Heart Attacks" is available from Her Majesty's Stationery Office and through booksellers. On publication in November 1981, copies were sent to health authorities for the attention of those most concerned with health education and prevention and to general practitioners. My hon. Friend the Member for Reading, South (Dr. Vaughan) held a press conference at the time which attracted considerable national publicity and the booklet was featured on the front page of the Health Education Council's newspaper "Health Education News", which is widely circulated. The Department's quarterly bulletin of publications also drew health authorities' attention to it, indicating where further copies could be obtained. We shall be taking every suitable opportunity to refer to the publication in appropriate speeches.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many copies of "Avoiding Heart Attacks" have been sold through Her Majesty's Stationery Office since its publication date last November; and how many have been distributed to the health professions.

Up to 28 February 1982 a total of 13,130 copies had been issued for sale by Her Majesty's Stationery Office central store; figures for copies sold could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. 26,637 copies have been distributed to general practitioners and health authorities in England.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish the data for the family expenditure survey on (a) the numbers and (b) for households, in poverty, in 1978 and 1979.

There is no generally accepted definition of poverty on which I could base an answer to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he expects the Social Security Advisory Committee to publish its annual report.

The Social Security Advisory Committee is publishing its first annual report today, covering its work from its foundation in November 1980 through to the beginning of 1982. I am sure that hon. Members will welcome this in view of the hopes expressed during the passage of the Social Security Act 1980 that the committee would publish an account of its activities. I understand that copies have been placed in the Library.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what further discussions he has had about the establishment of an energy affiliate to the World Bank; and if he will make a statement.

There have been no international discussions since last autumn. The Government favour an increase in World Bank lending for energy projects and would be ready to support an Energy Affiliate as a means to that end, provided that it could attract additional funds not otherwise available to the World Bank, particularly from capital surplus countries. However, there seems little prospect of early agreement on an Energy Affiliate and the World Bank is exploring other ways of increasing finance for energy development.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what further assistance Her Majesty's Government has provided for Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

I have just approved a further contribution of £1 million towards the cost of relief work for Afghan refugees in Pakistan. This is in addition to £2 million assistance announced by the Prime Minister during her visit to Pakistan in October last and £750,000 of food aid for the refugees promised to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in January. It brings the total value of our cash and food aid since the refugee crisis started in January 1980 to approximately £9·7 million. This includes about £4·32 million as our share of cash and food aid given by the European Community.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he will reconsider his decision to abide by the pro-rata provision in the agreement of the sixth replenishment of the International Development Association.

During the visit to London last week of the Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Gandhi made strong representations on behalf of all recipients of IDA funds about the difficulties caused to them by the application of the pro rata commitment provisions. In the light of these representations, Her Majesty's Government have agreed to waive the pro rata provision in respect of their second—current—instalment to IDA 6. IDA will therefore have commitment authority amounting to £370 million in respect of the United Kingdom's £555 million contribution to the replenishment. This will directly benefit the poorest countries.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give details of distribution between counties in England and Wales of the £240,000 allocated from the European Community disaster fund to agriculture.

£240,000 from the European Commission disaster aid fund has been divided as follows: Wales £95,000, England £89,000 and Scotland £56,000. This is in proportion to the total agricultural losses claimed. Allocation in Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales. I will decide the distribution of aid between applicants in the areas of England designated by the European Commission—the South West and Yorkshire—in the light of advice by local panels, which include farmers' representatives.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether there is any fund other than the European Community disaster fund from which farmers in East Anglia can recoup their losses due to weather damage earlier this year.

Farmers and growers in East Anglia who suffered losses due to the bad weather earlier this year may be eligible for aid under the standard conditions for works under existing capital grants schemes.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much subsidised surplus agricultural produce was sold to United Kingdom voluntary organisations and institutions such as schools and hospitals in 1981, expressed in terms of volume and the value of the Community subsidies disbursed.

3,055 tonnes of intervention butter were sold to such organisations: the subsidy amounted to £2·35 million. A further 712 tonnes attracting subsidy of £0·55 million were drawn from commercial supplies when intervention stocks ran out.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the United Kingdom's share of (a) the total exports of food to third countries by the member States of the European Community and (b) the total intra-Community trade in food in each year since 1972.

The information requested is as follows:

United Kingdom trade in food* as a percentage of all European Community countries, excluding Greece
		Intra-Community Trade
Year	Exports to Third Countries	Imports	Exports
1972	11·9	16·0	3·8
1973	10·6	16·7	4·4
1974	11·1	21·1	3·8
1975	12·2	21·8	5·1
1976	10·8	17·3	4·8
1977	11·3	15·3	5·9
1978	12·2	16·1	7·3
1979	9·8	16·4	6·7
1980	9·5	15·9	7·8

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the levels of stocks of beef, butter, skimmed milk powder, olive oil, wheat, rye and wine held in public intervention storage by the European Community for the latest convenient date, expressed in terms of the number of days' consumption; and how these levels compare with stocks held on similar dates for each of the past four years.

Wine is not held in public intervention storage. The figures for the other commodities are as follows:

European Community public intervention stocks as number of days' consumption
	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982
Olive Oil*	45	28	30	59	—
Beef†	21	13	16	17	9
Butter‡	29	56	60	18	6
Skimmed Milk Powder‡	160	91	44	37	66
Wheat‡	9	10	15	43	25
Rye‡	30	75	56	62	42

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the levels of United Kingdom self-sufficiency for each major agricultural commodity in each year since 1970.

Data on self-sufficiency—production or output as a percentage of total new supply in the United Kingdom—may be found in successive issues of the White Paper "Annual Review of Agriculture", copies of which are available in the Library of the House. In the latest issue, Cmnd. 8491, tables 7–12, 14 and 16–18 are relevant, but complete information is still not available for 1981.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent representations he has received regarding the fanning industry's views on the impact of EEC policies and regulations; and if he will make a statement.

I am in regular touch with representatives of the industry and am always ready to consider any representations which it might wish to put to me about the effect of European Community policies and regulations.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what sum the 19·4 per cent. of total expenditure disbursed by the European Community to projects in the United Kingdom under the European agriculture guidance and guarantee fund (guidance section) in 1981, given in the answer to the hon. Member for Flint, West (Sir A. Meyer) on 11 March, Official Report, column 473, represents; and what has been the United Kingdom's accumulated benefit from grants under the guidance section since 1973.

The percentage rate to which my hon. Friend refers relates to United Kingdom receipts from the guidance section of the European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund amounting to £63 million in 1981. Of this sum £10 million came from project type schemes and £53 million from other common measures.The cumulative total of United Kingdom receipts from the guidance section from 1973 to 1981 inclusive amounts to £248 million, of which project-type schemes account for £58 million and other common measures £190 million.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing net incomes of farmers each year since 1960 at current and at 1975 prices.

Information on farming income at current prices is not available on a comparable

Table 1 EAGGF Guarantee Section: 1981 Estimated Outturn
	Export Refunds		Internal Disposal Subsidies		Public Intervention Buying		Private Storage Aids		Others (inc. agricultural production subsidies and co-responsibility levies)		Total
	mecu	(£ million)	mecu	(£ million)	mecu	(£ million)	mecu	(£ million)	mecu	(£ million)	mecu	(£ million)
Milk products	1,886	1,053	1,431	799	246	137	83	47	-304	-170	3,342	1,866
Cereals (inc. rice)	1,223	683	136	76	408	228	—		176	98	1,943	1,085
Beef	825	461	—		380	212	13	7	219	122	1,437	802
Olive oil and oilseeds	8	5	114	64	46	25	—		922	515	1,090	609
Sugar	409	228	3	2	—		344	192	12	7	768	429
Fruit and vegetables	43	24	492	274	107	60	—		—		642	358
Wine	26	14	315	176	—		91	51	28	16	460	257
Tobacco	6	3	—		70	39	—		286	160	362	202
Sheepmeat	—		—		—		—	—	191	107	191	107
Others	512	285	—		37	21	—		119	66	668	373
SUB-TOTAL	4,938	2,757	2,491	1,391	1,294	722	531	297	1,649	921	10,903	6,088

Accession and Monetary Compensatory Amounts Relating to the Farm Budget
	mecu	(£ million)
Intra Community Trade	-32	-18
Extra Community Trade	270	151

Table 2 EAGGF Guarantee Section: 1982 Budget Appropriations
	Export Refunds		Internal Disposal Subsidies		Public Intervention Buying		Private Storage Aids		Others (inc. agricultural production subsidies and co-responsibility levies)		Total
	mecu	(£ million)	mecu	(£ million)	mecu	(£ million)	mecu	(£ million)	mecu	(£ million)	mecu	(£ million)
Milk Products	2,398	1,255	1,573	824	461	241	97	51	-285	-149	4,244	2,222
Cereals (inc. rice)	1,468	768	137	72	410	215	—		176	92	2,191	1,147
Beef	788	413	—		348	182	69	36	210	110	1,415	741
Olive oil and oil seeds	10	5	235	123	44	23	5	3	1,011	529	1,305	683
Sugar	788	413	3	2	1	1	419	219	14	7	1,225	642
Fruit and vegetables	75	39	674	353	120	63	—		—		869	455
Tobacco	19	10	—		41	21	—		588	308	648	339
Wine	31	16	256	134	—		91	48	38	20	416	218

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish in the Official Report, in the manner of his written answer of 28 October 1980, Official Report, columns 248–52, tables showing (a) estimated expenditure of the European Economic Community agricultural guarantee section for 1981 and 1982, respectively and (b) the estimated quantities of each commodity exported to third countries.

[pursuant to his reply, 23 March 1982, c. 343]: Tables 1 and 2 analyse EAGGF guarantee section expenditure in 1981 and the budget appropriations for 1982. I regret that information is not readily available on the quantities of each commodity exported with the help of export refunds.

	mecu	(£ million)
TOTAL	11,141	6,221
Adjustment for closure of 1974 and 1975 accounts	-161	-90
GRAND TOTAL	10,980	6,131

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average annual mortgage tax relief per owner-occupier has been in Scotland for each of the past three years; and if he will express these figures at constant prices, taking 1979 as equal to 100.

The available figures relate to financial years, and have been expressed at constant prices, deflating by the retail prices index and taking 1979–80 as 100.

Mortgage tax relief per owner-occupier* in Scotland
	£ per head	£ per head at constant prices
1979–80	120	120
1980–81	160	135
1981–82	165	130
* Including owner-occupiers who do not have a mortgage.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the price of the Official Report.

Hansard prices were last increased in July 1980 and, as production costs and overheads have continued to rise, it is now necessary to increase the price of the Daily Edition from 80p to £1·00 and the Weekly Edition from £2·20 to £2·75. There will be 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 be 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 Hansard will still need a substantial subsidy.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish table 1·9 and 1·10 in volume 1 of Cmnd. 8494, "The Government's Expenditure Plans, 1982–83 to 1984–85", in constant 1981–82 prices.

[pursuant to his reply, 19 March 1982, c. 225]: No. Public expenditure is now planned in cash.Under the cash planning system, the framework within which public expenditure plans are made is financial. The old concept of "constant prices", which was developed for use in a real resources framework, is not relevant to this. Decisions are taken in cash. Agreed plans for expenditure expressed in constant prices in the old sense do not exist. The level of services that can be provided within the cash provision will depend on a great variety of changes in relative pay and prices over the survey period as well as the overall level of inflation. These changes cannot be reliably forecast, and figures to represent them are not collected comprehensively.In the discussions leading up to final decisions on cash programmes and in their subsequent administration, the Government are naturally concerned with the level of services which can be provided, but that is best considered as far as possible in terms of the output of each relevant programme, not in terms of aggregated constant price input figures of the old type.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the reply given to the hon. Member for Isle of Ely on 11 March, what tax was payable by a single man earning £70 a week gross in February 1982; and what lax was payable on the same amount of earnings in real terms in February in each year from 1978 to 1981.

[pursuant to his reply, 30 March 1982, c. 100]: the information is as follows:

February	Gross earnings equivalent to £70 per week in February 1982	Income tax due
	£ week	£ week
1978	42·94	8·42
1979	47·06	8·12
1980	56·05	9·37
1981	63·04	10·98
1982	70·00	13·07

Equivalent gross earnings have been calculated by reference to movements in the general index of retail prices.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much Northern Ireland's share of the United Kingdom's payments into the European Economic Community was from 1 January 1973 to 31 December 1981; how much Northern Ireland's share of the receipts was; how much of these receipts each year represented a cash addition to the Northern Ireland economy; and how much was used to offset Government expenditure on Northern Ireland.

It is not possible to determine in total how much of the United Kingdom's contribution to the European Community can be attributed to Northern Ireland since actual payments are made on a national and not on a regional basis; nor is it possible to indicate the full extent of Northern Ireland's share of total United Kingdom receipts from the Community. Receipts which are earned by the United Kingdom under the guarantee section of the agricultural fund, estimated to be some £720 million in 1981–82, are not identified regionally. The figures shown in the following table represent those receipts which can be identified as being earned by Northern Ireland.

	Identified Receipts by N.I. £ million
1973–74	—
1974–75	3·4
1975–76	3·6
1976–77	16·0
1977–78	16·8
1978–79	22·3
1979–80	35·6
1980–81	50·3
1981–82	*30·6
	†55·2
* To 31 December 1981.
† To 31 March 1982.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) whether all students at the New University of Ulster will be able to finish their present course there; and if he will make a statement;(2) whether he is able to give any assurances to the staff at the New University of Ulster regarding their contracts in the light of his response to the Chilver report; and if he will make a statement;(3) how many students from Northern Ireland have started undergraduate university courses outside Northern Ireland in each year since 1966; how many started such courses in each of those years in Northern Ireland, and in the latter case, how many did so

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that all students currently enrolled at the New University of Ulster and those admitted in the coming academic year will be able to complete their courses.The contracts of staff employed at NUU are a matter for the staff and the University authorities.Legislation will be required to establish the new institution to replace NUU and the Ulster polytechnic. Proposals for draft legislation will be published when detailed discussions with the two institutions on the practical problems and staffing implications of effecting the merger are complete.I am confident that the University Grants Committee, the Department of Education and the higher education institutions in Northern Ireland will cope with the novel concept of the merged institution. The merger will in no way limit the range of courses which the new institution will offer.The financial information is not available in the form requested, but the following Tables 1 and 2 give details of income and expenditure for NUU and the polytechnic. The principal sources of funds for both institutions are grants

1. New University of Ulster
	1	2	3	4	5
	Capital Grants from DENI including provision for initial equipment*	Furniture and Equipment Grants*	Recurrent Grants from DENI*	Income from fees†	Expenditure on salaries of teaching and research staff†
	£ million	£ million	£ million	£ million	£ million
1966–67	0·1	—	0·04	—	—
1967–68	0·9	—	0·2	—	0·08
1968–69	1·3	—	0·5	0·03	0·2
1969–70	1·2	—	0·7	0·07	0·3
1970–71	1·4	—	1·0	0·1	0·5
1971–72	1·2	—	1·5	0·1	0·7
1972–73	1·4	—	1·7	0·1	0·9
1973–74	1·2	—	2·2	0·1	0·9
1974–75	0·8	—	2·7	0·1	1·1
1975–76	0·7	—	3·4	0·3	1·4
1976–77	0·08	0·01	3·8	0·4	1·5
1977–78	0·06	0·02	3·6	0·9	1·7
1978–79	0·05	0·01	3·9	1·0	2·0
1979–80	0·03	0·01	4·7	1·1	2·4
1980–81	0·2	0·02	6·2	1·4	3·0
* Year ending 31 March.
† Year ending 31 July.

2. Expenditure and Income of the Ulster Polytechnic
Year ending 31 March	Capital grants from DENI for buildings and equipment £ million	Direct grants by DENI for the recurrent expenditure £ million	Income from tuition fees £ million	Expenditure on staff salaries and wages £ million
1968–69	0·06	—	—	—
1969–70	0·1	0·002	—	—
1970–71	0·7	0·06	—	0·03
1971–72	2·2	0·1	0·03	0·8
1972–73	1·9	2·2	0·1	1·7
1973–74	1·5	2·8	0·1	2·4
1974–75	2·1	4·5	0·2	3·5
1975–76	2·3	5·6	0·4	4·7
1976–77	1·4	6·3	0·6	5·5
1977–78	1·1	6·6	1·5	6·2
1978–79	1·1	7·4	1·8	7·1
1979–80	1·1	5·7	2·2	8·3
1980–81	0·4	10·6	2·8	11·0

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he has issued revised instructions and regulations for emergency services in their dealing with chemical spills in the light of recent incidents.

[pursuant to his reply, 22 March 1982, c. 278]: I have instructed the Health and Safety Inspectorate to advise the owners of electrical equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyl on precautions and to ensure that local emergency services are aware of these precautions and of the location of the equipment.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many explosions in Northern Ireland in the last 10 years have included the release of polychlorinated biphenyl from electric transformers.

[pursuant to his reply, 22 March 1982, c. 278]: I am aware of only one explosion resulting in the release of polychlorinated biphenyl, namely, that on 5 August 1981.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many emergency services personnel have come in contact with the chemical polychlorinated biphenyl in the last five years as a result of spillages from electric generators.

[pursuant to his reply, 22 March 1982, c. 278]: None as far as I am aware. There has in fact been only one spillage of the chemical polychlorinated biphenyl in the last five years, namely, that which occurred on 5 August 1981.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has ordered an inquiry into the handling of polychlorinated biphenyl chemical spills from electric transformers as a result of recent experience in the field.

[pursuant to his reply, 22 March 1982, c. 278] I am satisfied that adequate measures were taken following the bomb explosion in Belfast last August, which caused the spillage of polychlorinated biphenyl, and that no person was exposed to a dangerous level of the chemical.Accordingly, I do not consider any useful purpose would be served by holding an inquiry.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has instituted any check on the effects of the chemical polychlorinated biphenyl on the health of contractors, firemen, police or army personnel called to the scene of a recent polychlorinated biphenyl leak.

[pursuant to his reply, 22 March 1982, c. 278]: I am advised that the personnel called to the scene of the recent polychlorinated biphenyl leak could not have suffered exposure to the chemical to any harmful degree, and I do not therefore consider it necessary to institute medical checks for the contractors, firemen or police involved. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence is replying to a separate question about Army personnel.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what restrictions there are upon children from the dependent territories, whose parents are resident in those territories, attending maintained schools; and whether any steps are taken by Her Majesty's Government to inform local education authorities or maintained schools of these restrictions.

Proposed entry to a maintained school is not a qualification under the immigration rules for admission to this country. However, regardless of nationality or status under those rules, any child present in this country is entitled to attend a maintained school unless the likely shortness of stay renders this impracticable or not in the child's educational interests. The position is set out fully in the annex to the Department's circular 1/81.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the average annual subsidy to public sector tenants in both Dundee and Scotland in each of the past three years; and if he will express the figures at constant prices, taking 1979 as equal to 100.

Since it is not possible to provide figures for Dundee district for the whole public sector—that is including the SSHA as well as the local authority tenants—I have made the comparison below in terms of local authority tenants only:

	Dundee (local authority) £	Scotland (local authority) £
Average annual subsidy per tenant
1979–80	260	360
1980–81	255	390
1981–82 Estimate	340	375
Average annual subsidy per tenant at 1979–80 average prices
1979–80	260	360
1980–81	220	335
1981–82 Estimate	260	290

I have taken subsidies to include Exchequer subsidies, rate fund contributions and rent rebates, but not assistance received by tenants as part of supplementary benefit.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for both Dundee and Scotland (a) the housing support grant for 1982–83, and (b) the total amount outstanding in interest charges on capital project loans; and what proportion of the housing budget (b) represents in each case.

The information is as follows:

	Dundee £	Scotland £
(a) Housing support grants	2,968,259	134,448,547
(b) Housing revenue account interest charges for 1982–83 as estimated by the Secretary of State for the purpose of calculating (a) above	13,817,376	382,242,481
(c) Proportion of Secretary of State's estimate of eligible housing revenue account expenditure for 1982–83 represented by (b)above	53·3 per cent.	58·0 per cent.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will allocate funds to Tayside region to carry out a survey of lead in paintwork in schools; and if he will allocate further funds to Tayside to carry out the appropriate remedial work where potentially toxic concentrations are discovered.

No. This is a matter for the regional council.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the major trunk road schemes on which work is expected to start in 1982–83.

The cash provision for the construction and improvement of trunk roads in Scotland in 1982–83 is £90·4 million. The following table shows certain of the major schemes on which work is planned to start before 31 March 1983. The current estimate of the total cost of these schemes is £80 million. I hope to announce shortly a number of further schemes on which construction will start in 1982–83.

• A7 — Bypass of Canonbie
• A9 — Improvement between Killiecrankie and

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement about his right hon. and noble Friend's talks with the Sultan of Oman on the occasion of His Majesty's State visit.

His Majesty the Sultan had private talks with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister during his visit. My right hon. and noble Friend and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence each had separate talks with the Omani Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. These discussions were friendly and very successful. They showed that Her Majesty's Government and the Government of Oman have similar views on most international matters and that there is great scope for co-operation between us.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will report progress on the preparations for the United Nations special session on disarmament in June.

As my hon. Friend knows, the preparatory committee for the special session will meet next month for the last time. Meanwhile work continues in the committee on disarmament in Geneva on a comprehensive programme of disarmament. In this country we have held a further meeting with non-governmental organisations to consider our approach to the session.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what proposals for disarmament Her Majesty's Government will put forward to the United Nations special session on disarmament in June.

The Government have tabled a draft comprehensive programme of disarmament and this will be one of the main subjects for discussion at the special session. We have also tabled verification provisions for a chemical weapons convention on which we wish quicker progress to he made. We shall support proposals at the special session which may serve as a spur to the various arms control and disarmament negotiations already in progress or in prospect.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if Her Majesty's Government will propose a comprehensive test ban treaty to the United Nations special session on disarmament.

A comprehensive test ban is one of the measures included in the draft of a comprehensive programme of disarmament which we have tabled for discussion at the special session.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether any Minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be present at the forthcoming United Nations conference on disarmament.

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister plans to attend the special session. There are at present no plans for a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister to go as well.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what initiatives the British delegation will be taking at the United Nations special Session on Disarmament towards achieving multilateral nuclear disarmament; and if he will make a statement.

The Government have already put forward their ideas on multilateral nuclear disarmament in the comprehensive programme of disarmament, which they have tabled in preparation for the special session. We place the highest priority on the successful conclusion of the arms control negotiations which are already in progress, as well as those which are expected to begin shortly.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he has had any recent discussions with the ambassador of Niaragua; and if he will make a statement.

I have had two meetings with the Nicaraguan ambassador this month. We discussed matters concerning our two countries.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he has any plans to visit Nicaragua with a view to improving United Kingdom and Nicaraguan relations.

My right hon. Friend has no plans at present to visit Nicaragua.Anglo-Malaysian Relations

asked the Lord Privy Seal, pursuant to his answer of 11 February, Official Report, c. 440, what progress has been made in improving relations between the United Kingdom and Malaysia.

Close contacts with Malaysia over a wide field continue both in the public and private sector. Following the visit in February by my right hon. and noble Friend, we are studying ways in which relations might most fruitfully be developed with the Malaysian Government.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement on representations made by Her Majesty's Government to the Polish authorities for the release of Lech Walesa.

We have made clear to the Polish authorities that we deplore the internment without trial of several thousands of Polish citizens. We have urged and will continue to urge the Polish Government to release those detained. Unfortunately we have had no indication of any intention to release Mr. Walesa.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what measures the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs proposes to discuss with King Hussein of Jordan during his forthcoming visit to Jordan for improving the prospects of peace in the Middle East.

My right hon. and noble Friend will be paying a visit to Jordan from 14 to 16 April. The visit will provide opportunities for wide-ranging discussions with King Hussein and representatives of the Jordanian Government about the prospects for peace in the Middle East.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if Her Majesty's Government have had any recent discussions with the Government of the United States concerning Central America; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what recent representations he has made to the United States Government regarding El Salvador.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what further consultations have taken place with the United States of America over the current political position in Central America.

Her Majesty's Government frequently hold discussions with the United States Government. Most recently I held talks with the visiting United States Assistant Secretary of State responsible for United States human rights policy. The subject of human rights in Central America was discussed.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he has any plans to discuss President Portillo's Central American peace initiative with members of the Mexican Government; and if he will make a statement.

I shall discuss the subject of Central America with Mexican Ministers during the course of my visit to Mexico.