asked the Prime Minister whether she will make a statement on the report of the tribunal of inquiry on the Crown Agents.

The report of the tribunal of inquiry on the Crown Agents has been published today. The Crown Agents were deeply involved in the property and secondary bank failures which took place in 1974–75, with the result that large sums of public money had to be made available to enable them to meet their liabilities.Following the report of the committee of inquiry under the chairmanship of His Honour Judge Fay, the tribunal was set up in 1978 by the previous Government under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 to inquire into the extent to which there were lapses from accepted standards of commercial or professional conduct or of public administration in relation to the operations of the Crown Agents as financiers on own account in the years 1967–74.The tribunal has examined the issues very thoroughly and the Government would like to express their gratitude to the chairman, Mr. Justice Croom-Johnson and to his colleagues Lord Allen of Abbeydale and Sir William Slimmings for all the time and work they have put into examining these events.The tribunal's report is long and detailed. Five main issues are examined:

asked the Prime Minister, in view of statements made on BBC 1 television news broadcasts on Monday 17 May, if she is satisfied that no statements have been made without ministerial authority to the press or broadcasting media by civil servants about their views on the policy of Her Majesty's Government on the Falkland Islands.

Government spokesmen are authorised to speak for Ministers. I am not aware of any reports emanating from Government spokesmen carried on recent BBC television news broadcasts which do not accurately reflect Government policy.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to introduce legislation to extend to disabled people living in disabled people's homes the same concession regarding broadcasting receiving licences as that already given to old people's homes; and if he will make a statement.

We have no plans to do so. I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave to his supplementary question on 20 May 1982.—[Vol. 24, c. 461.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the conditions that have to be satisfied for a television licence rebate to be made; when these criteria were introduced; if he is satisfied that they are sufficient; and whether he has any proposals to extend the rebate scheme.

As I indicated in reply to a question from the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Cunningham)—[Vol. 24, c. 105.]—on 19 May refunds of television licence fees are given only when:

(a) an unexpired monochrome licence is surrendered on issue of a colour licence;

(b) a new licence is not needed within 28 days of issue or when a renewal licence is not needed within 28 days of the expiry of the previous licence—application for the refund must be made during the period of the validity of the licence;

(c) two licences are held but one was obtained in error.

Specific legislative provision relating to refunds was included in the Post Office Act 1961, though refunds in the circumstances set out in

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many complaints about interference from illegal citizens band radio have been received in the area covered by the Isle of Ely constituency;(2) how many summonses have been taken out against the users of allegedly illegal citizens band radios in the area covered by the Isle of Ely constituency.

Separate figures are not available for the Isle of Ely. Figures for the Cambridge telephone area, which includes the Isle of Ely, are:

	Complaints	Summonses
1981	573	6
1 January–25 May 1982	330	7

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he has approved any plans by the English Industrial Estates Corporation for further public investment in the assisted areas of England over the next year.

I have approved provisional proposals by the chairman of the English Industrial Estates Corporation for further industrial and commercial developments in the assisted areas of England using the £34·3 million that the Government have agreed to make available to the corporation in the current financial year. The corporation will, as before, be required to make every effort to reduce the net costs of this programme to the Exchequer by selling off existing assets at current market values and placing the proceeds in the Consolidated Fund.This level of finance will be equivalent to 159,000 square metres of factory space which could provide places of work for about 4,000 workers. The sum includes £4·6 million which is part of the £19 million special allocation for steel closure areas which was announced on 19 June 1980; but it does not include any private sector investment of which £30 million has been promised so far with £11·5 million spent to date, and any further sums which the English Industrial Estates Corporation may attract.The provisional allocations of resources are as follows:

English Industrial Estates Corporation 1982–83 planned resources allocation
Region and TTWA	£'000	Notional equivalent area of factory floor-space m2
North West
Wigan	969	4,500
Liverpool	6,674	31,000
Birkenhead	2,368	11,000
St. Helens	646	3,000
Southport	323	1,500
Widnes	861	4,000
Blackpool	215	1,000
Lancaster	108	500
Whitehaven	215	1,000
Workington	538	2,500
Total North West	12,917	60,000

asked the Minister for Trade when the monopolies and mergers report on the supply of motor car parts is to be published; and if he will make a statement.

The report is published today. In its investigation of the possible existence of a monopoly situation in relation to the wholesale supply of car parts in the United Kingdom the commission was required to limit consideration to the practice whereby suppliers of car parts imposed exclusive buying requirements on those persons supplied, and to car parts supplied for resale as such or for replacement of existing parts. The commission has found a complex monopoly situation involving 22 car manufacturers who together supplied at least a quarter of the car parts supplied in the United Kingdom and so conducted their affairs as to restrict competition in the supply of car parts in that they required persons to whom they supplied car parts to acquire those parts exclusively from them or from sources approved by them. The commission also considered the exclusive buying requirements imposed by two component manufacturers but concluded that these did not appear in practice to have any material restrictive effect on competition.The commission found four effects of exclusive buying requirements which were against the public interest:

asked the Minister for Trade whether arrangements have been made for the investigation of the activities of the Civil Aviation Authority by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.

My right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State for Trade announced in March of this year that the Civil Aviation Authority would be included in the 1982 programme of references under section 11 of the Competition Act 1980. This section provides for scrutiny of the efficiency of nationalised industries and other public sector bodies. Arrangements are in hand to refer the authority to the commission under this provision later in the year.

asked the Minister for Trade what alterations to the British Airports Authority's capital investment programme have been agreed in consultation with his Department since the publication of the authority's last annual report in July 1981.

The authority's capital investment programme is reviewed annually by my Department in conjunction with the Treasury. The outcome of the 1981 review and a commentary on forecast expenditure on fixed assets over the period to 1984–85 is given on page 83 and in table 3.2 of volume two of the "Government's Expenditure Plans 1982–83 to 1984–85", Cmnd. 8494—II, which was presented to Parliament in March 1982 by my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

asked the Minister for Trade how many (a) men and (b) women he has appointed to public bodies in the past year; and what is the total number of men and women appointed by his Department to serve on public bodies.

During the calendar year 1981, 306 men and 152 women were appointed to public bodies by my Department. The total number of people appointed by my Department was 838 men and 347 women, as at 31 December 1981.

asked the Minister for Trade if he will review the present structure of overseas tourism promotion to Great Britain, as between the British Tourist Authority, the English, Scottish and Wales tourist boards, English, Scottish and Welsh local authorities and bodies such as the Highlands and Islands Development Board, with a view to establishing any areas of conflict and duplication; and if he will make a statement.

Under the Development of Tourism Act 1969, responsibility for the overseas promotion of tourism to Great Britain rests with the British Tourist Authority. The authority takes account of the views of both the national boards and other bodies with tourism interests. I am concerned that there should be no unnecessary duplication, and I am therefore reviewing the matter, in consultation with colleagues who have responsibility for tourism in Scotland and in Wales.

asked the Minister for Trade when the Secretary of State for Trade now expects to announce whether he has decided to refer to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission the bid for Allied Supplies Ltd.; and if he will make a statement.

I shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Minister for Trade if he is satisfied with the present organisation of the Coast Guard and search and rescue facilities in the Solent area.

[pursuant to the reply, 24 May 1982, c. 218]: The Coastguard organisation in the Solent area is controlled from the maritime rescue sub centre at the Needles. This provides continuous VHF radio coverage for the whole of the area and is equipped with VHF radio direction finding equipment. The auxiliary Coastguard station at Calshot maintains a watch for 10 hours a day and there are auxiliary stations at Bembridge, Eastney and Hayling Island, where a watch is maintained in bad weather.Rescue facilities in the area comprise RNLI lifeboats stationed at Yarmouth, Lymington, Calshot, Hayling Island, Bembridge and Portsmouth; the Royal Navy Wessex helicopter flight, temporarily at Portland, but normally based at Lee-on-Solent; and the Coastguard rescue companies at the auxiliary Coastguard stations. I am satisfied that these arrangements together provide an efficient and effective organisation for marine search and rescue in the Solent area.

asked the Minister for Trade if he will list the regulations which govern the transport of nuclear materials by air.

[pursuant to the reply, 25 May 1982, c. 261]: The requirements for the carriage of dangerous goods, including nuclear materials, by air are contained in article 42 of the Air Navigation Order 1980–1980 No. 1965. It requires that operators must first obtain written approval from the Civil Aviation Authority before carrying such goods. It is a condition of approval that dangerous goods must be transported in accordance with the International Air Transport Association regulations for the carriage of restricted articles. The IATA regulations embody the advice of the International Atomic Energy Agency and lay down in great detail the safety requirements to be observed including packaging, labelling and documentation.The International Civil Aviation Organisation is preparing a new annex 18 to the Chicago convention which will lay down standards and recommended practices for the carriage of dangerous goods by air.

asked the Minister of Trade, if he will make a statement about the collision of the motor vessel "Jemrix" with the British Gas methane terminal jetty at Canvey Island on 20 May.

[pursuant to his reply, 25 May 1982, c. 262]: The collision of the United Kingdom registered ship "Jemrix" with the jetty at the methane terminal at Canvey island occurred at 00.25 hours on 20 May. The Department of Trade is carrying out a preliminary inquiry.I am informed by British Gas that although a number of pipes on the jetty suffered the effects of the collision none contained liquefied natural gas at the time except for minimal residues which subsequently leaked as a result of purging operations.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in an attempt to recover taxes lost through the "black economy" in Northern Ireland; if he is able to estimate the loss to the revenue; and what additional measures he has taken to deal with this matter.

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

the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost in each case of taking out of tax the poorest (a) 100,000, (b) 250,000, (c) 500,000, (d) 750,000, (e) 1,000,000 and (f) 1,250,000 taxpayers; and to what level the standard rate of tax would need to be raised to cover the revenue lost in each of these six cases.

[pursuant to his reply, 21 May 1982, c. 211]: The estimates for a full year at 1982–83 income levels are as follows:

	(1) Number of tax units taken out of tax	(2) Cost of raising allowances to level required to take units in (1) out of tax £ million	(3) Increase in basic rate required to recover revenue cost in (2)
(a)	100,000	320	⅓p
(b)	250,000	750	¾p
(c)	500,000	1,390	1½p
(d)	750,000	2,050	2p
(e)	1,000,000	2,700	3p
(f)	1,250,000	3,380	4p

The estimates are in terms of tax units, that is counting a married couple as one and combining their income.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the United Kingdom monthly net contribution to the European Economic Community, excluding rebates, for each month since January 1979, listing alongside under headings 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982 rebates repaid in each month, such rebate being entered under the heading appropriate to the year to which the rebate referred, and with sub totals entered under each column at each year end.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 May 1982, c. 225]: The monthly net payments to and from the European Community budget during 1979, 1980, 1981 and the first three months of 1982 are shown in the following table:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the reply of the Financial Secretary, 13 May, Official Report, c. 939, in what way the maintenance of the real value of the retirement pension and other benefits has worsened the poverty trap.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 May 1982, c. 225.]: The policies of successive Governments have tended to raise social security benefit levels relative to income tax thresholds. The aim has been to help poorer sections of the community while financing public expenditure without excessive borrowing. As a result the poverty trap has tended to be made worse by widening the range of income over which tax and national insurance contributions are paid by those in work, at the same time as the value of State benefits are received.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the average monthly total of registered unemployed in Wales in 1970, 1974, 1978 and 1981, respectively.

Numbers Unemployed under 20 years of age.
	January	April	July	October
1975	N/A	—	15,600	—
1976	14,535	—	22,617	—
1977	16,301	—	28,256	—
1978	18,255	—	28,531	21,046
1979	17,127	13,345	27,065	18,364
1980	16,519	17,358	34,354	28,017
1981	26,475	23,760	34,409	33,835

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the average monthly total of unemployed women in Wales in each year since 1970.

The information is as follows:

The information is as follows:

Annual Averages—Total Unemployment
	Thousands
1970	37·7
*1974	38·3
1978	91·5
1981	157·5
* There was no return in December 1974: the figure for the year is averaged over an 11-month period.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the average monthly total of youth unemployment in Wales in each of the last seven year.

The information is not available in the form requested. Before the last quarter in 1978 figures were produced on a half-yearly basis; since October 1978 quarterly figures are available. On this basis the information is as follows:

Annual averages—Female unemployment
	Thousands
1970	6·6
1971	8·4
1972	8·9
1973	6·3
*1974	6·8
*1975	12·5
*1976	19·5
1977	25·2
1978	28·4
1979	28·7
1980	36·6
1981	46·8
* In each year one monthly return was not available: the figures for each year are averaged over an 11-month period.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the value at constant prices of the incentives under regional aid legislation taken up by businesses operating in rural Wales outside the boundary of the Development Board for Rural Wales for each year between 1978 and 1982.

The value of regional selective assistance offers under section 7 of the Industry Act 1972 which have been accepted for projects in rural Wales outside the boundaries of the Development Board for Rural Wales is as follows:

	Cash terms	*Equivalent in 1978–79 prices
	£000	£000
1978–79	605	605
1979–80	381	325
1980–81	251	181
1981–82	251	163
* Deflated by corresponding changes in the GDP deflator. (The deflator for 1981–82 is a provisional figure).

Information relating to regional development grants, which are the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Industry, given to businesses located in these areas cannot be provided without disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many Welsh-speaking speech therapists there

Redundancies reported as due to occur
SIC Order	Industry	Wolverhampton travel-to-work area			West Midlands
		1979	1980	1981	1979	1980	1981
I	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing	—	—	—	—	69	58
II	Mining and Quarrying	—	—	—	132	78	182
III	Food, Drink and Tobacco	—	—	237	523	2,289	2,214
IV	Coal and Petroleum Products	—	—	—	—	34	159
V	Chemicals and Allied Industries	66	30	37	16	740	777
VI	Metal Manufacture	2,123	2,636	674	3,866	8,097	6,866

The number of Welsh-speaking speech therapists employed in Wales in 1978 and 1982 is set out in the following table. Information in respect of the intervening years is not available. These figures show an encouraging increase in the number of Welsh-speaking speech therapists.

Health Authority	1978	1982
Clwyd	0	3
East Dyfed Pembrokeshire	2	3
Gwent	1	0
Gwynedd	0	7
Mid Glamorgan	1	1
Powys	0	1
South Glamorgan	3	2
West Glamorgan	1	2
Wales Total	8	19

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest number of unemployed in the United Kingdom; and if he will give the percentage increase in unemployment since May 1981 for the United Kingdom and for Lancashire.

At May 1982 the provisional number of people registered as unemployed in the United Kingdom was 2,969,443. The increases since May 1981 were 16·1 per cent. in the United Kingdom and 17·7 per cent. in Lancashire.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many redundancies, in groups of 10 or more employees, were reported to the Manpower Services Commission as due to occur in (a) Wolverhampton and (b) the West Midlands in 1979, 1980 and 1981, in total and by standard industrial classification order.

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 in the specified areas in 1979, 1980 and 1981 are shown, in total and by standard industrial classification order, in the following table:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many persons were unemployed in the South Yorkshire area (a) in May 1979 and (b) at the latest convenient date; and if he will publish separate figures of male and female unemployed, youth unemployment and of those who had been unemployed for over 12 months;(2) how many persons were unemployed in the Barnsley travel-to-work area

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people were employed by his Department on unemployment work in Kilmarnock in May 1979; and what is the current number.

Table 1 gives the total numbers registered as unemployed at May 1979 and May 1982 analysed by sex.Table 2 gives the numbers of young people under 20 years of age registered as unemployed at April 1979 and April 1982, the latest date for which the quarterly analysis by age and duration of unemployment is available. It also gives the total numbers of people unemployed for over 52 weeks. Easter school leavers are included in the figures for April 1982 but not for April 1979.

There are 49 staff engaged on unemployment work in Kilmarnock at present compared with 33·5 in May 1979.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the percentage change in the numbers of registered and unregistered disabled people placed in open and sheltered employment between January 1978 and January 1982; to what extent the change was due to any alteration in the number of disablement resettlement officers; and how the change compares, in percentage terms, with that for placings of able-bodied people during the same period.

Information about the total number of placings of registered and unregistered disabled people into employment is not available because the number of disabled people who obtain employment through the self-service sections of jobcentres and employment offices cannot currently be separately identified.However, the numbers of disabled people placed by the Manpower Services Commission's specialist resettlement service between January 1978 and January 1982 fell by 34·9 per cent. The comparable fall for placings of able-bodied people by jobcentres and employment office staff but excluding self-service was 10·2 per cent.The change was unlikely to be due to any alteration in the numbers of disablement resettlement officers as the numbers in post remained fairly constant between about 520 and 530 during the period.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people over the age of 60 years have ceased to register at his Department since the long-term supplementary benefit plan came into operation in November 1981.

It has been provisionally estimated that by February about 27,000 men aged 60 and over had been taken off the register, having exercised their choice of opting for the long-term rate of supplementary benefit.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are now in receipt of cash benefits on job release schemes.

At 11 May 1982 there was a total of 66,728 people being supported under the scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what net increase there has been in the number of young people on the youth opportunities programme since December 1981.

At the end of December 1981 there were about 195,000 young people participating in youth opportunities programme schemes. At the end of April there were about 180,000. This is a decrease of about 8 per cent. and it reflects seasonal fluctuations in recruitment and varying length of stay in different elements of the programme.The number of young people who have entered the programme since December 1981 is about 150,000. During the period 1 April 1980 to 31 March 1981, there were 360,000 entrants to the programme. Last year, 1981–82, it is estimated that the number of entrants increased by 54 per cent. to 553,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether the Government have completed the further consideration of the fair wages resolution promised when schedule 11 to the Employment Protection Act 1975 was repealed.

I have written to interested parties indicating that the Government have it in mind to ask the House to set aside the fair wages resolution, and inviting comments. I am also consulting bodies most representative of employers and workers on the related question of denouncing International Labour Convention No. 94 concerning labour clauses in public contracts. I have asked for comments by the end of June 1982 and will then report to the House again.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the percentage of young people in Oldham, Kirklees, West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and England who continued in full-time education after the age of 16 years during 1979, 1980 and 1981; and if he will make a statement.

The following information relates to 16-year-olds for whom the local education authorities within the relevant areas are financially responsible. It covers full-time education in schools and further education establishments. 16-year-olds funded by their parents in independent schools are not included as information is not available about their home residence.

Aged 16 at beginning of academic year
	1978–79	1979–80	1980–81
	per cent.	per cent.	per cent.
Oldham	21·8	23·5	27·4
Kirklees	38·2	39·3	39·9
West Yorkshire	35·1	35·2	36·5
Greater Manchester	32·9	33·8	35·6
England	36·8	37·0	39·2

An analysis carried out by the Department and reported in DES "Statistical Bulletin 15/79" indicated that over half the variation between LEA's in full-time participation of those between their sixteenth and nineteenth birthdays in schools and further education was explicable in a statistical sense by a simple linear relationship with an indicator of the socio-economic background of the areas.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Dundee, West (Mr. Ross) on 22 March, Official Report, c. 275, what funds have been allocated by the Medical Research Council to the research work being undertaken at Northwick Park hospital, Middlesex, into the relationship between alcoholism and chemical enzyme deficiency.

The investigation into the relationship between alcoholism and enzyme deficiency, being carried out at the MRC's clinical research centre in collaboration with the council's epidemiology and medical care unit is part of a much wider programme of research at the CRC. I understand from the MRC that it is therefore not possible to separately identify the funds allotted to a particular area within that programme.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school teachers have been made redundant since May 1979.

The Department does not collect information about redundancies as such, but the number of teachers and lecturers who have retired early on redundancy grounds since May 1979 is approximately 6,300. We do not at present know how many of these were serving in primary or secondary schools at the time of their retirement.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many nursery schools have closed since May 1979.

Records are available only from May 1980, since it was only with the Education Act 1980 that proposals to close nursery schools became subject to statutory procedures. Since then approval has been given for the closure of 17 nursery schools, 14 of which have had their nursery accommodation absorbed into extended or reorganised primary schools.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many local authorities have raised the price of school meals since May 1979; and what is the average rate of increase since that date.

Until April 1980 and the coming into force of section 22 of the Education Act 1980, school meal charges were fixed nationally rather than by individual LEAs. Since then, the widespread introduction of cash cafeterias rules out comparisons in the secondary sector. However, according to the autumn 1981 school meals census, 89 English LEAs had increased their charge for fixed price primary meals, on average, by 31 per cent. to 46p.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if, in view of the needs of the increasing ageing population for more chiropody treatment, he will take steps to make grants to chiropody students mandatory instead of discretionary.

No. My, right hon. Friend has concluded that resources cannot be made available at present to meet the cost of extending mandatory awards to chiropody students.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many (a) men and (b) women he has appointed to public bodies in the past year; and what is the total number of men and women appointed by his Department to serve on public bodies.

46 men and four women; just over 700.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many secondary school places each local education authority had in 1979 and at the latest available date; and if he is satisfied with progress in reducing the numbers.

This information is not available, but local education authorities' returns to the Department's circular 2/81 will show the current position and their plans for taking places out of use. We are reviewing progress in the light of those returns but shall only be able to complete our analysis when a sufficient number have been received.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what response he has had from local education authorities about his target for cutting 1 million school places by March 1984; and if he will make a statement.

The Government's published expenditure plans assume that 630,000 surplus places will have been taken out of use by March 1984. We shall review our targets in the light of the returns of local education authorities to the Department's circular 2/81—once a sufficient number have been received to enable a reliable analysis to be made.

asked the Solicitor-General for Scotland how many prosecutions have been taken against persons on bail under the Bail etc. (Scotland) Act in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

These statistics are not readily made available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost and would, in any event, only give an indication of the number of persons who failed to attend at court. Previously, persons who breached a condition of bail that they should not re-offend while on bail have been charged with the substantive additional offence rather than with a contravention of the Bail etc. (Scotland) Act 1980. This situation should alter in the light of the further instruction, issued to procurators fiscal by my noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate, to which I referred in my reply to my hon. Friend's question of 18 May.—[Vol. 24, c.64–65.]

asked the Solicitor-General for Scotland how many cases involving drink and violent crime have been prosecuted in Scotland so far in 1982; and what were the figures for similar periods in the previous five years.

There are no figures available for cases involving drink and violent crime either in 1982 or in previous years.

asked the Solicitor-General for Scotland whether he is satisfied that no problematical differences exist between the applicability of the doctrines of international law in Scotland as opposed to in the other parts of the United Kingdom.

Yes.

asked the Solicitor-General for Scotland if he will make a statement on the recently completed fatal accident inquiry into the causes of the fire at Kirkcaldy Victoria hospital nurses' home.

The inquiry is not concluded until the sheriff principal has made a determination. It would not be appropriate to make any further comment until this has been done. In his determination, the sheriff will set out the circumstances of the death so far as they have been established to his satisfaction, including where and when the death took place; the cause of death; the reasonable precautions, if any, whereby the death might have been avoided; and any other facts which are relevant to the circumstances of the death. The Lord Advocate will be sent a copy of the determination on the conclusion of the inquiry and members of the public, on payment of the appropriate fee, may also obtain a copy from the sheriff clerk at Kirkcaldy.

asked the Solicitor-General for Scotland whether there is a backlog of cases in the sheriff court and High Court; and what measures are being taken to deal with this problem.

Because of the time limits which operate in Scotland, there is no significant delay in cases of serious crime. So far as summary crime is concerned, the average time between the police reporting to the procurator fiscal and the calling of that case in court is two months. If there is a plea of not guilty and a trial, the time between calling and trial diet is between one and five months.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will publish in the Official Report his Department's latest estimate for the average cost in pence per kilowatt hour of electricity produced by existing (a) nuclear, (b) coal and, (c) oil plant.

The Central Electricity Generating Board's annual report and accounts for 1980–81 give figures for that year on an historic cost basis. For plant commissioned between 1965 and 1977 and at Hinkley Point B the figures are as follows:

	p/KWh
Nuclear (Magnox)	1·65
Nuclear (AGR)	1·45
Coal	1·85
Oil	2·62

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what has been the total expenditure in each of the last five years upon research and development for generating electricity from all renewable resources.

The renewable energy resources with potential for electricity generation on which research has been funded by my Department are wind, wave geothermal hot dry rock, tidal and low-head water power.Total expenditure in these areas by my Department over the past four years has been as follows:

Outturn prices (incl. VAT)
	£ millions
FY 1978–79	2·0
FY79–80	4·0
FY80–81	6·3
FY81–82 (forecast)	10·8

I regret that the figures for 1977–78 could not be extracted without disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the present level of expenditure on the fluidised bed combustion system.

Department of Energy expenditure in the financial year 1982–83 is estimated to be about £3·5 million, the greater part being on the experimental IEA pressurised fluidised bed facility at Grimethorpe.Private industry and the National Coal Board are also investing substantial sums in the research, development and industrial exploitation of fluidised bed technology.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the estimated cost of converting (a) a 600 megawatt and (b) a 1,200 megawatt power station from oil-burning to coal-burning.

The CEGB has no oil-fired power stations of these sizes. The conversion of oil-fired stations to coal-firing is not practicable at many sites, but where practicable the capital cost of any conversions would vary considerably, depending on a number of site-related factors in addition to size, including the design and configuration of plant and the nature of the conversion proposed. I am asking the acting chairman of the CEGB to write to the hon. Member with more detailed information.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will estimate the annual expenditure for building a commercial fast breeder reactor power station; and over what time span.

In the absence of a detailed project specification reliable estimates are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement about the meeting of the governing board of the International Energy Agency at ministerial level, which he chaired in Paris on 24 May.

The governing board of the International Energy Agency met at Ministerial level, in Paris on Monday 24 May, 1982 under my chairmanship. My hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Mr. Mellor), Under-Secretary of State, represented the United Kingdom. Copies of the communiqué are available in the Libraries of the House.IEA Ministers met against the background of a more relaxed oil market. They welcomed this, and the considerable progress that IEA countries continue to make in reducing oil dependency and in increasing energy efficiency. They recognised that energy pricing had played an important role in achieving progress to date and committed themselves to pay particular attention to economic energy pricing when developing national energy policies.Ministers recognised that longer term uncertainties about future energy supplies remain. They reaffirmed the need to reduce oil dependency and to increase the economic use of coal, gas and nuclear power and to maintain the effectiveness of their energy conservation programmes. They also agreed on the need to maintain contacts with oil producing countries and to improve better mutual understanding.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much the Ordnance Survey has spent on computer hardware and associated peripherals such as plotters and digitisers over the last 20 years.

The historic cost of all computer equipment at present held by the Ordnance Survey—including plotters, digitisers and so on and accommodation conversion—is approximately £2·7 million. Some other equipment purchased over the last 20 years has now been disposed of and some was supplied under allied service terms by other Departments. Information on the total cost of this other equipment is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will seek to extend the principles of the Gleneagles agreement so that Commonwealth countries (a) should not provide media coverage of, and (b) should discourage or prevent gambling on, sporting events in South Africa.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of the percentage contribution lead in petrol makes towards total body lead burdens.

Normally, about 20 per cent. of body lead for people living in United Kingdom towns comes from petrol, both directly by inhalation and indirectly by other pathways—for example, food and dust.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has studied any evidence from the United States of America concerning blood lead levels following the first four years of the phasing out of lead in petrol.

I refer the hon. Lady to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) on 24 May.—[Vol. 24, c. 252–53.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has studied recent research carried out in Italy of the contribution of lead in petrol to total body lead levels.

I believe that the hon. Member is referring to a research project based at the EC laboratory at Ispra. The full results of this project have not yet been published, but I will study them as a matter of urgency as soon as they are available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Paddington (Mr. Wheeler) on 18 May, Official Report, c. 72, when he expects the necessary works to have been completed to enable the reopening of the Serpentine lido in Hyde Park.

I have now received professional advice on the necessary works to enable the lido to be properly chlorinated and I am considering the options. I will let the right hon. Member know as soon as possible when the lido can be reopened.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authority post-war dwellings have been demolished in each of the last 10 years.

I will answer this question shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the study which he and the Zoological Society of London are undertaking into the future of the society.

Preliminary work to gather essential factual information about the Zoological Society's affairs is being undertaken by a study team consisting of Dr. Martin Holdgate, chief scientist at the Department of the Environment, Lord Chorley, a director of Coopers and Lybrand Associates Ltd. and Professor John Phillips, secretary of the Zoological Society of London. The work is being financed jointly by the Department and the Zoological Society of London. They will report to Ministers and to the society's council by the beginning of June. It will then be necessary to consider what further steps would be needed to put the society on a sound footing, and what form these would take.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of total public expenditure was spent on construction last year; and whether he will estimate what proportion will be spent this year.

I have been asked to reply.Expenditure on construction represented 8·5 per cent. of the public expenditure planning total in 1981–82 and 8·9 per cent. in 1982–83. These figures are derived from tables 1.1 and 1.15 of volume one of the latest public expenditure White Paper—Cmnd. 8494. The notes to table 1.15 provide details of the definitions used. In addition, there is current expenditure on repair and maintenance accounting for about another 3 to 4 per cent. of the planning total in each year.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table showing how many persons have been killed or injured each year since August 1969 as a result of action taken by the Army, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the Ulster Defence Regiment, the Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve, and the Ulster Defence Regiment Reserve.

The following table shows the number of deaths arising out of action by the security forces during incidents connected with the security situation in Northern Ireland:

Date	Security forces involved
	Army	UDR	RUC
1 August–31 December
1969	2	—	5
1970	5	—	—
1971	42	—	1
1972	62	1	3
1973	26	2	3
1974	13	—	—
1975	6	—	—
1976	12	—	2
1977	7	—	—
1978	10	—	—
1979	1	—	—
1980	4	—	2
1981	11	1	5
1 January–1 May
1982	2	1	—

Police records are not kept in such a way as to distinguish between cases involving the RUC and RUC Reserve or between cases involving a full-time and part-time UDR.Information regarding the number of persons injured as a result of security force action is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the flow of third level education students out of and into Northern Ireland each year since 1971.

The information requested is not readily available in the form requested. However, for the following academic years shown it is estimated that the flow of students out of and into Northern Ireland at undergraduate and postgraduate levels was as follows:

	1970–71	1975–76	1979–80	1980–81
New entrants from outside Northern Ireland to courses in Northern Ireland	470	288	263	329
Northern Ireland new entrants in receipt of student awards for courses outside Northern Ireland	1,506*	1,648	1,401	Not yet available
* Undergraduates only.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he proposes to present new legislation arising from the review groups report on the reform of the law on squatting.

I am considering whether new legislation will be required.