asked the hon. Member for Wokingham, as representing the Church Commissioners, what evidence the Church Commissioners have submitted to the House of Bishops' working party on the breakdown of clergy marriages.

Representatives of the commissioners have attended all the meetings of the working party and have offered information and advice as and when requested.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Council of Agriculture Ministers' meeting on 11 to 12 March; and if he will make a statement.

My hon. Friend the Minister of State and I represented the United Kingdom.There was a first exchange of views on the Commission's price proposals.I emphasised the need for realism, restraint and effective administration and indicated that I would support the Commission in continuing to put the common agriculture policy on a sounder and more realistic footing.I stressed the importance of consolidating the decisions taken by the Council last year, particularly in relation to milk quotas where the Council needs to ensure that those decisions are effectively implemented throughout the Community.I also stressed that the guarantee thresholds which have been agreed for cereals and rape seed and other products should be implemented fully and pointed to the need to exercise restraint on Mediterranean products where costs of disposal are mounting rapidly.While supporting the Commission's proposals on a price freeze for beef, I pointed out that it was certainly not the time to abolish the beef variable premium as its abolition would lead to extra costs to the Community budget.I made clear my opposition to any measures on sheepmeat that might discriminate against the United Kingdom, but indicated willingness to discuss constructively changes in certain aspects of the regime.I am glad to say that after a long period of negotiation and discussion decisions were reached on a package of measures under the guidance section of the agricultural fund.The new Community system of investment aids will be simpler to administer, focus on the smaller farmer and take account of the market situation. Member states will be able to operate national systems of aid for farmers not eligible for improvement plans, but at lower rates of grant.I am pleased that the support for less favoured areas, which is so important to our upland farmers, will remain essentially unchanged. In particular, there will be no limit per farm on the number of livestock qualifying for headage payments. In order to encourage diversification of farming businesses, increased levels of assistance will be available for investments for tourism and crafts purposes and we intend to make use of them. The regulations will also include a new provision for assisting the planting and improvement of farm woodlands. For young farmers, national Governments will be able to aid installation costs and also pay grant on improvement plans at 25 per cent. above the normal rate.I was particularly gratified that the Council was able to agree a text on the basis of which member states would be permitted to introduce schemes to encourage, in environmentally sensitive areas, farming methods and practices which were beneficial to conservation.This is an imaginative development which I have been urging on my colleagues for some time. At our request the Commission agreed to bring forward proposals before the end of this year for similar measures on a Community basis.Assistance for marketing and processing projects has been renewed for a further five-year period. The Council also agreed that the Commission should bring forward urgently proposals for continuing aid for feedmills in Northern Ireland.The Council agreed that all these measures could be accommodated with the total figure of 5·25 becu suggested by the ECOFIN Council. This represents a significant reduction on the Commission's original estimate of 8·3 becu, thus securing one of our major objectives in the negotiations. I made it clear that our agreement to this package was without prejudice to decisions that have yet to be taken on integrated Mediterranean programmes.Finally, we raised again the problem of low price imports of semi-processed soft fruit from the Eastern bloc. The Commission agreed to pursue the question with the countries concerned.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether Spain is in surplus or deficit production in milk, beef, sheepmeat and grain.

Information available for recent years indicates that Spain has been a net importer of some of the main dairy products but broadly self sufficient in others. Production of beef and, to a greater degree, grains has fallen short of domestic requirements. Production and consumption of sheepmeat as been broadly in balance.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether Portugal is in surplus or deficit in milk, beef, sheepmeat and grain.

Information available for recent years indicates that Portugal as been a net importer of the main milk products. There have been small net imports of beef but consumption and production of sheepmeat has been broadly in balance. There has been a substantial shortfall of grain production in relation to consumption.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases of cattle infested with warble fly were notified to his Department in each year since the beginning of the warble fly eradication campaign.

Surveys show that infestation in cattle has dropped from over 30 per cent. in 1978, at the start of the campaign, to 0·01 per cent. in 1984. In 1982, when warble fly became notifiable, owners of 623 herds where disease was suspected were served notices to treat their cattle; in 1983 the figure was 518 and in 1984, 500.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report his estimate of the contribution to agricultural production of each of the four categories of holding, by size of business, given in table 4 of the annual review White Paper, Cmnd. 9423.

Figures are available for England and Wales only, as set out below:

Percentage Contribution to Total Output (Size of business based on standard man-day (smd) values)
	per cent.
On holdings under 250 smd	8·0
On holdings 250—499 smd	13·0
On holdings 500—999 smd	24·5
On holdings 1,000 smd and over	54·6
All holdings	*100
* allowing for rounding.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has concerning multiple holdings in agriculture; and if he will publish in the Official Report any information available on (i) multiple holdings in medium and large farms, (ii) the number of corporate enterprises, (iii) the number of holdings owned by corporate enterprises and (iv) the proportion of output represented by corporate enterprises.

This information is not available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the percentage of the total area of crops and grass accounted for by holdings with 100 hectares or more of crops and grass in 1984, 1972, 1976 and 1960.

Information is not available for all the years quoted on holdings with 100 hectares or more of crops and grass for the United Kingdom. Figures are available, however, for holdings with 300 acres (about 120 hectares) or more of crops and grass in England and Wales. This is given in the table below, which shows the percentage of the total crops and grass accounted for by holdings of 300 acres or more of crops and grass.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the average sugar content of sugar beet in the United Kingdom in each of the years 1980 to 1984; and what was the corresponding European Economic Community figure.

The average sugar content of sugar beet in the United Kingdom for the years requested is as follows. The corresponding figures for the European Community are not available.

Year	Average Sugar Content per cent.
1980–81	16·96
1981–82	16·49
1982–83	16·29
1983–84	16·22
1984–85	16·40

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report figures for exports of surplus European Economic Community commodities to third countries in 1983 and to the latest possible date in 1984 on the same basis as in the answer of 20 December 1983, Official Report, columns 162–64.

The information requested is provided in the following tables:

Table (i) EC exports to non-member countries
000 tonnes
	1983	1984*
Common Wheat	11,880	2,961
Barley	3,749	1,056
Wheat flour	2,048	954
Butter	330	84
Skimmed milk powder	192	60
Sugar (white)	4,191	925
Wine	995	237
Source: Eurostat
* January—March latest figures for all Community countries.

Table (ii) United Kingdom exports to non-member countries
000 tonnes
	1983	1984	Of which Jan-March
Common wheat*	791	1,313	(563)
Barley	1,383	1,943	(426)
Butter	15	8	(2)
Skimmed milk powder	37	49	(9)
Sugar (white)	306	243	(55)
Source: United Kingdom Overseas Trade Statistics.
* Including wheat flour as wheat equivalent.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his reply of 19 December, Official Report, column 200, concerning support to hill farmers, and so on whether the figure of 70 per cent. includes the cost of deficiency payments on sheepmeat; and what is the percentage contribution of these payments in both cases.

Variable premium payments are generally consolidated within the price received by farmers for fat lambs sold on a deadweight basis but for lambs sold on a liveweight basis through auctions variable premiums are paid direct to the farmers. For the farm management survey in England direct receipts of these premiums are conbined with all revenue from sales of fat lambs, including any consolidated premiums, to give a total revenue figure. It is therefore not possible to distinguish the proportion of net farm income accounted

	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	*1984
Gross EC expenditure (MECU)	15	27	31	41	85	139
Rate of aid range during the marketing year as percentage of the minimum producer price
(a) Animal feed	27–40	24–45	28–38	39–44	25–44	†44–48
(b) Human consumption‡				22	19–32	†19–28
Note:
Separate information for animal feed and human consumption aid expenditure is not available.
* Provisional.
† 1984–85 marketing year to date.
‡ This scheme was introduced in 1982.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the differences between the support price and the market price for sheepmeat in 1983–84, 1984–85 to date and in 1969.

The following table gives the information requested. However, the mechanisms of the fat sheep guarantee scheme which applied in 1969 differed from those of the Community sheepmeat regime which replaced it in 1980.

	1969–70	1983–84	1984–85
Fat Sheep Guarantee Scheme
Guaranteed price £/100kg	40·04
Community Sheepmeat Regime
Basic price £/100kg		257·40	264·81
Average guide price £/100kg		227·30	225·09
Market Price
Annual Average Market Price p/kg	38·94	147·90	*165·23

	Hectares
	1955	1965	1970	1979	1984
Vegetables grown in the open	177,600	142,100	198,400	193,600	139,600
Orchard fruit	102,800	78,400	63,200	46,300	37,100
Small fruit	16,600	15,000	13,000	13,800	12,900
Hardy nursery stock, bulbs and flowers	10,900	13,300	14,300	11,600	11,400
Area under glass or plastic covered structures	1,800	2,000	1,800	2,100	2,100

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing how much was spent by the EEC on providing support in 1984 for dried peas and beans together with particulars of the expenditure; how much was for human and how much for other consumption; what percentage of the ex-farm price was accounted for by the subsidy directly or indirectly; and if he will provide corresponding figures for the past five years.

The information available for peas and beans is as follows:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the allowances of all kinds paid for rearing hill sheep have exceeded the difference between the market price and the guaranteed price of sheepmeat derived from an average hill sheep.

I regret that the analysis requested is not possible because the guaranteed price for sheepmeat relates to the price of finished slaughter lambs of certifiable quality, whereas most hill sheep are sold as stores or for breeding or as cull ewes.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the distribution of horticultural land by broad sub-division of product in 1955, 1965, 1970, 1979 and at the latest available date.

The information is as follows:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what grants are payable for investment in agriculture; and how much grant-aided investment has taken place in each of the past five years.

A wide range of investments may be grant-aided under various schemes, not all of which apply throughout the United Kingdom. The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he plans to reduce land drainage grants below the present 15 per cent. level.

We have no such plans.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to meet the chairman of British Rail to discuss long term investment plans.

My right hon. Friend and I meet the chairman of British Rail regularly to discuss matters of mutual interest, including investment. We are next due to meet him on 2 April.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received in response to the consultative document, "Marine Pilotage"; and if he will make a statement.

Over 300 organisations and individuals have commented on the consultative document. The proposal to transfer pilotage responsibilities to the ports has been welcomed by almost all parties except the pilots. The latter have expressed concern about various matters, including naturally the terms of compensation for pilots who would be made surplus and the basis on which those who would remain would be employed.I shall consider very carefully all the comments which have been made before deciding how to carry matters forward and what proposals to bring before Parliament.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement regarding the likely future administrative arrangements for those airports currently operated by the metropolitan county councils.

The Local Government Bill provides that metropolitan county council interests in airports will pass to the constituent districts or, failing agreement between the districts, to the appropriate passenger transport authority. The administrative arrangements for these airports will then be a matter for their owners, including those districts or counties already having an interest in these airports. The Government are also considering whether legislation should be brought forward to require that the larger local authority airports should be run through plcs.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has recently received from pensioners and pensioner organisations regarding the privatisation of buses.

Since the publication of the Transport Bill we have received a number of representations from pensioners and their organisations, many of them worried by the mistaken belief that the bus legislation takes away concessionary fares for the elderly. We have explained that this is untrue. Similarly I explained this to a delegation of pensioners I met in Birmingham.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to speed up progress on road schemes along the A303.

[pursuant to the reply, 22 February 1985, c. 630]: There are in all eight schemes in the White Paper "Policy for Roads in England: 1983" main trunk road programme and reserve list. On one of these schemes, Andover to Thruxton, construction work began in April last year. The other seven schemes are progressing on target for work to start in the periods indicated in the White Paper. It is not practicable to advance these start dates which take into account the time required to carry out the statutory and other procedures.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the latest figures for the number of employees in employment and the number of self-employed, respectively; on what basis these figures are calculated; and what were the comparable figures five years ago.

In September 1984, the latest date for which figures are available, it was estimated that there were 20,780,000 employeees in employment and 2,465,000 self-employed persons. The corresponding figures for September 1979 were 22,728,000 and 1,869,000, respectively.These estimates are based on data from the census of employment, sample surveys of employers, the census of population, and the labour force survey. The use of these data sources was described in an article on page 319 of the July 1984 edition of

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of (a) male manual workers and (b) male non-manual workers is unionised.

The available information on trade union membership does not distinguish between manual and non-manual workers. (See analyses in the January 1985 issue of Employment Gazette, pages 28–30).

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how the growth rate of population in Britain of working age compares with that of other Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

The information requested is given for major Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries in the following table, for the population aged 15–64 over the most recent available common period.

Population aged 15–64 average annual rate of growth (per cent.), 1979–80
	Percentage
Great Britain	0·6
Canada	1·6
France	1·1
Germany (FR)	1·4
Italy	0·8
Japan	0·8
USA	1·2
Total EC	0·9
Total OECD	1·2

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what arrangements are in hand to ensure that his Department complies with the monitoring and positive action recommendations of the draft code of the Equal Opportunities Commission following the publication on 9 February 1984, the programme of action on women in the Civil Service.

A Departmental joint management and trade union review group was set up in 1983 specifically to review policy on matters concerning the employment of women in the Department of Employment group, and will shortly be considering proposals to extend monitoring. New guidance has been issued to help managers avoid discrimination in recruitment and promotion, to encourage more opportunities for part-time work and to provide preferential reinstatement terms for staff who resign for domestic reasons. All staff are encouraged to attend developmental courses and to make the maximum use of the training opportunities available: use is being made of the Civil Service college course in middle management for women.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what number and percentage of people currently on the community programme have refused training.

No information on this is collected.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how the cost per person per week of the community programme compares with the cost of the community enterprise programme at constant prices.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to her on 7 March 1985 at columns 589–90.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on discussions between Ministers in his Department and the chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission concerning changes in the eligibility criteria for the community programme.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Mr. Wareing) on 18 December 1984 at column 106. I subsequently wrote to Baroness Platt on 15 January.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment which are the 10 largest employers in the county of Humberside; and how many persons are employed by these employers on the youth training programme, community programme and young workers' scheme, respectively.

The Department's employment statistics are collected under the Statistics of Trade Act (1947) which specifically prohibits disclosure of any details of individual firms.Available information which relates to the largest 10 employers in the county of Humberside at the time of the 1981 census is set out below:

	Number
Numbers in training on the Youth Training Scheme at 11.3.85	458
Numbers supported under the Community Programme at 31.1.85	720
Number currently supported under the Young Workers Scheme at 11.3.85	0

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people are employed on the youth training scheme and young workers' scheme by Humberside county council.

32 young people (some of whom may have employee status) are currently in training on a mode A youth training scheme with Humberside county council. In addition, the Council has 1,319 young people in training on college-based mode B2 provision and 75 youngsters in training on a mode B1 training workshop.Local authorities are not eligible for support under the young workers scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many long-term unemployed people are employed on the community programme by Humberside county council.

On 31 January 1985, the latest date for which figures are available, 132 long term unemployed people were employed by Humberside county council on community programme projects.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment when he expects to issue regulations giving public sector tenants the right to information about, their heating charges as provided for in section 29 of the Housing and Building Control Act 1984.

Within the next 12 months.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to sanction the use of commissioners in the administration of the city of Liverpool's affairs.

I have no powers to appoint commissioners.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) why he overruled the recommendation of his inspector following a public inquiry into the Clayton square and Cases street development in Liverpool.(2) what criteria he used in arriving at his Cases street and Clayton square development decision in Liverpool.

I would refer the hon. Member to my decision letter.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is satisfied that the issues involved in the Cases street and Clayton square development were fully examined in the public inquiry.

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the sums of money already spent by George Wimpy and Co. on the proposed development of Cases street and Clayton square in Liverpool, were taken into account in his decision to allow the development to proceed; and if he will make a statement.

The sums of money in question were not a material consideration in my decision.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many public inquiries have been held since May 1979; how many have taken place since he became Secretary of State; how many recommendations of inspectors have been upheld by him or his predecessors; and how many he has rejected.

Figures for inquiries on appeals made under section 36 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 are given in the following table. Details of other inquiries held by my predecessors and myself are not readily available.

	(a)	(b)	(c)
	All section 36 inquiries decided	Secretary of State section 36 inquiries decided	Section 36 inquiries where inspector's report not upheld
1979	*2,599	861	17
1980	2,786	845	15
1981	2,913	919	34
1982	2,723	596	20
1983	†2,257	370	13
1984	1,551	253	16
* 1,578 of these inquiries were held in May-December 1979.
† 1,184 of these inquiries were held in June-December 1983.

Analyses within years are not readily available for figures in columns

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when and in what circumstances inner city partnership funds ceased to be paid to Sabarr collective, Brixton; and what lessons have been learned from the project.

Payment of urban programme grant to the Sabarr collective was suspended by Lambeth council from January 1984 because of accounting difficulties which I understand have still to be resolved.The course of this project demonstrates the need for effective financial management of individual urban programme projects.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he proposes announcing further designations under the Rates Act 1984 in respect of 1986–87.

I have yet to consider designations for 1986–87.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he now expects to bring forward proposals for reforming the Rent Acts.

My right hon. Friend is examining the legislation relating to the private rented sector. This is a complex subject which requires careful consideration. The review will be completed as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he last discussed with the London Boroughs Association the number of empty council properties in the Greater London council area.

The London Boroughs Association was represented at the meeting of the Housing consultative Council on 30 November 1984 at which my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Construction discussed the Department's report of its meetings with 30 local authorities, 13 of them in London, about their empty dwellings. The Department is now consulting the association about our draft circular on local authority empty dwellings.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of the number of children living above the second floor in high rise blocks.

Between 130,000 and 170,000 children are estimated to have been living above the second floor in England in 1982. Separate figures for high rise blocks are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will meet directors of the Greater London Enterprise Board to discuss the levels of investment it will be able to make in job creation and job preservation projects within the grant limits totalling £4·9 million which he recently approved.

My right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government met representatives of the Greater London council and the Greater London Enterprise Board last month to discuss the council's proposals for providing funding for the board under section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972. It is understood that the sum of £4·896 million approved by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the purposes of section 7 of the Local Government (Interim Provisions) Act 1984 following that meeting will enable the board to discharge contractual liabilities arising throughout 1985–86, to meet its staffing and overheads costs in the first quarter of the year, and otherwise provide finance for a measure of continuity for such other investment activities as the board wishes to undertake.In considering any applications for consent to further expenditure under section 137 by the GLC for funding of the Greater London Enterprise Board in 1985–86 my right hon. Friend will wish to take into account, inter alia, the extent to which the liabilities of the GLC will survive abolition of the council and also whether adequate arrangements exist for ensuring, after abolition of the GLC, that the board will be accountable to ratepayers for the application of funds provided by the council.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the provision of facilities for children's play out of school.

Out of school facilities are essentially a matter for local decision and provision by local authorities and the voluntary sector. The Government provide grant support, both through the urban programme and to the National Out of School Alliance (which in 1984–85 received £47,000 towards its development of community schemes). Additionally, we are funding Play Board the voluntary agency recently established to promote opportunities for children's play.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the maximum, minimum, average and weighted mean levels per acre of compensation paid by the Nature Conservancy Council under management agreements in sites of special scientific interest, signed in the last three years for which figures are available, for both upland and lowland sites.

The information is not readily available in the form requested. However, since the enactment of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, 130 management agreements have been entered into by the Nature Conservancy Council. Payments under these range from agreements concluded at negligible cost to £219 per acre at the upper end. The average payment is around £12 per acre.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many purchasers of former council houses under the right-to-buy legislation have applied to sell their home back to the local authority; and on how many others the local authority is taking action to repossess.

In 1983–84 local authorities repossessed about 840 properties mortgaged to them. This figure represented 0·13 per cent. of outstanding loans on former council and private dwellings. Local authorities do not need my right hon. Friend's consent to repurchase dwellings mortgaged to them if the borrower is in default, and the number of such purchases is not known.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the progress of his consultations with the relevant parties following the publication of the interdepartmental working group's report in football spectator violence.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Atkinson), on 21 January 1985, at column 263. I have not yet received the written responses of all the 17 organisations consulted. When these have been submitted and properly considered, the Government will make a further statement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many planning applications have been submitted to him on appeal, or called in by him for determination, in each designated green belt area, respectively, in the last year for which figures are available; and how many were upheld;(2) how many planning applications have been submitted to him on appeal, or called in by him for determination, relating to land in the designated green belts in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984, respectively; and how many were upheld.

The information is not yet available in the form requested. The number of planning appeals in designated green belts recorded as having been decided by inspectors since 1981 is as follows:

	Appeals Decided	Number Upheld (per cent.)
1981	857	206 (24)
1982	722	127 (18)
1983	472	113 (24)
1984	588	126 (21)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many buildings were newly listed in the latest 12-month period for which figures are available;(2) how many listed buildings were demolished in the latest 12-month period for which figures are available;(3) what is the total number of listed buildings currently in each grade, respectively.

The numbers of listed buildings and their grading at 31 December 1983 and at 31 December 1984 (the latest date for which figures are available) are as follows:

Grade	31 December 1983	31 December 1984
I	5,517	5,625
II	303,340	332,454
TOTAL	308,857	338,079

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the approximate area of each designated and confirmed green belt area in England.

The latest available information was supplied to the Select Committee on the Environment for its report on "Green Belt and Land for Housing". The broad areas of green belt approved in structure plans are as follows:

	Acres (approximate)
Metropolitan Green Belt	1,200,000
Burton-Swadlincote Green Belt	2,000
West Midlands Green Belt	650,000

Local authority capital expenditure against DOE/LA1: England
£m
	Gross capital expenditure*	Capital Receipts	Net capital expenditure	Net captital provision	Capital allocations
1981–82
Education	423	38	385	364	355
Personal social services	96	28	68	92	89
Housing	1,901	965	936	1,396	1,796
Transport	614	57	557	631	615
Other services†	894	312	582	656	639
Total DOE/LA1	3,927	1,400	2,527	3,139	3,494
1982–83
Education	428	48	380	309	338
Personal social services	95	31	64	102	103
Housing	2,388	1,738	650	1,489	2,179
Transport	662	54	608	720	685
Other services†	1,177	364	813	765	967
Total DOE/LA1	4,750	2,235	2,515	3,385	4,272
1983–84
Education	445	47	398	285	295
Personal social services	101	35	66	108	109
Housing	3,087	1,727	1,360	1,192	2,223
Transport	753	42	711	766	742
Other services	1,161	393	768	585	706
Total DOE/LA1	5,547	2,244	3,303	2,935	4,075

	1984–85‡		1985–86‡≑
	Net capital provision	Capital allocations	Net capital provision	Capital allocations
Education	275	301	256	315
Personal social services	108	116	71	70

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will specify for local authorities in England the totals for each service block and for non-prescribed expenditure for each year since 1981–82 as follows: (a) gross capital spending, (b) total capital receipts, (c) net capital spending, (d) the cash limit and (e) the sum of allocations to individual authorities, differentiating where necessary between the Greater London council and other local authorities.

The following table gives the information requested for capital expenditure against the DOE/LA1 cash limit.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of local authority rent arrears; and whether he will make a statement.

Figures collected by my Department indicate that on 31 March 1984 gross rent arrears due to local authorities in England and Wales totalled £188 million, of which £47 million were arrears of former tenants. The total represented 5·4 per cent. of the rent collectable and compares with arrears of £176 million or 5 per cent. of the rent collectable a year earlier.Although the increase was less than in previous years, rent arrears remain far too high, particularly in London and in metropolitan areas.Tenants who fail to pay their rent promptly place a heavy and unnecessary burden on other members of the community.My Department and the Audit Commission have issued comprehensive advice on good management practice to reduce rent arrears. Landlords should study and take heed of that advice.

asked the Attorney-General whether, in view of the rate of acquittal for less serious offences which were alleged to have taken place in the course of the mining dispute, he will ask the Director of Public Prosecutions to consult and advise chief constables as regards the handling of the less serious offences still to be determined.

It is not the practice of the Director of Public Prosecutions to give to chief constables policy advice of the nature suggested.

asked the Attorney-General if he is now in a position to state whether it is proposed to prosecute. Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Lewin, for offences under the Official Secrets Act.

I have received a report from the Director of Public Prosecutions in the light of investigations made by the Metropolitan police. No evidence has been forthcoming that Lord Lewin has committed any offence and I therefore propose to take no further action in this matter.

asked the Attorney-General how many people charged with offences on the evidence of converted terrorists have had the charges withdrawn as a result of the evidence being withdrawn.

[pursuant to his reply, 5 March 1985, c. 442]: The information is as follows: 143 since 1980.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last met British Aerospace representatives to discuss the future of the company.

[pursuant to his reply, 27 February 1985, c. 322]: I most recently met the chairman of BAe last week and I am now in a position to make a statement about progress on the proposed sale of the Government shareholding in the company.I announced on 15 January that, subject to the approval, as necessary, of the company's shareholders, it is intended that the offer for sale should take the form of a simultaneous offering of the Government's existing shares and new shares issued by the company. Subject to satisfactory market conditions and the completion of all necessary arrangements, it is intended that the offer will take place early in May. It is intended that application moneys in respect of the shares to be offered should be payable in two instalments.Existing shareholders, subject to any legal restrictions overseas, will have preferential entitlements to acquire, pro rata to their existing shareholdings, the new shares to be issued by the company. The Government do not intend to take up their preferential entitlement to the new shares. The new shares to which the Government would have been entitled, together with any others which are not taken up by shareholders and the Government's existing shares, will be made available under the public offer and marketed to financial institutions, employees, existing shareholders and the wider public. In the event of an over-subscription, up to 5 million of the shares being sold by the Government will be reserved for preferential allocation to employees.Selling commissions will be payable to stockbrokers, licensed dealers, members of the National Association of Securities Dealers and Investment Managers and exempted dealers at the rate of 1¼ per cent. on allotments of shares to a fully-paid value of £10,000 or less in respect of applications submitted by them on behalf of others; and on larger allotments at the rate of ½ per cent. subject to a minimum of £125. Reallowance of part of these commissions will be permitted to certain specified financial intermediaries.The expenses of the offer will in general be shared between the company and the Government in the same ratio as the proceeds of issue of new shares by the company bear to the proceeds of the sale of the Government's shareholding. However, certain expenses relating to advice which is relevant specifically to only one of the two parties will be borne separately by the party concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will list the annual levels of exports and imports of (a) scrap metal as a raw material and (b) castings, for each of the last five years for which records are available.

The information distinguishable in the United Kingdom Overseas Trade Statistics is as follows:

	Value £ millions
	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984
(a) Scrap and waste metal
UK exports (fob)	*	250	268	355	496
UK imports (cif)	*	265	202	265	262
(b) Castings (of iron and steel)
UK exports (fob)	42	35	26	22	25
UK imports (cif)	8	8	8	9	12

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has made to the Government of the United States of America concerning attempts to restrain legal exports of goods from the United Kingdom.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and my right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade have emphasised their continuing rejection of the extraterritorial application of US export controls in a number of contacts with senior members of the US Administration in the last year. The Minister of State for Industry and Information Technology reiterated the Government's views during his visit to Washington in January.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what arrangements are in hand to ensure that his Department complies with the monitoring and positive action recommendations of the draft code of the Equal Opportunities Commission following the publication on 9 February 1984 of the "Programme of Action on Women in the Civil Service".

Existing joint management and trade union machinery is being used to review such matters as promotion, selection for training and the incidence of part-time working. Women are being encouraged to attend courses (particularly development courses) and to make the maximum use of the training opportunities available. Use is being made of the Civil Service college course in middle management for women only and arrangements are well in hand to run a management course this year in the Department for women only.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what licensing arrangements exist for the construction of Rolls-Royce aircraft engines in South Africa.

The Italian firm Piaggio has a licence to manufacture the Rolls-Royce Viper engine. Under the terms of this licence, sub-licences may be granted to third parties. Piaggio granted sub-licences for the manufacture of Viper 11 and Viper 540 engines in South Africa in 1964 and 1971 respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received from organisations representing disabled people about the impact on the disabled of a levy on blank cassette tapes; what response he is making; and if he will make a statement.

The Green Paper "The Recording and Rental of Audio and Video Copyright Material" (Cmnd. 9445) published on 19 February took account of previous representations on the effect of a tape levy from organisations representing disabled people. Thus, while the paper contains proposals to introduce a levy on blank recording tape as a way of remunerating copyright owners for the use made of their works by those who tape them at home, it envisages rebates or exemptions for blind and other seriously handicapped people who use audio tape on a large scale without infringing copyright. A number of organisations representing disabled people have already commented on the Green Paper proposals and more are expected to do so before the end of the consultation period. We shall decide whether to introduce a levy only after full consideration of all the comments received.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he is satisfied with the operation of the overseas projects fund.

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the British Overseas Trade Board budget is planned to be allocated to (a) overseas trade fairs, (b) the market entry guarantee scheme and (c) the overseas project fund in 1985–86, 1986–87 and 1987–88.

The information requested is as follows:

Percentage of BOTB Net Expenditure
	1985–86 (Note 1)	1986–87 (Note 1)
Overseas Trade Fairs	45	41
Market Entry Guarantee Scheme	8	8
Overseas Projects Fund	16	18

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the proportion of small companies among first time exhibitors at British Overseas Trade Board supported trade fairs in each year since 1979.

Annual details of the size of companies which have used the British Overseas Trade Board's schemes of support at overseas trade fairs are not known. But an independent consultant's survey in 1983 established that overall about 60 per cent. of the exhibitors who have used these schemes have fewer than 100 employees. An internal study in 1984 showed that about 70 per cent. have 200 employees or less.Statistics about the number of occasions on which particular companies have exhibited at each particular trade fair where there is a BOTB group have been kept only since 1981. The pattern of first time exhibitors has been:

	Number
1981	3,350
1982	3,737
1983	3,335
1984	3,193

There is no reason to suppose that the pattern was different before 1981 or that the proportion of small companies among the newcomers is less than the overall proportion of small companies in BOTB assisted groups of exhibitors.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what arrangements are in hand to ensure that his Department complies with the monitoring and positive action recommendations of the draft code of the Equal

	Year	Up to 1st Level*	Year	2nd Level†
Belgium	1981	19·4	—	not available
Denmark	—	not available	—	not available
France	1981	22·0	1981	17·5(‡)
Germany, Federal Republic of (FTEs) (¶)	1982	19·8(≑)	1982	17·2
Greece	1980	23·9	1980	18·7
Ireland	1981	28·4	1979	15·0(¶)
Italy	1981	15·9	1981	10·1

Existing joint management and trade union machinery is being used at departmental and national level to review such matters as promotion, selection for training and the incidence of part-time working. Women are being encouraged to attend courses (particularly developmental courses) and to make the maximum use of the training opportunities available. Use is being made of the Civil Service college course in the middle management for women only, and consideration is being given to whether a joint training course for women can be introduced into our departmental training programme, in co-operation with other small, local departments.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the level of prescribed capital expenditure for the city of Manchester for education for 1983–84, 1984–85, and 1985–86 at constant prices; and if he will make a statement.

The prescribed capital expenditure allocations for education announced for the city of Manchester for the years in question at 1983–84 constant prices are as follows:

	£
1983–84	4,349,000
1984–85	6,679,700
1985–86	6,805,900

1983–84 constant prices have been obtained by adjusting cash figures by the latest forecast for GDP deflator at market prices.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has as to pupil-teacher ratios at primary and secondary level in each of the European Economic Community nations.

The available information is shown in the following table, but it is not possible to provide data on a strictly comparable basis for each country. In particular, figures for the United Kingdom and Germany are based on full-time equivalent pupils divided by full-time equivalent teachers, while for other countries the figures are simply total pupils divided by total teachers. Moreover the definition of "teacher" can vary between countries and may include staff not engaged in teaching. Reference is made to further differences in the footnotes to the table.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if, in the light of his rejection of the draft articles of government for county high schools and sixth form colleges as submitted by the city of Manchester on 7 September 1982, he plans to invite the city to submit revised proposals; and if he will make a statement;(2) what is his reason for not approving the draft articles of government for county high schools and sixth form colleges as submitted by the city of Manchester on 7 September 1981; and if he will make a statement.

In September 1982 the authority asked the Department informally whether proposed revisions to articles of government were such as would receive the necessary approval. The proposals could be seen as giving the authority power to override the responsibilities allocated in the articles, contrary to my right hon. Friend's policy for clarity in such matters. The Department's view that the amendments would thus be unacceptable have been the subject of various exchanges with the authority, with which the matter currently rests: it needs no invitation to make a fresh approach.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he is able to announce his decisions on local authority higher education provision in 1985–86 and on the distribution of the advanced further education pool for 1985–86; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 18 December 1984, c. 141–43]: I have today written to the chairman of the committee of the National Advisory Body (NAB) accepting the NAB's advice on the distribution of the sum of £2·5 million which was set aside from the advanced futher education quantum of £620 million for 1985–86 for the selective support of research in a number of major institutions as I announced in the House on 18 December.The NAB's advice is based on very careful consideration of requests from institutions for funding totalling £14 million. NAB recommends that financial allocations between £75,000 and £150,000 be made to 21 institutions (including 20 polytechnics), the funds to support scientific and technological work, as follows:

	£'000s
Central London Polytechnic	150
Coventry Polytechnic	150
Hatfield Polytechnic 678	150

asked the Solicitor-General for Scotland if he will make a statement on the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission report on Family Law, Custody of Children — Jurisdiction and Enforcement within the United Kingdom, Cmnd. 9419.

The two Law Commissions have been working on this matter since 1972. Their report draws attention to the complexity of the present rules of custody jurisdiction within the three separate legal systems involved and was published only two months ago. The commissions' recommendations are likely to be generally acceptable and the Government are considering when it may be possible to introduce legislation on the lines of the recommendations. There is no prospect of introducing such legislation during the current parliamentary Session.

asked the Solicitor-General for Scotland how many prosecutions took place for the illegal sale of venison in 1984 or the latest convenient year.

A person who sells venison illegally commits an offence under the Sale of Venison (Scotland) Act 1968 or section 25D of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1959. No separate statistics are kept and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Solicitor-General for Scotland if he will make a statement explaining why the procurator fiscal's office did not take proceedings in a case brought to his attention by the Architects Registration Council of the United Kingdom concerning an alleged contravention of section 1 of the Architects Registration Act 1938 in respect of an incident on 7 September 1983.

An alleged breach of sections 1 and 3 of the Architects Registration Act 1938 was reported to the procurator fiscal at Edinburgh on 7 November 1983. The procurator fiscal instructed the police to make inquiries and to report the results of their investigation to him. Investigation was made by them and when the police report was received by the procurator fiscal it was considered and marked "no proceedings".

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he proposes to make any changes to the Welsh water authority's external financing limit and his other cash limits for 1984–85.

The Welsh water authority estimates that it will exceed the 1984–85 external financing limit of £19·6 million by about £3 million. This has arisen because of the additional costs incurred in last year's drought and severance payments following the major reorganisation undertaken by the authority in the autumn of 1984 and despite the authority achieving considerable offsetting savings in revenue and capital expenditure. In these exceptional circumstances I have increased the water authority's external financing limit for 1984–85 by £3 million from £19·6 million to £22·6 million. Offsetting savings have been found from the cash limit on Class XVI, 1, which has been reduced by £3 million from £741,490,000 to £738,490,000.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sittings there have been in each year since 1971 of misuse of drugs tribunals; and how many doctors have been prohibited from prescribing controlled drugs as a result of tribunal hearings.

The information requested is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed within his Department's drugs inspectorate; and with what qualifications.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to a question from the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs. Short) on 22 February at column 622.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the River Way holding and training centre, Greenwich, London, is licensed for animal experimentation.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the training that is given at the River Way holding and training centre, Greenwich, London; who uses the centre; and for what purpose;(2) what is the number of animals being kept at the River Way holding and training centre, Greenwich, London; and for what purpose they are used;(3) what type of animal accommodation is provided at the River Way holding and training centre, Greenwich; when the centre was last visited and by whom; and if there was a report published.

We have no information about this establishment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are in hand to ensure that his Department complies with the monitoring and positive action recommendations of the draft code of the Equal Opportunities Commission following the publication on 9 February 1984 of the Programme of Action on Women in the Civil Service.

Existing joint management and trade union machinery is being used at departmental and national level to review such matters as promotion, selection for training and the incidence of part-time working. Women are being encouraged to attend courses —particularly developmental courses—and to make the maximum use of the training opportunities available, and use is also being made of the Civil Service college course in middle management for women.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will designate service with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as a form of service under the British Citizenship (Designated Service) Order 1982; and if he will make a statement.

We have no plans to do so.