asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will seek to obtain a copy of the transcript of the Australian Royal Commission hearings (a) in London and (b) in Australia, with a view to placing it in the Library.

I will arrange for a copy of the Royal Commission's report to be placed in the Library when it is published. However, the full transcript of proceedings already runs to over 7,000 pages, and further evidence in Australia has still to be taken; I would not feel justified in placing so large a volume of material in the Library. In the meantime, copies of the very considerable number of United Kingdom documents and records relating to the nuclear trials programme in Australia which were given to the Royal Commission are now available in the Public Record Office.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what procedures are currently adopted by his Department for dealing with complaints from civilian peace or anti-missile demonstrators in the vicinity of Royal Air Force bases alleging ill-treatment while being arrested by American service personnel.

United States service personnel are not responsible for dealing with the activities of demonstrators outside the perimeters of MOD establishments, which is a matter for the civil police. United States personnel do not arrest intruders found within the perimeters of Defence establishments, but hand them over to a constable or other authorised British person who will then, if necessary, make an arrest. Any complaints about the actions of United States personnel in such instances are investigated by the United Kingdom and United States authorities and, where appropriate, legal or disciplinary action is taken in accordance with the agreement regarding the status of forces of parties to the North Atlantic treaty as implemented by the Visiting Forces Act 1952.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will announce the appointment of the Head of Defence Sales.

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. C. M. Chandler as the next Head of Defence Sales in succession to Sir James Blyth. Mr. Chandler will be seconded to the Ministry of Defence by his current employer, British Aerospace, for up to three years.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what research has been undertaken by his Department concerning the culpability of motorists in car-bicycle accidents; and if he will make a statement.

The responsibility of any party involved in an accident is in many cases difficult to determine conclusively, for many factors may be involved, including, for example, weather and road conditions. The Department is, however, currently investigating through various studies the major contributory factors to cycling accidents with a view to identifying ways in which such accidents may be prevented.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how much each local authority spent on cycle facilites in 1984–85, showing capital and revenue spending separately.

This information is not available centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the effect of recent changes in the transport supplementary grant on the provision of facilities for cyclists.

I am not aware of any change in local authority commitment to cycling provision.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how much grant was bid by each local authority in the 1985–86 transport policies and programmes process.

I refer the hon. Member to my answer to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Mr. Mudd) on 14 November 1984, at columns 267–73.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many of his officials and officers of the Metropolitan police are engaged in the two-week vehicle excise licence campaign in the London boroughs of Bromley and Camden; what is the inclusive cost of deploying these officials; and if he will make it his policy within six months to report to the House the conclusions of the exercise to show (a) how many motorists pay a mitigated penalty, (b) how many motorists are prosecuted in the magistrates' courts and with what result, (c) in both instances, how much money is recovered and how much remains uncollected, and (d) the total inclusive costs to all official sources for expenditure incurred in the exercise.

Twenty-four members of staff from the London enforcement office are engaged either wholly or partly on the campaigns which my Department is currently carrying out in conjunction with the London boroughs of Bromley and Camden, at a staff cost of approximately £4,640. The campaigns are of one week duration. The Metropolice police are not involved I will write to my hon. Friend when the outcome of these campaigns is known.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will make a statement on the conclusions in the Federal German Government's study, "The Bicycle and the Environment", a copy of which has been set to him; and if he will authorise a similar study for the United Kingdom.

I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the report issued two years ago on the reduction of ecological pressure by promoting the use of bicycles. There are no plans to commission a similar study here.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what resources his Department is providing for the working party of borough officers established by the London Boroughs Association which is assessing the effect of abolition of the Greater London council on highways and traffic matters in London.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on Wednesday 17 April at column 178.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what assessments his Department provided to the recent public inquiry into the proposed development of Stansted airport as to (i) the impact on the public sector borrowing requirement of the capital cost of the proposed development of the airport itself (ii) the impact on the public sector borrowing requirement and the cost to public funds of the associated infrastructure costs including housing, sewerage and roads.

No evidence was given by my Department on the implications of the proposed developments for the public sector borrowing requirement. The evidence on costs is summarised in chapter 51 of the inspector's report.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport when he now expects to announce a decision on the application by Singapore Airlines to operate a scheduled service from Manchester.

The services for which SIA has applied do not fall within the terms of the existing air services arrangements. Consultations are therefore required between aviation authorities, and these are to take place at the beginning of May.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy, in the event of the abolition of the Greater London council, to allocate to the London boroughs the resources in transport supplementary grant to implement those bicycle schemes planned by the Greater London council.

It will be open to London boroughs, in the same way as the GLC, to support worthwhile schemes, and they will be eligible to seek transport supplementary grant in the same way as all other authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what was the figure for actual expenditure on trunk roads in England in 1984–85; and how this compares with the net provision.

Latest outturn figures for the year show that gross spending on trunk roads was provisionally £820.5 million and, once an estimated £14.3 million of receipts are accounted for, we can expect the net total to be around £806.2 million. This is under £2 million—or less than 0.25 per cent.—short of the cash limit. Firm figures for the year are expected to be available in June but are unlikely to differ significantly from those given above. This is a very good result.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will place in the Library particulars of the prize-winning projects in the annual "Studying our Past" schools history competition.

Yes; I am arranging for this to be done as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many strip searches were made of female prisoners in Her Majesty's prison, Armagh, in March; if he will give the number of persons involved and the number of times each person was searched; whether any prison contraband, smuggled item or illegal correspondence was discovered in any search, indicating which items; in how many cases prisoners refused to be searched and had to be restrained while the search was being concluded; and if he will indicate the reasons for the search, namely, making an appearance at Armagh court house on remand, attending trial, inter-prison visit or other reasons, respectively.

During March 1985 a total of 59 strip searches were carried out on 35 prisoners, A life-sentence prisoner taking part in a pre-release programme was searched on 10 occasions; 15 prisoners were searched twice, and 19 were searched once. No prohibited articles were found during these searches and no prisoner refused to be searched. The searches were carried out in the following circumstances:

	Number
Attending Armagh remand court	—
Attending trial	1
Inter-prison visits	11
Pre-release programme	8
Home leave scheme	11
First committal on remand/to await sentence	9
First admission on sentence/final discharge	24
Bail court appearance	6
Total	59

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the three items of smuggled contraband so far found on women prisoners subject to strip searches in Her Majesty's prison, Armagh, were found on remand prisoners returning from appearing before the court in Armagh.

Two of the items were found during the routine reception search of two prisoners who were remanded in custody to the prison for the first time; and the third was found during a random search of a remand prisoner prior to her appearance at Armagh court house.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will publish in the Official Report all advice notes which he or his officials received expressing concern about the methods adopted by Professor Lenihan in his recent investigation into morbidity in the Denny-Bonnybridge area.

Three letters have been received commenting on the methods adopted by the Lenihan review group, and copies of these have been placed in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, using information from local authorities' housing checklists and housing plans, he will give the number of local authority dwellings in each district at 31 March 1984 which were (a) built pre-1940 of non-traditional construction and require comprehensive modernisation and (b) built immediately post-war and up to 1955 of nontraditional construction and require comprehensive modernisation.

The information requested is set out in the table, which shows the figures submitted by local authorities in their housing plan checklists for 1984.

Estimated Numbers of Local Authority Dwellings at 31 March 1984
	Built pre-1940 ofnon-traditional construction requiring comprehesive modernisation	Built immediately post-war (up to 1955) of non-raditional construction requiring comprehensive modernisation
SCOTLAND	744	31,629
Borders
Berwick	0	0
Ettrick and Lauderdale	0	0
Roxburgh	0	20
Tweeddale	0	0
Central
Clackmannan	2	282
Falkirk	116	1,884
Stirling	0	115
Dumfries and Galloway
Annandale and Eskdale	0	0
Nithsdale	12	525
Stewartry	0	40
Wigtown	0	305
Fife
Dunfermline	0	931
	Built pre-1940 of non-traditional construction requiring comprehesive modernisation	Built immediately post-war (up to 1955) of non-requiring traditional construction requiring comprehensive modernisation
Kirkcaldy	0	1,598
North East Fife	0	0
Grampian
Aberdeen	134	1,911
Banff and Buchan	0	60
Gordon	3	0
Kincardine and Deeside	0	0
Moray	1	105
Highland
Badenoch and Strathspey	0	0
Caithness	0	205
Inverness	—	—
Lochaber	0	75
Nairn	0	14
Ross and Cromarty	0	14
Skye and Lochalsh	0	0
Sutherland	0	65
Lothian
East Lothian	0	605
Edinburgh	0	3,600
Midlothian	100	402
West Lothian	0	83
Strathclyde
Argyll and Bute	0	174
Bearsden and Milngavie	—	—
Clydebank	0	1,300
Clydesdale	0	961
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	0	29
Cumnock and Doon Valley	0	1,720
Cunninghame	0	1,398
Dumbarton	0	2,267
East Kilbride	0	0
Eastwood	0	0
Glasgow	0	1,645
Hamilton	204	—
Inverclyde	0	72
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	0	1,054
Kyle and Carrick	0	10
Monklands	72	730
Motherwell	0	2,012
Renfrew	0	771
Strathkelvin	0	146
Tayside
Angus	0	0
Dundee	100	3,800
Perth and Kinross	0	276
Orkney Islands	0	20
Shetland Islands	0	147
Western Isles Islands	0	258

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, using information from local authorities' housing checklists and housing plans, he will produce a table showing the number of local authority dwellings in each district at 31 March 1984 which were built post-1955 of non-traditional construction and (a) require major repairs, (b) require partial modernisation and (c) require rewiring only.

The information requested is set out in the table, which shows the figures submitted by local authorities in their housing plan checklists for 1984.

Estimated numbers of local authority dwellings at 31 March 1984
	Built post 1955 of non-traditional construction requiring
	Major repairs	Partial modernisation	Rewiring only
Scotland	*49,997	17,485	14,834
Borders
Berwick	0	0	0
Ettrick & Lauderdale	0	4	0
Roxburgh	40	0	0
Tweeddale	28	0	0
Central
Clackmannan	0	0	0
Falkirk	1,170	3,000	500
Stirling	0	0	—
Dumfries & Galloway
Annandale & Eskdale	0	0	0
Nithsdale	0	0	0
Stewartry	0	0	0
Wigtown	0	0	0
Fife
Dunfermline	181	—	—
Kirkcaldy	—	110	0
North East Fife	0	0	0
Grampian
Aberdeen	1,329	700	500
Banff & Buchan	200	0	0
Gordon	0	0	0
Kincardine & Deeside	0	0	0
Moray	233	106	0
Highland
Badenoch & Strathspey	0	10	10
Caithness	0	170	0
Inverness	—	—	—
Lochaber	180	141	20
Nairn	58	0	0
Ross & Cromarty	539	0	0
Skye & Lochalsh	0	0	4
Sutherland	40	—	—
Lothian
East Lothian	0	0	0
Edinburgh	6,000	7,000	6,000
Midlothian	0	58	0

Estimated numbers of local authority dwellings at 31 March 1984
	Built pre-1940 of traditional construction requiring			Built post-1939 of traditional construction requiring
	Modernisation			Modernisation
	Comprehensive	Partial	Rewiring only	Comprehensive	Partial	Rewiring only
SCOTLAND	68,302	27,285	2,026	*127,740	64,949	101,380
Borders
Berwick	0	0	0	0	537	0
Ettrick & Lauderdale	0	0	0	933	0	0
Roxburgh	342	250	0	0	1,000	0
Tweeddale	68	0	0	50	0	0
Central
Clackmannan	0	0	0	1,372	0	—
Falkirk	1,500	2,500	900	5,500	5,500	3,000
Stirling	584	400	0	248	0	650

	Built post 1955 of non-traditional construction requiring
	Major repairs	Partial modernisation	Rewiring only
West Lothian	2,000	3,000	0
Strathclyde
Argyll & Bute	309	0	0
Bearsden & Milngavie	—	—	—
Clydebank	0	294	0
Clydesdale	0	194	0
Cumbernauld & Kilsyth	0	0	0
Cumnock & Doon Valley	1,070	1,050	0
Cunninghame	148	0	0
Dumbarton	—	—	—
East Kilbride	0	0	0
Eastwood	0	0	0
Glasgow	24,592	—	—
Hamilton	—	—	—
Inverclyde	0	0	0
Kilmarnock & Loudon	0	0	0
Kyle & Carrick	234	0	0
Monklands	800	0	0
Motherwell	5,123	0	0
Renfrew	250	226	—
Strathkelvin	0	0	0
Tayside
Angus	0	0	0
Dundee	5,000	1,422	7,800
Perth & Kinross	*433	—	0
Orkney Islands	0	0	0
Shetland Islands	40	0	0
Western Isles Islands	0	0	0
* Includes figures where the local authority did not distinguish between partial and comprehensive repairs.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, using information from local authorities' housing checklists and housing plans, he will produce a table showing the numbers of local authority dwellings of traditional construction in each district at 31 March 1984 which were built (a) before 1940, and (b) post-1939 and which (i) require comprehensive modernisation, (ii) require partial modernisation and (iii) require rewiring only.

The information requested is set out in the table, which shows the figures submitted by local authorities in their housing plan checklists for 1984.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will produce a table showing the number of local authority dwellings in each district at 31 March 1984 which required treatment for (a) condensation, and (b) rising/penetrating damp.

The information requested is set out in the table, which shows the figures submitted by local authorities in their housing plan checklists for 1984.As problems with condensation and penetrating damp often occur together, the same dwelling may appear in both sets of figures.

Estimated numbers of local authority dwellings at 31 March 1984
Dwellings requiring treatment for
	Condensation	Rising/penetrating damp
SCOTLAND	234,656	80,504
Borders
Berwick	0	0
Ettrick and Lauderdale	60	40
Roxburgh	552	20
Tweeddale	196	0
Central
Clackmannan	270	30
Falkirk	7,000	200
Stirling	4,200	200
Dumfries and Galloway
Annandale and Eskdale	150	25
Nithsdale	1,000	—
Stewartry	0	0
Wigtown	295	85
Fife
Dunfermline	2,600	15
Kirkcaldy	4,140	26
North East Fife	—	—
Grampian
Aberdeen	17,000	—
Banff and Buchan	500	0
Gordon	510	310
Kincardine and Deeside	854	0
Moray	488	70
Highland
Badenoch and Strathspey	50	0
Caithness	140	20
Inverness	—	—
Lochaber	1,400	850
Nairn	0	0
Ross and Cromarty	884	50
Skye and Lochalsh	51	0
Sutherland	190	0
Lothian
East Lothian	232	33
Edinburgh	15,500	500
Midlothian	3,500	0
West Lothian	4,104	0
Strathclyde
Argyll and Bute	813	0
Bearsden and Milngavie	—	—
Clydebank	1,250	0
Clydesdale	238	0
Cumbemauld and Kilsyth	500	0
Cumnock and Doon Valley	4,079	3,570
Cunninghame	1,645	397
Dumbarton	3,200	4,070
East Kilbride	0	0
Eastwood	0	0
Glagow	92,504	61,669
Hamilton	7,996	1,142
Inverclyde	6,000	3,000
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	3,578	0
Kyle and Carrick	4,570	162
Monklands	2,500	800
Motherwell	4,000	2,000
Renfrew	13,000	—
Strathkelvin	—	—

Dwellings requiring treatment for
	Condensation	Rising/penetrating damp
Tayside
Angus	3,800	80
Dundee	16,224	1,000
Perth and Kinross	1,800	0
Orkney Islands	0	0
Shetland Islands	663	100
Western Isles Islands	430	40

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if any problems remain outstanding in the diocese of Oxford concerning the making of instruments of government for voluntary schools in the diocese pursuant to the Education Act 1980.

Various issues were raised in local consultations which are required before my right hon. Friend may make new instruments for such schools, and these issues have taken a little time to resolve. However, new instruments have now been made for most of the diocese's schools in Buckinghamshire, and the remainder, together with those for their schools in Berkshire and Oxfordshire, are expected to be made shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when it is anticipated that, pursuant to the Education Act 1980, new instruments of government will be completed for voluntary schools in Oxfordshire.

There are 154 voluntary schools in Oxfordshire. New instruments have already been made for five, and those for the 124 schools under the diocese of Oxford will be made shortly. Draft instruments for the remainder are currently out for consultation and should all be finalised in good time for the 1 September 1985 deadline.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what number of students were in full-time statu pupillari in universities in 1976–77 and each succeeding year; and what is his estimate of the number for 1985–86; and if he will make a statement.

The number of full-time university undergraduate students in Great Britain since 1976–77 are shown in the table:

	Thousands
1976–77	222
1977–78	232
1978–79	239
1979–80	245
1980–81	251
1981–82	253
1982–83	250
1983–84	244
*1984–85	241
* Provisional estimate.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will now introduce legislation providing free state nursery education for all children under five years of age; and if he will make a statement.

The Government's aim, that their plans for local authorities' expenditure should allow provision attributable to under-fives education to be maintained in real terms, as stated in the recent White Paper "Better Schools", is as realistic an aim as can be expected in the foreseeable future. Within this level of provision there is scope for local flexibility and for improvements in quality and cost-effectiveness.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what consultations he has planned to have with directors of local education authorities about extending recruitment for greater numbers of teachers for pupils from ethnic minority groups.

:As my right hon. Friend informed the House on 14 March at column 452, he intends to consider with the education service and with representatives of the ethnic minorities ways in which a greater proportion of the teacher force might be recruited from ethnic minority groups. The exact form of the consultation has yet to be determined.

The Department's promotion and recruitment procedures operate on the basis of merit and without reference to the ethnic origin of candidates. It is not possible, therefore, to say now whether future appointments to senior positions in the Department will include officials from ethnic minority communities.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many nursery school places were available in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984.

The numbers of pupils attending maintained nursery schools in England in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984 were 48,477, 48,456, 48,154, 48,989, 49,551 and 49,406, respectively. Information on the number of nursery school places is not available; these figures represent the nearest equivalent—the number of places filled.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the implications of the decision of the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers to advise teachers not to accept handicapped children into mainstream schools unless resources are made available to provide proper care for them; and whether, in the light of this decision, he is now prepared to make resources available for the full implementation of the Education Act 1981.

My right hon. Friend would deprecate any discrimination against a child, whether in the provision of education or otherwise, on account of his or her handicap.If a child who has special educational needs and is the subject of a statement under the Education Act 1981 is to be placed in an ordinary school, that placement must be compatible with his receiving the special educational provision that he requires, as specified in the statement. If a child is not the subject of a statement, his admission to a county or voluntary school is governed by the provisions of sections 6 and 7 of the Education Act 1980.The Government have already made available additional resources to assist with specific aspects of special education. We shall continue to look for other ways in which further funding might be found.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information about the costs of entry to the EEC of Spain and Portugal, not at present available to Her Majesty's Government, he expects to become available by the time the treaty of accession is ready for ratification.

The Commission estimates that at the end of transition enlargement will represent a cost to the Community budget as a whole of between 0·1 per cent. and 0·2 per cent. of the VAT own resource base annually. A comprehensive estimate of the costs of enlargement will be possible only in the light of developments between now and the end of the transition period. But as full information as possible, based on the latest available Commission figures, will be given to the House when it considers the treaty of accession.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects El Salvador to provide the names of officers selected for training in the United Kingdom; and if the United Kingdom offer of training facilities has any time limit attached to it.

I have nothing to add to the reply my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Renton) gave to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Broadgreen (Mr. Fields) on 15 February at column 302.

asked the Prime Minister when the trade sanctions with Argentina will be lifted.

The Argentine Government could take a major step towards the normalisation of our bilateral relations by agreeing to the reciprocal lifting of the trade embargo. We have made a number of proposals, both bilaterally and through the European Community, to achieve this. Argentine Government have not yet responded constructively.

asked the Prime Minister what representations Her Majesty's Government have received from James Fairclough Ltd. of Warrington, about the effect of trade sanctions against Argentina on its ability to import the high grade maize required for its products.

The Government have received representations from Allied Mills Ltd.—of which James Fairclough and Sons is a subsidiary—as well as from two hon. Members and a member of the public. They have been advised that we cannot make an exemption for Argentine maize from the general embargo on imports from Argentina without undermining its effectiveness.

asked the Prime Minister if she will give the total cost to public funds of her recent trip to the far east.

asked the Prime Minister what was the total cost to public funds of her tour of Asia and Saudi Arabia.

The current estimated cost to public funds of the recent visit to Asia and Saudi Arabia is £174,000. Most of this represents reimbursement to the Ministry of Defence for the use of an RAF aircraft.

asked the Prime Minister if she will make a statement about the co-ordination between the different Departments responsible for the implementation of energy efficiency and conservation policy.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy has responsibility for the

Employees in employment—Great Britain
Standard Industrial Classification 1980	Division or Class	June 1971	June 1979	June 1984
Energy and Water Supply	1	788·8	711·7	621·0
Coal extraction and manufacture of solid fuels	11	359·5	298·0	229·8
Extraction of mineral oil and natural gas	13	2·2	19·6	32·9
Mineral oil processing	14	30·7	33·1	23·0
Nuclear fuel production	15	19·9	17·8	15·6
Production and distribution of electricity, gas and other forms of energy	16	323·3	277·6	250·3
Water supply	17	44·1	59·8	64·3
Extraction of minerals and ores other than fuels; manufacture of metals, mineral products and chemicals	2	1,258·4	1,109·7	784·6
Metal manufacturing and extraction of metalliferous ores and minerals nes	21–23	506·1	409·4	249·7
Manufacture of non-metallic mineral products	24	316·3	273·4	194·4
Chemical industry	25	397·6	403·0	325·5
Production of man-made fibres	26	38·4	23·9	15·1
Metal goods, engineering and vehicles	3	3,655·1	3,338·0	2,563·8
Manufacture of metal goods nes	31	576·1	516·2	379·1
Mechanical engineering	32	1,125·2	1,010·5	772·4
Manufacture of office machinery and data processing equipment	33	87·1	81·8	72·7
Electrical and electronic engineering	34	795·3	737·9	648·6
Manufacture of motor vehicles and parts thereof	35	503·1	433·1	289·7
Manufacture of other transport equipment	36	432·7	432·2	292·6
Instrument engineering	37	135·5	126·3	108·8
Other manufacturing industries	4	2,996·9	2,665·6	2,066·9
Food, drink and tobacco manufacturing	41–42	774·0	715·0	610·6

Government's overall strategy for energy efficiency as well as for his Department's energy efficiency office. There are regular consultations between Departments on matters with energy efficiency impacts. The Government's publicity campaign is stimulating an upsurge of interest and activity in energy efficiency.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for 1970, 1979 and the latest available date the numbers employed in the different sectors of the engineering and allied industries including motor cars and motor car components;(2) whether he will publish in the

The following table gives, for June 1971 (1970 is not available), June 1979 and June 1984, the estimated number of employees in employment in Great Britain in each available class of the 1980 standard industrial classification (SIC) within the production industries.More detailed analyses of employment estimates, by SIC group or activity heading, are available only from September 1981. The most recent figures, for December 1984, were published in table 1.4 of the labour market data section of the March 1985 issue of

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are employed currently, or to the latest date known, in hotels, restaurants, leisure centres, public houses, wine bars and brasseries, clubs, cafes, sandwich and snackbars, coffee and tea rooms, catering at tourist attractions, university and college catering, school meals service, hospital catering service (including those employed in private hospitals), hospital domestic services, contract catering and cleaning services, catering departments in the public sector, catering departments in the private sector, armed forces, police forces, prison services and fire services, catering education and training and consultancy, marketing, promotion and inspection companies and boards.

The Department's employment estimates are classified according to the standard industrial classification. The following table presents estimates of the number of employees employed in the hotel and catering industries identified in that classification, and in contract catering and cleaning services.

Employees in Employment in Great Britain in December 1984
Industry	Employees
Restaurants, snackbars, cafes etc	181,400
Public houses and bars	248,600
Night clubs and licensed clubs	151,300
Canteens and messes	119,300
Hotel trade	237,700
Other tourists or short stay accommodation	24,500
Contract catering and cleaning services	210,300

The Department's statistics do not identify those engaged in catering occupations in other industries. Such information is available from the 1981 census of population and is published in table 13 of the census publication "Economic Activity: Great Britain" (CEN 81 EA), a copy of which is in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many men on Merseyside have been unemployed for more than 12 months.

The following information is available in the Library. It is provisionally estimated that there were 56,600 males in the Merseyside metropolitan county who had been unemployed for more than 12 months at 14 March 1985. The figure includes an estimate for those whose claims are not dealt with by computer.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if the same criteria regarding the issue of improvement and prohibition notices are applied by the Health and Safety Executive to (a) Crown and (b) non-Crown workplaces.

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many employees work in (a) Crown and (b) non-Crown workplaces which are under the jurisdiction of the Health and Safety Executive.

In 1983, the latest year for which an estimate can be made, it is estimated that 1.7 million employees worked in Crown workplaces and 12.8 million employees worked in non-Crown workplaces under the jurisdiction of the Health and Safety Executive.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment which organisations have made representations to him that immunity from health and safety legislation should be removed from Crown workplaces.

I met the right hon. Member and others with a deputation from the General Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trades Union on 17 April to discuss their representation on exemption of the Crown from prosecution under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and from the provisions in that Act relating to improvement and prohibition notices.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment on how many occasions and in what context he has formally reviewed the question of removing immunity from Crown workplaces in respect of health and safety legislation.

Ministerial consideration was given in 1983 to whether there was any shortfall in health and safety at work standards in Crown employment due to the Crown's exemption from prosecution under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and from the provisions in that Act relating to prohibition and improvement notices. This was in response to a point raised during a debate in the House on health and safety at work on 11 March 1983.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will now seek to remove the immunity in respect of health and safety requirements from all Crown workplaces.

The Crown is already bound by the general duties of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and is bound to comply with regulations made under the Act unless specific exemptions are made. We have no plans at present to seek to remove the Crown's exemption from the provisions of the Act relating to improvement and prohibition notices and from prosecution in the courts. However, we have undertaken to look carefully at the dossier of evidence on the effects of Crown immunity which the right hon. Member has promised to send me.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the resources allocated to the Health and Safety Executive in each year of its existence stating them in (a) cash terms and (b) real terms; and if he will give the number of inspections carried out in each year.

The resources allocated to the Health and Safety Commission and Executive have been published each year in Supply Estimates. When these are deflated using the single index most widely used for such purposes, the gross domestic product deflator, the figures are as shown in the following table. When using the figures in column (3) it should be remembered that a number of elements within the Health and Safety Commission/Executive's budget have not moved in line with the gross domestic product over this period.

£000's
Year (1)	Supply Estimate (2)	At 1983–84 prices (3)
1974–75	12,311	37,193
1975–76	27,972	67,565
1976–77	38,610	82,149
1977–78	44,647	83,609
1978–79	46,836	79,383
1979–80	55,757	80,807
1980–81	70,970	86,760
1981–82	80,816	89,996
1982–83	81,335	84,990
1983–84	87,873	87,873
1984–85	90,298	86,410
1985–86	93,283	85,035

The numbers of visits made by Health and Safety Executive inspectors in each year from 1975 (the first full year of the Executive's existence) to 1983 are as follows:

Year	Number of Visits
1975	341,000
1976	307,000
1977	279,000
1978	281,000
1979	289,000
1980	291,000
1981	270,000
1982	254,000
1983	241,000

Visits may be made for a variety of purposes and vary greatly in duration. Care should also be taken in interpreting movements in figures for total visits because of changes in recording methods over the years and changes in the priority given to different types of visits with varying average duration.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment in how many hospitals visited by the health and safety inspectors there was evidence of unclean kitchens; and how many outbreaks of food poisoning have been reported in each year since 1979.

Health and Safety Executive inspectors do not have the enforcement responsibility for unclean hospital kitchens. Hospital kitchens are visited by the environmental health officers of local authorities. This is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment. The reporting of outbreaks of food poisoning is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many workplaces came under the jurisdiction of the Health and Safety Executive; what percentage have been visited by health and safety inspectors; what percentage of those visited were issued with improvement or prohibition notices; what percentage of those issued with notices responded satisfactorily; what percentage were monitored, and in what way, so as to assess the level of the response; and if in each case he will distinguish between (a) Crown and (b) non-Crown work places.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Employment why Mr. Paul Dixon of 6 Fleetway, Worksop, who quit his job at Manton colliery during the strike last June and who has had two other jobs since is still classed as a striking miner and has been refused benefit now he is unemployed again.

Mr. Dixon is not classed as a striking miner. He has told us that he is working part-time and payment of benefit has been withheld whilst the independent adjudicating authorities consider his entitlement under social security regulations that cover part-time working—the Social Security (Unemployment, Sickness and Invalidity Benefit) Regulation 1983, regulations 7(1)(g).

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will give the total annual cost of mortgage interest tax relief paid to mortgagors who are taxed above the standard rate for each financial year from 1982–83 to 1984–85 in Scotland;(2) if he will produce a table showing the annual total amount of mortgage interest tax relief for

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the use of variation of price clauses in Government construction contracts.

The Government have decided to revert to the pre-1973 practice of agreeing to variation of price (VOP) clauses in their construction contracts only when these run for more than two years. The existing arrangements, which permit VOP in contracts which run for more than one year, were introduced at a time of high and rapidly escalating inflation. The Government's financial policies have brought inflation under control and will ensure that it remains under control.This decision follows consultation with the construction industry, and careful consideration within the Government.Departments will introduce the new arrangements as soon as possible.

asked the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State answering in respect of the Arts when the Minister for the Arts expects to announce a decision on the Greater London council's compulsory purchase order on Kelmscott House.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Energy which theatre groups he has sponsored over the past year to spread the message to schools about the need for the efficient use of energy; what has been the cost to date of sponsoring these groups; what information he has as to the number of children who have seen the performances; how he assesses the effectiveness of these performances; what are his future plans for sponsoring such groups; and if he will make a statement.

My Department has sponsored four such theatre groups so far this academic year who have performed to over 120,000 children. It is planned to tour at least three groups around United Kingdom schools during the autumn term 1985 to coincide with the production of new schools materials covering many aspects of energy.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if, be reference to the criteria set out in the answer of 1 April, Official Report, column 902, he will indicate the improvement in energy efficiency achieved in the United Kingdom over the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available.

Preliminary analysis indicates that the United Kingdom's energy efficiency improved by about 3 per cent. during 1984, the latest period for which figures are available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much Government-funded research and development into agriculture is of identifiable benefit to Third world countries.

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

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what European Economic Community aid is available for young farmers and new entrants into agriculture;(2) when he intends to implement the European Economic Community scheme for aid to young farmers and new entrants into agriculture.

I shall reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if his Department's estimates of publicly-funded agricultural research and development given in the debate on 13 March, Official Report, column 412, included the amount spent in the university sector;(2) what representations he has received about the cut in his Department's budget for research and development; and what proportion of these favoured an increase in the research and development budget;(3) if he will make a statement outlining the main objectives of Government-supported agricultural research; and what long-term plans existed for such research.

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

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the parameters he intends to use when assessing the first three years of the life of the proposed London Joint Board for Fire whether or not the joint board budget and manpower complement is acceptable.

Clauses 66 and 83 of the Local Government Bill now before Parliament provide for my right hon. and learned Friend to exercise transitional precept and manpower controls over the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority. He intends to use them to ensure that it can discharge economically, effectively and efficiently its statutory functions and maintain nationally recommended minimum standards of fire cover.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give details of the sale of the Marple Dale hospital, Stockport, and associated land; and if he will make a statement.

I understand that North-Western regional health authority has accepted the highest tender received for the Marple Dale hospital, Stockport, and completion of the sale is expected in the next five weeks. I suggest my hon. Friend contacts the chairman of the regional health authority for any further information he requires.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he intends to make a statement about arrangements for direct satellite broadcasting; and when he intends to permit members of the public to buy reception equipment to receive existing programmes being broadcast in neighbouring countries in the English language.

Responsibility for the development of direct broadcasting by satellite lies with my right hon. Friend the Secretay of State for the Home Department. Members of the public who wish to operate equipment to receive programmes broadcast for direct reception by satellite from neighbouring countries are free to do so under the terms of their existing television licences, although there are at present no such programmes being broadcast. As stated in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Smith) on 18 April, the Government are urgently considering their policy towards the licensing of new master antennae television systems which can receive non-DBS services and hope to make its conclusions known shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what account he is taking of the dependence of certain areas on employment in clothing and textiles in deciding his policy on future levels of textile and clothing imports in the context of the renegotiation of the multifibre arrangement; and if he will make a statement.

The Government will take full account of all the employment aspects of restricting textile and clothing imports, including employment in the textile and clothing industries, employment indirectly affected in other industries, and regional concentrations of employment.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many deaths attributable to the pertussis vaccine were reported to the Committee on Safety of Medicines for the following years: 1964 to 1968, 1969 to 1974, 1975 to 1980 and 1981 to 1984; and how many such deaths occurred within 48 hours of administering the vaccine.

The Committee on Safety of Medicines has received the following yellow card reports of deaths where an association with pertussis vaccine was suspected:

Years	Total deaths	Deaths occurring during the first two days following vaccination
1964 to 1968	10	8
1969 to 1974	17	3
1975 to 1980	17	8
1981 to 1984	7	4

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services why Mr. T. J. Buckle of 30 Coniston road, Worksop, who quit his job at Manton colliery last June is still being refused benefit and classed as a striking miner.

A person who loses employment as a result of a stoppage of work due to a trade dispute at his place of empoyment is disqualified for receiving unemployment benefit unless he can show that he is not participating or directly interested in the dispute. Such disqualification continues for as long as the stoppage of work continues, unless he finds genuine work elsewhere in his normal occupation or becomes regularly engaged in some other occupation.It is for the independent adjudicating authorities to decide whether the stoppage of work has ended in the light of the situation at each individual place of employment, and I understand that the adjudication officer has decided that the last day of the stoppage at Manton colliery was 30 March 1985. Benefit will therefore be payable from 1 April, subject to the usual three waiting days, to any ex-miners previously disqualified due to this stoppage.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services on what research the statistics were based which are listed in the leaflets describing the developments the National Health Service has made under his administration which are to be sent to hospitals and health centres; and what consultations he had with statisticians in the National Health Service regions before compiling the information contained in them.

The leaflet summarises information given in the "Health Service in England: Annual Report 1984" (HMSO) and is based on readily available data routine collected by the Department.