asked Her Majesty's Government:(1) whether they will provide a list of all bodies to which the Lord Chancellor appoints members other than civil servants, distinguishing between full-time and part-time, salaried, fee paid and unpaid appointments and indicating for each category of appointment the number of such appointees; and(2) whether they will provide a list of all bodies to which the Lord Privy Seal appoints members other than civil servants, distinguishing between full-time and part-time, salaried, fee paid and unpaid appointments and indicating for each category of appointment the number of such appointees.

I am responsible for appointments to a number of bodies and will be writing to the noble Lord as soon as possible.My right honourable and noble friend the Lord Privy Seal appoints members other than civil servants to the Advisory Council for Applied Research and Development of which he is Chairman. There are currently 14 members, all of whose appointments are part-time and unpaid.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether weather conditions are taken into account in making shipments of live animals from British ports, and whether shipments from South Coast ports were suspended during the period of severe gales and heavy seas between 4th and 18th November.

Yes. It is illegal to ship animals if they are likely to be injured or caused unnecessary suffering for any reason, including bad weather. I understand that some shipments of livestock were suspended between 4th and 18th November because of storms.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In view of their reply to his Question on 24th November (col. 1023) regarding the late Mr. Sean O'Conaill, whether they can now confirm that on 21st September he asked his solicitor, Mr. Alastair Logan, to arrange for Ms. Jacqueline Kaye to visit him in Parkhurst Prison hospital; that Mr. Logan made this request by telephone on his client's behalf to the appropriate Home Office official on 23rd September; but was informed that it could not be granted for reasons of security.

I can confirm none of these statements. The visit of Mr. Logan to Mr. O'Conaill on 21st September 1977 in Parkhurst Prison hospital was a visit in sight but out of hearing of the supervising prison officer. Mr. O'Conaill himself made no request to the prison authorities to receive a visit from Ms. Kaye either before or after Mr. Logan's visit. The Home Office official to whom I understand Mr. Logan claims to have conveyed such a request has no recollection of Mr. Logan having told him on 23rd September or at any other time that Mr. O'Conaill had requested a visit from Ms. Kaye, nor of his having on any occasion said that reasons of security precluded a visit by Ms. Kaye to Mr. O'Conaill. In normal circumstances if a request for such a visit had been made it would have been refused, but the reason given for refusal would have been that Ms. Kaye was not known to Mr. O'Conaill before he came into custody. If in the particular circumstances Mr. O'Conaill had requested a visit by Ms. Kaye, or a request by him for such a visit had been reported to us and subsequently confirmed by Mr. O'Conaill on inquiry, we would have given serious consideration to the request, bearing in mind the purpose of the visit as well as our natural desire to meet reasonable requests of a prisoner who was approaching death.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made with the implementation of the Law Commission's recommendations in their Report on

I am pleased to say that, although the Law Commission appended to their report a draft Bill to give effect to their recommendations, it has been found possible to implement virtually all of them by Rules of Court without the need for legislation. The Rules of the Supreme Court (Amendment No. 3) 1977, which have been laid before Parliament today, introduce, as the Law Commission proposed, a new form of procedure, to be known as "an application for judicial review", to enable a person wishing to challenge an administrative act or omission to obtain from the High Court either one of the prerogative orders of mandamus, prohibition or certiorari or, as appropriate, a declaration or an injunction and damages. The procedure is based on the present practice in proceedings for a prerogative order but constitutes a uniform code and eliminates a number of procedural differences between the remedies which at present make it difficult for the applicant to select one most appropriate to his case. I have no doubt that these new rules, which will come into force at the beginning of next Term, will be generally welcomed as a significant reform in this important branch of procedural law.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have yet decided if they will introduce a Merchant Shipping Bill in the present Session, as foreshadowed in the Queen's Speech.

the Government are committed to bringing forward the Bill at the earliest opportunity and the legislative programme is being kept under review for this purpose.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the efficiency and costings of water authorities are open to investigation by the Public Accounts Committee or by the Nationalised Industries Committee of the House of Commons.

The proceedings of water authorities are open to investigation by the Select Committee on Nationalised Industries, which indeed is examining them at this moment. Water authorities' accounts are subject to the same audit procedure as local authorities, that is to say by the District Auditor or by an approved auditor.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are their intentions as regards the large vacant site adjacent to Storeys Gate and Westminster Abbey.

The Broad Sanctuary site is designated for a Government centre for international conferences. A decision to proceed must depend on economic circumstances.House adjourned at two minutes past nine o'clock.