asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will state the total number of personnel in the department of the Director of Public Prosecutions and in the Fraud Squad respectively accompanied in each case by an analysis showing the grades or ranks, as appropriate, of those employed.

The information requested is as follows:

Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Permanent Secretary (Director)	1
Deputy Secretary (Deputy Director)	1
Under Secretary (Principal Assistant Director	2
Assistant Secretary (Assistant Director)	9
Senior Legal Assistant	49
Legal Assistant	10
Principal	1
Senior Executive Officer	7
Higher Executive Officer	22
Executive Officer	47
Clerical Officer	30
Clerical Assistant	4
Senior Superintendent of Typists	1
Superintendent of Typists	1
Personal Secretary	8
Specialist Typist	8
Typist	3
Security Guard	1
Office Keeper	1
Senior Paperkeeper	1
Senior Messenger	2
Messenger	11
Photo-printer Operator Grade 1	1
Photo-printer Operator Grade 2	2
	223

Metropolitan and City Police Company Fraud Department
Police
Commander	1
Detective Chief Superintendent	4
Detective Superintendent	4
Detective Chief Inspector	13
Detective Inspector	28
Detective Sergeant	38
Detective Constable	60
	148
Civil Staff
Executive Officer	1
Clerical Officer	4
Clerical Assistant	14
Specialist Typist	1
Typist	9
	29
	177

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have sought the opinion of the Commission for Race Relations upon the implications of the new racially-based slaughterhouse business for export of ritually-slaughtered veal to Moslem countries and, if so, what advice they have received.

This is not a matter on which the Government have had cause to seek the opinion of the Commission for Racial Equality.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have consulted the leaders of the Islamic community in this country about the acceptance of pre-stunning before bleeding as a condition of the slaughter of animals for export and, if so, what response they have received.

The Government have no plans to propose amendments to this legislation, and they have therefore not consulted the leaders of the Islamic communities in Britain.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are aware of the danger to racial harmony if Islamic ritual slaughterhouses are allowed to grow in number and output solely for export to Moslem countries, and whether they will reduce the risk of open hostility to the exploitation of the immunities granted under the United Kingdom Slaughterhouses Acts expressly for the benefit of minority religious communities in this country by urging the local authorities concerned to follow the lead of the Belfast City Council who have banned export orders unless the animals are stunned before they are killed.

The Government are aware of the views of those who are opposed to ritual slaughter. Parliamentary debates have always been inconclusive on the question of possible suffering arising from different slaughter methods and Parliament has accordingly taken the view that, in the interests of religious tolerance, ritual slaughter should be permitted, subject to certain conditions. The Government have no plans to take the action suggested in respect of local authorities.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will consider issuing guidance, through the Tourist Boards, for foreign visitors concerning the generally accepted practice of tipping taxi-drivers in London and elsewhere in order to reduce the number of cases of friction and misunderstanding which arise between taxi-drivers and their passengers to the detriment of good public relations.

Guidance on tipping taxi-drivers and others is already contained in the British Tourist Authority's main guides to Britain, which are published in some 19 languages and are available free of charge in BTA offices in London and overseas.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many British companies have reported or failed to report on their treatment of black workers in South Africa under the code of the European Economic Community; which companies failed; and what action is intended to ensure that all companies pay the authorised level of wages.

Information about those companies which have reported under the European Code of Conduct, and those which might have been expected to report but which have not yet done so, is to be found in the Department of Trade's analysis and summary of reports for the 12 months ended 30th June 1980. A copy has been placed in the Library.The Government encourage companies to comply with the provisions of the code, but action to enforce such compliance would be incompatible with a voluntary code.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether it is true that the percentage of unemployed is based on the number of registered employees (employed and unemployed) in 1977; and, if so, whether they would estimate what difference it would make it the regional percentages were based on 1980 figures of employees rather than 1977.

The national, regional and Greater London unemployment rates are at present based on the numbers of employees, employed and unemployed, at June 1979 but will be moved to a June 1980 base next month; these rates will be very little affected by the change of base. In calculating these rates, the numbers of employed are based on sample surveys. Unemployment rates for local areas, however, require local employment figures from the fuller censuses of employment. The latest available census results are for June 1977; local data from the June 1978 census of employment should become available later this year, and this will provide a fresh basis for local unemployment rates.It is not practicable to assess what differences would arise were it possible to recalculate local rates on a June 1980 base. In many areas, the number of employed and unemployed people combined, used for calculating unemployment rates, does not change much over the years, so that the rates will be substantially unchanged. However, in some areas, the net movement into and out of the workforce may be more marked, and the rates will be more affected.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What consideration has been given by the Department of the Environment to the proposal for a system of final inspection of a new dwelling for fitness for human habitation, which was included in the Special Report of the Select Committee on Opposed Provisions of the South. Yorkshire Bill [H.L.] made on 31st January, 1980.

All new houses are subject to building regulations, and local building control authorities have a statutory duty to enforce the regulations. In addition, virtually all new private housing is covered by the National House-Building Council's warranty scheme. The Government are satisfied that building control, particularly when supplemented by the NHBC scheme, effectively ensures the satisfactory condition of new houses: to require local authority approval of new houses as fit for habitation is unnecessary.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, before paying British Rail the next subsidy towards suburdan losses, they will find out what British Rail are doing to eliminate the frequent breakdown of the point system on the Brighton line which causes so much hardship and inconvenience to the workers of London.

I am aware of and regret the inconvenience which has been caused to passengers as a result of equipment failures on the Brighton line. Day-to-day maintenance of equipment is however a matter for the British Railways Board. The board have in hand a major resignalling investment scheme on the line, including improvements to the track layout, and are confident that this will increase considerably the reliability and speed of services.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the second volume of the

Volume II of the Official History of British Intelligence in the Second World War is expected to be published in mid-September 1981.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many cattle have been slaughtered as bovine tuberculosis reactors within the areas in the South-West of England in which the Ministry of Agriculture have been gassing badgers in each of the last five years, and, of those so slaughtered, how many cattle were tested after slaughter for bovine tuberculosis, and in how many of these cattle were old lesions present and in how many could infection be cultured.

The numbers of cattle slaughtered as reactors in the counties concerned were as follows:—

1976	771
1977	457
1978	417
1979	289
1980	623

All were examined after slaughter for evidence of bovine tuberculosis and samples were cultured from the first animal(s) in a herd to react. When M.bovis was confirmed in a herd, samples from subsequent reactors were not cultured. It is not considered practicable to assess the age of lesions.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When, following the Ministry of Agriculture's survey of possible additional areas to be included within the EEC Less Favoured Areas Directive, a case for these additional areas is likely to be presented to the European Commission; andWhether it is anticipated that the new areas in England and Wales to be submitted to the European Commission for inclusion in the EEC Less Favoured Areas Directive will be much reduced from that area surveyed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Welsh Office Agriculture Department in their present survey of agricultural marginal lands because they do not meet the other criteria for eligibility to the EEC Less Favoured Areas Directive as laid down by the European Commission; andWhether they agree that the economics of livestock production in the agricultural marginal lands in England and Wales warrants special financial assistance; and

It was because of difficulties facing livestock farmers on marginal land that the Government decided to carry out a survey to determine whether there was a case for extending the present areas designated as less favoured under Article 3(4) of European Communities Directive 75/268. However, the Government have never given any undertaking either that the present Less Favoured Areas will be extended or, if they are, that extra public funds will be available.The survey will comprise identification of the poor land followed by extraction and analysis of economic and demographic information in order to determine whether the identified land satisfies all the criteria for designation. It will include all land contiguous to the existing Less Favoured Areas, and any substantial separate areas nearby, in the old hill counties. It will cover Grade 4 and 5 land on the Agricultural Land Classification maps, and may include some small adjoining areas of Grade 3 land as well. A case for the extension of the present Less Favoured Areas could be ready for submission to the European Commission before the end of 1981, but whether consideration of the case by the Commission would result in some land being excluded cannot be anticipated. Because the survey is confined to areas which appear likely to meet the criteria set by Article 3(4) of European Communities Directive 75/268, the Isles of Scilly are excluded. However, discussions are taking place with the National Farmers' Union about the possibility of designating the Isles of Scilly as less favoured under Article 3(5) of the directive.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the interdepartmental discussions mentioned by the Earl of Mansfield in

Salmon fishing off the North-East coast of England is one of the subjects included in the review of English and Welsh inland and inshore fisheries on which a consultation document is soon to be issued. Discussions with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland on matters of joint interest are continuing.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the reason for the delay in interviewing Mr. Riaz Ahmed, son of the Mohammed Hussain, who was to have been seen by the United Kingdom embassy in Islamabad in the autumn of this year, and is now expected to reach the head of the queue "in the winter of 1981–82"; and whether they do not consider that, in giving the family the estimate of autumn 1980, public faith had thereby been pledged.

On current estimates our embassy in Islamabad expect to see Mr. Ahmed in his turn in December against an estimate of autumn 1981. Estimates of waiting times made when an application for entry clearance is lodged are not pledges. The eventual date of interview may vary slightly either way.House adjourned at twenty-nine minutes past five o'clock.