asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the net cost of administering the shotgun certificate system in 1982–83; what is the estimated cost in 1983–84; and when they propose to review the current level of fees.

The level of firearms fees will be reviewed after the working party on the administration of the Firearms Act 1968 has reported. We expect that the review will begin early in 1984. The other information requested is not available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have for new prisons and for staffing the Prison Service.

Following the announcements made on 17th November by my right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, I am pleased to give details of four more new prison building projects on which construction should begin between 1985 and 1987 and be completed between 1988 and 1989. Sites for these have been identified at Bicester, Lancaster, March, and Milton Keynes. Planning clearance has been or will be applied for in the usual way. These four new projects are in addition to the 10 new prisons already in construction or in various stages of planning or design. Work will also continue on renovation at existing establishments, including the provision of additional accommodation. The completion of the 14 new prisons now in the programme and the renovation work at existing establishments is estimated to lead to an additional 10,000 to 11,000 new places by 1991.Between 1984 and 1988, it is intended to provide an additional 5,550 prison staff. This should make it possible to staff new prison accommodation and courts; to allow for the effects of introducing a new attendance system; to deal with the small amount of additional work which will result from a reduction in the minimum qualifying period for parole; and to reduce the present excessive reliance on voluntary overtime.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What amount of VAT was paid by the Lord Chancellor's Department on legal aid in criminal and civil cases respectively, in each of the last five years; and whether in each case they will give a sub-total for solicitors' and barristers' fees.

I regret that this information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Leader of the House:How many Life Peerages have been created and how many Life Peers have died in each of the last five years; if the former figure is larger than the latter, when on present trends the numbers of "the working House" will stabilise; and what the size of the "working House" will then be compared with its size today.

The statistical information requested is as follows:

	Life Peerages Created	Deaths of Life Peers
1978	26	10
1979	31	6
1980	14	15
1981	22	7
1982	10	11
	Total 103	49

The above table includes Life Peerages created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 (as amended) as well as those created under the Life Peerages Act 1958. It shows that the total number of Peerage creations in the years concerned exceeded the total number of deaths of Life Peers in the same period. It also shows that there is no discernible trend, and it is therefore impossible to make any prediction of the future size of the "working House", however that term may be defined.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the total estimated cost (capital and revenue) of setting up and running the British Approvals Board for Telecommunications (BABT); and why so far only one new simple telephone has received approval from 49 applications.

The total cost of setting up and running the British Approvals Board for Telecommunications (BABT) is estimated to have been £267,000, of which some £45,000 is capital expenditure. It is intended that BABT, a private sector company, should be financed by fees paid by those seeking approvals.BABT has received a total of 52 applications for approvals of simple telephones. Over half these applications were either withdrawn when the applicants realised that their apparatus would not meet the relevant standards or the applicant has not yet paid the appropriate fees. In the remainder of cases, testing is now in progress and one item of simple telephone apparatus has been approved.The low rate of applications arises partly because the standard for simple telephone apparatus was not approved until October 1982, partly from the realisation by potential applications that much foreign apparatus is unsuitable for connection to the public networks in this country and partly because 34 new simple telephones have already been approved under interim schemes arranged by the department.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What the level of debts written off by the Export Credits Guarantee Department amounted to in the financial year 1979–80, and what were the corresponding figures for the years 1980–81, 1981–82, and 1982–83.

In its trading accounts for the financial years 1979–80 to 1981–82, the Export Credits Guarantee Department made the following provisions for expected irrecoverable loss in respect of claims paid and to be paid in relation to export business underwritten up to the date of the accounts.1979–80 £187.0m (of which £66.2m relates to prior financial years).1980–81 £196.8m (of which £90.4m relates to prior financial years).1981–82 £130.6m (of which £45.2m relates to prior financial years).Corresponding figures for 1982–83 are not yet available, as the trading accounts for that year have not yet been finalised.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many tonnes of carbon are released into the atmosphere each year through the practice of stubble burning by certain sections of the British farming community; and what specific legislation prevents local councils from prohibiting this practice completely or from restricting it through the issue of licences to burn based on acreages applied for by individual farmers.

A proportion of the carbon contained in straw and stubble is released during combustion and converted into oxides and other organic compounds, and a proportion remains unburnt. It would not be possible without disproportionate cost to estimate the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere, and such estimates would necessarily be subject to wide margins of error.As statutory bodies, local authorities possess only such powers as are conferred upon them by statute. Section 235 of the Local Government Act 1972 empowers district councils in England and Wales to make by-laws for good rule and government and for the prevention and suppression of nuisances, and many district councils have used this power to regulate straw and stubble burning. It would not, however, empower them to establish a licensing system; nor, unless the local circumstances were most exceptional, to prohibit the practice completely.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will make a statement about the suspension of the ewe premium.

The Commission has not yet fixed this year's advance payment of the annual ewe premium (which last year was paid in October and November). Discussions on the figures to be used for the calculation are continuing. The relevant Council regulation provides for payment of an advance during the marketing year and, while there may be a short delay, I expect the payment to be well before the end of the current marketing year. We shall be examining the Commission's ideas for the future of the annual premium during the review of the régime.