asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he proposes to take with regard to the price charged for cups of tea by a cafe, whose name and address have been sent to him by the hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe; and if he will make a statement.

There is no statutory control over the prices charged by restaurants and cafes. But I am certainly prepared to follow up any suggestion that an unjustifiable increase in price has taken place. If my hon. Friend has evidence of this, I shall have immediate inquiries made.

asked the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Food how many acres of farm land were taken out of production and were used for development of all kinds during the last 12 months for which figures are available and in each of the previous four years.

The estimated losses of agricultural land in England and Wales for development of all kinds, including afforestation, were as follows:

1962–63	…	…	38,659 acres
1963–64	…	…	53,909 acres
1964–65	…	…	49,218 acres
1965–66	…	…	65,726 acres
1966–67	…	…	38,034 acres

Because of the difficulty of determining in many cases the precise point in time at which land has gone out of agricultural use, the allocation of figures to individual years is necessarily approximate.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will make a statement on the activities to date of the Young Volunteer Force; and what information he has of the number of local authorities who have requested its assistance.

I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Woolwich, West (Mr. Hamling) yesterday.—[Vol. 766, c. 58–9.]

asked the Minister of Power what steps are being taken to investigate the possibility that oil or gas may be found beneath the South Irish Sea off the Welsh coast.

An additional part of the Continental Shelf in the Irish Sea, including an area off the Welsh Coast south of Anglesey, has recently been designated by Order in Council made on 7th June, 1968, under Section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act, 1964. This will enable me to be kept fully informed on the progress of any operations carried out by holders of exploration licences off the Welsh Coast.I understand that the Institute of Geological Sciences is currently investigating the geology of the floor of the Irish Sea. A test borehole is being drilled and a programme of seismic survey in part of the southern Irish Sea off the Welsh coast is to be undertaken within the next few weeks. This should show whether geological structures meriting further detailed investigation are present.

asked the Minister of Power if he will give for nine months, or the latest convenient period starting with July 1967, the profit or loss made by the steel industry.

The British Steel Corporation announced in April a net loss of £319,000 in their first two months of trading from 28th July to 30th September, 1967. This was after depreciation and interest other than on the commencing capital debt. They are announcing today that in the six months to 30th March, 1968 they broke even on the same basis.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works, if he will give the capital expenditure that has been involved at No. 25 Maintenance Unit, Royal Air Force, Hartlebury, during each of the last five years.

Capital expenditure in each of the last five financial years was:

				£
1963–64	…	…	…	34,000
1964–65	…	…	…	58,000
1965–66	…	…	…	49,000
1966–67	…	…	…	23,000
1967–68	…	…	…	97,000

Capital expenditure in 1968-69 is expected to amount to approximately £310,000 of which about £180,000 is for work already completed or materials delivered to site.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many lochside mansions and lodges are now under the management and control of the Lower Clyde Water Board; what is the annual cost of maintaining them; for what purpose they are used; and if he will take steps to ensure that they are used for the general benefit of the community.

I understand that four such properties have been taken over from Glasgow Corporation by the Board, which is now responsible for deciding what can best be done with them. Any questions about maintenance costs and the purposes for which the houses are used should be addressed to the Board.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland, what plans the Highlands and Islands Development Board has for the development of fish processing in Stornoway.

I am glad to say that I have approved the proposals made by the Board that it should acquire the Herring Industry Board's fish freezing factory and cold store in Stornoway and operate this in an effort to strengthen and develop a shore-based fishing industry in the Outer Isles. The position will be reviewed in the light of operations within a period of three years.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will now make a statement on the results of his investigations into the accident to the footbridge on Newport Road, Cardiff.

In view of the likelihood of court proceedings I am unable to comment on the accident itself. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport and I are satisfied that footbridges are of great value as a means of segregating pedestrian and other traffic, but the Ministry of Transport are writing to the Road User Organisations most closely concerned drawing their attention to the need to ensure that suitable precautions are taken with high loads to avoid a repetition of this type of accident. I am also considering with my right hon. Friend whether any further safeguards are needed.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is the average percentage rise in public expenditure estimated for the period of the National Plan;(2) what estimate he has made of the annual rise in public expenditure for the period of the National Plan in percentage terms; what is the breakdown for defence, education, housing, health and social security benefits; and how these figures compare with those envisaged in the National Plan.

Excluding S.E.T. additional payments, R.E.P. and invest- ment giants, which did not form part of public expenditure in 1964–65, the average annual increase in public expenditure from 1964–65 to 1969–70, at constant prices, is estimated to be 4·3 per cent, on the same basis as was used for the Plan estimates.A functional analysis of the Plan estimates giving the detail requested was published in Table 18.1 of the National Plan (Cmnd. 2764), and the same analysis of the public expenditure estimates published with Command Paper No. 3515 was given in reply to the hon. Member for Belfast, North (Mr. Stratton Mills) on Tuesday, 30th January, 1968. Vol. 757, c. 269–70.]

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in what years since the war has there been an absolute cut in personal consumption; and what was the percentage fall for those years and the percentage rise or fall in public expenditure during the same years.

Consumers' expenditure at constant prices has fallen in only three years since the war. Figures for those years are compared with the change in public expenditure on current goods and services and fixed assets in the table below. These are the only components of total public expenditure for which figures are available at constant prices, comparable with those for consumers' expenditure. Public expenditure on subsidies, grants and loans cannot be satisfactorily revalued at constant prices.

CHANGES IN EXPENDITURE AT 1958 PRICES COMPARED WITH PRECEDING YEAR
			Consumers' expenditure
			£ million	per cent.
1948	…	…	—15	—
1951	…	…	—179	—1½
1952	…	…	—64	—½

		Public expenditure on current goods and services and gross fixed capital formation
			£ million	per cent.
1948	…	…	*	*
1951	…	…	+341	+7½
1952	…	…	+445	+9½
*Figures are not available for years before 1948.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will now publish comprehensive tables for single people, married men without dependants and married men with up to five and with 10 children, including contracted-in and contracted-out employees and the self-employed, comparing their incomes before and after taking account of income tax, surtax, family allowances, and National Insurance contributions and benefits at the rates now proposed over a full range of earned and unearned incomes from £100 to £25,000 annually.

No. I regret that this could only be done at disproportionate effort and expense.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what are the reasons for removing the words FID:DEF from the new pence coins recently issued.

FID: DEF has been further abbreviated to F:D on the decimal coins because of the limited space available.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make a statement on his discussions on the defence of South-East Asia and the Far East.

My right hon. Friend hopes to make a full statement on Monday, 17th June.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence, what capital expenditure will be necessary at No. 14 Maintenance Unit, Carlisle, and No. 16 Maintenance Unit, Stafford, as a result of the decision to close No. 25 Maintenance Unit, Royal Air Force, Hartlebury.

There will be sufficient capacity at No. 14 Maintenance Unit, Carlisle, and No. 16 Maintenance Unit, Stafford, to accommodate stores transferred from No. 25 Maintenance Unit, Hartlebury, without additional building. Modernisation will, however, be undertaken at both Stafford and Carlisle to secure maximum efficiency of operation. The scope of this remains to be determined; but any capital costs will rapidly be covered by the large annual saving which will follow from the closure of No. 25 Maintenance Unit.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of those people employed at No. 25 Maintenance Unit, Royal Air Force, Hartlebury is over 50 years of age.

Of a total of 1,772 civilians currently employed by the Ministry of Defence at No. 25 Maintenance Unit, Hartlebury, 908 are over 50 years of age.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he expects the new computer at No. 25 Maintenance Unit Royal Air Force Hartlebury to be in operation; and what was the total capital cost of the computer and of its installation.

The computer is expected to be handed over for operation in July, 1968. Its cost is £211,178 and the other capital costs incurred in its installation are expected to amount to about £58,000. The introduction of the computer will lead to economies which will quickly offset this expenditure, and on the closure of Hartlebury the computer will be available for transfer to meet requirements elsewhere.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of Royal Air Force stores sent abroad is despatched from airfields within a 75 mile radius of Royal Air Force Hartlebury; and what proportion is sent from airfields within a 75 mile radius of Carlisle.

At present about 7 per cent, of R.A.F. stores sent abroad go by air. Nearly all of this 7 per cent, is despatched from airfields within 75 miles of Royal Air Force Hartlebury; none is sent from airfields within 75 miles of Royal Air Force Carlisle. By the date that R.A.F. Hartlebury will be closed, the volume of stores despatched overseas by air is likely to be very much less than it is at present, because of the reduction in overseas commitments.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the estimate of transport costs involved in moving those stores currently at No. 25 Maintenance Unit Royal Air Force Hartlebury as a result of the decision to close that establishment.

It is not possible to forecast exactly how much of Hartlebury's current stores will remain to be moved to other depots when Hartlebury closes in 1971. In the period before closure the stocks at Hartlebury will be run down and replacements sent from suppliers direct to other Maintenance Units. It seems probable that the cost of transferring the residual stocks from Hartlebury will not exceed £100,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the work done by No. 25 Maintenance Unit Royal Air Force Hartlebury will in future be done at Carlisle and what proportion at Stafford.

Detailed planning for the reception of Hartlebury's task, and Quedgeley's technical stores, at Carlisle and Stafford will take many months and it is too early to say what proportion of Hartlebury's task will be done at Carlisle or at Stafford after 1971.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will state the total sum involved in outstanding contracts for the further development of No. 25 Maintenance Unit Royal Air Force Hartlebury and his estimate of the compensation that will be given for the contracts that will not be fulfilled.

The total sum involved in outstanding contracts for new works at Hartlebury is approximately £130,000. These works are associated with the provision of a new high density storage area which will increase efficiency and produce an estimated net saving of £400,000 before the Maintenance Unit finally closes by the end of 1971. In these circumstances, the works services will still be required and the question of compensation for unfulfilled contracts does not arise. Some parts of the high density storage installation will be available for transfer to meet requirements elsewhere when Hartlebury closes.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the established staff formerly employed at No. 35 Maintenance Unit Royal Air Force Heywood was transferred to other Government Departments at the time of the closure of that establishment.

About 13 per cent, of the established civilians on the strength of No. 35 Maintenance Unit Heywood when the closure was announced, were transferred to Government establishments outside the Ministry of Defence.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements he has made to offset the losses sustained by retail meat traders fulfilling contracts to supply establishments under his control because of the requirement made by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that Argentine lamb had to be disposed of through approved processing centres.

No special arrangements have been made beyond our normal contractual procedures.

asked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs what is the latest estimate for the annual rise in the economic growth rate for the National Plan period in percentage terms; and what is the breakdown for each year.

For the Government's latest estimate of the economic growth rate from 1967 to 1969, I would refer my hon. Friend to the Budget Statement by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer and to Part III of the accompanying Financial Statement. I am not yet able to provide a revised estimate for 1969·70.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity (1) in view of the likely risk to woodworkers employed in the furniture industry of contracting nasal cancer, what steps are being taken by Her Department to initiate research and development into improved methods of wood dust extraction in the furniture industry;(2) in view of the situation set out in the report of a working party established by the Department of Otolaryngology and the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine concerning the incidence of nasal cancer in woodworkers employed in the furniture industry, a copy of which has been sent to her, whether she will make a statement on the action she proposes to take to deal with the problem.

My Department has been in touch for some time with this working party, headed by Dr. Acheson; and has given some assistance in tracing workers and obtaining occupational histories. The report was published on 8th June and my Department is now considering how best to determine more precisely the circumstances which gave rise to the risk of adenocarcinoma; to find out whether those circumstances still exist; and if so what can be done to deal with the risk.Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Factories will be approaching both sides of the industry about this in the near future.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity, how many men's weekly wage packet with family allowance is less than their entitlement under social security benefits.

I regret this information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity, how many men's take home pay is less than £12 10s. a week.

It is estimated that the number of men in the United Kingdom whose gross earnings less P.A.Y.E. tax were below £12 10s. a week in 1966 was approximately 1,300,000 or about 10 per cent, of the estimated number of men employees at mid-1966. This figure is derived from information provided by members of nearly 3,300 households which co-operated in the Family Expenditure Survey in 1966. It relates to men aged 21 and over who normally worked for more than 30 hours a week. It is subject to sampling error and has been rounded to the nearest 100,000.Although estimates are not yet available for 1967, preliminary results from the Family Expenditure Survey suggest that for 1967 the figure will be considerably lower.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity, whether she is satisfied that the machinery of the Agricultural, Horticultural and Forestry Industry Training Board is adequate to enforce payment of levies on employers who refuse to pay; and if she will make a statement.

It is for the Board itself to decide how best to ensure payment of levy, but I am satisfied that by virtue of the Industrial Training Levy (Agricultural, Horticultural and Forestry) Order, 1967 the Board is entitled to enforce payment. The relevant Articles of the Board's Levy Order are similar to those used in Levy Orders for other Industrial Training Boards, several of which have already successfully instituted proceedings in the Courts for the recovery of sums due by way of levy.

asked the Minister of Transport how many four-wheeled motor vehicles were registered during the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how many there are expected to be by the year 1980.

At the last census taken in the third quarter of 1967 there were 12·1 million four-wheeled vehicles with current licences, and by 1980 the number is expected to rise to about 23 million.

asked the Minister of Transport if he has yet completed his review of the law relating to the issue of driving licences to persons suffering from epilepsy; and whether he will make a statement.

Yes. On the advice of a panel of eminent consultants, I am proposing to amend the existing law so as to enable driving licences to be granted, in suitable cases, to persons with epilepsy, who are certified by a doctor to have been free of any attack for at least three years, with or without treatment, or to have attacks only during their sleep at night. I am sure that, in the light of modern advances in medicine, these relaxations can be made without impairing road safety in any way; indeed, I believe there could be a positive gain to road safety.I hope to introduce the necessary legislative changes early next Session.

asked the Minister of Transport (1) if he will publish an estimate of the present cost of the Channel Tunnel in the form of Appendix X of proposals for a Fixed Channel Link, Command Paper No. 2137, the figures to include interest during construction; and if he will state the interest rate used for this purpose;(2) if he will publish a revised version of Appendix XII, and of Appendix XI insofar as it relates to the Channel Tunnel, of Command Paper No. 2137, Proposals for a Fixed Channel Link, using a discount rate of 8 per cent., and taking into account the use of containers for freight traffic and the advent of hovercraft.

I do not think publication in such detail would now be useful. Estimates, permitting comparison with those given in Command Paper 2137, were made in 1966 but they have not been brought up to date. In particular they are in terms of 1966 prices and take no account of devaluation. A more up-to-date revision has not been made, because completely new estimates will be prepared during the detailed study period which is expected to begin as soon as the British and French Governments have entered into a preliminary agreement with a private financing group. The new studies will take account, among other factors, of developments in the use of containers and the implications of hovercraft.For what they are worth, the results of the 1966 revision of the 1963 estimates were in summary as follows:

ESTIMATED COST OF TUNNEL
	1963 Estimate (1962 Prices) £ million	1966 Estimate (1966 Prices) £ million
Engineering Cost	143	155-170
Total Cost (including Interest Charges)*	167·5	187-204
* The rate assumed in the 1966 revision was 7·5 per cent, per annum.

COMPARISON OF DISCOUNTED COSTS OF TUNNEL AND OF ESTABLISHED MEANS OF TRANSPORT REQUIRED TO CARRY TRAFFIC WHICH WOULD BE DIVERTED TO THE TUNNEL AT " UPPER " TRAFFIC LEVEL
	1963 Estimate (Discounted at 7 per cent, to 1969 values) £ million	1966 Estimate (Discounted at 8 per cent, to 1974 values)£million
	Tunnel
Initial cost	165	186
Subsequent cost†	67	86
Total Cost	232	272
Established means of transport
Total discounted cost	308	524
†Includes costs for carriage of traffic generated by Tunnel, as well as diverted traffic.

asked the Minister of Transport on how many days in recent months there have been four police officers controlling traffic on the roundabout at the northern end of the Don-caster by pass; for how long on each day: and what plans he has for building a flyover to take the Al through traffic over the roundabout.

We understand that the West Riding police had four officers controlling traffic at the roundabout on Good Friday, 11.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., Easter Monday 11.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. and Easter Tuesday 2.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. Five officers were on duty on 31st May, the Friday before Whitsun, from 2.30 p.m. to 9.00 p.m., but none were needed on any other days in recent months, including the remainder of the Whit weekend.We have no plans for building a flyover to take Al through traffic over the roundabout.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will postpone the closure of the women's wing of the Brockhill Remand Centre until full inquiries as to the possible case of the Women's Hospital at Winson Green has been considered.

My right hon. Friend is not able to postpone the closure beyond the end of this month because the nursing supervision needed cannot any longer be provided at Brockhill. He is examining the possibility of providing accommodation in the Midlands in which women and girls appearing before the courts may be detained overnight when this seems desirable. The use of the former women's hospital in Birmingham prison for this purpose has been carefully considered but found impracticable.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in which prison or centre it is planned to detain women who are remanded by Coventry Magistrates' Court when the proposed closure of the women's wing at Brockhill Remand Home is effected.

Women will be detained in Holloway prison and girls under 21 years in the separate remand centre there. My right hon. Friend is examining the possibility of providing accommodation in the Midlands where women and girls may be detained overnight.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases, not recommended by the examining magistrates, have been forwarded to the Parole Board by his Department, H.2; and in how many such cases has parole been granted.

Of the 710 cases in England and Wales considered by the Parole Board up to the end of May, 78 had not been recommended by local review committees. Release on licence was recommended by the Board in 31 of these. The recommendation was accepted in each case.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what staffing arrangements there are for his Department H.2, which deals with the question of parole; and how many officers have direct experience, either as legal practitioners, magistrates, prison visitors or otherwise, of criminology and penal conditions.

Apart from administrative grade officers, including the Assistant Under-Secretary of State in charge of Probation and After-Care Department, 21 officers, under the direction of a chief executive officer, are engaged on whole-time duties in connection with the administration of the parole scheme. A number of these officers have previous experience connected with the treatment of offenders.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements he has made to offset the losses sustained by retail meat traders fulfilling contracts to prisons and other residential establishments within his control because of the requirement made by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that Argentine lamb had to be disposed of through approved processing centres.

No departure from the normal contracting arrangements has been requested or made.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when he will reach a decision in the confirmation of compulsory purchase orders in respect of Pallion Road, Marmader Road and Plumstead High Street in the borough of Greenwich, on which public inquiries were held on 26th October, 7th November and 28th November, respectively.

The Pattison Road compulsory purchase order has now been decided, and I have sent my hon. Friend a copy of the letter giving the decision in that case. Decisions on the remaining two orders will be issued shortly.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will take steps to subject caravans that are static on caravan sites for long periods to the same control with regard to colour as permanent houses.

Existing legislation enables local planning authorities and licensing authorities to control the colour of caravans by imposing conditions when granting planning permission for sites. This power is identical with that available for controlling the colour of permanent houses.As the result of undertakings given during the passage through Parliament of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act, 1960, local authorities were then advised to use discretion in exercising this power. My right hon. Friend has, however, recently asked the National Parks Commission to study the matter and discuss it with the caravanning and manufacturing interests with a view to minimising the impact of caravans on the appearance of the countryside.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will make a statement on the functioning to date of the Leasehold Reform Act; what information he has of the approximate number of tenants who have availed themselves of it; and whether he has any plans to extend or improve it.

I have reason to suppose that many leaseholders are availing themselves of the rights available under this Act, or benefiting from the more favourable climate it has created for the purchase of freeholds by leaseholders. Their number cannot, however, be estimated as even where the machinery laid down by the Act is employed enfranchisement is carried out by private transactions, which need not be publicly recorded.My right hon. Friend has no plans for the revision of the legislation, which has been in force for less than six months.

asked the Minister of Health what arrangements he has made to offset the losses sustained by retail meat traders fulfilling contracts to hospitals and other health and welfare institutions because of the requirement made by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that Argentine lamb had to be disposed of through approved processing centres.

None; normal contracting arrangements will apply.

asked the Minister of Health how many maternity beds are at present available within the National Health Service; and what proportion of them it is estimated are occupied by immigrant women or the wives and daughters of immigrants.

22,558 beds at 31st December. 1967; information on the second part of the Question is not available.

asked the Minister of Health how many patients were admitted to mental illness hospitals in 1956 and 1966, respectively; how many new outpatients and day patients were seen; how many in-patients there were and what proportion was compulsorily detained;

Between 1956 and 1966 admissions of in-patients rose from about 83,000 to 164,000, numbers of new out-patients from 127,000 to 180,000 and new day patients from a few thousand to 16,000. In-patients resident at the end of the years declined from 150,000 to 126,000; the proportion of detained patients from 70 per cent, to 8 per cent; and the average length of stay of those discharged from 100 days to 69 days.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what total number of units of housing accommodation are needed to house the present population; and how far the actual number of suitable units at present available falls short of the total number required.

There is no fixed absolute measure of the need for housing units and so any estimate of need must be to some extent arbitrary.Currently it is estimated there are about 17·9 million households in Great Britain requiring dwellings: this is on the assumption that these households comprise all families, plus all the existing non-family households, plus a quarter of the one-person households living as lodgers.In addition to this need for 17·9 million dwellings, almost a further 1 million are needed to allow for a margin of vacant houses and for existing second homes, making the total estimated requirement approximately 189 million dwellings.There are about 18 million dwellings leaving a shortfall of about 0·9 million in Great Britain in aggregate; the number of additional dwellings required is likely to be more than this in order to remove all local shortages.Also, about 2 million existing dwellings are unfit and some other housing is deficient by modern standards—for example, about two and a quarter million fit dwellings in Great Britain are without fixed baths.

asked the Minister of Technology how many British emigré scientists and other trained people he has succeeded in persuading to return home in the last two years.

The evidence from the recruitment schemes my Department is supporting is that many more emigr6 scientists and technologists are now aware of employment prospects in this country and that British firms are becoming increasingly interested in recruiting them.This is leading to much more direct contact between British firms and emigr6 candidates for employment. It is not, of course, possible to provide a precise figure of those who have returned to employment in this country, as a result of work done by my Department.

asked the Minister of Health in ivew of the fact that recent cases of oil pollution of the sea and seashores and seaweed and sea life are inimical to the health of British people and to their food, what further steps he plans to take, through the existing interdepartmental machinery, to protect British people and British food from the results of such pollution.

I am advised that there is no evidence at present of any hazard to health.