asked the Prime Minister whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT and place in the Library copies of the annual reports on Northern Ireland which are submitted by Her Majesty's Government to the Council of Europe.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the opportunity this Question gives me of correcting an inadvertent slip when replying to a supplementary question on this matter on Thursday, 13th June, when I said that "a report on Northern Ireland must be furnished each year to Strasbourg". In fact, our obligation is to keep the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe "fully informed" but does not require annual reports as such. A copy of the report we made to the Secretary-General in 1967 is in the Library.—[Vol. 766, c. 435.]

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will take steps to ensure that before action is taken by local education authorities to close colleges of art providing higher vocational courses subject to inspection by his department, his Department is consulted;

The conduct of a college of art maintained by a local education authority is a matter for which the governing body is responsible to the authority. Authorities are aware that they can consult my Department before any particular step is taken.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, what steps he will take to investigate the working of the system set up under the recommendations of the Coldstream Report, and administered by the Summerson Council, bearing in mind the current unrest among students and staff in colleges of art.

Both the National Advisory Council on Art Education under the chairmanship of Sir William Coldstream, and the National Council for Diplomas in Art and Design, under the chairmanship of Sir John Summerson, have arranged to hold special meetings next week.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many members of the Embassy staff in Prague officially visited the Centrotex International Exhibition held in that city in June, 1968.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, why Great Britain did not accept the official invitation to be represented at the diplomatic reception held in Prague during the Centrotex International Exhibition in June, 1968.

My information is that there was no diplomatic reception during the Exhibition. Her Majesty's Embassy was only invited to attend a Fashion Show. This invitation was accepted by the wife of Her Majesty's Ambassador.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why, apart from acceding to a telephonic request for a temporary loan of a Union Jack, no assistance was provided for the managing director of the only British firm represented at the Centrotex International Exhibition.

Her Majesty's Embassy, Prague received no request for assistance in connection with the Centrotex Exhibition apart from that for the loan of a flag from Mr. Raphael of Adler and Company.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, how many people are employed at the British Embassy in Prague; and how many are engaged in assisting British exporters.

There are eight members of the diplomatic staff at Her Majesty's Embassy, Prague. Two of these, the First Secretary (Commercial) and the Second Secretary (Commercial) are employed full time on commercial work, under the close supervision of Her Majesty's Ambassador. There is also one locally engaged market officer on the commercial staff.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what was the value of British exports to Czechoslovakia in each of the last five years; what percentage this represented of the total imports; and how the figures compare with United Kingdom competitors in this market, from figures available to him from international sources.

The value (f.o.b.) of British exports and re-exports to Czechoslovakia in the years 1962 to 1967 was, respectively, in millions of pounds sterling: 14·1, 12·0, 13·1, 14·6, 18·8, 15·0.The International Financial Statistics published by the International Monetary Fund show that Czechoslovak imports from Britain for the years 1962 to 1966 represented, as a percentage of total imports from all countries excluding the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the countries of Eastern Europe, respectively: 8·4, 6·9, 6·2, 5·7, 6·5.The comparable percentage figures for the main competitors in this market are:Federal Republic of Germany: 16·0, 12·1, 14·1, 14·2, 15·7.France: 5·4, 4·3, 2·7, 5·0, 7·9.Italy: 5·8, 4·7, 6·2, 5·9, 6·7.Austria: 6·5, 5·6, 4·9, 5·2, 5·5.It is not yet possible to give compatible figures for 1967.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a study of the relative hazards of strike-anywhere matches and those which ignite only on contact with a specially-prepared surface.

A study was made for my Department by the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment some years ago. It showed that matches sold as safety matches can be struck on a wide variety of surfaces and offer little or no advantage in this respect over strike-anywhere matches.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will take steps, by legislation or otherwise, to prohibit the sale of matches to children under the age of 15 years.

Legislation would be required; and quite apart from the practical difficulties of enforcement, there is no evidence that it would achieve any significant decrease in the number of fires believed to be caused by children.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing for each year since 1956 the number of fires caused by children playing with matches, the number of deaths and other casualties, an estimate of the financial loss resulting from such fires, and similar statistics relating to children playing with kitchen gas lighters and cigarette lighters;

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he is satisfied that the rent increases to be introduced next February by the county borough council of Wolverhampton, together with increases already introduced, comply with his recent circular to local authorities advising a maximum increase of 7s. 6d. per week spread over a longer period; and if he will make a statement.

Wolverhampton County Borough Council have not yet notified my right hon. Friend of any proposals for rent increases next February. The council would be required to do so by the legislation now before Parliament and he would then, of course, take all the relevant factors into account in considering the proposals.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why the annual report of the Cinematograph Films Council, which was presented to him on 9th May and which contains the Council's recommendations for alteration in the arrange-

asked the President of the Board of Trade, what is his estimate of the cost of importing matches in 1965, 1966 and 1967.

The value of imports is given on page 110 of the Overseas Trade Accounts for December, 1966 and 1967.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is his estimate of the cost of importing raw materials to make matches in 1965, 1966 and 1967.

Raw materials used to make matches are not separately distinguished in the import statistics.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give an estimate of the industrial breakdown of investment grant payments to manufacturing industry by the orders of the Standard Industrial Classification.

This information will be provided in the Annual Report on the discharge of the Board of Trade's functions under Part 1 of the Industrial Development Act, 1966, which will be published later this year.

asked the Minister of Transport what is the present position with regard to construction of the Hawley-Lightwater section of the M3, which was officially announced on 17th January, 1968, as due to start during the current year.

The contract is still expected to be let before the end of this year.

asked the Minister of Transport what is now the planned date for the completion of the Allerton Park flyover.

If entry on to the land required for the flyover, and for the related A59 link road to be constructed by the West Riding County Council, can be achieved without undue delay, it should be possible for work to start by the end of March, 1969. The work will take two years to complete.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will refer the recent increase in bus fares of between 30 and 40 per cent. in North-East Essex to the National Board for Prices and Incomes.

An appeal has been lodged by a number of local authorities in Essex against the recent grant by the Traffic Commissioners of a fares increase to the Eastern National Omnibus Co. Ltd. I shall determine this appeal under Section 143 of the Road Traffic Act, 1960. I do not think that a reference to the National Board for Prices and Incomes will be called for in this case.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in view of the fact that instead of an estimated £100 million surplus balance of payments for this year, there will on current trends be a deficit of £350 million, what further steps he is taking to reduce internal demand and keep wage increases in line with productivity growth, to avoid the danger of international pressure on sterling.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer which I gave to a Question from the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Kingston-upon-Thames (Mr. Boyd-Carpenter) on 25th June.—[Vol. 767, c. 45.]

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what duty is currently payable on kitchen gas lighters.

The current duties on portable lighters for igniting gas for domestic use are: —

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current duty on cigarette lighters.

The current duties on cigarette lighters are:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will issue a White Paper explaining in simple terms the Government's policy on the relationship between the cost of living and the freezing of wages and salaries; and if he will take steps to arrange for it to be circulated with every wage packet and dividend letter.

The Government's policy on this matter, which does not entail the freezing of wages and salaries, has been fully set forth in Cmnd. 3590 and is already well known.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in view of the fact that the Bank Rate was five per cent. in October, 1964, that it has since been eight per cent. and is now at seven-and-a-half per cent., if he will take steps to reduce the level of borrowing by nationalised industries and Government spending departments.

I have nothing to add to my right hon. Friend's Budget statement on the subject of the level of borrowing by the nationalised industries and the Government generally.—[Vol. 761, c. 268–9; 301.]

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many executive class posts are offered in the Civil Service for candidates aged 17½ to 19½ in the North-West, North-East, Midlands and East Anglia, Home Counties, South-West regions, respectively, and in Scotland and Wales.

Departments have until the middle of August to declare vacancies to the Civil Service Commis- sion in the light of their needs for staff. The following vancies have been declared so far:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in view of Clause 10 of the Race Relations Bill, what security considerations will be taken into account in relation to the employment on Government work of those who are not of United Kingdom origin.

Security considerations, which apply equally to all who have access to Government classified information, irrespective of race or colour, inevitably affect the extent to which the Armed Forces and Government Departments, particularly those concerned with defence or handling much Government classified work, can recruit people not of United Kingdom origin. The Government have to be satisfied that there is no reason to doubt the reliability of anyone to be employed on secret work.There is no question of discrimination on grounds of race or colour, but one of the factors that are relevant in assessing the reliability of a person who is not of United Kingdom origin is the degree to which he has assimilated himself to this country. For this purpose, the Government have decided to use as a rough guide the length of a person's residence in the United Kingdom. For example, positive vetting procedures require Departments to make inquiries going back over a period of at least 10 years. Where a post involves highly secret work and the occupant has to be positively vetted, a period of 10 years' residence in the United Kingdom will, therefore, generally be necessary. In other cases involving a lesser degree of sensitivity a shorter period would be acceptable, but normally not less than five years' residence will be required, though much will depend on the circumstances of each case.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what directions have been issued through the Bank of England in respect of the remittance of profits earned by Canadian subsidiaries of United Kingdom companies; and on what authority.

Section 30(1) of the Exchange Control Act, 1947 gives the Treasury the power, which is delegated to the Bank of England under Section 34, to issue to United Kingdom residents a notice in writing to secure a satisfactory level of remittances from overseas companies which they control, but the co-operation obtained is such that very few formal notices have ever been issued. None has been issued recently. Current policy is to seek repatriation to the United Kingdom of the greatest possible amount of the net taxed earnings of subsidiary companies in the non-sterling area which are controlled by United Kingdom residents.