asked the Postmaster-General, in view of the loss of £10 million due to licence-evasion for television and radio, during the last 12 month-period measured, what further steps he is now taking to reduce losses due to this cause.

Our latest estimate of the number of television licence evaders is 1¼ million; and of the annual loss of revenue £6¼ million. In accordance with the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1967, dealers are now notifying the Post Office of all disposals of television sets and this should enable us to continue to apply counter-evasion measures to better effect.

asked the Postmaster-General (1) what is the annual cost of issuing television and radio receiving licences;(2) what inquiries he has made into the cost saving potential of schemes for the payment of television and radio receiving licences by banker's order and for the introduction of a three- or five-year licence; and what estimate he has made of the possible cost saving involved.

In 1966–67, the cost of issuing licences, including the cost of keeping records and sending reminders, was £2½ million. Payment may already be made by bankers order; but no saving in costs results. There is no evidence of public demand to pay in advance for licences of more than a year's duration; indeed, I think they would be opposed to it.

asked the Postmaster-General why he officially advised an individual, whose name has been supplied to him, that under the regulations a licence is not needed for a radio device fitted to a car which gives warning of the vehicle approaching a police radar trap; and whether, in view of the fact that this advice is contrary to that supplied by his Department in 1965, he will make a statement.

I can find no trace of my Department advising anybody that it would be legal to use a radio device in such a way without a licence.

asked the Postmaster-General what arrangements he is making for a special issue of postage stamps to commemorate the investiture of the Prince of Wales; in what denominations; and what is the proposed date of issue.

My right hon. Friend has already announced that there will be a special stamp issue to mark this occasion. He hopes to be able to announce the denominations of the stamps shortly. It is the intention to issue them on 1st July, Investiture Day.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will relax the General Post Office's restrictions on the employment of aliens, for Czechoslovak students who wish to do Christmas sorting.

The Post Office is bound by the Aliens' Employment Act of 1955 not to employ aliens when suitable British subjects are available. My right hon. Friend cannot, therefore, issue any general variation of this rule but employment may be possible at some offices.

asked the Postmaster-General what decision has been reached on the appointment of the Chairman of the Post Office Corporation; and if he will make a statement.

I hope to appoint a Deputy Chairman of the Post Office Board during the first three months of next year. He will be appointed Chairman of the Corporation shortly after the Post Office Bill is enacted.

asked the Postmaster-General to which Minister Questions on postal matters should be addressed by hon. Members when the new corporation comes into existence.

The Post Office Bill now before Parliament provides for the appointment of a Minister of Posts and Telecommunications who will sponsor the Post Office.

asked the Postmaster-General what was the date when, the reason why, and the conditions under which the time of posting was omitted from certain Post Office date stamps on envelopes.

Clock times shown in Post Office date stamps are provided for control purposes. The times are omitted during the Christmas period, and since 1922 they have not been shown on some lower paid envelopes dealt with in off-peak periods.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will make a statement concerning his policy for the provision of stamp machines attached to letter boxes.

Stamp machines are provided at letter boxes where the nearest machine is more than half-a-mile distant (or in rural areas, one mile) and alternative arrangements for obtaining stamps are judge to be inadequate; annual sales are likely to be at least £30; and service and maintenance costs are not disproportionately high.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will now cancel the 5d. post and retain a uniform rate of 4d. for letters until the proper preparations have been made, and the necessary equipment is available for the introduction of a two-tier system.

I would refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply to the hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Marten) earlier today.

asked the Postmaster-General what proportion of letters are now going by the new 5d. letter service.

About 32 per cent.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will consider introducing a two-tier postal system by which letters posted before mid-day cost 4d. and after mid-day 5d.

No. I would refer the hon. and gallant Gentleman to the Answer I gave to the hon. Member for Surbiton (Mr. Fisher) on Thursday, 17th October.—[Vol. 770, c. 160.]

asked the Postmaster-General how many Government Departments are now using the Giro service.

Most Government Departments have opened accounts with the National Giro, but the extent to which these are used at the moment varies considerably from one Department to another.

asked the Postmaster-General what is his estimate of the annual saving to public funds of regrading the Crown Post Office at New Alresford to a sub-post office.

About £2,500.

asked the Postmaster-General (1) what further steps he plans to take to prevent letters posted under the 4d. second-class mail in the West country from being deliberately delayed;(2) why letters posted in the Okehampton—Holsworthy area, and for delivery in that same area, are sent to Exeter for sorting; and what is the actual saving in costs with this method.

Postal services in the West and elsewhere are continuously under review and second-class letters are not delayed unnecessarily. Local letters for delivery in the Okehampton and Holsworthy areas are not now sent to Exeter.

asked the Postmaster-General why letters posted in the Bideford area for delivery in that same area are sent to Barnstaple for sorting; and what is the actual saving in costs with this method.

This refers to second-class letters only, which are nevertheless included in the first delivery next day when this can be done without prolonging it. Some £3,000 a year will be saved by sorting at Barnstaple letters collected from the surrounding area, but I am sorry I am unable to isolate savings for particular elements of the scheme.

asked the Postmaster-General how many applications for the installation of telephones at North Weald, Epping, are at present outstanding; and what steps he is taking to accelerate the provision of the necessary lines to satisfy this demand.

126 at 31st October, 1968. We ordered a new exchange in December, 1965 and have been pressing the manufacturers to complete it. We now expect the exchange to be ready in the spring of 1969. All the people who are waiting will then be given service.

asked the Post master-General why he has increased the charge for hiring extra bells for a telephone by 100 per cent.

To reduce a loss of about £1 million per year some charges have had to be increased, but mostly by less than 100 per cent.

asked the Postmaster General how many telephone channels there are between London and Malta; and what is the average delay.

Six; about 40 minutes.

asked the Postmaster General what reduction there has been in the demand for the early morning call system following the increase in the charge from 6d. to 2s.

About 60 per cent. at present.

asked the Postmaster General what representations he has re- ceived concerning the growth of private organisations providing an early morning call system on the telephone following the increase in the Post Office charge from 6d. to 2s.; and what reply he has sent.

None.

asked the Postmaster General what proposals he has to alter the arrangements for the provision of an emergency service for repairs of telephones at the weekends; and if he will make a statement.

An emergency service is always available. The week-day service has recently been extended and this should allow us to attend to most faults reported up to 1.30 p.m. on Saturdays.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will make arrangements whereby telephone subscribers, when they are credited for a call, can check their accounts to see that they have been so credited.

This should always be possible for credits in respect of trunk calls via the operator. Separate details of credit for other calls could not be given without major changes in the billing processes and undue extra cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will take steps to prescribe to local education authorities new and different standards for the provision of school transport, attaching less relative importance to considerations of minimum distances between homes and schools and greater relative importance to considerations of the nature, physical characteristics of neighbourhoods, traffic and other dangers along routes between homes and schools; and if he will make a statement.

No. Local education authorities have adequate discretionary powers to enable them to provide transport where school children have a dangerous journey to make.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what estimates were submitted by each of the local education authorities in Wales and Monmouthshire for capital building projects for primary and secondary schools for the year 1969–70; and what allocation

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will take steps to co-ordinate and improve the educational and medical services for children who are suffering from spina bifida; and if he will make a statement.

I have asked local education authorities, in preparing their building programmes for special schools, to have regard to the need for additional places for the larger numbers of such children expected to survive through infancy, and am considering what further advice I should give.

asked the Secretary of state for Education and Science (1) what the annual increase in educational expenditure has been in real terms over the last eight years;(2) what the annual increase in educational expenditure by local education authorities has been in real terms over the last eight years.

There are conceptual difficulties in expressing statistics of public expenditure, including transfer

The estimates submitted by, and the allocations announced for, each of the Local Education Authorities in Wales and Monmouthshire for the major school building programme 1969–70 are shown below.payments, for past years in terms of constant prices. With this qualification, I estimate that the average annual increase in real terms in expenditure on education in Great Britain (including school meals and milk and local libraries) between 1959–60 and 1967–68 was about 6 per cent. I regret that separate figures for expenditure by local education authorities are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the estimated costs of the open university on capital and on revenue account, and in administrative and teaching personnel.

Expenditure in 1969–70 is expected to be between £1·5 million and £2 million, of which about half is capital expenditure.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are his plans for the future of the National College for the Training of Youth Leaders, Leicester.

The Department is examining the future basic training of full-time youth and community workers in consultation with the bodies concerned, including the governors of the National College for the Training of Youth Leaders. An announcement will be made when this process is completed.

asked the Secrettary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to reduce the number of motoring offences which at present have to be dealt with by the courts.

Section 131 of the Transport Act, 1968 enables the fixed penalty system to be extended to include a wider range of traffic offences and my right hon. Friend will soon begin consultations on the use to be made of these powers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why his Department name prisons with the prefix Her Majesty's; and whether he will now designate them as named prisons with or without location as a means of identification.

Because they are Crown establishments, staffed by members of a Government service. I see no reason to drop the prefix from their official designations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of his agreement and acceptance of the salary increase to policemen, he will now agree to the £2 per week undermanning allowance for London's firemen or an increase on the same basis as that in operation for the police.

Rates of fire service pay in England and Wales are negotiated by the National Joint Council for Local Authorities' Fire Brigades, which then makes recommendations to fire authorities. Under the arrangements for giving the Government early warning of claims and proposals to increase pay, the Home Office is informed of any pay claim received by the National Joint Council. My right hon. Friend has received no formal notification of any proposal to pay an undermanning allowance to members of the London Fire Brigade. Should such a proposal be received it will be considered in the light of incomes policy.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether, before using the land and buildings of the mine depot at Wrabness as a prison he will offer the land and buildings on the open market so that industry may have a chance of buying, in view of the importance of this area for the export trade.

No. I am following the customary procedure of first offering surplus defence land to other Government Departments, who take account of the national interest, before offering it to local authorities or for sale publicly. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is considering whether the Wrabness depot can be used as a prison.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement concerning the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation exercise undertaken by 41st Royal Marine Commandos in Norway.

Exercise "Blue Hill" was held in Southern Norway—well below the snow line—between 6th and 11th November. It was one of a series of Norwegian Army national exercises in which the Royal Marines have participated in recent years, and on this occasion 41 Commandos R.M. took part.Previous exercises in Northern Norway had involved the issue of special cold weather clothing. In this case, however, combat uniform was issued. On the most experienced advice this was considered appropriate for the time of the year and the location of the exercise.In the event there was an exceptional and sudden deterioration in weather conditions, and items of cold weather equipment, including snow gaiters, were made specially available by the Norwegian Army. As conditions worsened still further the exercise was prematurely terminated. Fifteen men of the total of 500 in the Commando suffered from cold and exposure, but there were no cases of frostbite.

asked the Secretary for Employment and Productivity whether she will refer to the National Board for Prices and Incomes the question of the increase in the salary of a company chairman from £17,500 to £22,500 per annum, details of which have been sent to him; and whether in this and similar cases she will freeze the salary scales until the National Board for Prices and Incomes issue their report.

As I made clear in replies to my hon. Friend on 22nd July, 24th October and 11th November, I do not propose to answer Questions on individual cases of this nature.—[Vol. 769, c. 7–8; Vol. 770, 375–6; Vol. 772, c. 23–4.]

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government are acceding to the Convention on Consent to Marriage Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages.

It is our firm intention to accede to this Convention as soon as posible. The reason for delay is the necessity for further legislation in certain dependent territories to ensure that the position there conforms to the requirements of the Convention. As soon as sufficient progress has been made with this we shall accede to the Convention.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he is aware that the long-dated Treasury 6¾ per cent. Stock 1995–98 is quoted at 87⅜ per cent., which is seven points lower than its immediate post-devaluation price; and what new action he proposes to take which will have the effect of restoring confidence in British Government Stocks;(2) if he is aware that 3½ per cent. War Loan is quoted at 44¾ per cent., the lowest on record, against 104 per cent. in June 1945 and that the purchasing power of the £ sterling has fallen from 20s. to 8s. in the same time; and if he will take immediate action in order to prevent this premier Government Stock from further loss of value.

The answer to the first parts of both these Questions is Yes. The market values of Government stock reflect the general level of interest rates, and world interest rates continue at very high levels. The best action which the Government can take is to pursue policies designed to improve our balance of payments, maintain our competitiveness in world markets, and restore the strength of the British economy; and that is what we are doing.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what evidence he based his official assessment that the new hire-purchase measures to enforce moderate consumer demand will produce an immediate effect on demand; and by what amount he estimates that this will reduce the traditional Christmas trade.

Past experience shows that the effect on demand of variations in hire-purchase controls is virtually immediate. As to the second part of the Question, it is difficult to give a precise estimate.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will state the number of houses completed in Great Britain for each month from January, 1967, to date, giving the figures for council and private sector houses separately.

The information is as follows:

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown of the number of houses started so far this year and the comparative number for the same period last year and the previous year, showing local authority and private sector houses separately.

The information is as follows:

asked the Minister of Overseas Development if, in view of the present hardship to United Kingdom residents overseas, he will introduce legislation to amend the United Kingdom Pensions (Increase) Act to provide pensions to those persons or their dependants who were formerly employed in British Government institutions or offices and were not eligible for pensions by the Governments of such overseas territories.

No. The United Kingdom Pensions (Increase) Acts provide for increases to existing pensions and they cannot be extended so as to grant pensions to persons who are not already eligible for them.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what proportion of the total expenditure of his Department is spent in England and in Wales, respectively.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply which I gave him on 23rd February, 1968.—[Vol. 759, c. 212.]

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland for what reasons he has not yet appointed a Chairman of the South-East of Scotland Regional Hospital Board.

I have not yet reached a decision in this matter but I hope to do so very shortly. Meantime the duties of chairman are being carried out by the vice-chairman in whom I have the fullest confidence.

asked the Minister of Power if he will give an estimate of the capacity of the Central Electricity Generating Board, in megawatts sent out, for January, 1975.

The Central Electricity Generating Board's capital development programme provides for 65,200 MW of generating capacity for the 1973–74 winter. The Board's capacity for the 1974–75 winter will depend on decisions yet to be taken about power station orders and the amount of old plant to be taken out of service.

asked the Minister of Power if he will ensure that in future there is a gap of less than 12 months between one co-ordinating conference with the chairmen of the nationalised industries and the next such conference; and if he will undertake to hold these meetings more regularly in view of the importance of co-ordination and co-operation in developing the energy policy of the United Kingdom.

I plan to hold several meetings a year of my Co-ordinating Committee with the chairmen. At the Sunningdale meeting all the chairmen welcomed this and agreed that close and more frequent consultation—not just for energy but also on more general issues of common concern to the industries—would be helpful to us all.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total cost of introducing and administering the prescription charges.

In the current financial year total administrative cost is estimated at between £½ million and £¾ million. In addition, during the same period, special payments to chemists in respect of work in connection with prescription charges will amount to about £ ½ million, but I expect that, by reducing somewhat the total volume of dispensing, prescription charges will consequently reduce the aggregate payment to chemists.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of prescriptions issued for the years 1964, 1966 and 1967; and what are the latest available figures since the introduction of prescription charges.

The numbers of National Health Service prescriptions dispensed by chemists in England and Wales were:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many applications have been made for exemption from prescription charges on grounds of hardship.

About 36,000 up to 22nd October, 1968.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice he has given to the medical profession to enable patients to determine the relative advantages of paying for a season ticket to obtain prescriptions.

General practitioners have been given full information about the pre-payment certificate scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice he has given to the medical profession in cases where patients cannot afford the season ticket charges for prescriptions, where the single prescription charges cannot be met, but where a qualification on hardship grounds is not available.

No such advice is necessary, because patients who would suffer hardship if they had to pay the charges are already entitled to exemption or refund.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations he has received against the introduction of prescription charges; and what replies he has sent.

I estimate that some 500 such letters have been received since 16th January. The replies have explained the reasons for the reintroduction of prescription charges and the arrangements made to exempt those on whom they would bear hardest.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his present estimate of total prescriptions, giving the number of exemptions from prescription charges and the number without an exemption qualification, respectively.

A charge was paid on 27 million of the 52 million prescriptions dispensed by chemists in England and Wales between 10th June, 1968 (when prescription charges were reintroduced) and 31st August, 1968. The remainder were exempt. About one million charges were refunded.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total cost of printing and distributing the new forms required arising from the introduction of prescription charges.

The estimated total cost of printing and distributing new forms was £55,000. This figure does not include the cost of the revised prescription forms referred to in the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Willesden, West (Mr. Pavitt) on 11th November.—[Vol. 773, c. 31–32.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many different types of forms have been printed to deal with prescriptions since prescription charges were introduced.

To allow for the differing grounds for exemption and for the varying circumstances in which prescriptions may be issued, thirty forms have been printed. Of these, seven have been revised and reissued because of changes in the arrangements for exemption and one has been discontinued.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, in preparing his forthcoming White Paper, he will give consideration to allowing the payment of that part of the supplementary benefits which provides for rent and rates to retired persons who, though not themselves tenants or owners of the premises concerned, share a home with a relative or friend whose income is small.

I assume my hon. Friend has in mind a rent allowance for retired people living with friends or relatives. The Supplementary Benefits scheme already provides for a fixed rent allowance of 11s. a week to be included in assessing entitlement to supplementary pension in such cases.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will designate Luton Airport as one where adequate facilities for consultation have to be set up under Section 8 of the Civil Aviation Act, 1968.

Luton Airport is one of several aerodromes whose designation under this Section is being considered.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement concerning the markings of inflatable liferafts following the recommendations of the court of inquiry on the loss of the Hull trawler, "St. Romanus".

Inflatable liferafts carried by fishing boats, and various other ships, subject to the Merchant Shipping (Life-Saving Apliances) Rules, 1965, are required to bear a serial number and the manufacturer's name. Inflatable liferafts are in practice transferred between ships. While no acceptable system has yet been devised to identify them positively with a particular ship or port, my Department are renewing urgently efforts to find a satisfactory solution to this problem.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when he now expects to receive the report of the Monopolies Commission on the professions.

The Commission are making good progress with this inquiry, but I am not yet able to say when they will report.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will publish a detailed breakdown of his estimate of £11·3 million as the cost for the first full year's operation of the annual administration of a centralised system of licensing of vehicles and drivers.

The estimate is made up of the following annual costs:

asked the Minister of Transport how many staff are at present employed by local authorities in the administration of licensing of vehicles and drivers.

The number of staff so employed on 31st March, 1968 was 4,926.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will publish a detailed breakdown of the estimated costs of £12.6 million for the administration of the existing system of licensing vehicles and drivers in 1975.

The estimate is made up of the following annual costs:

asked the Minister of Transport if he will provide a list of those railway lines where consent has been refused to proposals to close passenger services.

Pursuant to my Answer [Official Report, 11th November, 1968; Vol. 773, c. 2] the following is the information:

asked the Minister of Transport if he will provide a list of those railway lines where information was published under Section 54 of the Transport Act 1962, or proceedings initiated under Section 56, but in neither case completed before the publication of the Network Plan in March 1967.

Pursuant to my Answer [Official Report, 11th November, 1968: Vol. 733, c. 2] the following is the information:The closure proposals for railway passenger services not included in the 1963 Reshaping Report for which advance notice was given under Section 54 of the Transport Act, 1962 but which had not been published under Section 56 of the Act by 15th March, 1967 included:

asked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will make a statement about Welsh local government reorganisation in the light of the consultations which have taken place since the publication of the White Paper Local Government in Wales, Command Paper No. 3340.

While, as was to be expected, the consultations showed divergencies of opinion over some issues, they indicated a sufficient general degree of support to justify my proceeding with the further detailed work needed to prepare legislation. In the course of this there will be further consultation with the local authority associations and others concerned on the allocation of certain responsibilities between the tiers of local government. I propose also to give Welsh local authorities and their associations an opportunity to comment further on our proposals, if they so wish, following the publication of the Report of the Royal Commission on Local Government in England.Subject to the above and as a basis for the continuing work, I propose to make the following changes to the White Paper proposals:First, in North Wales in the light of the consultations, I now propose that there should be two counties—one comprising the present counties of Anglesey, Caernarvonshire and Merioneth (except Edeyrnion Rural District) to be called Gwynedd; the other comprising Flintshire and Denbighshire (plus Edeyrnion R.D.) and to be called Clwyd.Secondly, in view of the strong local desire to maintain the unity of Cardiganshire, I propose that this should be one district and that the proposal for a Teifi Valley Authority should be abandoned; the total number of new districts in Wales would thus be 35, not 36.Thirdly, I propose that the community of Llanberis should be included in the Caernarvon/Bangor district.Fourthly, I propose to leave unchanged the boundaries of Swansea County Borough rather than extend them to include the whole of Glais.Further work will now proceed as rapidly as possible, although I cannot at this stage say when it will become possible to introduce legislation.A letter giving more details is being sent to all Welsh local authorities today, with copies to all Members representing Welsh constituencies, and to the hon. Member for Hereford (Mr. Gibson-Watt).

asked the Secretary of State for Wales when the Mitchell Troy-Raglan trunk road will be opened.

Given reasonable weather, it should be open for traffic by the end of the year, though some work involving the temporary closure of one carriageway will remain for completion in 1969.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he has taken to ensure that the survey, The Register of Industrial Sites in Wales, is published and available to aid developers who wish to build factories in Wales.

There are practical difficulties about publishing the Register. Its compilation is a continuing process and it was designed primarily as an aid to the Board of Trade in advising inquirers about suitable sites. But appropriate extracts from the Register are supplied to inquirers by the Board of Trade Office in Cardiff, which maintains full and up-to-date information and is always ready to give all the help it can to industrialists seeking information on these matters.

asked the Minister of Technology what proportion of the total expenditure of his Department on research is spent in Wales and in England, respectively.

Separate figures are not available for expenditure on research. Taking the total expenditure by the Department on research and development together, in the year ending 31st March, 1968, approximately 1 per cent. was spent in Wales and 86 per cent. in England.