asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list in the OFFICIAL REPORT those county councils, county borough councils and borough councils which have been invited by the Forestry Commission to take powers under the Plant Health Act, 1967, to give financial assistance to householders with infected elm trees.

The following local authorities were originally invited to take these powers (which do not how- ever include financial assistance to house-holders):

asked the Minister of State for Defence how many men from the Territorial Army have made application for transfer to the Ulster Defence Regiment; how many of these have been accepted; how many are pending; and how many have been turned down.

Up to now, one man has applied and has been accepted for transfer.

asked the Minister of State for Defence on what date the Army guard at Chichester Road Police Station was removed; if he will indicate the reasons of the removal of this guard; and if he will undertake an urgent review of the guarding of police stations in Northern Ireland in the light of recent events.

The static guard was removed on 16th September, following consultation at local level with the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Measures to protect police stations throughout Northern Ireland are being reviewed by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, my right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State for Defence and the Northern Ireland authorities.

asked the Minister of State for Defence on how many occasions on each month in 1971 the Army have been called to the scene of an explosion in Northern Ireland; and if he will estimate the total amount of gelignite involved in these explosions.

I regret that the information could not without disproportionate effort be provided in the precise form requested by my hon. Friend. The total numbers of bomb incidents, including those where bombs were rendered safe by Army ammunition technical officers, and the estimated total weights of explosive involved, were as follows:

asked the Minister of State for Defence what steps have been taken to counter Irish Republican Army and Republican propaganda against Army operations in Northern Ireland.

Vigorous efforts are made by all means to ensure that the truth is known as widely as possible, at home and abroad.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what amounts she has authorised the Manchester Education Authority to spend on the improvement or replacement of primary and secondary schools in 1972–73 and 1973–74; and what were the amounts requested by the authority.

For 1972–73 the authority proposed 11 primary projects costing about £1·1 million and one secondary project costing nearly £0·3 million. Ten of the primary projects were approved, including one outside the normal building programme arrangements, at a cost of nearly £1 million. For 1973–74, 15 primary projects costing about £1·4 million and two secondary projects costing over £1 million were proposed. Five primary schools costing over £0·5 million have been approved.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she has approved the Manchester Local Education Authority scheme for the subsidised provision of milk based drinks to primary school children; and whether she has made any estimate of the change in public expenditure if such a scheme were adopted nationally.

The answer is "No" to both parts of the Question.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children were receiving free milk in the United Kingdom in September 1970 and 1971, respectively.

On a day in September 1970, 4,275,151 pupils in maintained primary and secondary schools in England and Wales and 98,352 pupils in non-maintained schools received free school milk. Figures for 1971 are not yet available.Information about schools in Scotland is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many pupils affected by the Education (Milk) Act 1971 are receiving free milk on medical grounds.

Local education authorities have been asked to make a return of pupils receiving free milk on medical grounds as part of the census of school meals and milk which took place on a day in the period 4th to 15th October, 1971. Returns from authorities are not yet complete.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if she will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing the current scale of direct grants available to direct grant schools, the date of introduction of the amounts on this scale and for each category of pupil the total grants made in the last financial year together with the total of any other grants made;(2) what is the financial contribution made by her Department in the last financial year to the fees of fee-paying pupils

The information is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will set out in the OFFICIAL REPORT the sliding scale operated by her Department to determine the contributions of her Department and parents, respectively, to payment of the fees of fee-paying pupils at direct grant schools.

The scale at present in operation for residuary place day pupils in the upper school is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will publish a table showing the variations in the proportion of pupils attending direct grant schools whose fees are paid by the appropriate local education authority, giving at least four categories and the number of schools in each category.

The table is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will take steps to publish a table showing in not less than four categories the standard fees charged by direct grant schools together with the respective number of boys, girls, or mixed schools in each category.

The current upper school tuition fees at direct grant grammar schools are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the number of pupils aged eleven or over whose fees at a direct grant school were paid privately in the past but whose fees are now paid by a local education authority.

This information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will entertain applications for direct grant status from schools concerned solely with nursery education.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children were receiving free midday meals in the United Kingdom in September, 1970 and 1971, respectively.

On a day in September, 1970, 627,056 pupils in maintained primary and secondary schools in England and Wales received free school meals. Similar information for 1971 is not yet available.Information about schools in Scotland is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children were receiving paid mid- day meals in the United Kingdom in September, 1970 and 1971, respectively.

On a day in September, 1970, 4,520,754 pupils in maintained primary and secondary schools in England and Wales received school meals on payment. Similar information for 1971 is not yet available.Information about schools in Scotland is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when she expects the Dainton Report on the future of the Research Councils to be published.

Before the end of the year.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the average amount of time lost as a result of strikes per employed person during 1970.

In 1970 the average of working days lost due to industrial stoppages, per employed person in the United Kingdom, was just under half a day.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons under 18 years of age were registered unemployed in the Northern Region in September; how many had not had an offer of their first job; and what vacancies were registered in the employment exchanges in the region suitable for this age group.

At 13th September, 10,739 people under 18 years of age were registered as unemployed in the Northern Region. The precise information requested in the second part of the Question is not available, but of the total unemployed 5,514 were school leavers still seeking their first jobs.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what were the highest unemployment figures between 1960 and 1964, between 1965 and 1969, and between 1970 and 1971.

The highest monthly totals of the numbers registered as unemployed in Great Britain in the periods specified were 878,363 in February 1963, 630,855 in January 1968 and 886,552 in October 1971.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many redundancies which have been announced by the British Steel Corporation have been registered by the Hartlepool Employment Exchanges as applications for unemployment benefit; what this figure represents as a percentage of the total redundancies; and how many registering have been out of work for more than eight weeks.

I regret that information is not available in the form required. It may help the hon. Member, however, to know that according to my Department's records, 887 workpeople have been made redundant by the British Steel Corporation in The Hartlepools area in the first 10 months of 1971 and that there were 444 people registered as unemployed in that area at 11th October who were last employed in the steel industry.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are registered as wholly out of work in the Hartlepool Employment Exchanges at the latest available date; and how this figure compares with the figures for 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970 in the same period.

Following is the information:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons registered as constructional workers are unemployed in the Northern Region.

At 11th October, 14,625 persons who last worked in the construction industry were registered as unemployed in the Northern Region.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of redundancies notified to his Department in each of the past 16 months in the United Kingdom and in Scotland.

Figures for the United Kingdom are not available and records of figures for Great Britain are not generally maintained by month of notification. However, the numbers of redundancies recorded as being due to occur in each of the past 16 months in Great Britain and Scotland are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of unemployed males in each Scottish county and the number of unfilled vacancies for men in each county; and how this compares with October, 1970 and October, 1969, respectively.

Following is the information:

Total numbers of males registered as unemployed, numbers of males registered as wholly unemployed and notified vacancies for males remaining unfilled

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to issue new regulations about the unlit parking of motor vehicles at night.

I hope to lay new regulations before the end of the year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will announce the Government's intentions on the recommendations of the working party on the parking of heavy vehicles.

I hope to receive shortly the views of the local authority associations and the industry. I shall make a statement when I have considered them.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to co-ordinate in his Department the implementation of policy regarding the release of land for house-building and the house-building programme itself; and whether Ministers directly concerned with increasing the supply of building land take a full part in the deliberations of his standing committee concerned with the housing programme which have representatives on them from local authorities, building societies and the industry itself.

As the Minister specially concerned with matters relating to the supply of land I am, as necessary, consulted and informed by all my colleagues about the relevant aspects of their work.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will list the sites formerly owned by the Land Commission which he has sold since 27th July, 1971; what acreage each of these sites represented; on what date it was sold; to whom it was sold; and whether he will indicate in each case whether the site was publicly advertised and auctioned, disposed of by a selected list of tenderers, or sold by direct negotiation.

The following sites were sold to local authorities by direct negotiation:

• Boscow Road, Little Lever (8·77 acres), sold to Little Lever U.D.C. on 17th September, 1971.
• Larksmead, Blandford (16·16 acres) sold to Blandford R.D.C. on 7th October, 1971.
• Park Lane, Congleton (2·25 acres) sold to Congleton B.C. on 6th October, 1971.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he has taken since July to procure information from local authorities about the amount of land which they have released, or designated for release, for building since the issue of Circular 10/70. over and above their previous plans, so that he will be able to keep hon. Members adequately informed about progress in the regard.

I hope to make a general statement soon about the response to Circular 10/70.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the local authorities known to him which have disposed of land surplus to their requirements in response to Circular 10/70; and if he will indicate the sites involved in each case, the firms to which the land was disposed of, and the price paid for the land, where this information has already been made publicly available.

I am not collecting such detailed information. However, I hope to make a general statement soon about the response to Circular 10/70.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will, with a view to issuing general directions, have discussions with the British Railways Board and the publicly-owned bus companies to consider raising the age for concessionary fares from 14 years to the statutory school-leaving age.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what proposals have been submitted to him by the British Railways Board for capital expenditure to extend its freight rolling stock; and if he will make a statement;(2) what proposals have been submitted to him by the British Railways Board for capital expenditure to extend its passenger rolling stock; and if he will make a statement.

Three proposals have been submitted for my approval this year: £16 million on 600 inter-city passenger coaches, £2 million on 500 high-capacity coal wagons, and £12 million on 90 car-sets for the Great Northern suburban services. I have approved all of these.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will be able to announce the procedural adjustments that he expects will be required in respect of domestic policy for rail, road, and inland waterway transport in the event of having to comply with Regulations 1191-2/69 and 1107-8/70 of the Commission of the European Economic Community.

Not for some time. Transitional periods of up to a year after accession have been agreed with the Community in order to allow time for discussions with the industries concerned and with the Commission.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what changes he is making in the allocation of responsibilities among his supporting Ministers.

I have asked the Minister for Transport Industries to take over from the Minister for Local Government and Development the responsibility for all planning and transport casework for the Greater London Council area and for traffic policy generally. The Minister for Local Government and Development continues to be responsible for planning policy generally and for casework outside Greater London.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the chairmanship of the South East Economic Planning Council.

I am very pleased to announce that Lord Porchester has accepted my invitation to become Chairman of the South East Economic Planning Council with effect from 1st November, 1971.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now introduce legislation to enable local planning authorities to bring within control the demolition in conservation areas of buildings which contribute to the character of the area, in accordance with his intentions expressed in a letter to the hon. Member for Islington, East on 25th February, 1971.

Appropriate provisions are included in the Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment from what sources he compiles his statistics of movement of land prices; and whether he consults representative organisations in the industry and professions before they are published.

The composition of the price index for private sector housing land is described in detail in Economic Trends of February, 1971. It is based on information on transactions supplied by the Valuation Office of the Board of Inland Revenue.This index is published regularly for the information of businessmen and the public generally. Although there is no prior consultation, any organisation is free to make representations about either the figures or the method of compilation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of acres of derelict land in England which the local planning authorities, at 31st December, 1970, considered to justify reclamation; how many of that number were in development areas; and how many acres were reclaimed in 1970.

The total amount of derelict land in England at 31st December, 1970, considered by the local planning authorities to justify treatment was 63.035 acres, of which 18,367 acres was in development areas. During 1970, 3,645 acres was reclaimed.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list, giving the mileage in respect of each, those trunk motorways or lengths of motorway in preparation, firmly programmed, and under construction, respectively, as at 31st October, and those motorways or lengths of motorway in use.

The information requested, as at 31st October, is given below:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list, showing the mileage in respect of each, those local authority motorways or lengths of motorway in use, under construction, motorways schemes confirmed by the Secretary of State, and those made by the local authority and submitted to the Secretary of State for confirmation.

The information as at 31st October is given in the table below:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will issue traffic flow statistics showing the build-up of traffic on the A80 road at Stepps and Millerston from August 1965 for each year to date, and the likely increase in traffic flow at these points for each year to 1980.

The August traffic flow on A80 at Stepps and Millerston was as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many requests he has received in the last six months from organisations seeking to make representations on Scottish unemployment; and if he will list those he has refused to meet.

On unemployment in Scotland as a whole I have had four such requests, three of which resulted in meetings. The fourth request is at present being considered.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, in view of the serious accidents recently in the Cumnock area of the A76, he will authorise an early start to the Cumnock bypass.

Neither the accident rate nor the volume of traffic on this road is such as would justify high priority for a Cumnock bypass.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he received the report of the hon. Member for Northwich on Scientology; and when he proposes to publish it.

Early in April; 1 hope to be able to make an announcement soon.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (I) what is the total tonnage and value of imported coal from South Africa since the lifting of the ban on 12th November, 1970, to the latest available date;(2) what is the total tonnage and value of imported coal from the United States of America since the lifting of the ban on 12th November, 1970, to the latest available date.

For the period December, 1970, the month in which restrictions were removed, to September, 1971 inclusive, the information is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what are the total tonnages of coal stocks in the United Kingdom.

The Department issues a weekly statistical statement giving this information which is available in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if his Department has called for a report concerning the recent death of an experienced deep-sea diver operating from the drilling vessel "Glomor III" presently under British jurisdiction south-east of Aberdeen in the North Sea.

The Mobil Oil Company, to which "Glomor III" is on hire, immediately informed the Department of this accident in accordance with the terms of its licence; the company and the diving contractor will furnish full reports to the Department. I understand that the Procurator Fiscal in Aberdeen is conducting a full investigation in co-operation with the police and the deep sea diving naval authorities; he has agreed to provide the Department with a copy of his findings.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the total cost to public funds of his Department's sponsorship of a Christmas and New Year gift scheme in the form of an official handbook; and how many of these handbooks have been purchased each year since 1967, excluding purchases by Government-assisted bodies.

A total of £2,438 in respect of publicity for the scheme over the past four years and an estimated £733 in the current year. Directly attributable to the scheme 513 copies were purchased of the 1968 edition; 514 copies of the 1969 edition; 698 copies of the 1970 edition; 813 copies of the 1971 edition.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether pension increases have been paid to railway superannuitants, following increases in national pensions.

I have been asked to reply.Yes.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can now make a further statement on the review of the fixed rate export credit arrangements.

As my right hon. Friend told the House on 26th January, the Government have been reviewing the whole matter of the export finance arrangements. This review has now reached a stage at which it will be useful to hold technical discussions with the London and Scottish Clearing Banks and a working party has been set up for his purpose with membership drawn from the clearing banks, the Bank of England and the Government Departments concerned.— [Vol. 810. c. 305.]

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the weights and numbers of bronze, cupro-nickel and nickel coins which were scrapped at Llantrisant in August and September 1971.

11,663 lb. of cupronickel and 5,349 lb. of bronze coins produced at Llantrisant in August and September 1971 were rejected. This represents 1·24 per cent. of the coins produced in these alloys. No nickel coins were struck during the period. It would require a disproportionate effort to establish the number of coins rejected among the many denominations produced.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration has been given to the possibility of disposing of the Government's shareholdings in British Petroleum.

The Government have no plans for disposal of their shareholding.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those local authorities in Wales which sold council houses in the past 12 months, showing how many houses were involved with each respective local authority.

293 council houses were sold in Wales between 1st October, 1970, and 30th September, 1971. The details are:

asked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will now take steps to stop the sale of council houses by local authorities.

No.