asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the cost of the survey into drug-taking carried out for his Department by Market Advertising and Products Study Limited; and if he will publish the report.

Market Advertising and Product Studies Ltd. carried out under contract part of a survey which the Home Office commissioned from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. The total cost of the survey was £26,767.

I am grateful to the Minister for that answer, but it does not mean that the report is to be published. Does he not regard that as rather a lot of money to spend on something that presumably will only be bedside reading for the Home Secretary? Can he confirm that the report bears out many of the recommendations of the Wootton Report, which was scandalously rejected by his predecessor, and in particular that it shows that cannabis smoking is far more widespread than was popularly appreciated and that there is no link between cannabis and the hard drugs? Does he realise that the police are placed in the impossible position of having to enforce a law that the public do not accept?

No, Sir. I should not like to draw the firm conclusions that the hon. Gentleman does from the draft, which requires a considerable amount of further evaluation. The survey, which was commissioned in 1967, consists of a large amount of information that still needs to be evaluated.

While I reject all that the hon. Member for Cornwall, North (Mr. Pardoe) said about cannabis, may I ask whether my hon. Friend has noticed the disturbing reports that there is an increasing use of Chinese heroin in this country? Does not he agree that, if those reports are true, the position is extremely serious as it implies a professionally-organised trade in the drug? Will he, therefore, ask for an immediate report from the Metropolitan Police on the matter?

Yes, Sir. Chinese heroin is a danger of which the Metropolitan Police are well aware. We are in close touch with them about this.

Will the Minister bear in mind that the House will expect the Government to show the same courage as their predecessors in refusing to legalise the taking of cannabis resin?

Yes, Sir. There is no question of any change of policy.

Does my hon. Friend realise that the overwhelming majority of rational and reasonable opinion in this country, including the unanimous opinion of the medical profession, is sternly opposed to legalising Indian hemp?

The hon. Gentleman should see what is published in the report.

I think that I would agree with my hon. Friend.

Will the Minister confirm that in due course the report will be published, after the evaluation he has spoken about has been made?

First, I should like to congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his first appearance on the Front Bench. I should not like to give the firm assurance for which the hon. Gentleman asks. It is a draft report and needs a considerable amount of further evaluation. When it is presented to Ministers, we shall be able to consider whether or not it should be published.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what financial expenditure he is proposing on the accommodation at Wandsworth Prison for bachelor prison officers.

Two schemes to provide improved accommodation are under consideration, involving a toal cost of about £15,00.

I welcome that reply, but I am sure that the hon. and learned Gentleman is aware of the two issues involved. There is, first, the urgent need to improve the deplorable conditions in which unmarried officers are now living at Wandsworth Prison. Secondly, there is the need to ensure that there is adequate finance for additional accommodation for the extra officers that it is hoped will be appointed to the prison in the very near future. Those are two very important matters to the officers at the prison.

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that I am fully aware of the need for more bachelor accommodation for the prison staff. I recently visited the prison and that need was forcibly brought home to me by both the governor and the representatives of the Prison Officers Association.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in view of the increase in the number of fires in London caused by arson, he will initiate special action to combat arson and, in this connection, to investigate the activities of certain public loss assessors and insurance loss adjusters.

It is for the chief officer of police concerned to take such action as he considers appropriate. I am sure that any suspected arson or fraudulent fire loss claim is carefully investigated.

Will the Minister bear in mind that detailed factual reports on a number of these incidents were submitted to Scotland Yard some years ago and no action was taken? Could he at least find out why that is so, and ask the Yard particularly to investigate the activities of Mr. Leopold Harris and his family firm of L. S. Harris, who are up to their old trick of submitting fraudulent claims, often in connection with fires in which innocent people have been burnt to death?

It is my understanding that details of certain cases have been sent to the Commissioner of Police. It is for the Commissioner of Police to decide what action shall be taken.

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of that reply, I beg to give notice that I shall seek to raise this matter on the Adjournment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he has had regarding the future administration of magistrates' courts; and if he will make a statement.

Last June the Home Office issued to the organisations principally concerned a memorandum, prepared jointly with the Lord Chancellor's office, setting out the arguments for and against the two main alternatives for the future organisation of magistrates' courts. Replies to this memorandum are now being considered, but I am not yet ready to make a statement.

Is the Home Secretary aware that large numbers of magistrates' benches, particularly in the big cities, would like to see a national magistrates' service as part of the general court system, with administration taken away from local authorities?

I am aware that there are many people in favour of that alternative and, equally, many important people with an interest in this matter who feel the other way. This matter is under careful consideration.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that court overcrowding is often caused by lay magistrates, and will he give serious consideration to the appointment of more stipendiary magistrates?

That is a wide question on which I will not hazard a snap reply.

As the organisation of magistrates' courts is bound to be considered during the passage of the Local Government Bill, will the Secretary of State make a statement on this subject before the Bill completes Committee stage?

Yes, certainly, we shall have to do that.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied with the procedures whereby information is conveyed to the Press by the Metropolitan Police relating to persons voluntarily visiting police stations and against whom no charge has been made; and if he will make a statement.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply my hon. Friend gave to Questions from my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Wimbledon (Mr. Havers) and the hon. Member for Hackney Central (Mr. Clinton Davis) on 22nd December.—[Vol. 828, c. 381.]

I am grateful for that reply, but will the Minister impress upon the Metropolitan Police the serious view taken in the House when an hon. Member is reported as having been breathalysed because of his condition—I think that was the phrasing—and when that information appears to emanate from or be corroborated by the police? Will he impress upon the Metropolitan Police that tests of breath and blood are taken to determine the condition, and not the cause of the condition, of someone reporting to a police station and that in such cases serious harm is done by innuendo which is never redressed by the subsequent publication of negative findings?

I have not had a full report on the case, and I do not think one would want to discuss it anyway. I have looked carefully at the procedures followed by the police and I think that they are the right ones.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that, not only in London but in the counties, there is a growing practice of the police relating to the Press information received in an official capacity? Not infrequently, that information has no relation to the prevention of crime. Does not my right hon. Friend agree that it is not the function of the police to put out gossip?

I should be grateful if hon. Members would bring any examples of that to my attention.

Does not the Minister agree that one of the disturbing aspects in this case is that only two weeks earlier the right hon. Member involved had asked for an investigation into police affairs in his constituency? When such an incident as this occurs two weeks later, are not rather disturbing inferences drawn?

I do not think that anyone, least of all the right hon. Member concerned, would make such an imputation.

There is concern, as I know from correspondence about the relationship between the police and the Press. As the Police Journal recently commented, while there was speedy contact with the Press in the first part of the case there was dilatoriness when it came to clearing it up. Should there not be a set procedure?

This case has been investigated in meticulous detail by the Commissioner of Police at my request. I am in the process of communicating with the right hon. Member concerned and I think this is the right procedure to follow.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will cause an inquiry to be made into the circumstances in which the Metropolitan Police made public the findings of a breathalyser test against a named person at Tottenham Court Road Police Station on 14th December, 1971, at a time when no proceedings had been initiated, particulars of which case have been sent to him by the hon. Member for Hackney, Central.

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has held an inquiry. The investigating officer found no evidence that the result of a test was initially made public by the police.

That is a profoundly unsatisfactory reply. If a meticulous inquiry has been carried out, why is the House uninformed as to the details, as is the public at large? Who divulged the name of my right hon. Friend to the Press or whoever else it was? To whom was it divulged? Is it not a fact that the police refused to make an apology to my right hon. Friend even when they had publicised his name and it became clear that no prosecution could possibly follow? Does this not call for a public inquiry?

No, Sir. I do not agree with that at all. The inquiry, made at my request by the Commissioner, was the result of a letter to me from the right hon. Member concerned. It is right and courteous for me to do what I am doing—namely, first writing to give him all the details.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of that reply, I propose to raise the matter on the Adjournment at the earliest opportunity.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of persons placed on suspended sentence and probation, respectively, over the last comparable period.

In 1970 in England and Wales 33,909 persons aged 17 and over were given a suspended sentence of imprisonment and 30,030 were placed on probation.

I thank the hon. and learned Gentleman for those figures, but does he not agree that the supervision of persons who have been given suspended sentences savours of the custodial whereas the probation officer's rôle is more fraternal? In looking to any extension of either system is it not important to see that one function does not interfere with the other?

At the moment there is no way by which a supervision order can be attached to a suspended sentence, which is merely a sentence of imprisonment suspended. In Committee on the Criminal Justice Bill we have been debating the proposal to allow for a suspended sentence supervision order.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will instruct the Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police not to impose large-scale street closures and traffic diversions on weekdays.

My right hon. Friend has no authority to do so.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that when Royal foreign visitors arrive in London and drive to Buckingham Palace there is widespread congestion of traffic over a large area of central London because of the diversion of traffic by the Commissioner of Police? This causes intolerable delay to tens of thousands of people and widespread complaint which is fully justified. Will the hon. Gentleman consider suggesting to the appropriate authorities that future invitations should be accompanied by a request for arrival to take place on Saturday so that the minimum inconvenience to the public is caused? He will recall that the Lord Mayor's Show always takes place on a Saturday.

I am sure that notice will be taken of what the right hon. Gentleman has said, but it is not always practical for Royal visitors to arrive on a Saturday or a Sunday.

Would it not be sensible to suggest to the Commissioner of Police that streets need not be closed for hours before the procession is due to pass? The streets are closed for a much longer period than is absolutely necessary.

The hon. Gentleman will have noticed that the period during which streets are closed has been progressively reduced over recent years. One has to bear in mind the time needed for troops to be stationed along a Royal procession route. The policy of the police is to close streets for as short a time as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is now in a position to announce the results of his review of civil defence.

I expect a detailed circular to be issued to local authorities next month.

Is my hon. Friend aware that many units of the Voluntary Civil Aid Service have maintained themselves in existence for many years now in the expectation that this Government proposal would provide them with an opportunity to continue to play a satisfying rôle? Will he give the House an assurance that that will be so?

My right hon. Friend gave a full reply to a Question asked by my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Huntingdonshire (Sir D. Renton) on 5th August, in which he set out the Government's policy. In so far as voluntary organisations of this kind can play a part in local authority plans, it is our view that they should play as full a part as possible.

Is it not clear that civil defence is a "con" trick inflicted on people who would have no hope of survival in a nuclear conflict? Why does not the Minister give to those who, with good intentions, engage in civil defence a real rôle in emergency and accident work?

The rôle played by those who work in conjunction with local authorities can be in civil defence and in emergencies of other kinds, but this is a matter which should be co-ordinated by the local authorities.

Contrary to what was said by the hon. Member for Rugby (Mr. William Price), will my hon. Friend note that there is great disappointment that he has not followed the considerable local interest and effort which has been shown in this matter by a clear decision to put the Government squarely behind civil defence?

As I said in reply to an earlier supplementary question, my right hon. Friend gave a very full statement of the Government's policy on 5th August, and I have nothing to add to that.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Deparement how many letters he received in December, 1971, from women concerning their failure to receive alimony granted to them by court order.

During December three letters were received from women complaining about the enforcement of maintenance orders in magistrates' courts in England and Wales.

I acknowledge what the Government have done about attachment of earnings, but do they imagine that they have solved the problem? Does the hon. and learned Gentleman realise that Members of Parliament are getting twice as many letters on this matter as before?

No, I do not for a moment think that one has solved the problem. The problem is that of achieving means of geting money out of people who, for some reason or another, may be unable to pay or determined not to pay. This is an extraordinarily difficult problem. However, as the hon. Gentleman appreciates, we have taken certain actions to strengthen the court machinery for enforcing maintenance orders.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he next expects to visit Northern Ireland.

I have at present no date fixed for another visit to Northern Ireland.

Does the Home Secretary, following his last visit to Northern Ireland, recall having been reported in The Guardian as saying that he saw little likelihood of a final military solution to the Northern Ireland crisis? Will he explain why he has been so reluctant to bring forward his own political initiative? Does he not regard the events of the last few days, culminating in this morning's shootings, as an ominous development? May I take this opportunity of expressing to the relatives of the deceased my personal sorrow and, I am sure, that of hon. Members on all sides of the House? If the Home Secretary will not bring forward a political initiative with regard to his security responsibilities, will he seek to ease the situation and facilitate all-party talks?

I am sure the whole House joins with the hon. Gentleman in expressing sympathy to the relatives of those who are the most recent murder victims of the campaign of terrorism. The phrase "political initiative" is sometimes used a little loosely. The initiative the Government have taken is to propose talks with all concerned to achieve, for minority and majority communities alike, an active, permanent and guaranteed rôle by agreement in the life of the Province. One can only get agreement by consultation and discussion. One cannot hold discussions with people who will not participate in discussion.

Bearing in mind that it was two of my constituents who were so brutally murdered this morning, would my right hon. Friend urge as many hon. Members opposite as possible who have not been to Northern Ireland to go there and try to satisfy themselves, by talking to all kinds of people, that there are few if any grievances remaining which could be put right legislatively? Will he persuade them to return to this House and urge those who have left public life to return to it and try to give the framework offered to them a fair chance? Is not this a way in which loss of life may be averted in Northern Ireland?

I welcome visits by hon. Members to Northern Ireland. I have always made it clear that we as a Government believe there must be a twin solution, military and political. Those who commit violence merely put off further the day of solution.

Is the Home Secretary aware that I, as one hon. Member who has recently spent three days in the Bog-side and in Belfast, believe the situation is desperate in those two cities and that some initiative is needed by the Government, but that another internment campaign will not solve the problem? In fact the situation which exists at the moment shows that internment has failed. When will the Home Secretary take a political initiative?

The hon. Gentleman is repeating what he has said time and again.

And I will go on saying It.

I do not accept what he says about internment. The best political initiative that could be taken would be if minority representatives would come and talk to us.

When next my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary visits Northern Ireland, will he visit many of the families who have been bereaved as a result of the activities of these evil men, members of the I.R.A.'? Would he not agree that, having had such direct experience of their anguish, which reflects the anguish of all the people of Northern Ireland, he would be in a better position to persuade his right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to bring pressure on the Eire Government to drop their hypocritical attitude and put an end to I.R.A. publicity, I.R.A. recruiting campaigns in the South, and giving them the opportunity to publicise the activities of those who have escaped from internment camps?

That question goes a long way beyond the original Question and is not one I can satisfactorily deal with in question and answer. I appreciate my hon. Friend's feelings of revulsion that people who have committed murder should flaunt themselves in other countries.

Is the Home Secretary aware that all of us who have visited Northern Ireland are well aware that there is no easy solution to this problem? Is he also aware that we know that Her Majesty's Government are prepared for talks on all aspects of the Northern Ireland issue. Is that the view of Mr. Faulkner? Has the right hon. Gentleman noted that Mr. Lynch has said within the last 48 hours in a wider context that he will be prepared to talk before internment finishes? Has the right hon. Gentleman spoken to the S.D.L.P. recently, because there is urgent need for talks to begin?

I agree that there is urgent need for talks to begin, and I hope that talks between the parties in this Parliament may be taking place in the very near future. As for the S.D.L.P., I have repeatedly asked its representatives to come and talk to me on the basis of no conditions on either side and time and again they have refused.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further progress has now been made in achieving a political settlement satisfactory to the Catholic minority in Ulster.

I am not in a position to add to the reply I gave to a question by the hon. Member on 2nd December.—[Vol. 827, c. 624–5.]

Does the Home Secretary agree that the chief reason so far for the failure of the British Army to deal with I.R.A. terrorism is lack of co-operation by the Catholic minority based on a conviction that the Army is largely a creature of the Stormont Government? Would it not be desirable therefore, to achieve some improvement in the situation, if the control of security were transferred from Stormont to Westminster as soon as possible?

The progress made by the Army recently has been considerable, and although I.R.A. propaganda has always said that the Army is the creature of the Stormont Parliament it is generally recognised by fair-minded people that that is not so. I must repeat that progress in such matters can be achieved only by agreement, and agreement can be achieved only when we can get together and discuss outstanding problems.

Is not the only settlement acceptable to very many Catholics, particularly those who, despite atrocious terror, are serving the Crown in the R.U.C., the U.D.R. and other services, one which maintains the Union? May they have the assurance that they will not be sold down the Irish Sea?

Like our predecessors, the Government have repeated time and again the pledge given in the 1949 Act.

Will the Home Secretary accept that there is widespread support, both in this country and in the Six Counties, for the view that repression will never solve the problems of the Six Counties? Would not the right hon. Gentleman accept that in order to get these discussions going, real political initiatives along the following lines will have to be taken? First, he will very shortly have to discuss the suspension of Stormont; second, certainly the ending of internment, and third, the return of control of security matters to Westminster. Will he take positive steps to do those three things in order to create an atmosphere in which discussions can take place?

I have indicated several times, as I have this afternoon, that I have been hoping to have talks with the political representatives of the community on a wide range and without conditions. What I cannot accept is that before they are prepared to talk they must have their wishes granted.

Would not my right hon. Friend agree that the main problem in Northern Ireland is not that of satisfying the minority with the many political reforms which have been introduced over the last two or three years but of dealing with the callous, small group of Republicans who have, with wanton cruelty, murdered many hundreds of innocent civilians, sometimes in front of their wives and children, and have let off bombs in crowded places, thereby injuring and maiming hundreds of others, in order, by extreme violence, murder and the threat of violence, to achieve a political end?

I think it is generally agreed on both sides of the House that the suppression of brutal murder should be the first priority. But the problems of a settlement go much further than that, and much further than I can reasonably answer at Question Time.

Has the right hon. Gentleman's attention been drawn to the last Monday's edition of the Belfast Telegraph, which is not a minority paper but which clearly pointed out that the initiative must lie with the Westminster Government and that the first thing that has to be done is to transfer responsibility for security to Westminster? Is it not clear that the Government must take this sort of initiative now in order to achieve the talks which, I hope, would eventually lead to an end of the violence in Northern Ireland?

I would not and cannot accept that position. The facts are that there is a very wide gap between the two communities' attitudes on these important matters of security. Where there is a wide gap, my job is to bridge it. I cannot begin to do so until the two sides will come and take part in talks.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will set up an inquiry into relations between the police and the black community in Notting Hill.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in view of Judge Edward Clarke's remarks as presiding judge at the Mangrave trial that there was evidence of racial hatred on both sides, he will institute an inquiry into relations between the police and coloured citizens.

I am still considering a very detailed report which I have received from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. The Select Committee on Race Relations and Immigration, which is inquiring into relations between the police and coloured people, will be visiting Notting Hill shortly.

I welcome the indication given by the Home Secretary that he will review the situation after he has the Select Committee's Report. Would he take note of the fact that a very large body of moderate opinion, both in the area and outside it, feels that an inquiry of the kind requested in the Question is absolutely essential; that there is a danger of racial violence in the area which has not existed for many years; that the acquittals in the Mangrave case raise a strong inference that a number of police officers were lying in concert and that, with the connivance of senior officers, they have been responsible for persecution of particularly articulate black people in the area; that this is only an inference and that, as the current issue of the Police Journal makes clear—[HON. MEMBERS: "Too long."]—only such an inquiry will clear the imputations which have been raised against the police officers concerned—

Order. There must be a limit to the length of supplementary questions.

I do not in any way accept the imputations based on the result of that particular case. I do not think it would be wise for me in an answer this afternoon to go further than to say what I have already said. I am considering the detailed report.

In view of the unusually strong words used by the judge in what in itself was a disturbing trial, does not the Home Secretary think that it is in the interests both of the police and of the coloured community that there should be an immediate inquiry into these allegations in case there has been some sort of breakdown in communications on both sides leading to a serious crisis of confidence?

If I were persuaded that an inquiry of that kind would be of service, I would proceed to one. I am not sure that I am persuaded at present.

Would my right hon. Friend agree that as long ago as last October it was decided that the Select Committee should look into these matters and that it is doing so in a very searching manner?

Yes, and I think that its visit will be valuable.

I welcome the visit of the Select Committee. I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will appreciate that he has a special responsibility for good relations between the Metropolitan police and the coloured community. In view of the serious rumours which are circulating in Notting Hill, will he seriously consider whether, following his study of the report, an inquiry in this case might be highly desirable?

May I first welcome the hon. Lady in her new capacity on the Front Bench. Certainly I will consider proposals. What I am concerned about is to see that community relations in this area not only are good, but are known and recognised to be good.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will ensure that the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis reconsiders the request of the Inner London Education Authority for a school crossing patrol for Beaumont Road, Putney, taking into account the fact that over 200 children under 11 years of age cross at a time when on average 258 vehicles pass along the road.

The results of a survey made earlier this month are being studied.

When the Home Secretary studies the survey, I hope he will bear in mind that I have in my hand a petition signed on behalf of 150 parents representing a similar number of children at the school. Would he also bear in mind that everybody concerned in the area—the Member of Parliament, Greater London Council representatives, the borough council and the Inner London Education Authority—believes that this crossing is necessary? At the moment, only the police are holding out.

As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have had a considerable amount of correspondence about the crossing. The survey report is being made to the Metropolitan Police and I will write to the hon. Gentleman and inform him immediately the result of the survey is known.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in the selling of the State-owned public houses in the Carlisle State Management District.

Thirty-seven of the smaller public houses in the Carlisle district have been offered to the tenants or managers, over half of whom have already accepted. Details of sale of the remaining public houses will be announced when preparatory work has been completed.

Can the hon. and learned Gentleman tell us where individual tenants are getting the money from? Is there any indication that they are getting it from the big brewers? Will the hon. and learned Gentleman tell us why Watney has not so far made its £25,000 contribution to Tory Party funds this year? Is it because the chairman is no longer an official in the Tory Party?

In reply to the first part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question, I cannot say where individual tenants or managers are getting their money from. I should have thought that it was a personal matter for them to decide where they raise the necessary money to buy their public houses and not necessarily a matter for this House. The second part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question does not appear to arise from the Question.

Will the Minister confirm that some of the brewery companies have refused to lend money to would-be tenants because they themselves are in the queue? Does he care to comment on that?

With respect, one hon. Gentleman complains because they are lending money and another complains because they are not. As I said, it is a matter purely for the individual tenant who is given the opportunity to purchase to decide whether he wishes to purchase and to make his own arrangements for obtaining the necessary finance to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of the inquiry set up by his Department into certain aspects of shoplifting.

The Working Party on Internal Shop Security is still taking evidence and is unlikely to report for some time.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the obviously thorough work which the committee is doing. Is he aware that this problem is causing increasing public concern, that the Bristol Chamber of Commerce has now brought out a report referring to shoplifting as a social disease and that reliable statistics show that shoplifting is the biggest single crime in the Western world? Will he confirm that he recognises that the Government have a responsibility to study and act on these problems?

Yes. That is why the working party has been set up to carry out the study. I know that a great deal of work has been done in Bristol where an interesting symposium was held.

I am sure that no one in this House would condone shoplifting or give any encouragement to people who indulge in such practices. Is the Minister aware that the prevailing mood of retail distribution. in which the great operators of retail chain stores place an ever-increasing burden on the customer to find his own goods and dismiss shop assistants in the interests of self-service and higher profits, is an important contributory cause of shoplifting?

Yes. One result which I hope will emerge from the working party's study is that some of the temptations to people to shoplift will be removed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what conclusions he has now reached regarding the need for restrictions on the sale of electoral registers.

I have nothing at present to add to the reply given to a Question by the hon. Member for Nuneaton (Mr. Leslie Huckfield) on 22nd November.—[Vol. 826, c. 290.]

Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that people bitterly resent their names and addresses being made available without their knowledge or consent to commercial firms which then bombard them with unwelcome and unwanted literature? Is my hon. Friend aware that there is evidence that these registers are sometimes obtained by criminals who then use them to check on the occupants of residential property before carrying out burglaries? Is it not time that we had a positive announcement of the Government's intention?

Yes, I am well aware of the feeling about this matter. It is not a simple question to resolve. We want to ensure that those who need the register for genuine purposes are able to obtain it without too much difficulty. We have to try to maintain a balance.

Does the hon. Gentleman realise that local authorities only have power to sell their surplus electoral registers in addition to those which they have to give to political parties? Is he aware that, as the law stands, local authorities do not have to make any inquiry into the bona fides of anybody seeking these registers? Will he do something to stop the ever-increasing amount of pollution which comes through our letter-boxes every morning because of direct mail order outfits?

As I have said, this is not an easy problem. It is not easy for local authorities to check the bona fides of all people requiring the register. We are looking at this problem very carefully but I do not see an easy solution to it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he can now indicate what programme he has in mind with regard to the designation of buildings under the Fire Precautions Act; whether he has yet decided what particular categories of buildings shall be designated; when a designation order with regard to such categories is likely to be made; and if, in this field, he will give urgent attention to school buildings.

The Act will first be applied to hotels and boarding houses. My right hon Friend hopes to make the necessary orders in the next few weeks. The Central Fire Brigades Advisory Councils are considering which classes of premises should next be brought under control.

I am sure that many people will welcome the designation of those categories of buildings. Does my hon. Friend recall the survey undertaken last year which showed that many head teachers in schools did not take the risk of fire seriously and that fire drills were undertaken infrequently and sometimes not at all, yet last year there was a serious increase in the number of large fires in schools? Will my hon. Friend do his utmost to see that schools are designated under the Act as soon as possible?

The considerations advanced by my hon. Friend will be taken into account by the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Councils. Although there are a large number of fires in schools in which property is damaged, fortunately the number of casualties is very small.

While it is proper for the Home Department to consider liaison at local level concerning schools, may I ask the hon. Gentleman to consult the Department of Education and Science, which designs schools which are erected to a pattern in different parts of the country, because it is apparent that little thought has been given to fire precautions before they are designed? I suggest that the Department's inspectors could well consult the D.E.S.

Yes, I will certainly consider the hon. Gentleman's sugestion.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young persons between the ages of 18 and 21 years were prosecuted for drug offences in the period 1st January, 1970, to 31st December, 1970, and 1st January, 1971, to 31st December, 1971.

In 1970, the latest year for which statistics are available, 4,481 persons aged 18 and under 22 were proceeded against in England and Wales for offences under the Dangerous Drugs Acts, 1965 and 1967, or the Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1964.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that reply, but I naturally regret that he cannot give me the figures for 1971. I am sure he will agree that many people wonder whether prosecutions for drug offences tell us the whole truth about drug-taking habits among young people. Since I fear that the new figures may be higher, may I ask whether my hon. Friend has considered calling a meeting of educationists, youth club organisers and the police to formulate new ways of making the drug danger apparent to young people and to find out where they get their supplies?

This will be one of the functions of the Drugs Advisory Council which has just been set up. It was Parliament's decision that it should be given an educational as well as a preventive rôle. I hope that it will take into account what my hon. Friend has said.

Does not the hon. Gentleman's reply indicate the extraordinary disparity between the active exertions of the Home Department against the use of drugs and the comparative laxity of the Government regarding tobacco, which is the most dangerous drug of all?

Tobacco may be dangerous but it is not illegal.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has received to improve the financial viability of the Totalisator; and whether he will make a statement.

I have received a number of suggestions, including one from the National Association of Bookmakers that its members should co-operate with the Totalisator Board in promoting its jackpot. The board is following this up. If a practical solution emerges, I shall be glad to consider it: but it would need to be underpinned by the legislation which I have introduced to remove the competitive disabilities of the Tote.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that his Bill has caused very strong criticisms of the present administration of the Tote? Will he take steps not only to protect the Tote but also to improve its management?

One of the provisions of the Bill—I hope that I am not out of order in saying this—will be to provide an opportunity of a larger board. But one of the serious problems one faces is to put the Tote in the position where it can compete fairly with bookmakers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of deportations recommended by the courts in each of the past five years; and how many of these were cancelled by him.

As the reply contains a number of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Does not my right hon. Friend consider that the courts have taken into account all the relevant considerations on every individual case? Why should the Home Office upturn the courts' recommendations?

In a number of cases further facts become available after the decision has been made. In a number of cases people leave the country immediately anyway. In a number of cases, we think it is probably better all round to have supervised departure rather than deportation. In general, obviously I am swayed very much by the recommendations of a court which has heard the case and seen the individual. I would not want to depart from those recommendations except for very strong reasons.

Would the right hon. Gentleman convey the thanks of many hon. Members to the staff in his private office who deal with this subject? Those of us who have a large immigrant population in our constituences sometimes need to move very quickly regarding a deportation order. The staff deal with the matter most promptly, and we are most grateful for the action they take in these cases.

Hear, hear.

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the tribute he has paid to those who work with me at the Home Office and who give the greatest care and attention to all these cases.