asked the Lord President of the Council what progress has been made in supplying, on loan, copies of relevant Bills and Amendment Sheets to the Strangers' Gallery, and the number of occasions when these have been made available since the Easter Recess.

The Services Committee still has this proposal under consideration and such arrangements have therefore not yet been made.

asked the Minister of State for Defence (1) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier B in paragraph 38 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(2) what is the name of the man identified as Major 236 in paragraph 51(i) of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(3) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier E in paragraph 84 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(4) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier F in paragraph 80 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(5) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier G in paragraph 84 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result, of events in Londonderry on 30th Janua' y, 1972;(6) what is the name of the man identified at Soldier H in paragraph 84 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(7) what is the name of the man identifield as Lieutenant N in paragraph 98 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(8) what is the name of the man identifield as Corporal P in paragraph 98 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(9) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier T in paragraph 98 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(10) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier V in paragraph 51(viii) of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(11) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier J in paragraph 75 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(12) what is the name of the man identifield as Soldier U in paragraph 75 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(13) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier M in paragraph 75 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(14) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier Q in paragraph 51(iv) of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(15) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier K in paragraph 82 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(16) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier L in paragraph 75 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(17) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier R in paragraph 51(v) of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(18) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier D in paragraph 62 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(19) what is the name of the man identified as Soldier A in paragraph 37 of the Widgery Report; and whether disciplinary action has been taken against him as a result of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972.

It would not be right to name these men, for the reasons given in the Widgery Report. No disciplinary action has been taken against any of these men, nor is any called for.

asked the Minister of State for Defence (1) whether disciplinary action has been taken against Major Loden, Commander of the Support Company of the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, arising out of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(2) whether disciplinary action has been taken against Lieutenant-Colonel Wilford, Commander of the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, arising out of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972;(3) whether disciplinary action has been taken against Major-General Ford arising out of events in Londonderry on 30th January, 1972.

No disciplinary action has been taken against any of these officers, nor are there any grounds for this.

asked the Minister of State for Defence (1) whether, in view of the criticism of the Royal Dockyards in the Mallabar Report that they were not clearly identifiable as civilian establishments operating within a civilian command because of the high proportion of naval officers occupying professional management positions, he intends to continue appointing ex-naval officers to the post of Chief Executive of the Dockyards, general manager of the individual dockyards, or other top management posts;(2) in view of the Mallabar Report's conclusion that the Ministry of Defence took a sound decision in 1969 when they created a civilian post for a chief executive of the Dockyards, what consideration was given when appointing the new chief executive last week to appointing a civilian industrialist from outside industry or a civilian from within the existing dockyard management.

The intention is to fill the post of Chief Executive, Royal Dockyards, and other senior posts in dockyard management with the best men available, and former naval officers will be considered together with other candidates if they have suitable qualifications. The recently announced appointment of an ex-naval officer as chief executive was taken after full consideration of other available candidates from all sources, and is in no way inconsistent with the recommendations of the Mallabar Committee.

asked the Minister of State for Defence why the number of staff employed by the Meteorological Office has been increased since 1970.

To meet increases in work load, the main items being the introduction of a new computer and the opening of a new residential training college.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, from information available from international sources, what the percentage increase has been since 1958–59 in the number undergoing full and part-time education in the Netherlands; and how this compares with the percentage increase during the same period in England and Wales.

A comparison is not readily available in the exact form requested. The percentage increases in full-time and part-time enrolments in the Netherlands between 1955 and 1967 derived from the latest figures available in the UNESCO Statistical Year Book for 1970 are:

First and Second Level	20
Third Level	151

The increases for England and Wales over the same period were:

First and Second Level	15
Third Level	207

First and Second Level figures include all years of compulsory education. However, the education systems of different countries have salient differences which can affect the comparability of all these figures and care must be exercised in any use made of them.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, from information available from international sources, what was the pupil/teacher ratio in primary schools in West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, respectively in the most recent year for which statistics are available; and how this compares with the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools in England and Wales for the same year.

I would refer my hon. Friend to my answer to his Question on 24th April which included the relevant pupil-teacher ratios.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when approval will be given for the erection of an extra portable classroom at St. Phillip's Catholic School at Middleton, Leeds, to provide for basic needs and especially to deal with overcrowding.

If a proposal, accompanied by relevant supporting information, is made by the school managers through the local education authority, my right hon. Friend will consider it for an allocation from the capital resources available for minor works at voluntary aided and special agreement schools; but no such proposal has yet been received.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many education authorities in England and Wales have not produced outline schemes to reorganise secondary education over the whole of the area for which they are responsible, and how many have not yet produced detailed schemes. respectively; and if she will list them.

Since Circular 10/70 authorities have not been obliged to produce any schemes of this kind and I do not now give decisions in principle upon them. I make decisions under Section 13(4) of the Education Act, 1944, as amended, on all formal proposals for individual schools.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the percentage of off-quota teachers employed by the Hampshire Education Authority; and how this compares with the rest of England and Wales.

Last January, Hampshire was employing off-quota teachers to the extent of 7·7 per cent. of its quota. The average for England and Wales was 7·1 per cent.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps are being taken to ensure that the code of practice for reducing the exposure of employed persons to noise, published by his Department, will be applied by industrial management.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bedford (Mr. Skeet) on Tuesday, 25th April.—[Vol. 835, c. 227–8.]

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table indicating the number and location of Remploy factories in Wales, the numbers employed in these factories, and the minimum and average wages paid in them.

Following is the information:

REMPLOY FACTORIES IN WALES
	Numbers Employed		Average Earnings at April, 1972
Location of Factory	Men	Women	Men	Women
			£	£
Abertillery	57	15	15·24	12·12
Blackwood	48	7	16·88	12·80
Bridgend	118	11	20·51	20·44
Brynamman	58	—	21·36	—
Merthyr (Engineering)	73	—	19·09	—
Merthyr (Leather and Textile serving)	31	2	17·28	14·87
Neath	66	—	19·37	—
Pentre	56	—	21·00	—
Porth	80	18	19·57	15·33
Swansea	104	—	19·55	—
Tonyrefail	62	—	18·36	—
Treforest	142	4	22·97	19·46
Wrexham	76	—	17·40	—
Ystradgynlais	47	32	18·51	13·06

NOTE:Remploy's basic weekly rates for severely disabled workers are £14·52 (men) and £11·44 (women) in relation to a 40-hour week. There are minimum earnings levels of £15 and £11·92 respectively after six months.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in view of the shortage of common and facing bricks which is holding up building projects, he will take steps to increase their supply.

I have had discussions with the brick producers who have told me of the increased capacity they are installing. They judge that with these additions capacity should be adequate for the expected demand.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will issue a general direction to British Rail to clean up derelict railway land in its ownership to the satisfaction of local authorities.

No. I have, however, drawn the board's attention to the special assistance for the improvement of unsightly land under Operation Eyesore.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many privately-owned houses and council-owned houses, respectively, were built by each local housing authority in the Greater London area, including the Greater London Council, during the past five years.

The numbers completed in each area are as follows:

Dwellings completed 1967 to 1971
	Local authorities (including GLC)	Private sector
City of London	650	—
Barking	3,783	107
Barnet	2,350	2,500
Bexley	2,576	2,401
Brent	4,547	605
Bromley	2,766	5,445
Camden	3,479	932
Croydon	2,455	5,060
Ealing	3,542	2,315
Enfield	4,866	1,452
Greenwich	4,131	804
Hackney	7,005	189
Hammersmith	1,781	264
Haringey	4,163	797
Harrow	971	1,590
Havering	2,470	2,599
Hillingdon	3,323	2,386
Hounslow	3,422*	1,346
Islington	6,063†	170
Kensington & Chelsee	927	749
Kingston upon Thames	1,175	1,406
Lambeth	4,291	768
Lewisham	4,585	1,370
Merton	1,400	497
Newham.	4,828	221
Redbridge	1,788	1,355
Richmond upon Thames	1,165	2,349
Southwark	7,906‡	678
Sutton	2,630	1,566
Tower Hamlets	7,924	112
Waltham Forest	4,183	533
Wandsworth.	4,985	968
Westminster	2,766	1,901
*Including 27 completions for Richmond LB.
† Including 327 completions for City of London.
‡ Including 56 completions for City of London.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authority houses and how many private houses were built in the Biddulph Urban District in each of the past ten years.

The numbers of dwellings returned by Biddulph U.D. as completed in each of the years 1966 to 1971 appear in Local Housing Statistics Nos. 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 and 21, copies of which are in the Library. Figures returned for the other years are as follows:

Dwellings completed
	Local authority	Private sector
1962	10	64
1963	4	59
1964	—	—
1965	245	321

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will seek to hold discussions with Central Treaty Organisation and South-East Asia Treaty Organisation members on the security of Southern Asia, in view of Indian consideration of a subterranean nuclear test programme and the Indo-Soviet Treaty.

No, but general questions of security in their respective areas will be discussed at the forthcoming annual meetings of the councils of the two organisations.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now place hypodermic syringes on the list of things which may only be supplied upon a doctor's prescription.

No. The possible benefits of such a restriction would almost certainly be outweighed by undesirable consequences.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many social security special investigators were at work in Scotland and in the United Kingdom at the latest available date.

The number of special investigators employed by my Depart- ment on 1st April, 1972, was 286, including 25 employed in Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the areas of claim most frequently investigated by social security special investigators; and what are the numbers of these claims investigated over the latest available six-month period, area by area, in Scotland, and in England and Wales respectively.

Areas of claims most frequently investigated are (a) suspicion of working while drawing supplementary benefit (b) undisclosed cohabitation (c) fictitious desertion—i.e. false statements by a wife that her husband has left her. Numbers of cases investigated during the six months ending 31st March, 1972, were:

	(a)	(b)	(c)
	Working while drawing benefit	Undisclosed cohabitation	Fictitious desertion
Scotland	861	220	50
England	4,687	4,250	1,054
Wales	700	215	54
TOTAL	6,248	4,685	1,158

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claims were investigated in Scotland, and England and Wales, respectively, by social security special investigators during the latest available month; and how many of these claims were proved fraudulent.

Statistics are collected quarterly and are not available for any shorter period. The figures for supplementary benefit claims investigated by special investigators in the quarter ending 31st March, 1972 were:

	Claims Investigated	Number in which the allowance was withdrawn or reduced
Scotland	589	296
England	4,976	1,954
Wales	524	147
Total	6,089	2,397

An allowance is withdrawn or reduced when on the facts established there is no longer title to benefit, or it remains only at a reduced rate. It does not necessarily follow that there was also evidence of past false statements to support criminal proceedings.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will introduce legislation to require that handling and cooking instructions be included on meat and poultry products to prevent samonella and other food poisoning.

The trade is encouraged to provide advice on the correct handling and cooking of food on labels when appropriate, but we do not consider it necessary to make such labelling compulsory.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the total expenditure on awards of family income supplement for each week since 3rd August, 1971.

The following figures are based on the numbers of awards of family income supplement current on each date and the average weekly payment. They slightly under-estimate the expenditure in each week because they do not allow for arrears due on awards which have retrospective effect.

Family Income	Payments made
Supplement pay day	£000's
3rd August, 1971	44
10th August, 1971	48
17th August, 1971	53
24th August, 1971	59
31st August, 1971	64
7th September, 1971	70
14th September, 1971	76
21st September, 1971	81
28th September, 1971	86
5th October, 1971	90
12th October, 1971	94
19th October, 1971	97
26th October, 1971	99
2nd November, 1971	99
9th November, 1971	101
16th November, 1971	103
23rd November, 1971	105
30th November, 1971	108
7th December, 1971	110
14th December, 1971	112
21st December, 1971	115
28th December, 1971	114
4th January, 1972	115
11th January, 1972	114
18th January, 1972	114
25th January, 1972	116
1st February, 1972	116
8th February, 1972	111
15th February, 1972	106
22nd February, 1972	102
29th February, 1972	100

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the current total number of awards of family income supplement at the same point of each week since 3rd August, 1971.

Following is the information:

Date	Numbers of families receiving Family Income Supplements*(thousands)
3rd August,1971	25
10th August, 1971	28
17th August, 1971	31
24th August, 1971.	34
31st August, 1971	37
7th September, 1971	41
14th September, 1971	44
21st September, 1971	47
28th September, 1971	50
5th October, 1971	52
12th October, 1971	54
19th October, 1971	56
26th October, 1971	57
2nd November, 1971	58
9th November, 1971	58
16th November, 1971	60
23rd November, 1971	61
30th November, 1971	62
7th December,1971	64
14th December,1971	65
21st December,1971	66
28th December,1971	66
4th January,1972	66
11th January,1972	66
18th January,1972	66
25th January,1972	68
1st February,1972	67
8th February,1972	65
15th February,1972	62
22nd February,1972	60
29th February.1972	59
7th March, 1972	58
14th March, 1972	59
21st March, 1972	59
28th March, 1972	60
25th April, 1972†	65
Notes: * Because of the time-lag between claims and the resulting awards these figures under-state the numbers entitled to benefit on each date, usually by several thousands.
† Information is now compiled monthly.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many schoolteachers qualify for family income supplement.

I regret that the information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the approximate cost of altering the rules for the treatment of capital for the purpose of calculating supplementary benefit entitlement to conform with the Government proposals for the treatment of capital for purposes of rent rebate.

I regret that it is not practicable to make such an estimate since the actual income received by supplementary benefit claimants from their capital is not recorded.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the names of every hospital, clinic or premises in Merseyside where any form of surgical operation is performed; if he will publish an analysis of such operations with a statement of the period of waiting by

CIVIL SERVICE STAFF IN POST
1st April, 1972
Ministerial Responsibilities		Central Administration	Public Services	Executive Functions Trading and Repayment Services	General Support Services
CABINET OFFICE
Secretariat and central support staff	…	423	—	—	—
Central Statistical Office	…	168	—	—	—
	…	591	—	—	—
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food policy	…	1,783	—	—	—
Agriculture Development and Advisory Service.	…	—	5,494	—	—
Other technical staff.	…	—	97	—	—
Regional and divisional offices	…	—	5,149	—	—
Kew Gardens and Wakehurst Place	…	—	461	—	—
Fisheries, pest infestation food science laboratories and Torry Research	…	—	977	—	—
Central services	…	1,896	—	—	—
	…	3,679	12,178	—	—
CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER
Treasury	…	1,047	—	—	45
Customs and Excise:
Collection of indirect taxes and control of imports and exports	…	1,796	15,877935	—	—
Import and export statistics	…	1,796	15,877935	—	—
Inland Revenue:
Collection of direct taxes etc.	…	2,352	61,316	92	—
Land and property valuation services	…	2,352	6,540	—	1,654
Central Office of Information	…	108	—	—	1,287

I would refer the hon. Member to the Hospitals Year Book which contains a list of hospitals both inside and outside the National Health Service. I am advised that the majority of such institutions would have the facilities to carry out at least some forms of surgery. A full analysis of all surgical operations and a statement of the waiting period could not however be obtained without disproportionate time and effort.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will now provide an analysis of Civil Service staff in post on 1st April, 1972, on the same basis as the analyses published on 9th and 24th November, 1971, and 9th February, 1972.

The analysis is as follows: