Mr. Bishop asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will refer the recent Grand-Metropolitan bid for Watney-Mann to the Monopolies Commission.

It was announced on 1st May that it was not our intention to refer this merger to the Monopolies Commission.

Mr. Edward Taylor asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to take the necessary legislative steps to introduce metric units for sales of coal, gas and petroleum; and if he will make a statement.

The date of introduction of metric units for sales purposes is a decision which has to be made by the industries concerned in the light of their individual metrication programmes. We have given assurances in the White Paper that we shall remove any legislative barriers to metrication which may exist, after consultation with industries. We have already reached this consultative stage with two of the fuel industries mentioned, and hope to begin talks with the third very soon.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has received in the last month of a slowing down of the rise in food prices.

Mr. Prior: I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 20th June to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs. Renée Short) and to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Ripon (Colonel Sir M. Stoddart-Scott).—[Vol. 839, c. 43–44.]

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, what is the average price of bread in mid-Wales; and what is the comparable figure for the United Kingdom.

The information available suggests that the average price of bread in Wales as a whole is not significantly different from that for the United Kingdom as a whole. I have no separate statistical data relating to mid-Wales, although I am aware that the major bakery firms impose a transport surcharge of ½p a loaf on sales in the west coast counties of Wales.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many former prisoners were employed by his Department on the latest date for which statistics are available.

This information is not readily available and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in view of the new situation relating to the importation of foodstuffs from Common Market countries after the entry of Great Britain into the European Economic Community, what provisions will apply to proceedings against suppliers in such countries where the imported food is found to be unfit for human consumption, or where it is now necessary to invoke the provisions of the Food and Drugs Act 1955.

The law relating to the taking of proceedings where imported food is found to be unfit for human consumption will be unchanged. It is an offence to import such food into Great Britain.

Mr. Proud foot asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what future plans there are to increase the number of nursery school places in the Borough of Brighouse, the Borough of Spenborough and the Urban District of Heckmondwike, all in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department will be ready to consider any projects submitted by the local authority which meet the criteria set out in Urban Programme Circular No. 7 issued on 10th May. No proposals have yet been received from the West Riding Local Education Authority for the provision of additional nursery places in these areas.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will consider increasing the supplementary allowances paid to students in colleges of education for periods of teaching practice undertaken during vacation.

I see no reason for any increase.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1)what is the estimated cost of providing the school meals and milk services in 1972–73;

:The information is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek to have the Inland Revenue include, when sending out notices of coding, an application form and notes on family income supplement in cases where the level of income would indicate entitlement to family income supplement.

No. I am advised that it would be difficult for tax offices to identify from among the 25 million tax payers those who are likely to satisfy the conditions for family income supplement. Moreover, as tax offices do not normally hold information about the tax payer's current income, there is no adequate basis for identifying those whose present earnings entitle them to the supplement.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people in the Stockport area have been waiting for admission to hospitals for over 12 months.

Information is not readily available in the form requested; but of 1,712 patients admitted to the hospitals in the Stockport area in the first quarter of 1972, 389 had waited not less than 12 months for admission.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are awaiting admission to hospitals within the catchment area of the Stockport and Buxton Management Group at the latest possible date and one year and two years previously.

At 31st May, 1972, 6,944 people were awaiting admission to hospitals in the Stockport and Buxton Hospital Management Committee area. The comparative figures for 31st May, 1971, and 31st May, 1970, were 7,011 and 7,766 respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the annual figures for optical dispensing fees, cost of lens, frames, cases and replacements for the years 1969, 1970, 1971, for the county borough of Stockport.

Available information in respect of the General Ophthalmic Services provided by the Stockport Executive Council is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services why the Under-Secretary of State for Health has not yet replied to a letter dated 16th May from the hon. Member for Islington, South-West, concerning the case of Mr. Coombs.

As I explained to the hon. Member in my letter of 5th July, inquiries into this difficult case are not yet complete. I will write to him again as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations he has received regarding the need for casualty facilities at Newark General Hospital; what reply he has sent; and if he accepts the policy of the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board on the matter.

The hon. Member wrote to my right hon. Friend in November and was informed that the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board was considering the possibility of closing this accident and emergency department for the treatment of major accidents but not until supporting major units at Nottingham, Mansfield and Lincoln can absorb the increased workload. It is for the Board to organise the accident and emergency services in the region but the final decision on any formal proposal to close permanently a department would rest with my right hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps will be required to alter British pension regulations when the United Kingdom joins the European Community.

The only changes will be those resulting from the European Economic Community Regulations on Social Security for Migrant Workers, the effect of which, so far as pensions are concerned, will not be substantially different from our present reciprocal agreements with Community countries.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review the position of a man in respect of his entitlement to personal allowances in respect of his common law wife, in view of the information supplied by the hon. Member for Heywood and Royton; and if he will make a statement.

I will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the present rules governing claims for compensation under the Compensation Code; when they come into force; and from where copies of the rules can be obtained by members of the public for the purpose of ascertaining whether a potential claim would be valid.

:The compensation code is partly defined in statute, mainly the Land Compensation Act, 1961 and the Compulsory Purchase Act, 1965, and partly derived from decisions of the Lands Tribunal and the Courts.Copies of these enactments can be obtained through HMSO, reports of the decision from the Law Reports, explanations thereof from legal text books and advice thereon from the legal and valuation professions