asked the Lord President of the Council on what basis Members of Parliament who are selected to attend the European Parliament at Strasbourg are entitled to receive a £23 per day subsistence allowance and a travel allowance of 10p per kilometre for the first 400 kilometres and 2½p thereafter; how these payments compare with those paid from the House of Commons Vote to Members of Parliament on official business; and whether these payments are tax-free.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the lion. Member for Walthamstow, West (Mr. Deakins) on 7th November, 1972.The subsistence and travel allowances which are payable to Members of the United Kingdom Parliament travelling in

asked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will provide an anlysis of Civil Service staff in post on 1st October on the same basis as the analysis on 8th August, 1972.

The analysis is as follows:

asked the Minister of State for Defence when he expects that equipment designed to make iced water available for the troops in British Honduras will be installed in Central Camp.

One unit of equipment designed to make iced water will be delivered to Central Farm Camp in mid-December. A second unit is being obtained from the United Kingdom manufacturers and is expected to arrive by April, 1973. In addition, there are two domestic refrigerators and a bottle cooler already installed at the camp.

asked the Minister of State for Defence (1) how many units of sleeping accommodation used by the forces in British Honduras are equipped with air-conditioning;(2) how many units of sleeping accommodation used by British forces in British Honduras are equipped with ceiling fans.

There are 589 units of sleeping accommodation. Of these, 49 units are equipped with air conditioning, 180 units are equipped with ceiling fans and 360 are equipped with wall or table fans, mostly wall.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the estimated numbers of wage earners, salary earners and self-employed, respectively.

In the statistics of employment, employees are classified according to whether they are manual or non-manual workers rather than by whether their system of payment is by wages or salary. However, manual workers are often taken to correspond broadly with wage earners and non-manual workers with salary earners. Estimates for Demember, 1971, are given below:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the total membership of trade unions affiliated to the Trades Union Congress, expressed as a percentage of the numbers of employed persons and the numbers of employed and self-employed, respectively, for the past 10 years.

The affiliated membership of trade unions affiliated to the Trades Union Congress formed the following percentages of the total number of employed persons and of the total number of employed and self-employed:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment by what means he is informed of cash equivalents of pay settlements, after taking into account the adjustments for changes in working conditions, in the private sector where he has been informed that an industrial dispute is taking place.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Doncaster on 8th August, 1972. There are no general arrangements for terms of settlements to be reported to my Department, whether or not an industrial dispute has been taking place.—[Vol. 842, c. 354.]

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is aware of the impending closure of the Carron Hydraulics Limited factory in Kirkcaldy, involving a loss of some 80 male engineering jobs; and what steps he is taking to assist those to be made redundant with finding alternative employment.

My Department has been informed of the proposed closure, but not of any redundancies. Should any of the work people need help in securing other employment, our local officers will, of course, do everything possible to assist.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what were the numbers of unemployed in Batley and Morley, respectively, at the latest convenient date, and on that same date in each of the three preceding years.

The total numbers registered as unemployed in the areas covered by the Batley and Morley employment exchanges were:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has yet received a report from his Chief Inspector on Lodden Bridge, Berkshire.

I have received an interim report on the Lodden Bridge collapse on 30th October, 1972. It indicated that further investigations were needed. These inquiries cannot be hurried, but they are being given priority. I expect to receive a final report in about four weeks.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he is satisfied with the working of the 60 miles per hour speed limit on the A45; and if he will make a statement;(2) what study has been made of the accident pattern on the A45 since the 60 miles per hour speed limit was introduced.

A study was carried out by the University of Birmingham in 1969. Since then traffic flows have been affected by the opening of the M6 motorway. A further study is therefore being carried out by Warwickshire County Council which is expected to be completed by January, 1973. My Department's Road Safety Unit are also examining the accident data. Until these studies are completed, I cannot assess the present value of the 60 m.p.h. limit, but I will write to the hon. Gentleman as soon as this further information is available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total cost to his Department in the latest available year in carrying out its responsibilities for all kinds of publicly-financed libraries; and what is the number of staff involved.

In 1971–72 the Department incurred £669,897 capital expenditure on buildings at Boston Spa for the National Lending Library of Science and Technology and £11,000 on maintenance for the National Library of Scotland. A varying number of staff was involved part-time on these activities and in planning the British Library building and new works for the National Library of Scotland. The Department also maintains the British Museum and other national museums but no separate record is kept of the cost and staff concerned with maintaining their libraries.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice has been given to local authorities concerning the danger from burning foamed plastics; and what steps have been taken to protect caretakers from lung damage due to inhaling toxic fumes when called to control bonfires on which foamed plastics are burning.

Since I am advised by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department that the combustion of this material in the open is no more dangerous than that of other things commonly burned on bonfires, I see no need to issue special guidance of the kind mentioned by the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to remind local authorities of the need to ensure compliance of those concerned regarding the requirements of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act, 1970, especially with regard to facilities in public buildings for wheel chairs and including lifts, ramps, etc.; and if he is satisfied that these requirements of the Act are being met.

I shall shortly be writing to local authorities referring to advice previously given on the relevant provisions of this Act, and bringing to their notice up-to-date information concerning design for the disabled. Information about the implementation of certain requirements of the Act is currently being obtained by the Central Council for the Disabled and will be made available to me. I shall then consider it carefully.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is satisfied that the requirements of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act, 1970, relating to the provision of facilities for wheel chairs in public buildings are not being restricted by fire and safety regulations; and if he will inquire into these aspects.

Where the need to maintain public safety conflicts with the desirability of allowing access to buildings for the disabled, the former must prevail. In practice, a reconciliation of these needs is increasingly being achieved, either through better design or as a result of special arrangements made locally.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will issue a Green Paper on his plans for the reorganisation of the British Rail network before such plans are agreed between his Department and British Rail.

I have nothing to add to my reply to the hon. Member for Derby, South (Mr. Walter Johnson) on 8th November.—[Vol. 345, c. 1000.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now announce his decision on the proposals of Oxford City Council for a one-way traffic system in Banbury and Woodstock Roads.

The council's proposals do not require my right hon. and learned Friend's approval.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many postwar prefabricated houses are in use in England in private ownership;(2) how many post-war prefabricated houses are still in use by local authorities in England.

Under the Housing Finance Act, 1972, local authorities have sole responsibility for their own post-war prefabricated bungalows. I no longer keep comprehensive records of the total number of these still in use. However, at the end of 1971, some 30,000 of the 124,970 bungalows provided under the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944, in England and Wales were still in use. The figures for England separately are not readily available. I am not aware that any bungalows provided under the 1944 Act are privately owned for housing purposes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, in view of the fact that there is a statutory duty placed upon local authorities to consult with the appropriate representative bodies before initiating schemes of road traffic management, if he will, at the earliest possible stage, consult with appropriate bodies including the local authority associations, whenever decisions affecting the future character of the national rail network fall to be considered.

I always carry out such consultations as are appropriate.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will issue a general direction to British Railways that regional executives should consult at an early stage with local authorities whenever proposals are made likely to affect the structure or level of local services.

No. But I expect local authorities and public transport operators, including British Rail, to work closely together.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if under his new proposals it will still be possible for people to have land and property acquired for motorway purposes and receive no monetary compensation.

This possibility can occur in exceptional cases, for example where the betterment provisions of Section 7 of the Land Compensation Act, 1961 (that is to say, for off-setting against the compensation the increase in value of adjacent land in the same ownership) or similar provisions in other Acts operate to produce such a result.I am not proposing any changes in the principles involved.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has for dealing with the problem of overnight parking of heavy goods vehicles in residential areas; and if he will introduce legislation to ban this practice.

Local authorities already have powers to ban heavy lorries from parking in the streets.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will list all loans made under Section 11 of the Harbours Act, 1964, to harbour authorities in Yorkshire and Humberside, giving, in each case, the date, amount and recipient of the loan and the proportion of it still to be repaid.

No such loans have been made to harbour authorities in the Yorkshire and Humberside Economic Planning Region.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras, South, may expect to receive a definite reply to her letter of 19th August requesting permission for Master Tsam, aged 12, now living in Hong Kong to join his parents, who are both British passport holders living in the United Kingdom.

I replied to the hon. Member's letter on 23rd October, following inquiries in Hong Kong. A reply will be sent to the hon. Member's further letter of 25th October as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the detailed computations which have led him to

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the present size of the laying flocks in Northern Ireland compared with figures for the past three years.

The size of the laying flock in Northern Ireland in September, 1972, was estimated to be 8,190,000.The average size of the laying flock in the past three years was:

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what represe-sentations he has received from the Ulster conclude that the Northern Ireland Egg Subsidy Scheme will save 1,200 jobs.

The number of hatching eggs being put down in early 1972 indicated that there was likely to be a drop of approximately 30 per cent. in egg production in Northern Ireland in the latter part of the year. As a result, about 2,000 people (producers, packers, transport workers, feed mill employees, etc.) would have lost their jobs. It is expected that the help being given under the Employment in Agriculture Scheme will reduce this figure to 800.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the type and estimated annual cost of the special grants to agriculture designed to maintain employment in Northern Ireland.