asked the Minister for the Civil Service what is his present estimate of the ratio of the Exchequer contribution to the total of all contributions to the Members of Parliament Pension Scheme over the next five years.

The present estimate is that the Exchequer's share of the total cost of the Parliamentary Contributory Pensions Scheme will be 73 per cent. over the next five years.

asked the Minister of State for Defence what steps Her Majesty's Government have now taken to respond to the invitation by the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy for Governments which so wish to become parties to the agreement so far made by the United States of America and Russia on avoiding incidents on and over the sea; and whether he will make a statement.

I have nothing to add to the answer my right hon. Friend gave on 19th October.—[Vol. 843, c. 108.]

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the total value nationally of the grants made under the urban aid programme for capital and non-capital projects respectively; and what was the total value of the applications submitted under these two heads, respectively.

I have been asked to reply.Since 1968 projects totalling some £21 million have been approved for grant in England and Wales. In the latest phase of the programme, local authorities in England put forward capital and non- capital projects estimated to cost £31·5 million and £2·9 million respectively. Approvals total £3·7 million for capital and £1·6 million for other expenditure.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science which national museums and galleries already possess publications departments functioning as independent entities under their boards of Trustees; whether additions to these are being set up or contemplated; and whether she will specify the institutions in which such a change is envisaged.

The National and Tate Galleries have publications departments functioning independently under their Trustees. A company—British Museum Publications Limited—has been established with a view to assuming the functions of the British Museum Publications Department in the near future. No other proposals for change have been submitted to my noble Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many entrance tickets for the national museums and galleries were printed approximately one year ago in anticipation of the introduction of admission charges; and whether these tickets will still be useable after the introduction of value added tax.

Some 30 million tickets were printed. They will be useable after the introduction of value added tax.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science why the Paymaster-General intimated to the Trustees of the Wallace Collection that if they maintained their decision to admit the public free one day a week without compensatory increases on other days, they ran the risk of a reduction in the funds made available to them for running expenses in order to offset the putative loss to the Exchequer.

My noble Friend considers that discussions with the Trustees of a museum should remain, as they have been, confidential. But it is clear that if one museum is unwilling to bear its share of the sum aimed at from the introduction of charges, because the Trustees offer a free day, the money lost must be recovered in other ways, if other museums are not to be put at a disadvantage.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment on what date the current period of wage freeze will end; and at that date, what will have been the total number of days on which the basic rate of wages will not have been allowed to increase.

The Counter-Inflation (Temporary Provisions) Act re-

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current rate of purchase being certified by his Department for people exercising their right to purchase rent charges under Section 191 of the Law of Property Act 1925.

During the last four weeks, the purchase price has averaged 10·38 times the annual rent charge, plus legal and other costs.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what reports have been made available to him con-

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT details showing the number of males and females over and under 18 years of age registering for employment at each employment exchange in Lanarkshire; and what these figures represent as a percentage of the insurable population.

Following is the information for 13th November:cerning the effects of heavy vehicles on sewers and building foundations since the issue of the Road Research Laboratory's report number 35 on important tests on pipes buried under roads in 1966.

The following reports deal with this subject:

Road Research Laboratory Report 418—A survey of traffic-induced vibration.

Road Research Laboratory Report 472—Experimental work on large steel pipeline at Kirtling.

Building Research Station Digest 117—Vibrations in buildings 1.

Building Research Station Digest 118—Vibrations in buildings 2.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many inspectors his Department and its predecessor has employed in each of the last 10 years to check that heavy goods vehicles comply with the various safety regulations to which they are subject.

I regret this information is not immediately available. I will write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is yet able to make a statement about the Report of the McNairn Committee on the Rating of Plant and Machinery.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is yet in a position to publish the McNairn Report on rating of machinery; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. The report is published today and copies are available in the Library. The Committee has recommended that three specified classes of plant and machinery at present rateable under Class 4 of the Plant and Machinery (Rating) Order 1960 might reasonably be regarded as chattels and accordingly exempt from rates. The Government accept the Committee's recommendations and will seek an early opportunity to give effect to them.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will have an escape warning siren installed at Gartree Prison, Leicestershire.

This suggestion will be considered in the context of the Regional Director's report of his inquiry into the events of 26th/27th November at Gartree Prison.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total number of prisoners who were found to have been involved in the recent rioting at Gartree Prison; and what were the punishments bestowed upon them.

43 prisoners, including the 14 involved in the attempted escape, have been charged with offences under the Prison Rules in connection with the events of 26th/27th November at Gartree Prison. They have already appeared before the Governor; and all the charges have been referred to the Board of Visitors, which is in the course of dealing with them.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what will be the total cost of repairing the damage done during the recent rioting at Gartree Prison, Leicestershire.

The cost of making good the damage done on 26th/27th November to the prison buildings, fittings, furnishings and equipment is estimated at about £14,000.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what authority the Metropolitan Police impound the passports of aliens charged with criminal offences.

I am asking the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis for a report and shall write to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in view of the financial obligations facing many football clubs, as a result of the Wheatley Report on safety at grounds, he will enter into discussions with the Football League, with a view to decreasing the costs to clubs of police on Saturday afternoon duty to curb hooliganism.

Officials in the Home Office have already met representatives of the Football League about the Wheatley Report on crowd safety at football grounds. The hire of police was one of the subjects discussed. As the hon. Member knows, arrangements are being made for him to discuss the matter with a Home Office Minister.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public financial and other support is being given to the National Voluntary Civil Aid Services; and whether he will make a statement.

Local authorities have been advised to make the maximum possible use of voluntary effort, including the Voluntary Civil Aid Services, in connection with their emergency plans; but the amount of financial and other support given is a matter for local discretion.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permits were issued to clothing workers for entry to this country in the year 1972 so far.

I have been asked to reply:184 permits for workers in a variety of occupations in the clothing industry have been issued up to the end of November this year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the criteria on which he decides applications for work permits for workers in the clothing industry.

I have been asked to reply.The criteria are (a) that the employment of a foreign worker is reasonable and necessary; (b) that adequate efforts have been made to find suitable workers from the resident labour force; and (c) that the wages and other conditions of employment are not less favourable than those prevailing locally for similar work. Permits are not issued for foreign men to do semi-skilled or unskilled work in industry.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will make a statement about the progress made on the reopening of the Belfast Central Railway.

I am advised by the Northern Ireland Railways Company that it intends to have the new Central Station built and the Belfast Central Railway reopened before the end of 1974.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish the agreement between his Department and the Post Office Corporation for the distribution of information leaflets through the Post Office network and the financial arrangements entered into.

There is no agreement specifically for this service which the post Office undertakes for the Department. The Post Office is reimbursed the cost of postage and handling charges.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of Department of Health and Social Security information leaflets of each category stocked in each post office in Shoreditch and Finsbury, and the frequency of replenishment during the period 1st January 1971 to the latest convenient date.

This information is not available because records of leaflet stocks are not kept by individual post offices.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action is taken by his Department to ensure that a full stock of information leaflets is always available in post offices and labour exchanges for the use of claimants.

Discussions are continuing between my Department and the Post Office with a view to maintaining full stocks of leaflets in post offices. Improvements are to be made in the distribution system. Employment exchanges are supplied with some of the Department's leaflets and maintain stocks themselves.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the notional income attributed to capital on the part of applicants for social security is calculated on an annuity basis; on what rate of interest such annuities are calculated; or on what other basis the notional income is assessed.

No. In assessing supplementary benefit the first £300 of capital is completely ignored. A notional income is calculated at the rate of 5p a week for each complete £25 of capital between £300 and £800, and at the rate of 12½p a week for each complete £25 above £800, the actual income being ignored. £1 a week of the notional income is disregarded if there is no other disregarded income.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the total amount paid by the National Health Service for tetracycline and similar broad spectrum antibiotics in each of the last three years, both through general medical and hospital services.

The estimated total amount paid by the National Health Service for products containing tetracycline or oxytetracline supplied through the general medical services in the last three years was:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has considerd the report "Work Out of School" by Dr. Emrys Davies, the research for which was sponsored by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

The main results of this research were made available to my Department as they emerged in stages from May 1971 onwards and have contributed substantially to our thinking on this subject.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he is yet in a position to state who will administer the £3 million fund which he announced on 29th November 1972.

I am glad to say that at my request the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust has agreed to administer this Fund. My colleagues and I are very grateful to it for assuming this responsibility, and my Department will of course render it all possible help.The purpose of the Fund is to help the parents of very severely congenitally handicapped children by complementing the services already being provided by statutory and voluntary bodies. The Trust is now taking steps to make the necessary administrative arrangements with a view to beginning operations not later than 1st April next. No applications should therefore be made to it until a further announcement is made of its readiness to receive them.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate has been made of the shortage of speech therapists for the mentally handicapped.

None. No estimate could readily be made since each speech therapist normally treats a wide range of handicaps.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement outlining the progress and intended progress of his brucellosis eradication scheme area by area; and whether he will speed up the programme in view of existing dangers to health.

At 31st October 1972. 18,160 herds were taking part in the voluntary brucellosis schemes, representing 63 per cent. of the total number of eligible herds in Scotland; 12,765 of these herds were accredited.This progress has enabled a worthwhile start to be made with compulsory eradication, which is now proceeding in the counties of Argyll, Bute, Shetland, Dunbarton, Renfrew and Stirling, in the North Isles of Orkney and in Western Ross and Cromarty and Western Inverness. On 1st July 1973, compulsory eradication will be extended to the counties of Caithness, Sutherland and Nairn and the remainder of Ross and Cromarty and Inverness; and on 1st November 1973, to the mainland of Orkney and the County of Ayr.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has called for or received any estimate from the airlines of the losses which they will suffer as a result of the statutory freeze; and whether, in view of the position, he will initiate discussions with them as to ways in which their revenue loss should be made good.

The answer to both parts of the Question is "No". It is open to airlines, as it is to any other commercial concern, to seek an exemption from the standstill under Section 2(7) of the Counter-Inflation (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what arrangements have been made to collect information about future industrial development, formerly provided by applications for industrial development certificates, now that those have been abolished in the development and special development areas.

Negotiations with local authority associations in England and Wales and Scotland are at present taking place with a view to obtaining this information from applications to local authorities for planning permission.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish comparative tables showing the size of nationalised undertakings in the United Kingdom and the six original members of the European Economic Community, giving the turnover in each case and the numbers employed.

The data is not readily available in respect of the six members. Assuming that my hon. Friend primarily wishes to compare nationalised undertakings in the United Kingdom with their nearest Continental counterparts, I will see whether the data can be compiled without disproportionate cost. If this information can be obtained, I will inform my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what communications he has had with the European Coal and Steel Community relating to the pricing of reinforced bars, soft-wire rods and hot re-rolled bars and sections from 1st January, in relation to the Government's acceptance of the Hirshfield Report and the obligations of membership of the Community from that date.

None, but I understand that the British Independent Steel Producers' Association has brought Lord Hirshfield's Report to the notice of the European Commission.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the sterling exchange rate will be refixed before the United Kingdom enters the Common Market on 1st January 1973.

No. I have decided that conditions are not yet appropriate for a return to the maintenance of margins round a fixed parity. It is still the Government's intention to refix as soon as conditions permit.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the extent to which competition has kept down prices since June 1970.

It is not possible to give an estimate.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the latest year for which the information is available, what would be the yield from capital gains tax at the following rates: first £2,000 at 30 per cent., next £3,000 at 40 per cent., remainder at 50 per cent.; first £3,000 at 30 per cent., next £2,000 at 40 per cent., remainder at 50 per cent.; first £5,000 at 30 per cent., next £5,000 at 40 per cent., remainder at 50 per cent.; and first £2,000 at 30 per cent., next £3,000 at 40 per cent., next £5,000 at 50 per cent., next £10,000 at 60 per cent. and remainder at 75 per cent.

If the proposed schemes had applied to chargeable gains realised in 1969–70 then the additional yields for that year would be £65 million, £60 million, £50 million, and £110 million respectively, on the assumption that there would be no further application of the alternative method—of charging gains as an addition to income—beyond that obtained under the present system.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what is his latest estimate of the amount of land presently classified as derelict in Wales; and what is the present average cost per acre of remedying such dereliction;(2) when information is now expected to be published regarding the amount of existing derelict land; and what amount is continuing to be made derelict in Wales.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 18th May. All local planning authority returns have not yet been received but it is hoped that a comprehensive report will be published during the spring. I should prefer to await the result of the survey before committing myself to an estimate. From 1st January 1972 to date, the average cost per acre of remedying industrial dereliction is £2,200.—[Vol. 837, c. 210.]

asked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will propose a conference at which the future administration of Glamorgan airport will be discussed; and if he will make a statement.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave the hon. Member for Neath (Mr. Coleman) on 7th December.—[Vol. 847, c. 493.]

asked the Secretary of State for Wales for what purposes the designation of the present counties of Wales will be used after the new local government authorities come into operation in 1974.

The Local Government Act 1972 provides that on 1st April 1974 the administrative counties of Wales and their councils will cease to exist. This need not, however, affect the continued use of the names of the existing geographic counties in many contexts where they may currently be employed e.g. in connection with sport or cultural activities.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he is satisfied with the progress made in establishing health centres in Wales; and what proposals he has for speeding up this development.

I would refer the hon. Member to my replies to his Questions on 29th June and 22nd November 1972. There are now 43 centres in operation in Wales: 30 are at final approval or advanced planning stage. Nineteen further schemes are under consideration by my Department. While I should like to see more health centres built, I think that the local authorities in Wales are, with my encouragement, making good progress.