asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the forthcoming meeting with the Commonwealth sugar-producing countries.

The main purpose of the meeting with the Governments of those developing countries associated with the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement is to hold informal discussions on the arrangements which will be necessary to provide for their continuing exports of sugar after 1974 when our contractual obligations under the CSA come to an end. The House will recall that arrangements have to be negotiated to implement the assurances given in Part III of Protocol 22 of the Accession Treaty and the Lancaster House declaration of June 1971.There will also be the opportunity to discuss our existing contractual commitments. We need to ensure that the quantities of sugar involved under the CSA can be effectively marketed and refined in this country. The Government have accepted that, for this purpose, a refining margin of approximately £17 per ton is requited. Under the arrangements agreed in Brussels in January, the margin results from the difference between the price at which raw cane sugar enters the United Kingdom and the price at which white sugar can be marketed. This difference is not currently producing the required result. I shall, therefore, be discussing with my colleagues in the Ministerial Council meeting in Brussels next week by what measures we can best rectify the situation. I shall inform the House of the outcome.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is now in a position to announce the arrangements for establishing the United Kingdom Seeds Executive.

Yes. Having consulted the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce, my right hon. Friends will be setting up the United Kingdom Seeds Executive on 2nd April 1973 as a statutory committee of the board. The executive will consist of:Chairman: Professor O. G. Williams BSc (Agric)

asked the Attorney-General whether he will extend the new warning system which is to be used at the Central Criminal Court to the Inner London Crown Court.

No: the Inner London Crown Court already has its own warning system.

asked the Minister of State for Defence what training programmes are in existence for the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve; and whether they include the training of recruits in war games involving riots and the suppression of demonstrations in British cities.

The training programmes of TAVR units vary with the type of unit and are largely determined by the role of the unit in mobilisation plans. Trained soldiers of the TAVR infantry may be instructed in the principles of internal security in a general war situation.

asked the Minister of State for Defence how many Regular Army officers are on full-time work with the TAVR.

There are 340 Regular Army officers engaged full-time on work with the TAVR.

asked the Minister of State for Defence what has been the size of the new TAVR since its inception; and what is the target for its ultimate strength.

The strength of the new TAVR units which were formed on 1st April 1971 was as follows:

asked the Minister of State for Defence what the annual budget has been of the new TAVR since it was formed; what amount is allocated for the financial year; and what amount is allocated for the next financial year.

The cost of the new TAVR units formed on 1st April 1971 cannot be precisely identified separately within the cost of the Army as a whole. The estimated provision for the new units is as follows:

1971–72	1972–73	1973–74
£3·0 million	£5·0 million	£5·5 million

asked the Minister of State for Defence whether he will seek to obtain information from the South African Armaments Board about its development of a vehicle for destroying landmines, and give consideration to the possible use of such a vehicle in Northern Ireland.

It is our policy to keep in touch with foreign developments.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, in view of the fact that the required public notices under Section 13 of the 1944 Education Act, concerning proposals for the reorganisation of secondary education in Salford, expired on 20th December 1972, and of the need for early decisions if the proposals are to be implemented as intended in September 1973, if she will indicate when she expects to be able to give her decisions to the local education authority.

My right hon. Friend has a duty to consider very carefully all statutory proposals and any objections made to them. She will announce her decision in this case as quickly as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if, in the light of recent Government research together with the conclusion of a recent study on

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of men aged 20 to 39 years in each standard region of Great Britain who in (1) May and (2) November 1971 and 1972 (a) were registered as wholly unemployed, (b) had been registered as wholly unemployed for over four weeks and (c) had been registered as wholly unemployed for over 13 weeks.

Detailed analyses of the unemployed according to their age and the length of their current spell of unemployment are made only for January and July each year. Following is the available information:fringe benefits published by Gower Press, a copy of which is in his possession, that present occupational sick pay arrangements are unsatisfactory, he will give consideration to a reappraisal of sick pay provisions to include an examination of the possibility of legislation to compel companies to provide their own schemes: and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.I am aware that there are wide variations in occupational sick pay provision, and welcome further research and discussion. I have no statement to make at present.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many scaffolding operatives were trained at the Mitcham Centre over each of the last three years; and what is the number of vacancies this year.

Numbers of scaffolding operatives trained at Mitcham

		Greater London		South East region (including Greater London)
		Unemployed	Unfilled vacancies	Unemployed	Unfilled vacancies
March 1973 (Provisional)	…	67,277	60,644	132,265	135,661
March 1972	…	88,021	33,219	185,865	68,929

The vacancy statistics relate only to notified vacancies remaining unfilled and do not purport to measure the total unsatisfied demand for labour.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what use he intends to make of his conciliation machinery with regard to the National Union of Mine-workers in the period before the ballot vote is held on whether its members should take industrial action.

The wage increase and proposals on holidays offered by the NCB and rejected by the executive of the NUM are at the limit allowable in stage 2 of the counter-inflation policy. In these circumstances, I see no scope at present for conciliation.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage pay increases there have been in the electricity supply industry and on the railways since April 1972 and up to the present day.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the figures for registered unemployed and unfilled vacancies in the South-East and the greater London area, respectively, for the latest month for which statistics are available, in comparison with the levels for a year earlier.

Following is the information:

It is estimated that basic weekly wage rates rose between 30th April 1972 and 28th February 1973 by 11·3 per cent. on average for all manual workers in electricity supply and by 15·7 per cent. for those in rail services, other than railway workshops. For men only the corresponding figures were 11·3 per cent. and 15·8 per cent., respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities will be required to raise their rents by an average of 50p a week in April and in October, respectively; how many have been given permission to increase their rents by smaller sums; and if he will list the authorities in the two categories, respectively.

About half of all council tenants in England and Wales will have the rents of their dwellings increased after the standstill period comes to an end on 28th April. Following are the authorities who have been directed to increase rents then by an average of less than 50p, with the amount of the direction. No such directions have been given yet to authorities who are due to increase their rents later this year:

Baildon UDC	…	37p
Bideford RDC	…	32p
Darwen BC	…	40p
Elland UDC	…	28p
Great Torrington BC	…	31p
Halifax CBC	…	29p
Haslingden BC	…	15p
Hebden Royd UDC	…	33p
Kensington and Chelsea RLB	…	45p
King's Lynn BC	…	40p
Leicester CBC	…	36p
Midhurst RDC	…	45p
Ossett BC	…	35p
Portsmouth CBC	…	15p
Rishton RD	…	45p
Shaftesbury BC	…	33p
Swindon BC	…	45p
West Kesteven RDC	…	40p
Wetherby RDC	…	33p

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will take action in response to the views of the Northamptonshire County Council, the Brixworth Rural District Council, the Headmaster of Brixworth School, the Parent Teacher Association and Brixworth Parish Council that, in the interests of road safety, the flashing amber lights at the old school crossing site should be moved to the new school crossing site on the A508.

No. Visibility is much better at the new site.

asked the Secretary of Stale for the Home Department to what extent the information about fire losses, for which he relies for official purposes upon the British Insurance Association, is comprehensive and covers all fires in the country, whether dealt with by insurance companies or not; and whether in particular these statistics cover fires in Government-owned property which is not insured.

The statistics published by the British Insurance Association cover both insured and uninsured fire damage in the United Kingdom, and include fire losses in Government-owned property wherever possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the immigration and estimated emigration figures for the latest available monthly period, broken down according to the country of origin or destination.

In December 1972, the totals of Commonwealth citizens subject to immigration control and of foreign passengers who were admitted to, and embarked from, the United Kingdom for all purposes were as follows:

COMMONWEALTH CITIZENS
	Admitted	Embarked
Associated States	135	145
Australia	10,500	9,474
Bangladesh	698	349
Barbados	200	758
Botswana	21	9
Canada	13,062	11,172
Cyprus	884	691
Gambia	25	18
Ghana	723	902
Gibraltar	135	122
Guyana	324	449
Hong Kong	971	669
India	4,887	4,388
Jamaica	1,201	3,473
Kenya	789	500
Lesotho	16	5
Malawi	23	22
Malaysia	1,424	1,102
Malta	1,071	643
Mauritius	721	702
New Zealand	2,187	2,332
Nigeria	1,368	1,757
Pakistan	3,085	2,988
Rhodesia	20	3
Sierra Leone	126	131
Singapore	621	730
Sri Lanka	526	518
Swaziland	6	4
Tanzania	340	263
Trinidad and Tobago	492	628
Uganda	230	181
Zambia	142	198
United Kingdom passport holders from East Africa and India	1,697	195
All other territories	667	729
Total	49,317	46,250
Foreign nationals
Europe:
Austria	3,423	3,642
Baltic States	—	2
Belgium	16,768	16,248
Czechoslovakia	707	852

	Admitted	Embarked
Denmark	6,183	7,029
Finland	1,896	2,188
France	54,604	53,236
Germany	35,234	33,839
Greece	5,406	6,037
Hungary	752	683
Italy	20,234	20,410
Luxembourg	286	314
Netherlands	35,168	33,765
Norway	5,808	7,209
Poland	1,996	1,853
Portugal	5,424	4,818
Rumania	270	276
Spain	9,838	13,751
Sweden	10,791	11,675
Switzerland	8,845	11,664
Turkey	2,024	2,217
USSR	295	331
Yugoslavia	1,929	2,887
Other European countries	794	1,227
Non-Europe:
Argentina	1,185	1,082
Brazil	2,116	2,096
Burma	28	38
Chile	411	442
China	75	71
Colombia	512	616
Cuba	84	88
Indonesia	404	487
Iran	3,791	4,196
Iraq	420	414
Israel	2,642	2,844
Japan	8,289	9,319
Lebanon	1,102	1,199
Mexico	1,109	1,621
Peru	335	427
South Africa	12,107	10,157
United Arab Republic	1,641	1,798
USA	85,675	85,373
Venezuela	766	1,186
Other American countries	848	1,053
Other non-European countries	6,657	6,735
German Democratic Republic	—	1
Undetermined nationality	2,915	2,852
Total	361,787	370,221

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of those voluntary and nongovernmental organisations to which the Government provide more than a 50 per cent. grant.

It will take some time to assemble the information about voluntary organisations, but my noble Friend the Minister of State will write to the hon. Member as soon as it is ready. Information relating to other non-governmental organisations could not be provided without excessive cost to public funds.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will issue further amendments to the special scheme for works of art and antiques contained in Customs and Excise Notice 712 bearing in mind the recently expressed views of the British Antique Dealers' Association and the fact that methods of accounting in cases of joint ownership have not yet been formulated.

Any amendments to Customs and Excise Notice No. 712 will be issued as and when necessary.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in the light of the Government's latest statement, it is his intention to require dealers selling works of art and antiques to national museums within the special scheme contained in Customs and Excise Notice 712 to disclose the amount of VAT included in the price.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 13th March.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will seek to obtain from the banks the number of 2½p pieces which are in their hands.

Some 400 million 2½ penny coins are still outside the Royal Mint. It would be unduly costly in both time and effort to ascertain what proportion of this total is with the banks at any particular moment.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what considerations led to his choice of newspapers in which to communicate the facts of VAT to the inhabitants of Norwich; and if he is satisfied that this information has now been made readily available to them.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the second part of the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Mr. David Clark) on 15th March.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in the light of the Government's latest statement, it is his intention to exempt from VAT the first £5,000 of output of living artists.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish Professor Reddaway's final report on the economic effects of selective employment tax on 1st April 1973.

It was published, by arrangement with Her Majesty's Government, on 15th March 1973, by the Cambridge University Press.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest figures for the average earned income per head for people living in Wales; and how this compares with the figure for the United Kingdom as a whole.

The information is being prepared and I will circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT in due course.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what would be the net cost to the Exchequer, after consequential savings in supplementary benefits, of making unemployment and sickness pay taxable income and at the same time increasing the rates of pay by 44 per cent.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 22nd March 1973, Vol. 853, c. 158], gave the following information:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what would be the net cost, after saving in supplementary benefits, of increasing retirement pensions to the supplementary benefit levels and making them taxable as investment income for taxpayers above the age exemption limit.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 22nd March 1973, Vol. 853, c. 158], gave the following information:If the hon. Member has in mind the payment of standard flat rate pension at the supplementary benefit scale rates plus long term addition, the net cost before tax would be about £80 million for 1972–73. I do not follow the second part of the hon. Member's Question. Perhaps he will write to me.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he has taken to ascertain the reasons for the hospital workers' industrial dispute; and in particular how many meetings he has had with the trade unions.

The trade unions concerned have repeatedly made known their reasons for taking industrial action; and management has also made its position clear. I have not myself met the unions but I have been kept fully informed of the meetings held by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services. Officials of my Department have met the Scottish officers of the unions on three occasions and have been regularly in touch with them since the industrial action began.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about which items on the agenda of the Council of Ministers' meeting of the EEC on 27th March affect Scottish interests; and how many Scottish Office officials will be there to advise the British Ministerial representative.

The meeting on 27th March is of Agricultural Ministers. It is expected that it will cover a wide range of matters, most of which affect Scottish agriculture. A Scottish Office official will attend as adviser.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will study the research work reported in the Canadian Medical Association Council of September 1972 which shows a highly significant correlation between the regular intake of vitamin C and a lower rate of time lost as a result of illness.

Certainly. I am arranging for full details of the research work in question to be obtained from the Canadian Medical Association.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, having regard to 119 children having been admitted to the Leicester Royal Infirmary suffering from accidental poisoning, under the age of five years, during the first nine weeks of 1973, he will now recommend all dangerous drugs to be sold in child-resistant containers; and whether he will make a statement.

I have nothing to add at present to my replies to the hon. and learned Member of 2nd March 1972 and 12th December 1972, and to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, South (Dr. Stuttaford) on 14th April 1972. [Vol. 832, c. 187–8: Vol. 848, c. 67; Vol. 834, c. 248.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he is aware that a value added tax of 10 per cent. will now be levied on the cost of wheelchairs only used by disabled people; and if he will take this additional cost into account when considering their invalidity pension, or similar benefit.

Most disabled people get their wheelchairs free of charge through the National Health Service, and VAT will make no difference to them. As regards the rates of invalidity pension and other benefits for the disabled, I would refer my hon. Friend to the recent announcement of substantial increases in benefits in the autumn.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claims have been made and how many were success- ful for industrial benefit for brucellosis since it was made a scheduled disease.

Fifteen successful claims have been recorded for the period from 31st July 1972, when brucellosis was prescribed, to 31st January 1973. Figures of disallowed claims are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claims were made in Midlothian in 1972, and to the nearest available date in 1973, by pensioners for a heating allowance; and what was the estimated cost.

I regret that this information is not available. The Supplementary Benefits Commission provides for normal heating requirements in every case, and the staff concerned try to ensure that all claimants entitled to extra heating additions receive them.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will issue a circular to local authorities reminding them of their obligations under Ministry of Health Circular 87/48 relating to the homeless.

In the light of their discussions with the local authorities concerned about the joint working party reports on homelessness, the Government will be consulting the local authority associations on this matter. They contemplate the issue of further guidance later this year.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the estimated gross earnings of a female manual worker in the ancillary hospital services; and how much of any such total is related to basic pay and overtime, respectively, in regard to how many basic working hours weekly.

£20·83, of which basic pay for a 40-hour week is £16·56, overtime is £1·10 and other payments are £3·17.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if any flight paths across Scotland have been agreed for the Concorde aircraft; and, if so, what they are.

No applications for such flight paths have been received or agreed.