asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will consider introducing measures to give council tenants the same security from unreasonable eviction as that afforded to statutory and protected private tenants under Section 10 and Schedule 3 of the Rent (Scotland) Act 1971.

My right hon. Friend has no evidence that in general council tenants are being unreasonably evicted, and he has no plans for legislation on the lines suggested.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will ask for the comments of the Kilbrandon Committee on the constitutional proposals for Northern Ireland and for its estimate of the effect the preparation of such comments would have on the date of publication of the committee's report.

No. It is for the commission to decide what account to take of these proposals as of other developments during the course of its work.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will reconsider the definition of "minor" as used in amendments to land use plans already passed by him, in view of the Expenditure Committee Report on Public Transport and Railways, and with particular reference to the "minor" amendment to the Glasgow plan to permit the building of houses on the Kirklee line.

I am studying carefully the recommendations of the Expenditure Committee, but I do not think that they are directly relevant to the issues raised by the hon. Gentleman.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many house improvement grants have been made in Scotland since the introduction of the present scheme.

About 68,000 grants have been approved since the 1971 Act came into operation.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the amount of high cost subsidy that will be given to the Scottish Special Housing Association during the present financial year.

From the estimates of costs and other relevant information available it seems unlikely that the payment of high cost subsidy to the association in 1973–74 will be justified.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give an undertaking that the loss in rent revenue sustained by the Scottish Special Housing Association as a result of the standstill imposed by the Government will not be subsequently charged to Scottish Special Housing Association tenants in the form of higher increases in rents.

Increases in the association's rents after the standstill period will continue to be restricted in accordance with the Housing (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1972.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what studies are being undertaken by his Department with a view to the restructuring of Scottish local authority housing revenue accounts.

Restructuring was effected last year by Section 23 of, and Schedule 4 to, the Housing (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1972.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the local authority social work service.

The social work services are being rapidly expanded as more resources become available, but a number of local authorities are short of trained staff and accommodation. Local authorities are advised on the development of their services by the social work advisers in my Department. As indicated in my reply of 27th March to the hon. Member for Hamilton (Mr. Alexander Wilson), provision has been made in the rate support grant for a substantial increase in expenditure in the next two years. I have asked local authorities to draw up proposals for the further development of the social work services up to 1978, and these proposals are now being received and considered.— [Vol. 853, cols. 305–306.]

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many primary schools there are in Scotland (a) in rural areas and (b) in urban areas.

Statistics of numbers of primary schools do not distinguish between rural areas and urban areas. In general the smaller the school the more rural the area in which it is located is likely to be. At January 1972, the last date for which figures are available, there were 2,493 education authority primary schools and departments of which 990 had rolls of 100 or less, and 309 had rolls of 101 to 200.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the regulations existing under the EEC treaty which require public authority contracts to be submitted to Brussels; and if he will make a statement.

None, but EEC Directive 71/305 which comes into force in the United Kingdom on 1st July requires member States to advertise in the Official Journal of the Communities public works contracts of which the estimated value is not less than approximately £400,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of the land resettlement programme in Kenya including any additional schemes recently discussed with Kenya Ministers.

In my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Hertfordshire, South-West (Sir Gilbert Longden) on 26th January, I referred to a grant of £600,000. This made possible the continued flow of sales in the period before we agreed with the Government of Kenya to provide the further £7 million which I announced in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge (Mr. Hornby) on 9th March. I expect the land transfer programme to continue without interruption. —[Vol. 849, c. 250; Vol. 852, c. 224.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has studied the report of the Committee for Environmental Conservation on Urban Pressures in the Countryside, a copy of which has been sent to him, and in particular the recommendation that a Royal Commission be set up to study the state of the countryside; and if he will make a statement on his policy towards it.

Yes. My noble Friend proposes to discuss the report with the chairman of the committee when it has been sufficiently studied by all concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what research is being carried out for the complete destruction of plastic bottles and containers, in order to reduce problems in relation to refuse disposal and litter in the countryside.

The quantities and types of plastic bottles and containers at present found in house refuse can ordinarily be disposed of satisfactorily in a modern incinerator or in a properly controlled tip. Research is being carried out at the University of Aston on the degradation of plastic material, and work on this subject has been or is being done in several other countries.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the flow of the principal water supply rivers in East Anglia now compared with recent years; what are the similar levels of the major reservoirs; and what assessment he makes of the area's groundwater supplies.

The Water Resources Board recently reported to me that groundwater levels in East Anglia were below average for February and the flow of the Great Ouse was less than one-third of the average. I am being kept closely in touch with the water supply position. I understand that the levels of major reservoirs are somewhat lower than normal but are not giving any cause for concern.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many individual representatives with property interests and retail interests, respectively, he has seen in connection with the report he intends to make on business rents.

None: but officials have had a number of meetings with those affected by business rents controls, including representatives of property owners; representations have been invited from other bodies including the retail trade, and if these suggest that discussion would be helpful this will be arranged.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what representation he has received from the Ramblers' Association regarding the importance of the 2½ in. Ordnance Survey map; if, in view of the importance of these maps to other users of the countryside as well as to professional bodies, he will take steps to publicise the availability of these maps; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend has received representations from members of the Ramblers' Association about the value of the series of 2½ in. to 1 mile maps. These representations will be carefully considered when the results of the review of the requirement for these maps are avail- able. The Ramblers' Association was represented at the conference of map users on 30th March when the arrangements for this review were discussed. The Ordnance Survey has promoted the sales of mapping at this scale over the last year and is reviewing the level of promotion of all its products in the light of its new aims.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations, proposals or communications he has received from the East Suffolk and Norfolk River Board concerning his powers under Section 82 of the Water Resources Act 1963.

The East Suffolk and Norfolk River Authority has made an application for an order under Section 82 of the Water Resources Act 1963 transferring to it the navigation functions of the Great Yarmouth Port and Haven Commissioners in relation to the rivers Yare, Bure and Waveney.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he is making for instituting road safety centres throughout the country.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total number of accidents which occurred on the A57 in the Rotherham and Kiveton rural districts during 1972 and the number of persons killed or injured on this road during that year.

Forty-one accidents, in which 11 persons were seriously injured and 51 slightly injured. There were no fatal casualties.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in the public interest, he will review his stocks of branta ruficollis and indicate, in so far as considerations of security permit, the whereabouts of this Government property.

I fear that my hon. Friend may have confused branta rufi-collis with branta canadensis, stocks of which do, I can reveal, exist in St. James's Park. If my hon. Friend has spotted any red-breasted migrants from beyond the Ob perhaps he will tell me where and I will offer them asylum.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing his estimates of the changes in the costs of industrial building in each of the last five years.

I regret that I have no statistics relating specifically to trends in the costs of industrial building. An index of the cost to clients of all new building and civil engineering work is published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in the quarterly bulletin Housing and Construction Statistics, and the following table gives the index numbers from 1968 to 1972 inclusive.

COST OF NEW CONSTRUCTION
Building and civil engineering work, Great Britain Indices 1963=100
1968	…	…	118
1969	…	…	123
1970	…	…	131
1971	…	…	142
1972 (provisional)	…	…	159

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many licences to ride motor cycles and mopeds were issued in 1972.

Provisional licences do not distinguish between different groups of vehicle and full licences for one group often also cover others. Separate figures for motor cycles and mopeds are not therefore available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many motor cycles and mopeds were registered in 1972.

In 1972, 152,519 motor cycles were newly-registered in Great Britain, of which 52,140 were mopeds, 6,653 scooters and 93,726 other motor cycles.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what reply he has given to the London Borough of Islington's request to him for sanction, under the Local Government Act 1933, to make ex-gratia payments to tenants of Jethou House, Channel Islands Estate, as compensation for temporary difficulties and loss of amenity during housing development operations.

This request, which is for approval in principle, is still under consideration. It is hoped to send a reply to the council very shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will name the local authorities in the Northern Region which are currently in negotiation with his Department concerning house building programmes where the lowest received tender exceeds the amount laid down by the cost yardstick plus the market allowance: what is the total number of proposed houses affected in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Housing schemes, involving some 950 dwellings and seven local authorities in the Northern Region, are currently under discussion between the Department and the authorities concerned following the receipt of tenders. Publication of the information in the detail requested could hamper the local authorities concerned in dealing with contractors.The yardstick arrangements were made more flexible last November by the introduction of special market allowances and the number of dwellings in tenders accepted by local authorities in the Northern Region in the first 12 weeks of this year is 74 per cent. up on the number in tenders accepted in the same period last year.

asked the Lord Advocate what arrangements are proposed by him to enable the Scottish Law Commission to consider and to report upon changes in the law of Scotland resulting from British membership of the European Economic Community; and if he will make a statement.

The Scottish Law Commission already has the necessary statutory powers for the consideration of such matters. The commission will be further strengthened in the autumn by the appointment of Professor Anton, an acknowledged authority in the field of private international law, on a full-time basis.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of shoplifting cases at Marl-borough Street Magistrates' Court, for each of the past five years, involved visitors from Middle Eastern countries.

This information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the terms of reference given to the Criminal Law Revision Committee relating to penalties for offences against the person and homicide enabled the committee to consider the desirability of reintroducing capital punishment as a penalty for murder.

No. The committee has been asked:

"To review the law relating to, and the penalties for, offences against the person, including homicide, in the light of, and subject to, the recent decision of Parliament to make permanent the statutory provision abolishing the death penalty for murder."

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much wheat has so far been denatured; and what is the total amount paid in denaturing payments to farmers and to merchants, respectively.

The quantity of wheat denatured by admixture from 1st February to 22nd March was approximately 36,000 tons.Subsidy on about 19,000 tons, amounting to approximately £134,000 has been paid to date. No breakdown of these figures between farmers and merchants is available without a disproportionate charge on public funds.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the estimated added value per animal resulting from processing cattle in the United Kingdom instead of exporting them live.

No such estimate is available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements his Department makes to monitor increased building costs in order to review standard costs in the Farm Capital Grant Scheme.

My Department keeps a close watch on movements in building costs and other costs which are relevant to the determination of standard cost under the Farm Capital Grant Scheme. The lands arm of the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service receives regular information on costs of materials and has direct knowledge of movements in costs of buildings and works.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the saving of £15 million per annum expected as a result of the 10 per cent. cut in the Farm Capital Grant Scheme will show before 1975.

The estimated annual saving for the United Kingdom of approximately £15 million following the reduction in the standard rate of grant of 10 percentage points is expected to be substantially achieved as early as the financial year 1974–75.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, in the light of the suspension of the dedication and related grant schemes to new applicants, he will now announce arrangements for an interim scheme of forestry grants.

Yes. Consultations on new long-term arrangements are continuing, and my right hon. Friends are satisfied that a temporary measure of this kind would be appropriate. The Forestry Commission has therefore been authorised to consider applications for assistance in respect of approved planting up to and including the 1973–74 planting season, which is not eligible for grant under the schemes to which my hon. Friend refers. Assistance will take the form of a grant for planting only and will be at the rate of £23·18 per acre, payable in two instalments. Where planting has not yet started, payment will be subject to prior approval of the planting proposals by the Forestry Commission. Comparable planting already undertaken since 28 th June 1972 may also be approved for payment if evidence can be provided to enable the claim to be verified. The closing date for receipt of applications under this temporary scheme will be 31st December 1973 or the date of introduction of long-term arrangements, whichever is the earlier.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service on what date a decision was reached about the retirement of the Government's Chief Economic Adviser, Sir Donald MacDougall.

Sir Donald MacDougall reached the normal Civil Service retiring age of 60 in October 1972. He agreed to serve on for a period until a successor could be selected and appointed; my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced on 29th March that Sir Kenneth Berrill was to be appointed his successor and would take up the post in the autumn.

asked the Minister of State for Defence if he will reconvene sub- committee D of the Army Cadet Force Review Committee in order to resolve the problems of Army Cadet Force uniforms.

The Army Cadet Force Review Committee having completed its work, it would not be appropriate to reconvene one of its sub-committees. Any further action arising out of the committee's recommendations is now a matter for the Ministry of Defence. I will be glad to consider any particular problems the hon. Member has in mind.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the different categories of handicap in children: when these categories were defined; and what plans she has for a redrafting of these categories.

The statutory categories of handicapped pupils requiring special educational treatment are:

Blind, partially sighted, deaf, partially hearing, educationally sub-normal, epileptic, maladjusted, physically handicapped, suffering from speech defect and delicate.

These were defined in 1959 with minor amendments to the definitions of hearing impaired children in 1962. I am reviewing the question of statutory categories in consultation with my Advisory Committee on Handicapped Children. With the committee's encouragement, five local education authorities are conducting an experiment in the use of a descriptive classification of the needs of handicapped children alongside the statutory categorisation for a trial period.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science at what age the education of a handicapped child is no longer the responsibility of the local authority.

Educational provision for pupils over compulsory school age. including handicapped pupils, comes within the general provision made by local education authorities either in schools or establishments of further education. Their continued education will depend upon individual needs and upon the availability of suitable places. In the case of schools the age limit for senior pupils is 19 years.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of young persons currently receiving training under the apprentice training award schemes; and which industrial training boards are providing these facilities.

In the six months beginning 1st September last year, 3,526 young people started training under the award schemes administered by the following industrial training boards: construction, engineering, hotel and catering, road transport and rubber and plastic processing.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish figures showing the percentage changes in the

		March 1972		March 1973 (Provisional)
		Males	Females	Males	Females
South-East	…	23·9	121·2	73·4	283·5
East Anglia	…	14·1	67·9	49·7	192·8
South·West	…	14·5	70·3	43·0	144·6
West Midlands	…	7·9	45·4	32·8	110·7
East Midlands	…	13·4	89·3	41·2	160·3
Yorkshire and Humberside	…	7·2	51·6	23·3	102·1
North-West	…	5·2	33·0	13·9	64·3
North	…	5·2	28·8	15·0	52·2
Wales	…	7·8	29·1	16·5	49·1
Scotland	…	3·1	14·1	11·6	32·1
Northern Ireland	…	3·9	16·9	10·0	20·2

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 have been the trends in the composition of unemployment over recent years.

The latest issue of the Department of Employment Gazette, published yesterday, contains an analysis of trends in the composition of the unemployed between the mid-1950s and September 1972. This shows that increases in the underlying levels between the post-war period and the present

The following table shows percentage changes in the numbers unemployed based on the provisional figures for 12th March 1973.

South-East	…	-28·8
East Anglia	…	-32·8
South-West	…	-27·6
West Midlands	…	-35·0
East Midlands	…	-29·9
Yorkshire and Humberside	…	-29·5
North-West	…	-17·5
North	…	-22·2
Wales	…	-25·7
Scotland	…	-232
Northern Ireland	…	-18·1

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table showing the unfilled vacancies per 100 unemployed males and females, respectively, in each planning region of the United Kingdom, to the latest available date; and if he will show how this compares with the position in March 1972.

Following is the information:have occurred mainly amongst males, but there have been few relative changes in the distribution of male unemployment by region, by occupation or by industry in which last engaged. The proportions of the male unemployed in the youngest and oldest age-ranges have risen slightly over this period.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the total cost to the British Gas Corporation of the recent wage settlement, including the cost of all fringe benefits and the postponement of redundancies; and if he will express this total cost as a percentage of the existing cost of employment by the corporation.

I have been asked to reply.Following resumed negotiations in the light of the result of the gasworkers' ballot, proposals for a settlement have now been put to the Pay Board. It would be premature to seek to cost these until a firm settlement has been reached, but I have asked the Chairman of the British Gas Corporation to write to my hon. Friend when this information is available.

asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications what arrangements will be made to publish the successful applications for commercial radio contracts.

This is a matter for the Independent Broadcasting Authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total number of families now receiving family income supplement; and what is the average amount of benefit received.

At the end of January 1973, the latest date for which information is available, 79,000 families were receiving family income supplement; the average weekly payment was £2·10. In addition, families whose supplementary benefit is subject to the wage-stop provision receive increased amounts of supplementary benefit because of family income supplement and, at the end of 1972, about 20,000 families were benefiting; many other families would have been wage-stopped but for the effect of family income supplement.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what have been the number of illegitimate births and the number of known abortions for each for the last 10 years, respectively.

Avaliable information for England and Wales is as follows:—

			Abortions notified under the Abortion Act 1967
		Number of illegitimate birth*(Live and Still)	All cases	Residents
1963	…	60,340	—	—
1964	…	64,649	—	—
1965	…	67,533	—	—
1966	…	68,324	—	—
1967	…	71,260	—	—
1968	…	71,038	23,641‡	22,332‡
1969	…	68,148	54,819	49,829
1970	…	65,789	86,565	75,962
1971	…	66,750	126,777	94,570
1972	…	63,173†	159,884	108,000§
* All cases—including about 200 illegimate births a year to non-resident women.
† Provisional.
‡ Eight months only.
§ Estimated.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his policy towards the development of general practitioner-run cottage hospitals to supplement the coverage of patients provided by district general hospitals.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he is now in a position to make a statement on cottage or community hospitals within the reorganised National Health Service.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I have decided that policy for the development of hospital services, which has hitherto concentrated mainly on district general hospitals, shall in future include community hospitals. These will be complementary to the district general hospitals and closely related to the primary health services. District general hospitals will remain the focus for specialist services for each health district, but there is now general agreement in principle that in most areas a proportion of the hospital services can with advantage be provided in smaller more local hospitals to be called community hospitals. These can provide appropriate hospital care nearer their homes for patients not requiring the highly specialised facilities of the district general hospitals. The precise arrangements will vary considerably according to local conditions, including population density. The development of community hospitals is not intended to add to the total hospital services planned for any district, but up to a quarter of all its in-patient beds and many of its day places might eventually be in community hospitals, thus enabling us to base our future planning on smaller district general hospitals. A community hospital will cater for a variety of types of patients, and will differ from the traditional cottage hospital. Indeed by no means all existing local hospitals will be able to continue in use. But some can be given a new and viable role, with adaptation or extension of their buildings if necessary; their work will need to be closely co-ordinated with the district general hospitals and the primary health services within operational policies worked out by the future district management teams. My right hon. and learned Friend and I hope to issue detailed guidance on this new policy later this year after some further consultation with our advisory bodies, the health professions and the health service authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) whether he has requested or received a report from the board of Rolls-Royce (1971) Ltd. on the circumstances of the resignation of the managing director of the Derby engine division; and if he will make a statement;(2) what discussions took place between him and the board of Rolls-Royce (1971) Ltd. prior to the resignation of the managing director of the Derby engine division; and whether he was consulted, or his approval requested.

Staff matters within Rolls-Royce (1971) Ltd. are the responsibility of the management of the company. As a matter of courtesy the chairman informed my Department of Mr. Fawn's resignation.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many gas explosions have occured in North Staffordshire in each of the years from 1963 to 1972; how many properties were damaged; and how many people were injured, seriously injured and died as a result of such explosions in each year;(2) what was the cost of damage to all property due to gas explosions in each of the years 1963 to 1972; and how much of this was to private dwellings;(3) how many private dwellings were damaged or destroyed by gas explosions in each of the years 1963 to 1972; how many of these dwellings did not use gas; and what estimate has been made of the number who were not insured or only partially insured for the building and contents;(4) how many gas explosions there were in England and Wales in each of the years from 1963–72; how many properties were damaged; and how many people were injured, seriously injured or died as a result of such explosions in each year.

Some of the details requested by these Questions are not available. I will place in the Library a report of that information which is available, when it has been assembled.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total number of schoolchildren relieved from VAT in respect of school uniform; what is the total number he expects will still be paying VAT; and if he will make a statement.

The relief from VAT in respect of young children's clothing and footwear probably covers about 12½ million babies and young children, of whom about 8 million are at school. The number who wear school uniforms is not known.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will withdraw his advertisements on VAT published in The Times on 27th March, and in various other newspapers, as being in certain respects misleading and inaccurate; and if he will make a statement.

No. I do not accept that the advertisements are either misleading or inaccurate.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will propose bringing the VAT payable on taxi fares generally into line with that payable in London.

Under the Finance Act 1972 VAT applies equally to taxi fares in London and elsewhere.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list and publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the ways the White Paper on phase 2 differs from the Price and Pay Code Consultative Document Command Paper No. 5247.

Apart from changes designed to increase clarity, such as the explanations of methods for calculating permitted price and pay increases, and to secure greater consistency of treatment, such as the extension of the list of allowable costs to include bought-in services and of the list of exclusions from control to include prices determined on commodity markets, the substantive differences between Cmnd. 5247 and Cmnd. 5267 are as follows:

(i) The requirement to reduce prices where factors such as an increase in turnover lead to lower unit costs has been omitted, though reductions are still required in other circumstances.

(ii) the 50 per cent. productivity deduction has been modified for the benefit of labour-intensive enterprises.

(iii) Provision has been made for prices to be raised in anticipation of known future cost increases to an extent which reflects an appropriate average of present and anticipated costs, in certain well-defined circumstances.

(iv) The circumstances in which the Price Commission may recognise the special needs of investment have been extended.

(v) Provision has been included for the nationalised industries to increase prices to avoid increases in their deficits.

(vi) A number of changes have been made on dates and periods and the unit for computation of margins and for notification and reporting of price and pay increases.

(vii) The definition of personal increments which do not count against the pay limit or the limit of £250 a year for the individual has been tightened.

• Some of these changes are to safeguard investment, and others to recognise the needs of particular sectors and certain practical difficulties. None of them impair the main features of the controls originally proposed in Cmnd. 5247.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the figures for overseas investment in each of the years from 1945 to the latest date also expressing each figure as a percentage of gross national product.

United Kingdom private investment overseas in each of the years 1952 to 1972, in value and expressed as a percentage of gross national product at factor cost, is shown in the table below. Figures for private investment for the years prior to 1952 are not available.

				Investment £ million	As percentage of GNP
1952	…	…	…	127	0·9
1953	…	…	…	173	1·1
1954	…	…	…	238	1·5
1955	…	…	…	182	1·1
1956	…	…	…	258	1·4
1957	…	…	…	298	1·5
1958	…	…	…	310	1·5
1959	…	…	…	303	1·4
1960	…	…	…	322	1·4
1961	…	…	…	313	1·3
1962	…	…	…	242	0·9
1963	…	…	…	320	1·2
1964	…	…	…	399	1·4
1965	…	…	…	368	1·2
1966	…	…	…	303	0·9
1967	…	…	…	456	1·3
1968	…	…	…	727	2·0
1969	…	…	…	679	1·7
1970	…	…	…	763	1·8
1971	…	…	…	854	1·8
1972	…	…	…	1,350	2·5

The financing of private investment overseas in recent years up to 1971 is given in Table 25 of United Kingdom Balances of Payments 1972 (the "Pink Book"). Comparable information for 1972 is not available but it is known that the large increase in investment in 1972 was mainly financed by reinvested profits and by net foreign currency borrowing by United Kingdom banks.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the national income has been devoted to saving in each year since 1964.

In the national accounts, the nation's total saving is defined as equal to its expenditure on investment—including stockbuilding and net investment abroad. Figures of total saving on this basis are given below:

			Gross saving* as a percentage of gross national product at factor cost	Net saving† as a percentage of national income
1964	…	…	21·2	13·3
1965	…	…	21·6	13·6
1966	…	…	21·7	13·6
1967	…	…	20·9	12·6
1968	…	…	21·5	13·0
1969	…	…	23·3	14·8
1970	…	…	23·9	15·2
1971	…	…	23·0	14·1
1972	…	…	19·6	10·0
* After deducting stock appreciation.
† After deducting stock appreciation and capital consumption.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for each year since 1950, what has been the percentage of company capital funds derived, respectively, from capital issues, loans and debentures, un-

PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL SOURCES OF FUNDS
							UK capital issues by quoted companies
		Total sources of funds £ million	Undistributed income*Per cent.	Capital transfers† Per cent.	Bank borrowing Per cent.	Other loans and mortgages Per cent.	Ordinary shares Per cent.	Debenture and preference shares Per cent.	Overseas sources of funds Per cent.
1960	…	3,551	72	—	12	3	7	2	4
1961	…	3,131	70	—	7	4	10	4	5
1962	…	2,884	69	1	10	4	5	6	5
1963	…	3,761	67	—	14	3	3	6	7
1964	…	4,494	65	—	17	4	4	6	4
1965	…	4,487	67	—	11	6	1	8	7
1966	…	3,837	69	1	5	3	3	12	7
1967	…	4,061	66	6	8	1	2	8	9
1968	…	5,150	57	9	11	2	6	4	11
1969	…	5,519	53	11	12	4	3	6	11
1970	…	5,701	49	9	20	5	1	3	13
1971	…	6,281	55	9	12	5	2	3	14
1972 (preliminary)‡		8,978	45	5	33	2	3	3	9
* Before providing for depreciation, stock appreciation and additions to reserves.
† Including investment grants.
‡ Certain information for the fourth quarter is incomplete.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the saving in the current academic year from abandoning the dependent child allowance in respect of students over the age of 21 years at the relevant date in September 1972 whose parents are making a parental contribution towards their education and maintenance.

The information on which to base an estimate is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is his estimate of the number of firms which

Sources of capital funds to industrial and commercial companies from 1960 onwards are estimated as follows:will gain from the change in the system of corporation tax whose profits lie in the following bands, both in total and sub-divided into quoted and unquoted companies: £25,000-£40,000, £25,000-£50,000, £25,000-£70,000 and £25,000-£100,000.(2) what is his estimate of the reduction in retained profits occasioned by the change in corporation tax on companies whose profits are above the level of £25,000 but do not exceed £100,000, and if he will break the figure down between quoted and unquoted companies.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 3rd April 1973; Vol. 854, c. 84], circulated the following reply:This information is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the number of firms whose corporation taxable profits lie in the following bands, both in total and sub-divided into quoted and unquoted companies, £25,000-£40,000, £25,000-£50,000, £25,000-70,000 and £25,000-£100,000.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 3rd April 1973; Vol. 854, c. 84], circulated the following reply:Information in the exact form asked for is not available, but the estimated number of companies by net amount of profit chargeable to corporation tax in respect of accounting periods ended in the year to 31st March 1969 is available in the following ranges:

Net amount chargeable (£00)	Estimated number of companies*
20 to under 100	17,483
30 to under 100	11,198
50 to under 100	5,251
* Including assessments for which agreement was incomplete at 31st October 1970.

Separate information for quoted and unquoted companies is not available but the majority of companies in these size ranges will be unquoted.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost to the Exchequer of extending the limits of small company corporation tax relief from £15,000-£25,000 to £20,000-£30,000 or to £30,000-£40,000 or to £50,000-£60,000 or to £70,000-£80,000 or to £90,000-£100,000 respectively.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 3rd April 1973; Vol. 854, c. 84], circulated the following reply:Information in the exact form asked for is not available, but the following figures illustrate the additional costs of extending the relief for small companies provided for in Section 95 of the Finance Act 1972 by raising the lower relevant maximum amount by stages to £100,000 with consequential increases in the upper relevant maximum amount:

Relevant maximum amount (£00)
Lower	Upper	Estimated additional cost (£m.)
30	50	25
50	75	40–50
75	100	50–70
100	150	70–100

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the number of taxpayers who in 1973– 74 will have incomes above one-and-a-half times average national earnings, and of the total tax yield for 1973–74 from such taxpayers; and what is his estimate of the different additional tax yields accruing to the Revenue if such taxpayers were taxed on all income above one-and-a-half times national earnings at the marginal rate of 50 per cent., 60 per cent., 70 per cent., 80 per cent., 90 per cent. and 100 per cent. respectively.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 3rd April 1973; Vol. 854, c. 82], circulated the following reply:It is estimated that in 1973–74 about 4½ million taxpayers will have incomes above one-and-a-half times present average earnings and will be liable to pay about £4,200 million in income tax. The estimated additional tax which would arise from applying the marginal rates quoted to the excess over one-and-a-half times average earnings is as follows:

Marginal rate %					Yield £ million
50	…	…	…	…	650
60	…	…	…	…	1,200
70	…	…	…	…	1,800
80	…	…	…	…	2,350
90	…	…	…	…	2,900
100	…	…	…	…	3,450

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the loss of revenue from the concessions on taxation of income and capital gains granted to occupational pension schemes in 1972–73; and if he will publish estimates for the current and future years on the basis of the existing tax provisions.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 3rd April 1973; Vol. 854, c. 83], circulated the following information:I am not sure what my hon. Friend has in mind by the first part of his Question. As regards the second part of his Question, the amount of income tax and advance corporation tax to be forgone at 1973–74 rates is estimated at about £225 million on the basis of the 1971 estimate of interest in the Government Actuary's Fourth Survey of Occupational Pension Schemes.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures illustrating the progress of pension schemes approved under Chapter III of Part IX of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 3rd April 1973; Vol. 854, c. 83], circulated the following information: