asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what estimate has been made of the number of Ministry of Defence administrative, professional and technical staff prepared to move to Glasgow in the event of a decision to disperse quality assurance posts from Woolwich Arsenal;(2) what estimate has been made of the costs of dispersing Ministry of Defence quality assurance posts from Greater London to Glasgow, including the provision of suitable buildings and the training of professional, technical and manual staff.

An examination of various options for dispersal to Glasgow, and elsewhere, is in hand. It is too soon to put estimates of cost to these options and premature to say which quality assurance posts at Woolwich may be affected. Until particular posts have been identified it is not possible to estimate how many of the staff concerned would be willing to move.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will list the aircraft and weapons systems projects which have been cancelled in each year since 1964 up to the present date, together with the cost at the time of cancellation of each project including research and development.

The major defence projects cancelled since 1964 and the expenditure incurred on them including any cancellation charges are set out below:

Project	Total Project Expenditure £ million
1964
Infantry medium range anti-tank missile	0·23
1965
HS 681 aircraft	4·00
P 1154 aircraft	21·00
TSR 2 aircraft	178·00
Lightning III auto-attack system	1·40
1966
High-powered boiler for new aircraft carrier	0·06
Catapult for new aircraft carrier	0·26
P 35 aerial vehicle (hovercraft type)	0·28
1967
Armoured Mine Recovery vehicle	0·165
AFVG aircraft	2·50
Chinook helicopter	0·35
1968
Optical linescan for Buccaneer Mk 11	1·35
Army Medium Hovercraft	0·08
F 111K aircraft	13·50
1969
Anglo-Dutch 3-D radar	1·72
1970
Taildog short range air-to-air missile	0·70
Land Based AEW system (FMICW radar)	2·95
C 5 aircrft	Nil
1971
Mark 31 Torpedo	5·25
1974
QC 434 short range air-to-air missile	6·35
1975
Amphibious Ships	Nil
RS 80	4·80
Vixen	0·70
Argosy conversion	Not yet available
Medium Lift Helicopter	Nil

The list does not include projects affected by reductions in numbers.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether any further consideration has been given to the future use of the new Army hospital at Woolwich, in the light of the comments made in the report of the Defence Medical Services Inquiry Committee published in 1973.

The Defence Medical Services Inquiry Committee recommended that the future use of the new Army Hospital at Woolwich should be immediately reviewed. That review confirmed the need for the planned new Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital as the central reference hospital for the Army worldwide, the Army's main hospital in the United Kingdom and the Army's main centre for postgraduate training of the Royal Army Medical Corps. This new hospital will replace the existing Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, Millbank, and the Royal Herbert and the Military Maternity Hospitals at Woolwich. In view of the importance of ensuring that expensive hospital facilities are fully used my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Department of Health and Social Security, and I have instructed our officials to examine, in consultation with the South-East Thames Regional Health Authority, how the facilities to be provided at the new Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital, Woolwich, could best be used in the national interest to meet both Service requirements and those of the National Health Service in the locality of Woolwich.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements are made within NATO and BAOR for temporary exchanges for those holding the rank of warrant officer and below.

There are no formal arrangements, but in BAOR there are frequent exchanges on a short-term basis of warrant officers and below at unit level with neighbouring NATO units.

asked the Lord President of the Council when the glass screen by the Bar Doorkeeper's seat in the House was broken; and when it will be replaced.

This screen was broken during the night of 4th–5th March. A new screen is expected from the manufacturers in two or three weeks' time, and the Department of the Environment hopes to fit it during the Spring Bank Holiday Recess.

asked the Lord President of the Council whether he will establish basic catering facilities for Members and their secretaries in Norman Shaw (North).

I have been asked to reply.No. The physical restrictions in the Norman Shaw (North) building would be most difficult to overcome, and it is certainly impossible to instal equipment and cookers in the existing space.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what effect he estimates his forecast of a level of unemployment of around 1 million arising from his Budget policies will have on the social contract.

One of the primary aims of the social contract is to maintain the level of employment in Britain. The higher unemployment forecast in the Budget Statement is an inevitable consequence of the failure so far to adhere to the terms of the contract on pay. Stricter observance of the social contract continues to offer the best prospect of preserving employment; excessive wage settlements must in the long term mean fewer jobs.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the difference at constant prices between GDP per head and the social wage per head currently and in each of the following years 1974, 1970, 1969, 1960 and 1950.

Figures for 1974–75, 1970–71 and 1969–70 are shown below. Comparable estimates of the social wage in earlier years are not readily available.

THE SOCIAL WAGE AND GDP PER HEAD OF THE WORKING POPULATION
		£ at 1974–75 prices
	Social wage	GDP	Difference
1974–75	1,000	3,000*	2,000
1970–71	760	2,700	1,940
1969–70	730	2,625	1,895
* Partly estimated.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much extra VAT he expects to raise in the current year by increasing the rate on television rentals from 8 per cent. to 25 per cent.

It is estimated that raising the rate of VAT to 25 per cent. on radio and television sets, etc., will yield about £115 million in 1975–76. An estimate for the effect as regards the renting of television sets has not been made.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the constituent items making up the increased anticipated receipts from VAT for the period 1975–76, shown on page 30 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report 1975–76 as amounting to £200 million.

The information is:

ESTIMATED INCREASE IN TAXATION OF THE HIGHER RATE OF VAT
Group No.	Estimate for 1975–76 (£ million)
1. Domestic electric appliances, etc.	60
2. Radio and television sets, etc.	115
3. Boats and aircraft	5
4. Caravans	5
5. Photographic equipment, binoculars, etc.	5
6. Furs	3
7. Jewellery, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares, etc.	12
Total	200

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the constituent items making up the increased anticipated receipts from VAT for a full year, shown on page 30 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report 1975–76 as amounting to £325 million.

The information is:

ESTIMATED INCREASE IN TAXATION OF THE HIGHER RATE OF VAT
Group No.		Estimate for a full year (£ million)
1.	Domestic electric appliances, etc.	100
2.	Radio and television sets, etc.	180
3.	Boats and aircraft	10
4.	Caravans	10
5.	Photographic equipment, binoculars, etc.	10
6.	Furs	5
7.	Jewellery, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares, etc.	20
	Total	325

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the constituent items making up the increased anticipated receipts from VAT for the period 1975–76, shown on page 18 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report 1975–76, as rising from £3,054 million to £3,275 million.

The constituent items are shown on page 30 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report 1975–76.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much VAT was raised in the last year on television rentals;(2) how much VAT was raised in the last year on television rentals of colour sets.(3) how much VAT was raised in the last year on television rentals of black and white sets:

I regret that the information is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will confirm that service and repair charges to radio, television and other electrical appliances will be at the VAT rate of 25 per cent.

The 25 per cent. rate of VAT applies to charges for the service and repair of radio and television sets and of those domestic electrical appliances which are themselves chargeable at the 25 per cent. rate.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much extra VAT he expects to raise in a full year by increasing the rate on television rentals from 8 per cent. to 25 per cent.

It is estimated that raising the rate of VAT to 25 per cent. on radio and television sets, etc., will yield about £180 million in a full year. An estimate for the effect as regards the renting of television sets has not been made.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the number of persons who will become unemployed as a result of his Budget proposals, analysed by industry and by region;(2) what estimate he has made of the number of redundancies that will be caused in the electronics industry as a result of his Budget proposals;(3) what estimate he has made of the number of redundancies that will be caused in the boat building industry as a result of his Budget proposals.

As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer indicated in his Budget Statement, the various Budget proposals are likely to result in an increase in unemployment above the previously projected level of about 20,000 by the end of this year. It is not possible to give a regional or industrial breakdown of this figure; this will depend on the response of consumers and overseas suppliers to changes in aggregate demand and in the relative prices of the less essential goods subject to higher rate VAT.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the social wage amounts to currently per adult in the United Kingdom; how it is composed; and if he will give comparable figures for 1970, 1965, 1960 and 1950, respectively.

The most recent estimate of the social wage, which refers to the year 1974–75, is that quoted in the Budget speech, of about £1,000 per member of the working population. Its composition was set out in the answer given to the hon. Member for Dorking (Sir G. Sinclair) on 22nd April—[Vol. 890, c. 254.]—Comparable figures for 1970–71 are shown below; estimates for earlier years are not readily available.

	£
Social security	150
Education, libraries science and arts	110
Health and personal social services	90
Housing	50
Other environmental services	35
Law, order and other protective services	25
Certain subsidies in other programmes*	5
	465
* Food, nationalised industries' price restraint. and the main transport subsidies.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can estimate the percentage of retail sales which are settled by the use of a credit card: and, in view of the fact that payments by this method contribute to inflation, if he will take steps to control its future growth.

No such estimate is available. Bank lending to persons, which includes credit taken by credit card users, has been slack in recent months in conformity with Bank of England's directional guidance, and I see no need to place restrictions on credit card issuers beyond the repayment conditions they adopted voluntarily in December 1973 and the requirements to be set by the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many complaints have been made to date under the Police Act (Northern Ireland) 1970; how many have been referred to the Attorney-General or to the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland; how many have resulted in criminal proceedings and with what results in terms of charges preferred, acquittal and conviction, and sentences given; and what were the results at any subsequent appeals.

Since the Police Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 was enacted there have been 3,759 complaints recorded against members of the RUC, and of these 1,233 have been referred to the Attorney-General or the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.Criminal proceedings have been instituted in 32 cases. These cases in terms of charges preferred, convictions and acquittals are as follows:

Charge Preferred	Number charged	Acquitted	Convicted
Assault	27	21	6
Theft	4	1	3
Bribery	1	—	1

Of the six persons convicted for assault, five were fined and one received a conditional discharge. Two persons convicted of theft received suspended prison sentences and one was fined. The person convicted of bribery was fined.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the first annual report of the Standing Advisory Committee on Human Rights, established under the 1973 Constitution Act, to be available.

The chairman of the advisory Commission intends to let me have the report by September 1975.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many complaints have been made against the Army in Northern Ireland since the beginning of 1970; how many have been referred to the Attorney-General or to the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland; how many resulted in criminal proceedings, and with what results in terms of charges preferred, acquittal and conviction, and sentences given; and what were the results of any subsequent appeals.

This information is not readily available. I will write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in respect of the Gaming Board of Great Britain, he will specify in detail the present range of duties and functions performed by the board and the prescribed manpower establishment for their discharge, the actual number of members and employees who perform those duties and functions at present, and the average number of hours per employee per week worked in any recent convenient time period in the course of discharging those duties and functions, including overtime shown separately.

The Gaming Board for Great Britain was established under Section 10 of the Gaming Act 1968 with a general duty to keep under review the extent and character of gaming in Great Britain: and, in particular,

(a) To investigate the trustworthiness of all applicants for licences for commercial gaming with a view to issuing certificates of consent, without which the applications may not be considered by the justices, and similarly to approve gaming managers, supervisors and inspectors, all gaming operatives in of casino gaming clubs and selected classes of operative in bingo clubs, and suppliers of gaming and amusement machines. The board also has powers to revoke certificates in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

(b) To advise the Secretary of State on all regulations to be made under the Act.

(c) To advise licensing authorities on the public demand for commercial gaming facilities, the suitability of premises to be used by licensed clubs, and restrictions to be attached to licences.

(d) If it so wishes, to appear before the justices to oppose applications for the grant or renewal of licences, or to move for the cancellation of licences or certificates of registration. The board is empowered to appeal to the Crown court against decisions of the justices.

(e) Through its inspectors to supervise clubs licensed under Part II of the Act; and to enforce the gaming laws in co-operation with the police.

(f) To make an annual report to the Secretary of State in respect of the performance of its functions.

Under the Pool Competitions Act 1971 the board considers applications from certain registered pool promoters for the grant or renewal of licences under the Act, enabling them to hold competitions for prizes. The Act gives the board wide discretion to grant, refuse or revoke licences, and to attach to licences conditions designed to protect the interests of the charities or sporting bodies which benefit from the competitions and to secure a fair deal and full information for competitors. It exercises a continuing supervision of the competitions promoted under its licences.The prescribed manpower establishment for the discharge of these duties and functions, apart from board members, whose number is not prescribed, is 40 of the administration group and 31 of the board's inspectorate. The actual number of board members at present is four, and of staff 40 administration group and 30 inspectorate.I am informed that the average number of hours per staff member per week worked during the calender year 1974 was, for the administration group, 41, and for the inspectorate 45. The latter figure includes an average of three hours per week overtime.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in view of the growing problem of violence at, and arising from, some professional football matches, the alarm and physical harm caused to innocent bystanders and their property and to genuine supporters, and excessive demands on police time, he will now take steps to introduce legislation to increase the penalties for those found guilty of disorderly conduct and violence.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Derby, South (Mr. Johnson) on 17th February.—[Vol. 886, c. 275.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is aware that some hotel proprietors in the country, finding it uneconomic to continue as hotels, are seeking permission to turn them into flats; and what is the policy of his Department so far as planning permissions for such purposes are concerned.

I am not aware of any trend in this direction. However, applications for planning permission for change of use would normally be decided by local planning authorities. Each case would be decided on its merits, but the likely effects upon the area of the loss of hotel accommodation, and the suitability of the buildings for dwellings, would, no doubt, be material considerations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many appeals have been lodged by ratepayers in the United Kingdom in accordance with the Quarter Session Act 1849 during the year ended 31st December 1974 on the basis that they are aggrieved by the rate or by any neglect, act, or thing done or omitted by any rating authority in the United Kingdom.

Such appeals are now dealt with by the Crown courts in accordance with the Courts Act 1971. I regret that the information requested is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce provisions which will provide that the rating of empty properties will be more advantageous to local authorities.

No. Rating authorities already have discretion to levy any proportion of the full rate, up to and including 100 per cent. on any properties which have been empty for three months, or six months in the case of newly erected dwellings.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what literature is available from official sources that provides objectors at local planning inquiries with notes and advice on their legal rights and the customary course of proceedings; and if he will consider making it a duty for any planning authority to send a publication of this type to any registered objector.

The Department does not provide guidance exclusively for the use of objectors attending planning inquiries. but a booklet, "Planning Appeals—A Guide to Procedure", is published by the Department and freely available. Mr. George Dobry's Report on the "Review of the Development Control System" makes recommendations for improving the availability of information and advice to interested parties at both the planning application and appeal stages which my right hon. Friend is currently considering.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in pursuance of open government, he will now propose making it mandatory for local authorities to provide, at reasonable cost, a weekly postal subscription service of additions to their statutory register of planning applications.

No. The planning register is already available for inspection by the public. Also many local authorities make lists of applications available in public places, to the Press and to local civic and amenity societies. To impose additional statutory duties on local authorities of the sort suggested would not be justified.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what directives he has issued to the BTDB on avoiding the charging of competitive harbour dues and the consequent undercutting of other ports.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list his powers to intervene with the BTDB concerning the fixing of harbour dues by port authorities.

My right hon. Friend has no powers to intervene directly with the BTDB for such a purpose, but he has powers under Section 32 of the Harbours Act 1964 to confirm a scheme submitted to him by the National Ports Council for revising ship, passenger and goods dues at any commercial harbour.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans the Government have to reduce the present number of unemployed in the building industry, particularly in special development areas like Merseyside.

The Government have taken a number of measures which will provide assistance to the construction industry generally. In particular, vigorous action has been taken to stimulate house building in both the public and the private sectors. The steps taken to encourage industrial activity generally on Merseyside should also help the construction industry, and I shall be meeting a deputation from Merseyside on 19th May to discuss unemployment in the construction industry in the area.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps she is taking to remove the difference between monthly and weekly paid employees arising from the administrative arrangements for national insurance payments in the week between 31st March and 6th April 1975.

The statutory provisions governing the transition to the system of fully earnings-related contributions introduced by the Social Security Act 1973 apply the same principles to weekly and monthly paid employees. Their effect, in relation to the period 31st March to 6th April, is that where remuneration paid on or after 6th April. on which the new earnings-related contributions are due, covers the whole of this period no old-style contributions are payable; otherwise such contributions are payable in respect of that part of the period not so covered.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate she has made of the total additional contributions which will be made throughout the United Kingdom by monthly-paid employees who, in fact, pay two contributions for the week between 31st March and 6th April 1975.

Owing to the variety of pay practices and contribution rates involved it is not possible to estimate the difference between the contributions payable by monthly-paid employees for the period 31st March to 6th April under the transitional provisions of the Contribution Regulations and the contributions that would have been payable on the theoretical assumption that the change from graduated contributions to the new earnings-related contributions could have taken effect only in relation to remuneration earned for work done on or after 6th April 1975.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many occupational pensions schemes have so far submitted their preservation rules to the Occupational Pensions Board in accordance with the provisions of the Social Security Act 1973; what proportion of the total number of schemes that represents; and how many have had replies from the board.

The board has informed me that up to the 4th April 1975, 3,921 schemes have been submitted direct to the board and 3,402 replies have been sent. The board also informed me that it has so far examined 8,792 further schemes which were submitted to the Joint Office which the board shares with the Superannuation Funds Office of Inland Revenue, and has given any necessary advice. In 1971, the latest date for which figures are available, the Government Actuary estimated that there were about 65,000 occupational pension schemes in the United Kingdom. But it would be misleading to use this figure to work out the proportion requested by the hon. Member because there is no obligation on schemes to approach the board in connection with any amendment necessary to conform with the preservation requirements.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of the people of England, Scotland and Wales is in reciept of social security benefits; and what were the proportions in 1965 and 1955.

I am obtaining this information and will let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total value of trunk and principal roads, respectively, firmly programmed on 31st March 1975.

£106 million and £88 million, respectively, for trunk road and principal road schemes costing over £250,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list, giving position of Gaelic in education in Scotland;(2) what has been the level of government grants to An Comunn Gaidhealach in each of the last five years; and if he has any plans to increase the level in the near future.

Over the last five years the following grants have been made to An Comunn Gaidhealach towards its administrative expenditure in promoting Gaelic informal further education and to Glasgow University to assist the publication of literature in Gaelic.the estimated cost of each, those trunk and principal road schemes, costing over £250,000 which were added to the forward road programme during the six months ended 31st March 1975.

Trunk road schemes added to the firm programme in Scotland during the six months ended 31st March 1975 were:

	Total Estimated Cost (£ million)
A9 Birnam bypass	1·0
A9 Luncarty bypass	2·8
A9 Luncarty-Birnam	4·0
A977 Balado Crossroads-Turfhills	0·4

No additions were made to the firm programme of major principal road schemes.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will postpone any ban on gill net fishing until the end of the 1975 salmon netting season.

No. I am advised that, in view of the threat posed by the expansion of this method of netting to the salmon stocks of some of our rivers. the introduction of the proposed ban should not be delayed.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations have been made by the Tay River Purification Board regarding contamination of the river by sewage, oil and industrial effluent; and how many prosecutions have been authorised during the last 10 years.

The Board has made no representations to me. There have been six prosecutions under the Rivers (Prevention of Pollution (Scotland) Acts, in relation to the River Tay, in the last 10 years.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what Scottish local authority consultation there is with the working party to examine local authority finance and manpower requirements.

I am meeting representatives of the new Convention of Scottish Local Authorities today to discuss the effect of the Budget on local authority expenditure and future arrangements for consultation with the convention on financial matters, including future arrangements for the Working Party on Local Government Finance in Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he has investigated recycling waste lubricating oil and petrol contaminated paraffin back into the crude oil intake of United Kingdom oil refineries.

Waste lubricating oil is the main problem, and recycling of this material has been carried out in the United Kingdom for a number of years. In 1973 the quantity handled was about 18 million gallons. This oil is processed in special re-refining facilities rather than at conventional oil refineries.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the annual expenditure in each of the last five years at Government agricultural research establishments.

Details of expenditure on agricultural research and development over the last five years are as follows:hotel developments which are now in voluntary or compulsory liquidation.

£44,944,676 has been paid out by the English Tourist Board to date under the Hotel Development Incentives Scheme. Of this sum £1,663,474 has been paid out to 19 hotels which are now in liquidation or where an Official Receiver has been appointed. In four cases these hotels have been bought by new owners who have undertaken by deed of covenant to comply with the conditions of the original grant. In three cases there have been losses totalling £8,546, and in the remaining 12 cases the ETB is taking action either to seek a covenant or to recover the outstanding amount of the loan or the appropriate amount of the grant.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will introduce legislation to make it compulsory for all vessels engaged on any aspect of offshore oil-related work to report their position daily to an appropriate body, on the same lines as fishing vessels.

Great difficulties arise in making any such legislation applicable to foreign vessels; but voluntary reporting arrangements on the same lines as those which at present apply to fishing vessels are being discussed with representatives of offshore operators.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he is satisfied that Her Majesty's Government are within their obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty in supplying plutonium to non-signatories.

Yes. Plutonium is only supplied to non-nuclear-weapon States which are not party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty if they have concluded safeguards agreements with the IAEA.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade how many representations he has received from trade union and employer representatives in the East Midlands over the past three years urging the implementation of import quotas on low-cost hosiery and knitted goods from Portugal, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea.

Since April 1972 my Department, and its predecessor Department, the Department of Trade and Industry, have received 32 representations from East Midlands employer and trade union representatives about low-price imports of the goods in question, but I have received no formal requests for antidumping measures.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs under which provision of the Treaty of Rome the Commissioners propose to intervene against the French Government's action in closing their borders to Italian wine.

The Commission has not informed us under which Article or Articles it proposed to intervene against the French Government. Article 169 defines the course to be taken if it considers that a member State has failed to fulfil an obligation under the Treaty.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further steps he proposes to take to reduce the 22-month delay between date of application for entry clearance into the United Kingdom and the date of interview at the British Embassy in Islamabad; and whether he will make a statement.

As stated in my reply to the hon. Member for Faversham (Mr. Moate) on 31st January we have recently strengthened our immigration staffs in the subcontinent, including Islamabad. However, since some of the new staff have only been at their posts for a few months it will be some time before we are able to assess the effectiveness of these increases. Meanwhile my hon. Friend, the Minister of State, Home Office, is reviewing the immigration procedures with a view to speeding up the processing of applications without reducing the checks against evasion.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in view of General Amin's decision not to compensate British subjects forced to leave Uganda, if he will take action to help them.

It is not my understanding that the Uganda Government have withdrawn their agreement to pay compensation. We shall continue to seek an early opportunity to renew discussions on this matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have taken place between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of the United States of America concerning breaches of United Nations sanctions against Rhodesia involving 17 shipments to the USA of chrome ore, nickel, asbestos and other materials during the last quarter of 1974.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to a Question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Mr. Fernyhough) on 22nd January.—[Vol. 884, c. 350.]We are keeping in touch with the United States administration on this matter. I understand that the repeal Bill is now awaiting consideration by the House of Representatives International Relations Committee after being agreed by a sub-committee.