Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Thursday 22nd May 1975

President Ford (Talks)

Q5.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will make a statement on his recent discussions with President Ford.

Q6.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will make a statement on his recent meeting with President Ford.

Q15.

asked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his meeting with President Ford.

Q16.

asked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his discussions with President Ford.

Q25.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will make a statement on his discussions with President Ford.

Q27.

asked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his recent meeting with the President of the United State of America.

Q28.

asked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his meeting with President Ford.

I had useful discussions with President Ford on 7th May covering a wide range of questions including the Comonwealth Conference and my commodities initiative, on which we have kept in close touch with the United States Government since last January. We also discussed the forthcoming OECD meeting, the Middle East situation and the NATO summit and I took the opportunity to talk to President Ford about Concorde.

Environment

Road Construction Contracts

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether difficulties have arisen over the completion of his road contracts because of the fixed price nature of the contracts; and if he will make a statement.

A serious situation has arisen in connection with the completion of a number of current motorway and other trunk road construction contracts undertaken by W. & C. French (Construction) Ltd., most of which are on a firm price or limited variation of price basis. A full list of the contracts concerned is given below.It has become apparent that without special assistance the contractor would be unable to complete these contracts, on which about £40 million worth of work remained to be completed at 1st March last. In view of the very large additional costs to public funds of having the work completed by other contractors the Government decided in November 1974 to make an ex gratia payment of £3·5 million to the company, conditional upon a review at the end of 1975. In the light of the evidence available at that time such a payment appeared necessary and sufficient to enable the company to complete the contracts.However, subsequent forecasts showed that more money was required. Interim payments of up to £3·75 million were authorised to enable work to proceed while the position was fully investigated with the assistance of an independent firm of accountants, and it is now evident that a further amount of up to £6·75 million may be required to enable the contracts to be completed. An assessment of the additional costs which would be incurred in securing the completion of the current trunk road contracts by other contractors if, for lack of further assistance, W. & C. French (Construction) Ltd. were unable to continue trading and to complete them has shown that these would still greatly exceed the total amount of assistance needed to enable French to complete them.In view of this, and after taking into account the total trading situation and prospects of the company, as well as those of the holding company, French Kier Holdings Ltd., and its other subsidiary companies, the Government have decided that it would be in the public interest, in order to ensure the completion of these important trunk road contracts at the least possible additional expense to public funds, to make the further money available to the company under the powers of the Highways Act 1959. I intend, therefore, to provide a further ex gratia grant of £2·25 million and will also be prepared if necessary to make avilable thereafter a loan of up to a maximum of £4·5 million, subject to the following principal conditions:

payments will be made in appropriate instalments, as may appear to be necessary;
loan payments will attract a rate of interest 1 per cent. higher than that charged to the company by its bankers;

my Department shall have a right to convert any amount of loan outstanding after 31st December 1976 into shares in the holding company—the exercise of this option could lead to a holding of up to 28 per cent.—and to nominate a director to the board of the holding company;
no funds may be transferred from the construction company or the holding company to other subsidiary companies in the group without the Department's consent;
the Department shall have the right to monitor closely the financial position of the holding company and its subsidiaries;
if the eventual loss on the contracts is less than the forecast loss, half the difference between the two amounts shall be repayable;
the company will abandon a large volume of claims against the Department which if pursued to settlement would result in very substantial payments.

It is now for the company and French Kier Holdings Ltd. to ensure that the contracts are duly completed on the basis of this assistance.

M23 Bletchlingley-Pease Pottage
M18 Thorne-East Cowick
M62 Pollington-Rawcliffe
A69 Horsley-Hedon-Throckley
A406 Waterworks Corner
M23-Hooley-Merstham
M25 Reigate-Godstone (including M23-M25 Interchange)
A47 Kings Lynn bypass
A45 Stowmarket-Claydon bypass
M11 Redbridge-Loughton
M23 Gatwick Link and A23 Improvement
A12 Ufford and Wickham Market bypass
A127 Halfway House Flyover
A3 Esher bypass
A108(A19) Hylton Bridge
A78 Irvine bypass

Dog Licences

32.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now urgently review the system of dog licensing to take into consideration the type and size of dog, accommodation and neighbourhood, as well as type of family, designed to include an element of insurance against unforeseen circumstances.

The system of dog licensing is currently being reviewed by a working party which I set up last year. Among the matters being considered by the working party are the merits of a differential licensing scheme and the need for some form of third party insurance.

Derelict Land

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a statement about the result of the 1974 survey of derelict and despoiled land undertaken by local authorities in England.

The tabulated results of the survey are now being sent to local authorities and other interested bodies. They show that at 1st April 1974 the total area of derelict land in England was 43,273 hectares—nearly 107,000 acres.The area considered to justify treatment was 33,068 hectares, an increase of some 7,000 hectares as compared with the 1971 survey. Most of this increase was the result of reappraisal by the new local authorities of the need for restoration, but there were also some added areas consequent upon rail, colliery and other closures, and the inclusion for the first time of some Services land.Over the period from 1st January 1972 to 31st March 1974, 4,993 hectares, over 12,300 acres, of land were restored to beneficial use. This represents an annual average of 2,219 hectares compared with the total of 1,939 hectares reclaimed in 1971, which was the highest annual total up to that time.For the first time the survey collected information about current mineral workings and refuse tips. The total area of land for which planning permission for mineral working had been given was 94,402 hectares, of which 49,076 hectares were in use in April 1974. About 78 per cent. of the total permitted area was subject to conditions requiring the restoration of the sites when working was completed, but there were 2,307 hectares of abandoned land where restoration was unfulfilled. 11,399 hectares of land were currently in use for refuse and industrial waste disposal, of which 8,440 hectares were subject to restoration conditions, and further permissions had been given for 2,876 hectares. There were 2,198 hectares of filled land which required further work to fit them for beneficial use.

Housing (Cornwall)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the total number of persons and families on public sector housing waiting lists over each of the last five years in Cornwall; and how this compares with the figures for England and Wales, as a percentage per head of the population;(2) what estimate he has of the number of persons on public sector housing lists wthin each district council in Cornwall.

The Department does not collect detailed information about local authority waiting lists and, therefore, is not in a position to compare lists one with another or to make estimates of the number of persons on those lists.

Public Transport (Use)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is satisfied with the powers of his Department to encourage more use of public transport.

Yes. As my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary said in reply to a previous Question from my hon. Friend, the key at local level lies in the policies adopted by local authorities. In present circumstances there is also the constraint arising from the need to contain public expenditure.

Community Land Bill

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what average rate of interest he has assumed in calculating the costs of the Community Land Bill;(2) what assumptions he has made about the average period of time between acquisition by local authorities and disposal of land acquired by them under the Community Land Bill in assessing the costs of that Bill.

The figures given in the Financial Memorandum to the Community Land Bill are for the annual cost of acquisition and the annual capital value of disposals when the scheme is in full operation. At this stage the scheme will be self-financing so that no allowance for interest and no assumption about time between acquisition and disposal are required. When borrowing is required to finance the scheme authorities will borrow at market rates. They will be encouraged to plan their purchases with a view to early disposal, especially in the early years.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what assumptions he has made about management costs to local authorities of land held by those authorities under the provisions of the Community Land Bill;(2) what assumptions he has made as to the number and extent of disposal notification areas, the number of notifications which would be made within such areas and the administrative costs in connection with such areas, in estimating the total costs of the Community Land Bill.

Any management costs over and above the staff costs set out in the Financial Memorandum to the Bill should be covered by receipts from rents for land held awaiting development. Costs of operating the disposal notification area provisions are not separately identifiable.

Speed Limits

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on energy savings and road safety as a result of the 60 mph and 50 mph (Temporary Speed Limit) Order 1974.

A special study of speeds and accident trends is being undertaken. I will report further to the House before the order expires in the autumn.

Trunk Roads (Marking)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment why recent trunk road improvements have included the provision of a nearside margin of carriageway some 2 ft. wide separated by a white line; and whether he will revise the Highway Code so that advice is given as to whether this margin should or should not be used by motorists to facilitate over-taking by other vehicles, and as to whether it should or should not be used in any circumstances by cyclists.

A hard strip, usually about 3 ft. wide, is added to the carriageway of certain roads in order to reduce the effect on traffic flow of stationary vehicles. My right hon. Friend will consider whether the Highway Code should contain advice about its use.

Homeless Persons

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many persons in the Thanet area were homeless at the last available date.

Figures for the Thanet area on its own are not available. The number of people in temporary accommodation in Kent at 30th September 1974 was 2,275.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the next steps the Government propose to take on their review of homelessness.

The Department, in consultation with the Department of Health and Social Security and the Welsh Office, has sent a joint consultation paper to the local authority associations and to a number of voluntary organisations and other bodies concerned. It invites views on, in particular, the need for legislation to clarify the rôles of housing and social services authorities, and the range of statutory provisions under which they operate; and also on methods of improving co-operation within and between local authorities and departments. At the same time, the Departments have asked all local authorities in England and Wales with housing or social services responsibilities a number of questions about their implementation of the joint circular on homelessness of February 1974. The information received will also be vital background to the views being sought on the consultation paper from representative organisations. While the review is going forward I consider it essential for local authorities to observe the recommendations in the joint circular.

Expenditure

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the economies which (a) have been introduced this year and (b) are under urgent examination within his Department; and what saving on administration he aims to achieve.

I am examining the implications of the Chancellor's Budget Statement for expenditure on the services for which I am responsible and am not yet in a position to list the precise steps I shall be taking.

Planning Appeals (West Lancashire)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many planning appeals are still outstanding relating to the West Lancashire District Council; and how many have been approved.

Thirty-two planning appeals were outstanding at 21st May 1975. Nine have been allowed since 1st April 1974.

Playspaces

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now make it his practice to collect statistics on applications from local authorities for playspace scheme subsidies under Circular 79/72.

Arrangements have been made already to obtain certain information and these will continue. I will write to the hon. Member about the information which is available.

Home Heating Savings

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice he has given local authorities with regard to the installation of adequate heating controls in council-owned property in the interests of conserving energy.

Local authority representatives have been among the many groups to whom the Property Services Agency has communicated the valuable lessons learned from its campaign of energy saving in Government buildings, and ways of extending this communication are being explored.

Ashford

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he received the inspector's report on the proposed Singleton development in the borough of Ashford; and when he intends to publish the recommendations and his decision.

The inspector's report on the inquiry into this amendment to the development plan and associated compulsory purchase order was received in April 1974. My right hon. Friend expects to announce the proposed modifications to the development plan amendment next month.

Durham

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he can explain the delay in confirming the pedestrianisation order for certain streets in Durham City; and if he will now expedite the authorisation of this scheme.

The Secretary of State's consent to the making of this order was sent to the Chief Executive and Clerk of Durham City Council on 20th May 1975. The application was received in November 1974, and involved assessment of the report of the public inquiry and a number of objections, together with consultations concerning the modifications proposed in the original order.

Bahamas Legislature (Gift)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will arrange for the display in the Upper Waiting Hall of the mace to be presented by the House of Commons to the House of Assembly of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

Yes. The mace will be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall from Monday 9th June to Friday 13th June.

National Freight Corporation

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of the anticipated trading results for the National Freight Corporation during the current year.

It is too early to predict the corporation's results.

North West Regional Water Authority

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now dismiss the Chairman of the North West Regional Water Authority.

I have already written to the Chairman about the purchase of a special number plate for his car, and I have reminded him of Ministers' strong views on the need to avoid ostentatious gestures of this kind. I am awaiting his explanation.

Railways

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of the anticipated trading results for the British Railways Board during the current year.

It is too early to predict the board's results.

Northern Ireland (Civil Servants' Housing)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether the normal planning provisions apply to houses in Northern Ireland owned by the Northern Ireland office of the Department of the Environment and occupied by civil servants in the Northern Ireland Office;(2) what was the cost in 1974–75 of (

a) cutting the grass and doing other gardening jobs, ( b) cleaning the windows, ( c) painting and decorating, and ( d) clearing blocked drains in the houses occupied by civil servants serving in Northern Ireland;

(3) whether any internal alterations were made to any of the houses purchased for civil servants posted to Northern Ireland; what was the cost of such alterations; and whether he is satisfied that the purchase price accurately reflects the condition of the houses;

(4) whether he will list in the Official Report (1) the total number of houses and flats purchased by the Northern Ireland Office or the Department of the Environment for civil servants employed by the Northern Ireland Office in the Province and (2) the number which cost up to £5,000, between £5,000 and £7,500, between £7,500 and £10,000, between £10,000 and £15,000 and over £15,000, respectively;

(5) what was the actual expenditure on the upkeep and maintenance of the houses and flats occupied by civil servants in the Northern Ireland Office in the Province in 1974–75; and what is the estimated cost in 1975–76.

I will write to the hon. Member.

Home Department

Police (Motor Vehicle Purchases)

28.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will recommend police forces to purchase motor vehicles made in Great Britain whenever possible.

I am sending a circular to police authorities saying that, before buying a foreign vehicle, I assume they will wish to survey the market carefully and satisfy themselves that no suitable British vehicle of comparable specification and price is available.

Identification (Devlin Committee)

31.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the progress of the Devlin Committee on Identification; and whether its findings and conclusions have yet been reached.

The committee hopes to report in the autumn.

Exorcism

29.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will seek powers to regulate the practice of exorcism.

The Government are aware of concern recently expressed about this matter, but it does not follow that regulatory powers would be appropriate.

Indictable Offence Hearings (Defendants' Costs)

30.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the provisions of the Criminal Cases Act 1973 enable magistrates, in cases where they have dealt summarily with an indictable offence and dismissed the information, to order the payment of all the innocent defendants' costs.

The Costs in Criminal Cases Act 1973 gives magistrates' courts, dealing summarily with an indictable offence and dismissing the information, power to order the payment out of central funds of such sums as appear to the court to be reasonably sufficient to compensate the accused for the expenses properly incurred by him in carrying on his defence. They also have power to order such costs to be paid by the prosecutor to the accused as they think just and reasonable. It is therefore possible for the court to order the payment of all the innocent defendants' costs in such cases if it considers the amount reasonable.

Helicopters (Public Service Use)

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many helicopters are used in public service roles by the police, fire and ambulance services in Greater London.

Last year the Metropolitan Police hired helicopters for about 1,300 hours of operational flying, including help for the City of London Police when necessary. The London Fire Brigade looks to the Armed Services or Metropolitan Police for help, when required; the brigade made no use of a helicopter last year. I understand that the London Ambulance Service has hired helicopters twice during the last two years.

Remanded Juveniles

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juveniles are at present detained in Brock Hill Remand Centre; how many of them have been in that centre for less than one month, less than two months, less than three months, less than four months, less than five months, les than six months and more than six months while awaiting trial.

On Wednesday 14th May, 31 boys aged 14–16 were held in this remand centre of whom 12 had first been received into custody on conviction. Of the remaining 19, eight had been convicted and were awaiting sentence and 11 were awaiting trial. The periods spent in Brock Hill by these 20 boys while awaiting trial were then as follows:—

Less than 1 month	10
1 month and less than 2 months	5
2 months and less than 3 months	3
3 months and less than 4 months	1
More than 4 months	0

Prisoners (Maintenance Costs)

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average cost of periods of imprisonment served by offenders convicted of offences of violence.

I regret that it is not possible to isolate the separate cost of maintaining prisoners convicted of offences of violence. The estimated average weekly cost of maintaining an inmate in Prison Department establishments in the financial year 1973–74 was £43.

Shoplifting

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many men, how many women and how many children have been prosecuted for shoplifting during each of the last five years for which records are available; of those who pleaded not guilty in each category, how many and what percentage were acquitted by magistrates' courts and by Crown courts, respectively; and how many and what percentage of the unsuccessful prosecutions were brought by shopkeepers or other private individuals and how many and what percentage by the police.

Following is the available information on persons proceeded against for shoplifting:—

PERSONS PROCEEDED AGAINST FOR SHOPLIFTING AND PERSONS ACQUITTED OR FOUND GUILTY
England and Wales 1969–1973
					Persons proceeded against	Magistrates' courts		The Crown Court
Year					Persons proceeded against	Acquitted	Found guilty	Acquitted	Found guilty
1969	…	…	…	…	40,181	1,574	37,527	201	357
1970	…	…	…	…	43,477	1,845	40,114	222	478
1971	…	…	…	…	47,589	2,094	43,592	319	659
1972	…	…	…	…	49,611	2,307	45,043	416	876
1973	…	…	…	…	48,446	2,219	44,373	525	929

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those convicted of shoplifting for the first time had ever previously been on criminal charges; and how many were subsequently charged with shoplifting again, after an initial conviction, for each of the last five years for which figures are available.

I regret that the information is not available.

Television Licences

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why a person whose television licence expired in March and who sought to renew it on 27th March in accordance with Post Office

PERSONS PROCEEDED AGAINST FOR SHOPLIFTING, BY AGE GROUP AND SEX OF PERSONS OVER 17
England and Wales 1969–1973
Number of persons
	Under 14	14 and under 17	17 and over
Year	Under 14	14 and under 17	Men	Women
1969	3,600	5,086	12,819	18,676
1970	3,560	5,202	14,926	19,789
1971	2,496	5,027	18,061	22,005
1972	2,561	4,830	19,383	22,837
1973	2,769	4,808	19,109	21,760

The information requested in the remainder of the Question is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time which people awaiting trial for shoplifting have to wait, in each area for which statistics are compiled.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of people accused of shoplifting in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many were, respectively, acquitted and found guilty, in each of these years.

The following is the information:advice notes that failure to do so before 1st April would result in payment of the increased fee was nevertheless charged the increased rate which came into force on 1st April.

Television licences expire on the last day of a month and are due for renewal on the first day of the succeeding month. The holders of licences which expired on 31st January or 28th February were advised to renew them before 1st April, the date from which the licence fees were to be increased. Licences which expired on 31st March were due for renewal on 1st April at the new fees. If the hon. Member has knowledge of a case not covered by these rules and will supply my noble Friend the Minister of State with the particulars, we will have inquiries made.

Illegal Immigrants

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were repatriated at public expense, as illegal immigrants, following deportation

I. ILLEGAL ENTRANTS
A. Commonwealth citizens removed
Country or territory issuing passport					1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	Totals
Bangladesh		…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	7	—	7
Cyprus	…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	1	—	1	2
Gambia		…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1
Ghana		…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	1
Guyana		…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1
India	…	…	…	…	13	20	47	38	49	65	84	316
Mauritius		…	…	…	—	—	—	—	1	4	1	6
New Zealand		…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	2	2	4
Nigeria		…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	3	3
Pakistan^*		…	…	…	16	11	47	38	8	33	—	153
Sierra Leone		…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	1
Trinidad and Tobago				…	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	1
Totals		…	…	…	29	31	94	76	59	114	93	496
Notes:
^* (1) Citizens of Pakistan ceased to be Commonwealth citizens from 1st September 1973.
(2) Before the coming into force of Section 3 of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 a Commonwealth citizen who entered the United Kingdom without examination by an immigration officer did not enter illegally unless a refusal of admission was in force in relation to him.

B. Foreign nationals removed

Nationals of

1973

1974

Algeria

…

—

Austria

…

—

Bolivia

…

—

Denmark

…

—

France

…

—

Italy

…

—

Japan

…

—

Mali

…

—

Mauritania

…

—

Morocco

…

—

Pakistan^*

…

Poland

…

—

Senegal

…

—

Spain

…

Sweden

…

—

Turkey

…

—

United States of America

…

Nationality unknown

…

Totals

…

Note:

(3) Figures for foreign nationals removed as illegal entrants before 1973 are not available.

C. Entry certificates authorised for the return of persons removed as illegal entrants

Citizens of India

…

Citizens of Pakistan

…

orders, and under the provisions of Section 29 of the Immigration Act 1971, respectively, for each of the years 1965 to 1974, indicating the receiving countries in each case and the numbers of those who have returned to this country, where appropriate.

Following is the information available:

II. DEPORTATION ORDERS MADE
A. Commonwealth citizens
Country or territory issuing passport						1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	Total
Australia		…	…	…	…	—	4	6	4	1	6(1)	4	2	6	6(1)	39(2)
Bangladesh		…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3	3
Barbados		…	…	…	…	—	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	—	1	12
Bermuda		…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	1	2	1	1	—	5
Canada	…	…	…	…	…	—	2	4	3	4	4	8	4	5	9	43
Cyprus	…	…	…	…	…	10	4	5	9	18	28	21	44	72(1)	34(1)	245(2)
Ghana	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	5	4	8	5	9	11	23	40	105
Gibraltar		…	…	…	…	1	1	—	1	1	—	2	1	—	—	7
Guyana	…	…	…	…	…	6	8	2	—	3	3	3	6	3	3	37
Hong Kong		…	…	…	…	—	—	1	—	—	1	1	—	1	5	9
India	…	…	…	…	…	2	3	7	19	79	61	73	62	60	39	405
Jamaica		…	…	…	…	40	26	11	12	10	9	11	2	5	1	127
Kenya	…	…	…	…	…	—	1	—	—	1	—	1	3	1	—	7
Malawi	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	1
Malaysia		…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	2	1	1	4	4	3	15
Malta	…	…	…	…	…	4	6	7	6	4	6	5	1	4	2	45
Mauritius		…	…	…	…	3	—	—	3	5	16	32	28	12	18(1)	117(1)
New Zealand		…	…	…	…	1	—	1	1	—	—	—	1	—	—	4
Nigeria	…	…	…	…	…	5	3	4	4	20	18	18	13	14	26	125
Pakistan		…	…	…	…	8	10	10	24	26	59	48	39	25	—	249
Sierra Leone		…	…	…	…	1	—	—	—	2	—	8	2	4(1)	8(1)	25(2)
Singapore		…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1
Sri Lanka		…	…	…	…	—	—	—	2	2	7	—	4	7	2	24
Tanzania		…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	2	1	5	10
Trinidad and Tobago			…	…	…	6	4	4	2	3	2	2	2	6	3	34
Uganda	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	1	3
Other Commonwealth				…	…	8	8	3	4	2	5	3	3	1	1	38
TOTAL		…	…	…	…	95	82	72	100	192	233(1)	55	237	258(2)	211(4)	1,735(7)

B. Citizens of the Republic of Ireland

Country or territory issuing passport

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

Total

Irish Republic

…

161

171(1)

183(10)

177(6)

200(6)

142(6)

116(1)

122(4)

59(39)

46(45)

1,377(118)

Note: Figures in brackets are for persons who having been deported returned while the deportation order was in force and were deported again.

C Foreign nationals
Country or territory issuing passport						1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	Total
Algeria	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7(2)	5	12(2)
Argentina		…	…	…	…	—	—	1	1	1	—	—	2	2	2	9
Austria	…	…	…	…	…	1	2	3	2	2	2	1	2	2	1	18
Belgium		…	…	…	…	1	1	1	1	1	1	—	4	3	—(1)	13(1)
Brazil	…	…	…	…	…	—	2	—	1	—	—	—	1	—	1	5
Chile	…	…	…	…	…	3	—	—	—	—	—	3	3	1	6(1)	16(1)
Colombia		…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	3	2	—	4	—(2)	4	13(2)
Denmark		…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	1	4	—	2	—	7
Egypt	…	…	…	…	…	—	1	—	—	—	1	—	—	1	3	6
Finland	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	—	1	2	—	1	—	—	—	4
France	…	…	…	…	…	10	6	4	6	9	7	9	8	9	6	74
Germany		…	…	…	…	3	9	13	15	10	12	17	5	14	10(2)	108(2)
Greece	…	…	…	…	…	2	2	—	2	3	5	2	5	3	1	25
Hungary		…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	1
Iran	…	…	…	…	…	3	2	1	3	1	3	5	3	3	4	28
Iraq	…	…	…	…	…	1	2	1	2	—	1	—	—	—	—	7
Israel	…	…	…	…	…	—	1	—	—	—	5	1	3	2	3	15
Italy	…	…	…	…	…	5	7	8	2	9	7	11	7	15	9	80
Libya	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	2	4
Morocco		…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7	4	11
Netherlands		…	…	…	…	2	6	4	2	3	1	3	2	2	5	30
Norway		…	…	…	…	—	1	2	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	4
Pakistan		…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	29	40	69
Peru	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	5	1	—	—	—	—	1	3	10
Poland	…	…	…	…	…	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	2
Portugal		…	…	…	…	3	2	1	2	3	2	1	1	1	3	19
South Africa		…	…	…	…	5	—	6	3	4	4	4	—	7	4	37
Spain	…	…	…	…	…	4	1	4	10	14	10	10	4	4(2)	11	72(2)
Sweden	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	—	2	—	2	—	1	—	—	5
Switzerland		…	…	…	…	—	—	1	—	—	1	—	1	1	1	5
Turkey	…	…	…	…	…	1	—	2	3	2	12	5	16	8	4(1)	53(1)
United States of America				…	…	15	4	17	9	13	29	31	24	20	20	182
Uruguay		…	…	…	…	—	2	—	1	3	3	1	—	1	—	11
Venezuela		…	…	…	…	2	1	—	—	1	2	—	2	1	3(1)	12(1)
Yugoslavia		…	…	…	…	1	—	—	1	4	6	4	2	3(1)	3	24(1)
Doubtful		…	…	…	…	4	—	—	2	2	9	—	—	1	—	18
Others	…	…	…	…	…	2	3	6	12	6	9	24	31	14	11(1)	118(1)
TOTAL		…	…	…	…	69	55	80	84	96	137	137	131	168(7)	170(7)	1,127(14)
Note: Figures in brackets are for persons who having been deported returned white the deportation order was in force and were deported again

III. REPATRIATION UNDER SECTION 29 OF THE IMMIGRATION ACT 1971
Country of destination						April 1972 to March 1973	April 1973 to March 1974	April 1974 to December 1974
Jamaica	…	…	…	…	…	42	94	60
Nigeria	…	…	…	…	…	36	89	45
Others	…	…	…	…	…	37	57	31
Total		…	…	…	…	115	240	136
Two persons are known to have returned in 1973 and five in 1974

Imprisoned Mothers

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the individual ages and offences of those eight girls aged under 21 years who were imprisoned with their babies on 16th April 1975.

It would not be appropriate to publish details which would identify these young women, but I am writing to my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women imprisoned with their babies were parted from their babies in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

It has not been the practice to record centrally information about children being transferred from prison during their mothers' sentences. It is exceptional for this to be necessary other than at the mother's request.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women and girls have their babies with them in prison at the latest date for which figures are available.

Twenty-seven on 15th May.

Television (Wales)

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the report of the working party set up to consider the recommendations made by the Crawford Committee in regard to the use of the fourth television channel in Wales.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to be able to make a statement on his working party's report on the pro- posal in the Crawford Committee's Report that a fourth television channel should be used for Welsh broadcasting.

The working party has yet to report. I understand that it expects to complete its task shortly.

Crime (Detection)

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he can explain the fall in the percentage of offences cleared up in 1974 as compared to 1973.

It seems reasonable to suppose that this is a consequence of the additional strain put on the police by the general increase in the volume of recorded crime, and especially by the increase in offences of burglary and criminal damage in which it is often difficult to detect the offender.

Magistrates

asked the Attorney-General how many magistrates are shopkeepers in each county of England and Wales.

I regret that it would entail a disproportionate amount of work to obtain the information requested.

"Babies For Burning"

asked the Attorney-General whether the Director of Public Prosecutions has yet reached a decision as to whether to proceed with a prosecution in the case of the publication "Babies for Burning".

The Director of Public Prosecutions is not yet in a position to reach a decision, since inquiries by the police have not been completed. The matter is being dealt with as expeditiously as possible.

Employment

European Social Fund

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how much money from the EEC Social Fund has been allocated to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively.

It is estimated that during the period 1st January 1973 to date allocations from the Fund to England, Wales and Scotland amount to £27·8 million, £7 million and £12·5 million respectively. Separate allocations to Northern Ireland amount to £8·6 million.

Horse Racing

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what is the present number of registered apprentices employed in the horse racing industry and in what training areas; what are the terms and conditions of employment and indentures; and if he will make a statement;(2) what provision is made for further education day release and other training for apprentices in the horse racing industry; how many apprentices at racing stables eventually become jockeys; what percentage of the yearly indentured apprentices this represents over the past 20 years; and if he will make a statement.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the number of indentured apprenticeships in horse racing is currently 628. There are no standard terms and conditions of service for apprentices and the provision for further education and day release is a matter for individual trainers. But the Joint Racing Board has established an apprentice training course at the National Equestrian Centre at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire. The commission regrets that the remaining information requested is not readily available.

asked the Secreary of State for Employment whether he will refer to the Commission on Health and Safety the working conditions of apprentices and stable lads in the British racing industry, particularly sleeping accommodation, refreshment and other facilities at racecourses.

I am informed by the Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the British racing industry is one of the many new activities now covered by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act but outside the scope of previous health and safety legislation. Working conditions in the numerous new activities are being considered but the limited resources of the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities make it necessary to distinguish priorities. The Chief Inspector of Factories is aware of this Question and will bear the case of the stable lads and apprentices in mind, but also has to consider activities where the health and safety of employees is at immediate risk.

Unemployment Benefit

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish figures of the average unemployment benefit received per week expressed as a percentage of the average male manual workers' earnings per week for each of the last five years.

I have been asked to reply.The latest comparable figures available are for the first week in May in each year and they are given in the following table.

Average payment of unemployment benefit (including earnings-related supplement) in the first week in May as a percentage of average earnings^*
Year and Benefit as a percentage of earnings
1970	32·5
1971	29·0
1972	31·1
1973	30·1
1974	29·3
^* Estimated average earnings of male adult full-time manual workers in manufacturing and certain other industries based on the Department of Employment's regular October inquiry.

Bournemouth

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what is the total number of job vacancies for males and females in the Bournemouth, East parliamentary constituency currently notified to his Department; and what were the comparable figures for the nearest convenient date in each year from 1970 to 1974, inclusive;

(2) what is the total number of unemployed males and females in the Bournemouth, East parliamentary constituency currently notified to his Department; and what were the comparable figures to the nearest convenient date in each year from 1970 to 1974, inclusive.

			Bournemouth
			Notified vacancies remaining unfilled
			Employment Office		Careers Office		Unemployed
			Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females
May 1975	…	…	250	286	40	69	2,482	451
May 1974	…	…	547	546	256	276	1,355	202
May 1973	…	…	754	742	165	196	1,301	272
May 1972	…	…	393	430	53	130	1,977	291
May 1971	…	…	252	364	62	183	1,809	266
May 1970	…	…	239	347	106	176	1,524	270
Because of possible duplication, the vacancy figures for employment offices and careers offices should not be added together.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the proportion of persons of working age presently unemployed in Bournemouth; what were the comparable figures to the nearest convenient date in each year from 1970

PERCENTAGE RATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT^*
					Bournemouth Travel-to-work Area	South East and South West Regions	Great Britain
May 1975 (Provisional)			…	…	4·9	2·7	3·6
May 1974	…	…	…	…	2·4	1·6	2·4
May 1973	…	…	…	…	2·5	1·6	2·6
May 1972	…	…	…	…	3·9	2·3	3·7
May 1971	…	…	…	…	3·6	2·1	3·2
May 1970	…	…	…	…	3·1	1·7	2·4
^* The unemployed expressed as a percentage of the estimated number of employees (employed and unemployed)

House Of Commons

Official Paid Letters

asked the Lord President of the Council what are the rules governing the use of House of Commons official paid letters addressed to Commonwealth and foreign destinations by air and by surface mail, respectively.

The official House of Commons envelopes can be used only to United Kingdom and BFPO addresses.

Referendum

asked the Lord President of the Council what detailed arrangements right hon. and hon. Members will have to make to attend both the polling stations in their constituencies

The following table shows information for the Bournemouth Employment Office area at May each year. The vacancy figures relate only to vacancies notified to employment offices and careers offices and are not a measure of total vacancies.to 1974, inclusive; and what were the comparable figures for (i) Central Southern England and (ii) Great Britain.

Following is the information for May each year:and the counting of the votes in connection with the referendum campaign.

Members of Parliament are entitled, after making a declaration of secrecy, to be admitted to polling stations within their constituencies and to the verification and counting of votes in areas within which their constituencies wholly or partly lie. Information about detailed arrangements for admission may be obtained from the responsible local officials. In England and Wales the returning officers—who will be responsible for the conduct of the poll—and the verification officers will be officers of district councils or London boroughs and the counting officers will be officers of county councils, including the Greater London Council. In Scotland all three functions will be discharged by or on behalf of officers of regional or islands councils. In Northern Ireland all three functions will be discharged by the Chief Electoral Officer.

Members Of Parliament (Pay)

asked the Lord President of the Council what would be the level of Members' salaries if they were now increased by (a) the increase in average prices since the last salary increase and (b) the increase in average earnings since the last salary increase.

The present salary level of £4,500 pa was introduced in January 1972. On the basis of the increases in the index of retail prices and in the index of average earnings from then to March 1975, Members' salaries would be increased to (a) approximately £6,750 pa or (b) approximately £7,700 pa respectively.

Wales

Agriculture

asked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of agricultural holdings returning farmers, partners and directors—at the June agricultural census on the lines of table 63 of the latest volume for the "Digest of Welsh Agricultural Statistics"—for June of each year from 1971 onwards for Wales, and for each of the old counties in Wales;(2) if he will publish in the

Official Report a table showing ( a) the number of agricultural holdings returning whole-time farmers, partners and directors and ( b) the number of agricultural holdings returning part-time farmers, partners and directors for June of each year from 1971, onwards for Wales;

(3) if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of agricultural holdings and the number of farmers, partners, and directors, for June of each year from 1971 onwards for Wales, and for each of the old counties in Wales;

(4) if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the proportion of all farmers, partners, and directors, and those who are whole-time and part-time, respectively, who are returned by

agricultural holdings with fewer than 275 standard-man-days, between 275 and 600, and more than 600, respectively, in the latest year for which figures are available in Wales, and in each of the old counties in Wales.

The information requested is not yet available for 1974 for Wales as a whole and will not become available for each of the old counties of Wales as statistics for 1974 were collected on the basis of the new counties. I am sending the hon. Member tables containing the information he seeks for 1971, 1972 and 1973 as these are too voluminous to publish in the Official Report.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the number of independently occupied farm businesses, whole-time and part-time, excluding businesses which are run by persons already counted as the occupiers of other farm businesses in Wales and in each of the old counties of Wales, for each year from 1971 to date.

I regret that the information on which to form such estimates is not available.

Brucellosis

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many cattle have been slaughtered under the brucellosis scheme this year in Wales; and what were the corresponding figures for 1974.

12,932 brucellosis reactors and dangerous contacts were slaughtered in Wales in the period 1st January to 30th April this year. In the corresponding period of 1974 the number slaughtered was 1,472. The increase in the number of animals slaughtered so far this year results from the addition on 4th November 1974 of a large part of Wales to the existing compulsory eradication areas.

Llangollen (Sewage Discharge)

asked the Secretary of State for Wales, in view of the fact that crude sewage is being discharged into the River Dee at Llangollen, Clwyd, and will continue to be so discharged, as a result of the failure of the Welsh National Water Development Authority to implement phase IV of the Llangollen Chapel Street sewerage scheme, whether he will take immediate steps to investigate this situation on health grounds.

This is a matter for the Welsh National Water Development Authority. It has carried out tests and informs me that there is no evidence that there is a public health risk involved.

Education And Science

University Students

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has regarding the proportions of male and female students accepted into universities during the years 1972, 1973 and 1974: and if he will make a statement.

The percentages of male and female undergraduate new entrants to universities in Great Britain in the years 1972, 1973 and 1974 are set out below:

Academic Year	Men Percentage	Women Percentage
1972–73	66·4	33·6
1973–74	64·9	35·1
1974–75 (provisional)	64·0	36·0

The number of women new entrants has grown much more rapidly—by 28 per cent.—than the number of men entrants, which increased by 3 per cent., in the five years up to 1973–74. Women are also more successful than men in gaining admission to university; 55 per cent. of women home applicants aged 20 and under were accepted for entry in 1973–74, as compared with 52 per cent. of men applicants.

Adult Illiteracy

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make available the advice of Her Majesty's Inspectorate and other expert staff in conjunction with the proposed BBC television series on adult illiteracy.

The advice of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools is available to local education authorities and other providers of adult literacy tuition, the BBC's Further Education Advisory Council, and the management committee of the National Institute of Adult Literacy Resource Agency. The provision of advice is also a function of the agency.

asked the secretary of State for Education and Science what is the latest aavilable estimate of the number of adult illiterates in the United Kingdom, categorised as far as reasonably possible into age brackets and distinguishing those who are and those who are not of immigrant background.

The Bullock Committee, in its report "A Language for Life", acknowledges that it is impossible to say with certainty how many adult illiterates or semi-literates there are in the country. The Department collects no statistics on this question but independent estimates range between 1 million and more than 2 million.

Medical Schools

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the proportion of medically qualified staff in the pre-clinical departments of medical schools in universities how this proportion compares with previous years; and what has been the equivalent proportion of newer staff recruited into those departments over the last 12 months.

In December 1973, 37 per cent. of teaching staff in pre-clinical departments of medical schools in universities in the United Kingdom were medically qualified. I regret that the other information requested is not available.

Student Grants

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the value of (a) the maximum, and (b) the average unit student grant at constant prices over the past 15 years, taking 1974–75 as the base level.

The information is given below for students on first degree and comparable courses at universities and further education establishments in Great Britain.

Maximum main rate(1) of maintenance award for students:
		London		Residing away from home Oxford and Cambridge	Elsewhere		Residing at home			Average maintenance award per student(1)(3)
		College/hostel	Lodgings		College/hostel	Lodgings	London	Oxbridge	Elsewhere
		£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
1960–61	…	634	611	735	577	543	434	(2)	412	Not available
1961–62	…	660	639	732	606	574	470	502	448	Not available
1962–63	…	702	692	723	671	629	503			495
1963–64	…	691	680	711	660	619	495			486
1964–65	…	662	652	682	632	593	474			464
1965–66	…	697			640		518			490
1966–67	…	673			618		500			456
1967–68	…	663			609		493			454
1968–69	…	668			609		491			446
1969–70	…	636			580		467			419
1970–71	…	632			571		459			407
1971–72	…	637			589		473			412
1972–73	…	614			569		454			378
1973–74	…	609			568		457			350
1974–75	…	665		605			475			(estimated) Not available
(1) All rates adjusted to September 1974 prices using the retail price index.
(2) No maximum main rate was specified.
(3) Per student receiving mandatory awards, including minimum award holders.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of university students have received (a) the maximum, and (b) the minimum grant over each of the last 15 years.

The proportion of home undergraduate students in universities in Great Britain in receipt of a mandatory award who received maximum grants is estimated at 21 per cent. in 1972–73, the only year for which the information is available. The corresponding percentage for students with minimum grants—£50—was 8 per cent., and the proportion has remained between 7 and 8 per cent. over the previous 10 years.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of university students receive no grants from central Government or local authorities.

In 1972–73, the latest year for which the information is available,

				London		Oxford and Cambridge
				1964–65	1974–75	1964–65	1974–75
				£	£	£	£
Actual difference:
Residence of student:
College or hostel	…	…	…	15	60	25	0
Lodgings	…	…	…	30	60	45	0
At home	…	…	…	0	0	0	0
Estimated difference at September 1974 prices^*:
Residence of student:
College or hostel		…	…	30	60	49	0
Lodgings	…	…	…	59	60	89	0
At home	…	…	…	0	0	0	0
^* Actual differences for 1964–65 adjusted by the change in the Retail Price Index between September 1964 and September 1974.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the average assessed level of parental contributions to student grants in the last available year and 10 years previously at constant prices.

In 1972–73, the latest year for which the information is available, the average assessed parental contribution to maintenance and fees for students, including minimum award holders, on first degree and comparable courses in universities and further education establishments in Great Britain is estimated at £199 compared with £156 in 1962–63, both figures being adjusted to prices at September 1974 using the retail price index.

the proportions of home students in universities in Great Britain who did not receive grants from central or local government sources are estimated to be 11 per cent. for undergraduates and 33 per cent. for postgraduates, including 6 per cent. of undergraduates and 21 per cent. of postgraduates who received grants from other sources.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the differential at the present in grants given to Oxford and Cambridge and London students and those at Scottish universities at real and constant prices; and what this was 10 years ago.

The maximum undergraduate rates of grant for students in Scottish universities are exceeded by those for students in Oxford, Cambridge and London by the amounts shown in the following table. For postgraduates a differential of £80 was introduced for London students in 1974–75.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will reduce the age threshold for a married student to be regarded as independent of his or her parents for grant purposes from 21 to 18 years.

I considered the criteria for independent status in the review of student grants for the year 1975–76 which was recently completed, and about which I made a statement on 20th May.—[Vol. 892, c. 321–2.] I came to the conclusion that, apart from those who achieve independence by supporting themselves for three years, there should be a single minimum age—25—for independence from parental contributions for all students; but it will no longer be a requirement that they reach that age before the start of the course.

Postgraduate Awards

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been

MAXIMUM MAIN RATE ^* OF MAINTENANCE AWARD FOR STUDENTS
Residing away from home
				London			Elsewhere
				College/hostel	Lodgings	Oxford and Cambridge	College/hostel	Lodgings	Residing at at home
				£	£	£	£	£	£
1960–61	…	…	…	634	611	735	577	543	434
1961–62	…	…	…	606	584	704	552	520	416
1962–63	…	…	…	943	943	943	943	943	713
1963–64	…	…	…	928	928	928	928	928	701
1964–65	…	…	…	889	889	889	889	889	672
1965–66	…	…	…	942	942	942	942	942	716
1966–67	…	…	…	909	909	909	909	909	691
1967–68	…	…	…	896	896	896	896	896	681
1968–69	…	…	…	897	897	897	897	897	694
1969–70	…	…	…	854	854	854	854	854	660
1970–71	…	…	…	797	797	797	797	797	617
1971–72	…	…	…	753	753	753	753	753	582
1972–73	…	…	…	831	831	831	831	831	639
1973–74	…	…	…	814	814	814	814	814	632
1974–75	…	…	…	960		880			660
^* All rates adjusted to September 1974 prices using the Retail Price Index.

Cornwall

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give details of the following in primary and secondary schools in Cornwall: full-time pupils on registers, full-time teachers, full-time equivalent of part-time teachers, pupils per teacher, and his estimates for those categories in each of the next five years.

At January 1974, the latest year for which information is available, the details for maintained primary and secondary schools in Cornwall were as follows:

	Primary	Secondary	Primary and Secondary
Full-time pupils	38,275^*	27,982	66,257^*
Full-time qualified teachers	1,395	1,523	2,918
Full-time equivalent of part-time teachers	53	53	106
Pupils per teacher†	26·7	17·8	22·1
^* Including 1,641 full-time 4-year-old pupils.
† Part-time pupils have each been included as 0·5 pupil and the pupil/teacher ratio is expressed in terms of full-time equivalents.

Estimates by my Department for Cornwall for the following five years are available

the value of postgraduate awards at constant prices over the last 15 years.

The information is given below for postgraduates in courses leading to higher degrees:only for full-time pupils aged five and over and are as follows:

	Primary	Secondary	Primary and Secondary
1975	37,100	29,000	66,100
1976	37,300	30,200	67,500
1977	37,500	31,200	68,700
1978	37,300	32,000	69,300
1979	36,800	32,500	69,300

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will give details of the number of students in Cornwall aged 15 to 17 years and as a percentage of the 15 to 17 year age group, on full-time, sandwich, part-time day, evening only and evening institute courses, and his estimates for changes in the next five years;(2) if he will give details of the number of students in Cornwall aged 18–20 years and as a percentage of the 18 to 20 age group, on full-time, sandwich, part-time day, evening only, and evening institute courses, and his estimates for changes in the next five years.

The number of students attending further education establishments located in Cornwall at November 1973 and the percentage these formed of the relevant age group resident in Cornwall are as follows:

Type of course						Number of students 15–17	Percentage of 15–17 age group	Number of students 18–20	Percentage of 18–20 age group
Major Further Education Establishments and Colleges of Education:
Full-time	…	…	…	…	…	938	6·4	959	6·7
Sandwich	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	11	0·1
Part-time day	…	…	…	…	…	729	5·0	1,211	8·5
Evening only	…	…	…	…	…	414	2·8	406	2·9
Evening Institutes	…	…	…	…	…	1,021	6·9	323	2·3

Many full-time students, especially in the 18–20 age group, study outside their normal area of residence. My Department does not estimate future further education numbers by individual local education authority area.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give details of his Department's estimates for changes in the school and student population in Cornwall, and compare

ESTIMATED MAINTAINED PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL POPULATION
'000
		Primary pupils (aged 5 and over)		Secondary pupils		Primary and secondary pupils (aged 5 and over)
		England and Wales	Cornwall	England and Wales	Cornwall	England and Wales	Cornwall
1974	…	4,875·6	36·6	3,695·7	28·0	8,571·3	64·6
1975	…	4,828·5	37·1	3,809·5	29·0	8,638·0	66·1
1976	…	4,754·0	37·3	3,928·0	30·2	8,682·0	67·5
1977	…	4,676·8	37·5	4,021·4	31·2	8,698·2	68·7
1978	…	4,558·5	37·3	4,080·7	32·0	8,639·2	69·3
1979	…	4,410·7	36·8	4,103·8	32·5	8,514·5	69·3

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give details of the number of new school places, in primary and secondary schools in Cornwall, brought into use by new construction in each of the last two years, and give estimates of similar categories over the next five years; and if he will compare these figures with the totals for England and Wales.

New school places provided by major building projects in 1973 and 1974 are as follows:

	Cornwall
	Primary	Secondary
1973	760	1,555
1974	1,440	550
	England and Wales
	Primary	Secondary
1973	126,306	112,936
1974	154,272	120,111

Details of those provided by minor building projects are not available. The authority has been allocated £2,733,000 for school building starts in 1975–76 and as my right hon. Friend stated in the

these figures with similar for England and Wales.

The only forward estimates by my Department of pupil and student numbers in Cornwall that are available are those for maintained primary and secondary pupils aged five and over. Figures for January 1974 and projections for the following five years, together with corresponding figures for England and Wales, as as follows:House on 6th May—[Vol. 891, c. 1202]—he will try to inform authorities by the end of June of their allocations for 1976–77.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many school leavers in Cornwall went to universities, colleges of education, polytechnics and other full-time education over the last 10 years; and how this compares with similar figures, per head of school population, for England and Wales.

I regret that the precise information asked for is not available, but the number of new awards to students entering universities, establishments of further education and colleges of education, and their ratios to population—both nationally and in each local education authority including Cornwall—have been published annually for each year since 1966 in Volume 5 (Finance & Awards) of "Statistics of Education", copies of which are available in the Library.

Comprehensive Education (Kent)

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he is satisfied with the replies which he has received from Kent County Council concerning the implementation of comprehensive eductaion: and if he will make a statement.

No. I have nothing to add to my reply given on 4th February to a Question by my hon. Friend.—[Vol. 885, c. 449.]

Secondary Education Selection

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list those authorities which have refused to submit plans for the elimination of selection in secondary education, those which have failed to submit plans and those which have submitted plans which fail to cover the whole of their area.

The following authorities have failed to submit plans for the total elimination of selection: Bexley, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Kingston, Redbridge, Sutton, Trafford. A full response is awaited from Bolton, Bury, Derbyshire, Stockport, Warwickshire and Wigan. None of these authorities has refused to submit a plan.Authorities which have not yet submitted a response covering the whole of their areas are Cheshire, Cumbria, Devon, Dorset, Kent, Lincolnshire, Liverpool, Suffolk and East Sussex. We are aware that in many cases local consultations are in hand with respect to the remaining areas or schools, including voluntary schools.

Thanet

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many special units are being, or have already been, set up in the Thanet area to deal with children with behavioural difficulties; what types of special unit have been set up in each case; and what is the annual running cost.

As I explained in my reply of 23rd April to a Question by the hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Mr. Steen)—[Vol. 890, c. 317–8]—we have no detailed information in the Department about such provision.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many occupational or training centres there are in the Thanet area for mentally handicapped people; and how many persons can be accommodated in them.

I have been asked to reply.There is one centre for adults with 90 places.

National Finance

Income Taxation

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue would be raised if all income above £5,000, £6,000, £7,000, £8,000, £9,000, £10,000 and £20,000 were taxed at a marginal rate of 100 per cent.; and what the total of extra revenue in each case would be if existing revenue were subtracted.

Assuming that the allowances and rates of tax prepared for 1975–76 apply the figures are as follows:

Limit of net income after tar	Yield
£	£m
5,000	960
6,000	450
7,000	235
8,000	100
9,000	65
10,000	35
20,000	5

Trainees (Child Allowances)

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many cases child allowances were claimed by parents of employed trainees; and what was the value of these allowances, in the last financial year for which information is available.

I regret that this information is not available.

Crown Estate Commissioners

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the present number of empty residential units in London owned by the Crown Commissioners; how many units are now occupied by squatters; and what action the Commissioners are taking to ensure the maximum occupancy of their properties.

I am informed by the Crown Estate Commissioners that there are at present 67 such residential units—including 17 newly built flats—of which 40 are under offer. Of the remainder, 13 are the subject of planning applications, 11 are awaiting conversion and three are uninhabitable; these cannot, therefore, be used for short-term housing. There are also 26 residential units occupied by squatters of which 24 are the subject of planning applications and two are awaiting conversion.

Inflation

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current rate of inflation based on the same basis as his computation of 8·4 per cent. in October 1974.

Year					Standard or basic rate threshold for earned income as percentage of average earnings^*†	Standard or basic rate†	Effective standard rate on earned income‡
(1)					(2)	(3)	(4)
					Per cent.	Per cent.	Per cent.
1945–46	…	…	…	…	142·9	50·0	45·0
1946–47	…	…	…	…	148·4	45·0	39·37
1947–48	…	…	…	…	154·7	45·0	37·5
1948–49	…	…	…	…	193·0	45·0	36·0
1949–50	…	…	…	…	187·3	45·0	36·0
1950–51	…	…	…	…	177·7	45·0	36·0
1951–52	…	…	…	…	169·7	47·5	38·0
1952–53	…	…	…	…	218·1	47·5	36·94
1953–54	…	…	…	…	205·7	45·0	35·0
1954–55	…	…	…	…	190·6	45·0	35·0
1955–56	…	…	…	…	179·3	42·5	33·06
1956–57	…	…	…	…	168·2	42·5	33·06
1957–58	…	…	…	…	159·2	42·5	33·06
1958–59	…	…	…	…	156·2	42·5	33·06
1959–60	…	…	…	…	148·0	38·75	30·14
1960–61	…	…	…	…	137·8	38·75	30·14
1961–62	…	…	…	…	131·8	38·75	30·14
1962–63	…	…	…	…	127·5	38·75	30·14
1963–64	…	…	…	…	128·7	38·75	30·14
1964–65	…	…	…	…	119·0	38·75	30·14
1965–66	…	…	…	…	109·8	41·25	32·08
1966–67	…	…	…	…	106·0	41·25	32·08
1967–68	…	…	…	…	100·7	41·25	32·08
1968–69	…	…	…	…	89·6	41·25	32·08
1969–70	…	…	…	…	82·0	41·25	32·08
1970–71	…	…	…	…	57·6	41·25	32·08
1971–72	…	…	…	…	58·6	38·75	30·14
1972–73	…	…	…	…	59·9	(38·75	30·14)
1973–74	…	…	…	…	52·4	30·0
1974–75	…	…	…	…	51·1	33·0
1975–76	…	…	…	…	49·3	35·0
^* The earnings figures used in the calculations are annual equivalents of the average weekly earnings of full-time adult male manual workers in manufacturing and certain other industries at October each year, except for the year 1945–46 when the figures related to July 1945. An estimated figure of £54 per week at March 1975 has been used for 1975–76.
† Standard rate for the years 1945–46 to 1972–73, and basic rate for the years 1973–74 to 1975–76.
‡ Rate at which earned income charged assuming the full rate of earned income relief for the years 1945–46 to 1972–73, and ignoring any liability above the standard or basic rate.

The rate of increase in the retail price index in the three months to April expressed at an annual rate is 34·4 per cent.

Income Tax

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will list the effective standard rate of income tax in each year since the Second World War;(2) if he will list for each year since the Second World War the percentage of the average male manual worker wage at which the standard rate of income tax became payable for a married man with two children, assuming that no other reliefs were claimable.

Assuming that the children are under 11 the figures are as follows:

European Community

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the actual net payments made to the EEC by the United Kingdom in 1973 and 1974; what is the estimate for the current year; and how these figures compare with the estimates made at the beginning of each year in question.

In 1973 the United Kingdom's net contribution to the budget of the European Communities was £104 million, at outturn prices, compared with the estimate published in December 1972 in "Public Expenditure to 1976–77" (Cmnd. 5178) of £65 million at 1972 Survey prices. In 1974 the net contribution was £31 million, at outturn prices, compared with the estimate published in December 1973 in "Public Expenditure to 1977–78" (Cmnd. 5519) of £75 million at 1973 Survey prices. The United Kingdom's net contribution to the Community budget in 1975 was estimated in "Public Expenditure to 1978–79" (Cmnd. 5879) published in January 1975 to be £100 million. In the White Paper "Membership of the European Community, Report on Renegotiation" (Cmnd. 6003) published in March 1975 this estimate was revised downwards to £65 million-£75 million. Receipts from the Community budget in 1975 are now expected to be

£ million
								1954	1964	1973
Central Government receipts:
Taxes on income		…	…	…	…	…	…	1,213	2,751	7,782
Additions to tax reserves			…	…	…	…	…	33	95	558
National insurance, etc. contributions					…	…	…	532	1,444	3,926
Taxes on expenditure			…	…	…	…	…	1,866	3,121	6,748
Taxes on capital		…	…	…	…	…	…	183	308	729
Central Government expenditure:
Current grants to the personal sector:
Education		…	…	…	…	…	…	39	135	469
Social security benefits			…	…	…	…	…	844	1,981	5,222
Other	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	41	60	309
The subsidy element of consumers' expenditure						…	…	395	397	982
Current expenditure on goods and services and capital formation:
National health service				…	…	…	…	486	1,010	2,750
Milk and welfare foods				…	…	…	…	43	37	11
Social security benefits			…	…	…	…	…	50	106	268

Occupational Pensions

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the most recent estimate of (a) the total amount of tax relief granted on employees' and employers' contributions to occupational pension schemes, (b) the amount of

higher than the forecast quoted in Cmnd. 6003, giving a net contribution a good deal less than £65 million-£75 million.

Government Income And Expenditure

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report comparative tables of central Government income and expenditure for 1954–55, 1964–65 and 1974–75 showing the Government's interventions in the personal sector—including national insurance and all other main items contributing to the redistribution of income such as education and health—separately from the Government's income and expenditure belonging outside the personal sector.

I am not sure what the hon. Member has in mind, but the information readily available, which is for calendar years, is given in the table below. Figures are not yet available for 1974. The table shows identified elements of central Government expenditure directly affecting the personal sector and does not show expenditure on education and other services by local government, which is largely financed by central Government block grants. The full accounts of the central Government are given in tables 39 and 40 of "National Income and Expenditure 1963–1973."capital gains tax forgone from occupational pension funds by reason of occupational pensions funds not being subject to capital gains tax and (

c) the amount of tax forgone from the income from the investments of occupational pension funds by reason of this income not being taxable.

I regret that no later information is available than that given to my hon. Friend on 7th March 1975.—[Vol. 887, c. 527–8.]

Public Expenditure

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will consider the imposition of current price ceilings on public expenditure programmes; which major countries have already adopted this method of controlling the growth of public expenditure; and when, if recently, they did so.

Some public expenditure programmes are already subject to cash control. As my right hon. Friend indicated in his Budget Statement, we need to reflect on the wisdom of planning public expenditure solely on the basis of constant prices and I am looking into this. So far as I am aware it is the exception, rather than the rule, for countries to plan and control public expenditure on a constant price rather than a cash basis.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing total expenditure by the public sector as a percentage of gross domestic product in 1945, 1955, 1965, 1970 and for each year thereafter up to the latest available date, including the estimate for 1975–76.

The following table shows the ratio of total public expenditure at market prices to GDP at factor cost, for certain years since 1949, the earliest year for which this information is available.

CURRENT RECEIPTS OF GENERAL GOVERNMENT AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP
					United Kingdom	United States	West Germany	Japan	France
1970	…	…	…	…	41·3	29·5	37·4	21·9	20·9
1971	…	…	…	…	39·4	28·9	38·3	22·4	20·4
1972	…	…	…	…	37·6	30·0	38·7	22·6	20·5
1973	…	…	…	…	37·0	30·3	41·0	—	—

Whisky

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total excise duty paid in respect of whisky distilled on the Island of Islay for the most recent year for which figures are available.

Public Expenditure as a Proportion of GDP at Factor Cost
	Per cent.
1949	43·9
1955	41·8
1965	45·3
1970	50·7
1971	50·2
1972	50·3
1973	51·2
1974	57·7

I am not in a position to publish a forecast for 1975–76 because of the uncertainties which underlie current price projections of GDP.

Gross Domestic Product

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of GDP was represented by the total of all forms of Government revenue for each year since 1970; and what comparable figures he has for Germany, France, the United States of America and Japan.

The following table shows estimates of total current receipts of general—central plus local—government as a percentage of gross domestic product in purchasers' values for the United Kingdom, United States, West Germany, Japan and France. Figures for 1970 to 1973 are shown for all countries except Japan and France, and are derived from the publication "National Accounts of OECD Countries, 1962–1973." Figures for Japan and France were derived from the 1961–1972 edition of the same publication. Figures for the United Kingdom are calculated from returns made to the OECD on the same basis and are consistent with the Blue Book "National Income and Expenditure 1963–73".

Spirits duty is paid on release of whisky from bond after it has matured for at least three years. Matured whisky from Islay's eight distilleries is mainly sent to bonded warehouses on the mainland for blending with whiskies from many other sources. Since no differentiation between the sources of blended whisky is made when duty is paid it is not possible to say how much is attributable to the Island of Islay.

Value Added Tax

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how "do-it-yourself" housebuilders can claim refunds of VAT under the Government's new refund scheme.

The Value Added Tax ("Do-it-yourself" Builders) (Relief) Regulations 1975, which prescribe the time limits and conditions for claiming the refund, came into operation on 19th May and do-it-yourself" housebuilders who have built complete new dwellings may now submit claims for refund of VAT on eligible goods purchased by them on or after 13th November 1974 from persons registered for VAT. Customs and Excise have published full details in their Notice No. 719; and copies of the notice, and of the forms on which claims must be made, are now available from Customs and Excise local VAT offices. For the convenience of Members, copies are available in the Vote Office.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue it is anticipated will accrue in the forthcoming financial year from the imposition of the new 25 per cent. rate of VAT on television rental agreements entered into before 15th April 1975.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 19th May 1975; Vol. 892, c. 285], gave the following information:Trade interests have estimated that raising to 25 per cent. the rate of VAT on the renting of television sets will yield about £100 million in a full year, although this may be a little too high. In the current financial year 1975–76 the extra revenue is estimated to be of the order of £50 million, nearly all of which will come from rental agreements entered into before 15th April 1975. The proportion of this additional revenue from such contracts will steadily decline.

Income Tax Allowances

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the increase in tax that would be payable if all personal allowances, single, married and married woman's earned income allowance, were reduced by £20.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 21st May 1975; Vol. 892, c. 427], gave the following information:About £165 million assuming the allowances and rates of tax proposed for 1975–76.

National Insurance Contributions

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost to the revenue of giving tax relief on class II and class IV national insurance contributions paid by self-employed contributors (a) if relief were given on the total of both contributions and (b) if relief were given only on the amount by which the total of both contributions exceeded five per cent. of earnings.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 21st May 1975; Vol. 892, c. 427], gave the following information:Information on which to base a precise calculation is not available, but it is estimated that the full-year cost for 1975–76 of allowing tax relief on class II and class IV contributions would be about £80 million. If relief were limited to contributions in excess of 5 per cent. of earnings the cost would be about £30 million.

Sheraton House, City Of Westminster

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer under what Vote the Government have leased Sheraton House in Great Chapel Street, London.

I have been asked to reply.Class VIII, Vote 2.

Defence

Masirah (United States Vessels)

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many times facilities at Masirah have been used by United States vessels in 1974 and 1975, respectively.

None.

Contracts

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the value of defence contracts carried out in each of the standard regions of England and in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, respectively, in the most recent convenient period of time.

The values of defence contracts placed with firms in these areas were as follows for the financial year 1974–75:

	£ million
England
Northern	18
Yorkshire and Humberside	46
East Midlands	186
West Midlands	117
North West	77
South West	171
South East	490
East Anglia	27
England total	£1,132
Wales	36
Scotland	55
Northern Ireland	13
United Kingdom total	£1236

It is not possible to give similar figures for defence contracts carried out or completed.

Soviet Aircraft (British Airspace)

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many Soviet aircraft have been intercepted and turned back while attempting to enter British airspace during the last 12 months; and how many were in the area of the North-East of Scotland.

We reserve the right to intercept and identify aircraft approaching the United Kingdom without adequate flight plan clearance, but it would be contrary to normal practice and against the public interest to provide statistics of such interceptions. Providing the aircraft concerned are in international airspace the question of turning them back does not arise.

Submarine Orders

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether any agreement has been reached within the Eurogroup or elsewhere whereby any future orders for conventional submarines are to be placed with Dutch manufacturers rather than British.

No.

Defence Equipment (Questions)

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will review his practice of not answering Parliamentary Questions relating to inquiries about, and contracts for, the purchase of defence equipment.

It remains our practice to be as forthcoming as possible but we must judge what can be said on the merits of each case and in the light of all considerations.

Oman (British Personnel)

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what compensation has been paid to the next of kin of those members of the British Armed Forces killed or wounded while on loan to the Sultan Qabus Bin Said, Sultan of Oman, by Her Majesty's Government, and how this compares with rates of compensation paid to the next of kin of British soldiers killed while on active service in Ulster.

The secondment of members of the British forces to those of the Sultan of Oman is governed by financial arrangements which include the provision by the Ministry of Defence of the full benefits of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. Those wounded and the widows of those killed on active service while on such a loan are therefore awarded pensions in exactly the same way as those on active service in Northern Ireland or any other part of the world.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of Her Majesty's Armed Forces are now on service in Oman and how many are on loan to the Sultan Qabus Bin Said, Sultan of Oman; and how these numbers compare with the numbers in each of these categories serving in Oman 12 months earlier.

188 members of Her Majesty's Armed Forces are currently serving on loan with the Sultan of Oman's armed forces compared with 205 a year ago. It is not our practice to give the numbers providing direct assistance to the Sultan's forces in the campaign against the rebels in Dhofar. As for the rest of Oman, there are currently 530 members of Her Majesty's Armed Forces serving on the island of Masirah compared with 525 a year ago; there are also five serving on the permanent staff of Her Majesty's Embassy Muscat, the same number as a year ago.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he has yet determined a date by which all British military personnel will be withdrawn from the Sultanate of Oman.

I have nothing to add to what was said in the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1975 (Cmnd. 5976) and in my right hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Thanet, East (Mr. Aitken) on 13th May 1975.—[Vol. 892, c. 225.]

Arms Sales

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the value of the sale of British-made armaments abroad in the year March 1973 to 1974 and March 1974 to 1975 or the nearest equivalent 12-month periods.

The estimated value of exports of defence equipment in the financial years ending 31st March 1974 and 31st March 1975 is as follows:

1973–74, £423 million.
1974–75, £475 million (provisional).

Expenditure

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the cost per head of the population and per average family of four persons of this year's arms estimates and of each year since 1960;(2) what is the annual increase per head of the population and per family of four persons of this year's arms estimates and of each year's arms expenditure since 1960 compared with the previous year.

Figures of expenditure on military defence for the calendar years 1960 to 1973 are set out in Table 14 of "National Income and Expenditure 1963–1973", at constant (1970) prices. On this basis a comparison can be made per head of population as follows:

Expenditure per head	(£)
1960	52·2
1961	53·4
1962	55·3
1963	54·7
1964	53·8
1965	54·0
1966	52·5
1967	54·8
1968	51·8
1969	46·5
1970	43·7
1971	43·8
1972	43·7
1973	43·1
Increase/Decrease
1960	-
1961	+1·2
1962	+1·9
1963	-0·6
1964	-0·9
1965	+0·2
1966	-1·5
1967	+2·3
1968	-3·0
1969	-5·3
1970	-2·8
1971	+0·1
1972	-0·1
1973	-0·6

Figures for families of four are not readily available over the period. The provisional total of military defence for 1974, on the same price base, is £2,355 million, or £41·9 per head of population. Information on military defence and population for 1975 on a comparable basis is not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the percentage increase in this year's arms estimates over the previous year's arms expenditure compared with the percentage increase in the cost of all goods and services in that period.

The increase at 1974 survey prices from provisional outturn, 1974–75, to Estimates, 1975–76, is 3·9 per cent. The element for inflation in the 1975–76 Estimates is 22·9 per cent. This compares with the increases in the indices of Retail and Wholesale Prices and Basic Weekly Wage Rates and Average Earnings of between 17 per cent. and 27 per cent.

Medical Advisory Boards

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has accepted the Jarrett Committee's recommendation that a single medical advisory board should replace the separate advisory boards to each of the defence medical services.

Yes. The Armed Forces Medical Advisory Board has been established to advise my right hon. Friend on matters of professional standards, practice and policy in connection with the medical services of the Armed Forces in the light of important medical developments. The board will also advise on any specific problems which may be referred to them.The chairman of the new advisory board will be Sir John Richardson, MVO, MA, MD, FRCP and the following will be members:Sir Cyril Clarke, KBE, MD, DSc, PRCP, FRS.Sir Kenneth Robson, CBE, MA, MD, FRCP.Dr. R. M. Mason, MA, DM, FRCP, FRCP(Ed).Professor J. W. Crofton, MD, PRCP(Ed), FRCP.Sir Rodney Smith, KBE, MS, PRCS.Mr. R. Myles Gibson, ERD, MSc, MD, FRCS, FRCS(Ed).Mr. Selwyn F. Taylor, MA, MD, MCh, FRCS.Mr. J. A. Ross, MBE, MD, MCh, PRCS(Ed), FRCS Glas.Dr. G. B. Shaw, BSc, FRCP, FRCP(Glas), FRCP(Ed), FRCPS(Glas).Mr. T. L. T. Lewis, MD, FRCS, FRCOG.Professor P. S. Byrne, OBE, PRCGP.Mr. J. H. Hovell, TD, MRCS, LRCP, FDS. RCS.Miss I. C. S. Brown, SRN, RSCN, RNT.Dr. W. G. Harding, MRCS, FRCP, FPCM, DPH.

		Less than 4 weeks		1–11 months		1 year and over		Total number of cases
Type of operation		Salford	Remainder of Region	Salford	Remainder of Region	Salford	Remainder of Region	Salford	Remainder of Region
General surgery	…	340	4,914	330	6,078	15	364	685	11,356
Ear, nose and throat		61	1,364	351	3,616	77	578	489	5,558
Traumatic and orthopaedic	…	38	1,077	62	2,038	4	367	104	3,482
Gynaecology	…	101	3,134	191	3,859	6	330	298	7,323
Other surgery	…	41	2,626	80	3,139	5	324	126	6,089

Professor R. S. F. Schilling, MD, DSc, FRCP, DPH, DIH.

Dr. A. D. Leigh, BSc, MD, FRCP, FRCPsyc.

Suregon-Vice Admiral Sir James Watt, KBE, QHS, MD, MS, FRCS, FRCP.

Lieutenant General Sir James Baird, KBE, QHP, MD, FRCP, FRCP(Ed).

Air Marshal Sir Geoffrey Dhenin, KBE, AFC, GM, QHP, MA, MD, ChB, DPH, MFCM, FRAeS.

The new board will replace the three Services medical advisory boards and will also take over the responsibilities of the Armed Forces Advisory Committee on Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education which was set up in 1971 under the chairmanship of Mr. Harold Edwards, CBE, MS, FRCS. I should like to take the opportunity to thank all those who served on these bodies for their valuable work on behalf of the defence medical services.

Social Services

Hospital Waiting Times

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average waiting time for different types of operations in Salford, Greater Manchester and the country, respectively; how she proposes to shorten the waiting period; and if she will make a statement.

Waiting times for admission vary according to the circumstances of each case and urgent cases are admitted without delay, so that averages are misleading. The following table shows waiting time, prior to admission from waiting lists for operative procedures, of patients discharged October to December 1974 for Salford Area Health Authority and North Western Region—that is, Greater Manchester and Lancashire:

Corresponding figures on a national basis are not readily available. The problem of long waiting times for admission is of very long standing in many areas and specialties. We have made a start in tackling it by earmarking £5 million nationally in the coming year specifically to deal with those aspects of the problem which can be improved by capital expenditure. This is the first special allocation of money to reduce waiting lists. We have already sent health authorities an advance copy of a circular which we shall be issuing this month containing new guidance to help them in accurately measuring and attacking the problem of long waiting times.

Ussr (Medical Treatment)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what facilities are available to enable patients in the National Health Service to obtain free specialist medical treatment in the USSR where specialist facilities available in that country are not available within the United Kingdom.

The reciprocal health agreement, signed in Moscow on 17th February, enables a citizen of this country who requires specialist medical treatment available in the USSR but not in the United Kingdom to be sent, with the agreement of the two Governments, to the USSR to receive treatment free of charge. Arrangements for the implementation of this facility are being discussed and will probably be finalised when the Anglo-Soviet Joint Committee resulting from the agreement meets in September.

Whitwick (Health Centre)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will authorise the inclusion of the projected health centre at Whitwick, Leicestershire, in the 1975–76 building programme.

Whitwick was not among the list of priority schemes approved by the Trent Regional Health Authority from which the 1975–76 health centre programme was selected. It is in any case doubtful whether it could be ready to start in that year. The area and regional health authorities will consider its priority in the context of the 1976–77 programme.

Thanet

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the cost of operating the National Health Service in the Thanet area for 1974; how this compares with 1972 and 1973; and what is the intended expenditure for 1975.

The revenue allocation for the Canterbury/Thanet Health District in 1974–75 was £11,760,000: the provisional allocation for 1975–76 is £12,208,000. Comparable figures for 1972–73 and 1973–74 are not available because the services now include elements which in these earlier years were part of those provided by Kent County Council whose separate costs cannot be identified.

Ambulance Men

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what guidance she has given to health authorities, including the Trent Regional Health Authority, regarding extra pay for ambulance men who use coronary care machines.

The Trent and other health authorities concerned have been notified of the terms of remuneration agreed by the Whitley Council for this work.

Cornwall

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will compare over each of the past five years the total expenditures and expenditures per head of population for Cornwall and England and Wales on total national health and welfare services, hospitals' current and capital expenditure, general medical costs, pharmaceutical costs, local authority health services, and local authority personal services.

It is not practicable to identify a specific part of the total cost of all national health and personal social services as being attributable to Cornwall. The other figures requested are summarised below:

1969–70

1970–71

1971–72

1972–73

1973–74

Expenditure

Per Capita

Expenditure

Per Capita

Expenditure

Per Capita

Expenditure

Per Capita

Expenditure

Per Capita

£m.

£m

Total Cost of Health and Personal Social Services (England and Wales)

…

1,804

36·95

2,111

43·09

2,405

49·27

2,768

56·46

3,213

65·34

England and Wales

£000

Hospital Current

…

839,696

17·20

997,220

20·36

1,168,513

23·94

1,339,743

27·33

1,551,218

31·54

Hospital Capital

…

108,835

2·23

128,270

2·62

158,918

3·26

191,648

3·91

214,809

4·37

General Medical

…

128,602

2·63

158,235

3·23

171,339

3·51

185,332

3·78

199,519

4·06

Pharmaceutical

…

175,365

3·59

191,043

3·90

214,749

4·40

243,479

4·97

268,697

5·46

Local Authority Health Services

…

154,453

3·16

183,055

3·74

132,696

2·72

154,095

3·14

181,382

3·69

Local Authority Personal Social Services

124,536

2·55

150,203

3·07

257,186

5·27

324,020

6·61

416,080

8·46

Cornwall

£000

Hospital Current

…

5,142

14·20

5,914

16·25

6,966

18·36

7,904

20·51

9,343

23·74

Hospital Capital

…

0·22

0·26

541

1·43

673

1·75

718

1·82

General Medical

…

1,150

3·18

1,426

3·92

1,566

4·13

1,734

4·50

1,888

4·80

Pharmaceutical

…

1,687

4·66

1,852

5·09

2,151

5·67

2,445

6·34

2,731

6·94

Local Authority Health Services

…

1,082

2·99

1,295

3·56

1,022

2·69

1,214

3·15

1,422

3·61

Local Authority Personal Social Services

466

1·29

870

2·39

1,443

3·80

1,701

4·41

2,053

5·22

Notes:

(i) Figures are in all cases gross, i.e. contributions from persons using the service have not been deducted, except in the case of local authority services.

(ii) Hospital expenditure covers all hospitals situated in Cornwall, including those administered by the former Plymouth and District Hospital Management Committee. It does not include expenditure on the treatment of patients resident in Cornwall by hospitals outside the county.

(iii) Expenditure for General Medical and Pharmaceutical Services relates to the former Cornwall Executive Council, it will include expenditure in respect of some patients resident outside the county but exclude expenditure by other Executive Councils on some Cornish residents.

(iv) Local Authority figures include loan charges and revenue contributions to capital expenditure. Following the coming into force of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 on 1st April 1971, the personal social services comprise the former local authority welfare services, child care services and certain of the former local health authority services. Personal social services expenditure for Cornwall for 1969–70 excludes child care services, figures for which are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the total numbers, and numbers per head of population, in Cornwall of midwives, health visitors home nurses, and home helps;

					Cornwall and Isles of Scilly		England and Wales
					Total Whole-time equivalent	WTE per 1,000 population	Total Whole-time equivalent	WTE per 1,000 population
Health Visitors^*	…	…	…	…	60	0·1527	8,864·4	0·1802
Home Nurses^*	…	…	…	…	80	0·2033	13,149·9	0·2673
Midwives^*	…	…	…	…	25·4	0·0645	3,730·8	0·0758
Home Help†	…	…	…	…	249	0·62	43,533	0·88
^* Staffing position at 1st April 1974.
† Position at 30th September 1974.
Population at 30th June 1974:
Cornwall and Isle of Scilly 393,600
England and Wales 49,195,100.

National Insurance Contributions

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the gains to the National Insurance Fund if the ceiling on national insurance contributions were abolished.

If there were no ceiling in respect of Class 1 and Class 4 contributions, the additional income including Treasury Supplement in 1975–76 would be about £800 million on the basis of a full year's receipts at the rates of contributions introduced on 7th April 1975.

Supplementary Benefit Recipients

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people in the administrative district of Harlow have applied for, and how many have received, supplementary benefit in the year ended 31st April 1975; and how many of these applicants were on long-term benefit.

I regret that the information is not available in the form requested.The office dealing with claims from persons living in the administrative district of Harlow, together with considerable additional territory, received 6,908 claims for supplementary benefit in the 12 months ending 22nd April 1975, of which 4,862 were successful.The number of persons receiving a regular payment of supplementary benefit at April 1974 was 4,039 and at February 1975, the latest available date, 4,223, but the number of those whose benefit

and how this compares with the figures for England and Wales.

Following is the information:was assessed on the basis of the long-term scale rates is not known.

Nhs Pensioners (Earnings)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will take steps to ensure that the ceiling placed on part-time earnings from the NHS by persons in receipt of pensions from the service is increased to take account of increased scales of remuneration.

The superannuation scheme does not place any ceiling on earnings. It does, however, restrict the amount of pension a person who has not fully retired may receive so as to ensure that his pension and pay from re-employment in the NHS, taken together, do not exceed his pay on retirement. The arrangements make due allowance for any cost of living increase in the pension before commencement of the new employment and preclude any reduction in the pension as a result of subsequent increases in pay scales in his part-time employment.

Pension Contributions

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what addition to the Class I contribution of 16·5 per cent. in the Social Security Pensions Bill would be required if the contracted out contribution reduction was 8 per cent. instead of 7 per cent. of relevant earnings.

On the assumption of 8 million persons contracted out, and that these numbers were not affected by the improvement in the terms for contracting out, it would be necessary to increase the joint rate of contribution in respect of employed earners in the first year by 0·4 per cent. of relevant earnings in order that the fund's income from contributions and Treasury Supplement should be the same.

School Health Service (Liverpool)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the establishment in Liverpool for the school health service; and how many of the staff at present serving are employed without the health visitors' certificate.

The present nursing establishment is 84. Of the 74 nurses in post, 55 do not hold the health visitors' certificate.

Hallam Hospital

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will make a statement about the alterations required for the lifts in the Hallam Hospital, Sheffield, and indicate the reasons for this, the cost, and the delay.

Remedial work to correct a constructional fault in a bank of eight lift shafts at the Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, has been completed. Work on one further shaft remains to be done. The remedial work is being carried out by the contractor at his own expense during the course of construction and the extent to which this might delay current progress of the building has not been identified.

Mental Illness Services

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many local authorities in the East Anglian Regional Health Authority area have made provision for sheltered after-care accommodation for the mentally ill; and what is the extent of that provision;(2) how many local authorities in the Oxford Regional Health Authority area have made provision for after-care accommodation for the mentally ill; and what is the extent of that provision;(3) how many local authorities in the North-East Thames Regional Health Authority area have made provision for after-care accommodation for the mentally ill; and what is the extent of that provision;

(4) how many local authorities in the South-East Thames Regional Health Authority area have made provision for after-care accommodation for the mentally ill; and what is the extent of that provision.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many local authorities in the Wessex and South and West Midlands Regional Health Authorities' areas have provided sheltered after-care accommodation; and what is the extent of that provision;(2) how many local authorities in the Trent and East and West Midlands Regional Health Authorities areas have provided sheltered after-care accommodation; and what is the extent of that provision.

The following table gives details of the provision made by local authorities for sheltered after-care accommodation for the mentally ill, including that under construction, group homes and lodgings and places made available under arrangements with voluntary bodies. The figures do not include provision made for day care. Some of the accommodation is not restricted to use by one category of person.

Regional Health Authority	Number of local authorities	Number of local authorities providing accommodation	Number of residential places
East Anglia	3	2	74
Oxford	4	4	122
North East Thames	12	10	293
South East Thames	8	5	237
Wessex	4	6	147
Trent	8	6	456
West Midlands	11	8	278

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the total annual expenditure on after-care facilities for the mentally ill for the Oxford Regional Health Authority;(2) what is the total annual expenditure on after-care facilities for the mentally ill for the South-East Thames Regional Health Authority;(3) what is the total annual expenditure on after-care facilities for the mentally ill in the North-East Thames Regional Health Authority;

(4) what is the total annual expenditure on after-care facilities for the mentally ill for the East Anglian Regional Health Authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total annual expenditure in the Wessex and South and West Midlands Regional Authorities on after-care facilities for the mentally ill.

Information about the total annual expenditure on after-care facilities for the mentally ill is not readily available.

Family Allowances

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will list the circumstances in which the parent of a child is entitled to the tax allowance but is not entitled to family allowance.

I shall arrange for the information to be circulated in the Official Report as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services in how many cases parents of employed trainees are in receipt of family allowances; and how much money was paid to them in the last financial year for which information is available.

While there is no specific provision for employed trainees under the Family Allowances Act 1965, an apprentice, as defined under that Act, under age 19 may count as a child for family allowances purposes. There are at present 38 families in which apprentices are so counted, in all cases as the elder or eldest child, and in no case therefore is a family allowance paid for an apprentice. No separate record is maintained of the amount of family allowances paid to these families in respect of younger children, but clearly the total sum is very samll.

Family Expenditure

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether she will make available statistics showing how family expenditure varies according to the age of the children.

Family expenditure patterns are influenced by factors such as household income and numbers of children as well as to the ages of the children. Some preliminary results of a study in this field are contained in a paper "Equivalence Scales for Children" which was presented to the conference on the Economics of Consumer Behaviour sponsored by the Social Science Research Council at the University of Sussex in April 1975, and I am placing a copy in the Library.

Poisonous Chemicals

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will arrange for information on poisonous household and industrial chemicals, now restricted to National Poisons Centres, to be made available to voluntary Poisons Information Services which have been established in universities.

Current information on poisonous household and industrial chemicals is available to doctors on inquiry from the National Poisons Centres on a 24-hour basis. I have no evidence of a need to supplement this service in the way the hon. Member suggests.

Pharmacists (Emergency Services)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will list the statutory provisions under which pharmacists are obliged to maintain an emergency service outside normal working hours.

Pharmacists are not obliged to dispense NHS prescriptions outside the normal or local rota hours laid down in Family Practitioner Committee's Hours of Service Schemes made under Regulation 29 of the NHS (General Medical and Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1974 (SI 1974 No. 160), but many voluntarily do so, if available.

Lens Charges

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will consider altering the charges for lenses supplied to partially-sighted persons as part of a continually changing treatment.

Health authorities may already issue on loan temporary glasses to patients without charge following cataract operations. I am considering whether it is possible to extend these arrangements to others during periods of continually changing visual accuity.

Heart Treatment (Children)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what measures she has taken in the last 12 months to (a) reduce the waiting lists and (b) the waiting time of children waiting for cardiac catheterisation or major heart surgery in the North-West and Liverpool; if she is satisfied with progress; what further measures she intends to take; and if she will make a statement.

My Department, in consultation with the professions, is considering future national strategy in this speciality. In the North-West, officers of the Mersey and North-Western Regional Health Authorities have also been studying the question of provision for children suffering from heart disorders in the two regions. Measures taken to reduce waiting lists and waiting times at the hospitals concerned include additional operating sessions at both the Royal Liverpool and the Royal Manchester Children's Hospitals and the referral of patients to hospitals in London and elsewhere.In consequence there has been some reduction in waiting times. There is still

			Numbers waiting 31st March 1974
Treatment			Less than 6 months	6–12 months	1–2 years	Over 2 years	Total
Catheterisation		…	89	62	26	9	186
Surgery	…	…	49	28	22	Nil	99
			Numbers waiting 31st March 1975
Catheterisation		…	74	82	14	Nil	170
Surgery	…	…	73	24	8	Nil	105

Directly comparable figures nationally and for other hospitals in the North-West are not readily available. Following are

							Catheterisation	Major Surgery
Victoria Hospital, Blackpool		…	…	…	…	…	51	Nil
Manchester Royal Infirmary		…	…	…	…	…	Nil	1
Wythenshaw Hospital	…	…	…	…	…	…	3	3
Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendleby					…	…	30	22

Foetus Viability

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, in view of the observations of the World Health Organisation as to the viability of a foetus after 22 weeks of pregnancy, she will seek to amend Section 1(2) of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 to more to be done and I am keeping the position under review.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the average waiting time for children with heart disorders for (a) cardiac catheterisation and (b) major heart surgery nationally in the North-West and in Liverpool, respectively;(2) if the waiting time for children awaiting cardiac catheterisation and major heart surgery in the North-West and Liverpool has decreased in the last year; and, if so, by how much;(3) how many children with congenital heart disorders are waiting for cardiac catheterisation; and how many are awaiting major heart surgery (

a) nationally, ( b) in the North-West and ( c) in Liverpool.

Averages are misleading as waiting times for treatment vary according to the circumstances of individual cases. Following are figures relating to the Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital, which is the main centre in the North-West for treating children for heart disorders, showing the numbers of children waiting and the times they had waited on 31st March 1975 as compared with a year earlier:numbers of children who were waiting for treatment on 21st May 1975 at the hospitals listed:substitute a period of 22 weeks in place of the existing period of 28 weeks.

The World Health Organisation has not pronounced on the gestational age of viability. A meeting of its Expert Committee on Health Statistics convened in June 1974 to discuss a draft revision of the general structure of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) proposed the endorsement of the recommendations of a scientific group concerning definitions, terminology and format of statistical tables relating to the perinatal period.The committee's report will be considered at the delegate conference of member countries of the World Health Organisation in September 1975 which is being convened to make firm recommendations for the ninth revision of the International Classification of Diseases to the World Health Assembly. It is likely that there will be useful discussions at this meeting indicating current international medical thinking in this area which I will wish to study.The Government are concurrently considering a recommendation of the Committee on the Working of the Abortion Act that Section 1(2) of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 should be repealed.

Postal Services

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether her Department's arrangements for the use of first-class postal services provide that receipts for completed national insurance cards should be dispatched by first-class post; and, if so, if she will take appropriate action to ensure that such receipts, being non-urgent items, are in future despatched by the second-class post.

No. These receipts do not require to be sent first-class under departmental instructions.

Rubella Vaccination

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what risk of congenital malformation or disability can follow from the provision of anti-rubella vaccine if conception follows within less than 28 days;(2) what advice her Department gives to general practitioners as to the time lag between giving an anti-rubella vaccination and advising patients to cease using anti-pregnancy pills.

There is a theoretical risk—though no firm evidence exists—that rubella vaccine virus may harm the developing foetus. Consequently pregnancy is a contra-indication to rubella vaccination and should be avoided for two months following vaccination. This advice is included in the Standing Medical Advisory Committee's memorandum "Immunisation Against Infectious Disease", which has been sent to all doctors in the National Health Service.

School Nurses

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will list in the Official Report the duties of school nurses with health visitors' certificates and the duties of school nurses without health visitors' certificates.

The duties of a school nurse with a health visitors' certificate are to:

(i) Provide the principal health link between the home, the school, the family doctor and other agencies, particularly on matters relating to the health of the schoolchild;

(ii) Discuss relevant home problems with the head teacher and in turn relate school problems to the home background;

(iii) Work within the school as school nurse and health educator;

(iv) Be available to discuss medical and social problems with the school doctor

(v) Carry out health surveys as and when required;

(vi) In liaison with the district community physician or his staff deal with any outbreak of infection amongst school children and give any necessary advice to the families concerned;

(vii) Give support to the homes of children with emotional or behavour problems or other handicaps

(viii) Within the school, arrange and attend, as necessary, school medical inspections, screening tests for sight and hearing, hygiene inspections, special clinic sessions and immunisation programmes, and ensure that proper records are kept;

(ix) Have special responsibilities for all handicapped children.

The health visitor heads the nursing team in the school health service and is supported by State registered nurses, State enrolled nurses and lay assistants. As a member of the team, the school nurse without health visitor's certificate will be allocated, by the health visitor, duties within those listed above and will be responsible to her for them and for reporting to her any problems encountered.

Geriatric Beds (Waiting Lists)

asked the Secretary of Slate for Social Services what is the number of patients on waiting lists for geriatric beds in Scotland, Wales and England, respectively.

The following are the latest total figures at present available to my Department:

England 6.735 al 31st December 1973.
Wales 342 at 31st December 1973.
Scotland 2,052 al 30th September 1973.

Breast Cancer Screening

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will make facilities available to all women for screening for breast cancer.

I would refer the hon. Member to my detailed reply to my hon. Friends the Members for Bury and Radcliffe (Mr. White), Liverpool, Scotland Exchange (Mr. Parry) and Ormskirk (Mr. Kilroy-Silk) on 28th April—[Vol. 891, c. 9–12]—in which I explained the action I proposed to take, in the light of expert advice recently received from the joint working party on this subject.

Medicines Act (Licences)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many medicine manufacturers have had their licences to manufacture medicines withdrawn or curtailed since the passing of the Medicine Act 1968; how many of them have invoked the existing appeal procedure; and with what result.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 12th May 1975; Vol. 982, c. 25], circulated the following information:Since September 1971 the licensing authority has served on manufacturers 28 formal notices of proposed adverse decisions. In the three cases referred to in my original answer the manufacturers invoked the statutory procedure for a hearing and in three other cases they elected to make written representations. The proposals were implemented in full in 25 instances, including the application not finally determined at the date of my original answer. In three instances, including the case referred to in (2) of that answer, it was decided to implement the proposals in a modified form.To date 537 manufacturers' licences have been granted and are in operation. Where manufacturers are not regarded as coming up to expected standards, the normal practice is for the Department to have informal discussions with them about the remedial measures required. The usual outcome is that agreement is reached between the Department and the company and implemented by a modification of the application or a variation of the licence at the company's request. This informal approach has been followed in about 200 cases, agreement being reached in 180 of them.

Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre, Birmingham

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what amounts have been paid to architects in respect of the proposed Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre, Birmingham; how much of this has been in respect of fees for work done; and how much in lieu of contract delay or postponement.

Total fees so far paid to design consultants, including architects, are £1·236 million, of which £183,000 is in respect of buildings already completed. The balance of £1·053 million is in respect of design work carried out on schemes which are not included in the 1975–76 building programme. Claims for further fees have been received and are being examined by the regional health authority.

Juveniles In Care (Private Homes)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will issue guidance to local authorities regarding the responsibilities of social services departments which advertise through newspapers for members of the public willing to provide a home for a juvenile in care that they should disclose any criminal background that juvenile may have to a member of the public willing to accept the juvenile into his or her home.

I have asked the Working Party on Fostering Practice, whose Guide on Fostering Practice is expected to be available later this year, to consider the point raised by the hon. Member.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Food Preservatives

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress is being made by the food industry in developing safer alternatives to nitrates for the preservation of meat and other foods in connection with his proposed revision of the regulations in this area; and if he will make a statement.

The Food Additives and Contaminants Committee recently examined all the available information about alternative preservation methods and came to the conclusion that it was not possible at the present time to recommend either a reduction in the permitted levels of nitrate and nitrite or their replacement by other substances.

Common Agricultural Policy

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what comments he has received about the CAP stocktaking proposals.

I have received comments from a number of individuals and organisations, including the preliminary reactions of the Farmers' Unions.

Agriculture Industry

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the present state of the structure of United Kingdom agriculture, indicating whether he is satisfied with the present balance between the owner-occupier and landlord-tenant relationship; and whether the Government have any proposals to bring forward legislation to facilitate the nationalisation of agricultural land in Great Britain.

The fall in the number of full-time farms and the increase in the average size of holdings continues to contribute to improving the structure of British agriculture.We have no proposals for altering the present balance between owner-occupiers and landlords and tenants. Both kinds of management have their parts to play in producing more food from our own resources.

There are no proposals to nationalise agricultural land.

Beef Stocks

10.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many days' supply of beef are in store, international and private (a) in the EEC and (b) in Great Britain; and what is the Government's policy as to the level at which the surplus becomes unacceptable.

Stocks of beef held in mid-April by EEC intervention agencies and by traders under the private storage aid arrangements were equivalent to about 17 days' supply for the whole Community. The quantity of this beef owned by the United Kingdom Intervention Board and United Kingdom traders and held in Great Britain amounted to less than two days' supply for this country. Part of the stocks owned by the Irish Republic's intervention agency are stored in Great Britain on a commercial basis but the Government have no record of the quantities involved.The Government have consistently argued against the use of intervention as the main support for the beef producers' returns and have persuaded the EEC to include in the Community beef régime variable premiums which reduce the need to rely on intervention buying.

Community Land Bill

24.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make an estimate of the effect on agriculture of the implementation of the Community Land Bill; and if he will make a statement.

The main purpose of the Community Land Bill is to provide for the community ownership of development land. It is not concerned with land which is to remain in use for agriculture and forestry.

Eggs (Imports)

25.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he now intends to seek any remedial action on egg imports under to EEC procedures; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to report on the outcome of his bilateral talks with the French authorities with reference to the current export-import difficulties created for British egg producers.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Blaby (Mr. Lawson) and others.

Agricultural Land

26.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he submitted his proposals on the capital transfer tax in relation to agricultural land, and the effects that tax will have on the structure of agricultural land in the United Kingdom, to the EEC Commission for an opinion on the effect of EEC directives 72/159, 72/161 and 72/160, and with what result; and if he will make a statement.

I am not aware of any requirement to submit to the EEC Commission proposals for direct taxation, and I understand that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer did not submit his proposals for the capital transfer tax.

Common Fisheries Policy

27.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on renegotiation of the EEC fisheries policy.

I would refer the hon. Member to the statement which I gave the House on 1st May.

Farms

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) whether those holdings which are dealt with as individual units in the published statistics, but for which no farmers, partners or directors are returned, are occupied by persons returned as farmers, partners or directors for other holdings, or whether they are separately occupied by farmers who are not returned at the census;(2) what estimate he has made of the number of independently occupied farm businesses, whole-time and part-time, excluding businesses which are run by persons counted as the occupiers of other farm businesses in England for each year from 1971 to date;(3) why there is a discrepancy between the total number of agricultural holdings for which returns are made at the June agricultural census and the number of holdings which return farmers, partners and directors at the same census.

Farmers, partners and directors of multiple holdings are required to include themselves only on one return in the census. In addition, on some returns, they may appear as workers. The number of farmers, partners and directors returned will, therefore, not equate with the total number of holdings returned. I have made no estimate of the number of independently occupied holdings excluding businesses run by persons counted as the occupiers of other farm businesses.

Brucellosis

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cattle have been slaughtered under the brucellosis scheme this year in Great Britain; and what were the corresponding figures for 1972, 1973 and 1974.

The numbers of brucellosis reactors and dangerous contacts slaughtered in Great Britain was as follows:

1st January-31st March 1972	6,346
1st January-31st March 1973	15,761
1st January-31st March 1974	13,786
1st January-31st March 1975	17,707

The higher level of slaughtering after 1972 reflects the commencement as from 1st November of that year of compulsory measures to eradicate brucellosis and the progressive declaration of eradication areas.

Butter Storage

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on how much butter private storage aid has been paid in the United Kingdom between 1st April 1974 and 1st May 1975.

£1·5 million was paid by the Intervention Board from FEOGA funds during this period.

Prices (Wholesale)

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the percentage change in the price of the following commodities in world markets since the highest point reaced in 1973–74: hard wheat, soft wheat, barley, maize and sugar, respectively.

I give below the percentage changes requested, and the price quotations from which they have been calculated

Type and Quality					Highest price (Date in brackets)	Most recent price (Date in brackets)	Percentage change in col. (2) to col. (4)
Hard Wheat:
U.S. Dark Northern Spring				…	122·00 (19th February 1974)	82·50 (20th May 1975)	-32·4
Maize:
U.S. No. 3 Yellow			…	…	78·00 (7th October 1975)	56·75 (26th March 1975)	-27·2
Sugar (raw)	…	…	…	…	650·00 (21st November 1975)	177·00 (22nd May 1975)	-72·8
Source:
Public Ledger for cereals prices.
London Terminal Market (Daily Price) for sugar prices.

Milk

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many gallons of liquid skimmed milk were sold by creameries in the United Kingdom to farmers for animal feed between 1st January 1974 and 1st May 1975.

In the period 1st January 1974 to 31st March 1975, the latest date for which figures are available, 46·3 million gallons of skimmed milk were returned to farms by creameries in the United Kingdom. Subsidy was paid on 36·9 million gallons of this.

Beef Import Ban

asked the Miinster of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the purpose of the EEC in the ban on imports of beef from outside the Common Market; what notice he was given of these proposals; and whether he was a party to the decision.

The beef markets in the Community as a whole and in the United Kingdom faced conditions of heavy oversupply in 1974. After a series of other remedial measures had proved ineffective the Council of Ministers agreed on 16th July 1974 to suspend the issue of import

for hard wheat, maize and sugar. No suitable quotations are available for soft wheat and barley. It would be possible to construct export prices for soft wheat and barley of EEC origin by adjusting the c.i.f. United Kingdom prices for Community grain by the amount of export levies and refunds; but export levies in 1974 were set at levels intended to restrict exports and so hold Community prices well below world levels; any such constructed prices would therefore be misleading.

licences for cattle and beef, except for imports under the GATT levy-free quota, which continued to enter freely. There had been pressures for this step for some months. I did not support the proposal but accepted it as part of a package of measures, including subsidies for consumers, to deal with a difficult market situation. The situation has now improved, and I have strongly supported the successive measures the Community has taken to relax the restrictions on imports, particularly from the developing countries.

Tomatoes

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why a levy of approximately 9p per pound was placed on imports of Canary Island tomatoes; and whether he was a party to this decision.

The countervailing charge applicable in the Community on Spanish—including Canary Island—tomatoes equivalent to about 9p per lb. was introduced on 8th April, reduced to about 51p per lb. on 15th April and removed on 22nd April. Its introduction, level and removal depended automatically on the relationship between the Community entry price and the reference price. I was a party to the fixing of higher reference prices for glasshouse produce this year because of the increased production costs faced by British and other Community growers.

Sugar

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by how much sales of sugar by the Commonwealth countries fell short of the agreed quotas when the world price rose above the price agreed under the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement in any of the years since the date of its inception; and in which years Commonwealth Sugar Agreement prices have been less than ruling world prices since the commencement of the Agreement.

Ignoring under-shipments due to force majeure which were made good in the following year, the only years in which the quotas were not supplied in full were 1973, when the shortfall was 53,390 tons, and 1974, when it was 325,336 tons. The weighted average of the negotiated prices paid under the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement was below the average world price in 1951, 1963, 1972, 1973 and 1974. The two prices were virtually identical in 1957 and 1964.

European Community Marketing

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much of each kind of food has been disposed of by or on the authority of the Commission, outside the EEC in each of the years 1970–74 and in 1975 to date; what in each case was the average cost and the effective return per ton sold; and what was the United Kingdom share of the cost in 1973 and 1974, respectively.

I will reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much was spent by the EEC in 1973 and 1974, respectively, on ensuring that food production in the EEC for human consumption was used for other purposes and on removing food from the market to keep up prices, respectively; and how this amount compares with the cost of sending surpluses of food to countries with food shortage.

I regret that no information is available on the expenditure on denaturing premiums and other relevant aids given in respect of food produced for human consumption as distinct from those given in respect of agricultural commodities produced for other purposes. Expenditure on taking food into public intervention is intially borne by member States, but FEOGA provides reimbursement at standard rates for the handling and storage costs and the interest on the capital value of the stock in intervention. It also meets any losses incurred by member States when any stock is sold. Details of this FEOGA expenditure are not available as the Commission includes it as part of more general intervention expenditure. Since this information is not available no comparison can be made with the cost of sending surpluses of food to countries with food shortages.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made by the EEC in the food field since the United Kingdom joined the Common Market in contributing in the common interest to the progressive abolition of restrictions on international trade and the lowering of customs barriers.

The enlargement of the Community means that by the end of the transitional period there will be free trade in foodstuffs between the nine member States. The substantial progress made since United Kingdom accession in improving access and lowering tariffs on foodstuffs from outside the Community, in particular from the Commonwealth and developing countries, is described in paragraph 77 of the White Paper reporting on the renegotiation (Cmnd. 6003).

Fisheries (Exploration)

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many vessels the Department has hired or chartered from the fishing industry for the exploration of new fishing grounds; and what was their cost in the last five years.

My Department, in co-operation with the White Fish Authority, has chartered three vessels for exploratory voyages to examine possible new fish resources, at a total cost of some £120,000.

Butter And Cheese

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the present intervention price per ton for butter and cheese, respectively, in the EEC other than the United Kingdom; and what is

ua/100 kgs (£ per ton)
Butter
Irish Republic (80 per cent. fat)	…	…	…	…	…	…	179·65	(£930·45)
Other Member States (82 per cent. fat)		…	…	…	…	…	194·63	(£1,008·63)
Cheese
Grana Padano (aged 30–60 days)	…	…	…	…	…	…	195·85	(£1,014·35)
Grana Padano (aged at least 3 months)			…	…	…	…	230·83	(£1,195·52)
Parmigiano Reggiano (aged at least 6 months)			…	…	…	…	250·03	(£1,294·96)

The current common import levy on butter—82 per cent. fat—is 144·03 ua/100 kgs, £746·07 per ton. The common levy on cheese varies according to type of cheese. On Cheddar cheese, it is 121·29 ua/100 kgs, £628·19 per ton; on matured Canadian Cheddar 15 ua/100 kgs £77·69 per ton. Rates of levy for the Irish Republic are reduced by accession compensatory amounts.Sterling equivalents have been calculated at the United Kingdom representative rate and Community arrangements for monetary compensation apply to trade.

European Surpluses

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what, in tons and pounds, were the quantities and value of each agricultural and food product in (a) the EEC and (b) the United

thousand tonnes
					1970	1971	1972	1973	1974
Skimmed Milk Powder
EEC	…	…	…	…	34·2	29·8	25·0	56·4	33·6
United Kingdom			…	…	—	—	—	1·1	1·2
Potatoes
EEC	…	…	…	…	No Community arrangements
thousand long tons
					1970–71	1971–72	1972–73	1973–74	1974–75
United Kingdom			…	…	672	620	—	34	—

Wheat.—Corresponding figures for wheat in the EEC are not available. The

the present levy per ton payable by EEC countries other than the United Kingdom on butter and cheese, respectively, imported into these countries from outside the EEC.

The intervention prices for butter and the types of cheese covered by intervention arrangements are as follows:Kingdom made unfit for human consumption by using directly in animal feeding stuffs in each of the years 1970 to 1974 and in 1975 to the latest available date;(2) what quantities of sugar, wheat and milk powder were disposed of in (

a) the EEC and ( b) the United Kingdom in each of the years 1970 to 1974, and in 1975 to the latest available date, under arrangements made by the EEC to ensure that surplus products are not used for human consumption; and what in each case was paid by the EEC to arrange this.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 20th May 1975; Vol. 892, c. 358], gave the following information:The following quantities of skimmed milk powder and potatoes were disposed of by being treated so as to restrict their use to animal feed. Values are not available.quantities involved in the United Kingdom were 32,000 tonnes in 1973 and 70,000 tonnes in 1974. No denaturing premium has been payable on wheat since February 1974.

thousand tonnes
					1970	1971	1972	1973	1974
EEC^*	…	…	…	…	305	190	30	53	7
United Kingdom		…	…	…	8	6	1	Nil	Nil
^* July/June years commencing July 1969. July to end 1974 Nil.

The EEC arrangements for sugar in the years 1971–72, 1972–73 and 1973–74 were not to dispose of surplus sugar but to assist the feeding of bees in order to put EEC honey producers on the same footing as competitors outside the Community.No denaturing premium has been payable on sugar since November 1973.The United Kingdom disposals in 1970, 1971 and 1972 were made under domestic arrangements and were also in the interests of honey producers and for use in cattle feed.Total Community expenditure on disposals of sugar, wheat and milk powder for animal feed was £130,803,679 in 1972, £197,100,870 in 1973 and £207,800,000 (provisional) in 1974. This includes expenditure on premiums paid for products incorporated in livestock feed and does not correspond to the quantities shown above.

Horticulture

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the latest discussions with the EEC Council of Ministers about horticulture.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Melton (Mr. Latham) earlier today.

Potatoes

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has for consultations with regard to proposals for an EEC common policy for potatoes and, in particular, which Scottish organisation he will be contacting.

I have been asked to reply.My colleagues and I are in regular touch with the organisations, in Scotland and the United Kingdom, representing potato producers and the potato trade on questions that affect their interests. I have

Sugar.—In addition the following amounts of sugar were so treated in the period concerned:

no plans at present for specific consultations.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what objections the Government have to an EEC common policy for potatoes and, in particular, which of these objections refer to the needs of the Scottish potato industry.

I have been asked to reply.There are as yet no firm proposals by the EEC Commission for a common organisation of the European market for table potatoes in general, as distinct from either new potatoes—in respect of which the Commission has recently made a proposal—or seed potatoes, for which a directive already exists. It would be premature for Her Majesty's Government at this stage to comment on any suggestions which may have been informally canvassed.

Energy

Departmental Publications

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how many official forms, pamphlets and leaflets, magazines, booklets and books published by or on behalf of his Department are currently available to the public or to sections of the public; and how many in each class of publication are available in the Welsh language and in bilingual form, respectively.

I regret that the information asked for in the first pact of the Question can be obtained only at disproportionate cost to public funds.

North Sea Oil Operations (Accidents)

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how many fatal accidents and non-fatal accidents causing injury there have been in the North Sea oil operations; how many fatal accident inquiries have been held and where; and what is the total number of accidents reported.

Accidents on or in the immediate vicinity of offshore oil and gas installations on the United Kingdom Shelf are reported to the Department of Energy. Information about fatal accidents and accidents resulting in serious injuries up to the end of 1974 may be found on pages 6, 7 and 35 of the Department's recent publication entitled "Development of the oil and gas resources of the United Kingdom". Twenty-nine of the fatal accidents occurred in waters off England and Wales and 14 in waters off Scotland. There have been four fatal accidents in 1975, all in waters off Scotland, and 13 accidents resulting in serious injuries.Under powers in the Offshore Installations (Inspectors and Casualties) Regulations 1973, the Petroleum Engineering Directorate of the Department of Energy makes inquiries about accidents arising from the operation of offshore installations. No record is maintained of the numbers of inquiries made. A public inquiry was held into the loss of the mobile drilling installation "Sea Gem" in 1965 when 13 lives were lost.The Department of Trade is notified of fatal accidents to persons employed on British ships but no separate statistics are maintained of such accidents on ships engaged in North Sea oil operations. The reporting of accidents on foreign ships on the high seas is a matter for the flag State concerned.

Oil Pollution (International Convention)

asked the Secretry of State for Energy if he will make a statement on progress in formulating the North-West European Regional Convention on civil liability for damage from oil pollution from offshore operations.

Working parties of representatives from the United Kingdom, France, the German Federal Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden met twice in 1974 and formulated a draft convention. The United Kingdom has invited the other countries concerned to an international conference to be held in London in October next to consider the draft with a view to agreeing a convention.

Oil Spillages (Compensation)

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he is satisfied with the scope and adequacy of the oil operators' voluntary scheme to provide compensation for direct damage due to any oil spill in the North Sea; and what consultations on this matter are in progress.

Yes. This is a very praiseworthy effort by the offshore industry. I am anxious to ensure that working operators join the scheme and my Department is in regular contact with its administrators.

Offshore Oil And Gas

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement about the progress of exploration for oil and gas in the English Channel and Celtic Sea.

No licences to drill for petroleum in the English Channel have been issued, but seismic surveys have been undertaken. In licensed areas of the Celtic Sea, two wells have been drilled but no discoveries made. Further drilling may take place this year.

Oil Exploration Licensing

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what principal criteria he expects to use in determining whether a company with its head office or seat in another member State of the EEC is centrally managed and controlled in the United Kingdom for the purposes of issuing licences for the exploration and production of oil on the British Continental Shelf, when the legislation now before Parliament is enacted; and whether such criteria have been agreed with the EEC Commission.

The question of whether a company is centrally managed and controlled in the United Kingdom is a matter to be determined by reference to the course of business and trading in the particular case.

Fuel Industries (Trading Results)

asked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what is his latest estimate of the anticipated trading result for the Electricity Council during the current year;(2) what is his latest estimate of the anticipated trading results for the Central Electricity Generating Board during the current year;(3) what is his latest estimate of the anticipated trading results for the British Gas Corporation during the current year;(4) what is his latest estimate of the anticipated trading results for the National Coal Board during the current year.

It is too early in the current financial year to provide a reliable estimate of the anticipated trading results for these industries.

Industry

Marine Mortgages

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what representations his Department has received concerning the restoration of discretion to finance houses to grant marine mortgages for more than two years; and what estimate he has made of the likely increase in sales of small boats if the period for marine mortgages were extended to five years.

My right hon. and noble Friend the Minister of State saw a delegation from the Ship and Boat Builders National Federation in December 1974 and has since received further representations on this subject from the federation. I regret that it is not possible to estimate the increase in sales that would result if the mortgage period were extended.

Cornwall

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list all types of regional development incentives that have been available in Cornwall, and the annual cost of each type over the last 20 years.

Before 1966 assistance in Cornwall was concentrated on a number of small "development districts" which could be altered by administrative action according to the prevailing unemployment rates. In 1966 these development districts were replaced by wider "development areas" (DAs) and most of Cornwall, together with North Devon, became part of the South-West DA. the remaining part was given intermediate area (IA) status in 1970.Before 1960 asistance was available in the form of Government factories, and certain loans and grants could also be made available to industrial undertakings.Between 1960 and 1972 the following measures were in force throughout: (

a) building grants; ( b) loans and grants, the latter normaly for unusual initial expenses or removal costs—DA only; ( c) assistance towards the cost of transfer of key workers; ( d) provision of sites and advance and bespoke factories.

In addition the following changes were made for DAs during that time:

(a) Free depreciation for certain plant and machinery (1963–66 and 1970–72), preferential depreciation for industrial building (1970–72).

(b) 10 per cent. plant and machinery grants (1963–66).

(d) Regional Employment Premium (1967 onwards).

(e) Selective Employment Tax Additional Payment (1968–70).

Since 1972 the main measures of assistance have been:

(a) Regional development grants-20 per cent. on buildings (IA and DA), (20 per cent. on plant and machinery (DA only).

(b) Selective asistance under Section 7 of the Industry Act.

(d) Provision of sites and advance and bespoke factories.

Details of the cost of these incentives are not available for Cornwall alone but yearly amounts spent on regional preferential asistance in the South-West DA since 1964–65 are estimated to have been:

	£ million
1964–65	1
1965–66	1
1966–67	1
1967–68	2
1968–69	6
1969–70	6
1970–71	8
1971–72	7
1972–73	5
1973–74	6

All expenditure is gross.

No account has been taken of the differential value of tax allowances which were available at various times during the period.

Figures for earlier years are not readily available.

Court Line

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the net worth according to their books of the Court Line Companies taken over by the State; and how this net worth compares with the purchase price.

The shipbuilding, ship repairing and associated interests of Court Line Limited had a net asset value of approximately £14·8 million at the time they were acquired by the Government.

						Date of appointment	Date of termination of appointment
Full-time Members
Sir William Ryland, Chairman				…	…	1st January 1975	31st December 1977
Sir Edward Fennessy, Deputy Chairman					…	10th March 1975	24th July 1977
Mr. M. Elderfield		…	…	…	…	1st April 1975	31st March 1980
Part-time Members
Sir Morien Morgan		…	…	…	…	17th March 1975	16th March 1976
Mr. C. Foster	…	…	…	…	…	17th March 1975	16th March 1976
Mr. J. Read	…	…	…	…	…	1st April 1975	31st March 1976
Lord Pitt	…	…	…	…	…	1st June 1975	31st May 1976

Mr. Whitney Straight, part-time deputy Chairman, retired from the board at the end of his term of appointment on 31st December 1974. Professor Sir James Lighthill resigned from the board on 31st December 1974 while there was still two years of his term of office to run. The demands of his professorial duties was the reason.The Post Office Board is now only one member short of its statutory limit of 12 excluding the Chairman.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what is his latest estimate of the anticipated trading results for the Post Office during the current year.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Henley (Mr. Heseltine) on 1st May 1975.—[Vol. 891, c. 222.]

Investment

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what is his latest forecast of the level of industrial investment in the current financial year.

The purchase price was £16 million.

Post Office

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what appointments have been made to the Board of the Post Office since 31st December 1974; for what term of office; what vacancies have occurred since the same date; for what reasons they arose; and how much longer those who vacated office had still to serve.

The information about appointments to and vacancies on the Post Office Board as from 31st December 1974 is as follows:

No forecast is available for the financial year. For the calendar year 1975 the results of the industrial investment intentions inquiry carried out by my Department were published by Press notice and in Trade and Industry for 30th January 1975. Further information will be available when the results of the next investment intentions inquiry are published on 9th June.

Steel Industry

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what is his estimate of the anticipated trading results for the British Steel Corporation during the current year.

The trading results for the financial year April 1974—March 1975 will be published in July with the corporation's annual accounts. A firm estimate of BSC's trading results for the 1975–76 financial year is not available at present.

Hosiery And Knitted Goods

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the level of home production in each quarter of 1973, each quarter of 1974 and the first quarter of 1975, by volume and by value, in the hosiery and knitted goods textile sector in the East Midlands.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report. 20th May 1975; Vol. 892, c. 252], gave the following information:Figures relating to the part of the hosiery and other knitted goods industry located in the East Midlands are not available.The total value of sales of hosiery and other knitted goods, including work done, by the United Kingdom was:

1973		£ million
	Q.1	120·1
	Q.2	129·9
	Q.3	132·7
	Q.4	158·5
1974
	Q.1	124·4
	Q.2	155·4
	Q.3	157·6
	Q.4	180·6
1975
	Q.1 not available.

It is not possible to give corresponding quantity figures because of the wide range of garments and fabrics involved but full details of their sales in value and quantity are given in Business Monitor PQ 417/1.

Trade

Insurance (Cost Escalation)

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what are the administrative criteria now to be applied in addition to the statutory criteria in deciding which contracts qualify for the Cost Escalation Insurance Scheme.

Under the Export Guarantees Amendment Act cost escalation cover can only be given for the purpose of encouraging trade with other countries, and payments can only be made to persons who have entered into export contracts as defined in Section 6(5) of the Act.The main administrative eligibility criteria are as I announced them on 20th February. The scheme is intended to assist exporters of major capital goods, and with this in mind I have been consulting industry about the application of these criteria in practice.

"Compass Rose"

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he has now concluded his preliminary inquiry into the loss of the "Compass Rose".

My inspector's inquiries are still continuing. He is, of course, handicapped by the fact that the vessel was foreign owned and operated, and we and the French authorities are, therefore, in touch in order to press the Panamanian authorities to undertake a full public inquiry.

Shipping (Safety)

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what discussions has he had with foreign shipowners, charterers and companies operating in the British area of the North Sea oil/gas fields following the loss of the "Compass Rose".

My officials had discussions with the United Kingdom Offshore Operators' Association on 14th May concerning matters of marine safety. A proposal for introducing a position reporting scheme for vessels operating in that area was agreed in principle and further discusisons will be taking place.

Balance Of Trade

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the balance of trade in non-oil products between the United Kingdom and, respectively, the Six, the Eight, the non-Six and the non-Eight on a crude and on a balance of payments basis in the 13 quarters ended 31st March 1975.

Figures on a balance of payments basis for the first quarter of this year are not yet available. The crude balances of non-oil trade, i.e. the difference between exports f.o.b. and imports c.i.f., for the 13 quarters from the first quarter of 1972 to the first quarter of 1975 inclusive are:

	£ million seasonally adjusted
The Six	3,465
The Eight	4,014
The non-Six	1,934
The non-Eight	1,335

The crude balance is not a good measure of the balance of trade in goods because, inter alia, of differences in valuation.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the balance of trade in non-oil products between the United Kingdom and respectively, the Six, the Eight, the non-Six and the non-Eight on a crude and on a balance of payments basis in the three months February to April 1975, assuming, if the breakdown of the oil figures is not yet available, that the balance of payments deficit with the EEC on oil was £100 million during this period.

Figures on a balance of payments basis are not available for the period February to April 1975. Figures of the crude balances of trade, i.e., the difference between exports f.o.b. and imports c.i.f., may be derived from Tables II and V of the monthly Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom for January 1975, which has been published, and for April, 1975, an advance copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Data for the Six may be obtained by adding the figures for the individual countries concerned. Statistics for SITC(R) Division 33 covering oil goods should be ignored throughout.The crude balance is not a good measure of the balance of trade in goods because, inter alia, of differences in valuation. In addition the figures for March and April have been distorted because of the effect of the industrial dispute at the Port of London on the flows of trade and the way that this has been recorded in the statistics.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the balance of trade between the United Kingdom and, respectively, the Six, the Eight, the non-Six and the non-Eight on a balance of payments basis in the first quarter of 1975 for each SITC section, for motor cars by number and value, commercial vehicles, iron and steel, textiles, meat, dairy produce, cereals, sugar, plastics and manmade fibres.

Figures are not available on a balance of payments basis. Crud,: balances of trade i.e., the difference between exports f.o.b., and imports c.i.f., for the first quarter of 1975 can be derived from the March, 1975, issue of the Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom, with statistics for the Six being obtained by aggregating the figures of trade with the individual member countries. However, the crude balance of trade with the Six in commercial vehicles and man-made fibres are not so obtainable and are as follows:

CRUDE BALANCE OF TRADE, FIRST QUARTER 1975
£ million
	Commercial vehicles^*	Man-made fibres†
The Six	+ 4	- 5
The non-Six	+69	+27
^* Defined as SITC(R) 732·2, 732·3 and 732·4
† Defined as SITC(R) 266, 651·6, 651·7

The crude balance is not a good measure of the balance of trade in goods because, inter alia, of differences in valuation. In addition figures for the first quarter of 1975 may have been distorted because of the effect of the industrial dispute at the Port of London on the flows of trade and the way that this has been recorded in the statistics.

Skytrain

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will give authority for the commencement of the proposed Skytrain service.

The authority for Laker Airways to commence the Skytrain service is contained in the airline's licence from the Civil Aviation Authority. However, in reviewing the Skytrain licence in February this year the authority stated it considered current aviation circumstances did not warrent the commencement of this experimental new service for at least a year. In the circumstances I have decided to consider the matter as part of the review of civil aviation policy now in progress and on which I hope to make a statement before the Summer Recess.

British Airways

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what is his latest estimate of the anticipated trading results for British Airways during the current year.

I understand that British Airways hope to break even after payment of interest in the year ending 31st March 1976. It must be stressed, however, that as less than two months of the current financial year have elapsed, and since this is a time of acute uncertainty throughout international civil aviation, there are a number of imponderable factors which could affect the situation, and this cannot, therefore, be regarded as a firm estimate.

Imports (Dumping)

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on the opposition of the EEC Commissioners to import control of textile garments and yarn into this country.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 19th May 1975; Vol. 892, c. 254], gave the following information:The Commission did earlier in the year ask us, against the background of the obligations towards the developing countries under the international Multi-fibre Arrangement, to consider phasing out certain restrictions at a faster rate than we were prepared to agree to. But in general they have not opposed the import controls which we maintain on textile garments and yarn.

Overseas Development

Food Aid (European Community)

asked the Minister of Overseas Development if she will publish in the Official Report a summary of the plans which the EEC has in the current and following year for financing the purchase of grain and other foodstuffs from non-member countries for supply to countries with an actual or potential shortage of food.

The EEC provides food aid from foodstuffs produced within the Community. It therefore has no plans for purchases from non-member countries.

Education For International Understanding (Unesco Proposals)

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what recommendations she has made regarding implementation of the UNESCO recommendation concerning education for international understanding, co-operation and peace and education relating to human rights and fundamental freedoms, adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 19th November 1974.

We are required under UNESCO's constitution to submit this recommendation to "competent authorities" by 23rd November 1975. At my request, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science is considering the issue of a circular on the subject and his Department is initiating the necessary consultations.

Overseas Students Fees Award Scheme

asked the Minister of Overseas Development if she will make a statement on the future of the Overseas Students Fees Award Scheme.

The scheme began in 1968–69 to assist developing countries following the increases in tuition fees. Awards were for tuition fees only and primarily, but not exclusively, for postgraduate studies. The scheme provides for 1,000 new awards each year and costs about £½ million per annum. Some 75 per cent. of the awards are for students nominated by their Governments the remaining 25 per cent. are for private students nominated by their university or other institution of higher education.The scheme has been useful in meeting the needs for which it was designed but it has had a random effect in relation to the manpower needs and training programme of the countries concerned. I now propose to apply the funds now made available for Government nominees to the regional technical assistance programme where they will be available for training awards generaly in the light of manpower needs. Funds will continue to be made available for fees in hardship cases nominated by university and other institutions where the subject of study is such that it will contribute to the economic and social development of the country from which the candidate comes. At the moment there are about 250 such new awards each year and provision is being made to permit the figure to rise to 300, excluding any additional awards which may have to be made available as a result of an emergency situation such as, for example, Cypriot students for whom 500 extra awards were recently made available.

Prices And Consumer Protection

Cereal Prices

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if she will publish in the Official Report the estimate she made in calculating the cost of United Kingdom membership of the cost to consumers of the common agricultural policy for cereals in 1974 and 1975 to date, specifying the tonnage and type of cereal on which the saving was made.

The latest estimate of the effect of membership on food prices, which shows that membership is at present having no significant effect overall, takes into account the effect of Community-financed subsidies as well as levies and duties. In the first quarter of 1975 membership was responsible for a slight overall reduction in prices.The estimate of the effect on cereals has been one of significant savings. The bulk of our imports of Community grains are benefiting from Community-financed monetary compensatory amounts, which act as import subsidies. Since October 1974 these subsidies are also being paid on United Kingdom grain imports from third countries. In addition, during 1974 and early 1975, when world cereals prices exceeded Community prices, export levies were charged on exports of EEC grains to third countries in order to discourage exports and contain prices within the Community. These savings have been made at different times on wheat, maize, barley, oats, rye and sorghum.Details of the volume and type of United Kingdom grain imports are published in Table 7 of the Annual Review of Agriculture 1975 Cmnd. 5977.

Food Subsidies

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what is her estimate of the effect which each of the food subsidies has had on the food section of the retail price index; and what effect their abolition will have on the total index.

The present savings in the Food Index as a result of the food subsidies are estimated as follows:

	Points
Bread	1·1
Butter	1·0
Cheese	0·6
Household flour	0·1
Milk	2·9
Tea	0·3

It is estimated that the abolition of food subsidies would lead to a rise of 1·4 points in the General Index of Retail Prices.

Beef Prices

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what would be the effect on the food section of the retail price index in the event of the price per live hundredweight of beef rising to the EEC intervention level.

My hon. Friend will recall that the support system for beef has been renegotiated. United Kingdom beef producers' incomes are now supported directly by variable premiums akin to deficiency payments. Under this sysstem intervention takes place only at levels below current average United Kingdom market prices. If the support arrangements had not been renegotiated and were we operating the intervention system at full CAP prices, the effect would probably have been to make the retail price index about one-third of 1 per cent. higher than it now is.

Electrical Equipment (Safety)

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection whether the proposed Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations will apply to spare parts for equipment coming within their scope.

The proposed regulations will contain an exemption in respect of component parts intended for use in the repair of equipment sold by retail prior to the coming into force of the relevant safety requirements. In any other case, it will be an offence under the Consumer Protection Act 1961 to sell or offer for sale any component part which, when embodied in the equipment for which it is intended, causes the equipment to fail to comply with the requirements.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection whether the proposed Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations will permit the continued sale of lighting fittings with flat twin cords.

The requirements in the regulations relating to double insulation will not apply to flat twin or "figure eight" cords on lighting fittings until 1st July 1976 in the case of fittings sold by manufacturers and importers and 1st July 1977 for those sold by wholesalers and retailers, provided that the insulation is not less than 0·8 mm. thick.

Food Prices

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection (1) what has been the increase in price of the principal foodstuffs covered by the retail price index between 1st December 1972 and the latest month for which figures are available; and how these increases compare with the increase in the cif landed price over the same period of the corresponding basic foodstuffs when imported from, respectively, the Six, Denmark, Ireland, and from the rest of the world;(2) what has been the increase in the price of the principal imported foodstuffs between March 1971 and March 1975 when imported from the Six, Denmark, the Irish Republic, and from other countries, respectively.

The retail food index rose by 54·3 per cent. between 12th December 1972 and 18th March 1975, and by 60·1 per cent. between 12th December 1972 and 15th April 1975, the latest date for which information is available. A selection of principal foodstuffs showed the following increases:

	Percentage Increase 12th December 1972 to 18th March 1975
Beef	37·4
Lamb	44·6
Pork	45·4
Bread	52·4
Fresh milk	8·9
Butter	22·6
Cheese	29·5
Sugar, granulated	238·9

Comparable statistics of cif landed prices are not readily available in the form that my hon. Friend has requested them. He will be aware that the Overseas Trade Statistic record countries of consignment rather than countries of origin, and that substantial imports recorded as having been shipped from other EEC countries have been transshipped there from sources elsewhere—for example, United States wheat through Rotterdam. I shall obtain the information my hon. Friend has asked for if possible, and shall write to him.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if she will publish in the Official Report the increase in price of each of the relevant foods, in terms of pence per pound or other retail measure, if (a) the monetary compensation allowance and (b) the accession compensatory allowance were to be abolished.

The payment of monetary compensatory amounts partly protects us against the effect of the depreciation of sterling on the cost of our food imports both from within and outside the Community. But there are difficulties in translating these effects into retail prices because of the frequent fluctuation in monetary compensatory amounts reflecting movement in the £. Furthermore, agricultural support prices cannot be translated directly into retail prices in hypothetical circumstances because retail food prices are determined by many other factors, including the balance of supply and demand, and the costs of processing, manufacturing and distribution. There is no commitment to phase out the system of monetary compensatory amounts.

Civil Service

Civil Servants

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what would be the estimated annual saving on the national expenditure of a 20 per cent. reduction in the numbers of civil servants achieved as a result of the application of cost effective techniques, in terms of direct salary expenditure economy and the estimate of saving on accommodation costs, respectively.

As the right hon. Member will recall, every effort is made to ensure that the number of civil servants employed is directly related to the administrative tasks imposed by legislation enacted by Parliament. Consequently, it would not be practicable to make such a reduction in the number of civil servants without a corresponding reduction in the work they are required to do and in the public services provided for the community. 20 per cent. of the estimated direct salary expenditure for 1975–76 amounts to approximately £450 million. I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment that the cost of accommodation is determined by location, function and other factors as well as by the numbers to be accommodated. It is not, therefore, meaningful to relate the cost of accommodation to numbers alone.

Government Hospitality

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what was the expenditure on Government hospitality in the United Kingdom in the latest year for which figures are available.

The expenditure from Government Hospitality Fund for all Departments for the financial year 1974–75 was £234,417. Individual Departments also made provision for an additional £434,000 over the same period.

European Community

British Steel Industry

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what points he put to the Commission for discussion relating to his concern about the future of the British steel industry to which he referred in his statement at Luxembourg on 5th June 1974; what has been the outcome of the exploratory talks he asked for on that occasion; and what difficulties remain.

My statement to the Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg was made on 4th June 1974. The position on the steel industry is fully set out in the statement which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made to the House on 18th March and in the White Paper on British Membership of the European Community (Cmnd. 6003).

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

Bolivia

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the state of relations between the United Kingdom and Bolivia.

The United Kingdom enjoys normal good relations with Bolivia. Traditionally we were the largest market for Bolivia's main export, mineral ores, but this position has now changed with Bolivia's increasing capacity to refine her own ores. Our exports averaged about £2 million annually for several years, and in 1974 they increased to £4·3 million.

Entry Permit Applications (India)

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what, in normal circumstances, is the time lag in New Delhi between application and interview for entry permits to the United Kingdom; and what criteria are used for deciding special cases for expedited consideration.

Applicants for settlement entry certificates currently have to wait 16 months in New Delhi for the first interview. Special treatment is authorised only if there are unusually strong compassionate grounds and it does not unduly delay others, particularly wives and dependent children, waiting in the queue.

Northern Ireland

Farms

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing: (a) the number of agricultural holdings returning whole-time farmers, partners and directors and (b) the number of agricultural holdings returning part-time farmers, partners and directors for June of each year from 1971 onwards for Northern Ireland.

The number of holdings in Northern Ireland returning whole-time, part-time and female owners, partners and directors who work on the

NUMBER OF HOLDINGS RETURNING OWNERS, PARTNERS AND DIRECTORS IN THE JUNE CENSUS
					1971	1972	1973	1974
Whole-time working male owners			…	…	27,207	25,974	24,712	24,352
Part-time working male owners		…	…	…	5,364	5,673	6,561	6,707
Working female owners	…	…	…	…	4,335	4,575	4,386	4,273

The female owners are generally assumed to be mainly part-time.

Knockmore Project

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will make a statement about the Knockmore project.

I assume that the Question refers to the Department of Commerce industrial estate at Knockmore, near Lisburn. The estate at present comprises about 20,000 square metres of multi-purpose industrial buildings in units which can be varied from 500 square metres to 3,000 square metres. A further 8,000 square metres are under construction. The main purpose is to provide simple factory or warehousing space for firms compelled to move because of civil disturbance or redevelopment schemes About 10,000 square metres are occupied at present by seven tenants.

Factories

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will make a statement on factory development in areas of high unemployment.

The Northern Ireland Department of Commerce, in its programme for the building of advance factories, gives priority to areas of high unemployment. We are satisfied that the current advance factory programme in these areas should be sufficient for any likely development. The Department's programme of advance purchase of land ensures that in the areas of high unemployment all reasonable requirements for industrial sites by the public and the private sectors can be satisfied with the minimum of delay.

Housing Associations

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether

farm in each year since 1971 is as follows:

he will make a statement about the development of voluntary housing associations.

My right hon. Friend would like to see the voluntary housing movement in Northern Ireland expand to supplement the work of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, particularly in the provision of homes for special groups, such as the elderly and the handicapped, and in the purchase and rehabilitation of older property. It is proposed, therefore, in forthcoming legislation to introduce a new system of financial assistance to housing associations. We have already indicated our willingness to support the establishment, in conjunction with the National Federation of Housing Associations, of a body which could assist the development of housing associations in Northern Ireland and to consider proposals by housing associations for rehabilitating older property in the period before new legislation can be enacted.

Pig And Beef Subsidies

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total amount of subsidy paid to Northern Ireland pig and beef producers in 1974–75; and what the amount is expected to be in the current financial year.

It is not possible to give a firm estimate of the total subsidy to Northern Ireland beef producers in 1975–76 since it will depend largely on the size of variable premia paid. However, the total amount of subsidy paid to Northern Ireland pig and beef producers in 1974–75 and the estimated expenditure on subsidies to pig producers in the current financial year is as follows:

	1974–75	1975–76
	£	£
Pig producers	3,514,000^*	201,000
Beef producers	30,789,000	—
^* Includes payments made under a temporary measure—the special United Kingdom pig subsidy.

Private Companies (European Community Aid)

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many firms in the private sector in Northern Ireland have obtained assistance from the EEC regional funds and social funds; and for what purposes.

The Regional Development Fund has made no payments to member States yet since the detailed arrangements under which applications will be made are still to be settled. The Commission has approved applications for assistance from the Social Fund on behalf of 14 firms in the private sector in Northern Ireland involving a total allocation of about £800,000. This relates to the cost of training unemployed and under-employed persons, including a number from the agriculture and textile sectors. No sums have yet been received because payment is claimed after the training has been carried out.

Harland And Wolff Ltd

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he can now say when he intends to introduce the Order-in-Council to take Harland and Wolff Limited, Belfast, into public ownership.

As soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he can now make an estimate of the anticipated cost of taking Harland and Wolff Limited, Belfast, into public ownership.

There is nothing to add at this stage to the statements made to the House on 26th March—[Vol. 889, c. 496–506]—and 8th May 1975—[Vol. 891, c. 1759–86].

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what Government funds have been given to Harland and Wolff Limited, Belfast, under all headings in each year since 1964.

Apart from standard assistance available to industry generally in Northern Ireland, or to shipbuilders generally in the United Kingdom, the following funds have been provided by Government to Harland and Wolff Limited, Belfast, since 1964.

Loans	£ million
(i) 1966—Shipbuilding Industry (Loans) Act (NI) 1966	3·500
(ii) 1968–69—Shipbuilding Industry Board	11·307
(iii) 1971—Interest waived on 1966 loan	1·225
(iv) 1974–75—Industries Developments Acts (NI) 1966 and 1971	13·000
	29·032
Equity
1971—Northern Ireland Government Acquisition of £1 ordinary shares at par	4·000
Grants
(1) 1971 Industries Development Acts (NI)	14·154
(ii) 1970–71 Shipbuilding Industry Board	7·038
(iii) 1973–75 Industries Development Acts (NI)	6·267
	27·459
Total of special assistance	60·491

It would involve disproportionate effort to provide complete detail of the standard forms of assistance provided during the 11 years specified.

Scotland

Potatoes

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received concerning the proposed EEC common policy for potatoes.

The Commission's proposals which were recently discussed by the Council of Ministers (Agriculture) at short notice related to new potatoes. There was no opportunity for formal representations to be made to me, but I am aware of the views which have been expressed by the National Farmers' Union of Scotland and by other bodies in the United Kingdom.

Scallops And Queens

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what quantity of scallops and queens, respectively, had been landed in Scottish West Coast ports in each of the past 10 years.

Before 1970 no distinction was made in the statistics between large scallops and queen scallops. The figures in cwts. are accordingly as follows:

	All Scallops
1965	7,742
1966	12,091
1967	19,848
1968	52,302
1969	98,802

	Scallops	Queen Scallops
1970	64,065	96,504
1971	42,433	95,196
1972	24,507	87,366
1973	18,923	143,698
1974	33,164	63,617

Agricultural Land

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has with regard to the arrangements for consulting his Department about proposals for the development of agricultural land.

Thousand Acres
						Total Acreage of Agricultural land^*	Acreage Rented	Acreage Owner-Occupied
Statistically Significant Holdings				…	…	14,207	5,990	8,217
Statistically Insignificant Holdings				…	…	857	174	683
Total	…	…	…	…	…	15,064	6,164	8,900
^* Excluding 1,240,000 acres of common grazing.

Community Land Bill

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland why he does not propose to have a Land Authority for Scotland similar to the Land Authority proposed for Wales under the Community Land Bill.

The White Paper on the community land scheme drew attention to the advantages of laying on local authorities the powers and duties to be provided for in the Bill. I do not consider that there are factors in Scotland which would outweigh these advantages.

The present arrangements, under which I ask local planning authorities to seek the advice of the local officers of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland at an early stage, and the close consultation between that Department and Scottish Development Department, will continue. A revised circular, to be issued shortly to the new planning authorities by Scottish Development Department, will stress the increasing importance of home food production and the consequent need to conserve our limited resources of good agricultural land.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he can give of the total acreage of land in Scotland available for agricultural use; and how many acres are rented and how many are owner-occupied, respectively.

The most recent information set out below relates to June 1974 for statistically significant holdings and to June 1973 for statistically insignificant holdings which are required to make a census return only every three years.

Farms

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of agricultural holdings returning to farmers, partners and directors—at the June agricultural census on the lines of table 63 of the latest volume of the "Digest of Welsh Agricultural Statistics"—for June of each year from 1971 onwards for Scotland.

Information on working partners and directors is not asked for in the Scottish Agricultural Census. I am sending the hon. Member separately tables containing the information on farmers he seeks for 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974, since these are too voluminous to publish in the Official Report.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing (a) the number of agricultural holdings returning whole-time farmers, partners and directors and (b) the number of agricultural holdings returning part-time farmers, partners and directors for June of each year from 1971 onwards for Scotland.

Information on partners and directors is not asked for in the Scottish Agricultural Census. The numbers of occupiers returning themselves as doing full-time or part-time farm work show seasonal and year to year variation. The numbers of full-time and part-time occupiers recorded at the June Agricultural Census since 1971 are as follows:

		1971	1972	1973^*	1974
Number of agricultural holdings	…	38,060	37,930	31,738	31,896
Number of occupiers doing full-time or part-time farm work		24,259	Not available	24,737	24,673
^* In June 1973 the threshold for inclusion in the annual census was raised from a labour requirement of 26 standard man-days to 40 standard man-days.

Inshore Fishing Fleet

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report the figures for

As at December
									1971	1972	1973	1974
White fish (Trawl, line, seine and other)					…	Under 40 ft.		…	505	526	465	470
						40 ft. to 59·9 ft.		…	340	343	369	350
						60 ft. to 79·9 ft.		…	242	259	282	307
						Total	…	…	1,087	1,128	1,116	1,127
Herring	…	…	…	…	…	Under 40 ft.		…	—	—	1	—
						40 ft. to 59·9 ft.		…	70	57	40	50
						60 ft. to 79·9 ft.		…	84	77	70	78
						Total	…	…	154	134	111	128
Nephrops Trawl		…	…	…	…	Under 40 ft.		…	52	60	59	55
						40 ft. to 59·9 ft.		…	145	170	189	211
						60 ft. to 79·9 ft.		…	30	39	42	34
						Total	…	…	227	269	290	300
Shellfish (Creels and Others)				…	…	Under 40 ft.		…	967	997	991	1,034
						40 ft. to 59·9 ft.		…	59	55	52	49
						60 ft. to 79·9 ft.		…	2	3	5	1
						Total	…	…	1,028	1,055	1,048	1,084

	Full-time	Part-time
1971	16,810	7,449
1972	Not available	Not available
1973	16,329	8,408
1974	6,118	8,555

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of agricultural holdings and the number of farmers, partners, and directors, for June of each year from 1971 onwards, for Scotland.

Information on working partners and directors is not asked for in the Scottish Agricultural Census. The numbers of occupiers returning themselves as doing full-time or part-time farm work show seasonal and year to year variation. The numbers of these occupiers and the numbers of agricultural holdings from June 1971 to date are as follows:the Scottish inshore fishing fleet by categories for each of the last five years.

The numbers of vessels, both full and part-time, in the Scottish inshore fleet, according to length and type categories, are:

A comparable breakdown for 1970 is not readily available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the proportion of all farmers, partners, and directors, and those who are whole-time and part-time, respectively, who are returned by agricultural holdings with fewer than 275 standard-man-days, between 275 and 600, and more than 600, respectively, in the latest year for which figures are available in Scotland.

			Standard Man-days
			40–249		250–599		600+
			Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
Full-time occupiers		…	1,900	12	4,825	30	9,393	58
Part-time occupiers		…	6,231	73	907	11	1,417	16
Total	…	…	8,131	33	5,732	23	10,810	44

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the number of independently occupied farm businesses, whole-time and part-time, excluding businesses which are run by persons already counted as the occupiers of other farm businesses in Scotland for each year from 1971 to date.

None.

Education (Work Experience) Scheme

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many Scottish education authorities have participated in the Education (Work Experience) Scheme 1973; how many children have participated in this scheme; and what plans there are to extend this course.

This information is not available.

Toxic Waste Disposal

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many toxic waste sites there are in Scotland; where they are situated and who owns them;(2) what has been the nature and volume of notifiable wastes dumped on toxic waste sites in Scotland during the past 12 months.

A survey in 1972–73 showed that toxic wastes were

Information on working partners and directors is not asked for in the Scottish Agricultural Census. The Scottish Farm Type Classification uses 250 standard man-days as the threshold for a full-time farm and disregards units under 40 standard man-days. The numbers of occupiers returning themselves as doing full-time or part-time farm work show seasonal and year to year variation, but in June 1974, the numbers were as follows:deposited, mostly in small quantities, on the 23 sites listed in the table.The total annual rate of deposit as shown by the survey was about 54,000 tons. A comparable figure for the last 12 months is not readily available.

Location and Person or Company responsible for Tip

1. Bridgend Quarry, Auchterless, Aberdeenshire—Aberdeen County Council.

2. Newburgh, Aberdeenshire—Aberdeen County Council.

3. Tulles Hill, Aberdeen—Aberdeen Corporation.

4. Ness Tip, Aberdeen—Aberdeen Corporation.

5. Leoch and Lallaws Quarry, Strathmartine, Angus—PD Pollution Control Ltd.

6. Barry Budden Road, Monifieth—Monifieth Burgh.

7. Riverside Tip, Dundee—Dundee Corporation.

8. Aros Moss, Campbeltown, Argyll—Argyll County Council.

9. Kilmory, Lochgilphead, Argyll—Argyll County Council.

10. South Cromalt, Inveraray, Argyll—Arygll County Council.

11. Stevenston Works, Ayrshire—ICI Organics Division.

12. New Coup, Coldstream, Berwickshire—Coldstream Burgh.

13. Corsehill Quarry, Annan, Dumfriesshire—Annan Burgh.

14. Jerusalem Quarry, East Lothian—Haddington Burgh.

15. Saltoun Law Quarry, East Lothian—East Lothian County Council.

16. Canaghael Tip, Lochaber. Inverness-shire—Inverness County Council.

17. Drungans Tip, Kirkcudbrightshire—ICI Oragnics Division, Cargenbridge, Dumfries.

18. Bog's Brae, Bellshill, Lanarkshire—T. Feeney, Bogs Farm, Bellshill.

19. Greenoakhill Quarry, Uddingston, Lanarkshire—R. Paterson & Sons, Hogg Street, Airdrie.

20. Bennadrove, Stornoway, Ross & Cromarty—Stornoway Burgh.

21. Birdston, Kirkintilloch, Stirlingshire—J. Pitcairn, Birdston Bank Farm, Kirkintilloch.

22. Lime Wharf, Falkirk—Scottish Tar Distillers Ltd., Falkirk.

23. Eastfield Quarry, Fauldhouse, West Lothian—Lothian Industrial Cleaners.

Teachers' Work To Rule

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children in session 1974–75 have been on part-time education as a direct result of the work to rule campaigns by teachers in Scottish schools.

Returns from education authorities for 5th May indicate that about 13,000 primary and secondary pupils were affected by part-time education occasioned by work to rule.

Buses (Countryside)

34.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from retirement pensioners in connection with proposals for further cuts in rural bus services; and if he will make a statement on the progress of his discussions with local authorities on rural transport services.

None relating to specific proposals, but I have received representations from Age Concern Scotland about the level of rural bus services generally. On the second part of the Question I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Moray and Nairn (Mrs. Ewing) on 28th April 1975.—[Vol. 891, c. 49.]

Herring (Exports)

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the proportion of fresh, cured and frozen herring, respectively, caught by Scottish fishing fleets and exported to the EEC countries in 1973 and 1974; and what was the total value in each year.

Separate information on exports of herring caught by Scottish fishing vessels is not available. Herring exported to EEC countries as fresh, cured—dried and salted—and frozen amounted in 1973 to approximately 16, 7 and 13 per cent. respectively of herring landed in the United Kingdom by British vessels; and in 1974 to approximately 17, 8 and 5 per cent. respectively. The value of these exports to EEC countries amounted to £4·5 million in 1973 and £4·3 million in 1974.

Hospital Service (Expenditure)

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the pet capita expenditure of the hospital service in Scotland in each of the last five years.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services on 12th February to my hon. Friend the Member for Newton (Mr. Evans).—[Vol. 886, c. 164–70.]

Volume 892: debated on Thursday 22 May 1975

Written Answers To Questions

President Ford (Talks)

Environment

Road Construction Contracts

Dog Licences

Derelict Land

Housing (Cornwall)

Public Transport (Use)

Community Land Bill

Speed Limits

Trunk Roads (Marking)

Homeless Persons

Expenditure

Planning Appeals (West Lancashire)

Playspaces

Home Heating Savings

Ashford

Durham

Bahamas Legislature (Gift)

National Freight Corporation

North West Regional Water Authority

Railways

Northern Ireland (Civil Servants' Housing)

Home Department

Police (Motor Vehicle Purchases)

Identification (Devlin Committee)

Exorcism

Indictable Offence Hearings (Defendants' Costs)

Helicopters (Public Service Use)

Remanded Juveniles

Prisoners (Maintenance Costs)

Shoplifting

Television Licences

Illegal Immigrants

Imprisoned Mothers

Television (Wales)

Crime (Detection)

Magistrates

"Babies For Burning"

Employment

European Social Fund

Horse Racing

Unemployment Benefit

Bournemouth

House Of Commons

Official Paid Letters

Referendum

Members Of Parliament (Pay)

Wales

Agriculture

Brucellosis

Llangollen (Sewage Discharge)

Education And Science

University Students

Adult Illiteracy

Medical Schools

Student Grants

Postgraduate Awards

Cornwall

Comprehensive Education (Kent)

Secondary Education Selection

Thanet

National Finance

Income Taxation

Trainees (Child Allowances)

Crown Estate Commissioners

Inflation

Income Tax

European Community

Occupational Pensions

Government Income And Expenditure

Public Expenditure

Whisky

Gross Domestic Product

Value Added Tax

Income Tax Allowances

National Insurance Contributions

Sheraton House, City Of Westminster