asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what changes in the membership of the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Committee have occurred this year.

Three members of the committee have resigned for personal reasons. They are Mr. Charles Graham, my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Miss Maynard), and Mrs. Jennifer Sewell. On behalf of the Agriculture Ministers I pay tribute to the service they gave.The new appointees are Mr. C. H. Armstrong, hill farmer in Northumberland, Dr. B. A. Cross, Director of the Agricultural Research Council's Institute of Animal Physiology, Cambridge, and Mr. I. A. Turner, herd manager on a dairy farm in Hertfordshire.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a statement on the outcome of the meeting of the Council of Ministers on 10th and 11th November.

The two main issues of interest to the United Kingdom which were discussed were the stocktaking of the common agricultural policy and prices for New Zealand dairy products.The Council considered the stocktaking of the common agricultural policy and reached conclusions which will be reported to the European Council in December. I consider that these conclusions represent further progress in securing the necessary improvements in the operation of the common agricultural policy.The Council agreed that the returns received by New Zealand for butter and cheese under Protocol 18 should be increased by 18 per cent. from 1st January 1976. This has no direct effect on retail prices. Discussion of the import quantities for New Zealand butter in 1978 to 1980 was deferred to a later meeting of the Council.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the rate support grant settlement for 1976–77.

Yes. The statutory meeting on the settlement took place today with the Consultative Council on Local Government Finance where my proposals were discussed. Briefly, my proposals are that the rate support grant should be at a rate of 65½ per cent, on an accepted relevant expenditure of £10,461 million at November 1975 prices. This expenditure represents a standstill on the present estimate of current expenditure by authorities in 1975–76. The domestic rate relief would continue to be paid at 18½ p for England and 36p for Wales. The total amount of grant for local authorities payable in respect of the year 1976–77 under any increase orders will be subject to a cash limit. This limit has been fixed at £480 million. It is a ceiling, and local authorities will need to claim for expenditure caused by pay and price increases during the year under the normal machinery for increase orders.I propose to make an increase order in respect of pay and price increases of £1,739 million which have occurred since the 1975–76 settlement was made. The total increase in grant will be £1,156 million.There will be a full opportunity for the House to debate the settlement. I shall be laying the appropriate orders for approval within the next few days.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment by what statutory authority members of a co-ownership housing society who pay rent are not eligibile for a rent allowance.

A co-ownership housing society, which is, or is deemed to be, duly registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 and whose rules restrict membership to persons who are tenants or prospective tenants of the association and preclude the granting or assigning of tenancies to persons other than members, is excluded from the provisions of Section 19(5)(c) of the Housing Finance Act 1972 which provides for the payment of rent allowances to housing association tenants. This exclusion is by virtue of the definition of "housing association" contained in Section 104(1) of that Act.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he has yet reached a decision on the future of the Drypool Group.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will include Dry-pool Shipbuilding and Repairing Company in the shipbuilding industry nationalisation Bill; and if he will make a statement.

I have been greatly concerned to take the course which offers the best prospects of securing continuing employment for the men at Drypool. The financial assistance of £325, 000 already provided by my Department has opened up the prospect of completing work on most of the ships on the present order book. I have been informed by the receiver that Drypool has no commercial future as a group.After taking full account of the representations and advice that I have received, I have come to the conclusion that the best employment prospects would result from allowing the receiver to negotiate with prospective private purchasers of the component parts, who would bring in new management and provide new work.The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Bill which is published today excludes from its scope companies which have gone into receivership or liquidation before 21st November 1975.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what further measures she proposes to assist Citizens' Advice Bureaux.

I have now completed my discussions with the National Association of Citizens' Advice Bureaux about the position of local bureaux in the light of the increasing demands on them and their importance in helping people with a wide range of consumer and other problems. In the context of the proposals for better consumer information in the "Attack on Inflation" (Cmnd. 6151) I have decided to make temporary funds available through the National Association to assist bureaux suffering at present from a lack of locally available resources. Subject to parliamentary approval of the requisite Estimates, I propose to make available for this purpose up to £200,000 this financial year and next, as an extension of my Department's existing grant for the development of the Citizens' Advice Bureau network.