asked the Lord President of the Council if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of franked House of Commons envelopes used in each year since 1970; indicating what the cost was in each year and on which departmental Vote it is borne.

Calendar Year	Total Number of Official Envelopes Printed
1970	183,000
1971	550,000
1972	982,000
1973	1,965,000
1974	3,876,000*
1975

Postage is charged by the Post Office in each financial year on the number of envelopes printed in the previous calendar year. Charges were increased by 5 per cent. from 6th March 1972, 18 per cent. from 10th September 1973 and 23 per cent. from 24th June 1974.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many acres of trees were planted by owner-occupiers in England in 1975; and what were the corresponding figures for the last five years.

Information in the form requested is not available. However, statistics of planting on which grants were paid in the particular year under the Forestry Commission's grant aid schemes for private woodland owners, plus an estimate for the area planted without the

There is no limit on the number of official paid envelopes that a Member may use for correspondence on parliamentary business; and therefore no record is kept of the numbers issued from the store.The following table shows the number of official paid envelopes ordered for use in the House of Commons since 1970 and paid for from the House of Commons Vote.

Postage Charged in Financial Year
	£
1971–72	6,370
1972–73	17,473
1973–74	34,095
1974–75	86,036
1975–76	290,789
Not yet available

aid of grants, are set out in the table below.

Year ending 31st March	Acres
1970	15,200
1971	14,600
1972	16,000
1973	15,300
1974	12,500
1975	9,800

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent discussions he has had with the EEC and with the industry in connection with the sale of fresh turkeys; and if he will make a statement on the latest position.

Lengthy discussions preceded the decisions reached in Brussels last July and the industry was kept fully informed at all stages. Our proposals for regulations to implement the EEC directives are at present with representative organisations, as a basis for consultation. As to the latest position, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Moray and Nairn (Mrs. Ewing) on 13th January by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.—Vol. 903, c. 111–2.]

asked the Secretary of State for Energy which aspects of his statement on oil depletion made on 6th December 1974 remain Government policy in the light of subsequent developments; and if he will make a statement.

Since my right hon. Friend the previous Secretary of State's policy statement of 6th December 1974—[Vol. 882, c. 646–8.)—the Government have taken powers in the Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-lines Act that will enable control to be exercised over the rate of depletion of Britain's offshore oil. These powers will be used as and when they are needed to maximise the long-term benefit to the nation and in accordance with the guidelines in my right hon. Friend's policy statement. It continues to be the Government's aim to ensure a rapid build-up of Continental Shelf oil-production to eliminate net imports.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has issued any general or specific directions to the BNOC pursuant to Section 4 of the Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975.

As my right hon. Friend announced to the House on 12th January—[Vol. 903, c. 9]—the £40 million advance from BNOC to Burmah was carried out in accordance with a specific direction to BNOC pursuant to Section 4 of the Petroleum and Submarine Pipelines Act.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the current market for coal in Scotland in millions of tons, in power station generation, industrial and domestic; and what is the export growth.

Disposals in Scotland in 1975–76 for the 10 months to the end of January were:

Power stations	6·5 million tons
Industry and Miscellaneous	0·75 million tons
Domestic	1 million tons

Ninety-three per cent. of Scottish-produced coal is sold in Scotland, most of the rest being supplied to Northern Ireland.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how many new boreholes in the search for new coal reserves in Scotland have been carried out during the last two years; and if he will list the location and the capital cost involved.

During the past two years five deep boreholes have been drilled in the Firth of Forth at a cost of just under £500,000 to explore the potential of a new area of coal reserves near Musselburgh, in Midlothian.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what projects are envisaged for new coal sinking in Scotland; and if he will list the location.

Drilling is under way in Scotland as part of a national exploration programme to locate and prove new reserves of coal to replace the loss of capacity owing to exhaustion of reserves at existing collieries. Decisions on the areas of new reserves to be exploited will be governed by the economics of mining in those areas, the type and quality of coal proved and the anticipated pattern of future demand. The National Coal Board has not yet taken any decision on new sinkings in Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will consider revising the field-by-field approach by petroleum revenue tax in favour of a broader grouping of fields in the North Sea in the light of operating experience and to assist the viability of marginal fields.

I have been asked to reply.This matter was fully debated at the Committee stage of the Oil Taxation Act and I have no plans to amend the field-by-field basis for petroleum revenue tax.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will consider providing an allowance against petroleum revenue tax for the exchange losses resulting from the depreciation of sterling and incurred by operators borrowing foreign currency to finance investment in the North Sea.

I have been asked to reply.As stated by my hon. Friend the then Minister of State in debate on the Oil Taxation Bill—[

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will consider modifying the oil allowance for petroleum revenue tax purposes to accord with the pattern of production of different fields in the North Sea.

I have been asked to reply.The existing rules, which ensure that the oil allowance is of proportionately greater benefit to the marginal fields, were debated at some length last year and I do not consider that a case has been made for amending them on the lines suggested.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what would be the effect of an 8 per cent. reduction of petroleum revenue tax on the rate of return of marginal fields.

I have been asked to reply.Because of the reliefs in the Oil Taxation Act which are designed to benefit marginal fields in particular, a simple reduction in the rate of petroleum revenue tax would probably have little effect on their rate of return.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he is satisfied that the fiscal package introduced by the Oil Taxation Act 1975 will permit a reasonable rate of return for such fields as Dunlin, Heather, Huttin and Statfjord (British section).

I have been asked to reply.The Oil Taxation Act contains several provisions specially designed to encourage the development of marginal fields. I am satisfied that these will have the intended effect, but I am not prepared to comment on the rates of return for particular fields which will depend on a variety of factors.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the expected yields of royalties from North Sea oil, petroleum revenue tax, capital gains tax and capital transfer tax in 1980.

I have been asked to reply.As I said in the House on 19th January, on the basis of current tax policy and the current price of oil, and an average production of 125 million to 150 million tons per annum, we would expect that in the early 1980s the United Kingdom Government would be deriving a total income from North Sea oil, at 1975 prices, of the order of £3 billion to £3·5 billion a year. There is no corresponding forecast for CGT and CTT.—[Vol. 903, c. 927.]

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many applications there have been from Wales for aid under the job search and employment transfer schemes; and what expenditure has been sanctioned under each heading within the schemes.

I am advised by the Manpower Services Commission that this information is not available in the form requested. However, the total number of successful applications from Wales, since the Employment Transfer Scheme was introduced in April 1972, is 4,876, and for fares for interview under the Job Search Scheme is 1,961. In addition, there was a total of 208 applications from Wales for speculative temporary transfer to seek work under the Job Search Scheme, since this facility became available on 12th September 1973. Information on the expenditure for Wales under each heading within the schemes is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report the average wage for each of the regions of the United Kingdom for each of the past 10 years.

The following information comes from the Department's October inquiries into the earnings and hours of manual workers in manufacturing and certain other industries. Differences in average earnings between regions include the effects of different industrial and occupational structures; they do not,

MEN MANUAL WORKERS, 21 YEARS AND OVER AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS BY REGION
October		London and South-East	Eastern and Southern	South-West	Midlands		Yorkshire and Humberside
		£	£	£	£		£
1966	…	21·46	20·30	18·84	20·68		19·22
		South-East	East Anglia		West Midlands	East Midlands
		£	£		£	£
1967	…	22·22	19·69	19·86	22·22	20·85	20·20
1968	…	23·99	21·21	21·35	24·14	22·27	21·70
1969	…	25·88	22·75	22·91	26·15	23·77	23·40
1970	…	29·05	25·90	26·02	29·49	26·91	26·43
1971	…	32·51	28·70	28·79	31·72	29·34	28·75
1972	…	37·18	34·68	33·50	37·21	34·26	33·64
1973	…	42·30	39·05	38·85	42·03	39·38	39·06
1974	…	50·57	46·56	45·98	49·40	46·44	46·69
1975	…	61·42	56·74	55·99	58·95	56·61	57·54
October		North-West	North	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	United Kingdom
		£	£	£	£	£	£
1966	…	19·85	19·58	20·09	19·58	17·06	20·30
1967	…	21·04	20·65	21·14	20·77	18·37	21·38
1968	…	22·72	22·06	22·91	22·30	19·65	23·00
1969	…	24·33	24·22	24·46	24·10	21·00	24·83
1970	…	27·88	27·18	27·93	27·04	24·14	28·05
1971	…	30·57	30·30	31·10	29·88	27·48	30·93
1972	…	35·48	35·12	35·61	34·93	31·59	35·82
1973	…	40·28	40·05	40·52	40·35	36·37	40·92
1974	…	47·91	47·77	47·55	48·37	44·80	48·63
1975	…	58·80	61·44	58·19	60·71	54·83	59·58

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for the national average wage for full-time manual male workers over 21 years of age compared with October 1974.

The following information comes from the Department's October inquiries into the earnings and hours of manual workers in manufacturing and certain other industries:

Average weekly earnings, men manual workers aged 21 years and over
All industries and services covered
	United Kingdom
	£
October 1975	59·58
October 1974	48·63

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the most convenient form and grouped in accordance with the Standard Industrial Classification 1968 the number of employees in employment within the Greater London area for June 1966, June 1974 and June 1975.

Estimates of the numbers of employees in employment in Greater London, based on the 1968 edition of the Standard Industrial Classification, are available from June 1969 onwards. The estimates for June 1966 were analysed according to the 1958 edition. In the following tables, the figures for June 1969 are shown on both bases. The estimates for June 1969 (b) include improved information about the location of employees in the distributive trades. Until 1971, the estimates were based on counts of national insurance cards, but thereafter were obtained from

EMPLOYEES IN EMPLOYMENT IN GREATER LONDON ANALYSED ACCORDING TO THE STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION 1958
(Thousands)
1958 SIC						June 1966	June 1969(a)
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	…	…	…	…	…	6·3	4·9
Mining and quarrying	…	…	…	…	…	6·2	6·3
Food, drink and tobacco	…	…	…	…	…	150·9	137·6
Chemicals and allied industries	…	…	…	…	…	99·4	91·3
Metal manufacture	…	…	…	…	…	30·0	24·2
Engineering and electrical goods	…	…	…	…	…	458·1	410·8
Shipbuilding and marine engineering	…	…	…	…	…	10·0	8·4
Vehicles	…	…	…	…	…	86·9	69·6
Metal goods not elsewhere specified	…	…	…	…	…	81·3	73·4
Textiles	…	…	…	…	…	19·9	17·2
Leather, leather goods and fur	…	…	…	…	…	16·5	15·1
Clothing and footwear	…	…	…	…	…	113·0	101·9
Bricks, pottery, glass, cement, etc.	…	…	…	…	…	36·5	310
Timber, furniture, etc.	…	…	…	…	…	75·8	63·6
Paper, printing and publishing	…	…	…	…	…	189·3	180·5
Other manufacturing industries	…	…	…	…	…	69·3	67·4
Construction	…	…	…	…	…	286·8	258·1
Gas, electricity and water	…	…	…	…	…	84·9	76·3
Transport and communication	…	…	…	…	…	449·4	440·6
Distributive trades	…	…	…	…	…	703·8	643·8
Insurance, banking and finance	…	…	…	…	…	273·7	304·8
Professional and scientific services	…	…	…	…	…	479·0	501·3
Miscellaneous services	…	…	…	…	…	601·6	569·1
Public administration	…	…	…	…	…	338·0	335·8
Total, all industries and services	…	…	…	…	…	4,667	4,432

EMPLOYEES IN EMPLOYMENT IN GREATER LONDON ANALYSED ACCORDING TO THE STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION 1968
(Thousands)
1968 SIC					June 1969(b)	June 1971(a)	June 1971(b)	June 1974
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	…	…	…	…	…	4·8	4·0	2·4	2·1
Mining and quarrying	…	…	…	…	…	6·3	4·6	4·	1 3·6
Food, drink and tobacco	…	…	…	…	…	147·4	131·3	112·4	99·5
Coal and petroleum products	…	…	…	…	…	10·5	11·1	3·6	2·3
Chemicals and allied industries	…	…	…	…	…	83·0	76·8	64·8	56·6
Metal manufacture	…	…	…	…	…	24·4	25·4	23·5	19·1
Mechanical engineering	…	…	…	…	…	149·8	142·5	111·5	88·2
Instrument engineering	…	…	…	…	…	48·0	40·3	39·2	31·6
Electrical engineering	…	…	…	…	…	194·9	190·2	167·1	149·6
Shipbuilding and marine engineering	…	…	…	…	…	8·4	8·5	5·3	4·6
Vehicles	…	…	…	…	…	70·0	69·7	60·3	55·2
Metal goods not elsewhere specified	…	…	…	…	…	86·8	81·1	77·1	67·8
Textiles	…	…	…	…	…	17·2	16·8	13·7	11·2
Leather, leather goods and fur	…	…	…	…	…	15·1	12·8	11·1	8·4
Clothing and footwear	…	…	…	…	…	102·2	85·0	76·0	61·1
Bricks, pottery, glass, cement, etc.	…	…	…	…	…	30·6	30·2	20·6	15·7
Timber, furniture, etc.	…	…	…	…	…	62·9	53·3	47·8	45·3
Paper, printing and publishing	…	…	…	…	…	180·3	165·0	160·2	138·7
Other manufacturing industries	…	…	…	…	…	67·2	61·1	55·2	46·7
Construction	…	…	…	…	…	259·1	210·9	196·5	188·5
Gas, electricity and water	…	…	…	…	…	76·3	68·5	64·7	54·9
Transport and communication	…	…	…	…	…	439·9	456·0	439·8	404·5
Distributive trades	…	…	…	…	…	592·8	566·5	525·2	520·9
Insurance, banking finance and business services	…	…	…	…	…	421·6	449·1	404·0	450·3
Professional and scientific services	…	…	…	…	…	501·5	504·2	508·0	553·9
Miscellaneous services	…	…	…	…	…	445·2	390·2	411·1	418·1
Public administration and defence	…	…	…	…	…	337·1	358·2	334·3	348·5
Total, all industries and services	…	…	…	…	…	4,383	4,213	3,939	3,847

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if the number of engineering apprentices on offer in the Greater London area during 1975 dropped below those on offer during previous years.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that information is not available about all apprentice recruitment. However, I understand that the number of craft and technician trainees registered with the Engineering Industry Training Board as carrying out the Board's approved first year off-the-job pattern of training in the Greater London area, was 1,557 fo 1975–76, compared with 1,629 for 1974–75, and 1,273 for 1973–74.

asked the Prime Minister when he last met the TUC.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Derby, North (Mr. Whitehead) on 17th February.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why the British Government accepted the conduct and conclusion of the recent Hong Kong Anti-Corruption Commission Inquiry into the allegations of Mr Alan Ellis when no attempt has been made to assist him to determine physically the identity of a key witness which he now disputes; and why the intention to exclude from the inquiry the basis of his complaint was not revealed to Mr. Ellis until July 1975.

Her Majesty's Government were satisfied because the Hong Kong Government's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) made a thorough investigation of Mr. Ellis's allegations in 1974 and 1975. During this Mr. Ellis was asked to identify the person whom he alleges offered him a bribe in 1962 from photographs of all the traceable junior staff of Hung Horn Police Station where the event was said to have taken place. Mr. Ellis made a wrong identification and there are no other records of the staff available to pursue the inquiry further. No purpose would therefore be served by his going to Hong Kong at public expense.I understand that the basis of Mr. Ellis's complaint is that of wrongful dismissal from the Hong Kong Police Force. This is an administrative matter outside the scope of the ICAC, as Mr. Ellis himself acknowledged in a written statement made on 2nd December 1974.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on British military commitments in Southern Africa.

We have no military commitments in Southern Africa, although we do assist in providing military training in the United Kingdom for some Commonwealth countries in that area.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to help secure the implementation of United Nations resolutions 3458A and 3458B; and if he will publish in the Official Report the full text of these resolutions.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations has begun a process of consultation in accordance with Resolutions 3458A and 3458B with the appointment of Mr. Rydbeck as his Special Representative on the Western Sahara. Her Majesty's Government welcomed this development. Mr. Rydbeck visited Spain and the Western Sahara earlier this month to discuss the implementation of the Resolutions, and we await his report with interest.I have arranged for copies of the Resolutions to be placed in the House of Commons Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will consult with the other members of NATO to consider giving a guarantee to protect the frontiers of Zaire and Zambia for the period that foreign troops are active in Angola.

While Soviet and Cuban activities in Angola are a matter of concern to NATO countries, it would not be appropriate for NATO to offer guarantees to a non-member country, particularly one which lies outside NATO's area of responsibility.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans to increase the fees for passports and for consular services.

Yes. An Order in Council has been published today which provides for increases with effect from 15th March.Costs of consular services have doubled since consular fees were fixed in 1971, and in general consular fees will now be raised sufficiently to meet the extra costs. The fee for a standard passport will rise from £6 to £8 and there are commensurate increases in other passport service fees. The fee for a British visitor's passport, the issuing cost of which have risen fourfold since 1971, will rise from £3 to £4.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will publish all the policy instructions currently in force issued to Government-appointed directors of public companies.

No such instructions are issued.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how many vessels, including tankers, have been constructed in British shipyards since 1960 for eventual service in the Soviet Navy; and how many contracts for the construction of such vessels are outstanding today.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 24th February 1976; Vol. 906, c. 121], gave the following information:Six merchant vessels built since 1960 by British shipyards entered Soviet use. It is not known whether any of these were entered for service in the Soviet Navy. It is not possible to identify any of the present orders outstanding as being for ultimate Soviet use.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what steps he is taking to ensure the continuity of supply of semifinished hides and skins from India to manufacturers in the United Kingdom in view of the imminent increase in Indian export duty and/or the present quota arrangements.

During my right hon. Friend's visit to India last month he explained to the Indian Minister of Commerce his concern that there should continue to be reasonable supplies to British manufacturers of semi-finished hides and skins. We are not aware that any decision affecting these supplies has been taken by the Government of India since that visit.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will publish current values in £ million and indices of value and volume for (a) imports and exports of SITC classes 5, 6, (b) imports of SITC classes to 5 to 8 and (c) exports of SITC classes 2, 4, 5 and 6 from 1949 to 1974 and the quarters of 1975 for which figures are available.

It will take some time to collate all of the information requested, and I will reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what is his estimate of the value of British investments in South Africa; and what are the main sectors in which this investment is at present located.

The total book value of British investments in South Africa, as estimated by the Reserve Bank of South Africa, amounted to about £1,750 million at the end of 1971. The available information by industry is from the official estimates of the book value of direct investment in South Africa and South-West Africa, excluding oil, banking and insurance. The latest figures relate to the end of 1971 and were published in Table 37 of Business Monitor M4 Part II, Overseas Transactions 1972, a copy of which is in the Library. Figures for subsequent net flows of direct investment in 1972 and 1973 were published respectively in Table 19 of Business Monitor M4 Part I, Overseas Transactions 1972 and Table 19 of Business Monitor M4, Overseas Transactions 1973, copies of which are also in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what actions have been taken by the Policyholders Protection Board with regard to the Fidelity Life Assurance Co. Ltd.; and if he will make a statement about the affairs of that company.

The Policyholders Protection Board has provided an indemnity under Section 15 of the Policyholders Protection Act 1975 to enable the provisional liquidator of Fidelity Life Assurance Limited to make interim payments to certain policyholders, and I understand that the special manager has already written to these policyholders to explain the arrangements. The board has not yet decided whether to exercise its powers to protect policyholders under Section 16 of the Act. The hearing of the petition, presented in the High Court on 28th July 1975, to wind up Fidelity Life has been further adjourned until 8th March 1976.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he has yet established the

					Imports		Exports
					£ million cif	Thousands	£ million cif	Thousands
1971	…	…	…	…	138·6	236	79·8	217
1972	…	…	…	…	237·9	332	81·0	208
1973	…	…	…	…	307·5	346	110–1	232
1974	…	…	…	…	244·9	248	85·0	159
1975	…	…	…	…	337·4	278	104·9	121

These figures exclude parts supplied for use in manufacture abroad; however, such parts for passenger cars are not

The board has raised the matter with my right hon. Friend, but no decisions have yet been taken.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he expects to impose a levy on insurance companies as a result of the present activities of the Policyholders Protection Board.

My right hon. Friend has no powers to impose a levy on insurance companies under the Policyholders Protection Act 1975. This is a matter for the Policyholders Protection Board, which, in any case, is not empowered to impose such a levy before 1st April 1976.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will now publish his calculation of the balance of payments effects of a Skytrain service.

I have today placed in the Library and the Vote Office copies of a paper on this.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the value and volume of United Kingdom imports of cars from the EEC and United Kingdom car exports to the EEC for each year since 1971.

The information is as follows:separately distinguished from parts for commercial vehicles.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if she is now able to issue the firework casualty figures for November 1975; and if she will make a statement.

Statistics based on information provided by hospitals in

FIREWORK INJURIES IN ENGLAND AND WALES (4-WEEK PERIOD IN OCTOBER-NOVEMBER)
	1975	1974	Year 1973	1972	1971
TOTAL	728	883	1,186	1,260	1,059
PLACE OF ACCIDENT
(1) Family or private party	215	267	385	441	382
(2) Public or semi-public party	144	137	153	166	139
(3) Casual incident in street etc.	203	272	422	422	349
(4) Other place	65	89	119	95	88
(5) Do not know	101	118	107	136	101
TYPE OF FIREWORK
(1) Banger	196	228	356	369	316
(2) Rocket	83	70	118	129	126
(3) Jumping Cracker	26	42	58	51	47
(4) Other flyabout (flying saucer, helicopter, whirlibird etc.)	25	52	Included in (7)
(5) Display Firework (e.g. Roman Candle or Coloured Fires etc.)	117	151	280	262	223
(6) Home made or extracted powder	24	29	38	54	57
(7) Other	56	60	79	83	82
(8) Do not know	201	251	257	312	208
SEVERITY OF INJURY
(1) Died	0	0	0	0	1
(2) Detained more than one night	43	70	80	91	69
(3) Sufficient to cause absence from work or equivalent	93	121	178	143	88
(4) Minor injury	572	654	892	1,009	879
(5) Do not know	20	38	36	17	22
AGE GROUP OF INJURED PERSONS
Over 21	114	131	195	167	145
16–20	50	58	74	68	56
13–15	152	184	248	257	210
Under 13	412	510	669	768	648
SEX OF CASUALTIES
Male	572	713	966	1,022	851
Female	156	170	219	235	203
Not recorded	—	—	1	3	5
EYE INJURIES	313	372	448	449	386

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he makes of the prevalence of head louse infestation among Scots schoolchildren; and whether he will ask the Scottish Council for Health Education to report on the matter.

Medical inspections of school entrants and leavers during

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number and total acreage of local authority smallholdings in Scotland; and if he will express this as a percentage of the total acreage of Scotland as a whole.

There are no statutory local authority smallholdings in Scotland. A small number of agricultural smallholdings may be held by local

NUMBER OF ABORTIONS PERFORMED
	1973	1974	1975
NHS Hospitals	7,410	7,413	7,080
Private establishments approved by the Secretary of State under section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967	88	132	150
Total	7,498	7,545	7,230

The figures for 1975 are provisional.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many acres of trees were planted by owner-occupiers in Scotland in 1975; and what were the corresponding figures for the last five years.

Information in the form requested is not available. However, statistics of planting in Scotland on which grants were paid in the particular year under the Forestry Commission's grant aid schemes for private woodland owners, plus an estimate for the area planted without the aid of grants, are set out in the table below:

Year ending 31stMarch	Figures in acres
1970	…	28,800
1971	…	38,700
1972	…	40,300
1973	…	41,300
1974	…	42,200
1975	…	40,500

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money was expended on the Urban Aid Programme in each of the years 1973–74 and 1974–75; and what is the anticipated expenditure in the year 1975–76.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number of abortions performed in the private and public sectors, respectively, for the years 1973, 1974 and 1975 in Scotland.

The information is as follows:

Expenditure on the urban programme in England and Wales was £12·9 million in 1973–74 and £16·5 million (provisional) in 1974–75. Expenditure in 1975–76 is expected to be £22·8 million. These figures are all at out-turn prices.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will indicate the specific parts of the operation of the parole system with which he is dissatisfied.

We are always ready to consider any aspects of the scheme which may be capable of improvement and we have under review, in consultation with the Parole Board, a number of matters including the difficult question of whether reasons can be given for the refusal of parole.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost to public funds of the Policy Advisory Committee on Sexual Offences.

This Committee has not yet begun to meet and no significant expenditure has so far been incurred.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the incident rate at Holloway compared with other women's prisons.

The number of incidents reported by governors of women's prisons for the year 1975 and the incident rate per inmate in terms of the daily average population of each prison during that year are given below:

Prison	Number of incidents	Average daily population	Incident rate perinmate
Holloway	37	373	0·1
Styal	9	192	0·05
Askham Grange	15	107	0·14
East Sutton Park	2	15	0·13
Moor Court	9	85	0·1l

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many adjudications have been undertaken by the Board of Visitors at Holloway in the last six months as compared with other women's institutions, and with a representative sample of male institutions.

The following table gives provisional figures for the number of adjudications conducted by boards of visitors at Holloway, at other establishments for women and at a sample of local prisons for men, during the last six months of 1975:

Establishment	Number of Adjudications
Holloway	22
Other establishments for women
Styal	3
Durham	6
Risley	3
Pucklechurch	3
Askham Grange	2
Local prisons for men
Bristol	43
Cardiff	21
Leicester	16
Norwich	11
Swansea	10

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those areas of England and Wales where arrangements are established for the operation of community service orders.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to a Question by the hon. Member for Burton (Mr. Lawrence) on 15th December 1975—[Vol. 902, c. 441.] On 1st April 1976, arrangements for offenders to carry out work under community service orders will be introduced for the first time in parts of the West Midlands and Humberside probation areas and in the whole of the West Glamorgan probation area. From the same date, there will be some extensions of existing schemes, one result of which will be that arrangements will exist throughout the whole of the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Somerset probation areas.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what statutory powers the courts have to order restitution for offences of criminal or malicious damage; and on how many occasions these have been used, in respect of offender or their parents in England and Wales in each of the past five years.

Under Section 35 of the Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973. A court by or before which a person is convicted of an offence, in addition to dealing with him in any other way, may make an order requiring him to pay compensation for any personal injury, loss or damage resulting from that offence or any other offence which is taken into consideration by the court in determining sentence. Section 39 of the same Act permits the Crown Court in certain circumstances to make a criminal bankruptcy order. Section 28 of the Theft Act 1968, enables the court to make orders for restitution and certain other orders in relation to stolen property. I regret that it is not possible to provide information about the number of orders made in cases of malicious or criminal damage without disproportionate expense.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what grants have been made by the Voluntary Services Unit in Scotland, England and Wales in each of the last there years; and if he will express these figures in percentage form.

GRANT APPLICATIONS PROVISIONALLY AGREED BY THE VOLUNTARY SERVICES UNIT
Organisation		1974–75*	1975–76
Young Volunteer Force Foundation	…	186,282	238,000
Volunteer Centre.	…	49,411	119,000
Pre-Retirement Association	…	14,000	17,000
National Youth Bureau—Voluntary Opportunities Digest	…	750	1,925
Cruse Clubs Limited	…	23,000	23,000
Westminster Pastoral Foundation	…	20,000	23,000
Child Poverty Action Group	…	10,000	10,000
Young Volunteer Resource Module	…	12,500	22,000
Gaddum Centre.	…	7,000	—
Checks Rights Centre.	…	2,400	2,400
Outset	…	4,000	6,000
Community Service Volunteers,	…	22,000	96,250
Nacro	…	22,500	34,750
The Cresset	…	40,000	30,000
Welsh Council of Social Service	…	13,656	26,344
Romany Guild	…	1,020	1,750
British Council for Aid to Refugees	…	27,000	62,500
Fair Play for Children Campaign	…	10,500	17,550
City Poverty Committee	…	2,500	—
SHAC	…	7,000	4,250
Albany Trust	…	10,000	10,000
National Playing Fields Association	…	12,000	35,000
Action Resource Centre.	…	9,000	6,000
Release	…	10,000	20,000
Gingerbread	…	13,500	16,150
National Elfrida Rathbone Society	…	2,125	9,425
Contact	…	1,750	7,000
British Association of Settlements	…	1,250	11,670
BAS Adult Literacy Organiser	…	—	14,500
Wandsworth Council for Community Relations	…	1,000	4,000
Community Transport	…	4,000	17,500
Brixton Neighbourhood Community Association	…	—	24,000
Melting Pot Foundation	…	—	24,000
Toynbee Hall	…	25,000	—
After Six Housing Advisory Trust	…	—	10,000
Handicapped Adventure Playground Association	…	—	22,000
Family First Trust	…	—	8,000
Girls Alone in London Service	…	—	5,000
West End Co-ordinated Voluntary Services	…	—	44,000
National Association of Widows	…	—	3,500
Ugandan Evacuees Resettlement Advisory Trust	…	—	500
National Council of Social Service/Metropolitan Counties	…	—	40,000
National Association of Community Relations Councils	…	—	3,400
Central Council for the Disabled	…	—	8,000
British Council of Churches	…	—	9,750
National Association of Indian Youth	…	—	10,000
Runnymedc Trust	…	—	3,500
SPEAK	…	—	1,000
Gulbenkian Foundation.	…	—	—
Greater Manchester Council for Voluntary Service	…	—	—
National Association of Youth Clubs	…	—	—
Family Day Centre Projects: †
1. London Council of Social Service	…	—	6,800
2. Gingerbread (Croydon)	…	—	5,850
3. Aide A Toute Detresse	…	—	8,810
4. Defoe Day Centre Project	…	—	7,500
5. Cambridge House and Talbot	…	—	1,000
6. Camden Family Service Unit	…	—	1,166
7. Liverpool Personal Service Society	…	—	650
South Wales Anti-Poverty Action Committee†	…	—	500
Onward Industries	…	—	12,500
Total	…	565,145 1,	148,390
* Actual expenditure in 1974–75.
† Funded by VSU under the EEC Programme of Pilot Projects to Combat Poverty.
3 per cent. of the grants were made directly to organisations based in Wales and none to those in Scotland, but several of the English-based organisations carry out work in both Scotland and Wales.

The information for the two years in which the VSU has made grants is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the purpose of the long home leave granted to prisoners serving long-term prison sentences; and what are the conditions for granting or refusing the same.

Terminal home leave is intended to help the prisoner resume his family life and readjust to conditions outside prison, and to give him the opportunity to approach prospective employers.Prisoners in security Category A and those due to be deported are ineligible; other arrangements for leave apply to those selected for parole—apart from some life prisoners—or for the pre-release employment scheme. Applications from those eligible are considered by a home leave board, which takes into account such factors as accommodation and home circumstances, stability of behaviour, medical advice, the nature of the prisoner's offence, and the possible risk involved in his temporary release.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the number of English only and Welsh/ English television reminder forms, respectively, posted by the National Television Licence Records Office during the last convenient 12 months;(2) what is the number of staff, the total annual cost and the total labour cost, of the National Television Licence Records Office;(3) what is the total estimated cost of issuing television licences from post offices.

On 16th February 1976, a total of 694 Post Office staff were employed at the National Television Licence Records Office at Bristol. The estimated total cost of the Records Office for 1975–76, including its enforcement work, is £6·3 million, of which £2·2 million represents staff salaries and pensions. About 10 million English only licence reminder forms were dispatched by the Bristol Records Office in the 12 months to 1st April 1975 and it is estimated that about 18 million will be dispatched during the 12 months to 1st April 1976. Welsh/English reminder forms have been dispatched from Bristol only since December 1975 and it is estimated that in a full year about 900,000 will be sent out. The estimated total cost of issuing television licences from post offices for 1975–76 is £4·4 million.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vagrants are currently serving prison sentences for the offence of wandering abroad and lodging in the open air and not giving a good account of oneself, being a person who persistently wanders abroad, notwithstanding that a reasonable place of shelter is reasonably available.

On 5th January 1976, 16 persons were serving prison sentences for begging or sleeping out, and four persons were serving sentences, having been imprisoned consequent upon their failure to pay fines levied for these offences.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vagrants have served sentences during the years 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974.

On 263 occasions in 1974, persons were received into prison on sentence for offences of begging or sleeping out. The corresponding figures for 1971, 1972 and 1973 were 192, 229 and 270 respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what authority a person is permitted to manufacture, distribute, store and use a detonator, and if a licence is necessary in each category; how many such licences in each category are currently on issue in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, respectively; and if it is mandatory for holders of licences to report losses and keep accounts open to inspection.

The controls over explosives, including detonators, in Great Britain are set out in the Explosives Acts 1875 and 1923 and Orders made under the Acts, and in the Control of Explosives Order 1953. Detonators may be manufactured only at factories licensed by the Health and Safety Executive. They may be kept only (1) at a factory or magazine licensed by the Health and Safety Executive or (2) at an explosives store licensed by, or (3) at premises registered with a local authority, or (4) by an authorised "fit" person. The quantities of detonators permitted to be kept and the buildings in which they may be kept are limited by the terms of the licence.No person may keep a detonator at any place unless he is in possession of a certificate from the police stating that he is a fit person to keep explosives; and it is an offence to sell detonators to anyone who does not hold a police certificate. Records of transfers of detonators must be kept for five years, and these are open to inspection by Her Majesty's Inspector of Explosives, a police officer or a local authority officer. Although it is not mandatory for licencees and holders of police certificates to report losses, there is an arrangement that all licensees of factories and magazines report losses immediately to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Explosives. Information about the number of licences currently on issue in Great Britain is not readily available and could not be obtained without disproportionate expense.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners convicted of criminal offences in England have been transferred to prisons in Northern Ireland in each of the past four years; after what period of sentence such prisoners become eligible for transfer; and what are the criteria against which applications for transfer are assessed.

The number of prisoners convicted of criminal offences in England and Wales who were permanently transferred to Northern Ireland to serve their sentences in each of the past four years were—1971 two, 1972 two, both of whom were serving borstal training, 1973 two, including one who was serving borstal training, 1974 nil, 1975 nine, including one serving borstal training. No prisoners have been transferred to Northern Ireland in 1976.The criteria for assessing such applications include the relevant statutory requirements, the individual circumstances of the prisoner and the availability of accommodation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many spot checks of drivers' motor insurance, either routine or following a traffic incident, are made on the average weekday by the police in the Greater London area; what percentage are subsequently shown to be without insurance cover; and if he will publish a statistical projection to estimate the numbers nationally of those driving without valid insurance at any given time.

The Commissioner estimates that over 2,000 drivers a day on average were asked to produce insurance particulars in the Metropolitan Police District in 1974. In the same year, 16,113 drivers were convicted of using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks, an average of 44 a day. It is not possible to derive any valid projection of the type requested in the last part of the Question from such information.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of foreign workers at present in the United Kingdom with his permission.

Statistics are not kept in the form requested.The number of foreign workers admitted for 12 months during the period 1968 to 1975 is given in the following table:

1968	22,645
1969	22,877
1970	24,590
1971	21,804
1972	18,969
1973	10,978*
1974	8,765*
1975	7,784*
* Excludes EEC nationals and those coming for permit-free employment

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what he estimates to be the number of foreigners, not citizens of any Common Market country, who are now working in the United Kingdom without the requisite consent.

By the very nature of the problem it is not possible to make a reliable estimate of the number of foreigners who are working here illegally.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he can make of the number of citizens of the Republic of Ireland now in the United Kingdom and of the present annual rate of inflow.

According to the most recent figures, from the 1971 census, about 709,000 people in Great Britain were born in the Republic of Ireland. Almost all of them will be citizens of the Republic. Some will also be citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies by descent or registration.As to the second part of the Question, our Department does not collect statistics of movements within the common travel area and a reliable estimate cannot readily be made.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reply he has sent to the letter dated 12th February 1976 from the Desborough Town Council concerning the division of the town into wards for the town and borough elections in May.

The Clerk to the Desborough Town Council is being informed that the order for new electoral arrangements for the Borough of Kettering will not come into effect for the election of borough councillors in May, and that it would appear to be open to the borough council to vary or revoke the order they have made relating to the wards of Desborough.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) into what category or categories in Command Paper No. 5603, Immigration Statistics 1973, those new Commonwealth persons fell who were double-counted on embarkation in 1973;(2) whether the new Commonwealth persons who were double-counted on embarkation in 1973 fell wholly into one category or into more than one of the categories in Command Paper No. 5603, Immigration Statistics 1973; and in either case what proportion of the category or categories they amounted to.

Only the figures for landings are counted in categories. Embarkation figures have never been counted in these groups. Since the error occurred in relation to the embarkation figures for Commonwealth citizens, it is not possible to provide the information requested.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for the purpose of computing the oil allowance under petroleum revenue tax what is the statistical correlation used by the Inland Revenue between oil and natural gas; and whether in fact the formula employed has been found to be correct.

Section 8(7) of the Oil Taxation Act provides the rule for calculating the gas equivalent of the oil allowance: 40,000 cubic feet of gas at a temperature of 15 degrees Centigrade and pressure of one atmosphere are to be counted as equivalent to one long ton of oil.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the criteria involved in defining an oilfield for petroleum revenue tax purposes.

I have been asked to reply:As stated in 1975 by my hon. Friend the then Minister of State, Treasury on 21st and 23rd January 1975 during the consideration of Schedule 1 to the Oil Taxation Bill in Standing Committee D—[c. 355–82]—the determination will be based on geological and geophysical considerations.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report, on the same date as the publication of the Public Expenditure White Paper, a table showing the percentage share of GDP of each of the components in the table showing the growth and use of resources (comparable to Table 1.1 in Command Paper No. 5879), for each of the years covered by that table and on the growth assumptions in that table.

The estimated percentage shares are shown in the table below for 1974 and 1979: figures for other years are not available. The shares are calculated at 1970 prices and hence do not incorporate changes in relative prices.

	Per cent of GDP (in demand terms at factor cost)
	1974	1979
GDP	100·0	100·0
Net flow of resources into (+) or out of (_) balance of trade in goods and services	_0·5	4·7
Private investment and stock-building	10·0	12·8
Nationalised industries investment and stockbuilding	2·7	2·8
	87·8	79·7
Public consumption	20·2	18·3
Other public investment	4·8	3·4
Direct public expenditure	25·0	21·7
Indirect public expenditure	14·3	13·2
Total public expenditure	39·3	34·9
Privately financed personal consumption	48·5	44·8
Publicly financed personal consumption	14·3	13·2
	62·8	58·0

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the increasing incidence of managerial redundancies and the persistence of high rates of inflation, he will reconsider the salary limit, which was fixed in 1970, of £5,000 per annum above which the refund of occupational pension contributions is not permitted.

No; this would not be an appropriate way in which to deal with the problem of managerial or other redundancies. It is Government policy to encourage the preservation of pension rights and it would be inconsistent to relax the restraints on refunds of contributions for tax approval purposes at a time when those restraints are being

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the yield per head of population of personal taxes on wealth, capital gains, gifts and inheritance in each of the OECD countries in the latest year for which figures are available.

The information requested is given in the following table, which relates to the year 1973. Rates of exchange used are those current in the year(1).

	£ per head
Australia	11
Austria	3
Belgium	6
Canada	6
Denmark	17
Finland	6
France	6
West Germany	7
Greece (2)	4
Ireland	5
Italy	2
Japan	4
Luxembourg	8
Netherlands	8
New Zealand	3
Norway	11
Portugal	1
Spain	3
Sweden	11
Switzerland	38
Turkey (2)	—
United Kingdom	13
USA	28
(1) The figures are derived from 'Revenue Statistics of OECD Member Countries 1965–1973 ".
(2) 1972 figures. (Turkey less than £1 per head.)

asked the Chancellor of the Exchquer if he will propose to the NEDC at its next meeting the establishment of an economic development council for the financial services industry.

The NEDC Committee on Finance for Investment has a wide-ranging remit to consider the mobilisation of finance for industry, the channels through which it moves, and the related roles of the financial institutions.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people participate in a share option scheme under a Save As You Earn savings contract; and what proportion this represents of those eligible to participate.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the value of British invisible exports to South Africa; and what were the major components of these services in the period 1970 to 1975.

I regret that such an estimate is not available. There are considerable practical difficulties in determining how to attribute many transactions to individual countries; also, commercial records, on which the global estimates for the balance of payments are based, are often not maintained on a country basis. However, a country analysis of two components of invisible exports—direct investment earnings and travel—is published in Business Monitors M4, Overseas Transactions, 1973, and M6, Overseas Travel and Tourism, 1974. respectively.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in full-time work are eligible for the tax allowance for the blind; and how many do not earn enough to obtain the advantage of the allowance in full.

I regret that information is not available in the form requested. There are some 30,000 claimants of the blind allowance, but there is no central record of the number of these who are in full-time work or whose income is insufficient to take full advantage of the allowance.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish tables showing the net income after tax of a single earner and of a married man over a standard range of earned incomes including the national average wage, together with comparable tables where the earner is blind.

I have already published a table showing, for a standard range of incomes, the net income after tax of a single person and of a married couple.—[Vol. 905, c. 408–10.]For persons in receipt of the blind person's allowance, the figures are as follows:

		Married couple with no children
Income	Single person	(1) one only blind	(2) both spouses blind
£	£	£	£
700	700	700	700
800	800	800	800
900	884·25	900	900
1,000	949·25	1,000	1,000
1,100	1,014·24	1,100	1,100
1,200	1,079·25	1,177·25	1,200
1,300	1,144·25	1,242·25	1,300
1,400	1,209·25	1,307·25	1,370·25
1,500	1,274·25	1,372·25	1,435·25
1,600	1,339·25	1,437·25	1,500·25
1,700	1,404–25	1,502·25	1,565·25
1,800	1,469·25	1,567·25	1,630·25
1,900	1,534·25	1,632·25	1,695·25
2,000	1,599·25	1,697·25	1,760·25
2,500	1,924·25	2,022·25	2,085·25
3,000	2,249·25	2,347·25	2,410·25
3,480	2,561·25	2,659·25	2,722·25
4,000	2,899·25	2,997·25	3,060·25
5,000	3,549·25	3,647·25	3,710·25
6,000	4,159·75	4,279·00	4,351·00
7,000	4,702·50	4,835·75	4,916·75
8,000	5,195·25	5,342·50	5,432·50
9,000	5,638·00	5,799·25	5,898·25
10,000	6,038·00	6,206·00	6,314·00

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid into the retirement pensions in November 1973; how much of this he estimates was taken back in tax, in monetary terms and as a percentage of this total; how much in November 1975 was paid out in retirement pensions; how much was paid out in tax, in monetary terms; and what percentage this was of the retirement pensions for the year.

I will let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Written Answer given to the hon. Member for Blaby on 18th February 1976, setting out the proposed reductions in public expenditure in 1976–77 as published in the Official Report of 17th April 1975 but converted to 1975–76 outturn prices, if he will publish a comparable table, using the same price basis, setting out the proposed increases in public expenditure in 1976–77 announced or revealed since 17th April 1975.

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE IN 1976–77
£m at estimated 1975–76 outturn prices
Cmnd. 5879 Increases in estimates since 17th April 1975*
	Current expenditure on goods and services†	Capital ‡	Other transfer payments	Total
49,900	395	380	815	1,590
* Including any changes other than announced policy changes occurring before 17th April.
† Including current grants to private bodies.
‡ Including gross domestic fixed capital formation, capital grants to private sector, persons and non-profit making bodies, and net lending to private sector.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the average cost per unit, of housing completed in 1975, by councils and housing associations together; and what was the average weekly rent fixed for them per unit.

The average cost is estimated at about £12,000. I have no separate information about the rents fixed for dwellings completed in any one particular year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the public sector house building commencements and completions for the area covered by the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport and its predecessors for 1975 and the previous 10 years.

In 1975, 521 public sector starts and 473 completions were reported in Stockport. The comparable figures for 1974 were 264 starts and 465 completions. The figures for the previous eight years are as follows:

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 23rd February 1976; Vol. 906, c. 85] gave the following information:The figures shown exclude policy changes announced before 17th April, but include all programme changes other than announced policy changes which were made between the White Paper of January 1975—Cmnd. 5879—and the recent White Paper—Cmnd. 6393: these cannot be dated precisely. The categories are the same as those used in the Written Answers of 17th April 1975 [Vol. 889, c.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government on the closing of roads or restriction of traffic within National Parks.

In our Statement of Conclusions on the Sandford Report we confirmed that, in the National Parks, environmental quality should be the primary criterion in the management of traffic, subject always to the need for road safety, and that it would be right for management policies and proposals to be prepared jointly by the local highway authority and the national park authority.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce new measures to assist first-time house buyers.