asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied with the legal procedures of the criminal courts.

Generally, yes, but if there is any particular aspect about which my hon. Friend is concerned I shall be glad to look into it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps are being taken to publicise to New Commonwealth immigrants the assisted passage scheme for repatriation;(2) what is the size of the staff employed in operating the assisted passage system for the repatriation of New Commonwealth immigrants;(3) how many New Commonwealth immigrants were repatriated under the assisted passage scheme in the months of January, February, March, April and May 1976.

Four full-time staff are employed on the scheme by the International Social Service of Great Britain. In addition, a portion of the time of other staff in that organisation and in the Home Office is spent on it. Information about the scheme has been made available to local authorities, the National Council of Social Service, citizens advice bureaux, community relations councils and others, but no special steps are taken to publicise it. 3, 15, 7, 12 and 7 individuals respectively were repatriated under the scheme in the months referred to.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many New Commonwealth immigrants were repatriated under the assisted passage scheme during 1975; and how many of the applications came from the Greater London area.

207 persons were repatriated in 1975 under the terms of Section 29 of the Immigration Act 1971. Of these 53 applied from the Greater London area.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the largest, the smallest and the average sentence imposed on persons and on companies, respectively, convicted of offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act, arising out of incidents which involved the death of an employee.

I regret that this information is not available since the criminal statistics do not distinguish the circumstances of offences under this Act.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in implementing those recommendations in the report of the Committee on Privacy, Command Paper No. 5012, in respect of technical surveillance devices and computers.

The Government published on 16th December 1975 a White Paper (Cmnd. 6353) and a supplementary report (Cmnd. 6354) on computers and privacy. A Data Protection Committee, under the Chairmanship of Sir Norman Lindop, is being appointed to prepare the way for the setting up of permanent machinery to oversee the use of computers which handle personal information. The Younger Committee's recommendations on technical surveillance devices are under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will view the law relating to the rights and duties of a member of the public with regard to the interception and tackling of escaping criminals, and in particular armed and dangerous criminals, in the light of the injunction to "have a go" made by the late Sir Joseph Simpson, one-time Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

I have no present plans, to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will announce the first list of sports grounds to be designated under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975.

The grounds which will initially be designated for the purposes of the Act in England and Wales will comprise the international association and rugby union football grounds and those of the clubs in the first division of the Football League.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what occasions he has received applications from Sir Desmond Plummer, Chairman of the Horse Race Betting Levy Board, to make official overseas visits; and to which countries.

I have approved visits in 1974 to Australia, in 1975 to South Africa and France, and in 1976 to Japan.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the invitation from the South African Jockey Club to Sir Desmond Plummer, Chairman of the Horse Race Betting Levy Board, to make an official visit to South Africa was submitted to him for approval.

No. Sir Desmond is visiting South Africa at the invitation of the Durban Turf Club, and since no public expenditure is involved my approval is not required.

asked the hon. Member for Kingswood (Mr. Walker) as representing the Church Commissioners what proportion of the Commissioners' gross rental income of £13,964,354 in 1974–75 was represented by (a) residential, (b) agricultural and (c) commercial property; and what the actual monetary figures were in each case.

The figures requested are as follows:

			Per cent.	£
(a) Residential	…	…	28·0	3,906,295
(b) Agricultural	…	…	15·7	2,193,701
(c) Commercial	…	…	56·3	7,864,358
			100·0	£13,964,354

asked the hon. Member for Kingswood (Mr. Walker), as representing the Church Commissioners what was the total sum of money provided by the laity for each of the last 10 years, towards the expenses of the Church of England; and what proportion of those sums, expressed both in monetary and percentage terms, was devoted to (a) clerical stipends and pensions, (b) clerical expenses such as car mileage, (c) diocesan quotas and (d) church maintenance, repairs and rebuilding.

The Commissioners' responsibilities in regard to sums of money provided by the laity towards the expenses of the Church of England arise from their position as Central Stipends Authority to which they were appointed by the General Synod in November 1972 and are confined to the sphere of clergy stipends and working expenses. From information collected since they were appointed Central Stipends Authority, the Commissioners estimate that the amounts provided by the laity towards clergy stipends and working expenses were as follows:

				Stipends	Working expenses
				£m	£m
1973	…	…	…	5·7	2·0
1974	…	…	…	6·1	2·2
1975	…	…	…	7·2	2·8

asked the hon. Member for Kingswood (Mr. Walker), as representing the Church Commissioners what steps the Commissioners have taken in the last 12 months, other than those mentioned on page 19 of the 1975 annual report, to advise the laity of methods by which the laity can increase the revenue which they provide towards Church expenses; and whether he will list the publications provided by the Commissioners to this end.

As I have already informed the hon. Member, the Commissioners' responsibilities in regard to sums of money provided by the laity towards the expenses of the Church of England arise from their position as Central Stipends Authority and are confined to the sphere of clergy stipends and working expenses. Since their appointment as Central Stipends Authority they have sought to promote a partnership between parishes, dioceses and the Authority in working for the improvement of clergy stipends and the reimbursement of their working expenses. In the last 12 months these matters have been discussed in detail with dioceses at seven conferences and have also been the subject of the Authority's third report to the General Synod and of a popular leaflet on the "Church's Needs and Resources (1976)" of which 448,000 copies have been distributed. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of this leaflet.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is now in a position to announce the name of the new Chairman of the Forestry Commission.

As indicated in the reply my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Fife, Central (Mr. Hamilton) on 4th March —[Vol. 906, c. 698–9]—the chairmanship of the Forestry Commission is among the appointments on which the Prime Minister advises the Queen and he hopes to make an announcement as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many search warrants have been issued to the police in each of the last three years in order that they may search private clubs;(2) how many prosecutions have been taken out against private clubs in each of the last three years for contraventions of the Licensing Acts.

I regret that information about the number of warrants issued under Section 179 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1959 is not available. The numbers of persons proceeded against for offences against alcoholic liquor laws in connection with clubs in 1972, 1973 and 1974 were 15, 4 and 13 respectively. The number for 1975 is not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many deaths were recorded by the Registrar General in Scotland in the years 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975: and how many included in the total number for each year were over 65 years of age.

The figures are given in the table below:

DEATHS, TOTAL AND AGED 65 AND OVER, SCOTLAND, 1972–75
				Registered deaths
Year				All ages	Aged 65 and over
1972	…	…	…	65,017	45,247
1973	…	…	…	64,545	45,012
1974	…	…	…	64,740	45,472
1975	…	…	…	63,125	44,761

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is satisfied with the progress made in each of the regional authorities in Scotland regarding the provision of special teaching units for the severely mentally handicapped: if he will list in the Official Report the regions which are making an effort to implement the Education Act 1974; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend is satisfied that the education authorities are doing all they can to implement the Act.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the prima facie evidence submitted to him by the hon. Member for Newham, North-West in his letter of 21st June regarding a further leak of Government secrets, he will refer this matter to the inquiry now in process concerning the leak over social security payments.

No. The inquiry by Sir Douglas Allen is about a specific disclosure and it would not be right to bring any other matters within its scope.

asked the Prime Minister whether he intends to visit Yugoslavia during the Presidency of Marshal Tito.

I have been invited to visit Yugoslavia and hope to be able to take up the invitation in due course.

asked the Attorney General if he is satisfied with the workings of the small claims courts; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. 8,095 cases were dealt with by arbitration in the county courts in England and Wales in 1975. This is an increase of 64 per cent. on the number of cases dealt with in this way in 1974. These figures take no account of the very large number of cases disposed of at an earlier stage in the proceedings.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he intends to lay before Parliament the interim conclusions of the sectoral studies currently being undertaken.

The interim conclusions of the sectoral studies will take the form of reports to the National Economic Development Council. The council will, no doubt, consider publication when it has seen and discussed them at its next meeting.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he is satisfied with his Department's efforts to encourage investment in the so-called bottleneck sectors of British industry.

Our efforts are already having considerable success and we hope to do more.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he has yet achieved a planning agreement with any company.

On 13th April my hon. Friend announced that eight companies had agreed to move to operative discussions on planning agreements. On 17th May I announced that three nationalised industries had also agreed to enter into planning agreement discussions. When a planning agreement has been concluded a statement to that effect will be laid before the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will issue a specific direction to the National Enterprise Board to ensure that no company which is controlled by the board cooperates in any way with the Arab Boycott of Israel Office

As the hon. Member will recall from the statement made by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Trade, Her Majesty's Government are opposed to and deplore all trade boycotts that lack international support and authority. How commercial organisations deal with particular cases is left to their commercial judgment. In these circumstances it would not be appropriate to give the NEB a direction in the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he is satisfied that the Government's regional development policies give sufficent emphasis to the need to establish and encourage local industries already located in development areas as opposed to persuading new industries to move to the assisted areas from other parts of the United Kingdom.

Yes. Regional incentives are available equally to both incoming firms and those already established in an assisted area.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will make a further statement on the future of the HS146.

As I have assured hon. Members on several occasions recently, the Government are urgently considering the company's proposals for some further limited Government expenditure.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what assistance his Department will make from public funds for the coming 12 months for research into substitutes for sperm oil.

I will consider the need for further expenditure on such research when I have received the report already commissioned from the British Leather Manufacturers' Research Association.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will itemise the research that has been carried out by his Department or with assistance from public funds into substitutes for sperm oil in the leather, lubricating, cutting and quenching oil industries since 15th March 1973.

My Department piaced a contract last year with the British Leather Manufacturers' Research Association for a study into the utilisation of sperm oil by the leather industry and the evaluation of available alternatives. I hope that it will be possible to publish the report by the end of July.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what progress is being made under the Clothing Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

The scheme has been welcomed by the industry and hope its satisfactory progress will encourage more firms to take advantage of the opportunities it offers. The most recent figures on the progress of the scheme were given in my reply to my hon. Friend on 15th June. My Department is closely monitoring the results of the scheme. The Clothing EDC will be discussing the scheme's progress to date at its next meeting in two days' time.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what were the holdings, respectively, of sterling and foreign currencies in the British Steel Corporation's balance sheet at 31st May 1976.

The British Steel Corporation had no sterling holdings on 31st May 1976. Holdings of foreign currency amounted to about £900,000 at then ruling exchange rates.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will make a tour of the major steelworks of the BSC.

Parliamentary commitments permitting, I hope to visit some BSC steelworks in the autumn.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry when he last met the Chairman of the Post Office.

On 14th June.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the current relationship between the Government and Messrs. Kearney Trecker and Marwin Limited; and if the company has been asked to conclude a planning agreement or some other form of accountability to the Government.

My Department holds preference shares in this company, as well as redeemable preference shares and half the equity in a holding company set up when the company was reconstructed in 1974. I hope to bring further proposals before the House shortly. I will bear in mind the possibility of offering a planning agreement; the company will of course continue to be accountable to the Department through the monitoring arrangements which are in force.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will make a statement on the National Enterprise Board's capital structure; and what would be the debt-to-equity ratio appropriate to its interest in those companies where the Government's shareholding has been transferred to the National Enterprise Board.

My right hon. Friend is still having discussions with the Treasury and the National Enterprise Board on an appropriate capital structure for the NEB. As for the Government's interests in companies which have been transferred to the NEB, equity that is transferred shall take the form of public dividend capital and loans that are transferred of loan capital.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how many forms requiring answers have been sent out by the Business Statistics Office in the latest 12 months for which information is available.

640,000 forms requiring answers were sent out by the Business Statistics Office in 1975.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he is satisfied with the progress of industrial development in Staffordshire.

Unemployment remains consistently below the regional and national averages. The county has received a reasonable share of available new industrial development.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he is satisfied with the progress of industrial development in Greater Manchester.

We are continually working to promote industrial development in Greater Manchester.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he is aware that the rate of unemployment in the Mexborough and District Employment Exchange area is now almost double the national average; and if he will now take immediate and adequate measures to create more jobs in the area and the surrounding districts.

I share my hon. Friend's concern about the high levels of unemployment in his constituency. Mexborough is, however, an intermediate area, and regional development grants on new industrial buildings and selective financial assistance are available to encourage investment and the creation of new jobs. The area can also benefit from the various schemes we have introduced to alleviate some of the unemployment caused by the recession.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will issue a general direction to the Post Office instructing the board to amend its policy on the closure of sub-post offices.

No. But if my hon. Friend has any particular problem in mind I shall be glad to ask the Post Office to look into it.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what discussions he is holding with the engineering industry and the concrete construction industry about possible future requirements in the field of non-conventional sources of energy.

Work on alternative sources of energy is primarily the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy, and is still largely at the research and development stage. The involvement of my Department with the engineering industry and of the Department of the Environment with the concrete construction industry concerning possible future requirements on these matters will depend on the outcome of studies on the potential of these energy sources which are at present being carried out under the auspices of the Department of Energy.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry when he will make a statement regarding the future siting of the shipbuilding headquarters of the nationalised shipbuilding industry; and if he will give an assurance that Merseyside will be given priority with regard to the matter.

My right hon. Friend will announce a decision in due course when the claims of the main shipbuilding areas have been fully considered.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what happened to the 74 options on Concorde orginally placed by 16 international airlines, which countries have dropped out; and why.

Of the 74 options for Concorde originally held by 16 airlines, nine have led to firm orders from British Airways—five aircraft—and Air France—four aircraft. Of the remaining 65 options, 38 were held by United States airlines, 12 by European airlines and the remainder by other operators. Following the cancellation of a number of options by North American airlines in 1972 and 1973, the option system has given way to a series of individual negotiations with airlines. The reasons for airlines cancelling options were specific to each airline.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how many forms are issued by his Department; how many people or organisations are invited to respond to each of them; if he will list the number of forms so issued; and what, briefly, is the general purpose of each.

The number of statistical forms issued by my Department to firms engaged in industrial production in 1975 was 556,000. Full details were given to the hon. Member for Harrow, Central (Mr. Grant) on 5th April 1976.—[Vol. 909 c. 11.]—The purpose of the inquiries is to provide a wide range of information about economic developments for use by the Government and by industry and trade and by the public generally. The statistics provide the basis, for example, for the monthly Index of Industrial Production; the quarterly national income accounts; indices of wholesale prices; statistics of sales and orders; statistics of capital expenditure, investment intentions, stock changes, and so on.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he is now able to make a statement on the proposed expansion of the Port Talbot steelworks.

I hope to do so very soon.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how much public money has been committed altogether by the Government to North East Coast Ship-repairers Limited (a) by means of equity participation and (b) by means of loans; and if he will publish the conditions under which these loans were made and the date for their repayment.

NECS was a part of the shipbuilding, ship repairing and marine engineering interests of Court Line which were taken into public ownership in September 1974 for a consideration of £16 million. The terms of the acquisition did not apportion a purchase price to each subsidiary but the Government own all the 1,800,000 £1 ordinary shares of the company. A Government loan of £750,000 was advanced to the Mercantile Dry Dock Co. Ltd., now a subsidiary of NECS, in April 1959 under the Distribution of Industry Act 1945, for the building of a new dry dock. The rate of interest is 5 per cent. and the loan is repayable in half-yearly instalments of £25,000 by 1981. It is secured by a first mortgage on the company's assets and is guaranteed by the parent company, North East Coast Shiprepairers Ltd. The company has met all the repayment instalments due.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how much public money has been committed altogether by the Government to SB Realisations Limited (a) by means of equity participation and (b) by means of loans; and if he will publish the conditions under which these loans were made and the date for their repayment.

£12·26 million. Of this £1·26 million is in shares at cost—of which 42,050 are 5 per cent. redeemable cumulative £1 preference shares—and a total of £11 million has been loaned to SB (Realisations) Ltd.'s subsidiary, Short Brothers & Harland Ltd. Interest is payable on £8·5 million at rates between 7½ per cent., and 8¾ per cent. and £2·5 million is interest free. No repayment date has been specified. The Northern Ireland Department of Commerce has also provided Short Brothers & Harland Ltd. with financial assistance.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how much public money has been committed altogether by the Government to Sunderland Shipbuilders Limited (a) by means of equity participation and (b) by means of loans; and if he will publish the conditions under which these loans were made and the date for their repayment.

The Government own the whole of the share capital of Sunderland Shipbuilders Ltd. which consists of 11,062,000 £1 shares. Loans to date total £8·5 million. The conditions and repayment terms attached to the loans are set out in note 20 to the balance sheet of the company's 1975 accounts, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how much public money has been committed altogether by the Government to Nuclear Enterprises Limited (a) by means of equity participation and (b) by means of loans; and if he will publish the conditions under which these loans were made and the date for their repayment.

In 1967 the IRC subscribed £100,000 for shares in Nuclear Enterprises Ltd. and made the company a loan of £500,000. The loan carried interest at 6·1 per cent. compounded yearly with provision for deferment of interest charges for the first two years. Full repayment of the loan is due on 31st December 1977. Further information is available in the published IRC Report and Accounts for 1967–68.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what will be the probable cost of printing company accounts, as required by Clause 1 of the Companies (No. 2) Bill [Lords], in the case of typical small companies.

The Government will be moving an amendment in Committee to delete references in Clause 1 of the Companies (No. 2) Bill to the printing of company accounts.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will advise regional tourist boards to make funds available to support socially necessary rail services in areas of tourist potential.

The railways are already receiving Government support for the rail passenger system as a whole. Where a railway line might have strong tourist significance in a particular area, it is for the RTB concerned to decide whether to supplement other forms of aid it might receive.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade (1) how many delegations his Department has received since March 1974 at ministerial level asking for selective import controls to be imposed on foreign goods;(2) how many delegations his Department has received since March 1974 at ministerial level asking for selective import controls to be imposed on Japanese goods alone; and for which goods.

Both Ministers and officials are in close touch with a number of industries about imports which are causing them problems in the home market. So far as Japan is concerned, the industries include motor cars, consumer electronic products and ball bearings. I regret that it is not possible, without disproportionate effort, to extract from the details of those meetings the number that could be said to have been with formal delegations asking for selective import controls.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what has been the total cost to the Exchequer of the import of Japanese hearing aids in each of the past five years.

No hearing aids have been imported from Japan for the National Health Service.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he has issued a consultative document on the aims and scope of company reports; if so, on what dates this was circulated to the CBI, TUC and other organisations; and why no copies are available in the House.

A preliminary draft by officials of a consultative document on the aims and scope of company reports was sent to representative organisations for their comments on 9th June. Subsequent articles in the Press generated such interest in this document that I decided to make it more widely available on 23rd June. Copies of the document have also been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what representations he has received concerning late night flying over Southampton by aeroplanes from the College of Air Training at Hamble; and if he will make a statement.

During the past week I have received eight complaints about noise disturbance from aircraft based at Hamble, night flying in particular being mentioned. We are already discussing with the college authorities what further noise abatement measures might be introduced and we shall certainly take these further representations into account. However, the old-established College of Air Training performs an essential function and, given the residential development that has been allowed in the vicinity of the airfield, it will be difficult to devise new measures that will improve the situation substantially.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the United Kingdom's percentage share of total world exports on comparable dates in 1945 and 1975.

The United Kingdom percentage share in total world exports in 1948 and 1974 was 11·5 and 4·6. 1948 is first post war and 1974 the latest year for which comprehensive information is available. The figures are drawn from the most recent United Nations Yearbook of International Trade Statistics.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what reductions there have been, following the defence cuts imposed since February 1974, in his Department's expenditure on the promotion of overseas defence sales; and what has been the effect on the number of personnel employed within the defence sales organisation, with special reference to training, quality assurance and general product support.

The size of the staff in the defence sales organisation is 368, compared with 380 in mid-1974. The cost of the organisation has increased because of the effects of wage awards and higher administrative expenses. The size of the organisation is kept under review, and support on training, quality assurance and other functions continues to be provided by the Service Departments and the procurement executive.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if, before he purchased private houses in Stanton for the use of RAF personnel at RAF Honington, he was invited by the local authority to lease or purchase surplus town development houses in Bury St. Edmunds; if so, how many such houses were offered; and what what cost.

This information is not readily available. I shall publish it in the Official Report as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if, within the limits of operational secrecy, he will state the approximate number of RAF personnel stationed at RAF Honington, giving a breakdown of their accommodation under the following or similar headings: personnel in RAF quarters on the base or in satellite housing areas, personnel in housing rented by his department from local authorities and private persons, respectively, and let to RAF families, personnel living in houses rented directly from private persons and personnel living in their own houses;(2) how many houses have been purchased over the past three years for RAF, RN and PSA personnel at RAF Honington; where these houses are situated; and how much they cost;(3) what discussions he has had with St. Edmundsbury and Forest Heath District Councils about the purchase or rental of surplus town development houses for RAF Honington; and on what dates these discussions took place.

This information is not readily available. I shall publish it in the Official Report as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many Service men of the rank of sergeant and below have retired and have been in receipt of the ex-Regular Service pension in each year since 1950.

I regret that this information is not available in the form requested. However, the numbers of sergeants and equivalent ranks and below who retired to pension in each year since 1950 and who were still alive on 31st December 1975 are as follows:

1950	…	…	1,199
1951	…	…	678
1952	…	…	777
1953	…	…	708
1954	…	…	737
1955	…	…	968
1956	…	…	846
1957	…	…	1,126
1958	…	…	2,167
1959	…	…	1,754
1960	…	…	2,134
1961	…	…	2,622
1962	…	…	2,076
1963	…	…	1,541
1964	…	…	1,468
1965	…	…	1,837
1966	…	…	1,843
1967	…	…	1,725
1968	…	…	2,952
1969	…	…	2,719
1970	…	…	2,508
1971	…	…	1,446
1972	…	…	1,609
1973	…	…	2,319
1974	…	…	2,090
1975	…	…	1,501

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total cost of ex-Regular Service pensions during the year 1975–76.

£168 million, excluding those payable to dependants.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how much furniture was purchased by his Ministry for the Armed Forces in 197475 and 1975–76; and how much he estimates will be purchased in 1976–77;(2) how many beds, bunk beds and wardrobes were purchased by his Ministry for use by the Armed Forces during 1974–75 and 1975–76; how many he estimates will be purchased during 1976–77; how many were sold by his Ministry because they were surplus to the Armed Forces' requirements, during the same years; and how many of those sold had been used and how many had only been stored;(3) how much furniture was sold as surplus to the requirements of the Armed Forces in 1974–75 and 1975–76; and how much he estimates will be sold in 1976–77;(4) to whom surplus furniture from the Armed Forces is sold; and at what depots these sales take place.

This information is not readily available. I shall publish it in the Official Report as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish in the Official Report the date on which investigations commenced relating to an Army band and the nature and extent of any Service association with the Fion Mace Publishing and Recording Company; when the investigations were completed; when he expects to receive a report; and if he will publish the evidence in the Official Report.

Investigations relating to an Army band which include the nature and extent of any Service association with Fion Music Publishing and Recording Company commenced on 28th December 1975. Investigations have not yet been completed. I hope to have a report on the outcome by the end of July, and I shall write to my hon. Friend as soon as I am able to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he is satisfied with the stocks of uniforms currently held by the Armed Forces.

Yes.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will ban the landing of crab claws torn from live crabs which are then thrown back into the sea; what weight of such crab claws have been imported into the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

Under current legislation we have no powers to prevent crabs' claws from being taken and landed. Hitherto the landing of crabs' claws does not appear to have been widespread, and precise statistics for the United Kingdom are not available. But I understand that approximately 10 tons were landed at Grimsby in October and November 1975 and there were two landings totalling 8 cwt in June 1976. Scientific advisers of my Department have been asked to investigate the possible effect upon crab stocks around the United Kingdom.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, in view of the fact that British citizens are numerically the largest group of those against whom charges were brought under the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974, he will invite Great Britain's EEC partners to introduce regulations subjecting the animals of visiting Britons to quarantine regulations similar to those applicable to people entering Great Britain, as a means of preventing British people from taking their pets with them when they go abroad.

It would be unreasonable to ask other countries to introduce regu- lations which would be uneconomical to establish and maintain and of no benefit to them. In 1975 British citizens accounted for little more than one-third of those against whom charges were brought under the rabies legislation, and over three-quarters of them acquired the animals concerned abroad.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how much has been and will be required to conduct oil and gas exploration on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf for the years 1975 to 1980, inclusive; what additional sums will be required for field developments during the same period; and if he will give a further estimate for the period 1980 to 1985.

Expenditure in 1975 on exploration for oil and gas on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf, is estimated to have been about £300 million. Future levels of expenditure on such exploration will depend upon a number of factors which I am unable to predict. These include the timing of future licensing rounds and the precise drilling obligations incorporated in those licences.In 1975, capital expenditure on development of North Sea oil and gas fields is estimated to have been about £1½ billions. Forecasts of future capital expenditure are subject to considerable uncertainty involving the future level of commercial finds, their technological requirements and costs. A recent survey of North Sea operators conducted by the Process Plant Working Party of the National Economic Development Office in conjunction with my Department indicated that their expected expenditure upon identified investment projects between 1976 and 1980 would amount to about £4 billion in last quarter 1975 prices. Other investment outlays including those on finds not yet declared commercial will certainly substantially increase this figure, but it is impossible to estimate these at this stage.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) how many exploration and appraisal wells have been drilled in the United Kingdom offshore licences; what was their total cost; and what the cost would have been to the British National Oil Corporation had it had a 51 per cent. interest in every licence;(2) what would be the cost to the British National Oil Corporation of taking a 51 per cent. interest in 30 exploration and appraisal wells drilled offshore in the United Kingdom in any year in 1976 prices.

Details of wells drilled under offshore licences are contained in Appendix 1 to the Brown Book published by my Department in April last. The total cost of drilling these wells is not available.The present average cost of drilling in the northern part of the North Sea is of the order of £3 million per well; thus the cost to British National Oil Corporation of participating to the extent of 51 per cent. in 30 such wells would be about £46 million in 1976 prices.

asked the Secretary if State for Energy whether the licencee for exploration for oil and gas in parts of Essex has begun operations; who he is; what his plans are; and what the Department's policy is.

A surface gravity survey over a licensed area including the northwest corner of Essex was carried out by the licensee, Shell UK Ltd. earlier this year; there are no plans at present for any further operations extending into Essex. The terms of licences are designed to encourage exploratory work to be completed as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he is contemplating abandoning the SGHWR.

I have regular meetings with the chairmen of our nuclear organisations to keep in touch with the SGHWR and our other reactor programmes. On the SGHWR, the industry are currently completing reference design documentation and the Atomic Energy Authority have suggested to me that this is an appropriate point to take stock of progress. They will be advising me further. At these meetings we also discuss matters of general relevance to our programmes, such as electricity demand forecasts, the role of nuclear power and our nuclear technical and industrial capability. The meetings therefore provide me with an ongoing review of our programmes.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what are his estimates of comparative costs of building a commercial SGHWR station and a station of similar capacity using light water reactor technology.

In 1974 it was estimated that the SGHWR would cost between 8 per cent. and 12 per cent. more than a light water reactor on total construction cost. The Nuclear Power Company is completing reference design documentation for the SGHWR, on the basis of which it will carry forward cost estimates.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what design or other problems are holding up the SGHWR programme which was launched a substantial time ago.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, North-East (Mr. Palmer) on 14th June.—[Vol. 913, c. 8.]

asked the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects a firm decision will be made on a continuity programme for the fast breeder reactor.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Dunbartonshire, West (Mr. Campbell) on 26th May.—[Vol. 912, c. 273.]

asked the Lord President of the Council what steps he is taking to ensure that the recommendations of the Second Report of the Select Committee on Members' Interests are fully implemented.

It will be for the House to consider the recommendations made in this report, but it is unlikely that time can be found for the report to be debated before the Summer Recess.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list separately the number of successful candidates in the recent 11-plus selection examination in Northern Ireland from (a) State primary schools and (b) voluntary Church schools.

I shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he is yet in a position to give details of new appointments to thte Police Authority for Northern Ireland other than those of chairman and vice-chairman which he has already announced.

Having consulted the various interests specified in the Police Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 I have made the following appointments for a period of three years with effect from 29th June 1976:

• John Allen, Esq.
• Russell Allen, Esq., MBE, JP
• Peter Moore Brand, Esq., B Comm MA
• Dr William Arthur Conlon, MBE
• Thomas Alexander Cromley, Esq., LLB
• Francis Boyd Gage, Esq., DL JP
• Mrs. Margaret Teresa Gallagher
• Stanley Gault, Esq.
• John Hassard, Esq., JP
• Mrs. Elizabeth Patricia Johnston
• Joseph Allen Johnston, Esq.
• Robert Beattie Martin, Esq.
• John Donall Murphy, Esq., CBE
• Robert Dewar Rolston, Esq., CBE
• Clive William Scoular, Esq.
• Bernard Sherlock, Esq., OBE JP
• Mrs. Rosemary Joan McDonnell Webb, JP

The statutory maximum membership, exclusive of the chairman and vice-chairman, is 20. I am considering one or two further appointments.The appointed membership includes nominees of local authorities, the trade unions, the Confederation of British Industry, the Ulster Farmers' Union, the Northern Ireland Chamber of Trade, the Incorporated Law Society of Northern Ireland, the universities, the Standing Committee of Youth Organisations and of the Secretary of State.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average cost of building one mile, five miles and 10 miles of motorways of three lanes and two lanes, respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average cost of motorway construction per mile, according to the latest available figures.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the cost in 1976 of constructing a mile of motorway.

I refer my hon. Friends to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Preston, North (Mr. Atkins) and to the hon. Member for Caernarvon (Mr. Wigley) on 23rd Tune 1976.—[Vol. 913, c. 515–16.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish a table showing total expenditure by local authorities in each year since 1960, at current prices and at constant prices, together with estimates for the current year;(2) if he will tabulate for each year since 1960—including estimates for the current year—expenditure by local authorities on each of the following: education, housing, personal social services, general administration, planning and loan charges at current prices and at constant prices.

Table 1 shows the available information on expenditure at current prices; it is drawn from returns by local authorities. It is not possible yet to break down the information for 1975–76 into the headings requested. Revised information for 1976–77 has been asked for. Table 2, drawn from the White Paper on Public Expenditure (Cmnd. 6393), shows expenditure at constant prices from 1970–71 onwards for the service categories used in the public expenditure survey. It contains the White Paper estimates for 1975–76 and 1976–77.

TABLE 1
LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN ENGLAND AND WALES
RATE FUND SERVICES: REVENUE EXPENDITURE AT CURRENT PRICES
£ million
		Education	Housing*	Personal social services	General administration	Town and country planning	Other	Total	Of which debt charges
1960–61	…	708	85	47	40	10	548	1,439	335
1961–62	…	783	92	52	43	11	609	1,589	386
1962–63	…	878	88	58	46	12	668	1,751	408
1963–64	…	964	89	64	48	15	732	1,912	445
1964–65	…	1,041	110	70	54	16	793	2,084	512
1965–66	…	1,198	130	80	59	21	899	2,387	594
1966–67	…	1,314	140	92	63	25	985	2,619	665
1967–68	…	1,442	147	105	68	30	1,102	2,894	740
1968–69	…	1,539	174	116	73	33	1,162	3,097	851
1969–70	…	1,694	88	124	75	40	1,252	3,273	478
1970–71	…	1,918	86	150	85	49	1,451	3,740	539
1971–72	…	2,237	48	257	92	58	1,611	4,305	581
1972–73	…	2,615	146	324	106	69	1,801	5,061	658
1973–74	…	3,038	328	439	125	88	2,130	6,148	906
1974–75†	…	4,129	490	652	146	138	2,373	7,929	1,007
1975–76†	…	4,129	490	652	146	138	2,373	10,260	1,200

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he can now announce the decision on the outline plan for the Central Lancashire New Town.

As indicated on 14th May in my reply to a similar Question from the hon. Member for North Fylde (Mr. Clegg) and also on 26th May to my hon. Friend the Member for Preston, South (Mr. Thorne)—[Vol. 911, c. 286; Vol. 912, c. 235]—I expect my right hon. Friend to make his decision on the Cen-

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total cost in salaries and fees of the paid public appointments for which he is responsible.

The total cost in the last financial year was £1,480,000.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the names and previous occupations of all those appointed to the public bodies for which he is responsible.

The names and previous occupations of all those holding full-time appointments to public bodies for which

Name		Appointment	Previous occupation
Rt. hon. Sir Richard Marsh		Chairman, British Railways Board	Chairman, Michael Saunders Management Services 1970–71.
			Director, National Carbonising Co Ltd.
			(Chairman, NCC Plant & Transport) 1970–71.
			Concord Rotoflex International Ltd 1970–71.
Mr. J. M. W. Bosworth	…	Deputy Chairman, British Railways Board.	Partner, Peat. Marwick, Mitchell & Co.
Mr. R. L. E. Lawrence	…	Vice-Chairman. British Railways Board.	General Manager, London Midland Region, British Railways Board.
Mr. H. L. Farrimond	…	Member, British Railways Board	Director of Personnel, Dunlop Ltd.
Mr. D. Fowler	…	Member, British Railways Board	Controller of Corporate Finance. British Railways Board.
Mr. J. K. Stuart	…	Member, British Transport Docks Board.	Secretary, British Transport Docks Board.
Mr. J. H. Collier-Wright	…	Member, British Transport Docks Board.	Deputy Managing Director. British Transport Docks Board.
Mr. D. A. Stringer	…	Member, British Transport Docks Board.	Deputy Managing Director, British Transport Docks Board.
Mr. A. J. Tomsett	…	Member, British Transport Docks Board.	Financial Controller, British Transport Docks Board.
Mr. D. B. Harrison	…	Vice-Chairman, Commission for Local Administration in England.	Town Clerk, Sheffield.
Mr. F. P. Cook	…	Member, Commission for Local Administration in England.	Chief Executive, English Tourist Board.
Mr. A W. Cleeve Barr	…	Managing Director, National Building Agency.	Chief Architect of the former Ministry of Housing and Local Government.
Mr. S. J. B. Skyrme	…	Member, National Bus Company	Executive Director (Manpower), National Bus Company.
Mr. J. Morris Gilford	…	Member, National Ports Council	General Manager, National Association of Port Employers.
Lady Phillips	…	President, London Rent Assessment Panel.	Barrister.
Mr. J. Muir Watt	…	Vice-President, London Rent Assessment Panel.	Deputy Secretary, Chartered Auctioneers and Estate Agents Institute.
Mr. G. D. Squibb	…	President, Transport Tribunal	Barrister.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authority employees in England and Wales earn salaries in excess of £10,000 per annum.

This information is not available centrally, but I am sure that details would be supplied on request to the hon. Member by the Local Authorities' Conditions of Service Advisory Board.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if, in view of his current strictures on local

I was not aware of the precise terms in which the Boundary Commission has replied to inquiries addressed to it on the timetable for parish proposals, but I am grateful to the hon. Member for drawing my attention to the words that he quoted, which underline what I said in my reply of 16th March—[Vol. 907, c. 466–7.]—that the commission is at present concentrating on the review of district and county electoral areas to which it is required to give priority by the Local Government Act 1972. It is desirable for parishes to be reviewed as soon as is practicable and, as I have already indicated, I intend to issue guidelines later this year to assist district coun-

		RENT REBATES		RENT ALLOWANCES		RATE REBATES
		Numbers granted	Cost	Numbers granted	Cost	Numbers granted in the financial year	Cost
Date		(thousand)	(£ million)	{thousand)	(£ million)	(thousand)	(£ million)
March 1967	…	—	—	—	—	896	13
March 1968	…	360	12	—	—	786	12
March 1969	…	350	14	—	—	792	13
March 1970	…	350	15	—	—	808	14
March 1971	…	350	18	—	—	795	15
March 1972	…	270	17	—	—	806	18
May 1973*	…	1,580	77†	130	13†	905†	23†
April 1974	…	1,800	177‡	320	25‡	910‡	28‡
January 1975	…	1,780	202	340	35	2,200	85
January 1976	…	1,900	233	430	48	Not available	—
* In 1972–73, mandatory national rent rebate and allowance schemes were introduced. From 1972–73 onwards, figures also include rent rebates and rent allowances granted to tenants receiving supplementary benefit.
† 1972–73.
‡ 1973–74.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in view of the further recent evidence of the deviousness of the infestation, he will now consider making further grants available to the Medina and South Wight Borough Councils to enable them to proceed with an adequate programme for eradicating Japanese seaweed from the harbours of the Isle of Wight.

No specific grants have been made to local authorities to deal with this problem. As I announced last year, however, I am sponsoring research into possible means of control-

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people have received rent rebates, rent allowances and rate rebates in each year since introduction of the different schemes; and what has been the cost of each in each year to date.

Estimates of the number of rebates and allowances granted in England and Wales and the annual financial year cost, excluding administrative costs, are as follows:ling the weed, and some clearance by hand is continuing. My officials are to meet the authorities concerned next month to discuss what further action may be practicable.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the report of his departmental working party on nuisance caused by uncontrolled domestic pets; and if he will make a statement.

A working party has recently been considering problems associated with dogs. As regards its report, I have nothing to add to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Mr. Cryer) on 11th May 1976.—[Vol. 911, c. 117.] There has been no study of problems associated with other domestic pets.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give an assurance that the consequences of Government action under Circular 45 on local authority overspending will fall on those authorities which actually overspend and not on those whose budgets fall within Government guidelines.

Paragraph 13 of Circular 45/76 describes the Government's approach to settling the expenditure base of grant percentage for the rate support grant settlement of 1977–78. No decisions have been taken about the distribution of the grant.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will take steps to amend the law relating to compensation for acquisition of property to enable persons removed when a council house is acquired for redevelopment to receive a fair sum for removal expenses.

Section 37 of the Land Compensation Act 1973 already enables local authorities whose tenants are displaced from their homes to make disturbance payments equal to the reasonable expenses in removing.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will take steps to amend the law to ensure that responsibility is placed on local authorities who exercise their powers to redevelop residential areas in their ownership to compensate those adversely affected by meeting the proper cost of moving from one house to another.

No. Local authorities are already responsible for meeting this cost either as part of the compensation payable on the acquisition of a compensatable interest or in certain circumstances under Section 37 of the Land Compensation Act 1973 when it is incurred by those who do not have a compensatable interest. There are also powers under Section 93 of the Housing Finance Act 1973 to pay removal expenses.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will list the statutory provisions governing the entitlement of occupiers of property forming part of a comprehensive redevelopment scheme who fall due for a disturbance allowance under the terms of the Land Compensation Act 1973 to recover the proper cost of professional assistance from the acquiring authority.

There is no specific statutory provision for reimbursing fees so incurred. It would be for the displacing authority to consider whether such fees could be regarded as a reasonable expense in removing. A claimant who is dissatisfied with the authority's decision can refer the dispute to the Lands Tribunal.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether steps are being taken as a matter of urgency to ensure that direct labour departments of local authorities are not placed at a disadvantage in tendering out for work.

Legislation on the powers of local authority direct labour organisations will be introduced as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will reconsider the use of Section 105 money for renovation, where authorities have large housing waiting lists and old property awaiting rehabilitation.

It is for individual authorities to decide how best to use their allocations under Section 105, but the study group on programmes of social ownership and renovation of council dwellings identified, among the priority categories of work, schemes of improvement of sub-standard dwellings, especially when aimed at combating homelessness or bringing back into use dwellings previously uninhabited. The need for such work was taken into account when the allocations were made. In any case, initial works on acquired property count as part of the cost of acquisition and do not count against the Section 105 allocations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the latest estimate for rent and alterations to the Temple of Peace and Health in Cardiff to fit it as the headquarters of the proposed Welsh Assembly.

As negotiations for a lease of the Temple of Peace are still proceeding, it is not possible at present to give any indication of estimated rental. The present estimate of the cost of alterations is £1,700,000, but at this stage this can only be a provisional figure.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish the letter marked "Confidential" which he wrote on 21st June to the hon. Member for Tynemouth relating to the comparative salaries of Members of Parliament and Ministers' car drivers to which he referred in his answer of 21st June.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many drivers of Ministers' official cars during a recent period of weeks when the House has been sitting have earned more than £110 in a week, including overtime.