asked the Lord President of the Council if he will invite the Serjeant at Arms to remind right hon. Members and hon. Members of the rules relating to smoking in the Lobbies.

Notices bringing Members' attention to the smoking regulations are posted in the Lower Waiting Hall, behind the Chair, in the Official Corridor and in the Ways and Means Corridor. The Serjeant at Arms is making arrangements for additional notices to be placed in the Members' Corridor leading to the Members' Lobby and in the Ways and Means Corridor.

asked the Lord President of the Council why there has been no supply of prepaid nine inch by four inch white envelopes to 3 Dean's Yard for the past 10 days; and what he proposes to do about it.

I have asked the Serjeant at Arms to get in touch with the hon. Member.

asked the Lord President of the Council what action he proposes to take in respect of the powers of the House of Lords to prevent its holding up legislation sent to them by this House.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 9th November to my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdare (Mr. Evans).—[Vol. 919, c. 100.]

asked the Lord President of the Council (1) if he will publish in the Official Report the current salaries and allowances for Ministers for foreign, financial, home and industrial affairs in Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America;(2) if he will publish in the

I have no ministerial responsibility for the salaries and allowances paid to these Ministers.

asked the Lord President of the Council on what basis decisions have been taken to award Government advertisements to the Morning Star; and whether the criteria used differs in any way from awarding such contracts to other newspapers.

Since independently audited circulation figures were provided recently by the Morning Star this newspaper will be considered for Government advertising in exactly the same way as other national newspapers.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will make a statement on the progress which has been made in transferring Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office Civil Service jobs to Glasgow under the dispersal plans.

As I told the hon. Member on 26th July, the Departments concerned are continuing to make good progress with detailed planning for the moves for which dates have already been announced, and are due to take place for the Ministry of Overseas Development in 1980 and for the Ministry of Defence in 1982 to 1984. It is expected that construction at East Kilbride will begin by the end of 1977 and at the St. Enoch site by the end of 1979.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service how many advertising agencies are on the COI approved list for handling Government advertising; and what is the procedure for adding to and substracting from the list.

The Central Office of Information employs 26 advertising agencies to handle Government advertising campaigns. These agencies are nominated to make competitive presentations for each campaign to COI and the sponsoring Department concerned on the recommendation of the independent Advisory Committee on the Appointment of Advertising Agents under the chairmanship of Sir David Barran. No contract is issued to advertising agencies for a period exceeding one year. New applications from advertising agencies wishing to be considered for Government campaigns are submitted to and examined by the Committee.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what procedure is used by the COI to ensure that agencies appointed to handle Government advertising use only commercial judgment when sub-contracting the purchase of printers' blocks.

Under present arrangements, advertising agencies appointed to handle Government campaigns are free to select suppliers. The Central Office of Information has recently written to these advertising agencies reminding them of the necessity to subcontract in such a way as to obtain the best value for money.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what was the expenditure on Government advertising in the past year; and how much of this was placed via advertising agencies.

Total Government expenditure on advertising in the financial year 1975–76 was £17,528,900, Of this, £16,124,500 was placed via advertising agencies.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service how much was spent by the COI for the purchase of printers' blocks, for use other than reproduction of advertisements in the Press, in the latest year for which figures are available.

None. All of the £665,000 mentioned in the reply I gave my hon. Friend on 11th May—[Vol. 911, c. 133–4.]—was spent for the purchase of printers' blocks and other material necessary for the reproduction of advertisements in the Press.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what is the weekly level of public service pension below which the application of the current incomes policy to public service pensions would not reduce the pension increase due to take place on 1st December; and if he will estimate the number of public service pensioners whose pensions are above and below this level.

I regret that the figures for all the public services are not readily available. However, for the Civil Service, a weekly pension of £28·99 is the highest that could be increased by 13·8 per cent. without the cash increase exceeding £4.Approximately 36,500 former civil servants and their dependants receive more than this at present, and approximately 256,000 receive less.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what is the saving to public funds in a full year of applying the current incomes policy to public sector pensions.

I regret that exact figures for all the public services are not available. However, the information for the Civil Service is as follows: The cost of increasing Civil Service pensions on 1st December by 13·8 per cent. is estimated at £31 million for a full year. If the present pay policy including the £2·50 minimum, were to be strictly applied to Civil Service pension increases, the cost in the same period would be £39 million. Thus there would be no saving to public funds, but an extra cost of £8 million. This is because a 13·8 per cent. increase will mean less than £2·50 for some 220,000 of the 293,000 in receipt of Civil Service pensions. It is reasonable to assume that the rest of the public services would follow a similar pattern.

asked the Prime Minister if he will visit Walsall.

I have at present no plans to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in the light of his Written Answer to the hon. Member for Louth on 15th October, Official Report, column 506, that while 9,924 complaints had been received by the Race Relations Board only 45 resulted in civil proceedings, he will reconsider his decision not to calculate the average cost of investigating each complaint.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints have been received by the Race Relations Board alleging racial discrimination; and how many of these complaints were upheld.

I am informed that, of the 1,478 complaints received by the Board and its conciliation committees before 25th November 1968, under the Race Relations Act 1965, 81 were substantiated; and of the 8,446 cases registered by the Board under the Race Relations Act 1968 up to 30th September 1976, an opinion of discrimination was formed in 1,768 and 241 were still under investigation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated cost to public funds of the Race Relations Board for the current year.

Provision in parliamentary Estimates for 1976–77 amounts to about £818,000 in respect of the Race Relations Board. This does not include the provision in respect of regional accommodation which, like the headquarters accommodation, is provided as an allied service and a figure for which cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost. I regret that the reply to a Question by the hon. Member on 30th June—[Vol. 914, c. 183]—did not indicate that the figure given for 1975–76 also omitted the cost of accommodation outside London.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people he expects the Commission for Racial Equality to employ by January 1980.

The staff of the Commission, when fully operational, will be approximately the same as that of the Race Relations Board and the Community Relations Commission together—200–250 staff. Future staffing will be contained within the relevant public expenditure provision included in the White Paper on Public Expenditure (Cmnd 6393).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were released from prison after serving sentencies in (a) 1973, (b) 1974 and (c) 1975.

I would refer the hon. and learned Member to the answer given on 28th October to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, South-East (Mr. Cohen).—[Vol. 918, c. 322.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the proportion of prisoners who have no family home to return to on discharge.

I regret that I cannot add to my reply to the Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, South-East (Mr. Cohen) on 28th October.—[Vol. 918, c. 322.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances the deportation of EEC and other non-Commonwealth nationals may take place by the Home Office other than on the recommendation of courts.

Section 3(5) of the Immigration Act 1971 provides for deportation if a person,

(a) having only a limited leave to enter or remain, does not observe a condition attached to the leave or remains beyond the time limited by the leave; or

(b) the Secretary of State deems his deportation to be conducive to the public good; or

(c) another person to whose family he belongs is or has been ordered to be deported.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make it his practice in future that whenever any Government announcements are made over television such statements will contain sign language interpretation to assist the deaf.

It is for the broadcasting authorities to determine to what extent the needs of viewers with impaired hearing can be met by supplementary visual techniques. I know that they give considerable thought to the problem, and a certain amount is already being done: for instance, the nightly news headline service with captions on BBC2.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours he estimates would be required to collate the average weekly sums paid in basic wages to uniformed police constables in the Metropolitan Police District during the years 1974, 1975, and the first six months of 1976, bearing in mind that these figures are already available to the Metropolitan Police.

I regret this information is not available to the Metropolitan Police and could not be obtained save at disproportionate cost. As I promised in my reply to the hon. Member's Ques- tion on 4th November—[Vol. 918, c. 657–8]—I am looking further into the matter and hope shortly to write to him.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of letters to his Department from Members of Parliament is taking four weeks or more to answer; and what were the comparable figures for a year and two years ago.

In a sample survey of such letters answered in the first nine months of this year, about 51 per cent. took 20 working days or longer to answer in full. Comparable information in respect of earlier years is not readily available. Many of the letters required inquiries to be made outside the Department before complete replies could be sent.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about the religious cult called The Bible Speaks; and what action he intends to take.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to introduce legislation to define British nationality.

Not at present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful prosecutions were brought in the last 12 months for which figures are available against illegal immigrants, the punishment for which resulted in deportation.

I assume that the hon. Member is referring to illegal entrants within the meaning of Section 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971—that is, persons unlawfully entering or seeking to enter the United Kingdom in breach of a deportation order or of the immigration laws, including persons who have so entered. An illegal entrant is deemed to have been refused leave to enter and may be removed, without recourse to prosecution or deportation, in accordance with directions given by an immigration officer.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the total number of immigrants into the United Kingdom from the following countries for each of the years 1960 to 1975; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Rhodesia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Trinidad, Barbados, Malawi, Tobago, Australia, New Zealand and Canada;(2) what was the total number of immigrants into the United Kingdom for each of the years from 1960 to 1975.

The available information will be found in the White Paper "Control of Immigration, Statistics 1975" (Cmnd. 6504) and corresponding publications for previous years. There was no control over immigration by Commonwealth citizens into the United Kingdom before 1st July 1962.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the number of illegal immigrants currently in the United Kingdom.

Because of the nature of the offence, it is inherently impossible to make a reliable estimate of the number of illegal entrants at present in the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward legislation to treat citizens of the Republic of Ireland resident in the United Kingdom on the same basis as residents from France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Denmark.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the 211 research projects commenced since 1968 have been published and made available to the general public; and how many of the 28 concerned with long-term prisoners mentioned in his reply to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East on 11th November are publicly available.

Reports are known to have been published, either in whole or in part, of 39 research projects, four of which relate to long-term prisoners. The right to publish the result of about half the projects rests with outside agencies or individuals, and it is not possible without extensive inquiries to determine how many of these have been published.

asked the Minister for Overseas Development if he will list in the Official Report the various ways in which direct or indirect assistance is currently being given or is projected for the next 12 months by Great Britain to the underdeveloped countries, naming the countries and quantifying the benefit of that assistance in financial terms.

Assistance is given in ways best suited to the particular needs of recipient countries. Full details for 1974 of the countries concerned, the amounts disbursed and the forms of assistance provided are contained in "British Aid Statistics 1970–74", a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. In 1975, for which preliminary figures are now available, 69 per cent. of our aid was bilateral, 31 per cent. loan, 16 per cent. grant and 22 per cent. technical co-operation. The remaining 31 per cent. was distributed through multilateral agencies. The agreed net aid programme for 1976–77 is £515·8 million.

asked the Minister for Overseas Development why the recent advertisement for a consumer protection officer for Gibraltar did not appear in Gibraltar; and why the advertisement did not state that knowledge of Spanish would be an advantage.

This post is being filled under technical co-operation arrangements, by which Britain supplies experts to work overseas until local staff can be trained. The Gibraltar Government hope that in due course the post can be filled by a local appointee and are looking at the possibility of arranging for suitable training accordingly. Qualifications for the post were primarily a matter for the Gibraltar Government, who in this case did not specify a language requirement.

asked the Minister for Overseas Development what is the cost of transferring the office of the Directorate of Overseas Surveys from Tolworth to Glasgow; and how many personnel are involved.

A current estimate of the cost of a site in the Glasgow area, a new building and the moving of equipment is about £2·5 million. At the time of the move the establishment of the directorate is expected to be about 360.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will make a statement about the strike at North East Polytechnic, London; and for how long it has been going on.

I understand that the dispute, which started at the beginning of the current academic year, concerns non-teaching staff of the polytechnic who are anxious about, amongst other things, the possible health risk associated with some asbestos boarding, installed as a precaution against fire in one of the buildings. This is entirely a matter for the polytechnic which is considering certain requests in readiness for a meeting next week with those concerned. I hope the dispute can now be settled quickly.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of letters to her Department from Members of Parliament is taking four weeks or more to answer; and what were the comparable figures for a year and two years ago.

This information is not readily available and could not be obtained without disproportionate costs to my Department as it would in- volve analysing around 20,000 letters. Every effort is made to ensure that replies to Members' letters are provided without undue delay.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will ask the Arts Council to make it a condition of grant that annual reports and accounts of all subsidised bodies shall disclose to the Council all salaries and any other forms of reward or remuneration paid to all persons employed or otherwise engaged.

The form and content of published accounts of clients of the Arts Council are a matter for each company concerned, under the provisions of the Companies Acts. It is for the Council to determine the conditions of its grants; and my noble Friend and I see no ground for intervention in this process. I understand that the Council conducts a close scrutiny of its client's budgets, before agreeing offers of grants or financial guarantees.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the cost of: (a) abolishing means tests on mandatory awards, (b) making all discretionary awards full non-means-tested mandatory awards, (c) making all discretionary awards into mandatory awards as currently constituted and (d) making all discretionary awards full non-means-tested mandatory awards if one abolishes the student child tax allowance.

For 1976–77, the approximate costs are estimated to be (a) £105 million, (b) £16 million, (c) £1 million and (d) £9 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many types of discretionary awards exist; how many students receive discretionary awards; and what is the cost of discretionary awards.

Local education authorities make discretionary awards either under Section 1(4) or Section 2 of the Education Act 1962. In 1974–75 they made some 50,000 discretionary major awards at a cost of about £26 million; these exclude awards for HND courses which are now mandatory.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what percentage of students on mandatory awards do not receive the full amount of the award; and what estimate her Department has made of the percentage of parents who do not pay the full parental contribution.

It is estimated that about 75 per cent. of these students have their awards reduced because of a parental contribution assessment and that of these about 70 per cent. do not receive the parental contribution in full. Thus, about half the students do not receive the full amount of the award. A survey of student income and expenditure giving further details will be published later this week.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what cut-backs there have been in the grants of mature students re-entering higher and further education and what cut-backs have occurred in the numbers of such students.

There has been no cut-back in the levels of mandatory grants for mature or other students. Information is not available about the levels of discretionary awards nor about the number of mature students enrolled for courses in the current academic year.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what steps he will take to ensure that the EEC may benefit from British experience in the production of producer gas from coal, following the recent agreement between Belgium and West Germany to undertake joint research.

The manufacture of producer gas from certain types of coal utilises the established technology of air-blown gasification. The National Coal Board is currently engaged in research funded jointly with the ECSC on extending the range of coals which can be used in the production of these low BTU gases. The results of its investigations will be available to the ECSC member countries, which include Belgium and West Germany.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will publish in the Official Report the location and number of new provings of coal reserves which have been established during the last two years, and with his estimate of the size o f the reserves available for extraction in each case.

In the period between July 1974 and November 1976 the NCB drilled 290 deep bore-holes of which 174 were in areas of possible new mines.The Selby reserves were located some three to four years ago. The other major new prospects located, together with the likely potentional economically recoverable reserves, are:

Vale of Belvoir and East Leicestershire
	500 million tons
Park (Staffs)	100 million tons
S. West Coventry	100 million tons
Margam (S. Wales)	30 million tons
Musselburgh (Scotland)	50 million tons

A large number of other new prospects have been the subject of initial exploration, but, in these cases, it is not yet possible to specify the new reserves. There has also been extensive exploration at a large number of existing mines as a result of which their reserves have been extended by approximately 500 million tons.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the current daily oil and gas production from the Scottish jurisdiction area of the North Sea; what is now the estimated production for the next 12 months; and what are the foreign exchange benefits, market values and revenue yields for both aspects.

The figures given below are for the United Kingdom Continental Shelf where there are no sectors.United Kingdom oil production during September, the latest period for which detailed figures are available, was 303,176 barrels per day—bpd. And by the end of the year is expected to be over 400,000 bpd. Total United Kingdom oil production in 1977 is forecast to be 35 to 45 million tonnes.The quotation of a current daily production rate for gas would be misleading. Average production in the first nine months of 1976 from United Kingdom North Sea gasfields was 3,500 million cubic feet per day—mcfd. The average is expected to rise to 3,900 mcfd for the whole of 1976 and to be a little higher in 1977.The foreign exchange benefit of the United Kingdom's 1977 production of oil and gas, measured in oil equivalent, is estimated to be over £4,000 million. The market value of the United Kingdom's 1977 production of oil and gas is estimated to be over £4,000 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how many oil and gas well tests and completions in the Scottish jurisdiction area of the North Sea have been reported since the enactment of the Petroleum and Submarine Pipelines Act 1975.

As my predecessor said in answer to a Question on 22nd January—[Vol. 903, c. 552–3.]—there are no sectors within the United Kingdom Continental Shelf, but, because of the three systems of law in the United Kingdom it is necessary to define the areas of their respective jurisdictions. The resulting divisions are solely for this purpose.Records of well activity are kept on a geographical basis. In the area of the Northern North Sea and the area West of Shetland, 31 wells have tested oil with associated gas since 1st January 1976 when the Petroleum and Submarine Pipelines Act 1975 came into force. In addition, 21 wells have been completed as oil producers; none have tested gas alone.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give a general direction to the Chairman of the National Coal Board that all steps must be taken to prevent the abuse of allowances for travel by employees in the industry.

No. This is a matter of day-to-day administration by the Board of agreements reached under the industry's negotiating procedures and of an arbitration award.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy why two Paraffin (Maximum Retail Price) Orders have been laid within five months of each other; and why the earlier order did not anticipate the later one.

Increases in the maximum retail price of paraffin are normally made following proposals received from the oil companies arising from their prenotification to the Price Commission of price increases of all oil products. Such prenotifications cannot be anticipated.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy in view of the imminent price increases of crude oil scheduled by OPEC to take place next month whether he will defer the Paraffin (Maximum Retail Prices) (Amendment) Order 1976 No. 1840, several months to incorporate any further adjustment of paraffin prices, or whether he intends to issue a further and third order early in the New Year.

The Paraffin (Maximum Retail Prices) (Amendment) Order 1976 No. 1840 is already in operation. Further amendments will be made should they become necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on his attitude towards the siting of reactors in nuclear parks.

This has been suggested as a possible scenario for the future development of nuclear power.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what response he has had to the invitation he extended in reply to a Parliamentary Question on 26th May for nominations of, or personal applications from, suitable persons interested in public appointments to the nationalised industry boards for which he is responsible.

A number of names have been put to me since I answered my hon. Friend's earlier question—[Vol. 912, c. 273]. As I made clear then, I am always glad to receive further nominations or applications so that a more representative list of potential appointees can be drawn up.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what advice he has given to the Shell-Esso combine on choosing a site for building a natural gas liquids separation plant.

None. The companies have announced that their recent decision to apply for planning permission to construct a separation plant at Mossmorran near Cowdenbeath, Fife, was based on an assessment of their commercial and operational requirements.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what surveys have been carried out of British coalfields to determine what volume of manufactured gases could now be obtained from this source.

All coals occurring in Britain could be gasified by one means or another. The extent of the considerable British reserves is not known with sufficient accuracy for a meaningful estimate to be made of the quantity of gas which could be produced.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will move to set up a permanent Select Committee to supervise and inquire into the nuclear power programme.

The appointment of Select Committees is a matter for the House. But, given the studies being carried out by the Select Committee on Science and Technology, I see no reason to recommend that a new Select Committee be set up.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the procedure for registering complaints against the Atomic Energy Authority Special Constables' Security Service.

Complaints should be made to the Authority's Chief Constable either directly or through one of his officers. The procedure for dealing with complaints is similar to that used in other constabularies, and the Authority has indicated that it will apply to its Force the new procedures provided by the Police Act 1976 once those are in operation. Comparable arrangements will be made in Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the accountability of the Atomic Energy Authority Special Constables Force to Parliament.

Day-to-day management of the force is a matter for the AEA which, under the Special Constables Act 1923, has exclusive control of its constables. As was stated in Coe House on 4th May 1976, the Authority is responsible to Parliament through my right hon. Friend who will be ready to answer in Parliament for any incident, apart from training, in which weapons are fired by the AEA Police.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what progress is being made with the experiments on the generation of energy by the tides and waves.

Two studies on tidal power have been commissioned by the Department. The first is an assessment of the effects of a barrage on the tidal regime in and around the Severn Estuary and the second is an examination of the problems of making a closure. Both studies are now well advanced and my right hon. Friend expects to receive reports in the near future and to publish them.The progress on wave energy research was given to the House on 25th October.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will define the powers and duties and terms of reference of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate.

The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is part of the Health and Safety Executive whose functions are derived from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Inspectors are appointed by the Health and Safety Executive to carry into effect the relevant statutory provisions within its field of responsibility and have powers which are specified in the Act. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is mainly concerned with the execution and enforcement of the relevant statutory provisions which govern the licensing and inspection of nuclear installations.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will estimate the cost of a 51 per cent. share by the British National Oil Corporation in the exploration and development of the blocks offered in the fifth round of offshore licensing; and if he will make a statement on his proposals for raising such capital.

The cost of BNOC's contribution in respect of blocks licensed under the fifth round will depend on the drilling obligations agreed with successful applicants and on the number, size and location of commercial discoveries. In addition to the funds available in the National Oil Account, the Corporation may, under the provisions of the Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-Lines Act 1975, either borrow in sterling through my right hon. Friend from the NLF or in any currency from a person other than him. It is too early to say what combination of these possible sources of funds the BNOC might utilise.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many Rugby League grounds have a crowd capacity of more than 10,000; and how many have had an average attendance of more than 10,000 during the current season.

I am informed that 30 Rugby League grounds have a crowd capacity of more than 10,000 but that average attendances so far this season have not reached this figure at any ground.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many Rugby Union grounds have a crowd capacity of more than 10,000; and how many have had an average attendance of more than 10,000 this season.

I am informed that about 15 Rugby Union football grounds in England have a crowd capacity of more than 10,000. Accurate attendance figures are not available, but it is thought that average attendances so far this season have not reached this figure at any ground.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many county cricket grounds have a crowd capacity of more than 10,000; and how many have had an average attendance of more than 10,000 during the 1976 season.

I am informed that six county grounds have a capacity of more than 10,000. It is thought that none had an average attendance of more than this figure last season.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many multi-purpose sports stadia have a capacity of more than 10,000.

I am making inquiries and will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what advanced machinery and techniques are to be used in the cleaning of the lake in St. James's Park.

The contractors use special flexible dams made of structural steel frames covered with plastic sheeting. The lake is divided into sections so that water from the area being dealt with can be pumped into the other sections and retained there. When the contractors judge that the silt is of the right consistency, it is pumped by suction into sealed tankers, thus avoiding spillage which would be offensive in this heavily used part of the Royal parks. The concrete base of the lake is then cleaned and the water is returned.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what would be the cost to public funds of cleaning all the lakes in the London parks for which he is responsible if such an operation were conducted at the same rate as that for cleaning the lake in St. James's Park.

No estimate of this cost is available. It would not be meaningful to apply the rate for the cleaning of the St. James's Park lake to other lakes because conditions vary and different methods are called for. There are many lakes in the Royal parks, the majority of which have never had to be cleaned, nor is there any expectation that they will have to be cleaned in the foreseeable future.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what consultations were held with representatives of the management of each of the various water companies in England and Wales prior to the decision to promote legislation to secure their absorption into the regional water authorities;(2) in the light of the Government's commitment to industrial democracy, if he will now take steps to ensure full consultation with employees in each of the various water companies in England and Wales with a view to ensuring that where the majority of the employees are opposed to the present proposals for the company's absorption into the appropriate regional water authorities, that company should not be so absorbed against the wishes of the majority of its employees;(3) what consultations have been held with representatives of the employees of each of the various water companies in England and Wales prior to the decision to promote legislation to secure their absorption into the regional water authorities.

The consultative document "Review of the Water Industry in England and Wales" announced the Government's intention to integrate the private water companies with the regional water authorities, and invited views on the method and timing of such an integration. I am at present studying responses to the consultative document, and will take them into account when drawing up plans to implement the Government's proposals.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment in his proposed rationalisation of local authority direct labour departments, what investigations have been undertaken by his Department into their efficiency and productivity in comparison with that of independent commercial building firms.

In dealing with the question of efficiency I intend, among other things, to establish a financial objective supported by charging, tendering and accounting requirements for the future operation of direct labour organisations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in his proposed rationalisation of local authority direct labour organisations, he will take into account the fact that losses are made by various direct labour departments of local authorities; and if he will consider transferring these functions to independent commercial organisations.

I am aware that there have been cases where rate funds have had to carry additional costs arising from the operation of both direct works building contracts and private contractors employed by local authorities. There have been other cases where savings have been achieved. Under the proposed legislation the intention is that a local authority should keep a separate account in relation to its DLO activities. And we shall ensure that all appropriate costs, including overheads, are taken into account. The organisations will remain a part of their local authority, but I propose to examine their possible development into more widely based organisations for the future.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to review the rateable value limitations on eligibility for improvement grants.

The limits are kept under continuous review.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of letters to his Department from Members of Parliament is taking four weeks or more to answer; and what were the comparable figures for a year and two years ago.

I will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if it is possible for an order to be made placing an animal which is less rare in Scotland than in England and Wales under the protection of the Conservation of Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act 1975.

Yes, provided its status as a British wild creature is being endangered by an action designated as an offence under the Act.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what are the estimated costs of carrying out the pilot housing survey currently being undertaken by his Department in the South Norfolk area;(2) if he will give further details of the particular purpose of the pilot housing survey currently being undertaken in the South Norfolk area, bearing in mind that the stated objective is to enable the Department to see whether the questions are properly worded;(3) why it was considered necessary to send a Government pencil to all respondents receiving the questionnaire on the pilot housing survey sent to the South Norfolk area.

The need for, and methods of obtaining, broadly based key housing information is being considered particularly in the context of the housing policy review. The purpose of the small pilot survey in South Norfolk was to test questionnaire design and the relative efficiency of household interviewer and postal enquiries in rural conditions. The total cost of the pilot is £2,500. A pencil was sent with the postal inquiries because it is more efficient when handling questionnaires designed for optical mark sensor reading to use an appropriate type of pencil.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement outlining all nationality differentials existing in the pay and conditions of employees of his Department and the Property Services Agency in Gibraltar.

The pay and conditions of service of PSA staff in Gibraltar are similar to those of Ministry of Defence employees, and I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Ministry of Defence today.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many houses and industrial premises are under construction in the area of the Central Lancashire New Town.

The Development Corporation has under construction 1,876 houses, and 26 factories providing when completed 194,000 square feet of floor area.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many hectares of agricultural land have been acquired by the Central Lancashire New Town Development Corporation; and how many of these are still in production.

The Development Corporation has acquired 3,500 hectares of land. There is no information available as to what part of this land was originally agricultural, but 2,700 hectares are currently in agricultural use.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money has been loaned to the Central Lancashire New Town Development Corporation; and what is the annual amount of the interest charge thereon.

The Development Corporation's long-term loans to 31st March 1976 amounted to £48 million. These loans are repayable over 60 years by equal half-yearly instalments of interest and principal combined, the rate of interest on any loan being fixed when the loan is taken up. The average rate of interest being paid by the corporation at 31st March was 13.97 per cent.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will enlarge the terms of reference of the Location of Offices Bureau to encourage firms to move from London and the South-East to the North-West and other assisted area.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State the Member for Greenwich (Mr. Barnett) gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Moss Side (Mr. Hatton) on 2nd November.—[Vol. 918, c. 528.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in the Official Report the recommendations for action by the Government made in the NEDO working sector report for the construction steelwork industry together with details of action taken by the Government to implement those recommendations.

The recommendations made by the Constructional Steelwork Sector Working Party for action by Government, and details of the action which has been taken, are given below.

Recommendation.—Finance should be made available to allow the British Steel Corporation's strategic stockpile to be further extended in 1976–77.

Action.—The Government have agreed to increased expenditure of £50 million and so provide additional finance for BSC to increase stocks against the foreseen period of high demand.

Recommendation.—The Government should ensure that the contribution new buildings make to productive efficiency is fully examined by Government and industry when formulating schemes under the Industry Act, and that any existing discrimination against investment in buildings under such schemes be removed.

Action.—The Government recognise the contribution which new buildings can make to production efficiency. The appropriate rate of grant for new building, and its relationship with that for plant and machinery, is considered in the context of the overall needs of individual schemes.

Recommendation.—The Government should consider ways and means of ensuring that national and local planning regulations and control are as streamlined as possible and that there are no avoidable administrative bottleneck sto private industrial development.

Action.—The procedures are kept under review and local planning authorities have been advised of ways to help speed up decisions on planning applications. They have been asked to give priority to applications for significant industrial development.

Recommendation.—Local authorities should be encouraged to identify, in conjunction with local industry if necessary, land needs for industrial development and to ensure that land purchased meets these needs.

Action.—Local authorities have been asked to consider the needs of industry in their activities under the Community Land Act and to set up appropriate local consultation arrangements.

Recommendation.—The Department of the Environment should consider action to increase the share of bridge building projects executed in steel where price factors are evenly balanced as between competing media.

Action.—The Department of Transport will meet the British Constructional Steelwork Association on 17th December to discuss the issues raised on bridge building projects.

Recommendation—The New British Standard 153, which brings together and updates the design codes for bridges, be issued as soon as practicable.

Action.—The British Standards Institution has been asked to publish the standard as soon as it is technically feasible to do so.

Recommendation.—Approval be given as a matter of urgency to the construction of at least one of the major new steelmaking facilities sought by British Steel Corporation.

Action.—British Steel Corporation is now urgently reviewing the question of future investment at Port Talbot and future plate mill investment elsewhere.

Recommendations.—The case for extending the use of nomination in constructional steelwork contracts be re-examined in detail.

Further investigation of the question of progress payments be undertaken with a view to helping the industry's cash flow as far as practicable in the circumstances.

Action.—These matters are under consideration in the light of further discussions which have been held with the industry.

Recommendation.—The Department of the Environment, in conjunction with the industry, should consider what further action can be taken to promote speedy financial settlement on contracts.

Action.—The attention of Government Departments and local authorities has previously been drawn to the importance of settling accounts promptly and further reminders will be given as appropriate.

Recommendations.—Export Credits Guarantee Department's cost escalation facilities be amended so that steelwork is regarded as a capital project in its own right and the minimum contract value is reduced to £250,000 with a one-year manufacturing period.

ECGD pre-shipment finance provisions be amended so that projects of value over £250,000 with a manufacturing period of six months or more are eligible.

Further consideration be given to alleviating the strain on a manufacturer's financial resources arising from bid and performance bonds.

The ECGD cost escalation cover provisions be increased to reduce the inflation risks borne by the manufacturer to 5 or 10 per cent. of the amount above the threshold.

The ECGD scheme for participant's insolvency cover be provided at a lower premium.

Action.—These recommendations are being studied in the context of the wider questions of finance for exports. Some improvement to ECGD's bond facilities was announced on 3rd November.

Recommendation.—Orders for new industrial premises should be brought forward in the short term, whether by more publicity for, and greater flexibility in, the accelerated investment scheme and, possibly, a later closing date, or by means of time-limited industrial development certificate relaxations or by extending the advance factory programme.

ROCHFORD DISTRICT COUNCIL
	Year
	1973–74	1974–75	1975–76
Number of domestic hereditaments at 1st April	23,620	23,723	23,962
	(April-September)	(April-September)	Recipients at 31st March 1976
Number of rebate recipients	1,562	3,331	3,406
	(October-March)	(October-March)
	1,484	2,748

MALDON DISTRICT COUNCIL
	Year
	1973–74	1974–75	1975–76
Number of domestic hereditaments at 1st April	15,881	16,054	16,413
	(April-September)	(April-September)	Recipients at 31st March 1976
Number of rebate recipients	1,003	1,657	1,919
	(October-March)	(October-March)
	972	1,747

The precise number of ratepayers is not known.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport why it would be impractical for the police and courts to make a distinction between the treatment of offenders against the temporary 50 and 60 mph speed limits, and offenders against other speed limits.

The saving of energy was the primary aim in introducing the 50 and 60 mph speed limits, but safety considerations were also involved. The attempt to distinguish the weight of these considerations for particular roads on particular occasions would create many diffi-

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what has been the total number of domestic ratepayers over the past three years in the Rochford District Council area; and of these how many have received rate rebates in each of those years concerned;(2) what has been the total number of domestic ratepayers over the past three years in the Maldon District Council; and of these how many have received rate rebates in each of those years concerned.

As follows:culties. I am writing about this in more detail to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates he has made of recent changes in the pattern of commuter travel, as between the use of private cars and the use of public transport.

This information will not be available until the 1975–76 National Travel Survey results have been processed early in 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if, following his answer to the hon. Member for Louth (Mr. Brotherton) on 17th February he will indicate the extra traffic and increased revenue obtained from the change of name of BRS Parcels Limited to Roadline UK Limited; what was the value of the increased revenue; and what other reasons there were for the change of name.

This is a matter of management for the National Freight Corporation.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport why he agreed that the order for 30 locomotives given to Hawker-Siddeley by British Rail should be manufactured in Romania.

Because this solution best met British Rail's requirements.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport, in view of the recent cut-back in the road building programme, if he will give an assurance that bypasses for as many villages as possible which are located on main trunk roads will be given high priority, in order to relieve them of the burden of heavy traffic.

I am giving priority to schemes offering the highest economic, social and environmental benefits. But I share the hon. Member's concern and taking heavy traffic out of towns and villages remains one of the programme's major aims.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give an up-to-date estimate of the capital and running costs of the proposed Scottish Assembly which takes account of inflation and policy changes since the publication of the White Paper on Devolution.

I would ask the hon. Member to await the Explanatory and Financial Memorandum to the Devolution Bill which will be published shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the latest esti- mate of the total net cost which will fall on the taxpayers consequent upon the setting up of a Scottish Assembly.

I have nothing to add to the reply given today to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr. Taylor).

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the McCann Committee; and if he will make a statement.

My Department made inquiries in March this year, from which it is clear that education authorities in general have taken the recommendations of the Committee on the Secondary Education of Physically Handicapped Children in Scotland seriously and are doing what they can to implement them and to follow the general guidance of the report. I shall continue to keep the position under review, but it must be recognised that progress is subject to two limiting factors—the current severe restriction of the resources available to authorities, and the fact that some of the more important recommendations relate to matters within the remit of the Warnock Committee.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total net cost to public funds of the McCann Committee, including the net cost of the publication of the report.

The estimated total cost of this committee was about £4,000. Printing the report cost £855 and 1,103 copies have so far been sold for a total of £949.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the Bulk Transport of Milk (Scotland) Order 1976.

The Bulk Transport of Milk (Scotland) Order 1976 replaces and revokes the Bulk Transport of Milk (Scotland) Order 1963 which was made on 1st October 1963 and came into operation on 1st January 1964 but which was inadvertently not laid before the House as required by law. Section 6 of the Milk and Dairies (Amendment) Act 1922 as read with Section 14 in its application to Scotland provides that all orders relating to milk and dairies made under the 1922 Act or under any other enactment shall be laid before each House of Parliament

"as soon as may be after they are made".

The 1963 order, which is clearly an order relating to milk and dairies, was made under Section12(2) of the Milk and Dairies (Scotland) Act 1914, and, therefore, falls within the reference to orders made under "any other enactment". It should, therefore, have been laid after it was made. This provision of the 1922 Act was overlooked when the earlier order was made in 1963. The omission recently came to light when consideration was being given to another order also to be made under Section 12(2) of the 1914 Act. In view of the time which has elapsed since the order was made I am advised that the right course is for it to be revoked and to be replaced by a new order. The provisions of the new order are identical with those of the 1963 order. I am advised that failure to lay the order did not prevent it from having full legal effect from the date of coming into operation specified in the order. Contravention of its provisions is the subject of criminal sanctions, but inquiries made indicate there have been no prosecutions for breach of the order.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied with the expansion of agriculture in the period since the publication of "Food From Our Own Resources", Command Paper No. 6020, April 1975.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mr. Corbett) on 4th November 1976.—[Vol. 918, c. 672–3.]

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many fat cows were exported live to the EEC countries during the last nine months; and if he will make a statement.

Between January and September 1976, 6,433 fat cows were exported live to other EEC countries compared with 18,550 in the same period last year. This reduction was due largely to the increase in cow slaughterings on the Continent last summer as a result of the drought, and decreased culling of cows in the United Kingdom.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many fat cows were exported in carcase form to the EEC countries during the last nine months; and if he will make a statement.

I regret that this information is not available because official trade statistics do not distinguish this commodity separately.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any plans to set up a land bank; and if he will make a statement.

No.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list in the Official Report the recommendations for action by the Government made in the NEDO working sector report for the food and drinks industry together with details of the action taken by the Government to implement those recommendations.

The interim report of the Food and Drink Manufacturing Industry Economic Development Council recommended that Government should (a) amend the price controls so as to provide companies with a greater ability and incentive for investment; (b) continue to press in GATT and elsewhere for a reduction in restrictions on United Kingdom food and drink exports; (c) maintain the necessary balance between the interests of consumers, users and producers when considering the parity of the green pound but work to reduce the current unfair competitive advantage provided to Danish and Dutch pig producers by the present method of calculating pig-meat MCAs; (d) give the Weights and Measures Bill sufficient priority in its legislative programme for it to be enacted in this Session.Action has been taken as follows:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the normal length of time between the import and export of live cattle and meat to and from the Irish Republic and Great Britain and the payment or repayment of MCAs by the United Kingdom and by the Irish Republic.

The authorities in the Irish Republic are responsible for both the collection of their MCA levy and the payment of the United Kingdom MCA refund on exports of cattle and meat to Great Britain. I understand that the

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list on a weekly basis and by category the numbers of live cattle imported into Great Britain from the Republic of Ireland since 31st August 1976 until the latest available date giving for each category and week the MCAs paid by weight and in total.

The numbers of cattle from the Irish Republic inspected on arrival in Great Britain and the rates of MCA payable were as follows:Republic's MCA is collected at the time of export and that the United Kingdom MCA is paid at a later date when the authorities in the Republic are satisfied that payment is due. It would be inappropriate for me to try to estimate the normal interval between date of export and the date of payment by the Republic authorities.There have been no exports of beef from Great Britain to the Irish Republic in the past year and none of cattle apart from breeding stock.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what is the percentage of the total European Farm Fund grant made to Great Britain this year which has been earmarked for Northern Ireland;(2) what was the full amount of the grant from the European Farm Fund allocated to Great Britain so far this year.

From 1st January to 31st October 1976, the United Kingdom received £163,786,616 net from the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. These receipts cannot be apportioned between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. From 1st January to 12th November 1976 the United Kingdom received £4,804,502 from the guidance section of the fund as a contribution towards expenditure on common and special measures. The Northern Ireland share of this was £210,764 or about 4.4 per cent. In the same period the European Commission also committed £9,817,710 for grants under the guidance section to individual projects in the United Kingdom, of which the Northern Ireland share was £2,707,755 or about 27·6 per cent.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans to build an advance factory in Borth, Ceredigion; and if he will make a statement.

I have no plans at present. When and if there are any new advance factories for Ceredigion I will announce them to the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give an assurance that, as the materials used by Community countries in the new European passport will not necessarily be identical, the British European passport will incorporate a similar hard cover to the current British passport.

The European Economic Community uniform passport will remain a national passport issued by each member State. Governments will harmonise the design, but we expect them to continue to issue passports in their own materials. The British Government have given no consideration to a change in the material used for the cover.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Comonwealth Affairs how many British passports have been reported by their owners to the Passport Office as having been lost by the United States Embassy in London during processing for United States visas for the last 12 months period.

Precise figures are not available, but I can say that it has been extremely rare for the United States Embassy to lose a British passport irretrievably. The hon. Member probably has in mind a number of cases which arose this summer where, because the United States Embassy was unable readily to locate a British passport within its visa-issuing processes, a replacement had to be issued to meet an urgent travel need. I am glad to say those difficulties have now been resolved.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will list the various ways in which direct or indirect assistance is currently being given, or is projected for the next 12 months, by Great Britain to the USSR and other countries of the Eastern bloc, quantifying the benefit of that assistance in financial terms.

The United Kingdom provides no financial assistance to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics nor to the other members of the Warsaw Pact.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications from immigrants claiming they are entitled to settle in the United Kingdom are currently under consideration at embassy offices in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh; and how long applicants must wait for an interview by an entry clearance officer.

The numbers of outstanding applications from persons seeking entry clearance to join sponsors in the United Kingdom for settlement are approximately—

Pakistan	14,000
India	5,000
Bangladesh	17,000

Precise figures are not available, because in some cases it has been necessary to estimate numbers of dependants. Fiancées and fiancées of persons already settled in the United Kingdom are not included because such applicants are normally admitted temporarily, in the first instance pending marriage.The waiting times for an entry certificate interview are—

Pakistan	13 months
India (at Delhi	8 months
and at Bombay)	16 months
Bangladesh	23 months

All posts have arrangements under which they grant earlier interviews to certain categories and in cases where there are strong and exceptional compassionate grounds.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications from immigrants claiming entitlement to settle in the United Kingdom were handled by entry clearance officers in: (a) Pakistan, (b) India and (c) Bangladesh for the first nine months of 1976; and how many applications were rejected.

During the first nine months of 1976 our posts in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh handled and rejected the following numbers of entry clearance applications for settlement.

	Handled	Refused
Pakistan	13,281	1,970
India	9,133	876
Bangladesh	7,968	1,127

NB. These figures cover only applicants for settlement and do not include fiancés or fiancées who are normally accepted on a temporary basis in the first instance pending marriage.