asked the Secretary of State for Energy when he proposes to appoint any consulting engineers as certifying authorities for the certification of offshore installations.

When my right hon. Friend's predecessor announced the appointment of the present five certifying authorities he also said that he was considering making a limited number of further appointments from among consulting engineers. The reason was not dissatisfaction with the certifying authorities whom he had just appointed, but a wish to bring groups based on civil engineering expertise directly into the field of certification, as well as ship classification societies. My right hon. Friend is accordingly appointing Halcrow, Ewbank and Associates Certification Group as a certifying authority under the provisions of the Offshore Installations (Construction and Survey) Regulations 1974. The group has been formed by Sir William Halcrow and Partners with Ewbank and Partners Ltd., Harris and Sutherland, Burness. Corlett and Partners Ltd., and Messrs. Sandberg.Following representations from the Association of Consulting Engineers on such further appointments it was agreed that the association should set up an independent committee comprising members nominated by the presidents of the principal engineering institutions which would draw up a very limited list of candidates from among consulting engineers for my right hon. Friend's consideration. In agreeing to this course the then Under-Secretary of State said that, to ensure new appointees were measured against the same standards as those used to assess the suitability of the present five certifying authorities, our Offshore Installations Technical Advisory Committee would independently have to assess the suitability of those put forward. The independent committee was led by Professor Sir Owen Saunders and put forward, in strict confidence, a limited list of candidates as requested.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the cost of the new Government laboratory at Cockermouth.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 17th November 1976; Vol.919, c. 612], gave the following information:As my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State told the hon. Member for Chislehurst (Mr. Sims) on 12th November—[

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to call in the planning application by British Nuclear Fuels Limited to develop land at Windscale.

I am still considering this matter and I have directed the Cumbria County Council not to grant permission on the application until I have reached my decision.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish the booklet of advice for householders on obtaining planning permission.

The booklet entitled "Planning Permission—A Guide for Householders" is published today. Local authorities are being notified of its publication in a joint circular issued by the Department of the Environment and the Welsh Office also published today (DoE Circular 108/76: Welsh Office Circular 166/76). The booklet gives the householder guidance on whether a planning application is required for the various types of development which he may wish to carry out on or around his house, and also information about how to apply for planning permission.

asked the Secretary of State for social Services what priority he accords to maintaining and improving community child health services.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the Official Report the estimates from the Family Expenditure Survey of the numbers of (i) households and (ii) persons who in 1975, were living on incomes (a) below the supplementary benefit level, (b) at the supplementary benefit level and (c) on incomes up to 140 per cent. of the supplementary benefit level.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 12th November 1976; Vol. 919, c. 313], gave the following revised information:The estimates for Great Britain relating to the end of 1975 are set out in the following table:

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 22nd November 1976; Vol. 919, c. 990–1], gave the following information:The Government's consultative document "Priorities for Health and Personal Social Services in England" recommended that, amongst other areas for priority action, within an overall restricted rate of growth, were services mainly for children and families with children. Within the field of services for children, specific priorities recommended for the period to 1979–80 included expansion of the health visiting service to allow for improvements in monitoring child health and welfare and support to mothers. Until some expansion of these services is achieved, immediate priorities are to maintain and consolidate services as far as resources permit.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will identify by district, type, cost and numbers of people employed, projects approved in the county of Cornwall under the Job Creation Programme and if he will indicate the number of skilled workers from outside the area recruited for these projects.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 17th November 1976; Vol. 919, c. 533-4], gave the following information:I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that information on the number of skilled workers, if any, recruited from outside Cornwall is not available. Table 1 shows information on the number of projects, number of jobs, and total grant approved in each district. Table 2 shows the analysis of project types, which is available only for Cornwall as a whole.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development if he will publish figures of the financial or technical assistance given to those individual countries shown in Tables 17 and 23 of British Aid Statistics (1970–1974) for the years 1974–75 and 1975–76 and, on the same basis, the estimates for 1976–77 and 1977–78 if present plans are unchanged.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 22nd November 1976; Vol. 919, c. 907], gave the following information: