asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he will take to ensure that pharmacists serving the needs of the public are able to continue their service, in view of the possibility of the picketing of their premises in cases where they are dealing with Grunwick film processes.

I am watching the situation, but I do not think it would be helpful for me to comment at this stage.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether all the arrangements for the payment of noncontributory invalidity pension to married women incapable of their normal household duties have been finalised; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. The noncontributory invalidity pension will be payable from 17th November to married women of working age who are incapable both of their normal household duties and of paid work. As many as 40,000 married women may be eligible to receive a new, tax-free, benefit of £ 10· 50 a week as a result of this important extension of our social security system.Eligibility for this new benefit will be decided by independent statutory authorities—in the first instance by the insurance officer, with appeal rights to a local tribunal and thence to the National Insurance Commissioner. In addition to the claim form, the insurance officer will normally need a medical report on the claimant, giving details of the effects of her impairments on those functions which are relevant to normal household duties. My right hon. Friend has now reached agreement with the British Medical Association on the necessary arrangements, and we hope that the medical report will normally be completed by the disabled housewife's own family doctor.To allow adequate time to deal with the initial volume of claims, we shall be using both TV and Press advertisements to invite claims from 30th August.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report both the total grants and a breakdown of grants given by his Department in support of the work of voluntary bodies.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Mr. Irving) on 23rd June.—[Vol. 933, c. 478–81.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many National Health Service medical neurosciences centres there are; how many are in the West Midlands region; how many have a computed axial tomography scanner; which centres they are; and why Coventry has no such machine.

There are neurology departments in 131 National Health Service hospitals in England—nine of them in the West Midlands—and neurosurgery departments in 52—five in the West Midlands. Two West Midlands hospitals—the Midland Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Birmingham, and the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary in Stoke on Trent—have a computed axial tomography scanner—brain scanner. Scanners are normally installed to provide a regional or sub-regional service, and their location is a matter for regional and aria health authorities to determine in the light of local needs. I understand that the West Midlands Regional Health Authority has agreed to make a substantial contribution towards the capital cost of a brain scanner for the Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry and to meet its running costs for the year 1978–79.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what guidance is given to local Department of Health and Social Security officers in the issue of new Girocheques where the originals are reported lost.

Where a question arises whether a person has in fact received benefits, the Department has, in line with its responsibility for the proper administration of the scheme, to establish the facts as far as possible. If a claimant reports that he has not received a Girocheque recorded as sent to him, or that it has been lost or stolen after receipt, he is normally told that replacement will not be considered until seven weeks from the date of issue. This is to give time for the Girocheque to be traced if it has in fact been cashed as it often has. In supplementary benefit cases, or in other cases if non-receipt has been reported, local offices have discretion to make an immediate replacement if delay would cause hardship. If after seven weeks the original Girocheque has not been cashed, replacement is made. If it is cashed within the seven weeks no replacement is considered until the circumstances of its encashment have been investigated. Cases where the original order has been cashed after replacement are of course also followed up.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what guidance he has given to hospitals on the question of advising patients to visit their general practitioner to obtain treatment, including the issue of prescriptions, while remaining out-patients of a particular consultant.

The Department's guidance is that the duty of prescribing rests with the doctor who at the time has the clinical responsibility for the patient's treatment. Where a hospital doctor bears the clinical responsibility for a patient having a course of investigations or treatment as an out-patient, that doctor should prescribe for the patient's needs, but when he decides to return the patient to the care of his general practitioner the responsibility for prescribing is similarly transferred. Health authorities were reminded of this in a circular issued last year, which also contained a reminder that locally agreed prescribing arrangements which contribute to rational drug therapy are to be welcomed.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has received a report on how dental patients can best establish with their dentist that treatment is to be under National Health Service arrangements; and if he will make a statement.

The matter is still under consideration. Any patient who is in doubt should ask the dentist for Form EC17D, which provides the patient with a signed acknowledgement of acceptance by the dentist for a course of NHS treatment.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, in view of the figures announced on 20th July concerning the incidence of lung cancer caused or aggravated by smoking, he will take action to ban smoking by legislation.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the methods and questions used by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys; and if he will ensure that all accredited representative organisations of immigrants will be consulted before finalising its report in preparation for the next census.

The methods and questions used by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys vary greatly, but they all aim to secure efficiency of operation and a proper balance between the purpose served and the convenience of the public. To this end, pilot trials of methods and questions are carried out before their use in censuses and surveys. The Registrar General is in the process of consulting widely on the content of, and output from, the next Census, and immigrants' organisations will be among those consulted; he has told me that he will welcome submissions made to him, with or without invitation, from any source, and he will consider them most carefully.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, having regard to the importance attached to occupational cancers by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and estimates that they account for 1 per cent. to 5 per cent. of all cancers, he will give an estimate of the likely number of occupational cancer deaths annually in Great Britain, and the number on which death benefit is actually paid under the National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Acts.

No. There is no reliable basis on which the estimate asked for can be made. There were 107 deaths in 1975 for which death benefit was paid and which were due to prescribed industrial diseases which are occupational cancers.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what organisations have written and made representations against cuts in the National Health Service in Liverpool.

My right hon. Friend has received representations from:

• Toxteth Constituency Labour Party
• Liverpool Central and Southern Community Health Council
• Royal College of Nursing (Liverpool Centre Branch)
• Liverpool Local Medical Committee
• National Union of Public Employees

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the recent meeting between the Minister of State and a deputation from the National Union of Public Employees concerning cuts in the National Health Service in Liverpool.

My meeting on 15th July with a deputation from the National Union of Public Employees followed one the previous day with representatives of the rest of the Staff Side of the Standing Area Joint Conference for the Liverpool health area. The two deputations explained to me the concern felt by staff about the effect on health services and jobs of current financial problems in the Liverpool area, and about the operation of procedures for consulting them on the area health authority's plans for providing health services within the available resources. I undertook to consider these points, as well as a proposal from one of the deputations that an inquiry should be set up urgently to consider the problems they had raised.I have now discussed this matter with the Chairman of the Mersey Regional Health Authority, who has suggested that it would be desirable for these difficulties to be the subject of an urgent inquiry at regional level. I understand that the Staff Side have now expressed agreement in principle with this proposal and will be meeting the regional health authority to discuss the possible composition and terms of reference of the inquiry.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the latest proposals for cuts in services at the Liverpool Royal Infirmary, the Liverpool Royal Southern Hospital, the David Lewis Northern Hospital and the St. Pauls Eye Hospital; and if he has made a decision on the proposals.

My right hon. Friend has received no such proposals; changes in services provided locally would not normally be referred to him for a decision except under the procedure which applies when the closure of a hospital is opposed by a community health council.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many self-employed national insurance contributors, who are also having deductions of national insurance contributions as employed persons, have not claimed back the excess payments in respect of the last financial year.

About 5,000 applications for refunds, sent to persons who paid both self-employed and employed earner national insurance contributions in the 1975–76 tax year, have not yet been returned. Figures are not available for the 1976–77 tax year.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons are paying national insurance contributions in duplicate both as self-employed and as employees; and whether he is satisfied with the working of the arrangements to enable repayment to be made of excess contributions which arise for this reason.

In the 1975–76 tax year there were approximately 25,000 cases of excess payments arising from the payment of self-employed and employed earner national insurance contributions by the same person. I am satisfied with the arrangements for enabling refunds of these contributions to be made in such cases, though I shall of course keep the matter under review.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when the annual report on the Department of Health and Social Security for 1976 is to be published.

I expect to publish the Department's annual report in September.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total number of Girocheques issued nationally during 1976 for the whole publish in the Official Report a table showing average remuneration to general medical practitioners in each country of the European Community;(2) if he will publish in the

International comparisons of doctors' pay are difficult and uncertain, because economic and social circumstances differ. In particular, British grades do not have equivalents in all other EEC countries and I am therefore unable to give the figures in the form requested. The table below reproduces figures for all doctors giving curative services given in a study by the Department of Medical Demography and Health Economics of Brussels, based mainly on 1973 statistics, with a column showing tentative adjustments by my Department to take account of differences in direct taxation and purchasing power.range of social security benefits; and how many of these were reported lost.

The information is as follows:

• Total issues for all benefits, 111 million.
• Number reported lost, stolen or not received. 170,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what statistical information he can provide showing the progress made on implementing the provisions of Section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 and on other community services used substantially by disabled people.

The following tables show the numbers of registered disabled people in 1970 compared with 1976, the most recent date for which figures were available, and statistics of provision and expenditure for relevant services com paring 1972–73 with 1975–76, the earliest and latest years for which such data are

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will bring forward or support proposals for amending legislation to restrict the practice of chiropody to qualified practitioners; and if he will make a statement.

We have carefully considered the implications of specific proposals from within the chiropody profession for amending legislation to fix the standards of entry required to practice privately as a chiropodist and have come to the conclusion that Government support for such proposals would not be justified in present circumstances. The proposals would have established a secondary "roll" below State registration level for certain unregistered chiropodists with defined levels of practical experience; would have restricted the practice of chiropody to State-registered chiropodists or to those on the proposed new roll; and would have allowed those on the roll to practice within the National Health Service under the supervision of State-registered chiropodists. The issues raised by these proposals are complex, and ministerial consideration of them has been greatly assisted by the help and co-operation afforded by the professional bodies directly concerned.The Government take the view that closure of the profession in present circumstances would unnecessarily restrict the available supply of chiropody services at a time when expansion is seen as a matter of high priority. There are encouraging signs that the output of registered chiropodists from the training schools is expanding; for example, a new school opened in Durham in 1975, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science has very recently approved finance for a new school in Huddersfield which will take its first students this autumn. The Health and Education Departments keep under continual review possible ways for further increasing the supply of registered chiropodists as available resource constraints permit but we remain a long way short of a position where closure could be accommodated without undue contraction of services.The main argument in favour of closure is the possible risk for the public in allow- ing unregistered chiropodists who may have had little or no formal training to give chiropody treatment. This risk is one the Government are bound to recognise, but the evidence available to the Government about services in the private sector does not suggest a serious or widespread problem, and some risk could arise from the contraction in services that would be brought about by closure. The Government are, however, taking steps to restrict the freedom of practice of unregistered chiropodists where lack of training would create special problems. For example, regulations will shortly be put before Parliament to restrict a chiropodists's right to administer local analgesics by injection to suitably-trained state-registered practitioners.Finally, on the question of expanding chiropody services within the NHS, health departments have recently issued guidance to health authorities which suggests possible ways of improving the effectiveness of services even within existing resource constraints. One suggestion was that the expertise of a registered chiropodist could be more effectively deployed if he were supported by unqualified foot-care assistants to carry out, under supervision, simple foot care and hygiene which a fit person could normally undertake for himself. In this and other ways the Government will continue to seek continuing expansion of chiropody services as an area of priority development.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of different questionnaires sent out by his Department and agencies responsible to it to companies and self-employed business people; and how many of each sort were sent out for the most recent year for which information is available.

pursuant to his reply[Official Report18th July 1977; Vol. 935, c. 358],gave the following informationMy Department sends out very few regular questionnaires to companies and self-employed business people. Interpreting "questionnaires" quite widely to include various forms and returns, the records of the survey control unit of the

Central Statistical Office show the following:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of juvenile prisoners who have absconded from custody in each of the last five years; and if he will list those under the headings of escapes from approved schools, remand homes and other institutions, respectively.

No figures are available about absconders from community homes which were formerly approved schools and remand homes. I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department that figures about unauthorised absences of offenders under the age of 17 from borstal and remand centres are not kept separately but he will be writing to the hon. Member about those from junior detention centres.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she is satisfied with the progress of secondary reorganisation of schools in Cheshire.

My right hon. Friend has approved proposals, submitted by the Cheshire Education Authority, for the comprehensive reorganisation by 1979 of all but one of the secondary schools in Cheshire. She believes that the education authority will implement those proposals.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she is satisfied with the level of academic attainment in teachers' training colleges in Wales.

My right hon. Friend believes that the colleges generally have maintained good standards despite the abnormal strains they have had to endure in recent years.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teacher training college places there are in Humberside; and how this compares with the situation five years ago and 10 years ago.

1,170 in the academic year 1976–77, and 1,695 in the academic years 1972–73 and 1967–68.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when she intends to produce her final conclusions based on the results of the great public debate on education enjoined in the last 12 months.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she can now give a definite publication date for the Government's Green Paper on education.

The Green Paper, "Education in Schools", was published on 21st July.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many drafts of the Government's Green Paper on education have now been written.

Work on the text of the Green Paper, published on 21st July, has taken the form of continuous modification of material rather than the preparation of successive complete drafts.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations she has received about proposals to redeploy primary schoolteachers by Calderdale Education Authority; and if she will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has received 10 letters, most of which were from or initiated by parents. It is in general for the authority to decide how best to deploy, or redeploy, its teachers.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will make a statement on further progress in the education of 16 to 19 year olds.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what further steps she is taking to expand educational opportunity for the 16-to-19-year-olds; and if she will make a statement.

The proportion of the 1619 year old population engaged in full-time education, either in school or in colleges of further education, continue to increase, and my Department is working with its local authority partners and other agencies, to the fullest extent possible, to develop the educational opportunities open to their young people. In particular, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment announced in this House on 29th June that resources would be made available to enable local education authorities throughout Great Britain to provide an additional 10,000 places in further education over and above present projections by 1980–81.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps she is taking to improve the support of young people remaining in full-time education beyond the age of 16 years.

I have nothing to add to the answers that I and my right hon. Friend gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport, North (Mr. Bennett) on 17th May and 28th June.—[Vol. 932,c. 123–4; Vol. 934, c. 171.].

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what progress she has made in implementing her plans to increase by 10,000 the number of places available in further education.

I held a meeting on 7th July with representatives of the Council for Local Education Authorities, which assured me of the readiness of individual authorities to participate as fully as possible in these new measures. It is my intention to issue guidance in the form of a circular to local education authorities shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she has received any proposals from the Schools Council to amend the CSE examination system.

Last year the Schools Council submitted a proposal that a common system of examining at 16+ should replace the present CSE and GCE O-level examinations. I have appointed a steering committee, under the Chairmanship of Sir James Waddell, to oversee an intensive and systematic study of the outstanding administrative and educational problems connected with the proposal.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what discussions she has had with the Chairman of the Arts Council.

My right hon. Friend and my noble Friend meet the Chairman from time to time to discuss questions of mutual concern, usually on an informal basis.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what criteria were used to determine the allocation of grant aid to WEA districts in England and Wales for the next financial year; and why the East Midland District received a disproportionately low share of the additional grant made available.

The grant for the WEA in the academic year 1977–78 was allocated between the 17 districts in England and Wales in the light of currently approved teaching commitments. I do not accept that the East Midland District received a disproportionately low share.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will make a statement on the current level of illiteracy among school leavers.

The latest available information on severe reading difficulties among school leavers derives from a report published by the National Foundation for Educational Research in 1972 which indicated that in 1970–71 some 3 per cent. of 15-year-olds in England had severe reading difficulties.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will discuss with the University Grants Committee or the Committee of Vice-Chancellors the representation of academic and non-academic trade unions on the governing bodies of universities.

This is a matter for the universities. I understand that the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals has set up a working party to establish the scope for extending industrial democracy in the universities, and that the report may be ready in a few months.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps she is taking to reduce the level of truancy in schools.

The then Secretary of State and I met representatives of the teachers, the local authorities and other interested bodies last year to discuss this. Her Majesty's inspectors have since undertaken surveys of special units for truants and disruptive pupils, and also of a sample of schools which seem to be particularly successful at dealing with truancy. I hope that these surveys will lead to some practical guidance for schools and local authorities. Most recently, the Secretary of State and I had a useful meeting with the magistrates and the local authorities last week to discuss the law on school attendance.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science why her Department refuses to recognise the licence awarded by the University College at Buckingham as equivalent to a university degree.

The question of the recognition of the Buckingham Licence has involved my Department only in connection with postgraduate studentships awarded by the Department. Candidates for these studentships who do not hold a degree of a British university established by charter or Act of Parliament, or validated by the Council for National Academic Awards, may be considered exceptionally in the light of the recommendations of the university or other institution sponsoring them; and this will apply to licentiates of the University College at Buckingham.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will make students following courses in the arts at colleges and schools approved by her Department eligible for mandatory grants.

Mandatory awards are already available for students at approved establishments taking degree or comparable courses or Dip. HE. in arts subjects. Students on courses below that level must look to their local education authority for discretionary awards.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will make a statement about the effect of proposed increases in the price of products of the Ordnance Survey as it affects the educational needs of schools and universities.

Expenditure on teaching materials is a matter for decision by local authorities, in the case of schools, and by the universities themselves. I understand, however, that consideration is currently being given to ways of meeting schools' mapping needs more cheaply.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will have talks with the Medical Research Council and the trade union concerned to stop the closure of their Demyelinating Diseases Unit at Newcastle which is currently at the forefront of research into multiple sclerosis.

No. This is a matter for the scientific judgment of the Medical Research Council, which has decided to close the unit on the grounds that without a director of the required calibre it can no longer do its work effectively.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she expects to be able to announce a scheme concerning the charging of parents in respect of their children's travel to school before the end of the current parliamentary Session.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations she has received about the proposed increase in the price of school meals.

I would refer my lion. Friend to the answer I gave today to the hon. Members for Lewes (Mr. Rathbone) and Mid-Sussex (Mr. Renton).

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the latest available figure of the number of qualified teachers currently unemployed and the number anticipated at the commencement of the autumn term.

In June 6,074 people were registered by the Department of Employment in England and Wales as unemployed and seeking posts as school teachers. Uncertainty about trends in wastage from and re-entry to the pro- fession make it impossible to estimate the likely increase in unemployment this autumn when more newly qualified teachers will be seeking posts.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the number and proportion of full-time teachers who have left the profession during each of the last four years; and what was the average for the preceding 10 years.

37,595 qualified teachers left full-time service in maintained nursery. primary and secondary schools in the year ending March 1974. These teachers represented 9·8 per cent. of all such teachers in service at March 1973. The provisional equivalent figures for year ending March 1975 was 42,526 and 10·5 per cent. respectively. Firm figures are not yet available for later years, but it is estimated that 33,000 teachers representing about 8 per cent. of the stock of teachers in March 1975 left during the year ending March 1976 and that the equivalent figures for the year ending March 1977 were 30,000 and 7 per cent. respectively. The average percentage leaving over the 10 years prior to 1974 was 10 per cent.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will seek powers to enable local authorities to operate the rules relating to school leaving dates flexibly in particular individual cases where some deviation from strict rules in their view would be justified.

No. The school leaving dates law was only changed last year.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will make a statement about the Government's intentions to permit the integration of handicapped children in normal schools where this is requested by the child or its parents.

It has long been the policy of my Department that no handicapped child should attend a special school if his needs can be satisfactorily met in an ordinary one; and local education authorities have been urged to involve parents in discussion about placement. But, while I rate parental choice highly, other factors, such as the capability of ordinary schools to meet the needs of handicapped children, have also to be taken into account.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if, in view of the fact that the EEC is prepared to make funds available for the extension of the provision of free school milk, she will bring forward legislation to extend the present limited scheme.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, South (Mr.Torney).

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what comments she has so far received on the recommendations about education in the recently published report on the West Indian community made by the House of Commons Select Committee on Race Relations and Immigration.

A consultative document seeking views on the Select Committee's report on the West Indian Community was sent out on 1st July to a wide cross-section of bodies representing local authority, educational, ethnic minority and other interests. Comments were invited by the end of September and none has so far been received.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the total number of pupils who took GCE O-level English language in June/July 1977.

I regret that figures for 1977 are not yet available from examination boards. However, in 1976 there were 452,179 entries at O-level in English language.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will issue advice to local authorities in the matter of married women in their seventeenth year attending school.

My right hon. Friend does not consider that there is a general need for advice in this subject. She has, however, made it clear that any authority which consulted the Department would be advised only to prosecute the parent of a married 16 year old—particularly of one who no longer lived at the parental home—after the most careful consideration had been given to the particular circumstances of the case, and especially to whether such a prosecution was really required by educational considerations.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the current average staff-student ratio in nursery schools, infant schools, junior schools, comprehensive schools, colleges of further education, polytechnics, and universities, respectively, at the latest available date.

In the academic year 1975–76, the latest year for which figures are available in the form requested, staffing ratios were as follows in terms of pupils per qualified teacher or students—including the estimated full-time equivalent of part-time students—per full-time member of academic staff. Comparisons between sectors are affected by differences such as course structure and support staff arrangements, and difficulties in allowing for part-time students and staff.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is her estimate of the revenue saving in a full year as a result of the closure of those colleges of education currently so scheduled; and whether she will apply an equivalent sum to funding increased vocational training either directly to colleges that have such training facility or by extending poolable courses for which 90 per cent. grants are available from her Department, to include vocational training courses.

It is not possible to forecast the revenue saving arising from the closure of colleges of education which are to discontinue initial teacher training by 1981 because that will depend on such factors as the future use of the premises and the employment of the staff, which are matters for the local authority or providing body to determine.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she is satisfied that adequate provision is being made by local authorities for the study of ballet; and if she will list the non-metropolitan counties in order of scholarships allocated per capita.

The provision made for pupils in maintained schools to study ballet, whether in the schools or elsewhere, is a matter for the local education authorities. Further education provision is a matter for individual colleges and their maintaining authorities; information about it is not collected by my Department. Both scholarships for pupils at independent ballet schools and awards for students of ballet at further education establishments are made entirely at the discretion of LEAs, and my Department does not collect information about the extent of such assistance.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will recommend to local education authorities that an allowance for shoes and sports kit should in future be included in the school uniform grant.

The present statutory provisions do not permit local education authorities to do this.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average proportion of student grants accounted for by parental contributions in the latest year for which figures are available; and what are the corresponding figures for each of the preceeding five years.

For full value awards made to students in higher and further education by local education authorities in England and Wales, the proportions of the total value of fees and maintenance relating to parental contributions are estimated as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when she expects to complete the survey of local education authority discretionary grants which she has undertaken in conjunction with the local authority associations; and if she will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend hopes that the analysis of replies from local education authorities will be completed in the autumn.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many representatives each of the teaching unions has on the Burnham Committee.

The numbers of representatives of the teaching unions on the Burnham Primary and Secondary Committee and the Burnham Further Education Committee are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action she intends to take concerning the effect of the Race Relations Act on the overseas student fees; and when the House will be informed of it.

My right hon. Friend expects shortly to issue a circular to local education authorities and letters to universities approving for purposes of the Act certain arrangements in respect of tuition fees and admissions of overseas students, in line with existing policies. The circular will also cover arrangements for discretionary awards and boarding charges by local education authorities. Copies will be placed in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, as Minister responsible for national security, he will institute a thorough inquiry into the circumstances of the flight to the German Democratic Republic of Mr. Maurice Jones, and report thereon to the House.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to Questions by my hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Mr. Kelley) yesterday.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether, in considering whether or not to exercise his power to refer cases to the Court of Appeal under Section 17 of the Criminal Appeals Act 1968 in cases where the rules relating to identification evidence laid down in Regina v. Turnbull and Others, [1976] 3 WLR 445, had not been complied with at the original trial, he is prepared to take account of information in his possession casting doubt on the guilt of the convicted person, even if such information is not admissible in evidence; and, if not, why not;(2) in what circumstances he is prepared to refer cases to the Court of Appeal

under Section 17 of the Criminal Appeals Act 1968 when it appears that the criteria for assessing identification evidence at the original trial did not comply with the rules laid down in the case of Regina

The basis for a reference to the Court of Appeal is that there is some new consideration of substance which has not previously been considered by a court and which may raise such doubt about the rightness of a conviction or sentence that the Court of Appeal might find grounds for varying the decisions previously reached. Since, however, the case is then treated as if it were an ordinary appeal, such a consideration must constitute evidence of a kind that would be admissible in normal appeal proceedings. My decision whether or not to refer a particular case is related to these criteria and to the nature of all the new information available to me. A new consideration relating to evidence of identification might, irrespective of the judgment in R. v. Turnbull and Others, be a ground for referring the case

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police cadets there are in England and Wales in the current year: and how this compares with the numbers for each of the last four years.

The figures are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police cadet schools have been forced to close down due to the withdrawal of financial support in each of the last five years.

None was closed in the period from 1st April 1974 and 31st December 1974. One was closed in 1975, one in 1976 and two in 1977. The school which closed in 1976 was reopened in the spring of this year. Information for the period before 1st April 1974 is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department which constabularies in England and Wales have had to stop the enlistment of police cadets due to financial cuts in each of the last three years.

A number of police authorities decided that intakes of cadets in one or more of the last three years should be stopped or reduced, and in the current year all police authorities will have in mind our request that cadet strength should be reduced to 55 per cent. of the September 1974 strengths by 31st March 1978. I do not have details of the decisions made by individual authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give, for the longest and most convenient period of time, the estimated number of illegal immigrants; how many of these were deported; and what action is to be taken against those known illegal immigrants still in the United Kingdom.

Illegal entry, by its very nature, cannot reliably be estimated. Between 1st January 1973, when the Immigration Act 1971 came fully into force, and 31st December 1976, 733 illegal entrants were removed. In addition, 480 deportation orders were made under Section 3(5)(a) of the Act against people who entered lawfully but subsequently breached the conditions of their stay. Moreover, some of those deported following recommendations by the courts had been convicted of failure to comply with the conditions of admission.The normal practice is to send away people found to have entered the country illegally after 1st January 1973. The cases of people found to be in breach of conditions are considered on their merits; I do not hesitate to authorise deportation in appropriate cases.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the fact that in 1960 the yearly total crimes committed was 750.000 with a police force of 75,000 and that the present crime figures are 2,250,000 with 120,000 police officers, what action he has taken or intends taking to restore both these last two figures to their 1960 level.

The increase in the number of crimes is a feature of life in most if not all developed countries, and is one of the reasons why the establishments of police forces have had to be increased. The Government, police authorities and chief officers of police are doing all they can to increase the number of police officers up to authorised establishments.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government's policy of a 10 per cent. maximum wage increase will apply to the police.

The policy outlined in the statement by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 15th July urges that the general level of pay settlements should be moderate enough to secure that the national earnings increase is no more than 10 per cent. This covers all negotiating groups.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what policy guidelines have been given to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police on crowd control; and if he will publish them in the Official Report

None. Crowd control is an operational police matter.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will publish in the Official Report the number of indictable offences known to the police in the categories of violence against the person, sexual offences, burglary and robbery, theft and handling stolen goods, fraud and forgery, and criminal damage, for each of the five most recent years for which figures are available; and whether he will show the number of crimes in each case and in each year committed by persons under 18 years of age, and also by persons under 21 years of age

The following table gives the figures requested for the total number of age. of relevant offences:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the fact that the Metropolitan Police force was 20 per cent. undermanned at the end of 1975, he will increase spending on police recruitment; and what other measures he will take to bring the Metropolitan Police up to strength.

The Metropolitan Police deficiency on 31st December 1975 was 20·3 per cent., and had fallen to 16·3 per cent. on 31st May 1976. Estimated expenditure on recruitment publicity by my Department and the Metropolitan Police during 1977–78 is over£ 100,000 higher in real terms than in 1976–77. I do not have details of the provision made by forces outside London for recruitment publicity.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the statement he is expecting to make on the withdrawal of pensions now being paid to the convicted police officers in the Drury-Humphreys pornography trial will be made to the House and before the House adjourns for the summer.

I shall not be in a position to reach a decision before the Summer Recess.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will list the salaries and ranks of the police officers examined and con-

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will publish in the Official Report a detailed table of figures giving on 1st July 1977 the total number of Metropolitan Police civilian employees, traffic wardens, cars, vehicles, two-way radios, electronic aids, computers and any other labour-saving devices now in operation; and how these figures compare with the longest period on 1st July for each of the stated years.

Figures in the form requested are not readily available and, except for the current year, it is not possible without disproportionate cost to provide totals other than as at 31st December. The figures which are available are given in the table below:victed in the recent Drury-Humphreys trials about pornography and their pensions which they are now receiving.

The ranks of the 13 police officers convicted of offences on 22nd December 1976, 13th May 1977 and 7th July 1977 were as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will state what happened in the case of the 59 police officers ranging from constable to commander who were not prosecuted in the Humphreys-Drury pornography trials; and of the 12 who resigned, and 28 who retired on pension, why this action was taken if they were guilty of no offence.