asked the Minister for the Civil Service what is the cash limit set on Civil Service expenditure for 1976–77, the amount spent, and the percentage under or over spent.

Provisional figures for the outturn on cash limited expenditure in 1976–77 were published as Cmnd. 6902. I am specifically responsible for a number of cash limits covering Civil Service staff costs and related administrative expenditure amounting in total to £2,364 million in 1976–77. Of this, £2,242 million was spent, representing an underspend of 5·2 per cent. Some Civil Service staff costs are, however, included within other cash blocks, the main example being Ministry of Defence Block 1; for these, accordingly, no separate cash limit on Civil Service expenditure exists.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on tyres in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

Excluding the value of tyres which form part of new vehicles, guns and aircraft the sums spent in the financial years ending 31st March 1975, 1976 and 1977 were £3,350,000, £3,821,000 and £3,752.000 respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he can now estimate the cost to date of the use of troops to provide fire-fighting service during the Fire Brigade strike.

I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Beckenham (Mr. Goodhart) on 21st November l977.—[Vol. 939,c. 567.]

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what future use is planned for the Royal Herbert Hospital buildings at Woolwich.

Present occupation of some of the Royal Herbert accommodation will continue well into 1978. Studies are in hand to establish whether it would thereafter be practicable to make alternative use of the buildings by transferring some tasks from other locations. When the outcome is known I shall write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration is being given to a very large new supply of arms from Great Britain to Egypt; and if he will forbid all arms supplies to either side in the Middle East where peace is precarious.

It has been the policy of successive Governments not to divulge details of defence sales to individual countries. The Government's policy on arms sales to the Middle East remains as stated in the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 7th December 1977. —[Vol. 940, c.768–9

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many hours the external services of the BBC broadcast to overseas audiences per week; how this compares with the available figures for the external services of other Common Market countries; and also how this compares with the external broadcasting output of Vatican Radio.

The estimated total programme hours per week of external broadcasting by EEC countries are as follows:

BBC	708
France	109
Germany	794
Italy	170
Belgium	88
Denmark	48
Netherlands	393
Luxembourg	Nil
Eire	Nil

Corresponding figures for Vatican Radio are 159 hours per week. No figures are given for Radio Luxembourg nor for Radio Monte Carlo as these are commercial stations and not external broadcasting services in the normal sense of the term.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what annual savings would result in each case if broadcasting by the External Services of the BBC in Japanese, Burmese, Somali, Finnish, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Tamil, Nepali, French and German were to cease.

It is estimated that the following annual savings would result if broadcasting were to cease in each of the following languages:

	£
Japanese	119,000
Burmese	91,000
Somali	78,000
Finnish	112,000
Portuguese	128,000
Spanish	115,000
Italian	121,000
Greek	115,000
Tamil	13,000
Nepali	9,000
French	560,000
German	578,000

The French and Portuguese services to Africa are included in these figures.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what annual savings would result if broadcasting by the External Services of the BBC to Australia, New Zealand Canada, and the United States of America were to cease.

No programmes are produced specially for these countries. A saving of about £50,000 per annum could be made for switching off certain transmitters covering these areas.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what loss of audience would result from a shutdown in the External Services of the BBC between 20.00 hours and 04.00 hours GMT.

It is not possible to put a precise figure on the loss of audience which would result from a shutdown of the BBC's External Services between 20.00 hours and 04.00 hours GMT but it would probably number millions of regular listeners.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what annual savings would result from a shutdown in the External Services of the BBC between 20.00 hours and 04.00 hours GMT.

It is very difficult to estimate the effect of such a shutdown. New shift patterns at transmitters and Bush House would need to be worked out with consequent staffing implications. In very approximate terms, savings might be £1,400,000 per annum.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the estimated audience for the External Services of the BBC in the European Community in any one week.

The BBC estimated that the regular audience in the European Community is approximately 5 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the estimated home audience for the External Services of the BBC in any one week.

The United Kingdom is not the intended audience of External Services broadcasts. There is circumstantial evidence that World Service broadcasts in English are heard by a large number of listeners here on the medium wave, but the size of this audience has not been measured.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of the broadcasts of the External Services of the BBC is to Communist and non-Communist countries, respectively.

26 per cent. of the broadcasts of the External Services of the BBC is directed to Communist countries. This does not include the extent to which the BBC's German language service, broadcasting for 24½hours per week, is heard in the German Democratic Republic.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the total estimated audience of the External Services of the BBC in any one week.

The BBC estimates that the regular audience is approximately 60 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of the external broadcasts of the BBC is in English.

23 per cent. of the BBC's external broadcasting is in English.

asked the Secretary of State of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many foreign languages are used by the External Services of the BBC.

38.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of the broadcasting time of the External Services of the BBC is directed to educational programmes.

It is not possible to distinguish between the general and educational elements of External Services output, except for English by radio, which is clearly educational and with 34½hours per week accounts for 4·8 per cent. of total output.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice he gives to the External Services of the BBC with regard to the abolition or the establishment or the re-establishment of any particular foreign language service.

My right hon. Friend is responsible in accordance with the Licence and Agreement between the Government and the BBC for prescribing the hours and languages of vernacular broadcasts. Decisions about abolishing or re-establishing such services are, of course, taken after consultation with the BBC.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of the Government grant to the External Services of the BBC has been used for investment in transmitters in each of the last 10 years.

The following amounts have been spent by the BBC External Services on building or modernising transmitters. These amounts are expressed as a percentage of the total grant in Aid for broadcastaing, excluding monitorings, in each of the last 10 years.

	Total Expenditure	Proportion of Grant in Aid
	£	percentage
1967–68	992,000	10·2
1968–69	1,140,000	11·2
1969–70	806,000	7·6
1970–71	1,303,000	10·7
1971–72	698,000	5·5
1972–73	515,000	3·8
1973–74	600,000	3·9
1974–75	279,000	1·5
1975–76	1,262,000	5·1
1976–77	2,391,000	8·6

In addition to the above expenditure on transmitters, the following amounts were spent on building or modernising transmitters at relay stations operated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on behalf of the BBC External Services:

	Total expenditure
	£
1967–68	527,300
1968–69	510,700
1969–70	105,200
1970–71	25,800
1971–72	80,900
1972–73	30,100
1973–74	100,500
1974–75	198,100
1975–76	495,500
1976–77	1,285,100

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the cost of the External Services of the BBC in each of the last 10 years.

The cost of the External Services of the BBC in each of the last 10 years, consisting of the grants in aid for broadcasting and monitoring is as follows:

	£
1967–68	10,566,000
1968–69	11,093,000
1969–70	11,517,000
1970–71	13,201,000
1971–72	14,009,000
1972–73	15,026,000
1973–74	16,713,000
1974–75	20,546,000
1975–76	26,653,000
1976–77	32,259,000

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what responsibility he has with regard to the overall management of External Services of the BBC.

The overall management of the External Services is a matter for the Managing Director of those services. My right hon. Friend is, however, responsible to Parliament for the grant-in-aid provided for the External Services of the BBC and for prescribing the hours and languages of vernacular broadcasts.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking in consultation with the Portuguese Government to facilitate the payment of compensation to British farmers who were dispossessed of their land in Portugal by the provisional Government in 1975.

Her Majesty's Embassy in Lisbon has repeatedly made representations to the Portuguese authorities about the payment of compensation to the owners of expropriated property; when I was in Lisbon in June this year I also raised the matter. A Compensation Law was promulgated on 26th October. The final legal requirement before substantive negotiations on compensation claims can begin is the publication of two executive Decree-Laws allowed under the Law. Her Majesty's Embassy in Lisbon made further representations about this on 25th November; we have been informed that the Decree-Laws will be published by the end of this month.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) on what date, what time and from whom, he first received the suggestion of resolving the firemen's strike by paying them 10 per cent. and reducing their hours immediately and with overtime rates on their new hours of work; why this was immediately turned down; and whether he will reconsider his decision;(2) on what date he received a telephone message from the hon. Member for Newham, North-West making the suggestion of ending the firemen's strike by paying the 10 per cent. additional payment for overtime by immediate reduction in hours; and what were the reasons for refusing to accept this proposal.

Various suggestions have been made about ways in which the firemen's strike might be ended, including some along the lines put forward by my hon. Friend in a telephone call to my office on 10th November. All these suggestions have been very carefully considered, but none was within the Government's guidelines on pay and could not, therefore, be accepted.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will initiate a scheme to enable firemen to have six months' leave of absence to pay to attend a Government training school to fit them for skilled employment in their off-duty periods, so as to enable them to earn an additional wage, without contravening the 10 per cent. guidelines.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from insurance companies or underwriters in respect of the firemen's strike.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether illegal immigrants who entered the United Kingdom before January 1973 and who are now permitted to stay will be entitled under EEC rules to settle in other Community countries.

Giving permission to remain to a person who has entered the United Kingdom illegally does not extend to him EEC rights of freedom of movement. The latter depend upon his coming within the special definition of a United Kingdom national that was included in the Final Act of the Treaty of Accession.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the number of dependants of illegal immigrants who will settle in the United Kingdom following his amnesty.

No reliable estimate can be made because by definition the numbers are not known. 4,867 dependants were declared by the 1,663 Commonwealth citizens and citizens of Pakistan found eligible up to 31st October 1977 under the terms of my predecessors' announcement of 11th April 1974 affecting those who entered before 1st January 1973 without examination by an immigration officer.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the number of Commonwealth and Pakistani citizens who entered the United Kingdom illegally before 1st January 1973 and who will benefit from his decision of 29th November not to remove them.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to a Question by the hon. Member for Louth (Mr. Brotherton) on 6th December.—[Vol. 940, c. 620–1.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) in view of the fact that most illegal immigrants live in stress areas where there is a grave housing shortage, overcrowding, shortage of schools, hospitals and social services, what action he took before his announcement of an amnesty for the pre-1973 illegal immigrants to ensure that a further influx of spouses, children and relatives of these illegal immigrants will not further exacerbate already difficult situations; and what extra financial assistance will be given to such areas;(2) in view of the fact that in many areas housing allocations, educational grants and other social benefits are based upon proof of living in a given area, to what extent his amnesty for illegal immigrants prior to 1973 will affect these regulations; and whether he will consult on such matters in order to prevent unrest arising from his amnesty declaration.

The decision I announced on 29th November affects people already in the United Kingdom whose presence here, before the recent court judgments, was thought to be lawful. Numbers of them will already have their dependants here. There is no expectation of an early or sudden additional influx of dependants consequent on my decision; and I have no reason to expect that any adjustment would be required on account of it in eligibility for social benefits or in the financial help given by the Government to local authorities in the areas concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether those legal immigrants who have been waiting for their next of kin to be admitted for many years will be treated in the same way as the illegal immigrants under the 1973 amnesty rule.

The dependants of a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of Pakistan whose position in this country is regularised under the terms of my announcement of 29th November will then be eligible to apply for entry clearance under the normal rules. These applicants will receive no preferential treatment and will take their turn in order of application with dependants of lawful immigrants.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, since he is unable to give any estimate of the number of illegal immigrants in Great Britain at any time, if, in order to assist in preventing such happenings in the future, he will publish a quarterly table giving details of those that have voluntarily surrendered and will do so under his 1973 amnesty, together with their ages, countries of origin, sex, date of arrival, the number in family who illegally entered and their ages, whether employed since arrival, with or without national insurance cards, whether or not income tax was paid, and what social security benefits or other public funds were drawn.

Information about the number of applications made and granted under the terms of my predecessor's announcement of 11th April 1974 is placed in the Library, with the Control of Immigration Statistics, each quarter. Similar information will in future be given in respect of applications made under the terms of my announcement of 29th November.Information in the detail requested could only be made available centrally at disproportionate cost but, up to 31st October 1977, of the 1,663 applications granted 698 were from citizens of India and 930 from citizens of Pakistan. Almost all of these related to males.

is asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give an assurance that his pre-1973 amnesty for immigrants will be used to prevent further illegal immigration and that those that arrived from 1973 onwards will not be granted an amnesty.

All reasonable and practicable measures will continue to be taken to prevent illegal entry. As I said in reply to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Luton, East (Mr. Clemitson—[Vol. 940, c.125–8.]—on 29th November, I do not shrink from firm action to deal with it, and it will remain the Government's normal practice to send away those who entered in this way on or after 1st January 1973.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the net increase or decrease in the number of policemen serving in the Avon and Somerset Constabulary in each of the past five years.

Avon and Somerset Police was set up on 1st April 1974. The figures from that date are:

Period	Net gain/loss
1st April–31st December
1974	+18
1975	+00
1976	+9
1st January–31st October 1977	-22

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he next intends to meet the Chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority.

My right hon. Friend met the Chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority on 31st October. Further meetings will be arranged as occasion requires.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will appoint an historian to prepare and issue an historical report of the activities of the National Fire Brigade during the war, showing to what extent life and property were saved and the loss of life incurred by firemen and all other relevant information.

No. This has been done, and I refer my hon. Friend to "Civil Defence" by Terence H. O'Brien, published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in 1955 as part of the "History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Civil Series."

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the proposed further increase in television licence fees by the BBC falls within the Government's incomes policy; and whether he will refer it to the Prices Commission.

There are no plans for an increase in television licence fees at present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reconsider his decision to transfer the Education Section of the Equal Opportunities Commission to the Department of Education and Science.

No such transfer has been decided on or proposed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the Home Office and its servants distinguish correspondence which may not be stopped or read pursuant to Rule 37A(1) of the Prison Rules 1964, as amended, from other correspondence, without reading it.

Where the examining officer acting under Prison Rule 33(3) is unaware of the reason for the correspondence it may be necessary for him to peruse as much of a communication as is necessary to enable him to apply the appropriate Prison Rule to it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what directions he has given pursuant to Rule 37A(1) and (4) of the Prison Rules 1964, as amended, generally and specifically in relation to Category A prisoners.

No directions have been issued pursuant to Prison Rule 37A(1). For the directions in respect of correspondence between a prisoner and a solicitor in connection with civil litigation I would refer my hon. Friend to Section 17A of Prison Standing Orders, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedure a prisoner must adopt to obtain permission to see or correspond with a solicitor about a matter in which criminal proceedings could arise against the Home Office or its servants over the treatment of a prisoner whilst serving his sentence; and who decides whether there is a likelihood of criminal proceedings in connection with a decision on such a request for permission.

A prisoner may not communicate with a solicitor with a view to instituting criminal proceedings. If he has reason to believe that a criminal offence may have been committed by a member of the staff he should inform the governor. If the governor is satisfied after investigation that there appears to be any substance to the allegation he will ordinarily seek instructions from Prison Department Headquarters whether the police should be invited to investigate the matter. If so, the question whether criminal proceedings would be instituted would be for the police to decide. Where urgent action is required the governor has discretion to inform the police on his own initiative.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a prisoner is entitled without interference by the Home Office or its servants to correspond with a solicitor without the letters being stopped or read, and see a solicitor in sight but out of hearing of a prison officer where the prisoner only requires advice concerning his rights whether in relation to his imprisonment or otherwise.

A prisoner may be interviewed by a solicitor out of the hearing of an officer or correspond with a solicitor without his letters being stopped or read if they are in connection with (a) legal proceedings to which he is a party and the governor has no reason to suppose that the correspondence contains matter not relating to those proceedings, or (b) a petition by the prisoner to the European Commission of Human Rights. A prisoner may be granted facilities to communicate with his solicitor on other matters at the discretion of the governor, and such correspondence may be read and stopped under Prison Rule 33(3) and his visits may be within the hearing of an officer under Rule 33(5). Facilities for a prisoner to seek legal advice about his treatment in prison would be granted only in the context of the possible institution of legal proceedings.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the distinction is drawn in Rule 37A of the Prison Rules 1964, as amended, between prisoners who are parties to proceedings which have been instituted and prisoners who require legal advice to institute proceedings regarding correspondence with a solicitor, when there is no such distinction drawn regarding the privilege of solicitor/client written communication in either of the two situations; and what review was made of this practice following the judgment of the Court of Human Rights in the Golder Case (1975).

A prisoner may not consult a solicitor with a view to instituting proceedings in respect of his prison treatment unless he has first ventilated the complaint through the normal internal channels. It would not be possible to ensure that this requirement is observed unless letters were read as Prison Rule 33(3) provides. Rule 37A(l) enables the requirements of Rule 33(3) to be waived when legal proceedings are under way. Rule 37A was amended by the addition of paragraph 4 in consequence of the Golder judgment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what directions or criteria have been made or are applied by the Home Office to requests by families of legal representatives for copies of medical reports on prisoners, copies of any internal judicial or quasi-judicial adjudication affecting the prisoner, including the facts of evidence upon which that adjudication was based and information concerning the treatment of prisoners including their health, any punishment they may be subject to, segregation from other prisoners and confinement in secure units.

It is not the practice to make copies of medical reports on prisoners and records of any disciplinary proceedings available to relatives or legal representatives of prisoners other than on the direction of a court in connection with legal proceedings.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the effect of reducing the number of hours worked in a week from 54 to 48 on the number of firemen employed.

The reduction in the firemen's working week from 56 to 48 hours took effect from 8th November 1974. Because recruitment to meet the needs of the 48-hour week started early in 1974 and extended in some areas into 1975, and because in this period brigades were reorganised as a result of local government reorganisation, the effect on the number of firemen employed cannot be precisely estimated. But the full-time strengths, including control room staff, of brigades in England and Wales at the end of 1973, 1974 and 1975 were 26,292, 31,117 and 32,550 respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many more firemen will be needed if the hours worked per week are reduced from 48 to 42.

The number of additional firemen required would depend on manning levels and type of shift system adopted. To preserve existing standards of fire cover, including present manning standards, it has been estimated that 3,000 to 5,000 additional firemen would be needed for the whole country. The number actually required would depend on the outcome of the negotiations necessary in the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire Brigades.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what would he the cost of reducing the hours worked by firemen each week from 48 to 42.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the Question by the hon. Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Page) on 6th December.—[Vol. 940, c.618.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is satisfied with the adequacy of current race relations legislation as applied to schools, in the light of National Front activity among schoolchildren.

I have no plans to amend the Race Relations Act 1976, but I am studying the effectiveness of the section dealing with incitement to racial hatred.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Home Office retains a list of official executioners.

No.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Council of Ministers (Fisheries) meeting in Brussels on 5th and 6th December.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement I made to the House earlier today.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is yet in a position to announce the maximum retail and wholesale prices of milk for liquid consumption to operate from 1st January 1978.

The Government announced on 28th July that, with the ending of the guaranteed price arrangements on 31st December as required by the Treaty of Accession, they would in future determine statutory maximum wholesale prices of milk for liquid consumption in addition to specifying maximum retail prices as at present.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he proposes to take to modify the significant difference which, because of the low proportion of milk production which is sold for liquid consumption in Northern Ireland, would otherwise exist between the returns to milk producers in the Province and those in the rest of the United Kingdom.

It has been decided that the guaranteed price for milk for the period April-December 1977 as applied in Northern Ireland will be increased by 0·43p per litre (1·95p per gallon). This will make an additional £3·6 million available to the Northern Ireland Milk Marketing Board. It will be for the Board to decide when and at what rate it should be paid over to producers.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the total research and development budget of his Department in the current year; what proportion is taken up by nuclear power; and what proportion is allocated to wind, wave and solar energy, respectively.

My Department's estimated research and development expenditure for the current year 1977–78, including provision for the UKAEA, amounts to about £147 million net, of which about £128 million is related to nuclear power. This does not include the R & D expenditure of the nationalised energy industries which totals about £102 million. My Department's Vote allocations include the following provisions for R & D:

	1977–78
	£ million
Non-nuclear	19
Nuclear other than UKAEA	9
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (including fusion and underlying research etc.)	119
	147

Allocations to research on renewable energy sources have been made on a programme basis; programmes announced to date for wave, solar, geothermal, and wind energy total nearly £10 million. The Department's estimates for 1977–78 provide for about £2½ million on renewable sources but these programmes are in their early stages and expenditure on renewable sources of energy is expected to increase considerably over the next few years.

asked the Lord President of the Council what is the size

					Cost of staff
Number of staff*					1963–64	1969–70	1973–74	1976–77
					£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s
House of Commons		…	…	521 [90]	393	780	1,328	3,030
Refreshment Department†			…	233 [3]	Nil	42	65	143
House of Lords	…	…	…	171 [41]	203	261	439	901
Refreshment Deprtment‡			…	51 [10]	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
Metropolitan Police Staff			…	218§	N/av	N/av	181	366
Department of the Environment			…	261 [16]	N/av	N/av	766	1,485
Civil Service Department			…	2	3	4	9	12
* Part time staff are shown in brackets and are counted as half in the total.
† Cost consists of recess wages and salaries.
‡ The cost of staff for the House of Lords Refreshment Department is not paid from public funds
§ Includes 107 Custodians and Firemen responsibility for whom was transferred from Department of Environment on 1st October 1977.

Staff employed by the Post Office for postal and telecommunications duty, and those employed by the Royal British Legion as attendants in the underground car park are not included in this table.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total cost of completed public sector construction contracts in England and Wales, the South-West Region and the South-West Development Area, respectively, in 1973.

ORDERS FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION WORK IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR RECEIVED BY CONTRACTORS
			£million (current prices)		£per head of employed population
			England and Wales	South-West	England and Wales	South-West
1973	…	…	2,541	203	126	135
1974	…	…	2,568	254	127	169
1975	…	…	3,165	216	157	144
1976	…	…	3,375	204	170	136

Orders are subject to wide annual fluctuations, but the evidence available suggests that the level of public sector construction expenditure in the South-West is similar to that for England and Wales as a whole.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has issued any circulars or letters to local authorities instructing them to blacklist any contractors in the construction industry for alleged breaches of (a) stage 1, (b) stage 2 and (c) the present arrangements; if so, on what dates; and how many firms were involved.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 10th November 1977; Vol. 938, c.157],gave the following information:1974, 1975, 1976 and the year ended June 1977; what was this cost per head of the insured population; and if he is satisfied that it amounted to a fair regional balance.

I regret this information is not available in the form requested; but public sector orders for work in the South-West Region and in England and Wales generally are as follows:

I will answer this Question shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much was spent by his Department on tyre purchases in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

The Property Services Agency spent the following sums on tyres:

	£
1974–75	120,304
1975–76	167,064
1976–77	167,497

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in the light of the Government decision to buy British textiles, he will instruct his Department to purchase only tyres containing British-made tyre cord.

In accordance with Government policy, the Property Services Agency already makes its tyre purchases through contracts let by the Ministry of Defence Procurement Executive.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment in the light of the fact that many of the advances made by building societies in the first half of 1977–78 to local authority nominees in England were to people who successfully would have obtained mortgages from the building societies in any case, and that only one-third of the £157 million made available in advances has so far been approved, if he will publish details of the proportion of the £51·25 million approved which went to those on cheaper or older types of houses and to mortgagors on low incomes.

In 1976, 40 per cent. of all building society borrowers had below average earnings, and 23 per cent. of all loans were for houses built before 1919. Detailed figures are not available for the support scheme, but I would expect the percentages to be higher.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what are the locations of the three approved tachograph calibration stations in the north-western traffic area.

These approvals are part of a continuing pragramme. I will send my hon. Friend an up-to-date list.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will give for the longest most convenient stated period of time, up to and including 3rd November 1977, the number of complaints received by him and the Swansea Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre on its alleged maladministration and neglect; how many of these complaints were from Members of Parliament and other public representatives; and what recent action he has taken, or intends taking, to improve the service given by this office.

I have already explained to my hon. Friend in previous answers and correspondence that no separate record is kept of complaints, as distinct from inquiries, from the public concerning driver and vehicle licensing. Hon. Members raised 505 individual cases during the four months July to October 1977. In the same period the Swansea Centre dealt with over 19 million applications of all kinds. This puts the number of complaints into perspective. Even so, the centre is doing everything possible to reduce the causes of legitimate complaints.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total cost to date in 1977 of his Department's advertising in the Morning Star.

No expenditure has been incurred during 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what are the new terms of reference of the Central Transport Consultative Committee.

I have been asked to reply.The National Consumer Council's Report "Consumers and the Nationalised Industries" recommended that the terms of reference of the Central Transport Consultative Committee should be extended. The Government will be announcing their conclusions on this and other aspects of this report in a White Paper on the nationalised industries, which will be published as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of school pupils in S.4 remained at school after 16 Years in the nearest available full year; and how this compares with the previous five years.

This information is not available in the precise form asked for; but the following table gives the numbers of pupils aged 16, 17 and 18 and over staying on voluntarily at education authority schools in Scotland expressed as a percentage of the 13-year-old age group 3, 4 and 5 years previously:

Session	Age 16	Age 17	Age 18+
1972–73	34·2	20·2	2·9
1973–74	36·0	18·8	2·5
1974–75	35·6	17·0	1·9
1975–76	36·5	16·5	1·6
1976–77	37·9	16·3	1·7
1977–78	N/A*	16·4	1·3
*Not available until the number of 16-year-olds leaving at the winter leaving date is known.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the percentage of fish stocks in the EEC which are within waters covered by Scottish law.

Approximately 60 per cent. of the fish resources in the waters within the fisheries jurisdiction of member States are within United Kingdom limits. In the context of EEC negotiations no useful purpose would be served by seeking to distinguish the fish resources in waters off different parts of the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if there is any model available to the Scottish Office economic sections which demonstrates a possible ratio of jobs to capital expenditure; and, if not, what basis Ministers use when making public or parliamentary statements in which they assess the effect of capital expenditure in terms of job creation.

The effect of capital expenditure on job creation in Scotland depends very much on the particular category of expenditure. While no formal model is employed to derive estimates, use is made where appropriate both of Scottish information and relationships for the United Kingdom as a whole.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total amount of public money committed to the new company operating at Glenfield and Kennedy, Kilmarnock; and what safe-guards the Government have sought for the work force in respect of access to company policy and forward planning

Under Section 7 of the Industry Act 1972 an interest relief grant of just under £1 million payable in three annual instalments, has been offered to the new company, Glen. field & Kennedy (Valves) Ltd. The provision of information about policy and forward planning is a matter for dis. cussion and agreement between the management and the work force.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of full-time and part-time consultants employed at present in the National Health Service and the number of consultants on the committee with which he negotiates who are full-time and the number who are part-time; how many academic consultants serve on the negotiating committee; and if he will make a statement.

The most recent published figures show that at 30th September 1976 there were 12,328 consultants employed in the National Health Service in England and Wales of whom 5,187 held whole-time contracts, 5,778 held part-time contracts, and 1,363 were honorary consultants. The composition of the committee with which my officials are negotiating a new consultant contract is a matter for the staff side. It includes five part-timers and four whole-timers including two academics.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report the names of any medicines which appear on the list of those obtainable by prescription only adopted by the Council of Europe but which are not so restricted in the United Kingdom.

Following extensive consultations, an order under the Medicines Act 1968 specifying the products which may only be sold or supplied against a prescription will soon be laid before Parliament with an operative date of 1st February 1978. The order has been prepared in the light of the recommendations of the Council of Europe on the classification of medicines obtainable only on prescription, but it does not include all the substances listed in the recommendations—e.g., a considerable number which are not marketed in the United Kingdom and a few which are subject to other controls are excluded.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will give, for the longest stated period of time, the number of strikes or industrial disputes that have occurred in his various offices, the reasons or causes and the number of workers concerned; and to what extent the Government's wages and salaries policy has been the cause of such stoppages.

Strikes and other industrial action by the staff of my Department over the past year have taken several forms, including limitations on certain kinds of work, token stoppages and full withdrawal of labour for periods up to one day. The reasons for taking these actions have also varied. They include, for example, heating failures in some offices, reductions in public expenditure, and Civil Service pay.Strike action over Civil Service pay has taken place as follows:(i) On 8th November 1977, responding to a call for action nationally by the Society of Civil and Public Servants, about 11,150 members—41 per cent. of staff in grades represented by the union—walked out for the afternoon. Additionally about 3,440 members of the Civil and Public Services Association absented themselves.(ii) During week commencing 28th November 1977, responding to a call for action by the Civil and Public Services Association nationally, about 26,700 members of that union—40 per cent. of staff in grades represented by the union—walked out for periods of one day or a half-day. About 1,200 members of the Society of Civil Servants were involved in sympathetic action.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his estimate of the net cost of increasing the housewives non-contributory invalidity pension to £17·50 per week.

The gross cost would be about £16 million a year. It is not possible to give a reliable figure for the net cost. Any savings would be of supplementary benefit and, as these are likely to be small, the net cost would also approach £16 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the net cost of increasing invalid care allowance to £17·50 per week for present beneficiaries.

The gross cost, assuming that the increase for a wife or other adult dependant remained unchanged, would be about £2 million a year. It is not possible to give a reliable estimate of the net cost, but there would probably be significant savings on supplementary benefit.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the net cost of paying invalid care allowance at the present rate to married women.

I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to the right hon. Member for Redbridge, Wanstead and Woodford (Mr. Jenkin) on 8th December 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the net cost of paying invalid care allowance at £17·50 per week to both present beneficiaries and to married women.

It is not possible to give a reliable estimate, but the gross cost might be as much as £114 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proposals he is considering for providing extra facilities in the North-East Thames Region for the treatment of burns.

None. It is for the regional health authority to make provision for treatment within the resources allocated to it.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, on the basis of

							Number of patients
							1975	1976
For the fitting of intra-uterine devices	…	…	…	…	…	…	14,000	55,000
For the provision of other contraceptive services		…	…	…	…	…	1,211,000	1,946,000

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many premises in England and Wales were used as National Health Service family planning clinics, giving hospital and other

								1975	1976
Number of premises regularly used as family planning clinics at the end of the year—
in hospital premises	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	294	276
elsewhere	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	1,567	1,561
Total	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	1,861	1,837
Number of family planning sessions		…	…	…	…	…	…	195,600	207,500
Number of patient attendances	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	3,797,400	3,806,900
Number of individual patients	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	1,499,100	1,541,700

In addition, family planning advice is given in post-natal and gynaecological clinics and in hospital wards.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the net cost of paying invalidity allowance to all recipients of non-contributory invalidity pension on the same criteria as for recipients of contributory invalidity pension.

The gross cost would be of the order of £15 million a year for men and single women. It is not possible to estimate the net cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the net cost of paying invalidity allow- National Health Service prescriptions issued by general practitioners for contraceptives, how many patients were provided with the various methods of contraception by National Health Service general practitioners in England and Wales during 1975 and 1976.

Information is not available precisely in the form requested by my hon. Friend.The numbers of patients in England and Wales in respect of whom payments were due to general medical practitioners for the provision of contraceptive services in the final quarter of each year were:premises separately, in the years 1975 and 1976;(2) how many family planning sessions, patient attendances and individual patients were recorded at National Health Service family planning clinics in England and Wales in 1975 and in 1976.

As follows:ances to all recipients of housewives' non-contributory invalidity pension on the same criteria as for those on contributory invalidity pension.

The gross cost would not exceed £9 million. It is not possible to give a reliable estimate of the net cost, but on the basis of a gross cost of £9 million there could be savings of up to £1 million on supplementary benefit.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if his Department will publish leaflets in Gujerati, Hindi and Urdu to educate Asian parents on the steps they can take to prevent rickets in their children.

A leaflet of the feeding of children is being prepared in my Department for issue in Hindi, Urdu, Gujerati, Punjabi and Bengali. The leaflet will stress the need for children to have sufficient Vitamin D and will explain the ways by which this can be secured.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total cost to date in 1977 of his Department's advertising in the Morning Star.

There has been no expenditure on advertising by my Department in the Morning Star during 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many copies of the leaflet "Are You a Stinker?" were printed; and what was the cost of their preparation and printing.

The leaflet "Are You A Stinker?" which gives advice on personal cleanliness, is produced by the Health Education Council. I understand that, since it was first printed in April 1974, 350,000 copies have been produced and nearly 330,000 of these have been distributed to health authorities and others. Preparation and printing costs have amounted to just over £3,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will call for a report on the dangerous side effects of the drug Tanderil from the Committee on Safety of Medicines in view of the evidence supplied to him by the hon. Member for Orpington.

A study carried out for the Committee on Safety of Medicines has already been published with its approval. I shall send a full reply as soon as possible to the hon. Member about the case he raised with me.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the provision of wheeled walkabout frames can be made for disabled people at public expense; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. These frames can be provided by local authorities or, when required for treatment or aftercare, by health authorities. Local authorities have discretionary power to make a charge. The indications for provision of the wheeled types of walking frame are a matter for professional judgment. I will gladly look into any case of particular difficulty if the right hon. Gentleman will let me have details.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the specific title, date and number of the circular sent by his Department to regional and area health authorities blacklisting S. Redfern of Manchester, Reynolds Tanker Services of Lydney, Gloucestershire, and J. W. Spencer Engineering of Redhill, Surrey, for alleged breach of the stage two pay limits; and whether he will place a copy in the Library.

Circular HN(77)902 dated August 1977, entitled "The Attack on Inflation: Breaches of Pay Limits: Purchasing Aspects", advised health authorities not to place contracts with the firms mentioned while they remained in breach of the pay limits. A copy is available in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what consideration he has given to the report of the investigation into the cost and results of the re-organisation of the West Midlands ambulance service; and if he will make a statement;(2) what was the cost of the reorganisation of the West Midlands ambulance service;(3) who was responsible for authorising the expenditure of public money on transferring Coventry's emergency ambulance service organisation with the result that emergency calls from Coventry have to be re-routed through Birmingham; and what is being done to rectify the resulting worsening of service.

The West Midlands Regional Health Authority was responsible for the reorganisation of ambulance services in the region, and met the costs. The authority has commissioned a report on difficulties facing the metropolitan ambulance service with a view to establishing the effects these difficulties have had on standards of service to patients. The report is at present the subject of consultation with staff, but when it has been completed and considered by the authority I will write to my hon. Friend about its findings and particularly the standard of service to Coventry residents and the costs of the reorganisation, which are at present not readily available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the opening date of the Liverpool Teaching Hospital; and what technical and operational problems remain.

The target date for admitting the first patients is October 1978. Problems relating to fire precautions have been overcome and no further serious technical problems are evident. A Commissioning Committee of the Liverpool Area Health Authority (Teaching) is coordinating preparations for the hospital to he brought into use, including the determination of operational and personnel policies and the ordering of equipment; and the authority issued on 21st November a consultative document which sets out its proposals for rationalising existing hospital services as beds become available in the new hospital. The area health authority, and the Mersey Regional Health Authority, will also be taking into account the recommendations of the committee of inquiry to which I referred in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Garston (Mr. Loyden) on 10th November.—[Vol. 938, c.202–3]—The health authorities inform me that the commissioning programme is on target and that they are satisfied with progress to date; but, given the scale on which services have to be redeployed, it is impossible to forecast all the problems that may arise.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, further to his reply of 5th December, if he will publish in the Official Report the statistics of the Registrar General that indicate that two or three persons out of 10 approached do not reply to a voluntary census; and whether he has considered combining a voluntary section with a compulsory section for the anticipated 1981 census.

In the test census held in April 1977, which was aimed at over 100.000 households, completed forms were received from 72 per cent. of households approached; it was not possible to contact 6 per cent. of households, and 22 per cent. refused to complete and return a form. In the earlier test censuses in 1972 and 1974, 78 per cent. of households approached completed a form. Similar results have been obtained in other voluntary surveys.There is no way of testing a form that has both a compulsory and a voluntary section except in an actual census. I agree with the Registrar General that the presence of a voluntary section would lead to parts of the compulsory section being treated by some of the public as if they were voluntary. Moreover, a response rate of 70 to 80 per cent. would not provide acceptably reliable results for the questions asked in a census of population.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the cost of the administration of the Family Fund expressed as a percentage of the money paid out in grants has risen from 6 per cent. in its first year of operation to 10·8 per cent. in the year ended 30th September 1977; if he expects the proportion spent on administration to rise; how this proportion compares with the administrative costs of, respectively, child benefit and attendance allowance; and if he will make a statement.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 2nd December 1977; Vol. 940, c. 434], gave the following information:I regret that, owing to a clerical error, the information I gave in my reply to my hon. Friend on 22nd November—[Vol. 939, c.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is able to estimate the amount paid into building societies from people in Scotland.

In 1976 the total amount by way of net receipts, interest credited and repayments of principal received by building societies from people in Scotland was £360 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the estimated loss of revenue if all monetary awards linked to decorations for gallantry in Her Majesty's Service were exempt from tax; and what would be the estimated figure based on the exclusion of the other decor- ations which are exempted from such taxation.

Information on which to base a precise estimate is not available since the loss of revenue would depend on the personal circumstances of the recipients of such payments. However, the amount of the payments is such that the cost would be very small.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what date he expects to receive the report of the Wilson Committee on financial matters and the City; what has been the cost of the investigations to the latest convenient date; and how these costs have been allocated.

I understand that the Committee intends to publish a progress report on 15th December. The full costs of its investigations will be shown in its final report, for which no publication date has been decided. Expenses, consultancy fees, research and staff costs are met from within the cash limits for Treasury administration on the Treasury Vote.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the fact that to every Member of the House of Lords the £16·50 a day tax-free allowance is worth £25 a day, that to the majority it is worth £25 to £47·14, and that to a large minority it is worth £47·14 to £90·06 on a taxed basis, whether he will make it taxable to all those in receipt of incomes above £4,000 per annum.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the total value of mortgages taken out by people in each separate region of the United Kingdom or in each part of the United Kingdom for which separate figures are available.

Details of outstanding mortgage debt are not available on a regional basis. However, the total value of mortgage assets of building societies in the United Kingdom at the end of 1976 was £22,529 million of which £1,228 million relates to Scotland.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is able to estimate the total number and value of new mortgages

BUILDING SOCIETY MORTGAGES: NUMBER AND VALUE OF NEW MORTGAGES BY REGION
					1974		1975		1976
					Number	Value	Number	Value	Number	Value
						£m		£m		£m
Scotland	…	…	…	…	30,000	198	42,000	318	43,000	391
Northern England		…	…	…	23,000	136	38,000	248	40,000	300
Yorkshire and Humberside				…	41,000	230	60,000	372	63,000	440
East Midlands		…	…	…	36,000	212	51,000	343	55,000	404
East Anglia	…	…	…	…	16,000	106	23,000	169	26,000	208
Greater London		…	…	…	31,000	274	48,000	462	59,000	636
South-East (excluding Greater London)	…	…	…	…	103,000	832	163,000	1,460	176,000	1,768
South-West	…	…	…	…	36,000	245	55,000	417	60,000	502
West Midlands		…	…	…	44,000	283	63,000	447	72,000	569
North-West		…	…	…	49,000	295	74,000	497	83,000	606
Wales	…	…	…	…	16,000	103	25,000	169	28,000	214
Northern Ireland		…	…	…	6,000	35	9,000	65	9,000	80
Total, United Kingdom				…	433,000	2,950	651,000	4,965	715,000	6,117

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report detailed lists of the groups of workers who have received salary and wage increases in the past 12 months where any Government or Treasury money has been paid directly or indirectly and the actual or average amounts of such increases; and to what extent these increases have, or have not, fallen within the Government's 10 per cent. guidelines.

I regret that this information could only be collected at disproportionate cost.