asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give, for the longest and most convenient period of time, the number of persons admitted into Great Britain as immigrants from all countries; what is the present actual or estimated total number of immigrants settled in the United Kingdom; and what are the total amounts of money expended in any way by his Department in connection with immigration and the settlement of immigrants for the same period.

Year		No. granted parole	% granted parole of those eligible	% granted parole of average daily prison population
1968	…	751	15%	2%
(from 1.4.68 to 31.12.68)	…
1969	…	1,831	25%	5%
1970	…	2,201	26%	6%
1971	…	2,956	28%	7%
1972	…	2,915	30%	8%
1973	…	3,328	31%	9%
1974	…	3,502	33%	9%
1975	…	4,029	40%	10%
1976	…	4,991	47%	12%

I will write to the hon. Member as soon as statistics for 1977 are available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, of the number of prisoners granted parole in 1977, how many were serving sentences for (a) armed robbery, (b) murder and (c) rape.

Prisoners serving life sentences are released on life licences, not parole. In 1977 the numbers so released in the three categories were (a) 1, (b) 53,

From the beginning of 1963, the first full year of Commonwealth immigration control, to the end of 1976, 1,052,000 Commonwealth citizens and foreign nationals were accepted for settlement in the United Kingdom. At the time of the 1971 census, there were resident in Great Britain 2,274,000 people who were born outside the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland; this figure includes people who entered the United Kingdom before 1963, and people admitted to the United Kingdom after 1963 with conditions on their stay and who had not been accepted for settlement. No more recent estimate is available. I will write to my hon. Friend about the last part of the Question.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have been granted parole in each year since its introduction; and what this figure as a percentage of all prisoners represents.

The information for the years 1968–76 is as follows:(

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is contemplating, through legislation or other means, to ensure that trolleys which supermarket owners allow to be taken off their premises are properly collected at the expense of the supermarket owners.

None, since this matter does not fall within my responsibilities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the percentage of successful

PERSONS AGED 10 AND UNDER 17 TRIED FOR CERTAIN OFFENCES INVOLVING PHYSICAL VIOLENCE: ENGLAND AND WALES 1976
				Persons found guilty
				Number	As a percentage of those tried
Indictable offences of violence against the person
Murder	…	…	…	5	83
Attempted murder	…	…	…	2	100
Threat or conspiracy to murder	…	…	…	1	100
Manslaughter	…	…	…	10	91
Infanticide	…	…	…	1	100
Causing death by dangerous driving	…	…	…	1	33
Wounding or other act endangering life	…	…	…	91	84
Endangering railway passenger	…	…	…	15	100
Other wounding	…	…	…	5,138	89
Assault	…	…	…	75	89
Child stealing	…	…	…	3	100
Total	…	…	…	5,342	89
Certain non-indictable offences	…	…	…
Aggravated assault	…	…	…	1	50
Assault on constable	…	…	…	600	90
Common assault	…	…	…	189	71
Cruelty to child	…	…	…	1	100
Total	…	…	…	791	85

Certain cases of other offences may have involved physical violence but this cannot be identified from the information collected centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what conclusions the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has reached on the recommendations of the internal review of Metropolitan Police Force structure.

The Commissioner, who has kept in close touch with me throughout the review, has decided not to proceed with the main recommendation of the review, initiated in 1976, for the reorganisation of the force into eight large area commands. The Commissioner has concluded, and I agree, that the upheaval such a major reorganisation would cause at this difficult time would be

Information is not readily available separately on persons tried following arrest. The readily available information relates to persons under 17 years of age tried following arrest or after being summonsed, and is as follows:out of proportion to any benefit it might bring.The Commissioner proposes to make some organisational changes at headquarters as a result of the review, and further studies are to be carried out into certain other matters, including local policing arrangements. Where appropriate, these will take place in consultation with those concerned, including the police and civil staff representative organisations and the local authorities in the Metropolitan Police District.The Commissioner is informing the local authorities and his force today of his conclusion on the review.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras, South may expect a final reply to her letter of 1st August 1977 about the position of Cypriot refugees from the Turkish invasion now in the United Kingdom.

I am sorry it is taking so long to reply finally to my hon. Friend's letter raising 36 individual cases each of some complexity; but she is aware from interim replies sent to her of the reasons for the delay. I hope to let her have a full reply before long.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he next expects to meet the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Ireland.

I look forward to meeting Mr. O'Kennedy again before too long, but I have no firm plans to do so at present.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to introduce legislation in Northern Ireland comparable to the Education (Handicapped Children) Act 1970 and the Education (Mentally Handicapped Children) (Scotland) Act 1974 in order to end the exclusion of severely mentally handi-

	Project	No. of Beneficiaries
1973	Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons at Employment Rehabilitation Unit	244
1974	Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons at Employment Rehabilitation Unit and Government Training Centres	252
1975	Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons at Employment Rehabilitation Unit and Government Training Centres	260
	Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons at Residential Colleges
1976	Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons at Employment Rehabilitation Unit and Government Training Centres	349
	Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons at Residential Colleges	47
1976	Training of Disablement Resettlement Officers	12
	Training of Trainers	3
	Total	1,167

The total amount received in respect of these projects is £313,321·50.Further allocations in respect of the handicapped have been made totalling £739,596·37. The Department of Manpower Services and the Department of Health and Social Services are currently preparing claims for the 1977 calendar year based on these allocations.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 28th February 1978; Vol. 945, c. 190], gave the following answer:The question of departmental responsibility for the education of mentally handicapped children in Northern Ireland was one of the topics raised in the Consultative Document on Services for the Mentally Handicapped which was issued by the Department of Health and Social Services in April 1976.Consultations on this document are now complete and a policy paper on the future development of services for the mentally handicapped, including education, is to be published shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list all the projects for the handicapped which have received assistance from the EEC Social Fund since 1973; what was the total sum received and the number of workers assisted in each case; and if he will make a statement.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 28th February 1978; Vol. 945, c. 190], gave the following information:The following projects for the handicapped have received assistance from the EEC Social Fund since 1973.Applications totalling £924,957 have been made for 1978 and will be considered by the Social Fund Advisory Committee later this year.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why he has budgeted for a decrease in real terms on expenditure on the personal social services in 1980–81 and 1981–82, despite the fact that total expenditure on health and personal social services will continue to rise in those years; and if he will make a statement.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 28th February 1978; Vol. 945, c. 190], gave the following information:The total estimate of expenditure on personal social services given in my earlier reply included only the capital already allocated for specific projects out of the pool of expenditure available for both health and personal social services.—[Vol. 943, c.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the expenditure per head of population on the personal social services in 1976–77 and what is the estimate for 1977–78.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 28th February 1978; Vol. 945, c. 190], gave the following reply:The information is as follows:

Year			Current	Capital
1976–77	…	…	£18·50	£1·91
1977–78	…	…	£21·06	£2·08

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the formation of the Association of Scottish Local Health Councils.

The Association has been formed on a voluntary basis on the initiative of local health councils themselves and with my encouragement, and is supported by the majority of councils in Scotland. It held its inaugural meeting in Edinburgh on 30th September last year. It should provide a forum for the exchange of views and information between individual councils and in due course should become a valuable sounding board for informed consumer reaction to national policies and proposals in the Scottish Health Service.On the assumption that the House has no objections, I propose that the Association will be financed by annual subscriptions levied upon member local health councils and by a contribution from the Health Etc. (Scotland) Vote. It is my intention that the Association should be a statutory body, and the necessary legislation will be introduced in due course.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will publish in the Official Report a table indicating each local education authority's school transport costs for the last 12 months for which figures are available.

The information requested is published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in its Education Statistics series, copies of which are in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she is satisfied that in their plans for the coming financial year local education authorities are making sufficient provision for the funding of adult literacy programmes; and what steps she is taking to monitor progress in this regard.

I am confident that local education authorities will have regard to the need for adult literacy provision when assessing their priorities in the light of local requirements and resources. The report made annually to me by the Adult Literacy Resource Agency has contained an assessment of local authority provision, and it is my hope that future reports from the Adult Literacy Unit will, so far as possible, provide similar information.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the latest estimate of the proportion of young persons between the ages of 16 and 19 years in full-time education.

In January 1977 30 per cent. of the young people in England and Wales who were over the minimum school leaving age but under 19 were in full-time education. Indications are that the percentage in January 1978 is similar.

							£ millions
							Current	Capital	Total
British Library	…	…	…	…	…	…	21·580	1·061	22·641
British Museum	…	…	…	…	…	…	6·472	1·480	7·952
National Gallery	…	…	…	…	…	…	2·690	0·240	2·930

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why he has again increased the cost of passports by 10 per cent.; what have been the actual and percentage increases in the cost of passports since 1974; and how these increases compare with the rise in the cost of living.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why it has become necessary to

				United Kingdom Retail Price Index.
		Cost of passport	Percentage increase	Percentage increase
January 1974 (raised to £5 in November 1970)	…	£5	—	—
June 1975	…	£6	20	37
March 1976	…	£8	33	10
February 1977	…	£10	25	16
March 1978	…	£11	10	10*
* Increase from January 1977 to January 1978.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many tourist visas were granted and how many were refused in India in each of the last five years.

Commonwealth citizens coming to the United Kingdom for a

						Visit Entry Certificates
					1973	1974	1975	1976	1977
Issued	…	…	…	…	12,800	12,200	12,900	14,200	13,100
Refused	…	…	…	…	1,000	1,100	1,500	1,300	900

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the estimated total cost to public funds of capital and current expenditure in the current financial year of the British Library, the British Museum and the National Gallery.

The estimated cost to public funds in 1977–78 of the three institutions is as follows:increase the price of United Kingdom passports.

Receipts from passports contribute towards the total costs of the passport office in Britain and the consular services overseas which are expected to rise by 10·6 per cent, in the financial year 1978–79. The latest increase in passport fees is designed to maintain in 1978–79 the same proportionate level of recovery of costs as in 1977–78. The actual and percentage increases in the cost of an ordinary passport since 1974 compared with the rise in the cost of living are as follows:visit are not obliged to obtain visit entry certificates—equivalent to a visa—but they may apply for them if they prefer to obtain entry clearance before they leave for Britain. The number of visit entry certificates issued by our posts in India and the number of applications refused in each of the past five years is given in the table below—figures to the nearest hundred:

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the composition of the Economic and Social Committee of the EEC will be re-considered; and whether he will include in his list of candidates required under Article 195 of the Treaty of Rome an identifiable representation from the small and medium-sized business sector.

The next four-year term of the Economic and Social Committee begins in September 1978. On the composition of the British delegation I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave on 24th January to the hon. Member for Upminster (Mr. Loveridge). —[Vol. 942, c. 505.]

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will arrange for the monthly publication of unemployment rates for the United Kingdom and the major industrialised countries on an internationally comparable basis in the Department of Employment Gazette or in the regular article "Economic Indicators of the Industrialised Countries" carried in Trade and Industry.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment for what purpose the Manpower Services Commission has been training 5,000 helicopter pilots.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that it has no arrangement to train 5,000 helicopter pilots.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the Official Report all the employment areas, regions, districts and travel-to-work areas presently designated special development areas or development areas which have a current rate of unemployment of 9 per cent. or less, giving in each case the current rate of unemployment and type of development status, the total number of unemployed and estimated total of insured population, and the local and national rate of unemployment at time of designation.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 28th February 1978; Vol. 945, c. 171], gave the following answer:The following table gives the information for employment office areas and travel-to-work areas which are wholly within special development areas (SDA) or development areas (DA) and had an unemployment rate of 9 per cent. or less in January 1978.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied that adequate access to the Common Market will be granted to New Zealand farm produce after 1978, in view of the representations that are currently being made by the New Zealand Government on the subject.

The New Zealand Government are naturally concerned about the maintenance of agricultural exports to the Community. We keep in close touch with them on these matters.On sheepmeat, we expect the Commission to produce proposals for a regime very shortly. We have made it clear that any regime must provide for our requirements for substantial imports which can only come from New Zealand.On dairy products, arrangements made under Protocol 18 of the Act of Accession assure imports of specified quantities of butter from New Zealand up to the end of 1980. Arrangements for the period after 1980 have yet to be made on the basis of Protocol 18. No provision was made in Protocol 18 for continued imports of cheese after the end of 1977 but the Heads of Government of the Community when they met in Dublin in March 1975 noted that this situation and the problems that might arise from it would be given due attention. The possibility of access arrangements for cheese is one of the questions to be considered in the negotiations for a new international agreement on dairy products in the GATT multilateral trade negotiations.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the existing guaranteed price arrangements for potatoes will apply to the 1978–79 crop; and whether he can give guidance to producers on plantings.

There are still a number of uncertainties concerning the arrangements for the 1978–79 crop. In particular, it is difficult to predict the speed of progress towards a common regime for potatoes and to know whether our traditional ban on imports of main-crop potatoes will apply should there be a surplus in the United Kingdom. The Government are therefore discussing with the producer interests the best approach to marketing and support arrangements for the coming crop and especially whether it would be possible to operate for that crop the new stabilisation and insurance system which the National Farmers' Unions and the Potato Marketing Board have suggested as the only reasonable alternative for the longer term in the new circumstances. Producers will recognise that this system, if implemented, would give a reduced degree of support for the crop.The prudent course for potato producers in determining their plantings for 1978 is to have regard to the target area announced by the Potato Marketing Board, which is 13 per cent. below the 1977 planted area, and thus aim to avoid the problems which a heavy surplus can present.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the steps he has taken, since February 1974, to protect and conserve salmon stocks in United Kingdom waters and rivers, together with an assessment of the effect of each of these measures.

Comprehensive legislation to provide an adequate framework for conservation of salmon stocks already existed in 1974. Within the six miles limit, responsibility for enforcing it in England and Wales rests with water authorities. My right hon. Friend, the Minister, assists in the introduction of local legislation to extend their powers whenever this is justified. He also sponsors research, with special attention being given to salmonid work—a notable example being that undertaken off the North-East Coast.In the international sphere, the Government have made appropriate representations about illegal salmon fishing, and participate in discussions relating the salmon conservation in the EEC context.These measures are designed to safeguard our stocks on a continuing basis and broadly speaking achieve their purpose.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement describing the steps that have been taken to date to repair and improve sea defences following the recent flooding; what plans he has to ensure that all necessary works are completed as a matter of urgency; and what extra financial provision is being made to allow these works to proceed.

Sea defences are in the main the responsibility of the water authorities. I understand that breaches caused by the January surge tides were quickly repaired and that the repair of other damage to the defences is in hand. The improvement of defences is a longer-term problem often involving site investigations and design effort before the work can be started. In some key areas this has already begun and on other parts of the coast consideration is being given to the speeding up of existing improvement schemes. I am satisfied that the water authorities are taking all possible action to get ahead with this task. I understand that the cost of the repair work has been met so far from the authorities' existing financial resources. Any requests to my Department for the allocation of additional funds for improvement schemes will be considered sympathetically.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total amount of public funds paid out in consultant merit awards; what is the distribution of the awards, both by region and to teaching as against non-teaching hospitals; what are the names of the recipients with their respective awards; and what are the criteria used in making the awards.

Total expenditure on distinction awards in England and Wales is currently about £12 million a year. The detailed criteria used in making awards are a matter for the Advisory Committee on Distinction awards, under the Chairmanship of Sir Stanley Clayton, working within its general remit that awards are for professional distinction and, particularly at the lower levels of awards, outstanding service contributions to the NHS. The names of distinction award holders are not published at present, but I am discussing this and other aspects of the scheme with the representatives of the medical profession.The tables below set out the distribution of distinction awards by NHS regions and between teaching and non-teaching authorities at 31st December 1976, the latest date for which comprehensive information is available.

DISTRIBUTION OF DISTINCTION AWARDS BY NHS REGIONS AT 31ST DECEMBER 1976—ENGLAND AND WALE
Region		Percentage of consultants and community physicians in Region who hold an award
Northern	…	32·3
Yorkshire	…	32·0
Trent	…	32·5
EastAnglia	…	33·0
Wessex	…	30·5
Oxford	…	35·1
Southwestern	…	32·8
West Midlands	…	32·7
Mersey	…	33·2
North Western	…	31·2
Wales	…	32·1
All Thames Regions	…	31·0

DISTRIBUTION OF DISTINCTION AWARDS BETWEEN TEACHING AND NON-TEACHING EMPLOYING AUTHORITIES AT 31ST DECEMBER 1976—ENGLAND AND WALE
Type of Authority Holding Contract	Percentage of consultants and community physicians employed who hold an award
Teaching	44·0
Non-teaching	27·1
Joint contract with Teaching and non-teaching	43·2

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list county by county the number of National Health Service geriatric beds per 10,000 population and per 10,000 population over 65 years of age.

Hospital data are not collected by county. Following are the numbers of available geriatric beds in National Health Service hospitals, expressed as ratios per 10,000 population and per 10,000 population aged over 65, in each area health authority in England.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will give for all of the various public authorities and servants for which he has overall responsibility the number who are covered by the Official Secrets Act; how many have to sign a declaration under the Act at the latest date; and how these figures compare with October 1974.

Although the term "to sign the Official Secrets Act" is in common use, it is, in fact misleading. Many public servants and most civil servants are required to sign a declaration acknowledging that the provisions of the Official Secrets Act 1911, as amended, have been brought to their attention, but the Act applies nevertheless to all persons who are in possession of official information whether or not they are Crown servants.As no central record is maintained of the number of servants of public authorities within my right hon. Friend's field of responsibility who have signed the declaration, I am unable to provide the information my hon. Friend is seeking. Most civil servants within my right hon. Friend's jurisdiction have signed the declaration.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list county by county the percentage of the population that is retired.

The most recent figures of the retired are from the 1971 census, and they relate to people who were described as retired on the census form. Estimates of the numbers of persons of pensionable age are available for mid-

Area		Percentage enumerated population retired*	Percentage population aged 65 and over (males) and 60 and over (females)
		1971 Census	1971 Census	Mid-1976
Greater London	…	10	16	18
Metropolitan Counties
Greater Manchester	…	10	16	17
Merseyside	…	9	15	17
South Yorkshire	…	9	15	16
Tyne and Wear	…	9	16	17
West Midlands	…	8	14	15
West Yorkshire	…	10	16	17
Non-Metropolitan Counties
Avon	…	11	17	18
Bedfordshire	…	8	13	13
Berkshire	…	8	13	14
Buckinghamshire	…	8	14	14
Cambridgeshire	…	9	15	15
Cheshire	…	9	14	15
Cleveland	…	8	13	14
Cornwall	…	15	21	21
Cumbria	…	10	17	19
Derbyshire	…	10	16	17
Devon	…	15	22	23
Dorset	…	17	24	24
Durham	…	9	16	16
East Sussex	…	20	28	29
Essex	…	10	16	16
Gloucestershire	…	11	17	17
Hampshire	…	10	16	17
Hereford and Worcester	…	9	16	16
Hertfordshire	…	8	13	14
Humberside	…	9	16	17
Isle of Wight	…	18	25	25
Kent	…	12	18	18
Lancashire	…	13	19	20
Leicestershire	…	9	15	16
Lincolnshire	…	10	17	18
Norfolk	…	12	19	20
Northamptonshire	…	8	16	16
Northumberland	…	10	17	18
North Yorkshire	…	12	19	18
Nottinghamshire	…	10	15	16
Oxfordshire	…	8	14	15
Salop	…	9	16	16
Somerset	…	13	19	20
Staffordshire	…	8	14	14
Suffolk	…	12	18	18
Surrey	…	10	16	17
Warwickshire	…	8	14	14
West Sussex	…	16	24	24
Wiltshire	…	9	15	16
Clwyd	…	12	19	19
Dyfed	…	12	19	19
Gwent	…	10	15	16
Gwynedd	…	14	21	21
Mid-Glamorgan	…	10	15	16
Powys	…	13	19	20
South Glamorgan	…	10	16	17
West Glamorgan	…	10	17	18
* Does not include women who were described as housewives.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if there is an administrative ruling to cover a situation where a patient requiring emergency treatment attends a hospital that does not have an accident and emergency unit, or has one that is closed at the particular time, which governs the necessity of the hospital staff concerned providing emergency treatment.

Health authorities have been advised that if a patient presents himself at a hospital which is not providing an accident and emergency service, essential first aid should be given by the staff available. The patient should then be referred to a general medical practitioner or transferred to an accident and emergency department at another hospital.