asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection when he expects his talks with the tea blenders to be concluded; and when he will make a further statement.

I met representatives of the tea blenders on Friday 24th February to discuss with them the Price Commission report on the price of tea. None of the blenders was prepared to make an immediate reduction in the price of medium-priced tea. In consequence, I began the statutory consultations which must precede the making of a price regulation order under Section 2 of the Prices Act 1974. On Friday 3rd March the CWS announced a reduction of 2p in the price of its main blend of packet tea and said that the retail price of this tea would accordingly be reduced to 22p per quarter on 6th March. Later that day the other blenders announced similar reductions.I have no doubt that active competition in the retail grocery trade will ensure that these reductions in blenders' prices will generate a lower price in the shops. However, I am making arrangements to monitor tea prices in the shops to determine if—as some blenders predict—they settle down at about the Price Commission's recommended level of 21p or 22p per quarter pound of medium-priced packet tea. I am accordingly extending the period of consultations in order to determine the need for an order under Section 2 of the Prices Act 1974 by two weeks until Tuesday 21st March.It remains the Government's intention that the retail price of tea should be reduced to a level consistent with the recommendation of the Price Commission.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection whether he will make a statement on the action he has taken and intends taking to reduce the price of tea; and whether he will take similar action with regard to beer and bread prices.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Lalywood (Mr. Sever). I have no plans for similar action with regard to beer or bread, where the circumstances are different.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection whether he will give a list of the occasions when he took action, similar to that proposed for reducing the retail price of tea; what were the results of such actions so far as price reductions are concerned; and on what dates he took these actions.

A situation comparable to the present one on tea has not previously arisen. It has not therefore been necessary to exercise the available powers in an analogous fashion.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what restrictions are placed on the activities of Price Commission staff to prevent insider dealing by them in shares of companies which are being investigated by the Commission.

The Commission's staff are required to comply with rules based upon those applying to civil servants.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what is his estimate of total consumer expenditure in 1977; and what percentage of the goods and services concerned were subject to price control by official bodies and to permitted resale price maintenance agreements, respectively.

Total consumers' expenditure in 1977 is estimated to be £35,147 million, at 1970 constant prices.The Price Commission Act—1977—permits the Commission to investigate prices and margins over about three-quarters of this area, however it may also investigate margins of all distributors of goods in the United Kingdom. Other official bodies have a role in regulating prices and charges for about a quarter of the remaining area. Goods and services subject to permitted resale price maintenance agreements, namely, books and proprietary medicines, accounted for less than 1 per cent. of consumers' expenditure.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection to what extent he proposes to take account of the views of medical experts before making regulations in implementation of the EEC cosmetics directive; and if he will make a statement.

Full account will be taken of the views expressed by all the interested bodies consulted by my Department about the draft regulations and of the advice of medical advisers in the Department of Health and Social Security.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he will bring forward legislation to ensure that no fee can be required for inspection of credit data records especially where such inspection reveals a need for the record to be corrected.

I do not contemplate such legislation.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection, what action he is taking following the disclosure of numerous unregistered price fixing agreements in ready-mixed concrete and blacktop.

Action on restrictive trading agreements is for the Director General of Fair Trading. I understand that he has applied to the Restrictive Practices Court for orders against the parties to some of the agreements concerned, which he has placed on the public register; and that he will be taking similar action in respect of other agreements that have been disclosed. The Director of Public Prosecutions will be informed if it appears from the Director General's inquiries that there has been a breach of the criminal law.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection, whether he will make a statement on the Price Commission report on proposed fare increases by British Railways.

My right hon. Friend together with his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, is considering this report and discussions have taken place with the British Railways Board. The Government's conclusions will be announced shortly. The Board well understands the grievances of London commuters about the cost of rail travel and will give full ocnsideration to the Commission's suggestion that future fare increases should not discriminate further against these travellers unless improved cost analysis shows this to be justified.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what further steps he is taking to extend unit pricing.

We reached an important stage in our action programme when we made unit pricing compulsory for meat and cheese on 1st March. I intend that the next stage of the programme should include further coverage of fish, processed meat products, poultry and pre-packed fruit and vegetables.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection how many second-hand car dealers will need credit-broking licences; and whether malpractices in car sales will be taken into account when the licences are considered.

The great majority of such dealers introduce their customers to sources of credit and will therefore need licences; all relevant business practices of applicants will be taken into account by the Director General of Fair Trading in considering their fitness to have licences.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection whether he will now use his powers in the Price Commission Act to require the display of prices of services.

We are currently consulting on the draft order requiring prices to be marked for food and drink and our immediate intention is to follow this with further orders relating to goods. Our programme will however include orders relating to certain services as soon as possible. Decisions on which sectors to cover first will have to be taken nearer the time, but restaurants and cafes, shoe repairs and hairdressing are among the sectors that we are considering.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection whether, in the interests of consumers, he is satisfied with the draft code of practice recommended by the Post Office to consumer bodies in relation to mail services.

I have seen the Post Office's draft of the code of practice which has been circulated by the Post Office Users' National Council to interested parties. In the light of the comments that it has received, the Council is now discussing the draft code with the Post Office, in consultation with the Office of Fair Trading and will be keeping me in close touch with developments.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he will review the law relating to price control in the light of recent findings on tea and beer prices.

The Price Commissions' reports on tea and beer were made under the Counter-Inflation Act 1973 and not under the Price Commission Act 1977, which has given new powers. My right hon. Friend will review the current law as necessary in the light of experience.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what assistance he has given to date to enable the advice centre operated by Walsall District Council and the shoppers' shop operated by the West Midlands County Council to continue; and what financial aid he would be prepared to give Walsall District Council to assume the responsibilities for running the county's shoppers' shop.

My Department made a grant allocation of £50,300 for the financial year 1977–78 to meet all the eligible running costs of the Walsall Shoppers' shop operated by the West Midlands County Council. This centre closed on 28th February. I have approved a grant of £3,700 to Walsall District Council to meet the capital costs of opening a new shoppers' service, and the Department intends to meet all the eligible running costs of this project during the financial year 1978–79.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection whether he is satisfied that the Price Commission is cost-effective.

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what changes in chapters A, B, C and D of the EEC directive on metrication have been made since 7th July 1976.

As promised when the House debated a draft of this directive on 7th July 1976, a number of substantial changes were made before the directive—76/770/EEC—was finally adopted and published on 27th July 1976. The alterations to the chapters were that the hand, the horsepower and the millimetre of mercury—for medical purposes only—were moved from chapter B to chapter C.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection how many licences have been granted to date under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act 1974; how many applications are still in the pipeline; how many have been refused; and whether separate statistics are available for Scotland.

Since the Act imposes on the Director General of Fair Trading the duty of administering the licensing system, I am asking him to write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what is the latest increase in the retail price index.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Dearne Valley (Mr. Wainwright).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, in view of the fall in the inflationary spiral and that inflation is now 9·9 per cent., he is agreeing to a £5 increase in the television licence fee; and whether he will withhold any increase until the subject is discussed in the House.

As my right hon. Friend explained in the answer he gave to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) on 27th February, we have not yet made any decision about any possible increase in the television licence fees. The arrangements for making any announcement about changes in the fees must depend on the circumstances at the time.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what have been the figures for prosecutions and convictions for drink and driving charges for the latest convenient period of time; and whether he will consider the introduction of breathalysers on the vehicles to enable drivers to test themselves before driving.

Numbers of proceedings and findings of guilt at magistrates' courts and at the Crown court in England and Wales in 1976 for offences of driving after consuming alcohol or taking drugs are published in "Offences relating to motor vehicles 1976". The matter raised in the second part of the Question is for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what report he has received from the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis on the disturbances in the Ilford, North parliamentary constituency on Saturday 25th February 1978; and if he will make a statement.

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that on Saturday 25th February 5,837 police officers were deployed to keep the peace on the occasion of canvassing activities and meetings held by the National Front and opposing groups in Ilford and Barkingside. In minor disturbances during the day, 21 persons were arrested and five police officers were slightly injured.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is prepared to meet representatives of the Church of Scientology to discuss the ban on foreign scientologists entering the United Kingdom.

No, but I shall be prepared to consider any fresh material points in writing.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if it is his policy to encourage co-operation between police authorities and insurance interests in combating crime, particularly theft;(2) if he has received an indication from police authorities that they no longer intend to supply information to insurance interests regarding burglaries; and if he will make a statement;(3) what representations he has received on the decision of police authorities to discontinue the practice of supplying information to insurance interests; from whom; and what reply he has sent.

The Association of Chief Police Officers informed the Home Office last month that chief officers of police, whose responsibility this is, have decided after discussing the matter with the British Insurance Association that routine information can no longer be supplied to insurance companies in connection with loss, theft or burglaries. Besides the letter which the hon. Member wrote to me on 14th February, representations have been received from two other hon. Members and from the British Insurance Association. My officials will be meeting the British Insurance Association shortly. I shall give their views careful consideration before replies are sent to the representations made on this subject.I am satisfied that chief officers take into account the part insurers can play in crime prevention.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will meet the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to discuss whether or not orders should ban all public marches, in the event of the National Front's holding demonstrations during the Notting Hill Carnival and 1st May Labour demonstrations.

Under the Public Order Act 1936, it would be for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis in the first instance to decide, in the light of the circumstances at the time, whether or not to seek my consent to an order prohibiting the holding of public processions because of the threat of serious public disorder.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, pursuant to his statement made on 27th February, Official Report, columns 48 and 49, that he had a cutting from an Ashford newspaper reporting that the hon. Member for Ashford (Mr. Speed) had said that United Kingdom passport holders would be sent home, he will place in the Library a copy of the newspaper cutting concerned or state on which page of which newspaper on which date the account appeared.

The article to which I referred appeared in the Ashford Advertiser for 20th January. I clarified in response to interventions in the debate what proposals the article attributed to the hon. Member for Ashford.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will now place in the Library a copy of the circular entitled Withholding of Tender Invitations and Contracts from Firms in Breach of Incomes Policy", following the publication of extracts from it in The Daily Telegraph on 1st March; and whether he will give reasons for his decision on this matter.

No. To reserve the confidentiality of discussions between the Government and firms, it is the practice to confirm or deny that discretionary action is being taken against a firm only where the firm itself has publicly announced the fact.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the national and local daily and weekly newspapers and journals purchased for his Department.

No central record is kept of newspapers and periodicals purchased by a large number of separate Home Office establishments throughout the country. In the Home Office main building, although all the national dailies and many periodicals are taken, only the main provincial newspapers are received regularly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the Official Report the regulations that affect the employment of students studying in the United Kingdom without a work permit; and if he will list any legislation concerning the work limitations and rates of pay.

The Immigration Rules, which have been laid before the House and published, set out the provisions for the admission of people subject to immigration control as students and the imposition of conditions about taking employment.I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment that approval to the employment of a student will not be given unless the employment will not interfere with the student's studies, local labour is not available and the wages and conditions are not less favourable than those prevailing in the area for similar work.EEC nationals enjoy rights under the Treaty of Rome to look for and take work at any time.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, after the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South complained in a letter to him on 28th November 1977 about the negative and unsympathetic attitude of the police towards the rape counselling and research project, the Minister of State did not reply until 21st February.

I am sorry for the delay, but in answering the letter, which was not received until 9th December, it was necessary to make various inquiries and give the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis an opportunity to look again at the policy of his force towards the project.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received on the financing of small businesses; and if he will make a statement.

I have received a large number and a wide variety of suggestions, and I am considering them carefully. In addition, there are two committees looking at this matter in a wider context, one chaired by my right hon. Friend the Member for Huyton (Sir H. Wilson) and the other by Lord Roll. I look forward with interest to seeing their conclusions.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what items of positive discrimination in favour of small businesses have been introduced since September 1977; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced last October a substantial group of measures aimed specifically at helping smaller businesses. I am pressing on with work towards further measures, with much welcome encouragement from the hon. Member and his colleagues in the Liberal Party.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he considers positive discrimination in favour of small businesses to be appropriate at the present time.

If positive discrimination means taking special measures to help and encourage small firms, I am certainly in favour of it. We have already taken some measures of this kind and there are more to come.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he has any plans to help small firms employing less than 20 employees; and if he will make a statement.

I am conscious of the special needs of the very small firm, and I will have these firmly in mind in my continuing study of the measures required to encourage and assist small firms generally.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he has any plans to help the self-employed in the country; and if he will make a statement.

As the hon. Member knows, we have reduced the national insurance contribution of the self-employed. We are examining other possibilities. But many of the measures that have already been taken to assist small firms will, directly and indirectly, be of help to the self-employed; and this will doubtless be the case in respect of future measures.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is her policy towards the latest proposal for Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council to reorganise secondary school education, particularly as regards the Brighouse area.

Following the council meeting on 1st February, the Calderdale Education Authority submitted proposals for the reorganisation of the secondary schools in the Halifax and Brighouse areas. These are now being considered urgently by the Secretary of State.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will provide up-to-date estimates of the expenditure by central and local government including the education and library services, on books; and what the total figure represents as a percentage of the United Kingdom turnover of British publishing houses.

My Department has no information about total expenditure on books by central and local government. So far as the education and libraries services are concerned, the main identifiable expenditure on books is as follows:

Financial Year 1976–77	£ million outturn prices
Universities (Great Britain)	6·6 (estimated)
British Library	4·0
Local authorities in England and Wales:
local education authorities	53·7
Libraries	27·9

In addition, expenditure is incurred by a number of other bodies and educational establishments in receipt of public funds, including direct grant schools and colleges, the Open University, the Cran-field Institute of Science and Technology, the Royal College of Art, national museums and galleries and the research councils.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average remuneration of a shorthand typist employed by her Department.

The current average salary is estimated to be £2,844 per annum. This includes 1976 and 1977 pay supplements and proficiency allowances where payable, but excludes London weighting. Where payable London weighting averages £465 per annum.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average remuneration of a higher executive officer employed by her Department.

The current average salary is estimated to be £5,160 per annum. This includes 1976 and 1977 pay supplements but excludes London weighting. Where payable, London weighting averages £442 per annum.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average remuneration of a university lecturer.

The current average salary of a university lecturer is estimated to be £5,400 per annum, including pay supplements but excluding London allowance and any other special supplementary allowances payable. Where payable, London allowances amounts to £450 per annum. Negotiations are in progress for new salary scales to apply from 1st October 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the approved staff establishment of the Victoria and Albert Museum in March 1973, 1975 and 1977; and what is the current approved establishment.

Manpower ceilings are set each year for the 12-month period 1st April to 31st March. On this basis, the requested manpower ceilings for the Victoria and Albert Museum are:

March 1973	…	…	675
March 1975	…	…	692
March 1977	…	…	697
March 1978	…	…	690

From 1st April 1978 the manpower ceiling will be 626.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of handicapped children of school age are taught in special schools in England.

Returns from local education authorities in England show that in January 1977 there were 165,603 children assessed as requiring special education. Of these,128,870 were in special schools–77·8 per cent. of the total—and a further 7,891 were awaiting places in special schools. The remainder were placed in independent schools, attended designated special classes in ordinary schools, were boarded in homes, or received special education otherwise than at school.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is her policy on the provision of transport in rural areas for handicapped children who have to travel long distances to special schools.

School transport arrangements for children, whether or not they are handicapped, are the responsibility of local education authorities under the provisions of Section 55 of the Education Act 1944. Most local education authorities take a generous view of their responsibilities in meeting the transport needs of handicapped children attending special schools and classes.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether, following earlier correspondence, she will now reinvestigate the circumstances where, since October, Nottinghamshire County Council has refused to provide transport to St. Giles School, Retford for Kevin Dooley of 26 Woodhouse Place, Tuxford, who is deaf and handicapped; why he has now been placed in Balderton Mental Hospital; and whether she will insist that transport to,, school is provided for him when he is released shortly.

In view of the difficult and distressing circumstances of this case, I will make further inquiries of the Nottinghamshire Local Education Authority and write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the estimated cost of educating a child from primary to comprehensive school level.

The cost of the 11 years of compulsory schooling, based on the average unit costs for primary and for secondary schools at November 1976 prices, would be about £4,500. This figure covers the net recurrent cost of providing tuition, school meals and other pupil support costs at maintained primary and secondary schools.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many circulars she has issued to local authorities during the last three years on matters relating to truancy; and what advice has been contained in each;(2) what advice she issues to local authorities on the question of truancy; at which percentage of attendance they should prosecute; and how many months of non-attendance should pass before they consider prosecution.

I have nothing to add to the reply that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State gave to the hon. Member on 23rd November 1977.—[Vol. 939, c. 763–4.]

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what response he has had to his request to the public for details of the damage and inconvenience caused by the Concorde sonic booms in the West Country.

There has been a very good response to my request for reports by the general public on the precise place, time and nature of the booms being heard in the South-West and the information we are receiving is proving very helpful in the continuing research into the problem of secondary sonic booms. I hope to be able to place in the Library of the House a further progress report on; this research within a few weeks. I add that while I appreciate that secondary booms may be causing inconvenience, extensive tests have shown that booms of this intensity should not cause damage to or aggravate minor faults in sound structures.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade in view of the public complaints about bangs which do not appear to be connected with Concorde flight times, if he will order an investigation; and if he will make a statement.

There are few complaints about sonic booms that cannot be identified as due to Concorde. Where sufficient information is given they are all investigated individually.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what representations have been made about alleged dumping of Spanish paper in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

Allegations have been made by United Kingdom industry that

£ billion
					Great Britain*	Northern Ireland†	Great Britain*
					Current prices	Current prices	1971 prices
1970	…	…	…	…	14·8	0·27	16·0
1971	…	…	…	…	16·3	0·29	16·3
1972	…	…	…	…	18·3	0·29	17·2
1973	…	…	…	…	20·7	0·34	18·0
1974	…	…	…	…	23·9	0·39	17·8
1975	…	…	…	…	28·4	0·47	17·4
1976	…	…	…	…	32·6	0·55	17·4
1977	…	…	…	…	37·9	0·65	17·7
* The figures for Great Britain are based on the monthly retail sales index which is compiled using 1971 prices.
† The figures for Northern Ireland are based on an index compiled by the Department of Commerce; no constant price estimates are published.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what progress he has made, in consultation with other EEC countries, with action to counter unfair competition from Eastern bloc shipping; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Wirral (Mr. Hunt) on 6th February.—[Vol. 943, c. 370.]

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what representations he has made to the Government of India against its unilateral application of a turnover tax on British shipping companies trading to and from Indian ports.

No specific representations have been made. However talks have been held between officials of the two Governments about a comprehensive double taxation agreement in which the taxation of shipping has been dis-

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what is his estimate of the total sales turnover of United Kingdom retail trade for the years 1970 to 1977, inclusive, measured both at current prices and at 1970 prices.

The available information on the total sales by retail businesses in the United Kingdom is as follows:cussed. Further talks are planned for later this year.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he has anything to report on arrangements between North Sea region States to exercise port State control on substandard ships.

Shipping officials of eight West European Governments have signed a memorandum of understanding, operative from 1st July 1978, providing for joint action against substandard ships in the North Sea region in conformity with international obligations. I am arranging for a copy of the memorandum to be placed in the Library of the House.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what action he is taking to encourage the use of recycled paper throughout the Civil Service.

Suppliers to the Civil Service of paper and paper products are constantly urged to use as much recycled fibre as is practicable. Invitations to tender for Government contracts contain this exhortation and require tenderers to state the percentage and grade of waste incorporated. Due account is taken of this information in awarding contracts.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what is the annual tonnage of waste paper generated by both Houses of Parliament; and what steps are taken to ensure that it is usefully recycled.

Classified waste paper for both Houses of Parliament is destroyed within the confines of

Company	Type of share	Number held by NEB	Percentage held of nominal value of total equity	Cost (£000)	Stock Exchange quotation (closing prices 1st March 1978) where available
Barrow Hepburn Group Ltd.	25p ordinary	1,000,000	4·2	450	44p
British Leyland Ltd.	50p ordinary	246,490,683	95·1	246,491	22p
British Tanners Products Ltd.	£1 ordinary	2,000,000	50·0	2,000	—
Brown Boveri Kent Ltd.	25p ordinary	7,658,938	17·6	1,880	41½p
Data Recording Instrument Co. Ltd.	£1 ordinary	3,970,337	63·1	3,970	—
ICL Ltd.	£1 ordinary	8,148,750	24·4	12,135	220p
Newbury Laboratories Ltd.	Investment*
Power Dynamics Ltd.	£1 ordinary	60,000	33·3	60	—
	£1 redeemable preference.	120,000	—	120	—
*Disposed of to Data Recording Instrument Co. Ltd.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether the companies in the private sector which manufacture medium-speed diesel engines have sufficient capacity to supply the requirements of British Shipbuilders at competitive prices.

British Shipbuilders' requirements are determined by the types of engines to be installed in the ships it builds. A number of types of engine currently used in ships are not made by private sector companies in this country.

s asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will update the information given in his Written Answer to the hon. Member for Surrey, North-West Official Report, 13th February, c. 50–55, on shareholdings of the National Enterprise Board, on 1st March 1978.

The reply which I gave the hon. Member on 13th February requires to be supplemented or amended as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether the report of the Tripartite Sector Working Party under the National Economic Development Office recommended that British Shipbuilders should support the existing United Kingdom medium-speed diesel engine manufacturing industry in the private sector and not compete with it and what was his response to that recommendation.

A recommendation on this matter was included among those made by the Industrial Engines Sector Working Party in a recent report to the NEDC. The Government are studying that report.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the total cost of the former Industrial Reorganisation Corporation's holding in Dunford and Elliott Ltd.; what was the consideration the National Enterprise Board received for this holding when it disposed of it to Lonrho Ltd.; and on what date he gave the National Enterprise Board his approval for this disposal.

The total cost of the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation's holding in Dunford & Elliott Ltd. was £133,053. The holding was subsequently transferred to my Department and then to the National Enterprise Board, and it augmented it when it subscribed for a rights issue of preference shares. My right hon. Friend approved the dispersal by the Board of all these shares on 8th December 1976, and I understand that the consideration received was £353,794.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he has any proposals to assist the electronics industry.

I have nothing to add to the answer my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member on 23rd January.—[Vol. 942, c. 962–3.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied with his Department's procedures on national insurance contribution arrears; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. I take it that my hon. Friend's concern arises from the book "The Pencourt File", which contains two allegations concerning me. Both are untrue.The first allegation is that, as Minister of State in 1969, I ensured that no action was taken about unpaid national insurance contributions in respect of Mr. Nor- man Scott. The decision to treat Mr. Scott as either self-employed or non-employed for national insurance purposes and to waive action, including civil proceedings, to collect arrears of contributions was reached by officials in the light of standing instructions. The query from Mr. Peter Bessell MP was one of the 50 to 70 inquiries from Members which I dealt with each week. Any suggestion that I influenced the Department in order to protect Mr. Scott or anyone else from legal proceedings is untrue. Nor is there any truth in the suggestion that, as a result of Mr. Bessell's intervention, Mr. Scott or his wife received national insurance benefits to which they were not entitled.The second allegation is that, as Secretary of State in 1976, I asked the Director General of the BBC to stifle inquiries being made about my Department's handling of social security matters and papers concerning Mr. Scott. This is not so. The facts are as follows. Mr. Penrose and Mr. Courtiour, who said that they had been assigned to this work by the Director General of the BBC, were making inquiries about the Department's contacts with Mr. Scott. I did not wish to disclose information about a claimant to people who might feel under no obligation to respect the confidentiality of the information provided to the Department by the claimant. I therefore sought a meeting with the Director General in order to satisfy him that the allegations being made were without foundation. As a result he was able to satisfy himself that there was nothing further to pursue with my Department.In view of widespread misunderstanding, I should add that the Department does not keep one master file on every individual. A variety of files and documents are used to deal with different types of contact between individuals and the Department. Following a detailed inquiry which I ordered in 1976 all the Department's social security records and files relating to Mr. Norman Scott can be accounted for—either as still in the Department's possession or as routinely destroyed in accordance with the Public Records Act—with the exception of a folder used to administer a 1962 claim for sickness benefit. This is presumed lost or accidentally destroyed when the local office retaining it was closed in 1967; in any event, it would only have contained a few formal documents since other papers in it would have been routinely destroyed by 1964. There is no foundation for the suggestion that a file concerning Mr. Scott was stolen from the Department's local office in Chelsea.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services under what circumstances an unemployed person can draw unemployment benefit or supplementary benefit in respect of unemployment, while he is on holiday in the United Kingdom, in the Republic of Ireland, or elsewhere abroad; whether such a person can draw benefit while in the place where he is on holiday as opposed to collecting all benefits due when he returns home; and how many weeks in the year an unemployed person can go on holiday and receive benefit, either at home or away.

Information about the circumstances in which unemployment benefit may be paid to an unemployed person on holiday in the United Kingdom, and the length of time for which such benefit can be paid, was given in my replies to the hon. Gentleman on 14th and 21st July 1977—[Vol. 935 c. 217–18, 674.] Unemployment benefit could only be paid at the holiday location if the person registered there for employment and the independent adjudicating authorities were satisfied that he was available for work in the area. Britsh unemployment benefit is not: payable for any period spent outside the United Kingdom or the Isle of Man except where a person who has been registered as unemployed in this country, normally for at least four weeks, goes to a member state of the EEC and registers for employment there, when he can continue to receive benefit for up to 13 weeks.Supplementary benefit is payable only to people in Great Britain; those taking not more than two weeks' holiday may receive the benefit on their return home provided they have remained available for work throughout.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the capital works carried out or planned at each of the hospitals in the Greenwich and Bexley health areas since 1st April 1974, specifying the estimated cost in each case.

Following is the list of individual works costing £10,000 or more, including fees, equipment, etc. Schemes costing under £10,000 are charged to revenue account.

HOSPITAL AND SCHEME
Brook	Cost
	£
Diagnostic X-ray equipment including EMI Scanner	239,000
Thoracic Surgery (Gower Ward)	33,425
Changing and recovery rooms and Thoracic Theatre	104,300
Kitchen and Geriatric Day Hospital	489,642
Electrical supplies and distribution	49,500
Floor repairs	30,663
X-ray Department	285,982
Interim wards etc.	240,318
Laundry—repair of fire damage, new machines etc.	177,700
Bridge between 2 ward blocks	25,000
Provision and installation of autoclave	13,500
Upgrading 3 wards	27,000
Greenwich District
Phase I	28,937
Phase II	57,823
Natural Gas conversion	42,075
Chimney flue	83,733
Phases III and IV including Health Centre	951,019
Demolition of Miller Wing	61,000
Ceiling asbestos for fire protection	20,000
Modification of Pharmacy	35,800
Replacement of polystyrene ceiling tiles	10,000
British Hospital for Mothers and Babies
Replacement Boilers	88,885
Goldie Leigh
Psysiotherapy Department Phase II	300,151
Psysiotherapy Department Phase III	312,882
Dreadnought
Replacement and rewiring of lift	15,000
Bexley
Sanitary annexes	50,000
Upgrading of wards L1 and L2	129,170
Upgrading of engineering services to 2 wards	40,000
Upgrading Elmdean Ward for alcoholism unit	73,132
Camberwell Reception Unit	100,579
Residences block for above	85,920
Nurse training school—fire damage	48,500
Installation of smoke stop doors	19,300
Installation of 3 new laundry machines and modification of layout	42,300
Provision of upgrading of staff toilets and changing rooms	10,000

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services to what amount of the present £30 death grant would need to be increased in order to equal the value of death grant originally introduced.

On the basis of the movement in the General Index of Retail Prices up to January 1978—the latest month for which a figure is available—the present death grant of £30 would need to be increased to £116.78 to represent the value of the original death grant of £20 introduced in 1949. This would cost about £43 million extra a year.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, whether a person entitled to only a very small graduated pension and no normal retirement pension can elect to have the small graduated pension paid in an annual sum instead of a few pence per week or month.

No graduated pension of a few pence is paid weekly on its own. Details of the normal methods of payments of small amounts of graduated pension were given in my reply to the hon. Member for Louth (Mr. Brotherton) on 27th January.—[Vol. 942, c. 812.] A person can elect to have his pension paid quarterly but there has been no demand for annual payments. It is proposed that from April 1979 all small amounts of graduated pension will be paid quarterly.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the annual cost to the Exchequer of a rise of £1·05 in a single person's weekly pension and of £1·70 in a married couple's weekly pension on top of the normal uprating.

On the basis that the increase applied to retirement and supplementary pensions and to other long-term benefits, the additional annual cost would be approximately £570 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the annual cost to the Exchequer of a £20 bonus for pensioners every year.

On the basis that a £20 bonus was paid to the same categories of beneficiaries as in 1977, it would cost approximately £200 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Service what would be the annual cost to the Exchequer of an increase in child benefit allowance to £4·50.

The estimated additional cost of uprating child benefit from April 1978 from £2·30 to £4·50 is about £1,280 million per year.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report the retirement age for men in all the EEC countries, giving at the same time the percentage of the pension related to the average wage.

Normal pension age for men is 67 in Denmark, 65 in Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Irish Republic, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and 60 in France and Italy. There are, however, varying provisions enabling men in some countries to receive a pension in advance of the normal pension age or to defer retirement and qualify for an augmented pension later.It is not possible to express the amount of pension payable in each country as a percentage of an average wage, since individual entitlement normally varies according to the person's earnings, the duration of his insurance and the movement of earnings generally, and there are no uniform statistics of average earnings. The normal method of calculating pensions in each member State is set out in the EEC publication "Comparative Tables of the Social Security Systems ", a copy of which is in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services in view of the fact that people who land in the United Kingdom can claim social security benefits 'for their own children who arrive with them, whether such benefits can also he claimed for children previously adopted by arriving immigrants.

Yes. If someone newly admitted to this country for settlement brings adopted children with him or her, those children count for benefit purposes in the same way as that person's own children.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services in view of the disclosure of ever increasing numbers of Eraldin (Practolol) side-effects sufferers being monitored by community health councils in the United Kingdom, if he will now order an investigation to establish the total numbers involved and determine what help his Department can give.

A further investigation of the kind proposed would not be useful since the hazards of the drug have already been established and Eraldin tablets were withdrawn from the market in 1976. Most of the suspected adverse reactions reported to the Committee on Safety of Medicines occurred before or during 1974 when a possible association with Eraldin was first recognised. The patients concerned will be receiving or have received treatment from their own doctors. Compensation is a matter for the parties concerned and, where they cannot reach agreement, for the courts to determine on the facts of the case.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will now give the information for 1976 and for the latest available period in 1977 in the same form as it was provided for 1975 in paragraph 61 of the Ninth Report from the Committee of Public Accounts, Session 1976–77, showing the number of special investigators in post and how many frauds were found from how many cases examined.

The information is as follows:

		Special investigators in post at 31st December	Cases investigated during year	Cases where fraud found
1976	…	383	29,866	14,877
1977	…	398	29,139*	12,871*
* Ten months to 1st November.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the latest estimated date by which the mobility allowance will be fully phased-in; and what is the latest estimate of the number of people to who the allowance will be paid once the scheme becomes fully implemented.

The phasing-in programme will be completed by the end of 1979. Our original estimates for a fully phased-in scheme of 100,000 new beneficiaries and 25,000 vehicle scheme beneficiaries who might choose to switch to the mobility allowance remain unchanged.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether candidates for consultant posts in obstetrics and gynaecology are provided with a job description which states that a candidate must carry out abortions; and if the lay chairman is obliged by his Department at interviews to ask each candidate his views on abortion.

Duties relating to the termination of pregnancy are included in the job description for a consultant post only if there is a demand which cannot otherwise be met and if patient care would otherwise suffer. This occurs in a minority of posts. The guidance issued by my Department states that in such cases the Advisory Appointments Committee will wish to be satisfied that applicants are in all respects fitted and prepared to carry out the full range of duties which they might be required to perform if appointed, but stresses that questions on this subject should be confined to professional intention and should not extend to candidates' personal beliefs.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to improve job security for senior registrars whose contracts expire; and if he will make a statement.

Senior registrar posts are training posts in individual specialties, and the Health Departments and the medical and dental professions agreed in 1971 that it was essential that posts should not be blocked for any significant length of time by doctors who did not need further training in the grade and in that particular specialty. A procedure was established to provide temporary alternative employment for doctors who had completed training but had been unable to obtain a consultant post. It has been necessary to use this procedure only once.I do not see any need to change these arrangements, which were introduced to meet widespread discontent in the profession about doctors remaining in the senior registrar grade for long periods after completing training, but I will be happy to consider any proposals the professions wish to put to me.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to encourage the salvaging of prostheses and other medical aids after death.

Existing policy is to salvage such items where it is sensible to do so having regard to safety and economics. I will be glad to consider any particular suggestions which the right hon. Gentleman cares to make.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing the total spent on the National Health Service in each year since 1948 at constant prices.

Net public expenditure on the National Health Service in the United Kingdom at constant (1970) prices each year since 1948 is as follows:

Year					£ million
1949	…	…	…	…	1,089
1950	…	…	…	…	1,199
1951	…	…	…	…	1,206
1952	…	…	…	…	1,181
1953	…	…	…	…	1,202
1954	…	…	…	…	1,227
1955	…	…	…	…	1,263
1956	…	…	…	…	1,292
1957	…	…	…	…	1,326
1958	…	…	…	…	1,359
1959	…	…	…	…	1,412
1960	…	…	…	…	1,460
1961	…	…	…	…	1,480
1962	…	…	…	…	1,517
1963	…	…	…	…	1,561
1964	…	…	…	…	1,631
1965	…	…	…	…	1,706
1966	…	…	…	…	1,785
1967	…	…	…	…	1,860
1968	…	…	…	…	1,947
1969	…	…	…	…	1,914
1970	…	…	…	…	2,005
1971	…	…	…	…	2,057
1972	…	…	…	…	2,140
1973	…	…	…	…	2,208
1974	…	…	…	…	2,256
1975	…	…	…	…	2,414
1976	…	…	…	…	2,488

These figures are derived from the National Income and Expenditure accounts published by the Central Statistical Office, as this is the only readily available data that covers the whole of the required period.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of the National Health Service budget was allocated to (a) mentally handicapped patients, (b) physically handicapped patients, and (c) the elderly infirm for the last convenient period.

In 1976–77, of total current expenditure on health services, it is estimated that 4 per cent. was on mentally handicapped patients and 35 per cent. was on hospital, community health and family practitioner services for people aged 65 years and over. Expenditure on physically handicapped patients cannot be separately identified.

asked the Secretary of Stale for Social Services how many appeals against decisions of family practitioner committees that complaints should not be investigated because of a failure to give notice in time, have been referred to him in each of the past five years; and what proportion of appeals was successful.

Provision for these appeals was made for the first time in April 1974. The numbers since then are as follows:

		Number of appeals	Number successful	Percentage
1974	…	13	1	8
1975	…	42	9	21
1976	…	55	6	11
1977	…	53	11	21

	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	Total
Doctors
Number of complaints investigated	508	434	545	587	596	2,670
Number of complaints substantiated*	98	65	92	81	85	421
Percentage of complaints substantiated	19·3	15·0	16·9	13·8	14·3	15·8
Ophthalmic Medical Practitioners and Opticians†
Number of complaints investigated	4	10	6	20	14	54
Number of complaints substantiated*	2	5	1	11	6	25
Percentage of complaints substantiated	50·0	50·0	16·7	55·0	42·9	46·3
Chemists
Number of complaints investigated	60	38	40	52	58	248
Number of complaints substantiated*	40	29	27	42	52	190
Percentage of complaints substantiated	66·7	76·3	67·5	80·8	89·7	76·5
Dentists
Number of complaints investigated	252	236	272	266	277	1,303
Number of complaints substantiated*	112	125	125	144	130	636
Percentage of complaints substantiated	44·4	53·0	45·9	54·1	46·9	48·8
Total
Number of complaints investigated	824	718	863	925	945	4,275
Number of complaints substantiated*	252	224	245	278	273	1,272
Percentage of complaints substantiated	30·6	31·0	28·4	30·0	28·9	29·8
* By finding that there had been a breach of the terms of service.
† The figures for ophthalmic medical practitioners and opticians have been grouped together because separate statistics are not maintained.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he has received any representation about the limitation of time during which a complaint can be made to a family practioner committee;(2) for how long a complaint to the family practitioner committee has had to be lodged within eight weeks of the event which gave rise to it;(3) what steps have been taken by his Department to ensure that patients are aware of the complaints procedure to family practitioner committees, and of the time limit.

The Department initiated in September 1976 a general review of the complaints investigation procedures for the family practitioner services. A consultation paper listing proposals which have been made over a number of years for changing the procedures, including those mentioned by my hon. Friend, was circulated to all interested organisations. Comments have been received from over 180 bodies. I am considering these com-

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many complaints have been investigated by family practitioner committees for the last five years against (a) doctors, (b) ophthalmic medical practitioners, (c) chemists, (d) opticians and (e) dentists; and what proportion in each category was successful.

The information is as follows:ments, and until my right hon. Friend and I have completed our study I cannot say what changes we propose to make.The time limit for making a complaint to the family practitioner committee was increased to eight weeks on 1st April 1974. Prior to that date the time limit was six weeks. A complaint which is made out of time may still be investigated if the committees' service committees are satisfied that the delay was the result of illness or other reasonable cause and the consent of the practitioner, or failing that of my right hon. Friend, to the investigation is obtained.The medical card which is issued to every National Health Service patient sets out the complaints procedure, including the time limits.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish in the Official Report the total amount of bad debts incurred by pay bed patients which were written off by each of the 14 regional health authorities in the last three financial years for which figures are available.

Health authorities accounts submitted to my Department show the total amount of bad debts and claims abandoned each year but the part of this total represented by pay bed patients is not separately identified. It is estimated that the total amount of pay bed debts written off in each of the last three years has been less than 1 per cent. of the total income recovered from private patients.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether there are nationally agreed staffing standards for nurses in proportion to the number of beds in a hospital; and, if so, how many hospitals are below such standards.

Responsibility for deciding on the numbers and grades of staff required to meet specific service commitments is delegated to individual health authorities. Each area health authority sets its own staffing levels, taking into account its particular local requirements. My Department has issued guidance on minimum standards for nursing staff in relation to the number of patients, in respect of the mentally ill, the mentally handicapped and the elderly. The only figures available centrally are for mental handicap and mental illness hospitals with over 200 beds. There were no such hospitals for the mentally ill below the minimum standard in 1976: but three such hospitals for the mentally handicapped were below the minimum standard in that year.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many vacancies there are for nursing staff.

Information on vacancies for nurses and midwives in the NHS is not available centrally. In England in December 1977 there were 2,580 vacancies, including those outside the NHS, registered with the Department of Employment.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many grants were made in 1977 by his Department through the Supplementary Benefits Commission and indirectly through local authority social services and housing grants towards the insulation of poorly appointed private homes with substantial unnecessary heat loss (a) where the occupiers were pensioners, and (b) in other needy cases.

Housing grants are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment. I regret that information on payments by the Supplementary Benefits Commission and local authority social services departments is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice on home budgeting is made available through officials of his Department to families on supplementary and other benefits, who are rehoused into different changed domestic circumstances.

Where a family on benefit is experiencing particular difficulty in managing its affairs, local office staff will do what they can to help, referring appropriate cases to the Department's special welfare officers and local authority social services departments.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when the supply of a drug to the market is stopped by a manufacturer because of potential hazard to users, what regulations there are which ensure that existing stocks in chemists' shops are withdrawn.

There are no regulations about this matter. Withdrawal of a product from the market by the manufacturer does not prevent retail pharmacies from continuing to supply it in accordance with a prescription. If the withdrawal is on grounds of safety, practitioners are advised of the position; it is for the individual practitioner to decide whether a particular product should be prescribed.There is power under Section 62 of the Medicines Act to make a statutory order totally prohibiting the sale or supply of a specified product on grounds of safety. Where such an order is made, it would be a contravention of the law for a pharmacist to supply the product even on a prescription. No such order has ever been made in the case of a prescription product, as the requirement of a prescription is considered a sufficient safeguard. The possibility would, however, be considered if advice was received from the appropriate advisory body.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will update Table 1 of the Supplementary Benefits Commission's evidence to the Royal Commission on Distribution of Incomes and Wealth, SB Administration Paper No. 6 "Lower Incomes"; if he will include in the examples families with chldren aged 15 years and older; if he will take into account expenses associated with going to work; and if he will show the equivalent gross weekly earnings

TABLE 1
LEVELS OF GROSS WEEKLY EARNINGS AT WHICH TOTAL INCOME SUPPORT IN WORK (NET EARNINGS PLUS CHILD BENEFIT AND FAMILY INCOME SUPPLEMENT, LESS NET RENT AND RATES) IS EQUAL TO TOTAL INCOME SUPPORT OUT OF WORK (SUPPLEMENTARY BENEFIT SCALE RATE PLUS SCHOOL MEALS AND WELFARE MILK). NOVEMBER 1977 TO MARCH 1978
				Equivalent gross weekly earnings assuming take-up of:
Family type	Number of children	Ages	Supplementary benefit ordinary scale rate plus value of welfare milk and school meals	All means-tested benefits	Only rent and rate rebates	Only FIS and passport	None
			£	£	£	£	£
Single person	—	—	14·50	14·50	14·50	24·70	24·70
Married couple	—	—	23·55	25·00	25·00	34·15	34·15
Married couple	1	3	28·46	18·20	29·15	27·45	39·95
Married couple	1	8	29·75	19·10	30·50	29·40	42·10
Married couple	2	4, 6	34·66	20·80	34·10	31·50	46·55
Married couple	2	8,12	37·10	22·90	38·30	37·45	50·25
Married couple	2	12, 14	39·55	25·60	46·30	53·90	53·90
Married couple	3	3, 8, 12	42·01	24·60	41·30	37·45	54·05
Married couple	3	8, 12, 14	45·75	28·10	53·05	59·85	59·85
Married couple	4	3, 8, 12, 14	50·66	29·80	57·45	65·35	65·35
Married couple	4	8, 12, 14, 16	55·90	43·25	70·40	73·30	73·30
Notes:
(a) Head of family only in full-time work.
(b) The following levels of gross rents and rates have been assumed:

					Rent	Rates
					£	£
Single person married couple	…	…	…	…	4·70	1·85
Married couples plus 1 child	…	…	…	…	5·30	2·10
Married couples plus 2 or 3 children	…	…	…	…	5·60	2·20
Married couples plus 4 children	…	…	…	…	6·30	2·50
These figures are based on information about average levels of rents and rates for local authority dwellings in England and Wales. collected by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
(c) Figures in the last 4 columns have been rounded to the nearest 5p.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 2nd February 1978; Vol. 943, c. 255–6], gave the following information:Table 1 below updates Table I of the Supplementary Benefits Commission's evidence to the Diamond Commission; and table 2 provides comparable information for 120 per cent. of supplementary benefit levels. The significance of a child of 15 is no different from that of a 14-year-old, but both tables give information for an additional family type which includes a 16-year-old. Because work expenses vary widely between individuals, their effect has been illustrated separately in table 3.