asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has to nationalise the construction industry.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what consultations he has had with building firms regarding social ownership.

I refer the hon. Members to my reply earlier today to the hon. Members for Wellingbrough (Mr. Fry), Daventry (Mr. Jones), Macclesfield (Mr. Winterton), Burton (Mr. Lawrence), Ashfield (Mr. Smith), and Hove (Mr. Sainsbury).

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what amounts of money have been cut from the housing allocations of the six largest metropolitan districts; and how many houses in each case this represents.

I have already placed tables showing authorities' bids and allocations for 1978–79 in the Library of the House. It is for authorities themselves to decide on their house building programmes in the light of their allocations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has to extend the direct labour powers of local authorities.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply earlier today to the hon. Members for Holland with Boston (Mr. Body) and Petersfield (Mr. Mates).

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress he has made with his proposals for the adoption of officially recommended accounting procedures by all local authority direct labour organisations.

I hope to publish my proposals later this year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to reintroduce the Local Authorities (Works) Bill.

I would refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply earlier today to the hon. Members for Holland with Boston (Mr. Body) and Petersfield (Mr. Mates).

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with local authorities regarding the extension of direct labour activity.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply given earlier today to the hon. Members for Holland with Boston (Mr. Body) and Petersfield (Mr. Mates).

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the proportion of householders occupying accommodation which lacks basic amenities, or which fails to meet current standards of fitness, who are residing in the privately rented sector; and what is the proportion of total planned housing expenditure, including mortgage tax relief, allocated to municipalisation and expenditure under Section 105 of the Housing Act 1974 over the next three years.

Some 39·5 per cent. of all dwellings which are unfit or lacking amenities are privately rented. The expenditure provision on municipalisation and renovation is £514·8 million or 13 per cent. of total housing expenditure for England in 1978–79, rising to a provisional breakdown of the figures for the following three years to an average of about £540 million annually.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received on the implementation of the report of the Working Party on Dogs.

In recent weeks I have received representations from the Joint Advisory Committee on Pets in Society and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. I have also received correspondence from Members of Parliament, members of the public, and some individual local authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next expects to meet the Chairman of the Development Commission.

My right hon. Friend has no immediate plans for a further meeting with the Chairman of the Development Commission.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any proposals to amend the Community Land Act 1975.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any proposals to amend the Community Land Act.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the report of Mr. Justice Parker on the Windscale Inquiry.

It was published on Monday.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment why the allocations made in the housing investment programme for 1978–79 as a proportion of the original bids were very much lower for improvement grants and council mortgages than for the other block of housing expenditure.

In deciding the resource allocation for Block 2, covering home loans and improvement grants, account was taken of the £267 million support lending for local authority nominees which we have negotiated with the Building Societies' Association for 1978–79.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from civil engineering contractors on the subject of pay guideline clauses in public contracts.

I met the Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors, together with other bodies representing the construction industry, on 28th February for a full discussion on this matter. My colleagues and I are considering their representations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current fuel bill for buildings, services and transportation within his departmental responsibility; what programme is under way to reduce energy consumption; and what is the percentage target of savings and over what timescale.

The Property Services Agency of this Department is responsible for the provision of fuel for buildings and services in civil central Government establishments and for Ministry of Defence Headquarters buildings. The annual fuel bill is £33 million and that for transport provided by the Agency £1 million.Over the five years ending March 1976, the Agency had succeeded in reducing its energy bill for civil departments by 25 per cent., and the aim is to achieve savings of 35 per cent. by 1983. The Agency also provides for Government car service for use by Ministers and senior officials. This service has been reduced over the last two years, and the engine capacity of cars is reviewed to keep it at the lowest compatible with the requirement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what further discussions he has had with the Sports Council concerning the grant for 1978–79.

I have discussed with the Chairman the Sports Council's requirements for additional funds above the £12 million already promised for 1978–79, and he is preparing his list of priorities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress his Department has made in its discussions in trying to achieve a policy whereby local authority and housing association properties are provided with more than one system of heating.

It is open to individual housing authorities and associations to select heating systems for their dwellings in the light of their own experience and local circumstances. The Joint Working Party on Heating and Energy Conservation in Public Sector Housing, on which the Department of Energy, local authorities and the Housing Corporation are represented, has considered the possibility of providing chimneys in new electrically heated dwellings, and I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17th February 1978 to the hon. Member for Derbyshire, South-East (Mr. Rost)—[Vol. 944, c. 399.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any intention of issuing a direction to the Severn-Trent Water Authority to vary that authority's decision not to add fluoride to the West Midlands' water supplies; and whether he will make a statement.

I have no powers to give such a direction. As I have made clear on a number of occasions, I have encouraged water authorities to comply with requests made by area health authorities to add fluoride to water supplies, where it is technically possible to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the levels of air pollution in the major cities, especially London.

There have been substantial improvements in urban air quality in recent years. As I told the hon. Gentleman in answer to a similar question on 23 rd November, we think that London is a good example of the success of United Kingdom urban air pollution control policy.—[Vol. 939, c. 778.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish the latest statistics of housing in the public and private sectors; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to my reply earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Gravesend (Mr. Ovenden).

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he last met the Building Societies Association.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 11th January 1978.—[Vol. 941, c. 760.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is yet in a position to announce the Government's response to the 1976 review of the Strategic Plan for the South-East.

My right hon. Friend hopes to announce the Government's response shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received in regard to the need for a more rational distribution of functions between the City of Bristol and Avon County Council.

Such representations have been made, in association with other major cities, by Bristol City Council, by the Bristol City Council Labour Group, by several members of the public, and by my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, North-West himself.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects figures other than provisional figures for the sale of council housing in 1977 to be available.

Final estimates for sales of council dwellings in 1977 will become available in early May 1978.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his policy towards the matters contained in the pamphlet published jointly by Friends of the Earth and the Conservation Society entitled "What Choice Windscale"; and if he will make a statement.

I have no policy towards it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what new plans he has to improve the control of litter and waste.

I cannot at present add to the answer my right hon. Friend gave the hon. Member on 11th January.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what further action he proposes to take to control the escalation of the cost of building land, which is one of the factors in forcing up house prices; and if he will make a statement.

I am allocating resources through the Community Land Scheme for local authorities to make land available for private house building in circumstances where there is a ready demand.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities in England have exercised their power under Section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972 to confer the title of honorary alderman, and upon which persons.

I do not have this information. Section 249 places the discretion to confer the title of honorary aldermen entirely upon local authorities, and it is not a matter in which we have powers to intervene.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is satisfied with the arrangements for the environmental control of inland fish farming projects.

We are reviewing the possible effects of fish farming on rivers in conjunction with my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the National Water Council. An announcement will be made in due course about any changes which may be needed in present controls.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what consultations with local authority associations have taken place regarding the locally determined sector borrowing allocations for 1978–79; and if he will make a statement.

This was discussed on three occasions with the local authority associations at official level. It was also discussed with elected representatives at the meeting of the Consultative Council for Local Government Finance on 6th February 1978.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the latest date when he expects to respond to the recommendations of the Fourth Report of the Select Committee on Nationalised Industries on the British Waterways Board.

The Government intend to issue a full reply to the Report of the Select Committee, and this is being prepared as a matter of urgency.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the latest estimate of the number of gipsy families in England and Wales; and what is the number of pitches provided for such families by local authorities expressed as a percentage of the number of families;(2) if he will list those local authorities which have so far provided no sites for gipsy caravans under the Caravan Sites Act 1968;

As my hon. Friend knows, much of the information required to answer his Questions will not be available until the returns listing the gipsy sites provided at 1st January 1978 have been received from local authorities in about two weeks' time. I shall reply more fully then.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment to what extent the right hon. Members for Finchley (Mrs. Thatcher), Sidcup (Mr. Heath), and Huyton (Sir H. Wilson) carried out the request of the Secretary of State for Transport not to use Government cars during the industrial dispute of the petrol tanker drivers; and what were the savings made during this period.

This information is not recorded.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities, at the latest available date, had dwellings under construction in which in his view the heat insulation to be provided was inadequate.

The Department does not collect all the information which would be necessary for such a judgment to be made.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will recommend local authorities in England and Wales to arrange the emptying of cesspools from domestic properties upon payment of the equivalent of the appropriate rate in advance of legislation to amend the Water Act 1973.

It is for each local authority to decide in advance of legislation whether and to what extent it wishes to subsidise its emptying service by higher general rates.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with the Chairman of the Building Societies' Association about giving loans to house purchasers, in the light of the danger that the easy obtaining of loans will cause demand to outstrip supply of houses, thereby causing prices to rise.

The Government have frequent discussions with representatives of the Building Societies Association about the supply of mortgage funds and house prices in the context of regular meetings of the Joint Advisory Committee on Building Society Mortgage Finance. I am confident that the building societies, no less than the Government, want to avoid unnecessary and excessive increases in house prices and to secure an orderly housing market.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if the committee looking into charges for local services in the light of the Layfield Report has now made its interim report; and if he will make a statement.

The official steering group of the Consultative Council on Local Government Finance has considered the progress made by the fees and charges working group and has concluded that its work is not yet sufficiently advanced for substantive discussion by the Council. It is envisaged that a report will be presented to the Council later this year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those projects for the improvement of the infrastructure of the South West Assisted Area that have received financial assistance from the European Regional Development Fund in each year since its inception and the amount received in respect of each project.

I have written to the hon. Member today giving the information he asks for.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has yet received comment on the reorganisation of the Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division from the British Academy, whose sponsorship of the reconstituted advisory committee he announced in his parliamentary reply of 8th December 1977; and, if so what was the advice of the Academy's committee.

My right hon. Friend has received letters from the British Academy expressing concern about the recently announced changes in the Ordnance Survey's archaeological operations. He is awaiting a detailed memorandum on these matters which the British Academy has in preparation. The British Academy has expressed its wish to submit evidence to the Ordnance Survey Review Committee, and an invitation to do so has been sent to it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has yet received the advice of the Ancient Monuments Board, anticipated in his parliamentary reply of 11th November 1977, on the reorganisation of the Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division; and, if so, if the Board is satisfied with the new arrangements for archaeological survey and recording.

My right hon. Friend has received a letter from the Ancient Monuments Board expressing concern about the recently announced changes in the Ordnance Survey's archaeological operations.The question of an improved system for the recording of antiquities raises several issues which the Department is considering. In the meantime, the Director General of the Ordnance Survey has undertaken that the new arrangements for archaeological mapping will be carefully monitored. It will be open to the Ancient Monuments Board to submit evidence on These and other matters to the Ordnance Survey Review Committee, and an invitation to submit evidence has been sent to the Board.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what consultations he has had with building firms regarding social ownership.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply earlier today to the hon. Members for Wellingborough (Mr. Fry), Daventry (Mr. Jones), Macclesfield (Mr. Winterton), Burton (Mr. Lawrence), Ash-field (Mr. Smith) and Hove (Mr. Sainsbury).

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to urge local authorities to expedite their responsibilities for the provision of caravan sites for itinerants under the Caravan Sites Act.

My right hon. Friend, like his predecessors since the Act came into operation in 1970, is continually urging authorities to do this. The Cripps Report, published last year, contains recommendations designed to expedite site provision, and it is hoped that the response to the report will be published soon.

asked the Attorney-General whether he will introduce legislation to seek to simplify the process of buying and selling houses.

The process of conveyancing is already being simplified by the extension of the system of compulsory registration of title on sale: the system extends to areas comprising about 75 per cent. of the population of England and Wales and it is hoped to cover the remaining areas within about the next eight years. In addition, my noble Friend will be considering conveyancing law and practice in the light of recommendations to be made by the Law Commission about registration of title and by the Royal Commission on Legal Services about the role of the legal profession in conveyancing.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Council of Ministers (Agriculture) meeting in Brussels on 6th and 7th March.

Together with my hon. Friend the parliamentary secretary, I represented the United Kingdom at this meeting.The Council discussed the problems raised by the decline in the value of the French franc by comparison with the currencies in the European joint float. It was finally agreed that the green franc be devalued by 1·2 per cent. with effect from 8th March The Commission said that, acting under powers already provided for in the general Council regulation on monetary compensatory amounts (mcas), it would, on an experimental basis, start to calculate mcas for all member States with floating currencies with reference to the market rate during the previous three weeks rather than one week as at present. This experimental system will be used for mcas calculation during the rest of March, and the results will be reported to the next Agricultural Council on 4th-5th April.The French delegation sought a change in the calculation of pigmeat mcas using the same arguments as I have consistently used in the Council for a prolonged period. I gave it my full support but, again, no decision was taken because of the very firm views of those delegations which would lose from a change in the method of calculation. The discussion will be continued at future Councils.The Council continued the discussion on common prices for 1978–79 but no agreement was reached. Consequently the Council agreed to extend for one month the marketing years for milk and beef, the products for which new prices normally come into effect at the beginning of April. At my insistence this decision comprehended, contrary to the Commission's proposal, the extension of the FEOGA-financed United Kingdom butter subsidy at its existing level.The Commission presented to the Council a number of new proposals for in- clusion in this year's farm price package including the suspension of beef inter vention in certain market circumstances; improvements in the non-marketing and conversion premiums for milk; suspension of intervention for skimmed milk powder during the winter months; the provision of 50 million units of account for measures to promote the consumption of butter; and an extension of the list of products eligible for aid under the school milk scheme. These proposals will require detailed examination, but I welcome the general principle underlying them, which is to diminish the importance of intervention and increase the extent to which Community surpluses are sold on the Community's own market.The Council had a useful first discussion of the Commission's proposed regulation to safeguard the essential functions of the Milk Marketing Boards. I stressed the vital importance for the United Kingdom and for the Community as a whole of enabling the daily delivery of milk to be continued and, therefore, maintaining the high level of consumption of liquid milk in the United Kingdom

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will announce the annual review award for sheep and wool.

In the absence of a Common Market regime for sheepmeat, the Government are continuing the fat sheep guarantee.Following the annual review of agriculture 1978, it has therefore been decided that the guaranteed price for fat sheep should be increased to 127p per kg as from 27th March 1978. The guaranteed price has, as in previous years, been converted into a scale of weekly standard prices which will be published today The guaranteed price for wool will remain unchanged at 110p per kg for the marketing year beginning 1st May 1978.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will state the number of registered farms and smallholdings that existed in the former county of Holland in 1960 and the number that existed at the last convenient date.

The June 1960 agricultural census showed that there were 4,952 registered farms and smallholdings in the former county of Holland. The last available figures prior to the local government reorganisation were in respect of the June 1973 census, when the corresponding figure was 3,126 registered farms and smallholdings.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those projects in Cornwall that have been grant-aided, together with the actual amounts, from the Guidance Section of the EAGGF under Regulation 17/64/ EEC for each year since 1973.

Details of the grants approved are as follows:

Year		Description of project	Aid awarded
			£
1975	…	Construction of a new jetty and fish market at Newlyn	165,400
1976	…	Expansion of facilities for making and storing cheese at a factory at Davidstow	108,744
1976	…	Construction of a fishing vessel to be based in Cornwall	72,440
1977	…	Construction of a fishing vessel to be based at Falmouth	22,212
1977	…	Provision of fish processing and storage facilities at Madron	26,234
1977	…	Modernisation and development of processing facilities at a slaughterhouse near Truro	81,662

No grants were approved for projects in Cornwall in 1973 or 1974, but grants of £850,983 and £2,129,010 respectively were awarded in these years for bulk milk installations in England and Wales. It is not, however, possible to apportion the benefit to fanners in Cornwall from these grants.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what parliamentary approval will be required to authorise the proposed payments of compensation announced for farmers who have suffered in the recent floods and storms; and if he is still giving active consideration to providing compensation for lost livestock.

The additional help towards the cost of rehabilitating arable or pasture land affected by abnormal flooding was announced on 2nd February in a Press notice issued by my Department, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. This will be provided through a scheme, to be made under the Agriculture Act 1970, which will shortly be laid before Parliament for approval. We are considering the implications of the loss of livestock from the adverse weather as more information on the extent of the damage becomes available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will enumerate the hill farming grants distributed in Wales during 1977 from the EEC Agricultural Guidance Fund.

The following were the payments made by my Department during 1977 in Wales under schemes assisting hill farmers, for which a contribution at the rate of 25 per cent. of eligible expenditure is made from the guidance section of EAGGF:

Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances:
	Number	£
Hill Cows	145,998	4,150,218
Hill Sheep	2,681,370	9,078,339
Farm and Horticulture Development Scheme:
Capital Grants at special rates for less-favoured areas		316,215
13,544,772

No direct grants were made to hill farming in Wales from the guidance section in 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, how many children of school age there are in each of the counties in the South-West Region.

This information is not collected by my Department. However, the Registrar General has estimated that in 1976 the numbers of children aged from 5 to 15 inclusive—corresponding roughly to the age range of compulsory education—in each of the counties of the South-West Region was as follows:

Mid-1976 Interim Revised Estimates of Home Population aged 5–15 inclusive
				(thousands)
Avon	…	…	…	158
Cornwall*	…	…	…	65
Devon	…	…	…	149
Dorset	…	…	…	88
Gloucester	…	…	…	90
Somerset	…	…	…	70
Wiltshire	…	…	…	98
* including the Isles of Scilly

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations she has had from the European Movement, the Wyndham Place Trust, and the European Educational Research Trust Institute concerning European studies in schools.

My Department has no record of having received any such representations.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations she has received about the future of post-school education in the 1980s.

The Department of Education and Science has regular contact with bodies interested in the future of post-school education. So far as higher education is concerned it has recently published jointly with the Scottish Education Department a discussion document on higher education into the 1990s; and has invited views and comments from many quarters.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will give details of the full-time foundation courses in accountancy recognised by the professional accountancy bodies provided in northern Wales; and whether she is satisfied that this provision meets the need for the training of accountants for industry and commerce, local govern- ment, the public sector and private practice in northern Wales.

A limited number of centres for full-time foundation courses in accountancy are approved by the professional accountancy bodies in England and Wales. None of those centres is in Northern Wales. It does not seem likely that any additional centres will be approved in the future because of the increasing proportion of graduates entering professional accountancy training who are not required to take full-time foundation courses.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when she expects to announce her decision on the subject of a proposal by Hampshire County Council for a sixth form college in Gosport.

Shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is her policy in regard to the ratio of remedial teachers to others in primary and secondary schools, respectively.

The proportion of remedial specialists appropriate to a school is determined by the particular needs of the children and by the extent to which individual authorities make provision for remedial work in remedial centres or by providing peripatetic staff.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when she expects the report of Her Majesty's Inspectorate on the Sutton Centre School, Sutton-in-Ashfield, to be published; and if she will make a statement.

It is not the practice to publish reports by Her Majesty's inspectorate on individual schools. However, in view of the public interest in the Sutton Centre School, Sutton-in-Ashfield, I am making public today a brief summary of the full report, accompanied by a short statement. I am sending a copy of both to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he will give for the longest and most convenient period of time the number of children allowed to enter Great Britain from overseas countries where these children were adopted either in Great Britain, their country of birth or the country from which the adoption took place; and what action is taken to stop this practice being used as a means of evading the Immigration Rules;(2) what are the rules for British-born and resident subjects and immigrants with regard to adopting children in foreign countries; whether he is aware that some people are using this method to overcome the Immigration Acts; and as there are large numbers of homeless children in Great Britain in need of adoption, if he will take some action to prevent this practice.

The statutory recognition in this country of overseas adoptions is governed by the Adoption Act 1968 and the order made under it. The Immigration Rules make no provision for children overseas to enter this country for adoption here. Children under the age of 18 are, subject to certain conditions, admitted to join their parents settled here, but the Immigration Rules require that, where the parents are adoptive, there should have been a genuine transfer of parental responsibility on the grounds of the original parents' inability to care for the child, and further that the adoption was not one of convenience arranged to facilitate the child's admission. These requirements are strictly enforced and each case is considered individually.The number of adopted children accepted for settlement on arrival to join their parents is not separately identifiable within the total number of children so accepted.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether as a general rule where he has to consider admitting a person to stay in Great Britain or allowing a person to remain when overstaying or as an illegal immigrant, he will not permit such a person to remain where that person's job or normal employment is within a group or classification where there is a high degree of unemployment in Great Britain.

Work permits are not issued to people coming here to work unless suitable resident labour is not available and the employer has made adequate efforts to find such labour. Under other provisions of the Immigration Rules people may be entitled to settle here without restrictions on the taking of employment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in the light of the letter sent to him by the hon. Member for Newham, North-West, to which he replied on 16th February 1978, regarding the matter of brides for sale, he will give detailed figures of the number of Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis and others who have been admitted and are engaged in this practice; why Mohammed el Asar was admitted into Great Britain; under what rights; and if he will deport this gentleman and others in the same situation.

I cannot say how many people may be knowingly engaged in arranging marriages of convenience; nor can I at this stage make a statement about the case of Mr. Asar. As my hon. Friend will be aware, the Department does not ordinarily disclose to third parties information about individual persons who are subject to immigration control, but I have power to deport any foreign national if I consider it conductive to the public good to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the stress on housing, education, health and other social services, he will for a convenient period of time take steps to prevent any man from any country having the right to enter and1 remain in Great Britain with more than one wife.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield, West (Mr. Lomas) on 10th January.—[Vol. 941, c. 702.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what would be the cost to public funds of a 20 per cent. increase in police pay.

About £105 million per annum.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a list showing the number of postal votes cast in each parliamentary constituency in the February and October 1974 General Elections.

The information for October 1974 is given in the following table.I regret that the corresponding information for February 1974 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The number of postal voters on the absent voters list and on the list of postal proxies is given in column (3) of the two publications "Election Expenses"—House of Commons 69 and 478—presented to the House of Commons in December 1974 and July 1975. Further information about postal votes cast in these two General Elections is contained in the answers my right hon. Friend and I gave to Questions by the hon. Member for Christchurch and Lymington (Mr. Adley) on 15th December—[Vol. 941, c.