asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he proposes to take following his meeting with the chairman and representatives of London Transport on 23rd May on the subject of vandalism and violence on London buses and trains.

I have already discussed with the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis a number of the points raised concerned with liaison and assistance between London Transport and the Metropolitan Police.As to a specific change in the law of offences against the person, this is being considered by the Criminal Law Revision Committee.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has reconsidered the case of Mr. and Mrs. Kassamali and daughters and revoked deportation orders against them.

I have reconsidered all aspects of this case. The position of one daughter, Qamar, is being reviewed following her marriage, but I can find no grounds to revoke the deportation orders against Mr. and Mrs. Kassamali and their daughter Gulrose.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will prepare legislation to seek to restrict the right to vote in General Elections to citizens of the United Kingdom.

No, Sir.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the documentation involved in the implementation of the Bail Act.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied that the Bail Act has improved the quality of bail decisions.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received concerning the operation of the Bail Act; and whether he will make a statement.

The Bail Act came into force on 17th April and the relevant rules of court were debated in the Standing Committee on Statutory Instruments, &c. on 19th April. Since then we have received three representations about the general working of the Act and the Magistrates' Association has asked to discuss it with our officials. It is too early to assess the effect of the Act.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied with the working of the Bail Act.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave today to a Question by the hon. Member for the City of London and Westminster, South (Mr. Brooke).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied with the workings of the Immigration Act 1971; and if he will make a statement.

The Government believe that a new nationality law, on which they have published a Green Paper, would provide a more rational basis for immigration control. Meanwhile, the working of the present immigration law is kept under continuing review and changes in the immigration rules and in operational procedure are introduced as necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he considers that the present system of immigration control is working satisfactorily.

In general the system works well. Measures to maintain and improve its effectiveness are continually being studied and are introduced as necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the latest figures available on the incidence of violent crime in the West Midlands; and if he will make a statement.

The number of indictable offences of violence against the person recorded by the West Midlands Police in the first quarter of 1978 was 1,217, an increase of 11 per cent. over the number recorded in the first quarter of 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, Sir David McNee, is at present carrying out an investigation into the organisation of the Metropolitan Police force based on the eight by eight super-structure which was abandoned three months ago.

No, Sir. Following the decision not to proceed with a re-organisation of his force into eight large area commands, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is undertaking certain further studies of his force organisation including local policing arrangements. These studies are continuing.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he is next to meet the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will next meet the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.

I hope to see him later this month.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what basis the approved establishment for the Metropolitan Police is calculated; and what changes have been made in that establishment since the force was constituted.

The force was inaugurated in 1829 and its first full establishment was 2,970. At the last major review in 1965, the criteria were the nature, extent and population of the Metropolitan Police district, the incidence of crime, traffic density and the special problems that arise from London's position as the capital, and the establishment was fixed at 25,611. As a result of detailed adjustments since then, the establishment now stands at 26,589.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of hotels have been given fire certificates; and what is being done in relation to these for holiday camps.

By 31st December 1977, 58 per cent. of the hotels and boarding houses in England and Wales which had applied for fire certificates under the Fire Precautions Act 1971 had been issued with them. Holiday camps are a class of use not yet designated under the Act.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had to ensure the most efficient co-ordination between police forces.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and officers of my Department discuss matters bearing on co-ordination in the course of their frequent meetings with chief officers of police in England and Wales individually and through the Association of Chief Police Officers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is satisfied with the efficiency of the courts in administering the system of attachments of earnings.

My hon. Friend the Minister of State wrote last December to the hon. Member about an unfortunate error in a particular case, but I am not aware of any general grounds for dissatisfaction with the arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made with regard to the policy of giving prison officers greater flexibility over residential accommodation outside the immediate environs of prison establishments.

It is our aim, in consultation with the Prison Officers' Association, to reduce the numbers of official quarters so as to enable more officers to live in their own homes. But there will remain a continuing need for houses in the immediate vicinity of prisons.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has yet received the report of the working party investigating the mechanism of setting up the fourth television channel in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave yesterday to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Swansea, East (Mr. Anderson).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what figures are available for the average heights of police men and women, respectively, in each police force; if he will give a breakdown in the Official Report; and if he will make a statement.

The averages have not been calculated, and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the White Paper on the future of broadcasting to be published.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he now proposes to publish the Government's conclusion on the Annan report.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is holding up publication of the White Paper on broadcasting; and if he will now announce his timetable in the matter.

I have nothing to add at this stage to the answer I gave on 8th June in reply to Questions by my hon. Friends the Members for Bassetlaw (Mr. Ashton), Aberdare (Mr. Evans), and Derby, North (Mr. Whitehead) and the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. McCrindle).—[Vol. 951, c. 344–5.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the recruitment of personnel into the fire service has now reached the establishment levels to enable the fire authorities to introduce the shorter working week.

Under the Fire Services Act 1947, the recruitment of firemen is a matter for individual fire authorities. I understand that since 2nd June, when the employers tabled detailed proposals in the NJC for negotiations on the introduction of the shorter working week, they have recommended fire authorities to begin recruitment to the levels implicit in their offer, on the basis that the implementation of the 42-hour week remained subject to satisfactory negotiation. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave today to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for St. Helens (Mr. Spriggs) about the failure to reach agreement on the proposals.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied that there are sufficient places available in junior and senior detention centres to meet the demands of the courts.

The existing network of senior detention centres is adequate at present but the number of juveniles being sentenced to detention centres has been rising unexpectedly fast and we are considering what action should be taken in the light of this.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further steps he proposes to take to combat vandalism.

We shall continue to encourage effective counter-measures to deal with vandalism. Although specific measures need to be planned locally in response to particular problems, and there is no single, or simple solution, the Home Office will continue to provide support for example through research, information, publicity, and the training of police officers in crime prevention.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the estimated cost of vandalism in each of the last five years.

It is not possible to make a reliable estimate of the substantial costs involved, although it is generally accepted that they could now exceed £100 million a year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to be able to make a statement on the pay and conditions of the police.

The Edmund-Davies Committee's report on police pay was submitted on 30th June. It is now being printed, and I expect to make a statement as soon as arrangements can be made for the report to be presented to Parliament and published.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the policy of his Department regarding appeals by his Department against the findings of adjudications in immigration cases.

My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State set out the policy in the reply she gave to a Question by my hon. Friend on 2nd March.—[Vol. 945, c. 647–8.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will recommend the setting up of a Royal Commission to examine the deterrent, reformative and other justifications and consequences for imposing prison sentences on women offenders, especially pregnant women and mothers with babies and young children.

No. I am satisfied that the courts take all relevant factors into consideration when passing sentences of imprisonment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he has received in the current year to date on capital punishment.

Since 1st January I have received 12 representations from hon. Members and 82 letters from members of the public specifically about capital punishment. The subject may also have been mentioned in more general letters, along with other issues.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions have taken place between his department, the Prison Officers' Association and the Prison Visiting Committee regarding visiting facilities at Pentonville Prison.

Discussions have taken place with he local branch of the Prison Officers' Association and with representatives of the Inner London Probation Service and of interested voluntary bodies about the visitors' centre. I very much regret that agreement has not proved possible.

asked the Secretary of State or the Home Department how many people are currently being held in prison without having been charged on suspicion of being illegal immigrants.

On 31st May 1978 80 people who were not also the subject of court proceedings were detained on the authority of an immigration officer, on his being satisfied that they had entered illegally. The Immigration Act 1971 gives authority for the detention of such people pending the giving of directions for their removal.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement about the longest periods spent in prison by people detained under Immigration Act powers at the present time.

Since I gave my previous answer to my hon. Friend's Question on 26th June—[Vol. 1110, c. 385]—an error has been found in the classification of a person originally held on remand for a criminal offence. It now appears that on 31st May there were three persons detained in Prison Department establishments under the Immigration Act 1971 for 11 months or more. The third had been detained under the Immigration Act for 363 days, nine days longer than the case cited in my original reply.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is satisfied with the procedures for deciding applications for refugee status.

The United Kingdom's record in granting asylum, and in recognising as refugees under it people who fall within the scope of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, is a good one, but my right hon. Friend is at present considering suggestions put to him by the representative in the United Kingdom of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as being likely to improve the manner and speed of recognising people as convention refugees.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters he has received in the last year both in favour of and against the abolition of blood sports.

Between 1st July 1977 and 29th June 1978 the Home Office received 191 letters in favour of the abolition of blood sports and 4,363 against.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will list the causes for which the absolute secrecy of the ballot at a general election may lawfully be breached.

Rule 57 of the parliamentary election rules in schedule 2 to the Representation of the People Act 1949 provides that ballot papers may be inspected after an election only by order of this House or by order of a court in connection with legal proceedings for an offence in relation to ballot papers or for the purpose of an election petition. In carrying out such an order, care must be taken to ensure that the secrecy of the ballot is not breached until a competent court has decided that a particular elector's vote was invalid.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he proposes to take to control indecent displays.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 8th June to a Question by the hon. Member for Arundel (Mr. Marshall)—[Vol. 951 c. 199.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further measures he is contemplating to increase recruitment into the police forces; and if he will make a statement.

Recruitment to individual police forces in England and Wales is a matter for chief officers, who arrange local recruitment campaigns and other recruitment activities. Their efforts are supported by the national publicity campaign arrangements made by the Home Office. Provision has been made to increase the level of expenditure on the campaign by £201,000 to £793,000 for the current financial year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many policemen required hospital treatment as a result of injuries sustained in the course of controlling marches and demonstrations in the GLC area in each of the years between 1969 and 1978.

The information is not held separately from records of police officers injured in the course of other types of duty and could not be extracted without disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many EEC nationals have come to work in the United Kingdom for each year since the United Kingdom's entry into the EEC.

Information on the number of workers' residence permits issued to EEC nationals, other than citizens of the Republic of Ireland, is given in table 12 of "Control of Immigration: Statistics 1977", Cmnd. 7160.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many claims he has received in each of the past 10 years for ex-gratia payments in respect of wrongful imprisonment; how many were admitted; and what were the payments in each of the cases.

The numbers of applications for compensation are not recorded, so the first part of the Question could not be answered without disproportionate cost. The numbers and amounts of the payments authorised in cases in which a conviction has been quashed or a free pardon has been granted were as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the reasons for the continuing delay in his Department's confirmation of the by-laws submitted by the London borough of Bromley in respect of model aircraft flying in parks; and when he now expects the matter to be finalised.

On 2nd May Bromley borough council sent the Home Office a fresh draft of byelaws for its parks and Government's proposals for the future open spaces, which include a revised provision for the control of model aircraft. This and other changes from the byelaws submitted last year give rise to a number of points which have had to be taken up with the council in correspondence. I hope that they can be resolved fairly soon.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to announce the establishment of a commercial radio station for Cardiff; and if he will make a statement.

The development of local radio services must await the Government's proposals for the future constitution, structure and organisation of broadcasting, which I hope to publish in the form of a White Paper during the present Session.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to introduce legislation to lower to 18 years the age at which people can stand for election to Parliament.

I am aware of the majority recommendation of Mr. Speaker's Conference in 1973 that the minimum age of candidature for parliamentary elections should be lowered from 21 to 18 years, but I have at present no plans for legislation to implement this recommendation.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements on 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his public engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will list his official engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his engagements for Thursday 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his engagements for Thursday 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his engagements for Thursday 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his public engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6th July.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will list his official engagements for 6th July.

I have ben asked to reply.I refer my hon. Friends and the hon. Members to the reply which I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire, East (Mr. Henderson).

asked the Prime Minister if he is satisfied with the outcome of the United Nations' special disarmament session.

I have been asked to reply.Yes. The world has agreed for the first time on a single document about disarmament. The Government welcome this, although we should have liked to see more in the final document about measures to curb nuclear proliferation and the world-wide build-up of conventional arms. The Government also welcome the agreement, on lines suggested by the United Kingdom, for reforming the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva. A White Paper on the special session will be published shortly.

asked the Prime Minister if he will visit Washington.

I have been asked to reply.My right hon. Friend has at present no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister when he intends next to meet the TUC.

asked the Prime Minister when he plans next to meet the TUC.

asked the Prime Minister when he will next meet the TUC.

I have been asked to reply.I refer my hon. Friends to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East (Mr. Thomas) on 15th June.

asked the Prime Minister when he intends next to meet the CBI.

asked the Prime Minister when he will next meet the CBI.

I have been asked to reply.I refer my hon. Friends to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Thornaby (Mr. Wrigglesworth) on 13th June.

asked the Prime Minister when he proposes next to meet the TUC and CBI.

asked the Prime Minister when he will next meet the TUC and CBI.

I have been asked to reply.I refer my hon. Friends to the reply which I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Swindon (Mr. Stoddart).

asked the Prime Minister if he will seek to make an official visit to the Soviet Union.

I have been asked to reply.My right hon. Friend has at present no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister whether he intends to initiate a national great debate on the housing programme, following his previous initiative on education.

I have been asked to reply.The Green Paper "Housing Policy: A Consultative Document" (Cnmd. 6851) published in June 1977 and subsequent consultation papers have already provided ample opportunity for such debate.

asked the Prime Minister what plans he has for visiting South Korea.

I have been asked to reply.My right hon. Friend has at present no plans to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether Clause (5) of his joint statement with the chairman of the British Medical Association on drug prescribing implies an obligation on the part of doctors to prescribe the most economic appropriate medicament that meets the standard of the British Pharmacoepeia/Codex rather than particular branded drugs.

There can be no question of any part of the joint statement—a copy of which is in the Library—imposing any legal obligation on a doctor, but, as the statement indicates, both the British Medical Association and my right hon. Friend are concerned at the steady growth in demand for and undue reliance upon medicines, and I trust that clause 5 will encourage all doctors to take account of the relative cost of drugs when equally effective alternatives are available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the value of drugs prescribed under the National Health Service by chemists in the Leek parliamentary constituency in 1970, 1974 and 1977 at constant prices.

Information relating to the value of drugs either prescribed by doctors or dispensed by chemists in the Leek parliamentary constituency is not readily available, nor is it practicable to make constant price calculations in respect of the supply of drugs in a local area. However, the value of drugs, preparations and appliances dispensed by chemist (including appliance) contractors under the National Health Service in the former Staffordshire executive council area and from April 1974, in the larger Staffordshire family practitioner committee area—in both of which the Leek constituency is included—was as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proposals he has to amend the Children and Young Persons Act.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Mr. Arnold) on 9th May.—[Vol. 949, c. 431.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many of the 16 deaths in approximately 470,000 abortions performed in the period 1973 to 1975 and from 1973 to any later available date were in National Health Service abortions.

The numbers of deaths reported with abortion notifications in England and Wales in recent years were as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services on what grounds he has allowed regional health authorities to spend money provided by the Government to establish permanent secure units for mentally disordered offenders as general revenue and to compensate for overspending without, in some cases, any of the money being spent on secure facilities.

Capital funds are made available as required to meet the approved cost of establishing regional secure units. Revenue funds have been allocated to regional health authorities to help run the secure units when they are built, and, meanwhile, for interim secure facilities where these have been set up. In this way the health authorities are able to bring such facilities into operation as soon as they are ready. We recognise that some regions will be more advanced than others in their arrangements and, where secure arrangements have not yet been provided in this form, health authorities have been asked to make good use of these funds for other purposes, as far as possible on services for the mentally ill. I am asking regional health authorities for a report on how these special revenue allocations were spent in 1977–78.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the average waiting times for appointments with orthopaedic consultants for adults and children, respectively, in (a) the Macclesfield Health District, (b) the Cheshire Area Health Authority and (c) the Merseyside Region.

Averages are misleading, as patients requiring urgent treatment are seen without delay and waiting times for others vary according to individual circumstances. On 31st March 1978 the waiting times for non-urgent out-patient consultations were in the following ranges:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of total disbursements financed by national insurance contributions have been in respect of benefits or parts of benefits to which self-employed contributors are not entitled, for each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Of the total benefit expenditure from the national insurance fund and former industrial injury fund in each of the last five years for which figures are available, the percentage relating to benefits or parts of benefits to which self-employed contributors are not entitled was:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services on what date he received the report of Sir John Foster on Scientology; when it was published; and when he expects to make public his conclusions thereon.

The report on the inquiry into the practice and effects of Scientology by Sir John Foster was received by a previous Administration on 8th April 1971 and published on 22nd December 1971. I have nothing to add to my reply to the hon. Member for Dorset, South (Mr. King) on 18th May—[Vol. 950, c. 283–4]—regarding conclusions concerning the report.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many hospital beds there were in the Leek parliamentary constituency in each of the past three years.

The numbers of available staffed beds were as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are currently in receipt of attendance allowance; and what the comparable figure was in each of the past three years.

The latest date for which final figures are available is 31st December 1977. The information for 1977 and the three preceding years is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the percentage increase in retirement pensions between October 1973 and November 1978; and how this compares with the percentage increase in prices and earnings over the same period.

Retirement pensions will have increased by 152 per cent. between October 1973 and November 1978. Over the same period the increase in prices, based on the movement of the general index of retail prices, is expected to be 107 per cent. The increase in earnings, based on the increase in the average gross weekly earnings of male manual workers, was 81 per cent. between October 1973 and November 1977, when pensions were last uprated. It is not the practice of the Government to publish forecasts of earnings.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many patients are in the waiting list for heart investigation and surgery in the Liverpool area health authority;(2) if he will investigate the complaint that patients are waiting for more than 12 months for catheter heart investigation in the Liverpool area health authority;(3) if he remains satisfied with the facilities for open heart surgery within the Liverpool area health authority;(4) if he will consider making funds available to the Liverpool area health authority to provide a cardiac surgery unit.

I will let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many married women were drawing unemployment benefit in the Ipswich and district employment area in each of the last five years.

I will publish the information in the Official Report as soon as it can be assembled

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the per capita sums made available by his Department for capital revenue purposes in the county of Suffolk for each of the years 1976–77, 1977–78, and anticipated for 1978–79; and the extent to which this exceeds or is less than, in comparable cash figures, the national average per capita.

This information is not readily available, but I hope to give my hon. Friend a reply as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will announce the names of those he has appointed as chairmen of regional health authorities from 1st August 1978.

The present chairmen of the Northern, East Anglian and Oxford regions informed me that they did not wish to be considered for reappointment when their term of office expires on 31st July 1978. I would like to place on record my indebtedness to Sir William Lee, the Hon. Leo Russell and Mr. David Woodrow for the dedication and leadership which each has given to the NHS in his region since 1973. As successors I have appointed Mr. George Chetwynd, Sir Arthur South and Mr. Gordon Roberts respectively, all of whom have records of distinguished service to the NHS and are currently chairmen of area authorities.There are clear advantages in continuity whilst the report of the Royal Commission on the NHS is awaited and considered. I therefore very much welcome the willingness of the remaining chairmen to continue in office and have accordingly reappointed them for a further term.The chairmen of regional health authorities from 1st August 1978 will therefore be:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the cause of the dispute between the Civil and Public Services Association and his Department regarding the fortnightly payment of unemployment benefits; why it has come to the point of a strike at four employment offices, including Walton, Liverpool; and what steps he is taking to ensure that such a strike does not take place which would seriously affect unemployed people in the areas concerned, especially as sympathetic action is likely to be considered by workers employed in the Department of Health and Social Security offices.

I told the House on 15th May that the Government were in favour of a fortnightly system of attendance and payment of unemployment benefit but had decided that the pilot procedures needed refinement, particularly to minimise overpayment and opportunities for fraud and abuse—to which the CPSA themselves have attached importance—and that regulations would be brought before the House to allow the pilot scheme to continue for a further period. These draft regulations are currently being considered by the National Insurance Advisory Committee, to whom the CPSA has made its views known, and we hope to bring the regulations to the House before the recess.However, although the report earlier this year on the pilot experiment by a joint working party of management and staff—including CPSA representatives—showed that staff and claimants in the pilot offices were generally in favour of the system, the CPSA are opposing the continuation of the pilot scheme as part of its campaign to get the Government to change their decision to limit the growth of Civil Service manpower. It has called a one-week strike beginning next Monday of its members in a number of the pilot offices operating the fortnightly procedures—including those at Walton in Liverpool, Cumbernauld, Burton-on-Trent and Widnes. I understand that it hopes thereby to influence the National Insurance Advisory Committee and eventually Parliament to reject the draft regulations.The Government have fully consulted and involved the CPSA at all stages. When the system is extended generally, there will be, in addition to an improvement in services to claimants, savings in money and manpower, but the existing permanent staff have been given a pledge that there will be no redundancies resulting from the introduction of this scheme. In any event, all that the proposed regulations would do is to continue the pilot scheme without any changes in staffing. There is therefore no question of the interests or jobs of CPSA members being put at risk through the general introduction of fortnightly payment, let alone by the continuance of the present experiment. If they proceed with their action it will cause inconvenience and hardship to claimants in the areas concerned.I have personally made this plain to the general secretary of the CPSA and have expressed to him the view that, while the CPSA is fully entitled to express its views on all aspects of the scheme, the legal entitlements of claimants are a matter for Government and Parliament to decide and that the CPSA ought not to seek to further its views by taking industrial action which will in this instance disrupt the service to claimants. I therefore asked that the CPSA should call off this strike action.I very much regret to say that not only has this plea been rejected, but that the CPSA has refused my further request that it should co-operate in making arrangements to minimise the risk of hardship to claimants. My Department will do its utmost in the areas concerned to reduce delays in payment of unemployment benefit, but without the co-operation of the striking staff I cannot guarantee that there will not be hardship to some claimants.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many men and how many women are unemployed in North Staffordshire at present.

At 8th June, 6,372 males and 2,305 females were registered as unemployed in North Staffordshire, which has been taken as the area covered by the Biddulph, Burslem, Cheadle, Hanley, Kidsgrove, Leek, Longton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent and Stone employment offices.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on employment in the telecommunications industry.

I will reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what action has been taken or is intended to resolve the industrial dispute between the Post Office Engineering Union and the Post Office.

I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to the hon. Member for Wells (Mr. Boscawen) on 6th June.—[Vol. 951, c. 27–28.]

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the projected male and female activity rates, respectively, in each of the standard planning regions of Great Britain and in England in 1981, 1986 and 1991.

The projections of activity rates for the standard regions and constituent counties of Great Britain are currently under review. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as the information is available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many copies of the following periodicals are regularly obtained by his Department: Morning Star, Socialist Challenge Labour Weekly, Conservative News and Tribune.

The following copies are received:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people were

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to find alternative work in North Staffordshire for Shelton workers who become unemployed and for those in service industries affected by the closure of Shelton.

Regular meetings have been held between the British Steel Corporation and the Manpower Services Commission's employment and training services. The employment service has set up a mini-jobcentre on the Shelton site. It has also held a conference of about 50 local employers to encourage the provision of vacancies for those steelworkers made redundant, and this met with a positive response. A second meeting, which about 90 employers are expected to attend and in which I plan to take part, will take place on 18th July.I understand that the BSC has interviewed the workers likely to be made

Since 1971 information concerning full-time employment has been collected in the annual censuses of employment. The table below shows the numbers of employees in full-time employment in the employment office areas concerned for each year for which the information is available.Corresponding figures are not available for 1974, due to difficulties which arose following the reorganisation of local government. Employment estimates for 1970 are based on counts of national insurance cards and do not distinguish between full-time and part-time employment.redundant and has established that a number wish to be redeployed, some to retire early or to be retrained, some to find other local work, and others to become self-employed. The MSC will, of course, do everything it can to help the workers' requirements to be met.The MSC's training services have arranged a visit of 300 BSC employees to Stoke skillcentre and so far 85 applications under the TOPS scheme have been received. The MSC hopes to be able to offer training places from August, and is also arranging to sponsor BSC supervisors on a course at a local college of further education designed to equip them for similar positions in other industries.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the increase in the number of men who will be unemployed in North Staffordshire when Shelton steel works closes, taking account of the effects on service industries.

It is not possible to estimate this. It will depend not only on the increasing prosperity of other industries in North Staffordshire but on individual decisions to be taken by those declared redundant.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report the number of employees engaged in fish processing in England and Wales at 1st June 1978 and in each of the last five years.

My Department's employment statistics are analysed according to the minimum list headings of the standard industrial classification, which does not identify fish processing.Fish processing is included in the heading "Bacon Curing, Meat and Fish Products". The number of employees in employment in this Heading for each of the six years ending 1976, the latest date for which the information is available, are shown in the following table:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many farm workers were employed in Staffordshire in 1950, 1960, 1970, 1975, 1976 and 1977.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 4th July 1978; Vol. 953, c. 159] gave the following information:The table below shows the numbers of employees in employment in agriculture and horticulture in Staffordshire at mid-1952, 1960, 1970, 1975, and 1976, the latest date for which the information is available. Figures for 1971 are also included to indicate the extent of the discontinuity caused by the change in the method of calculating the figures. Comprabale estimates for the years prior to 1952 are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what progress the European Commission is making in the review that it has been carrying out of the United Kingdom's system of regional aids; and when the results of that review are expected.

The Government have continued to supply statistical information to the Commission. The result of the review is not expected to be known until next year.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will make a statement on the progress of the British shipbuilding industry since nationalisation.

While much remains to be done, over a prolonged period, to put right the situation inherited from private ownership, the formation of British Shipbuilders has strengthened the industry in facing the severe problems arising from the continuing world-wide shipbuilding recession.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how many industrial development certificates were granted in the Leek parliamentary constituency in 1977; and how this figure compares with those in each of the previous five years.

Statistics for industrial development certificates are not available in respect of parliamentary constituencies. In the employment office areas of Biddulph, Cheadle, Leek and Kidsgrove, which approximate o the Leek constituency, industrial development certificates have been granted as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will outline any changes in the criteria for capital industrial development services since they were first introduced.

My hon. Friend may have in mind the criteria for assistance under Section 8 of the Industry Act 1972. These are set out in the Criteria for Assistance to Industry laid before Parliament, together with the published criteria for individual assistance schemes.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) to what extent his policies are based on preventing industrial degeneration of areas rather than curing it; and to what extent he has applied this principle in North Staffordshire;(2) what new steps he is taking to induce industry to North Staffordshire in

asked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) how many applications for industrial development certificates were refused in the United Kingdom in 1977; and how this figure compares with the figures for the previous five years;(2) how many industrial development certificates were granted in England and Wales in 1977; and how this compares with the previous five years.

The table below shows the number of industrial development certificates granted and refused for the years 1972 to 1977, for schemes of 15,000 sq. feet and over, in Great Britain. The control does not operate in Northern Ireland.view of the closure of Shelton steel works and Spillers Bakery.