asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the cost to public funds of the resident commissioner in Rhodesia and his staff.

Approximately £144,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will place in the Library the detailed proposals for a negotiated settlement in Rhodesia to which he referred in the debate on the Address on 7 November 1978.

I have today made arrangements for all the relevant documents to be placed in the Library of the House. The proposals set out in these documents offer three options for the transition to independence. As I told the House on 7 November 1978—c. 715.—the British and United States Governments have made it clear they prefer options A or C, involving elections after six months, followed by independence. Implementation of any of these options would depend on full agreement by all the parties and a viable ceasefire.Any constitutional arrangement for the transition acceptable to the parties themselves could quickly be translated into legislative form by means of an Order in Council under the Southern Rhodesia Act 1965. Such an Order would be subject to an affirmative resolution of both Houses of Parliament.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the present position in Belize, with particular reference to relations with Guatemala.

It remains our intention to seek a negotiated settlement with Guatemala which is acceptable to the Belizeans. This will enable Belize to go to secure independence. The proposals we put to Guatemala last September remain on the table.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will circulate to British posts for transmission the text of the speech he made at the Indian Journalists' Association dinner on Wednesday 14 March.

The full text of my right hon. Friend's speech has already been sent to our posts in Delhi, Dacca and Islamabad. Relevant extracts have been given a wider distribution.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what were the ages of the adult daughters referred to in his reply to the hon. Member for Barking to her question of 16 March as being sent to the lady doctor for an opinion on the possibility that they might be married; and by what means the lady doctor sought to establish whether an applicant might be married.

The applicants concerned were aged 18 and over, the majority being in their early twenties. The lady doctor's opinion on the marital status of these applicants was based solely on a visual examination in the course of the general medical examination for which the applicants had been referred.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in inter-communal talks in Cyprus; and what initiative is being taken, and by whom, to advance a solution.

The Government continue to give Dr. Waldheim full support in his endeavours to bring the parties together. In the last few days my right hon. Friend has discussed both with Dr. Waldheim himself and with the Cyprus Foreign Minister the need for early negotiations.

asked the Attorney-General if he will indicate in approximate terms what proportion of documents held in the public record categories FO 371 and CO 537 for the years following 1945 have not been released to the public under the Lord Chancellor's ruling of 1967.

I have been asked to reply.Approximately 3·4 per cent. of documents in FO 371 created in the years 1946 to 1948 have not been released under the Lord Chancellor's ruling of 1967; the figure for CO 537 is 15·8 per cent.The reason for the disparity between these two percentages is that FO 371 comprises the classified and unclassified

	Productive woodlands (hectares)	Population (millions)	Hectares per head of population
ENGLAND—
Forestry Commission	249,000	46·5	0·005
Private woodlands	478,000	46·5	0·01
AH productive woodlands	727,000	46·5	0·015
WALES—
Forestry Commission	135,000	2·8	0·05
Private woodlands	63,000	2·8	0·02
All productive woodlands	198,000	2·8	0·07

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, without incurring disproportionate costs, he will give, for the longest and most convenient period of time, the total number of persons in those quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations for which he is responsible who have claimed expenses and subsistence and travel allowances, and the totals of all such sums claimed.

I regret that this information is not readily available and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will initiate a system of phased allocations of money to the White Fish Authority to enable some grants to be paid to fishermen wishing to place orders in British boatyards for new vessels.

The White Fish Authority itself is responsible for the timing of

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish in the Official Report the percentage of productive woodland per head of the population in England and Wales under the management of private owners and the Forestry Commission, respectively.

The position as at 31 March 1978 was as follows:grant approvals. Provision of public funds to the authority for the purpose of the grant scheme is on the normal annual basis and my right hon. Friend sees no reason for making any change.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what is the estimated capital cost at current prices of providing for the inflation-proof pensions now receivable on retirement by the following grades of civil servants: clerical officer, higher executive officer, administrative officer, principal, assistant secretary, under-secretary and deputy secretary.

The actuarially calculated capital values of pension on retirement for the grades specified^* are set out below. The calculations include the cost of inflation-proofing but exclude lump sums and widow's benefits. They assume average length of service and ages-at retirement from these grades in 1977 and 1978, average male life expectancy for civil servants, and retirement on the top of the relevant salary scale (where applicable), excluding London weighting.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he will give the salary scales for the three highest paid ranks of civil servants and the amounts of tax-free expenses they can claim when travelling away from London and remaining away for one night and day; and what these amounts would be worth on a daily basis to the recipients on a taxable basis.

Civil servants absent from their permanent station on official duty are paid subsistence allowances to reimburse them for the extra costs incurred on meals, overnight hotel accommodation and incidental expenses. The three rates payable to officers of assistant secretary level—national salary scale £10,043–£12,272—and above are as follows:

Day subsistence
	£
More than five hours and up to 10 hours	1·35
More than 10 hours	2·85
Night subsistence
For period of 24 hours	25·35

The value of these payments if they were subject to income tax could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether, in view of the Government's declared policy of more open government and decision to publish background papers, he will, before 5 April, publish all papers and documents connected with the question of freedom of information which may be readily available for publication.

My hon. Friend will recall that as a first step towards considering more open government, the Government promised a study of overseas practice—reform of section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, Cmnd. 7285. This study has been completed and the results and relevant background papers will be published shortly.

asked the Minister for Civil Service whether he will make a further statement on the industrial dispute by Civil Service unions; to what extent these disputes have caused holdups and delays in Government business to the services normally given to the general public, and the costs to date; and what action he has taken or intends taking to achieve a return to normal working.

The industrial action I referred to in my answer to my hon. Friend on 21 March—[Vol. 964, cc. 611–12] continues. This industrial action has affected both payments and receipts by Government Departments, but these effects vary from day to day. It is too early to give any estimate of the overall cost. We look forward to a resumption of negotiations with the national staff side in relation to pay research based pay increases. Once the industrial action has ended, every effort will be made to return to normal working as quickly as possible.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he will give figures showing to what extent, taking into account the transference of workers within grades and groupings and redesignation of appointments, there has been an increase or reduction in the total number of civil servants since October 1974 until the latest most convenient stated date.

At 1 October 1974 the number of civil servants was 687,000, and at 1 January 1979, the latest available date, the total was 733,000.These figures are not directly comparable. In January 1976 the 21,000 staff of the Manpower Services Commission and its agencies were included in the total and the size of the Civil Service at that date was 745,000. Since then Civil Service numbers have decreased by 12,000 reflecting planned programmes of staff reductions, greater emphasis on general efficiency measures, and shortfall in recruitment.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service, in view of the difficulties experienced by the medical profession in obtaining publications from the HMSO over the past few years, which are causing great concern to medical libraries and the teaching hospitals, what action he proposes to take to improve availability.

I am unaware of the particular difficulties to which the hon. Member refers; but if he will let me have details I will look into them. Meantime he may like to know that HMSO offers a standing order service for the early supply of copies of new publications on particular subjects, including medical interests.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether, without incurring disproportionate costs, he will give, for the longest and most convenient period of time, the total number of persons in those quasi-autonomous nongovernmental organisations for which he

INJURIES TO UDR MEMBERS
Battalion	Loss of limb	Loss of eye	Other serious injuries	Other injuries	Total
1	1	—	2	2	5
2	1	—	1	18	20
3	—	—	2	9	11
4	—	—	1	11	12
5	1	1	5	7	14
6	—	3	—	1	4
7	—	—	—	2	2
8	—	—	—	27	27
9	—	—	—	—	—
10	—	—	3	18	21
11	—	—	2	2	4
TOTAL	3	4	16	97	120

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what research is being carried

This information is not readily available. I shall arrange for it to be published in the Official Report as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Ulster Defence Regiment have been killed, since its formation, by the Irish Republican Army, listing them by battalion; how many have been wounded; and how many have received serious injuries involving loss of limbs or eyesight.

Since 1970, deaths of and injuries to members of the Ulster Defence Regiment attributable to the Irish Republican Army have been as follows:

UDR Deaths:
Battalion	Number of Deaths
1	—
2	13
3	5
4	9
5	20
6	8
7	1
8	15
9	3
10	8
11	4
TOTAL	86

out by her Department into a possible connection between softened water and heart disease.

, pursuant to her reply [Official Report, 19 March 1979; Vol. 964, c. 436], gave the following information:The Medical Research Council has made a long-term grant to Professor A. G. Shaper of the Royal Free Hospital for a study of regional variation in cardiovascular disease in Great Britain in relation to water quality and other environmental factors. This is being carried out in conjunction with the War Research Centre and data have been collected from 250 towns in England, Scotland and Wales. Information has been obtained on the quality and composition of the water supply, including details of type of treatment used, and it is hoped to gather information on the incidence of heart disease, causes of death and morbidity which can be used in subsequent research.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science upon what basis the attendance of part-time students—viz. part-time day, block release, evening-only and short-course students—at polytechnics is converted in order to established the published statistics relating to full-time equivalents—FTEs—at those institutions.

For most purposes my Department uses the following factors to convert total student enrolments at polytechnics and at other further education establishments in England and Wales to full-time equivalents.

	Advanced courses	Non-advanced courses
Full-time (including short full-time)	1·00	1·00
Sandwich	0·90	1·00
Day and block release	0·35	0·25
Other part-time day	0·35	0·25
Evening only	0·15	0·10

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many schoolchildren have been medically defined as suffering from dyslexia in the Medway health district.

I have been asked to reply.I regret that the information is not available

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will indicate in some detail the general areas where manganese nodules are locatable and the size of the areas of seabeds involved; and if he will list those islands in the Pacific Ocean that are located within or near to areas where manganese nodules are known to exist.

The evidence available suggests that about 15 per cent of the ocean floor—55 million square kilometers—may be occupied by manganese nodules but that only a small proportion of such nodules are of sufficient grade and abundance to make their recovery commercially interesting at the present time. Most interest focuses on an east-west belt of the Pacific Ocean lying between latitudes 60°30' N and 20° N, with Clarion, Clipperton and Revillagigedo Islands at its eastern end and the Hawaiian Islands near its western end.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list investment projects in the Midlands economic planning area by county which have received selective assistance.

On the assumption that my hon. Friend is referring to the West Midlands economic planning area, I refer him to the written answer I provided to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Mr. Litterick) on 13 March.—[Vol. 963, c. 155–8.]

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what shareholdings the National Enterprise Board has in Wharton Williams Ltd.; when these were acquired; what percentage of the total equity these shares represent; and what was the cost to the board.

The Board has no shareholding in this company.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry why PA Management Consultants Limited circularised all United Kingdom councils with a 58-page questionnaire.

This is a matter for the company and its client Inmos Ltd.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what has been the amount spent by the British Steel Corporation on redundancy payments in each of the last five years; and what amounts he expects to be paid in each of the next five years in the light of its corporate plan.

This is a matter for the British Steel Corporation.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development whether, with out incurring disproportionate costs, she will give, for the longest and most convenient period of time, the total number of persons in those quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations for which she is responsible who have claimed expenses and subsistence and travel allowances, and the totals of all such allowances claimed.

Some of those whom I appoint to the bodies for which my Department is responsible can claim certain expenses, either direct from the responsible department within ODM or from the body concerned. In addition, some of these bodies have a number of employees who may claim travelling and other expenses, on an approved basis, from time to time.Claims submitted under these arrangements are not dealt with or recorded centrally, and it is not possible, without incurring disproportionate cost, to provide details.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will give an estimate of the net loss or gain to Government expenditure if the whole of the existing unemployed were to take over the situations of an equal number of persons between the age of 60 and 65 years going on to early retirement at normal pension rates and the existing unemployment and social welfare payments to the unemployed ceased.

In order to obtain sufficient people in employment over 60 to equal the total of registered unemployed under 60 it has had to be assumed that all the employed men aged between 60–64 would give up work together with the men and women who are currently deferring their retirement and, in addition, some of those working and already in receipt of retirement pensions. If all these groups were to draw retirement pensions the net cost to public expenditure would be of the order of £500 million. However, the vacancies thus created would be unlikely to provide an effective match for the travel-to-work areas and particular capabilities of those currently registering as unemployed.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what have been the annual costs of all payments being made to the unemployed as on 15 March; and on the basis that 1½ million elderly people between 60 years of age were given retirement rights and normal retirement pensions what this would cost at 15 March.

The cost of payments to the unemployed for the financial year 1978–79 at November 1978 benefit rates would be about £1,320 million. Assuming that the minimum age of retirement for men were reduced to 60 and that no man or woman over that age were to defer retirement, an additional 1·4 million persons would be in receipt of retirement pension at a net annual cost of about £2,800 million at the November 1978 benefit rates. This number includes those who are currently registering as unemployed or who are in receipt of invalidity pension, and others who have retired early on occupation pensions or ceased work under the job release scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish a table showing, in each of the years 1964 to 1979, the actual cost of a private bed in a London teaching hospital (a) in current purchasing power and (b) in 1964 pounds.

The cost of care in private beds in National Health Service hospitals is not separately identified in hospital accounts. Average costs—including consultants' salaries—per in-patient week for

	Average cost per in-patient week	Current price levels	1964 price levels
	£	£	£
Financial year ended 31 March—
1965	50·62	185·19	50·62
1966	55·32	193·90	52·79
1967	60·30	203·83	55·47
1968	66·34	217·56	60·13
1969	70·53	217·63	60·26
1970	78·23	230·17	63·46
1971	93·87	254·34	70·84
1972	108·44	271·95	74·91
1973	125·65	291·97	80·39
1974	152·77	313·80	88·94
1975*	229·16	392·71	113·97
1976	261·09	364·10	103·15
1977†	321·16	385·36	110·59
1978†	373·58	409·45	112·78
1979 (estimated)	414·00	414·00	115·90
* Average costs for 1975 are based upon incomplete costing returns.
† Average costs from 1977 onwards are based upon costs only in those hospitals which have pay beds.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish a detailed breakdown of the costs on the basis of which his Department has decided to raise the prices of a private bed in the National Health Service to £551 per week in a London teaching hospital and £583 per week in a postgraduate hospital.

Private patient charges for 1979–80 for each pay bed classification were determined from the forecast average cost per in-patient week in that classification. This forecast average cost the financial year 1977–78—the latest figures available—which themselves were derived from the total cost per in-patient week in each hospital within the pay bed classification.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what costs, other than food and accommodation, are included in the fees of £551 and £583 for a private bed in National Health Service teaching and postgraduate teaching hospitals.

The charges quoted relate to private patients who have not made

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what he estimates to be the current weekly cost of a public bed in a London postgraduate teaching hospital and a provincial teaching hospital.

For the year beginning 1 April 1979, it is estimated that the average cost per in-patient week will be:

• £533·12 in London postgraduate teaching hospitals; and
• £398·98 in non-London teaching hospitals.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what arrangements are made for the repairs of wheelchairs for children in long-stay hospitals in England and Wales.

The repair of wheelchairs purchased by a health authority for general use is a matter for the authority itself. Repairs of wheelchairs issued by my Department to individual disabled people, including children in long-stay hospitals, are normally carried out on request, without charge, by one of our network of approved repairers. Repairs costing less than £6 can be arranged by the user or his attendant with any competent person and the cost reimbursed by my Department. In addition, arrangements are made for approved repairers to call regularly at institutions where there is a substantial number of wheelchair users so that all the wheelchairs issued by my Department can be inspected and any necessary repairs effected.More generally, repair and maintenance of wheelchairs is one of the areas which is being carefully examined in the current review of the wheelchair service.If the right hon. Gentleman has a particular case of difficulty in mind that he would like me to consider, I shall be glad to have it investigated.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many physically and mentally handicapped children are living permanently in long-stay hospitals in England and Wales.

It is estimated that in December 1976 some 3,800 children under 16 years of age had been in mental handicap hospitals or units in England and Wales for one year or more, of whom some 1,900 had been in hospital for five or more years. It is not known how many of these children will remain permanently in hospital. No information is available centrally on the number of mentally han- dicapped children in other hospitals, or on the number of physically handicapped children in hospital.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he considers sufficient research is being carried out on the problems of hyperactive children especially in relation to diet in young children and the possible effect of additives and colouring agents in food.

I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Wood Green (Mrs. Butler) on 6 March 1979.—[Vol. 963, c. 616–17.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many schoolchildren have been medically defined as being hyperactive in the Medway health district.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will study the criteria for identifying industrial diseases with the aim of bringing into benefit those who suffer from diseases such as bronchitis, where the incidence level is significantly higher among those with employment history in certain industries such as mining, if the subsequent sufferers have worked for a given number of years in the relevant industry;(2) if he will list the diseases such as bronchitis where the incidence is considerably higher among those who have, or are, employed in certain industries such as coal mining; and if he will set out the incidence of these diseases among those with employment history in the relevant industries as compared with the incidence in the population as a whole.

As my hon. Friend is aware, before a disease can be prescribed as an industrial disease certain statutory conditions must be satisfied. It must be shown to be a particular risk of occupation and not one shared by the population in general and, in particular cases, the connection with employment must be capable of being established or presumed with reasonable certainty. These conditions are essential if we are to continue to justify the payment of preferential benefit under an industrial injuries scheme, and I have no plans to change them. However, at the request of my right hon. Friend, following the report of the Royal Commission on civil liability and compensation for personal injury, the industrial injuries advisory council is now engaged in a review of the schedule of prescribed diseases; and is also considering whether, in addition to the schedule, industrial injury benefits should be available to those who can show that their disease is occupationally caused and a particular risk of their occupation. I am arranging for the secretary to the council to write to my hon. Friend in case he wishes to submit any evidence.At present, common respiratory diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema do not satisfy the conditions for prescription. The present state of medical knowledge does not permit a clinical distinction to be made between those cases which are due to a person's employment and those which are not. Even where epidemiological studies point to a higher than average incidence of those diseases among workers in particular industries, the evidence on causation and the effects of long-term exposure to dust remain inconclusive. With a disease such as chronic bronchitis, the incidence of its disabling effects in a particular group of workers, even supposing it were possible to discount the effects of smoking and genetic factors, would need to be exceptionally higher than among the general working population before prescription could be considered on that count alone. In summary, the position remains therefore, as I have previously explained to my hon. Friend, that until such time as bronchitis due to occupational causes can be so distinguished from that due to other causes there is no prospect of its prescription for any particular occupation or for those who have been working in a particular occupation for a particular length of time.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now announce the names of the remaining members of the independent profit assessment panel who are to examine the com- plaints of chemists' contractors; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Hampstead (Mr. Finsberg) on 26 March.—[Vol. 965, c. 33–4.]

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether, without involving disproportionate costs, he will give for one selected person, un-named, his actual travelling and subsistence allowance and salary whilst attending the board, committee or tribunal of which he may be a member for which his Department has ministerial responsibility.

Expenses paid over a period of 12 months to the members of one of my Department's committees range from nil to £530. All members serve without salary.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will report on the progress he has made in monitoring the practice of the major oil companies in diverting and re-exporting both crude oil and refined product away from Great Britain to the highest bidder abroad; and if he will make a statement.

The pattern of imports and exports of crude oil products has been monitored since mid-February. I shall continue to keep a close watch on the position.

asked the Lord President of the Council what salary would now be payable to hon. Members if their salary had been increased on the same percentage increases as paid since October 1974 to the police, civil servants, the Forces, judges, nurses, local government employees and the staff and officials at the Trades Union Congress.

The information is set out in the table below with each of the groups mentioned by my hon. Friend being represented by a grade whose 1974 salary most nearly corresponded to that of a Member. Salaries have been taken at the respective 1974 review dates. The Member's salary remained unchanged at £4,500 throughout 1974:

	Percentage increase in pay since 1974	Percentage increase applied to Members' 1974 rate of pay £
Chief superintendent of police	81·1	8,150
Principal grade in the Civil Service	53·1	6,890
Major	56·6	7,047
Circuit judge	40·4	6,318
Divisional nursing officer	38·5	6,233
Principal officer 2, local authority	48·7	6,692

I have no details on the pay of the staff and officials at the Trades Union Congress.

asked the Lord President of the Council whether he will

	Budget debates		Public Expenditure White Paper debates		Supply Day debates on matters for which the Chancellor of the Exchequer was responsible
Session	hours	minutes	hours	minutes	hours	minutes
1974	18	35	—	—	6	17
1974–75	36	34	—	—	15	28
1975–76	20	50	12	58	15	4
1976–77	20	22	—	—	9	59
1977–78	26	9	6	36	11	39
1978–79	—	—	6	28	—	—

asked the Lord President of the Council how many hours have been devoted to consideration of the

	On the Floor of the House		In Standing Committee
Session	hours	minutes	hours	minutes
1974	65	23	62	4
1974–75	109	6	129	—
1975–76	63	24	93	39
1976–77	56	43	60	8
1977–78	61	2	80	29

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the total amount spent by the Welsh Development

No. The unique circumstances of hon. Members would render such action inappropriate.

asked the Lord President of the Council if he will list die total number of hours devoted to debates on the Floor of the House in each Session since March 1974 under the following headings (a) all Budgets and mini-Budgets introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, (b) the public expenditure White Paper, (c) Supply day debates on matters for which the Chancellor of the Exchequer was responsible and (d) all other debates for which the Chancellor of the Exchequer was responsible.

I regret that some of the information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the remainder is as follows:Finance Bill, both on the Floor of the House and in Standing Committee in every Session since March 1974.

The information is as follows:Agency; and how much this represents per head of registered unemployed.

From the time it was set up on 1 January 1976 until 31 March 1979 the Welsh Development Agency's cumulative expenditure will be just under £74 million. There is no meaningful relationship between this sum and the number of registered unemployed in Wales in March 1979 which was 88,452.

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection when he expects to publish the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's report on the supply and export from the United Kingdom of insulated wires and cables.

The report is being published today.In relation to supply in the United Kingdom, the Commission found that a monopoly situation existed in favour of BICC Ltd., BICC Cables Ltd. and its seven subsidiary companies engaged in the production and sale of cables, since they together supplied more than 25 per cent. by value of the insulated electric wires and cables supplied in the United Kingdom in 1974.The Commission considered the effect on the public interest of BICC's monopoly in the United Kingdom, and dealt in turn with the effect of the monopoly in relation to each of the five categories of insulated electric wires and cables, but concluded that BICC's monopoly did not operate and might not be expected to operate against the public interest. In this connection, the Commission was precluded from considering the effect on the public interest of BICC's involvement in unregistered restrictive agreements, the most significant of which was in respect of sales of external telephone cable to the Post Office, which came to light during its enquiries. These agreements were operated by BICC Ltd., Pirelli General Cable Works Ltd., Standard Telephones and Cables Ltd., and Telephone Cables Ltd. and were terminated in December 1974. A new agreement for sales of external cable to the Post Office was subsequently introduced, but its operation has since been suspended. In June 1978, it was announced that the four cable-makers concerned had agreed to repay to the Post Office £9 million by way of adjustment of the prices charged during the period before 1975, when they were operating unregistered agreements.The Commission went on to consider whether a complex monopoly situation existed by virtue of the way in which general wiring cable and winding wire and strips were supplied and also by virtue of the conduct of buyers. However, it found no evidence that competition was restricted and, therefore, concluded that no complex monopoly situation existed. As regards exports, the Commission found that a monopoly situation existed in favour of BICC Ltd., BICC Cables Ltd. and its seven subsidiary companies engaged in the production and sale of cables, which together produced more than 25 per cent. of the insulated electric wires and cables produced in the United Kingdom in 1974. The Commission also found that a complex monopoly situation existed in favour of a number of companies which belonged to one or more of the export agreements in the industry, which had the effect of restricting competition in some way, and which accounted for more than 25 per cent. of the insulated electric wires and cables produced in the United Kingdom. The companies were BICC Ltd., Delta Group, AEI Ltd., Pirelli General Cable Works Ltd., Standard Telephones and Cables Ltd., Crompton Parkinson Ltd., Concordia Electric Wire and Cable Co. Ltd. Thames Wire and Cable Company Ltd. and those of their subsidiary companies in the United Kingdom that exported types of reference goods in respect of which one or more of the agreements was operative.The Commission did not consider that any public interest issues separate from those arising from the complex monopoly situation arose from the fact of BICC's monopoly in relation to exports. The Commission considered the effect on the public interest arising from the United Kingdom cablemakers' membership of the various international associations and also of the domestic export associations. It concluded that neither British participation in the international associations nor the arrangements of the domestic export associations operated or might be expected to operate against the public interest.In the absence of any finding of adverse effect on the public interest, there are no grounds for any action on this report by my right hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what have been the total amounts paid and the total number of jobs involved in Scotland and England, respectively, in each month in

	Scotland		England
Month	Entrants	Expenditure	Entrants	Expenditure
1978—		£000's		£000's
April	55	—	37	12
May	27	4	72	47
June	39	—	203	16
July	72	8	439	51
August	113	36	586	503
September	174	18	688	341
October	114	47	817	549
November	197	102	835	720
December	197	30	1,083	793
1979—
January	208	284	1,221	1,450
February	344	179	1,633	1,499

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many training places have been taken up in Scotland and England, respectively, as a result of the special measures programme.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that special measures training grants and awards are offered on an industry-wide basis and that detailed statistics on their geographical take-up are not available. Their distribution has depended upon a number of factors—the location and concentration of industry, the availability of training facilities and the willingness of employers to participate in the scheme.However, the construction, engineering and road transport industries accounted

	Merseyside		Tyneside		Leeds
Month	Approved applications	Amount paid £	Approved applications	Amount paid £	Approved applications	Amount paid £
September 1978	83	1,740	12	340	7	300
October 1978	95	11,840	28	2,100	10	1,120
November 1978	134	21,140	52	6,760	24	2,360
December 1978	105	17,380	28	5,360	18	3,080
January 1979	53	35,740	18	10,580	10	4,420
February 1979	40	31,720	18	5,350	5	3,500
TOTAL	510	119,560	156	30,490	74	14,780

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that since April 1978, when the special temporary employment programme—STEP—was introduced, the number of people in Scotland and England entering employment supported by STEP and the monthly financial expenditure is as follows:for approximately 74 per cent. of the 100,000 grants and awards taken up nationally under the programme between 1975 and 1978, of which it is estimated that approximately 14 per cent.—10,400—were allocated to Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how much has been paid, and how many jobs are involved, in each area covered by the adult employment subsidy for each month since its inception.

The following table shows the numbers of applications approved and the amount paid in each area from the beginning of the scheme in August 1978 until February 1979:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what have been the total amounts paid and the total number of jobs covered in Scotland and

	Number of jobs for which subsidy claimed		Amount paid
Month	England	Scotland	England	Scotland
1977—			£	£
July	920	454	Nil	Nil
August	245	340	12,820	20,550
September	263	249	63,730	43,900
October	677	362	94,420	65,330
November	462	299	154,250	120,960
December	153	143	235,480	100,800
1978—
January	14	153	76,830	150,150
February	343	107	203,820	85,840
March	651	204	199,230	138,360
April	318	76	170,470	99,740
May	593	178	187,780	157,040
June	278	200	265,920	140,870
July	496	323	201,910	115,680
August	283	176	232,640	111,380
September	3,605	515	456,390	132,210
October	4,573	798	599,960	114,550
November	4,164	595	1,039,340	208,340
December	5,322	1,151	823,260	189,540
1979—
January	3,652	665	1,507,590	226,790
February	4,668	988	1,339,770	318,310
TOTAL	31,680	7,976	7,865,610	2,540,340

Because of time lapse in the submission of claims the number of extra jobs provided in a particular month cannot be related to the amount of subsidy paid in that month.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish figures to show the proportion of the unionised and the total work forces, respectively, covered by closed shop agreements in 1965, 1970, 1974 and every subsequent year for which figures are available.

Dr. W. McCarthy's study "The Closed Shop in Britain" published in 1964 estimated that, at that time, about 3¾ million workers were covered by closed shop agreements. Reliable estimates for the subsequent years specified in the questionnaire are not available but, as my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State informed the right hon. Member for Farnham (Mr. Macmillan) in a written reply to a similar question, on 3 May 1978, my Department has commissioned research which is

The information requested is as follows:designed, in part, to provide up-to-date information about the present extent of closed shop agreements.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what would be the extra cost of reducing the employers' share of redundancy payment to 25 per cent.

The extra cost to the redundancy fund in the year ended 28 February 1979 would have been approximately £60 million.

asked the Secretary or State for Employment what have been the total amounts paid and the total number of persons involved in Scotland and England, respectively, in each month in which the job introduction scheme for disabled people has operated.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that, as far as is possible, the monthly breakdown of amounts paid and the total number of persons involved in Scotland and England respectively under the job

	Amount paid		Persons involved
	Great Britain		Scotland	England
1977—	£
July	—		1	8
August	—		1	32
September	1,290		1	29
October	5,172		3	33
November	5,148		4	31
December	3,618		2	14
1978—
January	6,972		4	46
February	3,258		5	69
March	10,446		3	61
	Scotland	England
	£	£
April	1,920	20,790	6	87
May			5	76
June	420	13,152	4	77
July	870	11,022	8	72
August	720	10,056	8	105
September	540	10,560	7	81
October	2,118	12,426	11	129
November	984	21,144	9	136
December	2,220	16,656	6	64
1979—
January	1,590	24,996	9	118
February	936	20,754	5	127

It is not possible to give a breakdown of the amounts paid for Scotland and England respectively from July 1977 to March 1978 without disproportionate costs. Also a breakdown for April and May 1978 is not available. Therefore, two months expenditure have been shown for May 1978.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what have been the total amounts paid and the total number of persons involved in Scotland and England, respectively, in each month in which the youth opportunities programme has operated.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the total amounts paid in each month since the youth opportunities programme began, in England and Scotland, are as follows:

		£
	England	Scotland
1978—
April	1,343,000	230,500
May	2,324,000	524,500
June	2,174,000	361,000
July	2,019,000	363,000
August	2,193,000	598,000
September	2,312,000	348,500
October	3,100,000	403,500
November	4,363,000	564,500
December	3,288,000	608,000

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what have been the total amounts paid and the total number of persons involved in Scotland and England, respectively, in each month since January 1974 under the community industry programme.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The number of young people entering the Community Industry programme in England and Scotland in each quarter since July 1977 is as follows:

	England	Scotland
Q3 1977 (from 14 July 1977)	569	150
Q4 1977	1,163	296
Q1 1978	959	185
Q2 1978	1,279	280
Q3 1978	1,318	257
Q4 1978	1,333	427

Information about entrants to the programme is not available before July 1977: the Manpower Services Commission took responsibility for Community Industry on 1 August 1977.

	England		Scotland
	Accepted applications	Payments (£)	Accepted applications	Payments (£)
1977—
January	3,964	263,130	760	47,020
February	1,942	429,580	432	88,040
March	1,604	549,850	343	114,030
April	2,019	665,900	448	138,400
May	1,711	1,194,060	345	251,200
June	1,033	913,170	261	190,910
July	796	964,800	246	210,820
August	544	933,820	87	205,770
September	616	1,131,300	143	246,550
October	630	885,990	103	194,770
November	795	947,860	146	205,700
December	577	1,190,830	103	257,300
1978—
January	885	939,970	172	197,780
February	627	906,080	120	186,520
March	614	874,670	151	177,320
April	591	1,038,690	122	204,900
May	1,070	754,560	151	145,980
June	1,635	730,280	165	134,340
July	1,691	1,163,940	175	191,230
August	2,312	1,152,880	196	167,370
September	1,905	1,317,640	183	176,640
October	2,646	1,897,590	291	234,590
November	2,040	1,679,740	234	207,380
December	1,591	2,251,640	182	274,490
1979—
January	2,704	1,997,840	281	228,210
February	2,212	2,093,830	251	237,730
TOTAL	38,754	28,869,640	6,090	4,914,990

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the present balance, and the comparable figures for each of the last five years, of the redundancy fund; what has been the average weekly level of income and of payment of rebates during the last year and by how much the redundancy fund has grown on average each week; by how much the present balance of the redundancy fund would be reduced if payments of rebates during the last 12 months had been at a 50 per cent. rate; and when he will in-

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what have been the total amounts paid and the total number of workers involved in Scotland and England, respectively, in each month in which the job release scheme has operated.

Following is the available information:crease the level of rebates from the redundancy fund, and by how much.

The following gives the state of the redundancy fund at the dates shown:

Date	State of Redundancy Fund
23 March 1979	Credit balance of £86·9 million
31 March 1978	Credit balance of £41·9 million
31 March 1977	Credit balance of £8·4 million
31 March 1976	Deficit of £2·7 million
31 March 1975	Credit balance of £15·8 million
31 March 1974	Credit balance of £13·8 million

The average weekly levels of income from the employment protection allocation and payment of rebates during the year ended 28 February 1979 were £2·7 million and £1·4 million respectively. The average weekly growth of the fund in the year ended 23 March 1979 was £0·9 million.If payments of rebates during the year ended 28 February 1979 had been at the rate of 50 per cent. the redundancy fund would have been reduced by £15·9 million.Regarding the level of rebates, I have nothing to add to what was said by the Minister of State in the House on 28 November 1978 during the debate on the Employment Protection (Variation of Limits) Order 1978 and the Unfair Dismissal (Increase of Compensation Limit) Order 1978—[

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if, in the light of the activities of the Economic League, he will bring forward legislation to make it illegal to discriminate against any person on the grounds that he is a member of a trade union.

I deplore the practice of blacklisting, but I am still not

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what have been the total amounts paid and the total number of jobs covered in Scotland and England, respectively, for each month in which the short-time working compensation scheme has operated.

Although the short time working compensation scheme for the textile, clothing and footwear industry came into operation on 15 May 1978, no applications were approved until July 1978 in England, and August 1978 in Scotland. The information requested is therefore available for those months and is given in the following schedule:convinced that legislation is the best way of dealing with the problem. The weight of public opinion and union pressure will have more effect in this than Government action.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the total amount of temporary employment subsidy paid and the total number of jobs covered in Scotland and England, respectively, for each month in which the scheme has operated.

I regret that estimates of the number of workers whose jobs were being supported by TES are not available

	Scotland		England
	Estimated number of jobs supported	Expenditure*	Estimated number of jobs supported	Expenditure*
		(£)		(£)
1977—
July	24,200	NA	147,700	NA
August	24,200	NA	152,000	NA
September	23,700	NA	151,900	NA
October	23,000	NA	150,000	NA
November	23,300	NA	154,300	NA
December	20,900	NA	139,300	NA
1978—
January	20,000	NA	134,000	NA
February	21,000	NA	142,100	NA
March	21,000	NA	140,000	NA
April	20,100	1,538,330	137,200	10,078,215
May	19,900	1,493,660	139,100	11,270,760
June	19,600	1,408,030	135,500	12,959,895
July	18,500	1,238,300	129,900	11,176,955
August	17,600	1,137,340	124,700	11,547,525
September	16,100	1,029,150	115,500	11,169,505
October	15,300	1,284,895	109,500	8,069,815
November	13,700	923,405	99,200	9,185,340
December	12,200	552,180	88,000	6,163,070
1979—
January	10,700	1,070,020	78,100	7,156,335
February	8,300	693,590	59,900	5,828,400
* Provisional figures.
NA = Not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state for January the unemployment figures expressed as a percentage, and the actual number registered as unemployed, for the United Kingdom, South-West region, the South-West assisted area and the following employment exchange districts: Bodmin, Liskeard-Looe, the Saltash and

	Numbers registered as unemployed	Percentage rates of unemployment
United Kingdom	1,455,275	6·1
South-West region	106,336	6·6
South-West assisted area	29,248	10·0
Bodmin employment office area	533	8·3
Liskeard travel-to-work area	761	11·8
Saltash employment office area*	526	—
Plymouth travel-to-work area*	10,482	8·6
* There are no separate unemployment figures for Torpoint, which is part of the Devonport employment office area, and for Gunnislake, which is part of the Tavistock employment office area. Saltash, Devonport and Tavistock together with Plymouth and Plympton form the Plymouth travel-to-work area. Unemployment rates can be calculated for the whole of a travel-to-work area but not separately for its constituent parts.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many redun-

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 27 March 1979; Vol. 965, col. 108], gave the following answer:Following is the available information at 11 January.dancies have been notified to his Department under section 100 of the Employment Protection Act in each of the last 24 months in Scotland and in England, respectively.

During the period January 1977 to February 1979, proposed redundancies in all industries in Scotland and England notified to my Department under the provisions of Section 100 of the Employment Protection Act 1975 were as follows:

	Scotland	England
January 1977	9,456	36,511
February 1977	5,353	41,262
March 1977	5,477	45,062
April 1977	10,483	37,068
May 1977	5,808	43,929
June 1977	10,601	46,380
July 1977	6,010	47,403
August 1977	6,577	33,646
September 1977	4,137	39,140
October 1977	7,202	34,785
November 1977	7,107	38,073
December 1977	6,223	38,569
January 1978	5,547	38,772
February 1978	4,657	47,176
March 1978	6,636	47,794
April 1978	4,577	40,435
May 1978	4,676	43,603
June 1978	6,491	44,260
July 1978	5,469	32,111
August 1978	3,912	32,538
September 1978	5,922	33,229
October 1978	4,451	34,221
November 1978	4,699	31,114
December 1978	4,437	30,909
January 1979	5,766	37,842
February 1979	5,363	36,072
Total	157,037	1,011,904

During the period January 1977 to January 1979 the total number of proposed redundancies which have been formaly withdrawn is as follows:

Scotland	48,783
England	342,478

asked the Prime Minister when he expects to receive the next report of the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body.

Soon.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he is now able to make a statement on the Select Committee on Nationalised Industries' recommendation to write off the debts of the National Bus Company; and what effect he believes this step could have on bus fares.

There are still a number of outstanding issues which we shall need to consider before we are able to reply fully to the Select Committee. The effect on fares of writing off NBC's debts would vary with local circumstances, but as the charges on commencing capital debts are only 2 per cent. of NBC's operating costs, it is unlikely to be significant.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the current waiting time for applicants for a driving test in Coatbridge and Airdrie; and what action he is taking to reduce this delay.

Twenty five weeks. Examiners are being recruited throughout the country. An additional examiner was appointed at Coatbridge at the beginning of this month.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the nature and extent of research being conducted by his Department as to the durability of certain stretches of motorways before essential repairs are needed; and if he will make a statement.

A machine which can assess when essential repairs will be needed has been developed by the transport and road research laboratory for use in the United Kingdom. The laboratory is also doing research to develop road surfaces which last longer.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what representation he has received on his White Paper on roads.

I have received 15 formal and specific representations on the 1978 roads White Paper.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what parliamentary procedure he proposes to adopt to introduce the tachograph.

The necessary regulations will be laid before Parliament in due course.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects next to meet the general secretary of ASLEF.

Soon.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will make a statement on road maintenance costs in view of the severe winter.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will make a statement on road maintenance costs in the light of the severe winter.

I refer my hon. Friend and the hon. Member to the reply I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Macclesfield (Mr. Winterton).

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has now received about the Green Paper on concessionary fares for the elderly and disabled; and if he will make a further statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Chorley (Mr. Rodgers).

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he has received any proposals regarding the link for the M180 Ermine Street Link, South from the Humberside county council.

No, although I understand that the county council has its preliminary proposals for the scheme well advanced.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is his estimate of the underspending by his Department on trunk and local road structures and maintenance for the ensuing year.

We have no reason at this stage to expect any underspending.