asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give the number of children attending primary and secondary schools in the Inner London Education Authority

				Primary Schools		Secondary Schools
				Full-time	Part-time*	Full-time
January 1975	…	…	…	219,034	10,814	177,768
January 1979	…	…	…	175,744	9,811	169,366
* Only pupils aged 2 to 4 years

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the present number of qualified teachers registered as unemployed in each region of England.

			Secondary School Teachers	Primary School Teachers	Pre-Primary School Teachers	Special Education Teachers	Totals
South-East	…	…	1,628	794	31	69	2,522
East Anglia	…	…	157	147	—	6	310
South West	…	…	779	548	11	24	1,362
West Midlands	…	…	390	346	8	25	769
East Midlands	…	…	197	214	12	13	436
North-West	…	…	697	701	9	37	1,444
Yorks and Humberside	…	…	424	506	5	30	965
North	…	…	391	494	6	24	915
Totals All England			4,663	3,750	82	228	8,723

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what provision he intends to make for boys in North Northumberland to avail themselves of his proposed assisted places scheme, in view of the fact that he has been able to issue invitations only to girls' schools in the area to take part in the scheme.

My right hon and learned Friend, in selecting schools for membership of the scheme, will, whenever possible, be concerned to achieve a reasonable spread of opportunity geographically, and a balance of opportunities for boys and girls.However, my right hon. and learned Friend regrets that, because of the distribution of independent and direct grant schools about the country, the distribu-

The numbers of pupils attending maintained primary and secondary schools in the Inner London Education Authority area were as follows:

:The numbers of people registered with the Department of Employment, in England, as unemployed and seeking school teaching posts in December 1979 are shown below. Information on their qualifications is not held.tion of schools offering assisted places is bound to be uneven, so that some pupils will not live within convenient daily travelling distance of such a school.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science on what date he made details of his proposals on student union financing available to interested parties; what date he set for their replies; and whether he has received any objections to this timetable of consultation.

I held separate meetings with representatives of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals and of the local authority associations on 10 December and with the National Union of Students on 13 December 1979. Their views on the alternatives that would satisfy the requirements for public accountability are well known to me and consideration is now being given to the course to be adopted.

asked the Lord Privy Seal how much aid, in cash and in kind, has been given by Her Majesty's Government to assist refugees from Kampuchea during the last six months.

Details of the current British Government aid were given in my written reply of 15 January to my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Mr. Rhodes James)—[Vol. 976, c. 698]. Before that, in June 1979, we had given £10,000 for the purchase by the Thai Red Cross of immediate relief supplies for Cambodian refugees in Tailand. In addition, the European Community is giving 2,700 tonnes of rice to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees—UNHCR—for the benefit of Cambodian refugees in Vietnam; the cost of about 1 million units of account—about £650,000—will be met from the Community budget, of which British taxpayers pay about 20 per cent.

asked the Lord Privy Seal how much financial assistance was afforded to Dominica, West Indies, after the hurricane in August 1979, which occasioned the need for help.

I refer to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the Member for Mid-Oxon (Mr. Hurd) on 29 November to my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Mr. Rhodes James).—[Vol. 974; c. 726–7]. Since then, arrangements have been made for a second phase of the Royal Engineers operation. This is just starting. It will involve 60 men for about eight weeks, and will include work on the electricity distribution system, road repairs and the reconstruction of schools and health clinics.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement on the amount of aid granted from the European development fund, what percentage of this fund was raid to British contractors against the £414 million committed to the fund by Great Britain under the fourth EDF by the middle of 1979; what percentage was paid to other member States; and what amount remains to be allocated by April.

The amount of aid to be provided under the fourth European development fund is some £2,050 million, of which the United Kingdom will provide some £380 million—the exact amounts depend on the exchange rate when payments are made.As of 30 June 1979, contracts had been awarded to United Kingdom and other member States' firms in the following percentages:

		Per cent.
France	…	34·52
Germany	…	19·55
Italy	…	19·12
Belgium	…	10·36
United Kingdom	…	9·23
Netherlands	…	4·96
Denmark	…	1·05
Luxembourg	…	0·65
Ireland	…	0·56

As of 30 November 1979, some £1,007 million of the fund had been committed to projects, although only £282 million of that had been awarded in contracts by 30 June 1979. Some £227 million remains to be committed to projects; the balance of the fund is for non-project purposes.

asked the Lord Privy Seal how many Vietnamese boat people have now been admitted to the United Kingdom.

I have been asked to reply.I understand from the Joint Committee for Refugees from Vietnam that since 1975 approximately 5,950 Vietnamese refugees have arrived or been allowed to remain here, of whom approximately 5,000 arrived during 1979.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if, in view of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, he will review his decision not to reduce diplomatic representation to chargé ďaffaires level, given to the hon. Member for Torbay, Official Report, 13 December 1979, column 712.

We have considered recalling our ambassador to Moscow for consultations. However, I believe that it is more to our advantage, in present circumstances, for him to stay in Moscow, where he can advise us at this difficult time.

asked the Prime Minister what consultations she has had with the Leader of the Opposition regarding an increase in the State aid to political parties.

An approach has been made by the Opposition through the usual channels for an increase in the amount of financial assistance given to opposition parties to help in carrying out their work at Westminster. This request is being considered.

asked the Prime Minister if she is satisfied with the rules relating to members of the Cabinet holding directorships or shareholdings in companies during their period of office; and if she will consider making them more stringent.

I see no reason to change the rules governing Ministers' private financial interests, which have applied under successive Governments for many years.

asked the Prime Minister how many people still living have been granted immunity from prosecution after being involved in espionage activities; and whether she will name them.

The grant of immunity from prosecution is not a matter for me or the Government but for my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General, who gave the informa- tion requested in the course of his speech in the House on 21 November 1979.

asked the Prime Minister whether Messrs. Blunt and Cairncross, recently revealed as having been involved in espionage activities, received any Civil Service pension or other State benefit subsequent to their confessions; and, if so, whether they are still receiving any such benefits.

As a result of their resignations in 1945 and 1952 respectively, Messrs. Blunt and Cairncrosslost any eligibility for a Civil Service pension and none has been paid. As to social security benefits, generally the right to such benefits, including retirement benefits, is guaranteed by law under social security legislation—although a person may be disqualified from receiving benefit during periods of imprisonment.

asked the Prime Minister if, in view of her public statements of support for President Carter in his attempt to put pressure on Iran to release the United States of America hostages held in that country, she will expel from the United Kingdom those Iranian nationals receiving military training.

No. Neither the United States nor ourselves has yet considered it appropriate to terminate these training programmes. We are, of course, keeping in close touch with the United States and other Western Governments in the context of measures concerning Iran.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will give an assurance that the Government will not seek, by means of limits on local authority expenditure, to prevent local authorities from fully implementing the findings of the Standing Commission on pay comparability report on teachers' salaries.

The relevant agreements reached by the Burnham committee and the Scottish Teachers' Salaries committee provide for recommendations from the Standing Commission on pay comparability to form the basis for negotiation within those committees. Consequent recommendations by those committees on revised salary scales will be given statutory force through the provisions of the Remuneration of Teachers Act 1965 or the Remuneration of Teachers (Scotland) Act 1967. Rate support grant cash limits for 1979–80 and 1980–81 include allowances for those pay settlements in the local government sector expected to be based on pay comparability.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will give an assurance that, in view of the delays in the production of the interim report by the Standing Commission on pay comparability, the Government will honour the original agreement made with the teachers that there will be an interim award in January.

The agreements concluded in the appropriate negotiating committees provided that any salary increases negotiated in those committees following receipt of the report or reports of the Standing Commission on pay comparability would be implemented in two equal instalments, from 1 January and 1 September 1980. It is for the negotiating bodies to consider whether there should be an interim award in advance of the Standing Commission's report. The Remuneration of Teachers (Scotland) Act 1967 provides for pay settlements to be implemented retrospectively, if need be.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he is satisfied with security measures at the Royal Victoria hospital; and what improvements, if any, are envisaged.

The level of security at the Royal Victoria hospital, like that at many other establishments in Northern Ireland, is kept under constant review by the appropriate authorities and adjustments are made when thought necessary. A number of measures to improve security for both patients and staff at the Royal Victoria hospital have been taken over the years. Further measures are under consideration, but it would not be in the interests of those concerned to disclose details.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action he proposes to take to rectify the religious imbalance in the security personnel at the Royal Victoria hospital, which has few members of the majority community.

I am satisfied that no action is necessary. The health and social services boards provide equality of employment opportunity in the services administered by them without regard to religious, political or racial considerations. This policy is embodied in the code of employment procedure and associated selection and appointment procedures which govern the recruitment, selection and appointment of persons to posts in the Northern Ireland health and personal social services.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the amount of grant aid extended to Monitor American International Foods to assist in establishing this company in Northern Ireland.

Details of financial assistance towards the establishment of industrial enterprises in Northern Ireland are normally regarded as confidential. I regret, therefore, that I am not in a position to provide the information requested by the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is his latest estimate of the aggregate cost to public funds, including equity investment, regional aid, and discontinuing aid, and the full extent of contingent liabilities to public funds, involved in the establishment of C. P. Trim Ltd.

It is not the Government's normal practice to disclose the amount and form of financial assistance provided to individual companies in Northern Ireland. Such information is considered confidential between the Government and the company concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what has been the estimated total value, respectively, of North Sea oil and gas reserves at current prices each year since 1965 and at constant 1980 prices; and what percentage these figures represent of the gross national product.

I shall answer the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is his policy towards helping British industries to compete with those in Holland and other countries which enjoy cheap gas.

I shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the day's output from the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea in terms of oil and gas on 31 December.

Figures of daily output from the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea are not readily available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to introduce his proposed legislation on broadcasting.

The present operations of the independent television system are governed by the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act 1973, the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act 1974, the Independent Broadcasting Authority (No. 2) Act 1974 and the Independent Broadcasting Act 1978. I intend to introduce legislation shortly to extend the authority's life beyond 31 December 1981 and to make provision for the fourth channel on the lines foreshadowed in my speech to the Royal Television Society at Cambridge on 12 September. A copy of this speech was placed in the Library of the House on 13 December. This legislation will govern the terms of the contracts which the authtority has with programme contractors in the period starting on 1 January 1982.There is uncertainty in the independent television industry and I have agreed with the chairman of the authority that it will announce its plans for the future shape of the system on 24 January and that this will be followed by invitations to groups to apply for contracts on the new basis then announced, which must inevitably be provisional pending legislation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the continued suspension of Dr. Alan Clift of the West Midlands forensic science laboratory.

I am writing to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he will now initiate a publicity campaign designed to provide information with regard to means whereby the chances of survival in the event of nuclear attack may generally be improved and, in particular, how the protection of various kinds of houses may be increased;(2) whether he will now arrange for more information to be disseminated generally about the nation's attack warning system and radiation monitoring organisation.

I have the question of publicity for these matters under review.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a list of magistrates' courts in Lancashire showing the number of applications and refusals for legal aid for magistrates' courts proceedings in 1978 and for as many months as possible in 1979, distinguishing between committal proceedings, summary trials of indictable offences and summary trials of non-indictable offences.

The number of applications for and refusals of legal aid for all criminal and care proceedings in magistrates' and juvenile courts is published annually by petty sessional division in Criminal Statistics, England and Wales—table 25 of the volume for 1978, Cmnd. 7670. Figures for the types of

APPLICATIONS FOR AND REFUSALS OF LEGAL AID FOR CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS* IN LANCASHIRE MAGISTRATES' AND JUVENILE COURTS, 1978
Petty sessional division		Committal proceedings		Summary trials of Indictable offences†		Number of applications Summary trials of non-indictable offences
		Total	Refused	Total	Refused	Total	Refused
Accrington	…	78	—	182	15	13	2
Blackburn	…	270	12	624	101	150	93
Blackpool	…	136	1	1,029	40	199	37
Burnley	…	53	1	570	114	59	31
Chorley	…	39	—	194	47	38	21
Church	…	34	—	94	—	17	—
Darwen	…	64	—	128	—	41	—
Fylde	…	24	1	96	23	50	27
Lancaster	…	54	1	242	11	71	34
Ormskirk‡	…	141	2	316	67	169	94
Pendle and Ribble Valley	…	126	7	215	66	81	33
Preston	…	307	9	749	138	356	93
Rossendale	…	27	—	214	23	58	12
South Ribble	…	48	4	215	43	31	14
Wyre	…	10	1	303	69	35	20
Total	…	1,141	39	5,171	757	1,368	511
* Excluding care proceedings and appearances with respect to variations in or breaches of court orders.
† Including summary trial of offences triable either way (from 17th July 1978)
‡ Revised figures.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the present loss of earnings and subsistence allowance that a justice of the peace can claim; and when these allowances were last increased.

The maximum rates of financial loss allowance payable to justices of the peace in England and Wales in respect of time in any one period of 24 hours over which earnings or benefit are lost or additional expenditure incurred are, where that time is not more than four hours, £6·20 and, where it is more than four hours, £12·40. These rates were introduced on 28 December 1978, and are under review.The subsistence allowances payable to justices in respect of any continuous period of absence of 24 hours are:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to receive the Boundary Commission's report for constituencies covering the Greater London Council area.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply to a question tabled by the hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Marks) on 4 December last.—[Vol. 975, c. 104–105.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recommendations of the Expenditure Committee report on prisons he is proposing to implement; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to a question by the hon. Member for Ormskirk (Mr. Kilroy-Silk) on 9 November 1979.—[Vol. 973, c. 336.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines exist as to the number of cases which can be referred to the Advisory Board on Restricted Patients in any one month or year.

There are no formal guidelines. In practice, the board meets about once a month and usually considers fewer than five cases at any one meeting.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many patients in 1976, 1977 and 1978 were referred to the Advisory Board on Restricted Patients.

A total of 12 patients were referred in 1976, 23 in 1977 and 29 in 1978.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases, where patients have been conditionally discharged from hospital under the Mental Health Act, his Department is no longer receiving regular reports on the patient's condition or progress.

A total of 2,084 patients have been discharged conditionally from hospital since the Mental Health Act 1959 came into force. The Department no longer receives regular reports in respect of those whose conditions of supervision have been discontinued. I regret that there is no available figure for the total number of living patients in this category. The figure is not required for any operational purpose and any attempt to provide it would involve disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the rank of each of the five Metropolitan Police officers engaged upon inquiries into matters raised by the Bingham report, and specify in the case of each officer how long he or she was engaged in the inquiries and whether full-time or part-time.

I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that one detective chief superintendent, one detective sergeant and a detective constable were engaged full-time on these inquiries from December 1978 until April 1979. In addition, a detective chief inspector and a detective sergeant were engaged part-time over this period.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has issued any guidance to the Sports Council based on proposals for a cutback in staff in the order of 5, 10 or 20 per cent.

The Sports Council has been reminded of the need for vigilance on manpower and costs, but has not been set any specific target for staff cuts.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will seek to lower the recommended specific temperature ranges for Government buildings.

No.My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Energy announced on 10 December 1979 that, subject to the necessary consultations, he proposed to reduce from 68F to 66F the upper legal limit for heating non-domestic buildings by fuel.—[Vol. 975, c.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, in the light of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, if he will ensure that no public funds whatever will be used to sponsor, aid or otherwise subsidise the appearance of British athletes at the Moscow Olympic Games.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what public money has so far been spent on a grant towards United Kingdom participation in the 1980 Olympic Games; and what further sums have been committed;(2) if he will withhold payment of any further public money towards the costs of United Kingdom participation in the 1980 Olympic Games.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment to what extent public funds are used in connection with the Olympic contest.

I refer my hon. Friends to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Mr. Marlow) yesterday.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence for what purposes courses have been introduced at Camberley staff training college for military personnel to be trained to identify and take action against alleged subversive elements in the civilian population; and if he is satisfied that such courses are a proper use of the timetable of the college.

An awareness of the various potential threats to our society is part of the general education of an Army officer, and I am satisfied that it is entirely proper that a part of the Staff College course should deal with terrorism and subversion. This does not imply a role for the Army in identifying and taking action against subversive elements in the civilian population, and no courses exist to train military personnel for this purpose.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence when land surplus to defence requirements at West Ruislip air base will be transferred by his Department to the Property Services Agency for disposal.

Regrettably my earlier expectation that the site would be passed to the Property Services Agency before Christmas was not realised but I expect the outstanding final details from the United States Navy very shortly and the necessary action for disposal will then be taken immediately.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will set out comparisons between the performance of British Railways and the average for the main European railways on the basis of the latest information available, listing (a) rail kilometres per member of staff employed; (b) passenger kilometres plus freight-tonne kilometres per train kilometre; (c) passenger and freight-tonne kilometres per £1 support from public funds and (d) support from public funds as a proportion of gross domestic product by percentage.

The latest available information is published on page 17 of the British Railways Board's annual report and accounts 1978. This information will, I understand, be up-dated when the next annual report is published.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will list the current financial controls on British Railways, the dates at which they were introduced, and their purpose.

Two financial controls over British Railways Board are common to all nationalised industries. These are the annual limit on external finance introduced in 1976 and the ceiling on total investment which has been in existence since the early 1960s. Since 1975 the board has been required to keep the call on public support for the passenger railway within an annual cash ceiling.It is also subject to limits set by Parliament on cumulative totals of grant and of borrowing. This limit on passenger grant in respect of the public service obligation was introduced in the Railways Act 1974.The present control on borrowing was introduced in the Transport Act 1962 which also empowers me to set a limit on the board's temporary borrowing and to specify the terms of loans. That Act also requires the board to get by consent to lend money or guarantee a loan, or to acquire securities in a body corporate.These various controls form part of the Government's overall arrangements for planning and controlling public expenditure and monitoring public liabilities. They are also designed to ensure accountability to Parliament for the use of public funds.

asked the Minister of Transport how many fatal road accidents there were during 1979 or during that part of 1979 for which information is available.

Because of a change in the method of collecting information from police forces, it is possible only to give an estimate from incomplete data of 1,300 fatal road accidents in the period January-March 1979.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek to ensure that disabled people, many of whom cannot work because of their disability, or because of the high rate of unemployment among the disabled, will be protected from the effects of the increasing difference in spending power between those in work and those out of work.

The right hon. Gentleman can be assured that I have all the problems facing disabled people in mind.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the total number of patients waiting to enter hospitals in the Newham area; and if he will list the hospitals and operations required.

The number of patients awaiting admission to hospitals in the Newham health district as at 30 September 1979—the latest date for which information is available—by surgical specialty, including gynaecology, is shown below. Comparable figures by hospital are not available centrally and the hon. Member may be care to approach the City and East London AHA(T) direct for this information.

General Surgery	…	551
ENT	…	494
Traumatic and orthopaedic	…	222
Gynaecology	…	32
Total	…	1,299

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he expects the South-East Thames regional health authority to announce 1980–81 capital and revenue allocations for the area health authorities within its region.

It is for regional health authorities to decide when to announce allocations to area health authorities. They usually do so as quickly as is practicable after receiving information from the Department on the regional allocations.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many strike centres for the payment of benefits he proposes to set up to deal with the steel strike; and whether he plans to recruit additional staff for the purpose;(2) if he will take steps to ensure that those normally drawing benefits from his Department will not be subject to unreasonable delays or deterioration in service due to the additional burden placed on his Department during the continuance of the steel strike.

So far 19 strike centres have been set up in areas where the volume of claims is expected to be such as would disrupt the normal work of local offices if handled there. The decision whether to recruit extra staff either to work in the centres or to replace volunteers from local offices is one for local management to take in the light of local circumstances. Some staff have been recruited but details are not held centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the arrangements being made for payments to strikers and their families during the steel strike, specifying what assumptions have been made about the amount that unions will contribute from their own resources for the benefit of their members and their families.

Claims to supplementary benefit are being dealt with under the normal rules applying to claims from people involved in a trade dispute. The amount of strike pay which a union authorises is taken into account when it is received, or earlier if there is undue delay in payment.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what legislation is proposed to refuse payments of social security benefits to persons on strike from

NURSING STAFF IN POST AT 31 DECEMBER
Year			Broadmoor	Rampton	Moss Side	Park Lane
1976	…	…	434	558	271	104
1977	…	…	464	570	261	133
1978	…	…	441	583	268	133

NURSING STAFF RESIGNATIONS DURING YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER
Year			Broadmoor	Rampton	Moss Side	Park Lane
1976	…	…	45	47	31	15
1977	…	…	40	46	45	11
1978	…	…	50	46	31	34

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many times the research liaison group for the physically handicapped has met in the last two years; and when it is next expected to meet.

In 1978 and 1979 there were three meetings of the physical disablement research liaison group. Its subgroups on, respectively, aids and mobility, the general classes, hearing impairment, rehabilitation, and visual impairment, which were attended by external scientific advisers, also met on a number of occasions. The next meeting of the full group will be on 13 February.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what discussions he has had with voluntary organisations of handicapped people on future technical developments of electronic aids and arrangements for supply.

The Department has frequent discussions with a wide range of voluntary organisations concerned with handicapped people at which questions on their place of employment after receiving instructions from the appropriate union to resume normal working.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the nursing staff complement of each of the special hospitals on 31 December 1976, 1977 and 1978; and how many of the nursing staff resigned from each hospital in each year.

Following is the information:technical aids are sometimes raised. Should any new aids become available the normal supply arrangements, with which voluntary bodies are already familiar, would apply.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice, instructions or warnings are given by his Department regarding the prescribing of steroids before, during or after immunisation treatment; and if he will make a statement.

The Department's advice on immunisation against infectious disease includes the warning that live vaccines should not be administered to patients receiving cortico-steroids or other immunosuppressive treatment.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the area health authorities where the populations are over 500,000.

On the basis of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys' statutory home population new series estimates for mid-1978, the area health authorities are as follows:ClevelandDurhamHumbersideNorth YorkshireLeedsDerbyshireLeicestershireLincolnshireNottinghamshireSheffieldCambridgeshireNorfolkSuffolkHertfordshireEaling, Hammersmith and HounslowEssexCity and East LondonKentLambeth, Southwark and LewishamEast SussexSurreyWest SussexMerton, Sutton and WandsworthDorsetHampshireWiltshireBerkshireBuckinghamshireNorthamptonshireOxfordshireAvonDevonHereford and WorcesterStaffordshireBirminghamCheshireLiverpoolLancashire

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he will remove the anomaly under which men who are left to bring up children alone, on the death or desertion of their wives, are penalised in comparison with other lone parents, by being ineligible for child benefit increases in respect of any period to the date they make the claim.

My right hon. Friend has now made the appropriate regulations—the Child Benefit (Determination of Claims and Questions) Amendment Regulations 1980, SI 1980, No. 15. They will come into operation on 1 February this year.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he intends changing the arrangements for paying social security benefits; and if so, whether he has taken account of the effect on post offices of any changes.

The Government are fully aware of the importance which local communities, particularly those in rural areas, attach to the availability of post offices and the services which they provide. At the same time, however, the Government are concerned to cut out waste and improve efficiency. As part of this campaign a small team of officials in consultation with Sir Derek Rayner has been examining arrangements for paying social security benefits. This examination has included the frequency of payments and whether the public should be able to choose payment of their benefits direct into a bank account. Changing the arrangements for paying benefits offers scope for saving taxpayers' money by reducing administrative costs, but the Government will not lose sight of the social consequences of any changes in benefit payment arrangements. I am considering the study team's report and I shall be discussing it with Sir Derek Rayner shortly. Any changes emerging from this study will be made only after the most careful consideration and proper consultation.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will give the amount of cash assistance given to industry in the Greater London Council area during each of the last three years.

The Government have made offers of assistance to industry in the Greater London Council area under section 8 of the Industry Act 1972 amounting to the following:

					£M
1977	…	…	…	…	1·8
1978	…	…	…	…	8·8
1979*	…	…	…	…	5·0
* Jan-Nov. 30 only

Assistance is also given to industry by the local authorities. Grants and loans for which urban programme support has so far been approved in the Greater London area total £1·4 million for 1979—the only year for which there are figures. Details of other support to industry given by local authorities are not available to the Department.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will publish as at 1 January a detailed balance sheet showing the costs of Concorde, the income derived from same and to what

		Total costs and receipts to 31 December 1979 £ million	Costs and receipts for year ended 31 December 1979 £ million
Development expenditure	…	583	22
Production expenditure	…	449	27
Total		1,032	49
Production receipts	…	211	20
Net costs		821	29

Annual net project costs are expected to reduce progressively as in-service support expenditure declines and is increasingly offset by receipts from the sale of spare parts.The financial arrangements under which British Airways operates its Concorde fleet are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether it is his policy to sell off any part of the steel industry.

This is a matter for the BSC. Under the Iron and Steel Act 1975 the Secretary of State has no power to direct the corporation to sell assets used in the production of iron and steel products.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will reduce the funds available for redundancy payments to British Steel Corporation personnel to allow for the additional costs incurred through current strike action.

The basis of our funding of BSC in 1980–81 has been set out by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry in the reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Wilkinson) on 3 July 1979. No funds are specifically allocated for redundancy payments.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what has been the take-up rate of places for engineers involved in

The following table sets out Concorde project costs and receipts from inception to 31 December 1979, and also for the last full year, 1979.microelectronics generated under the microprocessors applications project training programme.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether, with regard to the debts of BL, it is intended that the role of the National Enterprise Board will be limited to fulfilling its legal obligations under the Companies Act, or whether it will ensure that all claims by BL's creditors are met in full; and if he will make a statement.

I have nothing to add to my reply of 29 November 1979 to, my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth Sutton (Mr. Clark).

asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether Departments of State provide a mileage allowance for those who wish to cycle while on official business; and what was the aggregate amount paid out in this way for the last 10 financial years.

Civil servants who use pedal cycles for travel on official duty are reimbursed their costs on the following scale:

Less than 100 miles a month	…	2·9p a mile
100–150 miles a month	…	£3·03 a month
151–200 miles a month	…	£3·67 a month
201–250 miles a month	…	£4·06 a month
251–300 miles a month	…	£4·43 a month
Over 300 miles a month	…	£4·62 a month

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the severance pay entitlements of Members of Parliament.

Members are entitled to claim a severance payment equivalent to three months' salary if they lose their seat following a general election, or if they are displaced due to boundary changes.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, in light of increased postal charges, what provision he is prepared to make to enable hon. Members of Parliament to send less urgent constituency mail by second-class post.

There would be no saving to public funds if second-class prepaid envelopes were provided for hon. Members, because, under the Post Office system, the charge for the purchase of envelopes is based on the size of the envelope, and the charge is the same for both classes of delivery.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he expects to be able to reply to the letter of the hon. Member for Inverness of 22 November 1979 and announce his intentions regarding all-party talks on devolution.

A reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Inverness was sent on 17 January 1980. An announcement about all-party talks will be made shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will take steps to make illegal the practice whereby trade unions take industrial action against managements which use non-unionised sub-contract labour.

Clause 15 of the Employment Bill would make it unlawful for industrial action to be taken by the employees of one employer to compel those working for another employer, at another place of work, to join a trade union. We have no other plans for legislation in this area.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many of the staff of his Department of the rank of undersecretary and above have one year or more of practical experience of the use of each of the following computer languages: ALGOL, COBOL, BASIC, FORTRAN, PILOT, TUTOR, PASCAL and FORTH.

No staff of the rank of under-secretary and above of the Department of Employment have had practical experience in the use of any of the computer languages listed.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will list the present employment rehabilitation centres; and which are the subject of proposals for closure or contraction;(2) if he will list the occupancy and post-training placement rates of all skillcentres and skillcentre annexes.

I shall reply to the right hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will indicate in the form most readily available the geographic distribution of the home addresses of those people who have attended the Enfield skillcentre for training over the past five years;

(2) how many people have attended courses of training at the Enfield skillcentre for each of the years 1970 to 1979 inclusive and at what net cost to public funds in each of those years;

(3) what saving to public funds would be caused by the closing of the Enfield skillcentre;

(4) whether the Enfield skillcentre is to be closed;

(5) if the Enfield skillcentre were to be closed, how many redundancies would result amongst the skilled instructors; to what use the existing facilities would be put; and where individuals currently attending the Enfield skillcentre will be trained.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the draft report on housing in rural Scotland, dated 28 February, compiled by his Department.

The report on housing in rural Scotland is already freely available from my Department; a number of rural local authorities and interested agencies have asked for and been given copies. As publication would be expensive my right hon. Friend has no plans to publish it. I am sending a copy to the hon. Member and am placing a copy in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the availability of funds for home improvement grants in Scotland for the year 1980–81; and if he will list the local authorities which have already stopped accepting applications for these grants, and those which he expects to have sufficient funds to continue to operate the scheme throughout the year.

The resources available to local authorities for improvement grants are not separately specified, but are included in block capital allocations for assistance to the private sector. Authorities are free to determine their own spending priorities within the block allocation according to demand. Provisional allocations for 1980–81 amounting to £55·3 million were notified to authorities on 2 November.The detailed information requested is not held centrally but it is known that some authorities have imposed restrictions on applictions for improvement grants in 1979–80.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any plan to deal with the difficulties which arise from the present arrangements for taxing national insurance pensions; and if he will make a statement.

At present national insurance retirement pensions and widows' benefits, although taxable, are paid without deduction of tax. In the majority of cases, this causes no problem as the pensioner is not liable to tax. But where, on account of the addition of an earnings-related component, or the existence of another source of income such as an occupational pension, the pensioner's income is such as to bring him above the tax thresholds, arrangements have to be made to collect the tax direct from the pensioner or through relatively heavy PAYE deductions from the other source of income. These arrangements are troublesome both to pensioners and to the Inland Revenue.My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services and I have therefore decided to introduce with effect from April 1982 a system under which, in appropriate cases, tax may be deducted through PAYE from national insurance pensions. This will not, of course, affect the amount of tax for which a pensioner is liable, but should substantially reduce the difficulties to which my hon. Friend refers. The deduction will be made by the DHSS, as payer of the pensions, who will account for the tax directly to the Inland Revenue.However payment is made, the pensioner will be given details of the tax deducted; in the majority of cases this will be printed in the order book. There will be consultation with representative organisations and the necessary explanatory literature will be produced prior to implementation.Although additional staff will be required in DHSS, this will be far outweighed by the savings in staff in the Inland Revenue. The net staff saving once the scheme is established will be about 800, representing a net administrative saving of £5·2 million per annum.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give as accurate an estimate as possible of the loss of revenue when a married man with two children, earning £5,000 per annum, who has been in employment for 20 years and has a £10,000 mortgage repayable over 25 years and no other material allowances or income, is made unemployed and is therefore no longer paying tax; and if he will give as accurate an estimate as possible of the social security benefits likely to accrue to the above man during his first year of unemployment, and each subsequent year, making any reasonable assumptions necessary.

On the assumptions stated by the hon. Member, and assuming that the mortgages is a new one and that the married man in question receives no redundancy payment, the figures are as follows:At current rates while in employment the man would pay £866·32 a year in tax and national insurance contributions, and his employer £675 of employers' national insurance contributions. The total loss of revenue would, therefore, be £1,541·32.

			Money Supply*		Velocity of† Circulation		Prices‡	Output§
			£M3	M3	£M3	M3
1959 (1949x100)	…	…	NA	NA	NA	NA	141·9	126·5
1969 (1959x100)	…	…	NA	163·9	NA	118·2	140·0	135·3
1979 (1969x100)	…	…	337·3	358·2	110·0	103·6	309·8	119·1
* Amount outstanding, mid-period, not seasonally adjusted. Comprehensive money supply statistics on the current definitions are compiled only for 1963 and later but figures for M3 going back to 1959 can be estimated on the basis of data given in the Bank of England, Statistical Abstract, number1 1970. Comparable figures for £M3 cannot be estimated as there is no split available between residents' sterling and foreign currency deposits.
†GNP at current market prices during the period divided by the money supply at mid-period.
‡ Calculated using an index formed by linking the customers' expenditure deflator for years prior to 1962 with the general index of retail prices for 1962 and later tyears.
§ GDP at factor cost at 1975 prices, output based.
║ For 1979, figures for the first half of year have been converted to an annual rate.

The figures in the table show that changes in the velocity of circulation have been very small compared with changes in the money supply, nominal incomes or inflation; over the last 20 years, the velocity of M3 has increased by one quarter, whereas prices have increased nearly four and a half times. In interpreting these figures a number of points should be noted. First, broad stability of velocity in the long run does not mean that the velocity of circulation does not

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Grimsby, Official Report, 10 December 1979, column 437–8, concerning the relationship between money supply and prices, what he means by the long run; what evidence he has to substantiate his assessment that the velocity of circulation does not change very much in the long run; and if he will include in the Official Report a table showing in index form the changes in the money supply, velocity of circulation, prices and output between 1949–59, 1959–69 and 1969–79.

The table requested is as followschange but only that changes in money incomes over time are related to changes in money supply. Thus, some upward movement in velocity can be expected when the rate of inflation increases, and vice versa. Secondly, the comparison between any two years will depend on the changes in the stance of monetary policy over the period between them; a tightening of monetary policy will tend to be associated with increases in velocity. Thirdly, the comparison will also be affected by the delay between a tightening of monetary policy and its impact. For example, a relatively restrictive policy in the last part of one decade might be expected to increase velocity, and to have only a limited impact on inflation until the first part of the next decade. Fourthly, institutional changes in the financial system and changes in private sector financial behaviour with increasing income might be expected to increase velocity over time.The period over which a tight monetary policy might be expected to have its impact, and thus the period over which the velocity of circulation can be expected to be broadly stable, will depend on how quickly inflationary expectations adjust to the stance of monetary policy. Thus, the quicker it is realised that the Government's policies will bring down the rate of inflation, and the more moderate are the pay settlements concluded, the quicker will be the reduction in inflation.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the estimated amount of money remitted for each of the last four year by United Kingdom residents to relatives overseas.

Remittances to relatives overseas are not separately identified in the balance of payments statistics and I regret that the information on which the estimate requested could be based is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he proposes to implement the intention announced in 1973, Official Report, 30 March 1973, Volume 853, column 425, to introduce legislation to ensure that, when in that or any future Session of Parliament a nationalised industry has its loans from the Government or its public dividend capital written down, its accumulated tax losses should be reduced to the extent that deficits or assets have been written off.

After such a lapse of time, I do not think that it would be right now to legislate retrospectively in respect of any writing down which has already taken place.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the tax implications of the proposed reconstructions of British Aerospace, British Airways and the National Freight Corporation.

I think it right that the tax arrangements should be such as to leave the successor companies in effectively the same position as if they had in the first instance been normal companies rather than statutory corporations. I therefore propose to introduce legislation to correct certain disadvantages which would otherwise arise merely because the nationalised industries do not already have the legal form of Companies Act companies.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what extent the grants made by public companies to charities, political parties, the arts and other such organisations are allowable to be set against earnings for tax purposes; and whether he will give for the longest and most convenient period of time the total amounts of such moneys claimed and allowed for against tax.

[pursuant to his reply, 15 January 1980, c. 722]: The general rule is that expenditure is allowed as a deduction in computing profits for tax purposes if it is incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the company's trade. It is not possible to say whether grants to organisations of this kind would qualify for relief, but if a taxpayer disputes the Inland Revenue's view in a particular case the matter can be taken to the appropriate body of appeal Commissioners. No central record is kept of such payments allowed for tax purposes.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the latest estimate of the United Kingdom contribution to the European Economic Community fund was; and what action he proposes to reduce this amount.

[pursuant to his reply, 17th January 1980]: A forecast of our net contributions to the European Communities and to the European Investment Bank of about £1 billion in 1980–81 was published in "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1980–81"—Cmnd. 7746. We have made it clear to our Community partners that this figure is unacceptably high and that we are looking for agreement on measures that would reduce it very substantially when the European Council next meets.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will now set a date for a declaration of Government policy in respect of marginal land.

It would be premature to set a date for a declaration of policy on marginal land while our studies are continuing into the feasibility and cost of providing additional assistance.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what representations he has received from the Association of European Airlines regarding the increase in United Kingdom airport charges; if he will publish his reply; if he will indicate the effect of these charges on airlines, the travelling public and the balance of payments; and if he will make a statement.

The association expressed its concern that proposals for increasing airport charges, particularly at Heathrow, exceeded inflation rates throughout Europe. I replied that the increase in the aviation security levy was needed to recover a deficit in the aviation security fund. So far as the charges made by the BAA were concerned I said that I was awaiting the final proposals but in considering them I would have regard to the need for the authority to operate so as to recover its costs and to achieve an adequate return on the capital investment required to handle the expected level of air traffic. The final proposals were received by my Department two days ago. Until we have had time to study them I cannot comment on their effect.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what has been the level of intra-firm exports for each year since 1960; what percentage this represents of total manufactured exports for each year; and what are the comparable figures for the United States of America, France, Germany and Japan.

Information is available on total United Kingdom exports to related concerns overseas only for selected years and is given below. The related concerns comprise the overseas subsidiaries, branches and associates of United Kingdom enterprises and the overseas parent, associate and fellow subsidiary companies of United Kingdom affiliates of overseas companies. Corresponding information is not available for manufacturing exports. Comparable data for other countries is not available.

ESTIMATED EXPORTS TO RELATED CONCERNS OVERSEAS
		Value £ million	Value as a percentage Value of total exports per cent.
1966	…	1,150	22
1970	…	2,100	26
1973	…	3,500	29
1976	…	7,400	29

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what have been the levels of direct and overseas investments, respectively, for each year since 1945; what percentage these represent, respectively, of domestic manufacturing investment and of gross national product for each of these years; and if he will publish comparable figures for the United States of America, France, Germany, Italy, Benelux, Japan and Sweden.

I shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.