asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take the necessary steps to prohibit the showing on television of cinematograph films having an X certificate for exhibition in a cinema.

We are satisfied that the broadcasting authorities should continue to determine the suitability of including particular categories of cinema films in their broadcast services in the light of their obligations regarding programme standards, the requirement to have regard to the likely composition of the audience when scheduling such material, and their practice of publishing appropriate information in their programme journals. For these reasons, we do not think it would be appropriate to impose the restriction my hon. Friend suggests.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were killed outright or fatally injured in the course of their duty for each year since 1970 up to the latest year for which figures are available.

According to central records the figures for England and Wales are as follows:

1970	9
1971	10
1972	7
1973	12
1974	4
1975	5
1976	5
1977	13
1978	14
1979	10

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were forced to retire from the police force as a result of injuries sustained in the course of their duty for each year since 1970 up to the latest year for which figures are available; and what was the compensation paid to each police officer sustaining such injuries.

Comprehensive information is not held centrally. As I said in reply to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Paddington (Mr. Wheeler) on 12 February—[Vol. 978, c. 521.]—information on retirements in 1979 is being sought from chief constables.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act in (a) January and (b) February; and how many of this number were charged.

In January 1980, 37 persons were detained under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1976 in Great Britain; six of these were charged with offences. In February 1980, 25 persons were detained, three of whom were charged. It is planned to issue a Home Office statistical bulletin giving figures for the first quarter of 1980 in the second half of April.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of information officers, together with the number of supporting staff, in his Department in each of the last five years.

The number of information officer group staff and support staff in post in my Department at the beginning of each of the last five years were as follows:—

	Information officer group	Support staff
1975	20	10
1976	24	16
1977	27	15
1978	25	12
1979	26	12

The figures for 1 January 1980 were 26 and 13.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted for offences known as "mugging" in each year since 1970 up to the latest year for which figures are available; and how many fell into the following age categories; 15 to 18 years, 19 to 21 years, 22 to 25 years, 26 to 30 years, 31 to 35 years and 35 years and over.

The criminal statistics do not separately distinguish offences of "mugging", a term which has no legal definition; most offences of the type frequently referred to as "mugging" are recorded as offences of robbery. Information of persons found guilty of robbery by age groups is published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales" (pages 416–417 of table 10 (a) of the volume for 1978, Cmnd. 7670). To produce information for the age groups requested would involve disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will not submit the proposition of the States of Guernsey regarding that island's housing control laws for the approval of Her Majesty in Council until the proposition has been debated by the House.

No such proposition has yet been submitted to the Home Secretary. It is not the practice for petitions from the States of Guernsey to Her Majesty in Council praying for Royal Assent to insular legislation to be debated by this House.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he plans to introduce reciprocal legislation in the United Kingdom so that Channel Islands and Manx-born citizens of the Crown may enjoy the same sort of restrictions concerning housing and employment as United Kingdom-born British citizens enjoy in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

No. The circumstances that make such controls necessary in the Islands do not in general apply in the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions have taken place between Her Majesty's Government and the Administrations of the Islands of Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man with regard to the new immigration controls proposed by Her Majesty's Government; whether these new controls will be extended to the islands; and if so, whether any amendments due to local circumstances or representations will be made.

There have been no discussions between Her Majesty's Government and the authorities in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man about the statement of changes in Immigration Rules, which was laid before Parliament on 20 February 1980. Under the Immigration Act 1971, as extended to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man by Orders in Council, it is for the Islands authorities to consider the application to their territories of these changes in immigration rules. I do not know whether any amendments due to local circumstances or representations will be made.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied that the housing laws and immigration controls now operated in the bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey do not breach any international obligations or conventions.

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Oldham, West on arrests of persons in the Metropolitan district under the "sus" laws where no further action was taken, whether it would be possible to provide the answer to the question without disproportionate expense if no breakdown by ethnic classification were given.

No. I am informed by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that no information could be obtained on arrests of persons in the Metropolitan District under the "sus" laws where no further action was taken, except at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the criteria under which a prisoner can become eligible for a place in a skill-centre; and what steps he is taking to ensure that more prisoners are offered places.

A prisoner aged 18 or over can ask to be considered for a place on a training opportunities scheme course through his Governor and the local Government skillcentre during the final 12 months prior to his date of release. The normal criteria apply, including participation, as necessary, in tests and interviews, and appearance before a final selection board. The prison governor has to be satisfied that, if given temporary release for this purpose, the prisoner will not be a risk to the public. The scheme is to be experimental for the next 18 months, and during that time it has been agreed that only one prisoner at a time may be included on any individual course.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constables concerned of the cost to the latest available date of policing the picket lines in South Wales and Avon during the current steel dispute.

This information is not available and would be disproportionately expensive to calculate.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his decision to close the building course at New Hall detention centre, in the light of his assurance to the hon. Member for Ormskirk. Official Report, 15 November 1979, column 1494, that the régime will place emphasis on brisk and constructive activities; and what activities will replace this course.

I have decided that this full-time training course is not appropriate to the tougher régime, and that when the pilot project starts all inmates at New Hall should be on work parties. I will announce details of the régime, including work parties, before the pilot project commences.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, where the elderly relative of an immigrant accepted for settlement is also accepted for settlement, that relative will be entitled to bring any dependent children who, if male will later be entitled to bring in wives, who will subsequently be entitled to bring in elderly dependent relatives.

This would be theoretically possible, but the provisions relating to the admission of elderly relatives for settlement are strict and instances of this sort are likely to be rare.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now implement the recommendation of the Brodrick committee 1971 on death certification and coroners relating to the abolition of death certificate C.

No. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my right hon. Friend gave on 3 March to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Mrs. Knight).—[Vol. 980, c. 64]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what rent the Metropolitan Police Force is paying for the Drummond Gate Complex, Millbank, London, S.W.1, which has recently been leased from the Crown Commissioners.

None until the first phase of the building is completed in about two years time, when the rent will be calculated on the basis of agreed formulae, according to the stage reached and the different kinds of area and functions actually provided.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements exist for the oversight of general standards of safety at fair grounds.

The Home Office has traditionally accepted responsibility for miscellaneous safety matters in which no other Government Department has a major interest. It was on this basis, and also because of the Home Secretary's responsibility for the confirmation of pleasure fair byelaws, that this Department took the lead on fairground safety in England and Wales after the Battersea accident in 1972 in which five people were killed. Comparable steps were taken by the Scottish Home and Health Department in Scotland.But since the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive were set up in 1974 with responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work Act etc. 1974 for investigating accidents and issuing guidance in relation, inter alia, to safety at places where people work (including the safety of members of the public frequenting those places), it has investigated fairground accidents and has taken any necessary follow-up action including prosecutions in cases of negligence.For most of its activities in relation to the safety of people at work, the Health and Safety Commission is responsible to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment who will now assume ministerial responsibility for this subject, though he will continue to look to my Department and the Scottish Home and Health Department for advice on fire safety and, if necessary, on law and order matters. The responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and myself for confirming pleasure fair byelaws will remain unaffected, but the Health and Safety Executive will, of course, be prepared to give specialist advice on fairground safety matters as required.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police were on duty to police the demonstration against Government cuts on Sunday 9 March in London; what estimates were made in advance by the police of the number of demonstrators expected; what was the estimate of the actual number of demonstrators who participated; and how these estimates were arrived at.

1,814; up to 100,000; 30,000; the former estimate took account of the expectations of the organisers, the latter was based on a head count.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what is the cost of providing tuition in adult education per student in England and Wales and in Norfolk, respectively;(2) what is the average level of fees for tuition in adult education in England and Wales and in Norfolk.

Estimates at outturn prices in the financial year 1978–79, the latest for which figures are available, suggest that the average, gross recurrent institutional cost to local authorities in England and Wales per enrolment in adult education centres was £36: that the comparable net cost, taking into account income from fees and other sources, was £27; and that the average income from tuition fees per enrolment in these centres was £8, and that from sales and examination fees was £1. The comparable figures for Norfolk are £39, £21, £17 and £1 respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science on what basis he anticipates that the completion of the work by the Cockcroft committee of inquiry into the teaching of mathematics will save £20,000 per annum.

The annual saving is attributable largely to the travel and subsistence expenses of committee members which will cease to be incurred when the committee's work is completed.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has yet decided how best to integrate the computer board for the universities and research councils with the University Grants Committee; and how much he expects to save as a result.

The matter is still under consideration by my Department, the computer board and the University Grants Committee. The Pliatzky report estimated that savings could range from £10,000—£80,000 per annum.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will compare the level and system of provision of student grants with those operating in other European Economic Community countries.

I have sent my hon. Friend a copy of a memorandum which was submitted to the Select Committee on Race Relations and Immigration on 13 November 1978, concerning student support schemes operating in other European Community countries; together with information relating to student support in England and Wales.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received from the Bedfordshire education authority about the activities of the National Union of School Students in classes in schools in Luton; and what reply he has sent.

My right hon. and learned Friend has not received any representations from the Bedfordshire education authority on this subject.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what work it had been anticipated the Youth Service forum would do after July 1979.

Within its terms of reference, this would have been a matter for the forum itself. No firm programme of future work had been drawn up at the time when the forum was disbanded.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Macclesfield, (Mr. Winterton) Official Report 14 January, c. 572, when he expects his consideration of the question of students loans to be completed.

My right hon. and learned Friend's consideration of the complex questions involved is at an early stage and it is too soon to say when it is likely to be completed.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to take his decision on the future of the Sir Philip Magnus school, Islington.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply my right hon. and learned Friend gave to the hon. Member for Islington Central (Mr. Grant) on 18 February 1980 [Vol. 979, c. 3.]

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will take action to ensure the freedom of choice of Bexley residents to pursue adult education courses, regardless of their financial circumstances, following withdrawal by Bexley council from the existing arrangements for such courses.

This is not a matter in which my right hon. and learned Friend is able to intervene.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science at what level the assisted places scheme would allow for a reduction in local authority provision to the extent of a no-cost balance.

Whether and at what point the cost of operating the assisted places scheme might be totally offset by savings in the maintained sector depends upon a number of variables which cannot be estimated.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to ask for firm proposals from private schools for participation in the assisted places scheme; and what will be the closing date for applications.

My right hon. and learned Friend is not yet able to say, but there will be no avoidable delay.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if and when he proposes to publish his draft Orders in Council for regulations concerning the proposed assisted places scheme.

My right hon. and learned Friend hopes that draft regulations relating to the assisted places scheme will be published before the House rises for the summer recess.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will give, for each industrial sector working party since it was set up, the changes in the index of output, and the penetration of home and overseas markets and employment, giving the standard industrial classification minimum list headings covered by each working party.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will make available the balance of the sum of money recommended for investment by the footwear industry study steering group.

There has never been any Government agreement to financial assistance in excess of that already provided for under the footwear industry scheme and other existing arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how many of the recommendations made by the footwear industry study report have been implemented; and if he will list in the Official Report all the major recommendations, and give reasons for acceptance or rejection.

The report of the footwear industry study steering group, published in June 1977, contained 55 recommendations. These fall into three broad categories: finance, international trade matters and company performance.In response to the financial recommendations, the footwear scheme of assistance under section 8 of the Industry Act 1972 was established in April 1978. £4·5 million was made available and it is expected that this allocation will be fully taken up.The recommendations on international trade policy matters are subject to continuing Government review, and action when appropriate.In January 1978 the footwear economic development committee was established and was charged with assisting the footwear manufacturing industry to im- prove its profitability and its international competitiveness.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will publish details of the take-up of the £4·5 million allocated under the footwear industry aid scheme, together with details of the estimated total investment resulting.

Assistance of £3·32 million has been approved to date. It is estimated that the allocation under the scheme of £4·5 million will be fully taken up. The resulting investment by industry is expected to amount to some £28 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will undertake a review of the working of the footwear industry scheme, and publish the findings as soon as possible.

Projects supported under the footwear scheme do not have to be completed until 31 March 1981. It would be premature, therefore, to consider any assessment of the scheme at present.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what effect the special social security payment remissions made available by the Italian Government for the employment of women workers has on the support for Italian footwear products imported into the United Kingdom.

It is not possible to estimate with any precision the effect of the special social security payment remissions made available by the Italian Government on footwear exports to the United Kingdom, but it must reduce manufacturers' costs to some extent. The European Commission is aware of the matter and is pursuing the Italian Government under article 93(ii) of the Treaty of Rome.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what has been the total value of European Coal and Steel Community loans within the Community for each of the years 1977 to 1979; and what has been the United Kingdom percentage of these loans.

The figures for 1977 and 1978—the most recent years published—are as follows:

VALUE OF ECSC LOANS DISBURSED
	Million
1977	EUA
United Kingdom	260·32
Community Total	741·52
United Kingdom as percentage of Community Total	35·1
1978
United Kingdom	273·31
Community Total	797·68
United Kingdom as percentage of Community Total	34·3
Source: ECSC Annual Financial Reports.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether the Government have made any decisions about the future of the Post Office Act 1977 which enlarged the Post Office Board.

Since my right hon. Friend's statement to Parliament on 12 December 1979, the chairman of the Post Office has reported on the discussions which have taken place between the Post Office and the Council of Post Office Unions. These included the Post Office's new proposals for employee involvement in top level decision making. I have also met the Council of Post Office Unions and senior union officials, and have heard their views.

Consigned from	Value £million cif	Percentage of total imports by value
(a) Comecon countries (including USSR)	165·4	14·8
(b) Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland	354·6	31·7
(c) Canada	148·6	13·3
(d) Other countries	450·9	40·3
Note:
Timber as defined by SITC(R2) Groups 245–248 inclusive and 634 in the Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many women are employed in enterprises employing fewer than six people.

The information requested is not available.The census of employment is conducted by means of a postal inquiry of employers. The register it uses is of paypoints from which employers send their PAYE returns to the Inland Revenue.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the value and percentage of timber imports to the United Kingdom from (a) the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Comecon countries, (b) Scandinavia, (c) Canada and (d) other sources; and what proportion and what value of the United Kingdom's consumption of timber is produced in the United Kingdom.

[pursuant to his reply, 14 March 1980, c. 736]: The value of timber production in the United Kingdom in 1978 was approximately £230 million and represented about 9 per cent. of domestic consumption. Details of imports in 1979 were as follows:Each paypoint is asked to list the addresses where its employees work and show against each address the number of employees for which it holds pay records. These addresses are known as census units.The effect of collecting information in this way is to produce census units of varied character. Where an enterprise is a single firm with one address the census unit will correspond to the enterprise. Where, however, the enterprise consists of a parent company with one or more subsidiary companies, the enterprise will be covered by more than one census unit.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what progress is being made on the proposed new funding arrangements for the training of careers officers; and whether he will make a statement.

My noble Friend the Minister of State discussed the financing of careers officer training with representatives of the local authority associations on Monday 17 March and they have undertaken to consider the matter further.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to maintain and improve the status and morale of the careers service.

Within the next few weeks the Secretary of State will be consulting all interested parties on a revised version of his memorandum of general guidance covering the performance of careers service functions, issued to local education authorities under section 10(1) (a) of the Employment and Training Act 1973.At his meeting on 17 March 1980 with representatives of the Association of County Councils and the Association of Metropolitan Authorities, the Minister of State confirmed the Government's intention to provide for a fully trained and qualified careers service, through the issue of appropriate statutory guidance to be included in the revised Memorandum. The effect will be that, from a specified future date, careers officers recruited to the service who are otherwise unqualified and have no previous experience will be required to obtain the diploma in careers guidance within a reasonable period of time following their appointment.The Secretary of State and the Minister of State have frequent meetings with representatives of the Institute of Careers Officers and take every opportunity that presents itself to meet careers service staff in the field.On 1 February the Minister of State held a press conference to publicise the report on the careers service 1974–79 which referred to

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether regulations for the use of 2,4,5-T in the United Kingdom have been modified during the last 10 years; if so, when; and in what respect the regulations were modified.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if the Forestry Commission has a maximum permissible concentration for the dioxin content of 2,4,5-T used in the United Kingdom; if so, what is this concentration; and since when this concentration has been enforced.

I have been asked to reply.Yes. The WHO/FAO standard of 0·1 mg/kg has applied in the United Kingdom since 1970. This standard applies to any 2,4,5-T formulated in products used by the Forestry Commission.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report the number of persons employed in the footwear industry, by area, who are kept in their employment by short-time working compensation arrangements.

Standard industrial classification XV covers the clothing and footwear industries, and information is not available separately. As at 31 January, in the two industries, for Great Britain as a whole 6,159 jobs were receiving support under the temporary short time working compensation scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish estimates of costs required for British footwear manufacturers to comply with new health and safety regulations.

Although it is possible to estimate the cost of a specific new health and safety regulation it is not generally feasible to assess the global cost of all requirements to a particular industry. If the hon. Member has a particular regulation in mind I shall be pleased to look into the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he has now completed the process of consultations on the final report of the Advisory Committee on Asbestos; and when he expects to make regulations to implement the recommendations of the report.

Although many submissions have already been received by the Health and Safety Commission, which invited comments on the final report of the advisory committee on asbestos, several important organisations have yet to complete their study of the report. I understand that outstanding comments are expected in the near future and that meanwhile those already received are being collated so that the Government will be able to decide as soon as possible on the most appropriate response to the report's recommendations.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many of those who left school as (a) 18 years plus, (b) 17 years plus and (c) 16 years plus in 1979 are still registered as unemployed; and what percentage this is of the totals in each age group.

[pursuant to his reply, 14 March 1980, c. 756]: I am informed by my right hon. and learned Friends the Secretary of State for Education and Science and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland that in the academic year 1978–79 the number of school leavers who were not entering full-time further education and were therefore likely to be available for employment is estimated as follows:

	Great Britain Thousand
Age 16 and over	700
17 and over	150
18 and over	60–70

It is not known how many of these young people are still registered as unemployed. In July last year, at the summer peak, there were 201,000 unemployed people under the age of 18 who had not entered employment since terminating full-time education. In February 1980 there were 35,000 such people. However, this figure may include some who have left educational institutions other than schools, and some who may have left earlier than 1979 or—in the case of the February figure—as late as Christmas, 1979.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report the numbers of factories in Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Kirkby and Ormskirk which have notified redundancies in the past 12 months of over 50 people, together with the numbers involved in respect of each factory.

[pursuant to his reply, 18 March 1980, c. 23]: The information requested is not readily available and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.However, I can give the figures for the North-West region as a whole. I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the number of workers involved in redundancies affecting 10 or more employees and notified as due to occur in the North-West region over the past 12 months was 43,887.The number of proposed redundancies notified to the Department over the past 12 months under the redundancy handling provisions of the Employment Protection Act 1975 for the North-West region was 96,189 involving 1,625 firms. During the same period 27,105 redundancies at 400 firms were formally withdrawn.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will update

£million
	Passenger motor cars (1)		Motor vehicles for the transport of goods and materials (including dumpers) (2)
	Imports (cif)	Exports (fob)	Imports (cif)	Exports (fob)
Japan	357·5	11·9	29·9	*
European Community	1,910·4	266·7	150·3	152·9
Comecon countries	47·9	0·6	3·0	0·3
Norway	*	2·5	2·1	3·4
Sweden	164·7	2·3	25·3	6·4
* Indicates trade less than £50 thousand.
Source: United Kingdom Overseas Trade Statistics (SITC(R2) (1) Group 781.0 and part 784.1 and (2) Sub-group 782.1).

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will publish a table showing the number of washing machines imported into the United Kingdom in 1979, or that part of 1979 for which figures are available, from the following countries;

WASHING MACHINES IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM
Source	1979	First three quarters of 1979
	number imported	number imported	imports as a percentage of total sales in United Kingdom
West Germany	17,832	12,238	1·0
Italy	473,935	330,161	26·8
France	17,935	12,126	1·0
Yugoslavia	Nil	Nil	Nil
Japan	Nil	Nil	Nil
All other countries	18,065	13,590	1·1
Total	527,767	368,115	29·8

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will publish a table showing the number of refrigerators imported into the United Kingdom from each of the six countries who exported most re-

*REFRIGERATORS IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM
Source	1979	First three quarters of 1979
	number imported	number imported	imports as a percentage of total sales in United Kingdom
Italy	518,965	398,173	31·5
Sweden	49,328	40,511	3·2
Yugoslavia	20,225	17,475	1·4
West Germany	25,455	16,224	1·3
Hungary	19,591	14,209	1·1
Denmark	17,708	12,321	1·0
*=includes combined refrigerator/freezers.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will revise the table attached to the monthly

The information for the 12 months of 1979 is as follows:and what proportion of United Kingdom washing machine sales these represent: West Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia, Japan France and the total for all other countries.

The information requested is as follows:frigerators to the United Kingdom in 1979, or that part of 1979 for which figures are available; and what proportion of United Kingdom refrigerator sales each of these represent.

The information requested is as follows:press notice on the trade figures to include oil among the erratic items.

No. The items classified as "more erratic" are principally those in which trade is extremely irregular and which tend to obscure the interpretation of the data. Trade in oil does not have these characteristics to the same degree; additionally, it is of greater significance in the economy. A specific analysis of trade in oil is given in Table 6 of the Press Notice. Further, in order to separate out the direct impact of oil in the monthly trade figures, table 7 gives some information on trade in goods other than oil and the more erratic items.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing imports and exports of gelatin and related products in each year since 1967 together with the terms of trade for manufacturers and the relative export price index for manufacturers.

The information on relative export prices is published in table F3 of the February issue of the "Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics". The remaining information is as follows:

	Trade in gelatin and related products*		OTS basis Terms of trade index† for manufactures‡ 1975=100
	Imports £	Exports £
1967	1,195	3,213	103
1968	1,044	3.798	98
1969	1,184	4,060	97
1970	1,169	4,093	99
1971	1,514	3,901	103
1972	1,613	3,515	104
1973	2,773	4,810	96
1974	5,754	11,368	93
1975	4,658	7,489	100
1976	7,162	9,718	98
1977	8,455	13,959	100
1978	10,180	13,658	103
1979	10,875	14,975	105
* SITC(R) item 599.55; SITC(R2) item 592.23—from 1978.
† Export unit value index as a percentage of the import unit value index.
‡ Sections 5–8.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether agreements relating to textiles and clothing have been concluded between the United Kingdom Government and the European Commission under article 115 of the Treaty of Rome to deny the import of goods which are otherwise in free circulation; and if he will give details of any such agreements.

My hon. Friend may have in mind a new regulation adopted by the Commission on 20 December regarding the operation of article 115. The regulation was the subject of advance consultation with ourselves and other member States, but ultimately the operation of article 115 is a matter for the Commission and there was no question of agreements.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what agreements have been reached in his discussions with the European Commission regarding outward processing, the restriction of such trade to single stage processes only, the restriction of such trade to bona fide manufactures only, the amount or proportion of outward processing allowed to any one manufacturer, definitions as to the meaning of the terms semi-finished goods, the rules of origin on such goods, the provision of safeguard arrangements against market disruption, and on member State control of the outward processing licences; and if he will make a statement on how he sees the present discussions securing the future of the British clothing industry.

No agreements have yet been reached on these matters, which form part of the proposed Commission regulation on outward processed trade. This regulation will lay down procedures for administering special quotas for outward processed goods, and since no such quotas have been opened by the United Kingdom it will have no direct effect on United Kingdom industry.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade, further to his reply concerning import regulations, Official Report, 4 February, c. 2–4, whether he will circulate in the Official Report a table setting out the principal figures to which he referred in his supplementary reply to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Mr. Clark).

The import penetration figures to which my right hon. Friend referred are published in Business Monitor MQ12 "Import penetration and export sales ratios for manufacturing industry". The latest information available relates to the 12 months ended September 1979. A selection of the figures from the Monitor was published in the 14 March edition of "British Business". Both publications are available in the House of Commons library.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will publish figures in the Official Report for textured yarns of continuous polyester fibre on the same basis as given in his reply dated 25 February for non-

IMPORTS(1979)
	Tonnes	Average value per tonne (£'s cif)
Federal Republic of Germany	2,786	1,939
EXPORTS (1979)
	Tonnes	Average value per tonne (£'s fob)
France	830	1,317
Federal Republic of Germany	1,074	1,160
Irish Republic	2,241	1,016
Source:
United Kingdom Overseas Trade Statistics (SITC(R2) Item 651.44).

asked the Secretary of State for Trade, further to his reply dated 25 February on trade in manmade fibres, whether a restriction of market share would affect prices; and what evidence he has that the proposals which have been put to the Commission have not been unofficially implemented, in whole or in part.

A rise in price is the normal consequence of any restriction in trade, but I have no evidence of any unofficial restrictions.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on the latest position concerning the import of greeting cards, printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and financed by the United States of America and the effects of this trading operation on the greeting trade printing industry in this country.

The number of Christmas and other pictorial greeting cards of Russian origin imported into the United Kingdom in 1979 was 52·2 million. The industry has expressed concern at the volume and price of these imports and is in touch with officials of my Department with a view to applying

For imports from the Irish Republic and the United States of America I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 5 March—[Vol. 980, c. 211–2]. The remaining information is as follows:to the Commission of the European Community for anti-dumping action.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what is the value of United Kingdom oil exports; what proportion this represents of total United Kingdom exports; and what estimate he has made of the comparable figures for 1985.

On a balance of payments basis, the value of United Kingdom exports of crude oil and oil products was £4,153 million in 1979, representing 10 per cent. of total exports of goods. No official estimates of the comparable figures for 1985 are available.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will publish dates of application made by the British footwear manufacturing industry for antidumping duties, and the results of each application.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what assessment of the contribution the recently concluded round of MTNS made towards liberalising quotes and other physical restrictions on the import of footwear into GATT member countries.

Footwear was largely excluded from the scope of the Tokyo round of multilateral trade negotiations. This means that tariffs and quantitative restrictions were retained on items of interest to the British footwear manufacturing industry. At the same time I am of course well aware of the difficulties caused to our exporters by other countries' trade barriers, and will continue to press both bilaterally and through

	1977		1978		1979
Imports:	Weight*	Valued†	Weight*	Valued†	Weight*	Valued†
Flat glass	155·3	29·6	138·8	29·0	185·7	42·0
Glass containers	127·5	30·6	129·4	31·8	154·7	36·7
Exports:
Flat glass	108·1	26·2	134·9	31·4	106·3	27·1
Glass containers	74·4	14·9	73·2	20·2	58·2	19·4
* Thousand tonnes.
† Imports—£ million cif; Exports—£ million fob.
Source: Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom—flat glass: SITC Sub-groups 664.3–5; carboys, bottles, jars, pots, tubular containers and similar containers of glass, and stoppers and other closures of glass: SITC Item 665.11.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what restrictions are imposed on the import of British footwear into Australia; what recent changes have occurred in the Australian tariff on the import of men's leather footwear from the United Kingdom; and what effect representations by the United Kingdom Government or the European Economic Community have had.

Imports of footwear into Australia are subject to global quotas. The current levels for the period 1 January to 30 June 1980, against which import licences are quoted with regard to past patterns of trade are given below:

Footwear with leather uppers (Million pairs)	2·1
Footwear with non-leather uppers (Mililon pairs)	8·23
Thong sandals having a v.f.d. from$.35 per pair (Million pairs)	1·6
Thong sandals having a v.f.d. from $0.35 per pair to less than $2.00 per pair (Million pairs)	2·242
Parts for footwear ($ million)	1·0067

Goods valued at more than A$26 per pair are exempt from these quantitative restrictions. There is a general ad valorem

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what have been the figures for the import and export of glass containers and flat glass at the latest date for which the above information is available, respectively, for the last three years.

[pursuant to his reply, 17 March 1980, c. 84]: The information for the calendar years 1977–1979 is as follows:tariff on all these goods of 34 per cent. except for certain thong sandals where the rate is 46·5 per cent.The import into Australia of men's leather footwear from the United Kingdom has recently been affected by the removal of the residual Commonwealth preference of 15 per centage points, to which the United Kingdom ceased to be entitled as a consequence of our entry into the European Community, and the withdrawal for all footwear of the 12½ per cent. additional duty charge which was introduced in 1978.Both these changes were effective from 1 January 1980.Representations have been made to the Australian authorities from time to time both by Her Majesty's Government and by the European Community on various aspects of the import restrictions on footwear. Following representations by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade last September, a proposal to abolish the United Kingdom preferential tariff on footwear was postponed until January this year.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what restrictions are imposed on the import of British leather footwear into Japan; what recent changes there have been in these restrictions; and what effect United Kingdom Government or European Economic Community representations have had on these restrictions.

Quota restrictions imposed by Japan on imports of leather goods, including leather footwear, apply to all countries. Details of the quota system and its administration are not published. Removal or substantial easing of the restrictions has been sought without success as part of the Tokyo round of the multilateral trade negotiations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, in representations by the European Mission on behalf of member States and in bilateral representations to Japan by the United Kingdom. Representations will continue to be made.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what provision he is making to give extra finance for the purpose of the preventive and rehabilative service.

Additional resources are included in block allocations to health authorities on the basis of overall health care need. It is for health authorities to decide on the deployment of resources to particular services. The Government have under active consideration the recommendations on prevention contained in the report of the Royal Commission on the National Health Service.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he is taking to recover the £15,000 of social security benefits fraudently obtained by Manuel Kuforija Ijoma for which he has been sentenced to three years jail and the further £9,000 fraudently obtained by the woman with whom Ijoma was cohabiting.

It is the Department's policy to take all practicable steps to recover overpayments of benefit, and those resulting from fraud are regarded in a particularly serious light. In the case cited, our inquiries have shown that at present neither party has resources from which recovery could be made: but the case will be kept under review, and any appropriate measures that may be taken in an attempt to recover the overpayments will be considered.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, pursuant to the "Report on Non-Departmental Public Bodies", Cmnd. 7797, he will list the 20 advisory bodies he proposes to wind up.

The 20 DHSS advisory bodies which were to be abolished, merged with other bodies or made independent of Government are those marked with an asterisk in the list on pages 155 and 156 of the "Report on Non-Departmental Public Bodies", (Cmnd. 7797).

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he expects to announce his decision on the Marenco case in respect of national insurance contributions; and if he will make a statement outlining the reasons for the delay since his answer of 24 July, Official Report, column 330.

It is expected that the decision will be announced when the report is received from the barrister appointed to conduct the inquiry.On 27 September 1979 the applicant's solicitor applied for an order for discovery and inspection of relevant documents and records of the employer and the Department. This order was complied with by the solicitor representing the employer on 27 February 1980. The inquiry will be held on 23 April 1980.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he anticipates the National Development Group for the Mentally Handicapped will be abolished.

When it has completed its current task of preparing a checklist of components for a good mental handicap service—which I hope will be by the end of April. The group's publications will continue to be available free of charge from the Department.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing in terms of 1980 money values the sum payable by way of death grant for each year since 1949.

The information is as follows:

	Rate of death grant	Expressed at February 1980 prices*
July 1949	20·00	153·34
February 1950	20·00	151·99
February 1951	20·00	145·28
February 1952	20·00	129·72
February 1953	20·00	124·03
February 1954	20·00	122·96
February 1955	20·00	117·83
February 1956	20·00	112·15
February 1957	20·00	107·52
January 1958	25·00	129·66
February 1958	25·00	130·29
February 1959	25·00	127·09
February 1960	25·00	127·54
February 1961	25·00	124·82
February 1962	25·00	11918
February 1963	25·00	115·16
February 1964	25·00	113·84
February 1965	25·00	108·95
February 1966	25·00	104·27
February 1967	25·00	100·58
October 1967	30·00	119·60
February 1968	30·00	117·16
February 1969	30·00	110·30
February 1970	30·00	105·11
February 1971	30·00	98·86
February 1972	30·00	89·58
February 1973	30·00	83·03
February 1974	30·00	73·39
February 1975	30·00	61·23
February 1976	30·00	49·83
February 1977	30·00	42·87
February 1978	30·00	39·16
February 1979	30·00	35·73
February 1980	30·00	30·00
* Based on the movement of the General Index of Retail Prices for February 1980, the latest available figure.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) whether Booth House detoxification centre in Tower Hamlets accepts referrals from the police as an alternative to prosecution;(2) whether a commencement order has been made under section 34 of the Criminal Justice Act 1972 approving Booth House detoxification centre, Tower Hamlets, as a treatment centre for alco- holics to which a police constable may take a drunken offender.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many social workers have been dismissed as part of the cuts in public expenditure in each county of England for each month since May 1979 up to the most recent month for which figures are available.

It is for each local authority to determine its own staffing requirements and the information requested is not held centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the closure of Putney hospital is temporary.

The Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth area health authority (teaching) has denied a report that Putney hospital is to be permanently closed. The authority has decided that a consultative document inviting views on the future use of the hospital will be issued as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, in the light of the recent increase in the incidence of tuberculosis, if he will issue a circular recommending a uniform procedure, such as chemoprophylaxis, in those with unequivocal tuberculin reactions and BCG to the negative reactors, because of the lack of a set practical procedure in dealing with the problem at present.

The Department drew attention to standard procedure in regard to chemoprophylaxis and BCG vaccination of tuberculin negative children in the booklet on the epidemiology and control of tuberculosis, issued to all medical practitioners in 1973.The Department's medical memorandum on BCG vaccination was last revised in 1972 and is being further revised at present.Treatment of individual patients is, however a matter for medical judgment in the light of the particular circumstances.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, pursuant to his reply, Official Report, 7 March, columns 356–57, he will follow up his support for the mobile artery and vein imaging system as a lifesaving facility to detect arterial disease by visiting Guy's hospital to look at the work being carried out on "MAVIS".

Enquiries made by the Department have failed to establish the use of a MAVIS at Guy's hospital. Officials in the Department of Health and Social Security are in close contact with other hospitals where MAVIS is being evaluated.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek to reduce the number of forms which general practitioners are required to complete.

General medical practitioners are independent contractors and can only be required to complete forms if this is provided for in their statutory terms of service. These terms of service are the subject of negotiations with general practitioners' representatives from time to time, and I will carefully consider any proposals they may put forward on the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will withdraw form RM2 in order to lighten the work load of general practitioners.

No. General practitioners are required by their terms of service to provide clinical information about their patients when requested by a medical officer of the Department in connection with the payment of social security benefits. Form RM2 assists doctors in supplying this information and its use may avoid unnecessary summoning of the patient for examination at one of the Department's medical examination centres.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what study he has made of the findings of the health education studies unit at Cambridge that patients do not abuse general practitioner facilities; and if he will make a statement.

I understand from the Health Education Council that the health education studies unit has not yet published any findings of its study of the relationship between general practitioners and their patients

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will undertake not to relax present legislation which restricts the availability of drugs, in the interests of patient safety.

I do not intend to relax existing legislation in any way which endangers patient safety. It is, however, important to keep the legislation, and the procedures deriving from it, under review to ensure inter alia that development of beneficial new drugs is not unnecessarily impeded. To that end, I have been reviewing the arrangements for controlling clinical trials and expect shortly to consult interested organisations about possible changes.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what policy he is adopting towards locally registered settlements between area health authorities and senior hospital laboratory technicians.

The remuneration and other conditions of service of medical laboratory scientific officers should be negotiated nationally by the Professional and Technical Staffs "B" Whitley Council.Health authorities are required under regulations to observe the terms approved by health Ministers following such negotiations and should not enter into local agreements which conflict with the approved terms.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what centres, providing perinatal and neonatal care, do not provide adequate intensive care facilities.

Perinatal and neonatal care is provided in each of the 243 special care baby units which are associated with hospital maternity departments in England. In accordance with the recommendations of the expert group on special care for babies (1971) and the working party on the prevention of early neonatal mortality and morbidity (1974), facilities for long-term intensive care are concentrated in 42 combined special and intensive care units which are equipped and staffed to provide the highly specialised techniques of care required: these were listed in my reply to the hon. Member for Ormskirk (Mr. Kilroy-Silk) on 22 October 1979.—[Vol. 972. c. 92–4.] A number of these (usually one or two per region) have a recognised commitment to admit babies on referral from other units.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the number of information officers, together with the number of supporting staff, in his Department in each of the last five years.

The information is as follows:

Number of information officers
1 Jan 1975	21
1 Jan 1976	20
1 Jan 1977	19
1 Jan 1978	20
1 Jan 1979	21
1 Jan 1980	20
Number of Suporting Staff
1 Jan 1975	48
1 Jan 1976	51
1 Jan 1977	55
1 Jan 1978	54
1 Jan 1979	51
1 Jan 1980	49

The support staff include the public inquiry office and the leaflet distribution unit at Canons Park.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether general practitioners are permitted to make charges for sending a patient registered with them whom they see in a National Health Service consultation to a private consultant; or whether this is covered by the remuneration received in the capitation fee.

A general practitioner is obliged, under his NHS terms of service, to refer a patient, when necessary, for a National Health Service specialist consultation, and his remuneration covers that; but he is not obliged to refer a patient to a private consultant. He is free to do so, if the patient wishes, but is not permitted to demand or accept a fee.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what study he has made of the view of the British Medical Association that reduced services in community health provision, as has been imposed upon local authorities, adversely affects the load upon general practitioners; and if he will make a statement.

I do not accept that there has been a centrally imposed reduction in the community health services, which are provided by health authorities not by local authorities. The numbers of general practitioners available to meet their work-load are steadily increasing.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will bring forward proposals for a scheme of medical identity cards for special groups of people afflicted with conditions for the treatment of which the availability of essential medical information would at times of emergency be advantageous.

Certain groups of people particularly at risk in emergencies, such as diabetics, epileptics, haemophiliacs and those on steroids or anti-coagulant drugs, are already provided with medical identity documents under the NHS or by voluntary associations. I am not aware of any shortcomings in these arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations he has had from local authorities against any possible reduction in local authority representation on future district health authorities; and if he will confirm that there is no upper age limit to those who are to serve on such bodies.

By 14 March 1980 14 local authorities and the Association of District Councils had submitted their views on the Government's consultative paper "Patients First". Their comments on the proportion of local government membership of district health authorities varied. The association and six authorities recommended retention, as a minimum, of the one-third proportion of local authority membership now applying to area health authorities; another authority accepted the reduction proposed in "Patients First" to four places per district health authority. Two authorities suggested 50 per cent, local authority representation, another supported a 25 per cent proportion, and another authority proposed a bare majority of local government members. Of the remained, two local authorities recommended an unspecified increase in numbers and the third made no reference to local government membership on the new Health Authorities. The Government will not take a final decision on this question until the end of the consultation period on the "Patients First" proposals.The previous Administration introduced an upper age limit of 65 years for appointment or reappointment to area health authorities with exceptions in individual cases. In principle, I believe that this is a realistic approach which should be considered for the membership of the future district health authorities. But this Administration will be seeking to appoint more younger members to these authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the discussions between his Department and regional health authority treasurers to provide a contingency fund to help area health authorities against which high awards for damages are being successfully claimed and whose general services might suffer as a consequence of such repeated liabilities.

The committee of regional treasurers has not asked to discuss this subject with the Department. It was, however, raised at one of the regular meetings between the Department's officers and the association of health service treasurers. The conclusion reached was that regional health authority cash limits are adequate to meet contingencies of this nature, and that a national contingency fund for this or other purposes was not required. It is for individual regions to decide whether or not they will maintain a reserve themselves from within their revenue cash limits.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the cost of extending throughout England the Welsh Office scheme for computerising the analysis of general practitioner prescribing, taking into account the effects such a scheme could have on redundancies among prescription pricing authority staff.

I presume the hon. Member is referring to the experimental computer project being undertaken jointly by the Department and the prescription pricing authority for England. The work of the project is confined to determining the feasibility and cost of capturing data from prescription forms and producing an outline systems study for pricing prescriptions and providing prescribing information. No estimate of the cost involved in prescription analysis can be made at this stage and it is too soon to say whether there will be any effect on the staffing requirements of the prescription pricing authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what information his Department requires doctors to provide in connection with adverse reactions to drugs either to his Department or to the monitoring bodies;(2) how many times in each year doctors have been reminded of the importance of reporting adverse reactions since the yellow card system was established; what form the reminder takes; and if there is any evidence as to its effectiveness;(3) what proportion of the information on adverse reactions to drugs received by the Committee on Safety of Medicines is derived from the yellow card system of reporting;(4) what is his estimate of the percentage of the reported incidence of adverse reactions to drugs provided by pharmaceutical companies compared with the true incidence.

Doctors are not "required" to provide information on adverse reactions to drugs, They are, however, encouraged to report suspected adverse reactions voluntarily through the "yellow card" system to the Committee on Safety of Medicines. Yellow card reports include the following information about each case:

Patient's name, sex, age and weight;

Drugs used and the indications for which they were prescribed, routes of administration, dose, dates of commencement and termination of treatment with each;

Suspeted reactions noted, the dates they began and ended, and the outcome;

Any additional notes;

Particulars of the reporting doctor.

It is estimated that about 10 per cent. of total adverse reactions to drugs are reported to the Committee on Safety of Medicines. About 70 per cent. are received through the yellow card system and about 20 per cent. from pharmaceutical companies, the remainder from publications in the literature and other sources. It is not possible to produce any very reliable estimates of reports from the industry as a percentage of total actual reactions from these figures.Since 1963, when the yellow card system was established, doctors have been reminded by letters issued in 1964, 1965, 1972 and 1973 of the importance of reporting suspected adverse reactions. Additionally, reminders were included in yellow warning leaflets sent to all doctors in 1965 and 1968. A reminder has also been printed at the back of every prescription pad since July 1976 and in the "Blue Book" of forms used by general practitioners published by "Pulse" Magazine in October 1979. Reminders issued in these ways appear to result in an increase in the reports received from doctors and the number of reports received has increased significantly since 1963.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the schemes that have been proposed by the Committee on Safety of Medicines to detect adverse reaction to drugs by post marketing surveillance, giving the dates at which they were proposed; if he will list the official bodies with whom the schemes have been discussed; and if he will make a statement on the progress of each scheme and on the present position.

[pursuant to his reply, 19 March 1980]; The schemes which the Committee on Safety of Medicines, at its meeting in December 1979, advised the licensing authority to consider, are known as "Record Linkage" and "Retrospective Assessment of Drug Safety" (RADS). RADS and an earlier, similar scheme have been the subject to wide-ranging consultation during the last two years. The bodies consulted on the current proposals, in June 1979, included the Royal Colleges, the British Medical Association, the British Dental Association, the Pharmaceutical Society and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. No consultations have yet been held on "record linkage". Consideration is at present being given to the whole issue of post marketing surveillance including the schemes mentioned and I expect to be able to make an announcement in the near future.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what consideration he has given to the Personal Social Services Council's latest report on cuts in local social services for chronically sick and disabled people; if, in particular, he has studied the report's finding with regard to the reduced provision of aids and telephones, home helps and meals-on-wheels, in many localities; what action he is taking; and if he will make a statement.

I have carefully considered this and similar reports. The need for restraint in public expenditure has meant that local authorities are faced with difficult decisions which have compelled them in some cases to effect a reduction in particular services. I firmly believe that local authorities are best placed to judge their own needs and priorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if his Department has collected any material on the implementation by local authorities of section 15 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act; and if he will publish it.

Officials of the Department have made informal inquiries from time to time about the implementation of this section, but the results are not in a form that would be meaningful if published.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if there has been any change in the policy of Her Majesty's Government for 1979–80 to maintain the real level of health service expenditure gross or net of value added tax repayments.

When value added tax was introduced, the Government of the day decided that health authorities, like other exchequer funded bodies, would pay VAT on the goods and services they purchased. Health authorities were given extra resources to match the higher costs they had to meet. When the rate of VAT was raised in the June 1979 budget, health authority cash limits were not increased. Health authority cash limits for 1980–81 will, however, fully reflect this increase.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied that the procedure for temporary closure of hospital wards is working well; whether he will consider the requirement to give three months' notice of such intention; and if he will make a statement.

I am satisfied that, following the issue of further guidance by the Department last December, the procedures for temporary closure are now working well. These procedures already include a requirement that three months be allowed for consultation on all substantial closures save in genuine cases of urgency when, subject to adequate safeguards, the period may be shortened or dispensed with altogether. This flexibility is necessary in order to deal with the varying circumstances in which the need for temporary closures can arise.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his policy with regard to the treatment of epilepsy; whether this involves separate facilities or separate hospitals; and if he will make a statement.

With appropriate assessment and treatment, the majority of people with epilepsy are able to live independent lives in the community. For those whose epilepsy poses greater problems, there are three special centres, where short-term residential care is provided while the patients are assessed, and appropriate courses of treatment and rehabilitation are devised. For the small number who require it, longer-term residential care is available in local authority residential homes or in younger disabled units, depending on the needs of the individual patient. In addition, a number of people with epilepsy are accommodated in centres for epilepsy or "colonies", although in line with one of the recommendations of the Reid Report "People with Epilepsy", numbers of patients in colonies have steadily declined in recent years. The Department is currently funding a major research project which is evaluating services for epilepsy and its final report is expected later this year. It is hoped that this report will help to illuminate the Department's policy on the future development of services for people with epilepsy.