asked the Minister for the Civil Service how many civil servants are employed by United Kingdom Government Departments in Northern Ireland.

At 1 January 1980, the latest date for which comprehensive information is available centrally, there were 6,100 civil servants employed in United Kingdom central Government Departments in Northern Ireland. In addition there were 3,900 Northern Ireland civil servants engaged on functions reserved to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether any parliamentary papers are now printed outside the United Kingdom; and if so, what they are and what factors were taken into account before the decision was taken.

No parliamentary papers are currently printed outside the United Kingdom.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many photocopiers are currently in use in the Palace of Westminster; how that figure compares with the position 12 months ago; what is the annual cost and the comparative figure 12 months ago; and how many copies were produced to date in the current year.

78 photocopiers for normal use are currently installed in the Palace of Westminster (including the Norman Shaw building) compared with 72 a year ago; the annual cost of using these copiers is £150,000 compared with £122,000 a year ago; some 4¼ million copies were produced in the first five months of 1980.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he is satisfied that the installation in Norman Shaw North of a machine for cleaning the shoes of honourable Members and parliamentary staff is in line with the Government's policy on the need to cut public expenditure; what was the cost of this installation; and if he will make a statement.

The cost of the machine, including installation costs, was £466·13. It was installed in response to requests from hon. Members.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the causes of the crash of a Royal Air Force Hunter at Tintagel on 6 July 1979.

The investigation into this accident has now been completed. In accordance with the new procedure I announced to the House on 15 January 1980, the Ministry of Defence has today published a summary of the circumstances and causes and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.I should like to take this opportunity of once again expressing my sincere regret to the people of Tintagel for the distress, loss and other inconvenience which the accident caused to them and to express the Government's gratitude to them for the assistance they afforded to the RAF following the accident. [Vol. 976, c.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the expenditure in Wales at current prices on each of the following: trunk road construction, trunk road maintenance, local authority road construction, local authority road maintenance, local authority cleansing, gritting and snow clearance, administration, lighting, parking (net), other and total road expenditure in 1978–79 and 1979–80, respectively.

EXPENDITURE ON ROADS IN WALES IN 1978–79 AND 1979–80
£ thousand at outturn prices
			1978–79		1979–80
			Central Government	Local Government	Central Government*
Highways
New construction and improvement
Trunk	…	…	50,122	—	62,853
Local	…	…	938	24,153	507
Total	…	…	51,060	24,153	63,360
Maintenance
Trunk†	…	…	11,019‡	—	10,565‡
Local	…	…	—	29,450	—
Total	…	…	11,019	29,450	10,565
Cleansing, gritting and snow clearing
Trunk†	…	…	..	—	..
Local	…	…	—	7,393	—
Total	…	…	..	7,393	..
Other	…	…	172	3,487‡	156
Total Highways	…	…	62,251	64,483	74,081
Public lighting installation
Trunk	…	…	297	—	183
Local	…	…	—	954	—
Total	…	…	297	954	183
Maintenance and operation
Trunk	…	…	631	—	695
Local	…	…	—	4,760	—
Total	…	…	631	4,760	695
Other	…	…	—	557	—
Total Lighting	…	…	928	6,271	878
Vehicle parking
Net	…	…	—	1,214	—
Gross	…	…	—	2,965	—
Freight facilities grants	…	…	213	—	2,534
Administration	…	…	1,503	12,189	1,650
Grand Total	…	…	64,895	84,157	79,143

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will indicate the length of each of the following categories of road

Actual expenditure on the items listed is given in the following table. Figures for expenditure by local authorities during 1979–80 on roads are not yet available.in Wales (

The figures re- quested are as follows:

April 1979
Trunk motorways (Kms)	94
Trunk roads other than motorways (Kms)	1,623
All other roads (Kms)	29,504
April 1980 (provisional)
Trunk motorways (Kms)	94
Trunk roads other than motorways (Kms)	1,627
All other roads (Kms)	29,618

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many goods were seized in 1979 and the first six months of the current year by the team of Customs officials engaged on investigating and preventing textile goods illegally entering the United Kingdom; what was the value of the goods seized for each period; how many Customs officers are in this special team; whether his Department is satisfied with the effectiveness of this special unit; and if he will make a statement.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take account of the findings of the Wilson committee on the working of the financial institutions in the series of studies which he is doing on the effect of tax provisions on the pattern of personal savings.

Yes. I also intend to invite a number of people with direct first-hand experience of the workings of the financial institutions and of the financial needs of industry to be associated with the work of officials on these studies.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many illegal citizens band radio sets have been seized by the Customs and Excise so far in the current year, and in the comparable period in 1979.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 July 1980, c. 677.]: 721 citizens' band radio sets were seized by Customs and Excise in the first quarter of 1980 and 2250 during the whole of 1979. Details are not yet available for the second quarter of 1980 and were not collected on a quarterly basis for 1979.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue from licence fees, import duties and value added tax that the Exchequer would derive from the legalisation of citizens band or open channel radio.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 July 1980, c. 677]: No decisions on legalisation have yet been taken. Since the necessary information about licence fees, value of imported citizens' band radio sets, and expenditure by consumers on these radios is not known, it is not possible to make an estimate of the likely revenue yield.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he plans to reduce the number of non-health workers who currently work in the National Health Service.

Yes, where health authorities consider they can do so without detriment to health care services.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average current annual cost of a trainee in general practice; and what is the total number involved on average at any stage.

The current average cost of a trainee in general practice is about £15,000 per year. At 1 October 1979, there were 1,143 and 93 trainees in general practices in England and Wales respectively; each year about 600 doctors also start two-year organised training schemes in hospitals prior to entering general practice.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what degree of expansion there has been in the general practitioner trainee scheme over the past three years; what extra costs there have been in regional machinery for the administration of this scheme; and whether he has information as to whether such extra costs have meant that there have been enforced cutbacks in other services such as ward and hospital closures.

Over the past three years the numbers of doctors undertaking the year's training in general practice in England and Wales were:

	England	Wales
1977	866	66
1978	997	77
1979	1,143	93

Little additional regional machinery has been required to administer the scheme and the majority of the cost of the training is met from funds provided for general medical services and general practitioners' postgraduate education. The portion of the cost falling to health authorities is too small to have a measurable effect on the provision of other services.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish area by area all hospital and ward closures and all out-patient reductions in facilities, including those in casualty departments, carried out by health authorities in their efforts to keep within the cash limits decided by his Department.

Cash limits for area health authorities are decided by regional health authorities, not by my Department. Permanent closures of hospitals occur for a number of often inter-related reasons, of which the main ones are capital development and service rationalisation. Comprehensive information on minor or temporary closures or on facilities in outpatients and casualty departments is not available centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he proposes to give financial assistance to those practitioners who find working from health centres financially disadvantageous.

No. The accommodation charge is purely notional since it is reimbursed in full to the general medical practitioner by the family practitioner committee. Furthermore, the gross re- muneration of these practitioners contains an element for practice expenses, including health centre service charges, based on the national average of these expenses.Under existing guidance, charges for accommodation and services provided to general practitioners working in health centres should be reviewed every three years and new charges agreed between the practitioners and the authority in consultation with the family practitioner committee. This provides the opportunity for dissatisfied practitioners to air their views locally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what progress is being made in educating the public to understand that their source of primary care is with their registered medical practitioner, in order to prevent the overloading of accident and emergency departments of hospitals with cases that hinder them from performing their intended services.

Posters have been issued for display in accident and emergency departments and general practitioner surgeries exhorting patients to consult their general medical practitioner first unless they are in need of urgent hospital treatment. Leaflets are also available for issue to patients containing advice on how best to seek medical treatment.Figures are not available centrally on numbers of patients requiring non-urgent treatment attending accident and emergency departments without prior reference to their family doctor.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Norfolk, North, Official Report, 10 June, showing the net weekly spending power for one-parent families, if he will show the revised net weekly spending power figures assuming that entitlement to free school meals ends when entitlement to family income supplement ends and indicating the gross earnings level at which net weekly spending power is equivalent to that available for supplementary allowance at the longterm rate and at the ordinary rate under this new assumption.

The information requested is given in the tables set out below. Table 3 shows the levels at which, on the basis of my hon. Friend's hypothetical assumptions, including those on free school meals and work expenses of £15 per week, there may no longer be title to means-tested benefits.

Table 1
Net Weekly Spending Power (£) of a Single Mother with Two Children aged 4 and 6; receiving Supplementary Allowance (Ordinary Rate) and Earning £6 a week
Supplementary allowance	Child benefits	Net earnings	Rent	Rates	Free school meals	Free welfare milk	Net weekly spending power
31·95	10·50	6·00	8·20	3·55	2·25	1·16	40·11

Table 2
Net Weekly Spending Power (£) of a Single Mother with Two Children aged 4 and 6; receiving Supplementary Allowance (Long Term Rate) and Earning £6 a week
Supplementary allowance	Child benefits	Net earnings	Rent	Rates	Free school meals	Free welfare milk	Net weekly spending power
37·35	10·50	6·00	8·20	3·55	2·25	1·16	45·51

Table 3
Net Weekly Spending Power (£) of a Single Mother with Two Children aged 4 and 6, Working Full-time with £15 Work Expenses
Gross earnings		Tax	National insurance contributions	Child benefits	Family income supplement	Rent rebate
29·70*	…	—	2·00	10·50	14·50	7·73
35·00	…	—	2·36	10·50	12·80	6·83
40·00	…	—	2·70	10·50	10·30	6·21
50·00	…	2·63	3·38	10·50	5·30	4·96
60·00	…	5·63	4·05	10·50	0·30	4·10
70·00	…	8·63	4·73	10·50	—	2·45
73·45†	…	9·66	4·95	10·50	—	1·86
80·00	…	11·63	5·40	10·50	—	0·75
83·00	…	12·52	5·60	10·50	—	0·24
90·00	…	14·63	6·08	10·50	—	—
95·00	…	16·13	6·41	10·50	—	—
96·00	…	16·43	6·48	10·50	—	—
105·00	…	19·13	7·09	10·50	—	—

Gross earnings		Rate rebate	Work expenses	Free school meals	Free welfare milk	Net weekly spending power
29·70*	…	3·03	15·00	2·25	1·16	40·11
35·00	…	2·74	15·00	2·25	1·16	42·17
40·00	…	2·54	15·00	2·25	1·16	43·51
50·00	…	2·14	15·00	2·25	1·16	43·55
60·00	…	1·84	15·00	2·25	1·16	43·72
70·00	…	1·26	15·00	—	—	44·10
73·45†	…	1·05	15·00	—	—	45·51
80·00	…	0·66	15·00	—	—	48·13
83·00	…	0·48	15·00	—	—	49·35
90·00	…	0·06	15·00	—	—	53·10
95·00	…	—	15·00	—	—	56·21
96·00	…	—	15·00	—	—	56·84
105·00	…	—	15·00	—	—	62·53
* Gross earnings needed to provide net weekly spending power equivalent to that available with supplementary allowance at ordinary rate, as in table 1.
† Gross earnings needed to provide net weekly spending power equivalent to that available with supplementary allowance at long-term rate, as in table 2.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, in the light of current high unemployment of qualified medical practitioners, if he will act to help hospitals reduce the excessive workload of medical staff and to obviate difficulties in providing locum tenentes.

The latest available information shows that less than 0·5 per cent. of all medical practitioners are currently registered as unemployed, and I am not aware of any evidence of a national problem in relation to the total supply of medical manpower. In particular, I do not know of any widespread difficulties in providing locums. The level of workload of medical staff in individual hospitals is a matter for the responsible health authority in consultation with the profession locally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied that the annual return by whole-time consultants in the National Health Service, certifying that their gross income from private practice does not exceed 10 per cent. of their gross salary, constitutes an adequate check on the proper operation of their contracts.

Yes, since I consider the system will work most satisfactorily on the basis of a large measure of trust and confidence between employing authorities and consultants.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will instruct the department which monitors the prescriptions issued by general practitioners not to adhere to the general rule of allowing only four weeks' supply in the case of specified conditions where permanent medication is essential;(2) if he will issue a circular to all general practitioners in the National Health Service giving a list of diseases for which the patient is certain to require permanent medication and for which the instruction to prescribe only four weeks' normal supply will be waived.

The Department has issued no instruction to doctors about limiting the supply of medication to patients, nor do its monitoring arrangements contain any rule such as the hon. Member suggests. However, in the interests both of economy and safety in the prescribing of drugs, it does, with the support of the British Medical Association, encourage doctors to restrict the amount they prescribe on any one occasion to no more than is considered reasonable having regard to all the circumstances of the patient concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what decision has been taken about the proposals to close St. John's hospital, Droitwich, and Blackwell recovery hospital.

I understand that the Hereford and Worcester area health authority recently decided not to proceed with these closure proposals. I warmly welcome this decision and commend the authority for preserving these valuable hospitals.

asked the right hon. Member for Middlesbrough, as representing the House of Commons Commission, whether he will provide all the costs and charges so far incurred in the present Parliament by each Select Committee on visits outside Westminster, giving a detailed breakdown of the purposes of each visit, dates and itineraries.

[pursuant to his reply, 27 June 1980, c. 319]: Visits outside the Palace of Westminster in the present Parliament by Select Committees with power to adjourn from place to place, showing the places visited and the costs involved, in all instances where the expenditure incurred to date exceeds £100, are set out below. In each case, the visit was made in pursuance of enquiries being conducted by the Committee concerned in accordance with its order of reference.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the results of his discussions with members of the Scottish fishing industry on 3 July in relation to the critical position of the fishing industry.

The purpose of the meeting was to enable industry representatives to amplify the written submission already made on the industry's current situation. Some issues remain to be clarified but urgent consideration is now being given to the representations.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will indicate the length of each of the following categories of road in Scotland: (a) trunk motorways, (b) trunk roads other than motorways and (c) all other roads, as at April 1979 and April of the current year.

The following is the information.

	Kilometres as at
	1.4.79	1.4.80*
Trunk motorways	183	199
Trunk roads other than motorways	2,936	2,929
All other roads	46,219	not yet available
*Estimated

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all the establishments under Government control that experiment upon animals in the United Kingdom; what species of animals are experimented upon at each establishment; and how many animals, listed by species, died while being experimented upon at each establishment in 1979.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answers given to my hon. Friend the Member for Holland with Boston (Mr. Body) on 10 June by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, on 19 June by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Educa- tion and Science and on 20 June by my hon. Friend the Minister for Health.A list of places registered under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 is placed annually in the House of Commons Library; the latest such list relates to February 1980. To identify on that list all the establishments which are under Government control would involve disproportionate cost.As my hon. Friend knows, statistics of experiments on living animals commenced in 1978, under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876, by species of animal, are published in "Statistics of experiments on living animals: Great Britain 1978" (Cmnd. 7628) and he may find of interest the analyses by type of registered place given in tables 12 and 13. It is not the practice to give information about the work of individual establishments; as explained on page 6 of Cmnd. 7628, licensees submitted their returns in confidence. [Vol. 986, c.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will now introduce legislation to require companies to include analysis of energy costs in company accounts where they receive Government money.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade how powers in relation to trading prospects of the footwear industry are divided between himself and the European Economic Community.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many foreign manufacturing firms set up in Northern Ireland in 1977, 1978 and 1979; and how many people currently they employ.

No such firms committed themselves in 1977 to setting up factories in Northern Ireland; four in 1978; seven in 1979. Employment in these firms totals some 1,200 at present and should rise to around 5,400 at full production.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the expenditure on attracting foreign manufacturing investment incurred by the Northern Ireland Department of Commerce in 1977, 1978 and 1979.

Expenditure on salaries, advertising and promotion involved in attracting foreign manufacturing investment was as follows:

	£ Million
1977–78	0·87
1978–79	1·37
1979–80(provisional)	1·39

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which hospitals in Northern Ireland are the main centres for peripheral vascular surgery in Northern Ireland; how many patients have been treated; what is the success rate; and if he will make a statement.

The main centres are at the Royal Victoria hospital and the Belfast city hospital and there are no proposals to change the present arrangements for the provision of peripheral vascular surgery at these hospitals.Peripheral vascular surgery is a branch of general surgery. The other information sought by the hon. Member is not therefore readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he has any plans to close the Ulster Office in London.

[pursuant to his reply, 30 June 1980, c. 430]: The trade support and similar services of the Department of Commerce which are currently carried out both in Belfast and at the Ulster Office in London are being rationalised to improve cost effectiveness. The Gov- ernment have no plans at present to close the Ulster Office.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons suspected of terrorist activity in Northern Ireland from bases in the Republic of Ireland since 11 December 1979 have been apprehended as a result of assistance from the Republic of Ireland.

[pursuant to his reply, 2 July 1980 c. 618]: There are frequent contacts between the RUC and the Garda Siochana. It would not be in the public interest to give details of the results of this cooperation in terms of individual arrests.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the growing practice in major towns and cities of vehicles being parked either wholly or in part upon the pedestrian pavements or non-vehicular parts of the public thoroughfares thereby causing dangerous hazards for prams, young children, the disabled, blind persons and the elderly, and damage to pavements, he will initiate a publicity campaign to advise that these practices are illegal and that fines are liable for driving on pedestrian pavements, and that he will seek to take more effective measures to put a stop to these anti-social and dangerous practices.

The Department has tried to publicise the circumstances in which parking on pavements is illegal and the possibility of being fined for driving on the pavement, and has stressed the danger and inconvenience to others which such practices cause.We will continue to seek as much publicity on the dangers and penalties as we can, and we hope that police forces will enforce the law within the reasonable limits of their resources.

asked the Minister of Transport if he has any plans to seal off the disused land owned by the Ministry of Transport between the A1(M) and the Great North road at "The Frythe" to avoid the continual trespassing by gipsies and other travellers, and their camping on this site.

A trench has been dug and earth has been tipped to fill the gap in the fence. The fence itself will be repaired as soon as possible.

Region				Trunk motorways	Trunk roads other than motorways	Other roads
Northern	…	…	…	146	755	20,902
Yorkshire-Humberside	…	…	…	281	775	26,195
East Midlands	…	…	…	172	1,244	25,258
East Anglia	…	…	…	0	778	18,493
South-East	…	…	…	523	1,662	62,986
South-West	…	…	…	295	1,083	43,745
West Midlands	…	…	…	255	1,040	26,938
North-West	…	…	…	415	517	23,219
England	…	…	…	2,087	7,854	247,736
Wales	…	…	…	94	1,623	29,505
Scotland	…	…	…	185	2,986	45,922
Great Britain	…	…	…	2,366	12,463	323,163

April 1980 (provisional)
						Trunk motorways	Trunk roads other than motorways	Other roads
England	…	…	…	…	…	2,156	7,854	..
Wales	…	…	…	…	…	94	1,627	29,618
Scotland	…	…	…	…	…	199	3,007
Great Britain	…	…	…	…	…	2,449	12,487	..
.. Not available.
April 1980 data for regions and other roads are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in view of the growing practice of local authorities in general and within the Greater London area in particular in reducing the numbers of public toilets and the discomfort and health hazards caused thereby, he will issue a circular to all local authorities advising on the level of public toilet facilities that should be made available to the public.

No. The level of provision of public conveniences is entirely a matter for the discretion of local authorities, which are, I am sure, taking all relevant factors into account. Maintaining these facilities is now very costly, especially

asked the Minister of Transport if he will indicate for each of the regions the length of each of the following categories of road: (a) trunk motorways, (b) trunk roads other than motorways and (c) all other roads, as at April 1979 and April of the current year.

Lengths of roads in Great Britain (kilometres) April 1979:when they are frequently subject to vandalism.Local electors will doubtless make their views known to authorities if they consider that a proper balance between the need for economy in local authority expenditure and the essential needs of the public has not been struck.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will specify the reasons for giving his approval to the national heritage fund trustees to acquire works of art at Messrs. Christie's on Thursday 19 June.

My right hon. Friend's decision to allow the trustees of the national heritage memorial fund to retain certain works of art sold from Kedleston Hall was taken in the knowledge that the house and its contents might well be offered to the Government in satisfaction of capital transfer tax.The Government were informed by their expert advisors that the items concerned are of considerable importance to Kedleston and should be allowed to remain there if at all possible. Permission to retain the items was given on the understanding that the trustees intend that all the objects purchased should be returned to Kedleston if and when it comes into public ownership.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now increase public funds for public sector housing insulation schemes; and if he will make a statement.

We have no plans at present to do so. Local authorities are free to use as much of their housing investment programme allocation as they wish on insulating their houses.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now extend the home insulation scheme to include homes which already have some insulation.

We have no plans at present to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities are making home insulation grants.

I refer the hon. Member to section 1(8) of the Homes Insulation Act 1978, copies of which are available in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if tenants seeking to purchase their council homes are entitled to buy the whole of their existing gardens.

Under chapter I of the Housing Bill, most tenants of local authorities will be given the right to buy. The right to buy extends to the dwelling- house which the tenant occupies, and the Bill in clause 49(2), defines "dwelling-house" so as to include any land which is let together with the dwelling-house unless it is agricultural land exceeding two acres.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if the tenants' charter will provide protection for council tenants against councils which threaten those who refuse to surrender portions of their gardens for future council use with possession orders and possible eviction.

Chapter II of part I of the Housing Bill will give security of tenure to the great majority of council tenants. It will then only be possible for landlords to obtain possession on one of the grounds listed in schedule 4 to the Bill.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how the rate support grant per head of the population in Lambeth compares with that in Manchester and in Northampton.

The estimated final allocations of rate support grant for 1980–81 are as follows:

	£/head
Lambeth	232
City of Manchester	269
Northampton	51

These sums take account of the payment of all three elements of rate support grant. They are not directly comparable because most of the needs element attributable to the assessed expenditure needs of a non-metropolitan district is paid to the council of the county in which it is located. Lambeth does not qualify for the resources element of RSG.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the likely input by the Government towards the costs of compensatory events at home and abroad involving governing bodies of sport not going to the Moscow summer Olympics.

Only the equestrian and hockey sports have so far indicated they are to be involved in such events. The British Equestrian Federation is to stage a dressage event at Goodwood from 6–10 August in which 10 major equestrian countries are likely to be participating. British teams will also compete in a show-jumping event to be held in Rotterdam from 13–17 August and in a three-day event in Fontainebleau from 21–24 August. Detailed costings are not yet complete but the overall Government contribution is unlikely to exceed £120,000.The Great Britain women's hockey team has accepted an invitation to take part in a compensatory tournament in Philadelphia, United States, in October. But even a preliminary estimate of costs is not yet available.If necessary, parliamentary approval will be sought to a supplementary estimate later in the year. Any changes that may be required to Departmental cost limits will be announced in due course.

asked the Attorney-General what recent amendments have been made in the general training given to magistrates.

The general training was last revised during 1978 and details published in September of that year. Training for domestic court panels was introduced in 1979 and the requirements of obligatory refresher training for new appointees will be published this year.

asked the Attorney-General whether he will institute an inquiry into the system whereby a successful plaintiff who loses an appeal must pay the costs of that appeal as well as the costs in the court below, so as to introduce a wider discretion for the avoidance of hardship.

If the hon. and learned Member will explain his proposal in greater detail, I will see that it receives proper attention from the Supreme Court rules committee, which exists for this purpose.

asked the Attorney-General in how many divorce cases the judgment of the court was that the custody of children should be given to the mother and in how many cases to the father.

This information is being collected this year for the first time, on a sample basis. I will arrange for my hon. Friend to have the first figures.

asked the Attorney-General when he expects to table an order under schedule 3 to the Administration of Justice Act 1977 permitting a Scottish divorce decree to be registered in English magistrates' courts.

Present plans are to bring schedule 3 into operation on 1 January 1981.

asked the Attorney-General whether he will introduce legislation to protect housebuyers who break the chain in a series of purchases from having to bear the expenses of all concerned.

No. Apart from any other objection, one inevitable effect of such legislation would be to prevent the recovery of damages consisting of expenses incurred by a party as a result of another's breach of contract or other wrong.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the reason for the delay in paying the grant of £35,000 to British Plastics Developments Limited at Torrington.

Information concerning individual applications for regional development grant is treated as, confidential between the Department and the applicant. Applications from the Torrington area are the responsibility of the regional development grants office at Cardiff, where the average time for the examination and approval of applications is presently sixteen weeks compared with an average examination time of thirteen weeks over the life of the scheme since 1972. Efforts are being made to reduce the time taken.Applications are thereafter subject to the four-month deferment in the payment of approved claims, announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget statement of 12 June 1979, as part of the Government's essential cuts in public expenditure.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how many firms in Torrington and North Devon are owed development and other grants by the Government.

Offers of selective financial assistance under section 7 of the Industry Act or monies not yet due for payment for regional development grant applications approved do not constitute debts owed by the Department. In the Cardiff regional development grants office, which deals with applications from the whole of Wales and the South-West assisted areas, including North Devon, payment of £26·6 million of grant (2,480 applications) was outstanding as a result of the four-month deferment of the payment of approved claims announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 12 June 1979.I regret that separate figures for Torrington and North Devon are not available and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what estimate he has made of the costs incurred by the Post Office in separating postal service operations from telecommunications in anticipation of the legislation.

None. The two operations have been largely separate for some years; any further costs to be in curred in the preparation for legislation will be small and outweighed by the subsequent benefits.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what progress has been made and what results have been achieved in the two-year action plan designed to restore the reliability of the postal service to the customer.

During April-May of this year the Post Office has achieved its best delivery performance for first-class letters for 18 months and, allowing for the effects of the TUC day of action which disrupted transport schedules, the performance for second-class letters has been the best for two years.The postal action plan announced by the Post Office last year, has contributed to this improvement. However, as the Post Office commented recently,

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if, in view of recent factory closures, he will now consider re-designating Carlisle into special development area status.

[pursuant to his reply, 30 June 1980, c. 417]: I see no change in the relative circumstances of Carlisle to warrant reversing the decisions announced last July on the assisted area grading of Carlisle.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how many cases of asbestos monitoring were handled on behalf of the Department of the Environment by the Laboratory of the Government Chemist outstation in Glasgow over the last five years.

I have been asked to reply.Since June 1978, when the service was first provided, the Glasgow outstation of the Laboratory of the Government Chemist has handled 108 cases of asbestos monitoring on behalf of the Property Services Agency of the Department of the Environment.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of school leavers currently employed in the county districts of Greater Manchester.

Information in the form requested is not available. However, it is estimated that in May 1979 about 100,000 people in the 16–19 age group who lived in the Greater Manchester metropolitan county were working.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report the names and positions of the members of the committee set up by the Manpower Services Commission to review the operation of the industrial training boards.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the following are the members of the review body which is reviewing the workings of the Employment and Training Act 1973 so far as it relates to arrangements for the promotion of training for employment.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what action he proposes to take to ensure that the Manpower Services Commission complies with Government policy on reductions in the size of the Civil Service.

I have agreed with the MSC that it should make significant reductions in its staffing in line with the Government's policy to reduce the size of the Civil Service. I regularly receive information about progress towards achieving these savings.In addition, in the light of the announcement on 13 May by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister of the Government's intention to bring the size of the Civil Service down to about 630,000 over the next four years, I have written to the chairman of the MSC asking for the Commission's views on the implications of a further 8 per cent. cut in the Commission's staff spread over the years 1981 to 1984. Government decisions on the measures required to give effect to this intention have not yet been taken.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many employees of the Manpower Services Commission have the use of chauffeur-driven cars.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that only its chairman, Sir Richard O'Brien, has the use of a chauffeur-driven car. However, when the car is not being used by the chairman, it is made available to senior officers of the commission on official business.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of people employed by the Manpower Services Commission; how this compares with the position 12 months ago; what are his plans for reducing this number; and what progress has been made in implementing his policy.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that it employed 25,863 permanent and casual staff on 1 April 1980 and 26,287 on 1 April 1979. As a result of the exercise announced by the Lord President last year and the further overall reduction of 2·5 per cent. in staff related costs this year, I have agreed with the Commission that they should make savings equivalent to 4,135 staff against the manpower level originally projected for 1979–80.The composition of these savings has still to be finally settled but a broad timetable has been agreed. As the figures quoted above indicate, some progress towards making these savings has already been made, and I shall be monitoring future staffing figures to ensure that progress has been maintained.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what salary, expenses and other benefits are paid to the chairman of the Manpower Services Commission.

The chairman of the Manpower Services Commission currently receives an annual salary of £28,500. When travelling, he receives expenses in accordance with the appropriate Civil Service rates.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current level of unemployment in the mid-Northumberland area; and how many redundancies have been announced in the last six months.

At 12 June, the provisional number of people registered as unemployed in the area covered by the Alnwick, Amble, Ashington, Bedlington, Blyth, Cramlington and Morpeth employment offices was 7,025.The number of proposed redundancies, notified to my Department under the redundancy handling provisions of the Employment Protection Act 1975 in the above area in the six months ended 31 May 1980, involved 912 employees at 21 establishments. There is no statutory requirement to notify my Department when proposed redundancies do not take place.I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the number of redundancies notified to it as due to occur in the above area in the six months ended 31 May 1980 involved 287 employees. This figure is provisional since some notifications are received late.Both Department of Employment and Manpower Services Commission figures are for redundancies involving 10 or more employees. I would refer the hon. Member to my reply of 30 June to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Handsworth (Miss Wright) for a fuller explanation of these statistics. [Vol. 987, c.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many skill-centre places are available in each of the regions of England and Wales; and how many per 100,000 of the work force this represents in each case.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the information is as set out below.

Region	Number of available SC places	Per 100,000 of workforce
London and South-East (including East Anglia)	5,188	62
South-West	1,186	70
Midlands	2,761	70
Yorkshire and Humber-side	1,412	67
North-West	2,147	76
Northern	1,936	141
Wales	1,461	134
Total—England and Wales	16,091	75

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how much in total his Department will pay in insurance during the current financial year; and if he will publish a functional breakdown of the total amount.

It is long-established Government policy not to pay a commercial insurance premium unless there is a statutory or contractual obligation or a particular advantage (such as specialist services) over and above the possible receipt of compensation for loss. For this reason expenditure by the Department of Employment on insurance is negligible.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many textile firms have closed or declared over 20 redundancies in Oldham since January 1979; what were the dates of these closures; how many workers were affected and how many were from the ethnic minorities; how many of these redundant workers were found other jobs and how many of these were from the ethnic minorities; what is the average age of those made redundant: which types of textile workers have suffered the greatest redundancies, as between weaving, ring spinning or other types of work; and what provision has been made for retraining, language classes or other assistance to find jobs.

[pursuant to his reply. 26 June 1980, c 236–37]: I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission, which is responsible for the public employment and training services, that it was notified of five redundancies involving more than 20 workers due to occur in the textile industry in Oldham between January 1979 and May 1980. Of these notified redundancies four involved closures which occurred in January 1979, March 1979, October 1979 and May 1980. The redundancies involved 294 workers but no details are available of their age or ethnic origins, nor is it known how many of these are still seeking employment.Precise details of occupations involved are not available, but about 150 of the workers affected were in weaving and 33 in ring spinning. The remainder are employed in unskilled or clerical occupations.The usual services of the MSC were made available to those concerned at the time of the redundancies. These services include information and advice on the alternative employment opportunities available, the facilities for training and re-training and the grants and allowances that may be payable to those willing to take up employment in other areas.

asked the Secretary or State for Employment what was the number of redundancies of disabled people notified to his Department in the Birmingham travel-to-work area in the 12 months commencing 1 June 1979.

[pursuant to his reply. 2 July 1980, c. 467]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs Short) on 23 June. [Vol. 987. c. 179–80.]

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest number of redundancies notified to his Department since May 1979.

[pursuant to his reply. 30 June 1980, c. 381]: The number of proposed redundancies notified to my Department under the redundancy handling provisions of the Employment Protection Act 1975, from May 1979 to May 1980 inclusive, is 796,189, at 13,841 establishments. There is no statutory requirement to notify my Department when proposed redundancies do not take place.I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the number of redundancies, notified to it as due to occur from May 1979 to May 1980 inclusive, involved 278,364 employees.Both Department of Employment and Manpower Services Commission figures are for redundancies involving 10 or more employees.I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 30 June to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Handsworth (Miss Wright) for a fuller explanation of these statistics. [Vol. 987, c.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many redundancies have been notified to his Department in the first four months of 1980 compared with the first four months of 1979 and 1978.

			1980		1979		1978
			Employees	Establishments	Employees	Establishments	Employees	Establishments
January	…	…	76,390	1,348	45,491	709	47,267	1,018
February	…	…	78,039	1,474	42,913	738	54,291	944
March	…	…	72,756	1,542	50,114	950	57,421	1,066
April	…	…	75,445	1,500	39,913	711	47,771	787
Ttoals	…	…	302,630	5,864	178,431	3,108	206,750	3,815

There is no statutory requirement to notify my Department when proposed redundancies do not take place.I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the number of redundancies notified to it as due to occur during the above period is as follows:

	Employees
	1980	1979	1978
January	24,687	11,805	11,225
February	31,434	9,620	13,025
March	36,966	14,974	12,107
April	26,601	15,682	25,142
Totals	119,688	52,081	61,499

The figures for April 1980 are provisional since some notifications are received late.Both Department of Employment and Manpower Services Commission figures are for redundancies involving 10 or more employees.I would refer the hon. Member to my reply of 30 June to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Handsworth (Miss Wright) for a fuller explanation of these statistics. [Vol. 987, c.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what opportunities there are for workers who have lost their jobs by the introduction of automated technology in offices and factories to take the highly-skilled new jobs that result.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 July 1980, c. 558]: The redeployment of workers whose jobs have been affected by new technology is a matter for the

[pursuant to his reply, 2 July 1980, c. 466]: The number of proposed redundancies notified to my Department under the redundancy handling provisions of the Employment Protection Act 1975 in the first four months of 1980, 1979 and 1978, is as follows:employers and employees concerned. Many employers have successfully retrained and redeployed their workforce.The Manpower Services Commission has maintained and expanded its programmes to supplement industry's efforts to ease critical shortages of computer skills, in particular through the training opportunities scheme and the "Threshold" scheme. These schemes are aimed to help the unemployed and those wishing to acquire new skills.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) school leavers, (b) people unemployed for more than 12 months, (c) more than six months and (d) more than three months are on the unemployment register for the Keighley travel-to-work area.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 July 1980, c. 635]: Duration analyses of the unemployed are made quarterly and the latest are for 10 April. At that date the numbers unemployed in the Keighley employment office area included 299 people who had been registered for over 13 and up to 26 weeks, 314 for over 26 and up to 52 weeks and 305 for over 52 weeks.Separate figures for school-leavers in Keighley are not available; they are included in those for the Bradford careers office.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many job losses in the last 12 months there have been in the North-West, Merseyside, Kirkby and Ormskirk.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 July 1980, c 636]: Precise information job gains and losses is not available but an indication of the net change can be seen by comparing the levels of the estimates of employees in employment at different dates.Between December 1978 and December 1979, the latest date for which information is available, the number of employees in employment in the North-West region fell by 33,000. The figure is provisional. The latest employment estimates for Merseyside, Kirkby and Ormskirk are for June 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many closures were notified in the 12 months since May 1979 in the North-West, Merseyside, Kirkby and Ormskirk.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 July 1980, c. 636]: Precise information May 1980, the number of intended closures in the above areas, notified to my Department under the redundancy handling provisions of the Employment Protection Act 1975, is as follows:

	Employees	Establishments
North-West	39,710	592
Merseyside	8,896	104
Kirkby	460	8
Ormskirk	48	1

The figures are for redundancies involving 10 or more employees.Employers are not required to notify the Department when proposed closures do not take place.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many redundancies are pending and how many workers are involved in the North-West, Merseyside, Kirkby and Ormskirk.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 July 1980, c. 636]: The information as requested is not available. However, I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that information already available to it shows that redundancies recorded so far as due to take place between July and September 1980 in the above areas, are as follows:

North-West	4,178
Merseyside	658
Kirkby	90
Ormskirk	99

These figures are for redundancies involving 10 or more employees.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his analysis of the prospects for those leaving school in the current year in Merseyside, Kirkby and Ormskirk have for finding jobs; and what action he proposes to take to improve their prospects.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 July 1980, c. 636]: The employment prospects for those leaving school in the Merseyside, Kirkby and Ormskirk areas, as elsewhere, depend on the success of the Government's policies designed to reduce inflation, encourage investment and enterprise, which will in turn lead to lower unemployment.In the meantime, the Government have agreed to the Manpower Services Commission's proposal to expand the youth opportunities programme by 25 per cent. to over a quarter of a million places in 1980–81. This has enabled the MSC to renew its undertakings to unemployed school leavers and the long-term young unemployed that they will be offered a place on the programme. The youth opportunities programme will continue to make a significant contribution to helping unemployed school leavers in Merseyside. Kirkby and Ormskirk.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish details of the numbers of men, women and school leavers who are signing the register for unemployment benefit as short-time workers employed for one, two, three or four days a week, respectively, in the St. Helens employment departmental area; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 July 1980, c. 636]: During the week ended 12 June, the numbers of temporarily stopped people claiming unemployment benefit in the St. Helens employment office area were 19 males and one female. As school leavers, by definition have not been in employment they do not appear in these figures. Information about those employed for specific numbers of days in the week is not available.At present 713 jobs are being supported under the temporary short-time working compensation scheme in the St. Helens employment office area.