asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will arrange for an exhibition of prisoners' paintings to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall during the two weeks commencing Monday 10 November.

I have made arrangements with the authorities of the House for this exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall during the two weeks beginning Monday 10 November.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will now introduce legislation to make it an offence deliberately to impede the working of Parliament.

I am determined to do all in my power to ensure that the work of Parliament is not impeded, but I have no proposals for legislation on the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what is the estimated cost of the proposed inquiry into possible restrictive practices in the securities market.

I assume my hon. Friend is referring to the reference of the Stock Exchange's agreement to the Restrictive Practices Court by the Director General of Fair Trading. It is not yet possible to give a reliable estimate of the cost of this litigation.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what advice has been tendered by his Department's anti-dumping unit regarding the possible dumping of timber or timber pulp into the United Kingdom to the detriment of the United Kingdom forestry industry.

The United Kingdom forestry industry has made no approach to my Department for advice on this matter. From the timber industry one company in Scotland has recently alleged dumping of sawn timber. The anti-dumping unit is ready to give advice to that company and to others in the industry on how to proceed with an anti-dumping complaint to the EC Commission, if they so wish.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what discussions he has had with the Portuguese Government over the export of doors from Portugal to the United Kingdom, in view of the effect upon British industry.

Imports of cheap wooden doors from Portugal have increased rapidly over the last two years. My officials are currently making inquiries to discover whether Portuguese exporters receive assistance or subsidies which would justify taking up this matter with the Portuguese authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what discussions he has had with representatives of British door manufacturers against alleged discrimination on the French CTB tests of doors exported to France.

Discussions took place with representatives of British door manufacturers on 21 October 1980 about the alleged discrimination on the French CTB tests of doors exported to France. The problem is being followed up with the French authorities under procedures recently agreed in the European Communities to deal with bilateral problems.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what progress has been made in processing with the European Commission of an anti-dumping application from Taiwan.

I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the Community producers' anti-dumping complaint against external wooden doors from Taiwan. I understand that after due consultation the EC Commission has decided that the complainants have not so far provided sufficient evidence of dumping in their complaint to justify initiating a formal investigation. The Commission is in process of informing the complainants of this.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he has now reached agreement on the guidelines covering the British Airports Authority exercise of its powers to operate overseas; and if he will make a statement.

Agreement on the guidelines has now been reached and I have placed copies in the Libraries of both Houses.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much compensation has been paid by the State in each year since 1969 in respect of other claims for damage to property where no legal action was involved.

So far as it is possible to do so, the information requested is set out in the tables below. Table I indicates the amount of compensation paid in each year since 1969 under the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1978 and its predecessors for damage caused by the security forces in the exercise of their lawful duty.It is not possible except at disproportionate cost to identify claims that have been settled by arbitration in the county courts and they are therefore subsumed in table I. Table II indicates the amount of compensation paid by the Police Authority for Northern Ireland in each year since 1971 in respect of accidental damage to, and loss of, property.

TABLE 1
Financial Year	Compensation Paid
	£
1969/70	Nil
1970/71	2,505
1971/72	1,246
1972/73	13,142
1973/74	34,156
1974/75	27,848
1975/76	12,820
1976/77	139,335
1977/78	112,589
1978/79	83,429
1979/80	140,441
1980 to 31.10.80	69,522
Total	637,033

TABLE II
Calendar Year	Compensation paid
	£
1971	Nil
1972	Nil
1973	165·33
1974	422·94
1975	1,307·17
1976	921·04
1977	1,374·08
1978	1,203·50
1979	735·76
1980 to 31.10.80	1,695·99
Total	7,825·81

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether any ballistic tests have been carried out on the weapons used in the recent raid on a home in the Twinbrook Estate, Belfast.

The circumstances in which firearms were used in this incident are well known to the police; no gunshot wounds were sustained by anyone and, therefore, no ballistic tests were considered necessary.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service under what circumstances civil servants are obliged to travel first class on railway journeys; to which grades in the Civil Service this applies; how many such journeys are undertaken annually; and what is the total annual extra cost of first as opposed to second-class travel.

None. Civil servants above the rank of higher executive officer—these represent less than 10 per cent. of the Civil Service—are entitled to travel first class by rail on official duty if they so wish. Central records are not kept of the numbers of rail journeys, so I cannot give my hon. Friend the figures he asks for.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what were the total numbers in each of the following civil service grades at the latest convenient date (a) permanent secretary, (b) second permanent secretary, (c) deputy secretary, (d) under secretary, (e) assistant secretary

The table below gives the information requested, as at 1 July 1980, the latest date for which figures are at present available for all grades listed.

HOME CIVIL SERVICE
Grade	Stag in Post (full-time equivalents)
Permanent secretary	27
Second permanent secretary	15
Deputy secretary	153
Under secretary	606
Assistant secretary	1,150
Principal	4,470
NOTE. Figures for deputy secretary include those paid at rates between permanent and deputy secretary, and figures for under secretary include those paid at rates between deputy and under secretary.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received about the proposed closure of Callendar Park college of education, Falkirk; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the right hon. Member to the reply by my hon. Friend to the hon. Member for Stirling, Falkirk and Grangemouth (Mr. Ewing) on 3 November, to which I have nothing to add.—[Vol. 991, c. 450–51.]

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will raise the present limit of £1,000 for bringing tenement flats into use for decant purposes in areas where housing associations are engaged on comprehensive improvements in view of the difficulties facing housing associations in Glasgow.

There is no limit of this kind for the purpose of housing association grant payable by the Secretary of State. The Scottish Development Department does, however, operate an administrative ceiling of £1,000 per housing unit within which the Housing Corporation may approve expenditure on the preparation of flats as temporary accommodation in this connection without first seeking the approval of the Department. I have no information that this arrangement is causing difficulty.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what are his estimated costs for providing in-service training for teachers at its present level within the Lanark division of Strathclyde region and within Central region if he proceeds with his plans to close Hamilton college of education and Callendar Park college of education;(2) what are the estimated capital costs involved in his proposal to close Craiglockhart college of education and amal-

							Population Aged 0–4	Annual change	Population Aged 5–9	Annual change
1980	…	…	…	…	…	…	152,972		177,238
								+1,191		−10,459
1981	…	…	…	…	…	…	154,163		166,779
								+5,861		−11,323
1982	…	…	…	…	…	…	160,024		155,456
								+5,883		−6,771
1983	…	…	…	…	…	…	165,907		148,685
								+5,754		−2,612
1984	…	…	…	…	…	…	171,661		146,073
								+5,967		−714
1985	…	…	…	…	…	…	177,628		145,359
								+5,304		+1,352
1986	…	…	…	…	…	…	182,932		146,711

The precise amount of costs and savings involved in our decisions will depend on the period over which, and the methods by which. they are implemented. These are matters which we have undertaken to discuss with the colleges and other interests concerned and I do not wish to anticipate the outcome of those discussions.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the estimated costs in redundancy payments, resettlement compensation, long-term compensation, and loss of income tax revenue, if he proceeds with his plan to close Callender Park college of education, and Hamilton college of education if he will give these figures if these colleges close in (a) July 1981, (b) July 1982, (c) July 1983 and (d) July 1984; and if he will give these figures on the basis of (a) 100 per cent., (b) 90 per cent., (c) 80 per cent., (d) 70 per cent.. (e) 60 per cent., and (f) 50 per cent. of all staff in these colleges becoming redundant.

Such selective estimates could not be provided without undue expenditure of time and resources. Accurate costings will depend on the method and timing of the implementation of my right hon. Friend's decisions.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the latest statistics on the increases in the infant populations in Strathclyde region in the years 1980 to 1986.

The latest population projections show the following figures for children up to 9 years of age, in Strathcylde region and the annual changes from 1980 to 1986:—

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what are his Department's latest figures on staffing ratios in secondary schools in (a) Scotland, (b) the Strathclyde region, (c) the Central region and (d) each of the divisions within the Strathclyde region;(2) what are his Department's latest figures on staffing ratios in primary schools in (a) Scotland, (b) the Strathclyde region, the Central region and (d) each of the divisions within the Strathclyde region.

Information about pupil/teacher ratios in education authority primary and secondary schools derived from the September 1980 school census is not yet available. Figures showing the position at September 1979 are contained in Scottish Education Department statistical bulletin No. 1/B1/1980 of January 1980, a copy of which is available in the Library.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will seek to raise with the United States Government the possibility of the United States of America asking the Iranian Government for some of the Shah's fortune held in the United States of America to be allocated towards paying some of the costs of the education of Iranian students now studying in the United Kingdom.

It would be entirely inappropriate for Her Majesty's Government to seek to intervene with the United States in this way.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what is the present situation regarding illegal immigration from China into Hong Kong; how many illegal immigrants are landing on average per week, month or year; what action has been or is being taken to prevent these illegal immigrants landing and settling in the United Kingdom; and whether he will make a statement.

In the first 10 months of this year 80,000 illegal immigrants were arrested on entry into Hong Kong and returned to China: an estimated 70,000 evaded arrest and stayed in Hong Kong. Since 23 October identity cards have not been issued to newly arrived illegal immigrants and it is now illegal to employ such people. From August to late October an average of over 400 illegal immigrants were being arrested and repatriated each day. Since 29 October this has dropped to 62 per day. There has never been any question of illegal immigrants being landed in Hong Kong for settlement in the United Kingdom. A copy of a Hong Kong Government information paper giving the background to this problem has been placed in the Library of the House.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if Her Majesty's Government are prepared to make greater use of the European Youth Foundation as a channel for subsidising youth activities on a European level.

Her Majesty's Government value the activities of the European Youth Foundation. In common with the other European Governments involved, they are satisfied that the level of its activities already adequately meets the needs of British and other European youth organisations. Her Majesty's Government see no need to increase their funding of the foundation.

asked the Lord Privy Seal (1) whether in the light of recommendation 902 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Her Majesty's Government intend to provide more substantial funds for youth co-operation on national and European levels;(2) whether Her Majesty's Government intend to support recommendation 902 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in the Council of Ministers.

Her Majesty's Government already give substantial support to youth organisations on a national and European level through grants to such organisations as the British Youth Council and contributions to the budgets of the European Youth Foundation and Centre. In the present economic climate, it is not possible to press for increases in such grants and contributions beyond current levels.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement about his recent meeting with the Foreign Minister of the Irish Republic.

On 13 October 1 gave a working lunch in honour of the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Ireland, Mr. Brian Lenihan. We discussed European Community and other international issues.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish figures showing how many people, in each of the following sectors of the economy, have been made redundant during the past 12 months, and what the average redundancy payment has been in each sector; each nationalised industry and British Leyland, local government—showing education and health separately—central Government and private industry.

The figures requested are not available. Information is available only on statutory redundancy pay- ments and only by industry order of the Standard Industrial Classification.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will set out the latest unemployment figures in the North-West of England of areas that (a) lost their intermediate area status as from 1982 in the last major review and (b) retained that intermediate area status.

The following table gives the provisional numbers registered as unemployed at 9 October in the areas specified.

Employment office areas which are due to lose their intermediate area status from 1 August 1982
	Numbers unemployed
Accrington	2,324
Altrincham	2,842
Ashton-under-Lyne	2,990
Atherton and Tyldesley	1,447
Bacup	920
Bamber Bridge	791
Barnoldswick	481
Beswick	2,406
Blackburn	5,716
Bolton	8,091
Burnley	3,422
Bury	3,025
Chester	4,880
Chorley	2,290
Clitheroe	480
Calne	797
Congleton	710
Crewe	2,356
Darwen	1,109
Denton	941
Didsbury	3,227
Droylsden	481
Eccles	1,763
Failsworth	1,353
Farnworth	1,922
Glossop	1,051
Great Harwood	388
Haslingden	434
Heywood	1,521
Horwich	590
Hyde	2,428
Irlam	728
Leigh	3,157
Longsight	3,194
Leyland	1,294
Littleborough	442
Macclesfield	1,886
Manchester	7,687
Marple	450
Middleton	3,488
Middlewich	313
Mossley	365
Moss Side	4,984
Nantwich	439
Nelson	1,515
Newton Heath	3,234
Newton-le-Willows	1,210
Northwich	1,549
Oldham and Chadderton	6,768

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will give as much detailed information as possible showing those members of theTUC General Council who were, on 1 November, on non-departmental public bodies and the amounts of payments and expenses claimed or drawn by these persons.

I regret that the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what were the number of redundancies in the area covered by the city of Manchester announced since the beginning of 1980 and what are the numbers in prospect; and if he will publish comparable figures for each of the last 10 years.

[pursuant to his reply, 28 October 1980, c. 145–46]: I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the number of redundancies reported to it as due to occur in the city of Manchester between January and September 1980 involved 5,180 employees. This figure is provisional since some redundancies are reported late.Comparable figures are available only from 1977 and are as follows:

	Employees
January to September 1977	1,782
January to September 1978	1,181
January to September 1979	2,077

A total of 668 redundancies have so far been reported to the Manpower Services Commission as due to occur in the city of Manchester between October and December 1980. All these figures are for redundancies involving 10 or more employees.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied that every school leaver who is unemployed will be offered a place on the youth opportunities programme in the current financial year; what extra funds he will make available and what plans he has to increase assistance for the young unemployed.

[pursuant to his reply, 4 November 1980, c. 508]: I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission (MSC) which administers the youth opportunities programme (YOP) that the MSC and the careers service are making every endeavour to meet the school leaver undertaking. Up to the end of September an estimated 120,000 school leavers had entered the youth opportunities programme, compared with 73,000 at the same time last year. I have asked the MSC to review the adequacy of its plans in the light of the level of youth unemployment. YOP provisions for 1981–82 is currently being considered in the context of the annual review of special employment measures.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will bring up to date the tables circulated in the Official Report on 14 March, columns 755–56, in answer to a question from the hon. Member for Norfolk, North (Mr. Howell).

The following table incorporates the latest figures for June 1980. As before, it should be noted that relative changes in average weekly earnings between different occupational

AVERAGE GROSS WEEKLY EARNINGS OF SKILLED ADULT MALE MANUAL WORKERS EXPRESSED AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE EARNINGS OF ADULT MALE LABOURERS IN CERTAIN BROAD SECTORS OF ENGINEERING
Year				Mechanical Engineering		Electrical Engineering
(June)				Time workers	Payment-by-results workers	Time workers	Payment-by-results workers
1963	…	…	…	139·0	134·0	139·4	131·3
1964	…	…	…	136·9	137·8	139·1	128·4
1965	…	…	…	137·9	138·3	141·6	132·0
1966	…	…	…	138·8	138·4	142·3	132·3
1967	…	…	…	139·2	138·9	141·7	135·3
1968	…	…	…	137·2	136·7	141·0	135·4
1969	…	…	…	139·3	136·2	144·1	143·9
1970	…	…	…	134·8	135·5	138·3	137·4
1971	…	…	…	133·0	134·8	139·6	136·8
1972	…	…	…	134·1	133·0	138·8	129·6
1973	…	…	…	131·6	132·6	132·8	136·1
1974	…	…	…	130·8	127·3	132·7	136·1
1975	…	…	…	127·4	123·6	134·6	132·0
1976	…	…	…	127·0	122·3	130·0	127·3
1977	…	…	…	127·0	125·1	128·1	127·4
1978	…	…	…	127·4	123·4	131·5	128·0
1979	…	…	…	130·4	126·0	134·8	118·8
1980	…	…	…	132·7	125·0	132·3	125·6

				Motor Vehicle Manufacturing		Aerospace Equipment Manufacturing and Repairing
(June)				Timeworkers	Payment-by-results workers	Timeworkers	Payment-by-results workers
1963	…	…	…	136·9	140·1	141·6	157·9
1964	…	…	…	140·4	140·1	142·9	141·2
1965	…	…	…	133·5	144·8	139·0	140·9
1966	…	…	…	140·7	142·5	140·2	141·3
1967	…	…	…	145·0	144·6	142·0	142·3
1968	…	…	…	141·0	148·7	140·3	156·7
1969	…	…	…	140·5	142·5	142·5	148·2
1970	…	…	…	142·0	139·0	143·7	133·6
1971	…	…	…	135·3	146·5	147·7	140·4
1972	…	…	…	134·4	142·3	143·0	137·1
1973	…	…	…	132·6	138·4	139·6	131·1
1974	…	…	…	128·8	140·8	137·3	141·1
1975	…	…	…	123·2	124·9	130·5	132·8
1976	…	…	…	121·0	129·3	129·0	130·4
1977	…	…	…	121·8	127·5	128·9	127·5
1978	…	…	…	121·0	123·7	130·8	130·4
1979	…	…	…	117·6	121·4	131·3	131·1
1980	…	…	…	126·8	127·2	133·4	139·7

asked the Secretary of State for the Social Services, pursuant to his reply on 28 October to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Maryhill, if he will list in the Official Report those major bodies which made representations to his Department in support of the Green Paper on "Income During Initial Sickness—A New Strategy"—Cmnd. 7846.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the organisations from which comments have been received on his Green Paper entitled "Income During Initial Sickness: A New Strategy"; and how many of these comments were in favour of the proposals and how many against.

The great majority of the 900 or so individuals and organisations who have made representations on the Green Paper have indicated their support for one or more of the scheme's objectives—to cut public expenditure by about £400 million, to reduce the size of the Civil Service by about 5,000 and to make payments for short-term sickness taxable. However, all the representations made some comments on the detailed proposals in the Green Paper for achieving these objectives.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the aggregate of liability the Government propose to transfer from the State to employers under Cmnd. 7864, entitled "Income During Initial Sickness", and what percentage of this figure will be compensated for in payments to employers to meet the cost of the transfer.

We estimate that on the basis of the proposals put forward in the Green Paper, employers' wage bills would rise by about £415 million, upon which they would have to pay national insurance

NHS MANPOWER ENGLAND AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER
WHOLE-TIME EQUIVALENTS
						1971	1978	1979
All staff and independent contractors of which:	…	…	…	…	…	674,602	805,853	814,714
Directly employed staff 1, 2, 3, 4	…	…	…	…	…	625,526	754,685	762,674
Independent contractors 5, 6, 7	…	…	…	…	…	49,076	50,385	52,040
1. Includes whole-time equivalents of hospital and community health service medical and dental staff except locums, hospital practitioners, part-time medical/dental officers, clinical assistants, general medical practitioners participating in hospital staff funds and occasional sessional staff in community health service.
2. Owing to the effect of the 1974 NHS re-organisation the figure, for 1971 is not directly comparable with those for 1978 and 1979.
3. Excludes all agency staff.
4. The figure for 1979 is provisional; it contains an estimate of the whole-time equivalent of non-medical staff based on information available so far from 13 regions only
5. The figures for independent contractors are numbers of general medical practitioners, general dental practitioners, ophthalmic medical practitioners, ophthalmic opticians and dispensing opticians in the general ophthalmic services. Estimated numbers of general practice pharmacists (i.e. chemists, drug stores and appliance contractors) are based on the number of establishments, not the actual number practising.
6. Figures for general medical practitioners as at 1 October.
7. Figures for the general ophthalmic services as at 31 December.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East on 1 July, if he will now make a statement on his consultative letter on revising the arrangements for approval of clinical trials under the Medicines Act.

My right hon. Friend expects to make an order shortly with

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people were employed in the National Health Service on 1 June 1960, 1 June 1970 and 1 June 1980.

It is not possible to answer the question in the precise form requested because of lack of information for 1960 and 1970 and problems of coverage and comparability. The earliest year for which a realistic comparison of staff can be made is 1971; the latest year for which comparable and complete information is available is 1978, although it is possible to provide an estimate of staff for 1979. Figures for 1 June are not available. The table below sets out the information.a view to introducing the revised arrangements early in the new year.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many deaf-blind children there are in England and Wales of school age.

The following numbers of children aged 5–15 were registered with local authorities as being blind with additional handicaps on 31 March 1979. Statistics for children over 15 are

		England	Wales
Blind and deaf without speech*	…	13	1
Blind and deaf with speech†	…	15	0
Blind and hard of hearing‡	…	9	1
Blind and mentally ill with other physical sensory or speech handicap	…	23	2
Blind and mentally handicapped with other physical sensory or speech handicap	…	213	18
Blind and physically handicapped with other sensory or speech handicaps	…	23	4
* Those who have no useful hearing and whose normal method of communication is by signs, finger spelling or writing.
† Those who (even with a hearing aid) have little or no useful hearing but whose normal method of communication is by speech and lip reading.
‡ Those who (with or without a hearing aid) have some useful hearing and whose normal method of communication is by speech, listening and lip reading.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many deaf-blind children of school age are currently resident in mental subnormality units within hospitals in England and Wales.

I regret that this information is not collected centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will study the publication "Forgotten Children" published by North-West MIND; and, in view of the confusion which exists on the subject, if he will issue the draft circular on inappropriate admission of children into long-stay hospitals which was originally issued for consultation in June 1978.

I have just received a copy of this publication, which I shall read with interest.The draft circular to which the hon. Member refers was prepared and circulated for comment by the previous Administration over two years ago and I do not consider it appropriate or necessary to issue it now. The number of children being admitted to mental handicap hospitals for long-term care is now extremely small and my personal concern is to find ways of helping to get out of such hospitals children who do not need to be there.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will break down the number of women who currently receive the maternity grant only when they have a baby (a) into those who are employed and those

Of the women receiving maternity benefit in the year ending 30 June 1979, 302,700–48 per cent.—were entitled to maternity grant only; 3,200 were not married and there are no statistics available of whether, for the remaining 299,500 married women, the contribution conditions were satisfied by the claimant herself or by her husband. Since however none of these women satisfied the maternity allowance conditions, it seems likely that most of them received the grant on their husbands' contributions.I am afraid that information is not held on the employment position of women who qualify only for maternity grant. However, a recent Policy Studies Institute study of women confined early in 1979 indicated that just over half had been in work 12 months before the baby was born

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to ensure that children suffering from cancer in the Birmingham area are able to receive the treatment they need in that area, so as to avoid the need to "bus" sick children to Coventry, Manchester or London.

Responsibility for the provision of treatment for these children lies with the West Midlands regional health authority and the Birmingham area health authority (teaching). The health authorities are very aware of the current difficulties and a number of proposals have been put forward to relieve the problem. I understand from the area health authority (teaching) that, since 1 January 1980, five children have been referred outside the area and those were to Coventry.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what recent representations he has received from the Spastics Society; what replies he is sending; what action he is taking; and if he will make a statement;(2) If his signature on the Spastics Society's "Save a Baby" campaign petition can be taken to indicate full acceptance of the campaign's objectives; and if he will be fully and urgently implementing the recommendations of the report of the Select Committee on Social Services on perinatal and neonatal mortality.

The Spastics Society has made known its views on the Social Services Select Committee's report on perinatal and neonatal mortality in two letters and at a recent meeting; it is aware that the report is at present being

DURATION OF TERMINATING SPELLS OF INCAPACITY BY SEX
MEAN DURATION	DAYS OF INCAPACITY (EXCLUDING SUNDAYS)
		TABLE 1
		1977/78			1978/79
Type of Spell	Males	Females	All persons	Males	Females	All persons
Sickness benefit spells only	16	13	15	16	14	15
Invalidity benefit spells only	55	69	57	65	69	65
Combined sickness/Invalidity spells	596	563	59	591	639	601
Sickness benefit spells plus the SB portion of combined spells	21	17	20	20	17	19
Invalidity benefit spells plus the IVB portion of combined spells	178	163	176	178	213	184
All SB and IVB spells	31	21	28	31	23	29

DURATION OF TERMINATING SPELLS OF INCAPACITY BY SEX
MEAN DURATION	DAYS OF INCAPACITY (EXCLUDING SUNDAYS)
TABLE 2
		1977/78			1978/79
Type of Spell	Males	Females	All persons	Males	Females	All persons
Sickness benefit spells only	9	8	9	9	8	9
Invalidity benefit spells only	13	18	11	12	21	13
Combined sickness/Invalidity spells	242	200	234	237	216	232
Sickness benefit spells plus the SB portion of combined spells	10	8	9	9	8	9
Invalidity benefit spells plus the IVB portion of combined spells	23	33	24	20	40	23
All SB and IVB spells	10	8	9	9	8	9

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average length of time for which people are on sickness and invalidity benefit; and how this compares with the average time on a similar date in each of the previous five years.

[pursuant to the reply, 9 July, c. 205–6]: The following tables show the mean and median durations of sickness and invalidity benefit spells terminating in 1977–78 and 1978–79. The estimates are derived from samples (2 per cent. for 1977–78 and 1 per cent. for 1978–79) and are therefore subject to sampling error which could affect the mean values in particular.to clarify the law so that any registered medical practitioners practising in the United Kingdom shall have a duty to show evidence of competence in the English language in any proceedings involving their practice.

I shall let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any proposals to reduce the number of Government cars in his Department.

There are no specific proposals to reduce further the number of cars. but significant savings have been made in the cost of operating the MOD car service in recent years and the search for further economies continues.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many cars of his Department operate in London; what are the regulations regarding their use; and what is the total cost per annum to public funds.

The Ministry of Defence London car service operates 59 cars, four of which are Daimler limousines which may only be used on ceremonial occasions or by visiting dignatories. Of the other vehicles, 43 are allocated on a "first call" basis for the use of Ministers, Chiefs of Staff, permanent under secretaries and certain other very senior Service and civilian officers, in connection with their official duties. When not required by their nominated user, these cars are released to form the MOD London taxi pool which operates during normal office hours and is available to staff of the rank of lieutenant colonel—and equivalent—and above for journeys within a six mile radius of Whitehall.The remaining 12 cars form a pool of vehicles available for essential journeys outside the immediate Whitehall area by other senior staff. They may be used only when the official business involved cannot be performed as effectively by using public transport. As a general rule, journeys must start and finish at the nor-may place of duty and the cars are not available for regular or standing commitments, journeys to or from railway, bus or air terminals or journeys from resi- dence to place of duty. When not otherwise employed, these vehicles too are available to the taxi pool.The total cost to public funds of operating the services I have described was of the order of £800,000 in the last financial year.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish in the Official Report the names of those members of his Department who are collected by Government car every morning from (a) their homes and (b) railway stations; which specific railway stations they are collected from and the time; what is their position or rank; and what is the total cost to public funds per annum.

A number of first call users are regularly collected either from their home or a railway station, but I regret that all the detailed information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Senior members of the Ministry of Defence entitled to first use of an official car seldom have a fixed routine and their responsibilities, both functional and representative, involve considerable travelling to and from various locations.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement about the talks between his Department and the United States Government regarding consideration of stockpiling offensive chemical weapons;(2) if the offensive chemical weapons which he is discussing with the United States Government, including nerve gas bombs, are to be based in the United Kingdom; if he will resist any build-up of chemical weapons by the United Kingdom or her allies; and whether he will refuse to grant facilities for such weapons to be based in the United Kingdom.

The Government remain committed to seeking a verifiable arms control agreement banning chemical weapons, but the Soviet Union's unwillingness to accept the very necessary verification measures means we cannot hope for early progress. In the absence of such an agreement the Government must continue to view with concern the Soviet Union's massive offensive chemical warfare capability. We have discussed Soviet chemical threat, as we have other aspects of the Soviet threat, with the United States. Whether the United States eventually decides to manufacture new chemical weapons is a matter for the United States Government. The United Kingdom has no plans to acquire chemical weapons or to base chemical weapons in the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what evidence he has that the build-up of chemical weapons by Soviet Russia, as distinct from the parallel build-up of anti-gas protection, has taken place since 1971.

There is no doubt that the Soviet Union has a massive offensive chemical warfare capability, the effectiveness of which, unlike that of the West, has been maintained in recent years. It would not, of course, be in the national interest to provide detailed information of the sort requested by the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many Service personnel of the United Kingdom and other NATO countries and how many civilians were killed during and as a result of the operation of the recent NATO exercise Crusader; and if he will make a statement.

One United Kingdom Service man and five German civilians were killed, all in traffic accidents. A further two German civilians were killed when their car skidded on mud which may have been deposited by either military or farm vehicles.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence why two photographic reconnaissance squadrons of the Royal Air Force equipped with Canberras are to be disbanded in advance of the entry of the Tornado aircraft into operational service; and when the disbandment of these units is planned to take place.

The operational capability of the Canberra is progressively diminishing in the face of improvements to Warsaw Pact air defences. It is, therefore, sensible to concentrate the RAF's resources of manpower and money on more operationally valuable areas of the front line. Current plans are for one squadron to disband on 5 January 1982 and the other on 5 January 1983.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence why two air defence training squadrons of the Royal Air Force are to be merged and when; and what will be the designation of the single unit formed as a result of the merger.

The planned amalgamation of Nos. 100 and 7 Squadrons, currently located at RAF Marham and St. Mawgan respectively, follows a review of the future of the entire RAF Canberra fleet. This took account of the operational viability, training value and cost effectiveness of this ageing force. The amalgamation is planned to be complete by the end of 1981. The designation of the new unit has not yet been decided.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received about the post-entry closed shop agreement for college and polytechnic lecturers in Leeds; and what consideration he has given to them.

My right hon. and learned Friend and other Ministers have received 12 letters. Whilst we deplore the hasty introduction of this closed shop, clearly designed to escape the introduction of certain provisions of the Employment Act 1980, it is essentially a matter for agreement between the employing authority and the teachers' unions it consults, and the Government have no statutory power to intervene. However, all closed shop agreements should take account of the protection provided for individuals in the Employment Act. In addition, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment has issued for consultation a draft code of practice on the closed shop which contains extensive guidance on the conduct and review of closed shop agreements. The code will be presented to Parliament for approval later this year.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to place teaching staff on a renewable contractual basis.

Teachers are employed by local education authorities or, in some cases, by the governing bodies of schools or colleges, and their contracts are a matter for negotiation between them and their employers. My right hon. and learned Friend has no statutory power to intervene in these negotiations.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action he intends to take, other than the provision of leaflets, to make parents aware of the opportunities made available by the assisted places scheme, bearing in mind the hostility to the scheme of some primary head teachers.

About 54,000 copies of the leaflet "Assisted Places at Independent Schools: A Brief Guide for Parents" have been issued by my Department to date. We shall continue to make the leaflet and the list of schools invited to participate in the scheme freely available, revising them from time to time as appropriate. However, we believe that the most effective publicity for the scheme will be that undertaken locally, and that the schools offering assisted places are themselves best placed to publicise the scheme in their own areas. We hope that local education authorities and maintained schools will co-operate in publicising the additional educational opportunities being made available to children in their areas.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report the names of those local education authorities which have refused to inform parents, by any means, of the opportunities afforded by the assisted places scheme.

While my right hon. and learned Friend hopes that local education authorities will co-operate with schools offering assisted places in publicising the opportunities available under the scheme there can be no compulsion on them to do so. At present he is not aware of any authorities which have refused to inform parents, by any means, about the scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report the names of those schools who are participating in the assisted places scheme from the counties of Kent, Surrey, East and West Sussex and from the London boroughs of Bromley, Bexley, Lewisham and Southwark.

No school will be committed to taking part in the assisted places scheme until a participation agreement has been signed, which we hope for most schools will be before the end of this year. The schools invited to participate in the scheme situated in the areas specified are listed below. Charterhouse, St. John's school, Leatherhead, Epsom college, Eastbourne college and Hurstpierpoint college were not included in the list published on 6 October but have since increased their offer of places and been invited to participate. Tormead school, Guildford, Surrey was invited to participate but has since withdrawn and is not included in the list below.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he intends to introduce legislation that would require applicants for teaching posts to submit to military-type assessment courses prior to consideration for an appointment.

No. There is sufficient information already available to employers to ensure the continuing improvement of the standard of entrant to the profession.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will indicate what further proposals he has for the provision of school transport for those pupils who, having reached 16 years of age, choose to remain in full-time education rather than swell the numbers of unemployed school leavers.

The duties and powers of local education authorities relating to the provision of school transport are contained principally in section 55 of the Education Act 1944. My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans for any amendment.

asked the Lord Privy Seal how many years, in addition to the current year, are specified in the new aid agreement with Malawi.

The memorandum of understanding signed with the Malawi Government last week provides for expenditure of £55·5 million on capital aid, including new commitments of £6 million in programme aid and £15 million in pro- ject aid, and on technical co-operation The bulk of this expenditure will fall in 1980–81 and the next three financial years, with some allowance for slippage thereafter.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he intends supplying aid and financial assistance to Jamaica.

I have not yet received a request from the Government of Jamaica, but I would be ready to give this urgent consideration within the limits of resources available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what study he has made of the booklet "Take It Or Leave It", on the shoplifting problem sent to him by the hon. Member for Christchurch and Lymington; and if he will make a statement.

My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State has carefully considered the proposals contained in this booklet. He wrote to my hon. Friend about his proposals last December, and also discussed them with him at a meeting in July. The Home Office standing committee on crime prevention is currently conducting a review of measures to prevent shoplifting which will take my hon. Friend's proposals into account.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he proposes to take as a result of the decision by the Prison Officers' Association to embark on industrial action at Her Majesty's prison Strangeways, Manchester, which will involve the locking out of visitors, delaying the presentation of prisoners at the Manchester magistrates' and Crown courts, and preventing prisoners, many of whom are kept in cells for more than 20 hours a day, from proceeding to work.

I have repeatedly made clear to the Prison Officers' Association and in this House that I deplore the effects of the industrial action being taken by members of the Prison Officers' Association in prison establishments, including Her Majesty's prison Strange-ways. I shall continue to take all measures open to me to sustain the operation of the criminal justice system, including the prison system, but responsibility for the effects on inmates must lie with those who are taking the industrial action.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give an assurance that the quality of life for inmates of United Kingdom penal institutions is not being affected during the present dispute.

I regret to say that as a result of the industrial action taken by the Prison Officers' Association that quality of life for inmates in many prison service establishments in England and Wales is being adversely affected.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost of housing prisoners in police cells or other accommodation.

The cost of housing prisoners in police cells or other accommodation cannot be estimated with any degree of precision at present, and will depend on the duration of the emergency arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how often police support units of police forces have been used to deal with strikes and demonstrations; what training they receive; and what is the purpose of these units.

Section 14 of the Police Act 1964 provides for one police force to assist another. Police support units (PSUs) are the practical means developed by the police to enable officers to be brought together in order to provide such assistance. Each PSU consists of 20–30 officers. Their training is the responsibility of individual chief officers of police, and there is no central record of this or of occasions when PSUs have been used.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give an assurance that any prisoners being detained in police or other accommodation will receive all entitled privileges and statutory rights.

In the present emergency we cannot be sure that every prisoner in police cells or in an approved place under section 1 of the Imprisonment (Temporary Provisions) Act 1980 is receiving all the entitlements that he could normally expect in prison, but these are being provided so far as is practicable in the circumstances.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many EEC countries charitable donations by companies are deductible for tax purposes; what consideration he is giving to including the United Kingdom among their number; and if he will make a statement.

I shall let the right hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received for relief from value added tax from the Spastics Society, the Save the Children Fund, Dr. Barnardo's, the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, the Royal National Institute for the Blind, the National Society for Mentally Handicapped Children, Help the Aged and the National Children's Home; what reply he is sending; what action he is taking; and if he will make a statement.

The Spastics Society wrote to my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 17 October making representations on behalf of itself and the other organisations mentioned about the burden of value added tax on charities. The society also proposed its inclusion among the bodies for which special provision is made by section 15 of the Finance Act 1972.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the saving at 1980–81 review levels if (a) all income tax relief other than personal allowances and (b) personal allowances were set against the standard rate of tax only.

I shall let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when legislation will be introduced to effect the write-off of guarantee payments made by Her Majesty's Government from the Consolidated Fund to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in respect of loans made by the bank before 1965 to form Governments of Southern Rhodesia.

Under the terms of the settlement between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of Zimbabwe concerning pre-1965 debts of the former Rhodesian Government, Her Majesty's Government have agreed to write off £13·4 million of Consolidated Fund payments made in fulfilment of guarantees given to IBRD for loans raised by former Governments of Southern Rhodesia to finance thermal power plant, railways and agriculture. It is the intention to legislate to effect write-off as soon as practicable by means of a provision in a miscellaneous financial provisions Bill. Until such time as a Bill is passed, the outstanding claim will be noted in the Suplementary Statements to the Consolidated Fund Accounts and statements will be laid before each House of Parliament in accordance with section 3(b) of the Colonial Loans Act 1949.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when, in what form and in what amounts he plans to reflect the renegotiated terms of British membership of the EEC in the Exchequer statements.

The Goverment are cnsidering the form and timing of statements on the United Kingdom's contribution to the European Community budget in the light of the recommendations made by the Public Accounts Committee in its 28 report. We shall be replying to the report in due course. As to amounts, I refer my hon. Friend to the reply which my right hon. Friend the Lord Privy Seal gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr. Carlisle) on 27 October.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, according to the latest available information, when manufacturing investment in relation to gross domestic product is standardised between countries, what is the incremental increase in the rate of growth of the gross domestic product that is generated by the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, the United States of America, Japan and Sweden.

[pursuant to his answer, 6 November 1980]: To provide hypothetical estimates of the kind which the hon. Member has in mind would require a complex set of assumptions and calculations and would involve a disproportionate cost.Estimates of gross domestic product in each of the countries specified are published by OECD in "National accounts of OECD countries", volume I (main aggregates), 1950–1978. Such estimates of investment by manufacturing industry as are available are published inNational accounts of OECD countries", volume II (detailed tables), 1961–1978.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the annual compound increase in, respectively, earnings and unit labour costs in manufacturing over the period 1970 to 1979 in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, the United States of America, Japan and Sweden.

[pursuant to his reply, 6 November 1980]: The figures requested are shown below:Annual compound percentage increase over the period 1970 to 1979:

	Manufacturing earnings	Unit labour costs in manufacturing
United Kingdom	+15*	+13║
Federal Republic of Germany	+8†	+5║
France	+‡	n.a.
Italy	+20‡	n.a.
USA	+ +14§	+5
Japan	+14§	+7║
Sweden	+11†	+14¶
SOURCE: OECD Main Economic Indicators
(i) Historical Statistics 1960–1975
(ii) September 1980
n.a.=not available *weekly earnings;
† hourly earnings; ‡ hourly rates; § monthly earnings; ║ wages and salaries; per unit of output; ¶ hourly labour costs.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will pub-list a list of local authorities which have refused to implement the right-to-buy provisions of the Housing Act 1980.

As far as I am aware the London borough of Greenwich is the only authority which has adopted a resolution not to implement the right-to-buy provisions of the Housing Act 1980.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those district councils which have, individually, lodged formal objection to the Local Government, Planning and Land (No. 2) Bill.

I have received direct representations about the Bill from all the district councils on the following list; some of these contained expressions of opposition to parts of the Bill. In addition, I have received responses to the various consultation papers issued on specific topics contained in the Bill and other representations relating to individual topics.

• Arun district council
• Borough of Barrow-in-Furness
• Beaconsfield district council
• City of Birmingham
• Borough of Blackburn
• Bradford metropolitan district council
• Castle Morpeth borough council
• Cotswold district council
• Exeter city council
• Fylde borough council
• Hambleton district council
• Hertsmere borough council
• Horsham district council
• Huntingdon district council
• Borough of Ipswich
• Leicester city council
• Medina borough council
• Newark district council
• New Forest district council
• North-East Derbyshire district council
• Borough of North Wolds
• City of Portsmouth
• Reigate and Banstead borough council
• Scunthorpe borough council
• South Oxfordshire district council
• Tameside metropolitan borough
• West Devon district council
• West Lancashire district council

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in the light of the substantial costs to local authorities of implementing the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act, he will list the cost to each local authority in England for the latest 12-month period.

The Department does not collect comprehensive financial information specifically relating to the operation of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will seek to repeal or amend drastically the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act, in the light of the burden it has proved to be to so many ratepayers; and if he will make a statement.

The review of the Act is continuing and we shall announce our conclusions fairly soon. The cost of operating the Act is among the issues under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the number of houses completed for use in (a) the private sector, (b) the local authority sector and (c) in any other category for each full year since 1964 and for each month in the current year for which figures are available.

The number of new dwellings completed in Great Britain during the period 1964–68 and 1969–79 published in Housing Statistics No. 20 and Housing and Construction Statistics 1969–79 respectively, copies of Which are in the Library.Corresponding figures for 1980 are:

DWELLINGS COMPLETED IN GREAT BRITAIN
1980	Local authority	Other public sector†	Private sector
January	5489	1739	10650
February	5119	1855	9215
March	5857	2653	9334
April	6036	1543	10521
May	6536	2092	10573
June	6834	3546	11583
July*	7284	2608	11343
August*	5763	1667	9383
September*	6645	2644	12454
* Provisional.
† Includes new towns, housing associations and Government Departments.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to ensure that construction work undertaken from public moneys is done using United Kingdom manufactured building supplies.

It is my Department's practice to use British products wherever possible, subject to our international obligations and the need to obtain value for money.

asked the Minister of Transport when he expects that use of the northbound carriageway of the M18 motorway near Thorne will be again extended to all three lanes.

The surface will be repaired and the third lane reopened as soon as funds and other competing priorities allow.