asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what particular steps he is taking to help the beef producers.

Beef producers are being helped by variable premium payments worth up to £35 or so per animal, by market support in the form of intervention purchases at the rate of over 1,000 tonnes a week, and by subsidies for the private storage of beef. In addition, specialist beef producers benefit from the suckler cow premium worth £12·37 per animal, and the hill livestock compensatory allowance worth £35 per animal.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is satisfied that the support mechanism for beef is being operated to achieve the target prices producers might reasonably expect; and if he will make a statement.

All the market support mechanisms are operating fully. But the fall in the value of hides and offals has depressed producers' returns. I am concerned about the situation and I am keeping it under close review.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps are taken to inform non-profit-making bodies in the United Kingdom of the availability of free fruit, vegetables and fish in times of glut arising in the operation of the common agricultural policy of the European Community.

Producer organisations seeking to withdraw produce from the market under the scheme are encouraged to offer it to local non-profit-making bodies and are supplied with lists of such bodies.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what would be the effect in a whole year on farmers' costs of a 4 per cent. reduction in interest rates.

There are difficulties in making an assessment, but I estimate the reduction in interest charges at about £100 million in a full year, excluding interest on borrowings for land purchase.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1)what would be the effect on the food price index, the retail price index and the total level of United Kingdom animal food expenditure of a 5 per cent., a 10 per cent, and 15 per cent. revaluation of the green pound, respectively;(2) what would be the effect on the retail prices of beef, butter, bacon, sugar, cheese and bread of (

It is not possible to say what precise effects green pound changes will have on the market. These will depend on the market situation for individual commodities and decisions by individual traders. When MCAs increased to 45 per cent. under the previous Administration, there was no evidence to show that this was fully reflected in the market.If prices were to reflect fully the revaluation, the maximum impact on the food and retail price indices would be as follows:

	5%
Food price index	just under 1%
Retail price index	about ¼%
	10%
Food price index	about 1¾%
Retail price index	just under ½%
	13·6%
Food price index	about 2¼%
Retail price index	about ½%
Note
A 15% revaluation of the green pound would not be possible at the current sterling market rate used for the calculation of monetary compensatory amounts; estimates for a revaluation of 13·6 per cent., which would eliminate the current MCA of 11·8 per cent., are therefore given instead.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what would be the short-term and long-term effects on United Kingdom patterns of agricultural production of a 10 per cent. revaluation of the green pound.

It is not possible to say whether there would be any significant shift between products in the short term. In the longer term, however, there would be a tendency to shift from livestock into arable production.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he still intends to legislate to repeal sections of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969.

My right hon. Friend hopes to introduce legislation shortly to remove the duty on local authorities to establish children's regional planning committees, contained in the Children and Young Persons Act 1969. Implementation of the proposals contained in the recent White Paper on young offenders will require the repeal of section 7(3) of the 1969 Act and the amendment of other sections.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his estimate of the absolute minimum annual expenditure needed to prevent the Service for which he is responsible from falling to an unacceptable level.

As the Royal Commission on the NHS pointed out, there is no objective way of establishing what the "right" level of expenditure on the NHS should be. The same is true of a "minimum" level. Today, we are spending about 11 per cent. more on the NHS in real terms than our predecessors presumably considered acceptable in 1974–75. But we can only spend what we can afford to spend.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any further plans for new or increased National Health Service charges.

As indicated in Cmnd. 7841, it is the Government's present policy in relation to the family practitioner services, to increase charges to keep pace with the cost of providing the services.I have no plans to alter prescription charge exemptions.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he intends to seek to repeal the Opticians Act 1958.

The Government consider that it would be against the best interests of patients to abolish the statutory restrictions on the testing of sight and the supply of optical appliances laid down by the Opticians Act. It would be a retrograde step to allow optical services to be provided by unqualified practitioners, particularly because the testing of sight, which includes examination of the eyes, provides a valuable opportunity for the early detection of eye and other diseases.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, in the light of high travel costs, he will relax the restrictions on payment of unemployment benefit by post.

The hon. Member no doubt has in mind the facilities for signing and claiming unemployment benefit by post which are usually offered to claimants who live six miles or more by ordinary road from the unemployment benefit office. Postal claiming carries with it a greater risk of fraud and abuse and my right hon. Friend has no plans to extend the arrangements at the present time.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations he has received in favour of the Government's proposals to change the rates for the payment of sickness benefit; and how this compares with the representations against such proposals.

I assume that the hon. Member is asking about the representations we have received on the proposals for a statutory sick pay scheme contained in the Green Paper "Income During Initial Sickness: A New Strategy". I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Maryhill (Mr. Craigen) and the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe (Mr. Morris) on 7 November.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what discussions he is having with the Post Office regarding the suggested increases in the cost of using the Post Office lines for hospital radio services.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take further steps to reduce the waiting time for National Health Service operations and consultations in Staffordshire.

This is a matter for the Staffordshire area health authority, which I know views with considerable concern the length of waiting lists which currently exist in the country. Substantial improvements will be effected by major hospital schemes being built or planned in Stafford and Stoke. But it is not only capital developments that reduce waiting times, and I am pleased to note that the authority has introduced or is discussing various other measures to increase the number of patients treated.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he proposes to take in connection with the Year of the Disabled in 1981.

I refer my hon. Friend to my replies to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs. Short) on 9 June and 5 November.—[Vol. 986, c. 71–72; Vol. 991, c. 605.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the cost of paying widows, who have remarried and subsequently divorced or been widowed, a pension on the basis of their first husband's national insurance contributions where the second or subsequent husband did not have sufficient contributions to cover any pension claim that might be made.

I regret that this information is not available. It is, in any event, a general principle of the national insurance scheme that a widow who remarries before pension age should look to her newly-acquired husband for benefit rights based on a husband's contributions. A widow in receipt of a retirement pension on her former husband's contributions who remarries after pension age may continue to receive that pension or a pension on her newly-acquired husband's contributions, whichever is the more favourable to her.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are his intentions regarding the implementation of the Warnock report proposals.

The Government published their response to the Warnock report in the White Paper "Special Needs in Education" (Cmnd. 7996) and hope to be able to introduce early legislation. Statutory, professional and voluntary organisations have been consulted and their responses to the proposals outlined in the White Paper will be given full consideration in the drafting of legislation for which the main responsibility lies with my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science.The Government's overall approach to meeting special educational needs requires a substantial contribution from the health and personal social services as well as from voluntary organisations and other agencies. A great deal of work is already being done by social services departments, health authorities, voluntary organisations and others along the lines recommended by the Warnock Committee. Some developments will be possible within existing resources but inevitably any significant increase in the contribution of these organisations must await improvements in the general economic situation.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what further cuts he proposes to make in the payment of welfare benefits.

The House has approved a number of measures securing savings in the Social Security budget which will be implemented over the coming months. I have no further statement to make.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total number of comments and representations received by his Department on "Income During Sickness: A New Strategy", Cmnd. 7864.

Representations and comments on the Green Paper "Income During Initial Sickness: A New Strategy" are still arriving. Almost 900 have been received to date.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he will be publishing the report of the chief dental officer's working party on the arrangements for dentists within the restructured National Health Service.

I propose to publish the report of the chief dental officer's working party, together with that of the chief medical officer, shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services which sites are being considered for the construction of low energy district hospitals; and when he expects to make a decision.

The Department is considering several possible sites for a demonstration low energy hospital, including, among others, the potential of Newport, Isle of Wight.My right hon. Friend hopes to announce a final decision early next year.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the effect on the health of persons who worked within the vicinity of a microwave appliance working in excess of the 5mW/cm² limit.

The evidence available is that no harm would occur to a person exposed for several hours to microwave radiation at a level of up to 100 milliwatts per square centimeter. Prolonged exposure to higher levels could cause heat stress, cataract, cardiovascular and testicular effects and changes in brain wave patterns, but is most unlikely to occur from appliances designed to conform with the current United Kingdom recommendations for maximum emission.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will take steps to initiate research into and call for evidence from the Federal Food and Drugs Administration on possible toxic shock effects from the use of internal sanitary protection tampons containing cellulose of the type recently withdrawn from sale in the United States of America.

The Department has been in contact with the United States Food and Drug Administration. Some information has already been received and is being considered. Further data are being sought from them.Other action is being taken as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the cost of drugs to the National Health Service for each of the last three years; and whether he considers that significant economies can be obtained by more responsible prescription.

The cost of drugs, exclusive of fees and allowances paid to chemists and dispensing doctors, in the National Health Service in England for each of the last three years was:

Year ended	million
31 March 1978	£565
1979	£673
1980	£781 (Provisional)

This includes the hospital and community health drug costs.My Department takes a number of measures aimed at securing effectiveness and economy in prescribing. Among the more important are:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether his Department subscribes to the journal "Communication Outlook".

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the micro-writer device has been successfully used as a portable typing device by senior officers of his Department.

The microwriter device has been used successfully by a small number of senior officers employed on specialist work.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what technical advice he has sought from specialised technical agencies such as the Central Computer and Telecommunication Agency and the National Computer Centre in relation to the choice of electronic or microcomputer-based equipment to be provided by his Department for severely handicapped people.

Technical advice about electronic equipment is available to me from the Scientific and Technical Branch of this Department; and about microcomputer-based equipment from the Management Support and Computers Division. So far, it has not been necessary for them to consult the central computer and telecommunication agency or the National Computer Centre.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the commercially available miniature Winchester disc systems available for personal microcomputers; whether any of these has been the subject of technical evaluation by officers of his Department; and whether any research has been undertaken, or is proposed, into the use of these disc systems to assist digitised speech synthesis by people without speech.

Commercially available miniature Winchester disc systems, available for personal microcomputers, have not been investigated and, therefore, a list is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how long he estimates the average non-urgent case requiring ophthalmic surgery has to wait after the operation has been recommended by a surgeon.

Information is not available in the form requested. In 1977, the average waiting time for the specialty of ophthalmology in England and Wales, based on a 1 in 10 sample, was 19·3 weeks. This figure includes both urgent and non-urgent cases; most but not all of them would have involved operations. On 30 September 1979, there was 41,021 patients in England waiting for non-urgent ophthalmological treatment in hospitals, of whom 9,913 or 24 per cent. had been waiting for more than one year.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide the evidence on which he bases his assessment that the National Health Service will benefit financially and otherwise by contracting essential services, namely, laundry, catering, and so on, to private contractors.

It is for individual health authorities to determine, in the light of local needs and circumstances, the advantages of putting a particular service out to contract. Such contracts of course already exist. I believe that there are many situations in which the initiative and cost-consciousness of private contractors can be of benefit to the National Health Service, and I am anxious that authorities should give careful consideration to the possibility of collaborating with industry in providing a variety of services.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many representations he has received on the proposed employers' statutory sick pay scheme; and how many of these representations favour the scheme.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Maryhill (Mr. Craigen) and the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe (Mr. Morris) on 7 November.—[Vol. 991, c. 683–85.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has yet completed his review of his Department's policy on cervical smear tests to detect cancer; and if he will make a statement.

Recommendations from the committee on gynaecological cytology about recall arrangements are at present under consideration and the committee is now reviewing their recommendations on the age and frequency of cervical screening.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the most up-to-date comparison available towards the maternity grants and allowances available in other member countries of the EEC and those currently available in the United Kingdom.

The latest information on the maternity grants and allowances available in member countries of the European Community is contained in the Department's publication "Social Benefit Tables for Member States of the European Communities: Position at 1 January 1980". A copy is in Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services why the pension of Mr. Graham Turner, of 43A Station Road, Haxby, York YO3 8LU, former North Yorkshire area dental officer, due to commence on 15 June was not paid on the due date, and when paid was paid in an incorrect amount with an incorrect amount of tax deducted and sent to the wrong address; why he is still owed a £217·75 lump sum; and if he will make a statement.

As my office is responsible for paying Mr. Turner's National Health Service pension, I have been asked to reply.A payment of £217·75 was sent to Mr. Turner on 31 October, but in the meantime I am having an immediate investigation made into the remaining matters and will be writing to my hon. Friend when I am in possession of all the facts.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many surgical operations have been carried out on citizens living within the Birmingham area health authority area by the Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham area health authority during 1980; what transfer payments between the two authorities have taken place in respect of these operations; and if he will make a statement.

Detailed information of this kind is not routinely held by the Department and the hon. Member may like to contact the area health authorities direct.There is nothing to prevent a health authority agreeing with another to provide a particular service on its behalf, and for such arrangements to be funded directly by the receiving authority. For inpatient services, however, such a procedure would be exceptional, since in the normal way resource allocations to health authorities take into account inpatient services provided for other health authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about the possible dangers to walkers caused by the "diamond lattice" type of cattle grid.

Two such representations have been received from the Ramblers Association, and a further two from members of the public.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the sudden price increase of Health and Safety Executive guidance notes and the effect on the ability of safety representatives and trade unions to purchase sufficient copies for their use; and why the price increase of the threshold limit values guidance note was 400 per cent.

I am informed by the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the increase in the price of material printed and sold on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by Her Majesty's Stationery Office results from a recent recommendation by Her Majesty's Stationery Office to move towards charging an economic price, bearing in mind the considerable increases in the costs of printing and distribution which have taken place during the past four years.

BACKGROUND NOTE

1. Wages councils determine statutory minimum rates of pay in certain trades and industries where there is no adequate machinery for the effective regulation of remuneration. Wages councils are established under the Wages Councils Act 1979. This consolidated earlier legislation last amended under the Employment Protection Act 1975.

2. The councils usually determine a number of different rates covering different skills, ages and grades of worker. The rates shown in the reply are those for a typical grade of adult worker in main provincial areas. In some cases there are lower rates for other areas and in most cases there are lower rates for young persons and all councils set age related pay scales. It would be impracticable to show every rate which the councils determine.

LICENSED NON-RESIDENTIAL ESTABLISHMENT WAGES COUNCIL
Effective date of Wages Council's Order			Barman		Barmaid
			£		£
22 August 1971	…	…	12·65		10·60
20 January 1974	…	…	14·50		12·85
5 November 1974	…	…	14·50+		12·85+
			3·20 cost of living supplement		3·20 cost of living supplement
22 December 1974	…	…	22·10		20·95
22 December 1975	…	…		28·10
22 December 1976	…	…		30·60
22 December 1977	…	…		34·45
15 January 1979	…	…		43·70
15 January 1980	…	…		55·00

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the average award made in each of the past 10 years and its date of effect by the following wages councils and their predecessors: hairdressing undertakings, licensed non-residential establishments, licensed residential establishments, retail food and allied trades, retail trades nonfood and unlicensed places of refreshment.

Information is not available in the form requested. Wages councils determine minimum rates only, which vary with the age and grade of the worker and the area of employment. The tables below give the minimum rate for a typical grade of worker employed in main provincial areas outside London.