asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number of working days lost through strikes and stoppages for each year between 1966 and 1980.

Following is the information requested.

Working days lost in industrial stoppages: 1966–80
	Thousands
1966	2,398
1967	2,787
1968	4,690
1969	6,846
1970	10,980
1971	13,551
1972	23,909
1973	7,197
1974	14,750
1975	6,012
1976	3,284
1977	10,142
1978	9,405
1979	29,475
1980	*11,910
* Provisional

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will give for the latest and most convenient stated date the numbers of unemployed in the London borough of Newham together with similar details for a year ago.

At 15 January 1981, the provisional number of people registered as unemployed in the area covered by the Canning Town, East Ham and Stratford employment offices, which closely corresponds to the London borough of Newham, was 10,695. The corresponding figure at 10 January 1980 was 5,895.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what studies have been undertaken into the possibility that pentachlorophenol, used in dry rot and woodworm treatment, causes cancer.

Studies have been carried out in Sweden and the United States to investigate a possible association between exposure to pentachlorophenol and certain types of cancer.Animal studies have also been conducted into the carcinogenic potential of pentachlorophenol and its contaminants and I understand that the Health and Safety Executive will be considering the most recent of these when full results are available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment for what applications pentachlorophenol is used in the United Kingdom.

I understand that one of the major uses of pentachlorophenol in the United Kingdom is as a pesticide for wood preservation and for the treatment of masonry to inhibit undesirable biological growths such as algae, fungi and moss. It is also used as a textile preservative, as a fungicide in surface coatings and adhesives and as a slimicide in the paper and board industry.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what consideration the Government are giving to a proposal that young people on the youth opportunity programme should receive some military training in uniform.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he has taken to secure increased observance of the quota for the employment of disabled people by public sector employers since May 1979; and what steps he will now take.

[pursuant to his reply, 27 January 1981, c. 305]: Since May 1979 all employers have been regularly reminded of their obligations regarding the employment of disabled people. I acknowledge the importance of public sector employers setting a good example in this connection and have continued, with their agreement, to publish figures relating to their employment of registered disabled people in the November issues of the Employment Gazette. Copies are available in the Library.However, quota figures do not give an accurate picture of the employment of disabled people, since they relate only to the employment of those people who voluntarily register as disabled. A decline in the number of registered disabled people and an increasing reluctance amongst disabled people to register, seriously restrict the ability of employers in both the public and private sectors to achieve the 3 per cent. quota. The scheme is, therefore, no longer fully effective and the Manpower Services Commission is reviewing it. The commission hopes to be able to make recommendations to my right hon. Friend within the next few months on the future strategy for helping disabled people to get and keep suitable jobs.Meanwhile, new legislation regarding the employment of disabled people has been introduced in the Companies Act Regulations 1980 which requires all companies employing over 250 people to state, in their annual directors' reports, their policy towards employment of disabled people. Although the regulations do not apply to public sector employers the Government are drawing their attention to them.Irrespective of any legislative provisions, it will be necessary to continue drawing attention to the needs and abilities of disabled workers through education and persuasion. I therefore fully support the MSC's "Fit for Work" campaign, which aims to encourage employers in both the public and private sectors to provide more and better job opportunities for disabled people, whether registered or not.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment when was the weekly rate of payment of the work experience on employers' premises scheme fixed; and if he has any plans to raise it.

[pursuant to his reply, 27 January 1981 c. 376]: Young people involved in work experience on employers' premises receive the same weekly rate of allowance as other trainees on the youth opportunities programme. The current weekly allowance of £23·50 was set in November 1979 and the Government have no plans to increase it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make an interim statement on the progress of the inquiry into the Crown Agents concerning the loss of £200 million of public funds; when the inquiry commenced; how many meetings have been held to date; how many witnesses have already been heard and are to be heard; how many days the inquiry has sat; what have been the legal costs to date, actual or estimated; when the inquiry is likely to report; what the total and legal costs will be on the basis of present known figures and estimates thereon; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to a question by my right hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Mr. Peyton) on 15 December last in which I set out some of the information for which the hon. Member asks.Up to 27 January the tribunal has heard evidence on 254 days; in addition it has met in private on 74 occasions. 91 witnesses will have been heard when the current stage of the public hearings is completed; four new witnesses are to be heard in the final stage beginning on 29 January and at least one earlier witness is to be recalled. The hearings are likely to be completed next week and the tribunal is expected to report towards the end of this year.Actual expenditure on legal costs to date amounts to approximately £0·75 million and total expenditure to the end of December was £1·7 million. These figures do not include the cost of the Treasury Solicitor's staff, fees for which bills have not yet been submitted or bills for approximately £0·1 million that are currently being examined; and no allowance has been made for the cost of accommodation for the hearings in Government buildings. It is not possible at this stage to estimate the final total costs of the tribunal.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the areas or divisions for which the Boundary Commissions for England and Wales have published provisional recommendations for new constituency boundaries; and if he will indicate for each area or division whether the commissions have published revised recommendations.

The Boundary Commisson for England has published provisional recommendations for parliamentary constituencies in the counties of Avon, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcester, Hertfordshire, Humberside, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex and Wiltshire, and in the Greater London area. The commission has published revised recommendations for constituencies in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Surrey.The Boundary Commission for Wales has not yet commenced its general review of constituencies.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the figures for 1977, 1978 and 1979 for crimes of robbery, rape and violence in the Metropolitan area.

The information requested for serious offences recorded by the police is published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales"—table 32 of the volume for 1979, Cmnd 8098.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response he has given to the Equal Opportunities Commission following its recommendation that there should be 25 amendments to the Equal Pay and Sex Discrimination Act to block existing loopholes in the law; and if he will make a statement.

I have written to the chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission to say that we shall, in consultation with other Government Departments, give careful consideration to the proposed amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, but that there is little prospect of early legislation.Proposals to amend the Equal Pay Act 1970 are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in view of the fact that the use of shotguns in serious offences declined from 13 per cent. to 10 per cent. as shown in criminal statistics for England and Wales, 1979, but that this decline is masked by the inclusion in the same table of air weapon offences involving criminal damage of £20 or more, he will either have the weapon-by-weapon figures shown in separate tables in future, or alternatively raise the air weapon criminal damage figure to £100.

We shall reply as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects his review of the method by which firearms fees increases are arrived at will be completed.

We expect the review to be completed in the spring.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, arising out of the prisons emergency, any changes have been made to the cash limit on the prisons vote for 1980–81.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit on

Volume of Exports
Percentage changes*on a year earlier
	Japan	Sweden	Norway	Austria	Australia	European community†
1978	-1	+6½	+23	+10	-2	+5
1979	-½	+8	+6	+13	+13	+6½
1980	+19‡‡	N.A.	+14‡	+6½††	+13‡	+5½**
Volume of Imports
Percentage chances*on a year earlier
	Japan	Sweden	Norway	Austria	Australia	European community†
1978	+6½	-7	-12	-1½	+4½	+3½
1979	+11	+15	+5½	+11	+3½	+10
1980	-5½‡‡	N.A.	+17‡	+11††	N.C‡	+5**
* Estimates based on rounded indices.
† Including Greece.
‡ January-June 1980 on same period a year earlier.
** January-July 1980 on same period a year earlier.
†† January-August 1980 on same period a year earlier.
‡‡ January-September 1980 on same period a year earlier.
N.A Not available. N.C No change. Source: Eurostat Monthly External Trade Bulletin. IMF International Financial Statistics.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the number of company liquidations in England and Wales for the last three months of 1980, what percentage this was of 1980's total; how these quarterly figures compared with the same period in 1979; whether he will also give the annual figures for 1980 compared with 1979; how much higher or lower these were on a percentage basis; and to what extent the self-employed accounted for this total.

The figures are as follows:

	Number of company liquidations*	Percentage of annual total
4th quarter 1980	2210	32
4th quarter 1979	1502	33
Year 1980	6876
Year 1979	4537
* Compulsory and creditors' voluntary liquidations.

Liquidations in the year 1980 were 52 per cent. higher than in 1979.Self-employed persons are subject to bankruptcy proceedings and over the last four years have accounted

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what are his best estimates for growth in trade over each of the last three years in Japan, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Australia and the European Economic Community.

The available information is as follows:for between 75 and 80 per cent. of all bankruptcy cases, as can be seen from table 2 of the article on insolvencies in

asked the Secretary of State for Trade how many metric tonnes of raw cane sugar were imported into (a) the United Kingdom and (b) the EEC as a whole from (i) the West Indies and (ii) Mauritius in each year since 1970 up to the latest for which figures are available.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what was, the total value of the imports of manufactured goods from Japan in 1980; and if he will give a breakdown of all goods imported, giving the number of units in each section.

Statistics of the value of our imports from Japan, by SITC division, are published in table II—page 29—of the "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom", copies of which are in the Library. Aggregated information in terms of number of units imported is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the value of United Kingdom exports of the following manufactured goods to Japan in 1980 (a) televisions, (b) radios, (c) high fidelity systems, d) motor vehicles, (e) electronic calculators and (f) textiles; and how many units were exported in each section where definition is possible.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he now has the report on the Dan Air 727 crash on 25 April 1980; and if he will publish the report.

The Spanish authorities have not yet passed to my Department the final report upon the accident to the Dan Air 727, G-BDAN, at Tenerife. The United Kingdom accredited representative was assured, when he was in Spain during the last week of November, that the report should be available in early January. The Spanish authorities have recently been asked for information upon the progress of the report.A decision on publication will be taken in due course.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade (1) if he will break down the figures for firm insolvencies and bankruptcies for each of the last three years by the industrial sector concerned;(2) if he will break down the figures for company liquidations for each of the last three years by the industrial sector concerned.

An industrial breakdown for 1978,1979 and the first three quarters of 1980 is provided in table 2 on bankruptcies and in table 3 on company liquidations in British Business, 23 January 1981 page 179. Corresponding figures for the last quarter of 1980 are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what compensation has been paid out in each of the last five years by his Department to persons making claims for injury and damage for which his Department was responsible.

Total payments for compensation for injury and damage included in the notes to my Department's Appropriation Accounts are as follows:

1975–76	£7,601	(two cases)
1979–80	£11,100	(two cases)

Up to 1977–78 the notes do not include individual payments or total payments less than £100 and, from 1978–79, less than £1,000

asked the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to make a statement on the future of combined heat and power in the United Kingdom.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Members for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) and Derbyshire, South-East (Mr. Rost) on Monday 26 January 1981.—[Vol. 997, c. 619–620.]

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will make a statement about the prospects for introducing a joint meter reading system for the gas and electricity industries.

A series of five different studies over the period 1954–1973 indicated that the savings achievable in meter reading costs would be largely or wholly offset by the additional costs of setting up and running a joint system. Three of these studies were by independent bodies. The most recent of these was in 1969. However, I have recently asked the industries to re-assess the position to take account of any changes over the past few years which mighy have shifted the balance of costs and benefits. They have now advised me that, in their view, the prospects are, if anything, even less favourable than at the time of the earlier studies.Both industries advise that a joint system would require either the re-referencing and re-organising of their existing computer systems and files or the devising of an additional common reference which could be linked to the industries' present customer reference codes. The industries have no doubt that the costs involved in either of these changes could not be justified by any resulting savings, nor are there at present any technical developments in prospect which would help to make joint meter reading a more viable proposition in the longer term.I understand that better prospects for obtaining real savings are offered by a possible reduction in the frequency with which meters are read and perhaps, in the longer term, the introduction of remote meter reading. Both industries are examining possible variations in reading and billing frequencies. For example, the industries might, depending on customers' views, move in the long term to reading meters at, say, half-yearly intervals, but billing more frequently. Two electricity boards are currently involved in limited field trials of remote metering and the industry is investigating the questions of load control, tele-switching and metering. The British Gas Corporation is also involved in the proposals for future pilot field trials to assess economic and practical viability. Any time scale for developing remote meter reading and load control on an operational basis throughout the country will be long term and will depend on the results of these investigations and trials, technological developments in the electronecs field, and the formidable task of installing the equipment in millions of customers' homes.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what other payments Lord Thomson of Monifieth receives from public funds in addition to his £19,048 salary and expense allowance; and whether any of these payments or attendance allowances are on a tax-free basis.

Lord Thomson's salary and expense allowance as chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority are not paid out of public funds but from the authority's own funds.The only money which Lord Thomson is entitled to draw from public funds is the peers' expenses allowance. This allowance is tax free.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what is the current strength of the scientific Civil Service; what it was five years ago; what is the planned total in 1983; and what proportion of these totals is represented by graduate level staff.

The strength of the scientific Civil Service (SCS) at 1 October 1980 was 17,330, part-time staff being counted as half units. The corresponding figure at 1 October 1975 was 18,550. It is estimated that rather under 50 per cent. of the SCS were graduates on both dates. No targets for 1983 have been set.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service how many graduate level scientists and engineers have been recruited to the scientific Civil Service in each of the last five years; and how many are planned to be recruited in the current year and the next two years.

The numbers of those appointed to the scientific Civil Service in the last five calendar years are: 1976, 252; 1977, 268; 1978, 515; 1979, 617; 1980 (provisional) some 370. (Data from the Civil Service Commission's Annual Reports 1976–79 which should be consulted for definitions.)Tentative information from Departments indicates that in 1981 some 300 graduate scientists and engineers will be required. In the two following years, recruitment will depend on departmental needs.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether any moratorium has been imposed on the recruitment of graduate level scientists and engineers to the scientific Civil Service.

No such moratorium has been imposed.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what is the proportion of graduate level working scientists and engineers employed in the scientific Civil Service; how this proportion has changed over the last 20 years; and whether he plans to reduce the total of graduate level employees in the scientific Civil Service.

Reliable information is not available centrally on the detail of graduate level employment in the scientific Civil Service (SCS). It is estimated that at 1 October 1980 rather under 50 per cent. of the SCS were graduates, a similar proportion to that at 1 October 1975, the earliest year for which central information is available. The reduction in Civil Service manpower which the Government have announced will affect all levels of the service.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what are the main establishments in which members of the scientific Civil Service work; to which Government Departments these establishments are linked; and what are the numbers of scientific civil servants employed at each establishment.

Information on the staffing of individual establishments within, or linked with, Government Departments, is not held centrally. Available details were published as annex G to the "Review of the Scientific Civil Service"—Cmnd. 8032—and are reproduced below. Individual Departments would be responsible for the provision of further information:

Unit/Division	Number of Scientists employed
Ministry of Defence
Met. Office (5 Directorates)	2,278	at July 1979
Controller of Establishment and Research (12 Establishments)	6,223	at January 1980
Department of Industry
Laboratory of Government Chemist	1,666	at April 1979
National Engineering Laboratory
National Maritime Institute
National physical Laboratory
Warren spring Laboratory
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and food
Central R&D and Servicing Laboratories	1,180	at July 1979
Regional R&D and Servicing Laboratories	660	at July 1979
Department of the Environment/Transport
Building Research Establishment	496	at July 1979
Transport Road Research Laboratory	470	at July 1979
Hydraulics Research Station	158	at July 1979
Home Office
Forensic Science Service:
Central Research Establishment	58	at July 1979
Laboratories	395	at July 1979
Scottish Office
Agricultural Scientific Services	119	at July 1979
Fisheries Research	192	at July 1979
Botanical Horticultural Research	38	at July 1979
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Overseas Development Administration	439	at August 1979
Department of Employment
Health and Safety Executive	352	at May 1979

asked the Minister for the Civil Service how many civil servants there are in post who are in receipt of an occupational pension.

On 30 September 1980, 28,100 Civil Service pensioners were re-employed full-time or part-time in the Civil Service. In most cases, the pension was wholly or partially abated. It is not known how many civil servants are in receipt of other occupational pensions.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many young people participated in the youth opportunities programme in 1980 in Wales; and what percentage were females.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that 26,846 young people participated in the youth opportunities programme in Wales in 1980 of whom it is estimated about half were females.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales whether the marginal land survey in Wales will be completed in time for any newly designated marginal land areas to be taken into account by the 1981 autumn review of the less favoured areas.

The survey is under way and a case for extending the less favoured areas in the United Kingdom as a whole could be ready for submission to the European Commission by the end of the year. I can give no undertakings as to the outcome or timing of a decision.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what level of increase he envisages that the removal of water equalisation charges and the Government's decision that water authorities work within set cash limits will have on the water rates for the coming year.

The loss of equalisation payments is expected to add some 5 per cent. to the average bill for unmeasured water supply for 1981–82 in the area of the Welsh water authority. The setting of an external financial limit affects charges only to the extent of limiting the amount the authority may borrow; it is for it to set its charges in the light of this and other relevant considerations, but I am sure that it will bear in mind the need to keep any increase to the minimum, consistent with sound financing and the maintenance of adequate standards of service.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he intends implementing to counter the substantial cutback in farm capital grant applications in Wales.

It is not possible to compare numbers of applications for capital grants now that prior approval is no longer required. I note, however, that claims received under the national and the EC schemes taken together have risen from about 18,000 in 1979 to 21,000 in 1980, and grant paid from about 15 million to £17½ million. The right way to improve take-up is to create a better economic climate for industry generally, including agriculture, and to get interest rates down; that is what the Government's economic policies aim to do.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the number of employees in his Department on 1 April 1974 and 31 December 1980.

A total of 1,210 and 2,356 permanent staff on 1 April 1974 and 1 Jaunary 1981 respectively. This increase reflects the considerable additional responsibilities assumed by my Department during this period.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the number unemployed by order of the standard industrial classification and the number of vancancies in each employment office area in Wales at the latest available date.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 21 January 1981.—[Vol. 997 c. 182.]

asked the Secretary of State for Wales, in the light of the problems presently encountered in areas like Nant-y-glyn and Pen-y-glyn, Bagillt, where mining subsidence is making large numbers of council houses uninhabitable, if he will commission a special study of this problem in mining areas of Wales with a view to increasing future housing investment programme grants for the councils so affected.

Local authorities include their proposals for dealing with subsidence problems affecting housing in their areas in their housing strategy and investment programmes which are submitted to me annually, and these are considerd together with other factors in determining the housing element of their block capital allocation. The question of mining and other subsidence has been the subject of technical consideration by the Department for many years.

asked the Attorney-General what have been the effects of the scale of charges laid down in the Public Trustee (Fees) Order 1980 whereby the annual fee for administering an estate of less then £50,000 gross is in excess of £900 irrespective of how much actual work has been involved.

Under the Public Trustee Act 1906, these fees must cover the annual costs and expenses incidental to the working of the Act; the fees reflect only the cost of providing his services.The effects of the fees order referred to, which came into force on 1 April 1980, will be known when the Public Trustee's annual report is published later this year.

asked the Attorney-General if he will publish in the Official Report lists of magistrates' courts in (a) inner London and (b) the rest of the Metropolitan Police district, showing the number of applications for and refusals of legal aid for magistrates' court proceedings in 1979, distinguishing between committal proceedings, summary trials of indictable and each-way offences, and summary trials of purely summary offences.

The numbers of applications for legal aid and the numbers refused for all magistrates'

Applications for and Refusals of Legal Aid for Proceedings in Magistrates' and Juvenile Courts in the Metropolitan Area
	Number of applications
			Summary Trials
1979	Committal Proceedings		Indictable/Triable-either-way offences		Summary offences
	Total	Refused	Total	Refused	Total	Refused
INNER LONDON
City of London
Guildhall	114	—	171	8	62	7
Mansion House	62	6	153	13	32	13
Bow Street	509	8	1,583	227	738	345
Camberwell Green	667	14	1,474	70	887	127
Clerkenwell	676	—	1,492	71	141	34
Greenwich	195	2	1,454	169	284	112
Hampstead	167	—	359	31	91	35
Highbury Corner	605	42	944	123	459	135
Inner London Juvenile	167	—	3,699	91	764	89
Horseferry Road	316	—	2,077	248	658	148
Marlborough Street	377	9	1,673	293	233	58
Marylebone	865	14	1,837	159	645	138
Old Street	376	4	1,021	82	89	13
South Western	724	16	1,629	184	377	131
Thames	313	—	1,011	18	239	76
Tower Bridge	393	23	951	178	220	100
Wells Street	20	—	162	32	153	44
West London (Southcombe Street)	423	—	611	90	614	82
West London (Walton Street)	1	—	11	1	19	11
Woolwich	210	—	436	83	51	39
Total Inner London	7,180	138	22,748	2,171	6,756	1,737
OUTER LONDON
Barnet	65	1	172	23	259	78
Barking	112	—	759	271	126	76
Bexley	154	—	570	2	213	74
Brentford and Ealing	327	2	1,572	296	791	273
Bromley	70	—	1,373	42	332	134
Cheshunt	25	—	206	12	51	19
Croyndon	29	—	1,711	155	474	189
Dartford	81	1	316	22	140	69
Dorking	—	—	215	10	80	17
Edmonton	650	36	1,162	151	979	452
Epping and Ongar	72	—	247	24	94	54
Epsom	43	1	265	10	82	35
Esher and Walton	56	—	288	34	47	22
Gore	341	2	1,035	76	349	125
Havering	176	—	750	22	134	94
Highgate	260	34	623	343	222	150
Kingston-Upon-Thames	69	—	588	40	134	45
Newham	317	—	2,120	228	529	220
New Spelthorne	74	3	216	30	102	38
Redbridge	56	—	993	218	149	95
Richmond-Upon-Thames	180	2	426	66	142	59
South Mimms	40	1	90	7	47	38
Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames	112	—	343	49	49	15
Sutton	61	1	154	51	135	45
Uxbridge	196	14	1,131	403	220	155
Wallington	134	3	357	40	122	56
Waltham Forest	407	—	2,018	241	121	—
Watford	94	—	824	26	97	55
Willesdon	54	—	1,087	90	268	93
Acton	65	1	450	103	111	62
Wimbledon	95	1	328	63	110	47
Total Outer London	4,415	103	22,389	3,148	6,709	2,884
Total	11,595	241	45,137	5,319	13,465	4,621

asked the Lord Privy Seal how many persons are employed in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office dealing with the provision of furniture, and what is the total cost to the Exchequer.

The provision of furniture for Government Departments at home and for residences and offices for the Diplomatic Service at posts overseas is the responsibility of the Property Services Agency of the Department of the Environment. The accommodation and services department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the office services branch in the Overseas Development Administration, deal with accommodation, transport and office services questions in addition to matters connected with office furniture. It is not possible to separate out, without disproportionate expense, the numbers and costs of staff engaged on the latter type of work.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's decision to make a further loan of £30 million to the Polish Government; to what extent £15 million of this is to be spent on cheap EEC food as a condition of the loan; and whether similar facilities are to be granted to the Government of Cuba.

	As at June 1975	Current Position	Percentage Increase
Basic Parliamentary Salary	£5,750	£11,750	104
Prices*	137·1	(Dec. 80) 275·6	101
Average Earnings†	233·4	(Nov. 80 pro) 474·3	112
Circuit Judge‡	£13,000	£22,000	69
Civil Service Assistant Secretary (Scale minimum)	£8,650	£16,500	91
Civil Service Principal (Scale minimum)	£5,680	£10,600	87
Area Electricity Board, Chairman (min. of range)§	£12,830	£23,750	85
Notes
* The General Index of Retail Prices.
† The index of average earnigs—all industries and services—seasonally adjusted.
‡ Selected as typical of the pattern of salary increases for the judiciary.
§ Selected as typical of the pattern of increases at lower levels of nationalized industry board salaries

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will give details of any overheads that have to be met by the Refreshment Department; whether these include any staff wages; and what effect these factors have on the costs of food for sale.

I have been asked to reply.The following are the Department's forecast overheads for 1980–81:

	£
Stocktaking	7,000
Group 4 Security	1,350
Insurance	3,800
Uniforms	12,000
Cleaning Materials	7,000
Contracts Cleaning	72,000
Staff Car Hire etc.	14,000
Hospitality	3,000

The Polish Government have asked us and other Western countries for help in dealing with their current economic difficulties. The further credit guaranteed by Her Majesty's Government reflects our willingness to play our part. We have provided guarantees for £15 million which may be used for the purchase of European Community food and some additional new export credit to permit normal business to continue. We have also agreed to maintain ECGD cover for short term business. Exceptionally, we have agreed to provide guarantees for loans to cover a significant proportion of guaranteed debt due to the United Kingdom during the first quarter of 1981.The question whether similar facilities should be granted to the Government of Cuba has not arisen.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to what extent Members' salaries during the past five years have kept up with or exceeded inflation, the cost of living, the national average wage, the salaries of judges, civil servants and the chairmen and members of nationalised industries.

The information is given in the following table:

	£
Laundry	16,000
Kitchen Light Equipment	12,000
Paperware (Disposables)	6,000
Repairs and Renewals Crockery, Cutlery and Glassware	45,000
	199,150
Staff Meals	55,000
Banqueting wages (including overtime for permanent staff and the wages to casual staff) where applicable	50,000
	304,150

These have to be taken into account in fixing the prices of food for sale.

asked the Lord Privy Seal, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Northampton, North on 26 January, if he will give in detail the reasons why providing a list of voluntary repatriation schemes in European Economic Community countries would be disproportionately expensive; and what is his estimate of the cost of providing such information in respect of each individual country.

The cost of staff time overseas in making the necessary inquiries would far exceed the customary limit.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if the present association agreement with Turkey contains as one of its goals the free circulation of Turkish workers within the Community on the same terms as European Economic Community citizens.

Article 12 of the Ankara Agreement of 1963 commits the Community and Turkey to "achieve progressively free movement of labour between themselves". In September 1980 certain improvements in favour of Turkish workers in the Community were agreed but these did not accord Turkish workers the same terms as Community citizens.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers are employed in the Greater Manchester area; how this compares with each of the previous three years; and if he will publish the numbers of qualified teachers unemployed, both nationally and in the region.

The latest available figures for teachers in service are for September 1980. In the local education authority areas in Greater Manchester there were then 27,954 teachers in the maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special education sectors, including unattached units for handicapped children, or providing education otherwise than at school under section 56 of the Education Act 1944. The comparable figures for September in 1977, 1978 and 1979 were, respectively, 27,970, 28,377 and 28,510. Part-time teachers are counted on the basis of their full-time equivalence. In December 1980 there were 11,255 people registered in England with the Department of Employment as unemployed and seeking teaching posts in schools. The comparable figure for the North-West of England was 1,854; separate information on Greater Manchester is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he hopes to announce his decision in respect of the proposed closure by Staffordshire local education authority of Lindsay first school, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.

My right hon. and learned Friend is at present giving careful consideration to this proposal and will announce his decision as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many areas in England he has been able to identify as socially and educationally deprived; and how many children attend primary and secondary schools in these areas.

My Department does not designate areas of social and educational deprivation. However, 2,958 primary and secondary schools in England are currently classified as social priority schools according to criteria laid down by the Burnham primary and secondary committees.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children are in special schools; and how many teachers are employed in this sector of education.

According to returns from maintained and non-maintained special schools in England, in January 1980 there were 128,848 full-time and 876 part-time pupils on the registers of such schools; 16,429 full-time teachers and part-time teachers equivalent to 513 full-time teachers were employed in them.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers are employed nationally in the nursery school sector; and, of these, how many are employed in the county districts of the Greater Manchester metropolitan area.

In January 1980, the latest date for which the information is available, the total full-time equivalent numbers of qualified and other teachers employed in maintained nursery schools or in nursery classes in maintained primary schools were as follows:

Metropolitan districts in Greater Manchester	Teaching staff in nursery schools and nursery classes*
Bolton	50
Bury	16
Manchester	254
Oldham	40
Rochdale	41
Salford	80
Stockport	24
Tameside	40
Trafford	12
Wigan	31
Total Greater Manchester	588
England	5,974
* Including the full-time equivalent numbers of part-time teachers.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many whole-time nursery places are available for 100 children in the areas of educational priority.

Statistics for areas smaller than local education authorities are not normally compiled by my Department and the figures requested are not, therefore, readily available for areas of educational priority.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what policies of positive discrimination are now applied to favour schools serving educational priority areas.

There are no formally designated educational priority areas. There are, however, various policies through which central Government endeavours to assist local authorities in combating educational disadvantage. These include grant aid for educational projects under the urban programme and section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966; discrimination in school building programmes in favor of deprived areas; and the sponsorship of relevant research projects. In addition, salary supplements are currently paid to teachers in schools designated by the Burnham committee as social priority schools.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about fees for overseas students at British universities, polytechnics and other institutions of higher education for 1981–82.

My right hon. and learned Friend expects to make a comprehensive announcement very soon about tuition fees for the academic year 1981–82.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what extra cost was incurred by Bedfordshire county council on the additional £150 million recommended for teachers' pay by the Clegg commission.

This information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what is the estimated reduction in pupils in the county of Devon for 1981 and 1982;(2) what is the estimated reduction in teaching staff in the county of Devon for 1981 and 1982.

Maintained Schools (including Nursery and Special)—England
	1980		1979
	Numbers	as % of pupils in attendance	Numbers	as % of pupils in attendance
Pupils in attendance	7,331,860		7,576,798
Pupils taking school meal—total	3,534,858	48·2	4,854,938	64·1

My Department does not forecast numbers of pupils and teachers in individual local authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if his Department, together with the Department of Health and Social Security, made costings of each of the recommendations in the Warnock report and, if he will publish these.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State gave to the hon. Member for Caernarvon (Mr. Wigley) on 13 January 1981. The Departments concerned have made no such costings.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to review the functions of the Schools Council; what will be the terms of reference of any such review; who will conduct it; and if he will make a statement.

The Government's decision to review the Schools Council during 1981 was announced in the report on non-departmental public bodies (Cmnd 7797). The implementation of this decision is now being considered.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) when he will announce his decision on the future of the slide service at the Victoria and Albert museum;(2) whether he will consider the needs of the public who are unable to travel to see the national collections in London when he makes his decision on the future of the Victoria and Albert museum slide service.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Mr. St. John-Stevas) announced on 10 December his decision to ensure that the slide loan service will go on. I fully endorse that decision and am now considering alternative ways of providing the service bearing in mind the particular needs of those who use it. I hope to make a further announcement soon.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the results of the October 1980 census of school meals; how they compare with those for October 1979; and if he will make a statement.

The information is as follows:

	1980		1979
	Numbers	as % of pupils in attendance	Numbers	as % of pupils in attendance
—on payment	2,810,601	38·3	3,956,170	52·2
—free	724,257	9·9	898,768	11·9
Pupils bringing own food	1,982,122	27·0	951,769	12·6

A detailed statement of the returns from local education authorities from which these national figures are taken is being placed in the Library.Analysis of the LEA returns shows the following proportions for primary and secondary pupils, as percentages of pupils attending the respective sectors.

	primary		secondary
	1980	1979	1980	1979
Pupils taking school meal
—primary	53·4	75·5	—	—
—secondary	—	—	41·7	50·6
Pupils bringing own food
—primary	30·5	9·1	—	—
—secondary	—	—	23·8	16·7

The average reduction in percentage take-up of school meals by secondary pupils was significantly lower for the 22 authorities which have introduced cash cafeteria systems into all or almost all of their secondary schools than it was for the 17 authorities which have converted none of their schools.By comparison with 1979, the number of pupils attending school on the day of the census fell by 3·2 per cent. Allowing for this change, the number of pupils eating on the school premises, taking the school meal or bringing their own food, fell by 1·5 per cent. A significant factor affecting the number of pupils bringing their own food is that prior to April 1980 many schools, particularly primary schools, did not allow pupils to bring their own food to school.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will state her public engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 29 January.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 29 January.

I refer my hon. Friends and the hon. Members to the reply which I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Renfrewshire, East (Mr. Stewart).

asked the Prime Minister whether the address by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury entitled "Thatcherism in Practice: a Progress Report" delivered to the Zurich Society of Economists on Wednesday 14 January represents the policy of Her Majesty's Government.

Yes.

asked the Prime Minister what representations she has received from organisations representing disabled persons concerning the adequacy of the Government's legislative proposals to help disabled people during the International Year of Disabled People 1981.

I have received no such representations. The main measure relating to disabled people is the Education Bill, which provides for improved arrangements for children with special educational needs.

asked the Prime Minister whether she is now in a position to announce a date for an official visit to Washington DC to meet President Reagan.

I shall visit Washington, DC from 25–28 February for talks with President Reagan.

asked the Prime Minister when she next plans to meet the leaders of the confederation of British Industry.

At NEDC on 4 February.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in the light of her letter to the hon. Member for Newham, North—West of 22 January, concerning her decision to answer substantive questions she will make a statement on the matter.

As I said in my statement on 12 July 1979, I believe that the House generally would welcome a greater mixture of open and substantive questions, which would give hon. Members an opportunity to raise not only topical issues but also more specific matters. I said then that I was prepared to answer substantive oral questions which raised issues of general significance and national interest. I made it clear that I would retain the right to transfer questions, for example on detailed constituency matters, which might more appropriately be put to departmental Ministers; but I have to date had over 5,000 oral questions tabled to me and I have not transferred a single one.

asked the Prime Minister, in view of the fact that national average wage increases are now averaging 10 per cent., whether she will take action to ensure that hon. Members' salaries, and all those covered by the Top Salaries Review Body, are limited to 10 per cent.

Restraint in all pay increases in the public sector is essential but specific proposals by the Government on hon. Members' salaries and decisions on the pay of the other groups covered by the Top Salaries Review Body must await the relevant reports of the review body.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the Government's general policy of restricting public expenditure and reducing inflation, she will direct all Ministers who have an opportunity of controlling price increases that no price increases should be allowed above the official inflation figure.

No.

asked the Prime Minister, pursuant to her reply to the hon. Member for Islington, Central (Mr. Grant) on 23 January, Official Report, c. 249, what views the chairmen of the pay review bodies expressed to her in the discussions which she had with them.

Our discussions covered a wide range of matters related to the work of the review bodies.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state the quantity of cane sugar he expects to be imported into Great Britain under the Loméagreement in 1981 and 1982 together with the capacity of the sugar refineries for each year.

Although the total quantities of ACP sugar to be imported into the Community under the Lomé Convention are fixed, the actual quantities imported into the United Kingdom depend on contracts between refiners and raw cane suppliers. The amount imported in 1979–80—the last full year for which figures are available—was 1·16 million tonnes. The amount to be imported in 1980–81 is expected to be less because of reductions and diversions of supplies by ACP countries. In 1981–82 I would expect imports to match the industry's refining capacity. In making its announcement about the closure of its refinery at Liverpool, Tate and Lyle said that the existing capacity at its two remaining refineries totals 1·04 million tonnes. With the prospect that it will raise this to about 1·1 million tonnes later this year it will have a capacity to refine all except 60,000 tonnes of the quantity it has been refining recently.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will consider introducing a system of origin marking for eggs.

Under existing Community regulations, packs of eggs produced and graded within the Community must, inter alia, show the name and address of the undertaking which has packed the eggs or had them packed, and the distinguishing number of the packing station.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the present period of the year for compulsory sheep dipping amounts to; and whether he has received representations that different start and finish dates should be adopted in future.

No order providing for compulsory sheep dipping is currently in force and we have not received any representations about the period which might apply if we took a decision to apply such measures.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any evidence that pentachlorophenol is a health risk through its entry into the food chain.

Pentachlorophenol is used as a wood preservative. Low levels have occasionally been found in food, particularly poultry products, as a direct result of the use of shavings from treated wood as litter for animals. I am not aware of any evidence which suggests that pentachlorophenol poses any health risk through its entry into the food chain.

asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the current surplus of sugar in metric tonnes; what is his Department's estimate of the market value of this sugar in EEC stockpiles; and how much was exported to the USSR in 1980.