asked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will publish the trades, comparisons, and kinds of business used by the Pay Research Unit in arriving at its recommendations for pay comparability in the Civil Service; and whether, in addition to such comparisons, an allowance was made for an increase in the cost of living.

The report of the Civil Service Pay Research Unit board and the Civil Service Pay Research Unit, 1980, lists at appendix 11 organisations participating in the 1979–80 pay research surveys. A copy of the report is available in the Library. Cost of living increases between the outside organisations' settlement dates and the operative date for the Civil Service are taken into account in the pay research process.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will publish the sums of money paid out in wages and salaries to the Civil Service, as at 31 December 1980, or at the latest convenient date, and at the same date in each of the last five years; and if he will estimate the cost of wages and salaries in the Civil Service for 1981.

Between 1 April and 31 December 1980 expenditure on pay costs, including employers' national insurance contributions, was £3,420 million.Information in this form for previous years is not available, but the following table shows the provision made in Estimates for pay costs for staff in Government Departments since 1975–76:

£m
1975–76	2,749
1976–77	2,938
1977–78	3,252
1978–79	3,408
1979–80	3,717
1980–81	4,627

(

asked the Minister for the Civil Service (1) what was the total expenditure of the Parliamentary Boundary Commissions for England and Wales in 1979–80; and what is expected to be their total expenditure in 1980–81;(2) what is the present complement of staff of the Parliamentary Boundary Commissions for England and Wales.

The total expenditure from the Vote for the Central Management of the Civil Service &c.—Class XIII, 15—in 1979–80 in respect of the Boundary Commissions for England and Wales was £100,419. 1980–81 is a peak year in the review cycle and the latest forecast of expenditure is £234,000.The approved staff complement of the commissions is 16.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list for each area health authority the number of hospital beds allocated to the geriatric and express this number on the basis of so many for 1,000 population over the age of 70 years.

The latest figures, for 1978, are as follows:

Area Health Authority	Number of available geriatric beds	Beds per 1000 population over 70
1. Northern Regional Health Authority
Cleveland	660·7	15·8
Cumbria	731·5	14·9
Durham	869·7	16·2
Northumberland	290·0	10·4
Gateshead	200·5	10·2
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne	328·7	10·8
North Tyneside	227·0	12·3
South Tyneside	153·4	9·6
Sunderland	375·2	15·3
2. Yorkshire Regional Health Authority
Humberside	1,155·2	15·1
North Yorkshire	907·9	13·9
Bradford	800·6	15·8
Calderdale	382·5	18·0
Kirklees	646·8	17·9
Leeds	1,008·6	14·1
Wakefield	502·7	19·5
3. Trent Regional Health Authority
Derbyshire	968·2	11·9

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek to hold urgent talks with the BBC with a view to extending the voluntary agreement to include the prevention by the sponsors of any encouragement of smoking by contestants in televised sports programmes.

The voluntary agreement on sponsorship of sport by the tobacco industry is the responsibility of my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, who has responsibility for sport. The agreement is to be renegotiated this year, and I shall bear the hon. Member's suggestion in mind when discussing possible changes with my hon. Friend. My right hon. Friend will continue to take appropriate opportunities to invite the television authorities to discourage smoking on television programmes generally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the reason why he will not introduce legislation to provide that all persons who are entitled to pensions payable from several sources and the result of previous employment shall, above a particular total figure, only be entiled to the highest of these pensions.

Under Inland Revenue rules the totality of benefits provided by approved retirement benefit schemes is limited to two-thirds of final salary. It does not seem reasonable to impose further restrictions when pension rights and expectations can be affected adversely by changes of employment or the loss of a job nor to deprive people in their old age of benefits which they have earned during their working life.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the membership of the reconstituted Health Education Council.

The following have been appointed to the new council for the period 1 January 1981 to 31 December 1983:

^*Miss J. A. Beak SRN SCM Dip. Management Studies—Chairman of Council of Royal College of Midwives

J. C. Cain Esq. MSc—Controller, Corporate Affairs BBC

I. Davies Esq. OBE JP LLB—Chairman, Gwynedd Area Health Authority

Professor J. A. Davis MSc MB BS FRCP—Professor of Paediatrics, Cambridge University

^*Miss P.B. Dempster—Deputy Director, Bedford College of Higher Education

Miss Christine Doyle—Journalist and medical correspondent of The Observer

^*P. M. England Esq. Dip H.Edn—Area Health Education Officer, Humberside AHA

^*Miss S. Goodwin SRN NDN Cert HV Cert FWT Cert—Health Visitor, Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow AHA

Professor P. J. Holloway PhD BDS—Professor of Child Dental Health, University Dental Hospital of Manchester

Professor W. I. N. Kessel MD FRCP FRCPE FRC Psych—Professor of Psychiatry, University of Manchester

A. H. Kirkman Esq. FEHA—Chief Environmental Health Officer, Poole Borough Council

Mrs J. M. Leighton BA BEd—Headmistress, Newlands School, Maidenhead

Professor W. S. Lowry MSc FRCR FRCPI—Professor of Oncology and Cancer Studies, The Queens University, Belfast

^*J.A. Muir Gray Esq. MB ChB DPH—Community Physician, Oxfordshire Area Health Authority (Teaching)

^*Mrs A. Parker BA Dip SA—Director of Berkshire Social Services Department

A. S. D. Service Esq.—General Secretary, Family Planning Association

^*D. N. Sharpe Esq. FPS—President of Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain

^*Dr. S. A. Smail MA MRCGP DCH Dobst RCOG-Senior Lecturer in General Practice at Welsh National School of Medicine

E. A. G. Spanswick Esq. JP—General Secretary, Confederation of Health Service Employees

^*K. Tones Esq. PhD—Principal Lecturer in Health Education Leeds Polytechnic

Dr. Brian Lloyd was appointed chairman of the council for the period 1 July 1979 to 31 December 1981.

* new

member

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will detail for local authorities in Wales the revenue expenditure, at estimated outturn prices, each would have to incur to provide the volume of services, current expenditure, in 1980–81 that it funded (a) in 1978–79 and (b) in 1979–80.

Figures are not yet available in the form requested.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the total revenue expenditure of each authority in Wales (a) in 1978–79, in volume terms at November 1980 prices, (b) in 1978–79, actual outturn, (c) in 1979–80, in volume terms at November 1980 prices and (d) in 1980–81, revised budgets stage, in volume terms, at November 1980 prices.

The figures are as follows:

'Current' expenditure*
(£ thousand)
	1978/79 outturn
	at 1978/79 outturn prices	†	1979/80 provisional outturn†	1980/81 revised budgets†
Aberconwy
2,280	3,175	3,658	3,462
Afan	2,896	4,034	3,729	3,997
Alyn and Deeside	2,349	3,272	3,142	3,111
Arfon	1,896	2,640	2,653	2,666
Blaenau Gwent	3,027	4,216	4,458	4,906
Brecknock	1,108	1,544	1,527	1,582
Cardiff	10,336	14,396	14,658	13,242
Carmarthen	1,854	2,582	2,595	2,518
Ceredigion	1,732	2,412	2,761	2,429
Colwyn	1,802	2,510	2,647	2,457
Cynon Valley	3,020	4,207	4,314	4,122
Delyn	2,226	3,100	3,798	3,039
Dinefwr	1,066	1,484	1,792	1,455
Dwyfor	892	1,243	1,072	1,285
Glyndwr	1,343	1,871	2,020	2,001
Islwyn	2,407	3,352	3,013	3,324
Llanelli	2,910	4,053	4,406	3,976
Lliw Valley	1,890	2,632	2,914	2,561
Meirionnydd	1,147	1,598	1,668	1,837
Merthyr Tydfil	3,091	4,305	5,152	4,718
Monmouth	2,353	3,277	3,114	3,042
Montgomery	1,246	1,736	1,975	1,693
Neath	1,863	2,594	2,894	2,621
Newport	4,762	6,632	7,097	6,719
Ogwr	4,534	6,314	6,703	6,185
Preseli	1,973	2,748	3,149	2,710
Radnor	604	842	765	823
Rhondda	4,202	5,853	6,155	5,840
Rhuddlan	2,992	4,167	5,071	3,824
Rhymney Valley	4,518	6,293	5,572	5,940
South Pembrokeshire	1,379	1,920	2,066	1,905
Swansea	7,298	10,165	10,181	9,962
Taff-Ely	3,286	4,576	4,606	4,753
Torfaen	3,753	5,227	5,630	5,800
Vale of Glamorgan	3,216	4,480	4,845	5,030
Wrexham Maelor	3,547	4,940	5,359	5,133
Ynys Mon	2,425	3,376	3,522	3,430
Clwyd	79,297	114,865	115,145	116,335
Dyfed	74,261	107,571	107,021	105,423
Gwent	91,286	132,232	132,045	131,412
Gwynedd	50,656	73,378	72,885	72,869
Mid Glamorgan	115,720	167,626	171,690	171,433
Powys	29,365	42,537	42,573	41,606
South Glamorgan	76,710	111,119	110,538	111,262
West Glamorgan	85,203	123,421	119,069	118,647
* 'Current' expenditure as defined in the request for revised budgets for 1980–81.
† at November 1980 prices

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether it is intended that one flight of the cruise missiles to be stationed at RAF Greenham Common will be on alert with warheads armed at all times.

Like many of NATO's operational forces, a proportion of the cruise missile force will be maintained at a high state of readiness. It has been the long-standing practice neither to confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear warheads at any specific location.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report the title and date of each Act of Parliament enacted since 1955 which had an effect on the services and functions of local government in Scotland.

I regret that information cannot be produced in a meaningful form as requested. If my hon. Friend writes to me explaining what precisely he has in mind, I shall do my best to help.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any changes to announce to the cash limit for Class XIII Vote 6—Economic and Financial Administration: Inland Revenue.

The cash limit for 1980–81 for Class XIII, Vote 6 has been reduced by £1,000,000 from £552,680,000 to £551,680,000. The change represents a saving on pay and general administration expenses and, subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, is required to offset additional expenditure on the non-cash limited Class XIII Vote 8.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage return on the capital employed was obtained by each of the nationalised industries at the time of the end of its last accounting period, and what estimate he considered should be obtained when he set the external finance limit for the financial year 1981–82.

[pursuant to his reply, 28 January 1981, c. 471]: The percentage returns on average capital employed in the table below have been obtained from the latest annual reports and accounts of the industries. They are not strictly comparable because of variations in the accounting policies of the industries concerned.

Nationalised Industry	Return on average capital employed percentage
1979–80
National Coal Board	0·2
Electricity Council and Boards	7·7
North of Scotland Hydro-Electricity Board	9·7
South of Scotland Electricity Board	8·5
British Gas Corporation	20·6
British Steel Corporation	(13·0)
Post Office	10·4
British Airways Board	6·3
British Airports Authority	11·0
British Shipbuilders	(111·0)
1979
British Railways Board	3·6

Nationalised Industry	Return on average capital employed percentage
British Transport Docks Board	15·1
British Waterways Board	—
National Freight Company	12·9
National Bus Company	10·1
Scottish Transport Group	1·2
British National Oil corporation	16·4
British Aerospace	*23·0
*Trading profits as a return on average assets employed.

The industries' current financial targets were listed by my predecessor on 28 July 1980—[Vol. 989, c. 681–3]. In addition, a new medium term target for the Scottish Bus Group was announced on 19 December—[Vol. 976, c. 463–4]. In the note on external financing limits issued with my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer's 4 August statement on the nationalised industries—[Vol. 990, c. 41–42]—the Government made it clear that the starting point for discussion of the industries' external financing limits would be the industries' medium term objectives, including financial targets. The expected profit performances relating to 1981–82 which underlie the external financing limits announced by my predecessor on 25 November—[Vol. 994, c. 43]—will be included as usual in the next Financial Statement and Budget Report.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax has been paid on gains made on the dispoal of North Sea licences.

[pursuant to his reply, 28 January 1981, c. 472]: It would be disproportionately time-consuming to provide this information.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the gross and net payments to the United Kingdom from the European Economic Community in each year since 1973 up to the latest for which figures are available.

[pursuant to his reply, 29 January 1981, c. 512]: United Kingdom payments to, and receipts from, the Community budget since 1973 have been as follows:

	Gross Contribution	Receipts £million
1973	181	79
1974	181	150
1975	342	398
1976	463	276
1977	737	368
1978	1,348	544
1979	1,606	659
1980	1,862	*
*Full information about United Kingdom receipts in 1980 is not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how farm costs in Northern Ireland compare with those in Great Britain; to what extent farm incomes have declined since 1978 in Northern Ireland and Great Britain, respectively; whether he will give separate figures for milk and pig producers, respectively; and whether he will make a statement about the special difficulties of agriculture in the Province.

Apart from cereals for animal feedingstuffs, which are £12–£14 per tonne dearer, and electricity, which is about 15 per cent. more costly in Northern Ireland, farm costs in Great Britain and Northern Ireland are similar.The aggregate net income of farming in Northern Ireland fell by 47 per cent. from 1978 to 1979 and is estimated to have fallen by a further 60 per cent. or more from 1979 to 1980. There are no separate figures available for Great Britain, but corresponding figures for the United Kingdom as a whole are 7 per cent. and about 10 per cent.Changes in net farm income between 1978–79 and 1979–80 are given in current terms in the table below for "Specialist" and "Mainly" dairy farms in each country of the United Kingdom and for "Pig and Poultry" farms in England and Northern Ireland only. Data are not available for specialist pig farms.

Changes in Net Farm Incomes between 1978–79 and 1979–80 in Current Terms
Type of Farm	England per cent.	Wales per cent.	Scotland per cent.	Northern Ireland per cent.
Specialist Dairy	-21	-18	-46	-58
Mainly* Dairy	-25	-31	-56	-91
Pig and Poultry	-18	N/A	N/A	-65
*"General" Dairy farms in Scotland.

Definitions and further details of the samples on which these data are based are given in table 24 of the "Annual Review of Agriculture" White Paper (Cmnd 8132) of 21 January 1981.Information is still being collected for the current (1980–81) year but a further decline in net farm income is expected in each of these farm types in all regions.Following his recent meeting with the leaders of the Ulster Farmers Union, my right hon. Friend is considering further the problems of low incomes in the industry.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the De Lorean car to commence production; at what monthly rate; and at what price the car will be offered for sale.

[pursuant to his reply, 26 January 1981, c. 319]: As I have explained in a letter to the hon. Member, my orginal reply was incorrect. I understand that production of the De Lorean car is expected gradually to build up to a daily rate of 30 cars by the end of next, not this, month.

asked the Lord Privy Seal, in the light of the allegations made by the American Government that the hostages held by the Iranian Government were ill-treated, what assurance he is able to give that the British persons now under arrest in Teheran are being properly treated; and what action he has recently taken to secure their release.

We have had no reliable reports that any of the four British people still held in Iran have been ill-treated while in detention. The Archbishop of Canterbury's emissary reported last month that the three Anglican missionaries whom he saw were in good health. Those who have had contact with Mr. Pyke have also reported him to be well. But we have still not been granted direct access to the four, and have no first-hand knowledge of their condition.We continue to work for the speedy release of all those detained. Our representations to the Iranian authorities continue both in Teheran and London. I saw the Iranian chargéd'affaires on 21 January and strongly re-emphasised our concern. The Swedish Government who look after our interests in Teheran have been active in the matter and we are also in touch with others whose intervention might help. Our European Community partners have given us their support.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if the Treaty of Accession relating to Greek membership of the European Economic Community contains transitional arrangements for the free movement of labour within the Community; why these arrangements were thought necessary; and what are the terms of those arrangements.

Yes. Under article 45 of the Treaty of Accession to the European Community of the Hellenic Republic, there is a transitional period for free movement of labour ending 31 December 1987. During this period the other nine member States and the Hellenic Republic

"may maintain in force with regard to Hellenic nationals and nationals of the former nine Member States respectively, national provisions submitting to prior authorisation, immigration undertaken with a view to pursuing an activity as an employed person and/or taking up and pursuit of paid employment".

These arrangements were agreed between the European Community and the Hellenic Republic to ensure that the adaptation to the provisions of the European Community Treaty and the secondary legislation adopted under it should take place on an orderly basis.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if, particularly in the light of the enlargement of the Community, he will summarise the conditions under which nationals of European Economic Community member States can secure employment and settle in other member States.

Community legislation provides for the free movement of labour between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. These provisions give to nationals of these countries:—

(i) the right to move freely between member States to take or seek employment;

(ii) the right to non-discriminatory terms of employment;

(iii) the right to remain in certain circumstances in a member State after employment subject to minimum qualifying periods;

(iv) equal access to vocational training;

(v) equal trade union rights;

(vi) equal access to housing;

(vii) the right of the worker to be accompanied by his family;

(viii) the right of access for his children to educational and training facilities;

(ix) equal social security rights.

Article 45 of the Treaty of Accession to the European Community of the Hellenic Republic provides that during a transitional period ending on 31 December 1987, the other nine member States and the Hellenic Republic may maintain in force with regard to Hellenic nationals and to nationals of the former nine member States respectively, national provisions submitting to prior authorisation, immigration undertaken with a view to pursuing an activity as an employed person and/or taking up and pursuit of paid employment.Nationals of a member State who take up employment or self-employment in another member State are under Community legislation entitled to reside in that member State while pursuing their occupation. Subject to certain qualifying periods of employment, a person may remain in another member State if they give up work because of permanent incapacity or because they have reached retirement age.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what communications he has received on behalf of Mr. Kim Philby, requesting permission to return to the United Kingdom.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the numbers of incidents in England and Wales in which firearms have been used by the police and show the numbers of deaths or injuries since 1970.

The number of incidents in England and Wales in which firearms have been used by the police since 1970 is as follows:

Year	Number of incidents	Deaths/Injuries
1970	Nil	—
1971	1	One injury
1972	2	One death and two injuries
1973*	—	—
1974	—	One death
1975	3	One injury
1976	Nil	—
1977	4	One death and one injury
1978	3	Two deaths
1979	3	One death
* Precise details are not available for these years

Applications for Special Vouchers received from United Kingdom passport holders by country
	Number of applications
Country	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Kenya	1,589	1,934	1,157	672	711	624
Tanzania	317	639	665	270	240	287

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish the results of his Department's review of the existing Sunday trading legislation.

We expect to be in a position to make a statement on this matter shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give a list of the number of persons now resident in the United Kingdom who were on the staff or connected with the late Shah of Iran and have been granted political or refugee residence; and to what extent the Iranian Government have requested the return to Iran of any of these persons.

The information requested by the hon. Member is not readily available and could not be obtained without disproportionate expense.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated total of (a) Irish citizens and (b) citizens of Commonwealth countries, other than United Kingdom, who are resident in Great Britain and exercise their right to register as electors.

The labour force survey taken in 1979 suggested that there were close to half a million persons aged 18 and over, resident in the United Kingdom, who claim to be citizens of the Irish Republic, and a further half million who claim to be citizens of Commonwealth countries, other than the United Kingdom. There is no requirement for applicants for electoral registration to state their citizenship and it is not known what proportion of either group are registered.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, further to his answer of 12 January, he will list the applications for special entry voucher by country in which the applications were made.

The information available is given in the following table.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Ormskirk on 13 November, Official Report, volume 992, column 350, if he will seek to estimate the reduction that could be made in the prison population assuming that courts followed a tendency towards shorter sentences and that a greater proportion of available resources were allocated to the development of non-custodial sanctions.

Complex estimates of the kind requested, which require decisions to be made regarding a number of assumptions, can be provided in answer to parliamentary questions only at disproportionate cost. As the hon. Member is aware, estimates of the effect on the prison population of certain changes in sentencing practice are being prepared for the Select Committee on Home Affairs—Minutes of Evidence, 10 November, 1980, paragraph 138.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the total revenue expenditure of each local authority in England (a) in 1978–79, in volume terms at November 1980 prices, (b) in 1978–79, actual outturn, (c) in 1979–80, in volume terms at November 1980 prices and (d) in 1980–81, revised budgets stage, in volume terms, at November 1980 prices.

I shall write to the hon. Member with the available information.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will detail for local authorities in England the revenue expenditure, at estimated outturn prices, each would have to incur to provide the volume of services, current expenditure, in 1980–81 that it funded (a) in 1978–79 and (b) in 1979–80.

Figures are not available in the form requested.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Dartford on reported sales of existing dwellings by local authorities in Kent between January and September 1980, he will show sales of houses as against total housing stock in the ownership of each authority and in percentage terms.

I shall answer this question shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the title and date of each Act of Parliament enacted since 1955 which had an effect on the services and functions of local government in England and Wales.

I regret that this information cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is now in a position to make a further announcement about the designation of an enterprise zone for Corby in the East Midlands.

A statutory invitation under the terms of schedule 32 to the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, was today issued to Corby district council to prepare a scheme with a view to designation, as an enterprise zone, of 280 acres north-east of Corby. Copies of the invitation are being placed in the Library of the House. The statutory procedures of consultation and then the hearing of representations will begin shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Rother Valley on 21 January, Official Report, c. 266, if he will now estimate the total coal consumption in the United Kingdom in 1981 and the proportion of this that will be provided by imports.

At present I have no plans for publishing forecasts of total 1981 coal consumtion in the United Kingdom nor the proportion of that total that will be provided by imports. The level of United Kindom coal consumption and the proportion taken by imports will depend on a number of factors, including the market conditions prevailing during the year.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will make a statement on the progress of the review of the impact on marginal fields of the Government's offshore oil policies.

The study group which I set up to undertake the review has now submitted its first report to me the report concentrates mainly on the economics of marginal fields and draws conclusions on the threshhold size at which fields can be considered marginal on certain aassumptions about future real oil prices and taxation. It also concludes that if special assistance to marginal fields were justified royalty refunds would be the most appropriate and effective form of such assistance. The Government and the industry sides exchanged views about possible bases for royalty refund schemes. I have placed a copy of a summary of the report in the Library of the House and shall also make copies of this summary available on request. I have asked the group to continue in existence to keep under review the position on marginal fields.

asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how much United Kingdom food prices have risen since accession to the European Economic Community;(2) what is his estimate of the percentage of the increase in United Kingdom food prices since accession to the European Economic Community which is a result of membership of the European Economic Community.

Between February 1973 and December 1980 food items in the retail price index rose by about 210 per cent. As to the effect of the common agricultural policy on food prices, I refer my hon. Friend to what my predecessor said in the House on 3 April 1979.—[Vol. 965, c. 1168.]

asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many productive dairy cows there were in each European Economic Community country in 1980; and what was the average yield of an average dairy cow in each European Economic Community country in litres in the same year.

The latest figures available are as follows:

Country	Total Dairy Cows at June 1980 Census '000	Average Yield per Cow 1979 (Litres)
Belgium	968	3729
Denmark	1032	4720
Germany	5464	4269
France	7062	3438
Ireland	1587	3171
Italy	3028	3243
Luxembourg	68	3736
Netherlands	2400	4893
United Kingdom	3226	4652

asked the Attorney—General whether he will publish in the Official Report as much detailed information as may be readily available giving the number of criminal trials that have taken place, for the longest and most convenient stated period of time and the legal costs involved in each case, the amounts of costs to the national Exchequer, the number of days or hours spent on each trial and the costs in total on a per diem or weekly basis.

The number of criminal trials on indictment in the Crown court which took place in 1979, the latest period for which complete figures are available was, 46,451. Information about the duration of each trial cannot readily be supplied, but the average duration of trial was 4·5 hours. Information in the form requested about the legal costs of each case and the proportion of costs borne by the national Exchequer could be provided only at disproportionate expense. The total expenditure on legal aid for criminal proceedings in the higher courts in the financial year 1979–1980 was £32·2 million and that from central funds—including expenditure on committal proceedings—was £18·8 million.

asked the Attorney-General what progress has been made in microfilming registers of births, marriages and deaths for public examination and study after a hundred years have elapsed; and when he anticipates these records will be available in this form.

The birth and marriage records in the custody of the Registrar-General have been microfilmed. It is expected that microfilming of the death records will be completed by the middle of 1982. The possible availability of these for public examination and study is dependent upon the outcome of the study which the Lord Chancellor announced in another place on 8 December 1980.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the number unemployed in Cornwall for the month of December in each year since 1960.

The following table gives the number of people registered as unemployed in Cornwall at December each year, where available, from 1960.

December each year
1960	4,243
1961	4,372
1962	6,342
1963	5,817
1964	4,613
1965	4,959
1966	6,719
1967	6,526

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether, in view of the high cost of urban and rural transport in Wales, he will reduce the youth opportunities programme participant fare contribution from £4 to £2, to provide an incentive to young unemployed.

No. The level of £4 above which travel costs are reimbursed has been maintained since YOP began in 1978, and therefore the real value of assistance available to young people with significant travel expenses has increased.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many bankruptcy proceedings against private companies have been instituted by training boards during the present financial year or the most recent date for which statistics are available.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that bankruptcy proceedings are considered only as a last resort in an attempt to collect unpaid levy. In the current financial year proceedings have been instituted against 27 individual employers.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will seek to publish the Policy Studies Institute research report "Unemployment and Racial Minority Groups" which was summarised in the Employment Gazette, July 1980.

I understand the Policy Studies Institute will be in a position to publish the full report in February.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether any change will be made to the cash limit of the Manpower Services Commission.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the total grant-in-aid to the Manpower Services Commission—MSC—will be increased from £752·593 million to £760·093 million. Provisions for the increase will be found from within the planned totals of public expenditure by transferring £1½million from labour market service; the balance will be met from the contingency reserve.The 7·5 million is required by MSC to meet a further increase in demand for places under the youth opportunities programme. The increase in the total grant-in-aid will require consequential adjustments to other cash limits; viz:

£Million Cash Limit 1980–81
	Present	Revised
Class IV, Vote 17	Labour Marker Service Manpower Servicespp jj-	131·402	129·902
Vote 20	Commission Manpower Services	633·546	639·546
Vote 21	Commission (Wales) Manpower Services	40·156	41·156
Vote 22	Commission (Scotland	74·303	74·803
		879·407	885·407

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if the Manpower Services Commission has any plans to change the operation of the local labour market rule which is an eligibility condition of its schemes to promote geographical mobility of labour.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission—MSC—that financial assistance cannot be given under the rules of the job search scheme and employment transfer schemes—JSS and ETS—if there are local unemployed people registered in the new area who are suitable for the job which the applicant is seeking or is taking. This is to ensure that public funds are not used to encourage workers from elsewhere to take jobs which could be filled by local unemployed people. However, the MSC recognises the need for an objective test to determine whether local unemployed people are available and, if they are available, that they have had the opportunity to apply for the job. From 2 February, the MSC will apply the Local labour market rule as follows:The rule will be satisfied if