asked the right hon. Member for Middlesbrough, as representing the House of Commons Commission, whether he will give at the latest and most convenient stated date the number of full-time and temporary Select Committee assistants employed, their hours of work, their salaries, pension scheme and contributions and any other relevant details concerning their terms of appointment.

I have been asked to reply.Five temporary assistants have so far been appointed to work for a total of four Select Committees; their normal hours of work are from 10 am to 6 pm on Mondays to Fridays, subject to the requirements of the Committees; starting salaries depend upon age, qualifications and experience and four temporary assistants were appointed within the salary range £9,616 to £11,516 pa—Civil Service senior executive officer scale—and one within the salary range £7,966 to £9,571 pa—Civil Service higher executive officer scale; they are covered by the provisions of the House of Commons Staff Pension Scheme, the rules of which are those of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme applied by analogy; four of the temporary assistants were appointed for an initial period of two years and one for one year, other conditions of service are broadly in line with those in the Civil Service.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many schoolchildren are due to leave school in each of the years to 1990 for each region of the United Kingdom.

Projections of school leavers are not made in the level of detail requested. However, projections for England as a whole, to be published shortly by my Department, will show a decline beginning in 1982 and reaching 20 per cent. by 1990. It seems likely that all regions will experience some such decline. The most recent factual information on the regions is as follows:

Regions	Number of school leavers in 1978–79 (000's)
North	52·52
Yorkshire and Humberside	79·52
North-West	108·74
East Midlands	61·04
West Midlands	85·42
East Anglia	26·79
Greater London	99·31
Other South-East	157·75
South-West	66·28
Total ENGLAND	737·37

Statistics relating to schoolchildren in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the responsibilities of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) why he has not yet replied to the question of the hon. Member for Ealing, North due for answer on 19 January, No. 213; and when he proposes to answer;(2) pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Ealing, North on 14 December 1980, if he will take steps to compile an estimate of the number of religious education specialists required each year to compensate for natural wastage brought about by retirement or by transfer to another subject.

No. The compilation of such an estimate would involve the collection and analysis of special data, with manpower implications, for both the Department and local authorities, which could not be justified in present circumstances. The number of unfilled vacancies for religious education specialists in January 1980 was 96.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has completed his consultations about the proposal to alter the present arrangements for arbitration on questions of teachers' pay.

Yes. Following careful and thorough consideration of the representations made I have now exercised the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the Remuneration of Teachers Act 1965 so as to provide for arbitration only by the agreement of both panels on a Burnham committee. The change took effect from 12 February.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what progress was made in the implementation by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Eastern European countries of the provisions of the Helsinki Final Act during the last six months.

[pursuant to his reply, 19 January 1981, c. 24]: I have to make a correction to paragraph 2 which should read:

"The Moscow group is now reduced to five active members, four of whom signed an appeal to the Madrid conference. Others to have suffered in the past six months include Tatyana Velikanova, a veteran Moscow human rights activist; V. Stus, a Ukrainian Helsinki monitor; a fellow Ukrainian monitor Heyko Matusevich; A. Ogorodnikov, a founder-member of the unofficial Christian seminar; Father G. Yakunin, a founder-member of the Christian Committee for the Defence of Believers' Rights in the USSR: and V. Bakhmin, a founder-member of the working commission to investigate the use of psychiatry for political purposes."

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will seek to require companies to include in their annual reports a statement whether they meet the quota requirements for registered disabled persons.

No. Regulations made in August 1980 already require the directors' reports of companies employing more than 250 persons to contain a statement describing the company's policy towards the employment of disabled persons.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will consult British Airways and Air France with a view to taking additional measures to reduce sonic booms in the South-West of England coinciding with the operating schedules of Concorde aircraft; and if he will discuss with the airlines the continuing public complaints.

My Department is currently examining a possible further change in Concorde's operating procedures which should significantly reduce the secondary sonic booms now being heard in South-West England and South Wales. If the change can be made without causing air traffic control problems and reducing safety standards, its adoption will be discussed with the operators, who are well aware of the continuing public concern.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade how many tons of tinplate were imported into the United Kingdom for each year from 1970 to 1980; and if he will identify the source country and the quantity of imports in 1980.

The available information is as follows:

I. Imports of Tinplate, 1970–1980 (Thousand tonnes)
	Sheets and Plates	Strip	Total
1970	50	N/A	N/A
1971	65	N/A	N/A
1972	48	N/A	N/A
1973	1	N/A	N/A
1974	51	1	53
1975	57	2	58
1976	136	3	138
1977	109	3	112
1978	113	2	115
1979	129	3	131
1980	302	4	306

II. Imports of Tinplate in 1980 (Thousand tonnes)
	Sheets and Plates	Strip	Total
Total	301·6	4·3	305·9
of which consigned from:—
USA	100·0	0·6	100·6
Netherlands	76·1	0·2	76·3
Federal Republic of Germany	46·7	3·2	49·8
France	34·8	0·3	35·1
Belgium-Luxembourg	23·2	0·1	23·3
Norway	13·5	—	13·5
Singapore	2·3	—	2·3
Irish Republic	1·3	0·1	1·4
Canada	1·3	—	1·3
Italy	1·0	—	1·0
Others	1·2	—	1·2

asked the Secretary of State for Trade what have been the imports of knitted fabric, socks, underwear and outerwear from the United States of America in the latest available 12-month period; and how these compare with the previous 12 months.

The available information is as follows:

(£ thousand cif)
	1979	1980x
Knitted or crocheted:
(a) fabrics	10,561	17,461
(b) stockings etc. (including socks)	346	556
(c) under garments	1,710	5,255
(d) outer garments	5,295	14,695

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the percentage of one-parent families in the city of Manchester; and what percentage of this figure appertains to the Manchester, Central constituency.

I regret that no information is available beyond that contained in my reply to the hon. Member on 11 February 1980.—[Vol. 978 c. 488–9.]

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on progress so far in implementing the recommendations of the Silver Jubilee committee on improving access for disabled people; and if he will include in his statement the number of local authorities which now have access officers as recommended by the Silver Jubilee committee.

Several of the report's recommendations were met by the establishment of the Committee on Restrictions Against Disabled People—CORAD—which is now well into its difficult tasks of continuing its predecessor's access campaign in England and, on behalf of the United Kingdom as a whole, of investigating the subject of discrimination against disabled people. I look forward to receiving CORAD's report by the end of the year. I am also glad to know that separate access committees have now been set up in the other home countries, as the Silver Jubilee committee suggested.On the Silver Jubilee committee's recommendation concerning the access provisions of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act, I understand that the Department of the Environment has been monitoring their effectiveness and is currently considering whether they should be strengthened, and the implications, including the costs, of doing so.Local authorities received copies of the Silver Jubilee committee's report, but implementation of the recommendations directed at them is a matter for each authority to determine in the light of its resources. Whilst information on the number of authorities which have access officers is not collected centrally, I am aware that some authorities have appointed such officers or specifically encourage their planning officers to bear in mind the access needs of disabled people.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the latest information his Department has on the efficacy or otherwise of the intra-uterine device as a contraceptive;(2) what is the latest information which his Department has on the efficacy or otherwise of the combined pill as a contraceptive.

Information on the efficacy of the combined oral contraceptive pill and intra-uterine device was published in 1979 in the Department's "Handbook of Contraceptive Practice".

	Pregnancies per 100 women-years
Combined oral contraceptive pill	0·1–0·4
Intra-uterine device	1·5–3·0

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) in which EEC countries the contraceptive Depo Provera is available; for how long it has been available; and under what, if any, restrictions;(2) in which countries of the Commonwealth the contraceptive Depo Provera is available; for how long it has been available; and under what, if any, restrictions;(3) if he will ensure that the recent conclusions by the international medical advisory panel of the International Planned Parenthood Federation concerning the long-term use of Depo Provera will be taken into account by the Committee on Safety of Medicines in any further considerations of the product;(4) what is the latest information his Department has on the efficacy or otherwise of Depo Provera as a contraceptive.

Detailed information about the licensing of particular drugs in other countries is not held by the Department. However, I understand from the company concerned that Depo Provera is available as a contraceptive in the EEC and Commonwealth countries listed below. It would be disproportionately costly to ascertain the duration and conditions of the availability of Depo Provera in each of these countries.

asked the Secretary of State for Social services how many cases of death by hypothermia in (a) those aged 65 and over and (b) those aged 5 years and under were recorded in each of the last five years.

[pursuant to his reply, 11 February 1981]: The following table gives the details:

Total deaths with mention of hypothermia at age 5 years and under and age 65 and over, 1975 to 1979, England and Wales
	Age 5 years and under	Age 65 years and over
1975	15	435
1976	15	491
1977	18,	509
1978	27	597
1979	23	687

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the figures of housing stock in the city of Manchester lacking at least one of the basic amenities; and what percentage of these properties is in the private sector.

According to Manchester city council's 1980 housing investment programme submission, the city has 14,761 dwellings which though fit, lack at least one basic amenity; and 95·8 per cent. of these are in the private sector.

asked the Prime Minister if it remains her policy to work towards the reform of the common agricultural policy by stopping price increases for those foodstuffs in structural surplus.

It remains the Government's policy to contain output of products in structural surplus by restraint on price increases and by other appropriate measures.

asked the Prime Minister if she will introduce legislation to prevent United Kingdom firms being bought up by foreign firms in cases where this would give the foreign firm access to United Kingdom export outlets in other countries.

No. Successive Governments have followed a policy of encouraging foreign direct investment in this country for the considerable benefits it brings in employment. Such legislation would have an adverse effect on our ability to attract investment. Adequate safeguards already exist to protect national interests.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will publish in the Official Report a list of oral and written questions which have been tabled by hon. Members on the initiative of the Government since May 1979.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what he estimates is the number of persons, resident and born in the United Kingdom to Commonwealth, other than United Kingdom, or Pakistan citizens, who are (a) entitled and (b) not entitled, under the law of a parent's country of origin to the citizenship of that country.

The information is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he intends to introduce legislation on citizens band radio during this Session of Parliament;(2) how many letters he has now received advocating a different radio frequency for citizens band radio from that suggested in his Green Paper.

Primary legislation would not be required to introduce open channel radio. Since the publication of the discussion document we have received representations from about 30,000 individuals or organisations—18,000 of these being represented by signatures on a single petition. The majority of these favoured a 27 MHz service.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Rugby on 19 January, how many times regulation 6 of the Civil Defence (Planning) Regulations 1974 has been invoked; on what occasions; and with what results.

None. The Government's policy has been to assist local authorities with advice, money and encouragement rather than to invoke the powers available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the Official Report the number of drug offenders successfully prosecuted in the county of Kent during 1980.

Yes; but the information requested will not be available until much later in the year.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Dartford, he will publish in the Official Report the reasons why he accepted the advice of the Manpower Services Commission that Dartford be included within the area of London (South) Committee for Employment of Disabled People; and, in view of its close connection with the county of Kent, if he will take urgent steps to place Dartford within the arrangements he has made for that county.

My decision to accept the MSC's advice regarding the boundaries of CEDPs was taken in the light of the recommendations of the report of the National Advisory Council for the Employment of Disabled People and the commission's responsibility for and experience in the operation of the public employment and training services. The need to work closely with MSC in the provision of services for disabled people is fundamental to the role of CEDP. In the case of Dartford these services are administered by the London (South) area office of MSC's employment services division and it is important, therefore, that the area boundaries should correspond with those of the CEDP. Dartford is, of course, already included within the boundaries of London (South) district manpower committee—DMC—which is responsible for advising the MSC on general manpower matters, and with which it will be necessary for the CEDP to develop close working relationships.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons, for the longest and most convenient stated period of time, have requested his Department to assist them in obtaining a move to or work in any of the Common Market countries, under the Treaty of Rome provisions on the free flow of labour; and to what extent these efforts have proved successful.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that, under European Community regulation 1612/68 governing the free movement of workers within the European Community, 1,380 speculative applications for employment were made by job seekers in the United Kingdom and sent to the public employment services of other Community countries between January 1 and December 31 1980. The breakdown of these applications and the results to date in respect of each Community country are shown in the following table:

Country where employment sought	Applications made	Job offers to date
Belgium	26	—
Denmark	30	1
Federal Republic of Germany	771	202
France	154	—
Republic of Ireland	47	—
Italy	28	—
Luxembourg	4	—
Netherlands	320	—
Total	1380	203

Many job seekers are also assisted by the public employment service to get work in the other countries of the European Community, both for British and non-British companies, as a result of firms' recruiting initiatives with local jobcentres and employment offices, and by the MSC's professional and executive recruitment—PER—service. Statistics of placement do not distinguish country of employment, but it is known that the majority of such movement is to the Federal Republic and the Netherlands.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied that decommissioning of the inground liquefied natural gas storage at Canvey can now be undertaken without risk to the resident population living close by; whether the operation has been discussed in detail with Castle Point district council, the Anglian water authority and the Port of London Authority; and if he will indicate when the work will begin and when it will be concluded.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will show the proportion of total public sector borrowing accounted for by the financing of the nationalised industries for each year since 1960.

The available figures, which cover all public corporations, are:

Public corporation borrowing requirement as a percentage of public sector borrowing requirements✶
1963	56
1964	58
1965	57
1966	88
1967	62
1968	83
1969†
1970†
1971	88
1972	50
1973	30
1974	23
1975	25
1976	31
1977	30
1978	14
1979	29

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all those organisations and individuals who have submitted written evidence to the committee of inquiry on enforcement powers of Revenue departments.

I understand that 36 organisations as well as a number of firms and individuals have so far submitted written evidence. I do not think it would be appropriate to name these witnesses without first seeking their consent.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is in a position to evaluate the success of the small workshops scheme of 100 per cent. allowances; and if he will increase the scope of the scheme to cover industrial buildings with a floor space of up to 5,000 sq. ft.

It is too early yet to evaluate the success of this scheme but the amount of interest being shown in it is encouraging. I have noted my hon. Friend's suggestion.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the introduction of a wealth tax.

The Government have no plans to introduce a wealth tax.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, having regard to the fact that since May 1979 top salaries have risen between 39 per cent. to 118 per cent., additional to the tax reductions for the top income groups, he will cause an investigation to be made to ascertain to what extent these salary increases adversely affect the Government's policy of containing and reducing inflation.

The figures quoted in the question appear to derive from the survey of salary increases for the highest paid board member of 50 companies, based on their published reports and accounts, conducted for the "Money Programme" of 1 February. If so, they are incorrect; the increase of 39·9 per cent. was an average, not a minimum figure, and the programme made clear that many of the increases were substantially lower than this.Further, as the programme indicated, these figures do not necessarily give a full picture across the whole field of top salaries. Other recent surveys, which appear to have taken a rather wider sample, suggest that average increases for top managers generally have been well below the levels reported by the BBC, and indeed below the increase in average earnings for similar periods.I see no reason for any investigation, nor any useful purpose that would be served.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will circulate in the Official Report a table comparing the decline in output per head and output per person-hour in manufacturing in the current recession with the decline in previous recessions since the end of the Second World War, together with the relevant dates.

Estimates of output per head in manufacturing are available only from mid-1962 onwards. There are no corresponding official figures of output per person-hour. Data from which quarterly changes in output per head for recent periods can be derived are published regularly in the Department of Employment Gazette and in Economic Trends; the data for earlier years are given on pages 97 and 98 of Economic Trends annual supplement, 1981 edition. The dates of peaks and troughs in the growth cycles of United Kingdom economic activity from 1962 to date are shown on the chart of "Cyclical indicators for the UK economy" which is published each month in Economic Trends.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will seek to increase the limits of the maximum shareholding under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act legislation in line with inflation; and if he will make a statement.

The Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies, after representations from both agricultural and retail societies, has proposed an increase in the maximum shareholding limit under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, from £5,000 to £10,000, which I have approved. The Chief Registrar has also proposed an increase in the limit on the maximum sum which any depositor can hold with any industrial and provident society from £250 to £400, which I have also approved. I have further approved an increase in the limit of individual payments by depositors to societies from £10 to £400 so that this is no longer an effective limit. The statutory instruments to bring these increases into effect will be laid before the House in the near future.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has concerning the percentage of gross national product spent in each of the European Economic Community countries and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries on (a) defence, (b) education, (c) health and social services, (d) industrial support and (e) roads and transport.

[pursuant to his reply, 12 February 1981]: Figures for general Government expenditure on (a) defence, (b) education, (c) health and social services, (d) industrial support and (e) roads and transport, but including communication, are published by the Statistical Office of the European Communities in "General Government Accounts and Statistics 1970–1977" for the European Economic Community countries. Figures for general Government expenditure on (a) defence, (b) education and (c) health and social services, are published by the United Nations in "Yearbook of National Accounts Statistics 1979" for Japan and Australia. Figures for the gross national product of the European Economic Community countries and Japan are published by the Statistical Office of the European Communities in "National Accounts ESA Aggregates 1960–1979". Figures for the gross national product of Australia can be derived from the United Nations "Yearbook of National Accounts Statistics 1979".

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures for 1978, 1979 and 1980 for a married man with two children earning average male manual earnings, showing the length of time worked, after taking into account income tax liability and national insurance contributions, necessary to pay for each of the following items: weekly rent of a three-bedroomed council dwelling, mortgage repayment on a newly-built three-bedroomed semi-detached house, 3 lbs. of beef sirloin, 2 lbs. of fresh cod, 14 lbs. of potatoes, a large loaf, a half pound of tea, a quart of fresh milk, 5 cwt. of best coal, 5 gallons of petrol, a weekly season ticket between Surbiton and London, postage on five letters, a telegram of 12 words, a gentleman's haircut, 20 cigarettes, a pint of beer and a bottle of whisky.

[pursuant to his reply, 10 February 1981, c. 302–3]: The following is the information requested calculated in minutes, based on average retail prices at mid-October each year unless otherwise stated. I regret that information on a gentleman's haircut is not available.

	1978	1979	1980
Average weekly rent of a three-bedroom council dwelling (April figures)	245·3	219·3	227·0
Repayment in first month of 25-years mortgage, based on average advance on new dwelling at mortgage completion (October figures)	4,094·5	4,509·8	5,571·0
3 lbs. of beef sirloin (without bone): home killed, first quality	203·1	202·6	182·9
2 lbs. of fresh cod fillets	75·3	70·1	62·6
14 lbs. of potatoes—white	22·6	29·3	21·1
800g wrapped and sliced white wheat bread	10·5	9·8	9·6
½ lb of medium quality tea	18·0	15·0	14·3
Quart of fresh milk	9·8	9·8	9·5
250kg of higher quality household coal✶	532·5	529·8	562·3
5 gallons of 4-star petrol	150·9	191·0	179·4
Postage on five letters (first class)	17·7	16·3	16·7
20 filter tip cigarettes (recommended price)†	22·4	21·9	20·1
1 pint of beer, bottled and canned	15·7	15·5	15·4
1 bottle of whisky (based on a 75cl bottle at 40 per cent. alcohol by volume for 1980, and on a 26⅔ fl. oz. bottle containing spirit of equivalent alcoholic strength (70° proof) for earlier years)	175·2	158·5	153·2
Weekly season ticket between Surbiton and London	226·7	204·3	205·8
12 word telegram	65·6	57·9	70·4
✶ The kinds of coal available for domestic supplies vary according to the district. The prices given are the averages for seven large towns.
† In some shops the price was between 2p and 3p lower on a packet of 20.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the British Steel Corporation concerning the restructuring of the corporation.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to a question by the hon. Member for Newport (Mr. Hughes) on 2 February 1981.—[Vol. 998, c. 38.]

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if a member of the Territorial Army, who is employed as an ambulance driver by an area health authority, is entitled to the 12 statutory weekend leaves from employment to allow him to meet the training requirements of the Territorial Army.

There is no statutory entitlement for time off work for Territorial Army training. Leave arrangements for such training for NHS staff are governed by the agreements of the General Whitley Council for the Health Services. I am sending a note about the relevant provisions to the hon. Member.