asked the Minister for the Civil Service, pursuant to her reply of 25 March, Official Report, columns 924–26, if she will give the date and reference of the statement made by the Secretary of State for Employment.

The statement is contained in a press notice (No. 1037/78) issued on Monday 14 August 1978 by the Conservative Central Office news service. A copy is available in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science why his Department has awarded more bursaries for 1981–82 to the London business school than to the Manchester business school; and whether this apportionment reflects the levels of recruitment of United Kingdom graduates to the master's degree programmes of the two schools.

The apportionment of the total number of bursaries available for the London and Manchester business schools in 1981–82 is based, as in previous years, on the overall number of postgraduate students attending the schools.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many professorships are at present vacant due to the universities being unable to finance their appointments in the United Kingdom.

This information is not available in my Department.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many microcomputers are currently in use in his Department; and what are the major uses to which they are put.

Three microcomputers are currently in use within my Department, two are for use by the inspectorate for familiarisation, demonstration or use on short courses and conferences; the third, installed recently in the Department's Darlington office, is for use in the training of computer specialists.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many overseas postgraduate students have applied for places in United Kingdom universities in the current year.

Information on applications for entry to postgraduate courses in United Kingdom universities is not centrally collected.

Short asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much Government grant has been given to the Royal College of Art for each year since 1975 at constant prices; and what is the amount for 1981–82.

The grants, at constant prices, made available to the Royal College of Art have been as follows:

Short asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the recent report of the visiting committee on the work of the Royal College of Art; and if he will publish the report.

The visiting committee, which provides advice to my right hon. and learned Friend about the developments proposed by the Royal College of Art and its funding arrangements, submitted its latest report in November 1980. The report includes a number of recommendations aimed at enabling the college to fulfil more effectively its role in improving design in industry. Although the visiting committee's advice is made in confidence, my right hon. and learned friend has thought it appropriate on this occasion to make the major part of the report available to the college in order that the issues which it addresses may be widely and fully considered.

asked the Secretary for the Home Department when the working party set up by the Lord Chancellor and himself to consider the arrangements for escorting prisoners to, at and from court expects to report.

The function of the Home Office/Lord Chancellor's Department steering group is to promote the day-to-day co-ordination between the prison service and the courts and to advise on any matter arising. It was not formed for the purpose of preparing a single report.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedure exists for the independent investigation of complaints against actions and decisions of members and officials of the probation and after-care services.

The investigation of complaints against members of the probation and after-care service, and the procedure adopted in such investigations, are matters for the employing authorities, the probation and after-care committees.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what criteria and by what process members of probation and after-care committees are chosen.

I refer my hon. Friend to paragraphs 2, 6 and 7 of schedule 3 to the Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a list of the members of the probation and after-care committees in England.

These appointments are not the responsiblity of the Home Secretary and a central record of them is not maintained. I understand that it is customary for names of committee members to be published in the annual reports of chief probation officers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the bodies, statutory and otherwise, for which he is responsible which sell a good or service, or whose activities have a direct bearing on the prices charged for goods and services, or which have any responsiblity for monitoring any prices.

The activities of the following non-departmental public bodies, for which the Home Office is the sponsoring Department, have a direct bearing on the prices charged for certain goods and services:

• Gaming Board for Great Britain
• Horserace Betting Levy Board
• Horserace Totalisator Board.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the tribunal of inquiry on the Crown Agents to report.

As I stated in my reply to a question by the hon. Member of 29 January, the tribunal is likely to submit its report by the end of this year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the members of the Police Complaints Board are (a) over 70 years, (b) between 60 years and 70 years, and (c) under 60 years.

(a) none, (b) 10, (c) 6.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on the continued suspension of Dr. Alan Clift of the West Midlands forensic science laboratory.

I am writing to the hon. Member.

Short asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what subjects in the compulsory education periods in (a) Send and (b) New Hall detention centres taught 18 monthe ago before the introduction of the new régimes are now no longer taught.

At Send classes in enamelling, art, crafts, pottery, soft toy making and stone polishing; and at New Hall classes in art, crafts and woodcraft and swimming classes outside the centre. They were replaced by woodwork at Send, and by woodwork and metalwork at New Hall.

Short asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence there is that the new regimes at Send and New Hall have led to a lower reconviction rate than in other institutions; and if he will make a statement.

We hope that a report on the formal evaluation programme—including information about reconvictions during the first year after release of persons discharged from New Hall, Send and four other detention centres between June and December 1980—will be available by early 1983.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will issue guidance to the police on the use of the radar gun "Muniavip" following the successful appeal in the case of Hughes on Thursday 24 March.

No. This is a matter for chief officers of police, and the operating instruction, which have worked satisfactorily since 1978, will be reviewed in the light of this case to see if any amendments are necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he proposes to make any changes in the criminal injuries compensation scheme.

I propose to increase the lower limit of £150 on compensation which may be awarded under the scheme. This limit needs to be revised periodically to ensure that trivial cases of a kind never intended to be eligible for compensation continue to be excluded. The Secretary of State for Scotland and I have decided that, when an injury is sustained on or after 1 April 1981, compensation will be payable under the scheme only if the injury was one for which compensation of not less than £250 would be awarded. This present increase is intended to restore the original value of the lower limit without altering the scope or purpose of the scheme. The new limit will apply also to injuries sustained before 1 April if the application is received after 30 June 1981.

asked the Lord Privy Seal in what ways he furthers the Government's policy towards smaller firms through the procurement policy of his Department.

In its procurement policy the Foreign and Commonwealth Office uses the criterion common to all Government Departments, of obtaining the best value for public money. The essential criterion in choosing firms for making purchases, whether by tender or not, is their ability regardless of size to meet requirements as to specification, prices and delivery time.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will set out the reasons that have been given to the Government both by the new Administration in the United States of America and their predecessors for refusing to supply materials to the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

As my hon. Friend may know, the first order of 3,000 Ruger revolvers was delivered from the United States for the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 1979. The United States authorities have told us that they are at present taking no action on export licence applications, but continue to hold the matter under review. This position is that taken by both the present Administration and their predecessor.However, as my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said on 3 March, in reply to the hon. Member for Down, North (Mr. Kilfedder), the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary has advised that the force has sufficient weapons for its present requirements.—[Vol. 1000, c. 130.]

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether Her Majesty's Government have any military advisers in El Salvador.

No.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if Her Majesty's Government intend to render any assistance to those who are suffering under the military junta in El Salvador.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Goole (Dr. Marshall) on 30 March.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what precautions are being taken to protect British citizens and property in El Salvador.

The British ambassador in San José is in frequent contact with the honorary consul in San Salvador about the safety of the British community in El Salvador, which numbers some 70 persons.The only Crown property in El Salvador is the embassy residence, unused since its closure in February 1980. The property is protected by a resident caretaker.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether the recent industrial action by civil servants has resulted in any delay of payment of unemployment benefits.

I very much regret that some of the industrial action has led to delays in the payment of benefit to unemployed people. Following the one-day strike on Monday 9 March, about 10,000 payments were delayed by one day. A further 160,000 payments for unemployed people were delayed by up to four days following a strike on Friday 13 March by computer personnel in the Department of Health and Social Security's computer centre at Livingston, Scotland, which processes unemployment benefit claims for unemployed people in Scotland and the North of England.Difficulties are now being caused to the efficient operation of the unemployment benefit service by the strike at the DHSS Newcastle contributions computer which began on 9 March and is still continuing. The effect of this strike is that staff in unemployment benefit offices must process all new claims and make payments manually rather than through the computer. I am grateful to benefit office staff for their efforts to cope with this extra work and to make payments in time, but the longer the strike at Newcastle continues the larger will be the extra work involved for staff in my Department's local offices and the greater the risk of further delays to payment of unemployment benefit.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons were employed in manufacturing industries in (a) the Birmingham travel-to-work area and (b) the Handsworth employment office area in 1971, 1976 and at the latest convenient date.

The available information is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons were employed in service industries in (a) the Birmingham travel-to-work area and (b) the Handsworth employment office area in 1971, 1976 and at the latest convenient date.

The available information is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many textile workers are currently unemployed in the United Kingdom.

At 12 February, the latest date for which an industrial analysis is available, the number of people registered as unemployed in the United Kingdom who last worked in the textiles industries—order XIII of the standard industrial classification—was 61,774.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many textile workers are currently unemployed in the Rochdale county district.

At 12 February there were 2,478 people who last worked in the textiles industries registered as unemployed in the area covered by the Rochdale, Heywood, Littleborough and Middleton employment offices, which closely corresponds to the Rochdale metropolitan district.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average time taken from receipt of application to a final decision for firms applying for temporary short-time working compensation; and how this compares with March 1978, 1979 and 1980.

The temporary short-time working compensation scheme did not open for applications until 1 April 1979.The average time taken to process an application is not kept in statistical form. The time taken at the moment is about three weeks. When applications reached their peak last autumn processing was taking about eight weeks on average.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the increase in applications for the temporary short-time working compensation scheme numerically and in percentage terms since March 1979.

The temporary short-time working compensation scheme did not open for applications until 1 April 1979. The following table gives at six-month intervals the pattern of applications received, the numerical increases and corresponding percentage increases up to the date of the latest figures available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will ensure that collective agreements between trade unions and employers will preserve entitlement to full redundancy pay in case of short-time working, and that collective agreements state that existing employment contracts remain in force, even if shorter hours are to be worked on a temporary basis in an attempt to avoid redundancies.

The substance of collective agreements is a matter for the negotiators. However, a statutory redundancy payment is calculated by reference to the rate of pay which is payable by the employer under the contract in force on the calculation date. This rate is not prejudiced merely because an employee is temporarily on short-time.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many staff, region by region, are employed in dealing with temporary short-time working compensation scheme applications; and what increase there has been in numerical and percentage terms since March 1979.

The temporary short-time working compensation scheme did not open for applications until 1 April 1979. Its predecessor, temporary employment subsidy, closed for applications on 31 March 1979 and most of the staff on that scheme took on the work of the new scheme whilst retaining the work entailed in winding up the old one. The earliest date for which separate staff in post figures are available for the present scheme is 1 October 1979.The following table shows the staff changes at six-monthly intervals since the scheme opened, together with the latest month for which figures are available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many applications for temporary short-time working compensation are awaiting decision, region by region.

The number of applications awaiting decision at 28 February 1981, region by region, is as follows:

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 31 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 31 March.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today. This evening I shall attend a reception given by the Indian high commissioner.

asked the Prime Minister when next she expects to attend a meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation council.

There are at present no plans for the North Atlantic Council to meet at the level of Heads of State and Government.

asked the Prime Minister if she is satisfied with the level of support given to families with children.

We have just announced increases in child benefit, one-parent benefit, family income supplement and other cash benefits, which will maintain their value and be of particular help to families with children. I am satisfied that, in the present difficult economic circumstances, the level of this support is fair and in line with what the country can afford.

asked the Prime Minister what recent representations she has received upon the economic policy of her Administration.

I have received several hundred letters since the Budget.

asked the Prime Minister whether she has plans to pay an official visit to Pymoor.

I have at present no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list the number of hon. Members she has seen on matters relating to factory closures since she last answered oral questions; and how many jobs are expected to be lost in the closures discussed.

None since 26 March.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will make a statement on the progress of her inquiries into the pre-Budget leaks that appeared in Sunday newspapers on 8 March.

asked the Prime Minister what are her official engagements for 31 March.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield and Tamworth (Mr. Heddle).

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what measures his Department has taken to encourage energy conservation by smaller firms.

My Department is responsible for the administration of two schemes aimed specifically at smaller firms—the energy survey scheme, which provides assistance with surveys of energy use, and the energy quick advice service, which provides advice on technical questions over the telephone. Many of the firms which take advantage of our energy conservation demonstration projects scheme are also in the smaller category, and obtain support for innovative work with energy saving and replication potential. In addition, my Department offers a wide range of publications aimed at promoting energy saving, all of which are available to smaller firms, as well

The inquiries are continuing.

asked the Prime Minister if she will seek to pay an official visit to New Delhi.

I shall be visiting India from 15 to 19 April at the invitation of the Prime Minister of India. I greatly look forward to renewing my acquaintance with India, to discussing with Mrs. Gandhi and her Ministers a wide range of matters of mutual interest and to establishing ways in which the friendly relations between the United Kingdom and India can be expanded and strengthened.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will set out in tabular form, for each year since its inception, the number of staff in post in the Central Policy Review Staff; and what was the annual cost of this body, including provision for pensions and administrative overheads, in each year, expressed at constant prices.

Following is the information:as the services of the regional energy conservation officers. We also encourage those responsible for energy use in smaller firms to attend their local energy managers group.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects the particular contractual obligations of British Gas, which prevented any reduction in heavy oil duty, will cease.

Details of British Gas's contractual obligations are commercially confidential. In general, gas purchase contracts last for the lifetime of the supplies, though there may be renegotiations during this period if both parties to the contract so decide.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what estimate his Department has made of the cost of giving the additional concessions to those industrial gas consumers on uninterruptable supplies of freezing the price as at the end of December 1980 and cancelling proposed quarterly increases until December 1981.

The costs involved in different patterns of industrial firm gas contract prices are a matter for the British Gas Corporation. I will ask the chairman of the corporation to write to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he intends to make further transfers of funds from the national oil account to the Consolidated Fund as provided for in section 40(3) of the Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975.

With Treasury agreement, I have today made a transfer of £900 million from the national oil account to the Consolidated Fund.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what provisions are being made to continue the arrangements for supplementing from the aid programme the salaries of British staff employed by Governments in developing countries.

The formal agreements with overseas Governments, under which we provide a range of benefits, including a salary supplement, for British staff in their employment, or in the employment of other organisations such as universities, are due to expire on 31 March 1981. Where appropriate these agreements will be extended for a further period, normally five years, and negotiations with the countries concerned are well advanced. The majority of these extended agreements will be signed by 31 March 1981. Where it is not possible to complete the signing of the agreement by this date staff at present in service will continue to receive the benefits to which they are entitled under the existing agreements.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence on whose authority the Army training camp at Milton Bridge, near Edinburgh, is being used by the Inland Revenue to process mail affected by the Council of Civil Service Unions industrial action at Cumbernauld accounts office; how much this exercise costs; and whether Army personnel are involved in processing the material.

At the request of the Property Services Agency, accommodation at Milton Bridge barracks which was not being used by the Army was made available by the Army authorities to the PSA for allocation to another Government Department. The cost of doing so was negligible and no Service men were used to process material for the Inland Revenue.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether there are any proposed changes in the deployment of the United States Air Force aircraft to RAF Alconbury.

Yes. Her Majesty's Government have agreed to a request from the United States Government to station TR1 reconnaissance aircraft at RAF Alconbury. The role of the aircraft will be to provide timely tactical reconnaissance information in all weathers about the deployment and movement of enemy forces at a tune of crisis or war. This will reduce the likelihood of surprise attack and enable NATO commanders to deploy their own forces in the best way to resist aggression. Basing a TR1 force in Europe will enable it to be readily available for use at a time of crisis or war. The deployment of these aircraft will involve additional construction work, at an estimated cost of about £40 million over a five-year period, which will benefit the local economy.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the savings in the 1981–82 tax year if the married man's tax allowance were abolished and replaced by a single non-transferable allowance equal to the current single person's allowance; and what are the savings attributable to taxpayers above and below pensionable age, respectively.

If the married man's allowance were reduced to the level of the single allowance and the wife's earned income allowance continued to be available to married women, neither allowance being transferable, the yield at 1981–82 income levels, and assuming the levels of allowance proposed in the Budget, would be about £3,000 million in a full year. It is not possible to distinguish taxpayers above and below pensionable age, only those above and below 65; £500 million is attributable to taxpayers above this age and £2,500 million below.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a tax change ready reckoner updating that produced as a supplement to the "Economic Progress Report" in May 1980, either in the same form as before, or in the Official Report, based on 1981–82 incomes, prices and other factors.

I intend to publish an updated tax change ready reckoner, in the normal way, as a supplement to a forthcoming "Economic Progress Report."

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff, and at which grades, are wholly or partly employed in monitoring price increases of consumer items.

None.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he now estimates would be the revenue consequences if all registered charities were to be exempted from value added tax.

I assume that by exempting registered charities from value added tax my hon. Friend means relieving them of VAT on their purchases. I refer him to the replies given on 28 January to my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (Mr. Pawsey)—[Vol. 997, c. 471]—and on 29 January to the hon. and learned Member for Leicester, West (Mr. Janner).—[Vol. 997, c. 1064–65.]

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the net increase in revenue from value added tax from a 1p increase in the price of petrol for a 12-month period.

It is estimated that an increase of 1p a gallon in the price of petrol would increase net VAT receipts by about £5 million in a full year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he estimates to be the annual amount of revenue gained from the sales in licensed premises in Scotland prior to, and after, the increase in the Budget.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much it is costing the Inland Revenue to hire from Mitchell Self Drive the Ford Transit, registration number DRS 488T, and from Swan National Van Hire the Ford Transit, BUD 359V, which are currently being used by senior officials to circumvent the Council of Civil Service Unions strike at Cumbernauld accounts office; how many other vehicles have been hired for this purpose; from which firms; and at what cost each.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will estimate the cost of the complete separation of husband and wife for tax purposes;(2) if he will estimate the cost of continuing aggregation of married couples incomes together with an option for independent taxation;(3) if he will estimate how many additional civil servants would be required if there was complete separation of husband and wife for tax purposes.

[pursuant to his reply, 27 March 1981, c. 445]: The revenue and administrative costs of such

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revaluation factors were used to convert the housing programme totals in table 2.7 of Cmnd. 7841, "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1980–81 to 1983–84", which were expressed at 1979 survey prices into the housing programmes for England, Scotland and Wales as shown in tables 2.7, 2.15 and 2.16 of Cmnd. 8175, "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1981–82 to 1983–84", which were expressed at 1980 survey prices.

[pursuant to his reply, 26 March 1981, c. 427]: Table 4.10 of Cmnd. 8175 shows that for housing in England the average revaluation factor was 9.8 per cent., the comparable figure for Scotland was 15.7 per cent. and for Wales 10.5 per cent. Within these percentages the revaluation factor for current grants and subsidies was zero in accordance with the changed definition of survey prices explained in paragraph 31 of part 5 of Cmnd. 8175. For other housing items the average revaluation factor in England, Scotland and Wales was about 24, 30 and 23 per cent. respectively.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will break down the contents of table 2.7 in Cmnd. 7841, "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1980–81 to 1983–84", between England, Scotland and Wales on the same basis as these figures are now shown in tables 2.7, 2.15 and 2.16 in Cmnd. 8175, "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1981–82 to 1983–84".

[pursuant to his reply, 26 March 1981, c. 427]: The information is set out in the following tables. I should point out to the hon. Member that they are not wholly comparable with those published in Cmnd. 8175 for England and Wales. Paragraph 43 of part 5 of that White Paper pointed out that rent rebates and rent allowances paid to recipients of supplementary benefits and supplementary pensions are now included in programme 12-social security—and not in programme 7-housing—as they were in Cmnd. 7841. In 1980–81, for England, they amounted to about £250 million at 1980 survey prices.