asked the Minister for the Civil Service if she will publish in the Official Report the total establishment and the number of civil servants in post each year between 1970–71 and 1980–81; and how many civil servants were made redundant in each year.

The following table shows the number of civil servants provided for in Estimates—including the staff of trading funds—in each year since 1970 and those in post for the same period.

Year (as at 1 April)	Provision	Staff in Post (Full time equivalents)
1970	706,649	700,900
1971	703,105	700,100
1972	694,632	690,400
1973	710,935	700,200
1974	699,561	697,500
1975	706,879	720,400
1976	763,030	747,600
1977	759,932	745,600
1978	744,969	735,700
1979	740,195	732,300
1980	712,125	704,900
1981	694,893	695,100 (1 Jaunary)

The following table gives the number of non-industrial civil servants who were either retired prematurely on redundancy grounds or retired early under special schemes in the years 1975–76 to 1980–81, and the number of non-industrial civil servants who left the service prematurely at management's behest for other reasons in each of these years. Information on earlier years is not available. Similar details about industrial civil servants are not held centrally.

Year	Redundancy and Voluntary Early Retirement	Other Premature Departures
1975–76	200	3,100
1976–77	280	3,600
1977–78	850	4,300
1978–79	420	4,300
1979–80	120	3,700
1980–81(provisional)	1,020	3,200

Those staff in the Manpower Services Commission and its former agencies in 1974 and 1975 who were not counted in the Civil Service have been included in the staff in post and non-industrial redundancy figures for purposes of consistency. No other adjustments for movements of staff into or out of the Civil Service in the period have been made.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether, as a means of resolving the present Civil Service dispute and to prevent future industrial unrest, she will reopen negotiations with the unions with the intention of so arranging their pay and allowances that they receive a daily allowance for attending work of up to £44.

No.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what is the average annual salary paid to the following categories of civil servants: deputy secretary, senior executive officer and clerical officer; and what increase each category would receive in annual cash terms if the 7 per cent. pay offer were accepted.

The answer is given in the following table:

	Current average annual salary	Annual cash increase from 7 per cent, offer
	£	£
Deputy Secretary	24,500	*—
Assistant Secretary	19,983	1,329
Senior Executive Officer	10,297	720
Clerical Officer	4,216	296
*The 7 per cent, offer does not apply to Deputy Secretaris, whose salaries will be reviewed n the light of the Government's decisions on the: 1981 report of the Top Salaries Review Body.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report table 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10 and 1.11 of Cmnd. 8175, 'The Government's Expenditure Plans 1981–82 to 1983–84," in cash terms in 1981 values.

The projected cash expenditure for 1981–82 was given in table 1.7 of Cmnd. 8175 for each main spending programme. Neither cash projections nor projections at 1981 values have been made beyond 1981–82 on the basis of the Cmnd. 8175 figures. But as my right hon. Friend said in his Budget Statement, the Government have decided that future annual reviews of expenditure will be in cash from the outset, at least for the initial years of the survey period.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the retail and distributive trade is a qualifying trade in respect of clause 54 of the Finance Bill.

I shall let any hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what Government aid has been available to employers and to companies, and for what purposes, during each of the last five 12-month periods for which records are available; and how much of such aid in each such category has in fact been taken up in each such category.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of his income a single employee receiving average earnings in a sheltered workshop would have contributed in tax and national insurance in 1979–80 and 1980–81; and what is his estimate for 1981–82.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the annual loss of revenue to the Treasury by (a) tax evasion, (b) tax avoidance, (c) loss of revenue due to unemployment and loss of income tax, (d) loss of tax from firms due to closing down temporarily and redundancy and (e) due to loss of tax from bankruptcies.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak on 23 March, Official Report, c. 232–36, if he will give estimates of the typical post-Budget price per gallon of petrol and derv at March 1981 prices, for the dates given in that answer.

I shall let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the upper limit of the daily allowance paid for attendance to the Members of the House of Lords as at 1 April; and, on the assumption that the peers are married with normal marriage allowances and other tax allowances, what this stated tax-free daily allowance is worth on a taxed basis to peers with other incomes of £5,000, £6,000, £7,000, £8,000, £9,000, £10,000, £20,000 and above per annum.

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

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what changes in the proportions of agricultural expenditure in the United Kingdom which are financed by the European Economic Community will result as the outcome of the recent negotiations in the European Economic Community on farm prices for the coming financial year.

Our initial estimates are that for 1981–2 the price settlement together with the EMS realignment will increase the proportion of agricultural expenditure financed by the Community by about 2½–3 percentage points.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the increase in the United Kingdom net contribution to the European Economic Community budget caused by the price increases of 1 April together with the monetary compensation amounts continuing at the average rate so far attained in the current year.

Our initial estimates suggest that the price settlement together with EMS realignment slightly reduces our unadjused net budget contribution. On monetary compensatory amounts I have nothing to add to my reply to my hon. Friend on 16 March—[Vol. 1, c. 35–6.]

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what effect he considers discontinuance of doorstep deliveries on Sundays will have on the consumption of milk in London.

I assume that my hon. Friend is referring to the decision recently announced by Express Dairy Milk Limited to discontinue deliveries of milk on Sundays in the London area. I consider that the effect of this decision on milk consumption is likely to be minimal.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied with the recent agreement on common agricultural policy prices and related matters, following the negotiations in Brussels on 1 and 2 April.

I am satisfied with the settlement, which achieved the objectives I had previously specified.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the consequences for British consumers of the acceptance of the European Economic Community Commission's price proposals in the next financial year.

It is estimated that the effect of the settlement will be to add to consumers' expenditure in a full year the equivalent of less than a quarter of 1 per cent. on the retail price index. Because some price increases do not take place for some time, and because of delays before the effects work through, the full impact on consumers' expenditure will not be felt in the financial year 1981–82.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he next intends to meet representatives of the National Farmers Union to discuss the implications for British farmers as a result of the agreements on agricultural produce prices reached on Wednesday 1 April with his European counterparts.

I keep in close touch with representatives of the National Farmers Union, but have no plans for a special meeting on the price-fixing settlement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the latest estimated cost to the United Kingdom of the common agricultural policy of the European Economic Community.

Following the method outlined in Government Economic Service working paper No. 27, the net effect of the common agricultural policy on the United Kingdom balance of payments in 1979, the last year for which full information is so far availble, is estimated to have been of the order of £1,100 million. For 1980 and 1981 the agreement negotiated in May 1980 on our budget contribution will of course operate to lower significantly the balance of payments cost of Community membership.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has that eggs or their packaging imported into Britain might be carriers of foot and mouth disease; and, if there is evidence, if he will take action on the matter.

I am satisfied that the stringent control measures applied when foot and mouth disease occurs in the exporting countries, such as France, are adequate to minimise the risk of transferring the disease in this way.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a statement on the present position of the foot and mouth outbreak centered on the Isle of Wight.

The disease was confined to the single outbreak in the Isle of Wight, and all the elated infected area restrictions, both on the island and on the mainland, have now been lifted. The veterinary service will, of course, continue to exercise vigilance and will follow up immediately any reports of suspected foot and mouth disease.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will undertake an investigation into the risk of foot and mouth disease created by the return to the United Kingdom of livestock lorries from the Continent; and if he will make a statement;(2) if, following the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease, he will ensure that the procedures regulating the cleansing and disinfecting of livestock lorries returning to the United Kingdom from the Continent are adequate; and if he will make a statement.

I am satisfied that the procedures for the disinfection, on entry into this country, of lorries which have contained livestock are effective in minimising the risk of importing foot and mouth disease by that means. The enforcement authorities, particularly along the South Coast, are fully alert to the need for vigilance.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, in the light of representations he has received, he will now reconsider the need for a lime and phosphate subsidy with particular reference to upland areas.

The application of lime and fertiliser qualifies for grant aid under the capital grant schemes when it is part of a grassland regeneration programme. Grants of up to 50 per cent. are available on hill land. We have no plans to introduce further subsidies.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give an estimate of how much has been paid in interest on bank loans by the farming industry during the past 12-month period.

Interest charges on bank advances to the United Kingdom agricultural industry, excluding borrowings for land purchases, are estimated to have been about £420 million in the calendar year 1980.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he next intends to meet representatives of the Ulster Farmers Union.

I last met representatives of the Ulster Farmers Union on 25 March. I have no immediate plans for a further meeting with them.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total amount of money paid out during 1980–81 by means of the beef suckles cow premium.

Total expenditure on the suckler cow premium in respect of the 1980–81 marketing year is expected to be £14·88 million, of which £14·63 million has already been paid.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he next intends to meet the representatives of Cumbrian farmers to discuss the problems of marginal land farmers.

I have no special plans to meet representatives of Cumbrian farmers to discuss the problems of marginal land. However, during his visit to Penrith on 29 April my right hon. Friend will be meeting a small group of farmers to discuss general agricultural matters.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about prices for liquid milk.

The Government have been considering the level of liquid milk prices and the present system of price control within that sector of the dairy industry in the light of the detailed recommendations made by an independent firm of accountants, Binder Hamlyn, regarding the basis on which the dairy trade's costs are measured.The Government's basic conclusion is that the present arrangements have been of value to producers, distributors and consumers in providing a stable frame-work for the; liquid market and in particular for the maintenance of the doorstep delivery system, to which it attaches great importance. It has therefore decided that in England, Wales and Northern Ireland those arrangements should continue to apply broadly as at present with statutory maximumprices being set at wholesale and retail levels.At the same time, the Government believe that certain detailed changes suggested by Binder Hamlyn should be made in the way in which the dairy trade's costs are measured and taken into account in determining the distributive margin. In particular, it accepts Binder Hamlyn's two major recommendations that wholesale sales should be included within the costings system and that it would be right in principle to determine the dairy trade's target rate of profit by reference to the industry's return on capital employed. Discussions are continuing with the dairy trade and other interested parties regarding the detailed application of these and other recommendations made by Binder Hamlyn, and a further statement will be made as soon as possible.In the meantime, the Government have been considering the level of the maximum prices to apply this summer. They will be keeping the level of the retail price under review, but they have no plans at present to make any increase. However, they have decided, after consultations with both sides of the dairy industry, that the maximum wholesale price of milk in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for the period commencing this month should be reduced by 0·660p per litre so as to reflect lower costs of milk production in the summer months and changes in the costs of processing and distribution. Orders giving effect to these changes will be laid before Parliament as soon as possible.My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will be making a separate statement about the arrangements and prices to apply in Scotland.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he is satisfied that the storage of live Canadian lobsters in sea-tanks poses no threat of gaffkaemia infection to the native stock in adjacent waters;(2) what percentage of imported live Canadian lobsters is at present estimated to be suffering from gaffkaemia.

The risks of infection to native stocks are likely to be small if merchants follow the MAFF advice on handling imported lobsters. It is particularly important that the water from holding tanks that have contained Canadian lobsters should not be emptied directly into the sea where there are native stocks.The virulence of gaffkaemia increases in warmer weather. During the recent winter the incidence of the disease in samples of Canadian lobsters tested by MAFF scientists has averaged about 5 per cent. However, during 1980 the average incidence in the samples taken was some 28 per cent.My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales and I are examining what further action should be taken.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) by how much the United Kingdom's membership of the EEC increased the overall cost of food in the United Kingdom in 1980;

Any estimates of this kind must depend on the nature of the alternative arrangements hypothesised. These can only be speculated upon, but it should be noted that an reduction in the cost of food to the consumer would, in all probability, be significantly offset by higher taxation arising from the alternative support arrangements for agriculture that would need to be assumed.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will state her official engagements for Thursday 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister what are her official engagements for 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 16 April.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 16 April.

I have been asked to reply.My right hon. Friend is making an official visit to India.

asked the Prime Minister when she next expects to make an official visit to a manufacturing plant in the United Kingdom.

I have been asked to reply. Fairly soon.

asked the Prime Minister how many 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.

I have been asked to reply.My right hon. Friend has had no such meetings since 14 April.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in her forthcoming visit to the Middle East, she will take advantage of any opportunity to meet moderate representatives of the Palestinian people.

I have been asked to reply.The purpose of my right hon. Friend's visit to Saudi Arabia, Oman, The United Arab Emirates and Qatar is to discuss questions of mutual interest. She has no plans to meet Palestinian representatives.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he has now come to a decision about placing an order for the building of minesweepers with Hall, Russell of Aberdeen; and if he will make a statement.

For budgetary reasons, we cannot order these vessels at the present time.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to be able to announce a decision about the selection of a contractor for the Royal Navy's heavyweight torpedo.

Later this year.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will seek to ensure that British advanced technology and employment is assisted by the procurement of radar system AR320 from those companies in the United Kingdom which have tendered for this UK-NATO replacement programme.

The AR320 equipment is one of the systems currently being examined under NATO international competitive bidding procedures in connection with the provision of three air defence radars. I cannot comment on the likely outcome at this stage.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will arrange for a table to be published at a suitable time and in a convenient format on a regular basis indicating the travelling expenses claimed during the last financial year by each right hon. and hon. Member.

No. To publish detailed information of this kind and in the form requested would conflict with the established practice of this House. Moreover, right hon. and hon. Members are entitled to the same degree of confidentiality in matters pertaining to their personal financial affairs as other United Kingdom taxpayers.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland, in view of evidence that drugs are freely available at educational establishments in Glasgow, if he will convene a conference of judges, police, doctors and social workers to discuss methods of dealing with the problem.

There is already in Glasgow a liaison committee on the misuse of alcohol and other drugs, whose members are drawn from a range of professions and organisations, including head teachers, police, doctors, pharmacists and social workers. The chairman is a community medicine specialist employed by the Greater Glasgow health board. I understand that the Committee meets quarterly.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will arrange for an exhibition relating to the work of housing associations in Glasgow and the West of Scotland, showing, in particular, their efforts to improve older tenemental properties, to be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall.

I understand that arrangements have been made with the authorities of the House for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from Monday 11 May to Friday 15 May.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what decisions he has reached on price controls for liquid milk in Scotland in the light of the recommendations by the independent accountants, Binder Hamlyn.

As my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has indicated, the Government have concluded, in the light of the Binder Hamlyn reports, that the present arrangements for distribution costings and control should continue to apply broadly as at present in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.In Scotland, sales of milk to domestic consumers are split almost equally between doorstep deliveries and sales through shops, with doorstep delivery costs being significantly greater than costs incurred in selling through shops. In these circumstances, inclusion of wholesale sales in the milk distribution costings system—one of the main Binder Hamlyn recommendations—linked with a statutory maximum retail price to the consumer, would not be in the best interests of either consumers or distributors in Scotland. Consequently, we have decided that, in Scotland, the point of price control for packaged milk is to be fixed where distribution to the doorstep and to shops diverges, namely, the point of dispatch from the processing dairy or distribution depot, instead of at the point of retail sale to the consumer.Consultations will be proceeding with the dairy trade on how best to implement this decision.Meantime I propose no change in the maximum prices set for milk in Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each housing authority area in Scotland the total number of council houses sold to sitting tenants since the Tenants' Rights, etc (Scotland) Act came into operation; and what percentage of the total housing stock these figures represent in the case of each authority.

[pursuant to his reply, 15 April 1981]: The number of local authority houses sold to sitting tenants between 1 October and 31 December 1980 is given in the table below for each housing authority area. These figures include voluntary sales as well as sales under part I of the Tenants' Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Act: it is estimated that the number of part I sales during the period was very small. Since the Act came into force it is estimated that there have been at least 13,000 applications under the right to buy by local authority tenants.

District	Total No. of Dwellings	1980 Q4 Sales to Sitting tenants	Per cent.
Borders
Berwickshire	2,857	4	0·14
Ettrick and Lauderdale	4,978	—	—
Roxburgh	6,268	—	—
Tweeddale	1,627	—	—
Central
Clackmannan	9,576	—	—
Falkirk	33,558	—	—
Stirling	13,107	—	—
Dumfries and Galloway
Annandale and Eskdale	5,131	—	—
Nithsdale	8,705	—	—
Stewartry	2,600	17	0·65
Wigtown	4,777	—	—
Fife
Dunfermline	23,306	—	—
Kirkcaldy	26,302	53	0·20

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications to purchase council houses have been filed by sitting tenants under the Tenants' Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Act with (a) local councils (b) Scottish Special Housing Association and (c) new town authorities.

[pursuant to my reply,on Wednesday 15 April.]: The latest available information about applications under the right to buy is that local authorities have received about 13,000 applications: the SSHA have received about 110 applications and the New Towns about 1,130 applications. These figures do not include the substantial numbers of applications received by the SSHA and the New Towns for purchase under voluntary arrangements: I do not have reliable information about applications to local authorities for voluntary sales.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the increase in percentage and actual terms in unemployment among ethnic minorities, showing age groups, and, in particular, school leavers and other young people, for the latest 12 months for which figures are available; what are the comparable figures for the increase in total unemployment and the comparable figures in those regions which account for most ethnic minority unemployment; and what special action he has taken and intends to take to deal with this situation.

The latest available age analysis for unemployed ethnic minority workers is for February and the latest for all unemployed people is for January.Table 1 below gives the actual and percentage increases by age group between February 1980 and February 1981 for unemployed ethnic minority workers in Great Britain. It also gives the increases for corresponding age groups of all unemployed people between January 1980 and January 1981. Unemployed ethnic minority school leavers are not separately identified.Table 2 gives the actual and percentage increases by region for unemployed ethnic minority workers and for all unemployed people between February 1980 and February 1981.Table 1—Great Britain

	Increase in number of unemployed ethnic minority workers between February 1980 and February 1981
	Actual	Percentage
Aged
Under 18	3,042	81·4
18	2,268	86·8
19–24	10,804	79·4
25–44	17,447	88·4
45 and over	9,644	76·0
All ages	43,205	82·5

	Increase in number of all unemployed people between January 1980 and January 1981
	Actual	Percentage
Under 18	85,119	80·6
18	49,914	77·5
19–24	241,354	70·6
25–44	332,392	68·7
45 and over	207,305	50·7
All ages	916,084	65·2

Table 2

	Increase in numbers unemployed between February 1980 and February 1981
	Unemployed ethnic minority workers		All unemployed
	Actual	Percentage	Actual	Percentage
South-East	17,969	79·7	229,856	77·5

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are registered disabled in the West Yorkshire area; and if these figures can be broken down into the areas covered by the various local jobcentres.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the number of disabled people who are registered under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 in the West Yorkshire area is 22,233. The numbers of registered disabled people in the employment service districts in West Yorkshire are set out below.

Bradford District
Bradford	3,721
Halifax	1,303
Keighley	960
Shipley	628
Brighouse	336
Todmorden	188
Elland	165
Hebden Bridge	108
Soweby Bridge	198
	7,913

Leeds District
Leeds	2,959
Bramsley	808
Seacroft	810
Otley	264
Morley	454
Wetherby	158
Horsforth	168
Yeadon	187
Rothwell	200
Hunslet	233
	6,241

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the proportion of public sector employment in the English regions, Wales and Scotland, respectively, for the years 1976 and 1980.

The information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether, in the light of the publication of the document "Traineeships in West Cumbria", he will provide additional funding for the Manpower Services Commission to enable the Manpower Services Commission to develop training associations.

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

Redundancies reported as due to occur - May 1979 to March 1981
	South East	East Anglia	South West	West Midlands	East Midlands	Yorkshire and Humberside	North West	North	Wales	Scotland
1979
May	4,576	56	709	1,526	570	1,443	2,279	1,030	702	2,277
June	1,678	80	1,401	919	226	646	3,177	2,401	661	2,783
July	1,549	182	904	1,794	401	595	2,026	1,627	905	2,420
August	1,083	77	355	1,173	102	1,375	2,119	678	520	2,140
September	2,105	208	2,356	2,667	685	2,665	3,943	1,363	1,122	3,731
October	1,645	336	1,132	1,743	889	1,493	2,257	880	1,261	2,472
November	2,854	360	1,060	1,728	1,082	2,013	4,422	1,869	1,285	3,697
December	2,997	623	953	2,663	2,476	2,839	6,055	1,175	1,444	6,990
1980
January	4,885	209	1,542	2,601	2,696	2,617	4,151	1,866	1,276	2,844
February	5,621	269	898	3,202	3,353	2,371	5,549	2,508	3,500	4,163
March	6,306	341	2,182	3,708	3,594	3,001	6,595	1,541	4,175	5,523
April	3,746	217	1,838	4,225	2,545	1,556	6,576	2,086	2,141	3,292
May	5,209	335	1,808	4,667	3,546	3,620	6,936	2,055	3,209	3,904
June	4,875	591	1,814	3,963	2,903	3,369	6,922	1,824	3,471	5,551
July	4,870	520	2,057	6,136	2,754	5,061	6,838	2,344	8,071	6,544
August	7,690	802	2,886	9,995	3,942	6,193	9,740	2,839	3,453	5,933
September	5,010	670	2,349	7,266	3,402	5,415	7,143	5,600	5,085	5,054
October	7,028	759	3,523	8,673	4,264	6,651	10,395	3,507	3,571	4,963
November	7,031	888	3,178	7,399	4,485	5,932	12,071	4,234	3,749	4,748
December	4,625	1,953	2,523	7,601	3,473	5,093	9,680	2,872	3,514	5,249
1981
January	4,148	1,511	3,426	4,737	2,759	5,104	8,669	3,181	3,460	4,324
February*	4,948	692	3,365	3,509	3,212	4,552	8,405	4,658	2,889	3,698
March*	9,367	599	4,149	3,494	2,662	6,088	6,451	3,495	4,338	4,298
* Provisional

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the criteria used by his Department in determining whether an unemployed person shall be required to sign on only quarterly.

Unemployed people are offered quarterly signing if they: are aged 50 or over; are not entitled to unemployment benefit; have been registered for work for at least 18 months in the previous two years; have not been disqualified from receiving benefit because of a refusal of a suitable job in the previous two years; and there is no positive evidence of a fraudulent claim in the two-year period.These criteria are currently being reviewed following the report of the joint DE/DHSS Rayner scrutiny.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give a breakdown of redundancies in the private manufacturing and service industries, respectively, by region and sector for each month between May 1979 and March 1981 or the latest month for which figures are available; and if he will give similar figures for each three month period since January 1976.

I regret that the information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Following are figures relating to redundancies involving 10 or more employees, reported to the Manpower Services Commission as due to occur.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he intends to make any alteration in the quota for the employment of disabled people.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the estimated effect on the unemployment register for the United Kingdom for each month from January 1979 to date of the special employment and training measures.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if any academic staff of United Kingdom universities and polytechnics are employed by his Department as researchers or consultants; and if so, what are their names, the institutions at which they teach, their positions at such institutions, the nature of their work for his Department and the cost to public funds of employing each of them.

My Department employs no academics as consultants or researchers on an individual basis. It does however, in common with other parts of the Department of Employment group, have contracts with universities and polytechnics to undertake research projects on its behalf. Details of these projects would be too lengthy to reproduce here but are included in a Department of Employment-Manpower Services Commission booklet "Research 1979–80" and a Health and Safety Executive booklet "Health and Safety Research 1979", published by HMSO, which should be in the House of Commons Library.I understand that other parts of the Department of Employment group do for brief periods employ a small number of academics on a direct basis, but full details about these could not be obtained in the time available. I shall, however, write to the hon. Member with these details as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will undertake a detailed inquiry into the operation of the Equal Pay Act to determine the causes for the reverse trend towards equal pay; and if he will make a statement.

Whilst there was some fall in women's earnings as a percentage of men's earnings in 1978 and 1979, there was a slight rise in 1980. I can see no case for a detailed inquiry into the operation of the Equal Pay Act to determine the reasons for these changes.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he has received the report of the committee chaired by Lord Melchett reviewing the role and objectives of community industry; and if he will make a statement.

I have received a copy of the community industry review report, and I understand copies of the report have also been sent to the other parties represented on the review committee, who will of course be considering it. Meanwhile, I welcome the report as setting out the way in which community industry can continue to work on behalf of the young unemployed, alongside our other special employment measures. The report makes some useful recommendations about the way the scheme could develop as a company limited by guarantee, extending help to particularly disadvantaged young people aged 18 and over, and establishing regular co-ordination with the Manpower Services Commission's special programmes. I am sure that the report will provide a basis on which my Department, the Manpower Services Commission and community industry can work together in taking the scheme forward into the 1980s.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide the latest youth unemployment figures for the following towns and cities: Newcastle, Darlington, Liverpool (Greater), Manchester (Greater), Skelmersdale, Leeds, Sheffield, Huddersfield, Doncaster, Bradford, Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Luton, Corby, Bristol, Swindon, Norwich, Ipswich, Southall, Reading, Southampton and Brighton

[pursuant to his reply, 15 April 1981]: The following table gives the numbers of young people under 20 years of age registered as unemployed in the areas specified at 15 January, the latest date for which the quarterly age analysis is available.

Employment office area
Newcastle, Newburn and Walker	3,385
Darlington	722
Liverpool*	15,845
Manchester*	13,355
Skelmersdale	753
Leeds*	5,297
Sheffield*	5,369
Huddersfield	1,893
Doncaster*	3,702
Bradford*	3,807
Nottingham	2,848
Leicester	3,456
Birmingham*	15,529
Wolverhampton	3,143
Coventry	3,638
Luton	1,432
Corby	948
Bristol*	4,164
Swindon	1,462
Norwich and Wymondham	1,460
Ipswich*	1,446
Southall	686
Reading	1,151
Southampton	1,806
Brighton	1,018
* Travel-to-Work area comprising a group of employment office areas. The youth opportunities programme exists to help unemployed young people, and last November my right hon. Friend announced a major expansion of the programme to provide up to 450,000 places in 1981–82.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide the latest youth unemployment figures for the following areas in London: Barnet, Battersea, Camden, Camberwell, Greenwich, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, Kensington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets, and Ealing.

[pursuant to his reply, 15 April 1981]: Unemployment statistics are available for employment office areas within Greater London. In the following table the numbers of unemployed young people under 20 years of age are given for those employment office areas which correspond most closely with the places listed. The information is for 15 January, the latest date for which an age analysis is available.

Employment office area
Barnet	221
Clapham Junction	844
Camden Town	712
Camberwell	1,112
Deptford and Greenwich	701
Hackney	1,817
Wood Green	1,323
Tottenham	936
Holloway	1,268
Kings Cross	411
Fulham	747
Hammersmith	999
Brixton	1,407
Streatham	343
Lewisham	1,454
Poplar	719
Shoreditch	397
Stepney	452
Ealing	559

The youth opportunities programme exists to help unemployed young people, and it has been expanded in 1981–82 to provide up to 450,000 places.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide the most recent youth unemployment figures as (a) overall totals for Great Britain, England and Wales and (b) regional totals for North-East England, North-West England, Yorkshire, East Midlands, Midlands, South-East Midlands, West of England, East Anglia, West Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, Hampshire and Dorset, Sussex, Greater London and Fife.

[pursuant to his reply, 15 April 1981]: The following table gives for 15 January, the latest date for which the quarterly age analysis of the unemployed is available, the numbers of unemployed young people under 20 years of age in the areas closest to those specified for which information is readily available.

	Number
Great Britain	425,041
England	339,961
Wales	26,475
North	33,393
North West	64,055
Yorkshire and Humberside	43,438
East Midlands	25,350
West Midlands	48,348
South West	25,560
East Anglia	10,500
Surrey	2,795
Kent	9,331
Hampshire	8,465
Dorset	2,780
East and West Sussex	4,966
Greater London	39,121
Fife	3,290

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will use his powers under section 35 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 and call in application C.5777 and 11 and 12 currently before the Suffolk Coastal district council.

Yes. My right hon. Friend called the applications in yesterday.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will set out in the Official Report (a) the number of qualified architects employed by the Property Services Agency in each of the last 10 years, (b) the number of new buildings erected by the Property Services Agency and their value, in real terms, in each of the last 10 years and (c) the number of alterations to existing buildings carried out by the Property Services Agency and the cost thereof, in real terms, in each of the last 10 years;(2) what is the amount of the physical office space being used by architects in the Property Services Agency, the number of ancillary staff serving those architects and the space such staff use, and the location throughout Great Britain of such architects and staff;(3) how many private firms of architects or individual architects were allocated work by the Property Services Agency in each of the last 10 years; and what was the value in real terms of such work.

Information is not available in the detail for which my hon. Friend asks. I shall write to him as soon as possible with such information as can be provided without disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether for the purpose of local government superannuation in the reckoning of pre-entry war service, he will include in the definition of war service whole-time service with the Royal Navy, the Army, and the Royal Air Force Institutes; and if he will make a statement.

No. For the purpose of these regulations war service will be limited to service with the Armed Forces, the Merchant Navy, Mercantile Marine and equivalent women's services. This definition has been used by every public service pension scheme which has introduced a war service concession, and cannot be varied for the local government scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will provide in cost terms the same information as that which is shown in volume terms in (a) table 2·7 and (b) table 4·5 of Cmnd. 8175;(2) if he will itemise the constituents of the net figure given in table 2·7 of Cmnd. 8175 for total sales and

repayments to the housing programme in England of £654 million for 1981–82 between

I shall write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will amend the building regulations 1976 to ensure that door and door frames are required to have no less resistance to fire than the walls in which they are set.

I am satisfied that the requirements in the building regulations for doors and their frames already provide an adequate standard of fire protection. I have seen no evidence to justify the imposition of more stringent—and more expensive—requirements on builders and building owners.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to assist in obtaining housing for those newly-married couples who cannot afford to purchase in the private sector and cannot obtain a council dwelling to rent.

It is for local authorities to determine the priority to be given to the different calls upon the resources available to them for housing. The Government for their part have already taken a number of steps to assist local authorities and housing associations to help those who hitherto have not been able to purchase their own home; shared ownership, improvement for sale, homesteading, mortgage indemnities by a local authority, building for sale on local authority land and the licensing of builders to construct dwellings on local authority land.

asked the Secretarey of State for the Environment if he will detail the substantial research and development programme and the policy objectives for 1982–83 on the management of civil nuclear waste, referred to in his Department's advertisement in the issue of Building Design published on 27 March.

Details of the policy objectives of the substantial research and development programme into the managemant of radioactive waste, mentioned in the advertisement referred to by the hon. Member, are given in the "Review of Research on Radioactive Waste Management and Radioactivity in the Environment", published in 1979 as Departments of the Environment and Transport Research Report 32. It is intended to publish an updated version of this review in due course.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what would be the addition to public expenditure if the partial disregard of income derived from earnings in the model rent rebate scheme were to be extended to all income treated as earned income for tax purposes.

[pursuant to his reply, 10 April 1981, c. 377]: Probably about £80 million for the rent rebate and allowance schemes in England and Wales.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many council house sales have been completed under the Housing Act 1980 right-to-buy procedure in the period since 3 October 1980 to the latest date for which figures are available;(2) how many applications to purchase council houses had been filed with local authorities under the Housing Act 1980's right-to-buy procedure in the first six months of its operation;(3) how many flats have been sold under the Housing Act 1980 right-to-buy procedure; and what percentage of total sales this constitutes.

[pursuant to his reply, 15 April 1981]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that my right hon. Friend gave to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Ardwick (Mr. Kaufman) on 10 April 1981.—[Vol. 2, c. 381.]. Of the 49 sales completed in the period October-December 1980 (column 3 of the table which is in the Library), none were flats.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many young teachers had completed their training and were unable to fulfil the required period of probationary teaching in the years 1979 and 1980;(2) how many young people completed their training to become teachers, received grants from the county of Avon and were unable to fulfil the required period of probationary teaching to gain confirmation of their teaching status in the years 1978, 1979 and 1980.

The information as requested is not available.Probation can be served only after appointment to a maintained school or a non-maintained special school. The table below sets out the number of students qualifying in 1978, 1979 and 1980 compared with the numbers in those years obtaining posts where probation could be served. There are no figures available to show the number of newly-qualified teachers applying for posts in each of those years.The Department has no record of newly-qualified teachers who obtained posts outside the maintained sector of England and Wales. About 11 per cent of those qualifying in each year were reported, as at each 31 October, not to be seeking teaching posts.It is not possible to identify students trained on grants from an individual local education authority.

	Qualified in 1978	Qualified in 1979	Qualified in 1980
Total	32,716	27,193	20,182
Obtained posts where probation could be served	22,473	16,727	10,987

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children aged 16 years are leaving school this Easter, prior to the taking of any certificate of secondary education or O-level examinations; how this number compares with that for Easter 1980; and if he will make a statement.

Information about pupils leaving school this Easter is not yet available. In view of concern that current regulations governing supplementary benefit could affect the number of pupils sitting for the certificate of secondary education, my right hon. and learned Friend has taken steps to monitor entries and attendance at the examinations in 1981 and to compare the figures with those from previous years.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will seek to legislate to provide that all governors of institutions of further education shall retire at the age of 70 years and that the public shall be admitted to meetings of governing bodies of such institutions.

I have no plans to seek legislation on these matters.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set up a structure by which young people and the youth service may co-operate with Her Majesty's Government to consider appropriate action during the International Year of Youth in 1985; and if he intends to make any financial provision in this connection.

These questions are currently being considered.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if, with regard to full cost tuition fees charged to overseas students enrolling on advanced level courses at polytechnics, he will issue guidance to local education authorities on the criteria to be applied in determining whether a particular course is to be classified as laboratory as distinct from classroom based; and whether he considers that the pooling committee conventions for classification of departments as laboratory as distinct from classroom based are appropriate for determination of the appropriate classification of an individual course for tuition fee purposes.