asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will give consideration to the possible establishment of a Select Committee for Northern Irish affairs.

I have no present intention to propose any changes in the existing position whereby the consideration of any matter relating exclusively to Northern Ireland can be referred by the House to the Northern Ireland Committee.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement clarifying the outcome of the review of electricity policy in Northern Ireland, having regard to the Prime Minister's commitment of 5 March to bring Northern Ireland electricity charges more closely into line with those in England and Wales and to keep them there.

My right hon Friend the Prime Minister indicated in Belfast on 5 March that the Government have accepted, in the light of their review of electricity policy, that the present differentials in electricity tariffs between Northern Ireland and England and Wales constitute an unreasonable burden on the Northern Ireland community and that tariffs in Northern Ireland should be brought more closely into line with those in England and Wales and kept there. Without assistance from public funds a tariff increase of the order of 35 per cent. would have been required on 1 April.In fulfilment of this undertaking I have asked the Northern Ireland Electricity Service to limit this year's tariff increases to produce the following results:

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are to be taken to develop the Ballymacoss industrial site at Lisburn, County Antrim.

There are no plans to develop for industrial purposes the land owned by the Department of Commerce, Northern Ireland, at Ballymacoss, Lisburn, County Antrim. Other industrial sites in the Lisburn area which have already been serviced are adequate for present day industrial development needs.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the total amount of financial support for the electricity industry during each of the past four years; and what is the projected support for 1981–82.

Grants paid to date to the Northern Ireland Electricity Service for the purpose of assisting it to keep down its charges to consumers in each of the four years 1977–78 to 1980–81 were as follows:

asked the Prime Minister if the Government will take steps to ensure that fresh orders are placed with the Robb Caledon shipyard at Dundee.

No. This shipyard is the responsibility of British Shipbuilders.

asked the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on her discussions about the operation of the special voucher scheme with the Prime Minister of India.

I assured Mrs. Gandhi that the proposed nationality legislation would not adversely affect the special voucher scheme. I explained that the present economic and unemployment situation ruled out any increase in the numbers of people admitted for settlement into the United Kingdom at this time.

asked the Prime Minister if she will take steps to designate the May Day bank holiday as the St. George's Day bank holiday, whether or not it happens to fall on St. George's Day.

The name of the holiday is not established by law. The Royal Proclamation by which the day is declared a bank holiday customarily refers to

"the first Monday in May".

I have no plans to allocate a name to the holiday.

asked the Prime Minister whether the Security Commission has yet reported on the case of Mr. Wagstaff; and when the commission's report will be published.

I announced on 18 December 1980 that I had asked the Security Commission on 23 June to investigate and report upon the circumstances in which John Barry Wagstaff, a former executive officer in the Ministry of Defence, had been charged with an offence under the Official Secrets Act, and upon any related failure of departmental security arrangements or neglect of duty and, in the light of its investigation, to advise whether any change in security arrangements is necessary or desirable.The Security Commission reported to me on 2 April 1981. Copies of its report are available in the Vote Office. The commission concludes that a number of individual civil servants were responsible for breaches in security regulations, particularly regarding their failure to report the apparent loss of classified information in 1978. This failure led to a regrettable delay in the proper investigation of the case. The Government accept these criticisms and have taken steps to try to reduce the likelihood of a recurrence.The commission also concludes that a contributory factor might have been that the security regulations did not, at that time, give specific guidance on the handling of classified information stored on magnetic tape. It recommends that revised guidance should be issued on the handling within Government Departments of classified information processed under new technologies. The Government are taking the recommended action.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the cutbacks that have been made in his Department's collection of statistics since May 1979; and whether further cuts are now being proposed.

Since May 1979 there has been some rationalisation in the collection of basic educational data and it has been the policy to keep specific data collection to the minimum. Following the review described in the White Paper, "Government Statistical Services"—Cmnd. 8236—further measures, as outlined in part 2 of that paper, are being taken by my Department.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has had discussions with teachers' organisations on the creation of a general teaching council; what is his policy towards the concept of such a council; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. learned Friend has had no discussions with teachers organisations on this topic. He has made it clear that he supports the idea of a professional council for teachers and is willing to carry forward any agreed proposals emerging from the profession.

asked the Lord Privy Seal who represented the United Kingdom at the recent annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank; and if he will make a statement on the outcome of this meeting.

The United Kingdom was represented by our alternate governor for the bank, Mr. J. L. F. Buist—under secretary—supported by another official from my Department and one from the Bank of England.The meeting reviewed the bank's activities over the last year and took note of a report on the status of the bank's resources. This indicated that consideration was being given to an increase in the bank's capital stock and to a replenishment of the concessional Asian development fund, and that there would be discussions on these questions over the coming months.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he is satisfied by the amount of business obtained by British firms from projects supported by the Asian Development Bank, proportionate to the scale of British participation in the bank; and how this proportion compares with that so obtained from other multilateral funds to which this country contributes.

Yes. Since it was set up, British firms have regularly obtained orders worth more than double our total payments to the Asian Development Bank and its concessional funds. This was again so in 1980.This proportion compares satisfactorily with that obtained from other similar institutions of which the United Kingdom is a member.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what contribution will be made by the United Kingdom to the world food programme in 1981–82; and what contribution is being made in the current year.

[pursuant to his reply, 19 January 1981, c. 19]: I undertook to inform the hon. gentleman of our contribution to the world food programme in 1981–82 once the figures had been decided. Subject to parliamentary approval, we expect to contribute in this financial year about £3·14 million in cash and commodities. In addition, we shall provide, at an estimated cost of over £6 million, 50,000 tonnes of cereals to its regular programme and 5,000 tonnes to the international emergency food reserve. We expect to make further contributions to the IEFR later in the year.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many grants have been awarded in each year since 1974 under section 7 of the Local Employment Act 1972; and to which authorities.

Information about the number of grants awarded each year is published in the annual report presented to Parliament pursuant to section 16 of the Industry Act 1972 by the Secretaries of State for Industry, Scotland and Wales.Since 1974 grants have been awarded to local authorities, water authorities, water companies, public corporations and private developers. To identify and list the recipients of individual grants since then would involve disproportionate cost and time.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he plans to improve the road through the village of Llanon, Ceredigion, in the near future; and if he will make a statement.

Work on a scheme to complete the improvement of the trunk road through the centre of Llanon is expected to start this summer and be completed by the end of March 1982. This will include the provision of a continuous footpath on the eastern side of the road. Preparation work on a scheme to provide a complete footpath on the western side, as recommended by the inspector following a public inquiry into the Department's scheme, is proceeding.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what economies in the provision of telephones have been achieved in Government offices in the past two years.

Comprehensive informative is not held centrally. Economies in telephones costs are being achieved by reducing the number of telephone lines and instruments by restricting access to outside lines and switching calls to off-peak periods and by improving control procedures. These efforts will continue.

asked the Minister for the Civil Servicehow many pay-phones are installed in Government offices; and what was the corresponding total two years ago.

This information is not held centrally.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what proportion of the staff of the non-industrial Civil Service are entitled to an annual increment in salary during the current financial year; and what is the total value of these increments.

About half are due for an annual increment during this financial year. The total value of these increments is about £70 million but, due to wastage and replacement by staff on lower incremental points, the net cost is expected to be about £15 million in the current financial year.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what is the average entitlement of members of the non-industrial Civil Service to paid leave during the current year.

The average paid leave allowance for members of the non-industrial Civil Service is 22½ days. In addition, all staff receive 10½ days bank/public and privilege holidays.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what was the total cost to public funds of subsidised canteen facilities in the non-industrial Civil Service during the latest year for which figures are available.

Canteen facilities are provided for both industrial and non-industrial civil servants and separate figures for the cost of subsidising these facilities are not available. The estimated cost of cash subsidies for all meals for 1980–81 is £1,875,000. Additional payments amounting to about £3,858,000 have been made to meet excess staff costs incurred in providing various catering services at certain establishments, for example, in dockyards whose staff work abnormal hours. Premises, equipment and services are also provided but the cost of these are not readily available.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has as to the number of serious injuries of deaths which have been caused through defective electrical wiring in buildings during each of the last five years; and what legislative provision exists to cover electrical appliances and installation of equipment.

Year ending 31 March	1976/77	1977/78	1978/79	1979/80	1980/81
Total number of fatalities	78	54	53	64	58
Deaths caused through defective fixed electrical wiring in buildings	2	0	1	4	1

I have no information about the number of serious injuries.The consumer is responsible for ensuring that his equipment and installation is in proper order. Household electrical appliances are subject to the provisions of statutory instruments as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what was the average percentage increase in agricultural electricity charges in Wales during the last financial year;(2) what was the average percentage increase in agricultural electricity charges in England during the last financial year.

Electricity boards in England and Wales notify me of fatal accidents on the premises of ordinary consumers occasioned by or attributed to the consumer's installation which come to their notice. The following table gives the total number of such fatalities and the number of deaths caused through defective fixed electrical wiring in buildings notified to me during each of the last five years.

I am advised by the Electricity Council that the average percentage increases in charges for electricity to agricultural consumers during the last financial year ending 5 April 1981 are estimated to be:England 21 per cent., Wales 22 per cent.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to be in a position to come to a decision in accordance with section 8(3) of the Energy Act 1976 on whether the prices of (a) methane and (b) ethane from the gas-gathering pipeline are reasonable; and to what extent this decision will be dependent on agreement on prices between the private sector suppliers and public sector purchasers.

I have received no application for consent under section 8 of the Energy Act 1976 as regards gas to be delivered through the gas gathering line.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his reply to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe, 5 May, what is his estimate of the disproportionate cost involved in providing information as to the number of disconnections of gas and electricity services to disabled people in 1980.

This is a matter for the gas and electricity industries and I am asking the chairmen of the Electricity Council and British Gas Corporation to write to the right hon. Member.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement on the effect of Civil Service industrial action on the issue of passports at Peterborough and Petty France, respectively.

Selective industrial action is currently preventing mail being delivered to the London and Peterborough passport offices but applications lodged personally are still being processed at both locations. Applications are being given the priority required by each applicant's date of travel. Arrangements can be made for temporary passports to be issued in urgent cases where an application is trapped in the post because of the industrial action if applicants contact the passport office concerned.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing the latest retail price of milk, on a comparable basis for each of the States in the European Economic Community.

A valid comparison cannot be made between the retail prices of milk in each of the States in the Community because of differences in fat content, type of packaging, method of heat treatment and mode of delivery to the consumer.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in view of the effect which the recent exceptional snow falls have had upon sheep and livestock farmers in the North of England, if he will consider a scheme of compensation, particularly for farmers who have experienced substantial losses during the peak of their lambing season.

It has been the policy of successive Governments that financial assistance is not provided to farmers to compensate for losses of livestock due to normal hazards such as bad weather. I am very much aware of the difficulties which some farmers have experienced during the recent bad weather, but we have no plans to introduce a scheme of compensation.

asked the Attorney-General if he will list those categories of records which cannot be made available for public scrutiny and research at any date under section 5(2) of the Public Records Act 1958; and if he will state the criteria which have been established for disposing of them.

There are no such records.

asked the Attorney-General which categories of records which cannot be made available for public research and scrutiny at any date under the Public Records Act are scheduled to be destroyed.

No records which have been selected for permanent preservation are destroyed.

asked the Attorney-General if he will introduce legislation to make those records, which are at present statute barred, available for research purposes after an appropriate period of years has elapsed; and if he will re-examine the criteria at present established for dealing with such records, with a view to making depersonalised information contained within them available after 30 years.

The Government are currently considering the subject of such records as part of their examination of the Wilson committee's report.

asked the Attorney-General if he will re-examine the system employed to indicate which categories of public records have not been released for public scrutiny and research, with the object of ensuring that the maximum amount of information possible on the extent and nature of records over 30 years old which are not available, and the reasons for withholding them, is provided.

This is currently under consideration in connection with the Wilson committee report.

asked the Attorney-General if he has yet come to any conclusions about the recommendations of the committee on public records chaired by Sir Duncan Wilson; and what procedure he proposes to adopt to announce any conclusions that he reaches in due course and to facilitate their discussion.

No conclusions have yet been reached, and it would therefore be premature to prejudge the form which an announcement will take. In the meantime, the Lord Chancellor has invited comments on the recommendations, which should be sent to his Department before the end of June.

asked the Attorney-General whether he intends to make any changes in the role of the Advisory Council on Public Records, in the light of the Wilson committee recommendations; and if he will make a statement.

The Lord Chancellor has invited comments on these recommendations, which should be sent to his Department before the end of June. Any decision will be made in the light of these comments.

asked the Attorney-General if he will list all those categories of records at present held by Government Departments or for which they are ultimately responsible which are not classified as public records.

In general, all records of, or held in, Government Departments are public records. The exceptions are listed in paragraph 2(2) of schedule 1 to the Public Records Act 1958.

asked the Attorney-General what consideration Her Majesty's Government are giving to the problems involved in very lengthy fraud trials, with a view to saving costs and time; and if he will make a statement.

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

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, further to the figures given by the Minister for Housing and Construction for Exchequer and rate fund subsidies per local authority dwelling, Official Report, 14 April, c. 127, if he will now give the corresponding figures for 1979–80 and indicate, for all three years, the number of dwellings on which the estimates are based.

The information requested is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Meriden of 30 April, relating to Birmingham airport, if he will reject the proposals contained in the West Midlands country council draft green belt subject local plan.

My right hon. Friend is not empowered to call in a local plan for his own approval or rejection until it has been placed on deposit for objection and a copy has been sent to him. That stage has not yet been reached in this case.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the cutbacks that have been made in his Department's collection of statistics since May 1979: and whether further cuts are now being proposed.

I have instituted vigorous reviews of the need for statistical work in my Department and the burden it places on those outside in providing statistical information. As a result, some surveys have been eliminated, others substantially simplified and analytical work has been reduced. My Department was also, of course, included in Sir Derek Rayner's review of the Government statistical services, the review officer's report on which recognised these cuts and proposed further changes. These are set out in the review officer's report, which, together with my action statement on it, was recently issued and a copy placed in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment why there has been no reply to a letter concerning dog licences, dated 18 February, addressed to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury and passed on to the Under-Secretary.

I have now written to the hon. Member. The latest position on dog licences was given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in a written reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeenshire, East (Mr. McQuarrie) on 6 April.—[Vol. 2, c. 204.]

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the names and addresses of those places in Scotland approved for the termination of pregnancies under the Abortion Act 1967, from the prospectus of which he required information and assurances regarding prices paid by patients before giving his approval.

Information and assurances about prices paid by patients in places approved for the termination of pregnancies are normally sought only where six or more beds or 25 per cent. —whichever is the lesser—of the total bed complement are approved abortion beds. None of the places approved by my right hon. Friend in Scotland comes within this definition.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the names and addresses of those places in Scotland approved to terminate pregnancies under the Abortion Act 1967 from the owners of which he did not require assurances about prices charged; how many approved abortion beds each such place has; how many abortions were performed in each place in the years 1975 to 1979; and if he will give details of the charges made.

For reasons of confidentiality, numbers of abortions carried out in individual hospitals or clinics in the public or private sector are not published. My right hon. Friend does not collect information on the charges made for abortions in approved places. The rest of the information is set out in the table below.

Name of Place Approved for Termination of Pregnancy	No. of Approved Beds.
The Edinburgh Private Clinic, 19–21 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh EH3 7RM	2
Stirling and District Nursing Home, 18 Park Terrace, Stirling	2
St. John Nursing Home, 21 Albyn Place, Aberdeen	2
Moat Brae Nursing Home Ltd., George Street, Dumfries	1
Nuffield McAlpin Clinic, Beaconsfield Road, Glasgow G12 OPJ	2
Fernbrae Nursing Home Ltd., 329 Perth Road, Dundee DD2 1EQ	1

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many abortions in each year from 1970 to 1980 have been performed in National Health Service hospitals but involved payment by the patient; in how many of these cases an overnight stay in a pay bed was involved; and how many involved out-patient treatment.

This information is not held centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report the latest annual notification of the number of people suffering from tuberculosis in Scotland; and what were the figures for the past four years, giving a breakdown into respiratory, meningitis, central nervous system and other forms.

The number of new cases of tuberculosis notified in Scotland in 1980 was 1,138. A breakdown of the numbers of notifications for 1980 and for the past four years into respiratory and non-respiratory TB is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his policy towards the problems caused by the diversion of drugs from illicit supplies within the United Kingdom through irresponsible prescribing, forgery of prescriptions and thefts from pharmacies.

Irresponsibe prescribing of controlled drugs can usually be dealt with by drugs branch inspectors giving suitable advice to the doctors concerned, but my right hon. Friend has not hesitated to use, when necessary, the powers given in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. As regards criminal offences such as forgery of prescriptions and thefts from pharmacies, the House will know from the tragic consequences in a recent case how seriously the police take their responsibility, in co-operation with the pharmaceutical profession, for enforcing the law in this field.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases he or his predecessors have held a purported grant of citizenship by registration or naturalisation under the Nationality Act 1948 to have been void ab inito on grounds such as those upheld by the courts in the cases of Sultan Mahmood and Parveh Atektar.

63 registrations as citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies have been regarded as nullities on the basis of the criteria established by the courts in the cases of Sultan Mahmood and Parvaz Akhtar.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department which local authorities in London requested a speaker from his Department on the British Nationality Bill.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 30 April to his question.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the cutbacks that have been made in his Department's collection of statistics since May 1979; and whether further cuts are now being proposed.

Since May 1979 statistical collections have been discontinued for landings of European Community nationals, violence in marriage, and drowning accidents. In addition, reductions have been made in some routine returns from prison department establishments, the immigration service, attendance centres, police forces, magistrates' courts and coroners. Some of these savings were recommended by last year's review of Home Office statistics and further cuts are under consideration. A copy of the report of the review has been placed in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state in appropriate terms the total of claims for riot damages arising from disturbances in Brixton on 10 and 11 April.

By 7 May, claims totalling £1,264,333 had been made to the receiver of the metropolitan Police district.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the cost to public funds of the additional policing in Brixton arising from disturbances on 10 and 11 April.

These figures are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement about the practice of prison officers listening to prisoners' conversations on private visits with a view to using those conversations in evidence in proceedings.

The prison rules provide generally for every visit to a prisoner to be in the hearing of a prison officer. The degree of supervision given to any visit depends principally on security considerations. It has long been recognised that it would be wrong to withold from the police information obtained during the supervision of a visit which seriously concerns the interests of justice. In addition, a court may summons an individual prison officer to give evidence or order the production of prison records.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will update his answer to the hon. Member for Hackney, Central (Mr. Davis), Official Report, c. 544–46, 13 January, by listing the 1981 electorates for the parliamentary constituencies proposed by the Boundary Commission for England in the 32 London boroughs.

[pursuant to his reply, 16 April 1981, Vol. 3, c. 267–68.]:

London Borough and Constituency	1981 Electorate
Barking and Dagenham
Barking North	58,633
Barking South	58,896
Barnet
Chipping Barnet	58,578

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if, in view of the difficulties being experienced by certain sectors of industry, he will introduce legislation enabling him to specify that no requirement contained in a contract of employment or otherwise that an employer should provide an employee with a paid holiday on a bank holiday shall apply to the bank holiday on 29 July.

There is no statutory obligation, except where holiday entitlements are set out in a Wages Council order, on employers to give a paid holiday on any bank holiday. I have no plans to intervene in agreements which have been freely entered into between employers and employees about holiday entitlements.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the cutbacks that have been made in his Department's collection of statistics since May 1979; and whether further cuts are now being proposed.

The following reductions have been made in the collection of statistics by my Department since May 1979:

(i) Cancellation of the censuses of employment for 1979 and 1980.

(ii) Reduction of the sample by half in non-quarter months of the monthly survey of employment in manufacturing.

(iii) Discontinuation of the April survey of earnings and hours of manual workers in selected industries except for the aerospace industry.

(iv) Discontinuation of the January survey of earnings by occupation in the shipbuilding and chemicals industries.

(v) Reduction in the scale of the October survey of earnings and hours of manual workers.

(vi) Transfer of responsibility for the survey of occupations in the engineering industry to the Engineering Industry Training Board.

In addition, various other smaller reductions and improvements in efficiency have been made.I am proposing to make further reductions in statistical work following a review of statistical services as part of the review of the Government statistical service co-ordinated by Sir Derek Rayner. These proposals have been published, for information and comment from users, in an action report 'Review of statistical services in Department of Employment and Manpower Services Commission' and include the following:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of persons unemployed who are qualified as doctors, nurses and teachers, respectively; and how these numbers compare with figures for 1961, 1971, 1978 and 1980 in each case.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if the British Gas Corporation has now complied with the last of the three enforcement notices served by the Health and Safety Executive on its methane gas terminal at Canvey Island in April 1980; and whether he is satisfied that all safety devices at this installation are now working satisfactorily.

[pursuant to his reply,:30 April 1981, c. 432]: The last of the three enforcement notices served on British Gas Corporation at its Canvey Island terminal on 25 April last year expired on 1 May 1981. Compliance with the notice, which required additional precautions at above-ground methane tanks, was checked at a visit paid on 1 May 1981 by one of Her Majesty's inspectors of factories. The inspector was satisfied that compliance with the detailed terms of the notice had been achieved. I am informed by the Health and Safety Executive that detailed inquiries into the control of risk at the methane terminal are continuing.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what would be the cost of reducing the qualifying ages of the job release scheme from 64 to 60 years for men and from 59 to 55 years for women, assuming that the jobs vacated by those taking advantage of the scheme were filled by people on the unemployment register and in receipt of unemployment or supplementary benefit.

[pursuant to his reply, 5 May 1981, c. 23]: The estimated net cost of the proposal is given below:

	Net cost £ milliom
1982–83	165
1983–84	300
1984–85	365
1985–86	350

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list the cutbacks that have been made in his Department's collection of statistics since May 1979; and whether further cuts are now being proposed.

Decisions have been taken to stop or curtail the following statistical inquiries carried out by the statistical services of the Departments of Industry and Trade:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what improvements in services to (a) the mentally handicapped and (b) the mentally ill will occur in the International Year of Disabled People in (i) Ormskirk, (ii) Kirkby and (iii) Merseyside.

There are many improvements of various kinds. I have written to the hon. Member giving full details.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the cutbacks that have been made in his Department's collection of statistics since May 1979; and whether further cuts are now being proposed.

A list of the DHSS statistics which were stopped or reduced in scope between May 1979 and October 1980 was given in my reply to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker) on 27 October 1980—[Vol. 991 c. 187–89.]. Further reductions have been or will be made after our considerations of the report of the DHSS study team which carried out investigations under the guidance of Sir Derek Rayner as part of the review of the Government statistical services. Their report was published on 6 March. A statement of our decisions on each of the recommendations in the study team report was published on 29 April, at the same time as the White Paper, Cmnd. 8236, on the Government statistical services, which makes it clear that implementation of a number of recommendations will be subject to consultation. Copies of these documents are in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what statistics are collected by his Department on perinatal and neonatal mortality; and whether any changes are being proposed to this collection.

Perinatal and neonatal mortality statistics are derived routinely by the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys from the national birth and death registration system. Statistics by cause, sex, legitimacy, area, social class, place of confinement, age and parity of mother and birthplace of parents are published. Transfer of birthweight information from birth notification to birth registration is now operating successfully; some provisional perinatal and infant mortality statistics by birthweight for earlier years when it was less complete will be available shortly. The Registrar General is currently taking advice on the recommendations in respect of medical certification of cause of perinatal death contained in the Social Services Committee report.For babies of 2,500 grams or less information is derived from birth notifications and returned to DHSS annually by areas health authorities. The information supplied shows stillbirths and deaths within 24 hours and under 28 days for five birthweight groups and distinguishes between those in hospital or at home or in a nursing home. Consideration is being given to whether this information can be obtained from birth registration data.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has examined the possibility of allowing tendering for the provision of such hospital services as cleaning and catering by private enterprise; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. Health authorities have discretion to put a wide range of services out to contract, and I believe there are opportunities for increasing efficiency in this way. It is for the authorities, with their knowledge of local needs and circumstances, to decide whether to do so, but I have said on numerous occasions that I should like them to give careful consideration to the scope for contractural arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether there are any proposals to close the Perivale maternity hospital; what effect this will have upon the provision of obstetric facilities in Ealing; and if he will make a statement.

The closure of Perivale maternity hospital is recommended in the report of a professional working party which has reviewed obstetric services throughout the North-West Thames region. This report has now been issued to area health authorities in the region for local consideration. A proposal to close or change the use of this hospital would be subject to the formal consultation procedure, and would require a ministerial decision if the community health council were opposed to it.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has yet received the recommendations of the Occupational Pensions Board on further steps to protect the occupational pension rights and expectations of those who change employment; and, if so, what are those recommendations.

I received the board's report on 5 May and arrangements are in hand for its publication next month. Very briefly, the board consider that the protection of the pension rights of early leavers should be improved and for pension purposes they should, all other things being equal, be treated no less favourably than those who stay in their pension schemes until they reach pension age. The board favours the removal of any unnecessary barriers to the transfer of pension rights but it concluded that its recommendations should concentrate on preserved benefits. With regard to final salary schemes, which cover most scheme members, the board consider that there is a need for legislation. A majority of the board consider that schemes should be required to increase preserved benefits in line with earnings movements up to a ceiling of 5 per cent. a year, calculated over the whole period of preservation. They also urge that schemes should make such further improvements above this level as their resources permit. A minority of the board consider that the statutory requirement should be for preserved benefits to be increased in line with orders which I make under section 21 of the Social Security Pensions Act 1975 that is in line with national average earnings; but if there had to be a limit on statutory requirements, it should not be less than 8½ per cent. a year. The board also recommends that the proposed revaluation of preserved benefits should be applied to benefits other than those already subject to a statutory revaluation requirement in such a way that early leavers would receive the full benefit of the board's recommendations in addition to the contracting-out requirements.The report raises complex issues not least about the cost to employers and makes many other recommendations, all of which will have to be studied in detail and weighed carefully. At a time when company profits are under intense pressure, it is not easy to see how the extra costs could be absorbed. I shall be making a further statement in due course, but in the meantime I wish to place on record my appreciation of the board's thorough and expert examination of this difficult subject and of the fact that it has succeeded in producing a comprehensive report within the time scale originally evisaged.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will increase the rates of private car maintenance allowance and car maintenance allowance payable to certain war pensioners.

War pensioners who are eligible for the loan of a car from the Department under the war pensioners' vehicle scheme may choose instead to receive a private car maintenance allowance as a contribution towards the cost of running their own vehicles. This allowance will be increased from £250 to £350 a year tax-free. The new rate will be effective from 1 October 1981. Recipients of this allowance will also continue to be exempt from vehicle excise duty. Similar arrangements will be made in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.The increased cost of the motor cars themselves, the conversion of the foot controls to hand operation, and insurance preclude any increase in the car maintenance allowance which is paid as a contribution towards the maintenance expenditure of those eligible war pensioners who have a car on loan from the Department.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the reply to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe on 5 May on the link between heating allowance and attendance and mobility allowances, what would be the cost of providing the information; and if he will explain how the figure is calculated.

A snapshot picture of recipients of these benefits within a week in December 1980 could be obtained but only by a special computer run on raw data which will be available in about two months' time. The estimated cost would be £84, comprising:

	£
Specifying the job for programming	7
Programming	45
Computer processing	30
Other costs	2
	84

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the reply to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe on 5 May on the reasons why individuals have been granted heating allowance, if he will now take steps to ensure that records are kept so that the conditions are separately identified in order that statistics may in future be available.

I have at present no plans to do so.