Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Thursday 2 July 1981

Attorney-General

Divorce Laws (Reform)

asked the Attorney-General what progress has been made towards reform of the divorce laws since the publication in October 1980 of the Law Commission's discussion paper "The Financial Consequences of Divorce: The Basic Policy" to ensure greater equity between the partners in the making of settlements by taking into account (a) the earning capacity of ex-spouses, (b) the duration of the marriage, (c) remarriages or other liaisons of either or both partners, and (d) claims on the estate of a partner following his death.

The Law Commission has received a substantial number of comments on its discussion paper on the financial consequences of divorce. It intends to analyse these comments and to submit the results of its analysis to the Lord Chancellor. When considering what order to make for financial provision following divorce, the courts are already required by section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 to have regard to all the circumstances of each case, including the earning capacity and financial resources which each of the parties to the marriage has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future, and the duration of the marriage. There is no reason to believe that the courts do not follow the prescription of section 25 by giving full weight to all relevant considerations in individual cases, which vary indefinitely. On the re-marriage of a divorced wife her right to maintenance payments from a former husband comes to an end.

Fakenham County Court

asked the Attorney-General on how many days in each of the years 1978, 1979 and 1980 a county court judge sat at Fakenham.

Following are the figures:

Year	Days	Hours
1978	17	35
1979	15	63
1980	15	53

asked the Attorney-General how many cases were heard at Fakenham by the judge of the King's Lynn county court in each of the years 1978, 1979 and 1980.

The figures are as follows:

1978	98
1979	90
1980	104

asked the Attorney-General what is the additional cost to the legal aid fund on each occasion that a Fakenham solicitor has to travel to King's Lynn to appear in a case rather than appearing at Fakenham.

This information is not available.

Trade

Insolvency (Cork Report)

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he intends to publish the Cork committee report after he has received the second and final part; and whether he will seek the opinions of interested persons and bodies.

The full report of the Committee will certainly be published. This committee has, of course, heard a wide range of evidence from interested parties; but I am sure that all concerned will want to study the report with care, and will be ready to give us their views.

K Shoes Ltd And Workington Co-Operative

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether, in the light of the case of K Shoes Limited and the Workington co-operative, complaint of refusal to supply, he will seek to amend section 2 of the Competition Act 1980 to include therein a definition of refusal to supply.

No. Whether or not a refusal to supply amounts to an anti-competitive practice depends on the circumstances of the case.

Citizens Advice Bureaux

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he can yet say when he expects to reach a decision on the application from the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux for an increase in its grant-in-aid.

I shall be writing to the NACAB shortly.

Civil Service

Secondments

asked the Minister for the Civil Service how many civil servants were seconded to industry and how many people from industry were seconded to the Civil Service in each year from 1977 to 1980, inclusive.

The information requested is as follows:

Secondments in operation as at December
Year	Out of Civil Service	Into Civil Service	Total
1977	52	43	95
1978	97	57	154
1979	97	56	153
1980	95	45	140

In 1980 about 100 organisations were involved in both the public and private sectors, representing a wide range of service and manufacturing industries. Details of these exchanges, together with a report of a study assessing interchange, are given in "Interchange of Staff between the Home Civil Service and Industry: Report for 1980", a copy of which has been placed in the Library. Copies are also available on request from the central management library in my Department.

Pay

asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether the pay increase offered to non-industrial civil servants will be back-dated when the current dispute ends.

The operative date of the present offer is one of the matters that will need to be reviewed if the industrial action continues.

Energy

Coal Deposits

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what percentage of recoverable United Kingdom coal deposits is in Wales; and how many pits and how many workers in those pits there were in 1947, 1964, 1974 and 1981, respectively.

The NCB estimates that national recoverable coal reserves are about 45 billion tonnes. However, the board is unable to give a geographical breakdown because of the difficulty in estimating for several hundred years ahead the precise location from which coal will be mined. This will depend on technical, economic and other considerations.The numbers of pits and workers in these pits in Wales since 1949, the earliest year for which comparable data is available, are as follows:

	1949	1963/4	1973/4	1980/81
Number of pits	188	108	51	36
Employees (thousands)	109	80·9	32·3	26·5

	Members of Parliament	Members of European Parliament
Salary	£13,950 pa with effect from 13 June 1981.	£13,950 pa with effect from 13 June 1981.
	Notes:	Notes:
	1. Abated for Ministers.	1. Dual mandate members receive one-third (ie £4,650) in addition to full MP's salary.
	2. London supplement of £709 pa for Members representing London constituencies.	2. Paid by United Kingdom Government, under s. 1 of the European Assembly (Pay and Pensions) Act 1979.
Travel allowances	1. Reimbursement of all travel within United Kingdom on Parliamentary business.	Allowed for travel: (a) to each meeting of Parliament for travel between MEP's home address and the seat of Parliament;
	2. Reimbursement for 15 journeys a year to Westminster for MP's spouses.	(b) between place of arrival and place of work, during meetings of the Parliament;
		(c) other travel, with prior authorisation, to attend meetings of other Community bodies or as a Parliament representative;
		(d) allowance of up to 400 ECU (£217) month for travel within their home country.
	Mode of transport allowed:	Mode of transport allowed:
	(i) by car—flat rate allowance of 19·1p per mile, or	(i) normal flat rate of 0·36 ECU per km (about 31½p per mile) for first 400 km and 0·19 ECU per km (about 16p per mile) for subsequent km.
	(ii) by first-class rail, or	(ii) official car from place of arrival to place of work-free up to 20 km, thereafter MEP must contribute 0·30 ECU per km (about 26p per mile) or
	(iii) by air, or	(iv) by sea as necessary.
		(iii) free taxi, up to 20 km
		(iv) outside EC, air fare by most direct route.

Gas Supplies

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what representations he has received concerning the excessive rise of costs for obtaining gas supplies to new residential developments.

I have received representations from the Housebuilders Federation about the level of connection charges for new dwellings made by the British Gas Corporaion. These have been both direct from the president, and on their behalf from my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Mr. Smith).

National Nuclear Corporation

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will make a statement about the National Nuclear Corporation.

I have agreed with the corporation and the generating boards that there should be a review of how the National Nuclear Corporation's role in relation to the major financial risks involved in nuclear power station construction could be strengthened. The views of all the NNC shareholders will be sought in the course of this exercise.

House Of Commons And European Assembly

Members' Salaries

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will set out in the Official Report the salaries and allowances payable to and expenses which may be claimed by (a) Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom and (b) Members of the European Assembly.

The information requested is set out in the following table:

	Members of Parliament	Members of European Parliament
Subsistence	Allowed for: (a) Provincial Member with London home staying overnight to carry out Parliamentary duties in constituency.	1. 92 ECU (£50) per day of registered attendance at meetings of Parliament and its organs and for each day of attendance (or cost of alternative return travel) in between meetings.
	(b) Provincial Member with constituency home staying overnight in London.	2. Outside EC, 46 ECU (£25) per day plus cost of hotel bills.
	(c) Member with home neither in London nor in constituency, either for nights in London or for nights in the constituency (ie not for both).
	Rate: Maximum £4,903 pa.
Research and secretarial allowances	Allowed for general office expenses, research and secretarial assistance necessarily and exclusively incurred on Parliamentary duties.
	Maximum £8,480 Pro rata supplement payable in the event of sickness of secretary or research assistant lasting more than 4 weeks.	Maximum of 34,752 ECU (£18,887) pa paid on declaration of expenditure by MEP.
	Additional allowance of £848 to be paid into an approved pension scheme to provide a pension for a secretary or a research assistant.
Miscellaneous allowances	(a) Free stationery, free inland telephone and postal service from the Palace of Westminster.	(a) Free telephone calls from Parliament.
	(b) Severance grant varies according to age and service and is paid if Member loses his seat following a General Election or if displaced due to boundary changes. Maximum: £13,950.	(b) Reimbursement of the portion of medical costs not paid by the local medical authority for medical treatment required in attending a meeting or journeying to do so, up to BF200,000 (about £2,623) per illness.
	(c) An allowance of up to one-sixth of the secretarial allowance towards defraying the expenses of secretarial assistance required in connection with parliamentary duties after a person has ceased to be a Member of the House.	(c) Free accident and property insurance.
		(d) Life assurance premiums paid during MEP's terms of office. DM 20,000 (£4,301) and bonuses and interest paid at age 60, or (if later) after 10 years' service.
		(e) Personal accident insurance of up to BF7,000,000 (about £91,803).

Wales

Chronically Sick And Disabled Persons Act 1970

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many of the local authorities in Wales are implementing the provisions of section 1 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, in regard to their responsibilities to identify disabled persons and to determine their needs.

I am not aware that any of the relevant authorities is failing to fulfil its duties under this section.

Roads (Expenditure)

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the expenditure in Wales at current prices on each of the following: (a) trunk road construction, (b) trunk road maintenance, (c) local authority road construction, (d) local authority road maintenance, (e) local authority cleansing, (f) gritting and snow clearance, (g) administration, (h) lighting, (i) parking, net, (j) other and total road expenditure in 1979–80.

the information is as follows:

	1979–80 outturn at outturn prices (£ million)
(a) Trunk road construction	62·8
(b) Trunk road maintenance	10·6

	1979–80 outturn at outturn prices (£ million)
(c) Local authority road construction	31·8
(d) Local authority maintenance	34·9
(e) Local authority cleansing	5·8
(f) Local authority gritting and snow clearance	5·8
(g) Administration	16·1
(h) Lighting	7·7
(i) Parking (net expenditure)	2·5
(j) Other (including freight facilities grant of £2·5 million)	6·4
Total	178·5

Figures do not necessarily add up due to rounding.

Water Equalisation Act

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what is the average subsidy to each Welsh ratepayer as a result of the operation of the Water Equalisation Act; when he intends to discontinue the Act; and what steps he will take to ensure an equivalent subsidy for Welsh ratepayers following the discontinuation of the Act.

The payment received by the Welsh water authority from the equalisation fund set up under the provisions of the Water Charges Equalisation Act 1977 and administered by the National Water Council averaged about £3 per household for bills in 1980–81, the last year in which the provisions of the Act were operated. No order implementing these provisions was made for 1981–82. The Government do not intend that water authorities should be subsidised, but account was taken of the loss of equalisation payments to the Welsh water authority and of the particular problems of Wales in allowing the Welsh water authority to achieve its current cost accounting financial target over five years instead of the three year period required of the English regional water authorities. It is the intention of the Government to repeal the 1977 Act as soon as practicable.

Water

asked the Secretary of State for Wales further to his answer of 16 June, c. 352, how much water is exported from (a) the Severn-Trent water authority area in Wales, (b) the Welsh water authority area in Wales and (c) any other area of Wales to England; and how much is charged for each of these amounts.

The figures for 1979, the latest available, are:

a. 16,650 million gallons, and

b. 71,910 million gallons.

No part of Wales lies outside the areas of the Welsh and Severn-Trent water authorities.In 1981–82, the Severn-Trent water authority's standard unit cost for raw water abstraction is 1·3412p per 1,000 gallons and the Welsh water authority's is 4·3p per 1,000 gallons. In the case of the Alwen reservoir, which accounted for an abstraction of 1,798 million gallons in 1979, special arrangements apply to reflect the use of the reservoir by both the Welsh and North West water authorities.

Water Authority Officers (Mileage Allowances)

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what mileage allowances are paid to officers of the Welsh water authority in respect of car journeys made by them in the course of their duties.

The rates for casual users for the first 3,000 miles travelled in a year are:

	Per Mile
Class 1 (engine up to 1,000cc)	19·85p
Class 2 (engine 1001–1300cc)	22·03p
Class 3 (engine 1301–1600cc)	27·49p
Class 4 (engine 1601–2,000cc)	30·13p
Class 5 (engine 2001cc and above)	41·26p

The rates per mile for mileage in excess of 3,000 in a year are approximately one-third of the above. The Welsh water authority has agreed with staff representatives that, from 1 August 1981, class 4 and 5 users will be restricted to the class 3 rate.

Home Department

Buckingham Palace (Security)

41.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give, for the latest and most convenient stated date, the actual or estimated costs involved in policing Buckingham Palace on a daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis.

No. It is not the practice to disclose information from which details of security arrangements might be inferred.

Research Officers

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to which department research officers of the Home Office research unit will be outposted; and whether they will be responsible to the heads of the department or the head of research for the co-ordination of their research programme.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to a question by my hon. Friend, the Member for Ravensbourne (Mr. Hunt) on 17 June.—[Vol. 6, c. 369.] Those staff of the new research and planning unit who are outposted to the prison, police and community programmes and equal opportunities departments will be responsible for their day to day work to the heads of those departments but will look to the head of the research and planning unit for professional advice and career management.

Policy Programme (Achievement)

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement on the results of his Department in achieving the Government's policy programme since he answered a similar question from the hon. Member for Melton on 5 June 1980.

We have continued our policy of giving priority to the services responsible for the protection of the public.The strength of the police service in England and Wales has grown by 3,700 in the past 12 months and now stands at 118,550. Outside London nearly all forces are at or near their approved complement. The review of public order legislation is proceeding. The legislation for the prevention of terrorism connected with Northern Irish affairs has been renewed for a further year, and we are continuing to promote international co-operation against terrorism.We are increasing the number of detention centres which operate tougher regimes. Work is continuing, following recommendations in the report of the May committee of inquiry, on reviews of the design of prison regimes, attendance systems and associated conditions of service, prison industries, procedures for handling industrial relations, training and other proposals to which the report refers. Every effort is being made to make the best use of resources available to the prison service, particularly in improving the maintenance of the prison estate, and to press ahead with a continuing building programme of new prisons, involving two new starts each year for the next three years; in addition, design work has been authorised for starts on a further two prisons after that period.We have likewise sought to ensure that the resources available for the other parts of the criminal justice system are used to the best possible effect. With a view to alleviating the burden which traffic offences impose on the police and magistrates' courts, and reducing court delays, the Government have accepted in principle proposals for legislation to extend the fixed penalty system.We have encouraged the greater use of non-custodial measures for dealing with offenders. The number of probation officers in field posts has increased from 4,854 on 31 March 1980 to 4,960 on 31 March this year. We have opened 11 new junior attendance centres and three new senior centres. We have brought forward, and this House has passed, legislation abolishing the suspected person offence, as recommended by the Select Committee on Home Affairs last year, and also reforming the law of attempt.A White Paper on British Nationality Law was published in July 1980. The British Nationality Bill is at present before Parliament. We continue to work towards the achievement of good community relations, and equality of opportunity, in a multi-racial society. The inquiry by Lord Scarman into the events in Brixton in April, and my Department's inquiry into racial attacks and extremist organisations, will contribute to these objectives.The Broadcasting Act 1980, which enables the Independent Broadcasting Authority to provide a fourth channel television service, has become law, and I have appointed the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority to provide programmes to be broadcast on the fourth channel in Wales and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission to consider complaints about programmes broadcast by the BBC and the IBA from 1 June this year. A new Royal charter has been granted to the British Broadcasting Corporation, valid for 15 years, and I have concluded with the corporation a licence and agreement for the same term which has been approved by the House of Commons.In May I published the report of the study of the options for, and the implications of, direct broadcasting by satellite for the United Kingdom. In my foreword to the report I gave an indication of the way in which the Government consider that this complex and important subject might be developed. We intend to introduce a legalised citizens band service in the autumn. The Government have signed the Council of Europe convention on data protection and we have announced our intention of legislating on this subject.Together with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland I issued in June 1980 a Green Paper on future fire policy, summarising the results of a major Government study of the deployment of resources combat fire; work is now in hand on following up the various proposals in the light of the comments received. On 7 August 1980 I announced the outcome of a review of civil defence measures, with provision for increased expenditure in this field over the next few years.I have recently announced a major reorganisation of the Home Office arrangements for research, planning arid scientific development. The Home Office continues to play its full part in the Government's plans to reduce civil service manpower and improve efficiency in the public service.

Abortions

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences of procuring illegal abortions were recorded as known to the police; how many people were proceeded against for offences of procuring illegal abortion; how many persons were found guilty of procuring illegal abortions; and how many persons were cautioned for offences of procuring illegal abortions in England and Wales in 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980, respectively.

Information for 1977 to 1979 is published in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales"—offence classification 14 in tables 2.2, 1(a), 10 (a) and 33 of the volume of 1979, Cmnd. 8098. The information so far available for 1980 relates to offences recorded by the police in England and Wales and is published in Home Office statistical bulletin 5/81, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House; information relating to cautions and prosecutions in 1980 will be published later in the year in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1980".

Television Licences

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will legislate to require the proportional repayment of a television licence when the holder is declared blind during its currency.

It has been the policy of successive Governments to limit the making of refunds under section 3(3) of the Post Office Act 1969 to the following classes of case:

(a) when a licence is not needed within 28 days of issue—or of due date of issue when it is a renewal;

(b) when two licences are taken but one was obtained in error;

(c) when an unexpired monochrome licence is surrendered for a colour licence authorising viewing in monochrome.

With over 18 million licences in force it is necessary to confine eligibility for refunds closely if the licensing system is not to become unduly cumbersome. My right hon. Friend understands the considerations that have prompted my hon. Friend's request, but regrets that he is unable to accede to it.

Open Channel Radio

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now reconsider his decision not to allow an amnesty to users of citizens band radio.

No. The evidence of the harm from illegal transmissions is so clear that we cannot encourage this by any form of amnesty.

Employment

Unemployment Register

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people have joined the unemployment register each month from May 1979 to April 1980; and how many people left the register to start new employment in each month.

The information for the average number of people in Great Britain joining and leaving the register each month at employment offices is published in table 2.19 of the labour market data section of the Employment Gazette. These figures represent on average about 90 per cent. of all those who joined or left the register each month.The statistics do not distinguish the reasons why people leave the employment register. However, from a survey conducted in 1976 it was estimated that the great majority—80 per cent.—left for work.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the average period of unemployment experienced by a person who left the jobless register (a) in each of the last 12 months, (b) for each of the last five years (i) in Great Britain and (ii) in Cambridgeshire.

The statistics for people leaving the register each month are not analysed according to the duration of unemployment experienced.

asked the Secretary of State for employment how many people (a) in Great Britain and (b) in Cambridgeshire (i) entered the jobless register in each of the last 12 months and (ii) left the jobless register in each of the last 12 months.

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

Weekly Wage Rates

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report a comparison of the average weekly rates and/or earnings for April 1981 for men aged 17, 19 and 21 years and women aged 17, 19 and 21 years with the statutory minimum rates for a 40-hour week laid down by the wages councils.

I regret that the information on earnings and weekly rates needed for this comparison is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the statutory minimum rate for a 40-hour week in each wages council for April 1981 for men aged 17, 19 and 21 years and women aged 17, 18 and 21 years.

The following table gives the minimum weekly rates laid down by each wages council at 30 April 1981 for its lowest paid category of workers, excluding apprentices and learners.

Weekly minimum rate for 40 hours at 30 April 1981
	Age 17 years	Age 19 years	Age 21 years
Wages Council
Aerated Waters (England and Wales)	37·00	54·00	54·00
Aerated Waters (Scotland)	41·20	54·00	54·00
Boot and Shoe Repairing	38·10	46·80	55·50
Button Manufacturing	41·20	51·60	51·60
Coffin Furniture and Cerement making	47·20	57·2	57·20
Corset	42·34	49·10	54·34
Cotton Waste Reclamation	44·00	51·60	51·60
Dressmaking and Women's Light Clothing (England and Wales)	42·16	54·42	54·42
Dressmaking and Women's Light Clothing (Scotland)	42·15	54·42	54·42

	Age 17 years	Age 19 years	Age 21 years
Rax and Hemp	39·94	52·31	52·31
Fur	21·00	25·50	27·50
General Waste Materials Reclamation	40·80	50·00	50·00
Hairdressing Undertakings	30·00	30·00	37·00
Hat, Cap and Millinery^*	41·73	51·67	51·67
Lace Finishing	40·80	48·40	48·40
Laundry	50·40	56·00	56·00
Licensed Non-residential Establishment†	40·58	50·73	50·73
Licensed Residential Establishment and Licensed Restaurant	39·20	48·80	48·80
Linen and Cotton Handkerchief and Household Goods, etc.	35·00	50·00	50·00
Made-up Textiles	41·20	49·20	49·20
Ostrich and Fancy Feather and Artificial Flower	43·20	50·60	50·60
Perambulator and Invalid Carriage^*	43·34	56·80	56·80
Ready-made and Wholesale Bespoke Tailoring	42·92	49·89	54·34
Retail Bespoke Tailoring‡	44·00	58·10	58·10
Retail Food and Allied Trades	42·55	56·70	56·70
Retail Non-Food	40·04	57·20	57·20
Rope, Twine and Net	37·50	50·00	50·00
Rubber Proofed Garment Making	40·76	49·61	54·33
Sack and Bag	40·80	50·00	50·00
Shirtmaking	42·43	49·76	54·34
Toy Manufacturing	35·04	49·00	49·00
Unlicensed Place of Refreshment	38·25	51·00	51·00
Wholesale Mantle and Costume	48·90	54·34	54·34
^* Minimum rate is for a 39 hour week.
† Minimum rate when employer provides lodging.
‡ Minimum rates, are for a worker in the second and after the third year of employment.

Warrington (Social Fund Assistance)

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how much financial assistance from the European Economic Community social fund has been given to assist projects in the town of Warrington, Cheshire, in each year since 1973.

Most United Kingdom allocations from the European social fund are in respect of schemes which operate nationally or in a number of parts of the country; I regret that it is therefore not possible to identify the total fund aid allocated to particular regions or towns.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Equal Opportunities Commission

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why his Department declined to give the Equal Opportunities Commission statistical information on the appointment of women to public bodies.

In the light of the pressures to reduce the staff of this Ministry I could not justify devoting additional resources to this work. In making appointments I am concerned only with the ability and talents of the person concerned and I do not think that numerical comparisons as between the sexes would reflect any bias or lack of bias.

Grazing Land

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many acres of grazing land are let annually in England on short lets; what were the corresponding figures for the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

The area of land let seasonally in England for cropping, haymaking or grazing was 230,400 hectares in 1980 and 206,700 hectares in 1979. Figures for previous years or for short lets are not available.

Education And Science

University Grants

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what announcement the University Grants Committee has made to universities about grants for the academic year 1981–82.

The University Grants Committee has announced universities' recurrent grants for the academic year 1981–82 as shown in column 2 of the table following, and equipment and furniture grants for that year as shown in column 5.As an aid to planning the UGC has also given universities a provisional indication of what their grant might be for the academic years 1982–83 and 1983–84 on the basis of a total reduction in recurrent grant for home and European Community students by 1983–84 of 8½ per cent. below the levels planned in Cmnd. 7841. This accords with the overall level of reduction in resources for higher education set out in Cmnd. 8175. These provisional indications are subject to review in the light of decisions yet to be taken about the exact apportionment of the resources available to higher education as a whole in these years, and of any further consideration which the committee may wish to give to distribution within whatever resources are available for the universities.The table also shows the target home and European Community student numbers for each university which the UGC regards as consistent with the grants and provisional indications now being announced.Following is the text of a letter the chairman of the UGC has sent to all universities.

	Recurrent Grant (1981–82 price base)			Equipment and Furniture Grant
University or College	1981–82	1982–83 (tentative)	1983–84 (tentative)	1981–82
	£ million	£ million	£ million	£
Aston	12·02	10·77	9·86	1,222,000
Bath	8·88	8·77	8·69	1,130,370
Birmingham	27·83	26·61	25·69	2,442,000
Bradford	11·91	10·60	9·64	1,025,000
Bristol	20·91	20·06	19·43	1,625,000
Brunel	10·16	9·48	8·99	810,588
Cambridge	30·03	29·39	28·91	3,072,260
City	9·22	8·66	8·24	568,000
Durham	12·13	11·94	11·60	845,100
East Anglia	11·71	10·95	10·28	611,000
Essex	6·09	5·73	5·47	515,000
Exeter	10·77	10·15	9·69	685,730
Hull	10·17	9·60	9·19	585,000
Keele	7·04	6·23	5·64	355,000
Kent	7·42	6·97	6·64	662,470
Lancaster	9·36	8·97	8·68	631,660
Leeds	30·86	29·63	28·72	2,852,580
Leicester	12·29	12·09	11·95	981,000
Liverpool	28·21	27·01	26·13	2,092,370
London Graduate School of Business Studies	1·30	1·41	1·49	100,490
London University	181·02	171·76	16503	14,710,600
Loughborough	12·30	12·11	11·98	1,477,800
Manchester Business School	0·97	0·90	0·84	14,000
Manchester	34·53	33·03	31·93	3,497,370
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology	13·35	12·04	11·08	1,802,000
Newcastle	22·03	21·35	20·85	2,835,590
Nottingham	19·49	18·84	18·36	1,845,000
Oxford	31·33	30·41	29·74	2,936,940
Reading	13·64	13·07	12·66	1,488,000
Salford	11·85	9·97	8·59	814,790
Sheffield	23·25	22·37	21·72	2,132,000
Southampton	17·47	16·97	16·60	1,755,000
Surrey	10·15	9·36	8·78	928,400
Sussex	10·27	9·66	9·21	898,000
Warwick	12·01	11·56	11·23	851,000
York	7·11	7·06	7·02	595,000
Total England	699·08	665·48	640·55	61,394,108
Aberystwyth U. C.	7·34	6·94	6·65	594,880
Bangor U. C.	8·07	7·65	7·34	645,000
Cardiff U. C.	12·48	11·98	11·61	1,091,000
St. David's, Lampeter	1·18	1·16	1·14	39,830
Swansea U. C.	9·81	9·30	8·92	901,000
Welsh National School of Medicine	4·91	4·80	4·71	300,000
University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology	6·30	5·89	5·60	600,520
University of Wales, Registry	1·76	1·73	1·70	·
Total Wales	51·85	49·45	47·67	4,172,230
Aberdeen	17·24	16·06	15·19	1,218,000
Dundee	11·41	10·90	10·53	805,000
Edinburgh	31·50	30·75	30·20	2,710,000
Glasgow	30·76	30·20	29·56	2,205,000
Heriot-Watt	7·52	7·27	7·09	768,000
St. Andrews	8·25	7·82	7·51	475,000
Stirling	5·96	5·45	5·08	265,000
Strathclyde	16·05	15·27	14·69	2,144,470
Total Scotland	128·69	123·72	119·85	10,590,470
Total Great Britain	879·62	838·65	808·07	76,156,808

	Home and EC full-time students
	1983–84 (or 1984–85)				Comparable 1979–80
University or College	Arts	Science	Medicine	Total	Total
Aston	1,080	2,560	—	3,640	4,670
Bath	1,030	2,230	—	3,260	3,190
Birmingham	3,840	2,790	1,140	7,770	7,750
Bradford	1,400	2,130	—	3,530	4,360
Bristol	2,930	2,620	840	6,390	6,650
Brunel	850	1,620	—	2,470	2,460

	Home and EC full-time students
	1983–84 (or 1984–85)				Comparable 1979–80
University or College	Arts	Science	Medicine	Total	Total
Cambridge	5,090	4,340	850	10,280	10,490
City	590	1,430	—	2,020	2,130
Durham	2,840	1,520	—	4,360	4,530
East Anglia	2,560	1,080	—	3,640	3,760
Essex	1,400	750	—	2,150	2,240
Exeter	3,170	1,430	—	4,600	4,690
Hull	3,120	1,080	—	4,200	5,070
Keele	1,570	660	—	2,230	2,680
Kent	2,320	860	—	3,180	3,430
Lancaster	2,980	940	—	3,920	4,210
Leeds	4,070	4,160	1,040	9,270	9,430
Leicester	2,430	1,260	510	4,200	4,340
Liverpool	2,850	3,060	1,000	6,910	7,060
London Graduate School of Business Studies	290	—	—	290	170
London University	11,470	12,350	8,400	32,220	33,510
Loughborough	2,100	2,450	—	4,550	4,670
Manchester Business School	170	—	—	170	120
Manchester	4,570	3,630	1,510	9,710	9,930
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology	690	2,290	—	2,980	2,790
Newcastle	2,480	3,060	1,060	6,600	6,380
Nottingham	2,470	3,040	640	6,150	6,380
Oxford	6,300	3,450	660	10,410	10,700
Reading	2,330	2,440	—	4,770	5,030
Salford	740	2,010	—	2,750	3,940
Sheffield	3,150	2,820	890	6,860	6,860
Southampton	2,460	2,560	640	5,660	5,690
Surrey	620	1,850	—	2,470	2,880
Sussex	2,440	1,270	—	3,710	3,890
Warwick	3,110	1,440	—	4,550	4,600
York	1,960	1,130	—	3,090	3,100
Total England	93,470	82,310	19,180	194,960	204,280
Aberystwyth U. C.	1,820	890	—	2,710	2,940
Bangor U. C.	1,250	1,020	—	2,270	2,580
Cardiff U. C.	2,560	1,460	360	4,380	4,680
St. David's, Lampeter	690	—	—	690	710
Swansea U. C.	1,740	1,490	—	3,230	3,340
Welsh National School of Medicine	—	80	610	690	680
University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology	800	1,360	—	2,160	2,400
University of Wales, Registry	—	—	—	—	—
Total Wales	8,860	6,300	970	16,130	17,330
Aberdeen	2,470	1,860	610	4,940	5,140
Dundee	950	770	760	2,480	2,490
Edinburgh	4,310	3,310	1,220	8,840	8,830
Glasgow	3,780	3,640	1,390	8,810	9,100
Heriot-Watt	400	1,720	—	2,120	2,430
St. Andrews	1,680	950	250	2,880	3,110
Stirling	1,460	560	—	2,020	2,470
Strathclyde	2,390	3,150	—	5,540	5,790
Total Scotland	17,440	15,960	4,230	37,630	39,360
Total Great Britain	119,770	104,570	24,380	248,720	260,970
Full-time equivalent of part-time degree and diploma, extra-mural and continuing education students				45,480	43,020

"Grant for 1981–82 and guidance for succeeding years

1. I am writing to let you know the results of the University Grants Committee's consideration of grant for 1981–82 and to give what guidance is now possible for succeeding years. As you will be aware from my letters of 30 December 1980 and 15 May 1981, the Committee has been grappling for some months with the problems of how the present university system might be reshaped within the financial constraints determined by Government for the period up to 1983–84 (as set out in Cmnd. 8175). The aim of a revised system should be to offer good educational opportunities to students of all ages who may enter it, as well as career prospects and research opportunities for its staff.

2. In its deliberations the Committee has had to weigh many competing claims for the diminished resources; for example between subjects, between institutions, between teaching and research, between innovation and the continuance of existing areas of work, between provision of student places and likely demand, and between student numbers and quality of education. There is of course no single definitive solution to these problems, partly because the rate at which resources are being removed from the university system necessarily leads to disorder and diseconomy whatever path of change is followed, and partly because reductions in resources are being imposed at a time when demand for university education is still rising.

3. The Committee has received much useful information and advice from its Sub-Committees, from individual universities (where we have paid particular attention to the response to our letters of 15 October 1979 and 30 December 1980), from Research Councils and other funding bodies, from the Royal Society and the British Academy, from the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP), the AUT and the NUS, from employers of graduates, and from many other organisations and individuals. We are very grateful to all of those who have offered advice but for our conclusions the Committee alone is responsible.

4. Any estimate of the overall loss of recurrent resources between 1979–80 and 1983–84 is subject to numerous uncertainties but it probably will lie in the range 11 per cent. (a minimum estimate by the UGC) and 15 per cent (as suggested by the CVCP). It is the Committee's view that the university system as a whole should not be asked, with this reduction in funding, to maintain its home and European Community (EC) student numbers at the 1979–80 levels, and a reduction of about 5 per cent. is therefore assumed, although this may not be achieved until 1984–85. The reduction in student numbers by 1983–84 is expected to be in the range 3 to 5 per cent. As to the unit of resource, it will be seen that the Committee envisaged an average worsening of about 10 per cent (including some decline at all universities) and this figure should be borne in mind when considering the Committee's guidance below on individual subject areas.

The guidance in this letter refers to the system generally; there are significant variations in the advice to individual universities. I am writing separately to each institution to give specific advice and in some cases to ask for further consultation. In all the comparisons which follow, the base year is taken as 1979–80.

6. Arts

For the arts generally, a slightly greater than average cut in numbers is proposed, but there are many subject areas which require further consideration by individual universities. The Committee has noted for example that the teaching of foreign langauges is widely distributed throughout the system, with only small numbers of students in some cases. The Committee wishes to preserve the range of languages but is conscious of the danger that, without co-ordination, the study of some minority languages might disappear entirely under the pressure of adjustments to reduced resources. In these and similar circumstances, the Committee hopes that universities will enter into discussions among themselves and with the Committee to consider how provision might be sustained.

In social studies the Committee recommends a substantial reduction in student numbers with the aims both of improving the staff-student ratio which in many universities is disproportionately low, and of strengthening the opportunities for and quality of research.

For education the Committee cannot give firm guidance in terms of target numbers for PGCE and B Ed courses until the Government has determined total manpower targets. The Committee regards it as inevitable however that there will be some reduction in present numbers; universities are advised to await further guidance before determining their intakes for 1982–83. The Committee hopes that higher degree work, research, and courses of in-service training for teachers can be maintained and has made provision accordingly.

A small increase is envisaged in the number of students reading business studies.

7. Science

In physical sciences, numbers are expected to grow slightly by making fuller use of resources. The Committee proposes that important new developments in biological sciences should be supported, including those with a high potential value for the economy, to some extent at the expense of other aspects of biology, and numbers overall may fall slightly.

The Committee has assumed a small increase in the numbers reading mathematical sciences.

It is suggested that numbers in engineering and technology should increase slightly but with some redistribution between institutions. It will be for universites to decide, within the total numbers, the extent to which the lengthening of existing courses can be justified.

It is proposed that numbers in agriculture should decrease, but it is hoped that numbers in veterinary science can be maintained with a less than average reduction in resources.

The Committee recommends significant reductions in architecture and town planning, since there is evidence that existing numbers are greater than the prospects for professional employment in these areas.

The Committee proposes a reduction of about one-quarter in the number of places available for subjects allied to medicine, much of this reduction falling upon pharmacy.

8. Medicine

The Committee regrets that it is no longer able to include in grant funds to enable universities to offer to clinical medicine the protection which it has hitherto enjoyed in relation to the general decline in resources. There has been some funding ahead of numbers in the growing medical schools, and all schools should be able to maintain 1980 intakes (which implies a small increase in total numbers).

The Committee has for some time been concerned at the generally low level of research activity in dental schools which it believes is in part due to inadequate funding. Although it is not yet possible to improve this situation, the Committee has based its grant distribution on a less than average cut in the resources available to dentistry. The question of dental numbers is under review elsewhere; but for the present, intakes have been assumed to be unchanged.

9. These recommendations would lead to a change in the distribution of students as among arts, science and medicine, from 50:41:9 in 1979–80 to 48:42:10.

10. As far as individual universities are concerned, the annex gives (a) the recurrent grant (excluding rates, on which I will write separately) for each institution for 1981–82, with tentative grant figures for 1982–83 and 1983–384 (all at the same price base); (b) the furniture and equipment grant for 1981–82: (c) the full-time home and EC student numbers (divided into arts, science and medicine) on which provisional grant for 1983–3984 has been based; and (d) the total student numbers as in (c), together with the corresponding total for 1979–80.

Some universities (and in particular those with longer courses as in Scotland) may prefer to treat the target numbers as applicable to 1984–85 rather than 1983–84. In addition, institutions have freedom of virement within the full-time student numbers for each of the three subject groups between home and EC students, undergraduates and postgraduates.

The tentative individual grant figures in (a) are based upon two assumptions: that there is an evident progression towards the student targets in (c); and that fees continue to contribute about their present proportion to university income. Grant would be reassessed were either of these assumptions to be invalidated. The figures overall depend upon provision by government.

11. Part-time, extra-mural and continuing education

The Committee has attempted, within the resources available, to provide for part-time study of all kinds: i.e. students taking degrees and diplomas, or on extra-mural courses, or in continuing education whether vocational or non-vocational. The numbers of students taken into account in determining grant, in terms of full-time equivalence, are given in my separate letter. Grants are also based on assumptions about fees, as follows:

(a) Part-time degree and diploma students

Fees for part-time students, when expressed as full-time equivalents, have been assumed to be half those appropriate to full-time students at the same level, undergraduate or postgraduate.

(b) Extra-mural students

Fee income from full-time equivalent extra-mural students has been assumed to be one-fifth of that of the same number of full-time undergraduate students.

(c) Continuing educaton students

The Committee considers that assistance for continuing education should be essentially of a pump-priming nature and that fees for such courses should in the longer term cover the attributable costs.

It will of course be open to institutions to adjust their fees to meet individual circumstances, but this will not affect the Committee's assumptions on grant. There will be a reconsideration of these grant arrangements and estimated numbers after two years. The Committee should be consulted on any proposal for virement between part-time and full-time numbers.

12. The Committee is aware that very useful discussions are already going on between universities in order to ensure the more effective use of resources whether by concentration of studies, the sharing out of fields of specialisation or in other ways. The Committee will be willing, where there is a possibility of an effective merging of particular activities between two or more institutions, to consider claims for some modest increase in the recurrent grant for capital works and some contribution towards other associated costs.

13. As I foreshadowed in my letter of 15 May, the Committee is anxious to sustain its share of the dual support system whereby the UGC provides both for a basic level of research activity, and for a research floor capable as far as possible of sustaining specific support from Research Councils and elsewhere. In present circumstances, however, there must be selectivity in this process, and the Committee will continue discussions with Research Councils and other funding bodies in order to ensure that there is some linking of policies for supporting research at a time when further concentration of activity is inescapable. The Committe has taken into account the needs of research in its distribution of both recurrent and equipment grants. Because of the essential role of libraries in research the Committee hopes that expenditure on library materials will receive some protection.

14. You will be aware that the Secretary of State's announcement on 13 March on grant for 1981–82 included the earmarking of certain sums for special purposes. I deal briefly with each of these:

i. The £20 million to assist in the adaptation of the system to a lower level of funding will be used both for new developments which assist restructuring and to help universities with costs of early retirement and redundancy. You are invited to make proposals by the end of January 1982.

ii. £2·8 million has been allocated to continue the scheme administered by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals to assist outstanding research students from overseas.

iii. The sum of £3 million to assist postgraduate work of particular importance to this country which might otherwise suffer on account of the overseas fee policy will be separately allocated.

iv. A sum of £7·99 million has been transferred to recurrent grant for capital schemes under £1 million. From within this amount, grants for projects programmed under the present interim arrangements will, as envisaged in my letter of 19 February 1981, be notified to the universities concerned at the appropriate time. Capital grant for schemes programmed in previous years and those over £1 million in the current year will be treated separately.

v. The grant includes provision for overseas students who began their courses prior to October 1980, and for EC students.

vi. Provision is also made in the grant for the financing of student unions in 1981–82 at the same real terms level as in 1980–81, allowing for part of the income to be received through fees, as described in my letter of 12 March 1981.

15. This letter and its annex are being made readily available to all who may be interested. The Committee hopes that Vice-Chancellors and Principals will feel able to discuss it fully and widely within their institutions.

Yours sincerely

Edward Parkes"

European University Institute

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many British students currently attend the European University Institute; what is the average cost to the United Kingdom Exchequer per British student, taking into account the British contribution to the running costs of the institute; and how this figure compares with the average cost per student in United Kingdom universities.

15 British postgraduate students are currently attending the European University Institute.As the primary objective of the institute is research, to which the students contribute, it is not possible to attribute average costs to students.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the total annual cost of the European University Institute in Florence; how the institute is funded; what is the United Kingdom's share of the cost and that of the other European Economic Community member States for the current year; and how much the United Kingdom has contributed to the institute since 1 January 1973.

The 1981 budget of the European University Institute amounts to 5,895,618,000 Italian lire—£2·46 million. The institute is funded by member States in the following proportions:

	Per cent.
France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom	21·16
Belgium and the Netherlands	6·04
Denmark	2·47
Ireland	0·62
Luxembourg	0·19

The United Kingdom has contributed £2·56 million to date. The sterling equivalent of its contribution to the 1981 budget is approximately £0·55 million.

Industry

Overseas Companies (United Kingdom Investment)

43.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what percentage of investment in the United Kingdom is by companies with headquarters outside the United Kingdom.

The information available relates to manufacturing industry only.Overseas controlled enterprises in the United Kingdom accounted for 19 per cent. of net capital expenditure on fixed assets in United Kingdom manufacturing industry in 1977, the latest year available. Estimates for 1979 will be published next year in

Business Monitor, PA 1002, 1979 report on the census of production, summary tables.

Business Statistics Office, Newport

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will indicate the volume of work at the business statistics office, Newport, Gwent since the Civil Service dispute began; and how this compares with a similar period in 1980.

The main activities of the Business Statistics Office have been affected only marginally by Civil Service strikes, although the flow of information required for the maintenance of business registers has been interrupted. The work of the office is being restructured in accordance with Government policy described in the White Paper "Government Statistical Services" (Cmnd. 8236). The number of staff in post—including some dispersed from London during the past 12 months—was 938 in June compared with 969 in June 1980.

Warrington (European Community Assistance)

asked the Sercretary of State for Industry how much financial assistance from the European Economic Community regional development fund has been given to the town of Warrington, Cheshire, in each year since 1975.

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

Schools (Computers)

asked the Secretary of State for Industry why he is unable to answer questions about the receipt of individual computers on behalf of individual schools and on behalf of the Trinity high school, Knutton in particular.

The expense and time incurred in checking on individual applications to our "micros in schools" scheme is excessive. Priority is given to processing the applications speedily.

High Alloy Steels

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether the Government are prepared to take any steps to secure the future of the United Kingdom high alloy steel manufacturing base.

I understand that following discussions with companies in the high alloy steels sector, with BISPA and with the Bank of England, Professor Sir Frederick Warner is undertaking an inquiry for them into the prospects for the special steels sector in the light of its current problems. I welcome the industry's initiative.

Prime Minister

Nationalised Industries (Private Capital)

Q3.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will now review progress to date on introducing private capital, including private equity shareholding, into the nationalised industries; and whether she is now able to announce fresh proposals in this regard.

Apart from the successful sale of British Aerospace, we are considering an offer for the National Freight Corporation, and have directed the sale of Wytch Farm by the British Gas Corporation. We have legislated to introduce private capital into British Airways, and further legislation is currently before the House to permit the privatisation of Cable and Wireless, some of British Telecom's peripheral activities, the British Transport Docks Board and major British Rail subsidiaries, and we shall as a matter of priority reintroduce legislation in the next Session to enable the public to hold an equity stake in the British National Oil Corporation. We shall continue to examine the possibilities.

Engagements

Q4.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

Q5.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q6.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q7.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q8.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q9.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

Q10.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q11.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q12.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q13.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q14.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

Q15.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q16.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q17.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q19.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q20.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q21.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q22.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q24.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

Q25.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q26.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q27.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official duties for 2 July.

Q28.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

Q29.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q30.

Carlisle asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q31.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q33.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q34.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

Q35.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

Q36.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

Q37.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q38.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

Q39.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q40.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

Q41.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

Q42.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

Q43.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

Q44.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 2 July.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 2 July.

I refer my hon. Friends and the hon. Members to the reply which I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mr. Chapman).

Small Businesses (Advisory Services)

Q18.

asked the Prime Minister, in view of Government policy to improve the advisory service available to small businesses in urban areas in England and to co-ordinate the advisory services provided by the Council for Small Industries in Rural Areas and the small firms service of the Department of Industry, what steps the Department of the Environment and the Department of Industry have taken so far to co-ordinate these advisory services to small businesses; and if she is satisfied with the progress of co-ordination that has been made to date.

I am satisfied with the co-operation that exists between the advisory services of COSIRA and the Small Firms Service. In recent months, practical steps have been taken to make the best use of resources and to avoid unnecessary duplication. The staff of the two organisations now keep in regular contact and there is closer co-ordination of promotional and representational activities and of publications. Cross referral of inquiries between the two services continues to take place, as it always has done. Further opportunities to work together will be sought in the future.

Northampton

Q23.

asked the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to Northampton.

I hope to do so before too long.

Handicapped Children (Equipment)

Q32.

asked the Prime Minister if she is satisfied with co-operation between Departments in the puchasing and supply of advanced technology equipment for the education of handicapped children.

The purchase and supply of equipment for the education of handicapped children is a matter for local authorities in Great Britain, and for the education and library boards in Northern Ireland. I am satisfied that the Departments concerned co-operate on the general policy aspects of this service.

London And Northern Ireland (Government Aid)

asked the Prime Minister what is the total amount of Government aid given to London and Northern Ireland per annum, using the same basis for the assessment as that used in her answer concerning Merseyside to the hon. Member for Bootle on Tuesday 23 June.

In the case of Merseyside, I had in mind the relevant annual programmes of the three main Deprtments involved, together with the mainstream capital programmes of the public bodies in the area. In the case of Greater London, these programmes should involve expenditure of around £1·4 billion in the current financial year. In the case of Northern Ireland, central Government expenditure is handled through different programmes, and I cannot quote a genuinely comparable figure.

Merseyside (Government Aid)

asked the Prime Minister how she calculated the figure of £300 million a year in Government aid for Merseyside referred to in her answer to the hon. Member for Bootle on Tuesday 23 June.

In my earlier reply to the hon. Member I used the figure £300 million as an indication of the order of magnitude of Government spending for Merseyside. In fact, the relevant annual programmes for 1981–82 of the three main Departments involved, together with the mainstream capital programmes of the public bodies in Merseyside, should provide well over £300 million in the current financial year.

Mexico Summit Meeting

asked the Prime Minister why Her Majesty's Government are not participating in the organising group of nations preparing for the Mexico City North-South summit conference.

All countries participating in the Mexico summit are now taking part in the preparations. My right hon. and noble Friend the Foreign Secretary will attend a preparatory meeting of Foreign Ministers in Mexico on 1–2 August.

Developing Countries (Assistance)

asked the Prime Minister whether she intends to make positive proposals for relieving the problems of the poorest developing countries at (a) the Commonwealth summit talks in Australia and (b) the Mexico City North-South summit talks; and, if so, if she will state what these are.

I shall naturally take a positive approach to the summit meetings in Melbourne and Cancun, where the problems of the developing countries, including the poorest of them, will be fully discussed. We shall make a careful review beforehand to seek areas where progress may be possible. The agenda for the Cancan meeting will not be decided until early August.

Factory Closures

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 had no such meetings since 25 June.

Information Technology

asked the Prime Minister, following the designation of 1982 as Information Technology Year, what steps she is taking to ensure that Government policies on information technology take fully into account the needs of private sector suppliers and users of the relevant products and services.

The Government fully recognise the importance of information technology for the future industrial and commercial success of the United Kingdom and the central role that the Government must play in promoting its development and application. Government policies are already directed toward encouraging markets for IT products and services that will stimulate new, profitable business opportunities; and the Government see the effective application of IT as a powerful tool in raising the efficiency and quality of both private and public sector services.In order to ensure that Government policies and actions are securely based on a close appreciation of market needs and opportunities I am appointing a panel of IT advisers who will be available to advise me and my colleagues on all aspects of IT.The advisers are:

Mr. M. J. Aldrich—Managing Director, Rediffusion Computers Ltd.
Mr. I. H. Cohen—Managing Director, Mullard Ltd.
Mr. C. A. Davies—Managing Director, Information Technology Ltd.
Dr. D. F. Hartley—Director, Cambridge University Computing Services.
Mr. C. N. Read—Director, Inter-Bank Research Organisation.Mr. C. G. Southgate—Chief Executive, Computer Service Division, British Oxygen Co. Ltd.

In addition, I have established a small team within the Cabinet Office, made up of both permanent officials and personnel on secondment from the private sector. This unit will be a principal link between the advisers and Departments, will help to promote the use of IT within Government, and will seek to ensure the overall coherence of Government policies towards IT, particularly in so far as they span the responsibilities of more than one Department.

These new arrangements will strengthen and broaden the many existing contacts between my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry and the Minister for Industry and Information Technology on the one hand and private commerce and industry on the other and will reinforce the initiatives already taken by them and their officials.

Environment

Rates

42.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what studies he has made about how the equivalent revenue could be raised by (a) direct and (b) indirect taxation if the rating system were abolished.

The potential implications for both direct and indirect taxes are being studied in our review of the rating system. We plan to publish a consultation document, on alternatives to domestic rates, in the autumn.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the levels of domestic and commercial rates in England; and whether he intends to impose a limit on the level of future increases.

I refer the hon. Member to the statement made to the House by my right hon. Friend on 2 June.—[Vol. 5, c. 777–86.]

Rent Rebates (Pensioners)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of retirement pensioners received rent rebates in 1971 and in 1980 respectively.

I regret that the information requested is not available for the various local rebate schemes which existed prior to the introduction of the mandatory national rent rebate schemes from October 1972.Available estimates for England and Wales are for 1975 and 1979 and are as follows:

Tenant heads of household—all types of tenancies—aged 65 or over	As percentage of households in tenancies—all types—with heads aged 65 or over
	1975	1979
^* receiving rent rebates or rent allowances	21	27
† receiving rent rebates, allowances or supplementary benefit	65	67

Households in Local Authority—or New Town—tenancies with heads of household aged 65 or over	As percentage of households in local authority—or New Town—tenancies with heads aged 65 or over
	1975	1979
^* receiving rent rebates	25	30
† receiving rent rebates or supplementary benefit	75	75
Notes:
1. These estimates are based on the General Household Survey.
2. The lines marked ^* exclude households receiving rent rebates or allowances indirectly with supplementary benefit payments.
3. "All types of tenancies "in this table comprise local authority—including New Town—Housing Association, and privately rented—both unfurnished and furnished—tenancies.
4. The estimates are based on those households which stated they received a rebate etc. plus half of the households who were uncertain whether or not they received a rebate etc.

First-Time Buyers

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to the quantity of land sold by local authorities under schemes for the building by private developers of low-cost privately-owned starter homes; and how many low-cost starter homes have been begun by local authorities in conjunction with private developers for sale to first-time buyers over the last 12 months and the previous 12 months.

In 1980–81, 810 acres of land were sold by local authorities in England to private developers for housing purposes. We are not able to identify land sold specifically for the purpose of building 'starter homes'. A further 115 acres were made available to private developers for building for sale under licence on local authority land. In the period July 1980 to March 1981 there were starts on about 1,350 dwellings for eventual sale, to be built and financed by private developers, on local authority land. It can be assumed that a large majority of these dwellings are low-cost homes.Information for earlier periods is not available.

Gas And Electricity Boards (Account Arrears)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from local authorities in the Greater London area regarding amending the existing legislation so as to remove the power of gas and electricty boards to require a local authority to discharge any outstanding arrears before the supply will be restored and further to allow for any unpaid account due from an owner in respect of expenses incurred by the local authority to be a charge on the land until payment; and if he will make a statement.

My Department has received representations from the London boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham and Wandsworh about section 33 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976. I am not persuaded of their case for changing this legislation.

Housing (Disabled Persons)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what communication he has had from the Council of Europe concerning the implementation in the United Kingdom of the resolution on adaption of housing and surrounding areas to the needs of disabled persons (AP(77)8); if he is planning to provide information to the Council of Europe on the action taken by the Government as requested in paragraph 12 of that resolution; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has received no specific communication from the council of Europe concerning the implementation of resolution AP(77)8, a copy of which was sent to the Department through the usual official channels.The criteria in the Council of Europe's resolution are adequately reflected in advice the Department has given in the past on the provision of housing for disabled people. This will be indicated in the report, which will be sent to the Secretary General next year as called for in the resolution.

Enterprise Zone (Liverpool)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he now expects the Liverpool enterprise zone to be set up; and what is the estimate of new jobs to be provided.

I hope the Speke enterprise zone will come into effect in the third week in August.It is not possible at this stage to estimate the number of new jobs which will be created.

Liverpool Urban Development Corporation

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many jobs he estimates will be provided by the Liverpool urban development corporation, and over what period.

It would be premature to make any estimate now. The Merseyside Development Corporation is charged with regenerating its area as quickly and as effectivley as possible, encouraging private sector investment, and thereby job opportunities.

Merseyside (Ministerial Visit)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his recent visit to Merseyside.

I visited Liverpool on 26 June at the invitation of the leader of Liverpool city council and saw many examples of good environmental improvement schemes undertaken by the city council aided by resources and grant provided through the partnership arrangements. The city's work in its environmental improvement areas has been recognised by the Royal Town Planning Institute in granting the city jointly with Derby its Jubilee Award.I visited a successful firm in one of the city's industrial improvement areas which had been aided by the city using powers under the Inner Urban Areas Act.Much of course remains to be done to bring sites into more effective use and information made available through the published Liverpool land register will assist in this work.At Riverside at the southern end of the Merseyside Development Corporation's area I was pleased to see one of the corporations's first projects under way, extending the riverside walkway. I later discussed with the board of the corporation its work programme and the challenges it faced in the task of regenerating its area.I visited the county council's maritime museum at the north end of the South Docks area and was encouraged by the work done to improve the area and making it attractive to visitors.The problems of Merseyside remain particularly difficult; investment by the private sector is badly needed, aided by the initiatives that have been taken, by the additional public expenditure resources made available, and by concerted effort locally.

International Conference Centre (Broad Sanctuary)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he can indicate the progress of his inquiries about private financing for the planned international conference centre at Broad Sanctuary; and whether he will make a statement.

In the light of a report made to me by Messrs. Healey and Baker, I propose to accept an offer of direct finance made by the Pearl Assurance Company Ltd subject to our reaching agreement on detailed terms. I expect construction of the centre to start in April next year.

Local Authorities (Annual Reports)

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made in giving effect to the code of practice on local authority annual reports.

When the code was issued, local authorities were asked first to prepare annual reports on the year 1980–81, and in particular to make an early start on the publication of the comparative statistics specified in the code, and to seek fully to comply with the code in their reports on 1981–82.I have also now arranged with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy for the publication of a new booklet containing a comprehensive collection of comparative statistics, including those specified in the code. This will ensure that figures which are of real use to councillors, rate-payers, and others interested in securing better performance and value for money in local government are widely available at the outset.

Copies of the booklet have been sent to local authorities to enable them to publish appropriate comparative statistics in their annual reports on 1980–81, and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

Royal Wedding

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is yet in a position to make an estimate of the costs to his Department of arrangements for the forthcoming Royal Wedding.

The total estimated cost to my Department is £50,000.

Water Authorities

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment since referring the Severn-Trent water authority to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, whether he has decided to refer others.

I have been asked to reply.Further references of water undertakings to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission are planned for the future, and I shall make an announcement in due course.

Transport

Chile (Ministerial Visit)

Ross asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about the visit of the Under-Secretary to Chile.

I visited Chile from 24 to 27 May 1981, accompanied by two officials of my Department, three business men with interests in the transport field and a merchant banker. The purpose of the visit was to improve our knowledge of transport developments in Chile and, in particular, to identify developments where British expertise, technology and industry might make a larger contribution than has been the case in recent years in that country. I met Ministers of the Chilean Government, including the Minister of Transport and many leading officials of the Government and managers of transport undertakings. I hope that my visit will make a valuable contribution to better understanding between our two countries and the growth of trade between the United Kingdom and Chile.

British Railways Engineering Ltd

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what work load he expects to see maintained in British Railways Engineering Ltd. over the next two years; and what effect it will have on the level of employment.

[pursuant to his reply, 1 July 1981]: These are matters for the British Railways Board, which must, of course, keep under review the capacity it requires in its various workshops. This is bound to reflect the level of activity on the railway.

Scotland

Doctors, Dentists And Nurses

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of doctors, dentists and nurses currently registered as unemployed in the Tayside region.

The following table gives the number of unemployed people in Tayside region who were registered for employment in the specified occupations on 12 March 1981, the latest date for which information is available.

Numbers registered for employment as:
Medical practitioners	5
Dentists	Nil
State-registered and State-enrolled nurses and State-certified midwives	74

Intervention Stores

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the amount of food currently being held in European Economic Community intervention stores in Scotland; what is the estimated market value of that food; and what is the cost of holding such food in intervention stores in Scotland.

There were 40,232 tonnes of unsold barley and 1,654 tonnes of beef in intervention stores in Scotland on 15 June 1981. Market values are estimated at £4·06 million and £2·74 million respectively. Information about storage charges is regarded as commercially confidential.

Teachers

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) primary and (b) secondary teachers currently are unemployed in each region and island authority area.

The following table gives the numbers of unemployed people registered for employment as primary and secondary school teachers in each region and island authority area in Scotland on 12 March 1981, the latest date for which information is available.

Numbers registered for employment as teachers
Region/island authority area	Primary	Secondary
Borders	7	3
Central	53	23
Dumfries and Galloway	31	6
Fife	58	20
Grampian	76	55
Highland	19	16
Lothian	140	107
Strathclyde	514	247
Tayside	77	47
Orkney	—	—
Shetland	2	1
Western Isles	2	14

Secondary Schools (Pupil Numbers)

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give a percentage breakdown by sex of the secondary school population in each of the past five years.

in each of the years 1975–1979, 51 per cent. of all secondary school pupils were male. Information for 1980 is not yet available.

Tuberculosis (Dundee)

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of tuberculosis have been recorded in Dundee in each of the past five years.

The number of cases of tuberculosis recorded in Dundee in each of the past five years is as follows:

	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980
Respiratory	38	28	29	39	17
Non-Respiratory	10	4	6	10	7
Total	48	32	35	49	24
Note: The statistics are of confirmed notifications of tuberculosis in the city of Dundee district and they include cases not notified before death

Fatalities (Statistics)

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the standardised mortality rate for all causes of death in (a) Dundee and (b) Scotland in the lastest year.

The latest year for which the information is currently available is 1979. In that year the standardised mortality rates for all causes of death were: (a) Dundee 11·5 per thousand population and (b) Scotland 12·7 per thousand population.

Infant Mortality

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the infant mortality rate for each health board area in Scotland in the latest year.

The figures are given in the following table.

Class of Subject
Year	Net	Domestic element of RSG	Domestic Rate Rebate Grant	Domestic water rate	Total	Industrial	Commercial	Miscellaneous	Total
	£million	£million	£million	£million	£million	£million	£million	£million	£million
1976–77	185·3	42·2	18·5	23·3	269·3	55·9	118·9	87·4	531·5
1977–78	214·0	49·7	21·5	22·9	308·1	65·8	139·3	102·6	615·8
1978–79^*	192·2	13·4	21·2	26·9	253·7	77·2	168·7	145·2	644·8
1979–80^*	225·0	13·5	21·7	29·3	289·5	90·1	201·8	168·6	750·0
1980–81^*	309·7	13·8	28·7	38·9	391·1	114·2	280·0	229·3	1,014·6
^*Provisional.

Air Rifles And Pistols (Prosecutions)

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish figures in the Official Report to show the number of offences resulting in prosecution in scotland involving the use of air rifles or pistols; and if he will give figures in each year for the past 10 years.

Information regarding the number of such prosecutions is not available, but in the years 1978, 1979 and 1980, respectively, air weapons were used and suspects identified in 171, 180 and 161 cases made known to the police of attempted murder, serious assault, robbery or malicious or reckless conduct causing injury or damage to property.Information for other years and other crimes is available only at disproportionate cost.

Infant Mortality Rates, Health Board Areas, Scotland, 1980(Provisional)
Health Board Area	Infant Mortality Rate^*
Argyll and Clyde	12
Ayrshire and Arran	15
Borders	12
Dumfries and Galloway	18
Fife	12
Forth Valley	11
Grampian	9
Greater Glasgow	13
Highland	13
Lanarkshire	12
Lothian	13
Tayside	9
Orkney	4
Shetland	13
Western Isles	3
Scotland	12
^* Deaths in the first year of life per 1,000 live births.

1. The table gives provisional figures for 1980.

2. The rates for some areas are based on relatively small numbers of deaths and are therefore less significant. This applies particularly to the rates for Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles.

Rates

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total yield of rates in Scotland, broken down between domestic, industrial, commercial and other ratepayers, for the most recent five years for which figures are available.

The information is as follows:

South Of Scotland Electricity Board

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of capital expenditure in L's million, by year of expenditure, for each of the following plants in the South of Scotland electricity board region: Longannet, Cockenzie, Kincardine, Inverkip, Hunterston A and Hunterston B.

This information is not available centrally in the form requested.

Births And Abortions

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total abortion rate for Scottish women having abortions in Scotland and England per 1,000 Scottish women aged 15 to 44 years for each of the years 1970 to 1980 respectively.

The information requested is set out in the table below; the figures for 1980 are not yet available:

	Place of Abortion
Year	Scotland	England and Wales
1970	5·2	Not available
1971	6·2	Not available
1972	7·5	0·8
1973	7·4	1·1
1974	7·4	1·0
1975	7·1	1·0
1976	6·9	0·9
1977	7·0	0·8
1978	7·0	0·9
1979	7·2	1·0
Note: "Scottish women" is interpreted as women normally resident in Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many discharges from Scottish hospitals there were following (a) non-therapeutic abortion, and (b) therapeutic abortion in the years 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980 respectively.

Year	Live Births	Still births	Abortions	Abortion rate^ 15 year olds*	Abortion rate^ 16–19 year olds†*
1977	98	1	216	3·8	8·9
1978	104	2	202	3·7	11·3
1979	139	1	175	3·1	11·2
^* Age specific rate per 1,000.
†Age specific rate for 16 year olds is not available.

asked the secretary of State for Scotland what was the Scottish birth rate per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 year for each of the 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980.

The information is given in the following table.

Live births per 1,000 women aged 15–44, Scotland
1977	59·4
1978	60·7
1979	63·9
1980	63·7

asked the secretary of State for Scotland what were the total numbers of legal abortions performad in Scotland in 1978, 1979 and 1980 respectively· and what were the total number of non-National Health Service abortions performed in Scotland 1978, 1979 and 1980 respectively.

The information requested is set out in the table below; the figures for 1979 are incomplete and for 1980 are not yet available.

	Total Abortions	Abortions in Approved Places (that is non-NHS)
1978	7,453	200
1979	7,754	192

The information requested is set out in the table below; the figures for 1979 are incomplete and for 1980 are not yet available.

Year	Non-therapeutic abortions^*	Therapeutic abortions †
1977	6,657	‡7,139
1978	5,865	7,253
1979	Not available	7,714
^*These figures which relate mainly to spontaneous abortions are derived from hospital in·patient statistics.
†These figures are based on notifications made under the Abortion Act 1967 in respect of abortions carried out in NHS hospitals.
‡Figure revised in summer 1979 following collation of late notifications.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many Scottish girls under the age of 16 years (a) gave birth, (b) had stillbirths, and (c) had abortions in 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980 respectively; and what was the abortion rate for girls aged 15 and 16 years, respectively, in each of those years.

The information available is set out in the following table; figures for 1980 are not yet available.

Fuel Consumption (Payment)

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any intention of introducing a pay-as-you-go method of payment for fuel consumption.

The Scottish electricity boards already offer a wide range of pay-as-you-go schemes to assist consumers. These include budget accounts into which payments are made on a weekly or monthly basis to even out the costs over a year, the purchase of savings stamps and, where it is safe and practical to do so, the installation of pre-payment meters. In addition, consumers can arrange to pay any sum they wish, at any time, towards their next electricity bill. Arrangements for the gas industry are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy, but I understand that similar facilities are offered by Scottish Gas.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, in view of the benefits to the lower-paid of having pre-paid token meters for fuel charges installed in their homes, he will take steps to require the fuel boards to introduce such a system.

This is a matter for the Scottish electricity boards and I will ask the chairmen to write to the hon. Member. Questions about the gas industry in Scotland are for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy.

East Aberdeenshire (Redundancies And Short-Time Working)

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the industries in the East Aberdeenshire constituency where redundancies or short-time employment were declared in the years 1979 and 1980; and what proportion of the total labour force was affected within these industries.

[pursuant to his reply, 22 June 1981, c. 47]: There are no comprehensive statistics

Industry	Redundanciesnotified to Manpower Services Commission		Notified redundancies as a percentage of labour force in industry
	1979	1980	1979 per cent	1980 per cent
Mining and quarrying	29	15	42·0	21·7
Food, drink and tobacco	200	337	5·4	9·0
Mechanical engineering	—	307	—	16·8
Shipbuilding and marine engineering	—	25	—	5·2
Construction	98	169	3·9	6·8
Transport and communication	60	—	7·9	—
Miscellaneous services	13	86	0·7	4·8
Note: The percentage rates are based on mid-1977 estimates of employees in employment and are subject to revision when later census of employment results become available.

Northern Ireland

Prisoners (Release)

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons in Northern Ireland in

Offence	Year	Number Released	Numbers released having served less than^*
			20 per cent.	25 per cent.	30 per cent.
	1976	—	—	—	—
Possessing Explosive substances with intent	1977	2	1
Possessing Firearms and ammunition with intent	1977	2	1
Driving without insurance			1
Theft	1978		1
Driving while disqualified		3	1
Fine default				1
Driving without insurance	1979		1
Theft		3	1
Handling stolen goods			1
Compensation default	1980		1
Handling stolen goods		6			1
Driving while disqualified					1
Manslaughter					3
Burglary and Theft	1981		1

of redundancies. The following table lists by industry those redundancies involving 10 or more workers notified to the Manpower Services Commission as due to occur in 1979 and 1980 in the Fraserburgh and Peterhead employment office areas—which between them cover most of the East Aberdeenshire constituency; the table also expresses the number of the redundancies as a percentage of the total labour force in each industry. Information on the numbers on short time working in individual employment office areas is not available.

each of the last five years have been released from prison before they have served (a) 20 per cent., (b) 25 per cent. and (c) 30 per cent. of their specified sentence; what were the crimes for which they were sentenced; and what were the grounds for release in each case.

The information is as follows:

Offence	Year	Number Released	Numbers released having served less than^*
			20 per cent.	25 per cent.	30 per cent.
Burglary and Damage to Property		3		1
Attempted murder					1
	Totals	17	9	2	6
^* Of the actual sentences imposed by the court.

Of the 17 persons released, five were on medical or compassionate grounds, six were to rectify omission or errors by public authorities and six were recommendations for clemency by the sentencing court.

Civil Servants (Unauthorised Absences)

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many civil servants in the Department of Agriculture in Northern Ireland had deductions made from their salaries for unauthorised absences during May; how many had sick leave during May; and if he will give comparable figures for 1980;(2) how many civil servants in the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland had deductions made from their salaries for unauthorised absences during May; how many had sick leave during May; and if he will give comparable figures for 1980;(3) how many civil servants in the Department of the Civil Service in Northern Ireland had deductions made from their salaries for unauthorised absences during May; how many had sick leave during May; and if he will give comparable figures for 1980;(4) how many civil servants in the Department of Commerce in Northern Ireland had deductions made from their salaries for unauthorised absences during May; how many had sick leave during May; and if he will give comparable figures for 1980;(5) how many civil servants in the Department of Education in Northern Ireland had deductions made from their salaries for unauthorised absences during May; how many had sick leave during May; and if he will give comparable figures for 1980;(6) how many civil servants in the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland had deductions made from their salaries for unauthorised absences during May; how many had sick leave during May; and if he will give comparable figures for 1980;(7) how many civil servants in the Northern Ireland office had deductions made from their salaries for unauthorised absences during May; how many had sick leave during May; and if he will give comparable figures for 1980;(8) how many civil servants in the Department of Manpower Services in Northern Ireland had deductions made from their salaries for unauthorised absences during May; how many had sick leave during May; and if he will give comparable figures for 1980;(9) how many civil servants in the Department of Health and Social Services in Northern Ireland had deductions made from their salaries for unauthorised absences during May; how many had sick leave during May; and if he will give comparable figures for 1980.

For the larger Northern Ireland Departments with widely dispersed staff this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. For the other Departments the information requested is as follows:

Department	Number of Civil Servants on sick leave		Number of Civil Servants who had deductions from salary for unauthorised absence
	May 1980	May 1981	May 1980	May 1981
Northern Ireland Office	104	89	1	1
Civil Service	135	162	1	2
Commerce	135	105	Nil	Nil
Education	107	114	Nil	Nil
Finance	531	519	1	48
Manpower Services	400	467	4	2

Escaped Prisoners

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his statement of 11 June, Official Report, c. 555, how many shots were fired by the Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary during the escape of eight prisoners from Her Majesty's prison, Crumlin Road, Belfast on 10 June; and how many of these hit the vehicles in which the prisoners escaped.

The Army fired four shots and the Royal Ulster Constabulary 14. Four strike marks were found on one of the vehicles recovered.

Plastic Bullets (Injured Persons)

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many people in Northern Ireland have sustained injuries from being struck by plastic bullets necessitating remaining in hospital for period of (i) over 24 hours, (ii) over 48 hours, (iii) over seven days and (iv) over two weeks, indicating the nature of the injuries in each case;(2) if he will publish in the

Official Report, the age, sex, date of fatality and circumstances of sustaining the injury of all those who have died as a result of injuries sustained by the use of plastic bullets, giving the coroner's verdict in each case.

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

Harland And Wolff

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is now the aggregate cost to public funds of all sums given, loaned, committed, promised or at risk to Messrs. Harland and Wolff to date; what is the number of persons currently employed in the shipyard; and what is his latest estimate of the aggregate cost to public funds of moneys committed to this shipyard in the last 12 months per employee on its books.

[pursuant to his reply, 26 June 1981, c. 236]: Since it was announced on 26 March 1975 that the company was to be taken into public ownership payments made and commitments, excluding guarantees, given to Harland and Wolff Ltd. amount in total to £206 million.The number of persons currently employed is 7,120. The cost per employee of assistance provided in the 12-month period ended 31 May 1981 was £7,587 based on the average numbers employed during the period.

National Finance

Scottish Islands (Petrol And Diesel Fuel)

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has considered the proposals of the Highlands and Islands Development Board to exempt from value added tax petrol and diesel sold on the Scottish Islands; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. I am afraid that this would not be a practicable proposition.

Inflation

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is satisfied that the level of inflation will be lower during the first quarter of 1982 than in the third and fourth quarters of 1981.

Gross Income
	£100,000	£20,000	£5,000	£3,000
1978–79	74·9	44·7	26·8	18·4
1979–80	54·7	35·8	24·9	17·1
1980–81	54·2	34·4	23·9	15·3
1981–82	54·4	35·5	24·9	16·3

It should be noted that the tax burden figures for 1978–79 only are affected by child tax allowances, which were phased out in April 1979 and replaced by child benefit which does not appear in the table.A comparison of tax burdens for families with constant money incomes over a period of time when average earnings have risen substantially is not representative of the population as a whole, since the incomes of such families will have declined relative to the overall income distribution.

Economic Improvement

19.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what prospects he sees for a revival in the level of commercial and industrial activity before the end of the current financial year.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Easington (Mr. Dormand).

I have nothing to add to the forecast published at the time of the Budget, which projected a continued fall in inflation over the next 12 months.

Civil Service Dispute

16.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how he intends to recover the costs of the Civil Service strike.

The financial cost of the strike to the Government will depend on the speed at which the shortfall in revenue is made good when the strike is over; it is too soon to decide about recovering additional costs. But my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Civil Service Department has said that, as the present industrial action continues, the Government will need to keep under review whether they can hold indefinitely to the terms of the present offer.

Family Income

18.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes have taken place since May 1979 in the direct tax burden of an average family whose gross annual income is £100,000, £20,000, £5,000 and £3,000 respectively; and if he will make a statement.

Following are the figures for the percentage of gross income taken in income tax and national insurance contributions (at the contracted.-in rate) for a married couple with two children where the husband alone earns the respective incomes specified, for the financial years 1978–79 to 1981–82.

Economic Initiatives

20.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is satisfied that his economic policy is working as he anticipated at the time of his Financial Statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave earlier to the hon. Member for West Stirlingshire (Mr. Canavan).

Profit-Sharing Schemes

21.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is satisfied with the number of companies which have introduced profit-sharing share schemes as a result of the Finance Act 1980; and if he will make a statement.

Applications from companies to the Inland Revenue for approval of profit-sharing schemes are continuing at an encouraging level, which I hope will be sustained.

Exchange Rate

22.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many representations he has received in the last three months in favour of the proposition that the exchange rate is (a) too low and (b) too high, respectively.

Until recently most representations have concentrated on the difficulties companies have been facing as a result of the effect of a strong pound on their competitive position. Lately there has been increasing concern about the effect of a lower exchange rate on the rate of inflation.

Spare Capacity

23.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his Department has conducted any recent studies into the methods and scope of measuring sectoral and aggregate spare capacity in the United Kingdom economy.

My Department maintains a close interest in many different indicators of spare capacity. It has not however instigated any direct research on the subject recently.

Public Expenditure

24.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he proposes to review the level of public expenditure forecast for 1982–83; and if he will make a statement.

The annual review of public expenditure plans has only recently begun. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced certain decisions on the defence programme on 25 June. Other decisions, when taken, will be announced in due course.

National Insurance Surcharge

25.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many representations he has received since taking office on the national insurance surcharge.

I have received about 50 representations since taking office on the national insurance surcharge.

North Sea Oil And Gas

26.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is satisfied that the basis of taxation of North Sea oil and gas provides sufficient incentive for investment.

Yes. We will, however, consider very carefully any views or evidence on this issue which the industry may bring forward in its representations on the long-term structure of the oil taxation regime.

34.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he now expects the combined yield of all taxes on North Sea oil operations in 1981–82 to reach the total estimated in his Budget.

On the evidence so far available, revenue from North Sea oil and gas production is expected to be close to the Budget estimates.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the petroleum revenue tax lost because of invoicing of goods or services at higher than market prices through tax-haven companies and contractors or subcontractors registered abroad.

I have no evidence of petroleum revenue tax lost in this way.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will estimate the corporation tax lost because of tax avoidance or evasion in respect of companies engaged by oil companies and contractors or subcontractors in respect of services relating to or arising from oil development in the Scottish sector of the North Sea;(2) if he will estimate the income tax unpaid because of tax avoidance or evasion in respect of people employed by oil companies, contractors or subcontractors in work relating to or arising from oil development in the Scottish sector of the North Sea.

The United Kingdom continental shelf is not divided into sectors. Information available is insufficient to estimate how much corporation tax or income tax is lost because of tax avoidance or evasion in respect of services or employment connected with oil development on the United Kingdom continental shelf.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken to curb tax avoidance and evasion by offshore and onshore oil contractors.

The Inland Revenue is active in using its various powers to counter avoidance and evasion, including section 38, Finance Act 1973 in regard to non residents, section 485 Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1975 on transfer pricing, and exchange of information with other countries under the terms of our double taxation agreements.

Cash Limits

27.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if cash limits will in future include the cost of wages and salaries in the Civil Service before pay settlements have been reached.

We have undertaken to enter the Civil Service pay negotiations next year without a pre-determined limit on the cost of the settlement. Naturally in negotiating the level of pay for the Civil Service, as for other public services, we must continue to have regard to what the country can afford.

Value Added Tax

28.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is prepared to carry out a review of the impact of value added tax on charities.

No. Comparatively few charities engage in commercial activities to the extent which requires them to register and account for tax and keep records of the incidence of VAT on their purchases. A review of the kind suggested would be onerous and unlikely to lead to any useful conclusions.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make arrangements for all small businesses, farmers, fishermen and similar type businesses who do not require to register for value added tax to be reimbursed the value added tax on petrol and diesel on production of receipts to the appropriate Government Department which presently repays these firms for subsidies and other forms of approved repayments.

Businesses whose taxable turnover is below the VAT registration threshold may register voluntarily in order to obtain repayment of VAT incurred on purchases. Industrial action by Customs and Excise staff at Southend is presently delaying such repayments, but as soon as normal working is restored, Customs and Excise will do its utmost to expidite them. In the meantime, considerations of verification and control make it impracticable to make VAT repayments through any other Government Department.

Public Sector Borrowing Requirement

29.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the forecast outturn for the 1981–82 public sector borrowing requirement.

The underlying forecast of the PSBR remains that in the Budget Statement. As my hon. Friend is aware, receipts of tax and national insurance contribtions of about £750 million to £1 billion due in 1980–81 were delayed by the Civil Service dispute which began in March.

Capital Investment

30.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is satisfied with the level of capital investment in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

No. In many sectors, above all manufacturing, industrial investment is currently depressed by very poor rates of profitability. But the latest Department of Industry intentions inquiry suggests some recovery in fixed investment by mannufacturing and distributive and service industries next year.

European Economic Community (Budget)

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has received the preliminary draft budget of the European Economic Community.

Yes. Copies were deposited in the House on 23 June and an explanatory memorandum prepared by the Treasury was deposited on 26 June.

Royal Wedding Crowns

32.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Royal wedding crowns it is proposed to issue; and how many in cellophane and presentation cases.

There is no limit being imposed on the number of circulation standard cupro-nickel Royal wedding crowns to be issued. Sufficient will be minted to meet demand from the public during 1981. This also applies to the specially packed cupro-nickel pieces accompanied by an information card about the Royal wedding which the Royal Mint is selling through post offices, etc.There will, however, be a limit of 250,000 of the Silver Proofs which are being sold by the Royal Mint numismatic bureau to collectors in the United Kingdom and overseas.

International Monetary Fund

33.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the voting strength within the International Monetary Fund breaks down between the industrialised and Third world countries; and whether there are any plans to alter them.

The breakdown of voting power within the IMF is as follows:

	Per cent.
Industrial Countries (20)	59·1
Oil Exporting Countries (12)	10·8
Non-Oil Developing Counties (109):
Africa	6·6
Asia	10·4
Europe	2·9
Middle East	1·8
Western Hemisphere	8·4
	100·00

Country classification from International Financial Statistics.Number of countries in each category in brackets.Members' quotas in the fund are the main factor determining voting strength. The executive board has begun preparatory work on the eighth quota review.

Public Sector Pay Increases

35.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the level of pay increases in the public sector which the economy could absorb without inflationary consequences in 1982.

The lower the level of pay settlements in the coming year, the less will be the transitional impact on output and employment of adjusting to the lower inflation implied by the Government's financial strategy.

Small Businesses (Tax Incentives)

36.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations on tax incentives he has received from smaller businesses.

We have received a number of representations suggesting a variety of special reliefs for new and small businesses. It is generally recognised that the tax climate for the small business sector has been transformed by the wide range of measures which we have introduced in recent years.

Minimum Lending Rate

37.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to replace minimum lending rate with a new system.

In my Budget Statement in March this year I told the House that the Bank of England would be holding discussions with financial institutions about the new arrangements for monetary control. These discussions are currently well advanced and when they are finally put into effect the Bank will aim to keep very short-term interest rates within an unpublished band. This will allow market forces to play a greater role in the determination of short-term interest rates. It should in due course be appropriate to suspend the practice of having an announced MLR which will lose its operational significance.

Government Spending (Index-Linking)

38.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of total Government spending was subject to a form of index-linking in 1970–71 and 1980–81; and what is his estimate of the figure for 1981–82.

The statutory linking of certain items of public expenditure was introduced during the 1970's. The principal items linked by statute to price indices in 1980–81 and 1981–82 were public sector pensions and social security benefits. Together these accounted for about a fifth of public expenditure in both 1980–81 and 1981–82.

Tuc And Cbi

40.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he had discussions with the Trades Union Congress, and Confederation of British Industry before annoucing his policy on future pay increases in his recent speech; whether he has had discussions since; and whether he will make a statement.

My speech to the Birmingham chamber of commerce on 26 June drew attention to the fact that if we want to see output and employment grow, we must have pay settlements in both the public and private sectors which are considerably lower than we have had in the current pay round. I am always ready to discuss such issues with the TUC and the CBI, and have regular opportunities to do so.

Coinage

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many circulating coins of each denomination of the United Kingdom were issued bearing the date 1980; and how many gold coins and how many proof sets were issued.

The information is as follows:

Base Metal Coins
To the nearest million issues of 1980 dated coins were:
	million
50p	53
25p	11
10p	89
^5p*	189
2p	308
1p	416
½p	194
^* still in production

Proof Coins
To the nearest thousand issues of 1980 dated coins were:
	thousands
Proof Gold Sovereigns	82
Proof Gold Half Sovereigns	68
^*4 Coin Proof Gold set	10
^*Includes Proof Gold £5	10
Includes Proof Gold £2	10
Proof Gold Sovereign	10
Proof Gold Half Sovereign	10
United Kingdom Proof Sets	137

Income Tax (National Insurance Contributions)

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the individual personal income tax includes a proportion towards tax relief on national insurance contributions; if so, how much; and whether this amount is the same for employees and self-employed alike and also regardless of the level of income.

No part of the personal tax allowances is attributed to relief for national insurance contributions.

Civil Service Dispute

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the revenue due to the Treasury in May has not yet been paid as a result of the Civil Service pay dispute.

Since the start of the Civil Service pay dispute, over three-quarters of the net revenue due has been paid into the Exchequer accounts. The proportion relating to May alone is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he foresees any difficulties in the collection of value added tax after the end of the Civil Service industrial dispute.

No. When the industrial dispute has been resolved the normal collection and enforcement procedures will be re-introduced as quickly as possible. It will, of course, be some time before Customs and Excise has dealt with the arrears of work currently accumulating.

Job Creation And Investment (West Yorkshire)

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures he is taking to reduce unemployment and increase investment in West Yorkshire.

The Government's policies to reduce inflation are the best way of achieving higher investment and a sustained reduction in unemployment, both in the United Kingdom and West Yorkshire. The Government also recognise the prime importance of improving the competitiveness of industry, especially by achieving further reductions in wage settlements.

Inflation

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the current level of inflation.

The annual increase in the retail price index was 11·7 per cent. in May 1981, which was 10 percentage points less than a year ago.

Capital Investment

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessments have been made of the relative economic effects of capital investment by nationalised industries compared with investment by private industry.

Between 1970 and 1979 average pre-tax real rates of return on capital employed fell from plus 1 per cent. to minus 1 per cent. in the nationalised industries and from plus 9 per cent. to plus 6 per cent. in all industrial and commercial companies. The nationalised industries' returns were held down for much of this period by successive Governments' policies of price restraint, not fully compensated by Exchequer grants, and in the case of some of the industries by crisis requiring substantial remedial measures. Looking forward, the intention is that capital investment in the nationalised industries should earn returns commensurate with those earned in the private sector.

Savings Bond

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider issuing a saving bond linked to the tax and price index.

No.

District Nurses (Car Expenses)

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will reconsider his decision to tax the expenses which district nurses receive for using their own cars in the course of their duties.

No, for the reasons given in my reply to the hon. and learned Member's earlier question on the same subject.—[Vol. 7, c. 3.]

Trades Union Congress

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will list the occasions and dates since 21 May 1980 when he or any of his departmental colleagues have met the official representatives of the Trades Union Congress at a formal meeting to discuss policy issues, excluding meetings with departmental unions about Whitley conditions; and whether there has been any occasion when he has refused to meet a Trades Union Congress deputation after the congress has officially requested one.

On no occasion have I or other Treasury Ministers refused a formal request for a meeting with official representatives of the TUC.I meet official TUC representatives regularly at the monthly meeting of the National Economic Development Council. I and other Treasury Ministers have also held or attended formal meetings with TUC representatives on the following occasions since 21 May 1980:

Chancellor and Chief Secretary
24 February 1981 meeting with TUC economic committee.

Financial Secretary
1 June 1981 meeting with TUC economic committee.

Alcohol (Revenue Duty)

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing (a) the total annual revenue raised through duty on alcohol, (b) the total annual sales of dutiable alcoholic products and (c) (a) as a percentage of (b) for the years 1970–71 to 1980–81 and including his estimate for the current financial year.

[pursuant to his reply, 29 June 1981, c. 248]: Following is the information:

	(a)	(b)	(c)
	Alcoholic drinks duties net receipts	Alcoholic drink sales^*	Duty receipts as percentage of sales
	£ million	£ million	per cent.
1970–71	931	2,369	39·3
1971–72	999	2,649	37·7
1972–73	1,075	2,982	36·0
1973–74†	954	3,553	26·9
1974–75	1,134	4,033	28·1
1975–76	1,563	5,011	31·2
1976–77‡	1,946	6,027	32·3
1977–78	2,063	6,779	30·4
1978–79	2,339	7,645	30·6
1979–80	2,445	9,500	25·7
1980–81	§2,606	not available	not available
1981–82	║3,200	not available	not available
Notes
^* Derived from data of consumers' expenditure published in Economic Trends and excludes sales to businesses.
† The duties on alcoholic drinks were reduced on 1 April 1973 when value added tax was introduced.
‡ Excise duty on cider and perry was introduced on 6 September 1976.
§ Provisional.
║ Estimate.

Industrial Investment

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of total industrial investment in the United Kingdom has come from abroad in each year since 1970.

I have been asked to reply.The information in this form is not available. Direct investment by overseas concerns in the United Kingdom measures the amounts invested in the share and loan capital, short-term loans, trade credit, and unremitted profits of their United Kingdom subsidiaries, associates and branches. The United Kingdom concerns use this to finance increases in their debtors and stocks, to repay loans, and so on, as well as to purchase fixed assets. How much is used for the latter is not known. It is therefore not possible to estimate the amount of expenditure on fixed assets that is financed from overseas. I refer my hon. Friend also to the reply I have given today to a question along similar lines from my hon. Friend the Member for Hereford (Mr. Shepherd).

Social Services

Nurses

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, in the light of the fact that trained nurses are having to accept agency work during their off-duty periods to supplement their salaries, with consequential harmful effects on their National Health Service work, if he will examine this problem and consider taking steps to remedy it.

I do not accept the suggestion that nurses are compelled to undertake agency work during off-duty periods. I do not control the off-duty activities of NHS employees. Nurses undertake agency work for a variety of reasons. Agencies have a responsibility to ensure that nurses provided to NHS authorities or other clients are well able to cope with work which they undertake. I am confident that NHS nurse managers are able to deal with any case where there may be reason to suppose that a nurse's off-duty activities may affect the performance of her normal duties. The most recent figures indicate that agency nurses represent less than 2 per cent. of qualified nursing staff in the NHS.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) in the light of the concern expressed by the Royal College of Nursing at the nursing situation in Newham affecting the general shortfall in staff nurses in the general wards, problems connected with recruiting nurses to the geriatric wards and the shortfall of established community nurses, if he will arrange for steps to be taken to rectify this situation;(2) whether, following the concern expressed by the Royal College of Nursing at the poor standard of care which can be provided by the untrained auxiliary learner nurses when nursing posts for trained nurses remain vacant for long periods, he will take steps to remedy this situation;(3) whether he has received the communication from the hon. Member for Newham, North-West enclosing a letter from Mr. Derek Williams regarding the availability and shortage of nurses generally and in Newham in particular; what is the nature of his reply; and what action he proposes to take to rectify this situation.

I received the letter forwarded by the hon. Member on 24 June and will reply to it as soon as possible. In recent years, there has been a continuing increase in the number of nurses employed in the National Health Service and in the proportion who are qualified, reflecting real terms increases in the resources allocated to the service. Within two years of the present Government's arrival in office, the total nursing pay bill increased by 50 per cent., most of which represented improvements in nurses' pay, allowances and conditions of service. Individual NHS authorities are responsible for dealing with particular problems in their areas.

Depo Provera

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now publish in the Official Report the titles and names of the authors of the detailed studies regarding the short-term effects of Depo Provera in the United Kingdom and other countries in the world which are used by his Department; if his Department has verified the authenticity and statistical and medical reliability of such studies and research work; and if he will make a statement.

When considering the adverse effects of Depo Provera or any other drug the Department takes account of relevant scientific papers. These may be identified by means of a number of computer linked systems, such as BLAISE and MEDLINE. I regret that it would be impractical to publish the full list of such papers or identify which individual papers contained in these systems may have been referred to by the Department, but four papers have been referred to in my replies to the hon. Member on 18 July 1980—[Vol. 988, c.740]—28 July 1980—[Vol. 989 c. 651]—and to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds (Mr. Griffiths) on 12 February 1981—[Vol. 998 c.442–43]—as follows:

Contraception: May 1978, Vol.17, No.5 pp395–406

The British Journal of Family Planning: Vol.4, No. 3 October 1978

Depo Provera—A critical Analysis - S. Minkin

Int. J. Gynaecol. Obstet. 15: 145–149, 1977

Advisers in the Department use their professional judgement when assessing the value of the data contained in these papers including, where appropriate, the methodology employed and their statistical and medical reliability.

National Insurance (Self-Employed Persons)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, if he will arrange for the Government Actuary to recalculate the percentage requirement for the self-employed's national insurance contribution so as to take fully into account the fact that the total class 1 contribution upon which the former is based, is split into approximately 60 per cent. tax-deductible employer's and 40 per cent. tax paid employee's shares.

No. Contribution rates are calculated entirely by reference to national insurance factors such as the state of the national insurance fund and the benefits for which particular groups of contributors are eligible. To take account of tax considerations in determining the rates would result in arrangements less fair to all contributors than the present ones.

Prescription Charges

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has taken any steps to monitor the effect of increased prescription charges on the health of patients by examining to what extent they have cut out necessary medication; and if he will make a statement.

Although there has been a change in the number of prescription items dispensed during 1979 and 1980, it is not possible to say to what extent this is attributable to the increase in prescription charges. I have no reason to believe that anyone is being deprived of the medication they need because of the prescription charge. The wide-ranging exemption arrangements under which just over 68 per cent. of all prescriptions are dispensed free of charge include provision for those on low incomes. The income level at which exemption may be claimed is raised whenever prescription charges are increased.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many prescriptions were dispensed in the National Health Service in the last year for which figures are available and in each of the four preceding years.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Mitchell) on 9 June.—[Vol. 6 c. 63.]

Sickness And Industrial Injury

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many working days are estimated to have been lost in Scotland in the past year through sickness and industrial injury.

In the year ending May 1980, the days of certified incapacity for work in Scotland due to sickness and industrial injury were 49,758,000 and 1,528,000 respectively.

Waiting List (Canterbury And Thanet)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average waiting list time for hip replacement operations in the Canterbury and Thanet health district; how this compares with the national average; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average waiting list time for orthopaedic operations in the Canterbury and Thanet health district; how this compares with the national average; and if he will make a statement.

The information requested for the Canterbury and Thanet health district is not available centrally, and my hon. Friend may like to seek it direct from the Kent area health authority. The most recent information available for England and Wales, based on a 10 per cent. sample, is for 1978 when the mean waiting times for patients admitted from waiting lists were 34 weeks for all arthroplasty—joint replacement— operations and 23 weeks for all orthopaedic operations. Waiting times for individual operations such as hip replacements are not readily available. In my reply to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mr. Lyell) on 12 March—[Vol. 1000 c. 422–3]—I welcomed the approach as for tackling waiting lists locally put forward in the report of the working party chaired by Professor Duthie.

Maternity And Neonatal Services

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish more details as to the methods his Department intends to use to implement the minimum standards for staffing and equipment necessary for improving the maternity and neonatal services, with particular reference to specialist units for low-weight babies and small babies.

I cannot at present add to my hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North-East (Mrs. Short) on 28 April.—[Vol. 3, c. 378].

Year ended 31 March	Increase in fees and on-costs paid to pharmacist and appliance contractors		Increase in fees and on-costs paid to dispensing doctors
	£ million	Percentage	£ million	Percentage
1977	11·7	12·0	1·4	25·6
1978	12·4	11·3	0·4	6·3
1979	15·0	12·3	1·2	16·4
1980	10·1	7·4	1·8	20·6
1981^*	51·3	34·9	2·7	26·0
^* Provisional.

I have asked my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales to let the hon. Member have the information relating to Wales.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will undertake an inquiry into the cost of pharmaceutical services provided by general medical practitioners in England and Wales.

My right hon. Friend has no plans to do so at present.

Paramedical And Therapist Staff

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek to improve the pay and

Oil Rigs (Census Survey)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what efforts were made to conduct a census survey of the oil rigs working on the United Kingdom continental shelf; and if he will consider a separate census being undertaken.

Census forms were not required to be delivered at off-shore installations. Persons working on off-shore installations who are members of households in Great Britain will have been included on the returns made at their home addresses; other persons working on the installation on census night will not have been included. The Office of Population Censuses and Surveys has obtained statistics of the total number of persons on off-shore installations on 17 June 1980 from a survey conducted on behalf of the Inland Revenue and will seek further figures from a similar survey to be conducted this year; these figures will be used in the commentary on the economic activity tables published from the census.

Pharmaceutical Services (Costs)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will state for each of the last five years, the increase in National Health Service remuneration, in £ sterling and as percentages, paid to general medical practitioners and pharmacist contractors, respectively, for the provision of pharmaceutical services in England and Wales.

The following table sets out for each of the last five years the increase in the total fees and on-costs paid to pharmacist contractors and dispensing doctors in England.conditions of paramedical and therapist staff to reflect recent improvements in the pay and conditions of junior hospital doctors and general practitioners.

The pay and conditions of the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Pay Group, which includes therapy staff, are determined by the professional and technical 'A' Whitley council. I understand the management side of that council has offered improvements in pay and conditions for 1 April 1981 which amount to a six per cent. increase in pay. This matches the improvements averaging six per cent. from 1 April 1981 for doctors and dentists in the NHS.

Civil Service Dispute

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the effect so far of the intensified action taken by civil servants on the payment of social security benefits.

Industrial action by civil servants was intensified from 8 June when the computers which pay unemployment benefit—Reading and Livingston—and child benefit—Washington—were stopped.Benefits to the unemployed are now being paid manually by staff in unemployment benefit offices. The unemployed should continue to go to those offices where they will be told how their benefit will be paid.New and replacement child benefit order books have not been issued from the child benefit centre at Washington since 5 June. Arrangements have been made with the Post Office for benefit to continue to be paid when order books run out by production of the book that has just expired each week at the post office when it is stamped for that week. This will ensure continuation of payment to the great majority of mothers, but payments will be delayed for those who have recently sent their order book back to Washington for new claims. As our advertising has emphasised, until further notice, mothers should not send their order books back to the child benefit centre for any reason at all but should report any changes of circumstances to their local social security office. Claims for new children should be made in the normal way, but payment will be delayed until the end of the dispute.

November 1980
	Supplementary^* Benefit Level (1)	Net Income from Earnings† (2)	Col. (1) as percentage of Col. (2)‡
	£	£
Single Householder	30·86	80·06	38·5(45·9)
Married Couple	45·22	84·51	53·5(64·0)
Married Couple with 2 children under 5	63·52	94·01	67·6(77·0)
Married Couple with 4 children under 10	77·18	103·51	74·6(83·1)
^* Figures in column 1 consist of the ordinary scale rate, rent additions and where appropriate the age related heating addition.
† Figures in column 2 are estimates of average gross weekly earnings of male manual workers on adult rates of pay derived by extrapolation from the Department of Employment October inquiry, using the average earnings index (new series) of production industries, seasonally adjusted, with deductions for income tax and National Insurance contributions at the non-contracted out rate. Child benefit has been included where appropriate.
‡ Figures in brackets show the effect of applying the long-term rates.

It should be noted that because of changes in the basis on which earnings are estimated these figures are not strictly comparable with those published in table 10 of the Supplementary Benefits Commission's annual report 1975, and that the figures in columns 2 and 3 are provisional.

Birth Certificates

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps are open for the protection of the privacy, locally, of a person who does not have a birth certificate, but does have a certificate of baptism, wishing to claim retirement pension at the age of 65 years; whether arrangements can be made for proof of date of birth to be made outside the area in which such an individual lives; if so, to whom; and if he will make a statement.

All the staff in the Department are subject to the provisions of the Official Secrets Acts and are

Medical Certificates

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the decision taken at the annual conference of local medical committees that general practitioners should not sign any medical certicate (MED3) for the first week of illness.

I have taken note of the resolution carried at the local medical committees' conference. As the hon. Member will know from the annex to the recent consultative paper, "Compensating Employers for Statutory Sick Pay", I had already set arrangements in train for discussion with the British Medical Association and both sides of industry, aimed at seeing whether acceptable control procedures can be devised so as to pave the way for self-certification for the first week's absence through incapacity.

Supplementary Benefit

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table similar to table 10 of the Supplementary Benefits Commission annual report 1975, showing supplementary benefit levels, including rent addition for households of different sizes, as a percentage of net incomes from average male manual earnings in November 1980.

The information is as follows:required to treat all claims for benefit in strictest confidence. Moreover, Departmental instructions do not permit an officer to deal with a claim for benefit by a relative or personal friend. For the convenience of both the Department and the claimant, a claim for benefit is normally dealt with by the local office nearest to a claimant's home address although a claimant can choose to have it dealt with by any local office.I am not aware of any breach of the confidentiality rules or of any difficulty in having a claim dealt with by an office other than a claimant's own local one. However, if my hon. Friend has a particular case in mind, perhaps he could write to me.

Divorced Women (Pensions)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will specify the circumstances in which a divorced woman may receive category B retirement pension on her former husband's contributions before he has reached pensionable age and retired.

There are no circumstances in which a divorced woman can receive a category B retirement pension on her former husband's contributions, irrespective of the age of the former husband. A former husband's contributions up to the time of divorce may be used by a divorced woman where this would enable her to qualify for a higher category A pension than she would get solely on her own contributions.

Abortions

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what in 1980 was the National Health Service abortion ratio per 100 live births for each of the English hospital regions, for Wales, for Scotland and for Great Britain as a whole.

Provisional rates are as follows:

Number of legal abortions per 100 live births by regional health authority (RHA) of residence in national health service hospitals in 1980
RHA of residence	Rate‡
Northern	12·3
Yorkshire	6·5
Trent	8·5
East Anglian	12·5
North West Thames	11·0
North East Thames	14·1
South East Thames	10·7
South West Thames	8·7
Wessex	6·3
Oxford	8·4
South Western	11·7
West Midlands	4·4
Mersey	4·4
North Western	7·0
Wales	9·7
England and Wales^*	9·2
Scotland†	12·9
Great Britain	9·5
^* Includes 17 residents of England and Wales having abortions in Scotland. These figures can not be allocated to the regional health authorities.
† Includes 1,198 residents of Scotland having abortions in England and Wales.
‡ Provisional (notifications in the 53 week period ended 31 December 1980).

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many girls in England and Wales under the age of 16 years (a) gave birth, (b) had stillbirths, and (c)

Legal abortions by gestation period, numbers and percentages England and Wales residents 1977–79
	1977		1978		1979
	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
All gestations^*	102,677	100	111,851	100	120,611	100
Under 9 weeks	25,227	24·6	26,639	23·8	28,882	23·9
9 to 12 weeks	57,504	56·0	63,073	56·4	67,134	55·7
13 to 19 weeks	15,199	14·8	16,727	15·0	18,622	15·4
20 to 23 weeks	912	0·89	1,249	1·12	1,486	1·23
24 weeks and over	183	0·18	261	0·23	281	0·23
^* Includes gestation not stated.
1980 figures by gestation are not yet available.

had abortions in 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980; and what was the abortion rate for girls aged 15 and 16 years, respectively, in each of those years.

The available information for residents of England and Wales is as follows:

Live and stillbirths and legal abortions to girls under 16 England and Wales residents
Year	Live births	Stillbirths	Total births	Abortions
1977	1,307	27	1,334	3,624
1978	1,383	18	1,401	3,298
1979	1,376	15	1,391	3,534
1980	†	†	†	^*3,648
^* Notifications.
† Not available.

Legal abortions by age, Numbers and Rates per 1,000 population England and Wales residents
Year	15 years		16 years
	Number	Rate	Number	Rate
1977	2,701	7·0	5,510	14·7
1978	2,454	6·3	5,675	14·7
1979	2,693	6·7	6,030	15·3

Information by single year of age is not yet available for 1980.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the abortion rate per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44 years in England and Wales for each of the years 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980.

The information for residents of England and Wales is as follows:

Abortion rate per 1,000 women aged 15–44†, 1977–1980
England and Wales residents
Year	Rate
1977	10·4
1978	11·2
1979	12·0
1980^*	12·8
^* Notifications
† cases of unknown age are distributed proportionately

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage, and number, of legal abortions in England and Wales were performed (a) at under nine weeks' gestation, (b) at nine to 12 weeks' gestation, (c) at 13 to 19 weeks' gestation, (d) at 20 to 23 weeks' gestation, and (e) at 24 weeks and over in the years 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980, respectively.

The available information for residents of England and Wales is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many discharges there were from hospitals in England and Wales following abortion admissions not specified as induced or spontaneous in the years 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980, respectively; and how many discharges there were following a diagnosis of septic abortion for the same years.

The following figures based on estimates derived from the hospital in-patient inquiry.

	1976	^*1977	^*1978
Abortions not diagnosed as induced or spontaneous	40,910	35,980	38,180
Septic abortions	680	660	620
^* Unlike previous years, estimates for 1977 and 1978 have been calculated using a multiplying factor of 10. Improvements in methods of sampling and data collection have removed the need for the detailed multiplying factors calculated for earlier years. Estimates for 1979 and 1980 are not available.

Birth Rates

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the birth rate for women in England and Wales per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44 years for 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980 respectively.

The figures for England and Wales are as follows:

Live-births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years
1977	58·7
1978	60·7
1979	64·1
1980	65·0

Overseas Visitors And Students(Medical Charges)

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, in view of the representations he has received, he will review his intention to bring into force on 1 October 1981 regulations providing for charges to overseas visitors and students for National Health Service treatment.

I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Dr. Mawhinney) on 30 June—[Vol. 7, c. 368].

Defence

Nuclear Materials (Transportation)

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether nuclear materials are transported by rail to Her Majesty's dockyard, Plymouth; if so, what safeguards are in operation; and if he will make a statement.

Following the opening of the submarine refit complex at Her Majesty's Naval base Devonport last year, nuclear materials required for the nuclear powered submarine refit programme will be brought into the dockyard by road or rail on a few occasions each year and the first delivery has already taken place. The movements of these materials will be in accordance with appropriate safety standards prescribed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Royal Navy (Personnel)

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will reduce the number of admirals at least in proportion to the proposed reduction in the numbers of vessels in the Royal Navy.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the planned number of reductions in each rank and rating of the Royal Navy.

As already announced, Royal Navy numbers will be reduced by between about 8,000 to 10,000 by 1986, partly through the surface fleet contraction and partly through cutting out posts and establishments ashore. Detailed requirements will be reviewed for all ranks and specialisations, as pail of the further work referred to in paragraph 46 of Cmnd. 8288.

Ten Tors Expedition

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the cost to his Department in each of the last five years of support for the Ten Tors expedition on Dartmoor.

This information is not held centrally and could not be obtained quickly.

Destroyers And Frigates

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the type and age of each of the 59 destroyers and frigates now declared to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

The information is as follows:

Ship Type	Ship Name	Age based on Launch Date(yeasrs)
1. Destroyers
Country class	Antrim	13
	Glamorgan	16
	London	19
	Norfolk	13
	Fife	16
Type 82	Bristol	12
Type 42	Birmingham	7
	Cardiff	7
	Coventry	7
	Exeter	3
	Glasgow	5
	Newcastle	6
	Sheffield	10
2. Frigates
Leander Class	Achilles	12
	Ajax	18
	Andromeda	14
	Apollo	10
	Arethusa	17
	Argonaut	15
	Ariadne	9
	Aurora	18
	Bacchante	13
	Cleopatra	17
	Danae	15
	Dido	19
	Diomede	12
	Euryalus	18
	Galatea	18

Ship Type	Ship Name	Age based on Launch Date (years)
	Leander	20
	Minerva	16
	Naiad	17
	Phoebe	16
	Sirius	16
	Charybdis	13
	Hermione	14
	Juno	15
	Jupiter	13
	Penelope	18
	Scylla	12
Rothesay Class	Brighton	21
	Lowestoft	21
	Plymouth	21
	Rhyl	22
	Rothesay	23
	Berwick	21
	Falmouth	21
	Yarmouth	22
Type 21	Active	8
	Alacrity	6
	Amazon	10
	Ambuscade	8
	Antelope	9
	Ardent	6
	Arrow	7
	Avenger	5
Type 22	Battleaxe	4
	Brilliant	2
	Broadsword	5
Type 12	Torquay	27

Royal Navy (Training)

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what types of Royal Navy training are in future to be undertaken while afloat.

A number of options for undertaking more training afloat are under consideration but feasibility and cost-effectiveness will need to be assessed in detail before specific decisions can be taken.

Buccaneer

asked the Secretary of State for Defence when the Buccaneer first entered service; and what is the age of (a) the oldest and (b) the most modern aircraft of this type in service.Mr. Goodhart: 1961 with the Royal Navy and 1969 with the Royal Air Force; 17 years; four years.

Mine Counter Measures Ships

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many Ton class mine counter measures ships are in service; what is their age; to what extent they are to be replaced by (a) Brecon class ships, (b) a new cheaper mine hunter and (c) new minesweepers for the Royal Naval Reserve; what is the current estimate of the cost of each of these three classes; how many of each class are envisaged; and how many will be ordered during the next five years.

As indicated in Cmnd 8288, we intend to continue to build up a balanced mine counter-measures force. Twenty-nine Ton class minehunters and sweepers are currently in service with an average age of about 25. They will begin phasing out in the next few years though some may remain in service into the early 1990s. The Hunt class mine counter-measure vessels—MCMV—are now entering service and we are proceeding with plans for a new cheaper minehunter. We also intend to acquire new minesweepers for the RNR. The cost of Hunt class MCMV is about £30 million and that of a new minesweeper is expected to be between £3 million and £4 million. Our plans for the new minehunter are insufficiently advanced to be able to give a useful estimate of their cost. It is not our practice to release details of plans for future ship orders.

Hms "Bristol"

asked the Secretary of State for Defence when the destroyer HMS "Bristol" entered service; and when it is intended to withdraw her from service.

HMS "Bristol" was built in the late-1960s and commissioned in 1973 as the only ship in the type 82 class. While no final decisions have been taken she is currently planned to be withdrawn from service in the mid-1980s.

Type 23 Frigate

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is to be the lead shipyard for the type 23 frigate.

No decision has yet been taken.

Dockyards

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what conclusions he has drawn as to the future management and control of the Royal dockyards in the light of the study into their organisation conducted in 1980 under the chairmanship of the then Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Royal Navy.

The main thrust of the report that dockyard management should be given greater freedom to manage in an environment closer to that of the commercial word is accepted. Firm conclusions must await the outcome of further work flowing from the decisions announced in Cmnd. 8288.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how the total ship refitting load is divided in percentage terms between the five naval dockyards.

Estimates for the current financial year—1981–82—make the following provision for ship repair and alteration excluding work done in other ship repair yards:

	percentage	£ millions
Royal Dockyards
Devonport	35	135
Portsmouth	20	78
Chatham	21	79
Rosyth	20	78
Gibraltar	4	13
	100	383

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the present dockyard overload expressed as a percentage of capacity.

Estimates for the current financial year —1981–82—provide for ship repair and alteration at a total cost of £439 million. Of this, £383 million—87 per cent.—is for work by the royal dockyards, and £56 million—13 per cent. —for work by other ship repair yards under contract: the latter figure may be taken to represent the amount of the total workload which is in excess of the capacity of the royal dockyards.

Nuclear Submarines

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many refitting streams there are for nuclear attack submarines at (a) Chatham and (b) Devonport; and how the increased number of these submarines in the future can be refitted without the use of the facilities at Chatham.

Chatham at present has the capacity to work at the same time on the refitting of two nuclear-propelled submarines, provided the work is suitably phased. Devonport has a newly-constructed submarine refitting complex which is already working on one nuclear-propelled submarine and is expected to start work on another one in parallel later this year. The intention is to develop Devonport's capacity so that with Rosyth it can carry the full load of nuclear refitting work. It is envisaged that, in order to achieve this, work on three nuclear submarines will be undertaken concurrently and this will call for some increase in the numbers of industrial workers employed at Devonport. At the same time the intervals between refits will be extended.

Nuclear Submarines (Rosyth)

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give his estimates of the numbers, industrial, non-industrial and service personnel, which are likely to be engaged in the repair and maintenance of nuclear submarines at Rosyth in the years to 1984.

Currently approximately 850 industrials, 600 non-industrials, and four naval officers are allocated

		Annual Pay
		Gross		Net
	Age	Male	Female	Male	Female
		£	£	£	£
Other Ranks	16, under 16½	2,216	—^*	1,828	—
	16½ under 17	2,475	2,362	1,997	1,923
	17, under 17½	3,008	2,873	2,346	2,258
	17½, and over (Adult rates)	3,975	3,789	2,959	2,857
Officers
Midshipman on appointment	Minimum age 17	4,201	—†	3,127	—
Midshipman after 1 year		5,205	—	3,784	—
	Minimum age 17½
Officer Cadet (Army) on appointment	(18½ for WRAC)	4,201	4,011	3,127	3,003
2nd Lieutenant, on appointment	After 6 months‡ minimum	5,950	—	4,272	—
	Minimum age 17½
Officer Cadet (RAF) on appointment	(18½ for WRAF)	4,201	4,011	3,127	3,003
Acting Pilot Officer, on appointment	After 4 months	5,205	4,968	3,784	3,629
Notes
^*Minimum age for female other is 16½ for the WRAC and 17 for the WRNS and WRAF
† Minimum age for WRNS offer entrants is 19 ½.
‡ This is the theortical minimum time to promotion but would rarly if ever occur in practice.

directly to the repair and maintenance of nuclear submarines at Rosyth. These numbers are expected to remain reasonably constant through to 1984. Support: to the nuclear submarine refit and repair programme is also provided by other personnel in the naval base as part of their wider tasks.

Dockyards And Naval Bases

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if, in view of the implications of Cmnd. 8288, "The United Kingdom Defence Programme: The Way Forward", for employment in the Royal dockyards and naval bases, he will give his estimates of employment in each of these establishments—industrial, non-industrial and service personnel—on a yearly basis to 1984.

Undertakings have been given that there will be consultation with trade unions on the implementation of the proposed changes in the naval bases and royal dockyards. In advance of this consultation it is not possible to give detailed year-by-year figures.

Personnel (Remuneration)

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will state the current remuneration of service personnel aged 16, 17 and 18 years, gross and net of deductions.

The pay of junior Service personnel may vary considerably according to circumstances, and full details of the rates payable in particular cases are contained in the tenth report of the Review Body on Armed Forces Pay—Cmnd. 8241. The following table gives the minimum annual rates payable to regular personnel aged 18 and under, both gross and net of income lax and ERNIC. Personnel receiving less than the minimum adult rate of pay—£76·23 per week-are charged £11·69 a week for food and £2·80 a week for accomodation when living in barracks.

Radioactive Isotype (Rosyth)

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will report progress on the search for the radioactive isotype missing from the Royal Naval base at Rosyth.

The high intensity search procedures have been completed but the search is continuing. Other lines of inquiry are followed up as they arise. The Health and Safety Executive principal factory inspector has confirmed that he is satisfied that the staff of the naval base is undertaking thoroughly everything that can be done to locate the source.

Chevaline

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is his latest estimate of the aggregate cost to date to public funds of the Chevaline system.

As was said in the statement on the Defence Estimates—Cmnd. 8212–1—the estimated cost of Chevaline is about £1,000 million and development work is near to completion.

Royal Navy (Reduction)

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the estimated saving at current prices of the planned reduction in the Royal Navy in each year to 1986;(2) what is the estimated annual cost of keeping an "Invincible" class carrier in commission;(3) what is the estimated annual cost of retaining HMS "Fearless" and HMS "Intrepid" in commission;(4) what is the estimated annual cost of keeping HMS "Hermes" in commission;(5) what is the estimated annual saving from the reduction of the operational fleet of destroyers and frigates from 59 to 50.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Mr. Trotter) on 1 July.

Non-Industrial Civilian Staff

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what reduction in the number of non-industrial civilian staff employed by the Ministry of Defence will be made in step with the planned reductions in the Armed Forces.

Since the Government took office, United Kingdom non-industrial numbers have been reduced by over 8,000, at a time when overall United Kingdom Service strengths increased by 18,500. Further reductions in non-industrial numbers will be sought as part of the Government's aim to reduce the size of the Civil Service. The changes now being made in the defence programme together with reductions in the support infrastructure should enable civilian numbers, both industrial and non-industrial, to be reduced from the present strength of 228,000 to significantly below 200,000 in due course. It is far too soon to give a breakdown of the non-industrial numbers involved.

Coastal Defence Craft (Hong Kong)

asked the Secretary of Defence what type of coastal defence craft is to be provided for Hong Kong; and what will be the cost of each vessel.

The five craft to be deployed by the Royal Navy squadron in Hong Kong will be diesel-powered, steel-hulled patrol vessels, 63 metres in overall length and displacing 700 tonnes. Their unit cost at September 1980 price levels is estimated to be some £8 million, inclusive of fitted equipments and weapons systems.

Sting Ray

asked the Secretary of State for Defence where it is expected that the Sting Ray torpedo will be built.

The main contractors for the Sting Ray torpedo are Marconi Space and Defence Systems Limited, and final assembly of the weapon will take place at its new factory in Neston, Cheshire. The manufacture of parts is widely dispersed. Much of the weapon and its associated equipment will be made in the MSDS factories at Portsmouth, Frimley and Hillend, but a high proportion of the manufacturing work will be subcontracted. An exhaustive list of the many subcontractors is not readily available, but at present the main centres of the subcontracted work are Manchester, Willesden, Hemel Hempstead, Basildon, Rochester, Bracknell and Slough.

Portsmouth Dockyard

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the annual amount which it is estimated will be saved by the reduction in scope and volume of work at Portsmouth dockyard.

There will be very large savings from the change in policy regarding an end to major refits.So far as wages, salaries, material and spares are concerned, the rundown of Portsmouth dockyard will by 1984–5 produce a saving of some £50 million per annum over current costs to the defence budget. These figures do not take account of the realisation of redundant assets.

Hms "Hermes"

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the cost of the last refit of HMS "Hermes".

The last refit of HMS "Hermes" was completed in May 1981 and all charges have not yet been brought to account. The estimated total production cost is £32 million to £33 million.

Ship Refits

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will list the ships of the Royal Navy which have had major refits in each of the last five years, together with the cost of each.

The following are the total production costs of major refits of Royal Navy ships completed in the years 1976 to 1980:

HMS	Total Production Cost £ million
1976
Euryalus	12·1
London	15·0

HMS	Total Production Cost
	£ million
Aurora	15·6
Dreadnought	20·5
Resolution	34·0

Two other small ships had major refits at a total production cost of £9·1 million.

HMS	Total Production Cost
	£ million
1977
Arethusa	16·6
Phoebe	18·2
Conqueror	25·1

Four other small ships had major refits at a total production cost of £13·4 million.

HMS	Total Production Cost
	£ million
1978
Sirius	21·6
Dido	23·0
Courageous	31·4
Repulse	48·9

Seven other small ships had major refits at a total production cost of £15·2; million.

HMS	Total Production Cost
	£ million
1979
Minerva	31·6
Londonderry	23·1

One other small ship had a major refits at a total production cost of £4·5 million

HMS	Total Production Cost
	£ million
1980
Glamorgan	63·5
Argonaut	62·5
Valiant	596
Rothesay	33·4
Renown	77·9
Otter	30·0

One other small ship had a refits at a total production cost of £5·8 million.

Volume 7: debated on Thursday 2 July 1981

Written Answers To Questions

Attorney-General

Divorce Laws (Reform)

Fakenham County Court

Trade

Insolvency (Cork Report)

K Shoes Ltd And Workington Co-Operative

Citizens Advice Bureaux

Civil Service

Secondments

Pay

Energy

Coal Deposits

Gas Supplies

National Nuclear Corporation

House Of Commons And European Assembly

Members' Salaries

Wales

Chronically Sick And Disabled Persons Act 1970

Roads (Expenditure)

Water Equalisation Act

Water

Water Authority Officers (Mileage Allowances)

Home Department

Buckingham Palace (Security)

Research Officers

Policy Programme (Achievement)

Abortions

Television Licences

Open Channel Radio

Employment

Unemployment Register

Weekly Wage Rates

Warrington (Social Fund Assistance)

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Equal Opportunities Commission

Grazing Land

Education And Science

University Grants

European University Institute

Industry

Overseas Companies (United Kingdom Investment)

Business Statistics Office, Newport

Warrington (European Community Assistance)

Schools (Computers)

High Alloy Steels

Prime Minister

Nationalised Industries (Private Capital)

Engagements

Small Businesses (Advisory Services)

Northampton

Handicapped Children (Equipment)

London And Northern Ireland (Government Aid)

Merseyside (Government Aid)

Mexico Summit Meeting

Developing Countries (Assistance)

Factory Closures

Information Technology

Environment

Rates

Rent Rebates (Pensioners)

First-Time Buyers

Gas And Electricity Boards (Account Arrears)

Housing (Disabled Persons)

Enterprise Zone (Liverpool)

Liverpool Urban Development Corporation

Merseyside (Ministerial Visit)

International Conference Centre (Broad Sanctuary)

Local Authorities (Annual Reports)

Royal Wedding

Water Authorities

Transport

Chile (Ministerial Visit)

British Railways Engineering Ltd

Scotland

Doctors, Dentists And Nurses

Intervention Stores

Teachers