asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list in the Official Report the basic wage, productivity payment and outer London weighting which would be paid to a person aged 18 years and employed by the Ministry of Defence (a) as a semi-skilled labourer, (b) as a storekeeper and (c) as a clerical assisant with three O-levels or having passed the Civil Service test.

The basic weekly rates for 18-year-old employees are as follows:

	£
Semi-skilled labourer	71·95
Storekeeper	81·15
Clerical assistant	57·52

The weekly rate of outer London weighting is £8·70 in each case.The industrial grades of semi-skilled labourer and storekeeper are eligible for productiity payments which vary from £5·50 to £27·26 weekly in outer London, depending on the types of productivity schemes and levels of achievement at the particular establishments where they are employed. Industrial employees aged 18 receive adult rates of pay and are not eligible for annual increments.The non-industrial grade of clerical assistant is ineligible for productivity payments. However, clerical assistants are paid on incremental scales and an 18-year-old can expect to attain the maximum of the scale, currently £78·26 a week, at the age of 23.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will list in the Official Report those aircraft, weapons and missiles currently in service with the Armed Services or designated to come into service within the next decade which have (a) a solely nuclear capacity and (b) a conventional and nuclear capacity.

The aircraft, weapons and missiles in service, or currently planned to come into service with our Armed Forces within the next decade which have or are planned to have a dedicated nuclear role or conventional and nuclear roles are:

• (a) Nuclear role only
• Polaris and Lance missiles
• Vulcan aircraft

• (b) Conventional and nuclear roles
• Jaguar, Bucaneer, Nimrod, Tornado and Sea Harrier aircraft.
• Sea King, Lynx, Wasp and Wessex naval helicopters.
• 8-inch and 155mm Howitzers.

All these systems are assigned to Nato.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence when he calculates on present plans there will be 16, 17 and 18 nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarines (SSN) operational in the fleet.

The build-up of the SSN force is linked to order and delivery dates on which decisions have still to be made. Our aim remains to achieve the force levels announced in Cmnd. 8288 by the end of the decade.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he is satisfied with the number of officers and men who have opted for voluntary redundancy in the Royal Navy so far; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. I expect that most of the redundancies, in the first phase at least, will he from volunteers.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many FM 70 155 mm towed guns have been ordered; and at what unit cost.

As was announced in last year's statement on the Defence Estimates, deployment of the FH70 155 mm towed gun has been completed. Three regiments' worth of guns are in service. For reasons of commercial confidentiality, I regret I am unable to divulge the unit cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether the TOW-ATGW system has entered service; and at what total cost.

Yes. Expenditure to date, including research and development costs, amounts to some £60 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence when he now expects the Challenger tank to come into service; how many have been ordered; and at what estimated unit cost.

Challenger will begin to enter service in the mid-1980s. An order has been placed for sufficient Challenger tanks to equip four armoured regiments. The estimated unit cost is £1·5 million for a fully equipped tank at September 1980 prices.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many Lynx helicopters are now in service; how many more have been ordered; and at what unit cost.

154 Lynx helicopters are now in service and a further 39 are on order. The estimated unit cost of a Lynx helicopter for the Army was £2·1 million at September 1980 prices.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence when he now expects the mechanised combat vehicle to enter service; how many of such vehicles are on order; and at what unit cost.

As was announced in last year's statement on the Defence Estimates, full development of the MCV 80 mechanised combat vehicle has started. The planned in-service date is the second half of the 1980s. The number to be bought has yet to be decided and no vehicles are currently on order. At this stage it is not possible to give an estimate of the unit cost.

asked the Secretary of Sate for Defence how many M109 155mm self-propelled guns have been delivered from the United States of America; and at what cost.

Four artillery regiments are equipped with the M109 gun. The unit cost for the latest delivery is £350,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if the will make a statement on the use his Department proposes to make of the commercial insurance market.

As I told my hon. Friend the Member for Devon, West (Mr. Mills) in my written reply to his question on 22 December 1981—[Vol. 15, c. 369]—a study has been carried out into the activities of the Claims Commission. This has included a comparison of the costs of using the commercial insurance market to perform the work presently done by the Claims Commission, with the costs of doing it "in-house". The results of this study have been analysed, and it is clear that there would be distinct financial and administrative advantages in transferring to commercial insurance this Department's claims work in the United Kingdom in the fields of motor accidents and employer's liability. It has therefore been decided that, from 1 April, new claims which arise in these two areas will be transferred to the commercial insurance market; and insurers and brokers will, in return for an annual premium and associated brokerage fees, handle the work which up to now has been dealt with by Claims Commission staff. These changes will result in significant financial savings to the Exchequer and will involve the saving of some 79 staff posts from my Department over three years.

asked the Prime Minister on how many occasions in each of the last 10 years and the present year Her Majesty's Government have been aware of persons convicted in the courts of the Republic of Ireland being offered the option of meeting the penalty imposed by the court or of emigrating to the United Kingdom.

I am not aware of any case in recent years where a citizen of the Republic of Ireland convicted in the courts of the Republic has been offered the option of meeting the penalty imposed by the court or of emigrating to the United kingdom. The Government would certainly be greatly concerned at such a case. I am informed that in the recent case of Mr. John Healy the magistrate concerned had not in fact imposed such an option. There have been cases in which British subjects have been allowed to leave the Republic for the United Kingdom instead of serving terms of imprisonment in the Republic.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the trend in real terms for expenditure on books, and other educational aids in maintained schools since 1945.

The available data do not permit a precise examination of the trend prior to 1974, although there appears to have been a real increase in total expenditure and expenditure per pupil on books from the 1950s up to that date. Since 1974, English local authorities' total expenditure on books and equipment has fallen in real terms, in part at least because of the decline in pupil numbers. Expenditure per pupil between 1974–75 and 1980–81 is estimated to have fallen by 9½ per cent. in primary schools and by about 17½ per cent. in secondary schools. As announced by my right hon. Friend on 21 December 1981, the rate support grant settlement allows for an additional expenditure of £20 million on books and equipment in 1982–83 provided that authorities contain the increase in their costs within the Government's assumptions for pay and price inflation. This should be sufficient to restore their levels of provision on books and equipment to those applying in 1978–79.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will publish guidelines as to the level of educational provision that he would regard as sufficient in the terms of the Education Act 1944.

This is a matter that I am considering in the context of recommendation 54 of the second report from the Select Committee on Education, Science and the Arts.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East on 18 December, Official Report, column 249, how many students left secondary schools in the maintained sector in 1980–81 with (a) no academic qualifications, (b) one CSE, (c) one to five CSEs, (d) one O-level, (e) one to five O-levels and (f) over five O-levels.

The information for 1980–81 is still not available. It should become available towards the end of May.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, further to his answer of 17 February, he will list the members of the Criminal Law Revision Committee; and if he is fully satisfied that the terms of reference of the committee will allow it to study sufficiently widely all aspects of the subject and to take into full consideration the views of organisations concerned with the law on rape such as those of the organisation Women Against Rape.

The members of the Criminal Law Revison Committee are as follows:

• The Right Honourable Lord Justice Lawton, Chairman
• The Right Honourable Lord Justice Waller, O.B.E.
• Dr. Andrew Ashworth
• His Houour Judge Francis
• Mrs. Audrey Frisby
• Mr. John Hazan, Q.C.
• Sir Thomas Hetherington, K.C.B., C.B.E., Q.C.
• Mr. J. Hampden Inskip, Q.C.
• Mr. Cecil Latham, O.B.E.
• The Honourable Mr. Justice Lloyd
• Her Honour Judge Lowery
• Mr. Charles McCullough, Q.C.
• Sir David Napley
• Mr. William Scott, O.B.E.
• Mr. J.D. Semken, C.B., M.C.
• Professor J. C. Smith, Q.C.
• His Honour Judge Harry Walker

The Committee's current review "of the law relating to and penalties for sexual offences" is being conducted in consultation with a policy advisory committee under the chairmanship of Lord Justice Waller comprising the members of the Criminal Law Revision Committee marked in the earlier list and also the following:

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will review his Department's decision not to approve an urban aid application supported by South Glamorgan county council and Cardiff city council for a black cultural centre and workshop.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for South Ayrshire (Mr. Foulkes) on 8 February, Official Report, c. 251, on the steps taken by the British Government concerning the decision reached by the European Court of Human Rights on birching in the Isle of Man, whether any further action is proposed to be taken by the British Government to implement the judgment.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dentists provide treatment for prisoners at Albany prison, Isle of Wight; and whether there are any plans to increase the number of such dentists.

One dentist holds a weekly surgery at the prison. From 1 April, the services of a second dentist will be available when needed.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report details of (a) applications and (b) projects accepted for urban aid under (i) economic and (ii) social categories.

In the period 1979–80—when the enhanced element of the urban programme was introduced—to 1981–82, 373 social schemes to a value of £5·311 million and 147 economic schemes to a value of £11·876 million have been approved, in addition to schemes in progress and holiday projects.The information is respect of 1982–83—phase 22—is as follows:

All urban aid applications are kept under review in the light of available resources.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what criteria his Department uses to decide on the project it funds with urban aid.

The criteria are set out in circulars issued annually to all local authorities in Wales. The emphasis is on schemes directed towards economic and social regeneration in areas of special social need. It was made clear in the circular for the 1982–83 programme, issued on 18 May 1981, that the balance as between the enhanced and conventional elements of the programme would be influenced by the existing level of commitment to ongoing conventional schemes.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many projects from the black community have received urban aid from his Department in each year since the programme was introduced.

Records of applications received from local authorities are not maintained on the basis requested. The emphasis of the programme is on disadvantaged groups of whatever ethnic community or origin.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what is the percentage of unemployment in the civil engineering industries in Wales.

Information is not available in the form requested. The standard industrial classification does not show separate figures for the civil engineering industry.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the increase or decrease in the value of contracts awarded by his Department for road and other works in Wales in 1981 by comparison with 1980.

For projects costing over £0·1 million, contracts awarded in the calendar year 1981 were about £60·1 million higher than those awarded in 1980.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many houses have been rehabilitated in east Belfast, south Belfast, north Belfast and west Belfast in the year 1981–82; and how many are projected for the next three years.

These are matters for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and housing associations, but I understand that the estimated number of houses to be rehabilitated during 1981–82 in Belfast is as follows:

	NIHE	Housing Associations
East Belfast	77	31
South Belfast	63	84
North Belfast	146	151
West Belfast	165	1

In addition, some 1,280 house owners have applied for improvements grants.I understand that in 1982–83 the Housing Executive hopes to rehabilitate 321 houses in east Belfast; 226 houses in south Belfast; 68 houses in north Belfast and 351 houses in west Belfast. Figures for subsequent years are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will seek to legislate for Northern Ireland by Bills rather than by Orders in Council; and if he will make a statement.

When legislation is contemplated the most appropriate form of its application to Northern Ireland is given careful consideration. Each case is considered on its merits. Sometimes Bills may sensibly extend to the United Kingdom as a whole. More often, separate Orders in Council for Northern Ireland are more appropriate. To legislate regularly by Bills extending only to Northern Ireland would place an intolerable burden on Parliament.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will examine the possibility of governing Northern Ireland on the same basis as Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Unlike Scotland, Northern Ireland has a tradition of devolved Government and all the major local parties in the Province seek its restoration. The Government do not believe that to govern Northern Ireland on the same basis as Scotland would be acceptable to the people of Northern Ireland.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what redundancy terms are available to the former employees of De Lorean Cars Ltd; and if he will make a statement.

As already indicated in my reply to the hon. Member for Keighley (Mr. Cryer) on 16 February 1982—[Vol. 18, c. 106]—the redundancy terms available to the former employees of De Lorean Motor Cars Ltd are a matter for the company. However, they cannot be less than the statutory minimum entitlements provided by the Northern Ireland employment protection legislation which additionally secures those entitlements if an employer in receivership is unable to meet them.For individuals, these entitlements consist of minimum periods of notice to terminate employment and redundancy payments, in each case related to the duration of the employment.As regards notice, the minimum entitlement is one week for a person employed for between four weeks and two years, increasing by one week for each year of employment thereafter up to a maximum of 12 weeks' notice.As regards redundancy payment, an entitlement does not arise before the completion of two years employment: the amount due is a week's pay for each year of reckonable service over the age of 18 with an extra half week's pay for each year from age 41. There is no entitlement under 18 or over minimum pensionable age.As the company has not been in full operation very long, individuals' statutory entitlements under the above headings are relatively small. I understand that the company gave adequate notice of termination of employment or issued payment in lieu of such notice to those dismissed prior to the appointment of the receiver. Only 19 of those so far dismissed are qualified to receive redundancy payments.In addition to the above rights of individual workers, the appropriate trade unions are entitled to be consulted at the earliest opportunity about proposed redundancies. Where 100 or more employees are likely to be dismissed, the minimum consultation period is 90 days, although there may be special circumstances where an employer finds that it is not reasonably practicable to meet this requirement fully. A complaint to an industrial tribunal by an appropriate trade union about inadequate consultations, if upheld, could result in an award of pay for a "protected period" of up to 90 days.The appointment of a receiver safeguards employees' rights under employment protection law, and if sufficient assets are not available to the receiver to meet the statutory entitlements of dismissed workers they may be met from the Northern Ireland redundancy fund. The procedures enabling this to be done embrace any unpaid "protective award" by a tribunal.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what is the present position with regard to delimiting the continental shelf between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

Discussions continue on the modalities of the proposed arbitration. The meeting provisionally scheduled for February coincided with the Irish elections and was postponed. Officials hope to meet again next month.

asked the Lord Privy Seal, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West of 12 February, Official Report, column 377, if the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has now formulated its reply to recommendation 854 on freedom of information; and, if so, what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards it.

The reply of the Committee of Ministers to recommendation 854 on freedom of information was in three parts: interim replies adopted by Ministers' Deputies at their 305th and 314th meetings in May 1979 and February 1980, respectively, and the final reply adopted at their 342nd meeting in January 1982. We support these replies.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will take steps to ensure that foreign Governments observe British planning laws when altering or building embassies and other diplomatic quarters.

Foreign Governments are not exempt from British planning laws when altering or building embassies and other diplomatic premises. If my hon. Friend has evidence of any failure on the part of a diplomatic mission in London to comply with planning laws and regulations, he will no doubt give the details to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, within whose sphere of responsibility these matters mainly lie.

asked the Lord Privy Seal which professions are covered by directives of the European Community concerning freedom of establishment; in which year each directive was adopted; when each directive entered into force; and which draft directives are currently under discussion in the Council of Ministers.

The information is as follows:

Directive on	Date adopted	Date of entry into force in United Kingdom
Medical doctors	16 June 1975	10 June 1977
General care nurses	27 June 1977	1 January 1980
Dentists	25 July 1978	1 June 1980
Veterinary surgeons	18 December 1978	21 December 1980
Midwives	21 January 1980	21 January 1983
Pharmacists		Under discussion in the Council of Ministers
Architects
Hairdressers
Engineers
Physicists
Chemists
Geologists
Certain other technical occupations
Auxiliary transport workers*
* i.e. Self-employed persons in services relating to transport and travel agencies and to storage and warehousing.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement on part V of schedule B to the Canada Bill, with particular reference to the question whether the procedure of amendment by proclamation is, under the terms of that part, exclusive of any other procedure.

Section 52(3) of the schedule states:

"Amendments to the Constitution of Canada shall be made only in accordance with the authority contained in the Constitution of Canada".

The interpretation of the provisions in schedule B to the Canada Bill for amending the constitution is a Canadian matter.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what assistance Her Majesty's Government have provided, through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or otherwise, to countries giving first asylum to boat people.

Her Majesty's Government have provided no direct assistance to countries giving first asylum to boat people. Some indirect assistances has been provided through the Overseas Development Administration under the following headings:

(a) Contributions to the UNHCR special appeals for Indo-Chinese refugees: £1·5 million in 1978, and £2·5 million in 1979;

(b) Since 1979 £41,582 towards the Save the Children refugee medical team in Hong Kong;

(c) Recently assistance to the UNHCR Gulf of Thailand anti-piracy programme.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton (Mr. Forman) on 4 March—[Vol. 19, c.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the most recent unemployment figures for each Northern region county and travel-to-work area, categorised by sex, age, and the duration of unemployment, for the last month for which statistics are available.

The following table gives the information at 14 January for each county in the Northern region and for the north Tyne, south Tyne and Teesside travel-to-work areas. Corresponding figures for other travel-to-work areas in the region could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of unemployed skilled workers, the number of vacancies for such workers, and the breakdown available by industrial sector or occupation.

The precise information is not available as there is no comprehensive analysis of the unemployed or of vacancies by skill categories. An analysis by occupational groups was published in table 2.12 of the labour market data section of the February 1982 issue of Employment Gazette, in respect of December 1981, the latest date available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether his Department is monitoring the effect of closures on the productive capacity of British industry; and what effect such closures are likely to have on employment prospects.

My Department has a wide variety of labour statistics and other sources of information at its disposal to assess the effects of job loss and redundancies including those resulting from closures. The Manpower Services Commission also obtains information on closures and redundancies in order to assess their impact On labour markets, which may vary according to the particular circumstances.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many jobs have been lost in each subdivision of manufacturing industry since May 1979 as a result of redundancies involving more than 100 persons.

The information requested is not available. Tables giving redundancies recorded from ES 955 returns, involving 10 or more employees, reported to the Manpower Commission as due to occur, are held in the House of Commons Library. No separate figures are available for redundancies involving more than 100 employees.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list for each year since 1979 the amount spent on job creation schemes and the amount spent on job creation schemes for blind unemployed claimants.

Separate statistics on expenditure on job creation schemes for blind unemployed claimants are not available. The following table provides details of the amount spent on job creation schemes generally:

	Outturn 1979–80 £ million	Outturn 1980–81 £ million	Estimated outturn 1981–82 £ million
Temporary employment subsidy	40·9	0·9	—*
Temporary short-time working compensation scheme	24·4	365·0	388·5
Job release scheme	85·4	136·0	166·7
Small firms employment subsidy	45·4	10·8	—†
Job creation programme	4·9	0·5	0·1
STEP and community enterprise programme	51·0	45·7	99·4
Community industry	17·0	190	22·0
Youth opportunities programme	121·8	212·3	413·6
Notes:
* The temporary employment subsidy closed for applications on 31 March 1979.
† The small firms employment subsidy closed for applications on 31 March 1980.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish a table in the Official Report comparing the rate of increase in wages in manufacturing industry since September 1981, at an annual rate, with those of the United Kingdom's principal competitors and with the percentage annual appreciation in the exchange rate.

For the available information on wages in manufacturing and exchange rates I refer the hon. Member to the following publications:

(1) Employment Gazette—table 5.9.

(2) Financial Statistics—table 13.1.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many places he now expects to be available in the community enterprise programme in the year 1982–83; if the number falls short of that required for the purposes of the Manpower Services Commission's corporate plan; how many places have so far been allocated or are pending allocation; and if further applications can still be considered.

The Manpower Services Commission is being given resources under the community enterprise programme to support 30,000 places at any one time in 1982–83. That will mean that 40,000 to 50,000 will be able to pass through the programme. The Commission had asked for resources to support a build-up to 60,000 filled places at the end of March 1983. I understand that places have been allocated to regions taking into account the number of people already on schemes and the proportion of eligible unemployed people in the region. At the end of February, about 36,000 places had been approved, of which 26,500 were filled. The scheme is, therefore, nearly full, and, in general, further applications can be approved only if they replace schemes that are coming to an end.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the most recent unemployment

Table 1 Numbers registered as unemployed and percentage rates of unemployment
	Wolverhampton travel-to-work area			West Midlands region
May 1979	Males	Females	Total	Males	Females	Total
Number	5,616	2,565	8,181	82,820	34,869	117,689
Percentage rate	6·2	4·6	5·6	5·9	3·8	5·1
February 1982 (provisional)
Number	17,713	6,078	23,791	254,000	95,985	349,985
Percentage rate	19·8	10·8	16·3	18·2	10·4	15·1

Table 2 Numbers registered as unemployed by age and duration Wolverhampton travel-to-work area
April 1979
	Males				Females
Duration in weeks	Under 25	25–54	55 and over	All ages	Under 25	25–54	55 and over	All ages
2 or less	142	158	31	331	85	41	5	137
Over 2 and up to 4 weeks	125	140	41	306	98	46	9	153
Over 4 and up to 8 weeks	193	228	72	493	169	89	4	262
Over 8 and up to 13 weeks	201	292	118	611	160	128	7	295
Over 13 and up to 26 weeks	296	432	122	850	267	133	19	419
Over 26 and up to 52 weeks	378	546	226	1,150	373	192	39	604
Over 52 and up to 104 weeks	212	527	194	933	198	159	24	381
Over 104 and up to 156 weeks	50	218	98	366	38	52	13	103
Over 156 weeks	39	358	165	562	15	54	28	97
Total	1,636	2,899	1,067	5,602	1,403	900	148	2,451

January 1982
	Males				Females
Duration in weeks	Under 25	25–54	55 and over	All ages	Under 25	25–54	55 and over	All ages
2 or less	204	207	57	468	150	64	11	225
Over 2 and up to 4 weeks	184	212	83	479	108	68	2	178
Over 4 and up to 8 weeks	377	590	171	1,138	257	162	16	435
Over 8 and up to 13 weeks	493	609	177	1,279	297	231	16	544
Over 13 and up to 26 weeks	1,126	1,240	442	2,808	866	474	52	1,392
Over 26 and up to 52 weeks	1,447	2,219	963	4,629	972	857	103	1,932
Over 52 and up to 104 weeks	1,343	2,642	958	4,943	556	548	105	1,209
Over 104 and up to 156 weeks	238	665	314	1,217	117	144	28	289
Over 156 weeks	70	633	278	981	56	168	47	271
Total	5,482	9,017	3,443	17,942	3,379	2,716	380	6,475

West Midlands region
April 1979
	Males				Females
Duration in weeks	Under 25	25–54	55 and over	All ages	Under 25	25–54	55 and over	All ages
2 or less	2,328	2,674	640	5,642	1,528	979	104	2,611
Over 2 and up to 4 weeks	2,036	2,463	666	5,165	1,372	879	90	2,341
Over 4 and up to 8 weeks	3,375	4,336	1,081	8,792	2,505	1,596	164	4,265

[pursuant to his reply, 4 March, c. 225]: Table 1 gives the numbers registered as unemployed and the percentage rates of unemployment at May 1979 and February 1982 in the Wolverhampton travel-to-work area and the West Midlands region.Table 2 gives the age and duration information at April 1979 and January 1982, the latest date for which these quarterly figures are available.The figures in both tables include school leavers and are not seasonally adjusted.