asked the Minister for Trade (1) if the continuing delays in the availability of statistics on imports of textiles and clothing has affected his ability to assess if action under an anti-surge mechanism is required;(2) what assessment he has made of increased levels of imports of textiles and clothing since mid-1981 as part of his policy of implementing an anti-surge mechanism should the need arise:(3) on what dates statistics on imports of textiles and clothing for each of the months from September 1980 to June 1981 were made available to the British Textile Confederation;(4) on what dates statistics on imports of textiles and clothing for each of the months since September 1981 were made available to the British Textile Confederation;(5) if he has received any representations concerning the delays in publishing statistics on the imports of textiles and clothing products;(6) what is now the latest month for which data are available on imports of textiles and clothing products;(7) what was the percentage change in value and in volume of imports of textiles and clothing from

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

asked the Minister for Trade if he will list the regulations which govern the transport of nuclear materials by air.

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

asked the Minister for Trade if he will list in the Official Report the balance of trade in machine tools for 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982 to the most recent practicable date.

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

asked the Minister for Trade if he will list in the Official Report the balance of trade in textile goods for 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982 to the most recent practicable date.

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

asked the Minister for Trade if he will make a statement about the collision of the motor vessel "Jemrix" with the British Gas methane terminal jetty at Canvey Island on 20 May.

I shall reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Minister for Trade (1) if he is considering allowing the British Airports Authority to enter into leasing arrangements with private sector contractors to assist in financing the authority's investment programme;(2) if he will make a statement on the possibility of introducing private funding into the British Airports Authority.

[pursuant to his reply, 20 May 1982, c. 150]: In January I invited the British Airports Authority to consider ways in which the private sector might be closely involved with the development of the authority's airports. In particular, I invited suggestions as to how private sector funds might be introduced. I have now received from Mr. Norman Payne, chairman of the BAA, initial suggestions as to how, under certain conditions, this might be achieved. I regard this as a most important initiative. I am very grateful to the BAA for the speedy and practical way in which it has responded. My Department is now urgently considering these suggestions.

asked the Minister for Trade if he will consider amending the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 in accordance with recommendations made by the review undertaken by the Director General of Fair Trading and others in 1974.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 May 1982, c. 218]: I have no plans at present to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what minerals he envisages exploiting under the provisions contained in the Western Islands integrated development programme, paragraph 11.7 (J).

I refer my hon. Friend to paragraph 8.13 of the programme, copies of which are available in the Library, in which specific reference is made to the possibility of exploiting a number of indigenous mineral resources.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what species may be subject to the pest control measures for which £100,000 is budgeted under the Western Islands integrated development programme; and what control measures are envisaged to be used for this purpose.

I refer my hon. Friend to paragraph 3.10 of the programme, copies of which are available in the Library, in which specific reference is made to the problems caused by rabbits and mink. The precise control measures have yet to be determined.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will accept the award made by the arbitration body set up to consider the pay claim for teaching staff in schools in Scotland.

I am today notifying the Scottish joint negotiating committee for teaching staff in school education that, in terms of section 97B of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, I have decided to accept the award by the arbitration body of a 6 per cent. increase in the salaries of school teachers in Scotland as from 1 April 1982. As has already been made abundantly clear in the course of the negotiations which led to the reference to arbitration, I am not prepared to accept any additional commitment by way of rate support grant as a result of pay awards which exceed the average of 4 per cent. for which provision has been made in the public sector.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry why all benefits under the European Communities (Iron and Steel Employees' Readaption Scheme) Regulations 1979 are paid four weeks in arrears.

Benefits payable under this scheme vary with the individual circumstances of the beneficiaries. Amounts payable can be correctly assessed only after confirmation, as appropriate, of employment status, attendance at training courses, the level of new earnings and the amount of any other State benefits in payment. Four weeks is the minimum time needed to enable this information to be obtained from other Government Departments, new employers, and training establishments.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will give an assessment of the success of the small engineering firms investment scheme; and if he will make a statement about its likely future.

The scheme has been a considerable success and will provide a much needed boost to the small engineering sector over the next three years. The 1,000 applications so far received indicate that we shall achieve our objective of accelerating the acquisition by small firms of technologically advanced and more highly productive equipment. In view of the overwhelming response a further £10 million is being made available over the life of the scheme, by adjusting the Department's industrial support priorities. This raises the total allocation for the scheme to £30 million.As I have made clear throughout, applications are being treated on a first-come first-served basis. With such a substantial early response, even the increased allocation will shortly be committed. However, all eligible applications received by 5 pm on 28 May 1982 should receive an offer of assistance in due course. The scheme will then be closed for applications.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards awarding public purchasing contracts for steel to private steel manufacturers.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 May 1982, c. 232]: Government policy is that public procurement should be used wherever possible to improve industrial competitiveness in both the public and private sectors. Contracts are awarded on the basis of best value for money, as explained in the third report from the Committee of Public Accounts—Session 1981–82—and this is applicable to private steel manufacturers as to other suppliers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish the statistics of experiments on live animals for 1981.

Publication is not expected before the end of the summer, but will be as soon as practicable.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, now the full text of the draft Council of Europe convention for the protection of vertebrate animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes has been finalised, he will bring forward legislation to replace the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876.

Although agreement has now been reached by the ad hoc committee of experts on a substantial part of the draft convention, some matters remain to be settled and the complete draft will then have to be adopted by the Committee of Ministers. It is still too soon to say when it will be possible for the Government to bring forward proposals for legislation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons employed in the Metropolitan Police have incomes in excess of that paid to hon. Members.

Information about total incomes is not available. Five hundred and sixty-five persons in the Metropolitan Police are on salary scales of which the minima exceed the salary of an hon. Member. In addition 134 are on salary scales which straddle the salary of an hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that citizens of the Republic of Ireland shall no longer enjoy the right to stand and vote in United Kingdom elections; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has no plans to do so. The rights accorded to citizens of the Republic of Ireland resident in the United Kingdom reflect the close historical relationship between the two countries.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been undertaken under section 21(1) of the Copyright Act 1956 in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982 to the most recent practicable date; and what was the average fine imposed.

We shall reply as soon as possible.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister what are her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister what are her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 25 May.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will list her official engagements for 25 May.

This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today, including one with the Australian Foreign Minister.

asked the Prime Minister, if she is satisfied with the progress made by Her Majesty's Government in achieving reforms in the structure of the European Economic Community; and if she will make a statement.

Early this morning my right hon. Friend reached agreement with the other Community Foreign Ministers on a rebate of Britain's budget contribution in respect of 1982. Decisions on longer-term arrangements are to be taken by the end of November this year.

asked the Prime Minister if she will make an official visit to Turriff in the East Aberdeenshire constituency.

I have at present no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister if she will make an official visit to the city and port of Southampton.

I have at present no plans to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how many power stations closed in 1979, 1980 and 1981 or scheduled for closure in 1982 are situated either in or close to urban centres; and if he will assess how many would be suitable for combined heat and power schemes.

I shall answer the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy, from the point of view of the control of credit, towards any scheme by building societies to give loans to elderly people on the security of their homes for their life time with the interest rolled-up.

If building societies have specific proposals we would be quite prepared to consider them.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total number of building society directors as at 1 January 1982; how many of these were originally co-opted by the boards of directors concerned; and how many were nominated by the membership at large.

There are probably between 1,500 and 2,000 building society directors. The exact number and the answers to the second and third parts of the question are not readily available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to require the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies to monitor the conduct of elections in building societies.

The Chief Registrar has a statutory function in respect of the election of directors to a building society if, and only if, a dispute arises which is referred to him for arbitration. He has neither the locus nor the staff to monitor elections more generally.The responsibility for conduct of elections rests with the directors of societies. As my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in his speech on 18 May to the Building Societies Association, it should make arrangements to ensure that the conduct of the election is not only fair but is manifestly seen to be fair.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will take steps to investigate the use of proxy forms in building society elections.

The present use of proxy forms in elections is a matter for the rules of the society. As my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in his speech to the Building Societies Association on 18 May, it is important that the boards of societies should make arrangements to ensure that the conduct of elections is not only fair but is manifestly seen to be fair.I hope that societies will heed this advice. If, when the time next comes for building society legislation, the way in which proxy forms are used is still a cause for concern, it would be for consideration whether to include provisions regulating the use of proxies.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has assessed the effect of the tax changes in the Finance Bill upon the recovery of oil by secondary recovery methods.

In nearly all North Sea oilfields currently under development, secondary recovery methods—such as gas or water injection—are used from the outset. This is something of which we took full account when we examined the likely effect on both present and likely future developments of this year's Finance Bill changes to oil taxation. Our conclusion was that, under our proposals, the general level of return on investment should continue to make further development of the North Sea worth while.In addition, a specific benefit of the abolition of SPD and the introduction of APRT is that the post-tax return to additional expenditure on a field after the initial development—including expenditure on both additional secondary recovery and tertiary recovery—will be improved.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many advances to bodies corporate made by building societies in the last three years have gone to enterprises that have subsequently become insolvent or bankrupt.

I am afraid that the answer to the hon. Member's question could be obtained only at a totally disproportionate cost.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchquer how much revenue was raised by the development land tax in each of its years of operation.

The information is as follows:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many civil servants are in receipt of salaries in excess of that paid to hon. Members.

About 20,500 non-industrial civil servants at present receive salaries greater than £13,950 per annum, which is the current basic pay of hon. Members.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give for each of the last five years the total number of industrial and non-industrial civil servants at the beginning of each year; and, during the year, if he will List (a) the number who left the service on reaching retirement age, (b) the number who voluntarily left the service before reaching retirement age, (c) the number who were made involuntarily redundant, (d) the number who were dismissed and (e) the number who entered the service

The staff in post figures are as follows:

Lewis asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, taking into account the practice of increasing the salaries of the chairman and board members of nationalised industries and certain publicly owned bodies such as British Leyland and Rolls-Royce, in line with those agreed for top civil servants and judges, he wall estimate the total increase in public expenditure and its effect on inflation as measured by the retail price index.

As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister told the House on 7 July 1980, nationalised industry board members have been removed from the TSRB's remit. Their salaries are thus no longer determined in the same way as those of senior civil servants or judges. The Government have not yet taken decisions about pay increases for them this year.The cost of the increases for the judiciary, senior civil servants and senior officers of the Armed Forces announced by the Prime Minister on 12 May will be contained within existing cash limits except in the case of those judges whose salaries are paid directly from the consolidated fund. The effect on public expenditure will therefore be minimal.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has completed his investigations into the special corporate advance by Anglia building society to Thornton Baker Nominees; and whether he will make a statement.

Inquiries have been made by the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies and I have written to the hon. Member in reply to his letter on this matter.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report for each year from 1945 to 1981 the proportion of both industrial production and manufacturing output which was undertaken by (a) private United Kingdom firms, (b) private non-United Kingdom firms, (c) nationalised industries and (d) other State-owned firms.

I regret the information requested is not available. The index of industrial production and the supporting statistics upon which it is based are classified according to activity, not ownership. Where there is a direct correspondence between activity and ownership, it would be possible to classify output in the form requested.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the names, ages, and occupations of the directors of the Anglia building society as at 21 April.

The annual return from the Anglia building society gave the following information about the members of the board on 31 December 1981:No such correspondence exists, however, for the major part of industry and so a comprehensive disaggregation is thus not possible.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, pursuant to the answer on 13 May 1982 to the right hon. Member for Heywood and Royton, Official Report, c. 936, concerning the public sector borrowing requirement, he will now make a statement on the investigations into the reasons why the monitoring of public expenditure did not disclose so large a change in such a short time.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 May 1982, c. 225.]: The main areas of shortfall were in the central Government borrowing requirement and in local authorities market and overseas borrowing. In the case of the central government, the effect of the Civil Service dispute on the figures for revenue and expenditure made the information available in February much more difficult than usual to interpret. The Budget forecast outturn of local authorities' borrowing took account of a survey carried out in January in which local authorities were asked to predict their borrowing in the final quarter of the financial year; the results proved to be a considerable overstatement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the public sector borrowing requirement forecast for 1982–83 assumed that the contingency reserve in his public expenditure plans would be spent; whether his latest information indicates there will be a further substantial shortfall similar to that in 1981–82; if so, whether he is proposing to take action to prevent such a shortfall; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 May 1982, c. 225]: The PSBR forecast for 1982–83 at the time of the Budget did assume that the contingency reserve would be fully spent. It is too soon yet to say whether this will prove to be correct. It is not, and never has been, an object of Government policy to spend the reserve, which is a control on fresh decisions to incur expenditure that cannot be accommodated within existing programmes. Until more is known about the reasons for the PSBR shortfall in 1981–82 it is not possible to assess the consequences for 1982–83.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the authorised sites for gipsy caravans in each county in the Principality as at January 1980, January 1981 and January 1982.

The information is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has proposals to maintain and develop the work of the Committee for Wales of the Schools Council; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and Science, announced to the House on 22 April the Government's proposals for the future of the Schools Council for Curriculum and Examinations. The proposals are being discussed today with the local authority associations who, with the Government, jointly finance the Schools Council. Curriculum development needs in Wales will be borne in mind during these and subsequent discussions.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what allocations have been made through the joint funding scheme for 1982–83; which voluntary organisations have been allocated grants and for what purposes; and which voluntary organisations have been allocated grants under joint funding for population and family planning programmes.

The sum of £2,270,000 has been allocated for joint funding purposes in 1982–83. This is made up as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what projects on population and family planning programmes and on rural health schemes have been funded through the European development fund in each of the past two years; and what proportion such amounts represent of total spending by the European development fund in each of those years.

As far as I am aware no projects have been approved for population control or family planning, but commitments to the new rural health projects listed as follows were worth 3,251,000 ECUs (£1·146 million) in 1980 and 10,935,000 ECUs (£6·02 million) in 1981. These represented respectively 0·8 per cent. and 1·6 per cent. of EDF commitments in those years to the ACP countries. I shall ask the Commission to amplify this and will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the Official Report as much detailed information as may be readily available, showing for the longest period of time the percentage increases in the salaries on an annual or cumulative basis of all stated public servants, including civil servants, industrial and clerical, judges, health workers, nurses, doctors, dentists, teachers, railway workers, police, firemen, military Service men and hon. Members, taking into account and including latest proposals and awards.

I am informed by the Departments concerned that settlements, including where relevant comparability awards, for the public service groups listed, for this and the two previous pay rounds, led to the average increases in salaries shown in the following table. The four pay increases for teachers in 1979–80 resulted from a comparability award and a separate arbitration award, both of which were staged. Information about the pay of railway workers is a matter for the British Railways Board.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish the names, occupations and addresses of the members of the area boards and the Manpower Services Commission.

The following are the members of the Manpower Services Commission

• F. A. Baker CBE, K. Graham OBE, W. H. Keys: appointed after consultation with organisations representing employees.
• Miss S. I. L. Elkin OBE, T. P. Lyons, O. G. Stradling: appointed after consultation with organisations representing employers.
• Cllr. Miss E. Carnegy, Cur R. Thwaites: appointed after consultation with local authority organisations.
• R. L. Helmore CBE: Appointed after consultation with organisations representing educational interests.
• I will write to my hon. Friend giving him information concerning area boards.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the percentage unemployment rate in the construction industry in Manchester; and how many craftsmen in each of the respective trades are unemployed.

At August 1981, the latest date for which an industrial analysis is available, the rate of unemployment in the construction industry in the Manchester travel-to-work area was 29·4 per cent. A further industrial analysis of the unemployed was made on 13 May 1982 and the results will be available in early June.The following table gives for October 1981, the last date for which an analysis was made, the numbers of unemployed people registered at employment offices in the Manchester travel-to-work area for employment in skilled construction occupations.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report for each year for the period 1945 to 1981 total unemployment in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries; what percentage of the working population each figure represents; and if he will indicate any adjustments required because of new members to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The available information published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development gives a total unemployment rate for 15 OECD countries for each year since 1965.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for whole-time unemployment in Eastleigh; and how the percentage rate compares with the figures for Hampshire, the South-East of England and the United Kingdom, respectively.

The following is the provisional information at 13 May:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give for the latest available date the number of registered disabled people who are unemployed; and what percentage of total registered unemployed disabled people this represents for the following categories (a) blind, (b) totally or severely deaf, (c) epileptic, (d) mentally handicapped and (e) mentally ill.

At 8 April 1982, the latest available date, the total number of registered disabled people unemployed was 76,939. The information requested for the specific categories of disabled people is:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish at the latest available dale the numbers of and percentages of unemployed registered disabled people and the unemployed among the total United Kingdom work force who have been unemployed (a) up to two weeks, (b) over two weeks and up to four weeks, (c) over four weeks and up to six weeks, (d) over six weeks and up to eight weeks, (e) over eight weeks and up to 13 weeks, (f)over 13 weeks and up to 26 weeks, (g) over 26 weeks and up to 52 weeks and (h) over 52 weeks.

I refer the right hon. Member to my reply of 7 December 1981—[Vol. 14, c. 253–4]—which gave the latest available figures.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give for the latest available date the number of registered disabled people, the number of those unemployed and the percentage of the total that represents.

At 19 April 1982, the latest date for which such information is available, there were 447,259 registered disabled people. The number of those unemployed at 8 April 1982 was 76,939, representing 17·2 per cent. of the total.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number and percentage of registered and unregistered disabled people unemployed in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available.

The numbers and percentages of registered disabled people unemployed and the numbers of unregistered disabled people unemployed are shown below. It is not possible to calculate the percentage of unregistered disabled people unemployed.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will now publish the Gennard report on the closed shop; and if he will make a statement.

Professor Gennard's research is not yet, in his view, complete or in publishable form. When it is it will be published by its authors.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the unemployment figures for (a) Wolverhampton and (b) the West Midlands categorised by sex, age and the duration of unemployment for the last month for which figures are available.

The following is the information at 15 April.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied with the manner and degree to which the recommendations of the advisory committee on asbestos have been carried out.

I am generally satisfied with the progress that has been made so far. However, the implementation of some of the recommendations of the advisory committee on asbestos has been largely overtaken by the proposals set out in two draft European Council directives on asbestos, which are currently under negotiation. The Government broadly support these directives, which are in many respects consistent with our policy on asbestos, which is itself largely based on the recommendations of the advisory committee.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he intends to introduce stricter safety standards regarding exposure to ethylene oxide in working conditions; and if he will study the work of the United States of America Occupational Safety and Health Administration on exposure to ethylene oxide.

The Health and Safety Commission's advisory committee on toxic substances has recently reviewed the relevant data on ethylene oxide and has recommended the establishment of a stricter control limit for exposure to ethylene oxide vapour of 5 parts per million in air, 8-hour time-weighted average. This represents a 10-fold improvement over the currently published advice. The recommendation is to be considered by the Health and Safety Commission shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number and percentage increase over the last year for (a) registered disabled people, (b) unregistered disabled people and (c) the total United Kingdom work force.

The number of people registered as disabled under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 in Great Britain decreased by 12,919 (2·8 per cent.), from 460,178 to 447,259 during the 12 months ended April 1982, the latest date available. There is no comparable information available in respect of unregistered disabled people. The total United Kingdom work force decreased by 291,000 (1·1 per cent.) from 26,263,000 to 25,972,000 during the 12 months ended December 1981, the latest date available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report any exceptions to a person who is compulsorily retired at the age of 63 years being able to take advantage of the job release scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many registered and unregistered disabled people have been placed in employment by disablement resettlement officers for each of the last 12 months and the latest available date; and what was the percentage increase in placements over the previous year.

The information requested is:

The job release scheme specifically excludes applications from those who are, or who are within six months of being, compulsorily retired.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people were employed in sheltered workshops at the latest date for which figures are available.

The latest available figures are those given in my reply to the right hon. Member on 4 December—[Vol. 14, c. 258]. More up-to-date figures—in respect of the year ending 31 March 1982—are expected to be available towards the end of August.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report a table giving the total number of persons, including young persons, engaged on Manpower Services Commission schemes in (a) the Wolverhampton area and (b) the West Midlands, together with a breakdown showing the number of schemes and the number of persons engaged in each category of scheme, including youth opportunities programmes, community enterprise programmes and training opportunities programmes.

The information is not available in the exact form requested. The schemes run by the