asked the Secretary of State for Energy how he proposes to exercise his judgment in assessing whether or not a site, which has been used for hydrocarbon development, has been cleared to his satisfaction in accordance with the terms of the licence; and in particular (a) whether the obligation to clear the site relates only to the production platform itself or to the associated pipelines and onshore installations, (b) whether the obligation to clear the site requires materials to be removed only to the extent that they are a hazard to shipping, or whether the obligation is more extensive and (c) whether pilings and parts of the structure below the seabed must be removed.

At present, I expect any disused offshore sites to be completely cleared. This applies to platforms, whatever their function, to sub-sea manifolds and well heads. This would mean in practice that structures would have to be removed to a given depth, between 3 and 5 metres below the sea-bed. Pipe-lines may also need to be cleared. Requirements for the clearance of installations onshore would be the concern of the local planning authority.Operators are required to satisfy me that the site has been cleared of loose debris from an area which can be said to have been affected by their operations. In the case of abandoned well heads for example, this must cover an area of at least 70 metres radius around the site. Clearance must be verified either by visual survey or by another improved technique appropriate to the visibility and conditions.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will make a statement on his recent visit to educational establishments in the Norwich, Yarmouth and Cantley areas, ended on Friday 21 January, with particular reference to his visit to the Bignold middle school, Norwich, Lodge Lane school, Old Catton, Cantley primary school, and of the discussions which ensued with educational officers, councillors, children and parents.

Although my programme included visits to three schools, its main purpose was to have informal discussions with the authority about educational performance in Norfolk. In the course of these discussions we were able to consider various aspects of educational provision, including the impact of falling pupil numbers and in service teacher-training arrangements. It was agreed that I would have a further meeting with the authority in about six months in order to review progress.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether, in view of the fact that all teachers pay a basic 6 per cent. of their salary for superannuation benefit, he will take steps to enable spouses and dependent children of women teachers who die in service to receive the same benefit and pension awards as those of male teachers; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend accepts in principle that there should be equality in family benefit provisions in the teachers' superannuation scheme. But the cost of automatic dependency benefits for women teachers would have to be met one way or another. The Department remains prepared to discuss the problem in the teachers' superannuation working party.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will update the answer given to the hon. Member for Derby, North (Mr. Whitehead) concerning 16 to 19-year-olds on 30 April 1981, Official Report, c. 447 and 448.

The Department has published today DES Statistical Bulletin 2/83—"Educational and economic activity of young people aged 16–19 years in England and Wales from 1973–74 to 1981–82". This bulletin provides a time series and statistical commentary on the pattern of education and training for young people in the 16 to 19 age group by individual years. The information the hon. Member seeks is contained in table 3 of the bulletin, copies of which are in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the economic, scientific and other reasons for granting an additional £4 million to the British Antarctic Survey in 1983–84.

The British Antarctic Survey's present scientific programme is wide ranging, multidisciplinary, and focuses on problems which are unique to the Antarctic or which can best be studied in high latitudes. It includes much work which is of global significance or relates to potential mineral and marine living resources.Increased funding will enable quicker progress to be made in the solving of the basic scientific problems. I understand that the survey intends to increase the emphasis on work related to resources. Particular areas for increased attention will include marine and terrestrial geophysics and geology—necessary for the appraisal of offshore hydrocarbon and terrestrial mineral potential—the marine ecosystem—linked with possible future exploitation of krill and fish—and climate and ice-sheet dynamics.In addition to the benefits just described, the expanded programme, by increasing the British contribution to the total international research effort in Antarctica, will increase the United Kingdom's standing in the area.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether, followng his decision to provide an additonal £4 million for the British Antarctic Survey 1983–84, any decision has yet been taken about the level of funding for 1984–85.

I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of today to his question addressed to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs about the total sums allocated for scientific research in Antarctica.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will take steps to promote polar studies in the wider, non-scientific sense in order to heighten public awareness of the history and potential of the Antarctic.

In schools, colleges and universities the curriculum is determined by the appropriate educational bodies, and my right hon. Friend has no powers to intervene. I understand that relevant parts of the curriculum include some studies of the polar regions. My right hon. Friend has no plans to seek to increase this element of educational provision.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he intends to issue the guidelines to enable the committee on local authority higher education to produce plans for the future of colleges and polytechnics.

The guidance that my right hon. Friend intends to offer the national advisory body, to inform its planning of local authority higher education, will be issued shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list in the Official Report those local education authorities, or parts thereof, where he has approved schemes for tertiary colleges or tertiary systems under section 12 of the Education Act 1944 in each of the past three years.

Section 12 of the Education Act 1980, to which the hon. Member presumably refers, does not apply directly to tertiary colleges as these are further education establishments. The following statutory proposals for schools, which were associated with the establishment of such a college, have been approved.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science why table 1.14 of Cmnd. 8789 shows a reduction in expenditure on education and science of over 5 per cent. in cost terms between 1982–83 and 1983–84.

It is likely that the outturn for education in 1982–83 will be somewhat lower than the figure shown in the table, which includes local authority education budgets prepared when the rate of inflation was much higher than it is now. The figure for 1983–84 includes no part of the £904 million for local authority current expenditure not allocated to programmes, some of which will no doubt be spent on education. When allowance is made for these two factors, both of which are explained in paragraph 2 of chapter 2.10 of the White Paper, it is likely that the reduction will be less than that shown in table 1.14. The school population will fall by about 3 per cent. over the same period.

asked the Solicitor-General for Scotland what increase in manpower in the procurator fiscal service he anticipates in view of the increase in crime over the past four years.

The manpower of the procurator fiscal service during the past four years has increased by 12½ per cent. A further increase in manpower is projected for the year 1983–84.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people under 20 years of age were unemployed in the United Kingdom at the latest available date.

At October 1982, the latest date for which an analysis by age is available, the number of young people under 20 years of age registered as unemployed—the old basis of the unemployment count—in the United Kingdom was 655,295.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people in (a) the Yorkshire and Humberside region, (b) West Yorkshire, (c) Kirklees and (d) the Huddersfield employment office area have been unemployed for more than 12 months; and how many of these are aged under 20 years, 20 to 25 years, 25 to 30 years, 30 to 40 years, 40 to 50 years, 50 to 60 years and over 60 years, respectively.

The following is the information at October 1982, the latest date for which an analysis by age and duration of unemployment is available. The figures relate to registered unemployed—the old basis of the count—and are for the age ranges nearest to those specified.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the unemployment figures for the county of Cumbria, categorised by sex, age and the duration of unemployment, for the last month for which statistics are available.

	Males				Females
Duration in weeks	Under 25	25–54	55 and over	All ages	Under 25	25–54	55 and over	Alt ages
2 or less	346	345	105	796	321	193	11	525
Over 2 and up to 4 weeks	336	373	79	788	312	193	13	518
Over 4 and up to 8 weeks	815	563	160	1,538	753	359	32	1,144
Over 8 and up to 13 weeks	586	569	201	1,356	497	326	26	849
Over 13 and up to 26 weeks	1,095	979	430	2,504	982	719	50	1,751
Over 26 and up to 52 weeks	892	1,169	564	2,625	773	854	81	1,708
Over 52 and up to 104 weeks	972	1,539	1,128	3,639	578	709	130	1,417
Over 104 and up to 156 weeks	338	786	338	1,462	177	206	67	450
Over 156 weeks	91	516	348	955	59	168	85	312
Total	5,471	6,839	3,353	15,663	4,452	3,727	495	8,674

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total number of persons unemployed, the percentage rate of unemployment, and the total number of vacancies for (a)the Workington travel-to-work area and (b) Cumbria at the latest date for which figures are available.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the leaflets, pamphlets and forms, issued by his Department, which are available in Wales either in the Welsh language or in a bilingual format.

The following is a complete list of leaflets, pamphlets and forms issued by the Department of Employment that are available in Wales and the Welsh language.

The following is the information for registered unemployed—the old basis of the unemployed count—at October 1982, the latest date for which an analysis by age and duration of unemployment is available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many members of the wages inspectorate cover Wales; and where they are based.

Five wages inspectors are employed in Wales; two are based at Cardiff, two at Denbigh and one at Pontardawe.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the Official Report for each year since 1977 (a) the numbers of employers investigated by the wages inspectorate, (b) the numbers of these investigations that resulted in prosecution and conviction and (c) the total amounts of fines and payments of arrears secured by the inspectorate in (i) the United Kingdom and (ii) Wales.

The Wages Councils Act 1979 only applies to Great Britain.The information requested is as follows:

	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981
Great Britain
Number of establishments where pay inspected	35,930	42,847	52,451	50,119	37,893
Number of investigations resulting in prosecution and conviction	7	16	12	8	8
Total amounts paid in fines (£)	1,105	1,574	1,260	1,375	2,920
Total arrears collected (£)	1,611,476	1,441,883	1,526,567	2,129,671	2,065,012
Wales
Number of establishments where pay checked	3,000	2,680	2,582	2,675	2,080
Number of investigations resulting in prosecution and conviction	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL
Total amounts paid in fines (£)	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL
Total arrears collected (£)	160,001	147,018	135,441	235,834	305,163

Statistics for 1982 are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a list of wages councils in the Official Report; and if he will make a statement on the Government's intentions towards these bodies.

A list of the wages councils is given below. Each council is kept under scrutiny but my right hon. Friend has no present plans to abolish particular councils or make other changes affecting them.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the Official Report the statutory joint industrial councils, indicating those which since 1975 have converted from wages councils.

Section 10 of the Wages Councils Act 1979 provides for the establishment of statutory joint industry councils in place of wages councils. No statutory joint industrial councils have been established.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he is satisfied with the number of job opportunities offered by local authorities under the community programme; and if he will give the latest estimate of that number.

I am satisfied with the number of opportunities offered by local authorities under the programme so far. At the end of December 1982 agreements had been signed between local authorities and the Manpower Services Commission for almost 12,000 places.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many jobs in total are supported by the temporary short-time working compensation scheme for (a) each of the travel-to-work areas that comprise the county of Cumbria, (b) the northern region and (c) the north-west region for the last month for which statistics are available.

The following table shows the figures requested:

Number of potentially redundant jobs for which reimbursement for support was claimed in November 1982
Area	Number
Furness travel-to-work area	180
Kendal travel-to-work area	Nil
Whitehaven travel-to-work area	Nil
Workington travel-to-work area	Nil
Carlisle employment office area	75
Keswick employment office area	Nil
Penrith employment office area	Nil
Northern region	2,508
North west region	7,516

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons, both male and female, were placed in employment by the Workington jobcentre in the last month for which statistics are available.

Workington jobcentre placed 71 people in the five-week period ending 7 January 1983, the latest for which statistics are available. Separate figures for males and females are not compiled.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many additional places were sponsored by Allerdale district council under the youth opportunities programme and the community enterprise programme separately for the last month for which statistics are available; and what is the total number of places now being supported by that authority under each scheme.

In January 1983 Allerdale district council sponsored no new places for unemployed young people under the youth opportunities programme; 12 new places were sponsored for adults under the community programme, which superseded the community enterprise programme on 1 October 1982. The authority now supports a total of 204 places on the youth opportunities programme and 150 on the community programme.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total of young people who have registered at careers offices in each of the travel-to-work areas in Cumbria in the last month for which statistics are available.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the monthly increase and the total number of persons employed by community industry in west Cumbria during the last month for which statistics are available.

In December 1982 102 young people were employed by the community industry unit in west Cumbria, a decrease of one compared with the previous month. Nineteen adult staff are employed at the unit.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the increase since 1979 in actual and percentage terms of civilian recruitment to the Metropolitan Police.

Between 31 December 1978 and 31 December 1982, the strength of the Metropolitan Police civilian staff increased by 1,189 or 10 per cent. to a current level of 12,830, excluding traffic wardens, cadets, part-time school crossing patrols and other staff for whom the force is reimbursed by other authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated total cost of rebuilding Feltham borstal.

About £25 million for rebuilding and enlarging, excluding professional fees, equipment and furnishings.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in the light of proceedings at the special courts that sat in Oxford on 2 September 1982 following Operation Major, he will review the operation of the Bail Act 1976 and the guidance issued to courts thereon.

No. We have no evidence that the Bail Act is not working satisfactorily to balance the interests of defendants with those of the community.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of arrests in which armed Metropolitan police officers were involved in 1980, 1981 and 1982, respectively.

The information requested is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much revenue per annum is obtained from the £12·50 fee for a five-year licence on beam-controlled doors; what is the estimated cost of collection; and if he will consider abolishing this licence.

This information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The exemption of low-powered radio devices, including those for opening doors, is already under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will publish in the Official Report the number of detentions in the various police authorities in England and Wales under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for each year since its inception, indicating how many persons so detained were subsequently charged with offences under the Act, how many were convicted, how many were served with exclusion orders and how many were charged with offences which in Northern Ireland would have been scheduled offences under the Emergency Provisions Act;(2) whether he will indicate the number of persons arrested or detained in the various police areas in each year since the inception of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, indicating how many were subsequently charged with offences under that Act or of offences which, if they had been resident in Northern Ireland, would have been scheduled offences under the Emergency Provisions Act.

We shall reply as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people have been held without bail under the Prevention of Terrorism Act each year since its inception; and how many have been charged with offences under the Act, and which section, indicating in each category with which paramilitary organisation, if any, they were alleged to be associated;(2) how many persons have been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, in each year since its inception, indicating which paramilitary organisation was concerned and whether of republican or loyalist sympathy, and how many have subsequently been charged with offences which if they were charged in Northern Ireland would have been scheduled offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and which sections of this Act;(3) how many persons he has served with exclusion orders in each year since the inception of the Prevention of Terrorism Act; from which part of the United Kingdom they have been excluded; how many would have been described as republican or loyalist supporters, and how many of them have been convicted of offences which were either scheduled offences under the Emergency Provisions Act or would have been if convicted in Northern Ireland.

The information readily available centrally on persons detained under the prevention of terrorism legislation in Great Britain is published quarterly in the series of Home Office statistical bulletins "Statistics on the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Acts 1974 and 1976". The additional information requested is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total number of prosecutions, successful and unsuccessful, brought in magistrates' courts in England and Wales in the last complete year for which figures are available; what was the comparable figure for 10 years previously; and what was the estimated population over the age of criminal responsibility in each of those years.

The total number of defendants (including companies etc.) proceeded against in magistrates' courts in England and Wales in the period 1971 to 1981 is published in table 6.1 of "Criminal statistics, England and Wales, 1981", (Cmnd. 8668); information on those defendants found guilty either at magistrates' courts or the Crown court is given in the same publication. The Office of Population Censuses and Surveys publishes estimates of the mid-year population of England and Wales; figures for those aged 10 and over can be derived from the information in table 7 of "Population Trends 30" (Winter 1982).

Persons proceeded against for attempted murder and remanded on bail
England and Wales	Number of persons
	1980		1981
Court in which proceedings were completed	Total proceedings completed	Of which remanded completed on bail at some stage	Total proceedings completed	Of which remanded on bail at some stage
Magistrates' courts	89	*25	107	*41
The Crown court†	99	18	91	12
* Bail granted by the police and/or by magistrates.
† These persons will have previously appeared in magistrates' courts and are also included in the figures for magistrates' courts in the appropriate year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether consideration is being given to the encryption system to be adopted for direct broadcasting by satellite in the United Kingdom.

A small working group has now been set up comprising representatives of the BBC, IBA, manufacturing industry and the Home Office, with the Department of Industry providing the secretariat. The working group's terms of reference are:

"to consider the encryption system to be adopted for direct broadcasting by satellite in the United Kingdom, taking into account the technical, economic and commercial aspects, including the interface with cable, and the need to ensure that the recommended system meets the requirements of the United Kingdom broadcasters'."

The Secretary of State for Industry and I have asked the group to submit a report to us with its recommendations by the end of April.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to publish his consultative document on the law of trespass; and if he will make a statement.

As indicated in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn and Hatfield (Mr. Murphy) on 11 November—[Vol. 31, c. 218]—the examination of the law of trespass which I have carried out in consultation with my noble Friend the Lord Chancellor and my right hon. and learned Friend, the Attorney-General, identified a number of issues on which I believe wider consultation and public discussion to be necessary before conclusions can be reached on the need for changes in the law. As a basis for such discussions I am issuing today a consultative document, copies of which are being sent, for comment, to a wide range of organisations and interested individuals. Copies of the paper are being placed in the Libraries of both Houses and will also be available from my Department on request.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to how many individuals charged with attempted murder bail has been granted in each of the last five years.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 January 1983, c. 274]: The information now available is given in the table; information for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in view of the fact that the figures and details that he gave to the House on 17 January, Official Report, column 22, on the number of occasions in which the police collected and used firearms have been admitted by Scotland Yard to be incorrect, he will now make a further statement giving the corrected figures.

I am grateful to the hon. Member for this opportunity to correct and update the figures given to the House in my statement on 17 January and by my hon. and learned Friend in reply to the hon. Member for Batley and Morley (Mr. Woolmer) on 21 January.

Figures for occasions on which firearms were issued to Metropolitan Police officers in operations against persons known or believed to be armed:
	number
1980	5,958
1981	4,983
1982	6,635 (full year)

The Number of occasions on which shots were fired:
	number
1980	7 (29 shots)
1981	3 (7 shots)
1982	6 (8 shots)

The Number of persons injured:
	number
1980	2
1981	1
1982	3

The Number of occasions on which firearms were drawn from holsters:
	number
1980	72
1981	106
1982	118

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list the number of foreign-owned companies situated in each county of the United Kingdom.

The available information relates to the number of foreign-owned manufacturing units by country and by standard region within the United Kingdom and is compiled annually. The latest figures relate to 1979 and are published in table 18 of "Business Monitor PA 1003", 1979 analyses of United Kingdom manufacturing—local —units by employment size, a copy of which is in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will issue a directive to British Telecom not to charge for directory inquiries by blind subscribers.

No. I have no powers to direct British Telecom on such matters. BT has, however, deferred the proposed charge on a call to directory inquiries until at least 1 July and intends, I understand, to ensure that the visually handicapped will not suffer financially from its introduction when this comes.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the total assistance to industry per head of employees in the assisted areas in England for the latest available year.

Expenditure on regional preferential assistance to industry was £63 per head of employees in the English assisted areas in 1981–82. This answer is based on assisted areas as then defined and does not cover expenditure on support schemes available throughout the country.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what has been the value of silicon chips produced and manufactured in Great Britain in each of the past two years.

Silicon chips are not identified as such in official statistics of manufacturer's sales. They are included among "semi-conductor devices" and "electronic integrated microcircuits" in table 1 of "Business Monitor PQ 364"—2nd. Q. 1982—a copy of which is in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what assistance his Department is giving to silicon chip development and manufacture; and if he will list the location of the principal projects being assisted.

Silicon chip development and manufacture is supported under the £55 million microelectronic industry support programme. £49 million has been committed or earmarked. Projects under consideration will account for a further £6 million.The distribution of project funding by location is:

	per cent.
Scotland	18
North West	25
South West	24
East Midlands	17
West Midlands	1
South East	15

with the largest projects at East Kilbride (Motorola), Oldham (Ferranti), Lincoln (GEC) and Swindon and Plympton (Plessey).

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list the ancillary products related to computers which the Government sponsored in Information Technology Year.

The range of equipment which could be categorised as "ancillary products related to computers" includes telecommunications equipment, printers, visual display units, word processors and other office equipment, software and so on. The development of a large number of these products was supported under the various Department of Industry schemes during Information Technology Year.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will now reply to the letters dated 17 and 25 January from the hon. Member for Newport concerning the future of the Inmos plant.

I replied to the hon. Member on 1 February.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) how many steering location inquiries were received in the north-west region of his Department; and of these how many were referred to the Cumbria county council industrial development unit during the last month for which statistics are available;(2) how many applications for information of an industrial or service development nature his Department has received in the north-west region during the last month; and how many of these his Department has referred to the Cumbria county council's industrial development unit;(3) what was the total area of industrial floor space allocated for industrial or service trade occupancy by the English Industrial Estates Corporation in each of the travel-to-work areas in

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

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the total number and value of offers of regional assistance made to companies in west Cumbria travel-to-work areas, in Cumbria as a whole, in the north-west region and in the northern region for the last month for which statistics are available.

In November 1982, 13 offers of assistance totalling £2·465 million were made under section 7 of the Industry Act 1972 towards projects in the north-west region. Of these, two offers totalling £130,000 were made towards projects in the west Cumbria travel-to-work area, but no other offers were made to companies in Cumbria. 17 offers totalling £809,000 were made towards projects in the north east region.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Hazel Grove on 24 January, Official Report, c. 285, concerning the International Monetary Fund, what is the nature of the conditional financing which is envisaged from the general arrangements to borrow.

The resources of the enlarged general arrangements to borrow will become available to the fund for on-lending as conditional finance to non-participants when the fund is faced with an inadequacy of resources associated with balance of payments problems threatening the stability of the international monetary system. The detailed arrangements for on-lending have yet to be considered by the fund, but it seems possible that these resources will, like the supplementary financing facility and the enlarged access resources, be used in conjunction with the fund's ordinary quota-based resources to finance standby or extended arrangements.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in preparing his forthcoming Budget, he will give consideration to putting trade union contributions on the same basis as contributions to professional organisations and associations so far as tax relief is concerned.

Tax relief may be given under section 192 of the Taxes Act for subscriptions paid by employees to approved bodies. A body may qualify for approval if it meets one of the conditions laid down in the Act. The same conditions apply to trade unions as to professional organisations and associations.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people are employed in the collector of taxes office in Rochdale.

Total of 20.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much the tax on cigarettes has been increased in each of the past 10 years.

Tax changes—including the effect on VAT and, since 1976, ad valorem duty of manufacturers' and distributors' own price changes—on packets of 20 standard tipped and 20 king size cigarettes were:

(pence)
	Standard tipped	King size
1973*	-0·6	-0·3
1974	5·5	6·1
1975	6·7	8·2
1976	2·2	0·5
1977	7·3	4·1
1978	nil	nil
1979†	7·4	7·4
1980	5·6	5·6
1981‡	18·5	18·9
1982	5·6	5·6
* Tobacco duty was reduced in April 1973 when value added tax was introduced.
† October.
‡ August.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of charities which would benefit if relief for charities from value added tax were introduced; and what loss in revenue this would occasion.

The vast majority of charities are not registered for VAT. The comparatively few charities whose business activities are on a scale which requires them to be registered for VAT can recover as input tax the VAT paid on their business purchases. I assume the form of VAT relief my hon. Friend has in mind is a refund to all charities of the VAT incurred on their non-business purchases.It is not possible to say with accuracy how many charities would benefit by such a relief. Some 142,000 charities are registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, whilst many other bodies—including some 60,000 churches and congregations—are not required to register. Taking into account the charities in Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is possible that the total number of charities in the United Kingdom could be as high as 250,000. Information about the pattern of expenditure of these bodies is very limited, but it is possible that at least 100,000 would put forward claims to benefit from this kind of relief.No statistics are collected centrally on charities' income or expenditure and it is impossible to give a reliable estimate of the revenue that would be lost by introducing this VAT relief.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the amount of income tax in 1982–83 accruing from taxable incomes in the range £10,800 to £12,800.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the net cost, after taking into account savings on means tested benefit, if the additional personal allowance for lone parents were converted into a cash benefit payable at £5 per week.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the net costs, after taking into account savings on means tested benefits, if the blind person's tax allowance were converted into a cash benefit payable at (a) £2 a week and (b) £5 a week, to every registered blind person.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the comparable figures for the retail price index and the pensioners price index for each of the last 20 quarterly periods.

The year-on-year increase in the retail prices index and in the indices for one and two-person pensioner households for each of the last 20 quarterly periods are as follows. In order to provide a valid comparison between the pensioner indices—which do not include housing costs-and the "all items" retail prices index, a separate index is compiled which excludes housing costs from the RPI. The corresponding figures for this index are also included in the following table.

Percentage Increase on the Previous Year
	Index for one-person pensioner households	Index for two-person pensioner households	RPI (excluding housing)	RPI (all items)
1978 Q1	10·3	9·4	10·1	9·5
Q2	8·3	7·8	8·2	7·6
Q3	7·3	7·5	7·9	7·9
Q4	6·6	7·1	7·6	8·1
1979 Q1	8·8	9·0	8·6	9·6
Q2	8·9	9·2	9·2	10·6
Q3	13·1	14·5	15·2	16·0
Q4	15·8	15·8	16·8	17·3
1980 Q1	16·7	16·6	18·1	19·1
Q2	18·8	18·8	20·2	21·5
Q3	16·0	14·3	14·6	16·4
Q4	14·7	14·0	13·3	15·3
1981 Q1	13·0	12·6	11·9	12·7
Q2	11·4	11·4	10·8	11·7
Q3	10·5	11·0	10·4	11·2
Q4	10·7	11·5	10·6	11·9
1982 Q1	10·9	11·2	9·5	11·1
Q2	10·4	10·0	8·6	9·4
Q3	8·7	8·2	7·2	8·0
Q4	7·5	7·0	6·6	6·2

The actual index figures for the RPI, the RPI exclusive of housing costs, and the pensioner indices are published in tables 6.1 and 6.6 of the monthly

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the basis on which duty is payable on English wine; and how this relates to the duty payable on imported wine.

English wine produced from grapes grown in the United Kingdom is liable to the same rate of excise duty as imported wine of the same alcoholic strength.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Kensington, 20 January, Official Report, c. 182–83, if he will now estimate the cost of each extra £100 in the possible new tax allowances using the same assumptions as before.

[pursuant to his reply, 26 January 1983, c. 446]: Under the regime described in my hon. Friend's previous question, the cost of an increase of £100 in the tax allowances from the levels specified in my reply would be around £900 million, under the assumption either of independent taxation or joint taxation of investment income.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the Treasury's representative on the board of the International Monetary Fund voted on the proposal to grant an International Monetary Fund loan to Argentina.

[pursuant to his reply, 1 February 1983, c. 83]: As in the normal practice, the IMF executive board approved the loans to Argentina without a vote.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in his capacity as the chairman of the interim committee of the International Monetary Fund, he approved the proposal to grant an International Monetary Fund loan to Argentina.

[pursuant to his reply, 1 February 1983, c. 83]: Decisions on IMF loans are taken by the fund's executive board. They are not referred to the interim committee.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what is the current average receipt from the sale of a council dwelling in Wales; and what is the average cost of building a council dwelling in Wales.

The average valuation for council dwellings sold during the period April to September 1982 was £13,700. After allowing for discounts the average net selling price was £7,600. Local authority mortgages financed about 56 per cent. of the total outlay by purchasers so that the average net receipt by local authorities for each dwelling sold was £3,400. The average cost of construction of a typical two-storey, five bed-space council house during the period January to September 1982 was £23,300.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will publish in the Official Report the purchase grants allocated to the National Museum of Wales and the National Library of Wales, respectively, in respect of 1983–84, in the same manner as the answer by the Secretary of State for Education and Science to the hon. Member for Warley, East on 20 January. Official Report. c. 165.

Following is the information requested:

	£
National Museum of Wales	1,014,000
National Library of Wales	373,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a list of training places for teachers which will be available in 1983 in each teaching institute in Wales; and what were the comparable figures for 1979.

The first-year intake numbers to initial teacher training in 1983 allocated to public sector institutions in Wales are:

	3 or 4-year courses	1 year courses
Bangor Normal College	79	15
Gwent College of Higher Education	90	30
North East Wales Institute	85	—

asked the Prime Minister who has ministerial responsibility for the sponsorhsip of the Royal Commission on Historical. Manuscripts.

I have asked the Minister for the Arts to assume responsibility for the sponsorship of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts with effect from 1 April 1983. Previously I had responsibility, as Minister for the Civil Service, for the Commission's finances. This transfer of responsibility will in no way affect the Commission's independence, and its functions will remain as set out in its Royal Warrant.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authority and housing association houses or units were built in the Bury metropolitan district in each of the past five years; and how many local authority houses were sold each year for the same period.

Following is the available information for Bury:

	New dwelling completed
	Local Authority	Housing Association	Local Authority dwellings sold
1977	104	155	42
1978	140	215	25
1979	150	63	18
1980	162	101	461
1981	30	12	402

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many council-owned dwellings have been sold in the area covered by the Manchester Central constituency since 1979; and if he will categorise these properties by type;(2) how many council houses have been sold since 1979 by Manchester city council; and if he will give details of the types of dwelling and the areas where houses have been sold or are in the process of being sold.

I refer the hon. Member to the table showing dwelling sales from 1 April 1979 to 30 September 1982 reported by each local authority, placed in the Library following the reply that my hon. friend the Minister for Housing and Construction gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Reading, North (Mr. Durant) on 25 January 1983—[Vol. 35, c. 409.] Available information on the type of dwelling sold separates houses and flats: Manchester City Council has not yet provided this breakdown up to September, but of 2,333 sales up to 30 June 1982, 11 were flats. Information is not collected from authorities about the area where the dwellings are situated.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authority housing starts were made by Manchester city council in the years 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, and 1982–83.

Following is the available information:

Local authority dwellings started: Manchester City Council
	Housing starts
1976–77	2,683
1977–78	891
1978–79	570

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in view of the effect that the introduction of metered sewerage charges will have on hoteliers and other commercial ratepayers involved with the holiday industry, he will have discussions about the level of such charges with the water authorities.

Under section 30 of the Water Act 1973 water authorities are responsible for fixing tariffs for the water services which they provide.I understand that in response to representations which have been made to it the Southern water authority is considering the possibility of phasing-in their new metered sewerage charge in order to avoid sharp shifts in the incidence of charge.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of homeless families who had been given bed and breakfast accommodation in each of the London boroughs in December 1981 and December 1982.

Information on the number of homeless households in bed and breakfast accommodation is contained in the half-yearly report entitled "Homeless Households Reported by Local Authorities in England" copies of which are available in the Library. Results for December 1982 are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what alternatives to boiling water his Department has investigated as a recommendation to water consumers affected by the strike in the water industry; if, in view of the cost of boiling water, he will investigate the use of additives to water; and if he will make a statement.

Once a water undertaking has given warning that there is a risk to health from the contamination of water supplies the firm advice is that all water used for drinking or in food preparation should be boiled. The boiling should be vigorous and last for one minute. This is the most reliable and safe means of treatment generally available in the home and will kill all the likely pathogenic organisms. The costs of boiling, for the amounts needed for these drinking and cooking purposes, will be low.The general use of additives has been considered and there are chemical means of treatment available which would be available in the home to make drinking water safe. However, it is vital that the right substance is used in the right concentration. This takes knowledge and care, and cannot be generally recommended to the public at large.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will make a further statement about his plans to introduce private capital into Associated British Ports.

Arrangements have been completed for the offer for sale by J. Henry Schroder Wagg and Company Ltd. and Kleinwort, Benson Ltd. on my behalf of 19,600,000 ordinary shares of 25p each of Associated Britiah Ports Holdings P.L.C. at 112p per share, payable in full on application. This represents 49 per cent. of the issued share capital of the company. The offer for sale has been underwritten by J. Henry Schroder Wagg and Company Ltd., and Kleinwort, Benson Ltd. The brokers to the offer are W. Greenwell and Company and Cazenove and Company.The prosepctus will be available in the Library from today. It will be published in newspapers, and copies will be available to the public, on Friday. The application list will be open at 10 am on Wednesday, 9 February.In addition to owning all the issued equity capital of the company, I own two loan securities issued by the group to the value of £25 million. These are to be redeemed on or before 31 March.The Government have arranged for a maximum of a further 1,000,000 ordinary shares to be made available, free of charge and at the Government's expense, to employees of Associated British Ports Holdings P.L.C. and its subsidiaries who are eligible under the terms of the Associated British Ports employee share ownership scheme. Each eligible employee will initially be offered 53 ordinary shares, worth approximately £60. The balance of the 1,000,000 will be available, on a one-for-one basis, to employees who purchase shares at the offer price, up to a limit of 225 free shares per employee under this matching arrangement, and subject to scaling down if the limit of 1,000,000 free shares would otherwise be exceeded. All shares acquired by eligible employees under these arrangements must be held on their behalf by the trustees of the scheme and will be subject to restrictions on their subsequent disposal.In addition, preferential consideration will be given to applications by employees to purchase ordinary shares at the offer price. However, out of the 19,600,000 ordinary shares being offered for sale a maximum of 1,250,000 will be available for this preferential offer and for shares purchased by eligible employees under the one-for-one matching arrangements.So far as possible, the Government's intention of promoting the widest possible ownership of shares will be taken into account when making allocations in the event of over-subscription.Immediately after the offer for sale the Government will hold between 48·5 per cent. and 51 per cent. of the issued share capital of the company, depending on the number of free shares allotted to eligible employees under the arrangements I have described.The Government intend to meet their share of the costs of the sale out of the proceeds of the flotation. Parliamentary authority for this will be sought in a Spring Supplementary Estimate for the sale of shares in Associated British Ports Vote, Class VI, Vote 6. Pending that approval the necessary expenditure will be met by repayable advances from the Contingencies Fund.The following is the text of a letter I have sent the chairman of Associated British Ports Holdings P.L.C. about the future relationship between the Government and the Company and the Government's policy towards the ports industry.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will seek to provide that persons may take driving tests only if they can prove that they have had at least a minimum number of lessons by a registered qualified driving instructor.

This would not be justified. My Department constantly encourages learner drivers to take professional instruction and 90 per cent. already do so. It would also not be practicable to lay down a minimum number of lessons appropriate to all learners, whose abilities vary widely.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many registered driving instructors have been re-examined by his examiners in the last five years; how many examiners his Department employs; and where the nearest examiner to Rochdale is situated.

I regret that information about the total number of registered driving instructors re-examined by the Department in the last five years is not available.The Department currently has 32 examiners who supervise registered driving instructors and examine new entrant instructors.Registered driving instructors in Rochdale are supervised by an examiner based in Preston. There are also supervising examiners in Sale and Leeds.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many driving instructors are registered with his Department; and what is the gross annual income from such registrations.

At 31 December 1982 there were 26,101 approved driving instructors registered with the Department. There were also 2,432 trainees to give instruction. The total income of the register of approved driving instructors, including licence and examination fees, in the 12 months to September 1982, was £659,475. This represented 56 per cent. of the total cost of the Register.Increases in fees designed to recover 75 per cent. of costs were introduced in October 1982.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what were the main categories of goods carried by rail in the last two years; what proportion of total rail freight each of these categories represented; what were the main categories of goods carried by road during the same period; and what proportion of total road freight each of these categories represented.

Information for the main categories of goods carried by rail and road in 1980 and 1981, the last two years for which data are available, is given on the following table.

Freight moved (tonne-kilometres) by commodity group*Rail
	1981 Per cent.	1980 Per cent.
Coal and coke*	37·3	36·6
Freightliners Ltd.	13·6	14·4
Iron and steel	13·3	9·7
Oil and petroleum	12·8	12·8
Earths and stones	10·3	11·8
Chemicals and allied products	4·5	5·2
Building materials	3·2	3·9
Agriculture, food and drink	2·1	2·9
Motor vehicles and components	1·5	1·4
Miscellaneous products	1·4	1·3
	100	100

Road
	1981 Per cent.	1980 Per cent.
Food, drink and tobacco	26·3	24·7
Crude minerals	11·1	11·4
Building materials	7·9	8·1
Chemicals and fertilisers	7·8	7·6
Iron and Steel product	6·1	6·4
Machinery and transport equipment	5·8	6·5
Petrol and petroleum product	4·1	4·8
Coal and coke	3·4	2·9
Wood, timber and cork	2·1	2·2
Crude materials	2·0	2·0
Other metal products	1·4	1·3
Ores	1·2	1·0
Miscellaneous manufacture and miscellaneous transactions	20·8	21·1
	100	100
* The commodity groups are not identical for road and rail.
† Excluding vehicles under 3·5 tonnes gross vehicle weight.
‡ No commodity analysis of Freightlines traffic is available.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of motorway standard trunk roads were in use, under construction and planned at the latest available date.

Mileages in England at 1 January, excluding slip roads, road widenings and interchanges, are as follows:

Motorways	Miles
In use	1,400
Under construction	65
Planned	191

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what costs were involved in launching the 20-page pamphlet in support of the United Kingdom's membership of the Common Market; why the Prime Minister's and other Ministers' statements were only translated into German, French, Italian and Dutch and not into Danish or Greek; and what are the reasons for publishing 7,500 copies in German and 4,000 in French.

The total printing cost was £27,195. Distribution costs for the first week are estimated at £400.The booklet was issued only in German, French, Italian and Dutch because it would have been disproportionately expensive to print it in the other Community languages. The Embassy in Athens has however, made an informal translation for local distribution.The numbers of copies printed in each language were based on estimates of demand in the countries concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to the Government of Zimbabwe about the detention of Air Commodore Philip Pile, Air Lieutenant Barrington Lloyd and Air Lieutenant Nigel Lewis of the Zimbabwe Air Force.

I draw my hon. Friend's attention to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Inverness (Mr. Johnston) on 22 December—[Vol. 34, c. 935–36.]—and to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice (Sir P. Wall) on 19 January—[Vol. 35, c. 151–52.]

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, in view of the resource potential of South Georgia specifically mentioned in the Shackeleton review, he will state Government policy in regard to the development of that dependency.

The Government have noted Lord Shackleton's recommendations concerning South Georgia, but consider that priority should be given to the programme announced for the Falkland Islands them-selves. A number of companies have expressed an interest in the exploitation of the fisheries around both the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. These approaches are under active consideration by the Falkland Islands Government and ourselves.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to the total sums allocated for scientific research in Antarctica by each of the signatories of the Antarctic treaty including the United Kingdom, for 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84 and beyond.

I have been asked to reply.As regards the United Kingdom, the amounts of grant-in-aid paid to the British Antarctic Survey from the Department's science budget through the Natural Environment Research Council are:

	£
1980–81	*5,932,000
1981–82	*8,642,000
1982–83	†7,133,000
* Net of receipts.
† Net of estimated receipts.

The 1982–83 figure includes the £500,000 additional funding announced by my right hon. Friend on 18 January.The total level of support for scientific research in Antarctica for 1983–84, 1984–85 and beyond has yet to be determined. In addition to my right hon. Friend's decision that the Science Budget for 1983–84 will include provision for an increase of £4 million in the survey programme, the public expenditure White Paper published on 1 February announced that such provision will rise to £5 million in each of the years 1984–85 and 1985–86.The notification of figures on expenditure for scientific research is not required in the exchange of information under the Antarctic treaty. Information on expenditure by the other signatories is not therefore readily available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what plans he has to expand the assistance which the unemployed and other volunteers can provide to potential clients of the health and social services.

A key feature of this Government's policies in the health and social services is the help that the community can give through volunteers and self-help groups to meeting the needs of elderly or physically or mentally handicapped people, or isolated young mothers and their children.We therefore launched the opportunities for volunteering scheme, to expand the opportunities for unemployed people to participate in voluntary work in the health and personal social services fields, at the end of May, and allocated £2·3 million this financial year and £1 million in 1983–84 for that purpose. The scheme is making grants to some 400 local voluntary sector projects and is administered by a network of 16 national voluntary organisations such as Age Concern, Barnardos, MIND and MENCAP. This initiative has been universally welcomed for its flexibility, relative simplicity and the full participation by the voluntary sector in decisions. It has clearly unlocked much valuable voluntary work, such as encouraging people to assist elderly neighbours, or transporting elderly and disabled people to day centres and clubs. The indications are that 15,000 volunteers are involved in the activities supported by the scheme. Nevertheless, many good applications had to be turned down simply because the funds were not available.To build on the success so far, I am doubling to a total of £5 million the amount I had intended to make available for the scheme next year. I am also increasing by a further £300,000 to a total of £2,600,000, the sum available for the scheme this year.I am confident that the voluntary sector will make very good use of these extra resources to benefit both those who take part in the scheme as volunteers and those who receive services from it—old people, handicapped children and adults, mothers and young children and many other groups.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the present number of recall forms at the central cervical cytology registry at Southport that have not been distributed or whose distribution is being seriously delayed; and when he expects the backlog to be cleared.

There is no delay in the distribution of cervical cytology recall forms. Forms relating to women tested in 1977 and who are now due for recall have been sent out by the NHS central register. This leaves an estimated 9 million forms held at the central register in respect of cervical cytology tests performed in England and Wales between 1978 and 1981.As I said in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Withington (Mr. Silvester) on 21 December 1981 [Vol. 15, c.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the estimated savings in 1983–84 in various classes of benefit if (a) child benefit were raised to £15 and made taxable, (b) the tax and national insurance thresholds were raised to £1,800 single and £3,500 married, with two reduced rate bands of £1,000 at 10 per cent. and 20 per cent., respectively, for income tax and a charge of 9 per cent. on incremental income only for national insurance and (c) if both (a) and (b) were in operation at the same time.

I regret that the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing approximately how many persons would cease to be eligible for means-tested benefits in each case in 1983–84 if their weekly incomes after tax rose in the case of a single person by £5 and £8, respectively, and in the case of married couples by £5, £10 and £15, respectively; and how many more persons in each case would be removed from benefit if child benefit was raised to £10 per week and £15 per week, respectively.

I regret that the information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if his Department has evaluated the efficiency of neuroelectric therapy in methadone and heroin addiction detoxification.