asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he is satisfied with the regulations concerning the disqualification of persons from the magistrates bench.

Yes. There are a number of disqualifications from magisterial service, and these are necessary to maintain the efficiency, good reputation and impartiality of the bench. These bars from appointment ensure that there can be no incompatibility between the office of the magistrate and his or her day-to-day work. In addition, there are statutes which prevent magistrates from acting on the bench, such as the Sheriffs Act 1887 and the Bankruptcy Act 1883 which disqualify a magistrate absolutely from acting as such.

asked the Attorney-General if he will place in the Library a copy of Her Majesty's Government's defence to the action before the European Commission on Human Rights initiated by seven British companies concerning compensation payable under the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977.

Under the Commission's rules of procedure all proceedings before it, including all pleadings, are confidential.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what provisions are made by Government Departments to conduct audiometric surveillance of employees.

This is a matter for which individual Departments are responsible. The Civil Service medical advisory service is available to advise and help with audiometric tests. The Property Services Agency will investigate complaints of excessive noise referred to it by Departments.

asked the Minister for Trade (1) what was the value of books exported by the academic book publishing industry in 1979, 1980, 1981 and to the nearest available date in 1982;

Exports of academic books are not separately identified. Exports of technical and scientific books as a percentage of total hardback and paperback sales, respectively, were as follows:

asked the Minister for Trade (1) whether he will make alternative arrangements for cover in respect of those exporting firms with existing and future contractual commitments in respect of cover for trade with Cuba, through the Export Credits Guarantee Department;(2) whether he will reinstate immediately limited types of cover for firms exporting to Cuba which need protection solely against payment default.

No.

asked the Minister for Trade if he will reverse his decision to restrict cover arrangements with regard to trade with Cuba through the Export Credits Guarantee Department.

No. Full cover will be restored when Cuba is in a position to service its debts.

asked the Minister for Trade what is the saving to public funds of the restrictions on cover through the Export Credits Guarantee Department relating to trade with Cuba.

Unquantifiable.

asked the Minister for Trade what representations he has received regarding the restrictions on Export Credits Guarantee Department cover to Cuba concerning existing and future contracts relating to industrial exports; and whether he will make a statement.

Very few.

asked the Minister for Trade how many exporters are affected by the restrictions on cover by the Export Credits Guarantee Department relating to trade with Cuba.

The precise number is not known, but is probably less than 120.

asked the Minister for Trade (1) what consultations he had with the Confederation of British Industry over the restrictions on cover by the Export Credit Guarantee Department in respect of trade with Cuba;(2) what consultations he had with chambers of commerce over the restrictions placed on cover by the Export Credits Guarantee Department in respect of trade with Cuba.

None.

asked the Minister for Trade whether he will make it his policy to require the routeing of all imports of video recorders through one inspection point as do the French Government; and whether he will consider Grimsby as such a suitable point.

No. Such action, whether involving Grimsby or elsewhere, would almost certainly not be compatible with our international obligations or our current domestic legislation. The French requirement is already the subject of complaint in the GATT and has been challenged by the Commission.

asked the Minister for Trade what were the total imports and exports of pharmaceutical products in raw and in finished forms for the latest available annual period.

Information on trade in medicinal and pharmaceutical products may be found under SITC division 54 in tables II and V of the Overseas Trade Statistics for December 1982. A copy is in the Library.

asked the Minister for Trade (1) if he will list those countries which are the principal exporters of cut flowers to the United Kingdom, indicating the approximate value of the exports in 1980, 1981 and 1982;(2) if he will give the approximate value of exports of cut flowers from the United Kingdom in each of the years 1980, 1981 and 1982 and the main export markets.

This information is contained under SITC (R2) item 292.71 in tables III and VI of the Overseas Trade Statistics for 1980, 1981 and December 1982. Copies are in the Library.

asked the Minister for Trade how many British ships have been sold abroad since May 1979.

Between the end of April 1979 and the end of December 1982 a total of 552 merchant ships of 500 gross registered tonnes and over were sold abroad for further trading.

asked the Minister of Trade how much of the British registered merchant fleet was laid up at the end of 1982.

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

asked the Minister for Trade what discussions he has had with the United States Administration about the application of United States laws to the subsidiaries in the United Kingdom of United States corporations, in particular in relation to the countering of the Arab trade boycott of Israel; and if he will make a statement.

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

asked the Minister for Trade if he has any plans to replenish the air travel reserve fund following the Laker claim, either through the reinstatement of the levy on package tours or by requiring larger bonds from tour operators; and if he will make a statement.

I have no present plans to reinstate the levy. However, in its last annual report, the Air Travel Reserve Fund Agency drew attention to the future viability of the fund and added that a report on the matter had been commissioned. I understand that Sir Kenneth Selby, the agency's chairman, will shortly be putting to me his views on the report's proposals and I shall wish to discuss these with the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority who is responsible for the licensing and bonding of individual air travel organisers. I also understand that Sir Kenneth is unlikely to recommend reinstatement of the levy.

asked the Minister for Trade which of the following categories of vessels he includes in his estimates of the value of cross trade earnings of United Kingdom shipping: (a) United Kingdom owned and registered, (b) United Kingdom owned but foreign registered, (c) foreign owned but United Kingdom registered, (d) chartered-in vessels flying the United Kingdom flag and (e) chartered-in vessels flying a foreign flag.

Statistics of United Kingdom shipping industry earnings cover vessels owned, or chartered from abroad, by United Kingdom resident shipping companies. This includes categories (a),(d) and (e) in the question. Vessels registered abroad and owned by overseas subsidiaries of United Kingdom companies are not included.

asked the Minister for Trade (1) what representations he has received from Tayside regional council about the introduction of the proposed airway between Edinburgh-Glasgow and Aberdeen;(2) what representations he has received from Fife regional council about the introduction of the proposed airway between Edinburgh-Glasgow and Aberdeen.

A speedy search of my Department's records has not revealed any representation direct to me from either the Fife or the Tayside regional councils.

asked the Minister for Trade how many reports of near misses have been received by his Department in the last three years for the airspace covered by the advisory route between Edinburgh-Glasgow and Aberdeen; and how many of the near misses reported involved gliders.

The collection of air miss data is the responsibility of the joint air miss section of the National Air Traffic Service. NATS informs me that over the three-year period January 1980 to December 1982 there have been six air miss reports in the air space covered by the advisory routes Edinburgh-Aberdeen and Glasgow-Aberdeen. Of these, three reports involved gliders.

asked the Minister for Trade if he will publish a table (a) showing the balance of trade for manufacturing goods and all visible trade, respectively, with Japan and with Germany, in 1982 and (b) showing the total balance of payments with both these countries in 1982 taking into account services such as banking, shipping and insurance as well as visible trade.

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

asked the Minister for Trade (1) if he will make a statement outlining the principles of the arrangement reached between the European Community Commission and the Japanese representatives on voluntary restraint of sales of Japanese video cassette recorders;(2) if the voluntary arrangement between the European Community and Japan on video recorder sales covers video cassette recorders produced in Europe by Japanese firms as well as video cassette recorders produced in Japan;(3) what effect he considers the arrangement between the European Community and Japan over video cassette recorder imports will have on Japanese investment in this field of manufacturing activity with the European Community;(4) what assessment he has made of the effect of the arrangement between the European Community and Japan over video cassette recorder imports on the price of video cassette recorders in Europe.

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

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give for the longest and

The courts' statutory power to recommend a minimum period of detention applies only to adults convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.In England and Wales, 135 such recommendations were made from 1965—when the power was introduced—until the end of 1981. During the same period over 1,600 persons were convicted of murder.Until the end of 1982, three life sentence prisoners convicted of murder had been released on licence at an earlier date than that recommended by the trial judge. In accordance with the provisions of section 61 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967, all three prisoners were released on the recommendation of the parole board and after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and, where he was available, the trial judge.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give for the longest and most convenient stated period of time the numbers and names of persons charged and found guilty of stated drug offences, the amounts of drugs in £ sterling discovered or covered by the charges; and how many of those found guilty were born outside the United Kingdom or were not British citizens.

The numbers of persons found guilty of the various types of drugs offences are published annually in a Home Office statistical bulleting "Statistics of the misuse of drugs in the United Kingdom"—table 8 of issue 13/82. The readily available statistical information about non-British citizenship of drugs offenders, which may be incomplete, is given in the following table. Corresponding information is not available on the value of the drugs involved.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will arrange to deport Jaswent Rooperai and Tamnadas Bhadresa, both found guilty at Snaresbrook Crown court of currency offences, on completion of their prison sentences.

No. Jaswent Rooperai is exempt from deportation because he is a British citizen and Tamnadas Bhadresa because of section 7 of the Immigration Act 1971.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will deport Mr. Choudari Rajnalvee of Brynland avenue, Bishopton, convicted of 11 offences of theft and purporting to be a doctor.

Mr. Rajnalvee is a British citizen and is not liable to deportation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the British Broadcasting Corporation and commercial television companies about extending the subtitling of television programmes to help deaf viewers; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and noble Friend, the then Under-Secretary of State, wrote in September 1981 to the chairmen of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Independent Broadcasting Authority and the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority to inform them of a meeting he had had with representatives of the Deaf Broadcasting Campaign and of their representations to him that more provision for deaf viewers should be made on the television screen by subtitling and other means. However, the responsibility for deciding on the resources to be devoted to the subtitling of television programmes rests entirely with the broadcasting organisations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information his Department makes available to schools on drug-taking and its effects.

None directly, although the Home Office answers general inquiries about the misuse of drugs and about the drugs laws from members of the public, many of whom seem to be pupils preparing school projects. The booklet "Health Education in Schools", prepared by the Department of Education and Science and published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in 1977 contains a chapter on the misuse of drugs, and other material, whether for the information of teachers or for classroom use, is available from a variety of bodies.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many men failed to qualify for admission to the United Kingdom between 1 January and 8 February on the grounds that the primary reason for their marriage was immigration; and how this figure compares with the total number of applications.

Information is available only for the Indian sub-continent. Preliminary figures for the period from 1 January to 8 February 1983, show that 108 entry clearance applications from husbands and fiances were decided, of which 47 were granted and 61 refused. Of the 61, four were refused solely on the ground that the entry clearance officer was not satisfied that the marriage or intended marriage was not entered into primarily to obtain admission to the United Kingdom and two on that ground and the ground that the wife or fiancée was not a British citizen. A further 26 were refused on two or more of the grounds set out at (a) to (c) in paragraphs 41 and 54 of the rules then in force (HC 66).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many deaths occurred during police custody in 1982 in England and Wales; and how many of these were in the London metropolitan area.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply we gave to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) on 23 December 1982.—[Vol. 34 c. 623.] It is hoped to publish in April 1983 the annual Home Office statistical bulletin giving information for 1982.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to establish care and reception centres for persons needing medical treatment or supervision when taken into police custody.

Paragraphs 4.22–4.29 of the consolidated circular to the police on crime and kindred matters, a copy of which is in the Library, lay down guidance on the provision of medical facilities for those taken into police custody who are in need of medical treatment. They require, inter alia, that a doctor should be called if there is the slightest suspicion that a person may be ill, and that, where appropriate, people should be taken to hospital. Paragraphs 9.1–9.6 of the draft code of practice on the questioning of persons suspected of crime issued in connection with the Police and Criminal Evidence Bill make similar provision. We have no reason to believe that these arrangements need to be supplemented by the provision of special extra facilities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will take appropriate steps to ensure that channel 9 on citizens band radio is used for emergency purposes only.

The Citizens Band code of practice already recommends that channel 9 should be used only for emergencies and assistance. We are not convinced that a mandatory restriction would be appropriate.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many persons are employed in each county in the United Kingdom in order to monitor citizens band radio users to ensure compliance with conditions of licences which under section 1(1) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 prohibit transmissions which are grossly offensive or of an indecent or obscene character;

Prosecution statistics are not available in the form requested. However, in 1982 13 persons were prosecuted under section 1(1) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 for not complying with the terms of their CB radio licences. Members of British Telecom's radio interference service, who act as our agents in the enforcement of wireless telegraphy legislation, are authorised to investigate abuse of the licensed CB radio service when they can do so without prejudice to their work on radio interference. The number of persons employed in the radio interference service is not available on a county basis but the field-force in each region of British Telecom, with an indication of the counties they cover, is given below:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been collected from citizens band radio users by way of licence fees in each of the months since the licence was introduced; and for what purposes such licence fees are used.

Following is the information requested:

asked the Secretary of State for the. Home Department why he has decided to reduce the salaries of probation trainees starting training during 1983.

The special and generally more favourable treatment in salaries and other financial support given to probation students sponsored by the Home Office, as compared with other social work students, had its origin in a need found in the early 1970s to attract more applicants. In recent years the number of suitable applicants has much exceeded the numbers required.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the numbers entering probation training in the current year compare with each of the last five years.

The number of students sponsored by the Home Office who are due to enter probation training this autumn is 288. In each of the past five years the number of such students was as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has as to the operation of Right-wing terrorist organisations in the United Kingdom and any links between them and similar bodies on the continent.

We are aware of a number of extreme Right-wing groups in the United Kingdom. Some of them have links with similar organisations in Western Europe. We have no present evidence to suggest that these groups intend to carry out acts of terrorism in the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Mr. G. P. Barnes was appointed joint secretary to the parliamentary Boundary Commission for England.

On 5 February 1974.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will name the assistant commissiooners to the Boundary Commissin for England, giving the date of the appointment of each, and detail the number of inquiries each has heard and the fees paid to each.

The information requested is set out in the table below. The fees payable to assistant commissioners during the review were:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the

I have nothing to add to the reply sent to the hon. Member by my noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor on 17 February.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how his Department calculates official estimates of the number of casualties in the event of a nuclear war.

First, by relating possible patterns of attack to the geographical distribution of the population. Then by assessing the likely rates of deaths and injuries with reference to standard texts on the effects of nuclear weapons and to the protection available to the population.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will state her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 24 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 February.

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 Signor Fanfani the Prime Minister of Italy. This evening I shall be giving a dinner in his honour at 10 Downing street.

asked the Prime Minister whether she is satisfied with educational standards in Great Britain.

Our educational standards can be improved, and that is one of the aims of our policies.

asked the Prime Minister if Her Majesty's Government will take further action to prevent vandalism.

There is no single or simple solution to the problem of vandalism. Since coming into office this Government has strengthened the police by 9,000 officers and we have, in the Criminal Justice Act 1982, considerably strengthened the power of the courts to deal with young offenders. In particular, the Act reinforces the powers to make parents responsible for their children's actions. This Government have also greatly increased the number of attendance centres. But vandalism is not something just for the Government, police and courts to deal with. It is for parents and teachers acting with others in the local community to tackle this problem. To help encourage this, the Home Office already produces films, leaflets and posters aimed at both parents and potential offenders and hopes to have published later this year a teaching package for secondary schools on law and order including material on vandalism.

asked the Prime Minister what has been the change in gross domestic product of the United Kingdom as measured by the average estimate of the factor cost, since May 1979; and what has been the average change in gross domestic product for the six other major Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development economies since the same date.

I gave the answer to the first part of this question to the hon. Member on 22 February. Between the first half of 1979 and the first half of 1982, the average increase in gross domestic product—at market prices—for the six other major OECD economies was 3 per cent.

asked the Prime Minister if she will visit the village of King Edward in the East Aberdeenshire constituency.

I have at present no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister on how many occasions since May 1979 she has held meetings with the chairman of the International Monetary Fund interim committee.

I held no bilateral meetings with the Finance Ministers who chaired the interim committee between May 1979 and December 1982. I do of course have frequent meetings with my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who has been chairman since last December.

asked the Prime Minister if she is satisfied with the present commitment and deployment of British defence forces outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation area.

The commitments and deployment of British forces outside the NATO area are kept under regular review, and I am satisfied that they are consistent with the principles set out in our White Papers on "The Way Forward" (Cmnd. 8288) and "The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons" (Cmnd. 8758). Part 3 of Cmnd. 8758 sets out the measures we are taking to improve the ability of our forces to operate outside the European theatre.

asked the Prime Minister if she will invite world leaders to London to discuss the provision being made for refugees from Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement.

We remain deeply concerned about the plight of the Afghan refugees. These victims of Soviet aggression should not be forgotten by the international community. Since January 1980 the United Kingdom has given or pledged more than £11 million of cash and food aid to Afghan refugees in Pakistan. We admire the efforts of the Pakistan Government to provide for the refugees, and consider that it would be best for any initiative for an international meeting to come from the countries most directly concerned.

asked the Prime Minister when she next proposes to visit Wales.

I hope to visit Wales later this year.

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

I have at present no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister if she will make a statement about the remaining Argentine minefields in the Falkland Islands.

As my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces said in his reply on 18 October 1982—[Vol. 29, c. 49–50]—a major programme of research and development work is in hand with the aim of finding a safe and effective solution to the problems of detecting and clearing mines in the difficult terrain and conditions of the Falklands, but it is too early to predict the results. In addition to work undertaken by MOD establishments, contracts have been placed with commercial firms and trials of equipment including excavators, armoured tractors and rotavators are being carried out in the islands before the onset of the Falklands winter. The process of fencing off all the known minefields is now complete. In the interests of the safety of the personnel involved, mine clearance operations are being undertaken only if necessary to meet the urgent needs of the civilian population or the garrison.

asked the Prime Minister why so few Government Departments are employing the 3 per cent. quota of physically disabled persons.

All employers have difficulty in achieving the quota figure; if all registered disabled people had been employed at 1 June 1980, the average level of compliance by relevant employers would have been about 1·9 per cent. All Government departments are aware of their obligations to ensure that opportunities to employ disabled people are not overlooked.

asked the Prime Minister (1) what are the main differences between the joint financing scheme in England and the support financing scheme in Scotland; and what are the reasons for the differences;(2) what were the respective dates when the joint financing scheme in England and the support financing scheme in Scotland came into operation; and for what reasons the dates differ.

The joint finance scheme in England was introduced in 1976 and the support finance scheme in Scotland in 1980. The later start in Scotland was largely due to initial reservations among health boards.One significant difference between the two schemes is that in England an annual allocation of funds is made to health authorities for joint financing while in Scotland funds are retained centrally and health boards can apply for funds for individual joint projects. There is no regional tier in Scotland and the central department therefore has a direct monitoring relationship with health boards.The other main difference lies in the total sums made available; £85 million in England and £2 million in Scotland in 1982–83. The relatively small figure for Scotland reflects its much smaller population and the later start to the scheme. Joint finance expenditure in England also grew from a relatively small base in the early years.

asked the Prime Minister if she will make it the policy of Her Majesty's Government not to accept a net United Kingdom budget contribution to the European Community for 1983 or later which is more than 25 per cent. of that paid in 1982.

Our policy remains as stated in the reply that I gave my hon. Friend on 22 November. —[Vol. 32, c. 337–38.]

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report the total amounts of funds allocated to each of the research councils in each of the past five years.

The funds provided by way of grant-in-aid from the science budget were as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much has been spent by his Department per head of the population on medical research in each of the past five years.

Based on expenditure by the Medical Research Council from its grant-in-aid for the five years up to 1981–82, the figures are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make it his policy not to recommend the recognition of any ambassador who has been in any way associated with terrorist activities.

Our policy is, and will continue to be, that each case is considered on its merits.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has received any representations from the Government of Bangladesh requesting support from Her Majesty's Government for the Bangladesh Government's policy on generic prescribing.

No such representations have been received.

asked the Lord President of the Council whether he will publish in the Official Report a comprehensive list showing the comparisons in all respects with regard to salaries, expenses, secretarial and travel allowances and pensions between British Members of Parliament and British Members of the European assembly which were in effect on 17 January 1983.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Industry on what date he received the report from the Mail Users Association; and what is his policy towards the recommendations contained in the report.

The report was received on 14 February and contained eight recommendations. Of these, four related to the detail of the tariff proposals, which are matters for the Post Office and which have been referred to the chairman of the Post Office for reply. Of the remainder, two were subsumed within the recommendation that the Post Office should implement a five-point plan to keep prices held; reduce prices where appropriate; sustain productivity improvements; restore service cuts; and improve the quality of service. Such action would be consistent with the range of financial targets and performance aims which the Government already set for the Post Office.The final recommendation is that the external financing limit of the Post Office should be re-examined in order to evolve a business-like way for the Post Office to fund its investment. The Government are satisfied that the present system for setting the Post Office's EFL provides a satisfactory balance between the needs of the Post Office to fund its capital investment programme and the need to ensure proper control of public sector borrowing.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list the number of private telephone users in the following years: 1945, 1951, 1964, 1970, 1974, 1979 and 1982.

The following is the information requested:

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, pursuant to the answer of 7 February, OfficialReport, c. 252–53, what is the level of United Kingdom research and development for 1978 accounted for by private industry (a) in cash terms and (b) as a percentage of gross domestic product.

In 1978 research and development to the value of £2,061 million at current prices was carried out within private industry in the United Kingdom. This amounted to 12½ parts per 1,000 of the gross domestic product for that year, calculated on the same basis as that used in the OECD document referred to in the answer given on 7 February 1983.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what contributions have been made by the United Kingdom through the Club du Sahel towards increased food production in the Sahel region; and what has been the annual increase or decline in food production in that area in each year since 1975;(2) what contributions have been made by the United Kingdom through the Club du Sahel for reafforestation programmes in the Sahel region in each of the years since 1975;(3) what contributions have been made by the United Kingdom through the Club du Sahel for road or other communications in the Sahel region in each year since 1975;(4) what contributions have been made by the United Kingdom through the Club du Sahel for agricultural development in the Sahel region in each year since 1975.

The United Kingdom has made no contribution through the Club du Sahel. So far as food production is concerned, accurate annual figures are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if any special action is being taken by the United Kingdom to alleviate the problems caused by the severe drought in Ethiopia.

A grant of £100,575 has been made to the Save the Children Fund to help with setting up a supplementary feeding centre for children under five at Korem in North Wollo. Some 27,000 tonnes of food aid—worth about £3·3 million—from Britain's 1982 allocation of 50,000 tonnes to the world food programme are being sent to Ethiopia.We have also in the past year made contributions to international relief agencies caring for refugees—many from Ethiopia—in countries neighbouring Ethiopia, but it is not possible to quantify the extent to which this action constitutes the alleviation of drought problems.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action is being taken by international agencies of which the United Kingdom is a member to alleviate the consequences of the severe drought in Ethiopia.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is now drawing up its programme for 1983 which is expected to include provision for drought relief in Ethiopia. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has a regular budget provision for Ethiopia for 1983 of $1,460·000 and a special appeal for Ethiopia is likely. Further inquiries are being made, and I shall write to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the average waiting period for a driving test in (a) the Western Isles, (b) the Scottish mainland and (c) the United Kingdom generally.

The average waiting period for an L-test in Great Britain is eight weeks and in Scotland as a whole it is three to four weeks. In the Western Isles demand for L-tests is very low and does not justify manning driving test centres full time. Tests have been conducted approximately every three months by examiners from the mainland. The next visit will be from 28 February to 4 March. The marked reduction in waiting periods generally will in future enable more frequent visits to be made to the Western Isles, if necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his reply of 27 January, Official Report, c. 499, to the hon. Member for Aberdeen, North (Mr. Hughes) how much the firm of Veryard and Partners has been paid in consultancy fees since May 1979; how many times it has been awarded a contract; and how many of those contracts were awarded by competitive tender.