asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what steps he is taking to ensure the safety of pesticides exported from the United Kingdom to developing countries;(2) whether he has studied the report produced by Oxfam "A growing problem" concerning the control of the export of banned or restricted pesticides, a copy of which has been sent to him; and if he will make a statement.

I shall study the report after I know the outcome of discussions next month between Oxfam, representatives of my Department, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and the British Agrochemical Association. Some of the recommendations Oxfam makes in the report are addressed to ODA and I will consider making a statement on these when technical discussions have been completed. These discussions include the safety of pesticide exports.

asked the Paymaster General if he will set out the principal achievements of Her Majesty's Government within his Department's responsibilities since May 1979.

Since May 1979 the Paymaster General's office has taken significant steps to meet the Government's objectives of increasing efficiency and reducing both costs and manpower. Manpower has been reduced from 892 in 1979 to 872 in 1983, despite a 20 per cent. increase in the number of pensions paid—currently 1·1 million—and a 15 per cent. increase in the number of payable orders issued by Government Departments. This has been achieved mainly by the introduction of more advanced computer systems and by Rayner studies which have identified both cost and manpower savings. Seven posts were saved by the privatisation in 1982 of the night security arrangements.During the same period it has been possible to cut administrative costs and improve the service to pensioners by introducing payment direct to pensioners' bank accounts using the Bankers' Automated Clearing Services Ltd.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report a table covering the years 1983–84 to 1985–86 showing by main programme and sub-programme all that expenditure outside programme 15 which can be identified as being public expenditure in Scotland and to which reference is made in paragraph 2 of page 76 of Cmnd. 878941 and, for earlier years, in the answer of a February, Official Report, c. 93–6, table 2.

In general, the public expenditure planned to occur in Scotland is shown in table 2.15.1 p. 76 of Cmnd. 8789. Expenditure outside the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Scotland is planned for Great Britain or the United Kingdom as a whole. Its distribution is not known centrally until it has been spent. The annual territorial analysis exercise identifies total identifiable public expenditure in each of the four countries of the United Kingdom. The latest analysis was shown in the answer of 1 February, Official Report, c. 93–96.Certain expenditure by local authorities under the responsibility of Ministers other than the Secretary of State for Scotland is relevant for rate support grant or included in the cash limits for local authority capital expenditure. In these circumstances estimates of expenditure in Scotland are made. This information was given in Secretary of State for Scotland's answer of 9 March,

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the percentage increase in the cost of the current Civil Service pay claim on the salary bill for civil servants in the following salary bands, or, their nearest equivalent: up to £5,000 a year, £5,001 to £10,000 a year, £10,001 to £15,000 a year and over £15,000 a year, respectively; and how many civil servants are in each of these salary bands.

Detailed information is not available in the precise form requested but the claim can be broken down as follows:

Average per cent. increase for those staff covered and number of staff (1 September 1982)
	per cent.	number
i. minimum wage for all non-industrial civil servants aged 18 or over of £85 per week	25	44,000
ii. flat rate increase of £12 per week (£626·40 per annum) for all non-industrial civil servants on national salaries up to and including £6,264* per annum	13	248,000
iii. 10 per cent, increase for staff on national salaries above £6,264 per annum (see ii) but not more than £9,758 per annum (the current HEO maximum)	10	166,000
* cut-off point for general increase of 10 per cent. plus underpinning minimum increase of £12 per week.

For 49,000 staff covered by the claim who are on national salaries above £9,758 per annum substantial but unspecified increases were sought. However, an agreement was reached on Maundy Thursday between the Treasury and the negotiating team representing the Council of Civil Service Unions. The main ingredients of this agreement give increases in pay from 1 April 1983 of 4 per cent. for staff who are on their scale maximum or are paid flat rates of pay, and 3½per cent. for other staff, with an additional increase of £70 a year for all staff aged 18 and over.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list, for each year since 1970, the year-on-year increase in the retail price index, and the component elements for fuel and light and for housing; and if he will express these as a total percentage increase over the same period.

I refer the hon. Member for table 6.4 of the Employment Gazette, available in the Library.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why only two companies which are members of the British Microcomputer Manufacturers Group are included in the 1983 list of selected suppliers published by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency.

The list of selected suppliers for microcompters was drawn up as a result of competition. Ten out of the 12 selected are British companies but only two of these, Comart Ltd. and Casu Electronics Ltd. are presently members of the British Microcomputer Manufacturers Group.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer of a married couple with two children where the husband was unemployed for the full year 1982–83, but was previously earning average manual earnings, and taking account of (i) losses in income tax, national insurance and national insurance surcharge and (ii) costs of social security benefits assuming the family receive average rent and rate rebates;(2) if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer of a single person who was unemployed for the full year 1982–83, but was previously earning average manual earnings, and taking account of (i) losses in income tax, national insurance and national insurance surcharge and (ii) costs of social security benefits assuming the individual receives average rent and rate rebates.

If full entitlement to supplementary benefit is assumed, a married couple with one child over 11 and one under five would have received benefit payments totalling about £3,700 in 1982–83, assuming average council rent and rates. The comparable figure for a single person was about £2,000, again assuming that he was a householder. These figures are not typical of the unemployed as a whole. It is estimated that on average benefit payments would have increased by about £1,700 for each extra person unemployed in 1982–83.Estimates of lost taxes are inevitably hypothetical since they depend on assumptions about conditions in the economy had unemployment in 1982–83 been different from what it actually was.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide, in respect of 1982–83, the corresponding information to that which he provided in his written answer of 16 March 1982 to the right hon. Member for Down, South, Official Report, c. 63.

A press notice issued by the Central Statistical Office on 21 April 1983 showed a provisional public sector borrowing requirement for 1982–83 of £9·2 billion. Analysis of the financing of the PSBR by economic sector and by type of asset are published in Financial Statistics—table 2·6. Figures for 1982–83 as a whole will not be available until the June 1983 edition. It is likely, however, that the increase in coins and notes in circulation will have been about £1 billion to £1¼ billion over the year, although part of this rise is due to the fact that the end of the financial year coincided with the Easter holiday when the demand for notes was exceptionally high.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will indicate, for the years 1950 to 1982, the proportion of gross domestic product accounted for by the service sector;(2) if he will make a statement on the contribution currently being made by the service sector to the United Kingdom economy; and what future trends he envisages.

The service sector makes a large and vital contribution to the United Kingdom economy. That contribution has grown gradually over the past 20 years and the sector now accounts for over 40 per cent. of gross domestic product. I am sure that the sector has a bright future. The precise extent of its contribution in years to come will depend on many factors including the demands of the market and the state of the world and domestic economies. Comparable figures are not available on the proportion of gross domestic product accounted for by the service sector before 1960. Figures for 1982 will not be available until later this year. The following table sets out the figures for 1960–1981:

Service sector contribution to GDP (income-based measure)
Year	Percentage GDP
1960	36·6
1961	37·4
1962	37·6
1963	37·9
1964	37·6
1965	37·6
1966	38·2
1967	38·8
1968	39·3
1969	38·8
1970	39·1
1971	38·9
1972	39·6
1973	40·5
1974	40·0
1975	39·9
1976	39·9
1977	40·0
1978	41·1
1979	41·7
1980	41·0
1981	41·6

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the tourist industry about the effect of his Budget proposals.

I have not as yet received any such representations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement on his interview with a deputation of prison governors requesting the release of convicted prisoners to ease the high prison population; and whether he will not take action along these lines until unconvicted prisoners are released or have a court hearing to prove their guilt or innocence.

At his meeting with the prison governors' branch of the Society of Civil and Public Servants on 18 April my right hon. Friend indicated steps that the Government are taking to relieve prison overcrowding and the accommodation of prisoners in police and court cells. Section 32 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 enables the Home Secretary to order the early release of sentenced prisoners but my right hon. Friend has no present intention of exercising that power.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, by 18 April, his Department was unable to give full and complete details of the crimes and sentences which occurred during the calendar year 1982; why, in view of the existence of the modern aids and computers, he is not able to issue these details sooner; and whether he will ensure a more expeditious manner of dealing with criminal statistics.

The preparation of statistical information on court proceedings involves the collection, processing, analysis and presentation of a very large amount of statistical data. Allowing for printing time, it is not feasible to issue the publication before the summer. Figures on notifiable offences recorded by the police in England and Wales in 1982 were published in Home Office statistical bulletin 3/83 issued on 14 March 1983.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list in the Official Report the local authorities which have requested civil defence grants from his Department in the last 12 months; what figure was requested and how much was disbursed in each case; what was the total amount of grant disbursed in the last 12 months; which requests are still awaiting a decision; and for what purposes these requests were made.

The figures for the financial year 1982–83 are attached.Grant to county councils and police authorities is paid in advance on the basis of estimates submitted, but payment for expenditure on carrier warning systems in the Metropolitan Police district is made on receipt of an invoice. No payments are outstanding. Grant to London boroughs and metropolitan districts is paid on the basis of audited claims, which in all cases are still awaited.Grant is paid at the rate of 75 per cent. or 100 per cent. Items qualifying for 75 per cent. grant include salaries and related expenses of emergency planning teams; establishment and administration expenses; salaries of staff officers to regional police commanders — designate — and regional fire advisers—designate; training expenses; and provision of wartime headquarters and communications equipment. Items qualifying for 100 grant are development of wireless relay stations for civil defence communications and expenditure on attack and fall-out warning systems.Grant is calculated on the receipt of estimates, 10 per cent. is retained pending receipt of an audited claim, and grant disbursed is 90 per cent. of the amount in the estimates. The total grant disbursed during the year is £7,162,124: this includes adjustments on claims for earlier years.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to be able to announce his decision to sign the Council of Europe convention on the transfer of sentenced prisoners.

I cannot yet add anything to the reply I gave to a question by the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Miss Maynard) on 13 April.—[Vol. 40, c. 406.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many objectors gave evidence at hearings arranged by the Boundary Commission for England and Wales during their recent parliamentary boundaries review.

I understand from the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England and Wales that the information could be made available only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average number per constituency of written and oral objections lodged with the Boundary Commission for England and Wales following the publication of its initial proposals in the recent parliamentary boundaries review.

I understand from the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England and Wales that the information could be provided in the form requested only at disproportionate cost. The English Commission received some 8,000, and the Welsh Commission some 650, written representations—not all of them objections—during their third periodical reviews of parliamentary constituencies. These figures give averages of 15·29 written representations per constituency in England and 17·10 in Wales.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many appeal hearings were held by commissioners or assistant commissioners on behalf of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England and Wales prior to publishing its recent reports.

The number of local inquiries held on behalf of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England and Wales during their third periodical reviews of parliamentary constituencies was 95 and seven respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what costs have been incurred since the previous boundaries revision by the Boundary Commission for England and Wales in preparing its recent parliamentary boundaries reports in respect of (a) salaries and fees, (b) other administrative costs and (c) appeals including legal costs.

I understand from the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England and Wales that the information cannot be made available in the form requested without incurring disproportionate cost. The information available—which includes costs incurred in reporting in 1978 on European Parliament constituencies —is as follows:

	Salaries	Other Expenditure	Total
	£ (cash)	£ (cash)	£ (cash)
1974–75	9,160	—	9,160
1975–76	30,473	52	30,525
1976–77	39,178	4,418	43,596
1977–78	50,679	9,060	59,739
1978–79	52,280	168,990	221,270
1979–80	71,519	36,487	108,006
1980–81	142,816	99,552	242,368
1981–82	138,802	151,839	290,641
1982–83	144,423	146,055	290,478
	679,330	616,453	1,295,783

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been employed (a) on a full-time basis and (b) on a part-time basis by the Boundary Commission for England and Wales during the period of the recent parliamentary boundaries review.

The information requested is as follows:

	Full time	Part time
1 April 1974	—	4
1 April 1975	3	2
1 April 1976	6	2
1 April 1977	6	2
*1 April 1978	6	2
1 April 1979	8	1
1 April 1980	11	1
1 April 1981	15	1
1 April 1982	17	—
1 April 1983	7	2
* Staff also worked on European Parliament constituencies.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received in the past 12 months requesting changes in the gaming laws which would allow bingo clubs to offer national games with substantial prizes, an accumulator/roll-on jackpot game funded by stakes and the freedom to advertise licensed bingo sessions.

Representations have been received from hon. Members, from the National Association of Licensed Bingo and Social Clubs and from the British Bingo Association.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to extend the powers of the Charity Commissioners to enable them to have greater control over the setting up and constitutions of charities in England and Wales and responsibility for monitoring the finances of registered charities on a regular basis.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what percentage of electronics firms have their headquarters (a) in London and the south east and (b) elsewhere in England.

This information is not available through Department of Industry sources.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry by how much production in the textile industry rose or fell in 1982.

The index of production for the textile industry, defined as minimum list headings 411–429 of the SIC 1968, was 6 per cent. lower in 1982 than in 1981.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will tabulate the types of grants available to (a) manufacturing industry and (b) the service sector, together, in each instance, with the levels of such grant.

The very wide range of support measures available is detailed in the British Business Guide to Industrial Support, Spring 1983, a copy of which is in the library.The principal measures of support to manufacturing industry are as follows:

Measure	Level of Grant
1. Support for Innovation (facility for research and development projects)	Up to 33⅓ per cent.
	Exceptionally, under a shared cost contract, the Department of Industry will contribute 50 per cent, of qualifying costs, recoverable by a levy on commercial sales.
2. Section 8 of the Industrial Development Act 1982 (assistance towards investment projects with particular economic benefits)	Negotiated as the minimum necessary for a project to proceed.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will tabulate in the Official Report the help his Department has given to small industries in the Stoke-on-Trent travel-to-work area.

The information requested is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, as there is a large range of schemes, only one of which can be broken down on a travel-to-work area basis. Neither are statistics recorded by size of firm.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what level of (a) manned and (b) unmanned steel-making capacity now exists in the plants covered by the Phoenix 2 discussions; and what the distribution is, in percentage terms, between the public and private sectors.

[pursuant to his reply, 26 April 1983, c. 283]: Details of capacity and manning levels are commercially confidential matters. There remains, however, significant overcapacity in both the public and private sectors of the engineering steels industry.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry when he expects to announce a conclusion to current talks between his Department, the British Steel Corporation and private steel firms on the proposed Phoenix 2 joint venture.

[pursuant to his reply, 25 April 1983, c. 219]: The Department has received no firm proposals for a Phoenix 2 joint venture on engineering steels. It is for the companies to decide if and when to make any such proposals.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what he expects local authority receipts from the sale of land and council houses to be in 1983–84.

The assumption underlying the public expenditure White Paper is that local authorities in England will generate housing capital receipts in 1983–84 of £1,292 million.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made by the Building Research Establishment on the technical work on prefabricated reinforced concrete houses referred to in the reply of 24 March, Official Report, c. 1084.

I expect the Building Research Establishment to complete the first phase of its work on Boot, Cornish Unit, Wates, Unity, Orlit, Woolaway and Smith houses next month.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether changes are to be made to the housing investment programme allocation methodology for 1984–85 which will benefit those local authorities faced with substantial bills for remedial work to system-built houses and flats.

Housing investment programme allocations for 1984–85 will take account of the need for investment in remedial works to system-built dwellings. I shall consider further, in consultation with local authority associations, whether there is a need for any changes to the existing methodology.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what consultations he has initiated concerning the threat to televised football.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to ensure the continuation of televised football; and if he will discourage any proposal that would limit the showing of televised football matches to licensed premises.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what consultations he has had with the football authorities about future coverage of football matches by the British Broadcasting Corporation and independent television.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has had discussions with the Football League on the future of football on television.

I refer the hon. Members to the reply I gave earlier today to the hon. Members for Ipswich (Mr. Weetch) and for Newcastle upon Tyne, West (Mr. Brown).

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is satisfied with the clearance of derelict land in the northern region; and if he will make a statement.

I am satisfied that substantial and worthwhile progress has been made, though much remains to be done. The region's allocation for derelict land grant this year is £10 million, 54 percent. up on last year's initial provision.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what response there has been from local authorities and others to the report of the 1981 English house condition survey published in December 1982.

There has been a general recognition of the need for a higher priority to be given to the improvement and repair of the existing housing stock within the overall resources available. This was reflected in the number of home improvement grants paid by local authorities in 1982 being the highest since 1974, due particularly to the Government making available additional allocations for home improvement last year and 90 per cent. intermediate and repair grants.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has yet reached a decision on the most appropriate means of monitoring the effects of reduced environmental lead levels.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has yet decided on the best method of monitoring the effects of reduced lead levels.

Before deciding on this, I wanted to take the Royal Commission on environmental pollution's views into account. It published its views on 18 April in Cmnd. 8852, "Lead in the Environment". Preliminary discussions have already been held with the local authority associations and a number of individual local authorities; and I will announce my decision shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received concerning the level of rate support grants to rural areas.

I receive a large number of representations from individual authorities about rate support grant. A proportion of these are from authorities in rural areas and refer to the problems of those areas in providing their services.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many starts to council houses and flats there were (a) in the four years prior to May 1979 and (b) from May 1979 to the latest available date; and what is the percentage difference between the two sets of figures.

From May 1979 to February 1983, 117,000 local authority dwellings were started in England. In the four years to April 1979, 348,000 were started. The difference is 66 per cent., but the periods are not of identical length.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment in what form he intends to make public his decision following the consultation on the Green Paper on the future of domestic rates.

As I said in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mr. Chapman), this matter is under consideration at the present time.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will be reporting on his study of possible reform of the rating system.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he now expects to bring forward proposals for reform of local government financing; and if he will make a statement.

As I said in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mr. Chapman), I hope to be able to announce our proposals shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is yet in a positon to bring forward proposals to reform the domestic rating system.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my right hon. Friend gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, North West (Mr. Colvin) today.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he has received on the question of rating reform over the past 12 months.

Of the 1,500 or so representations we have had since publication of the Green Paper, "Alternatives to Domestic Rates", some 400 have been received since the end of the consultation period on 31 March 1982.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the revised code of guidance to the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977.

We will publish the revised code of guidance as soon as we have been able to consider fully the numerous detailed representations we have received from the local authority associations, voluntary bodies and other interested parties.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much grant was lost at current prices by the partnership programme and designated districts as a result of rate support grant holdback in 1981–82 and 1982–83; and what is his estimate for 1983–84.

Liability to grant holdback results from authorities' own decisions to exceed the Government's expenditure guidance. It will be determined ultimately by authorities' outturn expenditure for each of the years mentioned. Some £64·4 million of grant is currently being held back from partnership, programme and designated district councils in respect of 1981–82, and £89·1 million in respect of 1982–83. No firm estimate of 1983–84 holdback can be made until the detailed information from authorities' budgets returns is available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when next he expects to meet the chairman of the London Docklands Development Corporation to discuss the corporation's relations with local government.

I meet the chairman regularly and when necessary I discuss this subject.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many council houses in Lincoln have been sold to their tenants since May 1979.

The local authority reported sales of 643 dwellings between 1 April 1980 and 31 May 1982, all to sitting tenants. In the financial year 1979–80, when sales to sitting tenants were not separately reported, the authority sold 146 dwellings.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is satisfied with the relationships between local authorities and new town corporations.

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many units of sheltered accommodation have been started by local authorities in the last year.

The provisional 1982 figure for England appears in table 2.10 of "Housing and Construction Statistics" part 2, No. 12, which is available in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when next he intends to meet the Association of Metropolitan Authorities to discuss the rate support grant.

I meet representatives of all the local authority associations regularly in the consultative council on local government finance. The next meeting of the council will be on 23 May.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will assess the implications for the survival of a number of Football League clubs of the Inland Revenue seeking winding-up orders against them.

Negotiations between the Inland Revenue and individual Football League clubs are a matter for the parties concerned, and the local communities. Football League authorities have of course a general concern, but will accept that clubs are private businesses and subject to the normal laws and responsibilities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to meet the building societies and the banks to discuss the availability of mortgage funds.

This was one of the matters that I discussed with representatives of the building societies, the banks and the house builders at the meeting that I had with them in January. Subsequent meetings will be arranged as necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will advise the Commonwealth Games Council as to whether its new code of practice as adopted in Brisbane in 1982 is in contravention of the Gleneagles agreement.

No. Only Commonwealth Governments can contravene the Commonwealth statement on apartheid in sport. The Commonwealth games code of conduct has been adopted by the Commonwealth Games Federation and applies to individual national Commonwealth Games associations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his answer of 10 February, Official Report, c. 459–60, he has yet reached any conclusions on proposals to mitigate the effect of high rates on commerce and industry.

As my right hon. Friend said to my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, North-West (Mr. Colvin) today, he hopes to announce our proposals for rating reform shortly. I cannot anticipate these, but we have the problems of commercial and industrial ratepayers very much in mind.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what response he has given to the Confederation of British Industry in answer to its representations about the burden of rates upon commercial and industrial undertakings.

I invited representatives of the CBI to a meeting in my Department last December at which I was able to consider their proposals for the reform of rates. In particular, I fully accept the importance which the CBI attaches to cost-effectiveness in the provision of local authority services.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration he is giving to seeking to amend the law to make unlawful the provision of finance by local authorities for political campaigns.

My right hon. Friend regrets the apparent breakdown of long-standing conventions that public money should not be spent on political propaganda. We have at present no plans to introduce legislation, but we are watching the situation carefully.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the percentages and actual totals of the total block grant received by all local authorities in (a) London, (b) the metropolitan areas and (c) the non-metropolitan areas in 1982–83, estimated outturn, and in 1983–84 target levels of expenditure.

	1982–83		1982–83		1983–84
	Before Holdback		After Holdback
	Grant £ million	Percentage share	Grant £ million	Percentage share	Grant £ million	Percentage share
London	1,329·9	15·3	1,216·9	14·7	1,408·3	16·1
Metropolitan Areas	2,623·4	30·3	2,513·3	30·3	2,659·7	30·5
Non·Metropolitan Areas	4,720·9	54·4	4,565·5	55·0	4,654·8	53·4

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make extra grants available to water authorities to enable them to bring forward programmes of sewerage installation schemes; and whether he will provide assistance to local authorities which incur loan charges due to their agency work for water authorities.

We have no plans to change the present arrangements under which Exchequer grants are available towards the cost of first time rural sewerage, but otherwise water authorities finance their capital programmes for sewerage, like the rest of their capital programmes, from internal resources or borrowing. However, grants are available from the European regional development fund for projects in assisted areas, such as Merseyside, and water authorities are encouraged to make full use of this facility.Expenditure by local authorities as agents for water authorities is reimbursed in full and no quesion of loan charges need arise.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a statement on the current level of staffing of the Fire Research Station; what private funding or the income from testing was obtained in the 1982–83 financial year; and what is the current programme of work.

On 1 April 1983, 136 permanent civil servants were employed at the Fire Research Station.The income obtained in the 1982–83 financial year from industry and private funding for sponsored research, special testing, advising services, and miscellaneous sales including publications was £123,741.The 1983–84 programme of work of the Fire Research Station will cover similar ground to 1982–83. Details are being finalised and will be described in the Building Research Establishment's research programme 1983–84, which is being prepared for publication. I will send my hon. Friend a copy when this publication is available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his reply of Thursday 14 April, Official Report, c. 451, he will publish figures to

The 1982–83 grant figures at outturn are not yet available. The following table shows the latest estimates of 1982–83 grant entitlements, based on budget expenditure and 1983–84 grant entitlements if all authorities had budgeted to spend at their target level.show how far the increases in cost terms in local authority current spending in England have been due to increases in pay in the local authority sector and how far they are due to changes in the volume of the services provided.

The increase in local authority current expenditure in England in cost terms—using the GDP deflator—between 1978–79 and 1981–82, in 1981–82 prices, is estimated to be about £1,100 million, of which about £800 million can be attributed to increases in pay in the local authority sector.Estimates of the effect of changes in the volume of services provided are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will arrange for an exhibition to be placed in the Upper Waiting Hall by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for the period commencing Tuesday 3 May.

I confirm that arrangements have been made with the authorities of the House for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from Tuesday 3 May to Friday 6 May 1983 and that my Department is sponsoring this presentation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what the current mechanisms are for the restriction of growth in popular country areas such as mid-Sussex; and whether he is satisfied with their operation.

The county council is responsible for drawing up the structure plan in which the competing demands for the use of land — including agriculture, conservation and additional development — are reconciled. These plans are approved by my right hon. Friend and their policies reflected in local plans. I am satisfied that in general these arrangements are satisfactory.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will introduce regulations requiring local education authorities to make mandatory awards to overseas students aged 18 to 25 years, whose parents are not willing to make a declaration of income for cultural reasons; and if he will make a statement.

No. All students who satisfy the conditions of the Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations are already eligible for a mandatory award. A parental contribution to the award is required for all students who have not acquired independent status under the regulations except where there is no parent, or the authority is satisfied that the parent cannot be found, or that it is not reasonably practicable to get in touch with him. In cases where the parent refuses to make a statement of income, the student is still eligible for a minimum award and the payment of tuition fees.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek to encourage a United Nations initiative to work for a short-term, limited truce between Iraq and Iran, under United Nations' auspices, to allow for the capping of the major oil leak in the Arabian Gulf.

We have repeatedly said that we would welcome any initiative to deal with this problem. We have played an active part in discussions at the United Nations aimed at achieving either a permanent or temporary ceasefire. The existing oil slick and continued discharge of oil seriously threatens the ecology of the Gulf region, and we urge both belligerents to take into account the interests of the other littoral states without further delay.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made over the independent inquiry which was commissioned to study the possible rationalisation of youth exchanges.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department of Education and Science jointly commissioned Mr. G. F. Cockerill CB to undertake an independent inquiry into the scope for possible rationalisation of youth exchanges. Mr. Cockerill's report is now available in the Library of the House.Before any decisions are taken on Mr. Cockerill's recommendations, there will be a period set aside for consideration of the Report. All interested individuals and organisations are invited to send their observations before 30 June 1983, either to the cultural relations department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, or to the international relations division of the Department of Education and Science.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how many applications have been made under the Mines (Working Facilities and Support) Act 1966 for ancillary rights in the past three years.

I have been asked to reply.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy in what areas of the United Kingdom, apart from the southwest, the development of minerals has been severely held up because of the difficulty in tracing title to minerals; and what use has been made of the Mines (Working Facilities and Support) Acts 1966 to 1974 to overcome these difficulties.

I have been asked to reply.I am not aware of any part of the United Kingdom where significant mineral development has been severely impeded solely by difficulties in tracing mineral ownership. Whilst such problems do exist, particularly in some parts of south west England, little use has been made of the available remedy, the Mines (Working Facilities and Support) Acts 1966 and 1974. Only one application has been made concerning difficulty in tracing title to minerals.

asked the Minister for Trade what has been the percentage change in the value of agricultural exports from the United Kingdom in each of the last five years.

The information requested is set out below.

Annual change in United Kingdom exports of agricultural produce, 1978–82
	per cent.
1978	+27·7
1979	-4·0
1980	+17·1
1981	+13·3
1982	+5·9

asked the Minister for Trade by how much it is estimated imports in 1983 of textiles and clothing will differ from imports in 1982.

No precise estimate of textiles and clothing imports in 1983 can be made, since this will depend on a number of variables such as fashion trends, the level of domestic demand and the ability of British manufacturers to meet market requirements.

asked the Minister for Trade by how much imports of textiles and clothing from non-multi-fibre arrangement countries rose in 1982.

The overall increase in the value of textile and clothing imports in 1982 was £227·403 million (to a total of £2,520·673 million), of which £157·524 million represented the increase in the textile sector (to a total of £1,693·395 million) and £69·879 million the increase in the clothing sector (to £827·278 million).

asked the Minister for Trade when he expects discussions in Brussels on the draft directive on liability for defective products to be concluded; and if he will seek to expedite these.

The draft directive on product liability has been referred to the committee of permanent representatives in Brussels. When certain fundamental questions that it is considering have been resolved, I expect the Council working party to be asked to complete its examination of the draft. I hope that further discussions will not be protracted, but the initiative for placing the draft directive on the agenda lies with the Presidency.

asked the Minister for Trade what recent representations he has received from the chairman of the Manchester citizens advice bureaux management committee; what reply he is sending; if there is any action he will be taking; and if he will make a statement.

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

asked the Minister for Trade if any complaints have been made to his Department about any aspect of the work of citizens advice bureaux in Scotland.

[pursuant to the reply, 21 April 1983, c. 146]: Yes. I have received three letters, each with a complaint.

asked the Minister for Trade what level of funding he expects to go to the Scottish Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux in 1983–84; and if he will make it his policy to determine the level and provision of funds from his Department for citizens advice bureaux in Scotland separately from those in other parts of the United Kingdom.

[pursuant to the reply, 21 April 1983, c. 146.]: This year's allocation for SACAB, within the total grant allocation of £6·04 million for NACAB, SACAB and GLCABS, is currently under consideration by the two associations concerned. The possibility of separate grant-in-aid arrangements for each national association was raised last year by the Scottish Association, and we shall be discussing it further with them.