asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a further statement about expected receipts from the sale of public sector assets.

I announced to the House in a statement on 27 October—[Vol. 47, c. 437–38]—that the Government intended to sell about half of its remaining shareholding in Cable and Wireless plc. Arrangements are being made for the sale of 100 million shares with a nominal value of 50p each in the company. The shares to be sold represent 22·2 per cent. of the company's issued ordinary share capital and will reduce the Government's holding to some 23·1 per cent. of the ordinary share capital and one special rights preference share of £1.The sale will be made by a public offer by tender at a minimum tender price of 275p a share payable as to 100p per share on application and the balance by 17 February 1984. Underwriting is currently in progress. A press notice will be issued later today by the Bank of England giving more particulars of the sale and a copy will be placed in the Library. It is intended that detailed terms of the offer will be advertised in the press on 27 and 28 November. The minimum size of application will be 100 shares. Striking price applications may be made for up to 1,000 shares: they, and tender applications above the striking price, will be eligible for preferential consideration. Applications from employees of Cable and Wireless and its United Kingdom registered subsidiaries engaged in and currently working in the United Kingdom made on the special application forms available for the purpose for up to 1,000 shares at the striking price will be allotted in full.The Government have no plans at this stage to sell any more of their present holding in Cable and Wireless and will not do so in the next two years. The Government have recently reaffirmed that they do not intend to use their rights as a shareholder to intervene in the company's commercial decisions. Nor do they expect to vote their shareholding at general meetings of the company inopposition to resolutions supported by a majority of the court of directors, although they retain the right to do so.An estimate will be presented to the House in due course to provide for the expenses of the sale, including any arising from indemnities given in connection with the sale.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the proportion of revenue from taxation in 1982 or 1982–83 accounted for by taxes on capital, including non-domestic rates, and taxes on labour.

Taxes may be grouped in different ways. In the following table taxes on capital include corporation tax, North sea taxes and royalties, income tax on rent, dividends, interest and so on, investment income surcharge, capital gains tax, capital transfer tax, development land tax, and local authority non-domestic rates.Taxes on labour include income tax on earned and self-employment income—including pensions and benefits to the unemployed—employers' and employees' NICs and national insurance surcharge.Other taxes—mainly taxes on expenditure—are not allocated.On this basis the figures for 1982–83 are as follows:

Capital	Labour	Other	Total
21·3	44·5	34·2	100

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report the cost to the Exchequer of tax relief on house purchase mortgages and the cost to the mortgage option scheme for a period of five years concluding with the projected figures for the current financial year.

The estimated costs are as follows:

£ million
	Mortgage interest tax relief	Option mortgage scheme
1979–80	1,450	189
1980–81	1,960	228
1981–82	*2,030	262
1982–83	*2,150	306
1983–84	*†2,750	‡17
* Provisional.
† Excludes £55 million provision on Class XIII Vote 7 for own gage interest relief at source given to non-taxpayers.
‡ The option mortgage scheme was subsumed in the new arrangements for giving mortgage interest relief at source from 1 April 1983. The figure for 1983–84 is an estimate of the amount required to meet claims in respect of earlier years.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the manpower levels in his Department in June 1983; and what are his plans for those levels in June 1984.

Staff in post in the Treasury at the nearest date for the quarterly manpower count was 3,907 at 1 July 1983.The manpower figures planned for 1984–85 are 3,820 at 1 April 1984 and 3,570 at 1 April 1985. No specific figure is planned for June 1984.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make a statement on the outcome of the Budget Council held on 22 November.

I represented the United Kingdom at this Budget Council which considered the European Parliament's amendments and modifications to the draft 1984 Community budget.The Council was preceded by a meeting with a delegation from the European Parliament. The delegation explained that its amendments were designed to produce a political budget. It has proposed that an additional 575 million ecus be transferred from the main budget lines for agricultural guarantee expenditure to chapter 100. It also proposed the transfer of United Kingdom and German refunds from the budget lines to chapter 100.All of the United Kingdom refunds were reclassified as non-obligatory. It also made payment of refunds conditional on a satisfactory outcome from the Athens European Council in December. Apart from additions to payments and commitment appropriations to meet its main priorities the Parliament proposed to set aside 1·2 billion ecus in commitments for a Community industrial area. The President of the Parliament also made it clear that if the Council did not go along with the proposals, it would reject the whole budget.The Council then met to consider the Parliament's amendments and modifications. There prolonged discussion, and the outcome was satisfactory for the United Kingdom. The Council did not accept the modification for agriculture in the amount of 575 million ecus, but agreed to transfer 100 million ecus from the main agricultural budget lines to chapter 100. The Council rejected the amendments and modifications in respect of United Kingdom and German refunds, restoring them to the budget lines and provisionally classifying the bulk of the United Kingdom refunds as obligatory, as in the draft budget. The linkage with the outcome of Athens was also rejected. The amendments to non-obligatory expenditure proposed by the Parliament amounted to 2,464 million ecus for commitments and 533 million ecus for payments. This compared with a margin—on the Council's interpretation—available to the Parliament within its maximum rate of 388 million ecus and 382 million ecus, respectively. The overall increase accepted by the Council amounted to 458 million ecus for commitments and 377 million ecus for payments.Within these limits, 120 million ecus in payments and 110 million ecus in commitments was added to the social fund and 110 million ecus in payments and 100 million ecus in commitments to the regional fund. Sixty-seven million ecus in commitments was added to the provision for the ESPRIT programme. The minutes will record that the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany took the view that this was without prejudice to a substantive decision on the financing of ESPRIT.An additional 25 million ecus in payments was provided for the restructuring of the coal industry and 20 million ecus in commitments and payments in chapter 100 for energy investment. The package also included an additional 42 million ecus for the special programme to combat hunger in the world.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has received representations about relaxing the conditions for relief, under section 24 of the Finance Act 1983, for interest paid on loans taken out by employees to buy shares in an employee-owned company as part of an employee buy-out; and if he will make a statement.

We have been considering a number of representations on this matter and have decided to relax the conditions for relief in the following ways:

1. For the purposes of determining whether a company is employee controlled, the present requirement is that the employees own at least 75 per cent. of the company's ordinary shares and voting power. This percentage test is to be reduced to "over 50 per cent".

2. Under the present rules, where an individual holds more than 5 per cent. of the shares or voting power, the excess is to be left out of account in considering whether the employee control test is satisfied. This percentage is to be raised to 10 per cent, and where husband and wife are both full-time employees the 10 per cent. and where husband and wife are both full-time employees the 10 per cent. limit is to apply separately to each spouse.

The necessary legislation will be brought forward in the 1984 Finance Bill, and we propose that the changes should take effect from 6 April 1983, so that interest paid on or after that date will qualify for relief where the relevant conditions are met.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the curriculum of courses for new recruits at police colleges in so far as they concern relations between the police and ethnic minorities.

A revised programme of initial training for probationers, drawn up in the light of reports by the Police Training Council on community and race relations and on probationer training, will be introduced in the Home Office district training centres for provincial recruits in January 1984. Much of the programme has been rewritten. The new programme, which is intended to lay the foundations for further training in-force, contains a substantially enlarged and improved element of training in race relations under the heading "Social Skills of Policing." Besides containing periods devoted specifically to community and race relations, the courses as a whole will aim to ensure that officers are aware of, and well trained in, the community and race relations aspects of all their professional duties.In the Metropolitan police, training in "human awareness" or "policing skills", including training in race relations, was introduced for all recruits in April 1982. Such training is integrated with and spread throughout the course as a whole. "Human awareness" training is being evaluated by the police foundation; and the race relations element of it is being reviewed within the force.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will take steps to investigate the safety of products described as escape smoke masks or respirators, with a view to issuing advice to owners of hotels and other large buildings;(2) what consultations his Department has had with the British Safety Council about the development of a standard for the manufacture of smoke masks or respirators;(3) whether any tests have been carried out by his Department as to the efficacy of smoke masks or respirators;(4) if he will seek advice from the fire research station on the safety and efficacy of smoke masks and respirators;(5) what analyses have been carried out as to the respective efficacy and safety of smoke masks and other forms of respirators.

In February 1982, following the appearance on the United Kingdom market of various types of smoke masks which suppliers were recommending for use by occupants of buildings as an aid to escape from fire, the Home Office convened a meeting of Government agencies, including the fire research station, to consider what should be the Government's attitude towards these products. The meeting concluded that, while there appeared to be no case for a general ban on smoke masks, their limitations were such that a performance standard should be drawn up for them, together with broad guidelines as to the situations and conditions in which they could and could not be safely used.A small working group of Government experts was established for this purpose, and in November 1982 its conclusions were presented to the British Standards Institution with a request that urgent action be taken to produce a new British standard and guidelines on use. The BSI subsequently agreed to begin work on the production of a new British standard on smoke masks and establshed a technical committee, including representatives of the Home Office, the fire research station and the British Safety Counncil, for this purpose. I understand that the BSI expects to be able to issue shortly a draft standard for public comment.I share the hon. Member's concern about possible use of such masks by members of the public in hotels and other similar premises. In September 1982 Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services wrote to all chief fire officers expressing concern about this possibility and asking for reports of any instances which came to their attention. No reports have been received. We have also indicated our concern on this point to the British Hotels, Restaurants and Caterers Association.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will seek advice from fire authorities on the safety and efficacy of smoke masks and respirators;(2) what representations he has received from the Fire Brigades Union, the Fire Protection Association, the British Safety Council and chief fire officers about the safety of products described as escape smoke masks;(3) if he will seek advice from the Fire Brigades Union on the safety and efficacy of smoke masks and respirators.

My right hon. and learned Friend has received representations from the Fire Brigades Union, the British Safety Council and the Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association expressing concern about the safety of these products and calling for a general ban on them. No representations have been received from the Fire Protection Association.The Fire Brigades Union, the Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association and fire authorities are represented on the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Councils for England and Wales and for Scotland, which exist to advise the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Scotland on matters relating to the fire service. The subject of smoke masks for self-rescue purposes has been discussed on three occasions in the council for England and Wales and on three occasions in a subcommittee of the two councils concerned with fire prevention matters. In considering possible Government action to control the availability and use of these masks, we have taken full account of the views expressed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will name the successful applicants for cable pilot project licences.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and I received 37 applications for pilot project licences. We have given them careful consideration with help of an evaluation carried out by EIU Informatics Ltd. based on the criteria set out in the White Paper on the development of cable system and services—Cmnd. 8866—and of advice from an independent advisory panel appointed to consider whether the EIU report represented a sound and proper basis for decisions as to the grant licences. We now propose holding discussions with 11 applicants to explore further some specific points in their applications. Provided that these discussions are concluded to our satisfaction, we shall issue pilot project licences to them. Those applicants are as follows:

• Aberdeen Cable Services Ltd.—Aberdeen.
• CableTel Communications Ltd.—Ealing.
• Clyde CableVision Ltd.—North Glasgow.
• Coventry Cable Ltd.—Coventry.
• Croydon Cable Television Ltd.—Croydon.
• Merseyside CableVision Ltd.—South Liverpool.
• Rediffusion Consumer Electronics Ltd.—Guildford.
• Swindon Cable Services Ltd.—Swindon.
• Ulster Cablevision Ltd.—Belfast.
• Westminster Cable Company—City of Westminster.
• Windsor Television Ltd.—Windsor, Slough and Maidenhead.

It will, of course, be open to those applications not selected at this stage to put forward applications under arrangements to be operated by the cable authority whose creation will be the subject of cable legislation to be introduced in another place early next month.Additionally, as also foreseen in the White Paper, I have received applications for licences from 11 existing operators to provide new programme services over established systems in 166 areas. Consideration of these is not yet completed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects the Building Research Establishment to complete the investigation into the Reema type of prefabricated reinforced concrete house.

I expect the findings of the Building Research Establishment's investigation of this house type to be available by the end of March 1984. Publication of a report will follow as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate how long an application for planning permission to display an advertisement on a captive balloon would take, on average, to be decided in a typical borough within Greater London and a typical district within each of the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties.

As almost all captive balloon advertisements are at present unlawful—by virtue of provisions in the Civil Aviation (Aerial Advertising) Regulations 1971—my right hon. Friend has insufficient information to enable him to make the estimates requested. However, based on experience of other types of advertisement application, average times might be of the order of four weeks, seven weeks and six weeks, respectively. When captive balloon advertisements are brought within control by local planning authorities, my right hon. Friend intends to ask them to give top priority to deciding this type of application.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has obtained in the course of his review of the British Waterways Board's capital programme and of its need for grant-aid for repairs and maintenance regarding the progress made by the board on remedial work on the Blisworth tunnel and regarding its anticipated completion date.

We receive monthly claims and regular expenditure programmes from the British Waterways Board for those maintenance backlog projects for which we give specific grant-aid. Repair work on Blisworth tunnel is one such project. The tunnel is likely to be reopened in spring 1985. So far £2·7 million has been spent and the estimated total cost is £4·25 million.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has taken steps in line with European directive 83/129/EEC to prevent the commercial import into the United Kingdom of harp and hooded seal pup skins and products.

Yes. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment laid an order—the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act 1976 (Modification) Order 1983; SI 1609—before the House on 4 November 1983 adding harp and hooded Seals to schedule 3 to the Engangered Species (Import and Export) Act 1976. The order comes into force at midnight tonight. This will allow the United Kingdom to restrict trade in skins and other products of both species, and enable their conservation status to be monitored and reviewed over the next two years. My Department and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise will be taking steps to enforce the restrictions.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if, in view of the fact that aquaplaning is virtually impossible on properly designed concrete motorway, he will consider extending the use of concrete in motorway construction.

The danger of aquaplaning on highspeed roads is virtually eliminated by the provision of a properly textured road surface. This can be achieved equally well on both asphalt and concrete roads, and there is no reason to extend the use of concrete in motorway construction on this account.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport to whom the driver and vehicle licensing centre at Swansea is allowed to divulge information as to the name and address of the registered owner of a particular car.

Regulations made under the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 require my right hon. Friend to provide information from the vehicle register to the police, Government Departments and local authorities in connection with the investigation of an offence, and to anyone who can show "reasonable cause". The practice for many years has been to regard "reasonable cause" as shown only where inquiries relate to road safety or to criminal or civil law involving the direct use of the vehicle.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what steps are taken to preserve the confidentiality of car registration particulars, apart from the legitimate needs of the police and the licensing authorities themselves.

All DVLC staff with access to information from the vehicle register are required to observe its confidentiality, and their inquiries of the computer are recorded. All requests for information from the register are carefully checked to ensure that they comply with guidelines designed to protet confidentiality. The Department's current practices in this area meet the broad principles laid down by the Data Protection Bill, but the opportunity has been taken to review the basis for the release of information from the register with a view to more closely controlling release of data.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if the Hoe street and Selbourne road, London E17, road improvements in the London borough of Waltham Forest will be funded by his Department if the Greater London council is abolished; and if work will begin on schedule in 1985.

This scheme is shown in the current Greater London Council's transport policies and programme as starting in 1985–86. The consultation paper on the reallocation of transport responsibilities following the abolition of the GLC recognises that financial arrangements must be adequate to enable necessary large schemes to be undertaken by the London boroughs. The precise form of these arrangements is being discussed with them.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the average number of accidents per motorway mile in each of the last three years for which figures are available where the top surface is (a) tarmacadam and (b) concrete: (i) in all conditions and (ii) in wet conditions; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to her reply, 24 November 1983, c. 231]: I am sorry to have to tell my hon. Friend that information as to road top surface is not included on police accident reports supplied to my Department. Collation of accident reports with other records of road surface would be disproportionately costly and cannot be authorised.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the members, together with the bodies which they represent, of the all Wales advisory panel on development of services for mentally handicapped persons; and whether any of these persons are regarded as representing the relevant trade unions.

Members of the all. Wales advisory panel on services for mentally handicapped people were appointed by my right hon. Friend on the basis of their personal expertise rather than as representatives of particular interests. My right hon. Friend also sought to include members from all parts of Wales. the names of those appointed and their areas of expertise are as follows:

• Mr. Tom E. Jones (Gwynedd) — Social Services Management
• Mr. Graham Lowe (South Wales)—Social Work
• Training Mr. Michael O'Leary (West Glamorgan)—Specialist Social Work
• Dr. William B. Spry (Gwynedd)—Consultant Psychiatry
• Mr. Elvet Crowe (Dyfed)—Psychology, mental handicap
• Dr. Gwyn Thomas (Clwyd)—Family practitioner services
• Mr. Tariq Hussain (Powys)—Nursing
• Mr. Ralph Anslow (Dyfed)—Community nursing, mental handicap
• Mr. John Alcock (South Glamorgan)—Nurse training
• Mr. Nicholas Bacon (Cardiff)—Housing Association Services
• Mr. D. John Bader (Newport, Gwent)—Municipal Housing
• Mr. Martin Weinberg (Clwyd)—Voluntary services, training
• Mr. R. Michael Jarman (Cardiff/South Wales)—Voluntary services, children and family relief
• Mrs. Elinor Wigley (Gwynedd)—Parent, mentally handicapped children
• Mrs. Elizabeth Morgan (Powys)—Parent, mentally handicapped child

asked the Secretary of State for Wales, further to his written reply to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy, Official Report, 21 November, c. 23, on the sheepmeat regime, if he will publish details in the Official Report of the total number of payments made to individual farm enterprises of the annual ewe premium in each marketing year since the operation of the scheme and also the total number of individual payments of the variable slaughter premium made to a farm enterprise for the same periods.

Payments under the sheep variable premium scheme and the sheep annual premium scheme are not made in respect of in dividual farm enterprises. Under the sheep variable premium scheme payments are related to certified animals presented at Welsh certification centres, and under the sheep annual premium scheme to the number of claimants. Relevant data are as follows:

	1980–81 (from 20 October)	1981–82	1982–83
Sheep variable premium scheme
Payments made—£ million	7·5	12·6	25·3
Number of certified animals	999,765	2,383,307	2,489,969
Sheep annual premium scheme
Payments—£ million	2·5	5·2	10·3
Number of claimants	15,665	15,665	15,583

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many trade unions have refused to co-operate with the Manpower Services Commission in Wales on the youth training scheme; and what is the estimated loss of jobs for young persons due to this action since the inception of the scheme.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if, with the consent of the suppliers and of the Japanese Government, he will give details of the value and type of arms sales to Japan for the most recent three years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Our view remains that if the supplier and customer wish to release this information, and no considerations of national interest arise, we should not seek to prevent them, but it is not the Government's responsibility to arrange this for them.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence why service personnel in the Falklands have been refused a free phone call home at Christmas.

No member of Her Majesty's forces serving anywhere overseas is offered free or directly subsidised personal telephone calls home, although no charge is made for calls of a compassionate or welfare nature. However, the cost of long-distance telephone calls is one of several items of extra expenditure taken into account in the payment of local overseas allowance, which is designed specifically to compensate for the extra cost of living overseas. Forces in the Falkland Islands are in receipt of the appropriate rate of this allowance.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what would be the cost of allowing service personnel in the Falklands a free phone call home in off-peak hours over Christmas and the new year holiday.

A three-minute telephone call from the Falkland Islands would cost around £4·50 per service man.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what would be the estimated cost of allowing all service personnel outside the United Kingdom one free telephone call home at Christmas.

This information could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects married quarters to be available on the Falkland Islands and wives to be allowed to go there.

Nine married quarters are to be built in the Falkland Islands for service and civilian personnel in certain key posts who will serve accompanied tours; these will be completed in mid-1984. In the meantime, the Falkland Islands Government are making available to the Ministry of Defence four houses, two of which will be available shortly, and the other two early in 1984. The present Commander British Forces Falkland Islands is serving an accompanied tour.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if it remains the policy of Her Majesty's Government that account is taken of the indirect value to Her Majesty's Government of the recycling of tax and national insurance implicit in the United Kingdom goods and services content of bids for defence contracts and that this is deducted from the gross sum of the bids when comparing them with those submitted by foreign bidders; and if he will make a statement.

An answer is being prepared, and I shall arrange for it to be published in the Official Report as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will take further steps to assist those service men who wish to own their own houses.

Since 1980 local authorities have been able to sell surplus vacant houses at discounts of up to 30 per cent. to first-time buyers. I am now introducing a similar scheme for service men in respect of surplus married quarters that can be sold individually. As from 1 December 1983 these surplus quarters will be offered for sale to service men at discounts of 30 per cent. Priority will be given to those with the longest service. This new scheme for selling surplus quarters at a discount will be of material help to many service men and women who are wanting to move into home ownership, especially those who are coming towards the end of their service careers.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how the price of Kinsale gas is expected to compare with the price of other fuels in Northern Ireland.

While it is difficult to make precise comparisons at this stage, natural gas is expected to be competitive with other fuels.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of the teacher training places in Northern Ireland will be allocated to each of the teacher training establishments in 1983–84.

The information is as follows:

	Per cent.	Places
The Queen's University of Belfast	14	90
Stranmillis College	31	195
St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Colleges	31	195
The New University of Ulster	11	70
Ulster Polytechnic	10	60
North-West College of Technology	3	20

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been charged and found guilty of rape in Northern Ireland in each year since 1975 to the latest available date.

The number of people charged and found guilty of rape in Northern Ireland in each year since 1975 is as follows:

Year	Number charged	Number found guilty
1975	18	14
1976	10	9
1977	7	7
1978	11	10
1979	7	5
1980	13	12
1981	10	8
1982	12	9

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the total value each year of agricultural products by category imported from the Irish Republic into Northern Ireland during the past five years.

It is not possible to identify the volume of imports destined specifically for Northern Ireland.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, which Department has responsibility for the management of the 125 car park spaces recently opened in the Chichester street area of Belfast.

None. They are provided and managed by private enterprise.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many trade unions have refused to co-operate with the Manpower Services Commission in Northern Ireland on the youth training scheme; and what is the estimated loss of jobs for young persons due to this action since the inception of the scheme.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total cost of the prison service in each of the last 10 years in Northern Ireland.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 November 1983]: The information is as follows:

Year	£'000
1973–74	9,654
1974–75	13,998
1975–76	30,715
1976–77	32,596
1977–78	36,458
1978–79	39,177
1979–80	50,852
1980–81	63,850
1981	62,541
1982	69,564

The net figures—which relate to financial rather than calendar years up to 1981—include capital expenditure.

Export and Import Volume Indices
Seasonably adjusted OTS basis
	SITC	Exports				Imports
	(rev. 2)	71-74+77	75	76	78+79	71-74+77	75	76	78+79
	1978	97	80	130	108	89	72	64	90
	1979	93	92	113	101	101	91	89	101
	1980	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
	1981	96	91	107	93	101	109	155	86
	1982	98	98	136	89	113	115	198	95
1978
	Q1	98	69	127	110	86	69	56	80
	Q2	99	78	134	118	88	72	59	134
	Q3	96	83	132	105	91	69	68	77
	Q4	97	90	126	100	92	78	74	70
1979
	Q1	79	81	120	90	90	81	76	88
	Q2	103	97	120	104	102	88	88	113
	Q3	97	95	110	106	103	98	94	102
	Q4	94	94	102	106	109	96	96	104
1980
	Q1	101	104	98	103	111	102	95	114
	Q2	103	96	101	99	106	99	92	113
	Q3	97	101	101	100	94	97	104	88
	Q4	100	98	99	98	89	102	109	86
1981
	Q1	92	93	95	85	88	103	119	71
	Q2	93	92	102	89	97	110	137	88
	Q3	97	92	104	94	111	116	182	95
	Q4	104	86	125	104	110	107	182	89
1982
	Q1	99	91	110	95	108	108	191	88
	Q2	102	98	134	93	119	117	201	104
	Q3	96	99	132	79	111	116	177	94
	Q4	95	104	167	90	113	119	223	94
1983
	Q1	84	105	148	84	117	134	234	112
	Q2	81	114	131	80	114	152	215	112
	Q3	79	109	204	80	115	153	218	114

Export and Import Unit Value Indices
1980=100-OTS basis not seasonally adjusted
	SITC	Exports				Imports
	(rev. 2)	71-74+77	75	76	78+79	71-74+77	75	76	78+79
	1978	89	85	82	82	98	110	127	90
	1979	93	94	93	91	97	106	111	96
	1980	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
	1981	109	106	111	109	107	107	105	107
	1982	118	122	111	116	117	136	112	116
1978
	Q1	89	82	82	79	95	105	133	86
	Q2	88	82	82	79	98	107	130	87
	Q3	89	87	81	83	98	114	123	91
	Q4	90	90	84	87	99	114	120	96
1979

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will publish in the Official Report a table bringing up to date on the basis of the 1975 and 1980 series the information for 1978 onwards under the headings, wherever possible, given in tables B15, 1320, Ell and E17 of the April 1978 issue of the monthly review of external trade statistics.

Information for those series that are not contained in the current edition of the monthly review of external trade statistics and its annual supplement is contained in the following tables:

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the proposals in the Telecommunications Bill will require the providers of value added network services and other telecommunications services to obtain a licence to operate.

Under the Telecommunications Bill any person who runs a "telecommunication system" will require a licence granted or having effect as if granted under clause 7 of the Bill. The provision of "telecommunication services", as defined in clause 4 of the Bill, will automatically involve the running of a telecommunication system and the person running that system will require a licence. The Bill does not define the term "value added network services", which has many different meanings, some of which do not involve the running of a telecommunication system or the provision of a "telecommunication service". If a person providing VANS runs a telecommunication system, he will need to obtain a licence to do so, but, if he does not run a telecommunication system, he will not need a licence.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will estimate the total number of jobs dependent upon trade with (a) the Republic of China and (b) the People's Republic of China.

I regret that it is not possible to make a reliable estimate of the jobs dependent on trade with Taiwan and the People's Republic of China.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if, at the Council of Ministers in Brussels on 25 November, he will now decline to agree to amendments to the draft directive on harmonisation of lawn mower noise other than those put forward to his Department by the United Kingdom lawn mower manufacturers; and if he will make a statement.

I am aware of the views expressed by the British Lawnmower Manufacturers Federation and will take them into account when negotiating at the Council of Ministers in Brussels on 25 November. I will make a statement on the outcome.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) whether any assistance has been given to Cybertronics Ltd., under the loan guarantee scheme, for the manufacture or marketing of smoke masks;(2) whether his Department takes steps to assess the safety and efficacy of proposed products before agreeing to make available Government assistance under the loan guarantee scheme;(3) what advice is sought by his Department before Government assistance is made available under the loan guarantee scheme.

A bank loan, guaranteed under the scheme, has been advanced to Cybertronics Ltd. For reasons of confidentiality, I cannot comment on individual cases. The primary assessment of all proposals coming forward under this scheme rests with the participating banks, which must decide, taking all relevant factors into account, whether they are prepared to submit an application to my Department for a guarantee. Once they have done so, applications are processed quickly and with the minimum checking necessary to ensure that the scheme's conditions are being met. With over 12,600 guarantees now issued at the rate of 500 to 600 each month, it would be neither acceptable nor practical for the Department to carry out a further detailed examination or to seek further advice in respect of each borrower or product coming forward for scheme lending.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how the conclusions of the review of tourism affect the 1974 tourism guidelines.

The tourism guidelines, which were issued to the four boards in 1974, an now out of date. With the agreement of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales, the 1974 guidelines are being withdrawn. Instead, the boards ae being asked to draw up their own policy guidelines for submission to their sponsoring Departments, within the broad objective of maximising the national economic benefit of tourism.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Hazel Grove of 4 November, Official Report, c. 483–4, concerning the grant-in-aid to the BBC external services, if he has any further breakdown available of the current expenditure supported by grant-in-aid and, in particular, any details of the amount attributable to wages and salaries.

I am informed by the British Broadcasting Corporation that the external services grant-in-aid in respect of current expenditure is divided as follows:

	1982–83 Outturn	1983–84 Provision
	£ thousand	£ thousand
Broadcasting Service Current
Pay	29,514	28,983
Non-pay	26,535	30,711
	56,049	59,694
Monitoring Service Current
Pay	3,758	3,834
Non-pay	1,239	1,768
	4,997	5,602

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, in view of the fact that a visa granted in London on 17 October has still not been notified to the applicant in Iran, he will take steps to improve the present arrangements with the British interest section at the Swedish embassy in Iran.

Authority for this visa was granted by the Home Office on 17 October and received by the British interests section of the royal Swedish embassy in Tehran on the same day. The interests section then made repeated efforts to inform the applicant, but without success until contact was finally established on 24 November when arrangements were made, at the applicant's request, for the visa to be collected on Sunday 27 November.The interests section has only a limited number of staff and its visa section is under extreme pressure. We are, however, considering whether there is any scope for improvements in the present restricted service.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what were the manpower levels in his Department in June 1983; and what are his plans for those levels in June 1984.

Staff in post at the nearest date for the quarterly manpower count was 2,345 at 1 July 1983. The manpower figures planned for 1984–85 are 2,402 at 1 April 1984 and 2,472 at 1 April 1985; no specific figure is planned for June 1984.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many jobs, expressed in absolute and percentage terms, handled by the Hull jobcentre last year involved wages which were below the legal limit.

Jobcentre staff have instructions not to handle vacancies which offer wages below the legal minima set by wages councils and to refer cases of doubt to the Wages Inspectorate. It is possible that some such vacancies may not be identified by jobcentre staff, but naturally the employment service is anxious to ensure that this is kept to an absolute minimum.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the future of the job release scheme.

The existing full-time scheme will be open until 31 March 1984 to men from the age of 62, to disabled men from the age of 60 and to women aged 59. From April 1984 to 31 March 1985, the qualifying age for men will be raised from 62 to 64; women will continue to be eligible at 59, and disabled men from the age of 60.The part-time job release scheme, open to the same age group covered by the present full-time schemes, will continue until 31 March 1985.Like all special employment measures, the scheme is extended on a year by year basis. Any decision on its future after March 1985 will be announced during the course of next year.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment why the Manpower Services Commission in Bolton is refusing to consider two members of Bolton council for employment under the community programme on the grounds that the council is administering the programme on an agency basis.

The Manpower Services Commission has not refused to consider elected members of the council for employment under the community programme provided that they meet the eligibility criteria. Bolton council is the employer of the people on the projects it sponsors, and recruitment to these projects is a matter for the council to decide. The commission has, however, reminded Bolton council of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 which bear upon the qualification for holding office as a member of a local authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the Official Report the organisations which are considered to be trade unions covered by the Trade Union Bill.

The term "trade union" as used in the Trade Union Bill has the same meaning as it has in section 28 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974. Any organisation which falls within that definition will therefore be affected by the Bill's provisions, except where the Bill makes specific provision to the contrary.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many cases of prospective emigrants having paid fees to unscrupulous agencies for bogus employment opportunities in Commonwealth countries, and in New Zealand in particular, have been brought to the attention of Her Majesty's Government; whether Her Majesty's Government will take measures to curtail this practice; if he will consider safeguards for such prospective emigrants; and if he will make a statement.

One case of an agency charging workers fees for information about job opportunities in Commonwealth countries and elsewhere without authority from the employers concerned has been referred to my Department. The agency was successfully prosecuted for this offence under the Employment Agencies Act and associated regulations. Evidence of similar abuse will always be investigated by my inspectors and prosecutions brought where appropriate.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many providers of off-the-job training there are in the youth training scheme.

I regret that the information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the Official Report the companies which are providing youth training scheme places through the large companies unit; and what is the number of trainees involved in each case.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many trade unions have refused to cooperate with the Manpower Services Commission on the youth training scheme; and what is the estimated loss of jobs for young persons due to this action since the inception of the scheme.

I shall reply to the hon. Member and my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if, pursuant to the reply of 21 November to the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East, he considered using the shortfall on demand for the youth training scheme, the job splitting scheme and the young workers scheme referred to in the Chancellor's announcement in his autumn statement of savings of £121 million to increase the available resources allocated for training allowances; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 November 1983, c. 269]: The Government have no immediate plans to review the level of training allowances of those on the youth training scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East on 21 November, he will publish in the Official Report the basis of the Manpower Services Commission's proposal that a training allowance of £1,300 a year would be appropriate for the launch of the youth training scheme in 1983.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 November 1983, c. 269]: I refer the hon. Member to the report of the youth task group, published by the Manpower Services Commission in April last year. In June 1983 the commission by a majority, recommended to my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Employment that the allowance should be increased from the figure of £1,300 a year set by the Government, but the Secretary of State decided that it should remain at that level.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) factory inspectors and (b) official health and safety inspections of workplaces there were in each year since 1970.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 November 1983, c. 269]: (a) The number of factory inspectors in each of the years since 1970 was as follows:

	Number
1 January 1970	618
1 January 1971	700
1 January 1972	703
1 October 1973	681
1 October 1974	737
1 October 1975	811
1 April 1976	845
1 April 1977	903
1 April 1978	934
1 April 1979	952
1 April 1980	980
1 April 1981	950
1 April 1982	86
1 April 1983	852

(b) The number of visits made by factory inspectors nationally in each year since 1970 was as follows:

	Numbers
1970	274,000
1971	279,000
1972	245,000
1973	206,000
1974	201,000
1975	194,000
1976	185,000
1977	193,000
1978	209,000
1979	215,000
1980	216,000
1981	203,000
1982	190,000

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East on 21 November concerning accidents on the youth opportunities programme, he will publish in the Official Report quarterly statistical accident reports collated by the Manpower Services Commission for both employed and non-employed trainees, with a statement of the identified underlying causes and particular hazards, since the inception of the youth opportunities programme.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 November 1983, c. 270]: Information is not available in the form requested.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment when he proposes to reply to the question from the hon. Member for Manchester, Blackley tabled for answer on 16 November.

I replied to the hon. Member yesterday.—[Vol. 49, c. 265]

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the cost of additional policing required throughout Scotland during the week commencing 13 November in order to maintain public order in the face of demonstrations against the deployment of cruise missiles.

About £1,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to alleviate procedural delays in court in Scottish divorce cases; and if he will make a statement.

I am satisfied that the procedure and operation of the Court of Session do not in general cause any unnecessary delay in divorce actions. Undefended actions using the new simplified procedure need take only six weeks, and undefended actions using the standard procedure only some 10 weeks between the raising of the action and decree being granted. The cause of delay beyond these periods is usually to be found in matters outwith the control of the court. Different considerations arise in relation to the less than 10 per cent. of divorce actions which are defended and for which a diet of proof requires to be fixed.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the businesses in which the Scottish Development Agency has invested since its establishment giving for each (a) the total value of the investment, (b) the revenue received from the investment, (c) the money received from any disposals of part or all of the investment, (d) the estimated current value of the remaining investment and (e) whether the business ceased trading during the time the Scottish Development Agency had a financial interest in it.

Information in the detail requested is either not available or could be produced only at disproportionate cost.Particulars of the agency's main investments, of total amounts received from investments by way of revenue and disposals and an explanation of the agency's practice on valuation of investments can be obtained from the agency's annual reports and accounts, copies of which are in the Library of the House. The Companies Registration Office can provide information on businesses which have ceased trading.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the businesses in which the Highlands and Islands Development Board has invested since its establishment, giving for each (a) the total value of the investment made, (b) the revenue received from the investment, (c) the money received from any disposals of part or all of the investment, (d) the estimated current value of the remaining investment, and (e) whether the business ceased trading during the time the Highlands and Islands Development Board had a financial interest in it.

The information requsted is either not available or could be produced in the detail desired only at disproportionate cost, but a list of the companies in which the board has invested, together with, for each class of share, the total value at the beginning of the year, the total value of additions, transfers, disposals and amount written off and an aggregate figure for losses and diminution in value for all classes can be obtained from the board's annual reports and accounts covering 1978 and subsequent years. Earlier annual reports do not distinguish between classes of shares. Copies of the board's annual reports and accounts are available in the Library of the House. The Companies Registration Office can provide information on businesses which have ceased trading.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each regional and island council area (a) the percentage of its working population employed in local government, (b) the percentage of its working population employed by central Government, (c) the percentage of its working population employed by nationalised industries, (d) the percentage of its working population unemployed, and (e) the average level of pay of all workers.

The following table shows the available information expressed as percentages of the working population.^* Information for nationalised industries is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many trade unions have refused to cooperate with the Manpower Services Commission in Scotland on the youth training scheme; and what is the estimated loss of jobs for young persons due to his action since the inception of the scheme.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what response he has made to the proposals of the Oxford regional health authority to change the use of hospital beds and services for the elderly and handicapped; what will be the cost of the proposed changes; and whether he will make available additional resources to meet any additional costs.

The Oxford regional health authority has not yet formulated its forward strategy proposals: I understand the authority hopes to complete the preparatory work early in the new year.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report the criteria under which single parents with children, including widowed mothers, are eligible for (a) free school meals for the children, (b) extra needs' allowances and (c) help with heating bills; and if he will indicate the income level at which a widowed mother with two children, aged five years and one year, respectively, would cease to qualify for each benefit.

The information is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services for what reasons he is reducing, from 22 November, the weekly allowance for the child of a widowed mother from £7·95 to £7·60; what account he took of the social consequences before making this reduction; and if he will make a statement.

The formula for setting new rates of child dependency additions to national insurance benefits must have regard to any rise in the level of child benefit. This year we have been able to provide a substantial increase in child benefit, which helps all families with children, and a consequence is that there is a reduction in the level of dependency benefit. Overall child support for widowed mothers has, however, gone up from this week.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are employed in the Health Service in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France, and West Germany; and what percentage of the population these figures represent.

The number of staff, expressed as whole-time equivalents, employed in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom in 1982 was 1,045,000 representing 1·85 per cent. of the population. No comparable figures are readily available for the United States of America, France and West Germany.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the annual cost of child benefit allowances paid (a) to mothers in employment and (b)to mothers who remain at home.

On the basis of figures from the general household survey 1982, in the financial year 1982–83 some §1,700 million in child benefit was paid to working mothers and some £1,900 million to non-working mothers. These figures exclude child benefit paid to lone fathers.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what assessment has been made of introducing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis as an alternative to the use of kidney machines wherever practical from considerations of (a) the comparative costs in both capital outlay and annual running costs, (b) advantages of convenience to patients and (c) doctors', nurses', and other staff time.

As in any field of medicine, there is wide discussion in professional circles about the relative merits of different methods of treatment. The choice between them remains a clinical decision for the doctors concerned, who will certainly be aware of the considerations to which my hon. Friend refers.Ranges of costs for different methods of treatment were estimated from a survey conducted by the Department in three hospitals in 1981 and were given by my hon. Friend the Member of Hampstead and Highgate (Mr. Finsberg) in his reply to the hon. Member for Eccles (Mr. Carter-Jones) on 2 March.—[Vol. 38, c.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the current numbers of employees of the East Hertfordshire district health authority; how this compares with the figures for the preceding five years; what percentage this is per head of district health authority population; and how that compares with the district health authorities in England and Wales.

At 30 June 1983 the East Hertfordshire health authority employed 1,930 whole-time equivalent staff, excluding medical and dental staff to whom figures are not available for individual districts. This corresponds to some 0·7 per cent. of the population of the health district compared to an England average of 1·6 per cent. This difference arises mainly because a considerable proportion of the NHS services for east Hertfordshire are provided by neighbouring health authorities.Th whole-time equivalent number of employees in earlier years is as follows:

Non-medical staff (wte) employed in East Hertfordshire Health Authority
(figures at 30 September for each year)
Year
1979	1,610
1980	1,610
1982	1,860

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Dover) on 24 October, Official Report. c. 58, when Her Majesty's Government expect to have agreed proposals for future Government action to safeguard the position of early leavers in pension schemes; and whether fully transferable pensions are under consideration.

As my right hon. Friend announced in the course of his speech on 23 November—[Vol. 49, c. 359·60]—we shall be publishing a consultative document setting out our proposals for legislation on early leavers on Tuesday 29 November. He also announced the setting up of an inquiry into provision for retirement, which will give urgent consideration to portable pensions.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what new initiatives Her Majesty's Government plan to help the disabled.

The Government set out their plans for helping disabled people in the booklet "IYDP and After—The UK Response", published in July 1982. I am sending my hon. Friend a list of initiatives which we have taken since coming into office in 1979. I am also placing a copy in the Library. Further initiatives are announced as plans for them are completed.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services which of his Department's local offices have been selected for the forthcoming experiment to test new postal claim forms for claimants to supplementary benefit.

The Department's local offices in Abertillery, Haverfordwest, Newcastle upon Tyne, West, Bishop Aukland, Birmingham (Handsworth), Shrewsbury, Rusholme, Crewe, Maidstone, Kennington, Bedford, Southall, Glasgow (Springburn), and Perth will be participating in the forthcoming experiment. The 14 offices have been selected to provide a reasonable cross-section of the whole range of the Department's offices.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information is held centrally about the effect on headquarters staff numbers of the recent reorganisation of the National Health Service in Northamptonshire.

None.