asked the Secretary of State for Energy what discussions he has had with the Association of United Kingdom Oil Independents and the Motor Agents Associations about the impact of the Petroleum Stocks Amendment Order 1983 in connection with the EEC oil stocking obligation on outlets for the retailing of oil and petrol particularly in villages, small towns and rural areas.

I have had discussions with the Association of United Kingdom Oil Independents, but not the Motor Agents Association, on the general implications of this order and I have received representations from a number of sources about its impact on rural areas.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement upon the fifth report of the Advisory Council on Energy Conservation, Energy Paper No. 52.

I understand that the advisory council's fifth report was published today. I have written to the chairman of the council, Dr. Robert Telfer, to express my thanks for the council's efforts, and to give the Government's views on the report. I have placed a copy of my letter in the Library of the House. The council's valuable report will provide a useful basis for the work of the energy efficiency office.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what environmental damage was caused by the leaks of radioactive waste material from British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. plant in Lancashire in 1980 and 1981.

I have been asked to reply.On the night of 14–15 May 1980 part of a field adjoining the BNFL works at Springfields, Lancashire, was slightly contaminated with radioactive liquor following a leak from an effluent pipeline. Remedial action, including the removal of the contaminated soil, was taken within a few hours: within a few days replacement soil had been brought in and turf laid. Levels of activity in the contaminated soil were such that members of the public and livestock could not have received any significant radiation does. I have received no evidence that any leak occurred in 1981.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outcome of the sale of the second tranche of shares in Cable and Wireless plc.

The offer for sale by tender of 100 million ordinary shares in Cable and Wireless plc, on behalf of the Government, closed on Friday 2 December. Applications were received from the public for 77,531,000 shares, including 27,506 striking price applications for 15,196,600 shares and were allotted in full at the minimum tender price of 275p. The balance of 22,469,000 shares will be taken up by the underwriters at the same price. Further details are included in two press notices issued by the Bank of England on Friday 2 December, copies of which have been placed in the Library. £1 a share was payable on applicaton; a further £1·75 a share will be payable on 17 February. The net proceeds of the sale after expenses of about £12·5 million, including about £6·5 million in VAT and stamp duty, will be some £262·5 million. The costs of the sale will be met from the Contingencies Fund, in advance of approval of a spring Supplementary Estimate.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress is being made to devise a single form to satisfy the customs formalities of all member states of the European Community.

On 25 November 1983 the internal Market Council agreed a harmonised list of data to be included on a single administrative document. The Council working group was instructed to continue its work with a view to finalising the format of the document and the procedural regulation by mid-1984.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the expected yield in a full year of his proposals for dealing with tax avoidance in roll-up funds, commodity funds, and so on, and against offshore insurance companies.

The yield will depend largely upon the extent to which United Kingdom residents continue to use roll-up funds after the new proposals take effect in January.Similarly, the yield from non-qualifying policies issued after 17 November will depend on whether United Kingdom residents continue to purchase such policies from non-resident life companies.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the savings ratio in the case of the marginal increase in real incomes in the economy as a whole.

The proportion of income saved from marginal increases in income will depend on many factors including inflation, financial wealth and real and nominal interest rates. It may also be influenced in the short run by the source of the increase and its distribution between sectors in the economy.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of total personal income from all sources is taken by the top 25 per cent. incomes as against the bottom 25 per cent. incomes both before and after tax; and what were the percentages in 1979.

	1979		1982
	Gross Income* Percentages	Disposable Income† Percentages	Gross Income* Percentages	Disposable Income† Percentages
Bottom 25 per cent. of households	7·6	8·9	7·8	9·2
Top 25 per cent. of households	47·1	45·5	48·2	46·3
* Gross income includes income from employment, investment, occupational pensions, and state benefits.
† Disposable income equals gross income less payments of income tax and employees' national insurance contributions.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria are used by the Inland Revenue in deciding whether membership subscriptions to an employer's organisation are tax deductible.

Subscriptions paid by employers to bodies such as trade associations are deductible to the extent that they are incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the employer's trade.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each of the past 10 years the amount of money being invested through friendly societies and the amount of such money being put into single or front-loaded premiums.

The total annual premium and contribution income of registered friendly societies, excluding orders and branches, in each of the past 10 years for which statistics are available is as follows:

Year	£000's	Year	£000's
1972	88,698	1977	126,163
1973	94,724	1978	139,320
1974	104,550	1979	167,784
1975	112,782	1980	197,835
1976	118,113	1981	227,560

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table for 1960, 1970 and for the earliest and latest year for which figures are available, comparing (a) revenue from income tax,

The latest available information is as follows. These estimates are derived from family expenditure surveys and are based on household incomes rather than those of individuals. It should be noted that the family expenditure survey tends to under-represent high income households. However, no adjustments have been made to allow either for this under-representation or for year-to-year fluctuations in the composition of the FES sample.including surtax,

The figures are as follows:

	1946	1960	1970	1982
(a) £ million	1,337	2,463	5,752	30,275
(b) £ million	170	795	2,394	15,946
(c) £ million	*173	386	831	5,251
(d) £ million	153	1,058	3,063	22,256
(e) £ million	54	172	517	6,914
(f) 1975=100	*23·1	36·5	54·2	237·7
(g) 1970=100	†l2·3	52·4	100·0	464·4
(h) 1980=100	*44·5	67·6	90·1	98·0
* 1948
† 1938

asked the Attorney-General if he will list those tribunals, set up under the aegis of the Council on Tribunals, which supply copies of all their public decisions on request; which tribunals provide them free; which charge; and, for the latter category, what charges are made.

I regret that it is not possible in the time available to provide my hon. Friend with details for all 75 tribunals which are under the general supervision of the Council on Tribunals since the functions of these tribunals, and the rules governing the giving of decisions by them, vary. My noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor will write to my hon. Friend on the matter as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken or intends to take to extend the existing safeguards against foot and mouth disease in regard to (a) Great Britain and (b) Northern Ireland beyond the end of 1983, so far as intra-Community trade is concerned, with particular reference to EEC documents 9415/82 and 9449/82.

It will continue to be the Government's intention to safeguard the animal health status of the United Kingdom in relation to foot and mouth disease.The Council of Ministers considered the existing foot and mouth derogations at its meeting earlier this week. It concluded that the derogations should be extended until the end of June 1984 during which time the European, Commission will formulate proposals for the establishment of more permanent arrangements. In the meantime, discussions on the draft directive on control arrangements in the event of an outbreak of foot and mouth will no doubt continue.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will grant the appropriate licences to Eastern bloc fishing vessels to trade in the port of Dartmouth by way of shipment of processed fish; and if he will make a statement;(2) if he will issue licences to fishing vessels from Russia, East Germany and Bulgaria to trade within the area covered by the Dart Harbour and Navigation Authority; and if there has been any change in the policy on issuing such licences within the last 12 months.

[pursuant to his reply, 13 December 1983]: For reasons of national security no such licences are being issued to Eastern bloc vessels in the area covered by the Dart Harbour and Navigation Authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the Official Report his estimate of current average earnings for all employees in manufacturing and for all manual workers in manufacturing.

The latest information is from the 1983 new earnings survey. Average gross weekly earnings of all full-time employees in manufacturing aged 18 and over whose pay was not affected by absence are published in Table 5.6 of Employment Gazette for November 1983. The corresponding figure for manual employees is £134·1 per week.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate the proportion of young people in (a) Birmingham and (b) the Ladywood constituency who have graduated from the youth opportunities programme who are now unemployed.

I regret that this information is not available at local authority and parliamentary constituency levels.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the numbers of full-time (i) males and (ii) females, aged 18 years and over, in each of the counties of Wales and for each of the standard economic regions of the United Kingdom in the following earnings bands (a) under £40, (b)£41 to £50, (c)£51 to £60, (d)£61 to 70, (e)£71 to £80, (f) £81 to £90, (g)£91 to £100, (h) £101 to £110, (i) £111 to £120, (j)£121 to £130, (k) £131 to £140, (1) £141 to £150 and (m) over £150.

Information is not available in the precise form requested. However, part E of the report on the new earnings survey 1982, a copy of which is in the Library, gives details on the distribution of weekly earnings in April 1982 for full-time males aged 21 and over and full-time females aged 18 and over for counties within Wales—tables 110 and 113—and for the standard regions of Great Britain—table 114. Corresponding information for April 1983 will be published around the middle of January 1984.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many men in the United Kingdom are economically active above the age of 65 years;(2) how many women in the United Kingdom are economically active above the age of 60 years.

The latest available information, based on estimates from the 1981 labour force survey, is shown in the table:

Economically Active (United Kingdom June 1981)
	Thousands
Men aged 65 and over	337
Females aged 60 and over	552

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will increase the staff of the Health and Safety Executive.

Detailed decisions on the staffing of the Health and Safety Executive are a matter for the executive itself, working within the overall financial allocation made to the Health and Safety Commission by the Government and subject to a staff ceiling which is at present above the current staffing level of the executive. I am advised that the executive intends to recruit, in the near future, up to 25 general factory inspectors and up to 10 agricultural inspectors.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many factory inspectors there will be on 1 April 1984; and how this compares with the number planned for 1984 in 1979.

On 1 December 1983 there were 832 factory inspectors in post in the Health and Safety Executive. Little change is expected in this figure by 1 April 1984, though it is not possible at this time to make an exact estimate. While a further expansion of the HSE was planned in 1979 for the following period no firm allocation was made within that plan to the factory inspectorate.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement about the Manpower Services Commission community programme funding of the Birmingham international music festival; how much was paid; if any moneys remain due to be paid; what were the losses due to collapse of the festival; and if he has received representations from any of the creditors.

It was agreed to make available up to £10,168 towards a project sponsored by Birmingham city council in connection with the international music festival. To date £2,853.18 has been paid and claims for a further £3,680.56 are under consideration. Financial matters related to the festival are a matter for the organisers. No representations from creditors have been made to me or to the Manpower Services Commission.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will list the occasions since 1974 when soil has been removed from sites in the vicinity of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd plants and transported to radioactive waste dumps of the type of Drigg in Cumbria.

In 1975 a small amount of soil in a roadside field was contaminated when a drum fell of a lorry and spilled uranium oxide powder; this soil was taken to BNFL's Springfield works, and subsequently to Drigg. In 1980, soil was removed following a leak of radioactive liquor from an effluent pipeline serving Springfields, but it was retained on the Springfield site.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the exisiting arrangements for maintaining London's rateable resources advantage over the rest of England and for allowing outer London boroughs to share in the higher rateable resources of inner London and for allowing non-central inner London boroughs to share in the higher rateable resources of central London, detailing the amounts of resources involved in 1983–84 and explaining the changes likely to be required if the Greater London council is abolished.

The rateable resources of London authorities are discounted by 29·6 per cent.—inner London—and 17·2 per cent. outer London—compared with the rest of the country. In addition, under the London rate equalisation scheme the City of London and the City of Westminster contribute respectively £42.8 million and £23.9 million into a pool which is distributed to the other inner London boroughs in proportion to their rateable value.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment in what way he took into account the recent report on hazardous waste disposal by the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology when drawing up his proposals in the White Paper, "Streamlining the Cities", for dealing with waste disposal.

The White Paper "Streamlining the Cities" makes it clear that before the transfer of waste disposal and regulation to the London boroughs and metropolitan district councils, the Government will need to be satisfied that the authorities concerned have made effective co-operative arrangements for the future operation of these functions to ensure the proper discharge of disposal and regulation responsibilities.The more detailed consultation document on "Arrangements for Waste Disposal" sets out the key criteria against which we will consider the effectiveness of proposals for co-operation, and these reflect many of the views expressed by the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology in its report on hazardous waste disposal.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment on what level of seniority the civil servant will be who will chair the county-wide planning conference which, following the proposed abolition of the metropolitan county councils, will replace those councils as a co-ordinating body in the planning field; and if the staff servicing that planning conference will be civil servants or local authority officers.

The consultation paper on the reallocation of planning functions in the Greater London council and metropolitan county council areas, published in October, suggests that the Department of the Environment will convene, as necessary, conferences of local planning authorities chaired by a representative of the regional office. The details of these arrangements have yet to be finalised and I welcome comments on the proposals.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps are being taken to bring into use surplus land in Hampshire owned by public authorities.

My right hon. Friend has published a register of unused and underused public land for every district in Hampshire, and has power to direct the disposal of such land. A copy of each register may be inspected in the offices of the local authority. Surplus Government land is sold as quickly as possible, and other public bodies have active disposal programmes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to expedite the sale of council houses in the west part of the city of Leicester.

My right hon. Friend continues to monitor carefully whether tenants of Leicester city council have or may have difficulty in exercising their right to buy and to take up progress with the council wherever necessary. If my hon. Friend has any particular problem in mind, I should be grateful if he would write to me.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money was spent by Southampton city council on housing improvement and repairs grant under the Housing Act 1974 in each of the years for which figures are available.

Total spending on renovation grants, which also include intermediate and special grants, since 1974–75 is available from Southampton's annual housing investment programme submissions. The figures are as follows:

Renovation Grants Payments
Year	£ thousand
1974–75	366
1975–76	374
1976–77	268
1977–78	292
1978–79	413
1979–80	561
1980–81	695
1981–82	698
1982–83	1,708

In returns for the first half of 1983–84, the authority has reported payments of £1,024,000.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects part II of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 will be fully implemented; and what is the estimated cost of the 100 or more staff which could be needed.

I expect the main provisions of part II of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 to be available by

£ million constant 1983–84 prices
	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84
Birmingham	19·3	21·3	18·9	26·9	24·1
Docklands*	29·9	32·2	31·7	8·3	7·924
Hackney	17·2	18·9	16·8	12·7	11·00
Islington				10·2	10·35
Lambeth	9·9	11·1	10·3	10·9	13·5
Liverpool*	18·4	21·6	19·5	24·1	24·1
Manchester/Salford	19·0	21·5	18·8	24·8	24·5
Newcastle/Gateshead	13·3	15·9	15·7	20·7	18·00

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money, at current prices, has been 1986. Implementation will be fully effected when all exempted discharges have been brought under control. The timing of this will be a matter for consultation.It is for water authorities to estimate and meet their own costs in this connection. It is the firm intention that overall these should be contained within reducing total real operating costs.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he has received from local authorities concerning the present functioning of the partnership scheme and its future; and what proportions of those representations supported abandonment of the scheme, continuation of the scheme on its present basis or expanding the scheme to give local authorities greater funds.

Local authorities make many representations about partnership matters in the course of our frequent discussions with them. None has suggested that the arrangements should be abandoned or radically changed. There have been requests for additional resources and changes in emphasis.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what evidence he has as to the economic and social effects of the partnership schemes.

Evidence of social and economic effects of partnership schemes is gathered both by the partnerships concerned, in order to influence the forward planning of their partnership programmes, and by my Department in the course of exercises of monitoring and research. Individual projects that have been examined in the course of this work have generally been found to be providing good results. Examples of the types of project funded may be found in the Departmental publications "The Partnerships at Work" and "Tackling Racial Disadvantage", copies of which are in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money, at current prices, has been granted to each partnership authority in each financial year since 1979–80.

The information is as follows:

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend to the hon. Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham) on 28 November.— [Vol. 49, c. 371–72.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will exempt from the calculation of the local authorities' expenditure in respect of producing the amount of rate support grant holdback expenditure where local authorities take over his Department's proportion of the financing of partnership schemes.

My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations for expenditure on urban programme projects by partnership authorities to be disregarded for the calculation of holdback when urban programme grant is no longer payable on them. He will consider these representations carefully before taking final decisions on grant holdback for any year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement concerning the future of the partnership scheme.

The partnerships have received half the total resources of £1,293 million made available under the urban programme since 1978–79. The Government will continue to concentrate these resource in areas of greatest need, and to maintain and strengthen the partnerships through the close involvement of Ministers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will bring forward proposals to give financial assistance to those local authorities currently receiving partnership fund who wish to continue specific partnership-funded projects.

No. Applications for renewal of urban programme funding of partnership schemes are considered on their merits. In the case of the former docklands partnership, with which the hon. Member may be concerned, I recently announced that I am enabling the London Docklands Development Corporation to make available additional resources for voluntary projects, since resources available under the docklands urban programme are tailing off as existing commitments are completed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out the procedure for producing the 33 new borough structure plans in London following the possible abolition of the Greater London council.

The procedures for the preparation of new borough structure plans in London following the abolition of the Greater London council are set out in a consultation paper I issued in October, "The Re-allocation of Planning Functions in the Greater London Council and Metropolitan County Council areas."

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what effect he anticipates the abolition of the Greater London council having on the approval dates of the 33 London borough structure plans.

London boroughs have no powers at present to prepare structure plans.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether his Department has any information as to the number of persons who applied to local authorities for rehousing under the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 as a result of homelessness arising from the breakdown of a relationship between a man and a woman living together, either married or cohabiting, in 1981–82 and 1982–83 respectively; how many of these persons were accepted for rehousing by local authorities; and how many of these persons qualified in the first instance as being vulnerable under the terms of the Act;(2) what number and proportion of

The figures requested for households for which local authorities have accepted responsibility for securing accommodation are published half-yearly. Copies are in the House of Commons Library. The other information requested is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department has any information, or has commissioned any research, on practices of local authorities in carrying forward rent arrear debts on a dwelling where the tenant has left and the former partner, as husband, wife, or cohabitee, has taken on the tenancy; and whether he issues any guidance to local authorities on this matter.

My Department's housing services advisory unit has made informal inquiries about these practices. They appear not to be widespread. The Department has not thought it necessary to commission research or issue guidance on the subject.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for the use of County hall in the event of abolition of the Greater London council.

None at present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what views he has received from the authorities concerned as to the special arrangements which may be necessary for parks or open spaces which lie in more than one borough if the Greater London council is abolished.

We have received views concerning Victoria park and the Lee valley regional park.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has as to the proportion of students entering university in England and Wales in each of the past 10 years who are first generation university students.

The information is not available. The Universities Central Council on Admission publishes information about the social class of accepted candidates to universities in the United Kingdom, but not on parental education.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received from groups and individuals regarding the proposed new level of grant to university and polytechnic students.

My right hon. Friend has received some 27 letters following his statement on 17 November—[Vol. 48, c. 535]—19 of these from hon. Members, five from individual members of the public and three from student union organisations.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many students are taking full-time university courses in 1983–84; and how this figure compares with 1980–81, 1981–82 and 1982–83, respectively.

School leavers by intended destination
Percentage of all school leavers
Intended destination	Academic year
	1973–74	1974–75	1975–76	1976–77	1977–78	1978–79	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82
Staffordshire
University	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	4
Polytechnic	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	3	3
Other further education establishments	13	13	18	15	14	13	15	20	21
Available for employment	81	81	76	78	78	80	78	72	72
West Midlands
University	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Polytechnic	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3
Other further education establishments	12	14	15	15	14	14	15	20	21
Available for employment	81	79	78	78	79	79	79	72	71
England
University	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Polytechnic	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3
Other further education establishments	12	14	14	14	14	13	14	18	19
Available for employment	80	78	78	78	78	79	78	73	72
Information for Stoke on Trent is not readily available. Information for 1972–73 is not available for the first two geographical areas shown above.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will inform the University Grants Committee that he will not be requiring any further reductions in university courses or places in 1984–85.

My right hon. Friend has already asked the University Grants Committee if the universities can

The information is as follows:

Full-time and sandwich students in universities in Great Britain
	Numbers (thousands)
1980–81	298·7
1981–82	300·2
1982–83	295·4
1983–84*	288·3
* Provisional.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what percentage of school leavers in Staffordshire in each of the last 10 years has gone to (a) university, (b) colleges of further education, (c) colleges of higher education and (d) polytechnics;(2) what percentage of school leavers in the west midlands in each of the last 10 years has gone to

Information available from the school leavers sample survey is as follows:increase their planned intakes for 1984–85 and 1985–86 in response to the projected pressure of demand in those years.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in what terms Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom have agreed with other Governments of the European Communities to adopt a European form of passport; whether the Government will seek to ensure that it includes the royal arms, the traditional commendation of the holder by Her Britannic Majesty's principal Secretary of State and the words "British Passport" as well as any European wording; and whether he will place a specimen copy of the proposed European passport in the Library.

We have agreed to adopt a new British passport in a European Community common format in the terms of the resolutions of member states of 23 June 1981 and 30 June 1982. The texts of both resolutions have been placed in the Library of the House. The new format passport will retain the royal coat of arms and the name of the issuing state on the cover. There will be the traditional rubric inside. A specimen will be placed in the Library when its precise details have been determined.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government have contracted for private companies to provide physical security at British embassies in Central America.

Yes. We use private contractors to carry out works on the physical security defences of office premises and residential accommodation in our embassies in Central America. At some of those embassies, guards are also hired from private security companies to provide protection for our staff.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the value of disbursements due to El Salvador and Nicaragua under European development fund V.

El Salvador and Nicaragua are not signatories of the Lomé convention and are not therefore entitled to disbursements from the European development fund.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 29 July, Official Report, c. 679–80, if he will give the latest estimate of the cost of the James Brewster contract.

The latest estimate of the cost of the project is under £7 million.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long the 16-year-old boy awaiting transfer to a youth custody centre has been held in Durham prison; and what has been the reason for the length of time he has spent there.

There are at present no 16-year-old boys at Durham awaiting transfer to youth custody centres. One 16-year-old, who was transferred there in July pending the outcome of police inquiries into and court appearances on an incident at a youth custody centre, completed his youth custody sentence and was released in November. Another, who was 16 when he arrived in September for a similar reason, is still at Durham, but reached the age of 17 on 9 November.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what means he proposes to end the use of police and court cells for remand and unsentenced prisoners by the end of the current year.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 24 October.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the longest period that (a) an adult male, (b) a male aged under 21 years, (c) an adult female and (d) a female under 21 years has been held in police and court cells.

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about the use of police and court cells for remand prisoners.

Since 1 September we have received seven written representations from hon. Members, four from firms of solicitors and two from prisoners or their relatives about the use of police and court cells.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what ex gratia payments have been made in the last two years to defendants acquitted at trials after a period of remand in custody.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will abolish the black and white television licence; and if he will make a statement;(2) what percentage of television licence revenue was raised by the issue of black and white television licences for the last period of 12 months for which figures are available; and what was the percentage in each of the five pervious years.

We believe that it would be a hardship to many people to make all licence holders pay the present fee for a colour TV licence. On the other hand, if we were to arrange that those with black and white sets viewed without any payment, this would substantially reduce the revenue available. The proportion of television licence revenue raised by the issue of monochrome licences during 1982–83 and the five preceding financial years was as follows:

	per cent.
1977–78	21·7
1978–79	17·8
1979–80	13·5
1980–81	10·7
1981–82	9·3
1982–83	7·8

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he has received a letter dated 1 December from Mr. Richard Williams of Glan Conwy, concerning the pollution of trout lakes in the vicinity of his home; and if he will make a statement on this matter.

Yes. It is clear from inquiries that the basic issue is that Mr. Williams is and has been for some time in dispute with Wales Gas and that that dispute is and has been a matter for the courts.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list, for each trunk road scheme in the 1986 to 1988 and after 1988 programmes, so classified in "Roads in Wales 1983", what stage has been reached.

I shall write to the hon. Gentleman.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received concerning the present state of the A40 and A419/A417/A48 roads which provide alternative routes to the M4, following receipt of the consultants' report on the Severn bridge.

We have received general representations about these routes from the conference recently held by the Confederation of British Industry Wales, from Gwent county council, from the Chepstow chamber of commerce and others.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will now publish the housing investment programmes for each district council in Wales for 1984–85.

As usual, copies of local authorities' housing strategy and investment programmes will be placed in the House of Commons Library when authorities have formally been notified of their 1984–85 allocations.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will establish an inquiry into the consequences for the banking sector in Wales of the proposed new quota system for milk production.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many children have to leave Wales each year to have treatment in London or elsewhere if they need bone marrow transplant treatment.

This information is not routinely collected and is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he is taking to protect coniferous forests in Wales from depredations by the great spruce bark beetle; how many forest areas in Wales are infected by the great spruce bark beetle; if he proposes to import rhizophagus grandis beetles from Belgium to combat the great spruce bark beetle; and if he will make a statement.

A vigorous campaign against the great spruce bark beetle—Dendroctonus micans—is being conducted in close collaboration with private woodland owners and the timber trade in the affected area which covers a large part of Wales and some neighbouring English counties. The Restriction on Movement of Spruce Order 1982 controls the movement of spruce timber grown in Wales in the counties of Clwyd, Gwent, Mid-Glamorgan, South Glamorgan, Powys and the district of Meirionydd—Gwynedd—and in England the counties of Gloucestershire, Hereford and Worcester, Shropshire and the district of South Staffordshire. Movement of such timber is subject to Forestry Commission licensing designed to ensure that only material which is free of the beetle is allowed to leave the forest. The Forestry Commission has carried out comprehensive surveys to identify infestations both in its own and private forests including isolated trees and blocks of woodland. All infested trees which are found are felled, stripped of bark and treated. The commission's import controls provide for shipments of spruce wood into Britain to be bark free and subject to inspection at ports of entry.In Wales, infestations of D. micans have been found so far in 677 locations within commission forests and private woodlands. Infestations at these locations have ranged from single trees to several hundred trees.Forestry Commission researchers have imported from Belgium several hundred beetles of the species Rhizophagus grandis, and have commenced a breeding programme. R. grandis is a specific predator of D. micans and in continental Europe has been found to be a safe and effective control agent. It is hoped to release R. grandis soon in some affected forests to evaluate its potential for controlling D. micans in this country.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what formal and informal relationships there are between the Scottish Health Education Group and the Scottish Committee of ASH.

The group is represented on the Council, Executive and Research Committee of the Scottish Committee of ASH. The two bodies maintain informal liaison on matters of common concern.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many tenders the Scottish Health Education Group sought before awarding the contract to Her Majesty's Stationery Office for printing the ASH Scottish Committee book "The Scottish Epidemic"; and whether Her Majesty's Stationery Office tender was the lowest.

"The Scottish Epidemic" was put out to tender twice to a total of seven firms. The tender from Her Majesty's Stationery Office accepted was the only one received.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the Scottish Health Education Group paid Her Majesty's Stationery Office for printing the ASH Scottish Committee book "The Scottish Epidemic."

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list for the most recent year for which figures are available the estimated income from rates paid by domestic ratepayers occupying local authority houses in each housing authority in Scotland (a) before taking into account rate rebates and (b) after taking rate rebates into account;(2) if he will list, for each housing authority in Scotland, the estimated income from rates paid by domestic ratepayers occupying local authority housing under the following heads

The information is not readily available in the format requested, but I shall write to the hon. Member shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the numbers employed by Locate in Scotland since its inception, the salary bill in each financial year, the cost of severance arrangements with any employees leaving or being dismissed, and the total of any other expenses, excluding the provision of property and accommodation.

The number of staff employed exclusively on the activities of Locate in Scotland, together with the total salary bill and the cost of severance arrangements for each financial year since inception is as follows:

	1 April 1981 to 31 March 1982	1 April 1982 to 31 March 1983	1 April 1983 to 30 November 1983
Number of staff (at end of period)	31	34	34
Salary Bill	£429,331	£563,602	£410,362
Severance Costs	£23,264	25,996	£9,069

As Locate in Scotland draws to a considerable degree on the services of other directorates in the Scottish Development Agency, particularly in marketing, information on other expenses could be extracted only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each year since its inception the costs of (a) renting property, (b) purchasing property, (c) providing accommodation and (d) any income from disposals of property or accommodation acquired by Locate in Scotland.

Costs relating to accommodation incurred by Locate in Scotland in each financial year since its inception are as follows:

	1 April 1981 to 31 March 1982	1 April 1982 to 31 March 1983	1 April 1983 to 30 November 1983
Renting property	£78,077	£74,240	£73,725
Purchasing property	Nil	£125,000	£135,830
Providing accomodation	£28,471	£62,639	£45,577

No property has been disposed of by Locate in Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he proposes to introduce a flat rate system under which student grant award holders will be paid a common notional sum for travel without regard to their actual travel costs.

Consideration is being given to the possibility of a change in the arrangements for the reimbursement of students' travelling expenses, but no decision has yet been taken.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will ensure that in times of any shortage of blood the needs of National Health Service patients will be paramount in use of blood given in Scotland.

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland on what date it is proposed to commence levying charges on blood supplied to private hospitals in Scotland.

The Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service will be entering into contracts with all private hospitals in Scotland which use blood; the first such contract has been agreed and charging has begun under it.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps are to be taken to monitor the supply of blood to private hospitals in Scotland so that units are not sold at a profit to patients.

All agreements entered into between the Common Services Agency and private hospitals for the supply of blood will stipulate that the blood is not to be sold to patients.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the total number of psychogeriatric beds available in hospitals or units in Scotland at the present time and in each of the five previous years.

Although some beds for the care of elderly patients with mental disability are designated as psychogeriatric beds, the majority of elderly patients are treated in other mental illness beds. It is therefore not possible from the information available centrally to identify the total number of beds used to care for psychogeriatric patients. The majority of patients resident in mental hospitals and psychiatric units in Scotland are over 65 years old.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total number of beds in geriatric hospitals or units in Scotland at the present time and in each of the five previous years.

The information is set out in the following table:

Year	Number
1977	10,287
1978	10,447
1979	10,491
1980	10,782
1981	10,926
1982	10,690

1. These figures include beds in joint user hospitals and contractual beds in private hospitals.2. The figures show the bed complement at 30 September each year except that for 1982 the figure shown is the bed complement at 31 March, the latest date for which comprehensive information is available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average waiting time for (a) coronary bypass operations and (b) operations for total replacement of the hip joint.

The latest available information is set out in the following table. Detailed analysis of waiting times for coronary bypass operations in available only for 1982 while that for hip joint replacement operations dates from 1981.

	Average wait in days*
Coronary artery bypass graft operations 1982
Single coronary artery bypass operations	90
Multiple coronary artery bypass operations	101
Total replacement of the hip joint 1981	207
* Information relates to the mean waiting time for patients admitted from the waiting lists and who were discharged from hospital during 1981 and 1982.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the rate per million of population for coronary bypass operations in Scotland; and if he has any information as to the figures in other European and North American countries.

This rate was 126·6 per million of the population in 1982, the latest date for which information is available. I have no information on comparable statistics in other European or North American countries.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total number of hospice beds devoted to the care of the terminally ill in Scotland at the present time, and in each of the five previous years.

Within the National Health Service, beds used for the care of the terminally ill are not separately classified. Information is not collected centrally on the number of beds provided by charitable organisations in hospice outwith the National Health Service.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the rate per million of population for the operation for the extraction of a cataract in Scotland; and whether he has any information as to the figures in other European and in North American countries.

This rate was 998 per million of population in 1981, the latest date for which information is available. I have no information on comparable statistics for other European and North American countries.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of operations for extraction of a cataract carried out in Scotland during the most recent year for which records are available, and in each of the previous five years.

The number of operations for extraction of cataract carried out in Scotland during 1981, the most recent year for which records are available, and in the five previous years was as follows:

Number of operations
Year
1976	4,152
1977	4,351
1978	4,347
1979	4,272
1980	5,140
1981	5,138

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the rate per million of population for the operation for total replacement of the hip joint in Scotland; and whether he has information as to the figures in other European and in North American countries.

This rate was 470 per million of the population in 1981, the latest date for which information is available. I have no information on comparable statistics in other European or North American countries.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of coronary bypass operations carried out in Scotland during the most recent year for which records are available, and in each of the previous five years.

The total number of coronary artery bypass graft operations carried out in Scotland from 1 May 1982 to 31 December 1982 was 436. Accurate figures became available only with the establishment of the Scottish cardiac surgery register in May 1982 and it is not possible to give reliable statistics for previous years.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of operations for total replacement of the hip joint carried out in Scotland during the most recent year for which records are available, and in each of the five previous years.

The number of operations for total replacement of the hip joint carried out in Scotland during 1981, the most recent year for which records are available, and in the five previous years was as follows:

Year	Number of Operations
1976	2,017
1977	1,996
1978	1,951
1979	2,025
1980	2,193
1981	2,422

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total number of beds in convalescent hospitals or units in Scotland at the present time, and in each of the five previous years.

Comprehensive information of the kind requested is not available. Beds used for convalescent patients are now normally assigned to the specialty of treatment.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will make a statement on the publicity work of the Scottish Information Office.

I have placed in the Library a copy of the report of a scrutiny of the publicity section of the Scottish Information Office and of the action document setting out my response. The scrutiny was carried out as part of the 1983 programme of centrally co-ordinated efficiency exercises announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 28 July 1983.—[Vol. 46, c. 460–61.]The report identified scope for savings of around £30,000 a year and, while I have not accepted all the detailed recommendations, the steps outlined in the action document will produce savings of that level. These savings will result from the elimination of work which I believe does not justify the cost involved—notably the publication of the newsletter from Scotland—and from minor economies and improvements suggested by the scrutineer. The important publicity and other work of the publicity section, to which I would like to take this opportunity of paying tribute, will continue.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has as to the proportion of students entering university in Scotland in each of the past 10 years who are first generation university students.

I have been asked to reply.The information is not available. The Universities Central Council on Admission publishes information about the social class of accepted candidates to universities in the United Kingdom, but not on parental education.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had on the subject of motor insurance in the European Economic Community.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mr. Chapman) on 5 December 1983.—[Vol. 50, c. 7.]

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the amounts spent by his Department on publicity showing the breakdown of expenditure on motor cycle safety, pedestrian safety, drink and driving, tyre safety and other categories, respectively.

The estimated figure for my Department's publicity expenditure for the financial year 1983–84 is as follows:

	£
Drink and driving	879,400
Motor cycle safety	1,365,000
Pedestrian safety	2,207,000
Tyre safety	8,150
Other categories (including pedal cycle safety)	1,375,850
TOTAL	5,835,400

asked the Secretary of State for Transport which Thames piers are currently operated by the Greater London council; and what are his proposals for such piers should the Greater London council be abolished.

The GLC currently operates the following piers: Greenwich, Tower—main part—Charing Cross, Westminster, Festival, Putney, Kew and Richmond. The future responsibility for these particular piers is being discussed with the boroughs and the Port of London Authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list for each year since 1978–79 the total number of appointments of all kinds it fell within his power to make, whether or not such appointments actually fell to be made in the year in question.

The numbers of appointments^* of non-Government servants for which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence was responsible in each of the last five years are as follows:

Year	Numbers
1979	1,732
1980	1,508
1981	1,429
1982	1,426
1983	†1,435

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will give details of the extent to which each

Ship	Refitting dockyard	Start date	Completion date	Outturn* £ million
Batch 1A
Leander	Devonport	8 June 1970	12 January 1973	7·587
Ajax	Devonport	19 October 1970	7 February 1974	8·269
Galatea	Devonport	4 October 1971	6 September 1974	9·217
Batch 1B
Aurora	Chatham	4 December 1972	27 February 1976	15·580
Naiad	Devonport	15 January 1973	20 June 1975	10·410
Euryalus	Devonport	7 May 1973	12 March 1976	12·127
Arethusa	Portsmouth	10 September 1973	7 April 1977	16·585
Dido	Devonport	7 July 1975	27 October 1978	23·006
Batch 2A
Cleopatra	Devonport	23 July 1973	19 December 1975	13·820
Phoebe	Devonport	5 August 1974	28 April 1977	18·204
Sirius	Devonport	10 March 1975	10 February 1978	21·598
Minerva	Chatham	1 December 1975	11 April 1979	31·575
Batch 2B
Argonaut	Devonport	23 February 1976	28 March 1980	30·262
Danae	Devonport	1 August 1977	8 April 1981	39·279
Penelope	Devonport	30 January 1978	15 January 1982	47·687
Batch 3A
Andromeda	Devonport	3 January 1978	6 February 1981	59·990
Charybdis	Devonport	25 June 1979	16 July 1982	61·581
Jupiter	Devonport	28 January 1980	14 October 1983	†68·348
Hermione	Chatham/Devonport	14 January 1980	8 December 1983	†79·692
Scylla	Devonport	10 November 1980	Mid 1985	†79·278
* At current prices for the year in question announced in Cmnd. 8288 in 1981.
† Latest estimate.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many pieces of telecommunications apparatus have been submitted for approval by the British Approvals Board for Telecommunications; and how many have been approved.

Ninety four applications have been made to the British Approvals Board for Telecommunications for the approval of telecommunication apparatus. Of these, five have so far been approved.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he is satisfied with the response to the small engineering firms investment scheme 2.

The programme of major refits for Leander Class Frigates commenced in 1970; it is expected that the last ship, Scylla, will be completed in 1985. Details are as follows:

Yes. Over 6,100 applications for support were received, representing new investment in advanced capital equipment of £290 million.