asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

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asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

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asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

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asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

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asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister tf she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

ay asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 March.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 1 March.

This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today including one with the national pensioners convention.

asked the Prime Minister if she will make an official visit to Boyndie.

I have at present no plans to do so

asked the Prime Minister whether she has any plans to seek to pay official visits to any middle eastern countries.

I hope to visit the area again before long, but have no firm plans at present to do so.

asked the Prime Minister what representations she has received recently regarding the creation of a Scottish Parliament.

I have received five such representations.

asked the Prime Minister what is the percentage increase or decrease in the expenditure in real terms of each of the 17 individual programmes contained in part 2 of the public expenditure White Paper, Cmnd. 8175, for the years 1981–82 and 1982–83.

A cost terms analysis of main programmes as presently constituted is shown in table 1.14 of Cmnd. 9143 for the years in question. Since Cmnd. 8175 there have been classification changes to the planning total and individual programmes; figures on Cmnd. 8175 definitions could not be constructed without disproportionate cost.

asked the Prime Minister how many letters she wrote to and received from hon. Members in January.

I wrote to about 80 and received about 100 letters from hon. Members in January.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the recurrent grant for each university or college in each of the last five academic years (a) in actual and (b) in real terms taking the 1984–85 allocations as a base; if he will indicate the percentage change for each institution for each year (i) in actual terms and (ii) in real terms on the same basis as above; and if he will include also the percentage change for the 1984–85 allocations.

Following is a table showing recurrent grants allocated to universities by the University Grants Committee for the academic years 1979–80 to 1984–85. No conclusions could be drawn from year to year changes in these figures, nor could they readily be translated into real terms, because the cash figures reflect, as well as other minor adjustments:

(i) the progressive withdrawal from 1980–81 of the subsidy for overseas students;

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what facts relating to Northern Ireland were

The circumstances of students from England and Wales attending institutions in Northern Ireland were not given special weight in formulating the proposed new arrangements for students' travel costs. Consideration of what arrangements should apply to students from Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many letters he wrote to and received from hon. Members in January.

In January Ministers in the Department received 602 letters from and wrote on 672 occasions to hon. Members.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many pupils gained O- level or A-level passes in foreign languages other than German, French and Russian in each year since 1970; and how these were divided between different languages.

The numbers of passes gained by all candidates at GCE summer examinations in the foreign languages requested are given in the tables below:

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether the teaching diploma awarded by the state of South Australia is recognised by his Department as qualifying its holder to apply for a permanent teaching post in the United Kingdom.

Recognition as a qualified teacher for appointment in a maintained school in England or Wales is given upon successful completion of an approved initial course of teacher training undertaken in England and Wales, or of a course undertaken elsewhere and assessed as comparable to an approved course undertaken in this country. The Department has in the past assessed a number of courses of varying length and content leading to the award of a teaching diploma by the state of South Australia: some have been accepted as comparable to an approved course in this country and some have not. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements for assessing the acceptability of qualifications obtained overseas.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he is now in a position to make a statement on the various possibilities for further research into the factors affecting standards in schools.

In December 1983, the Department issued a statistical bulletin (16/83) setting out the results of a statistical analysis of factors affecting the examination results achieved by school pupils in different local education authority areas. This analysis indicated that variables representing the social composition of the resident population of the local education authority areas may be related statistically to between about two-thirds and three-quarters of the variation in examination results for the local education authorities concerned; variations in expenditure per pupil do not in general appear to be a significant factor. I have asked the Department to extend the analysis, using existing data, to examine the relationship betwen examination results by local education authority and a number of other factors, including the proportion of pupils in selective schools.It seems likely, however, that further studies of this kind at the level of local authorities will provide only limited insight into the effect of such factors on examination results. This is partly because some of the additional factors concerned will bear some statistical relationship to the socio-economic factors which have already been analysed; and also partly because data for whole local authority areas do not allow for the wide variations between individual schools within local authority areas. In view of this, I have also asked the Department to carry out a pilot study for a sample of individual schools. The main purpose of the pilot study is to enable me to assess the potential value of further research at the level of individual school, or groups of schools. I shall be considering not only what is feasible in terms of the availability of suitable data but also the relevance of any research to the development of the Government's policies for improving standards in schools. I hope to be able to make a further statement in about six months' time.

asked the Attorney-General whether, in view of the refusal to proceed against policemen who beat up an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. David White, on the ground that the incident took place seven years ago, he will publish a tariff for time limitation of criminal proceedings against citizens other than policeman.

The Director of Public Prosecutions employs exactly the same criteria in all cases which he considers.As I have stated in my guidelines on the criteria for prosecutions, when considering the institution of criminal proceedings, the Director of Public Prosecutions has firstly to be satisfied that the evidence is such that there is a reasonable prospect of a conviction, and, secondly, that the public interest requires the institution of criminal proceedings.While each case is decided on its own particular facts, one of the factors which the Director quite properly takes into account when assessing whether the public interest requires a prosecution is the length of time which is likely to elapse between the date when the last known offence was committed and the probable date of any trial. The Director is slow to prosecute if the last offence was committed three or more years before the probable date of trial, unless, despite its staleness, an immediate custodial sentence of some length is likely to be imposed. Less regard is paid to staleness, however, if it has been contributed to by the proposed defendant himself, or the complexity of the case has necessitated lengthy police investigation.

asked the Attorney-General whether he or any of his officials were consulted by representatives of the Metropolitan police before special branch officers applied, using the Official Secrets Act, for a search warrant for the house of Mr. Duncan Campbell on 11 February.

It is no part of my function to advise the Metropolitan police as to the manner in which they conduct an investigation. Section 9 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 does not require that I consent to the making of an application for a search warrant. The safeguard for the citizen is in the independence of the courts which decide whether or not to grant warrants.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what are (a) the numbers of domestic customers in each gas region and each electricity board in Great Britain who, before being reconnected, are disconnected for one month or longer for the year 1982–83 and (b) the percentage of all domestic disconnections that the above numbers represent.

I have asked the chairmen of the British Gas Corporation and the Electricity Council to provide the information direct to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what representations he has received about the construction of a tidal power barrage across the River Mersey; and if he will make a statement.

Merseyside county council has informed my Department of the results of its preliminary studies and inquired in August 1983 whether the Department would part fund further studies.My Department did not consider that, on the information then provided, it would be justified in making a contribution.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy why the National Council for Voluntary Organisations has not yet received confirmation from his Department concerning future funding of neighbourhood energy action schemes after 31 March.

The NCVO has now been informed that my Department will continue to fund neighbourhood energy action in the next financial year. Formal confirmation was delayed pending determination of funding from the Manpower Services Commission.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he intends to continue financing neighbourhood energy action; and when he expects to make an announcement.

I attach great importance to the expansion of the voluntary sector's involvement in community insulation projects. Neighbourhood energy action—NEA—has an important role to play in the development of voluntary projects. The energy efficiency office will continue to fund NEA in 1984–85, and will, in addition, make up the shortfall resulting from withdrawal of funds from the Manpower Services Commission. This reprsents a doubling of finance from my Department. We are also negotiating with NEA about the provision of additional resources to allow it to expand its operations further.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how many letters he wrote to and received from hon. Members in January.

During January I wrote 186 letters to, and received 66 letters from, hon. Members.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will take into account the 18th recommendation of the Committee on Scottish Affairs on dampness in housing, supporting the recommendation of the Energy Committee that lead city schemes for combined heat and power district heating be put in hand, emphasising that Edinburgh has been shown to be one of the most attractive candidates for the provision of lead city; and if he will make a statement.

The 18th recommendation of the first report of the Committee on Scottish Affairs on dampness in housing will be taken into account in the Government's consideration of the reports on combined heat and power by the Select Committee on Energy and W S Atkins and Partners. A statement on the outcome of these deliberations will be made shortly.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will list the other Commission publications referred to in the reply of 9 February, Official Report, c. 735, and the amount spent on them.

Expenditure under this heading covers Commission publications other than the Official Journal. These include publications provided for in the treaties and regulations, statistical office publications and brochures and publications relating to the dissemination of technical and economic information. Further details could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost of time and expenditure.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many letters he wrote to and received from hon. Members in January.

Treasury Ministers replied to some 650 letters from hon. Members in January. Some 700 letters from hon. Members were received during that month.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will furnish a break-down for the year ended 31 March 1983 for the total amount of capital transfer tax collected in that year in respect of (a) property comprising a deceased tax payer's principal private residence, (b) investment property, (c) quoted investments, (d) chattels and other assets and (e) assets eligible for business property relief.

As capital transfer tax is levied on estates as a whole, it can only be allocated to individual assets on an arbitrary basis. This has been done in respect of the assets shown, so far as they are dutiable, by treating each group in turn as if it were the top slice of dutiable property in the estates containing them. While the figures are comparable between assets they are not additive. The assets groups shown are as near as possible to those requested.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the amount of tax which would be deferred if capital transfer tax arising on assets eligible for business property relief were only payable when such assets were sold for cash.

The amount would depend on the extent to which the assets were sold for cash, but in 1982–83 it would not have exceeded £30 million, the tax on the total of assets eligible for the relief.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) under what powers the Inland Revenue requires answers from employers to its standard letter concerning gratuities received where the employer is not the troncmaster;(2) if, where the actual tips received and declared by an individual are different from the standard amount which the Inland Revenue considers they may be expected to have received, it is the policy of the Inland Revenue to assess the actual amount received and not the amount the Inland Revenue considers to be the standard;(3) what is the policy of the Inland Revenue on altering employee codings in respect of gratuities where information on the level of gratuities is not forthcoming and the employer is not the troncmaster;

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report the legal opinion on which the decision was taken to change the basis of taxation of building societies on capital gains on gilts.

In accordance with long-standing practice, the Government do not intend to publish the legal advice which they have received on this matter.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost per head of Falkland islanders of the total Government spending programme in the Falklands for 1983–84 and 1984–85.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the statement on the 1984 Community budget will be published.

The statement on the 1984 budget will be published today.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to bring into charge to United Kingdom tax, payments made to United Kingdom residents working outside the United Kingdom whose earnings are, wholly or partly, remitted to the Channel Islands.

[pursuant to his reply, 27 February 1984, c. 48]: With very limited exceptions, the income of a United Kingdom resident is already chargeable to tax in this country, whether or not that resident is working outside the United Kingdom and whether or not his earnings are remitted, wholly or partly, to the Channel Islands. The exceptions relate to employees who are either not domiciled in the United Kingdom or who are resident but not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, in which case the "remittance basis" may apply to earnings for work done overseas.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much tax has been paid in total on wages earned on the United Kingdom continental shelf; and what proportion of this was paid by British citizens;

[pursuant to his reply, 28 February 1984, c. 125]: I regret that no estimates can be made. The available information relates only to all employees of employers whose main activity is the exploration for and extraction of petroleum and natural gas, and does not distinguish those employed offshore, nor the nationality of employees.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now publish further information on the extent of contamination of beaches in west Cumbria.

The National Radiological Protection Board has today published a further assessment of survey results, prepared for my Department, and I have placed copies in the Library.The report contains detailed information on the frequency and distribution of contaminated material found and removed by BNFL monitoring teams and by inspectors from my Department during the period from December 5 to February 13. An apparent decline in frequency was not sustained, and in the last week of that period a number of pieces of bitumen were found. The radiation dose rates from the latter pieces are similar to those from the other material found since November. I am informed that, in the period since February 13, the frequency of discoveries of bitumen has also shown a decline.BNFL has identified as one possible source for the bitumen one of the sea pipelines, which was used just prior to the appearance of the bitumen. At the request of the radiochemical inspectorate of my Department, tests are being carried out on this pipeline. Bitumen is also used widely on the site, from which the surface water drains to the sea. The measures taken by BNFL since the November incident include improvements in the arrangements for flitering out solid material and retaining it on site.Consistently with its earlier report, NRBP concluded that the only situations of concern are those involving the chance of prolonged handling by a member of the public of contaminated debris. It is to avoid these situations that the public have been advised to avoid unnecessary use of the beaches. The board has provided some amplification of its previously recommended criterion for the withdrawal of this advice, and this will be taken into account at the appropriate time. The local authorities and the health authorities will also be consulted.I am keeping the situation closely under review in conjunction with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. We are satisfied that everything necessary is being done to gather the information that will enable us to take a safe and early decision about withdrawal of the advice, to avoid unnecessary use of the beaches.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has anything to add to the proposals in the White Paper, "Streamlining the Cities", Cmnd. 9063, in respect of actions by the Greater London council and the metropolitan county councils which would create problems for successor authorities.

I am aware that there is some concern about the possibility that action by the Greater London council and the metropolitan county councils could adversely affect successor authorities and ratepayers. I am sure that the councillors concerned will be concerned to obey the law, to act responsibly, and to have regard to their responsibilities to the ratepayers. Moreover, the existing legal framework imposes some constraints on the actions of authorities; and we propose three further measures.At present a London borough or metropolitan district council can itself seek to question the actions of the GLC or the metropolitan county council that precepts upon it by applying for judicial review. Applications can also he made by any person with an interest, for example, councillors, ratepayers, and non-ratepayers resident in the area concerned. If the court accepts that the application is well-founded and considers it in the public interest to do so, it will issue an order prohibiting the action or make a declaration that it is illegal.In addition, under sections 19 and 20 of the Local Government Finance Act 1982, the auditor, acting on an objection by an elector or on his own initiative may seek a declaration from the court that expenditure is unlawful or that there has been loss due to wilful misconduct. It would then be open to the court to surcharge the local authority members responsible and to disqualify them from membership of a local authority. An elector for the area may also bring surcharge action if the auditor decides not to act following an objection by that elector.To meet the concerns expressed by some of the successor authorities, we propose to include in the Bill to be introduced this Session a provision requiring the GLC and the metropolitan county councils to consult the borough and district councils in their areas before fixing their budgets and precepts for 1985–86. These will., of course, be implemented by the proposed transitional councils; and it is appropriate that the boroughs and districts which will appoint the members of these councils should be given an opportunity to express views on the financial situation which they will inherit.We propose also, to give the London borough councils and the metropolitan district councils the same rights as electors have to object at the audit of the accounts of the GLC or the appropriate metropolitan county council. The borough and district councils will also be empowered to take action in the courts if the auditor decides not to do so. Such action could lead to surcharge and disqualification. These extended rights will apply only to the audits of the accounts for the years 1983–84 to 1985–86.Finally, we shall include in the main abolition Bill, to be introduced next Session, two provisions concerning staff contracts. The first will ensure that any fixed-term contract of employment with the GLC or an MCC which is entered into after 1 March 1984, and which is to expire on or after 1 April 1986, will have effect as a contract which will terminate on 31 March 1986. The second will ensure that any terms which are incorporated into existing or future contracts of employment after 1 March 1984 and which relate to compensation for redundancy or detriment will have no effect where they would entitle an employee to an amount greater than that provided for, in due course, in the main abolition legislation.These provisions will not affect the terms of existing contracts of employment. Thus. where staff have already been given fixed-term contracts with the reasonable expectation that they would run their full term, we shall provide for them to be compensated if they do not get jobs with the successor bodies. Similarly, any provision relating to compensation for redundancy or detriment already included in an existing contract of employment will be honoured.I believe that members of the GLC and the metropolitan county councils will recognise that it is in the interests of their ratepayers and of their staff that they should act responsibly. But the measures I have outlined, together with the existing legal constraints, provide safeguards should any of the authorities concerned consider taking irresponsible action.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has anything to add to the proposals in the White Paper, "Streamlining the Cities", Cmnd. 9063, on the implications of his plans to abolish the Greater London council and the metropolitan county councils for staff at present employed by those authorities.

I have had two useful meetings with the TUC's local government committee. Detailed discussions have not yet begun on the proposals in chapter 4 of the White Paper; but there are three matters on which I can provide further details of the Government's intentions.First, I recognise that a Staff Commission will have a particularly important role to play in this reorganisation. There has been widespread support for its establishment at the earliest opportunity. I propose therefore to include provision for such a body in the Bill to be introduced in the current Session. This will enable the commission to begin more quickly the process of consultation with interested bodies, and to provide me with general advice on staffing issues.In previous reorganisations Staff Commissions have supervised ring-fencing arrangements. Such arrangements do not require successor bodies to recruit; they do, however, ensure that, if they decide to do so, they have to look first at candidates for the expiring authorities. One of the commission's early tasks would be to consider the introduction of ring-fencing arrangements to ensure that GLC-MCC staffs affected have a proper opportunity to obtain jobs with the new authorities.Secondly, I propose that any compensation for detriment—where an employee moves to a new job on lower terms and conditions—will be paid in the form of a lump sum; we intend to consult on the detailed arrangements for determining this. We accept, also, that the costs of this compensation should not be borne by individual boroughs and districts who take on form GLC-MCC staff, but should be recouped from the ratepayers of each area as a whole.Thirdly, there has been concern that some authorities might give staff artificial pay increases or regradings in the lead-up to abolition. This would be unfair: it would lead to inequitable treatment between staff. I intend, therefore, to include a provision along the lines of section 261 of the Local Government Act 1972 in the Bill to be introduced in the next Session. This would enable me to appoint a body to look into cases of alleged unjustified increases made after 1 March 1984 and to advise me. I would be able to act on that advice and direct an authority to withdraw an increase found to be unjustified. The following note sets out this proposal in more detail. This will not preclude authorities which wish to do so from paying temporary personal pay supplements to staff who face considerably increased responsibilities.I hope that both employers and unions will come and discuss with us the proposals which I have outlined today and other matters of concern. It is clearly in the interests of the staff concerned that these matters are settled as soon as possible.PROPOSED ABOLITION OF THE GREATER LONDON COUNCIL AND THE METROPOLITAN COUNTY COUNCILS: MEASURE TO PREVENT UNJUSTIFIED INCREASES IN PAY-GRADING

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the Official Report the guidance that he has given, following the Parliamentary Commissioner's report on Mr. John Preece; and what action he is taking to ensure that that guidance is followed in the long term and that it is consistently and persistently adhered to.

[pursuant to his reply, 17 February 1984, c. 334]: The following instructions have been issued to all Home Office staff today:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has had about the short, sharp shock regime in detention centres.

The Prison Officers' Association has recently been in touch with us about the progress of the evaluation of the tougher regimes pilot project.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people guilty of (a) murder and (b) manslaughter are currently in prison.

On 31 December 1983 about 1,440 persons were serving sentences for murder and about 460 were serving sentences for manslaughter in Prison Department establishments in England and Wales. Of these totals about 30 and 10 respectively had been previously released on licence and subsequently re-called to prison.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the detection rates for each of the police authorities for the latest year for which figures are available.

The information requested is given in the following table. These clear-up rates are average rates for all notifiable offences recorded and as clear-up rates differ markedly for different categories of offence they are affected by variations in the type of offences recorded and the circumstances of those offences.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used before women are strip-searched in prisons (a) in general circumstances and (b) before attending a remand hearing in England.

All prisoners, including female prisoners, are normally strip-searched on reception into, and discharged from, closed prison establishments and on location in a segregration unit. All prisoners are normally strip-searched before attending a remand hearing. Strip-searches are carried out on other occasions as the governor thinks necessary, but it is not possible to set out all the considerations which the governor may reasonably have in mind.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the number of young offenders sentenced to short, sharp shock detention since such centres were established; and what is the latest available number for the current year;(2) what was the average length of a period of detention for offenders under the short, sharp shock regime;(3) what is the number of offenders who have been sentenced to a second period of detention under the short, sharp shock regime;(4) what is the number of offenders who have been sentenced to

The tougher régimes pilot project was implemented at Send and New Hall detention centres on 21 April 1980 and at Foston Hall and Haslar detention centres on 7 September 1981. Between the end of April 1980 and 31 December 1983 about 7,800 young offenders ordered to be detained in a detention centre had been received into centres operating tougher régimes. Figures for 1984 are not yet available. The average time spent under sentence by offenders received into centres operating tougher régimes and discharged by the end of January 1984 was about seven and a half weeks for those sentenced before 24 May 1983 and about six weeks for those sentenced on or after 24 May 1983. (With the implementation on 24 May 1983 of part I of the Criminal Justice Act 1982, the maximum detention centre sentence was reduced from six months to four months and the minimum from three months to three weeks; remission for trainees aged under 17 when sentenced changed from one half to one third, thus coming into line with that for trainees aged 17 or over when sentenced; and remand time has counted against detention centre sentences.) The pilot project is the subject of an evaluation, which covers reconvictions analysis, whose results will be made public.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officials within his Department are engaged in work connected with the proposed abolition of the metropolitan county councils and the Greater London council; and what is the estimated total annual cost involved.

At present one full-time principal, and the time of other staff, amounting to about five posts in all. On the basis of the Treasury's "Ready Reckoner of Staff Costs" the total annual rate would be about £170,000.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide the fullest available information for each of the past 10 years of the number of applications for entry certificates for settlement in the Indian subcontinent from applicants who have previously been refused entry clearance.

It is estimated that in Bangladesh in the autumn of 1983, those who had been refused entry clearance on a previous occasion accounted for about a half of the new applicants for immediate settlement put into the main queue and for about a fifth of all new applications for immediate settlement, including those put into the priority queues. Had similar proportions applied throughout the 12 months ending September 1983, about 1,800 persons who had been refused entry clearance on a previous occasion, are likely to have applied in these 12 months for immediate settlement in Bangladesh. Estimates for other periods and other countries are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the rate of recidivism among detainees of detention centres over the past 10 years and over the past five years;(2) what is the rate of recidivism among detainees of youth custody centres and borstals over the past 10 years and over the past five years.

The readily available information relates to young offenders convicted within two years of discharge and is published annually in "Prison Statistics England and Wales" (tables 8(e), 8.4 and 8.6 of the issue for 1982, Cmnd. 9027).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many detention or youth custody centres share a site with an adult prison.

Six youth centres, including the four for female offenders, share sites with adult prisons. No detention centres do so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what disproportionate costs are involved in inquiring of chief constables how many prosecutions there have been for failure to wear seat belts; why such information is not yet available; when such information will be available centrally; and if he will make a statement.

Police forces submit throughout the year returns to the Home Office on court proceedings which include prosecutions for failure to wear a seat belt. These returns are processed and summarised by the Home Office and the results published annually. The data collection for 1983 is not yet complete, and it would cause considerable disruption and expense to police forces to alter the standing arrangements for submitting these returns and bring forward the collection and processing schedule. When all the returns for 1983 have been received, information on seat belt offences will appear in "Offences relating to Motor Vehicles, England and Wales 1983", a statistical bulletin which it is planned to publish in the autumn.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much it costs to maintain a juvenile at a detention centre and at a youth custody centre, respectively; and how much it costs to maintain a prisoner at an adult prison.

The information available on average costs of maintaining a person in various types of penal establishments was contained in the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Knowsley, North (Mr. Kilroy-Silk) on 23 February at c. 587.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many females were fined for offences committed under section 1(2) of the Street Offences Act 1959, as amended by section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 during (a) 1982 and (b) 1983.

Nearly 4,000 in 1982. Information for 1983 is not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many females were committed to prison in default of payment of a fine when the original offence was one committed under section 1(2) of the Street Offences Act 1959, as amended by section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 in England and Wales during (a) 1982 and (b) 1983.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Battersea (Mr. Dubs) on 28 February at c. 97–98. Receptions of females in default of payment of a fine for offences relating to prostitution are published annually in "Prison Statistics, England and Wales" (tables 3.2 and 5.1 of the issue for 1982, Cmnd. 9027).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many females were committed to prison in default of payment of a fine for an original offence committed under section 1(2) of the Street Offences Act 1959, as amended by section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982, in the Metropolitan police area during (a) 1982 and (b) 1983;(2) how many females were committed to prison in default of payment of a fine for an original offence committed under section 1(2) of the Street Offences Act 1959, as amended by section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 in the South Yorkshire police area during

The information requested is not readily available separately for individual police force areas.

asked. the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many females were summoned to appear before the courts (a) in 1982 and (b) in 1983 for non– payment of a fine imposed for an offence committed under section 1(2) of the Street Offences Act 1959, as amended by section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982, whose cumulative arrears were in excess of (a) £500, (b) £1,000, (c) £1,500, (d) £2,000 and (e) £2,500;(2) how many females appeared before courts for nonpayment of all or part of a fine imposed for any offence committed under section 1(2) of the Street Offences Act 1959, as amended by section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982, during

The information requested is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many females are serving a term of imprisonment for non-payment of a fine for (a) the most recent date available and (b) the same date for the last five years;(2) how many females were serving a period of imprisonment for non-payment of a fine imposed under section 1(2) of the Street Offences Act 1959, as amended by section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 for

I shall reply as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the proposals put forward by the official side of the police negotiating board to change the basis of the Edmund-Davies formula for assessing police pay, as distinct from the methods of updating it, were supported by his departmental representations on the official side; and if he will make a statement.

As far as I am aware, no such proposals have been made. The purpose of the current review, which I support, is to examine the effects of operating the present arrangements since 1979 and of changes in the police service and elsewhere. The system set up by the Edmund-Davies committee remains valid and the committee itself recognised that the Police Negotiating Board must be able to take into account changes in the police service and in ouside pay movements generally.

asked the Secretary of Sate for the Home Department when he will designate Leeds-Bradford airport a registered port of entry.

There are no plans to do so at present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representaions he has received in the past year concerning those wishing to visit the United Kingdom, including complaints about delays upon entry, lengthy interrogations and general unsympathetic treatment; and what action he has taken as a result of complaints.

We estimate that in 1983 some 33 million passengers passed through immigration control on arrival. A number of representations are made by hon. Members in the course of pursuing individual cases about visitors but no precise statistics in the form requested are available. During this period, however, 250 complaints from hon. Members and others were received which related to one or more of the following matters: the nature of a decision, or the nature of immigration control; port procedures and facilities; and the actions of individual immigration officers. All complaints are carefully investigated and any necessary changes are made. If an immigration officer is found to have been at fault it is brought to his attention and where appropriate suitable disciplinary action is taken.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has yet reached any conclusions about the central collection of statistics of persons detained by the police under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1959.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for St. Helens, South (Mr. Bermingham) on 24 January, at c. 471.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will publish in the Official Report a list of the four-digit headings in chapters 11, 35 and 38 of the Brussels nomenclature which fall wholly or partly within division 59 of the standard industrial trade classification and in which one or more of the items in that division will be subject to a tariff of 10 per cent. or more on 1 January 1987, together with the value of imports of such items each year since the start of the Tokyo round and the current year to date.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will publish in the Official Report a list of the four-digit headings in chapters 11, 34, 35 and 38 of the Brussels nomenclature which fall wholly or partly in division 59 of the standard industrial trade classification and in which one or more of the items will have a tariff of 10 per cent. or more on 1 January 1987, together with the value of imports of such items each year since the start of the Tokyo round.

The information is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will publish in the Official Report a list of the four-digit headings in chapters 44 and 45 of the Brussels nomenclature which fall wholly or partly in standard industrial trade classification division 63 and in which one or more of the items in that division will be subject to a tariff of 10 per cent. or more on 1 January 1987, together with the value of imports of such items each year since the start of the Tokyo round and the current year to date.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will publish in the Official Report a list of the four-digit headings in chapters 44 and 45 of the Brussels nomenclature which fall wholly or partly in division 63 of the standard industrial trade classification and in which one or more of the items will