asked the Minister for the Civil Service what recent steps have been taken to increase the numbers of disabled employees, registered and unregistered, within Government Departments.

All Government Departments have been reminded of their obligations to comply with the provisions of the Civil Service policy statement which appears in the Cabinet Office annual publication "Independent". Bi-annual meetings are held with departmental disabled persons officers to discuss problems and to encourage them to do all they can to recruit disabled people in a way that is consistent with the principle of fair and open competition.

asked the Prime Minister what is Her Majesty's Government's policy for the future of the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England; and if Her Majesty's Government will seek to establish a United Kingdom-wide authority.

Our policy is to continue to provide effective support for the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England. There are no plans at the moment to establish a United Kingdom-wide authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of apprenticeship training places available in the construction industry for each year since May 1978; and if he will make a statement.

The following table shows the number of apprentices recruited and registered with the appropriate joint industry boards for the construction industry since 1977–78.

year	Total Apprentices recruited and registered
1977–78	17,204
1978–79	21,000
1979–80	22,304
1980–81	20,137
1981–82	14,746
1982–83	13,754

Figures for 1983–84 are not yet available. However, the Construction Industry Training Board estimates that about 15,000 craft and technician trainees have been recruited to its model schemes under the youth training scheme. This training may lead on to apprenticeship training in the construction industry. In addition, young people are receiving training in construction skills on other programmes supported under the youth training scheme and through apprenticeship schemes operated outside the youth training scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the Minister of State's recent visit to Liverpool.

On Sunday 29 April I met a number of Merseyside entrepreneurs at the Atlantic Tower hotel for informal discussions.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many and which regions have been designated as youth unemployment priority areas.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Employment on how many occasions in each of the last four conveniently available periods of six months the Public Record Office has asked his Department to return a file selected for preservation in the Public Record Office and to which public access has been granted under the Public Records Act 1958, as amended, but which has temporarily been withdrawn by the Department for official purposes; in how many cases he has agreed to the request; in how many cases he has refused, either outright or deferred the return; and if he will make a statement.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he is satisfied that the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's investigations of nationalised industries deal satisfactorily with safety standards in those industries where the public may be at risk as a result of economies.

I am not aware of any remedies proposed by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission which might jeopardise the safety of the public.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he is satisfied with the position regarding competition among monopoly wholesalers within the newspaper distribution industry following the rationalisation schemes which have taken place since the report "Wholesaling of Newspapers and Periodicals," by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, Cmnd. 7214, in 1978.

The Director General of Fair Trading is keeping a close watch on developments in the newspaper distribution industry since the publication of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report. I understand that he does not consider that the situation has changed sufficiently to justify a further investigation at present. But he has powers to take action if he considers it to be justified.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will consider introducing measures on safety standards in riding hats.

A new British standard for protective hats for horse and pony riders (BS 6473) came into effect on 29 February this year. This new standard sets significantly higher safety criteria than the previous one. My Department will be discussing with the equestrian societies which were involved with the production of the standard the best ways of promoting its use. I have no intention at present of introducing statutory requirements.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the co-insurance directive will be implemented in the European Economic Community.

The United Kingdom has implemented the co-insurance directive. The Commission of the European Communities is currently bringing action in the Court of Justice of the European Communities against a number of member states over their implementation of the directive.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what further steps he will take to allow freedom of services for non-life insurance in the European Economic Community.

I have nothing further to add to my reply to my hon. Friend of 21 February 1984, at column 451.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will estimate the total value of revenue coming into the United Kingdom from the export of British-made cinema films in each of the years since 1974.

The available information relates to receipts from overseas by film and television companies in respect of all films and is as follows. Separate information is not available for British-made cinema films.

			£ million
	Receipts for performances and produc-tion of films *	Film exports(Overseas trade Statistics)†	Total
1974	33	14	47
1975	50	17	67
1976	59	20	79

			£ million
	Receipts for performances and production of films *	Film exports(Overseas trade Statistics)†	Total
1977	84	24	108
1978	107	31	138
1979	114	28	142
1980	156	31	187
1981	128	32	160
1982	147	31	178

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce legislation to regulate money-changing bureaux, to control maximum charges to the public for each transaction and for related purposes.

I have no plans to do so at this stage, but the Government will be considering further the need for action in this area upon completion of an inter-departmental review of the activities of bureaux de change. The display of commission charges and exchange rates by bureaux de change has also been considered in the review of legislation on false and misleading price information. In this latter respect I refer my hon. Friend to my answer on 3 May to my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey, North-West (Mr. Grylls).

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has concerning the number of fishing vessels operating within the Falkland Islands protection zone; what are their countries of origin; and if there has been an increase in fishing operations within the zone during the past 12 months.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister of State, to my noble Friend the Baroness Vickers in another place on 12 December 1983 at column 90–91. I am seeking the most up-to-date information available from the authorities in the Falkland Islands, and will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Falkland Islands Government have yet announced the composition of their commission of inquiry into the fire at the King Edward memorial hospital in Port Stanley; and when its proceedings will start.

The civil commissioner announced on 3 May that the commission of inquiry will be composed of the following members: Mr. David Calcutt, QC, chairman; Mr. Eric Goss; Mrs. Jan Cheek; and a fourth member yet to be proposed by the military commissioner. It is planned that the commission will open its proceedings in Port Stanley on 24 May.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will announce the names of the commissioner and members of the inquiry into the proposal to increase toll charges on the Severn bridge.

The inquiry will be conducted by an inspector, from the panel of independent inspectors, who has yet to be nominated. I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as the names of the inspector is known.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will reconsider his decision to hold the inquiry into the proposed increase in tolls on the Severn bridge in England, or arrange for some of the hearings to take place in Wales.

The Crest hotel, Hanbrook, Bristol, was chosen because it offers convenient access by road and rail to both Welsh and English participants.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport when he proposes to announce his decision with regard to the British Airports Authority's appeal against the Civil Aviation Authority's granting of a licence to British Midland Airways to fly the New York-Glasgow route.

I have today upheld the appeal by the British Airports Authority on the grounds that British Midland Airways' licence was inconsistent with the designation of Prestwick as the airport from which Scottish long-haul services must operate. However, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and I have decided to review that policy, which was not possible in the context of the appeal, to determine whether it still offers the best means of meeting lowland Scotland's civil aviation requirements. We shall be consulting interested parties in the course of this review.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will increase the sums eligible for improvement grant purposes on older houses, in order to take into account the effect of adding value added tax to certain categories of such work on the real value of the available grants.

We are considering the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has formed of the likely cost of 15 per cent. value added tax on the cost of building extensions and refurbishments of buildings owned by his Department in each of the next five years.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many reported cases there have been over the periods (a) 1970 to 1975, (b) 1975 to 1980 and (c) 1980 to date of hydatid disease; and, of these, how many required hospitalisation or surgery for treatment.

Hydatid disease is not notifiable and therefore the concept of reported cases is not meaningful. Information on inpatients classified as suffering from hydatid disease is contained in the following table:

	(1)	(2)
	Number of inpatients spells	Number of those spells contained in col. (1) where surgery was carried out
1972	19	13
1973	18	9
1974	30	15
1975	21	11
1976	19	10
1977	16	13
1978	11	6
1979	23	15
1980	19	9
1981	18	8
1982	17	10

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the total grants which his Department makes available on an annual basis for the scientific investigation into, and medical treatment of, hydatid disease.

Our Department is currently undertaking a pilot programme of work in two areas of south Powys to assess the feasibility of eradicating hydatid disease by repeated dosing of dogs. The estimated costs of this programme are £25,000 in 1983–84, £40,000 in 1984–85 and £70,000 in 1985–86. Financial assistance is also provided through the joint research machinery of the Welsh Office and the Department of Health and Social Security for two projects associated with the pilot programme and covering diagnostic and human aspects of the disease. The funds available for this research are £11,700 in 1983–84, £42,500 in 1984–85, £44,600 in 1985–86 and £8,200 in 1986–87. No specific funds are provided by the Department for the medical treatment of the disease.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance has been provided by Her Majesty's Government to countries affected by cyclone Domoina; and whether Swaziland and Mozambique have been assisted in reconstruction following the devastation caused by this cyclone.

Tents, blankets and tinned food were immediately flown to Mozambique, and we have since provided seeds and materials to help repair infrastructure. The total cost of this assistance was £950,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards providing assistance to countries afflicted by natural disasters.

Our policy is determined primarily by humanitarian concerns; the aim is to respond appropriately and very quickly to requests for assistance from Governments and recognised international relief agencies when people are suffering and lives may be at risk. We work closely with the British voluntary relief agencies and official assistance is often channelled through them. The amount and form of any United Kingdom assistance in a particular case will depend on a number of factors, including the size and scope of the disaster, and the help available from other sources.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish in the Official Report details of the calculations used by Her Majesty's Government to determine the milk quota for Northern Ireland; and how these differ from the calculations produced by the Milk Marketing Board in Northern Ireland.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1)if he will set out details of the method by which the Northern Ireland milk quota has been calculated;(2)if he will make a statement on the Northern Ireland special milk allocation of 63·1258 million litres, its absorption into the United Kingdom milk quota and regional distribution within the United Kingdom.

In allocating the United Kingdom quota between regions account was taken of the trend of deliveries between 1981 and 1983. Northern Ireland was given the full benefit of the 63·1 million litres from the Community reserve. In addition, a further allocation was made to Northern Ireland so that its reduction on 1983 deliveries would be no more than in other regions of the United Kingdom. This gave Northern Ireland a quota for 1984–85 of 1,321 million litres, aproximately 2·5 per cent. greater than total output in 1982. The Milk Marketing Board for Northern Ireland has made some calculations to show the effect of dividing the basic United Kingdom quota among regions on the proportions of milk produced in 1983.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has as to how many schools in the last five years in the east midlands generally, and Nottinghamshire in particular, have been damaged or destroyed by fire; how often this situation has resulted in amalgamation of schools rather than replacement; and how the pattern of events in the east midlands compares with the rest of England.

This information is not collected by the Department.

asked Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the number of full-time nursery education places at the latest available date as compared to 1980, 1981 and 1982.

The numbers of full-time nursery pupils in England in 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983 were 46,543, 46,305, 46,270 and 44,454, respectively. The corresponding numbers of part-time pupils were 168,908, 175,285, 189,131 and 203,371. Information on the number of nursery education places is not available; these figures represent the nearest equivalent—the number of places filled.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the dates of the last three occasions on which Her Majesty's Inspectorate has carried out full inspections of the planning schools at Leeds polytechnic, Oxford polytechnic, Liverpool polytechnic, Bristol polytechnic, Lanchester polytechnic , Birmingham polytechnic, Trent polytechnic, Gloucester college of arts and technology, the polytechnic of central London, the South Bank polytechnic and Chelmer institute of higher education; how many inspectors were involved on each occasion; how many of those held qualifications in planning; whether these reports are published; and whether they were available to the National Advisory Board for Local Authority Higher Education in making its decision to close the town planning department of Liverpool polytechnic.

Her Majesty's inspectorate has not undertaken a full inspection of the planning courses at any of these institutions. However, each has been the subject of routine inspection visits by members of the small team of specialist HMI with qualifications and experience which span the major professions relating to the built environment. On the basis of the knowledge gained from such visits and from their links with professional and validating bodies, HMI offered advice—unpublished—on the quality of advanced courses in town planning to the National Advisory Board for Local Authority Higher Education last autumn, for consideration alongside the other information it had about those courses.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has formed of the likely cost of 15 per cent. value added tax on the cost of building extensions and refurbishments of buildings owned by his Department in each of the next five years.

The estimate of the likely costs of 15 per cent. value added tax on the cost of building extensions and refurbishments is as follows:

		£000's
	Prison Department Establishments	Common Police Service Establishments
1984–85	1,876	184
1985–86	2,344	260
1986–87	2,011	366
1987–88	2,520	366

Ownership of common police service establishments is vested in the Department of the Environment, but expenditure on maintenance and extensions is borne on Home Office Votes. Estimates of expenditure in 1988–89 have not yet been prepared.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the figures of people refused entry to the United Kingdom by the immigration officer at the point of entry from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, each year since 1979 and to the nearest convenient date.

The information requested is published annually in "Control of Immigration: Statistics" — (tables 1(a) and 1(b) of the latest issue for 1982, Cmnd. 8944). In 1983, 1,405, 295 and 1,108 nationals of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, respectively, were refused leave to enter the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recommendations from tribunals in cases concerning patients detained in special hospitals and referred to the tribunal under section 66(6) of the Mental Health Act 1959 were under consideration by him on 30 September 1983; and in how many of those cases, where the tribunal's recommendations were other than that the applicant should remain detained in a special hospital, his authority to implement the recommendation is still awaited.

On 30 September 1983 there were 121 such recommendations under consideration in the Home Office. In 83 of those cases where recommendation was other than that the applicant should remain in a special hospital, it has not yet been possible, for a variety of reasons, to reach a final decision.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to establish the new Cable Television Authority.

My right hon. and learned Friend hopes to do so soon after the Cable and Broadcasting Bill has received Royal Assent.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to announce the appointment to the chairmanship of the Cable Television Authority.

My right hon. and learned Friend hopes to be able to do so in the near future.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to accelerate the establishment of the interim non-statutory Cable Television Authority prior to the final stages of the Cable and Broadcasting Bill [Lords].

My right hon. and learned Friend hopes to establish the authority on a shadow basis soon after a chairman designate has been appointed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied with the progress being made in the establishment of the interim cable television franchises in the United Kingdom.

Yes. Discussions are well advanced with the 11 applicants selected to receive pilot project licences. Applicants will be licensed in turn as outstanding points on their individual applications are cleared and we hope shortly to issue the first licences.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for reports from each chief constable concerned to provide details of the number of police injured since 26 April dealing with the current miners' dispute.

The following numbers of police officers have been injured, in the period between 26 April and 2 May inclusive, in dealing with events arising from the miners' dispute:

Police force area	Number of officers injured
Durham	5
Essex	1
North wales	1
Nottinghamshire	3
Staffordshire	4
Total	14

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for reports from each chief constable concerned to provide details for each police force area of the number of pickets arrested from 26 April to date.

The following numbers of arrests have been made, in the period from 26 April to 2 May inclusive, in connection with events arising from the miners' dispute:

Police force area	Number of arrests
Derbyshire	4
Durham	25
Essex	93
Leicestershire	3
Merseyside	1
North Wales	2
Nottinghamshire	90
Staffordshire	63
Warwickshire	15
Total	296

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 30 April, Official Report, column 5, when and where Zola Budd's father produced evidence of his British citizenship; and when this evidence was accepted.

On 23 March at Her Majesty's consulate in Johannesburg.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he was aware, prior to saying that Zola Budd's application for citizenship would be received with sympathy, of the commercial relationship between Miss Budd and the Daily Mail.

We neither sought nor received detailed information on this matter.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he was aware prior to his decision on Zola Budd's application for citizenship, of the relationship between Miss Budd and the South African Ministry of Education.

My right hon. and learned Friend was aware that Miss Budd was a student at the Orange Free State university, but this information was not relevant to his consideration of her application for citizenship.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he assesses to be the yield of tax following the withdrawal of relief from merchant seamen spending more than 30 days outside the jurisdiction; how many seamen are likely to be involved; and if he will assess the effect of those earning at the lowest rates of pay.

The proposed halving of the 25 per cent. deduction from foreign earnings will produce a yield of about £10 million in respect of 1984–85 in relation to merchant seamen and the withdrawal of the balance of the relief will lead to a further yield of about the same size for 1985–86. Some 45,000 merchant seamen will be affected. The effect of the proposed halving, in 1984–85, of the 25 per cent. deduction from foreign earnings on an adult SG2 rating earning £126 per week will be an increase in tax of £2·59 per week — taking an average qualifying proportion for the relief, now provisionally estimated at 200/365. However, the combined effect of this and the increases in personal allowances proposed in my right hon. Friend's Budget will be to increase the weekly tax bill of a married rating earning £126 per week by 51p in 1984–85.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the total loss to seamen as a result of the proposed cuts in earnings following his Budget proposals concerning overseas earnings tax relief on seafarers; and if he will make a statement.

The proposed halving of the 25 per cent. deduction from foreign earnings will produce a yield of about £10 million in respect of 1984–85 in relation to seafarers. The withdrawal of the balance of the relief proposed for 1985–86 will lead to a further yield for that year of about the same size. However, when the proposed increase in personal allowances is taken into account, the overall effect of the Budget proposals on seamen as a group will be rather less than these figures suggest.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what it would cost to maintain the relief from income tax under case I of schedule E in relation to short or intermittent absences abroad for registered British seafarers.

[pursuant to his reply, 26 April 1984, c. 604]: At 1984–85 levels of earnings and so on, it is estimated that the cost would be about £10 million in respect of 1984–85 and £20 million in respect of 1985–86 and later years.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will exempt from tax pension funds' transactions in traded options.

Having considered the representations on this subject, we have decided to grant this exemption. The necessary amendment will be introduced at Committee stage of the Finance Bill.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 13 February, Official Report, column 74, regarding income tax bands, if he will estimate the figures for 1984–85.

[pursuant to his reply, 30 April 1984, c. 21]: Estimates for 1984–85 are as follows:

	Income tax
marginal rate per cent.	Taxpayers*'000	percentage of taxpayers
30	19,600	96·0
40	335	1·6
45	225	1·1
50	130	0·6
55	55	0·3
60	75	0·4
All taxpayers†	20,400	100·0
* Counting married couples as one.
† Rounded independently.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals he has on the size and strength of British forces in Germany in the light of the Brussels agreement.

Our current policy is set out in paragraph 335 of the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1983, volume I (Cmnd. 8951).

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what decisions have been taken regarding the strengthening of the hulls of existing Royal Navy ships; and if he will make a statement.

Following detailed studies into cracking in the type 21 frigate, it was decided in 1982 to strengthen their hulls. The necessary work has been completed on four ships and is under way on a fifth. Work on the remaining ship will begin later this year.Cracking in other ships, which has occurred from time to time for a variety of reasons, has been repaired as necessary, but this has not required hull strengthening.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the amount of defence spending to be incurred in Wales in the period until 1986.

Defence expenditure is not accounted for on a regional basis.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many air misses have been reported in the current year by pilots of military aircraft over United Kingdom air space between military aircraft and civilian helicopters; and if he will provide details of dates, times and circumstances.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 April at column 141 by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport. One additional air miss report was submitted in April and was, similarly, reported in the first instance by the pilot of the civilian helicopter. Like the other reports, it will be investigated by the joint air miss working group.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what investigations are at present under way supported by his Department which were proposed by the Royal Navy Personnel Research Committee and the Army Personnel Research Committee.

[pursuant to his reply, 9 April 1984, c. 43]: The Royal Naval Personnel Research Committee and the Army Personnel Research Committee advise the Ministry of Defence, through or on behalf of the Medical Research Council, on biological medical, physiological, psychological and sociological matters affecting the health and efficiency of Royal Naval and Army personnel. The RNPRC has given advice in the following areas of research: physical fitness in RN personnel; RN and RM officer selection procedures (which has led to two MOD research agreements with the Department of Occupational Psychology, Birkbeck college, University of London, to study the process of decision making in the boarding procedure at the Admiralty interview board and the use of biographical information as a predictor of training results for officers); the organisation of a workshop on stress and performance testing; deep diving research; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide studies; studies into Halon 1301 (bromotrifluormethan); submarine escape physiology; body cooling in cold water (diving); cold injury research; ship motion and motion sickness; survival at sea (includes cold immersion research, life raft stability and ventilation, thermal insulation) survival clothing. The Army Personnel Research Committee has only recently been reconstituted and no investigations are currently under way as a result of proposals it has made.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of juveniles convicted for indictable offences in each of the past five years had committed offences involving (a) violence, (b) sex and (c) robbery and theft; and if he will give the same information for young adults and the numbers involved in each category.

The term "indictable offences" is not used in Scottish criminal statistics. A broad equivalent would be "crimes". Information on persons aged under 16 and aged 16 to 20 against whom a crime was proved in Scottish courts in the years 1978 to 1982 is set out in the following tables.

Scotland
Percentage
Crime category	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982
Persons aged under 16 against whom a crime was proved
Non-sexual crimes of violence*	3	4	2	4	5
Crimes involving indecency	1	1	1	1	1
Robbery and theft	48	45	50	46	39
Number of persons (all crimes)(=100 per cent.)	932	598	609	569	437
Persons aged 16 to 20 against whom a crime was proved
Non-sexual crimes of violence*	5	4	4	4	5
Crimes involving indecency	1	1	1	1	1
Robbery and theft	45	47	45	44	41
Number of persons (all crimes)(=100 per cent.)	18,563	17,012	19,898	21,395	24,650
*Excluding robbery.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people have died in Scotland from the effects of solvent abuse in each of the past five years to the latest available date.

Information for 1979 to date is shown in the table.

Deaths from solvent abuse in Scotland
	Number
1979	2
1980	3
1981	9
1982	14
*1983	10
*Provisional figure.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people have died from causes related to drugs in Scotland in each of the past five years.

The numbers of deaths for which the underlying cause was in one of the relevant ICD categories^* are shown in the table, distinguishing deaths related to drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and deaths related to other drugs.

Deaths Related to Drugs, Scotland
	1979	1980	1981	1982	†1983
Controlled drugs	193	181	187	185	143
Other drugs	172	157	144	99	86
Total	365	338	331	284	229
*International Classification of Diseases codes 304, 305·2–9, E850–858, E950, E962, E980.
†Provisional.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland

(1) whether he will consider providing funds specifically for the purpose of eradicating hydatid disease in Scotland;

(2) whether he will take steps to include hydatid disease on the list of officially notifiable diseases;

(3) if he will estimate the cost of a controlled medical programme to bring about the eradication of hydatid disease; and if he will make a statement;

(4) how many reported cases there have been over the periods (a) 1970 to 1975, (b) 1975 to 1980 and (c) to date of hydatid disease; and, of these, how many required hospitalisation or surgery for treatment;

(5) if he will list the places of domicile for each of the recent reported cases of hydatid disease.

Although hydatid disease may be contracted by people, control of the hydatid tapeworm is essentially an animal health problem, the eradication of which is a matter for veterinary rather than medical intervention. As the disease is not infectious in humans and cannot be diagnosed in live animals, it would not be appropriate to make it notifiable. An exercise to determine the extent and geography of the disease in slaughtered sheep and cattle is currently being undertaken by the Communicable Diseases (Scotland) Unit, and until this is completed about the end of this year, I am not in a position to consider the provision of funds for an eradication programme.The statistical information requested so far as it is available is shown in the following table.

Hospital Discharges 1970–1982
	After Operation	No Operation	Total
1970–74	17	32	49
1975–79	16	20	36
1980–82	2	7	9
New Admissions by Health District 1980–82

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the total grants which his Department make available on an annual basis for the scientific investigation into, and medical treatment of, hydatid disease.

My Department is not currently supporting research in this area.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps have actually been taken by the European Economic Community to reduce agricultural output; with what results; and if he will provide the corresponding information for the United States of America.

At the meeting on 30–31 March the Council of Agriculture Ministers agreed a package of measures including prices for common agricultural policy commodities in 1984–85 and other related measures. This included the introduction of a quota-supplementary levy scheme in the milk sector, with the aim of curbing excess production in that sector. Further details of the package are set out in explanatory memorandum on draft instrument 6059/84 submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on 27 April 1984.In the United States of America voluntary inducements to farmers to restrict their output have been a feature of United States support arrangements for arable crops and have gone under a variety of different names —"set aside", "diversion", and so on. In recent years the most usual method has been that a farmer is not eligible for support unless he restricts plantings of the crop concerned to a given level. In some cases additional incentives have been offered in the form of a cash payment in respect of some of the diverted land. The crops that may be grown on the diverted land are strictly controlled: they may, for example, be limited to grass or other crops that can only be grazed or used for hay or silage.In addition, arrangements, referred to as payment in kind (PIK), were introduced for 1983 crops of grain, cotton and rice. They were an additional incentive to individual farmers to restrict plantings, the only difference being that farmers were "paid", not in the form of eligibility for support arrangements or in cash, but with free supplies of the commodity concerned from Government-owned stocks. PIK was open only to farmers already participating in the arrangements described above.From October 1982 enabling powers were introduced in the dairy sector for a levy of 50 cents per 100 lb to be imposed on the proceeds of all milk sold commercially by producers if net support purchaes in the year beginning October 1982 were expected to exceed 5 billion pounds of milk equivalent, and for a further levy of 50 cents from April 1983 if purchases in the same period were expected to exceed 7·5 billion pounds. This latter levy would, however, be refundable to producers who cut their production by a specified amount. Collection of the initial deduction began in April 1983 and collection of the second 50 cents deduction has also now begun.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will give particulars of the high prices and the quantities involved under the equalisation schemes in the United States referred to in paragraph 34 of the 1983 report on the agricultural situation in the Community; and how they compare with the EEC regime for sugar.

After having made initial inquiries, I regret that it is now clear that this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give for each year since 1973 the quantity of New Zealand dairy products imported into the United Kingdom and the proportion those quantities represent of total United Kingdom requirements for these products in each year.

The information requested is as follows:

Imports of main dairy products into the United Kingdom as a percentage of total United Kingdom requirements: 1973–1983
Year	Product	A*Quantity Imported(tonnes)	B† UK Requirements(tonnes)	(A) as a percent of (B)
1973	Butter	‡34,758	422,000	31·9
	Cheese	47,529	324,000	14·7
	Milk Powders	107	94,000	0·1
1974	Butter	†113,304	497,000	22·8
	Cheese	16,516	329,000	5·0
	Milk Powders	101	104,000	0·1
1975	Butter	‡123,183	517,000	23·8
	Cheese	30,401	351,000	8·1
	Milk Powders	0	127,000	—
1976	Butter	‡122,632	447,000	27·4
	Cheese	30,562	340,000	9·0
	Milk Powders	0	118,000	—
1977	Butter	‡130,398	416,000	31·3
	Cheese	13,193	309,000	4·3
	Milk Powders	0	131,000	—
1978	Butter	‡129,958	385,000	33·8
	Cheese	2,076	325,000	0·6
				less than
	Milk Powders	3	228,000	0·1
1979	Butter	‡119,503	376,000	33·8
	Cheese	101	350,000	0·02
				less than
	Milk Powders	2	226,000	0·1
1980	Butter	‡107,971	352,000	30·7
	Cheese	7,149	337,000	2·1
				less than
	Milk Powders	2	97,000	0·1
1981	Butter	‡100,530	337,000	29·8
	Cheese	7,964	344,000	2·3
	Milk Powder	728	130,000	0·6
1982	Butter	‡99,152	328,000	30·2
	Cheese	7,173	350,000	2·1
				less than
	Milk Powder	64	126,000	0·1
1983	Butter	‡93,760	326,000	28·8
	Cheese	9,242	345,000	2·7
				less than
	Milk Powders	17	127,000	0·1
In addition to the foregoing products, small quantities of butteroil whey and condensed milk have been imported from New Zealand into the United Kingdom. Imports of such products totalised less than 20 tonnes
during the period in question.
*Source—HM Customs and Excise General Trade Statistics.
†The figures used are the estimates of offtake given in annual review White Papers for the years in question. These do not equate with consumption since changes in unrecorded stocks are not included in the calculation. Figures for 1983 are forecasts.
‡ Includes butter imported under Inward Processing Relief arrangements.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what grants and other forms of financial incentive are available for planting vines or changing the use of land for the planting of vines; and if he will make a statement.

Viticultural businesses are eligible for assistance under the capital grant schemes on the same terms as other agricultural businesses. Grant is available on a range of investments including buildings, under-drainage and the provision of services but not for vine planting or related husbandry operations. Under the European Community-assisted scheme grant is available for stakes and wirework for vineyards. If a viticultural business sells its grapes fresh, then it may qualify for further grants as horticultural production business.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing the quantitiy of milk production in the United Kingdom from holding, in one ownership or tenancy of (a) less than 20 cows, (b) less than 50 cows, (c) less than 100 cows and (d) more than 100 cows.

I regret that the information requested is not readily available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the movement in the guaranteed price of milk to farmers in each of the last five years.

There is no longer a guaranteed price for milk. The actual net prices received by wholesale producers in England and Wales in recent years have been as follows:

April/March years	Average price —pence per litre
1978–79	10·430
1979–80	11·407
1980–81	12·578
1981–82	13·617
1982–83	14·664
1983–84	*
*Not yet available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the saving to European Economic Community funds if the prices of all cereals now covered by price guarantee were reduced to the level of world prices; and what would be the effect on food prices in the United Kingdom, and on the retail price index if this were done.

There is no single world market price for cereals, and prices may vary widely between qualities and between markets. Nor is it clear how Community producers and consumers would react to the alignment of Community prices with those applying elsewhere. The extent to which changes in support levels would affect market prices, and hence prices paid by consumers, is also uncertain.Clearly, however, if Community support prices more closely reflected those practised in other producing countries there could be substantial savings in export refunds, which cost some 1,525 mecu in 1983, although this would be offset by reduced receipts from import levies.In the absence of other influences, each 10 per cent. reduction in market prices can be estimated broadly to reduce the index of retail food prices by about 0·5 per cent. and the retail price index by about 0·125 per cent.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will announce his conclusion about the minimum strength for Scotch whisky.

It is taking considerably longer than I anticipated to resolve the issues raised by the many representations that I have received on the minimum strength proposals in the draft regulations. I shall make a further announcement as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what statistics or information he collects and publishes, respectively, concerning the quantity and nature of pesticides or insecticides used on specific areas of agricultural land.

Information collected by my Department and that of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland on the use of pesticides, including insecticides, on crops and in other agricultural situations is regularly published in the "Pesticide Usage Survey Report" series. These published reports include detailed accounts of pesticides used on particular crops and summaries of total pesticide usage over given periods.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the most recent estimate of the nature and extent of damage caused by dogs to livestock in (a) west Yorkshire, (b) north Yorkshire and (c) south Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement.

No estimate is available. My hon. Friend recently launched a new publicity campaign about the need to keep dogs under proper control, and the means of doing so.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the requirement for intervention storage for grain for the 1984 harvest; and if he is satisfied that adequate storage exists.

No estimate can be made at this stage of the need for intervention storage for cereals in the 1984–85 season, which will be influenced by the size of the harvest, the level of home market and export demand and market prices. The intervention board will take out contracts for storage in the next few months to meet early season demand and will seek additional storage thereafter as demand occurs.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to speed up Community payments to farmers which are now running at three months in arrears for the farm and horticultural development scheme, and four months in arrears for payments on intervention grain; and if he intends to make any reimbursement to farmers for loss of interest on money due to these delayed payments.

Payments under the farm capital grants schemes which were unavoidably suspended on 31 December 1983 were resumed early in February. The backlog has since been cleared and I am not aware of any continuing delay.The delay in the payment for grain sold into intervention was introduced by the Commission so as to help contain CAP expenditure within the 1984 Community budget.It would not be appropriate to make any reimbursements to farmers as a consequence of the factors mentioned above.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the implementation of his proposals for the future of (a) the Thames barrier and associated flood defences, (b) inland drainage and flood prevention and (c) recreation and amenity on the Thames in central London after the planned dissolution of the Greater London council.

As is mentioned in the White Paper "Streamlining the Cities" (Cmnd. 9063) it is proposed that the Greater London council's responsibilities in respect of land drainage and flood prevention (including responsibility for the Thames barrier and its associated flood defences) should be assumed by the Thames water authority. It is proposed that responsibility for recreation and amenity on the Thames should remain with the Thames water authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what estimate he has formed of the likely cost of 15 per cent. value added tax on the cost of building extensions and refurbishments of buildings owned by his Department in each of the next five years.

The only properties owned by my Department form part of the Government oil pipeline and storage system.VAT on any expenditure on building works in respect of this system will be recoverable.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what investments the National Coal Board has in coal-producing capacity abroad.

The National Coal Board currently holds an 11 per cent. stake in the German Creek opencast coal development in Australia.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy on how many occasions in each of the last four conveniently available periods of six months the Public Record Office has asked his Department to return a file selected for preservation in the Public Record Office and to which public access has been granted under the Public Records Act 1958, as amended, but which has temporarily been withdrawn by the Department for official purposes; in how many cases he has agreed to the request; in how many cases he has refused, either outright or deferred the return; and if he will make a statement.

In the last two years my Department has had no such request from the Public Record Office.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many items of National Health Service equipment have been lent over the last four years to consultants and others from the operating theatre at Stepping Hill hospital, Stockport, to enable them to carry out work at other National Health Service hospitals or private hospitals and clinics, respectively; how many such items have not been returned; and what steps have been taken to charge for materials not returned.

Such information is not available centrally. I have had no cause for concern brought to my attention, but I am making inquiries of the chairman of Stockport health authority, which is responsible for managing Stepping Hill hospital, about the arrangements for the matters raised by the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what evidence he has of the use of equipment belonging to hospitals in the north-west in institutions outside those hospitals.

We do not collect information centrally about the use of equipment in hospitals up and down the country. I would advise the hon. Member to address any inquiries he has to the chairman of the District health authority concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the number of working days lost as a result of sickness during the years ended April 1983 and April 1984.

I regret that this information is not available in the form requested. However, information is collected centrally about days of certified incapacity notified to the Department of Health and Social Security in connection with claims to sickness, invalidity and injury benefits. The latest annual figures available relate to the year ending 2 April 198:3 when the number of such certified days in Great Britain was 370,500,000. If the number of days of incapacity in respect of people whose incapacity lasted throughout the year are excluded, the figure is 171,400,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report the current caseload statistics at each supplementary benefit and national insurance office of his Department in the Glasgow area.

Records of the number of people receiving contributory benefits in each local office area are not kept. The total numbers of cases in action at each Glasgow supplementary benefit local office in February 1984, the latest available period, were as follows:

Local office	Thousands
Anniesland	10·0
Bridgeton	2·3
City	8·0
Craigton	11·0
Cranston Hill	1·9
Dalmarnock	2·1
Laurieston	7·9
Maryhill	10·9
Parkhead	12·1
Partick	6·5
Provan	14·0
Queens Park	3·3
Southside	12·9
Springbum	9·7
Rutherglen	13·0

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will indicate the number of additional claimants whose cases would require to be handled at the Pitt street office of his Department in the event of a closure of the Partick social security office.

An estimated 1,900 supplementary benefit claimants would have their cases transferred to the Pitt street local office if the Partick office closed.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when the £10 Christmas bonus was introduced; and what is its present purchasing power.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East (Mr. Nellist) on 5 December at column 67. The purchasing power of the Christmas bonus in December 1983 was approximately 26 per cent. compared with December 1972.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many dormant files of former unemployed supplementary benefit claimants will be due for destruction if the normal process of destruction is resumed on 15 June;(2) for how long the files of unemployed supplementary benefit claimants are normally preserved after the date of the last benefit payment;(3) how many dormant files of former unemployed supplementary benefit claimants who ceased to receive benefit before August 1983 are still in existence.

Supplementary benefit files are retained for as long as a claim is current and for at least 18 months following the date of the last payment. At present, approximately 6·4 million of the dormant files held relate to unemployed supplementary benefit claimants who stopped receiving benefit before August 1983. Information is not available about the number of files within this total which will be due for destruction when normal destruction procedures are resumed, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the staff costs of checking 1,000 dormant files of former unemployed supplementary benefit claimants whose claims terminated before August 1983 in order to trace those whose benefit was wrongly reduced on grounds of voluntary unemployment.

The estimated total staff cost of scrutinising the dormant files of former unemployed supplementary benefit claimants who might be due a refund of voluntary unemployment deductions is £3·6 million. This works out at approximately £570 per 1,000 cases.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what methods are used for destroying dormant files of supplementary benefit claimants.

Dormant files due for destruction are put in special sacks which are collected and shredded by officially appointed contractors.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will list the number of his Department's personnel manning strike centres, the location of those centres and the cost of each centre for each week of the mining dispute: (2) if he will name his Department's offices where personnel have been redeployed to strike centres, the cost of that deployment, and the cost of overtime at these offices where deployment has taken place.

I shall let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what criteria a single person on strike needs to satisfy before a payment is made to avoid destitution.

A single person on strike who has no partner or dependent children cannot receive supplementary benefit for normal day-to-day living expenses except under the emergency relief provisions—for example, in a disaster such as a fire or flood — as prescribed in regulation 4 of the Supplementary Benefit (Trade Disputes and Recovery from Earnings) Regulations and regulation 8 of the Supplementary Benefit (Urgent Cases) Regulations. Otherwise such a claimant can receive a payment only for urgent special requirements as laid down in the trade disputes regulations— for example, for a special diet needed because of renal failure for which he is treated by dialysis.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) on what number of early retirements the cash limit of £392,000 for 1984–85 in the Yorkshire regional health authority is based;(2) whether the total cost of early retirement in Yorkshire regional health authority was greater in the 1983–84 financial year than the attributed cash limit of £449,000.

As I told the hon. Member on 25 April, at column 556, the actual cost of premature retirements in the Yorkshire region is not available. However, the final national outturn for 1983–84 was slightly higher than estimated and the amount attributed to Yorkshire region from the final outturn is £469,000.The cost of premature retirements arising out of the main 1982 restructuring provisionally attributed to Yorkshire region for 1984–85 (£392,000) is based upon the continuation of 175 pensions prematurely awarded in earlier years and five further retirements during 1984–85.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to the number of claimants who have had their complaints over the housing benefit scheme referred to the ombudsman.

I understand that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration has received six complaints concerning the housing benefit scheme. Five of these have been rejected, and one is still under consideration. I also understand that the local ombudsman has received a number of complaints, most of which have been resolved without formal investigation, but that no separate record is kept of these.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what the cost to the National Health Service pay bill in 1984–85 would be of each additional percentage point increase in pay for nurses, midwives and health visitors.

A 1 per cent. increase in pay in 1984–85 for nurses, midwives and health visitors employed by health authorities in England would cost about £28·5 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what the cost to the National Health Service pay bill in 1984–85 would be of each additional percentage point increase in pay for doctors and dentists.

A 1 per cent. increase in pay for doctors and dentists employed by health authorities in England in 1984–85 would cost about £9 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when the hon. Member for Hampstead and Highgate will receive a substantive response to his letter of 19 March about his constituent Miss Greenham.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 May 1984]: I have written to my hon. Friend today.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the overall anticipated financial cost to the Nature Conservancy Council of concluding those management agreements which the council is currently negotiating in order to protect sites of special scientific interest under section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

The latest estimate by the NCC of the overall cost of concluding those management agreements it is currently negotiating comprises capital sums and arrears of periodical payments totalling £1,071,000 together with annual payments of £774,000.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those members of the board of Sutton housing trust whom he appoints, and the date of expiry of their term of office.

The trustees appointed by my right hon. Friend and the dates on which they might presently expect to retire, are as follows:

Mr. Richard S. Best	31 December 1984
Mr. John R. Coward	31 December 1986
Mr. Harold E. Campbell	31 December 1987
Mr. F. William Hewitt	31 December 1989

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to introduce legislation to give to business tenants the same statutory right to know the name and address of their landlord as is provided for residential tenants under sections 121 and 122 of the Housing Act 1974; and if he will make a statement.

I have no plans to introduce legislation to give to business tenants the same statutory right to know the name and address of their landlord as is provided for residential tenants under sections 121 and 122 of the Housing Act 1974. Section 40(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 enables most business tenants, if their tenancy is for more than one year, to require their immediate landlord, or any superior landlord, to give information about his interest in the property. A notice requiring this information cannot be served more than two years before the end of the tenant's tenancy.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all major examples of privatisation of local government services since 1979.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 12 March to my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Mr. Murphy) at column 23.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he will consider increasing the financial help available to householders and tenants who are affected by the smokeless zone legislation; (2) what has been the percentage increase in grants available for those affected by smokeless zone legislation; and how far it has kept pace with inflation.

The cost limits applied to grants for appliances are revised from time to time to take account of changes in prices. Revised limits are shortly to be published. Householders are eligible for a minimum grant of 70 per cent. of approved conversion costs and local authorities can pay a grant of 100 per cent. in appropriate cases. I see no grounds for changing these arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total number of urban programme projects designed to benefit ethnic minority groups which were funded by his Department in (a) 1982–83 and (b) 1983–84.

In 1982–83, about 700 new and continuing projects of specific benefit to ethnic minority groups were being funded under the urban programme. The total number of such projects funded in 1983–84 was about 1,100.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is yet able to announce his conclusions on the proposed reallocation of functions in Greater London and the metropolitan counties in the light of the consultation on the White Paper, "Streamlining the Cities", Cmnd. 9063.

The Government have considered carefully all the views submitted in response to the White Paper "Streamlining the Cities" and the associated consultation documents. We remain convinced that the GLC and the MCCs are an unnecessary tier of government and that the appropriate course is for the borough and district councils to take on, wherever possible, the current role of the GLC and the MCCs.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is able to make available the second stage of the report on the responses received to the White Paper, "Streamlining the Cities", Cmnd. 9063.