asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about local authority current expenditure on education in 1985–86.

Current expenditure by local authorities on education, which accounts for about half the total on all services, must be contained within the total of targets of £21·8 billion for 1985–86 announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment earlier today.Provisional targets for next year, when school rolls will continue to fall, represent an average increase of just over 3 per cent. on budgets for this year for expenditure on all services by authorities which are education authorities, excluding those to be rate-capped. (This is after making allowance for the abolition of the national insurance surcharge, the planned reduction in local authority expenditure on non-advanced further education corresponding to the increase in spending by the Manpower Services Commission announced in "Training for Jobs", Cmnd. 9135 and changes in the arrangements for transport supplementary grant.)

Academic Year	"Elsewhere" rate Maintenace Grant*	Percentage value in real terms† (September 1974 = 100)	Minimum award	Percentage value in real terms† (September 1974 = 100)
1974–75	605	100·00	50	100·00
1975–76	740	96·95	50	79·02
1976–77	875	100·01	50	69·15
1977–78	1,010	99·81	80	95·66
1978–79	1,100	100·83	200	221·83
1979–80	1,245	97·97	335	318·96
1980–81	1,430	97·14	385	316·45
1981–82	1,535	93·58	410	302·45
1982–83	1,595	90·64	410	281·93
1983–84	1,660	89·72	410	268·14
*For undergraduate students living away from the parental home, and not in London.
†Percentage change in grant divided by percentage change in the Retail Price Index (RPI).

Information is not available to enable a full comparison to be made with other European countries over the period.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much saving he expects to achieve by the transfer of the control of funding of non-advanced further education courses to the Manpower Services Commission.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when special education initial teacher training courses will be phased out; and what arrangements he will make for training in this field.

No decisions have been taken on the future of special education initial training courses. I am currently considering, in conjunction with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales, a recommendation from the advisory committee on the supply and education of teachers that such courses should be phased out as soon as possible, subject to opportunities being available within a coherent local and national framework for specialist in-service provision in special educational needs. Interested bodies have been invited to let us know their views on this and related recommendations made by ACSET in its report on teacher training and special educational needs.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how the maximum and minimum student grants have changed in real terms over each of the last 10 years; and how these changes compare with those in other European countries, from information available from international sources.

The information requested on student grants in the United Kingdom is as follows:

The new funding arrangements are designed to secure better value for the money invested in work related non-advanced further education; not to reduce the resources available for this purpose.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what discussions he has had with the Workers' Educational Association, university extramural departments and local education authorities about expanding adult and continuing education to meet the increased leisure time available.

None. It is for each of these groups to consider how best to cater for adult and continuing needs within the financial resources available to them.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he fixed the level of his Department's grant to the Workers' Educational Association for 1984–85 and 1985–86; and what estimates for the level of local authority grant he worked on.

The total amount of grant which would be available to Workers' Educational Association districts in aggregate for 1984–85, 1985–86 and 1986–87 was announced on 16 December 1983. In reaching decisions on the individual grant allocations to each district for 1984–85, which were notified on 18 June 1984, regard was had to the overall financial position of each, including estimates of income provided by the Workers' Educational Association districts in May and June 1984.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has considered giving the Workers' Educational Association special funding for courses run for the unemployed.

Four Workers' Educational Association districts are already receiving funding for work with the unemployed. In addition, it is open to the Workers' Educational Association to submit proposals for development grant under schemes being managed by the further education unit and the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education for the Department's adult unemployed programme.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many representations he has received in the last three months about the level of Workers' Educational Association funding.

About 360 letters.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers are known by his Department to be currently employed in the state sector of education; and, of them, how many are qualified to teach religious education.

In January 1984, the full-time equivalent number of teachers employed in maintained establishments in England and Wales were:

	Number
Nursery, primary and secondary schools	438,655
Special schools and units	18,187
Qualified teachers providing education otherwise than at school	2,239
Further Education	102,894
Total	561,975

The latest information on teachers' qualifications is for 1977, when there were estimated to be 14,800 full-time teachers holding a qualification in religious education in maintained secondary schools in England and Wales, around 6·3 per cent. of all full-time teachers, in maintained secondary schools.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) whether he has any plans to bring the probationary period of a teacher in Scotland or Northern Ireland into line with those of a teacher in England or Wales;(2) whether he has any plans to amend the regulations governing the probationary period of teachers to ensure that service in any area of the United Kingdom counts towards completion of the probation in any other area and consequent attainment of full teacher status.

No. My powers under the regulations governing probation extend only to England and Wales. There is provision under the regulations, however, whereby local education authorities may reduce or waive the period of probation to take account of previous experience and they usually do so in respect of probation satisfactorily served in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own probation regulations and I understand that similar provisions are applied in respect of probation satisfactorily served in other parts of the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the approximate number of (a) Syrian, (b) Iranian, (c) Iraqi and (d) Libyan students currently resident in the United Kingdom; how many have already resided in the United Kingdom for more than four years; and how many are over 30 years of age.

Available information relates only to the approximate number of persons from the countries named who in 1982–83 were studying in the United Kingdom in universities and in the public and private sectors. This is as follows:

	Number
Iran	3,200
Iraq	2,500
Libya	1,500
Syria	300

This information will be contained in the British Council booklet "Statistics of Overseas Students in the United Kingdom, 1982–83" currently under preparation; a copy will be placed in the Library of the House on publication.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what consideration he has given to the report presented to him by the working party established by the Voluntary Council for Handicapped Children to investigate the need for a national advisory committee for special educational needs; what action he is taking; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I are considering our response to this report, and hope to make an announcement after the recess.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will introduce legislation to prohibit the awarding of degrees by bodies not recognised by his Department as suitably qualified to do so; and if he will make a statement.

No. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Member for the City of London and Westminster, South (Mr. Brooke) on 4 June 1984 at column 63.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the identifiable public expenditure per head for 1982–83 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The following table gives identifiable public expenditure per head in each country of the United

Identifiable Public Expenditure*†
£ per head
	England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland	United Kingdom
1978–79	881	1,116	1,005	1,409	923
1979–80	1,048	1,325	1,170	1,607	1,095
1980–81	1,262	1,599	1,441	1,909	1,320
1981–82	1,408	1,805	1,610	2,101	1,474
1982–83	1,539	1,990	1,726	2,335	1,612
* Excluding government net lending to nationalised industries and the market and overseas borrowing of nationalised industries a public corporations.
† The extent to which expenditure can be identified may vary from year to year and between countries, particularly for services administered an England and Wales basis. The data are derived from the 1983 territorial analysis exercise which identified where possible the territorial breakdown of the planning total for the outturn years as estimated in September 1983; they update those printed in the Official Report on 1 February 1983, at columns 84 to 96.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what information he has as to (a) how many married men are in receipt of investment income, (b) the total amount of investment income received by them and (c) the amount of tax which is charged on this income;(2) what is his departmental evidence as to

Estimates based on projections to 1984–85 from the latest available survey of personal incomes (for 1981–82) are shown in the following table. The survey is of the information on taxpayers' incomes that is available in tax offices. The figures in the table should be treated with caution because of the incomplete coverage in the survey of non-taxpayers, and of investment income that is exempt from tax or on which liability to basic rate tax is satisfied, for example, by deduction at source or under the building societies' composite rate arrangements.Estimates of income tax for each column of the table have been calculated by treating the corresponding amounts of investment income as the top slice of the couple's income.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many consumer credit licences are now in force; and if he is satisfied with the amount of consumer credit available.

At the end of June 1983 the Director General of Fair Trading has issued a total of 154,556 consumer credit licences, of which 204 had been revoked and 2,379 had been voluntarily surrendered. The Government have no target for the amount of consumer credit available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was, for the most recent 12-month period, the extent by which the import levy on wheat varied, giving the highest and lowest rates and the dates in each case.

Different rates of import levy apply to common wheat and to durum wheat. In the 12 months from 1 July 1983 to 30 June 1984 the highest and lowest rates of levy expressed in £ per metric tonne were as follows:

	Highest rate	Lowest rate
Common Wheat	£71·9991 (5 July 1983)	£41·5118 (17 August 1983)
Durum Wheat	£93·8252 (1 May 1984)	£62·2243 (17 August 1983)

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that the ownership of second homes, chalets and caravans are subject to a statutory declaration on income tax returns.

The purpose of the tax return form is to enable taxpayers to give information which may be necessary for tax purposes. In particular, details of any income from letting real property of caravans have to be shown as have details of acquisitions of real property and, in some cases, caravans. It would not be proper however to require taxpayers to include in their tax returns information which was not needed for tax purposes.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how salary paid up to six months in advance is treated by the Inland Revenue for pay-as-you-earn purposes; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will print a table in the Official Report showing the proportion of gross earnings taken in income tax, national insurance contributions and indirect taxation, divided into occupational groups as convenient, for each financial year since 1977–78 to the most recent available date.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will report progress on the Inland Revenue project to computerise pay-as-you-earn.

The pilot project has been successful and I have decided to extend it to the rest of the country, as planned, and to include the schedule D work in local offices as well as PAYE.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make a statement about the Budget Council on 18 to 20 July.

I represented the United Kingdom at this Council in Brussels. On 18 July the Council met a delegation of Members of the European Parliament to exchange views on the Council's and the Parliament's approaches to the two budgets and on the spending priorities within them.On 19 July the Council discussed the Commission's supplementary and rectifying budget for 1984 and a preliminary draft budget for 1985. Despite a debate lasting some 24 hours, the Council failed to reach a final agreement on either of these budgets. On the 1984 SRB, the United Kingdom proposed substantial economies in EAGGF guarantee expenditure in 1984 and deferring EAGGF expenditure into 1985. Although the Netherlands delegation supported some elements of the United Kingdom's suggestions most other delegations approved the Commission's estimates or were only prepared to consider minor reductions to the Commission's plans, and were opposed to deferring expenditure. Some delegations, particularly Germany and the Netherlands, proposed that a substantial element of the agricultural overrun be financed by cuts in non-obligatory expenditure.Towards the end of the Council, the Presidency proposed that savings of some 650 million ecu be made in 1984 (these were not specified) and that the Council adopt a resolution inviting member states to make advances of 1,350 million ecu to the 1984 SRB. I made it clear that I could not agree to this and that the Community budget must be financed by own resources within the existing ceiling.As far as the 1985 PDB is concerned, the Council did reach agreement (on a provisional basis) to establish a draft budget within the 1 per cent. VAT ceiling allowing room for the European Parliament to add its margin of manoeuvre on non-obligatory expenditure. The agreement was provisional because several member states were prepared to accept reductions only if a commitment could be agreed in advance to finance any unavoidable agricultural overrun in 1985. I made it clear, as I had in discussion of the 1984 SRB, that we were not prepared to provide supplementary finance outside the own resources system, but indicated that it might be acceptable to bring forward the implementation of the own resources decision to late 1985 within a specified and limited amount. The German delegation insisted that new own resources could be made available only from 1 January 1986. The Council was therefore unable to agree any of the various Presidency compromise texts which would have embodied such a commitment.The General Affairs Council discussed the outcome of the Budget Council at its meeting on 23 July and the Foreign Secretary will inform the House shortly of the outcome of this discussion.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will extend the terms of reference on the Keith committee to include the enforcement of the powers of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise in relation to the importation of literature.

[pursuant to his reply, 19 July 1984, c. 308.]: No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce legislation to increase the maximum penalty for fraudulent evasion of value added tax contrary to section 38 of the Finance Act 1972.

[pursuant to his reply, 20 July 1984, c. 343]: Under section 39 of the Value Added Tax Act 1983, which superseded section 38 of the Finance Act 1972, the maximum term of imprisonment on conviction on indictment is two years. The committee on enforcement powers of the revenue departments, chaired by Lord Keith, has recommended that the maximum imprisonment under this section should be increased to seven years.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution Her Majesty's Government have made in each of the financial years 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83 and 1983–84, and what contribution is intended for 1984–85 to the United Nations Trust Fund for South Africa.

A contribution of £50,000 was made to the United Nations trust fund for South Africa in 1979–80. No contributions were made in the other years mentioned, and none is intended for 1984–85.

asked the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to be able to announce whether he will provide, through the Overseas Development Administration, the assistance requested by the Government of Mozambique to provide management for the Northern Railway, locomotive maintenance and railway telecommunications.

These requests have only just been received, but I shall consider them without delay. I recognise the importance of this railway not only to Mozambique but to Malawi, whose rail system we are already helping to improve.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the 1983 report and accounts of the Crown Agents holdings and realisation board will be laid before Parliament.

The 1983 report and accounts are being laid before Parliament today. As soon as they are available, published copies of the report and accounts will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many acres of Northern Ireland Housing Executive derelict land there are in Belfast; and how much of this land is in (a) the north, (b) the south, (c) the east, and (d) west Belfast.

This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, but I understand from the chairman that it owns 22 acres of vacant land in Belfast which is not intended for private or public authority housing—nine acres in north Belfast (districts 4 and 6), 13 acres in west Belfast (districts 1, 3 and 5).

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Government is taking to provide move-on accommodation for people living in emergency hostels.

The need for specialised move-on accommodation is one of the matters being reviewed in the light of the report of the joint working group on homelessness. The Government recognise that temporary accommodation in hostels is a transitional arrangement which should be kept as short as is possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 has not so far been extended to Northern Ireland; if he will now seek to do so; and if he will make a statement.

The Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 has not so far been extended to Northern Ireland because neither I nor my predecessors have yet been convinced that this would represent an improvement over the existing legislative provision and administrative arrangements. However, the joint working group set up in November 1983 to consider the problems of homelessness has recently submitted its report and I shall make a further statement when this report has been considered fully.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the estimated drop in price for beef cattle in Northern Ireland since the introduction of clawback on variable premiums.

Full clawback arrangements applied from 1 July 1984. During the two weeks 18 to 29 June 1984, the average market price of clean cattle was £90·57 per 100 kgs; during the two weeks 2 to 13 July 1984, it was £87·79 per 100 kgs, a drop of £2·78 per 100 kgs or 3·1 per cent.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the total number of cattle slaughtered in Northern Ireland during the months of April, May and June; and what is the difference between that and the same period in 1983.

The numbers of cattle slaughtered in Northern Ireland during the three-month period in 1984 were:

	Number
April	44,080
May	31,788
June	33,396

These figures represent increases of 20 per cent., 26 per cent. and 3 per cent. respectively on the corresponding figures for 1983.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many shares the Government own in the new company that has just purchased Sealink; under what circumstances or conditions the Government will use their veto on the policy of that company; and if he will make a statement.

I am the holder of a £1 preference share in Sealink UK Ltd., and this has rights attaching to it requiring that all of the company's ships that are for the time being subject to the power of requisitioning for defence purposes shall be kept available for that purpose. There is a further requirement that the company may not dispose of the whole of the undertaking, or more than 25 per cent. of its fleet as it exists from time to time, without my consent.It has been the Government's clear intention that these arrangements should not interfere with the commercial operations of the company. To give substance to that policy I will be exchanging undertakings with the purchaser:He will ensure that the rights attaching to the preference share are upheld, and if he sells, or relinquishes control of the company, will procure a similar undertaking to me from the new purchaser, or will seek my consent to the terms of the sale.I, for my part, will undertake that no consent to a variation in the rights attaching to the preference share, or to a release from the purchaser's obligations under his undertaking, will be withheld, nor will any restriction on the management of Sealink by its shareholders and directors be imposed, except where I believe such action to be necessary in the interests of national defence.I am arranging for the full texts of the relevant article of association of Sealink UK Ltd., and of the undertakings, to be placed in the Library on completion of the sale.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now establish new liaison arrangements between London Regional Transport and the British Railways Board as foreshadowed in the 1983 White Paper on "Public Transport in London", Cmnd. 9004.

I have today written to the chairmen of British Rail and London Regional Transport setting out my proposals for closer co-operation. I have formed a new committee, the London Passenger Transport Group, comprising myself and the two chairmen. The first meeting of the group is being held today.The full text of my letter is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make a statement on progress in the development of anti-roll protection and the fitting of brake retarders on passenger coaches;(2) how many EEC countries require the fitting of anti-roll protection and brake retarders on passenger coaches; and if he will make a statement.

Concerning the development of anti-roll protection, may I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 4 June to the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr. Sheerman), at column 49. No member state currently has a requirement of this kind.The United Kingdom construction and use regulations require all vehicle built since 1 October 1982 to comply with EEC braking directives. To meet these requirements most new coaches have to be fitted with a brake retarder. I regret that information about the need to fit retarders on coaches in other member states is not readily available.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of those involved in road accidents in each year since 1979 were aged (a) up to five, (b) six to 10, (c) 11 to 15 and (d) 16 to 20 years.

Percentage of casualties in reported road accidents, by age group, were as follows:

Great Britain
Year	Total number of casualties	Age 0–5	Age 6–10	Age 11–15	Age 16–20
1979	335,000	3	6	7	25
1980	327,000	3	6	7	26
1981	325,000	3	5	7	27
1982	334,000	3	5	7	27

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what account is taken, in considering applications for renewal of heavy goods vehicle driving licences, of convictions for offences of dangerous driving.

The independent licensing authorities in the traffic areas have power to suspend or revoke these licences in the ground that, by reason of his conduct as a driver of a motor vehicle, the holder is not a fit person to hold such a licence. Where the record at DVLC shows that a driver whose ordinary licence has been endorsed by a court also holds a licence to drive heavy goods vehicles, the licensing authority concerned is automatic ally informed; applicants to renew these licences are also required to decleare any relevant convictions. In the event of disqualification, the vocational licence ceases to have effect and must be returned to the issuing authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the average waiting time for driving tests; and how this compares with comparable figures since 1979.

The national average waiting time for an L-test on the 22 June 1984 was 13½ weeks.Comparable figures since 1979 have been:

	weeks
22 June 1979	28
20 June 1980	25¼
19 June 1981	16½
25 June 1982	12¾
24 June 1983	11

Recruitment of additional driving examiners is in hand where required.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy not to use the term "fast lane" to describe the overtaking lane on motorways in all publications issued or sponsored by his Department.

It is already our firm policy to refer to the right hand lane as the overtaking lane rather than the fast lane. This is made clear in departmental publications, including a leaflet currently being mailed to all vehicle owners with their vehicle licence renewal reminders. I am sending a copy to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of motorway were opened in the United Kingdom in 1982 and 1983; how many more miles are expected to be opened before the end of 1984 and 1985; and if he will give the figures broken down by motorway.

The information requested is as follows:

Miles of new motorway opened
1982		1983
M2*	0·1	M2*	0·3
M20	7·8	M25	19·7
M25	5·4	M27	4·3
M63	2·5	M54	17·4
M531	2·8	M65	5·5
Total	20·8	Total	47·2
		In addition M1 widened for 6·4 miles
* M2 Northern Ireland.

Miles of new motorway expected to open
1984		1985
M25	10·2	M3	11·1
M27	2·4	M25	22·7
M65	2·2	M42	8·7
Total	14·8	Total	42·5

asked the Secretary of State for Transport why he is still instructing the local authority to continue safeguarding the 1978 draft order line of the Aire Valley route between Bingley and Baildon bridge which was rejected by the Secretary of State following the 1980 public inquiry.

The 1978 draft order line of the Aire Valley route between Bingley and Baildon bridge ceased to be safeguarded by my Department on 8 November 1982 when the line order for the Aire Valley trunk road was made starting at Kidwick and finishing at Bingley.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many people have been employed in British ports in each of the years since 1963, broken down into registered and non-registered employees.

The information is as follows:

Thousands
Year	Registered dock workers	Non- registered dock workers	Total
1964	64·1	*66·6	* 130·7
1965	65·1	63·8	128·9
1966	62·5	62·5	125·0
1967	601	67·7	127·8
1968	56·6	73·0	129·6
1969	52·7	60·7	113·4
1970	49·6	55·5	102·4
1971	45·5	54·5	1000
1972	41·2	43·4	84·6
1973	34·5	37·3	71·8
1974	34·6	36·7	71·3
1975	33·6	33·7	67·3
1976	31·1	33·8	64·9
1977	29·5	35·2	64·7
1978	28·7	33·9	62·6
1979	26·9	33·8	60·7
1980	24·5	33·7	58·2
1981	21·0	32·6	53·6
1982	16·8	29·9	46·7
1983	14·1	*29·4	*43·5
* Estimated figures.
The figures for non-registered dock workers are the difference between the total mid-year numbers of port transport employees (source Department of Employment) and the average annual numbers of registered dock workers (source National Dock Labour Board).

	October 81 to September 82		October 82 to September 83		October 83 to March 84		Applications currently awaiting decision
TAOs	Applications received	Licences granted	Applications received	Licences granted	Applications received	Licences granted
North Eastern (Newcastle)	1,609	1,598	1,924	1,787	877	811	176
North Eastern (Leeds)	2,473	2,689	2,734	2,771	1,363	1,307	280
North Western (Manchester)	4,128	3,870	4,265	3,880	2,274	2,144	1,000
West Midlands (Birmingham)	3,598	3,226	3,253	2,930	1,652	1,435	563
Eastern (Nottingham)	3,145	2,702	3,478	3,037	1,575	1,598	275
Eastern (Cambridge)	2,501	2,182	2,413	2,225	1,260	1,127	475

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many lorry bans or restrictions there are currently operating in the United Kingdom.

Measures to restrict the movement of lorries are essentially for the local authorities concerned and no central records are maintained. A survey carried out by my Department at the end of 1982 identified some 2,200 lorry bans that were introduced on amenity grounds in England and Wales. Details of these schemes were placed in the Library in February last year.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many European goods quota licensing certificates have been issued in each year since the United Kingdom's accession to the European Community.

The United Kingdom allocation of EC road haulage quota permits since 1973 has been:

Year	Number
1973	114
1974	227
1975	272
1976	272
1977	272
1978	326
1979	355
1980	418
1981	418
1982	436
1983	436
1984	436
The quota was fully issued in each year.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many applications have been received by each of the traffic area offices for the granting of goods vehicles operators' licences for each month of the last two years; how many such licences have been granted by each of the traffic area offices during each month of the last two years; and what is the total number of such applications currently awaiting approval by each of the traffic area offices.

The figures are not available on a monthly basis and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the following table shows total figures related to the periods covered by the licencing authorities' annual reports.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for increasing the number of sub-post offices which issue vehicle licences.

Agreement in principle has been reached with the Post Office to extend the current sub-post office relicensing network by an extra 150 to 160 offices during the course of this financial year. The details of the extension are now being finalised by the Post Office; when offices have been selected I will notify the hon. Members concerned. In conjunction with the Post Office my officials will continue to keep the possibilities for further expansion for the network under close review.

To ask the Prime Minister, if she will pay an official visit to Llanelwedd.

I have at present no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister upon what basis she selects portraits for display in 10 Downing Street.

Portraits are selected for their connection with 10 Downing Street itself and its past distinguished occupants; or because the sitter played an important part in the history of our country; or for their importance as works of art by British portraitists.

asked the Prime Minister whether she has any plans to pay an official visit to Erith and Crayford.

I have at present no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 24 July.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 24 July.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 24 July.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today.

asked the Prime Minister if she has any plans to introduce legislation to provide for commercial ratepayers to have the opportunity to vote in local elections.

We have no plans to reintroduce a business vote in local elections. When the business vote was abolished in 1969 only 150,000 people were entitled to vote under the provision in Great Britain, compared with a total of 36 million electors at that time. A more effective way of ensuring that business ratepayers have the opportunity to influence local authorities is provided by the duty to consult representatives of their industrial and commercial ratepayers placed on authorities in the Rates Act 1984.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Government will publish their response to the report of the information technology advisory panel, "Making a Business of Information'; and if he will make a statement.

I am pleased to be able to announce that the Government's response to the information technology advisory panel report "Making a Business of Information" is published today. Copies have been made available in the Library of the House and in the Vote Office. The Government's response warmly endorses the approach taken by the panel in its report and replies positively to a number of its recommendations. In particular, I am glad to announce that Government have accepted the need identified by the panel to review the present Ministerial responsibility for the tradeable information sector and to allocate the role of policy co-ordination in this area to a single Minister. The Prime Minister has agreed that my right hon. Friend the Member for Mole Valley (Mr. Baker) the Minister for Information Technology, should take on this task.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the ratio of imports to exports in manufactured goods for each member of the organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for each year since 1970, from information available from international sources.

For countries other than the main manufacturing countries the most readily available data include section 9 of the standard international trade classification. This is a residual section covering goods not

Import/Export* ratios of trade in manufactures†
Table 1
	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982
United Kingdom	67	64	74	86	88	78	80	80	87	96	90	93	100
United States	90	103	114	103	90	75	87	100	116	103	92	98	110
France	88	87	90	91	90	77	87	82	83	85	91	88	95
Federal Republic of Germany	57	57	57	52	46	51	54	55	57	61	62	59	56
Italy	70	61	61	74	71	55	61	55	54	60	72	62	61
Netherlands	130	118	108	108	102	106	104	113	117	114	110	101	100
Belgium/Luxembourg	78	85	80	82	82	85	87	90	91	92	92	89	90
Sweden	98	89	89	84	90	92	90	90	81	84	87	79	82
Switzerland	106	105	105	100	97	80	78	83	84	90	100	91	89
Canada	110	119	130	136	149	152	139	132	124	134	124	128	108
Japan	31	24	25	33	28	22	21	19	21	27	24	21	22

Table 2
	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982
Denmark	177	165	150	162	147	140	162	151	148	142	121	111	115
Greece	553	605	454	378	248	297	293	322	303	313	248	222	231
Ireland	264	222	198	191	183	171	164	155	169	174	157	151	129
Austria	110	118	123	122	106	104	117	128	114	112	117	105	101
Finland	119	120	105	109	105	116	98	80	75	82	89	78	78
Norway	149	163	134	137	130	141	164	176	130	141	152	160	171
Spain	206	145	152	166	156	139	132	110	83	81	84	81	84
Australia	260	252	201	212	266	234	255	264	314	292	277	356	434
Iceland	446	971	428	438	580	721	366	412	393	327	333	414	451
Portugal	175	172	167	155	171	150	191	198	172	135	150	175	161
Turkey	1,167	1,021	963	708	652	973	732	868	552	455	426	240	173
New Zealand	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	397	328	321	291	311	331
* Imports divided by exports expressed as a percentage.
† Standard International Trade Classification sections 5 to 8 (Table 1); 5 to 9 (Table 2).
‡ Not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the United Kingdom's exports of manufactured goods went to the European Community in each full year since the United Kingdom joined the Community.

The information is as follows:

Proportion of United Kingdom exports of manufactures* going to other European Community† countries
	Per cent.
1973	30·4
1974	32·3
1975	29·7
1976	32·8
1977	33·8
1978	35·0
1979	38·9
1980	38·1
1981	35·8
1982	36·8
1983	37·6
* Standard International Trade Classification Sections 5 to 8.
† Current Membership throughout.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the percentage of first-class mail delivered on the day after posting at the latest date for which such information is available to him.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Minister will list those buildings in which installation of a loop system for hearing-aid purposes requires a licence issued by his Department; and whether a loop system installed in a private house requires a licence.

All such induction loop systems at present require a licence under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949. Proposals will be published very shortly, however, for exempting a range of low power devices, including systems such as these, from the licensing requirement.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will now take steps to ensure that cars are available for purchase in the United Kingdom at prices similar to those in other European Community countries.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many companies have been registered in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales in each of the past five years; and if he will also give figures for those that have been deregistered.

The figures are as follows:

	New companies registered	Companies deregistered
1979
England and Wales*	62,958	23,919
Scotland	3,514	1,753
Northern Ireland†	735	501
1980
England and Wales	66,104	25,909
Scotland	3,270	960
Northern Ireland	608	145
1981
England and Wales	68,941	28,285
Scotland	3,475	1,453
Northern Ireland	629	323
1982
England and Wales	82,955	52,015
Scotland	4,211	2,295
Northern Ireland	907	258
1983
England and Wales	91,470	43,023
Scotland	4,718	1,682
Northern Ireland	820	390
* It is not possible to break down the figures for England and Wales for any year given above.
† Figures provided by the Department of Economic Development, Belfast.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will introduce legislation to limit holdings in national newspapers to a maximum of 15 per cent.

No. The newspaper merger provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973 regulate the concentration of newspaper ownership. I do not believe that statutory limits on the ownership as such of newspapers are necessary or desirable.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the outcome of the review of the declaration on international investment and multinational enterprises made by the Governments of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries in 1976.

The ministerial meeting of the OECD took place in May and accepted a report setting out progress and recommending certain actions arising from the 1976 OECD declaration as revised by the 1979 meeting of the OECD Council at ministerial level. The report has now been published and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.The report concluded that the 1976 declaration and decisions, as revised, have provided and, when the further amendments are adopted, will continue to provide useful mechanisms for consultation among member Governments and the international business community and labour organisations about international investment and multi-national enterprises.Member countries agreed on certain practical approaches to strengthen international co-operation on problems that may arise when multinational enterprises face conflicting requirements as a result of claims by OECD member countries to extraterritorial jurisdiction.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has received the British Shipbuilders' annual report and accounts for 1983–84.

My right hon. Friend will tomorrow, in accordance with Sections 17(9) and 18(6) of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977, lay before each House copies of British Shipbuilders annual report and accounts for 1983–84.In addition my right hon. Friend will be placing in the Library of the House a notification as to form of accounts issued to British Shipbuilders on 5 July 1984, supplementing the existing requirements of section 17 of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977, and in accordance with which British Shipbuilders has prepared its accounts for 1983–84.

the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the cost of production of leaflets, documents and other Government publications by his Department in (a) Welsh, (b) Gaelic and (c) foreign languages used in Great Britain for distribution and use in the United Kingdom.

[pursuant to the reply, 23 July 1984]: The cost of production of leaflets, documents and other Government publications by the Department of Trade and Industry in (a) Welsh, (b) Gaelic and (c) foreign languages used in Great Britain for distribution and use in the United Kingdom was as follows for the last complete financial year 1983–84:

	£
Welsh	1,000
Gaelic	—
Foreign languages	11,557

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the estimated drop in milk production in England and Wales for the months April, May and June compared with the same period in 1983.

The information requested is as follows:

Total sales of milk off farms through the milk marekting scheme—England and Wales—million litres
	1983	1984	Per cent. change 1984 over 1983
April	1265·3	1212·1	-4·2
May	1379·3	1303·7	-5·5
June	1253·8	1139·9	-9·1
Total	3898·4	3655·7	-6·2

Water Authority	Local land drainage committee	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85
Anglian	Essex	1·4099	1·7367	1·9262	2·1651	2·3182
	Great Ouse	0·7705	0·8614	0·9981	1·0655	1·1084
	Lincolnshire	1·255	1·2790	1·6300	1·7762	1·8536
	Norfolk and Suffolk	0·956	1·1085	1·3052	1·3965	1·5690
	Welland and Nene	1·0854	1·2397	1·5279	1·6216	1·5924
Northumbrian†		0·2196	0·2317	0·2807	0·3039	0·3073
North West†		0·5769	0·6950	0·8292	0·8501	0·8860
Severn Trent	Severn*	0·6676	0·7593	0·8710	0·9091	0·9849
	Trent	0·5204	0·6048	0·7257	0·7390	0·8013
Southern	Hampshire	0·3487	0·3639	0·4270	0·5597	0·5616
	Isle of Wight	0·8105	0·7809	0·8379	0·8651	0·8678
Southern	Kent	1·5849	1·6719	1·8818	1·9262	1·9319
	Sussex	1·1483	1·3114	1·4866	1·5552	1·5933
South West	East	10916	1·1955	1·2310	1·2310	1·2924
	West	0·5358	0·6101	0·6401	0·6626	0·6892
Thames	Thames	0·7808	0·8579	1·0080	1·0661	1·0992
	Lee	0·9773	1·0216	1·1724	1·2532	1·2482
Wessex	Avon and Dorset	0·6523	0·6784	0·7645	0·8148	0·9166
	Bristol Avon	0·8174	0·8974	1·0500	1·1258	1·1442
	Somerset	1·6984	1·8906	2·3556	2·4779	2·4999
Yorkshire†		0·4957	0·7044	0·7890	0·8163	0·8334
Welsh	Dee and Clwyd*	1·4692	1·5340	1·6664	2·0818	2·3034
	Wye*	1·4086	1·6338	1·6693	1·8753	2·0139
* LLDCs partly in England and partly in Wales.
† There are no LLDCs in these areas.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the Commission of the European Communities has yet replied to the notification of the Government's proposed contribution towards the costs of the Sea Fish Industry Authority's market development programme, as announced in his answer to the hon. Member for Beverley (Sir P. Wall) on 22 May, Official Report, column 379.

We have been informed by the Commission that it has decided to initiate the procedure provided for in article 93(2) of the Treaty of Rome in respect of the programmes. The Government will in due course be submitting their comments to the Commission on the points raised in the notification. No contribution will be made until this procedure is completed.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many times the estimated penny rate product is the level of precept levied on relevant local authorities by regional water authorities under section 46 of the Land Drainage Act 1976 for each local land drainage district in England in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Following are the multiples applied to the estimated penny rate products levied by precepts on the relevant local authorities by water authorities under section 46 of the Land Drainage Act 1976. The information is analysed under regional or local land drainage committees in England in each of the last five years:

asked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what steps he proposes to take, following the publication of the recent schools' inspectorate report on education in Wales, in respect of the insecure grasp of the Welsh language exhibited by pupils entering bilingual schools;(2) if he will set up a working party to seek solutions to the problems highlighted by the recent schools inspectorate report on education in Wales.

It is assumed that the hon. Gentleman is referring to Her Majesty's Inspectorate report "A Survey of provision for special educational needs in the ordinary school (primary)". The usual procedure for follow-up of Her Majesty's Inspectorate reports has been adapted slightly and each local education authority in Wales has been asked to inform the Department within three months:

1.what action they consider is required in relation to the ordinary primary schools;

2.what action the Authority has taken or proposes to take; and

3.what action the findings of the report might have for other institutions maintained by the LEA.

My right hon. Friend will await the responses to this letter before deciding what other action, if any, he needs to take.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the figures for the number of children who came into local authority care between 1 April 1979 and 31 March 1980, and in each succeeding 12-month period, because the family was homeless (a)for Wales as a whole and (b) for each Welsh local authority area.

The available information is given in the following table and refers to the number of episodes of children coming into care specifically because their family was homeless:

Numer of Care Episodes Starting During Year Ending 31 March
	1980	1981	1982	1983
Clwyd	5	6	5	1
Dyfed	12	6	0	0
Gwent	15	10	2	2
Gwynedd	0	7	4	2
Mid Glamorgan	6	5	16	2
Powys	0	0	2	1
South Glamorgan	9	4	5	11
West Glamorgan	3	5	6	3
WALES	50	43	40	22

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will initiate an independent cost-benefit survey of the value of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools in Wales.

No; I refer the hon. Gentleman to the policy statement on the work of Her Majesty's inspectorate issued on 24 March 1983 at columns 458–9 by my right hon. Friend and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he is fully satisfied with the quality of information flow between Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools and local education authority advisers.

My right hon. Friend is satisfied with the working relationships between Her Majesty's Inspectorate and LEA advisers and with the flow of information between them.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list in the Official Report, for each of the past three years, those colleges of further and higher education whose principals have attended the Welsh Office for discussions regarding the future of their institutions.

No principals of further and higher education colleges in Wales have attended the Welsh Office during the past three years expressly to discuss the future of their institutions. Discussions are held from time to time about various aspects of college provision but no record is kept of the incidence of these.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will initiate a major survey into the extent to which the future of children in Wales could be improved by changing the present methods of teacher and head teacher appointment.

No. The subject is covered in the White Paper "Teacher Quality" (Cmnd. 8836) issued in March 1983. So far as headteacher selection is concerned, the Government provided financial support for a research project which produced a report "The selection of secondary school headteachers" published by the Open University Press in 1983. A national conference on headteacher selection on 27 February 1984 was attended by educational representatives from England and Wales. The topic was also discussed in the Green Paper "Parental influence at school: a new framework for school government in England and Wales" (Cmnd. 9242) issued in 1984.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will list in the Official Report those dates, since he took office, on which he has visited the parliamentary constituency of Gower; and what was the purpose of each visit.

I have made a number of visits to Gower, in my official capacity and on a political and personal basis.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list in the Official Report for each of the past five years (a) the colleges of education and (b) the colleges of further education about which Her Majesty's inspectors have expressed their concern over the administrative ability of the head of the institution.

None. Her Majesty's inspectors do not report on the ability of individuals but comment on the quality of work and educational provision of the institution. Such comment is made in reports which are issued to local education authorities and Governors, and issues of concern are drawn to the attention of these bodies. Since 1983 all HMI reports have been made public and are freely available.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many kilometres of new farm roads in the less favoured areas of Wales have been grant-aided; how many schemes this involved; and at what cost, in each year since 1980.

Records are not kept of the length of new farm roads attracting grant aid and figures could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.It is not possible to identify separately the number of schemes grant-aided since a particular road may be the subject of more than one claim. The numbers of claims paid under the capital grant schemes for new roads or the improvement of existing roads since 1980 are as follows:

Less favoured area: grant payment on roads
Year	Number of claims paid	Eligible Cost £	Grant Paid £
1980	246	1,326,797	663,398
1981	332	2,824,973	1,412,486
1982	601	5,689,812	2,844,905
1983	940	10,433,832	5,216,917
1984*	325	3,050,737	1,525,367
* Period January-March 1984 only.

Rate of precept based on the estimated product of a penny rate
Local land drainage district	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85
A. Welsh water authority
Wye	1·4086	1·6338	1·6693	1·8753	2·0139
Usk	0·5667	0·8327	0·8274	1·0712	1·1366
Glamorgan	0·8262	1·1744	0·9225	1·3642	1·4602
South West Wales	0·9602	1·1085	1·1610	1·5141	1·6340
Gwynedd	1·4730	1·3100	1·6314	2·0855	2·2877
Dee and Clwyd	1·4692	1·5340	1·6664	2·0818	2·3034
B. Severn Trent water authority
Severn (partly in Wales)	0·6676	0·7593	0·8710	0·9091	0·9849

asked the Secretary of State for Wales when he first received a request from Felinheli community council for a member of the highway staff of the Welsh Office to attend a public meeting at Felinheli; when was the reply sent, and when the meeting will take place.

[pursuant to his reply, 23 July 1984, c. 389–90]: The request for a meeting was received on 12 July and is being considered.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received during the past three months concerning the urgency of going ahead with the Felinheli (Port Dinorwic) bypass; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 23 July 1984, c. 389–90]: Apart from representations received from the hon. Gentleman, a recent letter from the Felinheli community council refers to problems caused by traffic in Port Dinorwic. I have explained to the hon. Gentleman that the priority attached to the bypass scheme has to be assessed in the light of many other competing claims.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the date of expiry of the recently introduced redundant mineworkers payments scheme.

The terms of the redundant mineworkers payments scheme are laid down by statutory

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many times the estimated penny rate product is the level of precept levied on relevant local authorities by regional water authorities under section 46 of the Land Drainage Act 1976 for each local land drainage district in Wales for each of the last five years for which this information is available.

The answer is as follows:

The multipliers applied to the estimated penny rate products to obtain the precepts levied on the relevant local authorities by the water authorities for each local land drainage district in Wales in each of the last 5 years are as follows:

instrument, presently the Redundant Mineworkers and Concessionary Coal (Payments Schemes) Order 1984. (SI 1984 No. 457). Eligibility for new entrants to the scheme under this order expires on 29 March 1986 and there are no present plans for its extension.