asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has received the outstanding consultants' reports on the Severn crossing; and if he will make a statement.

Copies of the reports listed below have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. They provide the expected confirmation of the general extent and type of strengthening necessary for the crossing to cope with future traffic loading.(1) Independent Appraisal of the Wye Bridge and Viaduct and the Beachley Viaduct—by Husband & Co.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been in the latest 12 months for which figures are available for driving in bus lanes in the Metropolitan Police area.

I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that 4,100 prosecutions were brought against motorists in 1981 for driving in bus lanes and 3,500 in 1982; the corresponding figure for 1983 is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Enviroment when he will make an announcement about his decisions on the transfer of the Greater London Council's interests in land under the Green Belt (London and Home Counties) Act 1938.

I have placed a paper in the Library of the House today.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will be in a position to invite more milk producers to commit themselves to joining the outgoers' scheme.

In England and Wales 4,826 applicants originally expressed interest in becoming outgoers and at the beginning of last month we invited 2,747 of the smaller producers to commit themselves to the scheme. We expected however that a considerable number might, in the event, decide not to go out of production after all and this has in fact proved to be the case. We are therefore now able to invite a further group of about 380 applicants to take the place of those who have dropped out.The original group comprised those with quota of up to 200,000 litres and if all had accepted this would have amounted to 278·8 million litres of quota released. The second group now being invited to join comprises those between 200,000 and 250,000 litres, amounting to a further 94·2 million litres. As before, a small number are being excluded because milk is only a relatively small part of their overall farming enterprise.In the light of the response we receive we shall send out further invitations as necessary to replace any producers who drop out.The original target of buying up 289 million litres of quota in England and Wales was more than four times oversubscribed. Even though a significant number of producers may drop out, I have no reason to believe that the target will not be met.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on information technology centres.

The first information technology centres were established just over three years ago. There are now more than 150 ITeCs in operation and it is planned to extend the total number of centres to 175. ITeCs have made a substantial contribution to training under the youth training scheme. They also provide an invaluable source of expertise in new technology and have the potential to play a wider role in the provision of training and related services in their localities. The changes which are now being made, and which are set out below, will help to encourage ITeCs to widen their activities in this way.ITeCs are currently jointly funded by the Manpower Services Commission, the Department of Trade and Industry and individual scheme sponsors. For training carried by ITeCs under the youth training scheme, the commission funds trainee allowances and makes a substantial contribution to adult staff salaries, operating costs and capital costs. In addition, the Department of Trade and Industry makes available pump-priming funds over the first three years of each centre's existence to assist with capital purchases, software development and the payment of salaries sufficient to recruit and retain the necessary specialist adult staff.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the implications for United Kingdom policy towards E1 Salvador of the talks initiated by President Duarte with the FMLN/FDR guerrilas.

We welcome President Duarte's initiative, which is in line with his commitment to strengthen democracy, and to work for national reconciliation and an improvement in human rights in E1 Salvador. To demonstrate our support for these policies we have offered to resume a modest technical assistance programme and have made available £100,000 for emergency civilian supplies under our aid programme. Outside the aid programme we have also offered places for one or two suitably qualified Salvadorean military officers at staff college courses in Britain.