asked the Prime Minister what representations the Government have received from the EC Commission on the United States strategic defence initiative; and if she will make a statement.

None.

asked the Prime Minister what is the latest estimate of the total cost to public funds, including benefits received and tax and insurance payments forgone, of a person being unemployed for a year, broken down into the individual constituents.

The estimated average cost per beneficiary of benefits paid in respect of unemployment is £2,350 for 1985–86. Changes in tax revenue and income from national insurance contributions depend on the causes of unemployment and there is a wide range of possible effects. No sensible estimate can therefore be given.

asked the Attorney-General whether action is to be taken to institute proceedings against anyone involved in the riot at the Heysel football stadium.

Any offence of murder or manslaughter committed by a British subject abroad is triable in this country under English law. The English courts would not have jurisdiction to try any other criminal offences arising out of the events at the Heysel stadium on 29 May 1985. It is however open to the Belgian authorities to request the extradition to Belgium of British subjects for offences of murder, manslaughter or other offences of violence committed on their territory. There has, as yet, been no request by the Belgian authorities for the extradition of any British subjects. The Director of Public Prosecutions has considered evidence obtained by the Merseyside police in relation to 34 British subjects who were present at the Heysel stadium. Five of those persons have been informed that they they will not be prosecuted in this country for murder or manslaughter, but it remains open to the Belgian authorities to decide whether to make a request for their extradition. The Director of Public Prosecutions is still considering the position of the other 29 British subjects interviewed by the Merseyside police and is taking the advice of leading counsel.

asked the Attorney-General if he will publish a table indicating for each magistrates' bench in Wales the number of magistrates on the bench and the number of those who are regarded as (a) having a political affiliation and (b) those regarded as having no political affiliation.

Records are not kept of the political affiliations of magistrates, but appended is a table giving the number who have indicated their political views and the number who have not or are uncommitted.

Bench	Political view	No view/Uncommitted
South Glamorgan
Vale of Glamorgan	67	19
Cardiff	162	32
Mid Glamorgan
Cynon valley	19	14
Lower Rhymney valley	35	8
Merthyr Tydfil	38	3
Miskin	56	45
Newcastle and Ogmore	75	20
Upper Rhymney valley	9	5
Gwynedd
Bangor	9	8
Caernarfon	20	7
Conwy/Llandudno	17	6
Eifionydd	4	3
Nant Conwy	7	4
Pwllheli	5	9
North Anglesey	15	9
South Anglesey	10	11
Ardudwy-is-Artro	2	5
Ardudwy-Uch-Artro	5	8
Estaminer	5	2
Penllyn	5	7
Talybont	—	7
Gwent
Abergavenny	17	1
Bedwellty	45	34
Chepstow	14	5
Cwmbran	17	7
Monmouth	8	2
Newport	146	29
Pontypool	14	6
Usk	5	4
Powys
Newton	12	1
Llanidloes	3	3
Welshpool	15	2
Machynlleth	7	—
Rhayader	6	—
East Radnor	5	5
Llandrindid Wells	4	2
Builth	6	3
Ystradgynlais	8	1
Talgarth	7	—
Crickhowel	6	—
Brecon	11	1
Dyfed—Ceridigion
Aberaeron	5	1
Aberstwyth	14	3
Cardigan	6	1
Lampeter	4	—
Llandysul	3	2
Tregaron	4	—
Rhydlewis	1	2
Dyfed—Carmarthen—Pembroke
Amman valley	12	2
Carmarthen	22	2
Cemais	4	2

asked the Attorney-General what representations the Lord Chancellor has received on the question of abolishing the use of juries in personal injury actions in Northern Ireland; and what action is proposed.

Several such representations have been received by the Lord Chancellor and he has decided to conduct a further review of the desirability of a change in current practice; as a first step the known interested parties will in the near future be asked for their up-to-date views.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many planning decisions by local planning authorities in Wales were reversed on appeal to his Department during his last 12 months period for which figures are available; and how this compares with similar figures for each of the preceding five years.

The number of appeals under section 36 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 against decisions of local planning authorities in Wales which were allowed in 1984, the last complete year for which figures are available, was 229 which is 36·3 per cent. of the total number of appeals decided in that year. Comparable figures for the previous five years are:

	Number of S36 appeals allowed	Percentage of total S36 appeals decisions
1983	241	35·9
1982	217	28·5

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will introduce legislation to provide for parents to have the prior right to choose the kind of education to be given to their children enforceable in United Kingdom courts; and if he will make a statement.

Section 6 of the Education Act 1980 provides for parents to express preferences for the schools at which they wish their children to be educated and generally requires those preferences to be met, subject to some specific exceptions. There are no present plans to take this further.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many representations he has received concerning the future of initial teacher training centres.

This year I have received some 430 representations concerning the future of initial teacher training institutions.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the future of initial teacher training (a) in England and (b) at Portsmouth polytechnic.

I am considering advice from the national advisory body for public sector higher education on the allocation of 1986 intakes to courses of initial teacher training in the public sector, including those at Portsmouth polytechnic. At my request the NAB is giving further consideration to the allocation of public sector intakes for 1987–89. The University Grants Committee has allocated intakes to courses of initial teacher training at university departments of education for 1986 and will be considering shortly allocations for 1987–89.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he is satisfied with the standard of science teaching in schools.

My right hon. Friend has made clear his view that the standards achieved by school pupils, in science as in other curriculum areas, can and should be improved. "Science 5–16: A statement of policy", published earlier this year by the Department of Education and Science and the Welsh Office, sets as objectives that all pupils should be properly introduced to science in the primary school and should continue to study a broad science programme until the age of 16. The Government have pursued these objectives by supporting through education support grant, projects to improve the effectiveness and relevance of science education in primary schools, and by providing some £2 million annually through the in-service teacher training grants scheme towards training for science co-ordinators in primary schools and heads of science departments in secondary schools.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of the funds which will be forthcoming from local education authorities to ensure the continuance of the microelectronic support unit.

The microelectronic support unit is being funded by this Department for a period of five years with a budget for 1986–87 of at least £2·2 million. The local education authorities are not being asked to contribute to these costs. The unit will support local authorities in their promotion of new technology in schools.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what recent representations he has received relating to the abolition of standing charges; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave on 15 March 1985 at column 300. I have continued to receive some representations concerning the abolition of standing charges for gas and electricity to certain groups of consumers.These charges, which are a matter for the industries concerned, reflect the fixed costs of maintaining a supply. Their abolition would involve the industries in recovering these costs through higher unit charges to consumers generally.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how much grant-aid has been given to how many projects under the coal boiler conversion scheme for 1984 and for 1985 to the present time.

In 1984, 76 projects were offered grant aid totalling £14·9 million under the coal firing scheme. In 1985 to the end of October 105 projects have been offered a total of £5·0 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if, when he next meets the chairman of the Central Electricity Generating Board, he will raise with him the future of Europa house, Stockport; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State discussed the matter with the chairman at a recent meeting and understands that it will be some time before any final decision is reached by the board on the future of Europa house.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if when he next meets the chairman of the British Gas Corporation, he will raise with him the increases in gas prices proposed for 1986; and if he will make a statement.

As I told the House on Monday 28 October, gas prices are a matter for the corporation.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will recommend a financial contribution by Her Majesty's Government to the IFAD special fund for sub-Saharan Africa.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 12 November at column 146 to my hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Waterside (Mr. Colvin).

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any plans to increase food aid and technical advice and assistance on the growing of food; and if he will make a statement.

One of the main objectives of the aid programme is to encourage food production in developing countries. We already emphasise aid for agriculture and food production in our bilateral programmes and we aim to increase this where we can. We also provide substantial assistance in this sector through our contributions to multilateral aid institutions and to the international agricultural research centres.In 1984–85, £114 million was spent on food aid, £91 million of which represented the United Kingdom share of the European Community's programme. The Government believe that greater priority should be given within the EC programme to food aid for famine relief and that other improvements should be made to increase the programme's effectiveness. But food aid is not in most circumstances a cost-effective means of providing development aid, and excessive food aid can damage the interests of local producers. We do not therefore support an overall increase in it.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will estimate the amount of private enterprise aid going to the Commonwealth and foreign nations, respectively.

Total net private flows to developing countries in 1984 was £1,420 million, of which £105 million was provided as grants by voluntary agencies. Statistics which show net private financial flows to Commonwealth countries separately from those to other developing countries are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give the percentage of Government and private enterprise aid in relation to the United Nations target.

In 1984 Britain's performance against the UN one per cent. target combined official and private flows to developing countries was 0·89 per cent. For many years prior to this Britain had exceeded the UN target.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give a breakdown of the distribution of governmental overseas aid by category including United Nations agencies, European Economic Community contributions, referred emergency contributions, bilateral and others.

Gross public expenditure on overseas aid was £1,311 million in 1984. This figure can be broken down as follows:

	1984
UN agencies	65
European Community	226
World Bank Group	197
Other multilateral	43
Total multilateral	531
Bilateral country programmes
Financial aid	397
Technical co-operation	138
Other bilateral	210
Total bilateral	745
Administrative costs	35
Total gross public expenditure	1,311

Amounts for emergency aid and disaster relief are included in both the multilateral and bilateral figures above.A more detailed analysis and commentary is contained in "British Overseas Aid 1984", a copy of which is the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will propose at the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe and of the European Community that there should be a European Year of Gardens.

My right hon. and learned Friend has at present no plans to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what public funds are disbursed to the United Nations Association or the United Nations Association Youth Council.

In 1985–86 we gave the United Nations Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland a grant-in-aid of £24,000. The UNA Youth Council received no separate funding from us.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the composition of the new COCOM military committee will be.

COCOM members have agreed to establish, not a military committee, but a group of security and technology experts. This group will produce technical assessments on the transfer of technology to the Soviet bloc and China. All COCOM members are expected to participate in these arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current negotiations at COCOM.

COCOM members are currently reviewing the lists of controlled exports to the Soviet bloc and China. The review began this month and we expect it to be completed in about four years' time.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of the queries put to the Czechoslovak authorities in regard to claims lodged under the Foreign Compensation (Czechoslovakia) Order 1982 remain unanswered; how many of the claims have now been settled; when it is expected that the remainder will be settled; and if he will make a statement.

The Czechoslovak authorities have so far sent 578 replies to the 1,700 queries put to them by the Foreign Compensation Commission. The commission itself has withdrawn 225 of these queries and the balance outstanding is thus close to 900. As at the end of October the commission had made provisional awards totalling £303,441 in 181 cases, provisionally dismissed 146 applications, and summarily dismissed 181 others, while 113 claims have been withdrawn altogether and 9 claims have been abated. The commission is currently examining ways and means of speeding up its remaining work.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has requested the United States Government at the forthcoming summit meeting between President Reagan and Mr. Gorbachev to raise the case of Mr. Raoul Wallenberg; and if he will make a statement.

In recognition of his exceptional humanitarian work in Hungary Mr. Wallenberg was made an honorary citizen of the USA in 1981. This gives the United States Government a locus to raise his case. Whether or not there is value in doing so at the Geneva summit is a judgment for the United States Government to make. President Reagan has made it clear that he attaches importance to discussing human rights in the Soviet Union with Mr. Gorbachev, but has not specified particular cases he may raise.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further discussions he has had with the Government of the USSR concerning the whereabouts of Raoul Wallenberg; and if he will make a statement.

No further discussions have been held with the Soviet authorities about Mr. Raoul Wallenberg since I raised this sad case with Soviet First Deputy Foreign Minister Kornienko in July in Moscow.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if any evidence regarding the fate of Raoul Wallenberg has been supplied to Her Majesty's Government by the Government of Israel; and if he will make a statement.

We have not discussed the case of Raoul Wallenberg with the Israeli Government. Conclusive proof of Mr. Wallenberg's fate could be provided only by the Soviet authorities with whom we have raised the case on a number of occasions.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will publish up-to-date figures held by his Department regarding the number of unpaid parking fines incurred by individual diplomatic missions.

There has been a welcome reduction following the introduction of the new and stricter policy on 1 May. The figures for the most recent quarter, given below, indicate that the annual rate of fixed penalty notices cancelled on grounds of diplomatic immunity is now running at less than half that for 1984. We wish to see a further reduction.

Fixed penalty notices cancelled on grounds of diplomatic immunity for the quarters ending 31 March, 30 June and 30 September 1985 (Metropolitan Police District)
Organisation/Country	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter
Afghanistan	3	7	3
Algeria	285	299	254
Antigua & Barbuda	0	0	3
Australia	0	0	0
Austria	18	14	10
Bahamas	5	4	3
Bahrain	166	167	174
Bangladesh	71	70	38
Barbados	58	68	28
Belgium	12	17	20
Bolivia	15	2	0
Botswana	2	2	13
Brazil	1,025	498	30
Brunei	29	51	45
Bulgaria	579	647	389
Burma	91	95	91
Cameroon	268	268	297
Canada	67	45	69
Chile	131	114	86
China	149	263	203
Colombia	92	87	40
Costa Rica	146	155	128
Cuba	473	408	129
Cyprus	532	178	35
Czechoslovakia	60	34	1
Denmark	1	4	1
Dominica, Commonwealth of	4	1	0
Eastern Caribbean States	6	1	5
Ecuador	58	64	46
Egypt	1,357	1,022	747
El Salvador	0	5	4
Ethiopia	88	58	55
Fiji	15	12	8
Finland	102	109	72
France	486	438	254
Gabon	50	72	82
Gambia	69	68	63
German Democratic Republic	130	112	49
Germany, Federal Republic of	31	27	35
Ghana	334	338	276
Greece	288	369	238

asked the Paymaster General (1) what steps are being taken to reduce the exposure of workers to visual display units;(2) what steps are being taken to seek to control the possibility of health risks during pregnancy to women exposed to visual display units; and whether he will make a statement.

Visual display units do not normally cause health problems but the environment and manner in which they are used can. Current evidence does not indicate any need to introduce controls on the total time spent by workers operating these units. Recent studies have not identified any excess risks to women operators during pregnancy. The Health and Safety Executive has published guidance in the booklet "Visual Display Units". There are no plans to introduce legislation.

asked the Paymaster General if he will list wages council rates and conditions for all ages and categories of workers currently in force.

Wages councils determine minimum pay rates and other conditions of service for many different categories of workers and for a variety of circumstances. For this reason, it is not practicable to publish in the Official Report the statutory minimum rates, which are set out in full in the orders made by the councils. Copies of the wages orders are available in the Library.

asked the Paymaster General if he will make a statement on the level of unemployment in Knowsley.

The following information is in the Library. On 10 October 1985 the number of unemployed claimants in the metropolitan borough of Knowsley was 20,222.

asked the Paymaster General how many of those who left school in 1985 in the borough of Knowsley were in full-time employment in the latest available figures.

The available information from the Knowsley careers service is that 181 of this year's fifth-form school-leavers had entered permanent employment by October.

asked the Paymaster General what is the proportion of the work force unemployed (a) on Merseyside, (b) in Knowsley and (c) in Kirkby.

The following information is in the Library. Rates of unemployment are not calculated for areas smaller than travel-to-work areas. On 10 October 1985 the rate of unemployment in the Merseyside metropolitan county was 21·1 per cent.

asked the Paymaster General how many people under the age of 24 years have been unemployed for one, two and three years, respectively, in the city of Portsmouth.

The following information is in the Library. On 10 October 1985, in the city of Portsmouth, 716 claimants under 25 years of age had been unemployed for between one and two years, 322 for between two and three years and 257 for over three years. Information is not available for those under the age of 24 years.

asked the Paymaster General if he will publish, for each Manpower Services Commission area office, and for (a) 16-year-olds (c) 18-year-olds the latest careers service estimates of the number and proportion expected to leave school and further education college, and the number and proportion expected to find work outside the youth training scheme by 31 December.

[pursuant to his reply, 21 November 1985, c. 139]: The information requested is given below. The figures are derived from projections made by the careers service in autumn 1984 and revised in January 1985. The projections represent the careers service's best estimates of the destinations of 16, 17 and 18-year-olds who were eligible to leave school in the academic year 1984–85. There is insufficient information on which to base estimates of leavers from colleges of further education in each area.