asked the Secretary of State for Wales, for the financial years 1983–84 and 1984–85, what were (a) the costs of producing and distributing literature about exemption from from prescription charges, (b) the costs of inspection for fraud in claiming exemption from prescription charges and (c) the cost of administering the sale of pre-payment certificates.

Information to patients about exemption from prescription charges is contained in leaflet

	1984				1985			1983/84	1984/85
	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter
Prescriptions dispensed	6,755,095	6,518,126	6,328,460	6,791,390	6,923,853	6,160,580	6,293,921	26,108,478	26,561,829
Prescription exempt from charges—percentage	83·0	83·8	84·1	84·7	84·6	85·9	85·6	82·3	83·9
Costs
i Payments by Patients (excluding pre-payment certificates) (£ million)	1·5	1·3	1·5	1·6	1·6	1·7	1·7	6·0	6·2
ii Payments from Public Funds (£ million)	25·5	25·9	25·9	28·0	28·4	26·4	27·6	99·3	107·9
iii Total Costs (£ million)	27·0	27·2	27·4	29·6	30·0	28·1	29·3	105·3	114·1
iv Average gross cost per (£)	4·00	4·16	4·33	4·36	4·33	4·56	4·65	4·03	4·30
No. and type of pre-payment certificates
—4 Monthly	5,678	4,116	4,990	5,035	5,789	4,272	4,825	20,454	19,932
—12 Monthly	12,525	5,822	6,985	7,464	14,023	5,918	5,909	35,541	34,294
Revenue from sale of pre-payment certificates (£)
—4 Monthly	42,586	34,990	42,414	42,809	49,209	43,689	53,083	153,413	169,423
—12 Monthly	269,227	139,777	167,629	179,142	336,553	166,370	180,201	764,144	823,061
Total	311,813	174,767	210,043	221,951	385,762	210,059	233,284	917,557	992,484

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how much he is contributing towards the £5·3 million savings announced by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in his statement of 28 November, Official Report, column 1033.

A contribution of £1·85 million is being made by way of a reduction of the cash limit on class XVI, vote 5, from £46,610,000 to £44,760,000. This saving in reduced grant in aid to the Welsh Development Agency arises from a further increase in the level of anticipated receipts in the current financial year. A spring Supplementary Estimate will be sought for class XVI, vote 2, to cover expenditure in Wales on both the exceptional weather relief for farmers (£1,700,000) and the additional expenditure arising from the hill livestock compensatory allowance uprating.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, with appropriate statistics, the principal elements of expenditure which P11, which is produced by the DHSS for England and Wales. There is no separate charge against the Welsh Vote. Distribution costs, costs of fraud inspection and costs of administering the sale of pre-payment certificates are not separately indentifiable within the overall administrative budgets of family practitioner committees.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales, for each quarter of the calendar year 1984, the first three quarters of 1985 and for the financial years 1983–84 and 1984–85, what was (a) the number of prescriptions dispensed, (b) the percentage of prescriptions exempt from charges, (c) the costs of prescriptions, (i) the payents by patients (excluding pre-payment certificates), (ii) the payments from public funds, (iii) the total costs and (iv) the average gross costs per prescripton, (d) the number and type of pre-payment certificate and (e) revenue from sale of pre-payment certificates.

The information required is set out in the following table:have caused anticipated expenditure on the police in 1985–86 to exceed by £92 million the figure stated in Cmnd. 9428.

I assume that the right hon. Member is comparing the figure given for police expenditure in 1985–86 in the White Paper on the Government's expenditure plans (Cmnd. 9428), with that given in reply to a question by him on 18 November, at columns 15-16. The first is the central and local government expenditure on the police planned at the time the White Paper was published last year. The second, as explained in the reply to his earlier question, represents the sum of current expenditure provided for in local authority budgets for 1985–86 set at the beginning of the financial year. The figures are not comparable.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much expenditure on overtime pay for police officers in connection with the miners' dispute is accounted for in the financial year 1985–86.

For the purposes of the Budget estimates for 1985–86 it was assumed that £9 million would be necessary for claims for the special payment which we are making available for the additional costs of policing the miners' dispute. This figure relates to all forms of expenditure eligible for the special payment, including overtime payments. No separate assumption has been made for expenditure on overtime payments arising from the dispute.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether, in view of the errors contained in the version of the Public Order Bill published on 6 December, he will withdraw the Bill;(2) if he will undertake not to proceed with a Second Reading of the Public Order Bill until a corrected and accurate version of the Bill is published.

A corrigendum slip was published on 10 December.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if Mr. Colin Hewitt on his appointment as national co-ordinator of police activities in relation to drug crimes is to continue to be a member of the Metropolitan police department; and if the Metropolitan police establishment is to be revised to enable him to serve as an assistant commissioner.

I shall write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has yet received the report of the interdepartmental working party reviewing the criminal injuries compensation scheme; and whether he will make a statement.

I understand that the working party has not yet completed its deliberations, but we hope to receive its report early in the new year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the level of grant to the National Association of Victim Support Schemes in 1984–85 and 1985–86; and what level of grant is proposed for 1986–87.

The Government's grant to NAVSS in 1984–85 was £58,500. In 1985–86 it was £120,000, with an additional payment of £6,000 towards the cost of the association's move to new premises. The grant for 1986–87 has not yet been settled, but it will be based on that for 1985–86 with a modest increase to reflect inflation and the higher level of activity resulting from the recent recruitment of new members of staff.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has as to the number of additional part-time and full-time staff recruited by the National Association of Victim Support Schemes in 1985–86 as a result of his Department's increased grants.

The National Association of Victims Support Schemes has been able to recruit four additional full-time staff in the current financial year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board has yet made available to criminal courts guidelines for the level of compensation orders in courts.

The board has prepared a set of draft guidelines for the criminal courts and we have received comments on them from the Magistrates' Association. We will be consulting further on these with the board and the association.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has yet completed his consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers about the provision of a leaflet, together with a Criminal Injuries Compensation Board claim form, to all victims of crime when the crime is first reported.

The police already provide victims of violent crime with a leaflet about the criminal injuries compensation scheme and how to apply for compensation under the scheme. We intend to produce another leaflet, for distribution to all victims of crime, explaining the powers of the criminal courts in England and Wales to order the payment of compensation by a convicted offender. We are consulting the Association of Chief Police Officers, among others, about the nature and content of the leaflet, including the possibility of a standard application form for compensation by the offender.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made on his invitation to local authority associations, the British Gas Corporation and the Electricity Council to consider block insurance arrangements to cover household contents and thefts from meters.

The Associations of Metropolitan Authorities, District Councils and County Councils, and the Electricity Council and British Gas Corporation were invited early this year to consider the possibility of block insurance arrangements. The Associations of Metropolitan Authorities and District Councils have agreed to circulate their members with a view to encouraging the development, where appropriate, of block insurance schemes such as already exist in some areas. The Electricity Council and British Gas Corporation see a number of difficulties with such schemes, especially as regards the widespread insurance of household contents by individual customers, the difficulty in finding insurers willing to quote for such cover and the problem of meter thefts by or in collusion with a member of the household concerned; in the case of thefts from meters, crime prevention may have a more significant part to play than block insurance arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he is satisfied that the present conditions and facilities at Ilkeston police station are suitable for policing requirements and meet current statutory obligations;(2) what proposals he has received, and when, from Derbyshire county council, for the modernisation or rebuilding of the Ilkeston police station.

It is the responsibility of the police authority to provide and maintain the buildings required for police purposes in its area. Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary for the region considers that the authority should improve conditions at Ilkeston police station and I understand that the authority is undertaking interim improvements there so that it can be used as a designated custody station under the provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. I also understand that the authority is considering proposals for the modernisation of the police station, but these have not yet been sent for my right hon. Friend's approval. In December 1981 and in December 1982, in response to a request from the police authority for approval to build a new Ilkeston police station, the authority was offered the opportunity to plan with a view to starting building in, respectively, 1983–84 and 1985–86, but in the event these offers have not been taken up. I shall be glad for officials to discuss the position further with the police authority should they wish to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to exchange Robert Maxwell and Michael King, two British citizens held in Libya, for Libyans imprisoned in Britain; and if he will make a statement.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give figures for each year since 1975 for primary and secondary maintained schools in England for the total number of pupils in attendance, the number of pupils taking school meals on payment and free and the number of pupils bringing their own food.

The information requested is shown in the Department's annual published school meals census, copies of which are available in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will estimate for primary and secondary maintained schools in England the number of pupils receiving free school meals where the entitlement derives from families' (a) receipt of supplementary benefit, (b) receipt of family income supplement and (c) local authority discretionary powers.

It is possible to estimate only the broad order of magnitude, as there are fluctuations from year to year and within the year in the number of pupils entitled to a free school meal and the proportion who take up the entitlement. At the time of the October 1984 school meals census in England an estimated breakdown of the main categories of entitlement would have been as follows (to the nearest 10,000):

	Number
(a) Pupils whose parents were in receipt of supplementary benefit	680,000
(b) Pupils whose parents were in receipt of family income supplement	170,000
(c) Other pupils	300,000
	1,150,000

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table giving pupil-teacher ratios in Tameside for (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools.

In January 1985, the latest date for which information is available, the pupil-teacher ratio within maintained primary schools in Tameside was 23·3; the corresponding ratio within maintained secondary schools was 15·7.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what reply he intends to give to the request from the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals for additional funds to enable the universities to apply to clinical academics the 1985 pay award for National Health Service doctors and dentists.

My right hon. Friend will publish his reply when it is sent.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what percentage of 16 to 18-year olds in each English region stay on at school.

In January 1985 the average staying-on rates for 16 to 18-year-olds in maintained secondary schools for each region were:

Region	Percentages*
North	13·4
Yorkshire and Humberside	14·1
North West	13·5
East Midlands	13·7
West Midlands	13·3
East Anglia	13·7
Greater London	18·1
Other South East	17·6
South West	13·5
England	15·0
* The percentages are calculated by comparing the total number of pupils aged 16, 17 or 18 years in maintained schools in January 1985 with the total number of 15-year-olds one, two and three years earlier in these schools.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what percentage of children in each English region leave school without qualifications.

The percentage of leavers from maintained secondary schools with no graded result in GCE or CSE examinations in 1983–84 were:

Region	Percentage
North	9·8
Yorkshire and Humberside	10·8
North West	12·3
East Midlands	7·8
West Midlands	12·0
East Anglia	8·2
Greater London	14·2
Other South East	6·6
South West	7·0
England	9·9

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many staff in his Department have been required to leave their employment since 1979 (a) to enable the Department to meet financial targets and (b) because their jobs were redundant.

Nobody has been required to leave to enable the Department to meet its financial targets. Two part-time cleaners and a personal secretary have been made redundant.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what information is available to his Department in respect of the numbers of schoolchildren injured whilst taking part in work experience placements in any year;(2) what representations he has received about the exclusion of schoolchildren on work experience placements from the National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act; and if he will make a statement.

None. We are, however, currently reviewing the legal, health and safety aspects of work experience for young people, taking account of requests from a number of LEAs for further guidance in this area.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will list in the Official Report the number of places in special schools for children of compulsory school age with special needs (a) in each local education authority in England, (b) for all local education authorities in England, (c) for privately run special schools in England and (d) the total of such places (i) for all such children and (ii) expressed in those categories used as classification by his Department in each of the last 10 years, and the percentage change involved in each case.

This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the capital borrowing of the Inner London education authority in each of the last three years.

Borrowing by the Inner London education authority for the capital account (including advances from the Consolidated Loans Fund) for the last three years for which figures are available was:

	£ million
1981–82	6·179
1982–83	13·734
1983–84	14·191

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list for each of the London boroughs in the Inner London education authority area the proportion of Inner London education authority rates income which came from each borough in each of the last three years.

The Inner London education authority levies a rate precept on the inner London boroughs; thus the proportion of its rate income coming from each inner London borough is the ratio of the rateable value of each borough to the total inner London rateable value. The figures are for the last three outturn years.

Inner London Borough	Percentage of Inner London Education Authority rate income
	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84
City of London	21·9	22·1	22·1
Camden	9·7	9·6	9·8
Greenwich	2·9	2·9	2·8
Hackney	3·3	3·3	3·2
Hammersmith	3·0	3·0	3·0
Islington	4·7	4·6	4·6
Kensington and Chelsea	6·2	6·2	6·1
Lambeth	5·1	5·1	5·1
Lewisham	3·0	3·0	3·0
Southwark	5·0	5·0	5·1
Tower Hamlets	4·0	4·0	4·0
Wandsworth	3·8	3·7	3·7
Westminster	27·5	27·6	27·5

Figures may not add to 100 per cent. due to rounding.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of inner London education authority income was derived from (a) direct Government grants and (b) rate precepts from the London boroughs in each of the last three years.

The figures are for the last three years for which outturn information is available. They are taken from returns made by the authority. The total income is taken to be: rate income; income from Government grants (including pooling adjustments); and income from fees and other charges including charges for the education of pupils belonging to other authorities.

Percentage income from:
	Government grants	Rate precept	Other income
1981–82	7·8	82·8	9·4
1982–83	7·5	83·7	8·8
1983–84	6·9	84·7	8·4

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the total capital expenditure authorisation for 1986–87 bid for by local education authorities for the advanced further education sector.

£110·4 million in England.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what he expects to be the average student-academic staff ratio for the university sector.

In December 1983, the latest year for which information is available, the student-staff ratio in universities in Great Britain was 10·2. This ratio is defined as the full-time equivalent of undergraduate and postgraduate students divided by full-time academic staff funded wholly from university funds.Academic staff student ratios for future years will depend on individual universities decisions on staffing levels within the resources available to them.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will indicate the involvement of his Department in promoting or assisting with discussions concerning mergers of polytechnics and universities with special reference to City of London polytechnic and City university and North Staffordshire polytechnic and the University of Keele.

My right hon. Friend is interested in any proposals for mergers between publicly funded institutions of higher education which promise educational and financial benefits. He stands ready to assist in the discussion of such proposals.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make additional funds available to new institutions arising from the merger of the City of London polytechnic and City university and North Staffordshire polytechnic and the University of Keele.

Any proposed merger of higher education institutions would have to be considered in terms of the educational and financial benefits which it offered. The need for additional funding of a transitional nature to facilitate mergers agreed to be desirable would be a matter for the funding bodies concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his policy on the extension of tenure to academic staff employed in a new university arising from a merger of the City of London polytechnic and City university' and North Staffordshire polytechnic and the University of Keele.

In any proposed merger of higher education institutions the terms of employment of the academic staff would be considered in the light of the circumstances of the institutions concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received subsequent to his announcement of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation; of what nature they have been; and if he will make a statement.

No representations have been received from overseas Governments since the confirmation of withdrawal of British membership of UNESCO, although several have issued statements. Members of the public have written both in favour and against the decision to withdraw.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the transfer or redirection of resources to all organisations, other than United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, as outlined in his statement of 5 December, together with the respective sums and total.

The redirection of resources is under consideration. As I said in my statement of 5 December 1985, at columns 448–49, details will be given to the House in due course.

asked the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on her participation in the recent Luxembourg summit meeting of Heads of Government to discuss the reform of European Economic Community procedures.

I refer my hon. Friend to the statement I made to the House on 5 December at columns 429–39.

asked the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to Neasden hospital.

I have at present no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to a Football League match before the end of the current season.

I have at present no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister when she last paid an official visit to Scotland during the winter months.

In January 1983.

asked the Prime Minister whether she will make a statement on the progress of disarmament or arms control negotiations since the conclusion of the Geneva summit meeting.

As I told the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mr. Parry) on 25 November, at columns 391–92, we believe the Geneva summit has given an impetus to arms control negotiations in Geneva. We hope that when the United States/Soviet talks resume in January, the Soviet Union will get down to serious negotiations in order to reach the balanced and equitable agreements we believe are desirable. We believe the United States proposals tabled before the summit offer the basis for progress towards this objective. The United Kingdom will continue to give full support to the United States in the negotiations.At the mutual and balanced force reductions talks in Vienna, a new Western proposal was tabled by the United Kingdom on 5 December. The conference on disarmament in Europe at Stockholm is expected to conclude its eigth session on 20 December, and the conference on disarmament in Geneva is currently in recess.

asked the Prime Minister what progress is being made in developing a multilaterally based fisheries and management regime in the south-west Atlantic.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, West (Mr. Randall) on 6 December at column 385.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 12 December.

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

asked the Prime Minister if she will make it her policy to ensure that major investment projects undertaken under the auspices of Government will be subject to an analysis showing the full effects of development on all English regions before any definitive decisions on them are taken.

The siting of investment projects funded by central Government is given careful consideration where there is a choice of location.

asked the Prime Minister if she will take all necessary steps to ensure that future Government annual public expenditure plans are broken down by reference to each English region.

No. The Government's expenditure plans are published by Department, function, economic category and spending authority. It would be prohibitively expensive to plan public spending by English region.

asked the Prime Minister whether she has any proposals for decentralising further parts of Government into the regions.

There are at present no plans for further decentralisation beyond those contained in the Government's dispersal programme announced on 26 July 1979.

asked the Prime Minister what assessment Her Majesty's Government have made of the implications of different rates of development as between the south-east and other regions for Government policies towards alleviating congestion and environmental damage; what plans the Government have to promote the prosperity of the north of England; and if she will make a statement.

The Government continually assess all aspects of their policies. Many parts of the north are assisted areas and therefore benefit from regional assistance aimed at reducing disparities in employment opportunities.

asked the Prime Minister how much Government money was allocated in each year from 1983 to the British Atlantic Committee.

The British Atlantic Committee received grants-in-aid of £45,000 in 1983–84 and £47,000 in 1984–85. There is a provision for a grant-in-aid of £49,000 in 1985–86.

asked the Prime Minister how much Government money was allocated in each year from 1983 to Peace Through NATO.

Peace Through NATO received grants-in-aid of £68,000 in 1983–84 and £71,500 in 1984–85. There is a provision for a grant-in-aid of £74,000 in 1985–86.

asked the Prime Minister what was the cost to the Government, by year, of design, research and printing of the material supplied to Peace Through NATO for the following publications, listed separately, Arms Control and Disarmament Bulletin, the Ministry of Defence material pack, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office material pack and Ministry of Defence—North Atlantic Treaty Organisation films.

The publications and material referred to are supplied free of charge or on free loan to a wide range of organisations and individuals including Peace Through NATO. It is not possible to identify the cost of items supplied to individual organisations.

asked the Prime Minister how much material was supplied by the Government to Peace Through NATO in each year from 1983; how much Peace Through NATO paid for the material; and which organisations were given these publications for distribution.

Peace Through NATO receives a wide range of material issued by the Government on arms control, disarmament and defence issues. The Government do not charge for this material which is freely available on request. Others receiving such items include Members of the House, interested individuals, and a wide range of non-governmental organisations.

asked the Prime Minister how much material was produced in the years 1983 to 1985 for publicity purposes for the armed forces; and how much was the cost in each year.

Total expenditure from the defence public relations budget on written publicity material for the armed forces amounted to £87,400 in 1983–84 and £121,200 in 1984–85. Among the major items produced in these years were the following:

item	Amount(£)
Leaflets for Her Majesty's Ships	*46,700
	†38,200
Posters for Beating the Retreat	†5,500
Exercise Lionheart booklet	†14,600
British Army Brochure	†8,900
* 1983–84
†1984–85.

asked the Prime Minister how much material was produced on defence, arms control and foreign affairs by the Central Office of Information in the years 1983 to 1985; to which organisations it was sent; and how much it cost each year.

The information is as follows:

	£
Production of Publicity Material 1983–84
Defence and Disarmament Issue	35,365
Peace and Disarmament	1,156
Britain and Arms Control	644
Cruise—Your Questions	7,011
Cruise Missiles, Some More Important Questions and Answers	4,891
	49,067
1984–85
Nuclear Weapons and Preventing War	1,894
Key Points	5,942
Defence and Disarmament Issues	22,634
A Nuclear Free Europe	2,200
	32,670
1985–86
Trident, Britain's Strategic Deterrent	1,664
Trident—Extract from Statement on Defence Estimates	2,274
Defence and Disarmament Issues	14,732
	18,670
Distribution
COI is involved in the distribution only of the starred titles. The Arms Control and Disarmament Research Unit's Newsletter is distributed on a regular basis by COI and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office control a joint mailing list for this and the starred items. Distribution costs are not separable.
1983–84
No costings available—COI staff time only involved —on an Allied basis.
	£
1984–85	5,865
1985–86
Sponsored amount for full financial
year	7,160

asked the Prime Minister if she is satisfied with the co-ordination between the Departments of Energy, Environment and Trade and Industry over seeking resources to permit full United Kingdom membership in the ocean drilling programme; and if she will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given to him on 11 December at column 627 by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science.

asked the Prime Minister if she will make a statement about ministerial responsibility for local bus services under the Transport Act 1985.

Ministerial responsibility in Great Britain for overall Government policy towards the bus industry, for the appointment of traffic com missioners, for driver and bus licensing, and for administering the fuel duty rebate system will remain with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport. He will also continue to have ministerial responsibility for taxis and hire cars in England and Wales and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland will continue to be responsible for this in Scotland.For the new functions created by the Transport Act 1985, I have decided that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport will be responsible in relation to the operation of the new registration system for local services, the privatisation of the National Bus Company, the establishment of a disabled persons transport advisory committee and the administration of transitional rural bus grants. My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, for Wales and for Transport will be responsible in Scotland, Wales and England respectively for the determination of traffic regulation conditions appeals; the establishment and oversight of new local authority and PTE bus companies; the issuing of regulations governing the procedure for tendering for subsidised services; and the determination of applications related to concessionary fares and related matters including the issue of regulations. The administration of the new system of rural innovation grants in Scotland and Wales under section 108 of the new Act will also fall to my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales respectively.

asked the Prime Minister what is the total overall identifiable allocation of public money made by the Government since 1979 to (a) Edinburgh, (b) Bristol, (c) Lambeth, (d) Newcastle, (e) Hammersmith, (f) Cardiff, (g) Haringey, (h) Southampton, (i) Leicester, (j) Leeds, (k) Wandsworth, (l) Belfast and (m) Northampton (i) in total, (ii) per person, (iii) per unemployed person, (iv) per unemployed person aged under 21 years and (v) per retirement pensioner, in each named district.

[pursuant to her reply, 28 November 1985, c. 624]: The total amount of money allocated by the Government to these areas is very large. It includes social security payments; funding for hospitals, GPs and other health services; aid for employment and training measures; grants to companies, voluntary bodies and other institutions and individuals; and support for the arts.The extent of these funds is so great, and the number of people and institutions to whom they are allocated is so large, that they cannot be identified without disproportionate cost. There would also be considerable technical problems in attempting to identify them.However, there is readily available information about the relatively small proportion of total Government spending that takes the form of grants and subsidies paid to local authorities. These include rate support grant, housing subsidies, housing benefit, specific revenue grants and capital grants.The information is given in the tables which are explained in the notes. Belfast has been excluded because,

Table 1
Identifiable grants and subsidies
(1) In total—£ million (capital grants to English authorities in parentheses)
	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86
(a) Edinburgh	39·7	47·2	49·5	44·7	83·1	68·6	71·6
(b) Bristol	38·2	46·0	26·1	29·3	56·2	54·9	57·5
	(0·1)	(0·2)	(0·3)	(0·4)	(0·5)
(c) Lambeth	93·5	109·9	104·1	112·1	137·1	136·4	131·9
	(3·6)	(3·7)	(1·4)	(0·3)	(2·4)
(d) Newcastle upon Tyne	78·9	93·8	75·8	63·1	90·4	91·5	66·2
	(1·0)	(0·7)	(0·8)	(0·5)	(1·2)
(e) Hammersmith and Fulham	50·8	56·1	56·2	55·4	76·0	74·4	84·3
	(2·6)	(0·1)	(4·3)	(2·2)	(0·3)
(f) Cardiff	36·8	41·4	25·7	25·2	45·3	51·2	58·4
(g) Haringey	79·9	101·5	102·1	99·3	119·5	112·2	113·7
	(3·3)	(11·1)	(8·9)	(4·1)	(2·9)
(h) Southampton	21·4	24·3	13·4	14·9	29·3	27·1	29·9
	(0·5)	(1·0)	(0·2)	(0·3)	(0·4)
(i) Leicester	34·6	39·8	30·5	31·5	48·9	46·9	51·1
	(1·8)	(2·4)	(2·4)	(2·0)	(3·0)
(j) Leeds	155·7	188·5	156·7	163·9	203·5	202·2	197·2
	(0·9)	(1·3)	(1·0)	(4·6)	(3·6)
(k) Wandsworth	79·9	90·5	76·5	76·5	103·8	106·2	116·5
	(5·1)	(2·8)	(10·2)	(13·2)	(13·0)
(m) Northampton	12·6	14·5	11·5	12·0	17·8	17·7	30·9
	(3·4)	(3·1)	(3·9)	(1·7)	(1·8)

Identifiable grants and subsidies
	2) Per person				£
	5) Per person of pensionable age
		1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86
(a) Edinburgh	2)	87	104	111	100	189	156	163
	5)	454	535	581	522	967	801	836
(b) Bristol	2)	91	113	65	73	141	139	145
	5)	495	592	335	374	733	713	746
(c) Lambeth	2)	315	419	408	452	560	558	540
	5)	2,087	2,491	2,399	2,613	3,241	3,278	3,170
(d) Newcastle upon Tyne	2)	267	324	267	225	322	326	236
	5)	1,438	1,696	1,363	1,142	1,638	1,677	1,212
(e) Hammersmith and Fulham	2)	295	355	367	371	506	494	559
	5)	1,704	1,909	1,937	1,949	2,658	2,666	3,020
(f) Cardiff	2)	130	147	92	90	162	163	208
	5)	751	831	511	499	896	1,008	1,149
(g) Haringey	2)	343	458	491	485	584	561	568
	5)	2,189	2,819	2,975	2,955	3,632	3,527	3,576
(h) Southampton	2)	99	118	64	72	142	133	147
	5)	582	655	361	395	776	723	797
(i) Leicester	2)	119	144	108	112	173	167	182
	5)	704	803	612	636	992	947	1,031
(j) Leeds	2)	208	260	219	229	285	284	277
	5)	1,212	1,447	1,200	1,253	1,557	1,546	1,508
(k) Wandsworth	2)	277	333	289	296	402	411	452
	5)	1,595	1,810	1,548	1,572	2,148	2,246	2,463
(m) Northampton	2)	81	92	73	74	109	106	184
	5)	474	543	418	430	649	640	1,116

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what information he has on the current maximum steel making capacity of both the public and private sectors in the United Kingdom;(2) what information he has on the current percentage of capacity in use in the United Kingdom steel industry;(3) what information he has on the current production for export of the United Kingdom steel industry;(4) what information he has on the current production for home consumption of the United Kingdom steel industry; and what information he has on the estimate of steel tonnages to be used in each of the proposed channel tunnel or bridge schemes in each of the years of construction.

The following is the available information:

United Kingdom crude steel production
Million tonnes
	1985
Maximum possible production as at 1 January 1985*	23·7
Estimated annual production†	15·8
Capacity utilization	67 per cent.
*Source: "ECSC Investment in the Community coalmining and iron and steel industries".
… Based on the figures for January to October 1985.

Finished steel products
Million tonnes
	January to September 1985
United Kingdom producers deliveries to the United Kingdom home market	6·8
United Kingdom producers exports	3·0
Other exports from United Kingdom	0·6
Total United Kingdom exports	3·6

Estimates of steel tonnages for the Channel crossings were included in the confidential proposals submitted to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport on 31 October 1985 by the four promoters of a fixed Channel link and these proposals are now being assessed.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has any plans for reviewing regional aid budgets; and whether he will take steps to introduce a development agency for the north of England.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list, at 1985 prices, the amount of regional grants paid to Yorkshire and Humberside under (a) section 7 of the Industrial Development Act 1982 (b) and under part II of the Industrial Development Act 1982 for the financial years 1979–80 to 1983–84 inclusive.

[pursuant to his reply, 10 December 1985, c. 558]: The information requested is as follows:

Expenditure at 1985 prices
£'000
	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84
Regional
Development Grants	34,129	51,750	57,129	41,253	25,537
Regional Selective
Assistance	10,800	8,823	8,618	11,796	9,559

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will estimate the amount of regional assistance to be allocated to Yorkshire and Humberside during the 1985–86 financial year.

[pursuant to his reply, 10 December 1985, c. 558]: Estimates of regional assistance are only allocated on a national basis. However, expenditure during the first six months of this financial year in the Yorkshire and Humberside region was £9 million. On this basis, expenditure for 1985–86 is estimated to be £18 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the average of gross domestic product per head for the United Kingdom and for each English region.

Data on gross domestic product per head for the United Kingdom and the English regions for the years 1975 to 1984 are published in the article "Regional Accounts 1984" (Economic Trends, November 1985) a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will consider commissioning a study into the investment practices of the financial institutions, so as to ascertain their effects on the various English regions.

The recent review of regional policy revealed no evidence to suggest that the investment practices of the financial institutions were contributing to the problems of the various English regions. In the circumstances I do not consider it necessary to commission such a study.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list for each constituency in the north-west region which lie within the assisted areas the total offered under the new regional industrial policy.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proposals Her Majesty's Government have for further controls regarding misleading price com parisons; and if he will make a statement.

As indicated in the statement to this House by my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, Central (Mr. Fletcher) on 4 March, the Government intend, as soon as parliamentary time is available, to introduce legislation replacing section 11 of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 and the Price Marking (Bargain Offers) Order 1979, as amended, by a new general prohibition on misleading price indications. Much of the necessary supporting detail, including paragraphs on misleading price comparisons, will be contained in a statutory code of practice. Consultation on the drafting of such a code is currently being undertaken by my Department with the trade, consumer organisations, enforcement authorities and the Office of Fair Trading.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the application of the BT shareholder telephone voucher arrangements to businesses.

Vouchers have been issued to over half a million British Telecom shareholders. The scheme is working well. Under the BT prospectus, companies, partnerships, firms, trusts and associations were not eligible to apply for telephone vouchers and individual investors could use vouchers only against their own BT telephone bills or the bills of their spouses. Accordingly, BT and the Post Office were instructed to reject all vouchers submitted against bills in business names. I have received a small number of complaints about this from individual investors who are sole traders on the grounds that they are personally and solely liable to British Telecom for their bills, in a manner distinct, for example, from partnerships. Having reviewed the position, I accept that, under the terms of the prospectus, vouchers should not have been rejected in these particular circumstances. I am therefore giving revised instructions to BT and the Post Office in this respect.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government have any plans for a new initiative on behalf of claimants for compensation for assets seized in Russia at the time of the Bolshevik revolution in 1917; and if he will make a statement.

We have no new initiative in mind at present. We believe we should persist with the discussions with the Soviet Union about these claims.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his estimate of the number of claims received from British citizens for compensation for property in Russia seized at the time of the Bolshevik revolution in 1917; and what is the total value of the claims.

Some 50,000 private claims were registered between 1918 and the early 1950s. The total value of those claims was earlier set at £400 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, in discussions with the Soviet Union, Her Majesty's Government have attempted, since 1979, to reach a negotiated settlement of claims by British citizens for compensation for assets seized in Russia in 1917.

Yes. We have continued to hold meetings with the Soviet Union at irregular intervals which have been directed towards a settlement both of United Kingdom claims against the Soviet Union and of Soviet claims against us.

asked the Paymaster General if he will define unemployment as used to produce (a) the conventional unemployment figures and (b) the labour force survey figures; and if he will list those categories of persons who are included in (a) but not in (b) and those who are included in (b) but not in (a).

The information was published in the October 1985 issue of Employment Gazette, at page 393.

asked the Paymaster General how many jobs have been lost since 1977 in the three northern regions (the north, north-west and Yorkshire and Humberside); what proportion of the job losses in England over the same period the job losses in the northern regions represent; and what are the corresponding figures for the south-east region.

Information about job gains and job losses is not available from the Department's statistics, but an indication of the net changes can be seen by comparing levels of employment at different dates.The net changes in the size of the civilian employed labour force for the areas specified between June 1977 and September 1985, the latest date for which figures are available, are as follows:

	Number
North	-211,000
North-West	—83·000
Yorkshire and Humberside	-186,000
South-East	+386,000
England	-300,000

The net decrease in the civilian employed labour force was the result of increases in some regions, including the south-east, and decreases in others including the northern region.

asked the Paymaster General if he will indicate for each English region the change in total employment as a proportion of all jobs between June 1977 and September 1984.

The changes in the size of the civilian employed labour force for the areas and dates specified are contained in the following table:

Percentage changes in the size of the civilian employed labour force between June 1977 and September 1984
	Per cent
South-East	3
East Anglia	9
South-West	4
West Midlands	- 9
East Midlands	- 5
Yorkshire and Humberside	— 9
North-West	- 7
North	- 16

The civilian employed labour force is the sum of employees in employment and the self employed in each of the standard regions.

asked the Paymaster General how many manufacturing jobs have been lost in each of the regions of England since June 1977 to the latest available date, showing the proportion of people employed in the manufacturing sector for each region.

Information about job gains and job losses is not available from the Department's statistics, but an indication of the net changes can be seen by comparing levels of employment at different dates.The following tables show the net changes in the numbers of employees in employment in the manufacturing industries between June 1977 and September 1985, and the proportion of employees employed in September 1985 who were employed in manufacturing industries.

Net changes between June 1977 and September 1985 in numbers of employees in employment in manufacturing industries
Region	Net change
South-East	-317,000
East Anglia	-26,000
South-West	-76,000
West Midlands	-298,000
East Midlands	-103,000
Yorkshire and Humberside	-208,000
North-West	-320,000
North	-144,000

Employees employed in manufacturing industries in September 1985 as a proportion of all employees in employment
Region	Per cent.
South-East	21
East Anglia	25
South-West	24
West Midlands	36
East Midlands	35
Yorkshire and Humberside	29
North-West	28
North	28

asked the Paymaster General what was the unemployment rate in 1981 and 1984 in each English region and in the United Kingdom.

The following information is in the Library. The rates are adjusted for discontinuities and relate to unemployed claimants, seasonally adjusted school leavers for the English regions and the United Kingdom for October 1981 and October 1984.

	October 1981 per cent.	October 1984 per cent.
South-East	7·1	9·4
East Anglia	8·2	9·9
South-West	8·9	11·3
West Midlands	12·3	14·9
East Midlands	9·1	12·1
Yorkshire and Humberside	11·0	14·0
North-West	12·6	15·4
North	14·0	17·8
United Kingdom	10·2	12·8

asked the Paymaster General what is the proportion of unemployed in each English region who have been continuously unemployed for more than 12 months.

The following information is in the Library. 10 October 1985 is the latest date for which an analysis of unemployment by duration is available. The proportions of claimants who have been unemployed for over 12 months in the English regions were as follows:

	per cent.
South-East	36·3
East Anglia	34·8
South-West	34·2
West Midlands	47·0
East Midlands	40·4
Yorkshire and Humberside	41·8
North-West	45·2
North	45·7

asked the Paymaster General what is the ratio of registered unemployed people to notified vacancies in each English region; and what are the ratios for the three northern regions (north, north-west and Yorkshire and Humberside) and the south-east.

Following is the available information. Figures are given showing the numbers of unemployed claimants in the regions of England as at 14 November 1985. Also shown are the numbers of unfilled vacancies at jobcentres in the regions (including community programme) as at 8 November, and the ratios of the unemployed to these vacancies. Vacancies notified to jobcentres are estimated to be about one third of all vacancies in the economy as a whole.

Region	Unemployed claimants	Unfilled Vacancies	Ratio
South-East	779,842	68,428	11·4
East Anglis	81,676	6,303	13·0
South-West	208,419	19,573	10·6
West Midlands	345,681	16,927	20·4
East Midlands	198,884	10,698	18·6
Yorkshire and Humberside	307,148	11,461	26·8
North-West	448,151	19,319	23·2
North	236,188	11,051	21·4
Northern Regions (Yorkshire and Humberside North-West and North)	991,487	41,831	23·7

asked the Paymaster General (1) what was the seasonally adjusted fall in unemployment in November;(2) what was the seasonally adjusted fall in unemployment in September.

The following information is in the Library. The seasonally adjusted level of unemployment in the United Kingdom (excluding school leavers) fell by 3,800 in September, and by 8,100 in November.

asked the Paymaster General what are the average gross weekly earnings of men in full-time employment for the United Kingdom and for each English region.

The latest available information relates to full-time male employees on adult rates in April 1985 in each English region and in Great Britain and is published in table 12 of "New Earnings Survey 1985", part A, a copy of which is in the Library.

asked the Paymaster General whether, in the light of the Government's commitment to spread the benefit of tourism throughout the United Kingdom, he will make proposals for promoting overseas the regions of the United Kingdom.

The British Tourist Authority, through its many marketing and advertising schemes, already encourages our overseas tourists to visit places outside London. The board has been asked to give even greater emphasis to this aspect of its marketing effort in the future. We have, of course, already announced the provision of an additional £150,000 to the BTA towards the new British travel centre which will have a key role to play in this aspect.

asked the Paymaster General how many chairmen and how many members of industrial tribunals there are in each region within the United Kingdom; and how many of such persons in each region are women, of Afro-Caribbean origin and of Asian origin, respectively.

The information is as follows:

	Total number of members	Women members	Total number of Chairmen	Women Chairmen
England and Wales
Regional Office of Industrial Tribunals
Birmingham	172	44	14	—
Bristol	164	28	14	—
Bury St. Edmonds	151	40	12	—
Cardiff	130	26	7	—
Leeds	143	22	12	1
Liverpool	111	13	16	1
London/Central	171	43	23	2
London/North	141	33	19	4
London/South	163	45	23	5
Manchester	139	28	14	1
Newcastle	133	24	12	—
Nottingham	87	23	10	—
Sheffield	85	14	12	—
Southampton	140	28	11	—
Scotland	212	31	25	2

In Great Britain there are about 25 members of Afro-Caribbean or Asian origin. I do not consider it appropriate to publish a regional breakdown of these figures. We have no information about the ethnic origins of chairmen of industrial tribunals.Questions relating to industrial tribunals in Northern Ireland are for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

asked the Paymaster General what is the annual salary of each member of the Manpower Services Commission; and what expenses were paid to each member in the latest year for which figures are available.

Members of the commission are currently paid an annual salary of £673 plus £67·30 for each day worked. Expenses paid to commissioners from 1 April 1984 to 31 March 1985 were as follows:

	£
Miss S. Elkin (resigned January 1985)	50·65
Dr. M. R. Green	307·38
Mr. W. H. Keys	190·30
Mr. J. A. Lawton	808·70
Mr. W. Longden	2,439·56
Sir Norman Payne	196·35

The remaining commissioners received no expenses payments during this period. The salary of the chairman is £52,750 per annum. Expenses of £793 were paid to the chairman during the period 1 April 1984 to 31 March 1985.