asked the Lord Privy Seal what is the current allowance payable to hon. Members successful in the ballot for private Members' Bills to assist with drafting costs; when the allowance was last increased; what is the current value of the allowance expressed in prices prevailing at the date it was last increased; and if he has any plans to increase it.

Pursuant to a resolution of the House of 29 November 1971, hon. Members who have secured one of the first 10 places in the ballot are entitled to claim not more than £200 towards the cost of drafting assistance for their Bill. This allowance has not been increased since it was introduced. The current value of the allowance expressed in prices prevailing at the date of its introduction is £43·35.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what will be the amount of grant his Department will provide to the Campaigners for 1986–87; and how that compares with 1985–86.

An allocation of –10,800 for headquarters grant was made to the Campaigners for 1985–86. Decisions about 1986–87 headquarters grant for national voluntary youth organisations will not be announced until spring 1986.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, in preparing his plans for merit awards for teachers, what estimate he made of the percentage of teachers who would expect to receive merit awards within the first two years.

My right hon. Friend has no such plans. He continues to look for a pay structure providing substantially more promotion opportunities for the better teachers to higher scales than are at present available combined with promotion arrangements and differentials designed to recruit, retain and motivate teachers of the right quality. The pay offer which the management panel made, with the Government's endorsement, on 12 September would have generated an extra 74,000 promotions, equal to one in five of all classroom teachers.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will take steps to ensure that all pupils receive at least a specified number of hours of instruction during their school career from teachers in receipt of the proposed merit payments.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any plans to issue guidelines to examining boards on the consequences for the assessment of examination papers of the proposed introduction of merit payments for teachers and the implicit grading of the abilities of the teachers of each examinee; and if he will make a statement.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has as to the total number of schoolchildren taking full-time private education.

In January 1985, the latest date for which information is available, there were 501,422 full-time pupils in independent schools in England.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will initiate discussions with examining boards about the implications for the evaluation of performance at recent and forthcoming O and A level examinations of the number of children whose schooling has been disrupted by strike action by teaching staff; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend and I share the deep concern which pupils and parents have about the current action being taken by teachers. We deplore any such action which harms children's education and which might damage their performance in public examinations and their future prospects.The effect of the action so far is inevitably difficult to quantify and will have varied from school to school. It is open to schools to draw to the attention of the GCE and CSE examinations boards any relevant factors affecting pupils' examination performance, and the boards have indicated that they will consider any such details provided in accordance with their normal practice. My right hon. Friend therefore at present has no plans to hold discussions with the boards.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the percentage change in real terms, measured by the gross domestic product deflator, in the funding of each university by the University Grants Committee between 1980–81 and 1983–84, excluding those amounts representing compensation for changes in home student fees, compensation for redundancy and early retirement, changes to take account of minor capital works from the recurrent grant and changes in the level of local authority rates (a) including and (b) excluding additions made for the information technology and new blood programmes.

[pursuant to his reply,3 December 1985, c. 161]: The percentage changes in the funding of each university between 1980–81 and 1983–84 in real terms measured by the gross domestic product deflator, excluding those amounts representing compensation for changes in the level of home student fees, compensation for redundancy and early retirement, provision for capital in recurrent expenditure and local authority rates (a) including and (b) excluding additions made for the information technology and new blood programmes are as follows. The percentage changes shown will be in part the consequence of the withdrawal of the overseas student subsidy and to the extent that these losses have been made up by the increased fee income will not accurately reflect the changes in the universities financial position.

	Percentage change in UGC funding (Academic Years) Real terms 1980–81 to 1983–84
University	(a) including IT and new blood programmes	(b) excluding IT and new blood programmes
Aston	-30·9	-31·0
Bath	-4·0	-4·5
Birmingham	-14·0	-14·4
Bradford	-31·1	-31·2
Bristol	-12·7	-13·4
Brunel	-16·3	-16·6
Cambridge	-7·5	-8·2
City	-19·7	-19·8
Durham	-5·5	-5·7
East Anglia	-7·6	-8·0
Essex	-19·6	-20·0
Exeter	-14·9	-15·1
Hull	-16·6	-17·0
Keele	-32·0	-32·1
Kent	-19·3	-19·8
Lancaster	-12·1	-12·3
Leeds	-13·2	-13·4
Leicester	-60	-6·5
Liverpool	-150	-15·2
London Graduate School of Business Studies	+33·6	+33·6
London University	-13·6	-13·9
Loughborough	-7·4	-7·7
Manchester Business School	-25·2	-25·2
Manchester	-14·9	-15·2
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology	-27·9	-29·2
Newcastle	-8·3	-8·7
Nottingham	-11·2	-11·8
Oxford	-8·8	-9·5
Reading	-13·2	-13·3
Salford	-42·2	-42·3
Sheffield	-11·0	-11·2
Southampton	-9·8	-10·3
Surrey	-21·7	-21·8

Speech science, speech pathology and speech therapy courses and numbers of graduates
Institution,	Course	All first degree graduates			Good honours graduates
		1983	1984	1985	1983	1984	1985
(a) Great Britain universities
University College London	Speech sciences	43	46	42	18	16	14
Manchester	Speech pathology and therapy	22	18	19	16	10	13
Newcastle	Speech, Speech and psychology	16	11	19	4	7	8
Reading	Linguistics and Language pathology	10	13	11	9	4	8
Sheffield	Speech science	19	14	14	7	5	5
(b) England polytechnics
City of Birmingham	Speech pathology and therapy	—	20	—	—	7	—
Leicester	Speech pathology and therapy	—	—	—	—	—	—
Leeds	Speech therapy	—	—	—	—	—	—
Manchester	Remedial speech therapy	—	—	—	—	—	—
(c) England other institutions
The Central School of Speech and Drama	Speech therapy	—	—	—	—	—	—

— No graduates

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what information he has on the numbers of staff engaged in full or part-time teaching on courses leading to degrees in speech science, speech pathology or speech therapy and their places of employment;(2) what information he has as to the number of students, and their place of study, sitting for examinations for degrees in speech science, speech pathology or speech therapy in 1983, 1984 and 1985 and the classification of honours awarded where appropriate;(3) what information he has as to the numbers and location of courses at universities, polytechnics or other institution leading to degrees in speech science, speech pathology or speech therapy.

[pursuant to his reply, 20 November 1985, c. 177–78]: The table published with my reply was misleading. Revised information on the numbers of speech science, speech pathology and speech therapy graduates is as follows:

asked the hon. Member for Wokingham as representing the Church Commissioners if he will detail for the last five years the number of priests who have voluntarily retired or resigned early; and if these data can be suitably classified according to reason for the early retirement or resignation.

The commissioners do not keep the information necessary to answer this question precisely. However, the information they do keep indicates that the number of priests who left the commissioners' payroll, other than for normal retirement or death, were:

	Number
1980–81	208
1981–82	195
1982	190
1983	214
1984	237

A number of these will have taken up appointments in other forms of ministry: for example, forces chaplaincy, prison chaplaincy, school or hospital chaplaincy work.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what discussions he has had with the Opencast Executive and the chairman of the National Coal Board regarding privatisation of opencast coalmining operations; and if he will make a statement;(2) what discussions he has had with the chairman and members of the National Coal Board regarding privatisation of some deep mined coal production units; and if he will make a statement.

The Government have no plans for privatising the National Coal Board's mining activities.

asked the Attorney-General whether any guidance is given by Her Majesty's Government to counsel appearing in Crown courts on the use of peremptory challenges.

It is not open to the Government to give guidance to counsel appearing in Crown courts on matters such as these. In 1977 the number of peremptory challenges available to each defendant was reduced from seven to three. As the Solicitor-General said in November, while the law so recently approved by Parliament remains as it is, counsel has a right and a duty to use the peremptory challenge, together with all other lawful means, to the extent that he conscientiously thinks it will further his client's interest.

asked the Attorney-General what recent discussions he has had about the future of law centres.

The Lord Chancellor's officials continue to be in touch, as appropriate, with the seven centres funded by the Lord Chancellor's Department and with the Law Centres Federation. Other law centres are not the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor's Department.

asked the Attorney-General whether he is satisfied with the arrangements for maintaining the confidentiality of advice given by him to other Government Departments.

I an satisfied that the arrangements in my Department are adequate and that other Departments are aware of their duty to maintain the confidentiality of any advice which I may give them.

asked the Attorney-General when the report of the family court review being undertaken by the Lord Chancellor's Department will be published.

It is hoped that a consultation paper will be published shortly and that a final report on the feasibility of the main options for a unified family court will be published by the end of this year or early in 1987.

asked the Attorney-General whether there are any plans to review the operation of the legal aid scheme.

The Government are concerned that legal aid should be provided in the most cost effective way. It has therefore been decided to carry out a scrutiny with the following terms of reference:

"Given the necessary judicial independence of the courts and existing reviews of court procedure, to consider the determinants of expenditure on the legal aid scheme by looking at its operation and administration in practice, and to make recommendations."

The scrutiny will be undertaken by officials from the Lord Chancellor's Department, the Treasury and the efficiency unit. It is intended that it will begin at the end of January 1986 and will be completed in about four and a half months.

asked the Attorney-General what procedures have been established for the monitoring of the introduction of the duty solicitor scheme in London.

The Law Society is receiving reports on the progress of implementation from its committees responsible for the administration of the 24-hour duty solicitor scheme. In addition, the society has made arrangements for the collection of detailed statistics on work done under the scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what amounts of overseas aid provided by British taxpayers are bilateral, are through the European Economic Community and are through other international agencies such as those of the United Nations.

In 1984–85 aid programme expenditure was £1,165 million. Of this £664 million was provided as bilateral aid, £231 million was channelled through the European Community and £270 million was provided to other multilateral development agencies.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what will be the levels of British bilateral and multilateral aid, respectively, in 1986–87 in real terms compared with the levels of 1978–79.

In 1978–79 bilateral aid was £563 million and multilateral aid £201 million. The aid programme breakdown in 1986–87 is still subject to some uncertainty but in broad terms the level of bilateral aid will be lower in real terms than in 1978–79 and that of multilateral aid greater.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on further emergency assistance to Ethiopia and the Sudan.

We shall continue to provide emergency assistance towards relief needs, and help for rehabilitation, in Ethiopia and the Sudan during 1986, both bilaterally and through the European Community. I have announced already a further £5·2 million relief assistance to the Sudan.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he is satisfied that there will be sufficient food supplies in the Sudan in 1986.

Current assessments are that there will be an overall grain surplus in Sudan this year. However, some areas, particularly Darfur and Kordofan, will be in deficit and a substantial relief effort will be needed. We are ready to play a full part in this. I have already announced today the provision for a further £5·2 million relief assistance to the Sudan.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will increase the present British aid programme to the Yemen Arab Republic.

I have no plans at present to do so. My visit last week to the Yemen Arab Republic confirmed the useful work being carried out under our technical cooperation programme. I made clear that there might be scope in the future for funds from the aid and trade provision if suitable project proposals were put forward.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid projects in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have been funded by Her Majesty's Government for each year since 1979.

Bilateral aid projects financed were as follows:

Project	Aid category*	Duration
HONDURAS
Forestry Development	T.C.	1979–85
Artisanal Fisheries	T.C.	1979–84
Coffee Diversification and Development	Capital and T.C.	1981–85
Natural Resources study of the Mosquitia Region	T.C.	1981
Water Exploration, Development and Supplies	Capital and T.C.	1982–85
Provision and Commissioning of Hospital Equipment	Capital and T.C.	1982–85
Provision of Bailey Bridging	Capital	1982–85
Agricultural Economist for the National Institute of Agriculture	T.C.	1983–85
Provision and Commissioning of Land Rovers for the National Institute of Agriculture	Capital and T.C.	1983–85
Construction of Prefabricated Wooden Bridges	T.C.	1984–85
Hydraulic Modelling Work for the Aguan River Basin Study	A.T.P./T.C.	1984
Agricultural Engineer for Ministry of Natural Resources, Unit of Development and Adaptation	T.C.	1985
GUATEMALA
None	—	—
EL SALVADOR Self-Help Housing	T.C. (Accountable grant)	1979–84
Acelhuate River Management	T.C.	1979–80
Assistance to Central American Technological Institute	T.C.	1979
Economics Lecturer for Jose Simeon Caras University, San Salvador	T.C.	1979
Assistance to Veterinary Laboratories at Soyapango, San Miguel and Sonsonate	T.C.	1979
Provision of Equipment for Social Development	T.C. (Grant)	1985
*TC—Technical Co-operation.
ATP—Aid and Trade Provision.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the present total annual volume of European Economic Community aid to all central American countries; and how has this been allocated for each year since 1979.

European Community aid disbursements to Central America were £9·1 million in 1983, the latest year for which complete figures are available.The annual average level of aid commitments in 1979–84 (inclusive) was £22·8 million (38·6 mecu) allocated as follows:

	Financial and technical	Food aid	Emergency aid	Trade promotion	Training	Voluntary organisations	Total
Guatemala	—	2·468	0·882	0·289	—	0·188	3827
El Salvador	—	9·883	0·825	0·130	—	0·294	11·132
Honduras	22·000	16·150	0·088	0·389	0·004	0·082	38·713
Nicaragua	15·909	27·824	0·707	0·424	—	2·792	47·656
Costa Rica	10·602	0·271	0·030	0·518	—	0·300	11·721
Panama	—	—	—	0·259	—	0·018	0·277
Total	48·511	56·596	2·532	2·009	0·004	3·674	113·326
Regional programmes							23·879
Total							137·205

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans there are for further European Economic Community aid to Central American countries; and what restrictions thereon are planned.

The position remains as stated in the reply given to the hon. Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Mr. Foulkes) on 12 November 1985, at column 147. Individual proposals will be brought forward by the Commission in due course. These will be designed to support projects of regional importance on the basis of priorities and objectives identified by common agreement.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will provide details of the salary of the Chairman of the British Steel Corporation at each increase date since 1974.

The information is as follows:

Salary £	Effective From
28,100	1 January 1974
28,330	1 January 1975
28,538	1 January 1977
31,390	1 January 1978
41·695	1 April 1979
48·500	1 April1980
55,000*	1 September
60,000*	1 January
* Part-time

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will make a statement on the extent and nature of the Export Credits Guarantee Department's involvement in the circumstances which led to the failure of Ultraleisure and to the current imprisonment of one of the directors of that company;(2) if, in offering cover for the export orders for sports facilities, secured by Ultraleisure in 1981, the Export Credits Guarantee Department's insistence that Ultraleisure should enter into a corporate association with its Danish clients was a normal feature of Export Credits Guarantee Department's policy at that time; and if he will make a statement;

I understand that the police are investigating certain aspects of the affairs of this company. which is in liquidation. The Export Credits Guarantee Department is co-operating with this investigation as necessary. I would not be right for me to comment further on the matter in these circumstances.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has issued any directive to the Post Office Corporation requiring it to achieve a break-even financial return on counter services; and whether he wall make a statement.

As I announced on 24 July, at columns 63–64, the Post Office counters business is required to secure a 4·5 per cent. return on turnover on the current cost accounting convention, before tax but after interest, for the financial year 1985–86.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what rate of return he has required the Post Office Corporation to achieve in (a) 1985–86 and (b) 1986–87; and what effect this is expected to have on the income and trading prospects of sub-postmasters or sub-postmistresses.

As I announced on 24 July. at columns 63–64, each of the Post Office mails and counters businesses are required to secure a 4·5 per cent. return on turnover, on the current cost accounting convention, before tax, but after interest, for the financial year 1985–86. Financial targets for mails and counters for 1986 remain to be set. National Girobank is targeted separately.The effect of financial targets set for parts of the Post Office Corporation on the income and trading prospects of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses depends on the success of the counters business in providing an efficient and cost-effective service that meets the needs of its agency customers at a price they are prepared to pay.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria he proposes to use in determining the extent to which (a) the proposed United Technologies holding in Westland and (b) the increased holding on which an option exists are consistent with Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the existence of dominant or controlling foreign interests in strategically important United Kingdom companies; and if he will make a statement.

The Government have always made it clear that it is for Westland as a private sector company, to decide the best route to follow to secure its future and that of its employees. The board of Westland's proposals to shareholders no longer involve an option for United Technologies to acquire additional shares beyond the 29·9 per cent. that would be held by United Technologies and Fiat.

	1972	1979	Latest available
United Kingdom	207,500	204,381	217,891(1983)
France	108,525	106,297	127,269(1983)
Germany	52,455	60,886	65,677(1983)
Italy	28,500	36,570	40,920(1981)

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if he was consulted by Lloyds Merchant Bank before it offered 300,000 man hours of work to the Westland company in its document dated 27 December in respect of the ordering of six additional Sea King helicopters; and if he will make a statement.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many retail businesses employing 10 or fewer people went into liquidation in the area of the Cardiff, West constituency from 1965 to date.

I regret that this information is not available. The main reason is that no records are kept of the number of employees of insolvent businesses.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the Airbus is produced in the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Government will make it its policy to guarantee Westland shareholders against losses incurred if the Sikorsky-Fiat bid is rejected in favour of that of the European consortium.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) whether, in considering the future of Westland, the Government had regard to the profitability of the companies which want to acquire its shares; and if he will publish in the Official Report the return on capital employed for each of the past five years of Westland and the other firms in question;(2).whether, in considering the Westland case, the Government had regard to previous examples of collaboration with European firms in the aircraft field;(3) whether he will publish in the

The Government have always made it clear that it is for Westland, as a private sector company, to decide the best route to follow to secure its future and that of its employees.The information requested about numbers employed in the aircraft industry is as follows:

The United Kingdom content of the Airbus A300–600 and A310 programmes, as a proportion of the total aircraft, including airframe, engines and equipment, was initially about 12 per cent. for both the General Electric and the Pratt and Whitney engined versions of these aircraft. As a result of the collaborative agreement between General Electric of the United States and Rolls-Royce on the manufacture of the GE CF6–80C2 engines, the United Kingdom content of Airbus A300–600 and A310 aircraft equipped with these engines has now risen to about 16 per cent.On figures currently available, the United Kingdom content of the Airbus A320 will be in the order of 16 per cent. for the CFM engined version and of 26 per cent. for the V2500 engined version.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the deficit or surplus in manufacturing trade with the United States of America, France, Germany and Italy, respectively, in the most recent annual period for which figures are available.

The information is in the following table.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish a table showing the total value of exports and imports of manufactured goods and the consequent surplus or deficit with the United States of America, the Commonweath and the EEC, respectively, in the most recent annual period for which figures are available.

The information is in the following table.

United Kingdom trade in manufactures*
12 months ending November 1985 £billion OTS basis
	Exports	Imports	Crude
	(fob)	(cif)	balance
With:
United States of America	8·0	8·6	—0·6
The Commonwealth	7·3	3·5	+3·8
European Communityt†	20·6	29·5	—8·9
*Standard International Trade Classification, Section 5 to 8.
†The members in 1985. Including Spain and Portugal, who became members on 1 January 1986, exports during the above period were £21·8 billion and imports £31·2 billion.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of the market for manufactured goods of the original six members of the EEC was secured by the United Kingdom in the most recent calendar year for which figures are available; and what was the comparable percentage in the calendar year 1982.

In 1984, 7·2 per cent. of the imports of manufactures by the original six members of the European Community came from the United Kingdom, the same proportion as in 1982.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Government intend to make the Patent Office a separate statutory body as proposed by the Chief Scientific Advisor, Cabinet Office, in the Green Paper, "Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation" Cmnd. 9117; and if he will make a statement.

The Green Paper, "Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation" (Cmnd. 9117) by Sir Robin Nicholson, the former chief scientific adviser at the Cabinet Office, proposed that the Patent Office should be allowed to be more responsive to the needs of innovation and that it should, therefore, be given a new look, freed from the traditional Civil Service framework and given broader terms of reference. The Green Paper added that the Patent Office should be self-supporting from fees and free to finance investment programmes.The Government have decided that the Patent Office should become a statutory non-departmental public body for broadly these reasons. Legislation will be introduced in due course to give effect to this decision and work on its implementation will begin immediately.Under the new arrangements it is intended that the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry will retain the power to appoint a management board and advisory committees and to set targets.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the level of unemployment in the construction industry in the Belfast travel-to-work area at the latest date both in numbers and on a percentage basis.

At 12 December 1985 there were 8,778 unemployed construction workers in the Belfast travel-to-work area. This represents an estimated 40 per cent. of all construction employees in that area.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many applications for grants have been made to his Department under the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Acts, how many of these were up to the maximum payable; and when the maximum payable figure under this grant was last reviewed by his Department.

During the period 1 April 1979 to date the Department has received 87 applications for grant aid under the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Acts 1944–71. The number of grants that were awarded up to the maximum payable is not readily available and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.The maximum current cost limits for grant calculation purposes, which have operated since October 1978 are: for water supply £1,200 per property; for sewerage services £1,650 per property.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to announce his decision as to whether he intends to refer the case of Mr. Bruce Lee under section 17 of the Criminal Appeals Act to ask the Court of Appeal to:review Mr. Lee's conviction and sentence.

My right hon. Friend hopes to be able to reach a decision shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration Her Majesty's s Government are giving to changes in court procedure in Crown Courts.

The Lord Chancellor and I are considering the proposals made by Lord Roskill's committee on fraud trials concerning aspects of Crown court procedure. My noble and learned Friend and I keep Crown court procedure generally under review and some of the possible changes will be discussed in a White Paper I intend to issue on proposals for criminal justice legislation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will refer to the Director of Public Prosecutions the publication of matters covered by the Official Secrets Acts relating to immigration procedures in the Daily Telegraph on 3 December; and if he will make a statement.

An investigation is in progress but it has not so far produced information of a kind which would justify asking the Director of Public Prosecutions to look into the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current approved

Police authority/force	Increase applied for	Increase approved
City of London	*6 (for 1985–86)	—
Cumbria	*14 (for 1985£86)	—
Devon and Cornwall	5 (for 1985–86)	5
	*18 (for 1986–87)	—
Dorset	20	20
Essex	10	10
Hertfordshire	*33 (for October 1986)	—
Northamptonshire	6 (for 1985–86)	6
	*23 (for 1986–87)	—
Staffordshire	*52	—
Suffolk	*50 (from April 1986)	—
Surrey	22	10
Sussex	*66 (for January 1987)	—
Thames Valley	†l67	30
	*200(for 1986–87 onwards)	—
Warwickshire	*29	—
West Mercia	30	30
Wiltshire	*11	—
* These applications are under consideration.
†Thames Valley applied in November 1984 for 174 additional police posts without specifying when they would be needed. An increase of 20 posts was subsequently approved for 1984–85, and 30 for 1985–86. The current application for an increase of 200 posts supersedes the previous application.

Fifty additional police posts have been approved for the Metropolitan police for 1985–86 and 50 for 1986–87. In addition, as my right hon. Friend indicated to the House on 21 October 1985 at column 31, he has set urgent work in hand to assess where there are demonstrated needs for increases in the Metropolitan police establishment.We consider applications for increases in police establishments on the basis of the demonstrated needs of police forces, and in the light of advice from Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary, who have been requested by my right hon. Friend to assess the position.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter sent on 30 May on behalf of a Leamington Spa constituent, Mr. Ian Tyres, in connection with the policy of immigration of Sri Lankans into the United kingdom. manpower of the Leicestershire constabulary; and how this compares with the national average on officers per thousand population.

The authorised establishment of the Leicestershire constabulary is 1,733. On 31 December 1984 the ratio of police officers to population in Leicestershire was 1:499, compared with the average of 1:458 for police forces outside London in England and Wales, and 1:411 for all forces in England and Wales.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police forces have applied for an increase in establishment over the last 12 months; and on what criteria he reaches his decisions on such applications.

Fifteen police authorities in England and Wales have applied for increases totalling 595 in their authorised establishments for the financial year 1985–86 or later. One hundred and eleven additional posts have so far been approved for seven forces, and decisions will be made shortly on the outstanding applications.

I wrote to my hon. Friend on 2 January.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he hopes to advise local authorities on recommended emergency planning staff levels and salaries.

A decision will be taken later this year on whether and what advice on manpower levels would be appropriate when the assessment of progress made on implementation of the 1983 regulations is complete. Staff salaries are a matter for local authorities to determine.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what statistical or other material he assesses the outcome of his law and order policy.

Relevant information comes from a variety of sources. Statistics are collected centrally on recorded crime, cautioning, court proceedings, the treatment of offenders, and the work of the police, the courts, the probation service and the prison service. These regular central statistics are supplemented by information held locally and by a wide-ranging programme of research which is carried out into particular aspects of the criminal justice system. All the main statistical series and research results are published. A wide range of advice is also available to us from those working in the field of law and order.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department has any estimate of the number of offences in which alcohol was a contributory factor, in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Comprehensive estimates are not available of the number of offences in which alcohol was a contributory factor. Results from the "British Crime Survey" suggest that in 1983 approximately 45 per cent. of offences of wounding or assault were committed by people who were thought by their victims to have been drinking. Statistics of convictions for offences of driving after consuming alcohol or taking drugs are published annually in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin "Offences Relating to Motor Vehicles" (Table 5·1 of the latest Issue number 28/85). Statistics of convictions and cautions for offences of drunkenness are published annually in the Statistical Bulletin "Offences of Drunkenness" (Issue No. 33/85).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his reply of 19 December, when he expects the inquiry into the security breach at No. 10 Downing street on 13 December to be completed; and if he will make a statement.

The review was completed before Christmas. It made recommendations for improving the security of No. 10 itself, and the co-ordination of security arrangements between 10 Downing street and adjacent buildings. These are being implemented. It would not be right, on security grounds, to go into detail about the new arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will arrange for discussions to take place with relevant immigrant welfare organisations regarding the position of sponsors waiting for passengers at Heathrow airport who are undergoing lengthy and non-continuous interviewing;(2) if he is satisfied with the arrangements at Heathrow airport for sponsors of passengers subject to lengthy and non-continuous interviewing to be kept informed of the up-to-date position; and if he will make a statement;

Representatives of a number of organisations representing immigrants or concerned with immigration and community relations matters have visited Heathrow in recent months and have observed the immigration control in operation. Some have discussed with officials the position of sponsors waiting for passengers and their comments have been carefully noted. Our officials are prepared to make similar arrangements for representatives of other interested organisations.There are a number of reasons, including the pressures on immigration officers at Heathrow, which contribute to difficulties in providing prompt and adequate information to sponsors. The main difficulty arises where the sponsor knows that a flight on which a particular passenger is expected has landed but his inquiries cannot be answered because the passenger has not yet reached the initial control, is being examined on that control or, having passed through it, is awaiting his or her baggage in the Customs Hall. If it is decided that a passenger has to be questioned at greater length than is possible on the initial control, inquiries can generally be answered promptly, but there are occasions when the large number of passengers requiring further examination causes delay.Communications at terminal 3 should shortly be improved by the installation of an immigration booth and courtesy telephone giving direct access to the Immigration Office. The situation will be kept under review.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many strip searches have taken place in Brixton prison in the last 12 months.

This information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent reasonable suspicion is a pre-condition of the carrying out of strip searches in Brixton prison.

Strip searches as a routine security measure, for example, before and after court appearances, after visits, at the time of cell changes and during wing and cell searches, are not restricted to occasions when an officer has a reasonable suspicion that the particular prisoner has an unauthorised article concealed about his (or her) person. Where an officer has such reasonable suspicion, a special search may be carried out on the authority of the governor, deputy governor or chief officer.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long the houses owned by his Department in Townley gardens, Birmingham, have been empty; when he expects disposal to take place; and if he will make a statement.

:The seventeen houses became empty on various dates since June 1981 but mainly in 1983. It was decided in July 1984 to dispose of 13 of the houses; later it was decided to dispose of the other four. Contracts in respect of all the houses have been exchanged with a prospective purchaser. Purchase of one .pf them has now been completed and the prospective purchaser is legally committed to completion of purchase of the remaining sixteen by 31 January. Negotiations with two previous prospective purchasers were unsuccessful.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is the practice of the community relations branch of the Metropolitan police to maintain lists of the party political affiliations of London borough councillors.

I shall reply as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will explain the functions of the Metropolitan police's docklands policing secretariat.

The docklands policing secretariat is a small unit established by the Chief Superintendent in charge of the Metropolitan police "HH" Division. Its purpose is to help him and his officers to liaise effectively with all the agencies involved in the re-development of docklands, and to assist in the assessment of the long term policing needs of the area.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are locally deployed against drug dealers in each of the London boroughs; and if he will make a statement.

As at 1 January 1986, of 91 officers were employed full-time on drugs work in the London boroughs as follows:

Borough	Officers
Barking and Dagenham	8
Havering and Newham
Brent	2
Camden	8
Chelsea	5
Croydon and Sutton	3
Hammersmith and Fulham	2
Harrow	2
Hounslow and Richmond	2
Kensington	10
Lambeth	9
Lewisham and Bromley	13
Marylebone	6
Paddington	10
Wandsworth	6
Westminster	5
Total	91

In addition all district and divisional crime squad officers may undertake drug investigations as part of their general duties. The central drug squad, which has an establishment of 57 officers, operates throughout the Metropolitan police district against drug traffickers and dealers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been held in custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Newham, in 1984 and in 1985.

The information requested is not held centrally. The readily available information relates to the Metropolitan police district as a whole and is of those detained under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Acts 1976 and 1984. Sixty-three persons were so detained in 1984 and 34 in the first nine months of 1985. To provide information about individual police districts would involve disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the Metropolitan police training expenditure is spent on police skills training; and if there are any plans to increase this percentage.

The Commisioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that information about the proportion of all Metropolitan police training expenditure which is devoted specifically to police skills training is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Some 22 per cent. of the initial 20-week recruit training course is spent on the study of community relations, race relations, interpersonal skills and the role of the force. There are no plans to increase the proportion of Metropolitan police training devoted to work in this area.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all organisations which have made submissions on the public order White Paper; and if he will place copies of the submissions in the Library.

Comments on the White Paper were received from the following organisations:

Guild of British Newspaper Editors

Football Trust

Law Society

Commission for Racial Equality

London Borough of Croydon

London Borough of Camden

National Union of Public Employees

Engineering Employers' Federation

Association of County Councils

Legal Action Group

Liverpool 8 Law Centre

Magistrates' Association

City of London Police Committee

Community/Police Consultative Group for Lambeth

London Borough of Southwark

Prosecuting Solicitors' Society of England and Wales

Association of Liberal Lawyers

Council for Country Sports

Justices' Clerks Society

London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Working Group of the Faculty of Law, Aberdeen University

Association of Scottish Police Superintendents

Association of Chief Police Officers'(Scotland)

Scottish Police Federation

London Borough of Hackney

London Borough of Newham

Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE)

Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers

JUSTICE

London Borough of Islington

West Yorks County Council

Police Federation (England and Wales)

National Council for Civil Liberties

Association of District Councils

City of Coventry

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 19 December 1985, Official Report, column 274, by what means, in what form and by whom the studies into ways of detecting and monitoring the effects of chemical attack and issuing appropriate public warnings are being conducted.

This work is an analytical review of the requirements for and the availability of detection, warning and monitoring equipment. It is being undertaken by the United Kingdom warning and monitoring organisation and the scientific research and development branch of the Home Office.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners convicted for murder in each year from 1970 to 1977 have since been released from prison; and what was the length of sentence served for each prisoner released.

[pursuant to his reply, 11 December 1985, c. 646]: The readily available information is given in the following table, which also shows the numbers received in each year who were still in custody in December 1985.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what response he has had to the Watts report on water metering.

I have invited bodies representing consumer and other interests to comment upon the report by 10 March. About 25 letters have been received to date, expressing a variety of views.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to the answer of 19 December to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield about local authority housing stock, what steps he is taking to collect information on the claims received and houses sold in Welwyn Hatfield between 3 October 1980 and 30 September 1985.

Figures of right to buy progress from Welwyn Hatfield district council's September quarter statistical return were not available in time for inclusion in the table to which my hon. Friend refers. The authority has reported a total of 5,428 right to buy claims, of which 5,231 had been admitted and 2,822 sales completed in the period 3 October 1980 to 30 September 1985.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether the Nature Conservancy Council will consult the Anglian water authority about the practicalities of enclosing an area of the marshes of the Wash before agreeing to compensate any owners under the Wildlife and Countryside Act;(2) whether any negotiations are taking place between the Nature Conservancy Council and any owners of the marshes of the Wash for compensation under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

It is the Nature Conservancy Council's normal practice to consult both the Anglian water authority and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food about all proposals involving land reclamation in the Wash.The NCC is currently negotiating with two landowners concerning the future management of one area of some 600 acres, and is discussing inter alia the details of compensation under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give details of the cost and the tendering procedure for the new Council building of the European Economic Community in Brussels.

No reliable estimates of cost are yet available. Preliminary sketch plans are due to be submitted by the Belgian authorities to the Council of Ministers later this year.The tendering arrangements provide for site preparation and site infrastructure to be handled by the Belgian authorities at no cost to the European Community. The substructure work will be handled by a general contractor already selected by the Belgian authorities. The superstructure, services and finishes will be the subject of competitive tendering by the Belgian authorities, under normal EC rules.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to monitor the effect of the House of Lords decision in the Street v Mountford case on the supply of private rented accommodation.

We shall take account of this matter when considering the need for future research on the private rented sector as a whole.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to how many areas in Hampshire are available for industrial development, by district, indicating the number of hectares in each case.