asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people are at present resident in local authority homes; what was the comparable figure in 1979; and what is the present average occupancy of such residences.

On 31 March 1985, the latest date for which information is available, the number of residents in local authority homes was as follows:

	1979	1985	Occupancy Rate 1985 per cent.
Elderly	8,745	8,985	92
Children	2,659	1,720	73
Mentally handicapped	506	725	92
Mentally ill	117	129	71
Other	—	54	59
Total	12,027	11,613	88

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the income to the Health Service in Scotland from the sale of land and properties owned by health authorities during each of the past five years.

Income from the sale of surplus NHS land and property is as follows:

	£ million
1981–82	0·454
1982–83	1·791
1983–84	1·750
1984–85	1·889
1985–86	2·432

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many Scottish homes have reported burglaries in each of the past 10 years.

The available information relates to cases of housebreaking, in both residential and commercial property, recorded by the police, and is as follows:

Cases of housebreaking recorded by the police—Scotland
	Number
1976	79,820
1977	91,150
1978	75,710
1979	76,635
1980	78,446

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in Scotland in each of the past 10 years have been convicted of crimes related to the claiming of supplementary or unemployment benefit.

I regret that the information is not maintained in the form requested. The information that is available is set out in the table.

Persons against whom charges were proved Social Security and Supplementary Benefits Offences
	Number
1976	583
1977	593
1978	1,108
1979	774
1980	1,518
1981	981
1982	498
1983	317
1984	419
1985	463

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how much money the Scottish Office makes available to centres run by health authorities in Scotland at which haemophiliacs are treated and supported in counselling centres.

No specific funds have been made available for this purpose. It is for individual health boards to decide on the allocation of their resources, according to their priorities and their knowledge of local needs.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the amount spent in Scotland per head on personal social services in the last year for which figures are available; and what are the comparable figures for (a) England and Wales and (b) each of the English and Welsh regions.

The last financial year for which relevant figures are available for Scotland and Wales is 1984–85 and for England 1983–84. In 1984–85 the gross amount per head of the population spent in Scotland by local authorities in the discharge of the responsibilities arising directly from the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 or referred to therein was £63. The equivalent figure for Wales is £55. 1983–84 figures for Scotland, Wales and England and for areas in England corresponding approximately to those of regional health authorities are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the exchange of letters between himself and the chairman of the Commonwealth Games Committee regarding the anticipated shortfall in financing the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh: and if he will make a statement.

No. The chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee and I agree that our correspondence is confidential. I am confident that the Edinburgh Games will be a resounding success.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the numbers of British fishing vessels engaged in monofilament net fishing in (a) North sea fishing grounds north of the Scottish border and (b) Scottish waters in each of the last three years: and what is his estimate of the value and volume of the catch landed in Scotland from such vessels.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what arrangements he proposes for the operation in Scotland of the grants provided for by section 108 of the Transport Act 1985; and if he will make a statement.

I have provided £170,000 for these grants in 1986/87. The grant scheme will be used to assist in the establishment, continuance or improvement of any public passenger transport project for the benefit of persons residing in rural areas of Scotland. The particular conditions of the scheme, which has been established after consultation with local authorities and interested organisations, are set out in the explanatory note which accompanies application forms. I have placed copies in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he is now in a position to make a statement on the agreement on coal prices reached between the Central Electricity Generating Board and the National Coal Board.

The Government have encouraged British Coal and the CEGB in their efforts to reach a commercial agreement covering the supply of coal, which takes due account of the recent fall in the price of oil. I am pleased to be able to announce that agreement has been reached. The agreement is firm for the first two years, from 1 April 1986, and it is the clear intention of the industries to continue it for a further three years. In the first year it will result in a reduction of some £300 million in the cost of coal to the CEGB and there will be a similar decrease in the second year. The Government have endorsed the agreement during the first two years when it is firm.Electricity prices will fall as a result of this agreement. The Electricity Council is today recommending to the area boards an immediate reduction. I understand that this will mean a reduction of some 3·5 per cent. on the unit rate, with consumers on Economy 7 benefiting even more. The average reduction for industrial consumers is likely to be 5 per cent. (7 per cent. to 8 per cent. for those on contracted load terms). Monthly-billed industrial and commercial consumers will begin to benefit at once as a result of the fuel price adjustment clause in their tariff. The area boards expect to announce shortly the reduction in their prices to quarterly-billed, including domestic, consumers.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how much of the current Euratom budget is allocated to (a) promoting nuclear energy and (b) safety.

There is no seperate Euratom budget. Community research into nuclear fission is funded through the overall Community budget. Some 80 per cent. of the current nuclear fission programme of around £275 million is safety-related with sub-programmes on reactor safety, the management and storage of radioactive waste and the safeguarding of fissile materials. The remainder of the programme is devoted to research into nuclear fuels and decommissioning of nuclear installations. Euratom does not devote resources to promoting nuclear energy.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) if he will give the latest available information held by his Department on the comparative availability of investment capital for Electricite de France in France and the Central Electricity Generating Board's external financing limits;

The CEGB conducts its capital investment in accordance with a programme for which it is required to obtain my right hon. Friend's approval. My right hon. Friend has agreed that the board may spend £640 million on its capital programme in 1986/87. I cannot comment on the comparative availability of investment capital for Electricité de France or on the size of its debts.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list those categories of questions on civil nuclear power and nuclear materials that are matters to be raised directly with the appropriate chairman of the Central Electricity Generating Board and the South of Scotland Electricity Board.

Questions which relate specifically to matters within the management competence of the Central Electricity Generating Board or the South of Scotland Electricity Board, or where the answer requires detailed information not available in my Department or in the Scottish Office, are normally referred to the chairman of the board concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give details of how he calculated the stated figure of a £1 billion advantage to French industry of its nuclear energy programme.

A reduction in the proportion of nuclear generation in the French electricity system from the present 65 per cent. to the 20 per cent. in Britain would add approximately 0.5p to the cost of a kilowatt hour of French electricity. This is broadly the difference between French and United Kingdom industrial electricity tariffs as detailed in the CBI report on "European Industrial Energy Prices" published in February 1985. When multiplied by electricity consumption in French industrial and commercial concerns, this yields a saving close to £1 billion.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outcome of the report on the second annual review by the Review Board for Government Contracts.

The review board in its report on the fouth general review proposed that the triennial reviews of the target profit rate should be supplemented by limited annual reviews so that changes in the rate of return elsewhere in the economy and in other economic circumstances can be reflected more quickly in the profit rate. The review board submitted the second of these interim reviews to the Treasury in January.The board recommended that the target rate of profit should be 13 per cent. on capital employed in semi-CCA terms, with an assumed average CP/CE ratio of 2·40 to 1. The semi-CCA basis of the profit formula allows for historic cost figures to be adjusted by the inclusion of current cost based depreciation and fixed asset values; and the average cost of production to capital employed (CP/CE) ratio is used in determining the components of the profit formula applicable to risk and non-risk work (that is the rates of return allowed on capital employed and cost).In its first annual review the board found that, although there were not sufficient data to support the view that Government profit formula work generally required less capital than contractors' other work, there were some significant divergences in individual cases arising almost entirely from a small number of large and exceptional projects, both defence and non-defence. The board recommended that these divergences should be addressed by negotiating more relevant units for the calculation of contractors' individual CP/CE ratios rather than by adjusting the target rate of return in the profit formula. To avoid distortion by the exceptional projects until more relevant units are established and start to affect negotiations on individual CP/CE ratios, the board has again recommended, in its second annual review, that a transitional adjustment should be made to the average CP/CE ratio. Specifically, the board recommended that the observed ratio of 2·32 to 1 should be increased to 2·40 to 1.Progress has been made with the introduction of more relevant units, but it is not certain that this action alone will eliminate the exceptional problems reported by the board. The Government and industry have therefore asked the board to conduct a further study of capital employed as part of the fifth general review which will take place later this year. Meanwhile, it is essential that the overstatement of capital employed already identified by the board should be reflected in the profit formula. Accordingly, after careful consideration, and following representations from industry, the Government have decided to leave unchanged the formula introduced on 1 May 1985. The target rate of profit will therefore remain at 12 per cent. on capital employed on a semi-CCA basis, and the components of the profit formula applicable to risk and non-risk work will also be unchanged.Copies of the review board report have been placed in the Library.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the cost of sick leave in the public sector; and what would be the public expenditure savings if public sector employees were restricted to statutory sick pay, instead of the present arrangements.

The information sought by the hon. Member is not held centrally and I regret that this information cannot be provided without a disproportionate expenditure of time and resources.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give details of total public expenditure, at current prices and real prices, using 1979 as 100, for each of the years 1978–79 to 1985–86.

The public expenditure planning total figures expressed in current prices and in real terms, using 1978–89 as 100, are as follows:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the reply, 22 May, Official Report, columns 306–7, what information he has about the nature of the cargoes imported from Europe and the Eastern bloc for each of the ports of entry in Scotland.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the additional cost in 1986–87 of income tax relief for class 4 National Insurance contributions if the upper annual limit were abolished.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many registrations his Department has made under the Data Protection Act; how many people are involved with implementing the legislation in his Department as a significant part of their job description; and how much he estimates it will cost to conform with the eight data protection principles.

The Treasury made three registrations under the Data Protection Act. There are four people involved with implementing the legislation within the Department. The majority of the data protection principles echo good practice and were adhered to by the Treasury prior to the introduction of the Act. The only principle likely to cause extra cost in future is principle 7, referring to subject access. The Treasury does not envisage any significant expenditure on this, as most of the subjects are members of staff who see the information held on them as a matter of course.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the number of staff in post in central Government Departments at 1 April 1986.

At 1 April 1986 there were 594,365 staff in post — 498,223 non-industrials and 96,142 industrials. The number of Civil Servants has fallen by 137,910, or 18.8 per cent, since 1 April 1979.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the flying of plutonium fuel from Liverpool to Dounreay.

These shipments are made in full compliance with the national and international safety regulations, which require the containers to be so designed as to prevent any harmful effect, due to radioactive contents, even in event of a serious accident.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether, in view of the current difficulties in extracting separate accident information from the national data base on minibuses, coaches and public service vehicles he will make the necessary arrangements to amend the STATS 19 system accordingly.

The STATS 19 system is currently under review and this is one of the aspects under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many Spanish fishing vessels have been registered as United Kingdom vessels in each year since 1980; and how many are currently on the United Kingdom registry.

The numbers of fishing vessels previously registered in Spain, and subsequently registered in the United Kingdom following their transfer to United Kingdom registered companies in which there is a controlling Spanish interest, in each year since 1980, have been:

	Number
1980	4
1981	20
1982	24
1983	1
1984	—
1985	2

Eleven of these vessels were subsequently removed from the United Kingdom register, but seven were later reregistered. In this period, too, a further 17 United Kingdom registered fishing vessels, not previously registered in Spain, were acquired by United Kingdom registered companies in which the controlling shareholding is Spanish. Eight of these vessels have since been removed from the United Kingdom register. Thus a total of 56 fishing vessels that are owned by United Kingdom registered companies with controlling Spanish shareholdings are currently on the United Kingdom register.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he has proposals for legislation to confine British registration to fishing vessels beneficially owned in the United Kingdom.

My Department is considering this difficult problem, in consultation with representatives of the fishing industry and the Departments that are directly concerned with fisheries matters. I shall consider what legislation might be appropriate in the light of the recommendations that are put to me.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of gross domestic product has been spent on the education budget in each year since 1970.

The following table shows total public spending on education expressed as a percentage of the gross domestic product from 1970–71 to 1983–84.

United Kingdom—Financial Years
	Per cent.
1970–71	5·2
1971–72	5·3
1972–73	5·5
1973–74	5·7
1974–75	6·2
1975–76	6·3.
1976–77	6·0
1977–78	5·5
1978–79	5·3
1979–80	5·1
1980–81	5·4
1981–82	5·4
1982–83	5·3
1983–84	5·2

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the level of local authority expenditure on education in each year since 1976 in cash and constant 1985–86 prices.

The information requested is shown in the table.

Local authority capital expenditure on education
£ millions
Financial year	Cash terms	Constant† 1985–86 prices
England and Wales*
1970–71	273·3	1,391·0
1971–72	327·6	1,526·1
1972–73	398·2	1,719·0
1973–74	473·5	1,907·3
1974–75	437·8	1,477·6
1975–76	477·5	1,282·1
England
1976–77	433·8	1,029·3
1977–78	375·8	783·1
1978–79	349·7	658·7
1979–80	394·0	635·0
1980–81	495·2	671·9
1981–82	406·4	501·4
1982–83	446·8	515·2
1983–84	461·1	509·0
1984–85	465·1	493·0
* For the years prior to 1976–77 figures for England alone are not available.
† Calculated using the gross domestic product (market prices) deflators.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place a copy of the Peat Marwick report in April 1985, "Ordnance Survey: Review of the Format and Design of Trading Accounts" in the Library.

On 23 April last year my hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State announced that an Executive summary of the Peat Marwick Mitchell report had been placed in the Library. The summary was prepared because the full report contained some information that is classified as commercial in confidence. The summary includes all recommendations of the full report.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has received any recent representations concerning a possible removal of ecclesiastical exemption for listed buildings; and if he will make a statement.

Discussions continue with church bodies and some other interested organisations. My right hon. Friend will make a statement when it becomes appropriate to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how he monitors the commercial activities of the Ordnance Survey; and if he will make a statement.

The Ordnance Survey management board monitors these activities against a financial target set by the Government. In addition, I also have regular meetings with the director general to discuss overall departmental performance.

asked the Secretary of State for- the Environment if he will increase the grant-related expenditure assessments and provide additional rate support grant to boroughs and districts in order to facilitate greater expenditure on litter prevention, street cleaning, refuse collection, disposal and amenity services.

I believe that local authorities are receiving fully adequate support from the Government through the grant-related expenditure and block grant arrangements to allow them to undertake all their services for 1986–87, including litter prevention, street cleaning, refuse collection, disposal and amenity services.Consultations with the local authority association; on the level of relevant expenditure for all local government services, including environmental services, for 1.987–88 are currently in progress.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state the total amount to date which has been withheld from (a) all local authorities, (b) local authorities in the northern region and (c) the borough of Sunderland in the form of penalties which were imposed on councils for spending in excess of required amounts.

[pursuant to her reply, 3 June 1986]: The following are the amounts of grant holdback incurred by local authorities in England, in the northern region, and by the borough of Sunderland for the years 1981–82 to 1985–86; that is those years for which expenditure guidance and holdback of grant are applicable.

	England £ mllion	Northern region £ million	Sunderland £ milllion
1981–82	123·000	17·023	2·206
1982–83	232·000	28·246	3·303
1983–84	281·000	50·204	3·614
1984–85	276·020	26·257	2·938
1985–86	435·359	74·301	9·939

Figures for 1981–82 and 1982–83 are final entitlements; figures for 1983–84 onwards are latest estimates in the relevant supplementary rate support grant reports.Northern region includes local authorities in the counties of Cleveland, Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what consultations have taken place or are proposed between his Department and the local authority associations and organisations representing the voluntary sector about the national clean-up scheme;(2) if he will make a statement giving details of the national clean-up scheme;(3) if he will list those organisations consulted before Mr. Richard Branson was invited to chair the national clean-up scheme; what resources are being made available to the campaign; and from what areas they have been transferred.

I expect to make an announcement about the details of the scheme shortly.

Borough	Estate	Targetted UHRU HIP allocation £	Description of works
Haringey	Broadwater Farm (1,063 dwellings)	505,000	Security and anti-vandal measures; refurbishment of community facilities; environmental improvements.
Haringey	Tiverton (938 dwellings)	515,000	Security measures; provision of neighbourhood office.
Wandsworth	Doddington (964 dwellings)	1,609,000	Physical restructuring; provision of 183 dwellings for sale; refurbishment and provision of community rooms; environmental and security improvements.
Nottingham	Radford and Clifton flats (525 dwellings)	238,000	Security and anti-vandal measures.
Newcastle	McCutcheons Court (200 dwellings)	285,000	Security measures; provision of community facilities and estate office; environmental improvements.

These five schemes bring the total number of schemes so far approved in principle to 23 with UHRU targetted HIP resources of £12·137 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many jobs have been created in the northern

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures he proposes to take pursuant to recommendation 12 of the first report from the House of Commons Environment Committee, Session 1984–85.

The Government's reply to that report (Cmnd. 9522) indicated that further consideration would be given to the introduction of legislation to enable national park authorities to apply for landscape conservation orders to be made as a power of last resort. We now propose, as an essential step in this process, to publish a consultation paper later this year to seek public views. The paper will include the details of a possible approach to an order-making scheme, and will set out the circumstances in which the Government believe that legislation for this purpose might be justified.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will be approving any further proposals submitted to his urban housing renewal unit; and if he will make a statement.

I am pleased to announce my right hon. Friend's favourable response to proposals for a further five schemes submitted by the London boroughs of Haringey and Wandsworth, Nottingham city council and Newcastle city council. All these schemes, which have been worked up in close collaboration with the Department's urban housing renewal unit and regional offices, involve improved housing management from local estate-based offices.The estates which will benefit from today's decisions and resources to be made available in 1986–87, which have been agreed in principle, are:region by BSC (Industry) Ltd. in each year since it was established; and how many are expected to be created in the current year.

The information is not available in the form requested. I shall write to my hon. Friend when I have the information.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to which corporation or companies payments have been made from the shipbuilding intervention fund in each of the last three years.

Companies to which payments were made from the shipbuilding intervention fund between:

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to review competition policy; and if he will make a statement.

The Government believe that in general existing competition law has operated effectively and served the economy well. However, mergers policy has attracted attention in recent months, particularly in the light of the present high level of merger activity. In addition, the restrictive trade practices legislation has now been in operation for 30 years, and it has been criticised on a number of grounds, such as its inflexibility and its limited effectiveness in controlling seriously anti-competitive agreements between firms. I therefore believe it would now be right to undertake a review of these areas. The review will investigate both the scope for changes in policy under existing legislation and the desirability of changes in the law.I am anxious that the review should be open to wide public debate and should benefit from all the expert knowledge available, whether inside or outside Government. I therefore intend to invite a number of outside experts to act as consultants on particular issues. In addition, I invite all interested organisations and individuals to contribute their view in writing, in the first instance no later than the end of July.I shall keep the House informed as conclusions are reached.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has of the total amount of aid in grants and loans provided to (a) the British Steel Corporation and (b) British Shipbuilders in respect of their operations in the northern region (i) since 1979 and (ii) since 1983.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 June 1986, c. 406]: The following is the information for British Shipbuilders in the northern region and the British Steel Corporation in the north-east. Information from British Steel Corporation in Cumbria is not readily available.

	1979–80 to 1984–85	1983–84 to 1984–85
	£ million	£ million
British Shipbuilders
Regional Development Grants	9	2·5
Intervention Fund*	123	20
Public Dividend Capital†	374	160
British Steel Corporation
Regional Development Grants	25	11
Subscription of Capital†	455	112
* To May 1986.
† Estimated: public dividend capital for British Shipbuilders (provided under section 16 of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Regulations 1977) and capital subscribed for the British Steel Corporation (under section 18 of the Iron and Steel Acts 1975 and 1982) is general finance, for instance, for capital investment and operating losses in subsidiary companies. It is not, in the main, allocated for specific purposes or areas. The British Shipbuilders public dividend capital estimate does, however, include £58 million towards the construction of the submarine facilities project at Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. at Barrow.

Other funding for working capital and to meet redundancy and closure costs has been provided by British Shipbuilders and British Steel Corporation in the northern region, but is not recorded on a regional basis.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if child benefit will be regarded as income for the purpose of calculating family credit under the terms of the Social Security Bill.

The intention is that child benefit will be taken into account in setting the level of the child credit rates, and it will therefore not be counted as income in the calculation of family credit in individual cases.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has on the circumstances surrounding the closure of Oriel Lodge Sudbury; and if he will make a statement.

The Registered Homes Act 1984 places responsibility for registering and inspecting residential care homes on local social services authorities. I would suggest therefore that my hon. Friend pursues his inquiries about the situation at Oriel Lodge with the Suffolk county council.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will introduce a system of minimum and maximum charges for the provision of services by private residential care homes and nursing homes: and if he will make a statement.

No. Provided that services and facilities appropriate to the care the resident or patient needs are available, the type of accommodation that is occupied and the charges paid are a matter between those running the homes and the person, or his relatives meeting the charges. The charges could be expected to reflect the services and facilities available as determined by market forces.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he will publish his Department's response to the Social Security Advisory Committee's report on the Social Security White Paper's proposals on student entitlement to social security and housing benefit.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Mr. Bennett) on 3 June, at column 718.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the increased revenue from class 1, 2 and 4 national insurance contributions in a full year at the rates ruling in 1986–87 resulting from the abolition of the upper earnings limit for employee contributions and of the annual upper limit for class 4 contributions.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services under what conditions foreign nationals are entitled to supplementary benefit or unemployment benefit.

Foreign nationals living in Great Britain who have paid the relevant contributions are entitled to unemployment benefit subject to the normal rules. Some foreign nationals are helped to qualify under the European social security regulations and the reciprocal arrangements on social security with certain other countries. Supplementary benefit has no residence, nationality or contribution test and the entitlement of foreign nationals is dependent upon their immigration status.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his best estimate of the numbers drawing unemployment or supplementary benefit who are also working without disclosing their work.

It is a criminal offence for any claimant to draw unemployment benefit or supplementary benefit without declaring that he is working. In 1981, in his report on payments of benefits to unemployed people, Sir Derek Rayner estimated that a minimum of around 8 per cent. of claimants are working while claiming benefit. The Department is making substantial efforts to reduce the level of fraud in this area and the Secretary of State has recently announced the allocation of 500 additional fraud staff to augment the Department's overall anti-fraud effort.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide figures indicating the amount of Government grant given to agencies working to combat alcohol abuse for the years 1980–1985 inclusive.

[pursuant to his reply, 26 February 1986. c. 604]: I regret that my reply to my hon. Friend understated the amounts of Government grant made available. The corrected information is as follows:

	£
1980–81	1,245,018
1981–82	927,821
1982–83	899,221
1983–84	908,908
1984–85	795,379
1985–86	*825,876
* Estimated figure.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, in the manner of the answer to the hon. Member for Norfolk, North of 21 December 1984, at columns 412–14, he will provide figures for expenditure by the family practitioner services, the Dental Estimates Board, the Prescription Pricing Authority and other special health authorities providing National Health Service central services for 1983–84; and if he will also publish comparable figures, at current and at 1983–84 prices, and comparable percentages for 1960 and 1970, for the above categories and those in the original answer.

[pursuant to his reply, 15 May 1986, c. 533]: The figures for 1983–84, and those for the earlier years at 1983–84 prices, were given in my predecessor's reply to my hon. Friend on 19 March 1985, at columns 452–58. I assume that my hon. Friend requires the equivalent information for 1984–85. This is given in the tables.The figures for 1960–61 and 1970–71 at 1984–85 prices are calculated from the base year's figures by adjusting for general inflation as measured by the gross domestic product deflator at market prices.Comparisons over this long period cannot be entirely reliable because of changes in the structure of GDP and in the organisation of the National Health Service.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many of the 5,000 additional staff at the Department of Health and Social Security local offices will be posted to the special claims section; and if he will break this down by region.

[pursuant to his reply, 19 May 1986, c. 63]: The 500 extra staff for fraud work are separate from the 5,000 additional local office staff for general work. None of the 5,000 will be used on fraud work. As regards the disposition of the 500, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for St. Albans (Mr. Utley) on 15 May, at column 533.

asked the Paymaster General what response Her Majesty's Government will make at the European Commission of the Council of Ministers meeting in June on the European Economic Community parental and family leave directive; and if he will make a statement.

The draft directive is not on the agenda for discussion at the June meeting of the EC Council of Labour and Social Affairs Ministers. The Government's opposition in principle to the draft directive is well known and in the event of it being raised for discussion at the Council the Government's response would, of course, be based on this position.

asked the Paymaster General how many (a) men and (b) women over the age of 50 years have been unemployed for over one, two, three, four, five and more than five years, respectively.

The following information is in the Library. Figures are given showing the numbers of male and female claimants aged over 50 years in the United Kingdom who, on 10 April 1986, had been unemployed for the durations requested.

	Males	Females
Over one year	252,745	83,640
Over two years	180,579	58,364
Over three years	129,596	40,291
Over four years	89,822	25,489
Over five years*	58,214	14,881
* These figures are affected by industrial action in 1981 and consequent emergency computer procedures.

asked the Paymaster General what is his Department's estimate of the relationship between the sterling exchange rate with the dollar and the number of United States visitors to the United Kingdom; and if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the percentage change in the number of United States visitors to the United Kingdom since 1970.

Movements in exchange rates are only one of a number of complex factors which affect the decisions of tourists, and no attempt to quantify the relationship has been made.The number of visits by United States residents to the United Kingdom increased by 109 per cent. between 1970 and 1985 to 3,166,000 in 1985.

asked the Paymaster General what evidence he has as to the effectiveness of expenditure by the British Tourist Authority on promotion in the United States in increasing the number of visitors to the United Kingdom.

It is not possible to quantify the effects of the British Tourist Authority's expenditure. A number of factors influence international tourism flows, but the level of growth in traffic from the United States to the United Kingdom over a number of years in comparison with other European destinations suggests that the British Tourist Authority's sustained efforts in promoting the United Kingdom have been to good effect. The BTA enjoys a high standing in the tourism industry and the substantial contribution which the industry makes to the cost of the BTA's activities abroad shows that its effectiveness is recognised.