asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of the amount which will be spent in the current financial year upon books in schools; how much this represents per pupil; and if he will take action to assist local authorities to increase this provision.

Local education authorities and schools decide how much is spent on books. The plans which we published in January were consistent with an expenditure on books of £70 million or £10 per pupil. On 10 June my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a further £20 million for books and equipment for GCSE courses.

Is the Minister aware that the total shortfall now amounts to more than £5 million a year, that most schools lack sufficient hooks and that books in use are often out of date? Is he further aware that the older geography books show nothing of the industrial transformation and devastation that has completely altered many local economies, and that pupils are not only hurt by the Government's lack of vision and provision but are demonstrably ill-informed?

I do not accept what the hon. Gentleman has said. [HON. MEMBERS: "HMI report".] As Opposition Members are shouting about the HMI report, I should remind them that it noted that the inadequate identification by teachers of pupils' educational needs and poor management of resources were more telling factors than the level of capitation.

Does my hon. Friend agree that recent developments in school management in Cambridgeshire, which offer greater discretion to school heads and governors in the use of resources, represent an interesting way forward? Could not other local education authorities usefully allow their schools more discretion and give heads more ability to decide the priorities that should be attached to the provision of textbooks and other school resources?

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. I am only sorry that he is not serving on the Education Bill Committee. But, as has been said, it is never too late. If he was serving on it, he would know that clause 25 helps to promote those very activities.

Is the Minister aware that yesterday the Minister for the Arts gave a commitment that the library service would remain free? Does the hon. Gentleman accept that it would be very damaging to the public service and to education if parents had to make an input into the provision of books? Will he give an undertaking that that will not occur and that books for education will remain his Department's responsibility?

There is no such obligation on parents. I think that there is a question on the library service later on the Order Paper.

Does the Department have any policy of ensuring, as far as possible, that school books are published by British publishers? Will my hon. Friend do what he can to ensure that pirated editions of British publishers' books are not allowed into our schools?

I will certainly look into what my hon. Friend has said.

Does the Minister accept that the relevant facts are that there has been a reduction in book spending per pupil in primary and secondary schools in each of the past three years? That information was provided by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State to my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Mr. Bennett). In May HMI warned the Secretary of State about the inadequacy of books provision. In case the Minister has forgotten, that appeared in paragraph 12 of the report. Why does he not simply tell the House this afternoon that the Government will provide extra resources for books in 1987–88?

As the hon. Gentleman will know, most schools are given a capitation allowance which covers books and equipment, and they make the choice between spending on books and equipment. The spending per pupil on books and equipment fell by 6 per cent. in primary schools and by 8 per cent. in secondary schools in real terms between 1975 and 1979. Under this Government, spending on books and equipment has increased by 8 per cent. for primary schools and by 5 per cent. for secondary schools. No decision has been taken on local authority spending for 1987–88, but I am sure that the report by HMI will be taken into account.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the number of students currently attending polytechnic courses; and how this compares with 1979.

In 1979 there were 131,000 full-time equivalent students at polytechnics. This had risen by 1984 to just under 171,000: an increase of just over 30 per cent.

I thank my right hon. Friend for that most encouraging reply. Does he expect the growth in numbers of technically and technologically skilled students and graduates from polytechnics to continue? Will he take the opportunity to refute the wild allegations that a massive cut in pupil numbers is in prospect?

On my hon. Friend's latter point, the Government do not want to see any overall reduction in intakes to polytechnics.

Is it not a fact that the draconian cuts in universities have meant that many highly qualified young people who would otherwise have attended university have had to seek entrance to polytechnics?

Not for the first time, the hon. Gentleman has got it wrong. Under this Government there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of full-time students entering univerisities and polytechnics. As I said in the House about a fortnight ago, the total increase is 80,000 full-time students, and nearly 140,000 if one includes part-time students. That is a record of which we can be proud when it is compared with the reduction in the number of students during the period of the Labour Government.

If my right hon. Friend wishes to increase the numbers still further, will he examine closely the submission to his Department of an application for polytechnic status by Nene college in Northampton, which, by any yardstick, has achieved the academic requirements for polytechnic status?

I shall consider my hon. Friend's request. I hope to visit Northampton and Northamptonshire in the not-too-distant future.

If the Secretary of State wanted to give a complete picture of what has happened in polytechnics during the past seven years, would he not draw the attention of the House to the fact that the amount of money spent per student has decreased by 25 per cent.? Is that not the real figure that shows the Government's record on polytechnics?

The hon. Gentleman makes the mistake of thinking that it requires only money to buy good education. The polytechnics have demonstrated that there is considerable scope for greater efficiency, not least by filling previously empty places. Nevertheless. I applaud their success in increasing the student-staff ratio from 8·4:1 in 1979 to 11·5:1 in 1984.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there is considerable concern about the funding of polytechnic evening-only degree and postgraduate courses? Will he give personal and careful consideration to the representations that have been made by Professor Burlin, which are set out in a letter dated 3 June 1986, addressed to my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science, who has responsibility for higher education?

Yes, I shall do that. I pay tribute to the family interest of my hon. Friend, whose great, great grandfather started one of the greatest polytechnics in Britain.

Before the Secretary of State becomes too smug and rewrites history, does he recall that it was the Conservative Government who tried to cut the number of students in universities? It was fortunate that local authority control of polytechnics took up the cut in student numbers. Can he tell us what will happen for the following academic year? Will he allow the polytechnics sufficient resources so that they do not have to cut places, or will he insist that there will be a cut of 9,000 places in 1987–88?

I am not trying to rewrite history. My hon. Friend's great, great grandfather founded one of our first polytechnics. The talk of 10,000 places being cut that is being bandied around is conjecture based upon hypothesis inflamed by exaggerated anxiety. I cannot announce an expenditure figure until local authority current expenditure is agreed. I hope to be able to give a figure to the National Advisory Board by the end of August. I assure the House that the Government do not want to see an overall reduction in the intake of polytechnics.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about his policy on the use of educational establishments during school holidays.

The use of school premises out of hours is a matter for local decision by authorities and governors. The Government encourage their fuller use by the community where this is practicable and justified.

Is my hon. Friend satisfied that the commercial potential of school premises and grounds, when they are not being used by pupils, is being exploited fully by education authorities to increase their revenue? Is he aware of the growing number of sports and activity holidays and of the thriving English language school industry, which often need venues of this kind?

Local authorities are empowered to make an economic charge for the services that are provided. The evidence available to me of sports-centred holidays and school facilities is that they are developments that are worth watching. I shall continue to watch how this trend develops and how it can best be promoted.

Does the Minister not yet realise that the concepts enunciated in the village colleges in Cambridge well before the second world war are worthy of consideration now? Does he not recognise their importance to the community, and will he encourage them?

I am not entirely aware of the pre-war development to which the hon. Gentleman refers. The concept of the use by the community of facilities as currently practised in Cambridgeshire — I visited Cambridgeshire a short while ago to see at first hand what it was doing — is to be encouraged and should be undertaken by other local authorities. I trust that in time the Cambridgeshire example will be followed.

I thank my hon. Friend for his generally helpful reply. Bearing in mind the importance of dual use to many of our communities, will he consider issuing a circular to local authorities so that this activity might be promoted?

The promotion of this activity is of great interest to the Government. A circular is one of a number of vehicles available to us. I shall bear my hon. Friend's comments in mind.

Will the Minister use this occasion to denounce the scheme, published in The Guardian this morning and emanating from the Department of the Environment, that local education authorities will be forced to let out schools to the highest bidder in the holidays, at weekends and in the evenings, and that parents of schoolchildren will be charged at the market rate for extra curricular activity, such as music lessons? Will he denounce this plan immediately?

Before commenting, I should like to see the article to which the hon. Gentleman referred. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for handing me a copy. I shall read it in the course of the next few questions.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what measures he intends to take to improve recruitment of teachers of mathematics and science.

I am working on a range of measures with the education service and with industry. I will publish a consultation document tomorrow.

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the most important single cause of our present shortage of mathematics and science teachers lies in the negative attitude to salary differentiation on the part of teachers' union representatives on the Burnham committee over many years? That is the principal reason why our school leaders are now, on average, two years behind their German and Japanese counterparts in mathematical attainment, with all the handicaps that that means for them personally and for our economy. Is my right hon. Friend aware that his determination to grasp the problem and build on the initiatives taken by his predecessor will be greatly welcomed?

I shall certainly be building on the initiatives taken by my predecessor. The shortage of mathematics, physics and technology teachers is a grave crisis for our country. It has been arising for a long time. The consultation document that I shall be publishing tomorrow puts forward eight different proposals. I hope that when it has been considered by the education world and by industry there will be even more proposals. One of them is the point that my hon. Friend has addressed, the question of differentials, and whether, as there is a shortage, that should be recognised in the pay. This matter must be addressed by ACAS. I take note of the point made by my hon. Friend in recognising that some differential should be paid to encourage more people to teach in these subjects.

Is Sir John Mason of the Royal Society right in saying that only 40 or 50 teachers of physics will go into teaching next year? Have the Government, in their preparation of the paper, clone any projections for 1992, when a lump of physics and mathematics teachers are due to retire and the number of schools requiring mathematics and physics teachers will begin to increase rather dramatically?

The hon. Gentleman will see that in the consultation document we set out the number of applications by graduates who want to take courses in teaching physics and maths. I agree that we must find ways of attracting more people into teaching physics and maths. Various ideas have been put forward to involve industry and to try to encourage people who have a mathemathical and tehnological background who want to retire early to come back and possibly teach in our schools. Surrey county council has approached the chambers of commerce and the rotary clubs to see whether they can help in that regard. I also want to involve people who retire from the services early who now have a strong technological background. I have met former officers and noncommissioned officers who are teachers in computer studies. We must explore all methods to attract more people to that area. We must also persuade children, even at the primary school level, to take an interest in these subjects so that there is a steady flow through the educational stream.

Has my right hon. Friend heard of the scheme known as SMILE — the secondary mathematics individual learning scheme that is used in inner London schools? Has he seen a recent report in the Daily Telegraph that children taking the CSE examination were asked to estimate the cost of providing food, housing and welfare for the world and to compare that with NATO and Warsaw pact military expenditure? Is that the sort of question that should be asked of children? Is it any surprise that mathematics is at such an appallingly low standard in inner London schools? Is it any surprise that no teacher of calibre can be recruited to those schools?

I have seen the examination paper in question, and I deplore the fact that an examination paper appeared in that form. —[HON. MEMBERS: "Why?"] Because it has nothing to do with mathematics; it is all to do with politics. I deplore the fact that politics has been dragged in in that way. I have written to the chairman of the examinations board asking him to look into the matter.

We are pleased to hear that the Secretary of State acknowledges that the reasons for the shortage of science-skilled teachers can be found long before the teacher training college stage. Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that paying one set of teachers more than another will create divisions in the teacher force? Will he bear in mind the failure of the £1,000 bounty for teachers who were to go into mathematics and science?

The hon. Gentleman was a little quick in calling it a failure. It is not £1,000, but £1,200, so he is only 20 per cent. out. The bursary to students entering postgraduate teacher training courses from this September is £1,200. I hope that more students will be persuaded to take it up. Pay differentials do operate, recognising merit, quality and responsibility. That may well be a way forward towards recognising the shortages that exist.

It is common ground that there is a major crisis of teacher supply in mathematics, physics and technology. I welcome the consultative document which the Secretary of State is to publish tomorrow. In view of the crisis and the need to act swiftly—which I think the right hon. Gentleman acknowledges — should he not now call on industry, which is always rightly asking our schools to raise their standards, to organise an immediate programme of secondment of qualified people to our schools?

The hon. Gentleman will find that there are various proposals in the consultative document which deeply involve industry. For example, GEC will find work for teachers in its factories for four or five weeks in the year. That is a step forward. The hon. Gentleman speaks of a crisis, but I hope he will recognise that it is not a crisis of the Government's making.

It is always someone else's fault.

In 1977 the Labour Government started a series of incentives, some of which have not worked. Over the past 30 years previous Governments have tried to solve the problem. For example, in the late 1940s some people were let off national service if they decided to teach mathematics and physics. This long-term problem requires urgent action. The document contains many proposals, and I hope that the country will consider them seriously.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science to what extent the Education (Grants and Awards) Acts have been used to assist in specific programmes to help education for crime prevention.

In the current year education support grants are supporting expenditure by local education authorities of up to £2 million on preventing the misuse of drugs. In 1987–88 they will, in addition, be supporting expenditure of up to £1 million on schemes to promote social responsibility among young people with a view to reducing juvenile crime.

I welcome expenditure in this area of education. Are any of these grants used to discourage vandalism? Are grants available to encourage parental responsibility in respect of this activity? My hon. Friend may be aware—if not, I will send him the details—of a great tragedy in my consitituency where young persons are causing great distress and damage. I believe that education has a role to play in improving the position.

I assure my hon. Friend that what we have in mind will include schemes designed to reduce vandalism as well as projects to involve parents. I draw my hon. Friend's attention to the guide on best practice in securing education buildings against vandalism, which we have already published, and a study of the subject, which we initiated. We hope that the Education Bill, which strengthens the links between parents and schools, will help in that regard as well.

Will my hon. Friend consider using the Education (Grants and Awards) Acts to stimulate team games coaching and teaching in all schools? That will give our children a chance to learn cricket, rugger, soccer and other team games which are currently denied them by many Labour authorities. Does my hon. Friend realise that Michael Gatting, who is captaining England at cricket with such distinction, was a product of a London school, and that we shall never see the like of him again if the Labour-controlled London authorities are allowed to continue as they are?

Like my hon. Friend, I deplore some of the attitudes of Labour-controlled local education authorities on team games. Like my hon. Friend, I think that there is a strong case for encouraging more coaching of cricket, especially in view of events elsewhere today.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to ensure that adequate education facilities are available in areas of population growth; and if he will make a statement.

It is for the local education authority to ensure that the schools available in its area are sufficient in number, character and equipment.

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Is he aware that there is a warm welcome in my constituency for his recent decision on the voluntary aided school in Verwood? I am doing nothing less than my duty in thanking him and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the speed with which they acted. However, is he aware that in east Dorset, an area of major population growth, there remain many problems about bussing and so on, which cause distress to many parents? Could he have a word with the Department of the Environment to try to ensure that, when major housing schemes are proposed, for example, under structure plan amendments, there is some input from his Department to see that schools are provided before the huge housing developments take place?

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his kind words about the recent decision, published on 10 June, to establish a new voluntary aided middle school in Verwood. With regard to my hon. Friend's question about transport, I shall ensure that the comments he has made are drawn to the attention of the appropriate Department.

To what extent is the Department of Education and Science being consulted by the Department of Employment over the review of skill-centres that is currently going on, which arises in part from changes in population? In the event that the Government were to proceed with the stupid decision, or were to proceed down the route of taking a stupid decision to close the Maryport skillcentre in my constituency, may I have an assurance that the Department of Education and Science will object most vigorously, because it will affect education and training provision in west Cumbria?

This question is about adequate education facilities in the context of school places. However, I shall undertake to ensure that the comments the hon. Gentleman has just made are drawn to the attention of the Paymaster General.

My hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr. Adley) was no doubt right, in that it is the responsibility of local education authorities to establish provision, but does my hon. Friend accept that where Governments accelerate population growth, such as in the county of Shropshire, with the establishment and growth of a new town, it is incumbent upon them to ensure that sufficient resources go along with that nationally inspired growth to cope with educational demand?

In deciding upon the distribution of financial resources available to us, we shall continue to give priority to work necessary to meet increased pupil numbers in areas of population growth. That is a guarantee that I can give to my hon. Friend.

Is the Minister aware that in parts of a large city such as Leeds there is population growth but the overall trend is of falling rolls? Will the Minister say whether he favours a single solution for such cities, which in the case of Leeds would involve the reorganisation of all the schools, including one single tertiary college, which has been proposed by the local education authority?

The hon. Gentleman is very seductive in trying to make me pass comment on proposals which have not yet come to the Department for deliberation and adjudication. I can assure him that any comments that he or any other Member from the city of Leeds cares to make about any proposals which may come my way will be borne in mind.

A number of hon. Members are concerned about the amount of sports field provision within education and are deeply anxious that many sports fields are being sold off. Bearing in mind the shortage of sports field facilities in many parts of the country, does my hon. Friend not feel that it would he sensible to look at this seriously so that, before land currently used to provide sporting facilities is sold off for other purposes, the overall physical recreation requirements of all areas are properly investigated?

School playing fields are protected by the appropriate regulations, have just written to my hon. Friend on that very subject.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations he has received about the Science and Engineering Research Council decision to transfer the Royal Greenwich Observatory to Cambridge.

Since the council meeting on 18 June my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have received 22 letters commenting on the decision to transfer the RGO to Cambridge.

Has the Minister seen the editorial in the latest edition of Nature, which surmises that the decision to refuse to transfer the Royal Greenwich Observatory to Manchester seemed to be justified by a desire to please the staff at the RGO, who felt that living north of the River Trent would be uncomfortable and a little bit like living in a foreign country? Does the Minister accept that nobody — not only those in the north of England -believes that the decision was made on technical grounds, but was simply to please the Oxbridge mafiosi? Will the hon. Gentleman now agree to publish the reports leading up to the decision so that at least he can absolve himself of the charge that he is pandering to that mafiosi?

Such decisions on scientific grounds are taken by the research councils that are appointed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to make precisely that sort of decision.

Is my hon. Friend aware that both the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society have advised the SERC to leave the Royal Greenwich Observatory at Herstmonceux? Is he further aware that the chairman of the SERC said in March that the cost of the move would be £3·5 million, and now he is saying that it will cost £6 million? Will my hon. Friend examine the proposal carefully and critically, and particularly the financial reasoning that underlies it?

I can only repeat to my hon. Friend what I have just said in reply, to the first question. Those decisions are taken on scientific grounds, by people who are appointed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to take them. However, I should like to add that I am well aware of the uncertainty and, perhaps, the disruption that will be caused to the lives of some of my hon. Friend's constituents. As he knows, the SERC is anxious to do whatever it can to help in that regard.

Is the hon. Gentleman not aware that there is widespread and near total opposition—[Interruption.] I will get on when people shut up and let people be heard—

Order. I can hear the hon. Gentleman.

For the benefit of these loons, I will repeat the question. Is the hon. Gentleman unaware that there is widespread and near total opposition to the move from Herstmonceux by those in the astronomical world who actually know something about this problem, unlike the majority of the members of the SERC? Will the hon. Gentleman get his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to review this decision before the damaging implications become too obvious?

I am not aware of near total opposition to the decision. What I am aware of, as in any such decision, is very healthy and natural public discussion and public dissent.

Will my hon. Friend make it clear, because it is not altogether clear from his answers, whether he is simply taking the decision of the SERC at face value, or reviewing it? If he is reviewing it, will he make sure that before the review he publishes the facts on which the council's decision and statement are based, particularly in respect of the Herschel development?

The position is as follows. The council is required to seek my right hon. Friend's approval to the capital expenditure at Cambridge, and through him, the Treasury, for the retention of the receipts from the sale of the Herstmonceux estate. Apart from those financial approvals, there is a long-standing practice over many years, observed by Governments of both complexions, not to overturn a decision by a research council made on scientific grounds.

Is the Minister aware that the SERC in fact said that Manchester as well as Cambridge

"would be very satisfactory from scientific, technological and administrative viewpoints"?

I note the hon. Gentleman's advance lobbying.

Is my hon. Friend aware that among the 22 letters which he has received about the recommendations of the research council there is a particularly powerful one from the hon. Member for Eastbourne? Following the answer that he has just given to my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Withington (Mr. Silvester) will my hon. Friend make it clear that the Secretary of State does not have in mind even the possibility that the Government will reject the recommendations of the research council?

Among the other letters, I am aware, of course, of the powerful points that have been put by my hon. Friend. I can only repeat that there is a long-standing practice, observed by all Governments, not to question decisions by research councils which are taken on scientific grounds.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received in the past month from directors of polytechnics about the National Advisory Body's planning exercise for 1987–88.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received in the past month from directors of polytechnics about the National Advisory Body's planning exercise for 1987–88.

When the hon. Gentleman responds to the representations made to him by the directors of the polytechnics in the northern region — Teesside, Middlesbrough, and Newcastle—will he give due weight to the representations that have been made by major private sector employers in the northern region, including Alcan and Swan Hunters, which have protested most vigorously to the cuts that he proposes?

The hon. Gentleman's question is based on a total misconception. I propose no cuts and the Government propose no cuts. As it happens, I have visited the polytechnics to which the hon. Gentleman refers and I have therefore had a recent opportunity to leave people on the spot in no doubt about the inaccurate and misleading information which has been put about and which has been encouraged by the hon. Gentleman.

I congratulate my hon. Friend on the excellent results which were announced earlier this afternoon of the increase under the Government in the numbers of polytechnic students. Does that not show the Conservative Government's considerable support and commitment to the growth of this particular sector of higher education, which now rivals the universities in the quality of the work that it does?

I am glad that my hon. Friend made that intervention, because it will help to counter some of the nonsense that is put about by the Opposition. I am never surprised when the Opposition flog a dead horse, but "Poly Cuts" expired before it even got to the starting line.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any plans to speed up the work of his Department in considering school reorganisation plans submitted to him.

I have appointed Mr. J. A. M. Mitchell to undertake a scrutiny of the Department's procedures on school closures, with the purpose of speeding those procedures up.

May I assure my right hon. Friend that that is a most welcome answer especially in a politically volatile area such as the county of Avon, where the disadvantage of delays in the programme of school reorganisation means that the beneficiary is often the successor administration?

I agree with my hon. Friend. There have been quite unacceptable delays in coming to decisions. There is a proposal before me from the Avon local education authority, and I shall try to deal with it as expeditiously as I can.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has had from the vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Edinburgh on the issue of research funds.

My right hon. Friend has received a letter from Dr. Burnett describing some of the implications for Edinburgh university of the University Grants Committee's grant allocations for 1986–87 and expressing concern about future funding prospects.

May I ask two questions, of which I have given the Minister's office notice? On what proportion of the total grant did the UGC exercise research selectivity? Was it 15 per cent., 30 per cent. or 100 per cent.? On what proportion of the total grant was the new common funding base applied?

The proportions of the resources allocated notionally for teaching and research purposes were determined by the UGC sub-committees and varied between subjects. I understand that, overall, about two thirds of the resources were allocated on a common basis to teaching purposes and that one third was allocated to research purposes. Obviously the effects in each university will be different according to the different mix of subjects.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many proposals for major reorganisation of secondary education he has received from local authorities since 1979; and how many he has approved.

Detailed records of proposals for major reorganisation of secondary education are available only in respect of those published since August 1980, when sections 12 to 15 of the Education Act 1980 came into force. Of the 73 such proposals received since that date, 45 have been approved, nine are undecided, and 19 were rejected.

Is my hon. Friend aware from his highly successful visit to Southend last week of the damaging educational uncertainty created by county councils which put forward major reorganisation plans, in this case twice within a period of three years, to take away the sixth forms from comprehensives and to abolish two excellent grammar schools? Will he urge local councils not to produce a large number of secondary school reorganisations within a short time, thereby creating massive uncertainty for teachers, parents and pupils?

We are fully aware of the reputation at present enjoyed by Southend's grammar schools and the other schools which my hon. Friend mentioned. His comments will be fully taken into account if and when proposals come before us.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 8 July.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House I shall have further meetings later today. This evening I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty The Queen.

Will my right hon. Friend reassure the House and the nation that the wild allegations circulating about the supposed state of health of the British people are wholly false, and that the incidence of major and killer diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, is no higher in this country than in other Western industrial nations?

I am happy to say that this country has an excellent Health Service, which serves its people well. There may be many causes of heart disease, but the number of heart bypass operations has trebled since 1979.

When P. W Botha cannot find time to see the Foreign Secretary this week, when black leaders in South Africa will not see him, and when the attitude of both the African National Congress and the leaders of the front-line states could not be more plain or more opposed to the Prime Minister's attitude to sanctions, what exactly is the purpose of sending the Foreign Secretary to southern Africa this week?

President Botha will see my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary on a date which has now been arranged in July, convenient to both of them. My right hon. and learned Friend will visit the front-line states before then and will hope to see some Heads of Government or Heads of State. I rather thought that the right hon. Gentleman was supporting my right hon. and learned Friend in his mission. Last week the right hon. Gentleman said that he wished my right hon. and learned Friend well, but at present the right hon Gentleman is doing everything that he can to undermine him.

That is impossible when the Prime Minister has done such an effective job on scuppering her right hon. and learned Friend. In any case, it is not my enthusiasm that is required, but the response of P. W. Botha. Why is it that the Prime Minister wants to wait upon the convenience of P. W. Botha? Does she not realise that people of all parties in this country take it ill that our Foreign Secretary should be regarded with such contempt by a bunch of racist gangsters in South Africa?

The right hon. Gentleman must be hard up for a question if he asks such bunkum.

May I then ask the Prime Minister what, precisely, is the purpose of the Foreign Secretary going to southern Africa this week? Is he not filling in time on a fool's errand?

My right hon. and learned Friend goes to South Africa representing the 12 Governments of Europe. He is representing not only this country, but the 12 Governments of Europe, which have said:

"The European Council decided to ask the future UK Presidency Foreign Minister to visit southern Africa, in a further effort to establish conditions in which the necessary dialogue can commence."

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 8 July.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Will my right hon. Friend, during her busy day, consider, in her role as Head of the Civil Service, the recent election as general secretary of the Civil and Public Services Association of a gentleman who does not support the constitution or the monarchy and opposes the independence of the Civil Service? Is it not astonishing that such a man should—according to The Guardian—be a lifelong member of the Labour party? Is it not members such as him who cause the Labour party to lose by-elections in such places as Filton in Bristol North-West, because while they belong to the party, people do not believe that it has rid itself of the Militants?

My hon. Friend makes his own point very effectively. The election within the CPSA is a matter for that union. If there were any allegations of irregularity, that would be a matter for the courts.

If the Foreign Secretary is not successful in the mission on which the right hon. Lady and the other Governments have sent him, if Nelson Mandela is not released from prison and there is no end to apartheid, will the right hon. Lady assure us that there will then be economic sanctions against South Africa?

The position is set out in the communiqué issued by the 12 Governments, which states:

"In the meantime in the next three months the Community will enter into consultations with the other industrialised countries on further measures which might be needed covering in particular a ban on new investments, the import of coal, iron, steel and gold coins from South Africa."

Will the Prime Minister consider today the continued deterioration in the competitiveness of British industry as measured by unit labour costs? Does she not agree that the deterioration is in large part due to increases in pay led by the private sector and that it will inevitably lead to further job losses? Will she tell the House what, apart from uttering exhortations, the Government intend to do to prevent this?

As the hon. Gentleman is aware, the crucial figure is the unit labour cost. If unit labour costs rise faster here than in other countries, I agree that we are in danger of losing trade, and if we lose trade because we are not competitive, we lose jobs. It is, therefore, vital that wage negotiations should be conducted in such a way as to produce the result that our unit labour costs stay down.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 8 July.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Has my right hon. Friend had time today to see reports of a quite outrageous, vicious and brutal attack upon a News International distribution depot in Eastleigh, Hampshire? Has she also seen police reports that members of SOGAT '82 were involved? Will my right hon. Friend, before the House, condemn that action as the outrage that it is?

I believe that criminal behaviour of that sort will be condemned by decent people everywhere. I understand that the raid on Sunday was the tenth made so far on TNT premises around the country since the printing dispute between News International and the print unions began in January this year. It is part of an attack made by some people. The Hampshire police are conducting an urgent investigation so that those responsible can be brought before the courts. This is no way in which to conduct an industrial dispute.

On 24 April the Prime Minister gave an assurance that Harland and Wolff's bid for AOR I had been comprehensively costed. Why are the designs for that ship still being reviewed at the Ministry of Defence?

As the hon. Gentleman is aware, we have done everything to facilitate the transfer of designs and we shall continue to do so. He also knows that we have done a great deal to enable Swan Hunter to obtain orders and to bring them forward so that it could do so.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 8 July.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Even if some Boers have been boorish, will Her Majesty's Government not be deterred from playing a helpful role in South Africa? Will my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary consider suggesting to Bishop Tutu that it would be helpful if he would denounce the politics of the necklace? Will he also suggest to the ANC that it would be helpful if it were to suspend its death threats against two other bishops who, with millions of black Africans not of the ANC, stand for non-violence and dialogue with the state President?

Again I believe that most decent people everywhere totally and utterly condemn the necklace and the use to which it has been put in South Africa. It was for that and other reasons that the Commonwealth conference called upon both sides for the suspension of violence—the precise thing for which my hon. Friend is calling—to bring about the conditions under which a dialogue can take place between the Government of South Africa and proper and full representatives of black South Africans. That is the way in the end that the problem will be solved, and in none other.

When the Prime Minister said last week that it was for the South African people to determine what type of Government they wanted in South Africa and that that Government had to be acceptable to all people of whatever background, did she mean that she was prepared to support black majority rule? Will she spell that out clearly and support the line taken by the Church of England Synod yesterday in calling for sanctions?

The Commonwealth conference and the communiqué have taken a similar view. Our role is to try to bring about the necessary negotiations and dialogue between the Government and the black South African people, and, indeed, all people in South Africa. If there were to be a constitutional convention, it would be for them to decide what kind of constitution would emerge and not for us to predetermine it for them.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 8 July.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Has my right hon. Friend noted that BBC television has at last presented the other side of the South African sanctions equation by reporting last night that some 450,000 young blacks in the Homelands may well die of starvation if the faltering economy of South Africa does not soon recover? Does she agree that positive measures to aid all South Africans would do much more to assist that country to a true democracy than would wielding a big stick? Does she also agree that it is high time that leaders on all sides in South Africa learnt who their real friends were and stopped indulging in their favourite pastime of shooting themselves in the foot?

I heard of the broadcast to which I think my hon. Friend is referring. It was a BBC report on Operation Hunger in South Africa and a Mrs. Pearlman who runs it was broadcasting and pointed out the difficulties already in South Africa where some people, with the uncertainty of the present economic circumstances, are returning to the Homelands and are not able to support their families as they have done. She went on to say:

"Sanctions would probably immediately double our normal death rate of 50,000 children under the age of 5 per year, and they could he placing at least another 400,000 children under 15 at risk."

Is the Prime Minister aware that tomorrow her predecessor as leader of the Tory party the right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr. Heath) will celebrate his 70th birthday? Will the Prime Minister convey our good wishes that the right hon. Gentleman will long continue to represent with strength and vigour the human face of the Conservative party, which is more important now than ever in view of her inhuman approach to almost every subject?

I gladly wish my right hon. Friend well, and a very happy birthday. He is as much against economic sanctions as I am.