asked the hon. Member for Berwick upon Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission how many staff in the House of Commons are now employed on a temporary basis; how that number compares with the same period in each of the last five years; how many staff have been made redundant in each of the last five years; how many full-time posts are occupied by staff recruited through, or employed by private contractors; and what are the equivalent figures in each of the last five years.

The number of staff employed on a temporary basis on 1 April in each of the last five years was as follows:

	Number
1982	20
1983	23
1984	28
1985	44
1986	27

There were no redundancies in this period. On occasions staff from a secretarial agency are employed for short periods. In the Refreshment Department shortfalls in staff are covered on a day-to-day basis by the employment of agency staff and in the summer eight additional agency staff are employed on the Terrace. None of the agency staff occupy a full-time post on a permanent basis. There has been no significant variation in these arrangements over the last five years.

asked the Lord Privy Seal on how many occasions since 1970 the House has adjourned for the summer recess (a) before 23 July, (b) between 23 and 26 July, (c) between 27 and 31 July and (d) in August.

[pursuant to his reply, 30 June 1986, c. 377]: Since 1970, the House has adjourned on three occasions between 23 and 26 July; on six occasions between 27 and 31 July; and on seven occasions in August.

asked the Prime Minister what objectives are served by the United Kingdom's membership of the Commonwealth; and if she will make a statement.

The major objectives of our membership of the Commonweath remain:

(i) the maintenance and reinforcement of the continuing strong links at all levels between member states and their peoples;

(ii) continued support for the Commonwealth as an organisation which can play a constructive and stabilising role in world affairs, notably in promoting democratic principles, international understanding and world peace;

(iii) the development of the association as a unique channel for encouraging co-operation and understanding between the industrialised and developing countries;

(iv) the maximisation of the political and economic benefits of our Commonwealth membership.

asked the Prime Minister expressed as a percentage of the total known contracts given by the United States Government for research into the strategic defence initiative, how much British companies have secured.

The latest available figures show that for the period September 1985-February 1986 the value of strategic defence initiative research contracts let by the United States Government was almost US$600 million. The total value of SDI research contracts awarded to the United Kingdom so far amounts to US$15·5 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take steps to ensure that the facilities of the Library at Parliament buildings, Stormont, are made available to bona fide students and research workers; and if he will make a statement.

I understand that the Clerk to the Assembly has in the past made these facilities available to bona fide students and research workers and that he will continue to look favourably on such requests in the future. The Library also provides a service to Northern Ireland Departments.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the output of each various category of steel from plants in Scotland in the last year for which figures are available and for each year since 1979.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about the progress of the funding arrangements of the English Industrial Estates Corporation which he announced on 19 March, Official Report, column 191.

It is too early to report on the progress of long-term funding arrangements that were only introduced on 1 April this year; but I can confirm that we are still confident that these new arrangements will allow EIEC to maintain its development programme in the assisted areas at the same level as recent years.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average cost for the latest years for which figures are available, of a pupil or student in (a) nursery schools, (b) nursery classes, (c) primary schools, (d) secondary schools, (e) independent schools on the assisted places scheme for assisted placements, (f) special schools, (g) non-advanced further education, (h) advanced further education and (i) universities.

The latest available information is as follows:

Net institutional expenditure per pupil/fte student—
	£
1984–85 ENGLAND
Maintained Sector
Nursery Schools	1,290
Nursery classes in Primary Schools	865
Other classes in Primary Schools	760
Secondary Schools	1,085
Special Education	3,560
Higher and Further Education
—advanced	3,050
—non-advanced	2,200
Assisted places
—all pupils	1,480
1983–84* GREAT BRITAIN
Universities	4,895
* Latest available figure.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the present number of Greek Cypriot students studying in British educational institutions; and what was the number in 1979.

In 1984 and 1979 there were 990 and 1,640 students respectively in Great Britain whose usual domicile was Cyprus. The proportion of these who were Greek Cypriots is not known.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report information available to him on the various retirement options of date and enhancement offered by education authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Local education authorities have discretion, under the Teachers (Compensation for Redundancy and Premature Retirement) Regulations 1985, to award an additional period of service of up to 10 years, depending on age and service, to a teacher aged 50 or over who is subject to the teachers' superannuation regulations and who is retired on redundancy or in the interests of the efficient discharge of the employers' functions. Information about the levels of enhancement awarded by individual local education authorities is not available nationally.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has on the proportion of the research funding of each of the universities of Wales and England which is derived from sources other than Government funding.

I refer the hon. Member to table 4 of the Universities' Statistical Record publication "University Statistics 1983–84" volume three, a copy of which is in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has on allowances made by the University Grants Committee when deciding upon allocations of funding to the smaller universities in England and Wales.

No allowances were made for the size of universities.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has on changes in grant aid to the constituent colleges of the University of Wales in each year since 1979.

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

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what criteria are employed in deciding what funds the constituent colleges of the University of Wales receive for teaching through the medium of Welsh.

Since 1967 the University Grants Committee has made special grants to the University of Wales for teaching through the medium of Welsh and for bilingual administration. The level of these grants was determined in relation to proposals put forward by the university. In its recent grant allocations for 1986–87 the committee agreed to maintain these grants at the current levels.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any plans to replace the A-Level general certificate of education system with less specialised courses.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has concerning compulsory admission charges due to be imposed at the natural history museum in 1987.

Admission charges are a matter for the trustees of the Museum. The trustees announced in February that they intend to introduce such charges in April 1987. I understand that they have yet to decide on the details.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he intends to write to each of the applicants for a community radio licence explaining what his policy now is on this subject; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend made a full statement of the position on community radio in reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Mr. Forth) on 30 June at column 366–67. Letters have already been sent to all those who applied for licences enclosing a copy of that statement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many warrants he has issued under the Interception of Communications Act in each year since 1979.

Commonwealth citizens and foreign nationals refused leave to enter and removed from the United Kingdom April 1985-March 1986
Number
Nationality	1985									1986
	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December	January	February	March
Commonwealth citizens
Australia	5	4	1	8	4	2	2	5	3	12	6	6
Bangladesh	47	50	50	70	99	153	192	192	174	146	119	108
Barbados	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	—	—	1	2
Canada	4	6	1	5	3	6	13	6	2	7	6	5
Cyprus	5	5	5	10	8	5	11	4	6	11	9	5
Ghana	105	99	92	118	120	146	93	144	133	130	124	129
Guyana	3	2	3	1	2	1	1	1	—	—	—	2
Hong Kong BDTC	26	25	37	16	11	23	9	13	5	5	3	7
India	128	149	100	136	177	174	223	227	207	355	324	310
Jamaica	1	2	7	5	5	8	10	8	9	14	9	12
Kenya	4	8	4	3	10	6	3	8	5	6	7	6
Malaysia	10	9	14	12	14	18	20	6	9	13	15	10
Malta	—	3	1	1	1	3	3	2	3	1	1	2
Mauritius	2	4	9	4	13	7	5	6	5	4	24	21
New Zealand	4	3	1	2	3	1	2	2	4	1	1	3
Nigeria	192	180	209	174	230	308	265	267	345	318	303	326
Sierra Leone	1	10	6	4	5	12	9	7	3	1	3	5
Singapore	3	4	3	12	2	—	3	2	2	1	—	5
Sri Lanka	27	35	127	58	44	50	27	28	25	26	18	30
Tanzania	2	6	10	4	11	8	7	—	5	7	7	9
Trinidad and Tobago	—	2	—	—	—	1	—	—	2	1	—	—
Uganda	2	—	1	5	1	7	4	2	9	10	9	2
Zambia	3	1	—	1	5	3	6	2	3	3	3	—
Zimbabwe	1	2	3	2	2	—	3	3	3	3	4	8
British overseas citizens	3	2	1	2	8	—	5	6	4	10	6	3
Other Commonwealth countries	11	8	10	16	11	19	13	4	11	8	20	12
Commonwealth total	589	619	695	669	789	961	930	946	977	1,093	1,022	1,028
Algeria	26	25	50	103	118	72	55	36	53	44	30	59
Argentina	5	8	3	21	17	6	10	13	5	9	6	4
Austria	10	4	6	13	5	6	6	3	2	6	5	2
Belgium	1	—	—	—	3	3	—	—	5	2	—	5
Brazil	10	11	7	8	8	14	14	4	13	8	16	13
Bulgaria	1	—	1	—	—	—	2	8	4	—	—	3
Chile	8	9	11	4	6	1	2	5	1	3	3	—
China	—	—	2	5	1	3	6	—	—	2	4	—
Colombia	16	17	30	10	18	29	21	23	27	27	23	19
Cuba	2	—	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Czechoslovakia	1	—	3	1	2	2	—	1	1	1	—	—
Denmark	4	2	3	3	3	1	1	1	1	—	1	2
Egypt	3	—	5	6	9	4	11	5	6	3	5	7
Ethiopia	2	1	—	3	1	6	15	5	5	—	4	2
Finland	6	—	2	—	1	4	1	5	1	1	1	2
France	14	13	18	19	12	19	12	17	15	4	9	9

The Interception of Communications Act 1985 came into force on 10 April 1986. Statistics of interception warrants issued from 1979 to 1984 are given in the White Papers "The Interception of Communications in Great Britain" (Cmnd. 7873) and "The Interception of Communications in the United Kingdom" (Cmnd. 9438). In accordance with the policy followed by successive Governments I do not intend to add to these statistics.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been refused entry to the United Kingdom in each month over the past year; if he will provide information about the sex and country of origin of each such person; and if he will make a statement.

The available information relates to passengers removed from the United Kingdom after having been refused leave to enter. The table gives the figures by nationality for the latest available 12 months. Information on the sex of these passengers could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he proposes to lay an order to bring into force that section of the Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986 which prohibits the supply etc. of articles for administering or preparing controlled drugs; and if he will make a statement.

We are consulting the enforcement agencies about the timetable for implementation of the various provisions in the Drug Trafficking Offences Act, and shall make an announcement as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of (a) persons against whom action was commenced as alleged illegal immigrants in 1984, 1985 and the first quarter of 1986, respectively; (b) persons who were detained as a result of such action in those years and (c) persons who were removed as illegal immigrants or, subsequent to commencement of action, deported voluntarily in those years; if he will identify such persons by country of origin; and if he will make a statement.

The information requested is not readily available but I am arranging for it to be collated and will reply as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the provision of the Representation of the People Act 1985 which extends the franchise to British citizens abroad will come into force; and whether he will make a statement.

The relevant provision of the Act comes into force today. British citizens living and working abroad who have been resident in the United Kingdom and registered as electors within the last five years can now make annual declarations which will enable them to be registered as overseas electors. Declaration forms and leaflets explaining the registration process, which we have kept as simple as possible, are available from British consulates and diplomatic missions. Declarations must be made before 10 October for inclusion in next year's electoral register. For people who were previously resident in Northern Ireland the closing date for making a declaration is 15 September. Overseas electors will be included in the register for the constituency where they were registered before they went abroad and will be able to vote by proxy at any parliamentary or European Parliament elections which occur while the register is in force.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, further to his answer of 18 June, Official Report, column 569, the United States Government have brought to his attention any evidence of infringement of his guidelines on the supply of military equipment from the United Kingdom to Iran and Iraq.

As I told the hon. Member on 18 June, it is not our policy to comment in detail on discussions with other Governments. However I can assure the hon. Member that action would be taken if evidence were provided of infringement of our guidelines.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many warrants he has issued under the Interception of Communications Act in each year since 1979.

The Interception of Communications Act 1985 came into force on 10 April 1986. Statistics on interception warrants issued from 1979 to 1984 are given in the White Papers "The Interception of Communications in Great Britain" (Cmnd. 7873) and "The Interception of Communications in the United Kingdom" (Cmnd. 9438). In accordance with the policy followed by successive Governments, I do not intend to add to these statistics.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what sums the Falkland Islands are receiving or will receive from European Economic Community development funds; and if he will make a statement.

The European Community has recently approved the allocation of 364,000 ecu (about £233,000) for an extension to Port Stanley senior school. This project will use up the balance of the allocation to the Falkland Islands under the Fourth and Fifth European Development Funds. Previous expenditure in the Falkland Islands under these Funds amounted to 422,000 ecu (about £270,000).The Falkland Islands will also benefit from a share of the 12·04 million ecu (about £7·7 million) being made available to United Kingdom dependent territories under the sixth European development fund for commitment over the next five years.

asked the Paymaster General if he will make a statement about current trends in incoming tourism to Britain.

Following record levels of incoming tourism in 1985 the upward trend was sustained during the first quarter of 1986 when visits were up by 10 per cent. However, during April visits to Britain fell by 15 per cent. over the corresponding period last year, but spending was down by only 3 per cent. We have no firm predictions for the rest of the year but the British Tourist Authority

Annual average percentage changes
	Total Population			Total Labour Force
	1955–65	1965–75	1975–84	1955–65*	1965–75	1975–84
United Kingdom	0·6	0·3	0·1	0·5	0·1	0·5
Germany (FR)	1·1	0·5	-0·1	0·5	-0·1	0·2
France	1·2	0·8	0·5	0·4	0·9	0·7
Italy	0·6	0·6	0·3	0·4	0·1	1·0
Netherlands	1·5	0·9	0·6	1·6	0·8	1·6
Belgium	0·7	0·3	0·1	0·1	0·8	0·6
Luxembourg	0·9	0·8	0·2	0·2	1·7	0·2
Ireland	-0·2	1·0	1·2	-0·7	0·2	1·5
Denmark	0·7	0·6	0·1	0·7	1·0	1·2
Greece	†0·5	0·6	1·0	†-1·1	-0·4	1·7
Spain	†1·0	1·0	0·9	†-0·7	0·8	0·2
Portugal	†0·1	0·5	0·6	†-0·1	1·5	0·6
United States of America	1·6	1·1	1·0	1·4	2·3	2·1
Japan	†1·0	1·3	0·8	†1·2	1·1	1·2
* Civilian Labour Force·
† 1960–65.

asked the Paymaster General how many cases involving (a) Waltham Forest residents and (b) Waltham Forest employers were taken to industrial tribunals in the last five years; how many are currently awaiting a hearing; and how many involve the local authority.

I regret that the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. If there is a particular problem the hon. Member may care to write to me.

asked the Paymaster General what are the latest figures available for the number of self-employed in Derbyshire; and how this compares with 1979.

The latest available information comes from the 1981 Census of Population and is contained in the "County Report for Derbyshire", part 1, ref: CEN 81 CR10, a copy of which is in the Library.

asked the Paymaster General what information he has on the growth of population and the labour force at 10-yearly intervals since 1956 in the European Economic Community countries, the United States of America and Japan.

The available information is given in the following table:

asked the Paymaster General how many people have been unemployed for more than one, two and three years, respectively, in each year since 1979 in Walthamstow, Kemptown (Brighton) and Leicester, East.

The following information is in the Library. The table gives figures for 10 April 1986, the latest date for which an analysis of unemployment by duration is available and for April 1984 and April 1985. The comparison is affected by the change in the timing of compilation of unemployment statistics in March 1986. Statistics of unemployment for parliamentary constituencies are derived from the new ward-based system and are available only from June 1983.

Unemployed Claimants by Duration
Walthamstow Parliamentary Constituency
	April 1984	April 1985	April 1986
Over one year	1,467	1,617	1,745
Over one year	714	908	1,021
Over one year	329	515	641
Brighton Kemptown Parliamentary Constituency
Over one year	1,824	1,906	1,971

asked the Paymaster General what are the latest unemployment figures in the Brighton and Leicester travel-to-work areas by ward; what are the numbers of male and females under 25 years of age in each case and how many of these have been unemployed for more than one year; and what is the total number unemployed over one year in each case.

I am sending a copy of a computer printout giving the requested ward information, which is also

	Job introduction scheme	Adaptations to premises and equipment	Fares to work	Special aids to employment	Business on own account
1983–84
Estimated expenditure	571,000	208,000	299,000	585,000	53,000
Actual expenditure	567,980	134,412	327,776	792,168	34,568
Disabled beneficiaries	1,850	170	604	1,268	13
1984–85
Estimated expenditure	646,000	150,000	330,000	800,000	60,000
Actual expenditure	658,898	243,649	396,824	927,279	26,272
Disabled beneficiaries	2,033	145	727	1,640	7
1985–86
Estimated expenditure	760,000	250,000	432,000	1,084,000	84,000
Actual expenditure	673,540	294,646	459,663	1,094,452	42,506
Disabled beneficiaries	1,828	165	911	2,386	6
1986–87
Estimated expenditure	837,000	449,000	520,000	1,230,000	104,000

asked the Paymaster General what are the implications of the announcement of increased resources for the technical and vocational education initiative for the funding and development of other parts of the Manpower Services Commission's planned provision for young people.

The cost of extending the technical and vocational education initiative will be found from the provision we have planned for young people within the Manpower Services Commission's budget. That provision is large and growing, numbers in the age group are falling, and the extension can he accommodated at not risk to the Commission's other programmes.

asked the Paymaster General if he will publish in the Official Report the number of long-term unemployed interviewed under the restart scheme, together with the total number placed into (a) jobs, (b) community programmes, (c) job clubs, (d) enterprise allowance, (e) training schemes, (f) restart courses and (g) voluntary projects programme, for the standard age groups of under 24 years, 25 to 45 years and 45 years and available from the Library. The printout shows the requested figures as at 10 April 1986, for each of the 66 wards in the Brighton travel-to-work area and 72 wards of the Leicester travel-to-work area.

asked the Paymaster General if he will list the estimated and actual expenditure on special resettlement grants for the employment of disabled people in the years 1983, 1984 and 1985 on the job introduction scheme, adaptations to premises and equipment, assistance with fares to work, special aids to employment, and business on own account; how many disabled people were helped on projects involved in each case; and what is the estimated expenditure on each of these schemes in 1986.

The information requested is given in the table:over; and if he will further break down such totals according to sex and duration of unemployment, namely, one, two, three, four, and five years or more.

The information requested is given in the tables. The first table relates to the pilot initiatives in nine selected areas of the country and the second table relates to the early results from the national restart initiative. I am unable to provide a breakdown in terms of age, sex and duration of unemployment at this stage. Such information will be available during September for the pilot areas but there are no plans to maintain similar records nationally.

Numbers interviewed and placed in pilot areas, for period 6 Jan-4 July
	Numbers
Interviewed	28,175
Placed in jobs	295
Placed on the community programme	1,310
Placed in jobclubs	273
Placed on the enterprise allowance scheme	72
Placed on training schemes	262
Placed on restart courses	2,114
Placed on the voluntary projects programme	84

asked the Paymaster General if Her Majesty's Government have any plans to introduce a guaranteed minimum term of employment for those people who leave areas of high unemployment to take up jobs elsewhere.

We have no such plans, nor do we believe such action would be appropriate. I will write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy towards the imposition of conditions on the granting of relief for private afforestation in the light of the proposals on the subject in the Nature Conservancy Council document, "Nature Conservation and Afforestation in Britain".

The tax treatment of forestry does not distinguish between planting schemes on environmental, social or other grounds. The existing tax arrangements are of long standing and I have no plans at present to change them.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of race horse owners who have ceased breeding in order to avoid paying value added tax in the United Kingdom.

No information is available on which to base an estimate. Many factors besides VAT may influence race horse owners to cease breeding.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he now expects the European Commission to produce its formal proposals on raising the value added tax threshold.

Later this year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received in respect of the contribution of the arts to value added tax receipts.

A few representations have been received relating to VAT and the arts.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will seek to exempt from value added tax and excise duties purchases of supplies and equipment for use by the armed forces; and if he will make a statement.

No. The Ministry of Defence Vote takes into account the incidence of indirect taxes.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has of the change in the yield of capital gains tax if it were levied at 40 per cent. retaining all existing exemptions, but excluding tax on inflationary gains.

Possibly about one-third of the yield of capital gains tax would be lost.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has of the yield of a donee based tax of 40 per cent. on all receipts of capital above (a) £50,000 per head and (b) £100,000 per head in place of capital transfer tax.

Insufficient information is recorded centrally about the recipients of gifts and legacies to enable estimates to be made of the yield of such a tax.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any Treasury civil servants were invited to the seminar chaired at the Barbican on 1 July by Sir Douglas Wass on freedom of information.

There is no record of any civil servant in the Treasury being invited to attend this seminar.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many copy holders are employed each evening to produce the daily Official Report at the St. Stephen's Parliamentary Press.

The daily Official Report is printed at Hansard Press where 14 copy holders are employed. The number on duty each night varies with the shift pattern and production requirements.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the latest meetings of the European Community Budget Council and subsequent negotiations with the European Parliament on the 1986 Communities budget.

I refer my hon. Friend to the statement I made earlier today.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the progress of his discussions with oil companies about his proposals for tax concessions on lead-free petrol.

[pursuant to his reply, 8 July 1986]: Meetings have been held and correspondence exchanged between Customs and Excise officials and representatives of the oil industry. Good progress has been made, and the discussions are expected to be completed so that my right hon. Friend can take decisions in time for next year's Budget.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women have died of cervical cancer in Coventry in each of the last five years; and how this compares to the United Kingdom average.

The numbers of deaths to women usually resident in Coventry with an underlying cause of death of malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri (ICD(9) 180) in each of the last five years are shown in the table. Allowing for differences in age distribution, the incidence of death from cervical cancer has been on average 1 per cent. higher in Coventry than in the United Kingdom as a whole over this period. The Coventry results are based on very small numbers and from year to year fluctuate above and below the United Kingdom average.

Number of deaths from malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri (ICD(9) 180) to women usually resident in Coventry Metropolitan County District 1981 to 1985
	Number of deaths
1981	15
1982	13
1983	10
1984	15
1985	5

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many cases of patients in hospitals suffering food poisoning from food prepared by (a) National Health Service run butchers and (b) private catering contractors have been recorded; and, of these, how many have proved fatal for the years 1979 to 1985.

I regret that the information on food poisoning cases in hospitals available from the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre does not specify who prepared the food.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, what proportion of meals prepared for patients in state hospitals was prepared by private contractors in the years 1979 to 1985.

I regret that the information requested is not collected centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report, for the last 10 years for which figures are available, the number of prescriptions issued by the National Health Service general practitioners.

The information requested is given in the following table:

England
	Number of prescription forms (millions)	Number of items (millions)
1976	181·7	292·6
1977	181·3	295·6
1978	186·5	307·1
1979	184·0	304·6
1980	183·7	303·3
1981	181·1	300·0
1982	186·7	311·3
1983	188·5	315·3
1984	190·8	320·5
1985	191·6	318·6

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing (a) the names of members of the North-West Hertfordshire district health authority, (b) what interest they represent, (c) by whom they were appointed and (d) the date their term of office expires.

I regret that this information is not available centrally. Members of the North-West Hertfordshire district health authority are appointed by the North-West Thames regional health authority and the appropriate local authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many abortions have been carried out since 1968 to the latest available date; and how many were carried out in an emergency to save the life of the pregnant woman.

The total number of notifications of legal abortions, to resident and non-resident women, carried out under the Abortion Act 1967, from 27 April 1968 to 31 December 1985 in England and Wales, is 2,460,128. Of these, 121 were performed in an emergency in order to save the life of the pregnant woman. Provisional figures for abortions in the March quarter 1986 are due to be published in September 1986.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the ratio of medicines inspectors to production facilities within the United Kingdom; and what information he has on comparable ratios in other countries that are signatories to the pharmaceutical inspection convention, including the United States of America and Canada.

In the United Kingdom medicines inspectors inspect production facilities of licensed pharmaceutical manufacturers and of National Health Service hospitals. The ratio of inspectors to production facilities within the United Kingdom is 1:45.Information on the ratio of inspectors to production facilities in other states which are signatories to the pharmaceutical inspection convention and the United States of America and Canada must be viewed with caution because of considerable differences in duties of inspectors and the legislative framework within which inspectors operate in those countries and the range and type of production facilities that are inspected. On the basis of information available to this Department, the following rough estimate has been prepared.

Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention States
Austria	1 to 55	Inspectors also inspect community pharmacies.
Denmark	1 to 40	Inspectors also inspect community pharmacies and undertake registration work.
Hungary	1 to 25
Ireland	1 to 25
Norway	1 to 3	Inspectors also inspect community pharmacies and undertake registration work.
Sweden	1 to 14	Inspectors also inspect community pharmacies.
Switzerland	1 to 25	Includes a significant number of part-time Inspectors.
Non Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention Stales
USA	1 to 8
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asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when, pursuant to the answer of 16 June, Official Report, column 460, he hopes to complete his examination with representative bodies of the medical profession of the possibility of introducing a voluntary code of practice into this country on opting out kidney donations; and if he will make a statement.

The Department's chief medical officer wrote in March to the medical professions representative organisations seeking their views on the introduction of a voluntary code of practice under which doctors would agree, whenever a clinically suitable organ donor died, to ask relatives' permission for the organs to be removed for transplantation; his letters were not concerned with "opting-out". He has now received replies from four of the five organisations he wrote to, and is considering how the matter might best be taken forward. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list every regional, district or unit general manager who has so far resigned or been removed, the length of time they had held the post and the period of tenure that still remained to run at the time of their departure, the exact post held, their salary and the reason for their leaving.

The general manager for the North-Western regional health authority resigned recently to pursue a management career in the private sector. Of 191 district general managers I understand that three have resigned, from the Central Birmingham. Macclesfield, and West Surrey-North-East Hampshire health authorities; but the hon. Member would need to approach the chairmen of those authorities about the information he seeks as it would not be right for me to give details relating to an officer's individual contract with his employing authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of the total funds made available for the National Health Service goes in wages and salaries; and what information he has about how this figure compares with other European Community countries.

[pursuant to his reply, 8 July 1986, c. 162]: The proportion of National Health Service expenditure devoted to wages and salaries is about 60 per cent. The figure varies between services: in the hospital and community health service, for example, 73 per cent. of revenue expenditure is spent on pay. I regret that information about comparisons with other European Community countries could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to reduce the public health risks from dog mess.

The Government fully shares the widespread concern about the nuisance and health risks caused by dogs fouling public places, and it is an offence in Scotland for a person in charge of a dog to allow it to deposit its excrement in certain places. The Government are considering what further steps may be taken to encourage dog owners to behave responsibly, and will make an announcement in due course.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to seek to increase the criminal penalties imposed on dog owners whose dogs foul pavements; and if he will make a statement.

Allowing a dog to foul a pavement, or certain other areas, is an offence under section 48(1) of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, which originally provided for a maximum fine of £50. By virtue of the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1982, that maximum fine is now expressed as a fine not exceeding level 2 of the standard scale. The value of fines on the standard scale was increased by order in 1984, and level 2 now stands at £100. There is no current proposal to increase the value of fines further, but the matter is kept under constant review.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has concerning the shortage of key teachers in particular education authorities; and what action he is proposing to ensure that they are enabled to discharge their statutory obligations.

The latest published information on deficits and surpluses of secondary teachers analysed by subject and by education authority area, giving the position at September 1984, is contained in the Scottish Education Department's statistical bulletin No. 4/C1/1985 of September 1985, a copy of which was sent to the hon. Member. Information from the September 1985 school census, based on 80 per cent. returns, indicates a broadly similar picture. Following discussions earlier this year with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the General Teaching Council and the Joint Committee of Colleges of Education in Scotland in the context of determining intakes to teacher training at the colleges of education for session 1986–87, mathematics, physics, business studies, chemistry, computing and religious education were designated as national priority subjects for intake purposes; quota restrictions were wait completely in respect of the first three of these priority subjects.