asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, and if so by whom and for what purpose, a certificate was granted to a psychology lecturer, Dr. Arnold Chamove, at Stirling University to conduct the experiments on stump-tailed macaque monkeys by subjecting them to conditions of simulated blindness for long periods as described in the Glasgow Herald of 23rd February 1981; what grants have been made by the Social Science Research Council for these experiments; whether activities of this kind are a justifiable form of public expenditure; whether these or similar experiments are still going on and, if so, whether the reported repudiation of these experiments by the Headmaster of the Royal Blind School Edinburgh will lead to their immediate discontinuance; and whether they will place a copy of Dr. Arnold Chamove's paper published in the American journal

The experiments referred to by the noble Lord have ceased. They were authorised by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 for the purpose of extending biological knowledge of the role of vision in relation to the development of behavioural patterns in animal and man. No grants to support these experiments have been made by the Social Science Research Council but in 1976 the Science Research Council awarded Dr. Chamove a three-year research grant. This grant was for fundamental research in the field of early primate development and the respective importance of different factors influencing behaviour. Results from earlier research of this type had contributed significantly to the understanding and care of developing children.In making the award the council took into account the possibility that the project might yield results of clinical importance. The only other similar experiments of which I am aware are being conducted in the University Laboratory of Physiology at Oxford. These experiments involve the effects of deprivation and experience on the sensory systems; neural correlates of human developmental disorders of vision; performance of the visual system in awake, behaviourally-trained primates; oculomotor and accommodative control in the primate; and the study of sensory integration in animals and man. As requested by the noble Lord, I have placed in the Library a copy of the paper referred to.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will draw the attention of the appropriate organ within the United Nations to the employment of children of seven years of age as gravel carriers in a hydro-electric project in Nepal financed by the United Nations Development Programme.

This project is financed by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (to which Britain does not contribute) and is managed directly by the Government of Nepal. I understand that officials of the fund have been aware for some time of the employment of children, as part of whole family units engaged on the project; but that a previous attempt to stop this led to the withdrawal of the relevant familes and a shortage of labour which brought the scheme to a halt. A United Nations staff member is visiting Nepal this week to investigate the problem further.

asked Her Majesty's Government:To set out, for each of the five years 1976 to 1980,

(

Before 1979, public service pensions were increased on 1st December by the year-on-year increase in the retail price index to the preceding June. From 1979 public service pensions have been increased in line with the earnings-related additional components of State retirement pensions, which are increased by the percentage estimated by the Secretary of State as necessary to restore their value in relation to the general level of prices to that obtaining at the previous increase. In practice forecast movements in the RPI have been used. Since only 11 complete months elapsed between the 1978 and 1979 increases, that in 1979 amounted to 11/12ths of the up-rating in the additional components. The actual increases in public service pensions were as follows:

1st December 1976	13·8 per cent.
1st December 1977	17·7 per cent.
1st December 1978	7·4 per cent.
12th November 1979	16·0 per cent.
24th November 1980	16·5 per cent.

It is possible to remove the impact of Customs and Excise taxes, assuming that these were correctly forecast in 1979 and 1980 and that the prices would fully reflect the difference in taxation. The increases would then have been as follows:

1st December 1976

12·7 per cent.