asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will make a statement on the current situation in the Passport Offices.

The selective industrial action by the Council of Civil Service Unions has affected the processing of passport applications at all Passport Offices. The Passport Office are doing everything they can to provide a service with applications being given the priority required by each applicant's date of travel. The following arrangements have been made in an attempt to ease the situation.Applications for renewal of passports can be dealt with by an endorsement on the current or expired passport extending the validity temporarily. This arrangement applies to travel to all countries. Following discussions with the United States authorities, it has been agreed that for the purpose of travel from the United Kingdom to the United States, we are prepared to regard United Kingdom passports which expired less than five years previously, and have not been cancelled, as valid travel documents. For their part, the United States authorities have agreed similarly to regard these passports as valid. The arrangement between the two countries will come into effect on 25th May 1981. It will last for three months in the first instance, that is until 25th August 1981, and will lapse on that date unless further extended.Consultations with a number of other countries are taking place to see whether similar arrangements can be made with them. If they can, announcements will be made. Nobody should, of course, regard an expired passport as valid for travel to any other country or in any other circumstances than those described. Travel associations and airlines are being informed. In addition, travellers to certain European countries and Canada may apply to main Post Offices for British Visitors Passports valid for one year.The industrial action is affecting delivery and collection of mail at the Passport Offices and it is therefore necessary for applications for full passports to be lodged personally by the applicants or on their behalf. Arrangements can also be made for temporary passports to be issued in urgent cases where an existing application is trapped in the post. In these cases the applicant should go to the Passport Office to which the application was sent taking proof of an urgent need to travel, two new photographs and evidence that the passport fee has been paid.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will respectfully suggest to His Holiness the Pope that during his pastoral visit to this country in 1982 his sermons and messages delivered in public places to the British people at large should put more emphasis upon the threat of over-population to the peace of the world and to the survival of mankind, rather than reviving controversies on contraception and abortion which have already been fully and continuously debated within all sections of our predominantly Protestant and secular society, and which are now both lawful and provided for in our social services by Acts of Parliament.

In our democratic society we respect the right of all individuals to hold and express their opinions freely. Her Majesty's Government consider that it would be improper to suggest to the Pope, a visiting Head of State, what he should or should not say in public while in the United Kingdom.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list the recommendations of the Astin Committee on the Management of Schools in Northern Ireland that have so far been implemented; and what their intentions are concerning the remaining recommendations.

None of the recommendations of the Astin Report has yet been implemented, though some of them relate to management practices which already exist in some schools in Northern Ireland, or to a continuation of existing administrative arrangements which have been working well. However, the Government have accepted most of the Astin recommendations in principle. Consultations with major interests about the changes which will be necessary in school management arrangements are proceeding and it is intended to publish a proposal for a draft Order-in-Council as soon as practicable after their completion. A fuller account of the Government's position was given in announcements which I made on 18th March and 7th April, copies of which have been placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they intend to introduce legislation of the kind contained in the Administration of Justice (Emergency Provision) (Scotland) Act 1979 to provide for emergency arrangements for the administration of justice in Scotland in the light of the current deteriorating situation in the Scottish courts, civil and criminal.

Emergency legislation would not of itself bring Glasgow and Edinburgh Sheriff Courts back into full operation; and in civil cases the amendments made last year to the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 give courts a measure of discretion in overriding time limits. The Government are regularly monitoring the situation in the courts, and they are continuing to seek agreement on the Civil Service pay claim.House adjourned for the Whitsun Recess at fourteen minutes before two o'clock, until Monday, 1st June next.