asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend that local education authorities should be obliged to follow the guidelines laid down in circulars issued by the Department of Education and Science to do with the proposed closure of maintained schools and, in particular, the extent to which failure to follow the procedures, particularly those providing for consultation with parents and teachers, are taken into account by the Department of Education in reaching a decision on whether to confirm notices of closure or otherwise.

The Department's Circular 2/80 gives general guidance on how proposals should be made under Sections 12 to 16 of the Education Act 1980. While my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science cannot require local education authorities and other proposers to act as the circular advises, he regards that guidance as important and believes in particular in the need for appropriate consultation before proposals are published. The extent to which the guidance has been followed is one of the factors he takes into account when deciding whether to approve proposals.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether it is their intention to refuse to confirm orders for school closures under Section 12 of the Education Act in the event of local authorities ignoring or following only partially the procedures laid down in the Education Act 1980.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science takes action on such matters in the light of the failure concerned. Where a failure to comply with the provisions of the Education Act 1980 is so serious as to invalidate the proposals, no decision falls to be taken by him. Where a failure would not have this effect, he nevertheless takes the failure into account when deciding whether to approve or reject the proposals.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many payments, and at what cost, the Department of Education and Science have made to local authorities' "Aided" and "Special Agreement" schools for the cost of damage incurred under Section 102 of the Education Act 1944 in respect of each of the financial years 1978–79, 1979–80 and 1980–81.

Records are not kept by the department in a form which would enable me to answer the noble Lord's Question. Grants are made by my honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science to the governors of voluntary aided and special agreement schools in respect of 85 per cent. of approved expenditure incurred by them in meeting the cost of those repairs for which they are responsible under the provisions of the Education Acts. The total amount of grants paid in respect of all types of repairs (including damage as well as routine maintenance) for the three years in question was as follows:—

asked Her Majesty's Government:What vessels they have sold in the last year to the Government of Grenada; what further equipment for these vessels has since been sold or supplied for these boats by Fairey-Marine; how they consider these sales will affect the balance of naval power in the Caribbean; whether they think such sales are likely to encourage other Caribbean Governments in arms expenditure; and whether they will confirm that the money for these purchases was supplied to the Government of Grenada by the Libyan Government.

Her Majesty's Government have not sold any vessels to the Government of Grenada in the last year, nor have any licences been issued for the export of military equipment to Grenada. Unarmed vessels are of course not subject to export control and may be freely sold by the manufacturers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to amend and implement the non-discrimination clause in Government contracts to make it consistent in form and practice with the letter and spirit of the Race Relations Act.

Government contractors, like other employers, are required to comply with the provisions of race relations legislation, and the standard conditions of Government contracts include a standard clause to this effect. There are no present plans to amend that clause.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many prisoners have been transferred to Northern Ireland on compassionate grounds in each of the last five calendar years.

The information requested is as follows:

asked Her Majesty's Government:What estimate they have made of the cost of maintaining a Category A prisoner, and whether, in view of the heavy demands on staff made by such prisoners, they will review the arrangements for their supervision.

It is not possible to identify separately the cost of maintaining Category A prisoners as they are held in dispersal prisons together with Category B prisoners. The average weekly cost of keeping a male prisoner in this type of establishment during the financial year 1979–80, the latest year for which information is available, was £304. The arrangements for the supervision of prisoners in dispersal prisons are kept under regular review.House adjourned at eighteen minutes before eleven o'clock.