asked Her Majesty's Government:How many women prisoners were segregated for reasons of good order and discipline in 1980; how many of these had small children, and how many of those segregated were separated from them as a result.

Information is not readily available in the form requested. The numbers of female prisoners notified as being segregated under Prison Rule 43 for the maintenance of good order and discipline at the end of each month totalled 232 in 1980. Six prisoners so segregated had babies with them in custody, of whom one had to be temporarily separated from her baby.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many prisoners were segregated under Rule 43 in 1980.

This information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the longest any prisoner has been segregated under Rule 43 for reasons of good order and discipline in the last five years.

The longest any prisoner has been segregated under Rule 43 for reasons of good order and discipline in the last five years was 1,478 days.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many acres of farm land have been taken out of production for development of all kinds each of the past 10 years, and how many are likely to be taken during the next five years.

The following are estimates of land transferred out of agricultural use in England and Wales, excluding land for afforestation, in the past 10 years. Five-year averages are used to reduce the significance of errors in the annual figures.

Net Annual Transfers
Five- Year Periods	Hectares (000 Acres)
1966–67 to 1970–71	20,200 (49·8)
1967–68 to 1971–72	25,200 (62·2)
1968–69 to 1972–73	27,000 (66·8)
1969–70 to 1973–74	26,700 (66·1)
1974–75 to 1978–79	19,900 (49·2)
1975–76 to 1979–80	19,000 (47·0)

A change in the method of collecting statistics caused a break in the series in 1974. It would not be meaningful to give averages for the period between 1970–71 and 1973–74 therefore. I regret that I am unable to forecast the figures for the next five years, although they are expected to continue to fall.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish in the

In no area in England or Wales has the general non-domestic rate poundage shown on rate demand notes risen in 1981–82 by more than 50 per cent. compared with 1980–81. The domestic rate poundage has risen by 50 per cent. only in the London boroughs of Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Newham. Figures for the rates or precepts levied in respect of the expenditure of individual authorities belonging to different tiers could be provided only at disproportionate cost, and in some cases would not be meaningful because of the introduction of the new block grant system.In Scotland, no regional council or islands council has determined a rate poundage for 1981–82 more than 50 per cent. above that for 1980–81. The rate poundage determined by each of the following district councils for 1981–82 is more than 50 per cent. above that for 1890–81: Dundee, Stirling, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Kyle and Carrick, Renfrew, Hamilton and Kirkcaldy.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why postal charges from France to Great Britain, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland are higher than those to the original six members of the European Economic Community; whether they will take up with the French Government and other parties concerned the urgent necessity to bring about equality of treatment among the nine full members of the European Economic Community in this respect; and what is the position of Greece as a newly-joined member in relation to this issue.

Each of the six founder members of the European Community charges its own inland rate for certain categories of mail when these items are sent to any of the other five countries. During 1979 the Commission of the European Communities issued a recommendation that the scheme should be adopted on a Community-wide basis, but to date only Denmark of the members other than the founding Six has joined the scheme. Her Majesty's Government recognise the objectives of the scheme, but under the Post Office Act 1969 postal tariffs are a matter for the Post Office, which has in this case to balance various factors including a likely loss in revenue.House adjourned at nine minutes before nine o'clock.