asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their best estimate of the number of young people between the minimum school-leaving age and their nineteenth birthday in the United Kingdom on 1st June 1981 (or on the nearest convenient earlier date); and how many of these were

Information is not yet available for 1981. It is estimated that in the academic year 1979–80 there were 2,393,000 young people aged 16, 17, 18 in England and Wales. The estimated breakdown of this number is as follows:

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many 16–19 year olds (as commonly defined) are now studying for (i) CSEs; (ii) O-levels; (iii) A-levels; and (iv) vocational qualifications, showing for each group the numbers studying full-time and part-time, and within part-time students, those employed on Youth Opportunities Programmes and unemployed.

Information is not available in exactly the form requested. During the academic year 1979–80, 142,000 young people aged 16, 17 and 18 were known to be involved in education in both school and college, either full-time or part-time (including evening) in England and Wales. Information on the type of course followed is given in the table below:—

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress is being made on research into the production of lighter weight wheelchairs and calipers.

At the present time there is no research being sponsored by the department into the production of lighter weight wheelchairs; indeed there is no evidence that the demand for even lighter weight wheelchairs than those now supplied would justify such research. The survey by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys on Wheelchairs and their Users, the report of which was published in February 1977, did not indicate that weight was a problem.The standard occupant controlled wheelchair built to the department's own specification weighs about 40 pounds. The frame is fabricated from a special lightweight steel tubing. A model made of light alloy weighing about 10 pounds less is also available from the department when medically necessary. The models which are commonly sold privately, and are sometimes provided by the department, weigh rather more.For normal propulsion the varying weights of wheel-chairs are of little significance compared with the total weight of chair and occupant. Weight is a more important factor if the chair has to be lifted for storage or stowing in a car boot and it is in these sort of circumstances that the lightest weight models may be provided. It is also of relatively more importance for child users although sturdiness is also often required. The standard model for children supplied by the department weighs 32 pounds.Lightweight plastic calipers and other leg braces are now available through the National Health Service and research, based on experience gained from the use of these appliances, is continuing. Modification of an existing design of lightweight plastic caliper has recently resulted in improved fit in the shoe with corresponding improvement in comfort and safety for the users. A lightweight "off the shelf" brace for the support of unstable painful knees has been developed. In some cases this brace can be used instead of a caliper. At present officers of the department are co-operating with researchers and manufacturers to make these two developments more widely available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What steps are now proposed, in the light of the Defence Review, to ensure that all the running costs and a proper proportion of the capital costs of the Navy's and the RAF's offshore policing work is recovered from MAFF, DAFS, the Department of Energy or any other Government department.

The decisions announced by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 25th June do not entail any change in current practice for charging other Government departments for offshore activities carried out on their behalf by the Royal Navy and the RAF.House adjourned at twenty-six minutes past ten o'clock.