asked Her Majesty's Government:How many cases were referred to prison welfare departments or chaplains as a result of items in correspondence to or from prisons in England and Wales in June 1981.

This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether it is true that the Countryside Commission has been prohibited from grant-aiding land purchase by voluntary organisations if the land is being offered for sale by statutory agencies such as the Forestry Commission; if so, why; and whether they will reconsider this policy in the light of the forthcoming enforced sales of part of their land-holdings by the Forestry Commission which pose a major threat to the wildlife and amenity interest of such areas.

The Countryside Commission is not prohibited from grant-aiding land purchase by voluntary organisations where the land is being offered for sale by statutory agencies such as the Forestry Commission. However, the commission is constrained by availability of funds and, although each case is considered on its merits, grants are not normally offered in such circumstances.We are not aware of any proposals for the disposal of land holdings by the Forestry Commission that pose a major threat to wildlife or amenity interest.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the most recent figures available to them on safety of navigation between Ushant and Dover with particular reference to the presence on board, or not, as the case may be, of pilots, distinguishing between pilots from various British ports and from various non-British ports.

The information is not available in the form requested.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What representations they have received, from other individuals, bodies or companies, concerning the proposal in paragraph 25 of the Department of Health and Social Security's Health Notice HN(8l) 13th of April 1981, to charge airlines with the cost of a passenger's board, lodging, transport and medical treatment under the National Health Service, where the passenger is refused permission to enter the United Kingdom but where nevertheless he is temporarily admitted because he is too ill to continue his journey; and whether, in the light of the arguments both on grounds of equity and on grounds of the danger that other countries would copy the United Kingdom's example, with severe effects on the costs of United Kingdom airlines, they will now abandon their proposal.

My right honourable friend has received representations from British Air- ways, British Caledonian and the British Civil Aviation Standing Conference, all of whom opposed the proposal. My right honourable friend will give due weight to these and to the noble Lord's arguments.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What considerations determine decisions to negotiate reciprocal social security agreements with foreign and Commonwealth countries; and in particular on what factors they base their refusal to agree to provisions for unfreezing national retirement pensions in some countries and not in others, having regard to the fact that in all such cases pensioners have paid their appropriate national insurance contributions before leaving the United Kingdom.

There are normally three main criteria for deciding whether to negotiate a reciprocal social security agreement with another country. The first is whether the other country has a social security scheme which is compatible with that of the United Kingdom. Second, whether the amount of movement, involving social security issues, of people between the two countries concerned justifies the making of a formal treaty. Third, whether the cost of an agreement can be accepted, bearing in mind the many other competing demands on public expenditure. The last point is particularly important in relation to the question of unfreezing the rates of pension payable to persons abroad in the other country. The cost of uprating increases is met from current income from contributors in this country and not from past contribution income.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the British Isles have more nuclear targets per square mile than any other country.

We have no way of knowing what targets the Soviet Union would choose to attack in the unlikely event that they launched nuclear strikes against the United Kingdom. Certainly there are a number of sites in this country, as in ether NATO countries, which could theoretically, because of their political, strategic, or industrial importance, become targets if a war did ever break out.House adjourned at one minute past eleven o'clock.