asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have information of a proposal to establish a South Atlantic Treaty Organisation composed of the USA, Central and South American states and the Republic of South Africa; whether Mr. Nicholas Ridley, M.P. was expressing their view when he said in another place that such an alliance would not adversely affect British interests; and whether they will oppose any proposal which would arouse opposition in all the rest of Africa.

We know of no official proposal on this matter, though we have seen press reports. The proposal was apparently discussed at a private meeting and it would be inappropriate for me to comment. The Government's view is that there are no indications that British interests would be adversely affected.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will announce the names of the members of the Inquiry into Civil Service pay.

The following have accepted an invitation to serve on the Inquiry under the chairmanship of the right honourable Sir John Megaw:

• The right honourable Lord Lever of Manchester,
• Baroness Seear,
• Sir Peter Thornton, KCB,
• Mr. James Ackers,
• Mr. John Chalmers, CBE,
• Professor Christopher Foster,
• Mr. Robert Ramsey, CBE,
• Mr. George Russell.

The Inquiry has been asked to report by next summer so that its recommendations can be considered in good time before the 1983 Civil Service pay settlement.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will make a statement on the latest position in the Civil Service pay dispute.

I am glad to say that the Government's revised offer of a 7 per cent. increase plus a flat rate increase of £30 a head has been accepted and that an early return to work has been agreed. We must now put this unfortunate dispute behind us. There is a considerable backlog of work and I am confident that all civil servants will be doing what they can to restore those services to the public which have been disrupted during the dispute.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many applications for citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies were made, and how many granted in 1980, and what was the number of Home Office staff engaged in processing these applications on 30th June 1980 and 1981 respectively.

In 1980 43,459 applications for registration and 7,033 applications for naturalisation were received; 23,231 persons, including minors, were registered as citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies and 5,669 adults were granted naturalisation. The number of staff in post on 30th June 1980 and 30th June 1981 was 218 and 231 respectively.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the report of the interdepartmental working party on Law Centres is expected to be completed and when it is likely to be published.

The interdepartmental working party on legal advice services has not been asked to prepare a report for publication but to consider the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Legal Services relating to advice services, with a view to offering advice to Ministers. This is not expected in the near future.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many plastic bullets have been fired by the security forces in Northern Ireland in 1981, and how many deaths and serious injuries have resulted from their firing.

During the period 1st January to 16th July 8,242 baton rounds were fired by the Army. During the period 1st January to 23rd July 1981 16,588 baton rounds were fired by the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Five people were believed to have died as a result of injuries caused by baton rounds. Since 5th May 1981, when arrangements were instituted to collect from hospitals details of injuries alleged to have been caused by baton rounds, 161 cases, including the five subsequent deaths, have been reported by the hospitals.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What instructions are given to the security forces in Northern Ireland as to (

It is not our practice to disclose detailed operational instructions given to policemen and soldiers. In general terms, the guidance given to them is that baton rounds may be used only when they constitute reasonable force having regard to all the circumstances. The baton rounds themselves, coupled with the detailed instructions and training given to soldiers and policemen, are designed to minimise as far as is possible the risk of serious injury to those at whom the rounds are aimed.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the promised further consideration has now been given to the problems of leasehold tenure exposed and discussed during the debate on the Unstarred Question on this subject on 3rd June 1981.

I will write to the noble Lord.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What response they will be making to the three East Anglian county councils which have written explaining their position as low spending authorities and have produced tables indicating the arbitrary and unfair nature of the reductions they have been asked to make.

I am sending to the noble Baroness a copy of the reply my right honourable friend the Minister for Local Government and Environmental Services sent yesterday to the three county councils.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What arrangements have been made to enable Parliament to meet in the event of a major Thames flood in central London.

All reasonable measures have already been taken to protect the Palace of Westminster itself in the unlikely event of a flood occurring before the Thames flood barrier is completed. However, in this event, noble Lords might be unable to reach the Palace for some time because of flood water in the immediate area. Although the risk remains small, my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment has, with the agreement of the responsible authorities in both Houses, authorised the preparation of contingency plans for the House to meet in the Connaught Rooms, off Kingsway, for a limited period should this prove necessary. Detailed arrangements are being made by my department in conjunction with officers and officials of the House.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What further regulations they have in view to abate excessive exhaust noise from motor-cycles which is currently such a disturbance to the environment; and, further, whether they will consider imposing a power limit for the licensing of motor cycles, to lessen the danger of fatal accidents.

We hope to announce later this year our plans for even stricter noise limits for new motor-cycles. We see no case, on present evidence, for imposing an overall power limit on motor-cycles, but measures contained in the Transport Bill, which are aimed at reducing motor-cycle accidents generally, include a new lower power limit on machines which learners may ride.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are aware of the unique and internationally recognised character and quality of the language training hitherto provided in the Heriot-Watt University Department of Languages and whether, to preserve that character and quality, they will consider providing special assistance to avoid the serious damage likely to result from the cuts in university grant, notably the discontinuation of the teaching of Russian.

By convention, the allocation of grant to individual universities by the University Grants Committee is not subject to ministerial intervention.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How a low-spending authority like Cambridge-shire County Council can be expected to meet the increased demands on its services for education where pupil numbers are rising and meet the Government request for a further reduction in spending of £13·9 million.

The Government are aware of the difficulties faced by local authorities in containing their expenditure within the limits for 1981–82 set out in the last White Paper on public expenditure, Cmnd. 8175. But they must make their contribution to the reduction of public expenditure which the Government consider essential in order to permit a revitalisation of the economy. Since education accounts for about a half of all local authority expenditure it clearly cannot be exempt.The use of a standard expenditure target in the call for revised budgets is bound to bear more heavily on some authorities than on others, depending on their particular circumstances, but this was necessary if the required reduction in budgets was to be achieved. Parliament will be asked to take a further decision on the level and distribution of grant for 1981–82 in the autumn, when revised budgets have been analysed and the Government have considered issues of principle like that raised in the Question.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What amounts allocated by the EEC for regional aid have been diverted to reduce borrowing requirements, and whether the EEC Budget Commissioner has stipulated that projected aid to Northern Ireland must be used for regional purposes.

All receipts from the European Communities' Regional Development Fund (RDF) are used for regional purposes. The same would apply to any further receipts from the RDF for Northern Ireland. RDF receipts enable public expenditure in the United Kingdom to be maintained at higher levels than could otherwise have been afforded for a given public sector borrowing requirement.The Government are ready to discuss with the Commission any proposals which may be put forward as a result of the Commission's consideration of the economic problems of Northern Ireland.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, arising from the sinking of a 26-year old cargo ship with the loss of 17 lives last April, amendments will be proposed to the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 to extend to the Cayman Islands and any other dependencies concerned the conditions required for registered ships of the United Kingdom and its dependencies generally.

My department is in the course of reviewing the sections of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 relating to the registration of ships. It is the intention, as part of that review, to consult the dependent territories about the provision which should be made in future legislation for a suitable regulative framework for those territories which require registration facilities. A consultative document outlining our proposed approach will be circulated in due course; a copy will be placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to make an order under Schedule 24 to the Housing Act 1980 specifying certain kinds of house in multiple occupation in respect of which local authorities will have a duty to exercise their powers to require adequate means of escape from fire.

Following consultation with the local authority associations and other interested bodies my right honourable friend proposes to lay an order under paragraph 1 of Schedule 24 to the Housing Act 1980 in respect of houses in multiple occupation of 3 storeys or more (excluding basements) with a gross floor area of above 500 square metres.House adjourned for the Summer Recess at seventeen minutes past three o'clock until Tuesday, 6th October next.