asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether it is true that an order applies to Gurkha battalions that "any family, failing to report a pregnancy during the first three months, will be sent back to Nepal 60 days after the birth of the child. Such families will never be allowed back into family lines. Severe disciplinary action will be taken against the soldier"; whether such an order applies to English troops stationed in Hong Kong, and in how many cases in the last three calendar years respectively Gurkha families have been sent back to Nepal, and what disciplinary action was taken in each case against the soldier.

An order of the kind described was issued temporarily in 1978, by one Gurkha unit serving in Hong Kong, to encourage the earlier reporting of pregnancies amongst Gurkha families. This was intended to overcome welfare and accommodation problems arising as a result of delays in making pregnancies known in time. The unit order did not represent the policy of the Ministry of Defence and was not put into effect. It has not been in existence for several years and will not be repeated. No family was sent back to Nepal as a result of it and no disciplinary action was taken against any soldier.No such order applies to any British Army family stationed in Hong Kong.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the geographical co-ordinates of the spot in the Barents Sea where a Soviet missile cruiser collided with HMS "Glasgow" in May.

69° 36.5' North, 34° 20.6' East.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the Secretary of State for Transport decided to allow the appeal of Yeowart's Coaches against a refusal of the Northern Traffic Commissioners to grant them a licence to run a new bus service around Whitehaven, although the inspector whom he appointed to conduct an inquiry had recommended that the appeal be dismissed.

My right honourable friend's reasons for allowing the appeal by Yeowart's Coaches were given in the decision letter issued on 3rd August 1981, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. I am sending a copy to the noble Lord.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Secretary of State for Transport, in deciding to allow the appeal of Yeowart's Coaches against the refusal of the Northern Traffic Commissioners to grant a licence for a new bus service around Whitehaven, took into consideration that the Cumberland Motor Services runs other bus services on uneconomic routes and whether Yeowart's Coaches have been given a condition also to operate any service on an uneconomic route or to run a service at unpopular times.

My right honourable friend in reaching his decision took into account all the evidence which was before the Traffic Commissioners, which included evidence about the routes run by Cumberland Motor Services.The Transport Act 1980 requires that a licence, if granted, be granted in accordance with the application except to the extent that to do so would be against the interests of the public; in pursuance of this, no conditions were imposed upon the licence granted to Yeowart's Coaches other than those applied to road service licences generally.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the Secretary of State for Transport decided to allow the appeal of Lightray Limited against a refusal of London Transport Executive to grant an agreement to run a bus service although the inspector whom he appointed to conduct an inquiry had recommended that the appeal be dismissed.

My right honourable friend's reasons for deciding to allow the appeal of Lightray Limited were given in the decision letter issued on 27th July 1981, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. I am sending a copy to the noble Lord.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action is proposed following the rejection by the Soviet Union of the EEC plan on Afghanistan.

I reminded the United Nations General Assembly on 22nd September that the European Council's proposals remain on the table. They are widely recognised as offering a reasonable and practical framework for negotiating a peaceful settlement of the situation in Afghanistan.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action has been taken arising from the evidence given to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Hong Kong that a syndicate charged £3,000 per person for refugees to leave Vietnam by boat and bribed officials to enable them to depart.

Her Majesty's Government have taken no direct action. We do not consider that representations on this issue would have any effect. Nevertheless we believe that illegal departures from Vietnam, and the bribery that goes with them, would be greatly reduced if the Vietnamese Government facilitated departures by orderly channels. The Vietnamese Government are well aware of our views. We shall repeat them at a meeting to be held shortly in Geneva by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at which Vietnam will be represented.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made at the Law of the Sea Conference at Geneva.

Progress was made on the provisions concerning the delimitation of maritime boundaries, the Preparatory Commission and on the question of participation in the convention by entities other than states. The sites for the International Seabed Authority and the Law of the Sea Tribunal were selected.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will report—(1) on the progress of the World Food Programme in improving transport in Africa and in distributing the surplus maize crop in Zimbabwe to other countries in need; and(2) what part the United Kingdom has taken in these projects.

The World Food Programme have arranged for a new rail service to move about 500 tonnes of Zimbabwean maize daily through Mozambique to Beira for use in Mozambique and transshipment to other African countries, as well as for maize to be sent to Zambia by road.I understand that donors have already undertaken to provide over 60,000 tonnes of maize from Zimbabwe as food aid and the World Food Programme believe shipments could well reach 100,000 tonnes before the end of the year. Included in this total are 7,000 tonnes which Britain has supplied to Zambia and 5,000 tonnes we are providing to Mozambique, as well as 10,000 tonnes being provided by the European Community for Tanzania, of whose cost we shall meet our budgetary share.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether (a) they or (b) NATO, recognise the Gulf of Taranto as Italian internal or historic waters.

Italy claims Gulf of Taranto as internal waters. This is not consistent with our interpretation of the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea. NATO does not take a position on the territorial sea limits of its members.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What extent to the territorial sea of each of its members does NATO recognise, and whether the USA recognises, within the NATO area, territorial sea limits greater than three miles.

As an organisation, NATO does not take a position on the territorial sea limits of its members. It is understood that the United States does not in general recognise territorial seas extending beyond three nautical miles.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What representations have been made to the United States Government concerning the latter's refusal to continue negotiations on reaching an agreed Law of the Sea Convention prior to the completion of a new United States review of its policy on the law of the sea.

Since the United States Administration announced the decision to review its policy on the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, Her Majesty's Government have on several occasions made their views on the convention known to the United States Government.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many heart transplants have been carried out under the National Health Service and what are the total and average costs of heart transplant surgery.

Since 1979, 40 heart transplant operations have been carried out under the National Health Service. A precise figure for the total cost of these operations is not available at present; the average cost of a heart transplant operation with a year's follow-up treatment has been estimated to be about £17,500. Much of the cost of the current heart transplant programmes has been met from charitable donation; the Robinson Charitable Trust has donated £300,000 for heart transplant work at Papworth Hospital and the Harefield Hospital Heart Transplant Trust has raised over £320,000. The current programme at Papworth Hospital is intended to enable the medical profession, the Government and health authorities to assess over the next two or three years the place of heart transplantation in the treatment of certain forms of chronic heart disease and to evaluate more fully than is yet possible the resource implications and the effects on other services.House adjourned at twelve minutes past eleven o'clock.