asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the public are sufficiently aware of the existence of the Police Complaints Board; and whether any further steps will he taken to publicise its existence.

Since the board's inception in 1977 a leaflet entitled Police and public which describes the police complaints procedures, including the functions of the hoard, has been available to members of the public. Chief officers of police are asked to make copies available at every police station and wherever else they consider it desirable, and to ensure that a copy is supplied to anyone on request. Copies are also supplied by the Home Office to Citizens' Advice Bureaux and are issued to other organisations and individuals on application. The question of further publicity will receive attention in the light of Lord Scarman's report and the review of the complaints system being undertaken by the Home Affairs Committee in another place.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What research has been initiated into the correlations and connections between bad housing and urban crime and rioting.

The relationship between crime and the environment, including housing, has been the subject of much research. The precise effect of sub-standard housing, whether public or private, on crime and civil disorder is difficult to discern. A conference convened last year by the Home Office, in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, considered aspects of this subject, and the proceedings will be made available shortly.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have inquired into the personal housing situations of those members of the public who have been convicted of riotous behaviour, assaults on the police and malicious damage to property during the riots of 1980 and 1981, and if so what were their findings.

Information about people involved in the disturbances in 1981 is not being collected in this form.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many prisoners there are in England and Wales serving life sentences for offences other than homicide, and of these how many have served more than 10 years in prison.

On 30th September 1981, 244 persons in prison department establishments were serving sentences of life imprisonment or were detained for life under Section 53(2) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 for offences other than murder or manslaughter, including 13 who had been recalled after being released on licence. Thirty-nine of those who had not been released on licence had been sentenced more than 10 years previously. In addition, eight of the 13 who had been recalled after being released on licence had been in custody for more than 10 years since their sentence, but not necessarily continuously.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many children have been allowed to enter the United Kingdom at the discretion of the Secretary of State with a view to their adoption here in 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981 to the latest convenient date.

The information requested could be made available only at disproportionate cost.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many children have been admitted to the United Kingdom under the provisions of the Immigration Rules governing the admission of adopted children in 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980 and in 1981 to the latest convenient date.

The figures requested cannot be identified from the information collected centrally.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why, following an earlier Question about the failure of the prison authorities to notify Mrs. G. Scale when her son Peter Seale was to be moved from one prison to another after she had arranged to visit him, she was sent a visiting order to visit him in Leicester Prison on 27th November, but when she travelled there on 9th December at a cost of £9·50 she found he had been moved to Wandsworth; and whether they will apologise to Mrs. Seale and repay to her the cost of the abortive journey.

It is for a Category A prisoner, and not the prison authorities, to notify relatives once a move has taken place unless the prison authorities are aware, at the time of the move, that a visit is imminent. When Mr. Seale was transferred to Wandsworth on 27th November, neither the prison staff there, nor those at Leicester were aware that a visit had been planned for 2nd December, as the visiting order sent from Leicester Prison on 24th November was valid for one month. On arrival at Wandsworth, Mr. Seale was given the opportunity to notify his relatives of his whereabouts but chose not to do so. In these circumstances, no question of repayment arises.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the decision on articles permitted to be retained in prisons is left to the governors; whether they realise that this causes unnecessary problems when a prisoner is moved from a prison where a particular article is allowed to one where it is not; and whether they will compile and publish lists centrally, giving details of articles allowed at each type of prison.

The articles which governors may allow prisoners to retain in prison are set out in Prison Standing Order 4. Governors have discretion to allow additional articles: the reason for this is to provide such flexibility in the interests of inmates as is consistent with other considerations concerning the management of the system. It has been agreed, however, that in dispersal prisons governors will allow only possessions on a common list, which is regularly reviewed. I will send the noble Lord a copy.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will confirm that the prisoners in Albany Prison, Isle of Wight, went on peaceful strike for the two days 30th November and 1st December in protest against the inferior conditions of imprisonment in England and Wales compared with Northern Ireland; what record they have of the submissions of those prisoners; and how they justify the disparity of treatment in favour of Ulster prisoners.

On 30th November prisoners in Albany prison held a peaceful demonstration against disparity of treatment with prisoners in Northern Ireland. Their action, which lasted for one day only, took the form of a mass refusal to work and their demands were set out in a document which had been pinned to the prison notice boards. The differences with Northern Ireland reflect, among other things, the smaller scale of its prison system, the much higher proportion of long-term prisoners and the absence of a parole scheme.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Following their answer on 10th December to a written question on Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971, what further consideration they have given to increasing the powers of the courts to impose conditions similar to bail conditions, in releasing persons who would otherwise be held in custody pending consideration of a recommendation for deportation or implementation of a deportation notice; and whether they will introduce legislation enabling a person on whom a deportation notice is served formally to renounce his rights of appeal in order to accelerate the procedures.

I would refer the noble Lord to the replies I gave to his Questions on 16th December.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the total expenditure on Government-financed redundancy payments, unemployment benefit and supplementary benefit paid to unemployed persons, in each year from 1974–5 to the most recent date; and what proportion this represents of total Government revenue expenditure in each year.

Total expenditure from the redundany fund, from the national insurance fund and from voted expenditure on redundancy payments, unemployment benefit and supplementary benefit paid to unemployed persons is shown in the table below.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the total amount received by the Treasury in VAT from the four independent London orchestras, and how this compares with the amount given to these orchestras by the Arts Council and the Greater London Council.

I understand from the London Orchestral Concert Board that the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra received £1,105,000 in grants from the Arts Council and the GLC in the financial year 1980–81.I regret that information about VAT is not separately available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are confident that previous forecasts of the yield of betting duty will be justified in the event and, if not, whether any estimate has been made of the amount of probable shortfall.

I assume that my noble friend refers to the estimate of £288 million for receipts from the general betting duty in the financial year 1981–82. This is the Budget estimate for the duty together with the estimate of the additional revenue in 1981–82 resulting from the increase on 12th July, in the rate of duty for off-course betting. It would be contrary to practice to publish revisions to the Budget estimates except when, as in July, a change is made to a rate of duty.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How their representative voted on the resolutions at the Committee of the United Nations General Assembly urging the Government of El Salvador to initiate pre-election negotiations with the Left Opposition; which delegations voted in favour, which voted against, and which abstained.

Our representative abstained in the vote on the resolution and explained that although we welcomed the interim report on human rights in El Salvador as an important and balanced contribution to discussion, the resolution itself lacked balance.Sixty-five nations voted for the resolution, twenty-one voted against, 54 abstained.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What it would cost annually to lower the male retiring age to 60.

On the assumption that the numbers deferring retirement would be higher than is presently the case among men aged 65 to 69 years, that only two-thirds of the jobs vacated by men in employment retiring earlier were actually filled, and that of those jobs filled only three-quarters would be filled by persons on the unemployment register, the net cost to central Government funds for a full year at average 1981–82 rates of lowering male pension age to 60 is estimated to be of the order of £2,500 million.The estimate takes account of the net increase in public expenditure—in the extra costs of pensions less the savings in other national insurance benefits and supplementary benefit—as well as the net loss of national insurance contributions and surcharge, National Health Service, Redundancy Fund and maternity pay funds income, and a broad estimate of the change in income tax revenue. The estimate relates solely to the net cost to central Government funds and takes no account of the financial implications for occupational pension schemes. The net cost would be higher with lower levels of unemployment.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many young people are currently undergoing training, under Manpower Services Commission auspices in (a) electronics and (b) basic computer technology.

I regret that this information is not available in the form requested. There are several specialist Manpower Services Commission Schemes which train young people in electronics and basic computer technology. These will provide up to 5,500 places in the current year. In addition some of the 30,000 apprenticeships, which are currently being supported by the Manpower Services Commission, contain elements of electronics training.

Whether they have concluded their review of the controls over imported waste.

Yes. Although it is legitimate to trade internationally in waste, and this country can without risk provide treatment and disposal services to industries in other countries, it is essential that such a trade should be properly supervised and controlled. The Department of the Environment has considered the nature and scope of the present system of control and the options for amending it. As a result several steps are to be taken.First, amending regulations will he laid before the House at the earliest opportunity to place detailed restrictions on the nature and quantity of waste that may be stored without a licence being required under the Control of Pollution Act 1974. The exact limits, which will be the subject of consultation with local authorities and industry, will be designed to ensure that only litter bins, dustbins, builders' skips and the like, are excluded from control. This measure alone will close the loophole now seen to exist in the licensing regulations.Second, the review has recommended new powers for waste disposal authorities to bring material not admitted to be waste under the controls which are applicable to waste, where the circumstances of its storage, handling or treatment suggest such action is appropriate. Third, the review has recommended that waste disposal authorities should have advance warning of the arrival of wastes from abroad, whether they are "special" waste or not. We intend to act on these matters.The department has written today to industry, local authorities and other interests in England and Wales setting out the details and seeking their comments. My right honourable friend is carrying out a separate consultation in Scotland. The amendments to the licensing regulations will then go forward at an early date; a new power for waste disposal authorities must await parliamentary time, but in the first instance action in advance can be achieved by waste disposal authorities introducing an appropriate condition into waste disposal licences and we intend to encourage this.The last measure, pre-notification, must also be taken forward in the international context and the United Kingdom will be pressing for the establishment of a comprehensive and uniform system of controls in the European Community which would, of course, apply to exports as well as imports.The Government also recognise that there is a much larger legitimate trade in by-products which are intended for recovery, recycling or for use as a raw material. These proposals are not intended to affect that trade, but the Government will give particular attention to the need to distinguish these materials and waste in framing any legislation.House adjourned at half-past six o'clock.