asked Her Majesty's Government:The number of awards of industrial death benefit which have been made each year from 1974 to date for:

The following awards of industrial death benefit have been made on the basis that death resulted from (a) asbestosis and (b) mesothelioma:—

Year of Death	Asbestosis	Mesothelioma
1974	75	41
1975	59	78
1976	67	94
1977	70	109
1978	41	109
1979	59	128
1980	59	108
1981	58	Not Available

Industrial death benefit is not payable for lung cancer arising from exposure to asbestos as this is not a prescribed disease under the industrial injuries scheme. However, where a person suffering from asbestosis dies from lung cancer the death is regarded as a consequence of asbestosis and industrial death benefit is awarded. Information about the number of such cases is not held centrally and the cost of obtaining it would be disproportionately high.

asked Her Majesty's Government:(

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will take steps to remove any nuclear weapons carried on any ship in the Falklands task force.

I have nothing to add to the Answer I gave the noble Lord on 27th April (Hansard, vol. 429, No. 78, col. 778).

cases in which the claimant has died before a decision has been made.

The following cases of asbestosis have been newly diagnosed by the pneumoconiosis medical boards:—

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether Argentina is a party to the Treaty of Tlatelolco prohibiting nuclear weapons in Latin America; and which nations have ratified it.

Argentina has signed, but not ratified the treaty. The treaty has been ratified by the following states: Mexico, Brazil, El Salvador, Dominica, Uruguay, Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Barbados, Haiti, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Colombia, Chile, Bahamas, Surinam, Grenada.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will support the expressed determination of all states in South Asia to keep their countries free of nuclear weapons in view of the endorsement by the UN General Assembly of this objective, and whether they will initiate action by the Security Council to co-operate with the states concerned in establishing a nuclear weapon-free zone.

We would like to see the Non-Proliferation Treaty apply to South Asia as to other parts of the world. But the idea of a nuclear weapon-free zone in South Asia does not enjoy the support of all the countries in the proposed zone and we do not think it would be useful to suggest action by the Security Council.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have noted the willingness of Governments in various parts of Europe to establish nuclear weapon free zones with their neighbours, whether they will encourage these intentions, and whether they will ask the UN Security Council to offer help to the states concerned to realise their objectives.

We are of course aware of the views of other European states on security and we consult closely with our allies. But as long as the Soviet Union retains the ability to strike at any European country from bases well within its own territory it is hard to see how nuclear weapon free zones in Europe would contribute to security.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they support the denuclearisation of the continent of Africa as affirmed by the Organisation of African Unity, and the call by the Tenth Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly to the Security Council to take effective steps to prevent the frustration of this objective; and whether they endorse the recommendation of the Working Group of the Committee on Disarmament that Governments should refrain from any co-operation with South Africa in the nuclear field which would assist its régime to manufacture nuclear weapons.

The Government wish that all African countries should become parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. We would like to see nuclear weapons excluded from the African continent.

The United Kingdom does not collaborate in any way with South Africa in developing nuclear weapons. Nor does it supply nuclear material, facilities, equipment or related economic assistance directed to this objective.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they support the establishment of a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East in compliance with the United Nations General Assembly resolution 35/147, and whether they will initiate action in the Security Council to advance its establishment as recommended by the Working Group of the Committee on Disarmament.

We have consistently supported the establishment of a Middle East nuclear weapon-free zone. But in our view it is for the states of the region to take the initiative, whether in the Security Council, or elsewhere.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether any additions have been made to the list of recognised Community Institutions given by Lord Carrington in his Written Answer of 22nd October, 1981 (col. 892).

Yes. For the purposes of the British Nationality Act 1981, Her Majesty's Government will consider service under a Community institution to include also officials and other servants of the Communities working for the European Agency for Cooperation.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their response to the study by the Overseas Students Trust published on 6th June.

On 19th May 1981 Her Majesty's Government announced that with our encouragement and co-operation the Overseas Students Trust were embarking on further work with a view to drawing up a range of options. The study published on 6th June, constitutes that further work and represents in the Government's view a comprehensive and constructive contribution to the development of future policy on overseas students. It contains a number of recommendations which the Government will consider seriously, although as the trust were advised when they embarked on their work, no new money can be made available. Account will need to be taken of the balance of requirements for home and overseas students. Reallocation of resources within existing programmes will need to be measured against overall priorities. Some proposals will involve further consultation with different interests.

In welcoming the study the Government have the following immediate comments on the study's main propositions:

First, the Government recognise the importance of encouraging overseas students to the United Kingdom and that there are educational, economic and foreign policy reasons for so doing.

Secondly, we are glad that the study recognises that there can be no return to the previous policy of indiscriminate and open-ended subsidy and we agree that a principal mechanism should be schemes of support targeted at particular groups of students.

Thirdly, we accept that it is not desirable to control overseas student numbers by a system of quotas. Fourthly, we agree in principle that the allocation of resources under existing student support schemes should be re-examined. Fifthly, we intend to give further study, subject to existing constraints on our financial resources, to the suggestions for schemes involving the co-operation and support of foreign and Commonwealth Governments and the private sector. Finally, we note the recommendations that institutions should be given greater flexibility to set their fee levels and that the definaton of home and overseas students should be re-examined. Both are receiving further study.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the noble Lord, Lord Belstead, will now correct his statement (24th May 1982, col. 1062) that the report of their official observers on the El Salvador elections made clear that the ink marked on the hand of the electors disappeared within 24 hours.

I regret that inadvertently I made an inaccurate reference to the report of the official observers on the elections in El Salvador. As I have explained in a letter to the noble Lord, paragraph 10 of the official observers' report includes the statement:

" both stamp and mark are in invisible and indelible ink which will however show up under an infra-red lamp with which every polling committee is equipped. The inks are indelible for at least 24 hours and so effectively preclude repeated voting by the same person, or repeated use of the same ID card".

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many persons were put to death by the British authorities in West Africa for their complicity in the so-called "leopard murders" and how many of them were subsequently proved to be innocent.

Without extensive research into the local court records it is impossible to give a precise answer on either point. In the case of Sierra Leone, details relating to ritual murders committed by the Human Leopard Society were published in 1913 as Command 6961. A copy is in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How long before the date of expiry of a current car driving licence the Swansea Centre issues a new one and how many drivers are forced to have a period of driving with no current licence due to delays in issue.

Drivers normally receive renewal/ reminder forms from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre in Swansea about six weeks before their licences are due to expire. At present over 80 per cent. of driving licences are issued within three weeks of a valid application reaching the centre. It is not possible to say how many drivers do not receive their new licences before the old ones expire, but I understand that most of those who use the reminder forms return them in good time. Drivers are legally entitled to drive while their licences are being renewed, provided they are not disqualified on legal or medical grounds; the reminder form bears a note to this effect.House adjourned at four minutes past ten o'clock.