asked Her Majesty's Government:How many prosecutions for (a) fraud and (b) knowingly and recklessly making false statements in respect of applications for farm capital grants are (a) under way and (b) under consideration in respect of applications for farm capital grants made since October 1980.

Prosecution procedures for criminal offences under Farm Capital Grant Schemes are not the same in Scotland and Northern Ireland as they are in England and Wales.It is not possible to give the information in the precise form requested, but since October 1980 in the United Kingdom 108 cases have been investigated and 42 prosecutions taken, which come into the categories broadly described in the Question. In a further 3 cases prosecutions have been instituted. No central record is kept of cases which are under consideration.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

The Council of Ministers is already considering the European Parliament's proposals for a uniform electoral procedure. Under the Community Treaties, no such procedure can come into force until it has received the unanimous agreement of the Council. The Government do not propose to introduce legislation changing the franchise at European Parliament elections before agreement is reached. It is still not clear whether this will happen in time for the 1984 elections.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will confirm that 138 police officers have been recently transferred from other duties to duty in Royal Palaces; and whether they will specify the main duties from which this substantial number has been withdrawn, so inevitably weakening other fields of police cover.

Following the recent review of royalty protection arrangements, 138 police officers have been added to the Royalty Protection Branch of the Metropolitan Police. I understand from the Commissioner that these officers were drawn from all parts of the Metropolitan Police District (including headquarters) where they were employed on a variety of duties but senior officers would have adjusted the deployment of their remaining officers to ensure continued coverage of priority tasks.These changes are being taken into account in the review of Metropolitan Police manpower which is currently being carried out. The strength of the Metropolitan Police has increased by 1,083 since the beginning of the year and by 243 since July.

asked Her Majesty's Government: When the report on the pilot ethnic survey of some non-industrial civil servants in Leeds will be published.

I am pleased to tell my noble friend that Volume 1 of a report entitled Ethnic Monitoring in the Civil Service: A Survey in Leeds is published today. Copies have been placed in the Library. This volume covers the survey of the ethnic origins of some 3,900 civil servants in Leeds. Of those issued with the questionnaire 92.2 per cent. completed the ethnic origin question. Of those, 2.1 per cent. were from the ethnic minorities.The results of the job applicant part of the survey, which was undertaken during the period from 1 st May to 30th September, will be published as Volume 2 early in 1983. The Government will consider further the implications of the survey once the results of the second part of the survey are known.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have yet come to a conclusion on the report of the Royal Marsden Hospital Early Diagnostic Unit.

The position is that the Government are currently funding a national research programme into the early diagnosis of breast cancer at a cost of £600,000 a year. Trials involving a quarter of a million women between the ages of 45 and 65 are assessing the effectiveness of screening by mammography and clinical examination and are assessing the feasibility of education in self-examination as an alternative method of early diagnosis. The trials of mammography and clinical examination are taking place in Guildford and Edinburgh: the self-examination trials are in Huddersfield and Nottingham. Four centres have been established in Avon, Dundee, Oxford and Stoke on Trent to provide comparative information on unscreened populations. Preliminary results should begin to become available by 1986. The programme will continue until 1987 with a follow-up of the study population until 1997.In addition, the Government are also funding a project at Bath to assess the value of thermography in breast cancer screening. This is a 10-year project started in 1975 which by 1981 had cost over £400,000.In their report, the board of governors at the Royal Marsden Hospital stated that their major objectives are to pioneer the development of new diagnostic techniques and methods of treatment. We agree with that. But clearly we must also consider the future of the unit itself in the context of national policy.We do not believe that it would be right to close the unit while the trials are still in progress. When the outcome of the trials is known, Ministers will be in a position to make an informed judgment on the need for such a unit. Accordingly, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Security has decided to provide funds specifically to enable the unit to continue functioning until results from the national trials are available. At present the unit costs £155,000 a year and the Government will support it until at least 1986.In addition the department will consider whether the unit can contribute to the national research programme. We will also examine urgently whether it would be practicable for the unit to be relocated nearby as the land at the Royal Marsden is needed by the board of governors. In the meantime, the unit will continue to be managed by the board of governors and we are very grateful for their co-operation.