asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether residents of Northern Ireland who request and are issued with passports of the Republic of Ireland, have up to now incurred, or will in future incur, any civil disability as a result; and in particular whether such passport holders have been and will be in future entitled to vote in local government, Assembly and parliamentary elections in exactly the same way as holders of British passports.

The possession of a passport of the Republic of Ireland by a resident of Northern Ireland does not incur any civil disability for that person or affect his right to vote. The franchise in Northern Ireland for local and Assembly elections is confined to persons born in Northern Ireland or who have been continuously resident in the United Kingdom for the previous seven years, provided that they are British subjects or were on the Northern Ireland register of electors in 1962 and have resided in Northern Ireland for the three months preceding the qualifying date. The holding of a passport of the Republic of Ireland by any such persons would not affect their entitlement to vote. So far as the franchise used at parliamentary general elections is concerned, that is the same in Northern Ireland as in Great Britain except that the residence requirement for electoral registration in Northern Ireland is specified in legislation as being three months continuous residence preceding the qualifying date. These arrangements are an expression of the policy followed by successive Governments not to penalise those holding dual nationality.

asked her Majesty's Government:Whether they will announce the allocations of transport supplementary grant for 1983–84 for county councils in England and for the Greater London Council; and whether they will make a statement.

County councils have today been informed of their allocations of transport supplementary grant for 1983–84, which my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport intends to prescribe in the Rate Support Grant Report which he and my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has laid before Parliament. We are announcing full details of the settlement now so that counties can take our decisions into account in planning their transport budgets for the year starting 1st April next. The figures are set out in Table 1.For the 1983–84 settlement my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport has decided to accept a total of £1,836·193 million, which represents an increase of 12½ per cent. on the equivalent figure for 1982–83. As in previous years, grant will be paid at a rate of approximately 70 per cent. on that part of each county council's accepted expenditure which lies above a threshold, which is determined on a

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have now reconsidered the situation of Iranians in the United Kingdom who are afraid to go home and, if so, whether those Iranians who express such a fear but who do not fall within the terms of the International Convention on the Status of Refugees will now be allowed to remain in the United Kingdom.

Where an Iranian expresses a fear of return to his own country but does not qualify for asylum here, he may be allowed to remain in this country exceptionally and outside the immigration rules. Officials have been instructed to consider applications from Iranians sympathetically but there will, nevertheless, be occasions where it would be inappropriate to grant exceptional treatment. Cases of continuing doubt are considered by my right honourable friends who are keeping the situation under review.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they expect to publish the English House Condition Survey.

The survey is being published today and copies have been placed in the Library of both Houses and in the Printed Paper Office. The results of the survey as they affect dwellings lacking amenities, dwellings that are unfit, and dwellings that are in substantial disrepair can be summarised as follows:There has been a significant reduction in the number of dwellings lacking basic amenities from 2·8 million in 1971 to 1·5 million in 1976 to 0·9 million in 1981. The proportion of the dwellings in owner occupation that lack one or more basic amenities has fallen by over two-thirds from 11 per cent. in 1971 to 3 per cent. in 1981. A similar proportionate fall occurred in the private rented and local authority sectors. The greatest progress with respect to basic amenities has been made in the North.The number of unfit dwellings has remained relatively constant at between 1·1 and 1·2 million. The Northern regions have seen a substantial improvement from the past high level; the South-East, including London, has seen a deterioration and the rest of the country some lesser improvement.The number of dwellings with high repair costs (over £7,000 at 1981 prices) has increased between 1976 and 1981 following no discernible change between 1971 and 1976. In total the number of dwellings in serious disrepair increased by about 200,000 between 1976 and 1981 and represented an increase of 22 per cent. on the 1976 figure. Over the decade 1971–1981 the number of dwellings in serious disrepair decreased in the North of England by 9 per cent., increased in the South-East by 82 per cent. and increased in the rest of England by 16 per cent.The Government have taken a number of steps to increase improvement grant activity. There is a very significant rise taking place in the number of improvement grants paid which, in the third quarter of

this year, were the highest since 1974. To deal specifically with the problem of disrepair the Government have taken the following measures:

asked Her Majesty's Government:(i) What contributions were made to the following international organisations for research and development in each of the last five years;(ii) Whether these contributions are shown in the budgets of the departments concerned; and(iii) What was the total value of the contracts received from each organisation by British companies and other bodies during the same period:

The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) is responsible for payment of the U.K. subscription to the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN). The Medical Research Council (MRC) has similar responsibilities with regard to the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC) which in turn finances the activities of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO). Both SERC and MRC receive grant-in-aid from the Department of Education and Science, and their respective contributions to CERN and EMBC are shown separately in the appropriate Votes in Supply Estimates and Appropriation Accounts.The contribution to CERN in each of the last five vears in cash terms, has been as follows:

	£
1977–78	22,475,000
1978–79	27,696,000
1979–80	25,250,000
1980–81	22,381,000
1981–82	22,475,000

The value of contracts received from CERN by U.K. companies and other bodies over the same period has been as follows:

Swiss Francs
Calendar Year	British Companies	Other bodies— mostly companies in member slates (excluding UK) USA and other non-member states	Total
1977	27,482,000	319,982,000	347,464,000
1978	21,544,000	293,096,000	314,640,000
1979	18,957,000	276,323,000	295,280,000
1980	21,608,000	284,329,000	305,937,000
1981	15,230,000	196,191,000	211,421,000

The contribution to EMBC in each of the last five years has been as follows:

	£
1977–78	190,000
1978–79	216,000
1979–80	215,000
1980–81	209,000
1981–82	233,000

The activities of EMBO do not include placement of contracts with commercial companies. EMBO was set up to award training fellowships and to assist in the organisation of short training courses. It does not place contracts in its own name.The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), to which MRC is also responsible for paying the U.K. subscription, is an organisation which is separate from and independent of EMBO. The contribution to EMBL in each of the last five years has been as follows:

	£
1977–78	877,000
1978–79	964,000
1979–80	998,000
1980–81	924,000
1981–82	931,000

The value of contracts awarded by over the same period, broken down as between U.K. companies and other bodies, cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost.