asked Her Majesty's Government:What information they have about the work of the Tripartite Commission, to which the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the Governments of Djibouti and Ethiopia are parties, on repatriation of Ethiopian refugees now in Djibouti; what discussions have been held with the representatives of the refugees on this matter; how many have agreed to return and whether they will check reports that at the Ali Sabieh camp, 50 km south of Djibouti towards the Ethiopian frontier, the authorities have warned the inhabitants to evacuate themselves voluntarily or to sign papers indicating their willingness to be repatriated and have deprived the inhabitants of rations when none of them would comply with these orders.

We understand that following the Tripartite Commission's meetings of 31st January/1st February and 15/16th April the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has drawn up plans for the progressive voluntary repatriation of Ethiopian refugees presently in Djibouti and intends to ascertain the wishes of individual refugees shortly. We have no evidence of rations having been withheld in the manner described.

asked Her Majesty's Government:On what dates applicants for special quota vouchers who have been invited for interview in June and July 1983 respectively first lodged their applications.

Main queue applicants in India invited for interview in June 1983 applied in late May/early June 1976; those invited in July applied in early/mid-June 1976.By July, all those applicants who were initially identified as qualifying for priority under the existing categories will have been seen. Applicants who so qualify will continue to receive priority, which will in future also be given in order of application to applicants over 65. The first of these will be seen in August.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What response there has been to the Department of the Environment's consultative letter dated 7th February 1983 concerning the possibility of using building regulations to ensure that some new buildings will conform with the provisions for access for disabled people set down in British Standard Code of Practice,

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment received comments from 150 of the 500 organisations to which the consultation letter was sent. He is examining all these responses carefully and will make an announcement as soon as he is able to.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When it is proposed to publish the results of the series of studies undertaken by the Social Research Division of the Policy, Planning and Research Unit —Department of Finance and Personnel (NI), into the reports of the surveys of the living standards of low income families in Northern Ireland, and especially the surveys of:

The survey into the living standards of low income families in Northern Ireland —the Family Finances Survey—will be published as a Policy Planning and Research Unit Occasional Paper in July.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish details concerning the number of young persons under the age of 18 in Northern Ireland who have been "recruited" into permanent employment under the Young Workers' Scheme from (

All of those young people in respect of whom Northern Ireland employers have applied for assistance under the Young Workers' Scheme have been recruited into permanent employment, since that is one of the primary conditions of the scheme.The scheme is designed to encourage employers to recruit more young people at wage rates which reflect their comparative lack of experience. Wages paid are checked to ensure that the average gross wage paid does not exceed £45 per week.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What steps they propose to take to minimise delays in the county courts in view of the rising caseloads.

The caseload in county courts has risen strongly in the last four years. In 1982 there were nearly 2.3 million proceedings started, including divorce proceedings. This represents an increase of about 38 per cent. over the 1979 figure. Her Majesty's Government attach great importance to keeping the delays in county courts to a minimum, and maintaining a high standard of service to the litigant. Nevertheless, the position must be viewed against the background of the Government's commitment to contain and reduce civil service manpower.I have decided to maintain the high standards of service in the most important areas, and to keep delays to a minimum. But this can be achieved only by making economies in the use of staff in less important fields. Changes which would achieve the necessary economies would be to increase the minimum level for a part-warrant of execution from £15 to £50; to drop the facility for service of process by a bailiff except in those cases where personal service is required by the rules and cases where postal service has been tried and failed; and to raise to £50 the minimum level of judgment debt which has to be registered at the Registry of County Court Judgments. The first two changes will require amendments to the rules of court and I shall be inviting the County Court Rule Committee to make the appropriate amendments.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list all the exemptions from the tachograph legislation; and whether these exemptions are sufficient.

The requirements to install and use tachographs are contained in Regulation (EC) 1463/70. Article 3 of that regulation exempts some vehicles, including those listed in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) 543/69. Copies of both these regulations are available in the Library.Her Majesty's Government are seeking to improve the scope and clarity of the exemptions in a review being conducted by the European Commission. If the noble Lord has a particular concern. perhaps he would write to me.