asked Her Majesty's Government:What conclusions they have reached on the need for a criminal offence of trespass on residential premises in the light of the comments received on the consultative document issued earlier this year.

My right honourable and learned friend the Home Secretary has given careful consideration, in consultation with my noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor and my right honourable and learned friend the Attorney General, to the considerable number of comments received in response to the consultative document on trespass on residential premises in England and Wales.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action it is possible for the Metropolitan Police or other police forces to take over the kidnapping of a British citizen in the Republic of Ireland last week or in similar circumstances.

The Gardai are in close and constant touch with the Metropolitan Police over the kidnapping. There is no further information I can give at the moment. It has been the policy of successive British Governments to oppose payment of ransom to terrorist organisations; and, should that question arise within this jurisdiction in the present instance, all concerned have been asked to respect this policy and to act only after consultation with the appropriate authorities.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many vacancies there have been for administrative trainees in the Civil Service, and how many graduates have been recruited to fill those vacancies, in each of the years 1981, 1982 and 1983.

The number of vacancies for administration trainees and the number of graduates recruited to that grade in 1981, 1982 and 1983 (provisional) were:

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will state the percentage of Metropolitan Counties' expenditure which will not be controlled by Joint Boards, if abolition of the Metropolitan County Councils takes place as proposed.

In the MCCs in 1982–83, approximately 40 per cent. of rate fund net revenue expenditure and 80 per cent. of capital expenditure was on services other than those which it is proposed, on abolition, to transfer to joint boards.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they expect to receive the report, which is partially Government-funded, from the Warren Spring Laboratory with regard to acid rain; and whether they are satisfied that this matter is being investigated with the urgency which it deserves.

The final report of the Acid Rain Review Group is now with the printers and is expected to be published early in the New Year. The Government are satisfied that the problems of acid deposition are being investigated with due urgency. This year the Government are sponsoring research in this field to the extent of about £1 million, and it is planned to extend this programme next year.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How much they have spent on tourist projects not related to infrastructure in assisted areas in each quarter of each of the last ten years; and whether these amounts have been affected by the change in their interpretation of Section 4 of the Development of Tourism Act 1969.

Quarterly figures for grants paid to projects in assisted areas under Section 4 of the Development of Tourism Act 1969 are not readily available for the period in question. Any variations in the amounts are more likely to be because of the reduction in the size of the assisted areas than the geographical extension of the Section 4 scheme whose provision has been increased in 1983–84. Had the decision been to continue to restrict Section 4 assistance to assisted areas there is no certainty that the funds would have been maintained at their previous level. Because the scheme now covers the whole of England it means that it remains available in the areas which lost assisted area status in August 1982 as well as in the present assisted areas.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the Secretary of State for Scotland expects to be able to make a statement on the future of dog licences in Scotland.

The Government are at present considering a report on dog licensing by the Committee of Public Accounts of another place. Although the report of the committee did not extend to Scotland, the Government's consideration of the issues raised in the report will include the future of dog licensing in Scotland. The conclusions will be announced as soon as possible.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many licences for the shooting of barnacle geese on Islay in Scotland they have issued this year; the maximum total number of individuals that these licences could allow to shoot barnacle geese; and whether they will list the farms covered by such licences.

Thirty-eight licences have been issued this year for the shooting of barnacle geese. The maximum total number of individuals that these licences could allow to shoot barnacle geese is 56. I do not consider that it would be appropriate to publish a list of the individual farms covered by licences, but the information is provided to the Nature Conservancy Council and on request to other bodies with a legitimate interest.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many landlords (who are not owner-occupiers) on Islay in Scotland have been issued with licences allowing them to shoot barnacle geese to prevent agricultural damage; whether these licences are transferable and if so to whom and to how many people in total; what evidence of need to protect agricultural crops was required from landlords before such licences were issued, and what advice they received from the Nature Conservancy Council on this point.

All applicants for licences are required to list crops at risk and to indicate whether damage had occurred in previous seasons, but the need for licences is independently assessed by officers of my department. Local staff of the Nature Conservancy Council are consulted in the course of assessment of need in each case. Five licences have been issued to landlords authorising the shooting of barnacle geese on land which is not owner-occupied, although in three of these cases the licence also covers shooting on in-hand farms. Licences are not transferable.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will give an example of circumstances in which it could be necessary for the purpose of protecting agriculture on Islay in Scotland to drive barnacle geese from saltings over guns and where therefore such action would not involve breaking the law.

I am not prepared to give hypothetical examples; any such case would have to be considered on its merits to establish whether the action was legal or not.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, before issuing licences to allow the shooting of barnacle geese on Islay in Scotland to prevent serious agricultural damage, they take into account the extent to which those applying for licences have tried a variety of scaring techniques to protect crops in the past and intend to continue to use such techniques in future, and whether this is made clear to those applying for such licences.

Applicants for licences to shoot barnacle geese are asked to state what other methods will be used in conjunction with shooting. When assessing the need for issue of licences, the officers of my department take account of efforts which have been made to use other scaring techniques, although generally such techniques have not been found effective on Islay. The notes for guidance issued with all licences state that shooting should be supplementary to other methods of crop protection.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list the locations in Scotland where licences have been issued to permit the control of grey geese (Anser) outside the permitted seasons.

Licences have been issued to permit the control of grey geese (Anser) outside the permitted season in the following districts in Scotland: Angus, Berwickshire, Caithness, Gordon, Kincardine and Deeside, Kirkcaldy, Moray, North-East Fife, Perth and Kinross, Ross and Cromarty, Roxburgh, Stirling and Wigtown.