asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the United States President has given an undertaking to the British Government, parallel to that which he has given to the Italian Government, that United States bases in this country will be used only for NATO purposes.

Arrangements for the control of American forces based in the United Kingdom were first agreed by Mr. Attlee and President Truman in 1951. That agreement was endorsed by Mr. Churchill and President Truman in further discussions in 1952. The understanding reached was summarised in a joint communiqué, the relevant section of which reads:

"Under arrangements made for the common defence, the United States has the use of certain bases in the United Kingdom. We reaffirm the understanding that the use of these bases in an emergency would be a matter for joint decision by Her Majesty's Government and the United States Government in the light of the circumstances prevailing at the time."

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are aware that the 1981-based household projections are causing some concern amongst planning authorities in the South-East.

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has advised caution in the use of the 1981-based household projections and has written to Lord Sandford in the following terms:2 MARSHAM STREET,LONDON SW1P 3EB19 November 1985"Dear John,Thank you for your letter dated 25 October."As you appreciate, one of our purposes in providing projections of the numbers of households is to help local planning authorities and others to take due account of the evidence available on trends in households numbers when they are considering the provision they are making for housing. Our Circular 15/84 on land for housing refers explicitly in paragraph 7 to the need to take account of demographic trends including household formation and migration in preparing structure and local plans."I cannot stress too strongly, however, that while we can project these trends into the future, as we do in the population and household projections, there can be no certainty that the trends will continue. The projections are heavily dependent on the assumptions which are made both about migration and about the rates at which people will form separate households. In some areas there may be strong reasons why we might expect the number of households to diverge from the levels projected from past trends. One would want to look for example at how the number of households which was projected was going to be translated into demand in the market place. We produce the best projections we can and we want them to be taken into account, but at the end of the day they can be nothing better than partial guides.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will put in hand the review of policy for the provision of gypsy sites recommended by the House of Commons Select Committee on the Environment.

A consultation letter and memorandum has been issued to local authority associations and other interested bodies in England. Similar arrangements are being made by the Welsh Office to consult local authority and other interests in Wales.Copies of the documents are being placed in the Library and in the Printed Paper Office. I am aware that the slow progress on site provision is to a large extent a reflection of some difficult problems that local authorities have had to face. However, I am very anxious that the opportunity should be taken by those consulted not only to give their views on the main difficulties experienced by them but also to put forward constructive and workable suggestions for dealing with these problems so that the review we are undertaking may have a fruitful and positive outcome.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are able to make an announcement on the next stage of the new British Library building at St. Pancras.

My right honourable friend the Minister for the Arts has today authorised a start on the second stage of the building, which is estimated to cost £61 million and will be ready for occupation in 1993. Work on this stage will start in 1987, in parallel with the first stage, which will be ready in 1991.When both stages are complete, the library's new facilities will include substantial new storage space in the modern environmental conditions which the collection requires, reading rooms for the departments of manuscripts and oriental manuscripts and printed books, and open access reading rooms for the Science Reference Library.Further decisions on later stages will be taken and announced in due course.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are in a position to announce the allocation of the arts and libraries expenditure programme for 1986–87.

The central government element of the arts and libraries programme has been set at £321 million for 1986–87, an increase of nearly 18 per cent. in cash over the corresponding provision for 1985–86. Subject to parliamentary approval of the Supply Estimates, the proposed main 1986–87 allocations are listed below. The greater part of the increase reflects the additional central funding for the performing arts, film and museums, following the abolition of the Greater London Council and the metropolitan county councils. The grants to most bodies directly supported from the central government programme will be broadly in line with the provisional forward planning figures for 1986–87 given to them last January. But it has been possible in some cases to make modest additional provision for new developments or other special needs.As announced to the House on 14th November 1985 (Volume 468, cols. 398–406) the grant to the Arts Council in 1986–87 will be £135·6 million, including increased central post-abolition funding of £25 million. The grant to the British Film Institute will be £9·738 million (20 per cent. more than in 1985–86): this includes £1·3 million for post-abolition funding, and a further £0·3 million above its provisional planning figure to help with matching funding for film production and with the institute's accommodation needs.For the major museums and galleries affected by the abolition of the GLC and metropolitan county councils, the following arrangements are proposed. First, an Order in Council will be made under Section 46 of the Local Government Act 1985 to establish a new trustee body with responsibility for the bulk of the museums and galleries hitherto administered by Merseyside County Council. A grant-in-aid of £8·745 million will be made to the trustee body for these institutions in 1986–87. Secondly, a grant-in-aid of £1·075 million will be made in 1986–87 to the existing trustee body responsible for the Greater Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, which has hitherto been funded by Greater Manchester County Council. Thirdly, subject to the enactment of the Museum of London Bill, the Government's grant to that museum will be increased to £2·25 million in 1986–87, reflecting the proposal in the Bill that the Government's share of the museum's main budget will be raised from the present one-third to one-half. Fourthly, my honourable friend the Minister for the Arts is allocating an additional £1¼ million to the Museums and Galleries Commission for pump-priming grants to other museum and gallery services affected by abolition. Finally, some provision for certain affected museums is being channelled separately, as follows: for the Manchester University Museum and Whitworth Gallery, through the University Grants Committee; for the London Historic House Museums, through the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission; and the Geoffrye and Horniman Museums will be maintained by the Inner London Education Authority, whose expenditure limit and grant-related expenditure assessment for 1986–87 take account of this transfer.A separate announcement will be made in due course following the recent consultations on arrangements for the treatment of revenue generated by the nine national museums and galleries for which my honourable friend is responsible. That announcement will also cover the provision to be made in 1986–87 for those institutions' purchase grants, other net running costs, and the building and maintenance programme undertaken for them by the Property Services Agency. Meanwhile, as regards the other institutions in the museum field for which my honourable friend is responsible, the grant to Sir John Soane's Museum in 1986–87 will be £250,000, including a supplementary allocation towards the improvement of its building and facilities; and, for the Museums and Galleries Commission, an additional provision will be made for increased staffing and accommodation requirements and for the establishment of a new conservation unit to provide advice on conservation facilities and on training opportunities available throughout the country. The £½ million conservation grant fund administered by the commission, introduced two years ago, will be continued in 1986–87, as will the existing schemes of grants for area museum councils and for purchases and capital development by local museums.As in 1985–86, the grants to the Crafts Council and the National Film and Television School will in 1986–87 include modest additional provision for special regional or capital developments during the year. A token sum is allocated to the South Bank Theatre Board, which is to be wound up as soon as its responsibilities for settling the outstanding accounts for the initial construction and equipping of the National Theatre building have been discharged. The Noted provision for the National Heritage Memorial Fund and for acceptances of art objects in lieu of tax (both of which also receive corresponding sums from Department of the Environment Votes) will remain at the same level as in 1985–86. The new arrangements for supplementing the acceptance in lieu provision, announced on 26th July last (

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their definition of the words "has traditionally fished", in reference to waters where fishing vessels of a particular nationality are granted rights based on the meaning of the phrase.

I believe that the noble Lord is referring to a Written Answer given in another place on 4th April 1985 (Hansard, Commons, col. 754) about the agreement reached between Spain and the European Community on the arrangements to govern Spanish fishing in Community waters after accession. The words "has traditionally fished" were used in the Written Answer in connection with the waters within which Spain will be entitled to a 30 per cent. share of the total allowable catch (TAC) for hake. These waters, namely ICES sub-areas Vb, VI, VII and VIIIa, b, are ones in which, since the 'extension of fishing limits to 200 miles, Spain has been authorised to fish for hake under the bilateral agreement between Spain and the Community.