asked Her Majesty's Government:What maximum precepts they propose to prescribe in respect of 1986–87 for the new joint police and fire and civil defence authorities.

My right honourable friend's proposals for the maximum precept levels of these authorities for 1986–87 are as follows:

	Police Pence in the £
Greater Manchester	16·52
Merseyside	25·62
Northumbria	13·01
South Yorkshire	17·12
West Midlands	12·67
West Yorkshire	20·81

	Fire and Civil Defence Pence in the £
Greater Manchester	9·09
Merseyside	6·42
South Yorkshire	10·84
Tyne and Wear	10·98
West Midlands	6·17
West Yorkshire	11·20
London	7·50

Formal notification of the proposed maximum precepts has been served on the authorities yesterday. My right honourable friend has asked the authorities to let us know by 15th January whether they accept the proposed maximum precepts.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have redetermined the expenditure levels for the new joint police and fire and civil defence authorities for the financial year 1986–87.

My right honourable friend yesterday notified these authorities of his decisions on redetermination of their expenditure levels which are as follows:

	Police £ million
Greater Manchester	83·687
Merseyside	59·808
Northumbria	43·431
South Yorkshire	35·412
West Midlands	80·831
West Yorkshire	63·269

	Fire and Civil Defence £ million		Fire £ million	Civil Defence £ million
Greater Manchester	40·139	These figures comprise	40·056	0·083
Merseyside	26·884		26·804	0·080
South Yorkshire	20·059		19·987	0·072
Tyne and Wear	19·992		19·921	0·071
West Midlands	36·374		36·290	0·084
West Yorkshire	32·388		32·305	0·083
London	147·383		147·067	0·316

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether is is, as reported, the case that they have pledged to supply enough hospital beds to meet the foreseeable needs for American casualites in Europe in wartime and, if so, how is the forecast of such needs arrived at, and what is the forecast of British needs at the same time.

The Government are making contingency plans for the best use of all National Health Service resources in the event of war and these plans will cover the treatment in United Kingdom hospitals of both British and American military casualties should war in Europe ever break out. These plans will be incorporated in planning for the National Health Service as a whole in time of crisis or war, and are part of a continuous process. The United States is also establishing its own contingency hospitals which will be activated in a crisis; these will be equipped, manned and financed by the United States Government and will reduce the burden on the National Health Service.Any plans to use civilian resources for United States forces will be drawn up in consultation with other government departments and relevant civilian authorities, but estimates of requirement must remain classified.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will ensure that all National Health Service nursing staff are paid at levels above the Council of Europe threshold.

The remuneration of National Health Service nursing and midwifery staff is determined following the recommendations of an independent review body.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are aware of the drug treatment trials undertaken by the Society of Biophysical Medicine at their own expense in Liverpool, what is their opinion of these trials, and whether they are prepared to support their continuation or expansion in view of the very satisfactory progress made to date.

The information provided to the department by the Society of Biophysical Medicine about their use of electro-acupuncture in detoxifying drug misusers does not demonstrate that this method is superior to any other. The results of a comparative trial on the use of neuro-electro therapy and oral methadone in managing opiate withdrawal conducted at the Bethlem Royal Hospital were published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 1984; though the numbers of patients involved in this trial was small and the results are therefore not conclusive, electro stimulation was found to be markedly inferior to methadone withdrawal treatment. I understand that a study is presently being undertaken by the National Institute for Mental Health in the United States of America. The department has indicated that it would be prepared to consider research proposals for a further comparative trial.It is for the local health authority to consider whether they wish to incorporate the clinic set up by the Society of Biophysical Medicine into their services for drug misusers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How much coal has been imported, and from where, since the appointment of Mr. MacGregor as chairman of the National Coal Board?

Coal imports during the period of 26 months from 1st September 1983 to 31st October 1985 amounted to around 20 million tonnes. The main countries of origin were as follows:

	(million tones)
Australia	6·6
United States	6·5
Poland	2·8
FR Germany	1·8
South Africa	0·9
Netherlands	0·6
Canada	0·4
Belgium	0·4
France	0·3

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether detention for periods ranging from one year to 2½ years or more, pending trial in some cases in Northern Ireland, particularly those involving accomplice evidence, is contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights (especially Article 5(4) and what steps are being taken to reduce pretrial delays.

The question whether the European Convention of Human Rights has been contravened in a particular case is for the European Court to decide; but the Government do not consider that the relatively long periods which persons involved in particularly complex criminal cases in Northern Ireland may spend in custody on remand breach the convention.The Government are concerned however to eliminate avoidable delays in bringing persons to trial and a number of measures have been implemented recently which should help reduce waiting times.Twelve additional Queen's counsel and an additional county court judge have been appointed, together with a presiding judge at Crumlin Road courthouse to oversee the listing of cases, extra staff have been recruited in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and a "fast stream" of cases which can be dealt with within two months.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether it is their policy when making purchases abroad to cover all or part of the commitment on the foreign exchange markets; and, if not, whether they will keep this matter under review in view of the volatile nature of currency movements.

Government departments make some use of the forward markets to cover forthcoming expenditure in foreign currency. The extent of this practice is kept under review.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many citizens of other member states of the EEC have been required to pay VAT when importing furniture into the United Kingdom after they have married a British citizen;Whether it is correct that the British VAT authorities require a marriage certificate to be produced if a British citizen and his or her spouse from another member state of the EEC bring furniture into this country and require the VAT to be refunded; andWhether they approve of the EEC regulation which requires the payment of VAT on furniture when moved from one member state to another if the parties to which it belongs have recently been married (and in no other circumstances).

The EEC legislation in question, far from imposing VAT, gives relief from tax on goods imported on the occasion of marriage and consequent transfer of residence. In all cases where this relief is claimed there is a legal requirement to produce evidence of marriage.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will give details of programmes which will benefit from the money saved by withdrawal from UNESCO.

We intend to allocate through the aid programme in the next financial year the amount saved from the UNESCO contribution of about £6.4 million to the following activities: the ODA Technical Co-operation Training Programmes; a joint scheme to provide scholarships in the United Kingdom for Chinese students; the ODA Shared Scholarship Scheme; the Key English Language Teaching Programme, particularly in Francophone Africa; a distance learning programme among academic institutions in the Commonwealth; a Commonwealth training scheme for black South Africans at post-graduate level; the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Scholarships and Awards Scheme; participation in the Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission, the International Geological Correlation Programme, in international hydrology and environmental sciences through the Natural Environmental Research Council and research in arid Commonwealth Africa; dissemination of results of research at universities and other bodies and an increase grant to the Commonwealth Media Development Fund.The Minister for Overseas Development will be responsible for the above programmes. The diplomatic wing of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be responsible for our bilateral relations with UNESCO as from 1st January 1986.