asked Her Majesty's Government:What steps they are taking to counter the protectionist methods used by many other countries and whether they are aware of the damage to our international competitiveness which is being caused by charging PAYE on those members of firms seeking to provide international services with British staff.

Though international comparisons are very difficult to make, because no two countries' tax systems are the same, the Government believe that the United Kingdom tax treatment of people working overseas is broadly comparable with that in most of our major competitor countries.

asked Her Majesty's Government:To what extent they propose to help Gibraltar to meet its contributions to Spanish pensioners arising from Spain's accession to the European Economic Community.

Her Majesty's Government have offered, and the Gibraltar Government have accepted, a contribution of £16½ million over three years. This is without prejudice to the position thereafter.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Secretary of State for the Environment has reached a decision on the GLC's proposals to dispose of its interests in the Lyric, Garrick and Lyceum Theatres.

The GLC applied for consent under Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972 and Section 8 of the Local Government (Interim Provisions) Act 1984 to the sale of its freehold interests in these three theatres for the nominal value of £1 each to the Theatres Trust. Consent was also sought for the granting of a 125-year lease on the Lyceum to Mecca Leisure Group Limited on commercial terms.After careful consideration of these applications, we have concluded that the disposal of the freehold interests in the Lyric and Garrick to the Theatres Trust for a nominal sum would be justified. This will ensure that the theatres will continue in theatrical use, and that the Theatres Trust will have the resources necessary to maintain them as such. Consent to these disposals has therefore been given to the GLC today.We accept also that it would be in the interests of Londoners for the Lyceum to continue in entertainment use. But we are not satisfied that the proposals put forward by the GLC are necessary for this to be achieved while at the same time being in the best interests of the GLC's successor authorities and their ratepayers. Consent to the council's applications in respect of the Lyceum has therefore been refused.It is now for the GLC to reconsider its proposals and to put forward alternatives if it wishes to do so. In the event that the council's interest in the Lyceum Theatre is retained until abolition day, it will be for successor authorities to consider the future of the theatre. In the expectation that the property will pass into the ownership of the London residuary body, we would expect that body to take into account the concerns which have been expressed about the continued use of the theatre in considering its future ownership.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they can confirm that the local contractor on Islay who has been supplying Scottish Malt Distillers Limited with peat for over 10 years has at least 12 years' wheat peat of the same quality still available, and the promise of more land for peat cutting once these supplies are exhausted; and whether they agree that this tends to confirm that there are no social or economic factors that could require Scottish Malt Distillers to destroy the Duich Moss Site of Special Scientific Interest by extracting peat from it; andWhether they will confirm that Scottish Malt Distillers have recently told the local contractor on Islay, who has supplied them with peat for over 10 years, that they do not require any further peat from him for a period of two years as they wish to use up their existing stock of peat at their Port Ellen Maltings, and whether they agree that this tends to confirm that there are no social or economic factors that could require Scottish Malt Distillers to destroy the Duich Moss Site of Special Scientific Interest by extracting peat from it.

These are matters for Scottish Malt Distillers and the contractor concerned. As the noble Lord is aware, the determining issue in the decision of my right honourable and learned friend and the Secretary of State for Scotland was whether the proposed peat workings would have a detrimental effect on the nature conservation interest of the site. His conclusion was that the proposed development would not have a significant adverse effect if undertaken with appropriate care.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

(i) Whether the publication of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland entitled Fishing Prospects in 1985, in reviewing the state of the United Kingdom mackerel fishery, concluded that catches taken from the Western mackerel stock in the five years up to 1984 had been too high and that fishing in this stock needed to be prohibited if it was to survive;

(ii) whether they have accepted these views; and

(iii) if so, why they have agreed that the European Commission's total allowable catch proposals for mackerel should have been increased at the Fisheries Council held on 16–17 December, rather than reduced to nil; and

Whether it is their intention that the sale of mackerel to Soviet and other East European factory ships from the Western mackerel stock should continue in 1986 and, if so, on what grounds, given the advice they have received concerning that stock.

The article on the mackerel fishery by Mr. A. Saville of the Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen, in the publication referred to by the noble Lord does contain the statement that catches taken from the Western mackerel stock in the five years up to 1984 have been too high: but the reference to the need to prohibit fishing relates specifically to North Sea mackerel, which is assessed and managed separately from the Western mackerel stock.The Government are concerned to ensure the long-term conservation of the Western mackerel stock, which is of course of vital interest to our pelagic fishermen, and in the light of the international scientific advice we considered that the total allowable catch (TAC), set at 409,500 tonnes for 1985, should be reduced for 1986. We accordingly supported the Commission's initial proposal to reduce the TAC to 321,000 tonnes. In order, however, to secure agreement on a satisfactory overall package of TACs and quotas for 1986 at the Council on 16th-17th December, we agreed to the Commission's revised proposal for a TAC of 362,000 tonnes, which represented a reduction of 11.6 per cent. on the 1985 level.Given that the United Kingdom Western mackerel fishery will continue in 1986, albeit at a reduced level, it is our intention to continue to permit foreign ships to act as receiving vessels in our waters, subject to the usual controls, in order to provide a human consumption outlet for our mackerel catches and thus to maintain the economic viability of the fishery.