asked the Prime Minister, in view of the imminent increase in the price of building materials, if he will take steps to convert the existing munition factory at Park-head into a national factory for the production of building materials, and so provide useful work and houses for the unemployed people in the east end of Glasgow?

I have been asked to reply to this question. The Government do not propose to take steps with a view to the establishment of a national factory for the production of building materials.

Is the hon. and gallant Gentleman aware of the extraordinary suffering in the Central Division of Glasgow, and in the Camlachie Division, and in the East End districts, and is he not prepared to introduce some measures of alleviation for that suffering more than has already been done?

asked the Minister of Health the names of the Committee which he has decided to set up in order to watch the prices of building materials; what powers, if any, the Committee will have; and in what way the work of the Committee will prevent rings and combines from charging increased prices?

asked the Minister of Health the names of the persons who are to comprise the Committee to watch the prices of building materials?

I am not vet in a position to announce the names of the members of the Committee. The terms of reference to the Committee will be as follow:—

In. addition to the reply to the question put the other day, will the right hon. Gentleman now give us information as to whether representatives of the trade unions and the building guilds will be appointed on this Committee?

There will be a representative of a trade union in connection with the building trade.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say when the names of the Committee will be available to the House?

That will depend upon when I get answers from the gentlemen to whom I have written.

Is it the intention that this Committee shall make periodical reports to the Government, and, if so, at what intervals?

I think they will snake practically continuous reports.

asked the Minister of Health whether the new housing subsidy proposals will apply to private individuals building houses for their own occupation; and, if so, whether he will indicate how they can receive the benefits of the scheme?

I suggest that the hon. Member should await publication of the proposals of the Government in the Housing Bill.

How long will it be before they are published?

think very soon after Easter.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is considering legis lation to assist persons who are desirous of building their own houses; and, if so, what is the kind of assistance proposed?

The answer to the first question is in the affirmative. The answer to the second is that the matter will be dealt with in the Housing Bill.

asked the Minister of Health whether it is his intention, in granting the 16 subsidy per house, to consider a house built in fiats as two or more houses, provided that the accommodation in each flat is as adequate as in working-class houses for the occupation of single families?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Ministry of Health if the new housing proposals will apply to all forms of residential construction or only those intended to be let at a specified maximum rent; whether they will also be applied to the construction of flats; and, if so, on what basis?

I would suggest that the hon. Member should await publication of the proposals of the Government in the Housing Bill.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the peculiar difficulties, such as obtaining suitable sites for building houses, of some of the local authorities in South Wales, he will consider making an additional subsidy to cover the extra cost?

No, Sir. As at present advised, I think it is essential, in order to give local authorities the maximum of freedom in making their arrangements and to reduce central control to a minimum, that the subsidy should be on a flat rate basis.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the fact that many persons of the working class prefer the parlour type of house (especially those who have large families), he can see his way clear to give the same amount of subsidy on this type of house that he has promised on houses of the non-parlour type?

No, Sir. The proposed principle of the subsidy is that it should be given only for the small type of house which has not been built in any considerable numbers in the last few years, and which is the least attractive proposition to private enterprise.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the difference in cost to-day between a non-parlour and a parlour house is not more than £40, and why should they not have the same subsidy?

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that a subsidy within these limits will give rise to very great dissatisfaction, and will in no sense be a contribution to the solution of the housing problem?

No, Sir, I cannot accept that at all. It will be a contribution; I do not say it will be a solution of the housing problem.

Is it definitely decided not to build houses fit for heroes to live in?

Does the right hon. Gentleman consider that a subsidy should only be given for the building of houses where only quite tiny families can be accommodated, and does he think it quite the right thing that a home for a working-class family should not have within it one room where the mother or the father can just get away from their children? Would the right hon. Gentleman, or anybody else on the other side, like to live in such a house?

We have to recognise the fact that our resources are limited—

Yes, but they provide you and me with houses.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1899, as amended in the Act of 1919, is largely a dead letter owing to the citizen not being aware of its provisions and also because the Act applies to the purchase of houses already built and not to houses that the citizen desires to build for personal occupation; and, in view of the importance of each citizen, as far as possible, owning the house he lives in, is it the intention of the Government to bring the Act of 1899 more fully up to date during the present Session?

The answer to both questions is in the affirmative.

asked the Minister of Health what is the death rate from cancer in Great Britain at the present time; what was the death rate from this disease during each of the previous four decades; what proportion of deaths from all causes, other than accident or violence, are due to this scourge and what financial provision is made by His Majesty's Government towards assisting those engaged in fighting this plague by their endeavours to ascertain its causes and the best means of combatting its ravages?

As the answer is somewhat long, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Minister of Health what is his policy with regard to the issue of milk to poor mothers and children?

I am sending the hon. Member a copy of a circular laying down the lines on which grants are now being made by my Department in aid of the supply of milk free or at less than cost price to necessitous expectant and nursing mothers and to children under five. I have not yet had time to examine the policy adopted in this matter.

asked the Minister of Health the names of the six boards of guardians which give the largest allowances in relief; and if he will in each case state the amount?

Particulars in regard to the amount of the allowances for all the various classes of persons in receipt of relief are not immediately available, but, taking into account only the relief to unemployed persons and their dependants, the unions in which the weekly expenditure per head is highest are West Ham, Poplar, Limehouse, Greenwich, Sheffield and Woolwich, the rates of expenditure being 6s. 9¼d., 6s. 7¼d., 6s. 4¼d., 6s. O¼d., 5s, 6¾d, and 5s. 6½d., respectively.

Is the right hon. Gentleman prepared to recognise the fact that a large number of the people who are being relieved in places like West Ham are people who came into the district in consequence of the War and are now planted upon us, so that we have to keep on maintaining them; and would the Government be prepared to take into consideration the advisability of adopting some method of relieving the local ratepayers in matters of this kind?

That does not arise on this question.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that C. H. Hancock, of 4, Hope Street, Eden Grove, Holloway, who, prior to joining the Army, resided at Denaby, near Doncaster, has only worked 17 weeks since January, 1922; that the Islington Board of Guardians paid him supplementary relief for himself, wife, and four children until stopped by the Doncaster Board of Guardians; and that subsequent appeals to the Doncaster Guardians have been rejected; and, seeing that his income is only 24s. per week out-of-work pay, will he take steps. to have the case inquired into at once?

I am informed that the facts of this case are substantially as stated in the question. I have no power to intervene for the purpose of ordering relief in a particular case, but I am bringing to the notice of the Islington Guardians the fact that their duty of relieving destituton, if it be present in the case, is not affected by the refusal of the Doncaster Board of Guardians to grant non-resident relief.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Doncaster Board of Guardians are placed in a very favourable position compared with most other boards, in that they have been called upon to pay very little unemployment pay, owing to the fact that there has been little unemployment in Doncaster? If the Islington board do not assent to this,. will the right hon. Gentleman persuade the, Doncaster board to deal with the case decently?

I cannot persuade the board of guardians to do otherwise than they are allowed to do in their discretion, but that is not really the point. The point is what the Islington Board of. Guardians are going to do.

asked the Minister of Health why the General Nursing Council for England and Wales has only printed and published in the middle of March, 1923, its first register, in view of the fact that No. 7 of the rules sanctioned by Parliament explicitly states that this shall be issued as soon as possible after the 1st July, 1922, and as soon as possible after the 1st January of the year 1923 and of each subsequent year, and, as this rule gives no sanction for the publication of two registers in the year 1923, on what date will the second register appear; whether, in view of the fact that the first published register has only been issued this month, he will state what authority the General Nursing Council for England and Wales has in sending out notices to registered nurses demanding a retention fee, when, by No. 5 of the rules sanctioned by Parliament, it is only required from a nurse who desires her name to be retained on the register for any year subsequent to the first year in which it is included in the published register; and whether, as this notice was sent from the General Nursing Council offices as far back as August, 1922, and as many nurses have paid whose names are not on first register and who therefore, according to the present rules, are only required to pay this fee on or before the 30th September, 1924, he will, to avoid confusion, direct that all retention fees illegally obtained before the middle of March, 1923, be returned to the registered nurses, especially in view of the fact that the General Nursing Council for Scotland, in the parallel case, has given notice that it does not require a retention fee for 1922 and has, it is understood, returned to its nurses those already paid?

I am informed that the first register has been printed and published as soon after 1st July, 1922, as was possible. It is the register for 1922. The second register, which will be that dating from 1st January, 1923, is now in the printer's hands. I am informed that no nurses have been requested to pay the retention fee whose names are not on the first register. I have no power to give any direction as to the return of any fees.

asked the Minister of Health, whether, in view of the deleterious effect on public health of smoke fogs, he will make regulations that all houses in future erected with the aid of public money shall be fitted with smoke-consuming appliances or with grates adapted to the burning of smokeless fuel pending comprehensive legislation on the whole question of smoke control?

I sympathise with the desire to reduce the emission of smoke, but I should consider it very un desirable to impose such restrictions as are suggested at the present time of serious shortage of houses.

asked the Minister of Health whether a Bill for the amendment and consolidation of the Public Health Acts is in preparation; and is it the intention of the Government to introduce the same during the present Session?

Legislation for the purpose of amending the Public Health Acts on a number of points which experience has shown to be necessary is now under consideration in my Department, and is in my opinion an essential preliminary to any consolidating Measure. Although I cannot undertake to deal with the matter in the present Session, my hon. and gallant Friend may rest assured that the urgent importance of consolidating these numerous and complicated Statutes is fully present in my mind.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the provisions of Section 2 of the Ministry of Health Act, 1919, which imposes upon him the duty of taking all such steps as may be desirable to secure the preparation, effective carrying out, and coordination of measures conducive to the health of the people, he will consider the desirability of recommending the payment of adequate salaries to sanitary inspectors and health officers as one method of giving effect to the Section in question?

asked the Minister of Health whether, seeing that the terms for all appointments as sanitary inspectors must now be submitted to him by local authorities before advertising such positions, when such approval is sought, he has any regard for the salary which is offered as being an adequate one, having in view the responsible duties of the officer to be appointed?

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the fact that many candidates applying for appointments in the public health services at totally inadequate salaries do so on account of their individual circumstances, and are glad to find employment at any salary, he will consider the advisability of encouraging local authorities to give adequate remuneration for this service?

It is my practice, when my approval is sought for the appointment of a sanitary inspector, to consider whether the salary proposed is adequate to secure efficient service. As I stated in reply to a question on this subject on the 14th instant, I cannot, in present circumstances, require local authorities to pay salaries in excess of what they themselves consider necessary and what enables them to secure efficient service.

Seeing that the Government pay half the salary, will not the Department consider the advisability of laying down a scale below which public authorities shall not fall—a minimum salary for these officers.?

I think it would be very difficult to do that. What we have to make certain of is that the salaries offered are sufficient to command the services of efficient inspectors, and, as long as we can get that, I think it would he very difficult to lay down a hard-and-fast line as to what, the salary should be.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that in certain districts quite inefficient persons have been appointed, simply because the salary is no enough to attract an efficient person?

asked the Minister of Health what steps he has taken to perform the duty imposed upon him by Section 2 of the Ministry of Health Act, 1919, to train persons for the health services?

The duty actually imposed on the Minister of Health by Section 2 of the Ministry of Health Act, 1919, is to take such steps as may be desirable to secure the training of persons for health services. The needs of the situation have been judged to be adequately met by the revisions effected since the establishment of the Ministry, in the qualifications required of medical officers of health, sanitary inspectors and health visitors.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the Battersea Borough Council have decided to purchase a plot, of land in the borough for the purpose of erecting a show room for electrical appliances at a price of £4,000; whether he is aware that the land referred to is valued by the district valuer at £3,300; and whether he can take any steps to prevent such a transaction taking place?

I have been asked to reply. The sanctioning authority for loans in connection with electricity supply is the Electricity Commissioners. In the event of the borough council applying to the Commissioners for sanction to borrow' money for the acquisition of the land in question, the Commissioners, in accordance with their general practice, will consult the district valuer.

Are we to understand from that answer that a borough council has power to go in for this expenditure and the Government have no power to prevent it?

It depends whether the borough council are going to pay for it out of the rates or out of their general powers, or are coming for a special loan.

If it is out of the rates, have the Government power to deal with the matter?

Is the hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that the Battersea Borough Council, by running its own power station, are selling electric current at 4½d. as compared with 8d. in the neighbouring borough by a private company, and in view of this, and especially when the landlord will not part with the land cheaper, will the hon. and gallant Gentleman consider this a, reasonable demand?

asked the Attorney-General whether his attention has been called to an article published in a Sunday newspaper of the 11th instant which purported to give an account of an interview in the condemned cell with a prisoner under sentence of death whose appeal was pending; and what action he proposes to take in the matter?

Yes, Sir. No interview in the condemned cell could have taken place without a grave breach of the Prison Regulations. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has caused exhaustive inquiries to be made, and he has ascertained that no such interview as that described in the "Sunday Illustrated" newspaper of the 11th instant ever took place and that the article was entirely unfounded and fictitious. In any event, I regard the publication as a breach of public decency, and it has already been publicly censured by the Lord Chief Justice in the Court of Criminal Appeal. An apology has been received from the proprietors of the journal in question, who state that they were misled and that they did not know when the article appeared that an appeal was pending, and, at my instance, this apology has been repeated in the columns of last Sunday's issue of the journal. I have accordingly decided, in all the circumstances, not to take further proceedings in the present case, but I am glad to have had the opportunity of stating that I regard such a publication as most objectionable.

Will the right hon. Gentleman state the name of the paper?

I did say. It was the "Sunday Illustrated."

Will the proprietors and editors of these papers, who are making a trade out of dealing in filth in every way and sordidness, be invited to the Bar of this House to be admonished by the Speaker?

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the question of remuneration of municipal officers generally in the Metropolitan area is being considered by the Metropolitan Provincial Whitley Council; and, if so, whether he is prepared to accept the findings arrived at by the employers and employés constituting that body?

The answer to the first question is in the affirmative. As regards the second question, I am now in communication with the Metropolitan Provincial Whitley Council as to their proposed scales.

asked the, Minister of Health whether' his attention has been called to the Spahlinger treatment for tuberculosis; whether his Department has made or can make any report in regard to it; and whether the British Red Cross Society has allocated any and, if so, what sum for this treatment?

As regards the first two parts of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for the Withington Division on the 21st instant, of which I will send him a copy. As regards the last part, I understand that certain negotiations have been taking place between the British Red Cross Society and M. Spahlinger, but, so far as I am aware, no definite arrangements have yet been concluded.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the curtailment of the postal facilities accorded in previous years to the newspaper Press, by the withdrawal of the single complete delivery of letters on Good Friday morning, will seriously interfere with the work of provincial daily newspapers having offices in London, and whether he can see his way to cancel the order so far as the Fleet Street area is concerned?

It was found that a delivery in London on Good Friday was of little practical value, as nearly all business premises are closed, and it was accordingly decided in the interests of economy to apply the normal Sunday arrangements to that day. The express letter system and the special Sunday arrangements for the benefit of newspaper offices will be available on Goad Friday. My right hon. Friend is, however, prepared to consider personally any representations which my hon. Friend may send him.

Do we understand this is a matter for business men only? Have private persons no interest in the matter?