asked the Minister of Health if he will state the number of houses erected by the various councils in the Metropolitan area since May, 1930, to the last convenient date?

During the period June to September, 1930, 1,204 houses were completed by the London County Council, 93 by the Metropolitan Borough Council of Poplar, and eight by the Metropolitan Borough Council of Lambeth.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the average superficial area of A-type non-parlour houses included in contracts let by or in direct labour schemes of local authorities in England and Wales during the years 1928, 1929, and 1930 respectively?

The average superficial areas were, in 1928, 762 square feet; in 1929, 766 square feet; and during the nine months from January to September, 1930, inclusive, 763 square feet.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the average cost of non-parlour and parlour houses in contracts let by and in approved direct labour schemes of local authorities in England and Wales since 31st December, 1929?

The average cost. (excluding the cost of land, roads and sewers) during the period from 1st January to 30th September, 1930, was, for non-parlour houses £337, and for parlour houses £405.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the number of slum-clearance schemes since 31st March, 1930, to the last convenient date confirmed, completed, and in course of execution at the end of such period, respectively?

At 30th June, 1930 (the latest date to which complete figures are at present available), 71 slum clearance schemes remained to be completed in England and Wales. Two such schemes were completed between 31st March, 1930, and 30th June, 1930, and none were confirmed during that period.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the number of houses erected in each month during 1930 in agricultural parishes in England and Wales under the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1924?

The following statement gives the desired particulars:

Month.			Number of houses completed in agricultural parishes in England and Wales under the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1924, during the month.
1930.
January	…	…	195
February	…	…	118
March	…	…	199
April	…	…	128
May	…	…	199
June	…	…	171
July	…	…	198
August	…	…	287
September	…	…	525

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the average price of non-parlour and parlour houses, respectively, included in contracts let by or in direct labour schemes of local authorities in England and Wales during each month since May, 1930?

The following statement gives the desired particulars (excluding the cost of lands, roads and sewers) for each month from June to September, 1930, inclusive:

Month.	Non-Parlour Houses.	Parlour Houses.
	£	£.
June, 1930	339	403
July, 1930	333	392
August, 1930	341	401
September, 1930	347	410

asked the Minister of Health whether he can give the latest returns showing the progress under the Housing (Rural Workers) Act, 1926?

Up to the end of June last, the latest date to which complete information is at present available, assistance had been promised under the Housing (Rural Workers) Act, 1926, in respect of 3,308 dwellings in England and

			Number of State-assisted Houses completed during the Quarter under the
Quarter ended—			Housing, Town Planning, etc. Act, 1919.	Housing, etc Act, 1923.	Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1924.
30th September, 1929	…	…	18	39,227	17,730
31st December, 1929	…	…	14	—	14,507
31st March, 1930	…	…	—	—	10,571
30th June, 1930	…	…	—	—	11,351
30th September, 1930	…	…	—	—	14,881

Returns as to houses erected without State assistance are obtained half-yearly only, to the end of March and September respectively. The number of such houses of a rateable value not exceeding £78 (or £105 in the Metropolitan Police District) erected during the six months ended in September, 1929, was 38,298 and during the six months ended in March last 53,393. Complete figures for the six months ended in September last are not yet available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the

Wales, work had been finished on 2,206 dwellings and was in progress at that date on a further 818 dwellings.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the number of State-assisted houses built in England and Wales under the various Housing Acts between let January, 1921, and the last convenient date?

The number of State-assisted houses completed between 1st January, 1921, and 30th September, 1930, was 949,451.

asked the Minister of Health if he will give the number of houses finished under the various Housing Acts each quarter since June 1929; and the number of houses during the Game period erected without State assistance?

The following statement gives the desired particulars so far as State assisted houses in England and Wales are concerned:quantity and value of steel ingots and castings imported into the United Kingdom ports during the month of September; and during the same period what was the quantity of pig iron imported and how much of this came from India?

The total imports of steel ingots and castings into Great Britain and Northern Ireland registered during the month of September, 1930, amounted to 4,793 tons of a declared value of £49,477. The total imports of pig iron (including ferro-alloys) registered during this period amounted to 30,484 tons, of which 15,531 tons were consigned from British India.

asked the Minister of Labour the total membership of trade unions in Great Britain; and the number of members contributing to the political funds of such trade unions at the end of 1925, 1926, 1927 and 1928, respectively?

asked the Minister of Labour for the years 1923 to 1929, inclu-

—		1923.	1924.	1925.	1926.	1927.	1928.	1929.
1.	Membership of all Trade Unions.*	000's	000's	000's	000's	000's	000's	000's
	Whose head offices were situated in Great Britain at end of year.	5,401	5,517	5,478	5,193	4,893	4,781	4,821
2.	Registered Trade Unions.†
	(a) Membership at end of year.	4,414	4,501	4,492	4,192	3,947	3,809	3,827
	(b) No. of Members contributing to Political Fund at end of year.	‡	‡	‡	2,440	2,224	1,634	1,668
			£000's	£000's	£000's	£000's	£000's	£000's
	(c) Contributions of Members to Political Fund.	‡	146	155	137	137	100	107
	(d) Total Political Fund In-come.	‡	153	163	145	146	113	133
3.	Unregistered Trade Unions.	000's	000's	000's	000's	000's	000's	000's
	(a) Membership at end of year.	1,033	1,058	1,031	1,045	990	1,017	1,042
	(b) No. of Members contributing to Political Fund at end of year.						597	607
							£000's	£000's
	(c) Contributions of Members to Political Fund.	Not available					70	51
	(d) Total Political Fund In-come.						73	55
*Excluding Employers' Associations Registered as Trade Unions.
† Including Employers' Associations Registered as Trade Unions. The membership of such organisations did not reach 50,000 in any of the years for which figures are stated.
‡ Not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs what representations have been made by the colonies concerned in connection with the proposals for the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Rhodesia?

The text of the message which I received from the Government of Southern Rhodesia was published in the "Times" of 3rd October. My Noble Friend, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, informs me that nothing has been received from the Protectorate of Northern Rhodesia beyond the inquiry from elected members of the Legislative Council which has also been published in the Press.

pursuant to her reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 6th November, 1930; col. 1020, Vol. 244], supplied the following table, in which the figures are given to the nearest thousand.