asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he contemplates the resumption of negotiations between His Majesty's Government and the Government of New Zealand on the disparity of reciprocal imports as indicated in the schedule of imports allocations of the New Zealand Government for 1949, and the departure from the principle of the New Zealand Government in the undertaking given in 1939.

It is true that United Kingdom imports from New Zealand greatly exceed in value our exports to that country, but I do not contemplate any negotiations on that account. New Zealand has a continuing problem with her balance of payments. The New Zealand Government consider that New Zealand is spending all she can afford on imports, and of the total imports an increasing share has come from the United Kingdom.

At the request of His Majesty's Government in New Zealand, His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom have had under review the undertakings and assurances given in July, 1939, by Mr. Nash on behalf of His Majesty's Government in New Zealand in circumstances very different from those operating today and have agreed that they should be allowed to lapse. They are fortified in this decision by the fact that His Majesty's Government in New Zealand announced last November a scheme to licence token imports from the United Kingdom of a wide range of goods for which pre-war exports to New Zealand were important to our manufacturers, but for which no allocation is at present provided in New Zealand's principal licensing schedule. The New Zealand Minister of Finance and Customs, Mr. Walter Nash, has since said that the licensing of such token imports is part of New Zealand's settled policy based on the special trading relationship between our two countries and designed to ensure that long established business connections are maintained.

While I thank the President of the Board of Trade for that reply, would he tell the House whether the negotiations between New Zealand and ourselves have been conducted in a spirit of goodwill and understanding on both sides, and that His Majesty's Government recognise the patriotic attitude which New Zealand always shows to the interests of this country in negotiations?

Yes, that is most sincerely recognised, and I can assure the hon. Gentleman that all the discussions and interchanges on this difficult subject have been carried through in an atmosphere of complete goodwill and understanding on both sides.

Would my right hon. Friend give the assurance that if New Zealand comes to the British money market again, as it did just before July, 1939, it will not be faced with the threat of discrimination for which the party opposite were responsible on the last occasion it came?

asked the President of the Board of Trade why he did not invite the Minister of Agriculture to be represented on the Keith Price Committee to investigate the probable timber and plywood requirements of the United Kingdom in 1949–53.

Since timber is used by most industries, it would not have been practicable to invite all interested Departments and trade associations to nominate representatives. The timber needs of all consuming industries, including agriculture, were, however, examined by the Committee.

Does the President of the Board of Trade realise that the Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for forestry—which surely is timber production—in this country and since he invited representatives of the Admiralty and the Colonial Office, and all sorts of other Departments with very little interest, does he not think it odd not to have invited the Ministry of Agriculture? It must have reduced the value of the report to leave out the Department principally concerned.

Yes, that was realised and, of course, we were fully supported with data at all points from the Ministry of Agriculture of prospective homegrown timber supplies.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many persons are employed in the Matches Control office; and as this control is acting as a brake on the legitimate interests of the independent match manufacturers, whether he will now close down this office.

The Matches Control employs a part time unpaid Controller and 67 other staff, all of whom, except for one Board of Trade officer, are paid by the industry. As I informed the House on Tuesday last, in reply to a Question by the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale (Mr. Erroll) this Control will shortly be abolished.

Will my right hon. Friend allow me to express the satisfaction of the match-makers of Finsbury in what has happened; and will he also allow me to express the hope on the part of the citizens, that is, the match consumers, that when he comes to nationalise this—

The hon. Gentleman cannot make a statement. He said, "Will he allow me to express the hope." He must ask a question.

Will he permit me—[HON. MEMBERS: "No."] Is the Minister aware that the citizens, who are the consumers of these matches, hope that when my right hon. Friend comes to nationalise the industry, he will not limit the controlling authority to the representatives of the great combine that has controlled it throughout its past.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many licences to export onions have been granted since 1st January.

Three applications have been received and the relative licences have been issued.

Could the President of the Board of Trade say which countries are now buying our onions, and whether they are onions grown in this country or imported from the Netherlands?

I think, though I should wish to check it, that they were grown in this country, but one application was for the export of fresh onions to Eire, and the two applications for dried onions were to Iraq and Kenya, respectively.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what policy he proposes to adopt with regard to trade agreements with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Bulgaria, Roumania and Hungary, having regard to the repeated breaches of the Peace Treaties committed by all these Powers.

On a point of Order, Mr. Speaker. There is a statement in this Question which is outside the bounds of fact completely. The statement I refer to is in the last part of the Question which reads:

"haying regard to the repeated breaches of the Peace Treaties committed by all these Powers."

That, Sir, includes the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. To my knowledge we have no peace treaty with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Who are "we"?

We have never been to war with them since Churchill.

I am raising a point of Order with you, Mr. Speaker. Surely hon. Members opposite should not be so uncouth as to interrupt my discussion with you, Sir? I am suggesting that this Question is completely out of Order because it is not based on fact and, with the greatest of respect, it is not even in Order on the Order Paper. There is no peace treaty with the Soviet Government, and therefore, there can be no breach of a peace treaty which does not exist.

Of course, the hon. Member who puts down the Question is responsible for the facts he states therein—

But, Sir—

After all, the hon. Member for Mile End (Mr. Piratin) may not have heard the statement made by the Minister of State the other day, which I think rather bears out the facts in this Question.

Is it not in Order for an hon. Member of this House to put down Questions based on facts presented to him by the Foreign Secretary and by the Minister of State. Can I point out to the hon. Gentleman—

No.

We must not debate the matter. We had better get on with having the Question answered.

Further to that point of Order, Mr. Speaker. No matter whether a statement was made by the Minister of State or not, how is it possible for a breach of treaty to be made by a country with which we have no peace treaty?

I am not concerned with that. I am concerned with the question of whether the Question is in Order or not, and I am perfectly satisfied that, having passed the Table it is in Order.

Is it not a fact that the U.S.S.R. did sign all these treaties?

We cannot go on arguing the matter. We must have the answer to the Question.

The answer to the Question is that His Majesty's Government are guided in their trade relations with these countries by considerations, of economic advantage and cannot make it a rule that trade agreements with these countries shall be subject to the settlement of political questions.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there is a danger that, whereas the statements made by the Foreign Secretary of disapproval are played down, his entering into trade negolions is given wide publicity as signifying approval of the régime?

No, Sir. I am quite certain that these countries approach this matter in exactly the same way as we do: that is, from the point of view of economic advantage.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say what economic advantage we have gained from giving half a million pounds credit to Hungary?

If the hon. and gallant Gentleman would like to put down a Question on the whole advantages which this country has had from the food agreements with Hungary, we shall be very glad to give him a full answer.

How can the right hon. Gentleman or the Government divorce economic advantage from the necessity of adhering to engagements, solemnly entered into, even if they are in the political sphere?

I should have thought that the last people ever to talk on the subject of financial and trade agreements would be representatives of the party who were negotiating with Hitler within two or three weeks of the outbreak of war.

While, as was said yesterday, there is no desire in any part of the House to seal the Eastern and Western frontiers irrevocably, can the right hon. Gentleman set a great many fears at rest by indicating a list of goods which it would be possible to send in exchange for what we receive from these countries and which are not in the nature of war export?

The noble Lord is right to stress this aspect of the matter. We keep a very close watch on the kind of goods that should be sent to these countries and I hope before very long to indicate to the House a complete list of those goods which we consider should not be sent.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the increased profits of footwear manufacturers, he will order further reductions in the retail selling price.

No, Sir. It is less than four months since the maximum margins for footwear manufacturers were reduced, at the end of November, 1948, and it is too early to consider any further changes. Most of the profits shown by footwear manufacturers for the past year would, of course, have been earned before the margins were reduced.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the order he made on 28th February last effected reductions of only very small amounts, varying from 1ld. in certain ranges to nothing in other ranges of footwear, and in those circumstances will he not do a little better than that to ease a burden which is very heavy upon the parents of young children?

The average reductions were of the order of 8d. in the £and I should have thought that the improved supplies of shoes in the shops should now help to bring down prices as a result.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what proposals he put to the Blackpool Corporation two years ago for the use of Squires Gate factory which were refused by them.

No specific proposals were put by my Department to the Corporation two years ago. When I answered the supplementary question by the hon. Member for South Blackpool (Mr. Roland Robinson) on 10th March, I had in mind a resolution passed by the Blackpool Corporation somewhat earlier. As, however, I understand the hon. Member has given notice that he intends to raise this matter on the Adjournment next week, I should hope that the question could be dealt with more fully and satisfactorily in the statement I propose to make then.

Will the right hon. Gentleman withdraw at once the attack he made on the Blackpool Corporation two weeks ago, which was completely unjustified, as he has just disclosed to the House?

No, Sir. In the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for South Blackpool I never said anything about proposals having been made by my Department. It is certainly true, as I have just said, that no proposals were made by my Department to the Corporation, but I shall have a fairly full—and, I hope, from the hon. Member's point of view, not unsatisfactory—statement to make on this matter next week, and I ask him to wait until then.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many licences for the importation of foreign glassware have been issued by his Department since 1st January, 1949.

In the period 1st January to 19th March, the number of licences granted for imports of glassware of all kinds from all sources was 544, to a value of £273,510.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, to assist the export drive, he will arrange for letters for overseas to be franked with a suitable message, drawing attention to the quality of British goods.

I am prepared to consider any suggestion which will make for increased exports of United Kingdom goods to specially important countries, but I am inclined to feel that a franked message of the kind envisaged would provoke sales resistance and have little beneficial effect.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power why the people living at the squatters' camp, Ely Racecourse, Cardiff, are refused permission to register for coal.

I am informed that all the 31 families at present living on the Ely Racecourse are registered for coal supplies, and the Local Fuel Overseer is unaware of registration being refused to any person living there. If my hon. Friend will let me have details of any complaint he has received I will have further inquiries made.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the entire camp, assembled a week ago, told me that by being refused registration except with one supplier they are deprived of free choice of coal merchant, and does his reply mean that they are free, as is any other citizen, to change their coal merchant if they so desire?

Certainly.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he is aware that deliveries of domestic coal rations to consumers in the Macclesfield district have been consistently late during the past few weeks; and what steps he is taking to improve the delivery.

I am aware that there has recently been some delay in delivery of supplies to consumers in the Macclesfield district, mainly on the part of one merchant. I have asked my regional coal officer to review the delivery arrangements with a view to securing an improvement.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say when he expects sufficient fuel to be available to meet the rations?

We will take steps to improve the position at once, but, as the hon. Member is probably aware, there is no strict rationing of coal. There is simply a maximum allowance.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power how many thousand tons of coal, intended for London and the South Eastern area, have been diverted to the North in the last three months.

Thirty-six thousand five hundred tons of coal originally allocated to London and 3,000 tons allocated to the South Eastern Region have been diverted during the last three months to assist Scotland.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that coal merchants in the South Eastern area are seriously perturbed because they feel they may be caught short of supplies and that their supplies are now reaching a dangerously low level?

No, Sir. I do not think they have any reason for anxiety. The stocks in the hon. Member's constituency, at any rate, are quite adequate at the moment.

Is it not the case that Scotland has exported far more coal than was received, supposedly, for its relief?

I think we had better have a separate Question on that matter.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what is the outcome of the local inquiry which he held on 21st March into objections to the continuation of opencast coal mining operations at the Winstanley Hall Opencast Coal No. 3A and adjacent sites.

The meeting on 21st March was held by the Billinge Urban District Council. Representatives of local residents and the Winstanley Estate were heard. The interests of their constituents were represented by my hon. Friends the Members for Ince (Mr. T. Brown) and Wigan (Mr. R. Williams) respectively. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary attended the meeting and there were also present a number of officials from the Ministries concerned.

My hon. Friend took note of the complaints and indicated that, while the Ministry would take all possible steps to ameliorate any nuisance caused by the opencast coal workings, it was essential in the national interest that the work should continue.

Can the Minister give no hope of any relief for the residents of this area?

As I have said, we are doing what we can to ameliorate the conditions, and certain instructions have been given, of which the hon. Member will be informed by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary.

Is the Minister aware that if the past owners of the coalmines of this country had done their duty before nationalisation came into operation, opencast mining would not have been required?

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if his attention has been drawn to the action of the Midlands Electricity Board in entering the retail electrical trade, including wireless and television sets, and of other area boards in retail selling of lamps; and if, in view of the fact that the public is already well served in this respect, he will make a statement as to the instruction he will issue to the British Electricity Authority to desist from ancillary activities of this character and concentrate on its main functions of providing enough cheap electricity for all.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he is aware that the decision of the electricity boards to undertake the retail sale of wireless and television sets will have a prejudicial effect on the livelihood of retail traders; and whether he will make a statement as to the instructions he will issue to them to desist from this undertaking.

I am aware of the action taken by the Midlands Electricity Board and other area boards in retailing and servicing electrical fittings. The area boards are acting within the powers conferred upon them by Parliament in the Electricity Act, 1947, and I do not propose to intervene.

Is not this intervention into a well covered field an example of the very duplication of retail trade facilities which the Government deplore in other connections?

I should have thought it should be more properly called free competition.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware of the danger which will arise when these nationalised boards undertake retail services where they can cover up losses if they find competition against them is too strong by extra charges to the consumers of electricity?

That would be disclosed in their accounts.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that electric lamps, television receivers, wireless sets and electrical apparatus have been retailed by electricity undertakings for a great many years?

My hon. Friend is perfectly right.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he is satisfied that the national interests have been furthered by the application of the Clow differential; what evidence there is that domestic consumption of electricity at peak load periods declined as a result of the winter quarter surcharge; and whether he will make a statement about future policy in this matter.

Yes, Sir. I consider that the introduction of the differential tariff was one of the factors which restrained peak demand this winter, reduced the amount of load shedding and so enabled production to continue without interruption. I have no statement to make at present about the policy to be adopted next winter.

asked the Minister of Health how many of the total number of houses completed in the West Riding during the past six months have been allocated to miners.

Full general information is given in the Housing Return and I regret I cannot add to the statistics given therein.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that 50 B.I.S.F. houses and 12 type UT2 houses built by the Wisbech Corporation between January and December, 1948, contained no cooking appliances but only either gas or electric points or both; that 12 more type UT houses, eight Airey houses and 38 type D1 or D2 now under construction also have no such appliances but points only; and why he approved these plans in view of his policy of not approving local authority plans unless provision is made for cooking.

The tenants of the B.I.S.F. and UT2 houses built in 1948 made their own arrangements with the electricity and gas authorities. I have no objection to this; it is a matter for local decision. Cooking ranges are provided in Airey houses and the Council are taking steps to ensure that cookers are available to the tenants of the other houses under construction and are at present considering the terms on which they shall be provided.

Does the right hon. Gentleman not recall that on 27th January, when I asked him how many local authorities had let houses since the war which contained neither solid fuel, nor electric or gas cooking appliances, he replied that he would not approve local authority plans unless provision was made for cooking? How does he align the two answers?

Provision is made for the local authority itself to do that or for the tenants to make arrangements with those providing the houses. Arrangements are made either privately or officially.

asked the Minister of Health why the large requisitioned flat at 29 Mount Nod Road, Streatham, was allowed to remain unoccupied for over four months while his Department and Wandsworth Borough Council were negotiating decoration repairs amounting to £64.

The time was taken up in preparing a specification and securing competitive tenders.

Having regard to the fact that there are 9,000 families awaiting homes in this borough, many of whom are living in appalling condi- tions, what justification can there be for this delay in making this large flat available to these people.

I think that there was unusual delay in this matter, but it was desirable to see that proper tenders were received for the protection of public funds.

In view of the importance of this question, and because I believe that this is typical of the so-called housing drive, I beg to give notice that I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment.

asked the Minister of Health how many permanent houses it is planned to complete in the year 1949 within the gross investment figure of £420 million prescribed by the Economic Survey for 1949.

asked the Minister of Health why, in view of the acute shortage of housing accommodation less money is earmarked in the Economic Survey for 1949 for new constructions and maintenance of permanent houses in England and Wales than in 1948.

The figures in the Survey are broad indications of the estimated amount of expenditure on housing work during the year. I prefer not to make an estimate of the number of new houses which will be completed during the year, the course of the housing programmes being already fully indicated by the facts and figures in the published housing returns.

As the Economic Survey shows that the contemplated expenditure on housing in the coming year is £55 million less than it was in the past year, will the Minister explain what reason there is for this other than that it means that fewer houses will be built?

There are a large number of terminal expenditures falling to be paid in the last year owing to the temporary housing programme. Therefore, the difference in amounts does not of itself indicate a difference in the volume of work.

asked the Minister of Health how many homes he estimates are yet needed to provide every family with separate living accommodation, bearing in mind that separate accommodation implies no sharing of kitchen, bathroom or sanitary facilities.

It is not yet possible to make such an estimate.

Will the Minister give an indication when he will furnish the House with this information—no doubt arising from the reports he gets from the local authorities—and will he say how it was possible for him to say recently in this House that he is confident that within a very short time every family will have separate accommodation, if he is not in a position to give the figures required?

The answer is that my estimate of last week was based upon the fact that the number of separate houses in Great Britain is higher than it was before the war in relation to the population. If that be the case, in the country as a whole, but not in every single part of the country at the same time, we ought to be within accessible distance of the goal.

asked the Minister of Health whether it is for the repair and conversion of houses of archaeological or of architectural interest that he is going to provide special architectural advice.

It is my intention that expert advice should be obtained before works are carried out with assistance under the Bill in respect of houses in either category.

I presume that it was by mistake that the word "archaeological" was used by the Parliamentary Secretary in the Second Reading Debate? I cannot think that there are any houses of archaeological interest that come under the Housing Bill.

As the hon. Member has said, it was a slip. The word was intended to be "architectural" and not "archaeological."

asked the Minister of Health where diabetic clinics are located in Wales; and at what hospitals it is hoped to provide treatment in the future.

Diabetic clinics are at present held at the Royal Infirmary. Cardiff, the General and Eye Hospital, Swansea, the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, Mon., and the Caernarvon and Anglesey Infirmary, Bangor. It is ultimately hoped to provide a diabetic centre at the main hospital of each hospital management committee group other than those concerned wholly with mental health.

asked the Minister of Health if he will direct that the Press be admitted to meetings of hospital management committees.

I think this would be undesirable.

Can we have an assurance that the right hon. Gentleman will not call the Press prostituted if they find out what information they can?

The hon. Member is as irrelevant and rude as usual.

asked the Minister of Health how many babies were born in Newport in 1948; in how many cases was analgesia required and provided; what complaints were received concerning this service by mothers or otherwise; and in how many cases was this service refused or not provided when required for any reason.

Provisional figures of births registered in Newport in 1948 are 2,330 live births and 59 still births. Analgesia was given in 1,229 confinements in public hospitals or attended by municipal midwives, and it was probably also given in some confinements in private nursing homes or by midwives in private practice. Some other cases would have anaesthesia. No cases are known in which analgesia was withheld except on medical grounds. No complaints were received by the Council concerning the service.

Would the right hon. Gentleman agree that these figures are certainly much better than those for the surrounding area of Monmouthshire, including Ebbw Vale and my own constituency, where three women out of four are unable to obtain this relief?

If the hon. Member is correct in saying that these figures are better than those for some of the surrounding areas, it is the case that the figures for all the areas around are better than they were when the party opposite had charge.

asked the Minister of Health how many nurses there are in Newport available for maternity cases how many of them have been trained to use analgesia equipment; and whether there were any cases occurring in 1948 where trained nurses were not available for this. service.

Forty-seven midwives are available, 22 of whom have been trained to use analgesia apparatus. There were no cases in 1948 where trained midwives were not available for this service. All 13 midwives employed in the municipal domiciliary midwifery service are trained to give analgesia.

Can my right hon. Friend say how many of these nurses are provided with cars and the necessary allowance of petrol by the corporation?

If my hon. Friend will put that question on the Order Paper I will try to give him the information.

asked the Minister of Health what arrangements have been made for providing and conveying analgesia equipment by the Newport Borough Council; and whether it is provided whenever necessary without difficulty.

The council have provided four sets of gas and air apparatus, and transport is supplied through the ambulance service to convey the midwife and the apparatus to the patient's home. I am informed that no difficulty has been experienced in this matter.

Do not the answers to these Questions indicate that if the hon. and gallant Member for Pudsey and Otley (Colonel Stoddart-Scott) wishes to see the most efficient service in analgesia for mothers who require this service in childbirth, he will find it in Newport?

Does the Minister think that to convey this apparatus in an ambulance is the most economical way of doing it? Would it not provide a much more efficient service if the midwives had their own motor cars and were given an allowance? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that I have a letter here, which has arrived today, from the chief midwife at Newport saying that those midwives who have a car only receive a reduced allowance, and that anyone getting a car in future or changing a car will not receive an allowance?

The inference contained in the question of the hon. and gallant Member for Pudsey and Otley a week ago was that transport was not available at Newport. The facts now show that he is as incorrect as usual. [HON. MEMBERS: "Rude."] In answer to the other part of his supplementary question, telephones are installed in the municipal midwives' houses, and the midwife has only to telephone the ambulance depot for a vehicle complete with equipment to be sent immemiately to her house to collect her and take her to the case. A sitting case car is used for this purpose if one is available. Otherwise an ambulance is sent. These transport facilities are provided day and night. The transport arrangements described apply only to the municipal midwifery service; they do not apply to midwives in private practice.

How does the midwife get home; and does the Minister's answer mean that he has rejected the advice of his own working party on the midwifery service, which recommended every midwife both in town and country should be provided with a motorcar and the means to run it?

It is perfectly true that it is desirable that these transport facilities should be available everywhere and they are being built up, and very much more rapidly in the last six months than in the six years before.

asked the Minister of Health how many local authorities are providing analgesia treatment in childbirth; and to what extent he is impressing upon those who are not doing so their obligation to implement the proposals relating to analgesia approved by him under Part III of the National Health Service Act.

Analgesia is being used in the domiciliary midwifery service of 134 of the 145 county and county borough councils. Individual action is being taken with the councils of the counties and county boroughs in which it is not yet being provided.

In view of the report published in the "British Medical Journal" a fortnight ago of the British medical commission which, after exhaustive inquiry, found that the mothers much prefer anaesthetics to analgesics and obstetricians to midwives, can my right hon. Friend explain this agitation for something so much inferior?

I should not like to make any observations about the medical aspect of my hon. Friend's supplementary question, because that is entirely a matter for technical advice. With regard to the explanation for the propaganda about analgesia, I do not wish to repeat the adjectives I used a few weeks ago.

asked the Minister of Health if he will give the proportion of women receiving analgesia in childbirth in their own homes to the total births for the years 1947 and 1948 in England and Wales.

I regret that this information is not available but I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT information about the administration of gas and air analgesia by domiciliary midwives since 1938 which is the earliest date from which statistics are available.

Is it impossible to give the recent figures—the figures for 1947–48?

When the hon. Lady sees the figures, I think she will find that she has all the information that she needs.

Is not my right hon. Friend able to give us the number of women who did not have analgesia, because that is what we are really interested in, and it is a simple arithmetical proposition?

It is not a simple arithmetical proposition. Some confinements take place privately and others take place in institutions where it is normal to give analgesia if it is medically required. These statistics are not as simple as might appear. I think my hon. Friend might look at the answer in the OFFICIAL REPORT. I think that she will find that progress is very satisfactory indeed and that it far exceeds what has been said in some quarters.

Will the right hon. Gentleman consult with some body like the Central Midwives Board who know about these matters, and will he not then find that only one woman in seven gets analgesia when attended by a midwife in her own home?

The answer is that the number of those who receive it has been doubled in the first six months of the National Health Service.

asked the Minister of Health if in view of the fact that spa treatment can only be received under the Health Service if the patient is an in-patient at a spa hospital and, in view of the waiting lists to these hospitals, he will consider providing outpatient treatment, thus relieving rheumatic sufferers inexpensively and without delay.

Spa treatment may be arranged for out-patients as well as inpatients of appropriate spa hospitals.

asked the Minister of Health to what extent regional hospital boards have been asked to cut their expenditure upon their schemes for the treatment of rheumatism; and if he will make a statement upon the subject.

Regional hospital boards have been asked to make an overall reduction in their estimates for next year, but it is for the boards to decide- how best this can be effected with least detriment to the treatment of patients.

asked the Minister of Health what is the maximum number of patients he allows a doctor to take on his panel.

Four thousand.

Could the Minister say about how long that permits the doctor to give to each patient when he is considering his complaint?

Action is already being taken to reduce the number, where it is above 4,000, to 4,000, but it must also be borne in mind that these are not patients. These are persons on doctors' lists and I am glad to say that they do not all require attention at the same time.

I asked about the patients. How long does each patient get?

It is obviously impossible to tell how long each patient gets. That would depend upon the needs of the patient.

asked the Minister of Health if he will instruct hospital management committees to improve the facilities available in hospital waiting rooms.

I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of a circular on this subject sent to hospital bodies on 14th January last.

asked the Minister of Labour whether the Youth Employment Scheme, under the Employment and Training Act, for the district of Cefn Coed, is to be administered by the Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council or by the County Council of Brecon in which it is situated.

In accordance with Section 10 of the Employment and Training Act, 1948, the County of Brecon, who have not previously exercised choice of employment powers, have submitted a scheme to provide a youth employment service for the whole of the county. Subject to this scheme being otherwise acceptable, the district of Cefn Coed, which has hitherto been administered by the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, will become the responsibility of the county authority.