asked the Minister of National Insurance if she will give an estimate of the number of self-employed persons who are not paying their contributions to the National Insurance Fund and National Health Fund.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Dorset, South (Viscount Hinchingbrooke) on Tuesday, 21st March last.

asked the Minister of National Insurance when representations were last made by the National Federation of Old Age Pensioners' Associations regarding the rates of national assistance; to what effect were these representations; and what reply was given.

Scales of assistance are, in the first instance, a matter for the National Assistance Board. Representations on the subject were last made to the Board by a deputation from the Federation on 9th February. The whole matter is now receiving the Board's close attention.

asked the Minister of Labour whether in view of difficulty experienced by men and women over 40 years of age in securing employment in any undertaking, public or private, having a superannuation scheme, he will consult with representative employers and executives to see whether it is not possible to secure modifications in the contributions to superannuation schemes so as to allow the admission to employment of older people paying proportionately larger contributions to enable them to qualify for benefit.

Inquiry shows that most superannuation schemes are sufficiently flexible to permit the employment of older people. The real problem is the reluctance of employers to engage them so long as younger people can be obtained. I have repeatedly brought to the notice of industry the need to make the best use of the working population whether young or old and the representative bodies in industry are well aware of the problem. What is needed is a change in the outlook of individual employers and this takes time.

asked the Minister of Labour how many displaced persons have been found employment in Huddersfield since 1945; and how many of these are Polish.

Records are not maintained in such a way as to enable me to state the number of Poles and other displaced persons who have been found employment in Huddersfield since 1945.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of men insured in the various building occupations in the City of Sheffield at the latest available date; and the number in those occupations now unemployed.

Statistics showing the total numbers of insured persons are not available for any date later than July, 1948. The following table shows the approximate numbers of insured males in the building industry classification in the area of the Sheffield, Attercliffe and Woodhouse Employment Exchanges at July, 1948, and the numbers registered as unemployed at those exchanges at 13th March, 1950:

Occupation	Approximate number of insured male employees at July, 1948	Number registered as unemployed at 13th March, 1950
Carpenters and joiners	1,620	6
Bricklayers	1,420	5
Masons	40	—
Salters and tilers	120	1
Plasterers	430	—
Painters and decorators	1,150	42
Plumbers and glaziers	600	2
Concreters, scaffolders, etc.	80	—
Labourers	3,040	80
All other occupations	1,830	15
	10,620*	151
* This total includes 290 men aged 65 and over. The occupations of these men are not known and they are therefore excluded from the analysis in the Table.

asked the Minister of Labour how many Remploy factories are now in production in Scotland; where they are situated; and what is the number of workers employed in each.

There are eight Remploy factories in production in Scotland employing a total of 288 severely disabled workers, with a further 30 workers undertaking work in their homes. The location of the factories and the numbers employed in each are as follow: Buckhaven 13; Cowdenbeath 34; Dalmuir 39; Dundee 41; Edinburgh 63 (and 30 homeworkers); Glasgow (Coplawhill) 31; Motherwell 34; Stirling 33.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what sum he has authorised for the 1950 season for the purchase of hatching eggs from the United States of America for the purpose of the Colonial Development Corporation's poultry project in the Gambia.

No dollar expenditure has been authorised for this purpose in 1950.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will reconsider, having regard to the employment position on Merseyside, the decision to close down the Departmental Claims Branch of the Inland Revenue in Liverpool.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the numbers of staff employed by the Departmental Claims Branch in Liverpool on 1st March, 1945, and 1st March, 1950, respectively; and whether, in view of the hardship involved in their transfer to Cardiff and of the fact that Merseyside is a development area, he still proposes to proceed with the transfer.

The Liverpool office of the Departmental Claims Branch was opened in October, 1945, with a staff of approximately 410. The number on 1st March, 1950, was about 450. I have considered afresh the proposal to move the work of this office to Cardiff and I am satisfied that, for the reasons which were explained by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary in reply to a question on 9th December, 1948, the decision to concentrate the work of this Branch of the Inland Revenue in Cardiff is the right one. The Board of Inland Revenue are taking every possible step to ensure that no unemployment or avoidable hardship is caused by the move.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, in order to compensate traders for loss through Purchase Tax paid either on goods which become unsaleable or upon which Purchase Tax is removed or reduced, he will consider granting traders a discount of 10 per cent. when paying their Purchase Tax accounts.

No. I could not contemplate such a course.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been called to the fact that a man who wants his own upholstered suite of furniture re-covered, has to pay the Purchase Tax applicable to fabrics, which is 66 per cent., whereas if he purchases a new suite the Purchase Tax would only be one-third; and whether he will take this anomaly into consideration in his forthcoming Budget.

I am aware of the position, but I fear that I cannot anticipate my Budget statement. I would point out, however, that the tax at 33⅓ per cent. on a new suite is chargeable on the wholesale value of the complete suite whereas in the case of a re-upholstered suite the tax at the 66 ⅔ per cent. rate is payable only on the wholesale value of the cloth used.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revenue to date he has obtained from the additional pools tax imposed last year; whether it has been up to expectations; and how many pool promoting firms have gone out of business during the same period.

It is not possible to say what part of the revenue from pool betting is attributable to the increase in the rate of duty last year, because it is not known what the receipts would have been in the absence of the increase. As regards the last part of the Question, about 64 firms, who accounted for only a very small part of the tax receipts, have ceased to be liable to duty since April, 1949.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he is aware that many expensive forms are required by His Majesty's Board of Customs on exports of wine from London to Northern Ireland; and if he will consider if all these forms are essential and if the number can be reduced;(2) if he is aware that His Majesty's Board of Customs insist upon a Customs declaration form being purchased from His Majesty's Stationery Office, subject to Purchase Tax, and completed on all wine sent from London to Bangor in County Down; and what is the reason for this formality in the case of the transport of goods within the United Kingdom.

Shippers to Northern Ireland of wine and the other principal revenue-producing articles are required by law to furnish particulars, on a single Customs form, and to state whether duty has been paid, in order that the Customs and Excise Revenue properly attributable to Northern Ireland may be calculated.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the estimated cost of paying post-war credits in full to all ex-Service men who are in receipt of 100 per cent. disability payments.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what will be the effect of the changes in the February review of agricultural prices upon the cost of living index.

I have nothing to add to what my right hon. Friend the Minister of Food said yesterday.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will supply Customs officials at Brighton to allow British boats bringing French and other foreign visitors to restart their pre-war day trips from France to Brighton and enable this country to obtain foreign currency by such visits.

I regret that the objections to day excursions from Brighton Pier which I gave to the hon. Member on 14th March apply equally to this proposal.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give details of the restrictions placed on the banking accounts of foreign diplomats in Britain.

Career diplomats and established members of foreign embassies, legations and consulates in the United Kingdom are regarded for exchange control purposes as residents of the country which they represent. Their accounts are subject to the same restrictions as are applied to those of other persons whose permanent place of residence is outside the sterling area.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the total number, at the latest available date, of officials authorised to carry out inspections and investigations in private houses and premises without a search warrant.

The power to enter private houses and premises is, apart from a limited category of cases, available only where they are used for business purposes; and in practice its exercise is confined exclusively to cases where the building is used for these purposes. The number of persons authorised to enter in such cases is about 15,000.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what are the conditions now prescribed for a grant of a reader's ticket at the British Museum.

Applicants are granted readers' tickets for periods of up to six months, on showing that the research and reference which they wish to do is such as cannot be carried on elsewhere. Applications must be accompanied by a written recommendation from a person of recognised position, based on personal knowledge of the applicant, and certifying that the applicant is a fit and proper person to use the Reading Room.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that a person having a prescription for spectacles made up in the United States of America is forced to pay import duty on them even though they be urgently needed for that person's use; and if, in view of the delay in obtaining spectacles under the health scheme, he will alter the law in this respect.

I am advised by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health that the period of delay in supplying spectacles under the National Health Service is now rapidly decreasing; in these circumstances, an amendment of the law relating to the import duty on spectacles would not be justified.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that the supply of newsprint is still insufficient for the needs of the provincial newspapers; and when he will be able to allow an increase.

An extra page was allowed for the election period and this increase was later extended to 9th April. It has now been decided to give discretion to the Newsprint Rationing Committee, the responsible trade body, to continue to allow an extra page from time to time when available supplies of newsprint permit. It is not possible to go beyond this at present.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will make a statement on the progress of his discussions with the film industry arising from the publication of the Plant and Gater reports.

The recommendations in the Gater Report were largely addressed to the film industry itself. The Report has been brought to the attention of the industry, and we have good reason to suppose that progress is being made in the direction of reducing costs on the lines recommended. The Plant Report raised a number of wide questions affecting the organisation of the industry. We have received comments on the Report from many organisations in the industry, and my right hon. Friend has asked the Cinematograph Films Council to consider the various views expressed and to advise him on them.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that re-equipment of the Lancashire textile industry is being retarded owing to the Government's uncertain attitude relative to the Japanese textile industry; and what steps he will take to remedy this position.

The re-equipment of the cotton textile industry is not proceeding as rapidly as was hoped, but I cannot in any way accept the implication that the Government's attitude relative to the Japanese textile industry is responsible.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how much raw cotton shipped to this country in the years 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1949 respectively, remains unsold.

It is estimated that of the unsold cotton stocks held by the Raw Cotton Commission at the end of February, less than 2 per cent. had arrived in 1947 or earlier; and that less than one-quarter of the remainder had arrived in 1948.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will now consider in the interests of efficiency and economy leaving in the hands of those firms or persons through whom raw cotton is now purchased the sampling, storage, settlement of claims and other functions now carried out by the Raw Cotton Commission.

The extent to which the Raw Cotton Commission use the services of agents to discharge their obligations under the Cotton (Centralised Buying) Act, 1947, is a matter for their discretion.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what proportion of the cotton brought from the United States in the years 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1949 was the subject of claim for quality; and how this compares with the ratio for claims for quality in the years 1937, 1938 and 1939.

I presume it is claims against shippers of raw cotton which the hon. Member has in mind. In the crop year 1948–49, the percentage of imports of United States cotton subject to quality claims was 21 per cent. and payments in respect of these claims amounted to about ½ per cent. of the value of those imports. In the two previous crop years, quality claims were made in respect of 23 per cent. and 26 per cent. of imports. No record is available of the private claims made in pre-war years.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the total number of spindles now operating in Japan; and what total maximum has been decided upon by the Far Eastern Commission.

In December, 1949 (the latest date for which a figure is available), there were 3,736,200 cotton ring spindles installed in Japan, of which 3,158,822 were actually operating. No maximum has been fixed by the Far Eastern Commission.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will fix new ceiling prices for utility towels, specification 1/647, in view of the fact that the present price is inoperative.

Yes. The maximum price of utility towels of specification number 1/647 was increased on 27th March to allow for increases in the prices of raw cotton up to 5th January, 1950, and will be increased again in April, to allow for the increases in cotton waste prices of 1st March. 1950.

asked the President of of the Board of Trade when ex gratia payments to United Kingdom subjects in respect of losses incurred as a result of Japanese occupation will be made, in view of the fact that claims submitted in July, 1949, have not yet been met nor have applicants received any information from his Department as to when payments will be made.

Payments under the scheme, which my right hon. Friend announced on the 27th June last in reply to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Mr. Benson), are being made to applicants permanently resident in the United Kingdom, as soon as their applications have been examined and approved; they are dealt with as far as possible in rotation. Applications received in my Department as long ago as July last would normally have been dealt with by now. If my hon. Friend will send me particulars of any cases he has in mind, I will look into them.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he proposes to augment the salaries of district nursing sisters to a rate comparable to that paid to nurses of similar qualifications in hospitals.

A claim for salary increases for public health nurses, including district nurses, has been rejected by the Management Side of the Nurses and Midwives Whitley Council and is awaiting arbitration by the Industrial Court.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what allocation of rural houses has been made for Aberdeenshire for the year 1950–51.

I hope to intimate allocations of houses to all local authorities, including those in Aberdeenshire, in the course of the next week.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that one municipal house in Inverness has a rental of £4 4s. 4d., including rates, whereas a Swedish municipal house in the same town has a rental of £8 6s. 2d., including rates; and if he will give financial assistance to enable the local authority to equalise rents.

I am informed that the average monthly rent, including rates, for the town council's houses is less than £3. It is open to the council to equalise their rents, but I regret that I can hold out no hope that special financial assistance will be made available for this purpose.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the present population of the Priesthill, Househillwood and Pollok areas and an estimate of what the population of these housing schemes is expected to be at the end of the years 1950, 1951 and 1952; the date on which these schemes will finally be completed; and what the population is then expected to be.

I am informed by Glasgow Corporation that the population of the Househillwood scheme which is completed is 5,500; and that the present population of the Priesthill scheme is 7,000 and of the Pollok scheme 19,000. The Corporation estimate that the population at Priesthill will be 11,500 at the end of 1950 and 13,500 at the end of 1951; the corresponding figures for Pollok are 23,000 and 25,500. The Corporation expect both schemes to be completed in June, 1952, with a total population of 14,000 at Priesthill and 26,000 at Pollok.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the total amount outstanding by way of loans to Scottish inshore fishermen for boats, etc.

The total amount of loans made to Scottish fishermen under the Inshore Fishing Industry Act, 1949, for boats, nets and gear, outstanding on 7th March, was £659,370 9s. 4d.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will institute an inquiry to establish, for public examination, the present financial relations between Scotland and the United Kingdom Treasury and the contributions to the export trade made, respectively, by Scotland and England.

I regret that I am unable to make a statement on this subject at present.

asked the Minister of Food what was the value of British food imports from Poland in 1948 and 1949, respectively; and what are the prospects of increase in such imports.

The value of food imports from Poland was £5.3 million in 1948 and £8.8 million in 1949. I am glad to say that there is a good prospect of further increases in food imports this year, particularly in bacon and eggs. A satisfactory agreement about these imports has just been concluded.

asked the Minister of Food (1) the total quantities and value of fruit pulp imported in 1949;(2) what were the quantities and value Of plum pulp and raspberry pulp imported in 1949.

There are no official figures, but according to the records of my Department imports of fruit pulp in 1949 amounted to approximately 30,700 tons at an estimated value of £2,489,000 f.o.b.There were no imports of plum pulp in 1949 but about 360 tons of greengage pulp were imported, the estimated value of which was £21,450 f.o.b.Imports of raspberry pulp amounted to approximately 3,280 tons at an estimated value of £270,000 f.o.b.

asked the Minister of Food what has been the annual and the monthly average reported loss of ration books since January, 1948.

The numbers of ration books issued to replace those reported lost, stolen or destroyed, from January, 1948, to December, 1949, which is the latest month for which figures are available, are as follows:

NUMBER OF RATION BOOKS ISSUED IN REPLACEMENT OF THOSE LOST
Calender year	Number issued	Average monthly replacement
1948	990,300	82,520
1949	718,200	59,850

asked the Minister of Food what the 6,000,000 tons of imported feedingstuffs during 1949–50 consisted of; and what was the percentage of protein content.

The 6 million tons mentioned by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture on 8th March, 1950, is an estimate of the total quantity of rationed animal feedingstuffs, imported and home produced, which we expect to release during the year ending on 30th September, 1950. It is much too early to say what will be the quantity of each kind of feedingstuffs or the percentage of what the hon. Member calls "protein content." Perhaps he will put a Question down at the end of the period in question.

asked the Minister of Town and Country Planning how many people are employed altogether in new town development; and what is the annual total of the salaries paid to them.

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to my reply today to the hon. Member for Billericay (Mr. Braine).

asked the Minister of Town and Country Planning whether he has now considered the reports of the London Planning Administration Committee; and what action he proposes to take on them.

I am consulting the local authorities concerned and, after receiving their views, shall consider what action may be necessary.

asked the Minister of Supply the cause of the recent fire at Woolwich Arsenal.

A court of inquiry is at present investigating the cause of the fire.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give further consideration to the pulling down of surface air raid shelters in the county borough of West Hartlepool, in view of the fact that they are detrimental to the sanitary condition of the houses which many of them adjoin.

While I cannot agree to any general removal of existing shelters, I am ready to approve demolition in cases where the medical officer of health certifies that removal is essential on health grounds. In several such cases I have already approved the demolition of domestic shelters in West Hartlepool, and I will consider the further cases which my hon. Friend has brought to my notice.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will give the number and names of the local authorities that have made use of the Street Playgrounds Act, 1938.

Seventeen local authorities have made Orders under the Street Playgrounds Act, 1938, which have been confirmed by me. They are as follow:

• Accrington Borough Council.
• Bebington Borough Council.
• Birkenhead County Borough Council.
• Bootle County Borough Council.
• Chelsea Metropolitan Borough Council.
• Crosby Borough Council.
• Eccles Borough Council.
• Hampstead Metropolitan Borough Council.
• Kensington Royal Borough Council.
• Liverpool City Council.
• Margate Borough Council.
• Middlesbrough County Borough Council.
• Newport (Mon.) County Borough Council.
• Shoreditch Metropolitan Borough Council.
• Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.
• Stretford Borough Council.
• Westminster City Council.

I have at present under consideration Orders made under the Act which have been submitted for my confirmation by the following local authorities:

asked the Minister of Health the number of houses, of various types, allocated annually since 1945 to the City of Sheffield and the number actually completed and the number under construction in each year; and if at any time within this period there has been a delay in the city's housing programme because an allocation was completed before the next was granted.

It is not possible to give the information in the form asked for in the first part of the Question. The numbers of houses completed and under construction are given in the published Housing Returns. The answer to the second part of the Question is "No."

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that the conditions under which families are living at Ufford, Suffolk, in temporary accommodation, have not been improved; and what emergency steps he is prepared to take to increase the building of houses in the vicinity in order that these people may be decently housed.

The standard of accommodation in these hutments is as good as can be provided in such buildings. The erection of houses in the district is primarily a matter for the rural district council. They have already built houses in the Ufford area and will, I am assured, continue to allocate to it as many houses from their total programme as they reasonably can.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that the conditions of sanitation, housing and water supplies at Henniker Road, Bramford, Suffolk, have not been improved; and what steps he is prepared to take to improve the present position.

I am making inquiries and will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for War the normal length of time for an officer who is overdue for release, and consequently serving on a gentleman's agreement only, to hear the result of his application for a Regular commission after it has been passed to his Department from a Regular Commissions Board at which he was successful.

Applications received in the War Office from the Regular Commissions Board are considered by the War Office Commissions Board. The Command is then informed whether, subject to his being medically fit and still recommended, the candidate has been accepted and the Command notifies the candidate accordingly. The total time taken is about four weeks.