asked the Minister of Agriculture what research is taking place with regard to diseases of ducks; and whether any new methods of control have been discovered

In addition to the other research work being done on poultry diseases special attention is being given to infections with the Salmonella group of micro-organisms, some of which are of special importance in ducks. Methods of diagnosis and control are under active study and I am pleased to say that progress is being made.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware of a shortage of powder for use in machines for gassing rabbits; and what steps he will take to improve the situation.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware that farmers in many districts are unable to obtain gassing powder to destroy rabbits which are doing serious damage to crops; and if steps have now been taken to reserve extra supplies for the home market.

I am aware of the shortage of gassing powder and I would refer the hon. Members to the reply given to the hon Member for Newbury (Mr. Hurd) on 25th May. Since then the manufacturers have increased production of the powder for the home market. Exports represent only a relatively small factor in the present shortage.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what further steps he is taking to provide farmers with assistance in destroying rabbits, having regard to the fact that many farmers report that at the present prices they are unable to persuade trappers to accept them.

It is the farmers' own responsibility to deal with rabbits on their lands. The long-standing arrangement under which farmers may obtain gassing powder at half price for the destruction of rabbits is still in force, and the limited pests staffs of agricultural executive committees are available to assist farmers in killing rabbits on a repayment of costs basis.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what is the position of the tomato and cucumber scheme submitted to his Department by the industry in 1948; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how soon he expects to be able to make a decision on the tomato and cucumber scheme submitted to his Department by the industry in 1948.

As the first new marketing scheme submitted since the war the tomato and cucumber scheme has raised a number of difficult points of principle which have prolonged its consideration and the usual discussions with the promoters and other interests concerned. I hope that the terms of the scheme will be finalised at a very early date and that it will not be long before it is submitted to Parliament for approval.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will give the number of cases of sheep-worrying in Warwickshire to date in 1950; and what steps he is taking to prevent this loss to the farming community.

I am informed that 59 cases of sheep-worrying by dogs in Warwickshire have been reported to the police during the present year, and that 62 sheep have been killed or injured. In reply to the second part of the Question, I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to the hon. Member for Maidstone (Mr. Bossom) on 18th May, 1950.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what area of agricultural land is at present being exploited by opencast coal workings; and which area has been worked and restored to agricultural use.

At 31st May last, 21,393 acres of agricultural land in England and Wales were held for the working of coal by opencast. 13,848 acres from which coal had been extracted were receiving initial after-treatment prior to derequisitioning, of which area a considerable proportion is under grass or is producing other crops. 14,061 acres which had been worked for coal had been derequisitioned and restored to normal agricultural use.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many cases of anthrax occurred in England in 1947, 1948, 1949 and up to date in 1950; in what counties they occurred; and what is considered to be the cause.

In England there were 108 outbreaks of anthrax in 1947, 95 in 1948 and 204 in 1949 and there have been 149 so far this year. Although outbreaks have occurred in the majority of counties they have been most numerous this year in Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. I am sending the hon. Member a statement showing numbers of outbreaks in each county in England during the four years in question. It is probable that the increased incidence of anthrax is due largely to the increased imports of fertilisers and animal feedingstuffs from abroad.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what has been the cost of his Ministry's farming operations at Martyr Worthy, Hampshire, to the end of May, 1950; and whether it is proposed to publish detailed accounts relating thereto.

Bridget's Farm, Martyr Worthy, is one of the Ministry's experimental husbandry farms, which are not designed to be run as normal commercial units and for which it is not proposed to publish accounts. Between Michaelmas, 1948, when this farm was acquired, and 31st March, 1950, approximately £30,000 was spent on buildings, live and dead stock to equip the farm for its work.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the amount deducted weekly out of the agricultural wage of a European voluntary worker living at an agricultural hostel in respect of board and lodging; whether any specific amount out of that deduction has to be spent daily on food; and on what items the total deduction is expended.

Under a recent order of the Agricultural Wages Board the amount which may be deducted from the wage of a worker aged 19 years and over for board and lodging in a hostel provided by my Department, is 35s. per week. The order does not specify how much of this amount is in respect of food. Expenditure on the hostel service includes the provision and maintenance of the buildings, heating and lighting, the cost of food and staff, laundry, cleaning materials and the like. The sum of 35s. per week which is recovered from the residents goes only part of the way to meet this expenditure.

asked the Minister of Agriculture why the Agricultural Lime Department, United Kingdom, rejected the application of members of the Limestone Federation for a flat increase in haulage rates of 10 per cent. to cover the extra costs resulting from the rise in the price of petrol, and only allowed increases decreasing from about 8 per cent. on the shortest hauls down to nil on the longest hauls

I have not been able to trace any formal application from members of the Limestone Federation or from the Federation itself for a flat increase in haulage rates of 10 per cent. for lime on which subsidy is paid. The recent revision of the Agricultural Lime Department's schedule of maximum road haulage charges was based on the 7½ per cent. increase considered appropriate for Road Haulage Executive rates. This increase is allowed in full on hauls up to 40 miles and in a decreasing ratio on hauls of between 41 and 70 miles.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware of the dissatisfaction amongst Lincolnshire farmers regarding the 3d. per lb. reduction in price he proposes to give for Lincolnshire wool; and if he will make a statement.

I am aware of the dissatisfaction to which the hon. Member refers, and I welcome this opportunity to explain why this reduction has been made. As I announced in reply to the hon. Member for Newbury (Mr. Hurd) on 4th May, the guaranteed average price for the 1950 wool clip has been fixed at 27.05 pence per lb., representing an increase on the average price for the previous year equivalent to the whole of the estimated increased costs of production. Having determined this average price it is our duty to see that each type of wool receives a share of that price proportionate to its realised market value. If one type receives more than its proportionate value, this can only be at the expense of others.A partial adjustment of individual wool prices was made last year. The wider experience of the market that we have since obtained has shown that the increase then given to Lincoln wool was too great, and the reductions in the price of Lincoln and certain other wools is no more than is necessary to put them into their proper place in relation to other wool types.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he has considered the representations which have been made to him on behalf of the Committee for the Preservation of Rural Kent concerning a part of Lullingstone Park, Farningham, Kent, which is to be used for smallholdings; and if he will make a statement.

I am not aware that any decision has so far been taken to use land at Lullingstone Park for smallholdings. I have consulted the Kent County Council, as owners of the land under requisition, about its future use and I am awaiting their views. The letter which the hon. Member has sent me from a member of the Committee for the Preservation of Rural Kent, will be considered before any decision is reached.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what negotiations he has entered into, and what discussions he has had with his colleagues, with a view to the disposal of the Brownwick Farm Experimental Horticultural Station, near Titch-field, Hampshire, now the property of his Department, to an oil company for the purpose of establishing a refinery.

I have entered into no such negotiations. The possibility of this site being used for an oil refinery has been discussed but it is not yet clear whether it would be more suitable for this purpose than other possible sites.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will extend the time in the evenings that Kew Gardens are open to the public, if possible, for this year, but in any case for the Festival of Britain year which follows.

As the hon. Member is already aware, the Royal Botanical Gardens are primarily a scientific institution. From the middle of May to the end of July the Gardens are open to the public until 8 p.m. and I am not prepared to extend this time. As regards facilities for the public in the Festival of Britain year, I am not at this stage able to make any statement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he can give a comparison of the fish landings in the first quarter of 1950 as compared with those in the first quarter of 1946; and a comparison of the time taken.

Vessels of less than 15 tons gross in England and Wales landed 2,544 tons of white fish in the first quarter of 1946, and 1,832 tons in the first quarter of 1950. I am unable to give any figures about the time taken in catching these quantities. Other vessels in England and Wales landed 100,980 tons and 123,578 tons during these respective periods. The number of days spent at sea by these vessels being 33,273 and 54,150.

asked the Minister of Agriculture on what considerations he based his decision that a resumption of the publication of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Report, which was published annually by his Department until 12 years ago, would not be justified under present conditions.

The public demand for this Report when it was last published was so small that I do not consider a resumption of publication would at present be justified.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many dogs in quarantine have contracted rabies in the last 20 years; and what is the largest number of cases that have occurred in any one year.

Seventeen. The largest number of outbreaks that have occurred in a single year is three.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what is the average length of time taken for dogs to develop rabies after entering this country; and what is the longest time after importation.

During the past 25 years, the dogs which have developed rabies in Great Britain have died from that disease on the average about 2½ months after landing in this country. The longest period between landing and death has been 7¾ months.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what settlement has been reached with the Ceylon Government regarding the double taxation system which prevented British firms from tendering for the Colombo Harbour Development Scheme costing about £6 million.

During the past few weeks discussions for a double taxation agreement with Ceylon have been taking place in London, and agreement at the official level has now been reached. We are awaiting confirmation of the agreement by the Ceylon Government.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to state the separate figures for bank advances to agriculture and fishing included in the total of £151,7 million in the April Digest of Statistics; and if he will arrange in the future for these figures to be given separately.

Separate figures for bank advances to agriculture and fishing are not available. As for the future, I doubt whether the provision of separate figures is of sufficient importance to justify the extra work which would have to be undertaken by the banks.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why the Estate Duty Office, in assessing Death Duties, count as an asset of a deceased person's estate the full amount of his claim against the Central Land Board Fund of £300 million, but will not give an assurance that the appropriate Estate Duty will be refunded if the claim is not met in full.

Claims under Part VI of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947, for loss of development value are regarded as property of which the amount or value is not known at the death. Under Section 6 (3) of the Finance Act, 1894, satisfaction of the duty is deferred until the amount is known.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will extend the exemption from increased payment for tractor licences which will come into force in July for tractors working for agricultural purposes only to cover those used also for forestry purposes.

Forestry tractors (other than those used on the roads only for the purpose of travelling between forestry sites) have always been excluded from the preferential rates of duty for agricultural tractors. The point will come up for debate on the Committee stage of the Finance Bill on an Amendment already tabled by the hon. Members for Westmorland (Mr. Vane) and Thirsk and Malton (Mr. Turton), and I do not therefore think my hon. Friend will wish me to prejudge the issue.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the value of the £ in April, 1950, compared with its value in 1945.

16s. 1d. compared with 20s. in 1945.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in the negotiations between the Customs and glove manufacturers concerning the definition of industrial gloves for Purchase Tax purposes.

It has still not been found possible to devise a satisfactory definition for the purpose of exempting industrial gloves as such. Representations that the rate of tax on all sheepskin gloves should be reduced from 100 per cent. to 33⅓ per cent. have been received and are being considered. I cannot say at this stage what the result will be.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how many motor cars registered before 1947 are now licensed; and what would be the total loss of revenue involved if they came under the £10 tax.

The latest figure for September, 1949, is about 1,789,000. As my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said on 25th April in reply to the hon. Member for Hornsey (Mr. Gammans) the loss of revenue if they were all taxed at £10 would be about £6 million in a full year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make a statement about the issue of compensation stock under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act, 1946.

A first issue of about £20 million of 3½ per cent. Treasury Stock, 1977–1980, is being made today at par in partial satisfaction of compensation due to certain undertakings. The Treasury have determined in accordance with Section 21 (3) of the Act that £100 of this stock is equal in value today to £100 of compensation due.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury why no Customs facilities were provided at Margate for passengers returning from the recent Dunkirk pilgrimage.

The limited facilities requested by the operating company were provided for the excursion of the "Royal Daffodil" on 31st May, and the necessary arrangements were made to deal with small craft crossing for the "Assembly of Little Ships" on 3rd June.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will give comparative figures showing the approximate number of married women employed as temporary and established civil servants, respectively, on 1st January, 1939. and 1st January, 1950.

I regret that no such comparative figures are available centrally.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the expenditure to which the Government are committed in distributing 2,000 free hearing aids a week, he will take steps, on a national scale, to educate the pulic in recognising the first symptoms of deafness and in obtaining adequate treatment, particularly in the case of young children.

The provision of hearing aids through the National Health Service and the establishment of special diagnostic clinics in about 150 hospitals in England and Wales, have in themselves stimulated public interest in deafness in all its stages. Other medical and educational facilities already exist and are widely used, but I am always willing to consider further suggestions.

asked the Minister of Health why the late Lily Irene Palmer, a mental defective, had been at large for three years prior to being murdered; how many mental defectives are known to be at large; and how many of these have been awaiting admission to institutions for one year or longer.

This girl had been recommended for institutional care when a suitable vacancy could be found. She was a borderline case for which admission to an institution war, not regarded as urgently necessary, and she had not been certified under the Mental Deficiency Acts. According to returns by local health authorities, the number of mental defectives awaiting admission on 1st January last was 5,316. The returns do not indicate how many had been waiting for one year or longer.

asked the Minister of Health what steps are necessary, and how many signatures are required on a medical certificate, before the inmate of a mental institution may be discharged.

There is a large variety of ways in which these patients may be discharged. With the hon. and gallant Member's consent, I will send him detailed memoranda giving the information. If he has a case in mind and will send me particulars, I will have it looked into.

asked the Minister of Health the number of hospitals in England and Wales which will not permit mothers to visit their children as patients there.

I do not wish to make general rules on this, and I am afraid that the information is not available.

asked the Minister of Health why there has been delay in providing a hearing aid for Mrs. L. Hutton of 44 Fairway, Waltham, near Grimsby, who was examined on 25th November, 1948, in Lincoln Hospital, and recommended for an aid, but who can get no advice as to when this will be available.

I am informed that the delay has been due to a misunderstanding, but arrangements have been made for Mrs. Hutton to be given an immediate appointment.

asked the Minister of Health how far osteopathic treatment is available for all those who want it, and particularly in hospitals.

Osteopathy, as such, is not provided in the National Health Service.

asked the Minister of Health how many doctors taking part in the Health Service have been trained in osteopathy; and what is this figure expressed as a percentage of the total number of doctors in the Health Service.

I regret that the information is not available.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is yet in a position to make a statement on Dr. Voeller's treatment for Parkinson's disease; and if not, when he expects to be in a position to do so, bearing in mind the length of time he has had the report.

Yes, the group of patients who went to this clinic under observation have now been re-examined a year after their treatment began. I am advised that the methods used by Dr. Voeller combine an intensive rehabilitation course with drug treatment and diet. These methods do not constitute a cure, nor do they introduce any new principles, but in the small sample of cases investigated they modified with varying degrees of success the steady deterioriation which is the normal progress of the disease, and encouraged patients to continue their own efforts to improve.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the delay and additional cost in the provision of flats for workers resulting from the length of time he has taken to consider the application of the Bognor Regis Urban District Council for permission to guarantee a building loan to the L.E.C. Housing Society, Limited; and when he will arrive at a decision.

I regret the delay in this case. This case was the first of its kind and questions of principle had to be considered. The decision was notified to the council on 6th June.

asked the Minister of Health why he has not implemented during 1950 his undertaking to grant additional building licences.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Solihull (Mr. M. Lindsay) on 25th May, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Minister of Health from what date local authorities are permitted to resume the issue of private building licences in the ratio of one to five.

From now onwards local authorities will be notified of their housing allocations for 1951 and may then, if they so wish, proceed with the issue of licences to private builders in a ratio of up to one in five.

asked the Minister of Health how long it is expected that 8, Cadogan Square, will be used as a hostel for Anglo-Egyptian repatriates; and what is the yearly cost, including rent and all other expenses.

I am unable at present to say how long the need for this hostel will continue. The estimated yearly running cost is £5,000.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that persons evicted by the War Office from Hiltingbury Camp, Chandlers Ford, become the housing responsibility of East-leigh Borough Council and thus deprive those on the waiting list of accommodation; and whether he will consult with the Secretary of State for War with a view to finding a more satisfactory procedure in this matter.

I regret that in the time available I have not been able to complete my inquiries in this case. When I have done so I will communicate with the hon. Member

asked the Minister of Health whether he is making a compulsory purchase of the Thurloe Hotel, Queens Gate; and for what purpose it will be used.

A draft compulsory purchase order has been prepared to acquire this hotel to house hospital nursing staff.

asked the Minister of Health if, in view of the fact that there are 40,000 applicants on the waiting list for houses in Liverpool and that contracts to build 4,000 houses could be entered into at once, he will increase the allocation to Liverpool Corporation for the current year of licences for 1,770 houses.

Contracts already entered into, together with the current allocation, account for more than 4,000 houses, and the available building labour is fully absorbed. An addition to the allocation at the present time would therefore not produce more houses, but I shall keep the position under review in consultation with the local authority.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will take steps to repair war damage along the parapet of the Victoria Embankment before the Festival of Britain.

I understand the London County Council intend to carry out this work shortly.

asked the Minister of Health how many schemes for supplying main water to county districts of Gloucestershire are being held up owing to the shortage of suitable pipes.

None, so far as I am aware.

asked the Minister of Health when he expects the Erskine-Simes Committee will present their report; and whether the report will be published.

On the first part of the Question I have nothing to add to the reply I gave to the hon. and learned Member for Ilford, North (Mr. G. Hutchinson) on 25th May. The decision as to whether a Departmental Committee's report should be published is usually taken after it has been made, but I have no reason to suppose that this Committee's report will not be published.

asked the Minister of Labour what steps are taken to ensure that foreigners who are given permission to come to this country to work are in sufficiently good health to carry out such work.

Foreign workers coming here under official recruitment schemes for which I am responsible are medically examined before acceptance under the schemes. Where they are recruited privately by employers for work in this country for which permits are granted, it is for the latter to satisfy themselves that they are capable of performing the work required. In addition, all foreigners are liable to be medically examined on arrival as part of the immigration formalities.

asked the Minister of Labour what steps he has taken to inquire into and make known to those concerned the whole field of possible employment for deaf adolescents.

I have not found it necessary to institute an inquiry on the lines suggested. A wide range of employment is available for the deaf adolescent who, with other handicapped persons, can readily get advice and guidance about employment openings from youth employment and disablement resettlement officers. These officers work in close cooperation with associations for the deaf throughout the country.

asked the Minister of Education what is the average of the size of deaf children's classes.

In January, 1949, there were, on the average, 10.8 pupils in each class for the deaf or partially deaf.

asked the Minister of Education what steps are being taken to obtain separate education for the partially and the severely deaf, and to provide adequate provision for children suffering from double defects.

asked the Minister of Education what action he is taking to alleviate the shortage of schools for deaf children.

The increase in deaf school accommodation during the past two years has enabled places to be found for an additional 200 deaf children, but unfortunately, owing largely to the increasing appreciation that deaf education should begin at a very early age, there is still a waiting list of some 450 children for deaf schools. I am therefore doing everything possible to expedite proposals for further deaf school accommodation in the next year or two. The accepted policy of separating the education of the partially deaf from that of the deaf is being carried out as far as the existing accommodation permits. A small increase is being made in the provision for deaf children suffering from a second defect and I look forward to further proposals as soon as the shortage of ordinary deaf school places has been substantially reduced.

asked the Minister of Education what steps are being taken in the schools to detect deafness; to deal with diseases which may cause it; and to make treatment available where necessary.

Deafness is detected in the schools at the periodical medical inspections, at special medical inspections to which individual children have been referred by their teachers or by the school nurse, and by group audiometer tests. Facilities for the treatment of diseases which may cause deafness are available through the school health service and the National Health Service.

asked the Minister of Education the number of emergency trained teachers who are unemployed; and what action he is taking to deal with this problem.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Sorensen) on 25th May last. I am discussing with the National Advisory Council on the Supply and Training of Teachers the question of further action to ensure that effective use shall be made of all the teachers becoming available over the next few months.

asked the Minister of Education how many of the schools, which have applied for aided status, have been scheduled for eventual closure under local education authority development plans.

Four hundred and five of the 1,517 schools which have so far applied for aided status are proposed for ultimate closure under the development plans of the local education authorities. In many cases, however, the plans indicate that the schools will be replaced by new voluntary schools.

asked the Minister of Education how many schools in Norfolk are without a piped water supply.

Of the 483 maintained and transitionally assisted schools in the area of the Norfolk education authority, 313 have no piped water supply. I have on information as regards independent schools in the county.

asked the Minister of Education whether he will facilitate the building of a new school at Llannefydd, Denbighshire, or the repair of the existing school.

A new infants' school at Llannefydd is included in the first instalment of the Denbighshire 1951 building programme.

asked the Minister of Education if he is aware that among the staff employed by the local education authority in the Chislehurst and Sidcup urban district area, clerical assistants, clerks, caretakers, laboratory assistants, secretarial staff and school inquiry officers, all receive the London allowance, but the teachers themselves, employed in the same establishments, do not receive this emolument; and if he will consider taking steps to remove this anomaly in salaries paid.

I cannot add anything to the answer which I gave on 25th May last in reply to a Question put to me by the hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Thames (Mr. Boyd-Carpenter).

asked the Minister of Education if he will give an estimate of the gross total cost to his Department and local authorities involved by increasing all teachers' salaries, so that the minima and maxima are 80s. above the 1938 figures; and also the percentage such increased cost bears to the gross total cost of education.

The salaries now paid to teachers are at rates above those applied in 1938, but owing to the changes introduced by the Education Act, 1944, and subsequent Burnham Reports, any calculation of the cost of an increase by a specific amount would be difficult to make and misleading.

asked the Minister of Education what was the total cost of salaries of teachers in England and Wales for the year 1938–39; what was the cost of salaries of administrative staff for the education service as a whole in the same year; and what are the comparative figures for the latest available post-war year.

The total expenditure of local education authorities on the salaries of teachers in maintained schools and other maintained educational institutions was, on the basis of the pre-audit actual returns of authorities for 1938–39, £53,819,500, and on the basis of the revised estimates for 1949–50, £104,723,800. I have no separate statistics of the cost of the salaries of the administrative staffs of local education authorities. The gross expenditure of authorities on administration and inspection which includes, in addition to salaries and wages, other items such as stationery, postage, travelling and other general office expenses, was about £3,568,000 in 1938–39, as compared with about £11 million on the basis of the revised estimates of authorities for 1949–50.

asked the Minister of Education whether he will advise local education authorities that the parents of children whose expulsion from school upon scholastic grounds is under consideration, should be personally interviewed and warned by the head teacher before such action is decided upon.

I agree that it is desirable that there should be consultation with the parents before a final decision is taken that a child should be transferred from one type of secondary school to another, on educational grounds. The need for such consultation is generally recognised, and I do not therefore consider that there is any need for me to give general advice to local education authorities on the matter.

asked the Minister of Food what portion of the imports of strawberries, limited during the English season, has now entered this country.

The open general licence for strawberry imports has been suspended from 1st June to 31st July, when a limited import is permitted under block licence. We have no official figures yet of the quantity of strawberries imported since 1st June.

asked the Minister of Food how many licences have been issued for the opening of fish and chip shops since he authorised local food committees to grant such licences to genuine applicants without restriction of numbers.

Between 10th May, when these instructions were given, and 10th June, we have issued 356 new licences.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will make a statement on his visit to Malaya and to Hong Kong.

I will make a statement next week.

asked the Minister of National Insurance for what reason inmates of a mental colony, who are sent out to work and pay National Insurance at the full rate, only receive benefit in the event of illness as hospital cases at the rate of 5s. per week.

I assume that the inmates to whom the hon. Member refers are patients in a National Health Service hospital entitled to free maintenance as well as treatment. In accordance with the National Insurance (Hospital Inpatients) Regulations, 1949, such patients if they have no dependants come within the general rule that sickness benefit is to be paid at the reduced rate of 5 s. a week after a stay in hospital of a year. The reasons for these provisions are explained in the Report of the National Insurance Advisory Committee which was laid with the Regulations in question on 29th July, 1949.

asked the Minister of National Insurance if she is aware of the present unsatisfactory position whereby agricultural trainees are liable to pay National Health contributions if they work for four hours or more overtime; and if she will either extend this four-hour limit or abolish it altogether.

These agricultural workers come under the normal rules by which (subject to certain special provisions about harvesting and similar operations) a Class 1 contribution is payable in respect of any person who does four hours or more work in any week under a contract of service My right hon. Friend can see no grounds for making a special exception in their case.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many floggings, or other forms of corporal punishment, have been ordered by the courts in Hong Kong, in respect of juveniles and adults, respectively, during 1939 and each of the last five years.

The figures are as follows:

			Juveniles	Adults
1939	…	…	147	347
1945	…	…	(No figures are available)
1946	…	…	118	156
1947	…	…	1,296	440
1948	…	…	4,531	279
1949	…	…	4,367	141

Eighty-five per cent. of the juveniles whipped in 1949 were sentenced for street trading, obstruction and breach of deportation orders. The practice in most of these cases has been to order three strokes of the cane. These figures should not be interpreted as symptomatic of the state of juvenile delinquency in Hong Kong, or as revealing brutality of punishment; nevertheless they have caused me serious concern and I am in correspondence with the Governor on the subject.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what, as from the conclusion of hostilities to the most recent convenient date, is the total sum paid to native soldiers of the Gold Coast and Nigeria Regiments by way of pension; what is the corresponding figure paid to relatives; and what are the estimated figures respectively for the present financial year.

The total sum paid to African soldiers of the Nigeria Regiment by way of pension from the conclusion of hostilities to 31st March, 1950, was £126,303. The corresponding figure paid to relatives was £114,514. The estimated figures for the present financial year are £36,000 and £9,500 respectively. Exact figures for the Gold Coast Regiment are not available as separate records of payments to European and African soldiers are not kept. The total payments made to all soldiers in respect of pensions, death and service gratuities and medal awards for the period from 1st September, 1946, to 28th February, 1950, was £81,773. The estimated figure for African pensions for the present financial

Urban Districts			Applications outstanding 1st January, 1949	Applications outstanding 1st January, 1950	Installations made during 1949	Applications first made more than 12 months ago
Billericay	…	…	400	404	193	175
Rayleigh	…	…	164	113	122	37
Benfleet	…	…	184	187	51	121
Canvey Island	…	…	87	95	19	19

asked the Lord President of the Council if he has obtained details of the latest developments in the United States of America in the distillation of oil from coal; and what practical research in the distillation of oil from coal has been carried out in this country.

There is a regular exchange of information and the Director of Fuel Research has in fact, just re-

asked the Postmaster-General how many applications for telephones were outstanding in the Billericay, Rayleigh, Benfleet and Canvey Island urban districts on 1st January, 1949, and 1st January. 1950; how many installations were made during 1949: and how many applications still outstanding were first made more than 12 months ago.

The particulars are as follows:turned from a visit to the U.S.A., where he had discussions on this, among other subjects. The production of oil from coal, by carbonisation and by synthesis, has been studied in this country for a considerable period by the Fuel Research Station of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and by industry. The results of the Department's work have been published. The work at the Fuel Research Station on synthesis is at present being enlarged.