asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the latest trade returns.

Yes. As the Trade and Navigation Accounts for September published two days ago show, the value of exports has been about 3 per cent. less, and the value of imports about 7 per cent. less, in the first nine months of this year compared with the same period last year. Our deficit on visible trade has in consequence been reduced by £89 million between the two periods. That reduction is encouraging; but, although the volume of our exports has been rising slowly since the beginning of this year, we must clearly make still greater efforts if we are to achieve, in the face of growing competition from other countries, the further expansion we need in our exports.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what action he is taking in view of the closing of the Sunderland Trading Estates factory by Messrs. Prices Tailors Limited.

I understand that Messrs. Prices are endeavouring to find a firm to take over this factory, and my Department will gladly give them every assistance it can.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of British first-feature films now in course of production; how this figure compares with those for 12 months, and two years ago; and if he is satisfied that the present quantity and quality of production are sufficient for the maintenance of the present quota.

In July, 1953, the last date for which figures are available, 20 films over 6,500 feet long were in course of production in eight large studios, compared with 17 films in production in nine large studios in July, 1952, and 19 in 10 large studios in July, 1951. In addition, a small number of films, details of which are not available, were in production in smaller studios.As regards the second part of the hon. Member's Question, it is not yet possible to say how many films will become available to exhibitors for exhibition during the quota year which began on 1st October, 1953. The number is not likely to be less, than the number available during each of the three quota years 1950–51, 1951–52 and 1952–53, when the standard quota was the same as it is in the current year. In each of the years 1950–51 and 1951–52 the average quota achieved was higher than the average quota prescribed. Corresponding figures for the quota year ended 30th September, 1953, are not yet available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the total number of first-feature film quota defaults reported to his Department since he took office and the total number of prosecutions against such defaulters initiated during the same period, distinguishing between prosecutions against proprietors of more, and of less, than five cinemas.

In the 12 months period ended 30th September, 1951, 771 exhibitors failed to achieve the first-feature quota prescribed. In the 12 months ended the 30th September, 1952, the number was 1,042. Of the 10 prosecutions instituted in respect of the period ended 30th September, 1951, one was against the proprietor of more than five cinemas, while nine were against the proprietors of less than five cinemas. Eight of these prosecutions were successful. In the two cases where the prosecution in respect of the first-feature quota was unsuccessful, charges which were brought at the same time in respect of default on supporting programme quota succeeded. No prosecutions have yet been instituted in respect of the period ended 30th September, 1952.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when the Custodian of Enemy Property will have handed over the sums due to British holders of Polish, German, Hungarian, Roumanian and Bulgarian assets.

I assume that my hon. Friend is referring to the distribution to be made to British creditors by the Administrators of German, Hungarian, Roumanian and Bulgarian Property out of the assets of those countries. As regards German assets the Administrator has already paid an interim dividend of 1s. in the £ on claims so far established, but I cannot yet say when that distribution will be completed. The distribution of Hungarian, Roumanian and Bulgarian assets will be the subject of a Direction by the Treasury to the Administrators in the near future.This procedure of distributing the proceeds of property does not apply in the case of Polish-owned property which is governed by the Anglo-Polish Money and Property Agreement of the 14th January, 1949 (Cmd. 7627), and the Trade and Finance Agreement of the same date (Cmd. 7628). Under these Agreements, as assets of a particular value are released, the Polish Government pay a corresponding amount of sterling into a special fund for British claimants.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware of the hardship imposed on professional football clubs in Scotland by the incidence of Entertainments Duty; and what complaints he has received on this matter in the past three months.

My right hon. Friend has received representations in this matter from the Scottish Football Association and from a number of individual football clubs in Scotland. As I told the right hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Wheatley) on 20th October, these representations will be borne in mind in connection with the undertaking which my right hon. Friend gave during the debates on the Finance Bill to watch the incidence of the duty on football during the present season.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why authority was given for the necessary transfer of currency for the British Electrical Trades Union to give £1,000 to the Electrical Trade Union of France for its strike fund during the period of the August strikes.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Wembley, South (Mr. Russell) on 20th October.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has reached a decision on the proposals made by the Grant Committee on Valuation for Purchase Tax.

No. This matter is still under consideration and representations are still being received from the interests concerned.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has now reached a decision on the suggestion, put forward earlier this year by the hon. Member for Sparkbrook, that post-war credits should be paid to dependants of deceased persons on the date they would have been 60 or 65 years of age, respectively, had they lived.

My right hon. Friend will consider this with other suggestions for payment of post-war credits when he frames his Budget proposals, but I cannot of course say now what the result of that consideration will be.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what progress has been made in setting up an organisation to deal with livestock marketing in view of the fact that meat is to be derationed in a year's time.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what further discussions he is holding on the problems of fat stock marketing following the proposals put forward by the National Farmers' Union to combine price and stability for producers with freedom of market for butchers.

The Government are examining urgently, in consultation with the National Farmers' Unions and the distributive interests concerned, the future arrangements for the marketing of fatstock and implementing the guarantees to producers, when a final decision has been taken on derationing. Account will be taken of the most recent proposals put forward by the N.F.Us. which have already been discussed with them and I hope to be able to make a definite statement before very long.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what progress has been made in his programme for agricultural expansion.

The first objective was to reverse the declining trend in tillage crops and the rearing of calves for beef production which was facing us in 1952. This we have done. Our target is now to increase net output to 60 per cent. above pre-war by 1956. We are already at 51 per cent. above pre-war, compared with 43 per cent. in 1950–51.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will make a statement upon his conversations with the National Farmers' Union regarding future marketing arrangements for Review commodities under Part 1 of the 1947 Act.

I have nothing to add to the Press statement which was issued after the Ministerial meeting with representatives of the National Farmers' Unions on 12th October.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the approximate additional quantities of feedingstuffs which have resulted from the ploughing-up subsidy since inauguration last year.

The main result of the introduction of ploughing grants in February, 1952, has been to replace a downward trend in tillage by an increase of 200,000 acres in England and Wales, while in the same period the production of coarse grains has increased by some 600,000 tons.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what value of hops, at current prices, will be wasted as a result of the decision of the Hops Marketing Board to allow an 84 per cent. quota only, for acceptance; and what steps he is taking to avoid such wastages in future years.

The main purpose of the Hops Marketing Scheme is to provide stable conditions for both the producers and the buyers of hops. This is done by trying to relate supply to demand with the help of quotas allocated to registered producers. Since the estimated demand for hops this year is less than the producers' basic quotas, the Hops Marketing Board has determined 84 per cent. of the basic quota to be the annual quota for 1953, so as to give all registered producers their share of the estimated demand. The quantity of hops left unpicked this year is not known, and its value, whether at current prices, or if thrown on to a market already fully supplied, cannot be calculated. If demand, both home and overseas, stays below the total basic quota, I would expect the acreage to decline.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many farmers have been dispossessed since 1st January, 1953; how many are threatened with dispossession; and how many are under supervision.

Ninety-five dispossession orders were made on grounds of bad husbandry to take effect during the period 1st January, 1953, to 22nd October, 1953. Seventeen orders have been made to take effect after 22nd October. Eighteen notices of a proposal to dispossess have been or will shortly be issued. On 30th September 1,239 farmers were under supervision.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the numbers of persons employed by county agricultural executive committees in administrative and industrial posts on 1st January, 1952, and at the latest available date.

Non-industrial staff in county agricultural executive committee offices were reduced from 6,546 on 1st January, 1952, to 4,820 on 1st October, 1953. The total number of industrial staff fell from over 12,000 to about 3,500 during the same period.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that on 15th June, 1953, Police Constable C 213 was stationed outside the United States Embassy taking the names and addresses of British subjects entering the Embassy; for what purpose this was being done; and to whom the names and addresses were transmitted.

The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes." The answer to the second part is that the police were taking steps to satisfy themselves that certain deputations were included among those which, from information supplied by the United States Embassy, they knew the Embassy had agreed to see. The answer to the third part is that any information given to the police was treated as confidential and was not disclosed outside the police service.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that parents are giving false information to local authorities with the intention of deceiving those authorities into receiving their children into care under Section 1 of the Children Act, 1948, or deliberately abandoning their children, well knowing that the local authority will have to receive them into care; that in either case it is possible for proceedings to be taken against the parents, unless it can be proved that the child had been abandoned in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering; and what action he proposes to take.

I have been informed that such cases occur from time to time. Consideration will be given to the need for additional powers when there is opportunity for amending legislation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the age of the majority of those affected, he will take steps to hasten the proposed introduction of legislation authorising an increase in the pensions of certain widows of former members of the Royal Irish Constabulary.

The hon. Member may rest assured that there will be no avoidable delay in the preparation of the Bill.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the maximum time, under his executive order, that an alien can be held in one of Her Majesty's prisons.

Aliens who have been refused leave to land, illegal entrants, seaman deserters, and aliens whom a court has recommended for deportation, or against whom a Deportation Order has been made, may be detained by my authority under powers conferred by the Aliens Order, 1920 (as amended). There is no statutory time limit on such detention, but each case is kept under regular review and no alien is detained longer than is necessary to ensure that proper consideration is given to the case, and, if it is decided that the alien should be removed from the United Kingdom, to enable the necessary arrangements to be made.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement on the recent removal by his Department from Holly-moor Mental Hospital of a 14-year-old girl.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware of the public disquiet in regard to the Shropshire girl who was detained in the Hollymoor Mental Hospital; and whether he will make a statement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement in regard to the 14-year-old girl who was recently removed from Hollymoor Mental Hospital to the Shaw Classifying School at Warrington; and whether he will institute an inquiry into this matter.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will arrange a public or private inquiry into the case of the 14-year-old-girl recently detained for 11 months in the Hollymoor Mental Hospital, Birmingham.

1. The girl, born 13th July, 1939, appeared before the Church Stretton (Shropshire) juvenile court on 25th September, 1952, as being in need of care or protection, and was ordered to be sent to an approved school. The order authorised her detention in an approved school until 24th September, 1955.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what decision has been reached following the visit of the Prison Commissioners to the former Polish hospital at Penley; and if he will give an assurance that, before any action is taken towards the use of the hospital as a prison, there will be the fullest consultation with all the local authorities concerned.

I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the camp at Llanerch Panna. The Prison Commissioners have this under consideration as a possible open prison, but no decision has yet been taken. If it is decided to proceed with the matter there will be consultation on the planning aspect with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local Government, who will give the fullest consideration to any representations made by the local authorities concerned and other interested parties.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will recommend the appointment of a Royal Commission consisting of the same persons as served on the recent Royal Commission and with terms of reference to comment upon the abolition of the death penalty.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instructions have been given to magistrates on the question of the clerks of the court accompanying them when they retire to consider a case.

I am considering this question in consultation with my noble Friend the Lord Chancellor, but I am not at present in a position to make any statement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the understanding that the procedure of Mr. Scott Henderson's inquiry would be in accordance with the rules of natural justice, he will review the conduct of the inquiry in the light of the facts that counsel were not permitted cross-examine, that Mr. Scott Henderson refused to put questions to Christie and other witnesses which they requested, that certain of them were excluded from hearing the evidence of witnesses they themselves had suggested and that they were not supplied with transcripts of the case of Regina v. Christie or allowed to peruse the transcript of the evidence at the inquiry before making their submissions.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, in the case of a witness whose name has been communicated to him by the hon. Member for Devonport, the representatives of the party at whose instance this witness was called were merely permitted to read to Mr. Scott Henderson the substances of the proof of her evidence and were excluded from the examination of the witness.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that at least one counsel permitted to assist at the Scott Henderson inquiry never received a copy of the transcript of Regina v. Christie at all and only received a copy of the transcript of Regina v. Evans in the course of the morning of Thursday, 9th July; and whether, in these circumstances, he will state what arrangements were made in regard to furnishing counsel and solicitors with copies of the transcript of these trials.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, at Mr. Scott Henderson's inquiry, counsel were not permitted to peruse the transcript of the evidence taken or to see copies of the committal proceedings of Evans or copies of the statement made to the police by Christie in December, 1949.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, at an early stage in his inquiry, Mr. Scott Henderson informed counsel that the solicitors instructing them were to be excluded from the proceedings; and what representations on the matter he has received.

I appointed Mr. Scott Henderson as an independent person to review all the available material relating to the deaths of Mrs. Evans and of Geraldine Evans, including material which had become available since the trial of Timothy John Evans, and to report whether in his opinion there was any ground for thinking that there had been any miscarriage of justice in the conviction of Evans.The procedure followed at the inquiry was a matter entirely within the discretion of Mr. Scott Henderson, but I cannot accept the imputation that it was not properly and fairly conducted. The inquiry was not a retrial or an appeal; the tribunal was not a court; there were no parties to the proceedings; and the examination of witnesses was a matter for Mr. Scott Henderson, not for counsel.Only two of the specific matters referred to in the Questions are within my personal knowledge. First, I received representations from the Law Society objecting to the exclusion of a solicitor from the proceedings; I made inquiry and was informed that the solicitor was not in fact excluded. Secondly, I received only one request for access to a transcript; this was a request from solicitors for a copy of the transcript of the trial of Evans, which was at once supplied.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that a carpenter, whose name and address have been communicated to him by the hon. and learned Member for Hornchurch, offered to give evidence at the Scott Henderson inquiry in regard to the timber behind which the bodies of Mrs. Evans and her child were concealed; that his evidence, if true, would tend to establish Evans' innocence; that Mr. Scott Henderson never saw this witness; and whether in these circumstances he will himself see the witness and, if he considers his evidence to be material, cause the inquiry to be reopened.

As regards the first part of the Question, I have nothing to add to the remarks made by Mr. Scott Henderson in paragraphs 6 to 9 of his supplementary report. The answer to the last part of the Question is, no.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the evidence given at the trial of Timothy John Evans by Detective Inspector Black he will arrange to have published a further supplementary report by Mr. Scott Henderson, Q.C., giving a summary of the evidence which led him to state in paragraph 29 of his report that he was satisfied that nothing was said to Evans at Notting Hill Police Station relating to the bodies of Mrs. Evans and her child and the cause of the death other than what was said in evidence by Chief Inspector Jennings at Evans' trial.

No. Mr. Scott Henderson has dealt fully with this matter in paragraph 29 of his first report and in paragraphs 14 and 15 of his supplementary report, and I see no reason to ask him for a further report.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why a letter written by Mrs. Evans, mother of the late Timothy Evans, which was at his trial in part excluded as irrelevant and prejudicial was published in full in the Scott Henderson Report without Mrs. Evans' permission.

Only part of this letter was read out in court at the trial of Evans, but this was not because the remainder was excluded by the Judge as inadmissible, and the whole of the letter was an exhibit in the proceedings. I see no reason to think that Mrs. Evans' consent to its publication in Mr. Scott Henderson's report was required.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he has refused to accede to the request of Mrs. Evans, mother of the late Timothy Evans, that her evidence before the Scott Henderson inquiry should be published.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that in his statement to the police on 8th June, 1953, John Christie stated that the late Mrs. Christie had made a statement to the police, on or about 1st December, 1949, in regard to the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Mrs. Evans and her child; and if he will arrange for a copy of it to be placed in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will arrange for there to be placed in the Library of the House, copies of the committal proceedings in regard to the murder charges against Timothy John Evans.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that a statement made on or about 1st December, 1949, to police officers at Notting Hill Police Station by John Reginald Christie in regard to the murders of Mrs. Beryl Evans and her child Geraldine Evans was not included in the report of Mr. Scott Henderson, Q.C.; and whether, in these circumstances, he will arrange for Christie's statement to be published.

As I have indicated in reply to previous Questions, Mr. Scott Henderson had before him all the material which he considered relevant for the purposes of his inquiry and he included in his report such extracts from, and summaries of, the material, both oral and written, as he judged to be relevant and necessary. He has since submitted a supplementary report dealing with certain specific questions raised by hon. Members in the debate in this House on 29th July. I do not propose to publish any further material.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that the report of Mr. Scott Henderson, Q.C., into the Rillington Place murders contains a verbatim account of certain portions of the evidence given before Mr. Scott Henderson by the chaplain of Pentonville prison, the prison medical officer at Brixton, Dr. Hobson, and by Christie himself; and whether, in view of his undertaking that this inquriy would be private, he authorised the publication of this evidence.

Although some of the evidence at Mr. Scott Henderson's inquiry was given in confidence, much of it, including that of the witnesses referred to by the hon. Member, was not so given. Mr. Scott Henderson accordingly thought it proper to set out in his report the material parts of this evidence, instead of a summary.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that Christie stated to Mr. Scott Henderson, Q.C., on 9th July, that on 8th July he had been informed that no definite proof existed that he had murdered Mrs. Evans; and whether he will make inquiries as to how this information was passed to Christie.

Christie received three groups of visitors on 8th July. One of these groups consisted of two police officers. I am assured that the information referred to by the hon. Member was not given to Christie by these officers. I do not know what may have been said to Christie by his other visitors.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will have placed in the Library of the House copies of the cuttings from newspapers dealing with the death of a man named Setty found by the police in the flat of Timothy Evans in December, 1949.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that the newspaper cuttings alleged to have been found in the flat of Timothy Evans by the police on 1st December, 1949, were not shown at the inquiry to counsel despite a request from them; and if he will ask for a supplementary report on this point.

I am informed that, although the police found newspaper cuttings relating to the case of Setty in Evans' flat, they did not take possession of them or make copies of them.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will state the time of day on Monday, 13th July, when Mr. Scott Henderson, Q.C., delivered to him the report of his inquiry into the death of Mrs. Evans and her child and the conviction therefor of Timothy John Evans.

Mr. Scott Henderson showed to me a draft of his report at 2.45 p.m. on 13th July, and I discussed it fully with him. The final report was delivered at 7.15 p.m. on that day.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that at the Scott Henderson inquiry into the Rillington Place murders evidence was given by a police officer that when Evans was shown the clothes of his wife and child prior to his making a statement, the clothes of the wife were in one heap and the clothes of the child in another with the tie with which the child had been strangled with the child's heap; and whether, in view of the importance of this evidence, he will arrange for Mr. Scott Henderson to make a further supplementary report setting out in full the transcript of this evidence.

All the relevant information was before Mr. Scott Henderson and I see no reason to ask him to add anything to the views which he has already expressed in his reports.

asked the Attorney-General whether he is aware that certain workmen, who included a carpenter, a plasterer and a plasterer's mate, together with their employer made statements to the police in December, 1949, in regard to the circumstances surrounding the murders of Mrs. Evans and her child; that these witnesses were neither called by the prosecution nor were their names supplied to the defence; and whether, in these circumstances he will cause an inquiry to be made into these matters.

I am satisfied that there was no departure from the ordinary practice in connection with the evidence of these workmen and I agree with the view of Mr. Scott Henderson, as given in his Supplementary Report, that there was no reason either to call them as witnesses or to supply their names to the defence. I see no ground for any further inquiry.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied that the convenience of the public is best suited by the period of summer time fixed for this year; and what advice he takes on this matter.

The period of summer time was fixed by the Summer Time Acts, 1922 and 1925, and runs from the middle of April to the beginning of October. Before the war there was no power to vary the period, but during the war a Defence Regulation was made enabling it to be altered. This power was continued in the Summer Time Act, 1947, under which the statutory period may be altered in any year by an Order in Council, for which an affirmative Resolution of both Houses is required. As I informed the House on 11th November, 1952, the Government decided, after giving full weight to the many conflicting views held and expressed, that they would not be justified in asking the House to approve the use of these special powers during 1953.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the annual cost of the motor cars used by the police services in England and Wales; and what the cost is for the Metropolitan Police District.

In the year 1952–53, £612,891 2s. 9d. was spent on the purchase, running and maintenance of motor vehicles used by the Metropolitan police. This figure does not include the cost of wages of maintenance staff or of providing garages and workshops. Comparable figures for the rest of the country are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware of the public concern about the activities of gangs of young hooligans on Clapham Common; and what steps he is taking to provide adequate protection to the people lawfully using the common against the criminal activities and hooliganism of these gangs.

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that, so far as the police are aware, no organised gangs frequent Clapham Common and that reports of acts of hooliganism have been exaggerated. The Commissioner is nevertheless taking special precautions, the details of which it would not be in the public interest to disclose.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been drawn to the resignations and recruitment figures in the Metropolitan Police Force from 1st May, 1953, to date and to the position of recruitment and establishment in the Liverpool City Police; and, in view of the general difficulties nationally of police recruitment, when he intends to implement Part 2 of the Oaksey Committee Report on Negotiating Machinery and Conditions in Police Forces.

The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes." The answer to the second part of the Question is that the new negotiating body, to be known as the Police Council for Great Britain, which was referred to in the answer to a Question by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for South Shields (Mr. Ede) on 2nd April last, has now been set up. I understand that the Chairman of the Council, Sir John Howard, proposes to call a first meeting as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what report he has received from the Chief Constable of Birmingham on his check on known Communists and suspected Communist sympathisers, and how far such checks are a recent development in Government policy.

I have made inquiries of the Chief Constable of Birmingham and am informed by him that no instructions have been given to the city police force suggesting in any way that members of the public should be questioned about their politics. The second part of the Question does not, therefore, arise.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will take steps to ensure that, in all cases of investigations by the police into murder charges, there shall be kept a full and complete recorded account of all evidence and talks entered into between the police and the accused on proper electrical recording machines and that these records will be preserved for future reference.

No. I know of no grounds for introducing such a radical change in the methods of police investigation.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that the present state of the law of lunacy and mental deficiency is unsatisfactory and that a large body of medical and legal opinion regards it as out of accord with present-day knowledge of these subjects; and if he will introduce amending legislation in the coming Session.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is satisfied with the manner in which the Mental Deficiency Act now operates; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will institute an inquiry into the operation of the Mental Deficiency Acts.

I would refer the hon. Members to the statement made today by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the public concern in respect to the mental deficiency laws; and whether he will consider holding an inquiry designed to ensure that if necessary alterations will be made to conform with modern standards and to restore public confidence in this service.

I would refer the hon. Member to the statement made today by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.

asked the Minister of Health if he will establish a committee to examine the methods of training of members of the nursing service, to ensure that the best use is made of the good material now coming forward.

No; this subject has already been fully studied by a working party which reported in 1947, and under the Nurses Act of 1949 area nurse training committees have the duty inter alia of promoting research and investigation into the methods of training nurses. A number of experiments have been approved by the General Nursing Council on the advice of these committees, but it is as yet too early to judge their effect.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that many of the duties at present performed by nurses in hospitals could be equally well done by hospital orderlies, thus leaving the nurses free to deal with their more responsible duties; and if he will appoint a committee to examine the question.

A similar suggestion is made in the recent report of the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust on a job analysis of the work of nurses in hospital wards. The report is now being examined by my right hon. Friend's Standing Nursing Advisory Committee.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the long waiting list of children in North Pembrokeshire who need their tonsils removed; and what steps he is taking to improve the situation.

Yes. I understand that beds for this specialty are shortly to be provided at Cardigan Hospital and that the local consultant surgeon is being given additional help.

asked the Minister of Health what factor administrative difficulties have played in his unwillingness to relieve the old-age pensioner of the prescription charge.

I fear I can add nothing to what was said in the discussion on the National Health Service Act last year.

asked the Minister of Health to what extent it is the practice of local medical committees to circularise doctors that the sending in of claims on Form E.C.31 (Anaesthetists' Fees) is discouraged.

I know that some local medical committees think it fairer to all concerned that anaesthetists' fees should be treated on a "knock-for-knock" basis in order to avoid first charges on the sum to be distributed among all the doctors in the locality. This is a matter for professional agreement, in which my right hon. Friend is not concerned.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to ensure that persons who have been detained under a detention order are allowed adequate facilities to obtain an independent medical examination.

Such facilities in accordance with medical custom are usually afforded on application to the hospital by the appropriate relatives or friends. In cases of difficulty the Board of Control have statutory powers under the Lunacy and Mental Treatment Acts to authorise such examinations to be made.

asked the Minister of Health what information he has called for from the Newcastle Regional Hospital Board on the criticisms of the administration of the Darlington Hospital Management Committee raised by two officers of the hospital service; and what action he has taken.

The criticisms were directed against the actions of certain officers of the committee, which investigated them fully. The report was subsequently made available to the board and to me, and I did not consider it necessary to take further action in relation to the criticisms.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will amend Regulation 20 of the Milk and Dairies Regulations, 1949, so that the compensation now paid by the rural district councils to the milk producer may be met by the Exchequer.

No; Section 7 (4) of the Food and Drugs (Milk, Dairies and Artificial Cream) Act, 1950, which re-enacts the provision under which Regulation 20 was made, limits the Exchequer grant to three-quarters and I have no evidence to show that the present provision is causing hardship to any rural district council.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to prevent the time now unnecessarily wasted, with consequent loss of production man-hours and harm to the national economy, by the failure in certain hospitals to arrange staggered hours of appointment for patients attending for consultation.

Hospitals have already been urged to introduce an efficient appointments system in outpatient departments so as to reduce waiting time to the minimum. If my hon. Friend has in mind particular hospitals where the system is not working well, I should be pleased to make inquiries.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the overcrowding and staff shortage at Garlands Hospital Carlisle; and what steps are being taken to provide new buildings as a matter of urgency.

Yes. The regional hospital board are at present engaged in reconstructing one block which will provide another 40 beds for females in 1954.

asked the Minister of Health what steps have been taken to provide a new hospital in Slough in view of the increase in population which will accompany the new London County Council estates.

The North-West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board are aware of the need for a new hospital at Slough. I hope that a site will soon be available, but I cannot yet say when it will be possible for building to start.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what prohibition there is against the holding of services by the African Orthodox Church in Kenya.

Under Section 5 of the Societies Ordinance, 1952, every church body is required to apply for registration. Although the African (Greek) Orthodox Church was informed of this requirement, it has not yet applied. Until it has been registered or exempted from registration under the Ordinance, it cannot hold services.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the amount of tax on income payable by a married man with two children in Kenya on an income of £10,000, £20,000 and £50,000 respectively.

£4,716 17s., £12,216 17s. and £35,466 17s., respectively.

asked the Minister of Education (1) the ratios of grammar school places to total secondary places in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Stoke-on-Trent and the Isle of Wight, respectively.(2) the ratio of grammar school places to total secondary places in Staffordshire and in the excepted district of Newcastle-under-Lyme, respectively; and how these ratios compare with the national average for England and Wales.

The percentages of 13-year-old children following a grammar school course in secondary schools maintained and assisted by the education authorities within the areas named were as follows in January, 1953; London 20·9; Birmingham 14·2; Cardiff 30·2; Stoke-on-Trent 10·8; Isle of Wight 13·8.35·8 per cent. of the 13-year-old children in maintained and assisted secondary schools in Newcastle-under-Lyme were following a grammar school course in January, 1953, compared with 13·9 per cent. in Staffordshire and 19·4 per cent. in England and Wales as a whole.The figures given above include children from other areas who are being educated in the schools of the authority named, but exclude children in direct-grant grammar schools, in independent schools, and in schools maintained outside the authority's area.

asked the Minister of Education how many technical teachers training colleges are in existence; where they are situated; and how many technical teachers have received training there to the latest concenient date.

There are three technical training colleges for teachers, in London, Bolton and Huddersfield. By the end of June this year 1,882 students had successfully completed courses of training at these colleges.

asked the Minister of Education whether she will now review the present financial arrangements regarding students at teacher training colleges to ensure that supplementary grants to students from local education authorities shall no longer be necessary.

This matter has been considered by my Department on several occasions and I understand that further representations are likely to be made to me in the near future by representatives of the local education authorities.

asked the Minister of Education to publish in HANSARD a table of figures giving the number of new schools commenced to be build and completed in each of the years from 1945 until the latest stated date.

The following is the information asked for:

asked the Minister of Education her estimates of the numbers of new school places and of additional teachers required to provide adequately for the rising school population, to replace all blacklisted schools, and to reduce the size of primary classes to a maximum of 40, and of secondary classes to a maximum of 30, pupils.

The First Report of the National Advisory Council on the Training and Supply of Teachers includes some very rough estimates of the numbers of teachers needed for each year up to 1960 if the staffing standards of 1950 are to be maintained as the school population increases. But not only is the size and composition of the school population continually changing, but its geographical distribution is being continually affected by new housing, etc.Any estimate of the number of teachers or school places required for meeting special needs must vary with the date upon which it is assumed that these needs will be met, and, the further ahead one looks, would depend on increasingly speculative assumptions as to probable future movements of population on account of new housing, etc. In some cases movements of population and other changes may result in existing unsatisfactory buildings becoming redundant.No estimates have therefore been drawn up on the lines suggested in the Question.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the result of the traffic check which was made to assess the current needs for the completion of the Dartford-Purfleet Tunnel carried out by Metropolitan police officers and representatives of the London, Kent and Essex county councils.

I understand that the analysis of the results of this survey will not be completed for a few weeks.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware of the continued danger and inconvenience to pedestrians using Thorpe Narrows in Thorpe St. Andrew, Norfolk; and if he can now state when it is anticipated that permission will be given for the widening of this road to take place.

I am aware of the traffic conditions on this road and my right hon. Friend has approved the preparation of an improvement scheme and the acquisition of the necessary land in the hope that next year funds may be available to enable the works to be put in hand.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation how many meetings have been held by the committee inquiring into London Transport; and when he anticipates receiving their report.

I understand that the Committee of Inquiry into London Transport have held five meetings since I appointed them on 8th July, 1953, including two all-day meetings. I have assumed that the committee will need at least a year to complete a task of this magnitude.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when he anticipates laying before Parliament his scheme for the reorganisation of British Railways.

I cannot yet say. As the hon. Member knows, Section 16 of the Transport Act, 1953, requires the Commission to submit their scheme to me before 6th May, 1954, unless I allow a longer period.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if his attention has been drawn to the case of Browning versus J. W. H. Watson; on whose instructions the prosecuting officials acted; and what steps he has taken to prevent a repetition of such incidents.

Yes. The officials concerned acted on the instructions of the licensing authority. Their object was to ascertain whether a coach was being operated illegally to the detriment of law-abiding operators, and the information could not be obtained authoritatively in any other way. The officials did not provoke or encourage the offence which the court found to have been committed and in my view the action taken was perfectly proper.Operators who obey the law are entitled to its protection against those who do not, and the licensing authority would be failing in his duty if when operation in breach of the law is alleged he did not take steps to ascertain the facts.