asked the Minister of Agriculture if agreement has now been reached with the National Farmers' Union on the terms of an egg marketing scheme.

No, Sir. The National Farmers' Unions have replied to certain of the Government's comments on their proposals for an egg marketing scheme and discussions on outstanding points are continuing.

Can the Minister give the House an assurance that the broad points of principle have been agreed and that only minor points which can be quickly cleared up now remain outstanding?

No, Sir. I cannot give that assurance. Discussions will continue until, I hope, we get final agreement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will give details of the factors newly taken into account this year in determining the monthly support prices for eggs sent to packing stations.

This year the annual average price guaranteed to producers for eggs will vary, through an agreed formula, with the annual average price of feedingstuffs. In addition, the seasonal minimum prices will be determined from time to time, not necessarily monthly, in relation to current market prices and the level of supplies reaching the packing stations instead of being determined, as previously, at the start of the year. The seasonal minimum prices will be calculated in such a way that the annual average guaranteed price will be 4s. a dozen, subject to the operation of the feedingstuffs formula.

Will the result of this arrangement be that the support price, while giving the farmers what they are entitled to get from the packing stations, will not be such a heavy charge on the Exchequer as was the case last year?

That would depend upon what the retail price was. The formula which has been devised is very complicated, but it has been devised in complete agreement with the producers.

Can the right hon. Gentleman assure us that the changes will not be made so suddenly as completely to confuse egg producers?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the cost of the maintenance of the police forces of England and Wales at their present strength; and how much it would cost to bring these forces up to the strength which he estimates they should at present attain.

The cost of the police in England and Wales is now about £68 million a year, of which half is paid by the Exchequer. If all existing vacancies in police establishments were filled, the extra cost would be about million a year.

Does the Home Secretary agree that owing to the forces being under strength they are greatly overworked and that the extra money would be money well spent in countering the prevalence of crime?

I entirely agree, and would add only that the most pressing problem, as the hon. and learned Gentleman knows, is in the big cities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, where the law provides that any poisonous fluid or substance must be marked or labelled "Poison," he will make it compulsory that the antidote to the poison shall also be clearly stated.

No, Sir. The Poisons Board has advised against the introduction of such legislation.

Would my right hon. and learned Friend agree that, as very few people know what to do when faced with a poisoning emergency, a precaution of this kind might be the means of saving life, even if the antidote were only a temporary expedient?

I think there are great dangers in this matter because undue emphasis on antidotes might result in the loss of valuable time in obtaining medical help. Barbiturate poisoning, for example, which has been the commonest form in recent years, requires immediate hospital treatment, and any delay may be fatal. I hope no one will rely on antidotes to the exclusion of getting immediate medical advice.

Will my right hon. and learned Friend consider the possibility of a statute providing that all Socialist constituents should be labelled, "To take Conservatism"?

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to include swans on the list of protected birds in order to preserve them, their cygnets and eggs, from unnecessary pain and destruction.

Wild swans are at present fully protected in 25 counties in England and Wales, and their eggs in 29 counties, by local orders made under the Wild Birds Protection Acts. I have no power to make additional orders except on application by the local authority. The Protection of Birds Bill now before Parliament will give full protection to wild swans throughout the country.

Could the Home Secretary give power to local authorities not only to protect the birds from destruction, but to provide them with food and shelter at the ponds and lakes where they congregate?

I should like to have a look at that aspect of the problem.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the present practice of burying convicted murderers within the precincts of the prison where the sentence was carried out with a view to an amendment of the law and the adoption of the practice proposed for the convicted war criminals in Spandau Gaol of returning the bodies to their next-of-kin.

No. Sir.

Can the Home Secretary explain why, in the case of the NÜrnberg criminals, which, I believe, he knows quite a lot about, and who were convicted of mass murders, their next-of-kin are to be allowed to have their bodies back, while the parents of young men like Dereck Bentley are not allowed to have their sons' bodies back, though the prisoners were. convicted of a single murder? Surely if it is good enough, in the case of the Spandau prisoners, for the next-of-kin to have their bodies back, it should be good enough for people in this country.

I think the hon. Gentleman has confused two matters. The question of the Spandau prisoners, of course, is a matter for the Foreign Secretary, but the proposal that, I think, the hon. Gentleman has in mind deals with the bodies of those who die a natural death and not of those who are executed. It is already the practice in the Department of which I am in charge that the relatives of a prisoner who dies in prison here, other than by judicial execution, have the opportunity to take the body away and to make their own disposal arrangements.

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman bear in mind that it is quite impossible to reconcile his attitude in this matter with that of the Foreign Secretary, not only in the case of the Spandau prisoners but in the case of prisoners who were executed for mass murders and whose bodies were handed over to the civil authority for reburial outside the prison? Secondly, will he bear in mind that on this whole matter of executions in this country a Royal Commission that sat for five years came unanimously to the conclusion that our present law was wrong and could not be supported? Could he tell us when he will be able to inform the House of the result of his consideration of that Report?

The first supplementary question is one for the Foreign Secretary, and the second raises a point to which I have replied previously.

Yes, but as the right hon. and learned Gentleman is a member of the Government, and a colleague of the Foreign Secretary, surely he recognises the principle of collective responsibility. As he had something to do, quite properly, with the execution of the NÜrnberg prisoners, why is he not prepared to adopt in this country the same policy that is now being adopted in Germany?

I fully accept the principle of collective responsibility but I do not remember that when the right hon. Member was Minister of Defence he was particularly active in answering Questions which concerned the Minister of Health. That is the point I made. As for the further point, I said that was a matter on which I had already answered questions, and if the right hon. Gentleman will do me the honour of looking at the answers he will find that that is so.

Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that when I was Minister of Defence I was never asked a Question which related to the activities and responsibilities of the Minister of Health?

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent the infliction of corporal punishment in remand homes and approved schools has declined or increased during the past year; in how many cases during that period inmates have absconded and how many have subsequently been apprehended; and what further consideration has been given to the question of discipline, treatment and punishment in those institutions.

The number of occasions on which corporal punishment was administered in remand homes and approved schools in 1953 was about 4 per cent, more than in 1952. The number of abscondings in 1953 was 2,236; I have no reason to believe that more than a very few absconders were not recovered.

The question of discipline, treatment and punishment in remain homes and approved schools is kept under constant review.

Does the right hon. and learned Gentleman not appreciate that this is a matter which should be more than reviewed constantly? Is it not one which needs special inquiry in view of the more enlightened opinions about the treatment and discipline in these institutions?

The hon. Member will recall that the Franklin Committee reported in December, 1951, on punishments in approved schools and remand homes. It considered that the existing powers to give corporal punishment were necessary and that the safeguards against the excessive use of this form of punishment were generally satisfactory. Since then, as I have said, the conditions on which it reported have been kept under constant review. If the hon. Member has any specific point to make I shall be very glad to consider it.

Am I not right in stating that in some of the best-managed remand homes corporal punishment is very rarely administered?

That must be a matter for the authorities of the remand home. I cannot answer for specific remand homes. I think that is the proper combination: we have a Report, we keep it under review, and the operation is in the hands of the authorities of the home.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have immigrated into this country each year since the war.

I regret that no information is available about the number of persons other than aliens who have come to live in the United Kingdom since the war.

Under our system of immigration control, aliens are not ordinarily admitted as immigrants in the first instance, save in exceptional circumstances. The majority of the aliens who have been accepted as permanent residents in recent years were admitted on a temporary basis—e.g., on Ministry of Labour permits—and accepted as residents some years after their arrival.

Figures of aliens accepted as permanent residents are not available for each year since the war, but in the immediate postwar years nearly 250,000 foreigners were as an exceptional measure admitted or allowed to remain in this country as a special contribution to the relief of distress abroad and to the resettlement of displaced persons. Precise figures are not available but it is estimated that the number at present being admitted to permanent residence is of the order of 8,000 to 9,000 a year.

Has my right hon. and learned Friend noted that when citizens of the United Kingdom desire to go to a Colonial Territory they have to give very considerable undertakings, both financial and otherwise? Will he represent to the Colonial Secretary that it is desirable that our people should be able to go to the Colonial Territories with facility equal to that with which people from the Colonial Territories can come to the United Kingdom?

I will certainly convey the contents of my hon. Friend's question to my right hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date the warrant was issued for the arrest of Father Ingram, formerly of the London Choir School, Bexley; and on what grounds the warrant was applied for.

I understand that a warrant of arrest was issued on 22nd March on the grounds of alleged unnatural offences against a pupil of the London Choir School.

Does the right hon. and learned Gentleman appreciate that this is the evil man to whom I referred in the House some months ago? Is it to be wondered at that homosexuality is on the increase when such men can operate in private schools at will? Will he say whether the warrant has yet been served?

The police endeavoured to enforce the warrant, but they discovered that Ingram had disappeared from the school and they later found that he had flown to Northern Ireland on 24th March. Police inquiries are being made in Northern Ireland and in the Irish Republic.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision is being made for additional juvenile courts in South London to deal with the growing number of cases.

Last August, in order to relieve the congestion at Lambeth Juvenile Court, it was arranged that the court should sit twice instead of once a week. Alternative premises are being sought for the second court, and also for the South-Eastern Juvenile Court which sits at Tower Bridge.

While realising that these additional provisions are a regrettable necessity, may I ask the Home Secretary whether he will examine the disturbing implications of what is apparently the growing number of juvenile cases in South London in the light of the 14 per cent, reduction in the number of juvenile convictions throughout the country as a whole, which he announced the other day?

Certainly. I am very glad that the hon. and gallant Gentleman mentioned the 14 per cent., for it is always a good thing to remember the good side of questions. I will certainly bear in mind the other point which he made.

asked the Minister of Health what steps are taken to ensure that private beds are not reserved for the use of fee-paying patients when there are urgent or chronic cases on the general waiting list.

The National Health Service Act, 1946, specifically provides for patients in urgent medical need of treatment to be admitted to a pay bed without charge if no alternative accommodation is available. My right hon. Friend has brought this to the notice of hospital authorities, and has also asked them to ensure that pay beds not in full use for private patients are used for other patients whether urgent cases or not.

Will the Parliamentary Secretary say what view her right hon. Friend takes, not merely in connection with my own constituency but generally, of the heavy fees that are paid by private patients for minor operations, like the removal of tonsils, for which they are able to get immediate attention within a week of the arrangement being made with the specialist or consultant concerned, whereas children who, in the opinion of their parents, are suffering from defective tonsils have to wait as long as six months before they can get the operation done.

I hope the hon. Member will not exaggerate these claims, because in the case of hospitals in which he himself is interested my right hon. Friend did assure him that whereas 25 tonsillectomies were done a week under the National Health Service there were only four a year done on private fee-paying patients. I can assure the hon. Member that if there is any evidence which he or other hon. Members wish to bring to my right hon. Friend's attention, we shall be very glad to go into it in order to ensure that there is no abuse. I do not think it is fair to suggest that there is this widespread abuse when the case which we investigated for the hon. Gentleman is not justified.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will instruct the representative of Her Majesty's Government on the relevant committee of the World Health Organisation, at the next appropriate meeting of the committee, to press on behalf of Her Majesty's Government for a substantial increase in the regular budget of the Organisation and to pledge this country to pay its fair share in the increase.

The proposed regular budget of the Organisation for 1955 shows a substantial increase over that approved for 1954, but my right hon. Friend is not satisfied that this increase is justified. The matter will be further considered at the next World Health Assembly. The United Kingdom contributes to the budget on a scale approved by the Assembly.

That does not seem to answer the question of whether, at this further meeting, the United Kingdom representative will press for an increase in the total budget of the Organisation so that it can overcome its many problems.

Not unless we are satisfied that the increase is justified.

In view of the very disappointing reply of the Parliamentary Secretary, will she give an assurance that there will be a long-term guarantee of funds to the Organisation to that it can recruit the technical and qualified staff so urgently needed for long-term contract work.

That is a much wider question which I cannot possibly answer today.

Will the hon. Lady ask her night hon. Friend to examine the very important projects which would greatly promote British interests and which are now being held up because the Organisation's budget has been so long stabilised?

I will certainly ask my right hon. Friend.

Can the hon. Lady say whether any countries do not pay their contributions to the World Health Organisation, and, if so, what is the total amount involved?

If my hon. Friend would put a Question on the Order Paper I should be happy to give him an answer.

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply. I beg to give notice that I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment at the earliest possible opportunity.

asked the Minister of Health if he will make a statement on the problem of persons from abroad taking up residence in this country while suffering from active tuberculosis.

My right hon. Friend hopes to be able to make a statement within a few days.

asked the Minister of Health if he will set up a special centre for research into the cause and cure of emphysema; and if he will give an estimate of the number of sufferers affected.

Research into the lung conditions with which emphysema is usually associated is in progress in a number of centres. There is not information available to form an estimate of the number of sufferers.

As neither the cause nor the proper cure of this complaint has yet been discovered, will the Minister do all she can to step up research with a view to relieving sufferers?

This is not generally recognised as a separate disease entity, but rather as a concomitant of other disease conditions. Research generally into diseases of the lung is already carried on in such centres as Hammersmith, Brompton and Sheffield, which cover research into this particular disease.

asked the Minister of Health if he will, as a means of combating cancer, take steps to give powers to local authorities to register all persons suffering from this disease; and if he will promote schemes to educate patients through general practitioners and other means on the best form of treatment.

Hospitals boards are already encouraged to arrange for the registration of all cases treated in hospital, to provide information about incidence and results of treatment. My right hon. Friend has already invited local authorities to promote educational schemes, in co-operation with hospital authorities and general practitioners.

As many people who suffer from this disease are afraid to go to their doctors in the initial stages, would the Minister carry on a campaign, through medical officers of health, to encourage these people to come along at a stage when doctors can render them some assistance, rather than leave it too long, when it is beyond the power of a doctor to assist?

I share the hon. Member's concern about this grave disease, but I cannot accept that people are more likely to go to the medical officer of health to report their condition than they are to their own general practitioner. In this matter we are working on the advice of the Standing Advisory Committee on Cancer and Radiotherapy, and we are carrying out a scheme recommended by them. This is not an infectious disease and does not come in the same category as notifiable diseases to the local authority.

I am not suggesting that the patient should go to the medical officer of health, but that the medical officer of health should carry out a campaign on this subject.

An educational campaign has been approved by my right hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Health what experiments have taken place in the use of the rays given off by the cobalt bomb as a means of treating deep-seated cancer; and if he will make a statement on this subject.

The experimental stage in the use of radio-active cobalt for the treatment of cancer has now passed. It is being used as a substitute for radium in the treatment of certain forms of cancer, particularly the deep-seated forms, in four radiotherapy centres in this country. Radio-active cobalt is more intensely radio-active than radium and makes treatment shorter and more efficient.

Seeing that this instrument, which could be used for the destruction of human life, can now be used for the healing of this terrible disease, will the Minister see that no expense is spared in carrying on these experiments? Will she issue a report on the progress that is being made in the experiments which have been undertaken?

This has got beyond the experimental stage. The hon. Member will know that the initial unit was at University College Hospital and that there are now units in operation at Sheffield and Leeds. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will not mind my pointing out that the word he used in his Question, namely, "bomb," is a misnomer, for no explosion takes place, and the use of this term has terrifying associations for the patients. I hope the hon. Gentleman will drop the use of it.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is satisfied with the response to his suggestions about greater facilities for parents to visit their children in hospital; and which hospitals refuse to allow visits, other than exceptions made on strictly medical grounds.

No detailed information is available, but my right hon. Friend has reason to believe that the response to his recommendations has generally been favourable.

If I send to the hon. Lady information of a hospital where the matron refuses to allow parents to see their children until they have been in-patients for one month, will she look into the matter?

I shall certainly be prepared to look into it, but the hon. Member will be aware that the final decision rests with the hospital and with the discretion of the matron of the hospital and not with my right hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Health what reports he has received from medical officers of health, hospitals and otherwise in respect of intestinal or other ill effects, particularly with children, suspected to be due to the contamination of oranges by thiourea.

My right hon. Friend has received no reports of ill effects from this cause.

Is the hon. Lady aware that in several districts in North-East London analysts have reported that oranges sold in streets and shops have been contaminated with thiourea? In these circumstances, seeing the limited powers of analysis, would it not be as well to make inquiries?

I can assure the hon. Member that not least as a result of his Question inquiries have been made in the areas in which he is particularly concerned, and that we have had no reports from medical officers of health on the matter or from any general practitioner. If we had any evidence we should certainly follow it up.

asked the Minister of Health if he will make a statement on the recent accident at the Delwood Maternity Home, Reading.

My right hon. Friend is awaiting the report of a special committee of inquiry appointed by the regional hospital board, and he is not, therefore, in a position to make any detailed statement at the moment. Mean-while, he is sure that the House will wish to express its profound sympathy with the parents who were bereaved by this tragic event.

While thanking my hon. Friend for those expressions of sympathy, in which, I am sure, the whole House will join, may I ask whether, in view of the widespread national concern about this appalling tragedy, we can be assured that everything is being done to expedite the completion of this inquiry?

I assure my hon. Friend that my right hon. Friend has no desire whatever to see any delay in the inquiry, but I am sure the House will recognise that it cannot be conducted until we have the fire officer's report, which must go first to the inquest, and before evidence can be obtained from the vital witness, Sister Holland, who has been too ill to be interviewed or even to attend the inquest. Until these possibilities are available, we cannot continue with the inquiry.

What outside authority had the responsibility for the inspection of the kitchen and heating equipment, which, it is understood, was the basis of the trouble? In any event, was it with the hon. Lady's concurrence that the fire officer opinionated that no blame was to be attached to the people who ran this establishment?

In view of the fact that both an inquest and an inquiry are to be held, I do not think that those questions should be answered at this time, even if I had the information available.

asked the Minister of Education what instructions she has given, or what arrangements have been agreed by her, in regard to the giving of information about National Service in the Armed Forces to boys in schools under her control.

None. I regard this matter as one for the discretion of the local education and other school authorities.

asked the Minister of Education what percentage of State awards, supplemental university awards and local education authority awards, respectively, are honorary.

Some 2·6 per cent, of the State scholarships (other than supplemental State scholarships) and 8·7 per cent, of supplemental State scholarships current in the academic year 1953–54 were honorary. A further 4·1 per cent, of the State scholarships (other than supplemental) were at the nominal rate of £30, which is paid regardless of parental circumstances. I have no detailed information about the proportion of local education authority awards which were honorary, but I have no reason to think that it is substantial.

asked the Minister of Education the number of students entering the universities and university colleges for the first time, in October, 1953, who came with a State scholarship, a supplemental university scholarship or a local education authority award, respectively.

There were 1,979 holders of State scholarships (other than supplemental State scholarships), 1,000 holders of supplemental State scholarships, and 9,928 holders of awards from local education authorities.

What is the right hon. Lady doing to encourage local authorities who give comparatively few university awards to increase their number?

We have been in communication with local authorities, not only about the size of the award but about the method of selection.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what progress he has now made towards a major relaxation of controls on East-West trade.

Discussions are at present proceeding in Paris with other Western Governments with a view to introducing the major relaxations on East-West trade which Her Majesty's Government have in view, but I am not yet in a position to make a statement.

Although we welcome the discussions that are taking place, since it is now two months since the Prime Minister expressed himself in favour of a substantial relaxation of these controls, can the Minister say how soon he will be able to make a statement?

I would remind the hon. Member that my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade did envisage that these discussions might take two or three months.

Is the Minister aware that before the Recess I suggested to him that the machine tool industry in particular was losing orders? Is it not possible for the President of the Board of Trade to secure the release of controls in that industry?

I do not under-estimate the importance of the point that the right hon. Member has raised, but if he looks as the programme he will agree that so far there has been no avoidable delay. In fact, we have been congratulated on the speed with which we have moved in this matter.

What progress has been made in the Anglo-Hungarian trade negotiations now taking place in London?

That is a separate question. I referred to it in my answer to a Question yesterday.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many prosecutions for alleged offences under the Merchandise Marks Acts have been initiated by his Department in each quinquennium since the original Act was passed; and how many complaints of alleged infringement of the Acts he is now considering.

Since the answer to the first part of the Question contains a table of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

The answer to the second part of the Question is 11.

A lemon?

Can the hon. and learned Gentleman say whether the answer to the first part of the Question shows an increasing sense of responsibility on the part of the Board of Trade in implementing the Merchandise Marks Acts or the contrary? I take it that his answer to the second part was 11. Will the hon. and learned Gentleman say what action is being taken on these complaints?

If the hon. Member will devote his mind to it, he will see that the success of a statute is not measured by the number of prosecutions under it. As to the 11 cases mentioned in answer to the second part of his Question, they are, of course, being investigated.