asked the Assistant Postmaster-General what consideration has been given to the question of providing postmen in country districts with motor-assisted bicycles.

We tried autocycles out over a period of two years, but found that they were not robust enough to stand up to our requirements. The same would, of course, apply to motor-assisted pedal cycles.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General the number of postmen employed in the London postal service for the years 1952, 1953 and each month of 1954; the number of postmen who resigned in the periods mentioned and the cost of training a new entrant.

The average numbers of postmen employed in the Inner London Postal Area were:

1952		18,441
1953		18,369
1954	January	18,350
	February	18,450
	March	18,470
	April	18,336
	May	18,227
	June	18,053

The numbers of postmen who resigned were:

1952		…	…	1,078
1953		…	…	1,155
1954	January	…	…	106
	February	…	…	98
	March	…	…	123
	April	…	…	168
	May	…	…	185

The cost of training a postman new entrant is approximately £30.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the grounds on which he made an order requiring the licensing authority to revoke a licence granted to Barton Transport Company to run an omnibus service from Kirk Hallam to Nottingham, having regard to the facts that residents of Kirk Hallam, persons residing on the route and Stanton Ironworks have all protested at the discontinuance of this service, there being none to replace it; and if he will reconsider his decision or hear representations from affected parties.

After careful study of all the evidence my right hon. Friend decided that while there might be some need to improve transport between Kirk Hallam and Nottingham, the licence granted was not the right way of doing so. Having heard and determined an appeal the jurisdiction of my right hon. Friend is finished and he cannot reopen the matter.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when he expects to receive the Report of the British Transport Commission for 1953; and when it will be available to hon. Members.

The British Transport Commission inform me that owing to the preoccupation of its small headquarters staff with important matters arising out of the Transport Act, 1953, including preparation of the railways reorganisation scheme, the completion of its Report for 1953 has been delayed. It is, however, hoped to send the Report to the printers next month.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (1) whether, in view of the number of accidents that have occurred in Manor Road, West Ham, E.15, he will cause an investigation to be made for the purpose of ascertaining what action can be taken to overcome the danger to children, old-age pensioners and others who are compelled to use this road;(2) if his attention has been called to the need for a speed limit and greater safety precautions at Manor Road. West Ham, E.15; and what action he proposes to take;

This road is already subject to a 30 m.p.h. speed limit. We have just received the petition to which the hon. Member refers, and I will investigate the traffic conditions in the area and write to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will make a further statement on road developments in the North-East.

Yes. I was very glad to be able to visit the North-East area about 10 days ago, to hear an able statement of its road problems presented to me at a representative meeting of the local authorities in the area and to see for myself some of the roads in question in association with my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Miss Ward) and the hon. Member for Jarrow (Mr. Fernyhough). I have undertaken to give careful consideration to the claims of this important area to a larger share of the provision for road improvements and road maintenance, although, in the current financial year, I regret that I see no present prospect of augmenting the funds available to the area.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, in view of the fact that it is impracticable to make available for the Glasgow tunnel any of the shields manufactured for the Dartford tunnel, if he will now approve the manufacture of one or more new shields as may be found necessary for the Glasgow tunnel; and if he will meet the cost by grant from the Road Fund.

I shall be meeting representatives of the Glasgow Corporation very soon to discuss details of the Clyde tunnel scheme, and I suggest that I should not make any further statement about it until after that discussion.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what steps he has taken, and proposes to take, to implement the resolutions on roads improvement passed by the House on 27th November, 1953, and 28th May, 1954.

I do not think that I can usefully add anything to what my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary said in the debate on the 28th May.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if, in view of the success of the experiments in the London area, he will arrange a helicopter service in Orkney and Shetland.

No. In the present state of helicopter development, my right hon. Friend would not be justified in extending the number of experimental helicopter services undertaken at public expense. The Air Transport Advisory Council and my right hon. Friend are, however, always ready to consider proposals for new helicopter services which require no assistance from public funds.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what action he is taking on the scheme submitted by a working party under the chairmanship of Air Chief Marshal Sir Guy Garrod for training men to fly Britain's commercial aeroplanes.

I am examining with my noble Friend the Secretary of State for Air the extent to which pilots from the Services will meet the future needs of civil aviation. The proposals in the memorandum presented by Air Chief Marshal Sir Guy Garrod will be carefully considered in the light of the results of this examination.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement regarding the United Nations Refugee Emergency Fund; and what support Her Majesty's Government has now decided to give to the five-year programme put forward by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

According to the Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, total contributions from Governments to the United Nations Refugee Emergency Fund stood at 957,012 dollars on 31st March, of which the United Kingdom contribution accounted for 280,000 dollars. Pledges and contributions so far announced this year amount to some 475,000 dollars against the High Commissioner's estimate of his urgent needs in 1954 for 1,084,000 dollars. Although only 17 Governments have so far contributed to the Fund since its inception, it is to be hoped that this number will increase before the end of the year.As regards the second part of the Question I would refer the hon. Member to my hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Leicester, North-West (Mr. Janner) on 2nd June.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to what extent the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency is now in practical operation in North and South Korea, respectively; and how many of its projects cannot be carried out through lack of funds.

The United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency (U.N.K.R.A.) is in full operation in the Republic of Korea and recent reports indicate that the Agency is performing a valuable rôle in increasing the productive capacity of the Korean economy. No United Nations Agencies have been permitted by the local authorities to operate in North Korea.As regards the second part of the Question, the Agency has not received as many contributions as it hoped for. The programme of 130 million dollars originally planned for the current financial year has had to be reduced successively to approximately 40 million dollars. The United Kingdom has made a full contribution to the work of the Agency and has put up £5 million towards the Agency's current programme.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement in respect of the United Nations Disarmament Commission whose proceedings in London have now terminated.

I would refer the hon. Member to my statement on this subject on 28th June.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what were the grounds for Britain's abstention on the United Nations Security Council's vote on 25th June on the question whether to put the discussion of the Guatemalan issue on the agenda on that day.

It was essential to ascertain the facts before the Security Council could decide what action, if any, it should take in the matter. Her Majesty's Government considered that this could be done most quickly through the machinery of the Inter-American Peace Committee which had already decided to send observers immediately to Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.Her Majesty's Government were prepared for the Council to await the report of these observers before proceeding further, and were anxious to avoid any action that might have prejudiced the valuable initiative of the Organisation of American States.At the same time, they did not wish in any way to detract from the overriding responsibility of the Security Council in a situation of this sort, and were, therefore, reluctant to register a positive objection to the inclusion of the Guatemalan complaint in the agenda. The United Kingdom Delegate was, therefore, instructed to abstain.The I.A.P.C. fact-finding Commission left for Mexico City yesterday.

asked the Minister of Food what arrangements are being made by his Department either to provide or to secure alternative employment for those supervisory officers of his Meat and Livestock division who will be displaced when the abattoirs are handed over to local authority control in the near future.

All possible help is being given by the Department to the officials who will be redundant when meat control ends. Many have already found other employment and a number of those who have suitable qualifications have been given new work in my Department in the Fatstock Guarantee Scheme.

asked the Minister of Food how many slaughterhouses are now available for use.

Complete information is not yet available, but there will be at least 2,300 private slaughterhouses, 120 prewar public slaughterhouses, and 100 places in which local authorities will be providing public slaughtering accommodation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to the losses suffered by farmers and others in Kenya as a result of the Mau Mau rising; and whether he will make a statement about compensation for such losses.

Yes. The Kenya Government do not accept liability for such losses and are not under any legal obligation to do so. The Government did, however, recognise at the beginning of the emergency that in some cases these losses would cause extreme hardship and was prepared in such cases to consider ex gratia assistance from public funds within the limits of the resources which could be made available.A committee was set up in 1952 to advise on applications for such assistance. Payments made already amount to £206,563 and, in addition, loans amounting to £18,500 have been made to persons temporarily short of working capital.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Tanganyika Government will now end the practice of asking visitors to state their race, since it is now clear that the information thus obtained serves no useful purpose.

No. As I informed the hon. Member on 2nd June, this information is, in fact, useful to the tourist trade in Tanganyika.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why, in view of the fact that a motion for the need of tenancy legislation upon Metayer lands was passed in the Mauritius Legislative Council in 1949, the Bill prepared to meet that situation has remained in abeyance for the past five years.

I am asking the Governor about this and will circulate a reply later in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the titles of all newspapers and periodicals published in the United Kingdom which are banned in Mauritius under the Importation of Publications (Prohibition) Ordnance of 1953.

No newspapers or periodicals published in the United Kingdom have been banned in Mauritius under this Ordinance.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware that the seamen's strike at Singapore has now been proceeding for over three months; and what steps are being taken by the labour department of the Colony to bring it to an end.

I would refer to the reply given by my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister of State to the hon. Member's Question on 5th May. This is an inter-union dispute and the vessels of the company concerned have continued to ply normally. In fact, no strike exists in the ordinary sense of the term.The Singapore Government now have available the assistance of an adviser on seamen's unions seconded from the National Union of Seamen in this country.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what proportion of doctors there are to the populations of Singapore and Malaya, respectively; and what steps are being taken to increase the number to meet the requirements of the people.

I have not the exact figures, but am consulting the High Commissioner and the Governor. I will write to the hon. Member when I have their replies.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the reasons for reducing the period of the course for training teachers in Singapore; and if he is satisfied that the numbers of teachers being trained are sufficient to meet the requirements of the school population and the anticipated increase in the number of children.

I am consulting the Governor and will write to the hon. Member when I have his reply.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware of the dissatisfaction in British Guiana at the failure of the Demerara Electric Company to make available to the inhabitants of the colony a plentiful supply of electrical power; and whether he will take advantage of the review which is due in August of this year to terminate the contract, and set up instead a publicly-owned corporation to run the undertaking on a non-profit-making basis.

I understand that the Company will have ample power to meet the demand in the area which it serves, that is to say, Georgetown and its suburbs, when additional plant is installed in October. In addition, the Company has been required to undertake certain improvements within the next three years and, provided it does so, there is no power to terminate its franchise until 1977. In these circumstances, I do not think that further action is necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how far consideration has been given to the representations made to him for an extension from three to five years in the life of the Legislative Council of Antigua; and what reply has been given to the parties making the representations.

I have already informed the Governor of the Leeward Islands that I have no objection to this extension.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what reply the Government of Northern Rhodesia has given to the Joint Industrial Council's request for legislation to enable Africans to serve apprenticeship in the building industry, and for the establishment of technical classes for Africans in building construction.

This request was referred by the Master Builders' Association to the Commissioner of Labour and Mines. The Commissioner has informed the Association that preliminary discussions are in progress with the Director of African Education, with the object of devising a scheme for training Africans on the job in industry, after they have received basic training in trade schools. The Commissioner has given an assurance that all interested parties will be consulted.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will seek to secure an agreement with the South African Government under which that Government will transfer Northern Rhodesia nationals convicted in South Africa to serve their sentences in Northern Rhodesia, in reciprocation for the provisions of Northern Rhodesia Ordinance No. 54 of 1953.

I am considering the suggestion of a reciprocal arrangement with the Union of South Africa, in consultation with the Governor of Northern Rhodesia and my noble Friend the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the gross amount in pounds sterling for which dollars have been paid in respect of the showing of United States films in the United Kingdom for each of the years 1950–53, inclusive.

Following are the figures:

Calendar Year					£ million
1950	…	…	…	…	6·99
1951	…	…	…	…	8·73
1952	…	…	…	…	8·63
1953	…	…	…	…	8·10

These figures include royalties import costs of exposed (but not unexposed) film, the cost of bills, posters, and other materials; but exclude profits and payments into unremittable accounts under the Anglo-American Film Agreement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action is proposed to give effect to the suggestion made in paragraph 5 of the Treasury Minute of 15th December, 1953, on the Third Report from the Committee of Public Accounts, Session 1952–53, that one or more suitable persons might be appointed by the University Grants Committee who would report to that committee on the university methods of contracting, recording and controlling expenditure from non-recurrent grants.

The University Grants Committee have appointed a Committee to report to them on the question whether, and if so what, changes are necessary to secure that universities' methods of contracting, and of recording and controlling expenditure from non-recurrent grants are reasonably designed, and properly applied, to ensure effective safeguards against waste, extravagance, or other abuse.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of permits of exemption to pay rates below the statutory minimum wage which were current in each county in England and Wales at the latest available date.

At 30th September, 1953, the total was 4,344, distributed by agricultural wages committee areas as follows:

Committee Area	Males	Females
Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire	72	—
Berkshire	63	1
Buckinghamshire	37	—
Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely	59	—
Cheshire	127	—
Cornwall	83	—
Cumberland and Westmorland	41	—
Derbyshire	59	—
Devonshire	389	1
Dorset	92	1
Durham	37	—
Essex	209	—
Gloucestershire	193	1
Hampshire and Isle of Wight	168	2
Herefordshire	64	—
Hertfordshire	60	1
Kent	260	4
Lancashire	48	—
Leicestershire and Rutland	68	1
Lincolnshire (Holland)	46	—
Lincolnshire (Kesteven and Lindsey)	141	32
Middlesex	27	2
Monmouthshire	20	1
Norfolk	151	1
Northamptonshire and Soke of Peterborough	60	—
Northumberland	32	—
Nottinghamshire	55	—
Oxfordshire	49	1
Shropshire	87	—
Somerset	184	1
Staffordshire	66	—
Suffolk	140	—
Surrey	65	1
Sussex	225	—
Warwickshire	182	—
Wiltshire	129	1
Worcestershire	71	3
Yorkshire, East Riding	57	—
Yorkshire, North Riding	45	—
Yorkshire, West Riding	80	—
Anglesey and Caernarvon	34	—
Carmarthenshire	47	—
Denbigh and Flint	40	1
Glamorganshire	32	—
Merioneth and Montgomeryshire	39	1
Pembroke and Cardigan	39	—
Radnor and Brecon	15	—
TOTAL, England and Wales	4,287	57

asked the Minister of Agriculture for what reason he has decided to postpone the Orchard Fruit Census until 1957–58.

The next Orchard Fruit Census is scheduled for January, 1957, which will be six years after the last. This is the normal interval between such censuses, and no postponement has been contemplated.