asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that the manufacturing capacity of British firms is capable of satisfying all foreseeable demands in this country for coin-operated phonographs; and whether, in view of this, he will prohibit the importation of such machines from Western Germany.

Coin-operated phonographs are admissible from Western Germany under the open general licence as gramophones, and I regret that my hon. Friend was informed on 8th July that they are included in the quota for amusement machinery. I understand that British firms have considerable manufacturing capacity for these machines, but I am not prepared to prohibit their import from Western Germany since such a prohibition is not necessary to safeguard our balance of payments.

As the Minister is not prepared to prohibit the importation of these machines, would he at least try to obtain an assurance from the importers that they will maintain the same standards of distribution of these machines as is at present operated by the United Kingdom manufacturers?

They are on open general licences in this country, and I do not think that we can impose on importers a condition about their distribution.

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) what estimate was made of the possible loss of industrial production through the running of the Two Thousand Guineas race on a Wednesday, the Epsom Derby on a Wednesday, the Royal Hunt Cup on a Wednesday and the forthcoming Goodwood Cup on a Thursday; and whether the Stewards of the Jockey Club were advised to run these races on a Saturday;

(2) what estimate was made of the possible loss of industrial production if the Doncaster St. Leger was run on a Wednesday; and why Her Majesty's Government advised the Jockey Club to change the traditional day from Wednesday to Saturday.

As regards the St. Leger, the Government have received strong representations about the serious effect which there would be on industrial production, particularly coal-mining, if this race were to be run once again on a Wednesday. Those representations were considered very carefully before my right hon. Friend the Minister of Fuel and Power asked the Jockey Club to keep the St. Leger on a Saturday. No numerical estimates have been made of the loss of industrial production caused by running the St. Leger or continuing to run the other races, to which the hon. Member refers, in midweek.

We have received no representations about these other races, and we should not regard it as our business, save on the basis of some very substantial evidence, to request the Jockey Club to make alterations in the dates of these other races.

Are we to take it that Her Majesty's Government feel that those who attend the Two Thousand Guineas race in Cambridge, the Derby in Surrey, the Royal Hunt Cup in Berkshire, and the Goodwood Cup in Sussex are all non-workers and, therefore, production is of no account, and that only those in industrial Yorkshire are to be penalised because they cannot have their race meetings on a Wednesday?

I think that that would be rather a large assumption to draw.

Can the right hon. Gentleman tell us why the Government show no concern at all when these four southern classic races are held on any day that the Jockey Club feel disposed to hold them, and only interest themselves in the North—in Doncaster—as to whether the St. Leger shall be run on a Wednesday or a Saturday?

Very strong representations were made about the date of the St. Leger, and it was in the light of these representations that the request was made to the Jockey Club. No such representations have been made in the case of the other races. I am not anxious to extend the activities of Her Majesty's Government to suggesting when various races should be held.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that 47 of the largest pits in Yorkshire are already taking their holidays during Doncaster race week and that it would have no material effect whatever on output if the St. Leger was run on the traditional day, Wednesday?

Will the President consult the Whips on both sides of the House about the desirability of running the Derby on a Saturday, and also consider the private views of the Prime Minister on the subject?

Can my right hon. Friend say from whom the representations have been received?

From the National Production Advisory Council for Industry, the Sheffield and Rotherham Productivity Committees, which include both sides of industry, and the National Coal Board.

Is this not gross discrimination in favour of the South against the North?

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the prospects of increasing trade between this country and Pakistan, especially by Britain buying more Pakistan cotton and selling more textile machinery to Pakistan.

The prospect of increasing trade between the two countries will depend in part at least on the scale on which Pakistan cotton can be sold here. A Lancashire-Pakistan Cotton Committee has been formed to encourage the use of Pakistan cotton in Lancashire and a representative delegation from Pakistan attended the inaugural meeting last month. I very much hope that the Committee will be successful in achieving its purpose and that, as a result, there will be an expansion of trade between the two countries.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if, in view of the fact that the average rate of preference granted to Commonwealth countries is now roughly only half the level of prewar and that the rise in prices has reduced the value of specific preference margins, he will make an investigation into the adequacy of existing rates in readiness for the time when convertibility of sterling is restored.

I do not think that at this stage it would be useful to undertake an investigation in the sense my hon. Friend suggests.

Can my right hon. Friend give an assurance that he will undertake such an investigation before this contingency arises, and not after it?

My hon. Friend will recognise that there are two sides to the question: the preferences which we give, and the preferences which we receive. My hon. Friend's suggestion would involve almost a re-negotiation of all the preferences in the Ottawa Agreements. I suggest that we await the outcome of the discussions which we are having with the Commonwealth on the broad issues of policy that are involved before we go further in this matter.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many people, men and women, were employed in the factories in Sunderland administered by the North Eastern Trading Estates, Limited, on the latest available date.

On 29th May, 1954, the latest date for which official figures are available, 1,617 men and boys and 2,541 women and girls, making a total of 4,158, were employed in these factories.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that these figures show a further decline in the numbers employed in these factories?

Yes, Sir. The decline in employment is due to the cessation of work in the two factories, of which the hon. Member is well aware.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will make a further statement on the Trading Estate Company factories in Sunderland, at present vacant or not fully used.

I cannot add anything to what was said by my hon. and learned Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the hon. Member during the Adjournment debate on 16th July. If any development occurs of which the hon. Gentleman would wish to know while the House is in recess, I will get in touch with him straight away.

I am obliged to the right hon. Gentleman. Do I understand that no decision has yet been taken about the third factory that is in danger of closing?

I think that is so, but I should like to look into the point.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that 250 more women have lost their employment on the Trading Estate at Sunderland; and what action he now proposes to take to promote more employment for women in Sunderland.

I understand that the hon. Member is referring to a factory which, though nearby, is not on the Pallion Trading Estate, and is not owned by the Government. This company hopes to re-engage these women workers in the autumn.

As regards the second part of the Question, I can add nothing to what was said by my hon. and learned Friend during the Adjournment debate on 16th July.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to what extent he proposes to issue import licences this season for Polish bilberries; and to what extent the British firm which has contracted for the total exportable quantity of these bilberries will be enabled by such import licences to implement its contract.

As an interim measure, licences to a value of £125,000 for the import of Polish bilberries have already been issued this year and arrangements are now being made for the immediate issue of a further interim quota of £75,000. As regards contracts, no firm should enter into binding contract to act as importer without first ascertaining whether the goods will be admissible.

Would my right hon. Friend not agree that there is something incongruous in the fact that the firm which secured the contract for the whole of the Polish bilberry crop has been granted import licences for only one-quarter, whereas a firm which was unsuccessful in tendering has an import licence for the remaining three-quarters? If the Department continues by granting licences on a repeat performance basis, will it not lead, in the long run, to a complete monopoly by one firm? Would it not be better to open the whole thing to free competition, as exists in many other imports?

There is something incongruous about all forms of import licensing, but so long as it is necessary to maintain licensing one must have some system for distributing the licences. Up to the present we have tried to do it upon the basis of previous trade, but I shall be happy to discuss with my hon. and gallant Friend the problems to which he refers.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if, in view of the failure of the film industry to agree on a basis for continuing the Eady Levy, he will introduce a statutory scheme forthwith.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the failure of the film producers and exhibitors to agree on the amount of the voluntary levy to aid film production and on the division of the recent tax reliefs, he will introduce statutory schemes for both purposes and place all sections of the film industry under his supervision and control.

I regret to say that while the other three associations concerned are willing to accept my suggestion to proceed at once to arbitration, the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association is not, at this time, prepared to agree that matters have reached a stage which makes arbitration appropriate. I still hope that agreement may be reached, but I think the interest of all concerned will be best served if I make no further statement at this stage.

Does the President not think it would encourage the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association to agree to arbitration if he would make a categorical statement that he will introduce legislation in the event of failure to agree? Will he state, also, that this legislation will be made retrospective to the end of the present voluntary agreement?

I do not want to elaborate upon this rather complex problem at present, but I certainly have not departed from the statement I made previously about the necessity of having a scheme of this kind, if necessary by statutory means.

While I appreciate that the right hon. Gentleman does not want to get too deeply involved in this business at the moment, will he bear in mind that he has a public responsibility in this matter and that in these discussions the interests of the cinemagoers, who pay for the industry and keep it going, ought to be borne in mind?

The industry, too, has a responsibility in this matter to try to arrive at a sensible solution of its own problems.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will arrange for the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission to inquire into the operations of film-producing companies which also control film laboratories and have substantial ownership of cinemas.

No, Sir.

As it is an odds on chance that the President will have to intervene in this industry owing to the failure of the trade associations in it to come to some agreement, would it not be as well to have a better picture of the structure of the industry, how it operates and how the big concerns dominate it through a report from the Monopolies Commission?

I have considerable doubt whether Monopolies Commission legislation would cover such a matter. There is a good deal of legislation dealing with monopoly inside the film industry, such as the Cinematograph Films Acts, and I think it is better to deal with those problems under Acts concerned with the film industry rather than by outside legislation.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will refer to the Monopolies Commission the price-fixing arrangements made among themselves by the suppliers of projectors and other equipment for the showing of stereophonic sound films.

I am not sure what arrangements the hon. Member has in mind, but, if he will let me have details, I will consider the matter further.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give a decision about the withdrawal of the option under the Merchandise Marks Act, 1926, which allows imported goods which are required to be marked to bear the words "Foreign" or "Empire" instead of the name of the country of origin.

The matter is still under consideration, but I hope to announce a decision on policy soon.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the average time now taken by the Monopolies Commission to investigate a case and to report on a case, respectively.

An investigation is not completed until the Commission's report is signed. For the three reports made during the three months ended last June, the average time between the making of the reference and the signature of the report was just under 23 months. But these averages are of little significance since some inquiries necessarily involve more work than others.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what reply he has received to the representations made to the United States Government about the award of contracts for the Chief Joseph and Dalles Dams to United States firms in spite of a tender by the English Electric Company at lower prices.

No reply has been received as yet, but I understand that we may expect one shortly.

asked the President of the Board of Trade in how many cases in the past three years British firms have been refused contracts by the United States Government although their tenders have been lower than competing American firms; and whether he has drawn the attention of the United States Government to each of these violations of the principles of fair competition.

United States Government procurement extends over an immense field and Her Majesty's Government do not necessarily hear of all cases where British firms have been unsuccessful. I am, however, aware of three cases in the last three years where the British bid, though both the lowest of all bids submitted and fully compliant, was rejected; and in each of these, representations were made to the United States Government.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the decline in the volume of our exports of motor vehicles to Canada; and what he is doing to remedy this.

Yes, Sir. I am aware of the drop in our exports to Canada of motor vehicles. It is due partly to a fall in the demand for new cars and partly to intensified competition by United States and Canadian manufacturers. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Supply and I are in close touch with our manufacturers on export and other problems affecting the industry, but I can give no assurance of an early reversal of a situation which arises mainly from conditions in Canada.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has for increasing the staff of the United Kingdom Trade Commissioner in Canada.

The staff needs of the Trade Commissioner offices in Canada are kept under constant review, and two additional Assistant Trade Commissioners have been sent to Canada this year.

Is the President sure that that is enough staff to tackle the enormous problems which confront us in this dollar market, which is becoming even more important in view of the trend in the United States as shown by recent tariff changes?

I think so. Only recently I had a good opportunity of seeing how our Trade Commissioners work but I am fully alive to this matter and am keeping it under review. If any additional staff is necessary I will see that it is made available.