asked the Minister of Works what proposals are in hand for improving accommodation at the Public Record Office.

Alterations to be carried out in August will make available an additional 30 seats for searchers in the Public Record Office. There are also proposals for extensions of the present building to provide a new and larger reading room and an administrative block.

asked the Minister of Works if he will give the number of deer killed in Richmond Park, after dark and in daylight, for the first three months of 1961, and comparative figures for the same period for the three previous years.

In the first three months of 1961, five deer were injured and subsequently destroyed, and one further collision was reported with no apparent injury to the animal. So far as is known, all the accidents took place after dark. No figures are available for the previous years, but the number of casualties is thought to have been small.

asked the Minister of Works if he will give the number of road accidents to people, with separate figures for injured and killed, after dark and in daylight, in Richmond Park, during the first three months of 1961, and comparative figures for the same period for the three previous years.

The figures for the periods in question are:

• 1958–2 accidents, 2 injured.
• 1959–3 accidents, 3 injured.
• 1960–1 accident, 2 injured.
• 1961–5 accidents, 6 injured.

In 1961 2 accidents with 3 injured were after dark, but in the previous periods the Park was not open after dark.No one was killed.

asked the Minister of Works if he will give the number of prosecutions for exceeding the speed limit in Richmond Park during the first three months of 1961, and comparative figures for the same period for the three previous years.

The number of prosecutions for offences committed during the first three months of the years in question was:

1958	…	…	…	…	None
1959	…	…	…	…	None
1960	…	…	…	…	4
1961	…	…	…	…	39

The 1961 figure reflects the vigorous enforcement of the new speed limit.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will consult with the London County Council, with a view to appointing an expert panel to consider all applications for the building of skyscrapers in the vicinity of the Palace of Westminster and other historic London buildings before planning permission is granted.

My right hon. Friend the Minister of Works is consulted on all development within half a mile of any Royal Palace or Park, or the Palace of Westminster, which might affect the amenities of the Palace or Park and I am quite sure that the London County Council takes account of the effect of proposed high buildings on other historic buildings before giving planning permission. The Royal Fine Art Commission is available for consultation whether by a developer or by the London County Council or by me. I do not think we should improve the outcome by setting up yet further machinery.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether a vista from the portico of the south transept of St. Paul's to the River Thames is to be added as part of the plan for St. Paul's precincts; and whether the building now taking place south of Carter Lane will allow for this.

The approved development plan provides for a vista between 40 and 50 feet wide from the Cathedral to the river, and no proposal has been made which would affect this. The answer to the last part of the Question is in the affirmative.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will take powers to control internal planning of new office blocks to conform with modern standards of amenity and efficiency.

No. This goes beyond the scope of town and country planning.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many appeals against the refusal of local authorities to grant site licences and against the conditions of licences, respectively, have been made to magistrates' courts under the Caravan and Control of Development Act, 1960.

My right hon. Friend regrets that this information is not available. Incidentally, the appeal is against the conditions imposed by site licences.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how much of the compensation, other than interest, paid under the Town and Country Planning Acts in each year up to 1960–61, ranked as income of the recipients for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts.

As this would depend on the tax position of the person to whom the compensation is paid, I am unable to say how much, if any, of it, other than interest, ranks as income for Income Tax purposes.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs on how many occasions and to what amounts during the past 10 years loan sanction has been given to local authorities for new buildings, or extensions or rebuilding programmes for their museums and art galleries.

I regret that the information is not readily available for the period before the financial year 1956–57. The figures for that and subsequent years are as follows:

Year	Number of Loan Sanctions	Total Amount for which Loan Sanction given
1956–57	4	29,608
1957–58	3	57,372
1958–59	2	9,104
1959–60	6	19,617
1960–61	21	231,723*
1961–62 to date	7	152,822
* Includes an apportionment of the loan to be expended on the museum and art gallery parts of a composite scheme comprising extensions to an existing library, museum and art gallery.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many personal secretaries, typists, and machine operators were employed in his Department in May, 1959, and May, 1961.

The numbers were as follows:

—	May, 1959	May, 1961
Personal Secretaries	64	75
Typists including Shorthand-Typists	179	192
Machine operators	6	9
TOTAL	249	276

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will draw the attention of local education authorities to the experiment carried out by the Director of Education for Edinburgh in which a television link was provided between a local exhibition and classrooms at the Royal High School; and whether he will encourage local authorities to explore the educational possibilities of television in schools.

I understand that this experiment was widely advertised and was seen by representatives from many education authorities. Education authorities, teachers and my Department are giving a great deal of thought to the educational use of television, and the number of Scottish schools using television has now reached a total of 270.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that legal agents for the poor in Glasgow have decided not to represent people appearing on criminal charges except on proven need by sworn affidavit; and, since this will aggravate the already congested state of the courts, if he will now increase the resources available for this purpose pending the introduction of legislation on criminal legal aid similar to that in England.

The agents for the poor in Glasgow have informed me of their intentions in this matter. As regards the second part of the Question, I am in consultation with the Law Society for Scotland.

Cropping season				Highland Area		South-Western Area		Border Area
				No. of farms	Amount	No. of farms	Amount	No. of farms	Amount
					£		£		£
1961	…	…	…	1,490	166,000	465	23,000	490	54,000
1960	…	…	…	1,380	165,589	497	25,792	546	59,788
1959	…	…	…	1,492	175,894	474	18,823	646	64,940
1958	…	…	…	1,646	231,670	502	27,249	664	119,525
1957	…	…	…	1,752	225,939	557	38,098	700	116,931

The above figures relate to claims paid except for 1961 when they are an estimate based on offers made to date by agricultural executive committees.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many farms in Scotland are expected to receive marginal agricultural production grants and how much financial assistance in the cropping season of 1961–62, compared with those of 1960–61, 1959–60, 1958–59 and 1957–58, respectively.

The information is as follows:

Cropping Season			Number of Farms	Amount
				£
1961	…	…	8,600	785,000
1960	…	…	9,072	802,518
1959	…	…	9,918	857,251
1958	…	…	10,584	1,170,296
1957	…	…	11,893	1,259,636

The above figures relate to claims paid except for 1961 when they are an estimate based on offers made to date by agricultural executive committees.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many farms in the Highland Agricultural Executive Committee area, in the South-Western Agricultural Executive Committee area, and the Border area, respectively, are expected to receive marginal agricultural production grants and how much financial assistance in the cropping season of 1961–62, compared with those of 1960–61, 1959–60, 1958–59 and 1957–58, respectively.

The information is as follows:

asked the Secretary State for Scotland how many farms on the mainland of Inverness-shire and in the islands of Inverness-shire, respectively, are expected to receive marginal agricultural production grants and how much financial assistance in the 1961–62 cropping season, compared with those of

Cropping Season								Inverness—Mainland		Inverness—Islands
								No. of farms	Amount	No. of farms	Amount
									£		£
1961	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	480	56,685	73	3,099
1960	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	441	54,080	54	2,679
1959	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	478	55,823	47	2,366
1958	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	562	80,599	57	4,116
1957	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	580	76,634	75	4,503

The above figures relate to claims paid except for 1961 when they are an estimate based on offers made to date by Agricultural Executive Committees.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the effect on population in the Highlands of the Royal Air Force recruiting campaign now being undertaken at employment exchanges in these areas.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland, in respect of the county and burgh authorities, what was the total of classified road grants requested for the period 1961–62 to 1963–64, inclusive; and what grants have now been authorised by his Department for each authority for each year.

Requests by highway authorities for grants in respect of major improvements to classified roads for the years 1961–62 to 1963–64 amounted to £20·43 million. Because of existing commitments, including those in respect of the Forth Bridge and Clyde Tunnels, and because of the requirements of the continuing Crofter Counties Programme, it has been necessary to restrict the grants to be authorised for ordinary classified road schemes in 1961–62 to about £1·62 million; the 1961–62 authorisations under the Crofter Counties Programme

The information is as follows:will be about £1·5 million and will be additional to this sum. The provisional allocation between authorities is shown in the table below, but the figures are liable to adjustment as the highway authorities make formal application for grants in respect of the individual schemes covered by their provisional allocations.I hope to intimate shortly the allocations for 1962–63 and 1963–64.

Counties		Amount
		£
Aberdeen	…	38,400
Angus	…	37,500
Argyll	…	18,395
Ayr	…	34,200
Banff	…	16,750
Berwick	…	11,254
Bute	…	11,250
Caithness	…	14,250
Clackmannan	…	1,826
Dumfries	…	12,750
Dunbarton	…	18,750
East Lothian	…	8,740
Fife	…	20,370
Inverness	…	14,900
Kincardine	…	16,365
Kirkcudbright	…	37,290
Lanark	…	111,498
Midlothian	…	45,893
Moray and Nairn	…	16,900
Orkney	…	9,960
Peebles	…	6,375
Perth and Kinross	…	54,750
Renfrew	…	180,000
Ross and Cromarty	…	10,250
Roxburgh	…	35,250
Selkirk	…	3,375
Stirling	…	28,557
Sutherland	…	8,000
West Lothian	…	30,000
Wigtown	…	6,150
Zetland	…	11,160
Total	…	£871,108

asked the President of the Board of Trade what progress has been made at the conference of the members of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in obtaining reduction in members' tariffs; and if he will make a statement.

These negotiations are proceeding. I cannot disclose details of them while they are in progress.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what action Her Majesty's Government is taking to implement Recommendation 255 and Resolution 185 of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe on the need of reactivating the Council of Europe.

Her Majesty's Government have taken note of Recommendation 255 which has been considered by the Committee of Ministers' Deputies. They are making every effort to give effect to its provisions and it is their intention to make appropriate use of the Committee of Ministers in order to promote European unity. Proposals for co-operation between the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly to achieve this objective are under consideration. Resolution 185 was not addressed to Governments.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what action Her Majesty's Government is taking to implement Recommendation 264 of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe relating to the Committee of Ministers as a policy-making instrument of member Governments.

This Recommendation has been considered by the Committee of Deputies who have not so far been able to agree on any action to implement it.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what action Her Majesty's Government is taking to implement Recommendation 265 of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, on relations with the newly independent countries.

In response to this Recommendation the Committee of Ministers adopted Resolution No. (61) 4 addressed to member Governments. The Committee of Deputies on 3rd July instructed the Secretary-General to prepare a plan for giving practical effect to the provisions of this resolution, and the plan is being prepared in consultation with member governments. Her Majesty's Government are participating in this work.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what action Her Majesty's Government is taking to implement Recommendation 271 of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, on the question of an annual colloquy between the Consultative Assembly and the Committee of Ministers.

This Recommendation was considered by the Ministers' Deputies at their meeting on 3rd July. They were in agreement with the principle contained in the Recommendation and I understand that proposals to give effect to it will be communicated to the Assembly at its September session. Her Majesty's Government strongly support co-operation and consultation between the Committee of Ministers and the Consultative Assembly.

asked the Lord Privy Seal at what date Her Majesty's Government expect to receive the report of their special mission of investigation in Angola; and whether the report will be submitted to the Secretary General of the United Nations.

I expect to receive the report of Her Majesty's Consul-General in the near future. The answer to the second half of my hon. Friend's Question is no.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will specify the European bodies to which Members of Parliament have been officially appointed, at which they meet at regular intervals members of other Parliaments, stating the number of British members appointed to each body.

The only European bodies of this sort to which members are appointed officially are the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Assembly of Western European Union. Eighteen members chosen from both Houses are appointed to serve on the United Kingdom Delegation to the Council of Europe Consultative Assembly, and the same delegates represent the United Kingdom at the Western European Union Assembly. A number of substitute delegates are also appointed; this number is normally eleven but may fluctuate slightly.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty what arrangements are being made to enable ratings serving in Her Majesty's ships on extended tours in distant waters to take the additional free home leave announced by Her Majesty's Government.

The free home leave travel schemes recently announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War will apply to naval personnel and details are being promulgated to the Navy. In practice, however, it will be unusual for naval personnel to qualify for these schemes, since they either undergo shorter spells of service abroad than those for whom the schemes are intended, or because they are not serving in the areas concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what financial assistance has been given by way of grants or loans to the Governments of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, respectively, during the periods 1950 to 1955 and 1955 to 1960; and what further financial aid is planned.

The grants and loans made available to these territories by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom financial years 1950–51 to 1960–61, inclusive, are shown in the following table.As regards the current United Kingdom financial year, the position is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why six members of the Consular Corps in Nairobi were allowed to visit Jomo Kenyatta; and what is his policy with regard to the granting of similar permission to other foreign diplomats.

The visit in question was permitted in accordance with the Governor's policy to allow more people to see Kenyatta as indicated in his statement of 1st March. No further visits by members of the Consular Corps are contemplated in the immediate future, but if the matter should arise again, it will be considered in the light of that policy.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what contribution from colonial development and welfare funds has been made to the Oppenheimer College of Social Service in Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia; and whether any further grants are contemplated.

A sum of £7,446 has been provisionally set aside for the College subject to the submission of an acceptable scheme. The Northern Rhodesia Government are primarily responsible for determining the priority of schemes for development and welfare within the territory, and have decided to devote all other funds available to other projects. If a further allocation of funds were made available to the territory under the Colonial Development and Welfare Acts and they decided to apply for a further grant for the College, I would, of course, be ready to consider the application.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what are the figures for refugees reaching Hong Kong from China over the last three months; and what steps have been taken to assist any who were undernourished.

It is neither possible to distinguish refugees from other people in Hong Kong nor to give a reliable estimate of new arrivals. Facilities for assistance to the destitute, including provision of food and clothing, are made available both by Government and by voluntary organisations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the reasons for the considerable increase of Commonwealth immigrants this year as compared with previous years.

It is not possible to assign reasons with any certainty.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many personal secretaries, typists and machine operators were employed in his Department in May, 1959, and May, 1961.

On 1st May, 1959, 94 personal secretaries, 180 typists (including shorthand typists), and 11 machine operating staff were employed in Her Majesty's Treasury. The corresponding figures for 1st May, 1961, were 93,180 and 12, respectively.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the total sums invested abroad from non-Government sources in the last five years for which figures are available; how much of these sums related to the Commonwealth and the United States of America, respectively; what percentage of these sums was new capital actually exported from

OVERSEAS INVESTMENT AND INVESTMENT INCOME (OTHER THAN GOVERNMENT) 1958–1960
£ million
—			1958	1959	1960*
Private Investment Abroad (net of disinvestment):
all areas	…	…	323	317	274
of which—
Commonwealth	…	…	189	200	170
U.S.A.	…	…	17	14	16
Interest, Profits and Dividends from Private Investment Abroad:
all areas	…	…	661	627	614
* Provisional

TABLE 2
PRIVATE DIRECT INVESTMENT ABROAD (EXCLUDING OIL AND INSURANCE)
—				1958		1959		1960*
				£ million	Per cent.	£ million	Per cent.	£ million
All Areas:
New Capital	…	…	…	70	48	86	48
Re-invested Profits	…	…	…	75	52	92	52
Total	…	…	…	145	100	178	100	185
Commonwealth:
New Capital	…	…	…	53	51	69	56
Re-invested Profits	…	…	…	50	49	55	44
Total	…	…	…	103	100	124	100	122
U.S.A.:
New Capital	…	…	…	1	9	5	29
Re-invested Profits	…	…	…	10	91	12	71
Total	…	…	…	11	100	17	100	16
* Provisional: total figures only available.

asked the Postmaster-General how old is the longest outstanding application for a telephone in the Cleveland division.

The following tables contain the information so far as it is available, for the last three years 1958 to 1960. Owing to changes in the method of compilation of balance of payments statistics, it is not possible to provide comparable figures for earlier years.

Nearly three years, but my right hon. Friend is glad to say that service will soon be given in this case.

asked the Postmaster-General what is the average length of time on the waiting list for a telephone in the Cleveland division.

The composition of the waiting list of applications held up because of shortage of plant is not constant, and a reliable average waiting time cannot therefore be quoted. In the present list 8 per cent. of die applications have been held up for more than 12 months. When plant is available, service is usually given in about six weeks from the date of application.

asked the Postmaster-General how many applicants there are for telephones in the Cleveland division.

	1st May, 1959	1st May, 1961
Personal secretaries	108	105
Typists, including shorthand typists	568 full-time	538 full-time
	98 part-time	123 part-time
Senior machine operators, machine operators and assistants.	127 (including 1 part-time)	119 (including 1 part-time)

asked the President of the Board of Trade what assistance is given by his Department to British export journals with a view to assisting their adequate distribution overseas in the interests of promoting exports.

Through their "Wrapper Scheme", the Board of Trade pay the cost of sending to about 300 of Her Majesty's Missions abroad, for display and local distribution, 185,000 copies annually of trade and technical journals published in the United Kingdom. About 250 titles are involved, including all the principal United Kingdom export journals.Her Majesty's commercial and information officers overseas provide publishers of United Kingdom export journals on request with lists of people in their territoreis to whom copies can usefully be sent.The Board include a prominent display of the appropriate United Kingdom export: journals in the majority of their exhibits at trade fairs overseas.

One hundred and ten are on the waiting list. There are also 164 applications under inquiry or in course of being met.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many personal secretaries, typists and machine operators were employed in his Department in May, 1959, and May, 1961.

The figures for 1st May, 1959 and 1961, are as follows:

asked the Minister of Defence if he will state the cost of the Kuwait operation from 1st July to date, and the continuing cost per week; and what part of the total cost has been recovered from the Ruler of Kuwait.

Of the order of £1 million. I have no statement to make on the second part of the hon. Member's Question.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will require Ministers in charge of Depaitments to carry out a review of the powers of entry to private property of officials of their Departments and of the nationalised industries for which they are responsible.

These powers have been conferred by Statute where Parliament has considered them necessary in the public interest. If my hon. Friend will let me know of any instances of unnecessary powers or excessive use of powers, I will have them examined.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will require Ministers in charge of Departments to present him every six months with up-to-date totals of the numbers of officials of their Departments who are empowered to enter private property without obtaining prior permission.

Given existing controls over numbers, I doubt whether regular returns of officials with powers of entry are needed, but I am ready to look at this again in the light of any particular case which my hon. Friend may bring to my attention.