asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that Mr. J. Clarke, of 12, Haydock Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire, a disabled man, has been promised employment as a watchmaker, provided that he can obtain training in this work: that the case has been before the St. Helens and district local employment committee for several weeks; and that Mr. Clarke has been unable to obtain a satisfactory reply and is therefore in danger of losing the guaranteed employment; what impediment there is in training this man; and why action has not already been taken?

Mr. Clarke s application for training as a watch and clock repairer, in accordance with the established procedure, was duly submitted to the Local Technical Advisory Committee responsible for the supervision of the training in this trade in the Wigan District, but I regret that this Committee expressed themselves unable to accept him as suitable for the training proposed. I am having further enquiry made into the case with a view to seeing whether the Committee can reconsider their decision or whether some suitable alternative training can be offered to Mr. Clarke, and I will communicate with my Noble Friend again upon the case.

asked the Minister of Health the number of disabled, or partially disabled, ex-service men who have been refused pension who are inmates of Poor Law institutions or who are at present in receipt of Poor Law relief?

The information desired by the hon. Member is not in my possession.

asked the First Com missioner of Works what is the total charge in respect of rent, rates, and taxes, of 30 and 31, Chesham Place; whether the whole or any portion of this amount is paid by the British Government; and whether any charge is incurred in respect of No. 23, Belgrave Square?

The payment of local rates in respect of premises occupied by foreign Embassies and Legations in London is dealt with, in the majority of cases, under a reciprocal arrangement between His Majesty's Government and the foreign Governments concerned. The effect of the arrangement is that His Majesty's Government undertake payment of that portion of the rates which represents poor relief, police, education, while the remainder, representing services such as drainage, street lighting and maintenance, is borne by the Embassy or Legation concerned. As far as concerns the premises at Chesham House, Chesham Place, which were formerly the Russian Embassy and are still occupied by officials who represented the late Provisional Government of Russia, it has been decided that no further payments from public funds under the reciprocal arrangement can be authorised. I understand the premises are freehold. The premises at No. 23, Belgrave Square, are in the occupation of the Belgian Ambassador, who enjoys the usual relief from rates contemplated by the arrangement. H.M. Government are not concerned in the rent of these houses. A Foreign Minister is exempt from taxation under diplomatic privilege, and if he lives in a rented house, property tax is charged direct on the landlord.

asked the First Commissioner of Works what contracts have been entered into by the Office of Works on behalf of local authorities; and what are the differences between such contracts and those entered into with building firms or companies?

The arrangements under which housing schemes are executed by my Department for local authorities are not dealt with on the ordinary contractual basis. The Office of Works acts as agent for local authorities at their request and by agreement with the Ministry of Health, and is authorised to execute works on approved estimates of cost. For the purchase of materials in connection with direct labour schemes the usual contractual procedure of my Department is followed.

asked the Minister of Health whether there is anything in the Vaccination Acts or Orders issued thereunder to prevent the performance of the operation of vaccination by registered medical practitioners, other than public vaccinators, with humanised lymph and the performance of the operation of vaccination by unregistered persons?

The answer is in the negative. But the Acts provide that a certificate of successful vaccination can only be given by a registered medical practitioner.

asked the Minister of Health how many vaccine farms there are in this country in which vaccine lymph is manufactured and sold for vaccination purposes; and what arrangements are made to secure that the lymph issued from these farms is produced under the best conditions and is free from contamination by extraneous diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease?

In addition to the Government Lymph Establishment which manufactures vaccine lymph for supply only to public vaccinators and medical officers of health, there are four private firms in England and Wales which manufacture lymph for sale. I have no jurisdiction over the private manufacture of vaccine lymph, but as regards the Government Lymph Establishment all possible precautions are adopted to secure that the lymph is produced under the best conditions and is free from contamination.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the necessity for economy in every department of State, he will consider having only one parliamentary register annually instead of two?

I may refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply given by the Leader of the House on the 15th November to the question put by the hon. Member for Watford (Mr. D. Herbert). The practical arrangements involved in the proposal are now under consideration.

asked the Minister of Health the average weekly cost of an indoor pauper and of an outdoor pauper, separately, for the years ending March 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, and 1920, not including administrative expenses; the administrative cost of an indoor and an outdoor pauper for the same periods; and what proportion of average weekly cost is spent on clothes, food, shoes, rent, or shelter?

The latest available information as to the average weekly cost of a person receiving institutional and domiciliary relief will be found at pages 21 to 26, and 148 of Part III of the First Annual Report of the Minister of Health, 1919-20 (Cmd. 932).

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that the following men have repeatedly applied at the labour exchange at Dungloe, county Donegal, for out-of-work donation and have been refused: James Gallagher, Roshine North; Anthony Ward, Roshine North; James Sweeney, Lackenagh; John Gallagher, Roshine North; and John O'Donnell, Clogherdillure; is he aware that their books are all duly stamped; why the benefit is refused; and why Bryan Ward, of Clogherdillure, with 53 contributions, was paid off work at the Burton-port pier with a sum of £3 l1s. 6d.?

There was unfortunately some delay in authorising payment of unemployment benefit in these cases, which I very much regret. The unemployment books for the year ending July, 1920, had been lost and the books current at the date when the claims were made, at the beginning of August, 1920, did not contain a sufficient number of stamps to enable payment of benefit to be authorised. Payment of contributions on the lost books has now been verified by inquiry from the employers and benefit has been authorised in all the cases. In the case of Bryan Ward, payment of further benefit, up to the full amount due, has been authorised.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he has received representations from employés of banks against inclusion under the Unemployment Insurance Act; whether he has taken into account the long-established custom of bank directors of giving permanent and regular employment to their staffs; and whether he will consider the advisability of excluding bank employés from the provisions of such Act?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Plaistow (Mr. W. Thorne) on December 8th, a copy of which I am sending to him.

asked the Postmaster-General whether during the Christmas period the working of overtime could be discontinued so as to give some employment to those seeking work?

I am arranging for the employment of a temporary force to deal with Christmas pressure in the Post Office as far as the circumstances permit. It is not possible to discontinue overtime altogether, as the heaviest pressure only lasts for two days, and it is not worth training a temporary force for this alone.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether officers in the Army have recently been allowed £150 uniform or kit allowance, less any amount received on joining; whether the same, or any amount, has been, or will be, allowed to all officers of the Air Force; and, if not, the reason?

As regards Army officers, an allowance of £150 will be made, subject to certain conditions, to officers joining the Household Troops. For officers joining other regiments in which full dress is not worn, the rate will be £50, subject to conditions about to be announced. The question of an allowance for uniform in the case of officers of the Royal Air Force is under consideration, and it is hoped that an announcement on the subject will shortly be made.

asked the Home Secretary how many aliens are now in Brixton and Holloway prisons, respectively, under deportation orders; and how many of these persons have been upwards of one month in custody?

There are 41 aliens in Brixton Prison and eight in Holloway under Deportation orders. Of these aliens 23 and 7 respectively have been in custody over 1 month.

asked the Home Secretary whether he has received representations from the Stafford and District Newsagents' Association regarding the revision of the proposed bye-law issued by the Staffordshire Education Committee, which is to come into force on the 1st January next, regarding the employment of children attending school; and whether he will undertake that the same rule shall apply in Stafford as in the County Boroughs of Wolverhampton, Walsall, and Stoke-on-Trent, which are also situated within the limits of the county of Staffordshire?

In February and March last after the byelaws made by the Staffordshire Education Committee had been published, I received representations from the Stafford and District Newsagents' Association to the effect that children should be allowed to be employed for an hour before school. These representations were communicated to the Staffordshire Education Committee, who decided after full consideration not to exercise the power given to them by Section 13 of the Education Act to make a byelaw allowing employment before school. I confirmed the byelaws on the 21st October last, from which date they took effect. With regard to the second part of the question, the county byelaws apply to the borough of Stafford. Bye-laws have been made for the county boroughs of Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Walsall and were confirmed in October and November. In the two former boroughs the byelaws allow employment for an hour before school in certain occupations; in the last, no such employment is allowed. The question of allowing employment before school is primarily one for the local authorities, having regard to the special circumstances of their area, and I could not take such action as my hon. and gallant Friend suggests.

asked the Home Secretary why Mr. H. J. Fisher, of 19, Waldeck Road, Ealing, was refused a permit or licence under the Firearms Act to purchase and own a rook rifle and revolver, or one of them, seeing that he is a person of undeniable good character who was vouched for by a well-known firm of solicitors of repute and standing; and why, notwithstanding that his application was sent in on 13th November, he was kept waiting for an answer till 10th December instant, and then only answered verbally and after he had called repeatedly at the police station for a reply?

The Police on the facts within their knowledge came to the conclusion that no such case had been made out for the issue of a certificate to Mr. Fisher as the Firearms Act requires, and I see no sufficient reason for dissenting from this view. The delay in giving notice of this decision to Mr. Fisher arose partly from the need for a very careful consideration of the case, and partly from the difficulty of deciding with a somewhat limited staff the difficult questions that arise on many of the very numerous applications made under the Act when it first came into force.