asked the Secretary of State for War whether the various commands issued orders regarding the forthcoming competitive examination for appointment to the male clerical classes of the Civil Service in time for all civilian employés to apply for the necessary forms; and, seeing that some civilian employés in the Southern Command only received notices on the 24th February and these forms had to be sent in by the 26th, may the Civil Service Commissioners be informed of this delay in issuing the forms by the Army commands so that the special circumstances of some applicants may be reconsidered

The hon. and gallant Gentleman probably refers to a War Office circular letter of 18th February, which was issued to remind temporary clerks that the only means by which establishment could be secured was through the Southborough examination: in this letter reference was naturally made to the latest date of application to enter. This date had previously been widely advertised in the Press, and, as a result of a request from the Civil Service Commissioners, the attention of the staff side of the War Office Whitley Council had previously been drawn to it on 12th February. The War Office cannot accept responsibility if prospective candidates do not take the trouble to ascertain the conditions of the examination for which they wish to sit. In the circumstances, I see no reason for asking the Civil Service Commissioners to take any special action.

asked the. Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether the position of a civil servant holding a Modified (War) Certificate under the Order in Council of the 22nd March, 1918, will be at any time reviewed with the object of a full certificate being granted if so, by whom; whether, when the Modified (War) Certificate is under review, the amount of sick-leave taken by the holder during his probationary period will influence the award of a fail certificate; and, if so, in what way; and whether, in the event of a full certificate being granted, the term of the probationary period will be counted as service qualifying for pension?

The position of a civil servant holding a Modified (War) Certificate under the Order in Council of 22nd March, 1918, is not reviewable in the manner suggested. The effect of a Modified (War) Certificate is to modify the sick-pay allowable to the holder in the manner stated in Clause 3 of the Order (except that the period of 36 clays mentioned therein has been extended to three months by a later Regulation) during the first five years of his service. Apart from this modification, a Modified (War) Certificate has, for all purposes, the same force and effect as an ordinary Civil Service Certificate.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware of the adverse views held by local authorities on the present method of calculation of the incomes of claimants for old age pensions, which is based on the present market value of any investments held and not on the actual return from such investments; and whether he will consider the desirability of introducing a change in the Law on this subject?

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Middlesbrough West (Mr. T. Thomson) on the 10th February.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will make representations to the railway companies to allow Members of Parliament to exchange travel vouchers at the offices of the recognised railway passenger agents?

I have not heard that any serious inconvenience has been caused by the absence of this facility; and unless there is evidence of a widely spread demand for it, I am not inclined to approach the railway companies.

asked the Minister of Health the number of houses built by contract and direct labour, respectively, distinguishing between three-bedroom houses, non-parlour and parlour, and four-bedroom houses, non-parlour and parlour, under the Addison Acts and Chamberlain Acts, respectively, in each of the following cities, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and London; and the cost in architectural fees?

I will communicate with the local authorities in question, and endeavour to obtain the information desired by the holt Member; but as regards Glasgow, I would suggest that a similar question should be addressed to my right hon. Friend the Secretary for Scotland.

asked the Minister of Health the amount and cost of land acquired in Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and London, re- spectively, under the Addison Acts and the Chamberlain Acts respectively?

According to returns received in March, 1923, from the local authorities in question, the following are the areas of land acquired up to that date, and the average cost per acre:

—	Area in Acres.	Average price per Acre.
London:		£
London County Councils	3,588	194
Corporation of London	260	415
Metropolitan Borough Councils.	774	691
Birmingham	1,110	209
Liverpool	1,133	376
Manchester	567	376

Since March, 1923, Metropolitan Borough Councils have acquired 21 acres at an average cost of £813 per acre; Birmingham Corporation, 1,084 acres at £217 per acre; and Manchester Corporation, 124 acres at £404 per acre.As regards Glasgow, I would suggest that, the hon. Member should address a similar question to my right hon. Friend the Secretary for Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the number of cottages provided for rural workers in Ireland under various Acts from 1883 to 1922; the total cost to the Imperial Exchequer; the average extent of garden land attached to each cottage; and the average rent paid by the occupier of each cottage?

The Returns to the House of Commons No. 280 and 281 of 1915 give much of the information asked for in the question up to 1915. The Returns were interrupted by the War, and no subsequent Returns of this nature have been compiled.Up to the 31st March, 1920, the total number of cottages in Ireland authorised under the Labourers Acts was 54,060, and the number actually provided was 47,966. The rents in 1919–20 amounted to £150,957 15s. 3d.; the average rent would therefore appear to be approximately 63s. per annum. It is not possible to say what the total cost to the Exchequer of these cottages was. I regret that no further figures regarding operation under these Acts are at present availably in this country.Under the Irish Land (Provision for Sailors and Soldiers) Act, 1919, and Section 3 of the Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1922, there have been provided or are being provided by the Irish Sailors and Soldiers Land Trust in rural districts in Ireland 1,379 cottages at a total cost of £1,100,000 to the Exchequer. These cottages are provided for ex-service men irrespective of their profession or trade, and are therefore not necessarily occupied by rural workers. The figures are exclusive of cottages provided by the Trust in suburban and urban districts.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that. Miss D. A. S. Robinson, a power-machinist, has been disqualified at the Hackney Employment Exchange from receiving unemployment benefit on the ground that she is not genuinely seeking work; that this conclusion was reached because she had had an opportunity of work as a treadle-machinist; that, having accepted that opportunity, she found herself physically unable to carry out this more onerous and, for her, unsuitable work and, in fact, fainted at the machine and whether he will have Miss Robinson's case re-investigated?

I have had inquiry made, and find that Miss Robinson appealed to the Court of Referees, before whom she attended in person. After hearing her statement of her case the Court upheld the disallowance of her claim. It was not alleged before the Court that she accepted the work and found on trial that she was unable to perform it. On the contrary, the evidence before the Court was that she refused even to give the work a trial. I have no power to review the Court's decision.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will investigate the circumstances attending the refusal of unemployment benefit to Mr. J. Wilson, of 45, Bridge Road, Stratford, E.15, on the grounds that he refused suitable employment, whereas this man was offered a job as a cooper at Bradford, the hourly wage being is. 3d., although the standard trade union wage for this class of work in the town of Bradford is 1s. 7d. per hour; and will he call the attention of the local exchange to the matter, and instruct them not to send persons to situations under trade union rates of pay?

The insurance officer has reconsidered this case in the light of further information, and benefit is being paid as from the date of the original disallowance. As regards the last part of the question the rule laid down in the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920, as regards claims for standard benefit it that benefit is not to be stopped owing to refusal of a job in another district if the rate of wage is lower or the conditions less favourable than those generally observed in that district by agreement between associations of employers and of employees or failing any such agreement, than those generally recognised in that district by good employers.