asked the Minister of Labour if he will cause instructions to be given that will result in applicants to Employment Exchanges for female workers being obliged to produce evidence of their bona fides before young women are allowed to be interviewed by prospective employers at hotels or private rooms?

The existing instructions to Employment Exchanges already provide that the greatest care must be observed in dealing with vacancies for girls or young women. I do not think it would serve any useful purpose to issue a further instruction.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of claims for unemployment benefit allowed by the rota committees attached to the Wednesbury Employment Exchange since 1st January, and the number of such claims where the decisions of the committees have been disallowed by the officer of the Ministry?

Out of a total of 1,626 applications for extended benefit considered by the Wednesbury Local Committee between 12th January and 12th April, 1,561 were recommended for allowance. The recommendations were accepted by the Ministry in all save 22 cases.

asked the Secretary of State for Air the qualifications required of candidates for entry as flight cadets to the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell; and the number of cadetships that are now to be offered or are available?

The information requested by the hon. and gallant Member in the first part of his question is contained in a publication which is entitled"Regulations for Admission to the Royal Air Force Cadet College, Cranwell," and of which T am sending him a copy. As regards the second part of tile question, the number of vacancies to be filled as a result of the next entrance examination, which is to be held in June next, is 35.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will, in view of the evidence given at the inquest on the officers and men killed at Henlow, consider the advisability of fixing a maximum age at which a man may be allowed to act as pilot?

I am advised that, provided a pilot retains the requisite standard of physical fitness and mental alertness, there is no need to lay down any maximum age limit beyond which he should not be allowed to fly. There is no reason why the necessary physical standards should not be maintained to the end of an officer's service life. Officers are periodically examined as to their physical fitness for the duties on which they are engaged, and unless they attain the requisite standard they are not allowed to fly.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether lodging and subsistence allowances have yet been paid to all the established men transferred from Rosyth and Pembroke to the dockyards of Devonport, Portsmouth and Chatham; and, if not, what are the reasons for the delay?

Under the arrangements in force, no delay should occur in payment of the allowances mentioned unless the evidence which the men are required to furnish in support of their claims is not forthcoming. In cases in which such evidence is unavoidably delayed, but the claims are prima facie genuine, advances may be paid by the cashiers of the dockyards. I am not aware of any grounds for complaint as to delay in payment.

asked the Secretary for Mines the quantity of coals exported from Danzig and the neighbouring port of

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, with reference to the information given last Session in Debates concerning naval marriage allowances as to a Committee to be appointed to co-ordinate with length of service, attainments, and additional hardships, the pay, pension, allowances and perquisites, respectively, of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, a statement can be Gdynia in the months of January, February and March, 1926, and to which countries these coals were exported?

I regret that the particulars asked for are not at present available, but I will see if I can get them.

asked the Secretary for Mines the number of accidents in mines due to fires and floods for each year from 1915 to the last known date; the number of lives lost; and the districts of the accidents for the same period?

The information is as follows:made as to whether such a Committee has been or will be appointed and when its report may be expected?

I presume that my hon. Friend intends to refer to the Cabinet Committee set up to coordinate rates of pay of new entrants to the Fighting Services, which also considered the question of marriage allowance for naval officers. Reports of Cabinet Committees are not published, but the decisions of the Government on these matters which were announced last year were arrived at after consideration of the Committee's recommendations.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, the estimated cost per hour of a sitting of the House of Commons before 11 p.m.; and the additional cost per hour after 11 p.m., including police, lights, attendance, etc.

The cost of engineering services, police, custodians, etc., for a normal sitting is approximately £17 per hour, and the additional cost per hour after 11 p.m. is approximately £5.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, at the recent meeting of the League of Nations Council any date was fixed within which the French troops were to be withdrawn from the Saar territory?

The answer is in the negative; but the French Government have undertaken to withdraw one battalion by the 31st May, and then to proceed step by step with the withdrawal of the remainder of the troops stationed in the territory.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the fact that he has an agreement with the National Association for the Employment of Regular Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen, whereby 50 per cent. of the total vacancies in the Post Office are filled by ex-service men, he will state the number of such vacancies filled by ex-service men in each of the last seven years, together with the total vacancies filled in the periods mentioned?

My hon. Friend has presumably in mind the arrangement under which 50 per cent, of the vacancies on the classes of postmen and porters in the Post Office are filled by ex-service men. The figures prior to the year 1920 could not now be ascertained without considerable trouble. The figures for the classes of postmen and porters for 1920 and the following years are as follow: