asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is in a position to make a statement with regard to the settlement arrived at between Great Britain and Egypt with reference to the retention of foreign officials necessary to guarantee Imperial communications and safeguard foreign interests which, under the declaration of 22nd February, 1922, Great Britain had undertaken to protect?

I have little to add to the reply returned to the hon. and gallant Member on the 2nd May last. More than three-quarters of the foreign officials whose regular service lately came to an end have been re-engaged. In the European Department of the Ministry of the Interior and the Police, and in the Egyptian State Railways, which departments, perhaps, most directly concern the protection of foreign interests and Imperial communications, respectively, the number of foreign officials remains virtually unaltered.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can make a statement on the Government's attitude with regard to the reserved points arising out of the Egyptian declaration of independence of February, 1922?

His Majesty's Government have not altered their attitude towards these matters which are reserved to their discretion pending the conclusion of agreement in regard thereto by negotiation with the Egyptian Government.

asked (1) the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the question of the Khartoum-Kisumu section of the Cairo-Cape Empire air route will be discussed at any meeting of the Colonial governors who are interested and who are now in this country;(2) asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he can make any statement defining the Government's attitude with regard to the Khartoum-Kisumu section of the Cairo-Cape Empire air route?

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Air has asked me to answer the question addressed to him together with this question. A meeting has been held with the representatives of the Governments concerned, but the matter must be referred to those Governments before any decision can be taken.The home Government is most anxious to support the scheme by any means in its power, but no announcement is possible at present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if a Report has yet been received by his Department from the experts who were appointed to consider the question of railway construction in East Africa?

I have recently received a Report, which is now being printed.

asked the Secretary of state for Dominion Affairs whether he is aware that a claim was sent in by Lieut.-Colonel Prittie Perry, a Southern Irish loyalist, for £2,100 for injuries sustained to his property in Ireland by reason of his loyalty, such claim being based on the scale of compensation provided by the Dunedin Report; that under the terms of reference to the Grants Committee the claim has been reduced to a sum of £250; and whether he would be prepared to inquire into the facts of this case for himself and, if satisfied that such reduction is due to the limitations in the committee's terms of reference, would authorise the claim to be reopened by the committee and dealt with in accordance with the pledges of the Government as found by Lord Dunedin's Report?

The Irish Grants Committee have made a recommendation that the sum of £250 should be paid to Lieut.-Colonel Prittie Perry in respect of an application for £2,100 (less £715 awarded him by the Irish Free State Courts) submitted to them by him; and as it was understood that the applicant was in need of money to complete the reconstruction of the premises in respect of which the application was made, I have on the further recommendation of the Committee paid to Colonel Prittie Perry's solicitors the full amount recommended by them. I understand from the committee that their consideration of this application and the nature of the recommendation made by them was in no way affected by any limitation in their terms of reference; and the last part of the question does not therefore arise.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what schemes of land reclamation have been inaugurated during the last 10 years; what area each covers; which schemes have been completed; what has the cost been in each case; what is now the market value; and who is now the owner of the land reclaimed?

Three schemes of land reclamation have been undertaken during the last 10 years, all of which have been completed. The schemes were carried out at (1) Wainfleet, on the north-west shore of the Wash, by the Ministry; (2) Wingland, on the shore of the Wash in the vicinity of King's Lynn, by the Commissioners of Crown Lands, and (3) Meathop Marsh, in Morecambe Bay, by a committee, of landowners with the aid of a Government grant.(1) The area of land reclaimed shortly after the War at Wainfleet is, approximately, 338 acres, and cost £56,550 to reclaim. Of this land, 61 acres have been sold with other lands, the price realised for the whole being, approximately, £40 per acre. The remainder of the land belongs to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the value being estimated at £16 per acre. This scheme was carried out by unemployed land labour and the cost included the provision of a hutted camp.(2) At Wingland, approximately, 340 acres were reclaimed in 1925–26 on behalf of the Commissioners of Crown Lands, at a cost of about £18,000, and remain the property of the Commissioners. The land has yet to be equipped and under-drained, and until this has been done its value cannot be precisely stated.(3) An area of 465 acres was enclosed at Meathop Marsh during the years 1923 to 1925 at a cost of approximately £34,000, as part of a land drainage scheme for the relief of unemployment, the Government grant being approximately 75 per cent. of the cost. I have no precise information as to the market value of this land. which remains in private hands.

asked the Minister of Health whether he can give an analysis, together with a general average, of rating increases or decreases of each rural district council as between the last two levies prior to the coming into force of the Rating and Valuation Act and since that date?

I am unable to give the analysis and averages suggested by the Noble Lord, the necessary particulars not being it my possession.