asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if his Department have considered the desirability or otherwise of education authorities establishing nursery schools in their areas; and, if such decision is favourable, what steps they are taking to have more schools of this description started?

The reports received from the Department's officers show that they have consistently done what was in their power to guide and encourage nursery schools. Under Section 8 of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1918, however, the initiative in establishing such schools rests with the education authorities, who are in a position to decide, in the light of their local knowledge, whether action on their part is required.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, in view of the difference in the number of youths below 21 arrested and charged with offences as between the two neighbouring districts of Queen's Park and Southern Courts, he has caused any inquiry to be made into the reasons for the difference; and, if so, can he state the reasons?

I have made inquiry, and am informed that the prevalence of offences by youths between the ages of 16 and 21 in the Southern Police Division, as compared with the Queen's Park Division, may be attributed to various causes, including the relatively dense population in the former division, difficulty in obtaining employment, limited facilities for recreation, and lack of parental control. A considerable proportion of the offenders commit minor offences and are sentenced to small fines or dismissed with admonitions.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that in certain cases the rents charged for slum clearance houses in Glasgow are beyond the reach of a large number of persons who are called upon to live in the new houses; and if he will have representations made either for reconsideration of the rents to be paid or to allow those on Poor Law relief a slight increase to meet the extra demand?

I am not aware that the rents charged for the new houses built in Glasgow for the accommodation of persons displaced by schemes of slum clearance are beyond the reach of the tenants generally. In fixing the annual rents of the houses at such very low figures as £12 10s. for the two-apartment houses and £15 10s. for the three-apartment houses, the corporation had before them the circumstances of the people by whom the houses were to be occupied, and I see no reason for making repre sentations of the nature suggested.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, with the view of enabling relatives and friends to communicate by wireless telephony with one another across the Atlantic at a rate more within the means of the average citizen, he will give sympathetic consideration to the suggestion that such reduction should be made on Sundays for this purpose; and whether, if a favourable opportunity occurs, he will take this matter up with those concerned in the United States and Canada?

In view of the substantial reduction which has just been made in the charge for transatlantic calls and of the extension of the service to the Continent, I do not feel that at present a further reduction on the lines suggested by my hon. Friend is opportune. I will, however, certainly bear the matter in mind.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will further consider the claim of Mrs. Parsons, aged 76, of 14, All Saints Road, Leicester, for a dependant's pension in respect of her son, the late Private R. Noon (reference 7/Rels. N/424 F. 3 W.), who entered the Army in 1914 prior to the outbreak of the Great War and died, after seven years' service, in Netley Hospital on 27th November, 1921, the cause of death being chronic bronchitis?

This case has already received careful consideration, but as Private Noon's death was not found to be directly attributable to military service, I regret that I am precluded, under the terms of the Pay Warrant, from granting Mrs. Parsons a pension from Army funds.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that in a recent contested workmen's compensation case in Nottinghamshire an insurance company produced in evidence against the applicant his Army medical record; and whether it is the practice of his Department to furnish particulars with regard to the medical records of ex-soldiers irrespective of the source from which the inquiry comes or for what purpose it is to be used?

The answer to both parts of the question is in the negative.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will give a full list of military hospitals at home and abroad, the number of beds in each hospital, and the number of personnel attached to each hospital?

I have had a table prepared which I am sending my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Transport the total amount received for the 12 months ended to the last convenient date from the collection of tolls either from toll bridges or toll roads which are now under the administration of his Department?

The only toll bridge under the administration of my Department is the Menai Suspension Bridge. The tolls collected on that bridge during the twelve months ended 18th February, 1928, amounted to £13,140. No toll roads are administered by my Department.

asked the Minister of Transport the number of accidents that have occurred on railways in Great Britain for the 12 months ended to the last convenient date, giving the number of fatalities caused therein?

The hon. Member will find full particulars of railway accidents in the annual published Returns.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in the case of a elected station under the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1926, any steps are taken by the Electricity Commissioners or by the Central Electricity Board to ensure that any plant which may have to be installed is such as, having regard to all the facts, will produce electricity at the lowest possible cost?

The Electricity Commissioners, before giving their consent to the installation of plant in selected stations, satisfy themselves generally that the plant is such as will fulfil the purpose for which the station will be operated under a scheme on account of the Central Electricity Board.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will give the names of the local authorities owning electrical undertakings which have placed orders for electrical and steam plant and machinery abroad during the last three years; and the value of the same for this period?

Neither the Ministry of Transport nor the Electricity Commissioners are, in the ordinary course, notified when either local authorities or companies owning electrical undertakings make purchases abroad, and in these circumstances I am not in a position to furnish the information that the hon. Member desires.

asked the Minister of Labour the aggregate number of days lost for which benefit was claimed by insured persons under the Unemployment Acts in the calendar years 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1927, respectively?

The total number of days of unemployment for which unemployment Insurance Acts was paid was approximately as follows:

1921	…	…	…	453,300,000
1922	…	…	…	345,100,000
1923	…	…	…	287,700,000
1924	…	…	…	258,500,000
1925	…	…	…	273,700,000
1926	…	…	…	303,000,000
1927	…	…	…	219,000,000

The corresponding figure for 1920 (namely, 24,200,000) is on a different basis from the figures for later years because the extended scheme of unemployment insurance did not come into operation till November, 1920. The above totals do not include days of unemployment for which benefit was not paid owing to waiting periods, disqualification for benefit, or other reasons, and during 1920 and 1921 there were in addition days of unemployment for which out-of-work donation, as distinct from unemployment benefit, was paid. The requisite statistics are not available regarding these additional days of unemployment.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the total amount of British meat purchased by the Government services for the 12 months ended to the last convenient date, and the cost of the same?

I am not sure whether by the term "British" meat the hon. and gallant Member includes meat imported from the Empire overseas or not. If he does, the total amount of such meat purchased for the Navy, Army and Air Force in the calendar year 1927 was 53,500,000 lbs., and the Cost £1,076,000. If, however, the question is limited to home-killed meat, the amount was 411,000 lbs., and the cost £14,900. Besides the fighting Services, a few other Government Departments purchase certain quantities of meat; but the information asked for in the question is not immediately available in their case.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that an important question under the Income Tax Acts, namely, whether the seller or the purchaser of shares sold cum dividend is the person liable to Super-tax on the dividend, has been raised by the Special Commissioners in a case where under £10 is at stake, in which the taxpayer has already appealed and the Appeal Commissioners have decided in his favour; and whether he will give instructions that, as a matter of policy, test cases in matters of general application should not be brought against taxpayers whose interest in the subject-matter is not commensurate with the expense of contesting them?

I have no knowledge of the case to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers, but if he will send me the necessary particulars I shall be pleased to inquire into it.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the number of additional appointments that have been made to the staff of the Customs and Excise since April, 1927, and the approximate total sum paid in salaries?

During the period from 1st April, 1927, to 31st December, 1927, which is the latest date for which figures are available, 100 additional appointments were made to the staff of the Customs and Excise Department. The approximate total sum paid in salaries during this period was £2,970,000, which includes about £9,000 in respect of these additional appointments.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of persons who have undertaken to purchase their holdings, under the Small Holdings Act, 1926; the acreage of land involved; and the total purchase price?

The schemes submitted for approval under Section 2 of the Act include proposals for the provision and sale of 17 cottage holdings with a combined area of 12 acres. The annuities, payable for 60 years, amount in the aggregate to £313 3s. 2d. No prpposals have been submitted for the sale of small holdings, but councils are free to sell, subject to the restrictions contained in the Act, without the Minister's consent.