asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, if the temporary buildings used as Government offices in Whitehall and the Embankment are erected on property belonging to the State; if not, what rent is paid, and to whom, for the use of the ground occupied; and how long it is estimated the tenancy will be required?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The sites on which these buildings stand are vested in the Commissioners of Crown Lands, to whom rentals totalling £2,800 per annum are paid. It is not possible to forecast the date when these temporary buildings can be dispensed with.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the number of ex-service professional, scientific and technical officers serving in a temporary capacity in each Government Department on 1st January, 1928?

I regret that this information is not available from existing statistics, and could only be obtained as a result of a special inquiry, which would involve considerable labour.

asked the Prime Minister if he will now consider the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the best means and the cost of giving effect to the principle of equal pay for men and women in the Civil Service, as recommended by Resolution of this House on 19th May, 1920?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a similar question asked by the hon. Member for Central Southwark (Mr. Day) on 17th November, 1925, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Minister of Health the number of men detained in casual wards under the control of the Metropolitan Asylum Board during the year ended 31st December, 1927; the number of such men who were detained for the maximum period of four days: the total cost of maintenance, including establishment loan and other charges; and the money value which accrued to the Metropolitan Asylum Board as a result of wood sawing and chopping, or any other work engaged in by these men?

I have asked the Metropolitan Asylum Board whether they can supply the information requested by the hon. Member, and will communicate with him as soon as possible

asked the Minister of Health the number of working-class houses erected in rural areas in England and Wales under the 1923 Housing Act; the number erected under the 1924 Act; and the number erected without any subsidy from 1923 to the present date?

The number of houses completed by rural district councils in England and Wales up to the 1st March last were 92,532 under the Housing Act, 1923, and 24,525 under the Housing Act, 1924. The number of houses not exceeding £26 rateable value erected in rural districts without subsidy during the period from 1st April, 1923, to 30th September, 1927, the latest date for which figures are available, was 76,387.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs the estimated cost of giving effect to the Privy Council decision in the case of Wigg and Cochran?

I assume that the information which the hon. Member desires to obtain is the amount of additional payment which would fall to be made by way of compensation to civil servants transferred to the Irish Free State if the judgment of the Judicial Committee in the case of Wigg and Cochrane were to be applied to all such cases of compensation. I understand that the cost as regards compensation in cases already disposed of is estimated at £48,000, and as regards pending cases at £7,000. An increase in the annual compensation charge would also be involved, the amount of which cannot be estimated with any degree of accuracy.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether his attention has been directed to a proposal made recently in the Canadian Legislature that the Imperial, Federal, Alberta. and British Columbia Governments should co-operate in a great scheme of settlement in the Peace River country, and that the British Government should allocate a sum from its unemployment fund as bonuses to farmers undertaking the development of this region; and whether, in the interests both of Imperial development and of the employment question, he will, if approached by the Canadian Government, be prepared to co-operate in the manner suggested?

Yes, Sir. I have seen a report of the recent debate in the Canadian House of Commons on the subject. His Majestys Government in Great Britain would, of course, be glad to consider any scheme for the settlement of suitable persons from this country in the Peace River district under the terms of the Empire Settlement Act, if put forward by the Canadian authorities. I should add, however, that the unemployment fund is not available for oversea settlement purposes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that shipping companies and commercial firms express dissatisfaction with the new Government wharf at Apapa, Nigeria, on the ground that it is not possible to discharge cargoes sufficiently quickly there; and whether he can make any statement?

No, Sir. I have seen a statement in the report of the annual meeting of the Niger Company to the effect that such complaints have been made but no complaint has reached me or, so far as I am aware, the Colonial Government. I am, therefore, not in a position to make any statement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been directed to the fact that the 3 ft. 6 in.-gauge is practically universal on the railways of the Union of South Africa, of Rhodesia, of Nyasaland, of Portuguese East Africa, and of the Sudan; and whether, in view of the fact that the railways of East Africa must ultimately be physically connected with these lines, he will consider the desirability of ceasing further construction on the metre-gauge and of converting the lines of Uganda, Kenya, and Tanganyika to 3 feet 6 inches before the cost of conversion becomes prohibitive?

The Railway Administrations of Kenya and Uganda and of Tanganyika have for some time kept in mind the possibility that eventually they may find it desirable to convert their existing metre gauge to a gauge of 3 feet 6 inches, and they are now experimenting with various types of steel sleepers which will permit the widening of the gauge in the future at small expense.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether there have been any further developments with regard to the Novomeysky concession of the Dead Sea salts?

The results of the negotiations with Major Tulloch and Mr. Novomeysky are still under examination by the Palestine and Transjordan Governments. As I have already stated, no concession has yet been granted.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the authorised strength of the official medical staff in each of the Crown Colonies; whether any Colony has a staff which is not up to strength; and what steps are being taken to deal with any shortage?

The figures for which the hon. Member asks are given below. As regards those Colonial medical appointments which are usually filled by recruitment in this country, it is only in the West African Medical Staff that the number of vacancies is considerable. For most other Colonial medical services there is a surplus of candidates. When vacancies occur they are advertised in the medical and other Press, and in filling appointments the Colonial Office receives assistance from the Universities, the Medical Schools, and the British Medical Association. Latterly a number of applications have been received from Dominions candidates.

asked the Attorney-General if he is aware that the 33⅓ per cent. impost on solicitors' costs, which was allowed during the War, constitutes a hardship to a large section of the public; and will he consider whether this should now be revised?

The power to make an addition of 33⅓ per cent. to certain costs allowed to solicitors was conferred by Orders made in December, 1919, and in July, 1925. The ground upon which these Orders were made was the rise in the expense of carrying on a solicitor's business by reason of the general rise in rent, clerks' remuneration, and materials. I regret to state that there has been no such fall in any of these items of expense as would justify the Committee by whom these Orders were made in repealing them.

asked the Minister of Labour how many building operatives were unemployed on the last date for which figures are available?

The following are the numbers and percentages of insured persons classified as belonging to the building trade recorded as unemployed in Great Britain at 20th February, 1928.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many fishery districts have obtained an order to impose a licence duty for coarse fishing; how many licences of this description have been sold in each district in 1927; and what is the amount charged in each district?

Fourteen fishery boards have obtained Orders enabling them to charge licence duties for fishing for freshwater fish commonly known as "coarse fish," in the whole or in parts of their districts. The range of licence duties for angling for freshwater fish is from one shilling to fifteen shillings, and that for other instruments from two shillings and sixpence to fifteen shillings, the higher ranges of duty being as a rule in force only in cases where the licence includes a licence to fish for trout. The total number of licences issued for rod and line fishing for freshwater fish was 141,445, of which 61,931 were issued by the Trent Fishery Board and 46,983 by the Severn Fishery Board. The total number of licences for other instruments was 126. I am sending my hon. Friend a statement giving full details.

asked the Minister of Agriculture why the designatory letters of the Incorporated Society of Auctioneers and Landed Property Agents (F.A.L.P.A. and A.A.L.P.A.)

The panel to which my hon. Friend refers is made by the Lord Chief Justice in accordance with the requirements of the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1923. It is not proposed to publish it, and I am not in a position to give any explanations in regard to it.

asked the Minister of Transport the number of applications he has received since January, 1927, from local authorities and aggrieved consumers asking for a revision of the prices charged by electricity undertakers; whether any application from the Wandsworth Borough Council is among them; and the number of such cases in which he has exercised his statutory powers?

There have been seven such cases. I have not yet received a formal application from the Wandsworth Borough Council, who have, however, intimated their intention to support an application that has been made by certain consumers. In two cases I have made Orders; in two cases the applications are still under consideration, and the remaining three cases are in abeyance pending local negotiations with a view to settlement.