asked the Home Secretary the number of applications that have been made by the police in the Metropolitan area for the 12 months ended to the last convenient date for bail to be forfeited for the non-appearance of prisoners; and the gross amount forfeited?

The number of applications made by the Metropolitan Police during the 12 months ended 31st March, 1928, for bail to be forfeited for the non-appearance of prisoners is 590, and the gross amount forfeited is £542 17s. 5d.

asked the President of Board of Trade whether he has any information as to the cause of the advance in the price of leather in view of the fact that, according to reports from the River Plate, 300,000 more cattle were slaughtered in 1927 than in 1926?

I understand that the advance in leather prices is due to an increase in the prices of hides and skins; and that, although there was some increase in the number of cattle slaughtered in 1927 in the Argentine and Uruguay, there was a larger decrease in some other countries, notably the United States.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the index numbers of wholesale prices for each month for the 12 months ended to the last convenient date, giving full particulars of how they are made up and showing the number of all articles included?

An article on the index numbers of wholesale prices will appear in the Board of Trade Journal next Thursday, giving full particulars of the total and group index numbers for each month from January of last year. I would also refer the hon. Member to the monthly articles in the Board of Trade Journal, in which particulars as to the index number for the latest month are given in considerable detail, with comparative particulars for earlier months. The most recent of these articles was published in the issue of 12th April last.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how much benzol was consumed in this country during the last year to the most convenient date; what proportion of this was manufactured in England; and what proportion was manufactured abroad?

The retained imports of benzol in 1927 amounted to 13 million gallons. Precise figures of the production in this country in 1927 are not available, but the National Benzole Association have estimated that production in that year amounted to approximately 26 million gallons of refined benzol. The exports in 1927 amounted to nearly two million gallons. Thus the con-

asked the Minister of Health which of the improvements or suggestions recommended by the inspectors of his Departments on the administration of the Hollesley Bay Colony and the Belmont Institution have not been carried out; and are there any special reasons for the non-fulfilment of these recommendations?

On further inquiry I find that all the recommendations made by my inspectors on points of detail have been carried out at the institutions. The larger questions of policy to which I referred in my reply to the hon. Member's question of the 26th April last are still under consideration.

asked the Minister of Health the quantity of fresh milk imported from continental countries into Great Britain during each month from January, 1927, to April, 1928, inclusive?

The following statement shows the quantities of fresh milk imported into Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and registered as consigned from foreign countries in Europe, from January, 1927, to April, 1928, inclusive.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has any statistics that will show the number of houses occupied and unoccupied in Great Britain?

The statistics asked for are not available for any date more recent than that of the 1921 Census, according to which there were in England and Wales 7,759,821 structurally separate dwellings occupied by private families and 218,833 dwellings vacant on the Census night, this number including those vacant by reason of the temporary absence of the usual occupier. As regards Scotland, the hon. Member will doubtless address a question to the Secretary of State for Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he can state the number of heads of families and

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the number of Post Office Savings Bank accounts open on the 31st December, 1927, or nearest date; the total sum due to depositors at that date; and the average amount due to each depositor?

Final figures for the number of accounts at the end of 1927 are not yet available, but provisional returns show little variation from the position at 1st January, 1927, which the hon. Member will find set out in detail in paragraph 45 of the Report of the Municipal Savings Bank Committee (Command Paper 3014). The total sum due to depositors on 31st December, 1927, was approximately £284,500,000.

I regret that the information desired is not contained in the returns made to the Scottish Board of Health.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury approximately the quantity of Empire and non-Empire tobacco withdrawn from bond for the financial years ended the 5th April, 1927, and 5th April, 1928; and the value of the duty paid on this tobacco?

The net quantities of Empire and non-Empire tobacco entered for home consumption and the amounts of duty paid thereon during the years ended 31st March, 1927 and 1928, were as follow: