asked the Home Secretary the number of cases of lead poisoning among painters for the months of January, February, March, April, and May of 1927, and for the same months of 1928; and what steps are taken to see that the Regulations under the Lead Paints Act are being enforced?

The number of cases reported for the first five months of 1927 was 33, and for the same period in 1928, 40. All cases of lead poisoning and complaints are fully investigated by the factory inspectors. It has always been recognised that on account of the special conditions under which the industry is carried on it would be necessary to rely to a large extent on the co-operation of the industry itself for securing general compliance with the Regulations. With this object, conferences were arranged with the employers' and operatives' associations, and I am glad to state that both sides have taken steps to impress on their members the importance of a strict observance of the Regulations and have promised to assist the Department in every possible way.

asked the Minister of Health whether any statistics are compiled by his Department showing the amount of money paid in respect of health insurance for occupational sickness and diseases; and whether he will consider the advisability of circulating information to workers so that they may lessen or prevent the ailments to which they may become subject in the course of their occupation?

As approved societies are not generally organised on an occupational basis, it is not possible to compile statistics of the nature referred to by the hon. Member. In regard to the second part of the question, I will confer with my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.

asked the Home Secretary the number of "P" (probationary) clerks in his Department and the number of such clerks promoted to established posts at the last convenient date?

The number of permanent, non-pensionable ("P" Class) clerks in the Home Office is 19. Up to the present date three "P" Class clerks have been promoted to established posts.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of "P" (probationary) clerks in his Department and the number of such clerks promoted to established posts at the last convenient date?

There are no "P" clerks in the Scottish Office, and no clerks of this grade have open promoted to established posts.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department the number of "P" (probationary) clerks in his Department and the number of such clerks promoted to established posts at the last convenient date?

Eight "P" Class (permanent unestablished) clerks are employed in my Department. No such clerks have been promoted to established posts, but the promotion of one is at present under consideration.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of "P" (probationary) clerks in his Department and the number of such clerks promoted to established posts at the last convenient date?

Two hundred and seventy-seven "P" (permanent non-pensionable) clerks are borne. No promotions have yet been made.

asked the President of the Board of Education the number of "P" (probationary) clerks in his Department and the number of such clerks promoted to established posts at the last convenient date?

The number of "P" Class (permanent non-pensionable) clerks now employed at the Board of Education is 36. Up to the present, 26 such clerks have been promoted to the established clerical grade.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of "P" (probationary) clerks in his Department and the number of such clerks promoted to established posts at the last convenient date?

I presume the hon. Member refers to permanent unestablished clerk's. The present number is 30, and the number promoted to date to established posts is 4.

asked the Postmaster-General whether the Post Office staff are engaged on work for Trinity House on electrical communication with lighthouses and light vessels; and the number of men so engaged and the places where they are employed?

No Post Office staff is exclusively engaged on work for Trinity House. The communications with the Trinity House lighthouses are part of the public telephone system and are worked and maintained by Post Office staff in ordinary course. The wireless telephone installations on light vessels are not provided or worked by the Post Office.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty why the Admiralty has turned down an application from coalowners and others for permission to conduct experiments with pulverised coal on an old man-of-war; and whether, seeing the position of the coal industry, he will reconsider that decision?

The Admiralty are willing to lend a small obsolete warship suitable for such experiments.

asked the Secretary of Mines whether his attention has been called to the commencement in various parts of the country of new coal-mining ventures; and whether, in view of the known excess of capacity of existing mines beyond present needs, he will take powers to prohibit such ventures at present?

The reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative, and to the latter part in the negative.

asked the Lord Advocate the terms of the decision of the Court of Session which ordered the release of Neil Macdonald and Ewan MacLennan?

The Interlocutor of the Court of Session is in these terms:

"Edinburgh, 27th June, 1928. The Lords having considered the Note for the Appellants Neil Macdonald, Shepherd, Scarristaveg Harris, and Ewan MacLennan, Joiner, residing at Scarista, Harris, and heard Counsel, order ad interim the immediate liberation of the said Appellants presently incarcerated in the prison of Inverness, and grant Warrant to the Governor of said Prison accordingly. Dispense with the printing and boxing of the Note of Appeal Record and Interlocutors, and allow the same to be received in Typewritten form: Further extend the time for lodging the Note of Appeal Record and Interlocutors until the 11th day of July, 1928, and Decern."

(Signed) ROBERT MUNRO, I.P.D.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if there has been at any time since May, 1912, when Neil Macdonald and Ewan MacLellan, who were sentenced to four months imprisonment at Lochmaddy on 14th June, 1928, for occupying land, applied for smallholdings, land which could have been offered to these men?

Land settlement schemes have been promoted in Harris since 1912, but, in allocating the available holdings, the claims of other applicants were considered stronger than those of the two men mentioned in the question.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware of the neglected condition, externally and internally, of the block of architecture erected by the Government over 50 years ago in the Exhibition Road for a normal school of science; and, if so, pending a decision as to its future use, will he consider the advisability of taking steps to arrest further consequences of the neglect in question?

I have been asked to reply to this question, as it is believed that the building referred to is that on the cast side of Exhibition Road, occupied by a section of the Imperial College of Science. My hon. Friend is under a misapprehension in believing it to be in a neglected condition. The Office of Works are responsible for its external and structural maintenance, and in those respects the building is in sound condition, except as regards the decorative terra cotta dressings. These have suffered from the action of the weather, and inquiries are at present being made as to the best way of dealing with them. Responsibility for internal decorative maintenance lies with the authorities of the college who, it is understood, propose to carry out re-decoration during the coming vacation.

asked the President of the Board of Education how many education authorities in England, Scotland, and Wales have raised the school leaving age to 15?

Four local authorities in England and Wales—Carnarvonshire, East Suffolk, Plymouth, and Cornwall—have raised the age of compulsory attendance to 15. As regards Scotland, I must ask the hon. Member to address his question to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.

asked the Minister of Pensions if he has issued any instructions affecting the payment of an allowance in respect to the wife of a man who, by reason of his employment taking him so far from his home, cannot meanwhile reside at his home other than at weekends; and whether he will see that any such pensioners who are compelled to reside temporarily from their homes owing to employment will not be penalised?

No distinction as regards the payment of the allowance in question is, or has ever been, made between men whose circumstances are such as stated by the hon. Member and those who live continuously at home.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department whether he is aware that the German exporter is able to insure with the German Government CO per cent. of the value of legitimate transactions with Russian traders; and whether he will consider adopting a similar policy in this country?

I am aware of the existence of a scheme whereby the exporters of certain classes of goods from Germany to Russia are able to insure 60 per cent. of the value of such exports under the auspices partly of the Central German Government and partly of the State Government concerned. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he has any statement to make on the grounding of the cruiser "Dauntless"?

His Majesty's Ship "Dauntless" grounded on the Thrum Cap shoal at 2 p.m. on 2nd July. The vessel was on her way into Halifax Harbour and the weather was foggy. The shoal she struck is to starboard of the channel going in, and is about 5½ miles from Halifax. Her two boiler rooms have been pierced and are open to the sea for their whole length on her port side, and the majority of her compartments forward of these boiler-rooms are not watertight below the upper deck. These boiler rooms are situated about the middle of the total length of the ship. The working of the ship in the swell after grounding has also crashed in the starboard side of the boiler rooms for a length of about five feet. Salvage work is proceeding. The ultimate refloating of the vessel is at the moment very uncertain, fine weather being the most important factor required for the salvage work. The main body of the crew were disembarked at 8 p.m. on the 2nd, as it was considered possible that the ship might break up, and they could be of no further use on board. No lives were lost.

asked the Secretary of State for Air how many, and which, local authorities have yet established, or have formulated definite schemes for establishing, municipal landing grounds for civil aircraft; what municipalities have approached his Department for expert advice or financial assistance in the acquisition of sites; does: he extend such financial help where necessary; and, if so, how much has been expended up to the present in this manner?

There is in existence no municipal aerodrome or landing-ground, but a definite scheme for an aerodrome has been formulated by the Corporation of Blackpool. In addition to Blackpool, the following municipalities have asked for expert advice: Bognor, Bristol, Chester, Leeds, Leicester, Littlehampton, Morecambe, Portsmouth, Scarborough, Skegness and Worthing. Financial assistance has not been specifically requested and could not in any case be given from public funds. The only expenditure falling on the Air Ministry has been in respect of the travelling expenses of officials who have visited the proposed sites. I may add that, in addition to the municipalities above mentioned, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Plymouth are understood to have the question of establishing municipal aerodromes under consideration.

asked the Minister of Labour whether private instructions of any kind, verbal or written, have been sent to mining areas in Great Britain instructing Exchange officials that a certain number of men in each area must be periodically offered vacancies for work in London or other towns, cities, or townships; and will he inform the House whether there is any shortage anywhere in the country of unskilled labour or labour needed for any occupation which a miner could be expected to fill; and, if there is such shortage anywhere, will he inform the House of the name of the district and the type of work for which men are needed?

I presume the hon. Member refers to the efforts which the Department are making to find work in other districts for some of the men from the depressed mining areas for whom, so far as can be foreseen, there is no prospect of work in those areas. The normal procedure of the Employment Exchanges is to exhaust the possibilities of the local supply of suitable labour before proceeding further afield. There are, however, as is well known, large aggregations of unemployed men in some areas, and at the same time a brisk demand for labour in others. In these circumstances my right hon. Friend has made certain modifications, of a limited kind and with due safeguards, in the normal procedure. In areas in which employment in general is good, an endeavour is being made to throw open some share of the vacancies to unemployed men from the hard-pressed areas. My right hon. Friend is satisfied that this is the only proper course to take, in view of the circumstances of the depressed mining areas and the relative prosperity of other parts of the country.

asked the Minister of Labour how many men have been brought from the provinces, especially the mining areas, to fill positions in the County of London and the nature and character of the work these men were brought to perform; and will he state which Exchanges in London were asked to fill the vacancies and declined to do so on the plea that no suitable men were available for the situations thus offered?

I cannot give separate figures for the County of London, but during the past four weeks about 270 men from mining areas have been found work in the South-East Division under the special arrangements which I described in answer to an earlier question to-day. The men were placed in a great variety of occupations, but chiefly in labouring or unskilled work of one kind or another. I do not clearly understand the last part of the question, but I may say the Exchanges would not refuse to accept notification of a vacancy on the ground that suitable men are not available locally.

asked the Minister of Health whether any considerations other than economy were responsible for his decision not to appoint a new chairman for the Welsh Board of Health; and if he can indicate what these were?

The answer is in the affirmative, as my hon. Friend will see by reference to the answers given on this subject to the hon. Members for Cardiff, East (Sir C. Kinloch-Cooke) and South (Captain A. Evans) on 25th and 28th June.

asked the Minister of Health the objections of his inspector to the present scale of expenditure and method of distribution of dried milk to the necessitous portion of the people of the County Borough of West Ham?

I am not aware that any inspector of my Department has recently taken exception to these matters.

asked the Minister of Health, in view of the rapid growth of the Metropolitan area, if he is prepared to recommend measures to preserve free of buildings a belt of open country round London, and to restrain what is described as riband development along main traffic routes?

The general question of control of development is now under consideration by the Regional Committee for Greater London, as well as by district regional committees and town planning authorities. I shall be glad to give sympathetic consideration to any proposed measures of the kind mentioned. Proposals have to be conditioned, of course, by questions of finance.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the pressure on the existing accommodation for cases of mental defect for which the London County Council has to make provision; the total accommodation available for such cases in institutions provided for London by the Metropolitan Asylum Board; and what proportion of that accommodation is at present occupied by cases chargeable to the local authorities of other areas than London?

I am aware of the difficulties, and the matter is under the consideration of the Board of Control at the present time. The total number of beds provided for mental defectives by the Metropolitan Asylum Board is 2,415, of which 981 are occupied by London cases.

asked the Minister of Health the cause of death as shown on the certificate relating to Ellen Florence Sargent, aged 16, of 10, Headworth Road, Tooting; and if expert examination was made of the meninges, medulla, spinal cord, and other parts of the central nerve system?

The cause of this death was entered in the death register as "coma-uraemia," as certified by the coroner after post-mortem examination and inquest. The information at my disposal does not enable me to answer the second question.

asked the Minister of Health whether his Department is informed through the local medical officers of health of the crude attack rates of measles, diphtheria, and scarlet fever; if so, whether he will publish them for the West Ham Union for 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, and 1928, respectively; and, if not, will he take steps to procure them?

My Department receives from the local medical officersTABLE showing numbers of DEATHS classified as due to CHILDBIRTH, and rates per 1,000 live births, for England and Wales and for West Ham County Borough, for the years 1924–1927.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that the ratio of the increase in the population in the county borough of West Ham far exceeds the degree of house building and accommodation; as this contributes to overcrowding and ill-health, what steps he proposes to take to deal with the matter: and what overtures have been made between the local authority and his Department for the construction of dwellings to cope with the need?

asked the Minister of Health the maternal mortality figures for England and Wales for 1924 to 1927, and for the county borough of West Ham for the same periods?

The figures asked for are as follow:

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given yesterday to his question on this subject.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the different rents paid by occupiers of houses in the same locality for similar three-bedroomed parlour type, three-bedroomed non-parlour type, and the two-bedroomed type built under the Addison and Wheatley Acts, respectively; whether he is aware that much dissatisfaction exists among tenants paying the higher rents; and whether he will consider the advisability of enabling local authorities to submit schemes, or suggestions, whereby the cost of reducing the higher rents to a common level may be met?

I am aware that in certain instances different rents are charged for houses of similar accommodation provided under the Acts of 1919 and 1924. I am always prepared to consider any proposals that may be put before me by local authorities, but I would remind the hon. Member that the rents of the houses in question have to be determined with reference to the Regulations made under the Act of 1919, and the conditions laid down in the Act of 1924 respectively.