asked the Minister of Health whether he will consider the advisability of reopening the casual ward at Richmond, in view of the daily overcrowding of the Kingston, Staines, Brentford and Uxbridge casual wards?

I am aware that there is overcrowding in some of the wards referred to by the hon. Member. The position has received and will continue to receive my serious consideration, but I am satisfied that it would not be advantageous to adopt the suggestion contained in the hon. Member's question. The multiplication of casual wards in close proximity to one another, especially in the neighbourhood of London, is not conducive to good administration and would not relieve congestion in the wards already open.

asked the Minister of Health whether it is the usual practice for relieving officers to obtain receipts for money disbursed as Poor Law relief; and, if so, how many Poor Law guardians do not insist upon receipts?

No, Sir. This is not a general practice, though I am aware that certain unions have adopted it. I regret I have no information as to the last part of the question.

asked the Minister of Health the number of subsidised houses completed during the last three months of 1928 and 1927 respectively?

The numbers of houses completed under the Housing Acts, 1923, and 1924, during the last three months of 1928 and 1927 were 26,858 and 24,300 respectively.

asked the Minister of Health how many closing orders were made and how many repairing notices were issued by the Isle of Wight rural district council in 1928; how many of those notices were complied with by owners and how many were enforced; and how many in that rural district were in that year inspected pursuant to Section 8 of the Housing Act, 1925?

I will com municate with the local authority, and endeavour to obtain the information desired by the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Health (1) whether, seeing that out of the 28 Metropolitan borough councils in the year 1926, 22 contributed either nothing or less than a farthing rate to clearance schemes or new buildings, he is prepared to use his powers to induce these councils to meet their responsibilities;(2) whether, seeing that the borough councils of Southwark, with a last census overcrowded population of 41,574 living more than two to a room, Paddington, with 20,236 living more than two to a room, and St. Marylebone with 16,159 living more than two to a room, have built no houses under any of the Housing Acts since 1920, he is prepared to use his powers to induce the councils to meet their responsibilities;(3) whether, seeing that the borough of Stoke Newington, with an overcrowded population of 4,137 living more than two to a room, has built no houses under the Housing Acts since 1922, he is prepared to use his powers to induce the council to meet its responsibilities?

I do not think it is practicable in London to divorce the work of the county council and the metropolitan borough councils quite as the hon. Member proposes. The Housing Acts provide both as regards slum clearance and new house provision for cooperation between the borough councils and the County Council. As regards provision of new houses, many of the borough councils are limited by the amount of land available for development, and, in view of Section 80 of the Act of 1925, they have no power to provide houses outside their own areas. The Section contemplates that schemes which may serve the purposes of more than one borough shall be undertaken by the County Council. I am satisfied that the steps taken by the Housing Committee of the County Council have resulted in a large measure of co-operation between them and the borough councils, and I may mention that under arrangements made between the authorities considerable numbers of houses provided in County Council schemes have been earmarked under contributory arrangements to inhabitants of Paddington, Southwark, Stoke Newington and St. Marylebone.

asked the Minister of Health the total number of pensions under the Act of 1925 which were being paid at the end of 1928?

As regards England and Wales, the total number of persons in receipt of pensions or allowances under or by virtue of the Contributory Pensions Act, 1925, on 31st December, 1928, was 1,218,689, comprising the following classes:

asked the Minister of Health the total combined contribution of the State, employers and insured persons to the cost of the widows', orphans' and old age contributory pension scheme from its commencement up to 31st December, 1928, and the total disbursements for the same period; and what was the estimate of the Government actuary for the same period?

The total combined contribution of employers and insured persons to the cost of the widows', orphans' and old age contributory pensions scheme from the commencement up to 31st December, 1928, and the total disbursements for the same period were £59,443,000 and £34,381,000 respectively in England and Wales. The State contribution to the Treasury Pensions Account for the whole of Great Britain under Section 11 (3) of the Act is £4,000,000 per annum, commencing with the financial year ended 31st March, 1927. The excess of contributions over disbursements accumulated in the initial period will be used in accordance with the financial provisions of the scheme in meeting payments falling due in later periods. Estimates of income and expenditure for financial years for the whole of Great Britain are given in the Report of the Government Actuary on the financial provisions of the Bill (Cmd. 2406). No separate estimate has been made for the period specified in the question.

asked the Minister of Health (1) whether he has any statistics in his possession that will show the death rate from small-pox in the United States of America and Germany, respectively, for the years 1920 to 1925; and will he give particulars;(2) whether he has any statistics that will show the death rate from pulmonary tuberculosis in America, Germany, and France for the years 1920 to 1925, and will he give these particulars?

Some part of the particulars referred to are contained in the published Reports of the several countries concerned. But in view of differences in procedure and in the age and sex constitution of the populations to which the figures respectively relate, I am advised that the available particulars would not enable a statement of properly comparable rates to be given.

asked the Minister of Health how many hereditaments have been increased under the new assessment in the Thorne Rural Council area; how many have been decreased; and the net increase or decrease?

I am not in a position to give the information desired by the hon. Member. I understand that the valuation list for the Thorne rural district has not yet been approved by the assessment committee.

asked the Minister of Health the total annual expenditure of the local authorities in England and Wales for the years 1914, 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1927?

The expenditure, other than out of loans, of all local authorities in England and Wales for the years ended in March, 1914, 1924, 1925, and 1926 was £148,259,788, £343,263,383, £354,926,068 and £373,109,623, respectively. The particulars for the year ended in March, 1927, are not yet available.

asked the Minister of Health if he will furnish a return based on the rate figures for the year 1928–29, or the latest figures available, showing the estimated effect of the Local Government Bill, as proposed to be amended by the Government, on the rates of the boroughs of England and Wales during the first five years and at the end of 15 years?

Tables showing the estimated effect on the rates of local authorities in the year 1926–27 of the financial proposals in the Local Government Bill, based on such data as are available, have already been published for the greater part of England and Wales in Command Papers 3,134 and 3,227, and a further Command Paper will shortly be issued giving similar estimates for certain other areas. The figures shown in these Command Papers are not affected by the proposed Government Amendments to the Bill, but, in the case of county districts, the supplementary grants will, if those Amendments are accepted, be fixed for five years, instead of for one year only, before the annual diminution of one-fifteenth takes effect. Although the broad effect of the scheme in future years is clear from the examples in the Command Papers, it is obvious that any attempt to forecast at the present time the poundage of the rates in a particular area 15 years hence could only be misleading.Neither the amount of the rate-borne expenditure of the standard year (1928–29) nor the values in force on the appointed day (1st October, 1929) as apportioned under the Rating and Valuation (Apportionment) Act, 1928, are ascertainable. Moreover, any such forecast would necessarily be based on such assumptions as that not only the circumstances of that area had remained quite unchanged during all that period, but that equally the circumstances of every other area had remained unchanged—assumptions which would certainly be falsified in practice. In these circumstances, it is not proposed to issue such a, return as is suggested by the hon. Member.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether in the co-ordination of the voluntary agencies with the Lord Mayor of London's Miners' Relief Fund any arrangements have yet been come to by which money subscribed direct to any of the voluntary agencies shall rank for the pound-for-pound grant of the Government?

Good progress is being made in the co-ordination of the Lord Mayor's Fund with the work of the voluntary agencies, but the Government grant can only be payable in respect of money paid into the Lord Mayor's Fund.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he has received representations that relief supplies of food and other commodities for distribution in distressed areas should be made obtainable from local traders on official vouchers; and whether arrangements to that effect are being put into operation?

I understand that arrangements are being made for supplies to be obtained locally so far as possible.

asked the Secretary for Mines whether it is intended to introduce legislation for the purpose of allocating some portion of the Miners' Welfare Fund towards the relief of distress in the mining areas?

This question has been carefully considered by the Government. Parliament imposed the welfare levy for specific purposes, to which it is being applied. Although there is a considerable balance in hand, the bulk of it is already earmarked for the purposes laid down in the Acts. In other cases money has been borrowed for welfare schemes on the security of future payments. The appropriation of any of the balance in hand for distress purposes would therefore cause serious difficulties and would also involve legislation. In the opinion of the Government it would be unjustifiable to propose to depart from the purposes laid down by the Acts of Parliament, except with the consent of the industry as a whole, from no section of which has such a suggestion been received.

asked the Minister of Labour what number of unemployed have been transferred from the Newcastle area through the machinery of the industrial transference scheme, and to what areas and in what occupations?

The transfers to which, I presume, my hon. Friend alludes are made only from areas regarded as having a permanent surplus of labour. The Newcastle area is not one of these.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether foreign eggs will be able, after the marking order has come into force, to enter this country with a distinguishing national mark alone and without the actual name either of the country of origin or of the word "foreign," in view of the danger that the purchaser might not recognise it as any foreign mark at all?

The nature of the indication of origin which will be required on the shell of each imported egg, when the Order in Council of 21st December last, comes into operation, i.e., 21st April, 1929, is defined in Section 10 (1) of the Merchandise Marks Act, 1926. It may be, at the option of the person applying the indication, either: (a) the word "foreign" or the word "Empire," as the case may require; or (6) a definite indication of the country of production.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can give an estimate of the percentage of agricultural workers who receive more than the minimum wage of the locality?

No statistics are available on which any reliable estimates can be framed of the proportion of agricultural workers who receive more than the minimum rates of wages.

asked the Minister of Pensions (1) whether his attention has been called to representations made to his Department by an approved staff association in regard to the action of his Department in officially reprimanding an employé of the Ministry in connection with the terms of that employés communication to the Department as an applicant for treatment for War disability; whether he is aware that the Department's action has caused considerable apprehension amongst the staffs concerned, many of whom are disabled ex-service men, who regard such action as imposing a special restriction upon their rights as claimants against the Ministry; and whether he will cause instructions to be issued so as to ensure that employés of the Ministry shall, in their capacity as applicants for treatment or pension, be amenable only to those restrictions and regulations which apply generally to all disabled applicants;(2) whether his attention has been called to the representations made to his Department by an approved staff association in regard to the action of an official superior who advised a subordinate serving under him not to proceed with his application to the Ministry for treatment in respect of a disability claimed to have been incurred as a result of his War service; whether he is aware that the subordinate, whilst expressing dissatisfaction with the manner in which his application for treatment had been dealt with by the Department, thereupon undertook not to continue with his claim; whether it is within his knowledge that the applicant's approved staff association has since sought and secured expert advice that the man concerned has prima facie a strong claim against the Ministry; and whether, in view of these facts and in order to avoid misunderstandings and misapprehension amongst the disabled men employed in the Ministry of Pensions, he will cause, instructions to be issued forbidding officers of his Department to seek, in any capacity whatsoever, to influence the actions of their official subordinates in connection with claims for pension or treatment against his Department?

I am aware that an employé of the Ministry was reprimanded for addressing the head of the Department in improper terms in connection with a claim for pension which he was making and that he admitted his error and apologised for this breach of discipline. I am not aware and do not believe that any such apprehension as the hon. Member suggests exist among the staff as a consequence of this incident. I understand that the officer in question asked for friendly advice from colleagues on the subject of his pension claim which he received, but I see nothing either irregular or improper or anything requiring official notice in this. No undertaking of any kind was either asked for or given. I see no need for any special instruction regarding claims by employés of the Ministry in respect of war disability; they are treated in precisely the same way as any other claims.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the average age of the ex-service men promoted from permanent non-pensionable status to established clerical status in the Civil Service under the provisions of Clause 5 of the Government Memorandum of 12th January, 1925, and the total number of P- and PU- class clerks who, on 31st August, 1928, had attained the ages of 52 and 57, respectively?

I have been asked to reply. The average age of the ex-service men promoted from permanent non-pensionable status to established clerical status during the period up to and including 31st December last was 35 years, 2 months. As regards the latter part of the question, I regret that the information desired is not available.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of owners of wireless sets for each of the last three years?

The number of wireless receiving licences in force on 31st December, 1926, was 2,178,430; the number on 31st December, 1927, was 2,395,106; and the number on 31st December, 1928, was approximately 2,628,000.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of trans-Atlantic telephone calls, originated in Great Britain, which passed to Canada for the months of September, October, and November, 1928, respectively?

The figures are as follow:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the intention of the Canadian Government to restore the 1d. post and of the expressed feeling in this country, he will reconsider his own decision as to restoring the 1d. post?

I cannot make any statement at this date. The whole field of revenue is always surveyed before every Budget.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs if the Irish Grants Committee will continue to hear the outstanding claims awaiting their consideration; and if, in view of the decision of the Government that the recommendations of that committee shall be paid in full up to £1,000, and 60 per cent. of the balance in cases of recommendations over £1,000, it is the intention of the Government that payment shall continue to be made on that scale notwithstanding that the total amount may exceed £1,000,000?

The answer to both parts of my right hon. and gallant Friend's question is in the affirmative.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs what amount has been saved to the Treasury in the recommendations already made by the Irish Grants Committee by the decision of the Government to pay 60 per cent. only of the compensation recommended in cases where the amount exceeds £l,000; and what total sum is estimated to be saved in the cases still to be heard by the Irish Grants Committee?

In reply to the first part of my right hon. and gallant Friend's question, the difference between the total recommendations so far made by the Irish Grants Committee and the amounts paid on the approved scale in respect of such recommendations is approximately £278,000. As regards the second part, I could not undertake to give any forecast of what the position will be in regard to future recommendations of the Committee.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will give an assurance that no discrimination between those who are in receipt of the old and new scales of pay is being or will be shown in invaliding men from the Navy?

The hon. Member has my emphatic assurance that no such discrimination has been or will be made.