asked the Minister of Transport the number and total value of proposals for road improvement that have been submitted to him during the present Parliament by local authorities; how many of these schemes have been postponed or rejected, respectively; and for what reasons?

A statement embodying such details cannot be embodied in a reply to a Parliamentary question, but much information on the subject will be found in the Annual Reports on the Administration of the Road Fund. It should be observed that many schemes are submitted to my Department in a preliminary form, and come before me at successive stages of amendment as the result of further consideration and review.

asked the Home Secretary if he will postpone con- sideration of the new regulation affecting motor-cyclists until all concerned have had full opportunity of considering the matter?

I have been asked to answer this question. As I stated in reply to a question asked by my hon. and gallant Friend on the 20th February, I recently had the advantage of hearing the views of the manufacturing and motoring organisations on the proposal to increase the size of motor cycle number plates. I do not consider that any useful purpose would be served by any further discussion of the matter, but when a decision has been reached the draft Regulations will be circulated to the appropriate organisations for final comment.

asked the Home Secretary the number of subordinate prison officers who retired with a pension for the 12 months ended to the last convenient date; and the number of cases during the same period in which the Prison Commissioners considered in the interests of the service that the officers' services should be continued after they had reached the pensionable age of 55?

During the 12 months ended 31st December, 1928, the Prison Commissioners reviewed the cases of 287 subordinate prison officers who had attained, or would shortly attain, the age of 55. In 225 of these cases a further continuance of the officers' services was considered to be justifiable in the interests of the service; notice was given to the remaining 62 to retire on varying dates during the ensuing two years. The number of those who actually retired with pensions during the same period was 88. This figure includes some who retired on medical grounds, some who retired voluntarily having attained the pensionable age, and some to whom notice to retire had been given by the Commissioners at an earlier date.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the resolution passed by the Manchester Guardians in favour of excluding bounty given to ex-service men out of Poppy Day funds from computation of income when out-door relief is being allowed; and if he is prepared to sanction such recommendation?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. As regards the second part, I have no authority to release boards of guardians from their obligation to take into consideration, with certain statutory exceptions, all means or income available for the support of an applicant for relief and his dependants.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of pensions and allowances which have been awarded to widows and orphans up to and including the latest available date; and particulars of the number of pensions that have been refused under the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act?

Up to and including 14th March there had been awarded in Scotland under the Contributory Pensions Act, 35,315 pensions to widows, including allowances in respect of 49,494 children, and 3,733 pensions to orphans. The number of applicants who had been refused such pensions at the same date was 8,548, comprising 8,109 widows and 439 orphans.

asked the Postmaster-General why he refuses to recognise the National Federation of Postal and Telegraph Clerks, in view of the hardship which non-recognition inflicts upon 11,000 servants of the Post Office?

The membership of the National Federation of Postal and Telegraph Clerks among the grades which it seeks to represent has not yet reached the necessary proportion of the total organised staff in those grades to justify the grant of full official recognition. Some of its constituent guilds, however, are recognised either nationally or locally.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether the Union of Post Office Workers is still allowed representation on the National Whitley Council; and if he is aware that by its revised rules (page 10) this union provides that upon a ballot being taken, at the discretion of its executive policy, a strike fund can be levied and strike rules brought into force?

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

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the number of accounts in the Post Office Savings Bank and the total amount of deposits for each of the last two year?

The number of accounts, excluding accounts with balances of amounts under £1 on which no transaction has taken place for at least five years, was 9,985,871 at 31st December, 1927, and the total amount due to depositors at that date was £284,649,940. Final figures for 1928 are not yet available but the approximate number of accounts at 31st December, 1928, was 9,800,000 and the approximate deposits £288,600,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what is the addition to the subsidy for the financial year 1928–29 in respect of the provision of payment by Imperial Airways for the two Calcutta flying-boats handed over to that company by the Air Ministry?

The addition to the subsidy for the purposes referred to will fall within the financial year 1929–30 and will be £40,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what subsidies were paid to air transport services during the financial year 1927–28; for what services were they paid; and the amount paid for each service?

The amount was £226,400, of which £137,000 was in respect of the European services of Imperial Airways, Ltd., and £89,400 in respect of the Eastern services of that company.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what is the cost of the ground organisation falling on the Air Ministry in respect of the Eastern service for each year since its inception?

The total expenditure borne by the Air Ministry during the financial years 1926–27, 1927–26 and 1928–29 (to date) in respect of ground organisation, including pay of personnel, travelling expenses, works, technical equipment and instruments, is £26,516, £7,155 and £3,118 respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for Air the number of officers in the Royal Air Force Reserve who have been sent to any aircraft companies school during the 12 months ended to the last convenient date; and what amount has been paid for this training?

During the year ended 31st December, 1928, 608 officers and airmen of the Royal Air Force Reserve completed courses of training at the civil flying schools, and the fees paid for their training amounted to £199,000.

asked the Minister of Labour the reason for the non-ratification of the international convention of 1921 on the subject of a weekly rest-day in industry?

I would refer the hon. Member to the statement made by the then Minister of Labour in the House on 9th May, 1923. The effect of this was that the Government was unable to ratify this Convention owing to the difficulty of applying the provisions relating to compensatory periods of rest, which were opposed by the British Government delegates when the terms of the Convention were under discussion. The situation has remained unchanged under subsequent Governments.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he has any information or figures as to men or boys transferred from the distressed mining areas, under Government auspices or otherwise, finding on arrival in the new area that there is no such post available as that promised, or that it has been filled, or, in other cases, that it was only of a few weeks' duration?

The arrangements for transference through the Employment Exchange machinery provide special safeguards to meet the contingencies referred to by my Noble Friend. My information is that difficulties such as he has in mind arise in a very small proportion of cases only.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is contemplating any steps to provide more suitable premises for the Leicester Employment Exchange?

The matter is under active consideration, and will be expedited as much as possible.

—			Men.		Women.
			Wholly Unemployed.	Temporarily Stopped.	Wholly Unemployed.	Temporarily Stopped.
1928.
3rd December	…	…	91	—	4	3
10th December	…	…	102	—	4	1
17th December	…	…	161	—	3	—
24th December	…	…	Figures not available.
31st December	…	…	232	—	5	2
1929.
7th January	…	…	236	1	6	3
14th January	…	…	270	1	8	3
21st January	…	…	292	41	5	3
28th January	…	…	323	12	16	1
4th February	…	…	333	15	16	3
11th February	…	…	311	7	10	4
18th February	…	…	323	149	17	3
25th February	…	…	315	147	12	6
Statistics of the number of persons transferred to Braintree from depressed areas are not available.

asked the President of the Board of Education

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether any scheme of road or building construction work is to be put in operation at Harris, in view of the unemployment in that place and the difficulty the men have in obtaining work on the mainland?

I have been asked to reply. It is open to the local authorities concerned to apply to the Unemployment Grants Committee for grants in respect of relief works, but no such application has been received.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of men and women registered as unemployed in Braintree in December, 1928, and January and February, 1929, respectively; and the number of men and women transferred from depressed areas to Braintree during the same period?

The following table gives the numbers of men and women on the registers of the Employment Exchange at Braintree on each Monday of the past three months, so far as available:whether he is aware that, in consequence of schemes of re-organisation undertaken by local education authorities, with the approval of the Board, a number of head- mistresses of public elementary schools have been dispossessed and compelled to accept posts of lower status, with the alternative of retirement before attaining the age at which a pension becomes payable; and does the Board propose to initiate any action for the compensation of such headmistresses for loss of status, as distinct from any arrangements which may be made to obviate loss of salary in cases where the headmistress consents to accept a post of lower status?

I am aware that as a result of re-organisation teachers sometimes lose their posts as headmasters and headmistresses, but there is ample evidence that local authorities and managers, with whom appointments rest, are most anxious to find other suitable posts for their displaced teachers, and are generally successful in doing so.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he can see his way to reconsider the position of officers in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service, with a view to making the service a pensionable one?

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply of yesterday to the hon. Member for Barnstaple (Sir B. Peto) [OFFICIAL REPORT, Columns 1584–5].

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the exact procedure under which naval ratings will vote at the next Election?

Full details of the procedure for voting are set out in paragraphs 12 to 21 of Appendix XXI, King's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions, to which I would refer the hon. Member. On receipt of information as to the dates of the Election, the Fleet and all naval establishments concerned will be notified by telegram, and a special Fleet Order giving detailed instructions as to the procedure to be followed will be issued.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what was the average number of days of sick leave per head during each of the last three years in the case of women clerical workers, writing assistants, and members of the established typing grades, respectively, employed in his Department; and what was the average number of days of sick leave per head in the case of each of the grades concerned, taken on account of gastric or nervous trouble, respectively?

The following table gives the information for which the hon. Member asks in the first part of the question.

—	Average No. of days' sick leave per head.
	1926.	1927.	1928.
Women Clerical Officers	7·8	5·8	(a) 7·7
Writing Assistants	1·5	2·5	1·0
Establishment typing staff	(b) 9·0	9·8	(c) 7·8
(a) Excluding two women who had 86 and 145 days' sick leave respectively.
(b) Excluding two women who had 108 and 121 days' sick leave respectively.
(c) Excluding one woman who had 204 days' sick leave.

To furnish the information requested in the last paragraph of the question would involve the scrutiny of a large number of medical certificates, and I do not think that the labour involved would be justified.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will procure figures, either for the post-War years or for any recent single year, as to the total monetary losses to the State, by fire and from any other insurable cause, in the case of all Government property; and what would have been, in the same period, the cost of insurance premiums on all such property?

Between 1st April, 1922, and 28th February, 1929, there were 401 fires in buildings occupied by Civil Departments which caused damage amounting to £45,784. I am sending my Noble Friend the figures for each of these years. The corresponding information as regards the Service Departments is not available. It is not possible to estimate the amount of the insurance premiums that would have to be paid for the insurance of Government property, but it is clear that the cost would have greatly exceeded the losses incurred during the period under review.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether consideration has been given to the hardship inflicted on a great number of ex-service officers and men by the date of 1st September, 1921, being fixed as that from which service will count for the purposes of gratuity under the Superannuation Acts; and will he consider a revision of the date in the case of these servants?

I would refer the hon. Member to my replies to the right hon. Gentleman the Member for West Bromwich (Mr. F. O. Roberts) on 19th December and 19th February last on this subject. I am sending him copies.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the gross revenue for the year 1927–28 from the Safeguarding, McKenna, and Key Industries Duties?

The information for which my hon. and gallant Friend asks may be found in Table 5 (page 15) of the Nineteenth Annual Report of His Majesty's Commissioners of Customs and Excise (Command Paper No. 3172).

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been called to industrial assurance companies issuing policies on infant life to the extent of £10 on each infant; and if any action is to be taken with those companies?

I am not clear in what way it is suggested that policies of the nature mentioned are being issued in contravention of the statutory provisions which limit the amount which an industrial assurance company may insure or pay on the death of a child; but, if the hon. Member will furnish me with particulars of any cases which he has in mind, I shall be glad to cause inquiry to be made into them.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the amount received with respect to Stamp Duties on the transfers of stocks and shares for the 12 months ended to the last convenient date?

The only 12 months' figures available are those of the last financial year when the receipt amounted to £7,700,065. I shall be happy to furnish the hon. Member with a figure for the current financial year if he will renew his question after the close of the year.