asked the President of the Board of Education the number of nursery schools now existing and, if possible, the locality thereof?

The number of nursery schools at present recognised by the Board is 33, distributed as follows:

Birmingham	3
Bradford	5
Bristol	1
Darlington	1
Derby	1
Gateshead	1
Leeds	1
London	11
Manchester	3
Salford	1
Scarborough	1
Sheffield	1
Walthamstow	1
West Ham	2

asked the President of the Board of Education if he has received representations concerning a difference of opinion between parents of children over 11 years of age at Meadow Bank, near Winsford, Cheshire, and the local education authorities; and what action he intends to take in the matter?

I have not received any representations from the parents in regard to this dispute, though I am generally aware of the circumstances. The matter is primarily one for the local education authority and the parents, and I doubt whether there is any action which I can usefully take, but I am communicating with the Noble Lord.

asked the President of the Board of Education if he has received representations from the Federation of Education Authorities for Wales at their annual meeting, expressing disappointment at the decision of the Government in postponing the Education Bill and asking him if he will introduce a new Bill on the first available opportunity dealing only with the raising of the school age and maintenance allowances; and whether he proposes to accede to this request?

I have received a copy of the resolution to which my hon. Friend refers. In regard to the second part of the question, I am unable to add anything to the statement made by the Prime Minister on 25th June in regard to the proposals of the Government.

asked the Minister of Labour if she will state for each financial year since 1920–21, including the estimated figures for 1930–31, the amount of Exchequer contributions under the Unemployed Insurance Acts and the amount of uncovenanted benefit paid under these Acts?

The amounts of the Exchequer contributions under the Unemployment Insurance Acts for each financial year since 1920–21 were approximately as follow:

	£
1920–21	2,169,000
1921–22	8,123,000
1922–23	12,001,000
1923–24	12,811,000
1924–25	13,145,000
1925–26	13,504,000
1926–27	10,838,000
1927–28	12,025,000
1928–29	11,758,000
1929–30	19,498,000
	(estimated)

The amount included in the Estimates now before Parliament for 1930–31 is £26,470,000. Separate accounts were not kept of the amount of uncovenanted benefit paid under the Unemployment Insurance Acts.

asked the Minister of Labour if the committee considering the extension of unemployment insurance to farm workers has come to a conclusion; and whether it is intended to publish that report?

This question has not been referred to a committee, but has been under consideration departmentally.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has received representations from industrial organisations complaining that several local authorities are, against the wishes of employés, allowing an unnecessary amount of overtime to be worked; and if he will consider the advisability of taking steps with a view to the reduction of such overtime to an absolute minimum, so as to facilitate the employment of others who are at present without work?

I have been asked to reply. No representations of the kind referred to have been received.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether the conversations initiated with representatives of the motor manufacturing industry have been terminated, and what practical results in the matter of stimulating unemployment were arrived at?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. With regard to the second part, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply which I gave on 20th May to the hon. Member for East Wolverhampton (Mr. Mander), a copy of which I am sending to him.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department the total amount outstanding in connection with the system of overseas credits since the introduction of the system; and whether any sums have been written off, and, if so, what, as irrecoverable?

The total outstanding liability under the present Export Credits Guarantee Scheme introduced in July, 1926, amounted on 30th June last to approximately £4,500,000. The total amount written off as irrecoverable on the same date was approximately £8,500. Further sums will fall to be written off as and when losses are ascertained.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department the nature of the contracts in which export credits have been granted for the supply of goods to Russia within the last 12 months; and the amounts involved in respect of each commodity for which credits have been approved?

In reply to the first part of the question, I have nothing of importance except chemicals to add to the commodities enumerated in the answer which I gave to a question asked by the hon. Member for Blackpool (Sir W. de Frece) on 26th May. As regards the second part, it is not desirable to give the amounts involved in respect of each commodity.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the value of manufactured exports, the population, and the value of manufactured exports per head of the population of the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and France, respectively, in 1929?

The following table shows, for the countries specified in the question, the values of the domestic exports of goods classed as wholly or partly manufactured, the estimated population of these countries, and the values of such exports per head of the population, during the year 1929.

Country.	Value of Domestic Exports.	Estimated population.	Value of Exports per head of the population.
	Million £.	Millions.	£	s.	d.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland.	583·3	45·7	12	15	1
United States	670·1	121·4	5	10	5
Germany	481·3	63·9	7	10	6
France	253·1	41·1	6	3	2

NOTES.1. The range of articles included as "wholly or partly manufactured" varies according to the classifications adopted in the trade returns of the respective countries. Figures based throughout on a uniform classification are not available. The classes of goods included are described in the trade returns of the respective countries as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Trade the values of gramophones, phonographs, and parts thereof, gramophone records, and all other musical instruments exported in 1924 and 1929, respectively?

The following table shows the total declared value of gramophones and phonographs, complete and parts thereof, gramophone and phonograph records and all other musical instruments and parts thereof, of United Kingdom manufacture, exported during the years 1924 and 1929.

Description.	1924.	1929.
	£	£
Gramophones and phonographs:
Complete	316,859	1,697,910
Parts of gramophones and phonographs (including motors).	155,859	536,694
Records for gramophones and phonographs.	633,295	1,129,575
All other musical instruments and parts thereof.	552,286	366,936

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give a list of dutiable articles entering the Dominions upon which a preference in favour of this country is granted; and the percentages of such preferences?

Inasmuch as certain of the Dominions accord preference through practically the entire range of their lengthy Customs tariffs, a list of the kind asked for would take up a very large amount of space and, in view of the fact that the tariffs in question are at all times available for consultation at the Department of Overseas Trade, I do not feel able to comply with the request. It has been estimated that the average ad valorem incidence of the preferential rebates granted by the Dominions specified below is roughly as follows:

	Per cent.
Commonwealth of Australia (1928–9)	13.8
Dominion of New Zealand (1928)	18.6
Union of South Africa (1928)	4.3
Dominion of Canada (1925)	10.7

the dates relating to the period covered by the most recent estimate in each case.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether any attempts have been made by the Soviet Government during the past 12 months to purchase munitions or military equipment of any kind in this country; whether any such purchases have actually been made; and what is the attitude of His Majesty's Government in this matter?

I have no official information as to purchases of munitions or military equipment in this country except in so far as applications are made for licences to export such war material as can only be exported under licence. During the past 12 months the only such licences issued for exports to the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics were in respect of 40 tanks and 20 light armoured vehicles and the armament therefor. Applications for the issue of export licences for arms and ammunition destined for Soviet territory are considered on their merits in the same way as applications in respect of any other destination.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the case of the patents in connection with motor cycle and cycle saddles in the name of Victor A. Terry, of Redditch, Worcestershire, the value of which has been lost to the patentee in Italy, and the principles of the patent exploited to the patentee's detriment by Italian manufacturers in view of the fact that the Italian Government have not modified their laws in accordance with the Hague Convention Regulations of 1925, which became operative in Italy on the 1st June, 1928; whether he will bring to the notice of the Italian Government the hardship and loss thus occasioned to this British patent owner and represent the desirability of retrospective legislation being passed at once to prevent this result arising from the failure of the Italian Government to carry out its obligations?

I have just received particulars of the case referred to, and as I have already indicated in answer to the hon. Member's oral question on the subject of British patent rights in Italy, I am considering whether any official action should be taken.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the Food Council remains in being; if so, upon how many occasions it has met during the present year; and with what questions has it dealt?

The Food Council have met twice during the present year, and I understand that they will probably meet again shortly. They reported on the price of bread in London in April last, and have considered a number of other questions within their terms of reference.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if his Department have been asked to sanction plans for the building of a new school for the Gorbals and Tradeston divisions of Glasgow; and when the building is likely to proceed?

The Department have been asked to approve plans for three new school buildings to be erected in the Gorbals and Tradeston divisions of Glasgow—one a building with accommodation for 500 pupils to form an addition to St. John's Roman Catholic School; another with accommodation for 930 pupils to form an addition to Lamb-hill Street Public School; and a third with accommodation for 930 pupils to replace the existing temporary building of Braehead Street Roman Catholic School. For the first, two of these build- ings preliminary plans have been approved by the Department and working drawings are now in preparation. The plans of the third building mentioned have been referred back to the education authority for further consideration regarding the size of the site.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the approximate total population of Scotland on 1st January, 1914, 1920, and 1930, respectively?

The total population of Scotland on the dates referred to is estimated, respectively, at 4,735,000; 4,844,000; and 4,885,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of persons in Glasgow summoned to the rent court for the full year ending 31st May, 1930, and the number of cases in which eviction orders were issued over the same period?

The numbers are 12,305 and 4,306 respectively. I might, however, add that there is no information as to the proportion of cases in which the eviction order is enforced.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will cause inquiry to be made by school medical officers as to the physical condition of children whose parents have been on Employment Exchange or parish council benefit for a period of five years or more?

An inquiry on the lines desired could only be carried out with the concurrence of the local authorities and would involve a very serious amount of preliminary labour in identifying the children concerned. If there is insufficient feeding due to poverty of the parents the ill-effects on the children would be observable before the expiry of a five years' period, but my right hon. Friend is considering whether it would be practicable to institute a medical examination of such children or a representative sample of them after the school holidays. Meantime, I may add that the school medical officers exercise continuing supervision of the health of all school schildren and that it is the duty of the local authority to deal with any cases of malnutrition that may be discovered.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will consider the advisability of introducing legislation to enable the jurisdiction of the sheriff (small debt) courts to apply to actions involving sums not exceeding £50, instead of £20 as at present, so as to reduce the burden of legal expenses in the case of working-class litigants?

My right hon. Friend has not received any representations that the existing statutory provision, which requires that actions of the kind referred to shall be dealt with in the sheriff court as summary causes, does not reasonably meet the object in view of providing a simple and inexpensive procedure; and on the information at present before him he is not satisfied as to the necessity for the change suggested by my hon. Friend, but any representations on the subject will be welcomed.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is now in a position to make a statement with reference to the introduction of legislation for providing self-government for Scotland?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Govan (Mr. Maclean) on 7th May last.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of claims to widows' pension which were disallowed, but which will require to be granted in view of the recent judgment of the Court of Session in the case of Kerr; and what steps he is taking to advise applicants that their claims are being reconsidered in the light of this decision?

The Department of Health for Scotland are at present engaged in a scrutiny of all the claims for pensions which have been rejected in order to trace the cases which may be affected by the decision in question. Each case, as it is separated, is being examined to ascertain whether there is compliance not only with the conditions of title affected by the judgment but also with the other conditions imposed by the Contributory Pensions Acts. Where the Department find that a pension, previously refused, will now be payable, they will communicate with the applicant with a view to the commencement of regular payments and the payment of accrued arrears. It is not possible at this stage to give the number of such cases, but, while the task involved is of some magnitude, every endeavour will be made to expedite its completion.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the amount of able-bodied relief paid in Glasgow and Govan for the months ending 15th March, 15th April, and 15th May, respectively, of this year; and how much of such sums in each case was paid in respect of men, women, and dependants, respectively?

The following statement shows the weekly expenditure of the parish councils in question on the relief of the able-bodied unemployed during the period from 15th February to 10th May, 1930. I regret that no information is available regarding the allocation of the expenditure on relief amongst men, women and dependants respectively.

Week ended	Cost of Outdoor Relief to Destitute Able bodied Unemployed (excluding administrative expenses).
	Glasgow Parish.	Govan Parish.
1930.	£	£
22nd February	7,287	4,944
1st March	7,186	5,118
8th March	7,337	4,860
15th March	7,032	4,836
22nd March	6,471	4,863
29th March	3,710	3,264
5th April	3,999	2,134
12th April	3,593	1,962
19th April	2,858	2,404
26th April	2,684	2,427
3rd May	2,534	2,406
10th May	2,607	3,051*
* Period from 4th May to 15th May in the case of Govan.

asked the Home Secretary if he is aware that a number of miners in South Wales are suffering from silicosis and unable to follow their employment, and a number of these cases certified as suffering from such disease have proved fatal and their dependants have not been able to secure any compensation; and will he take steps to remove the percentage of silica in the present regulation and make it applicable for compensation as other diseases in the mines.

Certain cases in which hardship is alleged to have been caused by the limitation of the scheme to rocks containing more than 50 per cent. free silica have been brought to my notice and, as explained in replies to questions asked on 5th June and 1st July by the hon. Member for Carmarthen, these cases are the subject of special inquiry arranged by the Mines Department. I propose to review the position as soon as the results of this investigation are available.

asked the Home Secretary what number of miners have applied for compensation as a result of suffering from silicosis; what number have been paid compensation; and what number have been refused and the reasons for refusals?

The returns so far received show that there were 12 cases from coal mines in 1929 in which compensation was paid for silicosis. I regret I cannot give the number of claims refused or reasons for the refusal.

asked the Minister of Transport the capital value and total mileage of the railways of Great Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Belgium, respectively?

I am unable to give comparable figures of capital values for the railway systems mentioned in the question, but the total capital expenditure of the railway companies in Great Britain at the 31st December, 1929, was £1,223,000,000, of which £1,064,000,000 had been expended upon their railways as distinct from their other businesses. The route miles open for traffic, according to the latest official records available, are as follow:

	Miles.
Great Britain	20,419
Canada	40,572
Germany	33,406
France	26,867
Belgium	2,978

asked the Minister of Pensions whether the claim of Mr. G. Twitchem, M.M., of 32, Everden Road, Barnes, who was awarded a pension of 10 per cent. disablement rate this year, can be ante-dated to 1926 instead of 1929, in view of the fact that his condition, on which the claim is based, commenced from that date?

As I have already informed the hon. Member, the grant made in this case has been issued from the earliest date from which it can be certified that the disablement justified the grant. It cannot, therefore, be antedated.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the shortage of recruiting and the large volume of unemployment, he proposes to take any new steps to popularise enlistment in the Army; and, if so, of what nature?

I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the reply which I gave on 24th June to the right hon. Members for Horsham and Worthing (Earl Winter-ton) and Chorley (Mr. Hacking), to which I have nothing to add.

asked the Secretary of State for War what is the number of employés at Woolwich Arsenal discharged since June, 1929?

The number of discharges, apart from 165 resignations, of industrial employés of both sexes, corresponding to the figures given to the right hon. Member on 2nd December last, for the period in question is 511. This figure includes 228 discharges on reaching the age limits and 104 on medical grounds. It also includes cases of transfers from one War Department establishment at Woolwich to other Government establishments at Woolwich and elsewhere. The corresponding number of entries during the same period was 553.

asked the Secretary of State for War the nature of the experiments that are being carried out with animals at the Hampshire gas research works near Porton; and whether such experiments include the use of bacilli?

As regards the first part of the question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave on 27th March to the hon. Member for South-West Bethnal Green (Mr. Harris), of which I am sending him a copy. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the total amount of rent charged upon the Guy's Hospital estate

—				Sutton Bridge.			Holbeach.
				1928.	1929.	1930.	1928.	1929.	1930.
				£	£	£	£	£	£
Total amount payable at Lady Day Audit (including arrears from previous Half Year).				10,086	10,215	11,471	1,899	1,876	2,381
Amount paid at or previous to Audit			…	9,344	8,825	4,593	1,492	1,423	815
Arrears after Audit	…	…	…	742	1,390	6,878	407	453	1,566

In view of the abnormally low prices of produce a rebate of 5 per cent. was conceded on all rents paid in full at the 1930 audits, while those tenants who could not pay the whole amount immediately were allowed to defer payment of one-half of the Lady Day rent

The Guy's Hospital estate at Sutton Bridge is owned by the Ministry subject to a perpetual rent-charge of £18,500 per annum. The estate originally comprised 6,342 acres, but 958 acres have been sold for cash, the Ministry continuing to be liable for the full amount of the rentcharge. Approximately, £136,000 has been spent on the adaptation and equipment of the remaining 5,584 acres, and the total rents charged to the tenants amount to approximately £22,000, or about £3 19s. per acre. Development of the estate was only completed this year. The Crown Colony, Holbeach, comprising 994 acres, is leased by the Ministry from the Commissioners of Crown Lands at an annual rental of £1,616. The Ministry has spent about £65,000 on the adaptation and equipment of the estate, and the rents charged to the tenants amount to approximately £4,100, or about £4 2s. 6d. per acre. This figure includes grazing rents amounting to £330, which are only payable at Michaelmas.The required particulars of arrears at the last three Lady Day rent audits are as follow:for six months. These concessions affect very materially any comparison between 1930 and previous years. Since the audits, which were held less than three weeks ago, a further £2,186 had been paid at Sutton Bridge and £79 at Holbeach.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the acreage of arable land under cultivation in England and Wales, respectively, in 1913, at the close of the War and at the present time?

The areas returned as arable land in the three years 1913, 1918 and 1929, in England and Wales respectively, are given in the following table:

Year.	England.	Wales.	England and Wales.
	Acres.	Acres.	Acres.
1913	10,361,849	696,384	11,058,233
1918	11,463,679	934,961	12,398,640
1929	9,302,954	644,804	9,947,758

asked the President of the Board of Trade the figure of the net imports of barley and the propor- tion designed for malting purposes for the years 1926, 1927 and 1928?

The total quantities of barley imported as grain and retained in Great Britain and Northern Ireland during the years 1926, 1927 and 1928 wore 11,518,000 cwts., 16,376,000 cwts. and 12,925,000 cwts. respectively. The quantities of such barley used for malting in the years specified are not available. In connection with the Census of Production, relating to 1924, information furnished voluntarily by certain maltsters showed that about 6,800,000 cwts. of British barley and 4,400,000 cwts. of imported barley were used in making 8,730,000 cwts. of malt. No information was furnished regarding the barley used in making a further 3,970,000 cwts. of malt, or regarding the quantity of malt made by distillers for their own use. The retained imports of barley amounted to 21,608,000 cwts. in 1924.