asked the Minister of Health the number of houses that were completed in England and Wales during the year ended to the last convenient date, giving the number of these houses separately that were completed in the London area?

The number of houses of a rateable value not exceeding £78 (£105 in the Metropolitan Police district) completed during the year ended 31st March, 1930, in England and Wales was 202,060, of which 5,718 were completed in the County of London or on estates of the London County Council outside the county boundary.

asked the Minister of Health what authorities are charging differential rents for working-class houses; and whether he can give particulars of the various schemes which are in force?

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Minister of Health the number of buildings which have, since 31st March, 1930, been acquired by local authorities in connection with approved slum-clearance schemes?

The number acquired in England and Wales between 31st March, 1930, and 30th June, 1930, the latest date to which complete figures are at present available, was 463.

asked the Minister of Health the number of town planning schemes finally approved and put into force since the beginning of June, 1929; and the number of preliminary statements of town planning proposals approved since that date?

The numbers are four and 44 respectively.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will give information showing how many of the county councils are making grants of milk to expectant mothers, and which of the county bodies are making such grants?

During the year ended the 31st March, 1930, which is the latest date for which I have information, the number of county councils in England and Wales who incurred expenditure on the provision of milk and meals for expectant and nursing mothers and children under school age was 52. A list of these councils is appended.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what sum was paid for the sites of the forts at the north and south routers of Cromarty which were completed in 1914; whether these sites are still the property of His Majesty's Government or have been restored to the original owners; and, if so, what prices were paid to the Government?

The total cost of the land and foreshore purchased by the Admiralty was £23,291 16s. 6d. A small portion was sold in 1927 for £30, but the remainder is still the property of His Majesty's Government.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many

asked the Minister of Health in respect of each of the three years ending on 31st March, 1928, 1929, and 1930, respectively, the estimated total receipts of local authorities in England and Wales from rates; the total assessable value of the property on which these rates were levied; and the total amount of Government grants received by these local authorities?

The following statement gives the information desired.foreign naval officers, and from what countries, are at present receiving training and instruction with the British Navy?

Thirty-six foreign naval officers are receiving instruction with the British Navy, the countries from which they are drawn being:—

Chile	…	…	…	…	4
China	…	…	…	…	20
Egypt	…	…	…	…	3
Finland		…	…	…	4
Greece	…	…	…	…	1
Siam	…	…	…	…	2
Spain	…	…	…	…	2

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether consideration can be given to altering the complements of battleships, battle cruisers, aircraft carriers, and other large vessels to allow of an officers' chief steward and an officers' chief cook for the ward room mess and thus bring the officers' stewards and cook branch in line with the writers' and supply branches?

Various matters are under consideration which may possibly result in some regrading in one, if not both, of the branches mentioned, but the Admiralty cannot consider grading branches alike where responsibility differs.

asked the President of the Board of Education the number of classes in elementary schools with an attendance of less than 30 pupils, exceeding 30 and not exceeding 40, exceeding 40 and not exceeding 50, and exceeding 50 pupils, respectively?

The figures are as follow:

Public Elementary Schools in England and Wales.
Classes with fewer than 30 children on the registers	44,458
Classes with over 30 but not over 40 children	46,632
Classes with over 40 but not over 50 children	50,480
Classes with over 50 children	10,017

asked the President of the Board of Education which local education authorities have passed by-laws enforcing attendance in elementary schools to the age of 15, with exemptions and without exemptions, respectively, stating in each case the number of children in average attendance and the number of exemptions granted?

The local education authorities for Bath, Caernarvonshire, Cornwall, East Suffolk and Plymouth have adopted a by-law requiring attendance at school up to the age of 15, with exemptions. In the case of Bath the by-law was not adopted until' 31st March last; but in respect of the other areas the figures which are appended in regard to the year 1929–30 will, I think, give the hon. and gallant Member substantially the information for which he asks in the latter part ·of his question.

asked the President of the Board of Education the grounds on which he estimates that, in spite of the much larger number of children between 14 and 15 years of age who will be in the schools from 1934 to 1938, the sum of £2,500,000, estimated as the cost of educating that age group, will not be reached till 1938 onwards?

The rate of expenditure in the first years after the raising of the school-leaving age will depend, in the main, on such factors as the supply of teachers and the progress made with the provision of the necessary new accommodation. For this reason I have estimated that expenditure other than that on maintenance allowances will increase gradually to £2,500,000, and that there is not likely to be a temporary increase over this amount in the years to which the hon. Member refers.

asked the President of the Board of Education what was his estimate of the number of children between the ages of 14 and 15 who will be in attendance at public elementary schools in each of the years 1931–82, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1935–3'6, 1936–37, 1937–38, and 1938–39?

If the school-leaving age were raised to 15, the number of children aged 14–15 estimated to be on the registers of public elementary schools is:

On 31st March, 1932	…	420,000
On 31st March, 1933	…	431,000
On 31st March, 1934	…	578,000
On 31st March, 1935	…	627,000
On 31st March, 1936	…	587,000
On 31st March, 1937	…	527,000
On 31st March, 1938	…	517,000
On 31st March, 1939	…	496,000

asked the President of the Board of Education the amount of capital expenditure on buildings of elementary and secondary schools, respectively, for 1913, for each of the years 1924 to 1929, and for the last 12 months for which figures are available?

The figures are as follow:

CAPITAL EXPENDITURE OF LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITIES.
Financial Year.	Elementary Schools.	Secondary Schools.
Actual Expenditure—	£	£
1912–13	2,290,000	844,000*
Proposals approved by the Board—
1923–24	1,094,000	688,000
1924–25	2,468,000	1,698,000
1925–26	3,477,000	2,016,000
1926–27	3,322,000	1,974,000
1927–28	3,860,000	1,914,000
1928–29	4,299,000	1,855,000
1929–30	5,510,000	2,292,000
1930–31	4,495,000	1,270,000
(Six months).
* The figures for 1912-13 relate to Higher Education generally. Separate particulars for Secondary Schools are not available.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether local authorities can obtain information from the Board as to its requirements with regard to cubic space per child to enable them to make preliminary estimates as to the cost of new school buildings; is he aware that it is important to the education department of local authorities that the department should be in a position to give to their finance committee a reasonably accurate provisional estimate of the probable cost of such buildings before they embark upon the expense of obtaining architects' plans; and will the Board of Education give their final consent for the erection of a school where an application for a grant is made before the finished plans are produced for their inspection?

The advice of the Board's architects' department and of His Majesty's inspectors is at the disposal of local education authorities which are contemplating the erection of new school buildings at all stages, from the inception of the project to the final approval of plans. It is the Board's practice to approve in principle the erection of a new school prior to the submission of finished plans, but their final sanction is dependent on their approval of such plans.

asked the Minister of Labour if she will give, by districts, the number of married and single women on the unemployment register?

The following statement gives the information desired:

Women Claimants on the Registers of Employment Exchanges in Great Britain at 13th October, 1930.
Division.	Single (including widows).	Married.	Total.
London and South Eastern.	22,912	22,432	45,344
South Western	8,253	5,011	13,264
Midlands	32,164	44,990	77,154
North Eastern	40,075	33,405	73.480
North Western	96,629	109,956	206,585
Scotland	32,305	22,043	54,348
Wales	6,088	990	7,078
Total	238,426	238,827	477,253

asked the Minister of Labour the numbers of married women in insurable employment, and the numbers unemployed, at the latest convenient date?

Precise statistics of the number of women insured under the Unemployment Insurance Acts who are married are not available. At 13th October, 1930, there were on the Registers of Employment Exchanges in Great Britain 238,827 married women who were claimants for benefit.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the number of registered unemployed in Barrow-in-Furness on the last available date for which figures may be obtained, and what were the numbers of unemployed in the town on corresponding dates during 1927, 1928 and 1929; and how many applicants for unemployment benefit have been refused

A.—Persons on the Registers of the Employment Exchange, Barrow-in-Furness.
Date.		Number on Register.
		Men.	Boys.	Women.	Girls.	Total.
24th October, 1927	…	2,230	52	235	141	2,658
29th October, 1928	…	1,852	37	269	212	2,370
28th October, 1929	…	2,703	88	360	212	3,363
27th October, 1930	…	4,309	107	638	283	5,337

B.—Disallowance of claims to benefit.
—	14th January to 12th March, 1930.	13th March to 13th October, 1930.*
Total Fresh and Renewal Claims made	12,166	11,679
	Number of Claims disallowed
	By Insurance Officers and by Courts of Referees on 78 days' review.	By Courts of Referees.
Claims disallowed:—
Not normally insurable	37	218
or
Not a reasonable period of insurable employment during preceding two years.		Not in operation
Not genuinely seeking work	5
Not unable to obtain suitable employment	34	—
Failure or refusal to apply for or accept suitable employment.	—	157
Employment left voluntarily without just cause	22	133
Employment lost through misconduct	20	37
Other grounds	9	120
	127	665
* The Barrow Court of Referees deals also with claims made at Cartmel, Coniston, Dalton-in-Furness, Millom and Ulverston.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is yet in a position to make any further statement concerning the adoption of the modified scheme for the construction of a road bridge across the Tay?

The following statement gives the information desired:

Any project for bridging the Tay must raise questions affecting the interests of navigation. These have been discussed with the Harbour Trust by the engineers, and I am now sending the engineers' report on the project to the Dundee Corporation for their information.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that much damage has been done to buildings and crops by fires caused by sparks from traction engines; whether he has made any Regulations to prevent this damage; and when any such Regulations will come into force?

My attention has been called from time to time to damage 'alleged to have been caused by sparks from traction engines. I have the point under consideration in connection with the Regulations under Part I of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, now in course of preparation.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he has any information as to the value of buildings and crops which have been damaged by fires caused by sparks from traction engines, etc., during the last 12 months?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he has received representations from local authorities in North Wales requesting that one at least of the traffic commissioners to be appointed under the Road Traffic Act, 1930, for the North Wales traffic area should have a competent knowledge of the Welsh language; and whether, in making the appointments, he will pay due regard to the importance of this request?

I have received certain representations to this effect. As I have already informed the House, I am prepared to consider sympathetically the appointment of a Welsh-speaking commissioner to the areas in Wales, but it should not be overlooked that North Wales is a part of the North-Western traffic area.

asked the Minister of Transport whether any schemes are under consideration which will enable more use to be made of our inland waterways?

Under the Development (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act, 1929, a grant has been made in respect of a scheme of the Grand Union Canal Company for expenditure of £881,000 on improvements and reconstructions on their London-Birmingham route and approval in principle has been given to proposals of the Manchester Ship Canal for certain improvements of dock facilities. Apart from these two cases, there are at present no applications from canal undertakings for assistance under the Development Act, which are before my Department. On the Crinan Canal, which is administered by my Department, reconstruction of sea-locks and improvement of water supply have been put in hand.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will summarise the duties of the traffic commissioners to be appointed under the Road Traffic Act, 1930?

The main duties to be performed by the Area Traffic Commissioners, otherwise than in the Metropolitan Traffic Area, may he summarised as follows:

(1) The granting of public service vehicle licences and the inspection of such vehicles from the point of view of fitness and suitability.

(2) The granting and backing of road service licences and the attaching of conditions thereto for the control and co-ordination of passenger services by road.

(3) The granting of licences to drive or to act as conductor of a public service vehicle.

(4) The granting of consents to local authorities to operate public service vehicles on routes outside their areas under Part V of the Act.

(5) Advising the Minister on orders made by local authorities under Section 90 of the Act in respect of the routes, stopping places, parking places and stands for public service vehicles.

(6) All matters incidental to the above such as:

(a) The holding of public sittings for the hearing of applications for, and objections to, the grant or backing of road service licences and for other purposes.

(b) The collection of fees.

(c) The keeping of accounts and records.

(d) The presentation of an annual report, etc.

asked the Home Secretary the number of deaths due to road and motor accidents which occurred in England and Wales during the months of June, July, August and September?

I regret that the figures are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what countries are bound by minority treaties?

The following countries are bound by minority treaties: Czechoslovakia, Greece, Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia. The treaties of peace with Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria contain stipulations, binding on these countries, similar to those of the minority treaties.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the total amount of grants paid or authorised to landowners in Scotland to enable them to reconstruct buildings on their estates under the Housing (Rural 'Workers) Act, 1926?

As at 30th September, 1930—the latest date for which information is available—grants had been promised by local authorities in Scotland under the provisions of the Housing (Rural Workers) Act, 1926, amounting to £530,264 16s. 8d. Of this sum £295,239 4s. 4d. had been paid at that date.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what he now estimates will be the cost of raising the school age in Scotland, including maintenance allowances and reorganisation of schools, for the additional year in each of the years 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1937–38 and 1938–39?

I am not yet in a position to make a statement, but an estimate of costs will be given when the Bill to enable the granting of maintenance allowances in Scotland is introduced.

asked the Home Secretary whether any member of the advisory committee for the administration of the Acts relating to experiments on living animals was appointed to watch and safeguard the interests of the animals?

The members of the advisory committee are appointed on the ground of their general suitability to advise the Secretary of State. There is no differentiation of function between the various members of the committee, and it is the duty of all of them equally to have regard to the interests of the animals as well as to any other considerations affecting the matters on which they have to advise.

asked the Home Secretary what is the method of painlessly killing animals which, under certificate A or B, are found to be suffering pain which is either severe or is likely to endure; whether any record is kept of such cases; and, if so, how many were so killed in each of the last 10 years?

The usual method is to administer an overdose of chloroform. No record is kept and information as to the number of such cases cannot therefore be given.

asked the Home Secretary whether any record is kept of the purpose of every experiment on living animals?

Every application for a licence and every certificate states the object of the experiments to which it applies; and a record of the nature of every experiment performed is kept by the licence-holders. This record is always open to examination by the inspectors.

asked the Home Secretary if he has had his attention drawn to a recent case where a science teacher at Haverthwaite illustrated a lesson to his pupils by the vivisection of a cat, which he had chloroformed for the purpose; whether this teacher had a licence to vivisect and also if the school where the incident took place is a registered place under the Act of 1876; and if he will take steps to prevent such practices?

My hon. Friend has been misinformed: there was no vivisection in this case. The animal was painlessly killed, and next day its body was brought to school and dissected. Such proceedings are not within the Act and require no licence, and my right hon. Friend has no power to take any action in the matter.

asked the Home Secretary whether anæsthetics are used in prisons for women during childbirth; and, if not, whether he will see that their use is introduced?

The question whether anæsthetics shall be used is a medical question to be decided in each case on medical grounds by the practitioner in attendance. Prison medical officers have every facility for using anæsthetics, and are as free as any other practitioner to use them when they consider such a. course desirable.

asked the Home Secretary whether the Government have taken steps with reference to the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs recommended in the resolution passed by the Eleventh Assembly of the League of Nations and referred to in Document A 78, 1930?

If, as I presume, the question refers to the resolution on the subject of the illicit traffic, no fresh action on the part of His Majesty's Government is required. The measures recommended by the League for the suppression of the illicit traffic are already in operation in this country.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that a company, called the Combined Pulp and Paper Company, Limited, registered in October, 1927, purported to make profits in the years 1928 and 1929, and distributed dividends of 20½ per cent. on their ordinary shares and 97 per cent. on their deferred shares; whether he is aware that it has subsequently been found that these profits were not in fact made; and will he take the necessary steps to hold an inquiry by the Board of Trade into the workings of this company?

I have seen reports in the Press with regard to the company's financial position. The Board of Trade have no authority to order an inquiry except under Section 135 of the Companies Act, which requires an application by members of the company holding not less than one-tenth of the shares issued.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the quantity of oats from Russia landed at Belfast since the beginning of September?

The total quantity of oats imported into the port of Belfast and registered during the period from 1st September to 31st October, 1930, as consigned from the Soviet Union (Russia) amounted to 48,560 cwts.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many blast furnaces have been demolished in England and Wales and Scotland since January of this year; what is the total number of blast furnaces now in operation; and whether, seeing that the figures of steel ingots and castings manufactured within the United Kingdom in the month of September as compared with September a year ago show a falling off of 267,000 tons, he can give the corresponding falling-off in the production of pigiron in the same period?

The information asked for in the second and third parts of this question is contained in the issue of the Board of Trade Journal for 23rd October last, which shows that, according to statistics compiled by the National Federation of Iron and Steel Manufacturers, the number of furnaces in blast at the end of September was 104, and the output of pig-iron (including ferroalloys) in that month was 425,000 tons as compared with 664,600 tons in September, 1929, a falling off of 239,600 tons. Information as to blast furnaces dismantled is collected by the Federation annually, and particulars for the expired portion of the current year are therefore not available; but the reduction in the total number of furnaces in blast between the end of December, 1929, and the end of September, 1930, was 58.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what are the approximate figures showing the number of persons of foreign nationality at present employed in British merchant ships?

The number of foreign seamen employed in British ships is only ascertained at a date when a census of seamen is taken, and the latest information available relates to 31st March, 1929. The number of foreign seamen (other than lascars) employed on that date in sea-trading vessels registered at ports in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands was 16,383, out of a total of 203,560, which included 53,571 lascars (British subjects and foreigners). It may be of interest to my hon. and gallant Friend to know that the total number of seamen engaged at 'mercantile marine offices in Great Britain and Northern Ireland during the quarter ended 30th September, 1930, was 155,522, a total approximately the same as that recorded for the second quarter of 1929 and 29,506 more than that recorded for the first quarter of 1929. These figures relate to engagements and not to individual seamen. The total for the latest quarter is made up as follows:—British, other than Asiatics and Africans, 149,187; foreigners, other than Asiatics and Africans, 3,313; Asiatics and Africans, 3,022. In this quarter the proportion of British other than Asiatics and Africans was rather greater than in either of the first two quarters of 1929.

asked the Minister of Mines if he is in a position to announce the personnel of the consumers' representatives and the chairmen of panels under the Coal Mines Act, 1930?

Eighteen committees of investigation will be set up under Clause 5 of the Coal Mines Act, 1930. Eleven committees have already been appointed and the constitution of seven of these has been announced in the Press. The constitution of the remaining four which have been appointed will be published immediately. I hope to be in a position to complete the appointment of all the committees at an early date.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the has received a reply to his representations to the French Government respecting the position of British holders of 1915 French War Bonds; and, if so, whether he can state its nature?

A reply has been received from the French Government. I regret to say that it is unfavourable, and expresses the inability of the French Government to grant any equitable compensation 'to the British holders. My right hon. Friend has the matter under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what has been the cost of the Government House at Nairobi and of the Governor's summer residence in Mombasa; and what was the expenditure on these two buildings in the last complete financial year?

I have been asked to reply to this question. Up to 31st December, 1929, the expenditure provided from loan funds for public 'buildings was as follows:

	£
Government House, Nairobi	64,005
Government House, Mombasa	19,416

No expenditure was incurred on either during the year 1929. The cost of furniture for the two Government Houses, provision for which was made in the Kenya estimates for 1927, was £12,228.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether an agreement has now been come to with reference to the proposed pipe line from the Iraq oilfield to the Mediterranean coast and what increase of cost is involved if the proposed bifurcation takes place?

I have been asked to reply to this question. As I informed the hon. Member for Devonport (Mr. Hore-Belisha) on Monday last, no agreement has been reached. I am not in a position to give any estimate of the cost of constructing the pipe line or to say what extra cost, if any, will be involved if it taken to more than one port. The expense will naturally fall upon the company which builds it.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs if he will have printed on the Empire Marketing Board posters dealing with the export of coal in relation to Irish dairy produce an explanation of the objective of the pictorial subject matter of the posters when it is not obvious from the printed titles of the posters or from the subject matter itself?

This set of posters was one of a series designed to illustrate the interchange of commodities. Its display has been concluded, and it is not proposed to print further copies. Otherwise my right hon. Friend would have been happy to consider the hon. Member's suggestion.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to a petition signed by the inhabitants of Stamford Dingley, Berkshire, protesting against the removal of their post office; whether the applicant for the post office in the village was considered and inquiries made as to her references; and, if not, will he reconsider the matter and cause further inquiries to be made?

My attention has been called to the petition referred to by the hon. and gallant Member. The applicant in question was fully considered, but the premises offered for a sub-post office in the centre of the village were not considered suitable or adaptable for the purpose. I am satisfied that the best possible arrangements have been made for carrying on the post office services in the district.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air how much money was paid to National Flying Services, Ltd., in respect of grants dependent upon the providing and maintaining of aerodromes and landing grounds up to 30th September last; and whether it is the intention of the Air Ministry to make any, and what, advances on account of unearned grants?

The agreement with National Flying Services, Ltd., does not provide for direct grants in respect of the provision and maintenance of aerodromes. It provides for grants in respect of club members who qualify for pilots' licences, but any such grants after the first three years are subject to the condition that a stipulated number of aerodromes and landing grounds must have been provided within that period. The total amount paid to National Flying Services, Ltd., up to 30th September last was £2,770, of which sum £2,500 represents an advance at interest made on 31st July in anticipation of future grants to be earned under the agreement. Claims for grants amounting to about £1,100 have since been put forward by the company. No further advances are in contemplation.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has, during the past six months, had occasion to make representations to the Government of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics concerning the treatment of travellers in the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics bearing British passports; whether he has knowledge of such representations having been made by British officials in the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics; and what have been the results of such recommendations?

The only case that has come to my notice of a British subject experiencing difficulties while travelling in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was that of Mr. Christopher Jowett, whose journey through Siberia was interrupted by the local authorities, owing to the loss of his passport. As a result of representations addressed to the Soviet Government by His Majesty's representative in Moscow, he was allowed to proceed on his journey.

asked the Minister of Pensions what is the total number of administrative posts in the Ministry of Pensions; how many of the officers filling these posts entered the service through the Class I administrative examination; how many have been promoted or transferred from other grades; and how many are ex-service men?

The total number of administrative posts in the try of Pensions is 13. Of the officers filling these posts, six entered by the Class I examination and seven were promoted or transferred from other grades. Three are ex-service.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the number of Inland Revenue staff employed in the borough of Oldham in 1910 and the number employed there now; what was the total cost of the Inland Revenue (staff, wages, etc.) in 1910; and what is the cost to-day?

The number of Inland Revenue staff employed in Oldham was in 1910 56, and is now 57. The total cost of the Inland Revenue was in 1910 £2,127,657, and is estimated for the current financial year at £8,042,887.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the number of officers of Customs and Excise employed in each general Excise station, respectively, as at the latest date possible?

I am not clear as to the precise nature of the information required. If my hon. Friend will communicate with me, I will endeavour to furnish him with the particulars he desires.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether it has yet been decided to adopt the recommendation of the recent Royal Commission on Museums that a Standing Commission should be appointed?

The recommendation referred to is receiving full consideration, but I am not yet in a position to make any announcement on the subject.