asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will instruct those responsible for Government steel houses at Sandyhills, Shettleston, to have the private roads and footpaths put into proper order?

I am informed that attention is being given to the upkeep of the roads and footpaths at Sandyhills, Shettleston, on the property of the Second Scottish National Housing Company (Housing Trust), Limited, and that their condition compares favourably with that of paths and roads belonging to other proprietors in the neighbourhood. If, however, my hon. Friend will supply me with the names of the roads to which he refers, I shall have inquiry made into their condition.

asked the Minister of Transport when it is proposed to proceed with the construction of the bridge over Dornie Ferry; and what is the cause of the delay?

I understand that the present position of the scheme for the construction of a bridge over Dornie Ferry is that the Ross and Cromarty County Council are considering the desirability of appointing an expert to advise them on the question of the compensation likely to be payable in the event of the bridge being constructed.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has considered the report of the education committee of the Aberdeen Town Council in connection with the Education (School Attendance) Bill, dated 18th November, 1930, which was approved by the town council, and in which the committee expressed the view that the operation of the Education Act, 1918, in respect to the raising of the school age should be deferred until at least 1935; and whether he will keep the views of this and other education committees in mind in considering what action he should take in the matter?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, seeing that a conference of Scottish education authorities has recently been held at which it was unanimously decided that 1st September, 1934, was the earliest date on which the authorities could be ready for the raising of the school age, what action he proposes to take in the matter?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when it is proposed to fix the appointed day for the raising of the school age in Scotland?

I have considered the decision reached by the conference of Scottish education authorities, the report of the education committee of the Aberdeen Town Council, and the various other representations which I have received dealing with the question of the raising of the school age in Scotland. In accordance with the recent decision of the Government, I propose to fix 1st September, 1932, as the date upon which Section 14 of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1918 (which raises the school age to 15 in Scotland), shall come into operation.

Local Education Authority.				Number of juveniles in attendance at approved courses of instruction during week ended 19th November.
				Insured contributors attending as a condition for the receipt of benefit.	Other.	Total.
ENGLAND AND WALES.
ENGLAND.
Aldershot	…	…	…	5	3	8
Birkenhead	…	…	…	333	79	412
Birmingham	…	…	…	252	—	252
Blackburn	…	…	…	564	124	688
Bolton	…	…	…	93	1	94
Bootle	…	…	…	154	8	162
Bradford	…	…	…	165	36	201
Bristol	…	…	…	208	5	213
Burnley	…	…	…	152	3	155
Chesterfield	…	…	…	49	39	88

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether the Secretary-General of the League of Nations has commenced negotiations with the Government with a view to carrying into force the resolution passed by the eleventh Assembly of the League of Nations, in September, concerning the facilities to be granted to aircraft travelling on League business?

The answer is in the negative.

asked the Minister of Labour how many local education authorities have so far provided approved courses of instruction for insured contributors under the age of 18 years in accordance with the provisions of Section 15 of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1930; and how many insured contributors in the area of each authority are taking advantage of them?

Proposals have been sanctioned for the provision of approved courses of instruction for unemployed juveniles in the areas of 78 local education authorities in Great Britain, and, on 19th November approved courses of instruction were in operation in the areas of 66 of these authorities. The following statement gives the information asked for in the second part of the question:

asked the Minister of Labour how many unemployed women workers formerly engaged in cotton spinning and weaving have, to her knowledge, found employment during the last 12 months in other insurable occupations and in private domestic service, respectively?

Statistics giving the information desired are not available.

asked the Minister of Labour the amounts borrowed for the Unemployment Insurance Fund in each of the years 1921 to 1930?

The net amounts borrowed or repaid by the Unemployment Fund in each of the calendar years 1921 to 1930, excluding the shares of the debt attributable to Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State, have been as follow:

—	Borrowed.	Repaid.
	£	£
1921	7,600,000	—
1922	8,013,480	—
1923	—	3,116,426
1924	—	7,403,505
1925	2,169,020	—
1926	15,377,431	—
1927	540,000	—
1928	8,540,000	—
1929	6,130,000	—
1930 to 29th November.	18,750,000	—

The debt on 29th November, 1930, was£56,600,000.

asked the Minister of Labour the number and nature of relief schemes, submitted by the City of Plymouth, which are at present being considered by the Unemployment Grants Committee; the estimated cost of the scheme, and the number of persons estimated to secure employment in respect of each scheme?

The Unemployment Grants Committee have no outstanding applications from Plymouth City Council.

asked the Minister of Labour whether she is aware of the dissatisfaction at Middlesbrough caused by the refusal of the Employment Exchange to issue green cards to men who have been unemployed for considerable periods, which refusal prevents their getting work in grant-earning schemes; and whether she will have inquiries made into the complaint?

I am having inquiries made, and should be glad if my hon. Friend would repeat her question next week.

asked the Minister of Labour whether her attention has been called to the inquiry recently carried out in Middlesbrough under the education authority into the conditions of domestic service, which revealed that of 808 full-time day girls investigated it was found that 47 per cent. received from 2s. to 5s. per week and 89 per cent. received under 10s. a week; and whether the refusal of insurance benefit to girls who are unwilling to undertake domestic work applies to cases where wages like these are offered for non-resident work?

I am aware of this inquiry. In the report made to the Middlesbrough Education Committee by the Juvenile Employment Committee the following passage occurs:

"The available supply of girls for domestic work being large, the wage level for this type of work is low, and in several cases, the level of wages offered by employers for this kind of work has been totally inadequate. The circumstances were reviewed by the Juvenile Employment Committee, and it suggested that 5s. per week was a minimum satisfactory wage for a full-time day girl."

The question whether employment is suitable in particular cases is decided, as my hon. Friend knows, by the statutory authorities, and it is therefore out of place for me to comment on the wages from the point of view of unemployment benefit. I may say, however, that the difficulties in filling domestic vacancies arise principally in connection with resident situations, for which there is a constant unfilled demand, offering good conditions in various parts of the country.

asked the Minister of Labour if she has completed her inquiry into the alleged difficulty of employers of labour securing workpeople at the Glasgow Exchanges; at what Exchanges the alleged shortage took place; how many employés were asked for; how many employers could not be supplied; if it was women or men; and how many workpeople have applied for jobs at the Glasgow Exchanges during the last fortnight?

As I said in reply to the hon. Member for Cathcart (Mr. Train), I am not aware that employers in Glasgow have had any difficulty in obtaining labour through the Employment Exchanges except in the case of certain classes of skilled workpeople of whom there is a known shortage at times of seasonal pressure. Since then I have investigated one complaint made on behalf of a firm in the area of the Mary-hill Employment Exchange and find that between 9th September and 7th November, this firm notified vacancies for 17 skilled female -workers of a type of which there was during the season a known shortage. Forty-five workpeople were submitted to the firm, of whom 12 were engaged. The number of work-people who were maintaining registration for employment on 10th November was 104,700 in the Clydeside area.

asked the Minister of Labour whether foreign musicians who desire to enter Great Britain to take up employment at establishments producing grand opera with the assistance of a State subsidy will be admitted to the country for that purpose?

This question has not yet arisen.

asked the Minister of Labour if she can give, in tabular form, the number of persons gainfully employed, at any recent convenient date, in proportion to the total estimated population of England, Scotland and Wales, and similar figures, say, for every tenth year from the Census or any other returns as far back as statistics are available?

I have been asked to reply. The fullest information which is available in reply to the question is contained in the tabular statement below. With regard to Scotland, my right hon. Friend should address a question to the Secretary of State for Scotland.

NUMBER OF PERSONS gainfully occupied in England and Wales in 1921 and in the four previous Census years, showing the total Population in each case and the proportion of the persons gainfully occupied per cent. of the total Population.
Year.		Total Population.	Persons gainfully occupied.	Proportion percent. gainfully occupied to total population.
1921	…	37,886,699	17,178,050	45·3
1911	…	36,070,492	16,286,919	45·2
1901	…	32,527,843	14,328,727	44·1
1891	…	29,002,525	12,751,995	44·0
1881	…	25,974,439	11,161,716	43·0

asked the Minister of Labour the average number of hours worked per week in the leather glove industry and fabric glove industry during October, 129, and October, 1930, respectively?

I am informed that, according to returns furnished to the Board of Trade by the Joint Industrial Council for the glove-making industry, the average number of hours worked by factory workers in the fabric glove industry was 40¼ per week in October, 1930, compared with 36½ hours per week in October of last year. I regret that corresponding figures for the leather glove industry are not yet available, but I will communicate them to the hon. and gallant Member when I receive them.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has again been recently drawn to the constant emission of dust and black smoke from the chimney of the Southern Railway carriage works at Lancing, Sussex; and, in view of the fact that a statutory notice for the abate- ment of this nuisance was served on the Southern Railway Company by the Steyning West Rural District Council in April last without any effect, whether his Department is prepared to take any action in the matter?

Yes, Sir. I received one complaint a fortnight ago. The district council inform me that on one occasion in October a heavy emission was observed and that the company state that this may have been due to the use of a particular consignment of coal which has since been discontinued. The council report that the observation for the last month shows the emission to have been negligible.

asked the Minister of Health if he will furnish a return for the latest possible date of the numbers and beds, on the lines of the return given in the House of Commons on 12th December, 1929, for hospitals provided by local authorities, with separate figures of institutions formerly provided by the Poor Law authorities, voluntary hospitals aided by local authorities, and unaided voluntary hospitals, giving if possible expenditure in each class?

The information with regard to hospitals of the other classes referred to in the question is as follows:
ENGLAND AND WALES.
A.—Hospitals provided by Local Authorities.
—	Number.	Beds.	Expenditure (in round figures) of Local Authorities in 1928–29.
			£
(1) For tuberculosis	166	12,804	1,865,000*
(2) For acute infectious diseases	987†	36,635†	3,620,000†
(3) Maternity hospitals (not including maternity wards in general hospitals or Poor Law Institutions).	80	1,040	268,000‡
(4) Babies' hospitals	9	233
* Including the expenditure in connection with beds for tuberculosis mentioned in the following note.
† At 44 of these hospitals there are 2,200 beds for the treatment of tuberculosis. The expenditure on these beds is excluded from item (2).
‡ Including expenditure in respect of maternity sections in general hospitals and payments to homes for unmarried mothers and their babies, which cannot be separated.

, pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 13th November, 1930; col. 1874, Vol. 244], supplied the following information:The attached table shows the position at 31st March, 1930, with the exception of hospitals for acute infectious diseases for which the latest available figures relate to 31st December, 1929. So far as general hospitals are concerned, the information in my Department is that one large general hospital, with 875 beds, and three relatively small accident hospitals were provided by local authorities at the 31st March last. Since that date 17 hospitals, with approximately 12,500 beds, which were provided under the Poor Law Acts have been appropriated as general hospitals under the Public Health Acts, but the expenditure on these hospitals for the year 1928–29 is included in Part C of the table below. There are also three Poor Law institutions or infirmaries of which parts only have been appropriated as general hospitals. The number of beds in the appropriated parts is not known. Subscriptions or donations made by local authorities in pursuance of Section 64 of the Public Health Act, 1925, amounted in 1928–29 to£30,000. Contributions made by boards of guardians to public hospitals with the consent of the Minister of Health, in pursuance of Section 38 of the Poor Law Act, 1927, amounted in 1928–29 to£38,000.

asked the Home Secretary whether, in view of the state of the law as it affects betting, sweepstakes, raffles, and lotteries, he will appoint a committee to consider and report what amendments are necessary?

My right hon. Friend is not in a position to add anything to the answer which he gave to questions by the hon. Members for Newcastle-on-Tyne North (Sir N. Grattan-Doyle) and the Moseley Division of Birmingham (Mr. Hannon) on 27th November last.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of cases in each of the last 10 years in which the Colour Users Association has taken formal exception on price grounds to decisions of the Dyestuffs Advisory Licensing Committee refusing applications for import licences?

I cannot find that there has been such a case. The colour users are, of course, fully represented upon the committee itself, and, preeum- ably, if the price were unsatisfactory the import licence would be granted.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what has been the average annual production during the past five years of wheat, barley, mutton, butter, rice, wool, and leather in the British Empire as a whole and in each part of the British Empire separately; what has been the estimated annual consumption of each of these commodities during the same period in the British Empire as a whole; and in the case of which of the commodities mentioned has there been a surplus of Empire production over Empire consumption?

According to information mainly published in the Year Book of the International Institute of Agriculture to which I would refer the hon. and gallant Member for particulars of production in various parts of the Empire, the average annual production of wheat, barley, rice, and wool (in terms of greasy) in the British Empire during the years 1925 to 1929 was as set out in the following table, which also states the average estimated consumption in the Empire of these commodities for the same years.

—		Production.	Consumption.
		Thousand Tons.
Wheat	…	25,755	22,386
Barley	…	6,222	6,148
Rice	…	47,682	46,451
Wool	…	699	303

Production and consumption figures for mutton, butter, and leather are not available. It is clear, however, that in the case of mutton and of butter there was a deficiency, and in the case of hides and skins an excess, of Empire production over Empire consumption.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to receive the report of the Macmillan Committee?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to similar questions which were put to me on 30th October.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the weight and value of dyestuffs imported from Germany in the way of reparations in kind in 1920 and in succeeding years, and the weight and value of such as have been sold in the United Kingdom; and whether any have been re-exported?

The total weight of reparation dyestuffs invoiced to His Majesty's Government was 9,523 tons, all within the financial years 1919–26. The amount debited to His Majesty's Government in-respect of these supplies by the Reparation Commission was 31,297,000 gold marks and the whole of the supplies were disposed of for a total of£2,187,167 11s. 2d. Of the 9,523 tons 1,347 tons were shipped to the Governments of India, Australia and New Zealand during the financial years 1920–22.

asked the Secretary of State for War the number of commissioned officers promoted from the ranks who are drawing less pay per annum than normal entry officers junior to them as a result of the revised pay regulations?

I am not quite sure to what my hon. Friend refers. If he has in mind non-commissioned officers promoted from the ranks to commissions after a period of training as Army cadets at the cadet colleges, these officers draw on appointment the same rates of pay as other officers of the same rank.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he can give details of experiments practised on various kinds of animals at Porton, in connection with experiments of poison gas; and what precautions are taken to avoid cruelty to the animals concerned?

As the experiments are concerned with measures of defence, my hon. Friend will, I am sure, not press for the disclosure of particulars, but I am glad to have this opportunity of assuring the House that all the experiments are carried out in strict conformity with the terms and conditions of the licences and certificates held by the research workers at Porton. The conditions of these licences and certificates definitely exclude any possibility of inflicting unnecessary suffering on animals.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he has any statement to make with regard to the condition of the graves of British soldiers on the Riviera?

The number of British war graves in cemeteries on the Riviera, that is, the graves of officers and men of the British Naval, Military and Air Forces who died in the Great War, is 1,467. The Imperial War Graves Commission have made arrangements for the maintenance of all these graves, and they are inspected from time to time by a member of their staff. 'So far as I am aware, these graves are tended with the same care and reverence as other graves under the supervision of the Imperial War Graves Commission.

asked the Postmaster-General if, in view of the dissatisfaction existing in the postal service over the question of promotion, he will take into consideration the devising of a scheme by which the postal servants shall have an effective voice in determining promotion?

The present promotion procedure in the Post Office is on the lines laid down for the Civil Service generally by a committee of the National Whitley Council, and was itself the subject of an agreement with the staff side of the Post Office. I do not consider any alteration in the direction suggested by the hon. Member to be called for.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether, in view of the dissatisfaction expressed by ex-service men in respect of the present seven-years' limit on claims, he proposes to introduce legislation to give men making such claims an opportunity of appealing to the Lord Chancellor's independent tribunal against adverse decisions of his Department?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the Noble Lord the Member for South Dorset on 19th May, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, to secure equality of treatment, he proposes to make a grant, also from the revenue received from the British Broadcasting Corporation, to some form of theatrical entertainment.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave on 2nd December to the hon. Member for Barnstaple (Sir B. Peto).

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider summoning an international conference, representative of the financial authorities in all important countries, to investigate the causes of the fall in world commodity prices and advise as to the action necessary to check it?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the similar question put to me on 2nd December by the hon. and gallant Member for Bethnal Greer., North-East (Major Nathan).

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what is the approximate weekly pecuniary value of State assistance by way of education, health, housing, insurance, including both State and employer's contributions, to a combined family comprising a married couple with two children, both of whom are at an elementary school, the husband being an insured person and in regular employment at a wage of 45s. per week?

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply given to the Hon. Member Rif Willesden, East (Mr. D. G. Somerville) on 20th May last. I will send him a copy.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the net export of capital for the 12 months ended to the last convenient date from this country to either the British Empire or to foreign countries?

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether Sir H. Stanley, after his arrival in South Africa, will report to him or to the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department on all trade questions?

It is contemplated that the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in the Union of South Africa will report on questions relating to trade, as on other matters, to the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware that porpoises in Plymouth Harbour are causing considerable damage to the local fishing industry; and whether it is his intention to take steps to deal with this question?

I have received no complaints that porpoises in Plymouth Harbour are causing damage to the local fishing industry. If the hon. Member will give me particulars, I will look into the matter.