asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that his Department has issued recommendations in regard to the appointment of head teachers in mixed schools which tend to discourage the appointment of women to such posts; and whether he will consider making fresh recommendations which are not open to this objection?

I am not aware that the Board have issued any such recommendations.

asked the President of the Board of Education if he will consider recommending to the different local authorities in urban districts the desirability of opening school playgrounds to children during the coming summer holidays, in view of the increased motor traffic in the streets?

In many areas, including London, arrangements are made to keep the school playgrounds open when the schools are not in session. Expenditure incurred on such arrangements ranks for grant from the Board, and it will hardly be necessary for me to assure the hon. Member that any such schemes for providing children with better opportunities for play have my cordial sympathy.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether any of the 300 State scholarships offered to pupils from grant-aided secondary schools to enable them to take up courses at universities for honours degrees are tenable at medical or dental colleges so that qualifying degrees in medicine or dentistry may be obtained while the maintenance scholarships are being held?

As I explained to my hon. Friend last week, State scholarships enable their holders to take up courses at universities for honours degrees, including those in medicine and dentistry; but the maximum period for which a scholarship can be held, namely, four years, is not sufficient to cover the whole course required for obtaining professional qualifications in these subjects.

asked the Attorney-General the number of persons who had their names taken off the list of magistrates during the industrial stoppage of 1926 in Great Britain, and the number of the said persons who have since had their names restored to the list of magistrates?

The names of six persons were removed from the Commission of the Peace, and one name has been restored to the Commission.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he can explain the conditions under which tropical allow- ance can be drawn by naval ratings serving in the submarine flotilla on the China station; whether he is aware of the discontent caused because this allowance is not extended to all the crew when they all breathe practically the same atmosphere; and whether, seeing that the ratings stationed on the C.O.2 plant are paid the allowance, but ratings employed six feet away from them are not paid, he can arrange for these anomalies to be removed and the allowance extended to the entire crew?

A committee is now sitting to examine detailed reports recently received of conditions prevalent in ships serving on all tropical stations. As the hon. Member is no doubt aware, tropical allowance—as distinct from climate pay, which is payable to all ratings within prescribed geographical limits—is confined to ratings working continuously or on watch in the tropics in tending machinery where heat is being generated, and no wide extension of the allowance is in contemplation.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether any further adjustment of the lower limit of the zone for lieutenant-commanders to be selected for commanders is contemplated, in view of the lower limits by six and 12 months between December, 1925, and December, 1929?

The reply is in the negative.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in view of the relatively higher age and lower seniority of the lieutenant-commanders (ex-mate) when compared with ex-cadets, and observing that the former are only in the zone in time to get one recommendation for promotion at three years' seniority, consideration may be given to the suggestion to promote lieutenants (ex-mate) to lieutenant-commanders at six years' seniority, and thus partially solve this disability of recommendations?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the previous answers on this subject on 5th November (OFFICIAL REPORT, columns 835–6) and 10th December, 1930 (OFFICIAL REPORT, columns 383–4), to which I have nothing to add.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the total number of lieutenants (ex-mate) who have been promoted to lieutenant-commander, the number selected for command, and the percentage these figures represent?

The answers are 101, 62 and 62 per cent., respectively.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the numbers of lieutenant-commanders and lieutenants (ex-mate), respectively, eligible for specialist courses and the numbers now undergoing the courses for war staff, (G), (T), (N), A/S, P and RT, (S), and W/T duties?

All lieutenant-commanders and lieutenants (ex-mate) are eligible to volunteer for specialist courses. Two lieutenants (ex-mate) are specialising in P and RT. No officers (ex-mate) are undergoing any of the other specialist courses mentioned.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether a decision has yet been come to with regard to the proposal to sell H.M.S. "Tiger" to a foreign Government?

Persons on the Registers of the Hindley, Horwich (including Blackrod) and Westhoughton Employment Exchanges.
—	26th March, 1928.	25th March, 1929.	31st March, 1930.	30th March, 1931.
Hindley:
Males	1,379	995	1,462	2,961
Females	493	675	1,442	1,16
Total	1,872	1,670	2,904	4,129
Horwich (including Blackrod):
Males	647	336	741	1,282
Females	137	102	383	356
Total	784	438	1,121	1,638
Westhoughton:
Males	657	632	1,041	1,248
Females	67	159	509	589
Total	724	791	1,550	1,837

I would remind the hon. Member that such a proposal would have been contrary to the terms of the Treaty of Washington and the London Naval Treaty.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of lieutenant-commanders and lieutenants who have retired under the special retirement scheme recently announced?

Up to the present 45 lieutenant-commanders and lieutenants have been permitted to retire under the scheme in question.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed persons on the registers, male and female, respectively, at the end of March, 1928, 1929, 1930 and 1931, in each of the districts of Aspull, Blackrod, Hindley, Horwich and Westhoughton?

The following table gives the information available:

asked the Minister of Labour what schemes of employment have been submitted by the Cardiff City Council since 1st June, 1929; the cost of each scheme; those that have been put into effect; and those now completed?

Since 1st June, 1929, 14 schemes of work, of a total estimated cost of £169,878, submitted by the Cardiff City Council, have been considered for grant in aid from Exchequer funds by the Unemployment Grants Committee. Nine of these schemes, of a total estimated cost of £129,144, have been approved, and two are still under consideration. One scheme has been completed, and six are in operation. In addition, six schemes of improvement on classified roads (or roads of classification value) of a total estimated cost of £242,378 have been submitted to the Ministry of Transport by the Cardiff City

—	Average price in
	1921.	1922.	1923.	1924.	1925.	1926.	1927.	1928.	1929.	1930.
	Per 480 lbs.
Wheat.	s.	s.	s.	s.	s.	s.	s.	s.	s.	s
English "Gazette Average"	72·0	48·0	42·4	49·7	52·4	53·3	49·2	43·2	42·5	34·3
Imported Argentine, Spot Liverpool.	*	*	*	54·4	62·5	55·8	53·8	47·9	43·9	34·9
Imported Northern Manitoba No. 2 description, ex ship, London.	78·0	*	*	54·5	63·5	59·2	57·6	52·3	51·0	38·1
Average declared value (c.i.f.) of all wheat imported into the United Kingdom.	75·1	52·3	45·7	50·3	60·1	55·9	52·8	47·7	44·3	35·2
	Per 4 lbs.
Bread.	d.	d.	d.	d.	d.	d.	d.	d.	d.	d.
Average retail price in the United Kingdom, as compiled by the Ministry of Labour.	13¼	9¾	8¾	9	10¼	10	9¾	9	8¾	8½
* Quotations not available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the estimated world production and consumption of wheat in each of the last five years?

According to statistics published by the International Institute of Agriculture, the total world output of wheat during 1926 to 1929, or the corresponding crop year in the case of the Southern Hemisphere was as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the average price of wheat per quarter, and of bread per quartern loaf, for each of the years from 1921 to 1930?

The prices are stated in the following table, in which the figures relating to the different varieties of wheat show the price of 480 lbs. of grain as calculated from the recorded prices per cwt., the official unit of measurement for English wheat since 1922, per 100 lbs. of Argentine wheat and per 496 lbs. of Canadian wheat:

				Million cwts.
1926	…	…	…	2,310
1927	…	…	…	2,356
1928	…	…	…	2,509
1929	…	…	…	2,213

The above particulars exclude the crops of Manchuria, Iraq and Turkey for which countries comparable figures throughout the period are not available. The total output of these three countries

is between 50 and 60 million cwts. per annum. Complete details are not available in respect of 1930, but for countries covering some 83 per cent. of the world's total, the crop for 1930 is reported as 1,976 million cwts. as compared with 1,83.5 million cwts. in 1929. Statistics are not available regarding the annual world consumption of wheat, but according to data published by the International Institute of Agriculture, the stocks of wheat remaining in exporting countries at the 1st August of the undermentioned years were as follow:

					Million cwts.
1926	…	…	…	…	67
1927	…	…	…	…	100
1928	…	…	…	…	136
1929	…	…	…	…	236
1930	…	…	…	…	224

Period.				Quantity.	Period.				Quantity.
Year:				Quarters of 480 lbs.	Year:				Quarters of 480 lbs.
1909	…	…	…	4,163,796	1929	…	…	…	Nil.
1910	…	…	…	6,753,040	1930	…	…	…	4,367,361
1911	…	…	…	4,224,757
1912	…	…	…	2,101,167	Three months ended
1913	…	…	…	1,169,257	31st March.
1926	…	…	…	529,137	1929	…	…	…	Nil.
1927	…	…	…	573,855	1930	…	…	…	75,113
1928	…	…	…	19,071	1931	…	…	…	1,350,754

NOTES.—The figures for 1909 to 1913 relate to imports into the British Isles as a whole consigned from the former Russian Empire, while the figures for 1926 onwards relate to imports into Great Britain and Northern Ireland consigned from the Soviet Union (Russia).The figures for 1930 and 1931 are provisional.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many cases of diseased plants, shrubs, or trees imported from foreign countries have been notified to the Ministry during the last three years?

Eighteen.

asked the Minister of Agriculture for the information of poultry keepers, whether his Department issues any advice as to the most appropriate corn for poultry feeding; and, if so, what it is?

Information and advice on the feeding of poultry are contained in the following bulletins and leaflets issued by my Department:

asked the President of the Board of Trade what were the imports, in quarters, into the United Kingdom of wheat from Russia during each of the years from 1909 to 1913 and from 1926 to 1930; and, similarly, what were the imports for the first three months of 1929, 1930 and 1931?

The following table shows the total quantity of wheat imported into the United Kingdom and registered during the undermentioned periods as consigned from Russia:

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will state, by counties, the number of small holdings now actually in existence?

I assume that the hon. and gallant Member refers to small holdings provided under statutory powers. The numbers are as follow:

County.			Number of Holdings.
Bedfordshire	…	…	1,792
Berkshire	…	…	158
Bucks.	…	…	418
Cambs.	…	…	1,979
Cheshire	…	…	333
Cornwall	…	…	427
Cumberland	…	…	62
Derby	…	…	145
Devon	…	…	809
Dorset	…	…	393
Durham	…	…	237
Essex	…	…	371
Gloucester	…	…	989
Hants.	…	…	541
Hereford	…	…	176
Hertford	…	…	300
Hunts	…	…	721
Isle of Ely	…	…	2,238
Isle of Wight	…	…	57
Kent	…	…	323
Lancashire	…	…	400
Leicester	…	…	240
Lines. (Holland)	…	…	1,376
Lines. (Kesteven)	…	…	632
Lines. (Lindsey)	…	…	407
London	…	…	—
Middlesex	…	…	86
Norfolk	…	…	2,173
Northampton	…	…	310
Northumberland	…	…	161
Notts.	…	…	305
Oxford	…	…	258
Rutland	…	…	32
Salop	…	…	282
Soke of Peterborough	…	…	250
Somerset	…	…	1,055
Staffs	…	…	302
Suffolk, East	…	…	184
Suffolk, West	…	…	311
Surrey	…	…	271
Sussex, East	…	…	155
Sussex, West	…	…	120
Warwick	…	…	273
Westmorland	…	…	26
Wilts.	…	…	621
Worcester	…	…	1,112
Yorks, East Riding	…	…	383
Yorks, North Riding	…	…	116
Yorks, West Riding	…	…	565
County Boroughs	…	…	768
Total, England	…	…	25,643

County.	Number of Holdings.
Anglesey	259
Brecon	57
Caernarvon	92
Cardigan	52
Carmarthen	180
Denbighshire	280
Flint	157
Glamorgan	218
Merioneth	133
Monmouth	192
Montgomery	264
Pembroke	195
Radnor	89
County Boroughs	34
Total, Wales	2,202
Total, England and Wales	27,845

asked the Minister of Agriculture the amount of the arrears of rent in the different counties of England and Wales, individually, in connection with small holdings?

The information asked for by the hon. and gallant Member is not in my possession, and I could not undertake to obtain it specially in view of the labour involved.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he can state those English counties where the grey squirrel nuisance is most pronounced; and what is the limit of mileage from London where these animals have appeared?

The counties in which the grey squirrel is most prevalent are London, Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Warwickshire, and Cheshire and the central part of Yorkshire. It is also prevalent in the neighbourhood of Exeter. I understand that grey squirrels are now found as far north as Fife in Scotland.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the tonnage and value of the roofing slates imported during the years 1927, 1928, 1929, and 1930?

During the years 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930 the total weight of slates for roofing imported into the United Kingdom amounted to 46,317, 45,131, 47,846; and 44,510 tons, respectively, the declared value being £311,682, £297,062, £304,999 and £275,169 respectively.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department if he has any information as to the terms and conditions of the recent agreement between the Soviet trade delegation and the German federation of industry?

My hon. Friend is not in a position to add anything to what has already appeared in the Press.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the total amount of light dues collected during the 12 months ended to the last convenient date, and the amounts transferred to the lighthouse authorities to meet their direct expenditure during that period; and the average wages of the persons employed in this occupation?

The total amount of light dues collected during the 12 months ended 31st March, 1931, was £960,128 13s. 2d., and the sums advanced to the lighthouse authorities to meet their expenditure during that period amounted to £932,117 13s. 1d. The wages of the numerous grades of persons employed in this occupation are governed in general by the terms of awards No. 1281, 1282, 1283, 1284, and 1342, made by the Industrial Court in March and October, 1927, of which I am sending the hon. Member copies.

asked the Minister of Health whether he intends to bring forward any legislation to amend the Rent Restrictions Acts during the present Session?

I would remind the hon. and gallant Member that the operation of these Acts is under the consideration of an Inter-Departmental Committee appointed by myself, and by the Secretary of State for Scotland, and amending legislation must clearly await their report.

asked the Minister of Health whether any local authorities controlling building by local Acts of Parliament have adopted the Ministry of Health model by-laws?

So long as an Act of Parliament controlling building remains in force, by-laws covering the same ground cannot be made. Outside London, there are now few of the areas in which building was formerly controlled by local Act where the local authorities have not, either by Bill or by a Provisional Order of the Minister of Health, procured the modification of their old Acts, so as to be able to follow the more flexible method of by-laws. I am always prepared, within the limits of my powers, to assist local authorities to adopt the more modern and convenient system.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that Section 61 (3) of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, will prejudice many cricket and football clubs of the village type, in view of the fact that under the Act the cost of a licence for a vehicle to convey cricket and football teams to other villages is £3, and that an annual inspection fee of a similar amount is charged, making a total of £6, which many of these clubs or lorry owners are unable to afford; and will he take steps to alter this position?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave on 29th April to a question by the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnor (Mr. Freeman), of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Home Secretary whether it has now become the established practice to expedite the promotion of inspectors and chief inspectors of the criminal investigation department by retransferring them to the uniformed branch of the Metropolitan police as superintendents?

One chief inspector in the criminal investigation department has recently been promoted to the rank of superintendent and placed in charge of a division. The uniform branch and the criminal investigation department are parts of the same force, and the Commissioner holds the view, which I share, that there should be no bar to transfer from one branch to the other in suitable cases.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will consider remitting the customary exhumation fee of two guineas in cases where the relatives of persons who have been inadvertently buried in the wrong graves are unable to afford such fee in addition to the re-burial charges?

This is a statutory fee imposed by Section 7 of the Fees (Increase) Act, 1923, and my right hon. Friend has no Authority to remit it in such cases.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that at the magisterial proceedings held at Kingston on 8th April against William Gordon Baldwin, now under remand on a charge of murder, when the accused was not represented in court by a legal representative, the magistrates notified their intention to grant legal aid at the public expense, and that the police reported that Baldwin had been seen by counsel the previous evening, and that the accused informed the magistrates that he did not understand that he would have to pay the solicitor who had been so instructed and that he had not sent for him; whether the charge sheet was marked for a public defence: and what steps have been taken or are being taken for this to be done?

My right hon. Friend would refer the hon. Member to the answer given on the 23rd instant to the hon. Member for Newcastle North (Sir N. Grattan-Doyle), to which he can only add that he is informed that on the 8th instant the Chairman of the Bench announced that a legal aid certificate would be issued, and that on 14th instant counsel appeared who had been instructed by the solicitor referred to in the question.

asked the Secretary for Mines (1) what was the average amount paid in rates upon each ton of coal raised in the county of Durham for the last period for which the figures are available, and the similar figure for royalties for the same period;(2) what was the average amount paid in rates upon each ton of coal raised in England and Wales for the last period for which the figures are available, and the similar figure for royalties for the same period?

During 1930, the average amount per ton of saleable coal raised paid by colliery owners in Durham in local rates for all purposes was 1.41d. and for royalties and wayleaves, including the rental value of freehold minerals where worked by the proprietors, 5.61d. The corresponding figures for England and Wales were 1.11d. and 5.34d., respectively.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will consent to furnish a Return of the Royal Commissions and Committees of Inquiry which have been announced as having been set up by His Majesty's Government since 1st June, 1929, with further details, in accordance with a Motion appearing on the Order Paper?

I am appending the information desired, and in the circumstances the hon. and learned Member will, presumably, not think it necessary to proceed with his Motion for a Return.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether the Government propose to prepare any evidence for the Royal Commission on the Civil Service with regard to the position of pre-War pensioners?

No, Sir.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what grant is at present being made to the British school at Athens; for what period; and whether any alteration has recently been made?

A grant of £500 in aid of the expenses of the British school at Athens has been included in the Estimates each year since 1895, subject to quinquennial review. It has recently been arranged that, subject to the annual voting of the money, the grant shall be continued indefinitely without periodical review by the Treasury.