Written Answers
Maintenance And Affiliation Orders (Dominions)
asked the Home Secretary if he will approach the Governments of the Dominions with a view to reciprocal measures being taken to provide that maintenance and affiliation orders made in one part of the Empire shall be enforceable throughout the Empire?
The Governments of the Dominions have been approached in regard to the reciprocal enforcement of maintenance orders and, with certain exceptions, arrangements are in existence. As regards the suggested extension of the arrangements to affiliation orders, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to my answer on 10th December last.
Lotteries, Sweepstakes And Betting (Royal Commission)
asked the Home Secretary whether, when considering the personnel of the Royal Commission on Lotteries, Sweepstakes and Betting, he will bear in mind the claims of the racing industry at Newmarket and elsewhere to adequate representation?
The hon. Member's suggestion will be borne in mind.
Ukrainian Refugees
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether representations can be made to the refugees' committee of the International Labour Office to afford protection and assistance to the Ukrainian refugees who have escaped across the Russian frontier and are now in Rumania in a destitute condition?
According to my information, representations have been made to the League of Nations by an Assistance Committee in Rumania, and a relief fund has been opened in Bucharest. My right hon. Friend does not consider that it would be appropriate for His Majesty's Government to approach the Nansen International Office for Refugees in this case.
Congo Basin
asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what countries and areas are included in the Congo basin; and whether there is any general agreement between the various authorities on a Customs cordon?
The area is defined by Article I of the General Act of Berlin in 1885, and includes the following territories:
- Belgian Congo,
- Nyasaland Protectorate,
- Tanganyika Territory,
- Uganda Protectorate,
- Kenya Colony and Protectorate, and
- Zanzibar Protectorate.
- Portuguese East Africa,
- Northern Rhodesia,
- Portuguese West Africa,
- French Equatorial Africa,
- The Sudan,
- Ethiopia,
- Italian Somaliland.
The reply to the second part of the question is in the negative.
Ceylon (Prison Discipline)
asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the conditions revealed in the Report of the Prisons Inquiry Commission of Ceylon, 1931, he will arrange for a further thorough investigation into the administration of prisons in Ceylon by a commission with terms of reference wider than those which limited the inquiry of Mr. Justice Garvin?
I would refer the right hon. Member to my reply to his question to-day regarding Mr. Justice Garvin's recommendations in the Report of the Prison Inquiry Commission. Whether any further investigation into the administration of prisons in Ceylon should be undertaken is a question for the Executive Committee for Home Affairs, and I do not doubt that they will give the matter all proper consideration.
Public Assistance
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amounts paid by the Exchequer, for the year ending 31st March last, to the Unemployment Insurance, to the National Health Insurance, to the Contributory Pensions (Old Age, Widows', and Orphans'), to Poor Law funds, and to old age pensions (non-contributory)?
The amounts paid by the Exchequer for the year ended 31st March, 1932, to the services mentioned by my hon. Friend are as follow:
| £ | |
| Unemployment Fund (including sums borrowed by the Fund and grants in respect of transitional benefits and transitional payments) | 89,600,000 |
| National Health Insurance Fund | 6,362,000 |
| Contributory Pensions Scheme | 10,000,000 |
| Old Age Pensions (including contributory old age pensions where the recipients are over 70 years of age) | 37,900,000 |
No grant is paid from the Exchequer directly in aid of Poor Law funds. It may be that in referring to them, my hon. Friend has in mind transitional payments. The amount of such payments is included in the sum given above for the payment to the Unemployment Fund.
National Health Insurance
asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the fact that insured persons living in the village of Edgeworth, Gloucestershire, have to walk six miles to Painswick to obtain medicine; and whether he will consider the advisability of the establishment of a surgery in the village of Miserden?
My attention has not previously been drawn to this matter, but I am making inquiry and will communicate further with my hon. Friend.
Transport
Regulations (Welsh Language)
asked the Minister of Transport if he will arrange for the publication in the Welsh language of the regulations under the Road Transport Act, 1930?
I am not aware of any precedent for the publication of Statutory Rules and Orders in the Welsh language, and I see no sufficient reason for initiating a change of practice in the case of the particular regulations to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers.
Motor Vehicles (Loads)
asked the Minister of Transport when he can give the numbers of motor vehicles using the roads to-day that habitually carry loads of 20 tons, 30 tons, and 40 tons, or more at a journey, respectively; and is any record kept of such vehicles and loads?
I have no power to require the owners of motor vehicles to keep records of the loads carried by them and I cannot therefore obtain the information for which my hon. Friend asks. It has been necessary to provide by regulation for the conveyance by road of exceptional loads such, for example, as boilers, transformers and ships' rudders, which cannot in many cases be moved by other means.
India (Service Pensions)
asked the Secretary of State for India why pensions for the officers of the imperial services in India, civil and military, are not guaranteed by His Majesty's Government, in view of the fact that these officers, in both departments, are appointed by His Majesty's Secretary of State for India?
As I explained in my reply to a question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Preston (Mr. Kirkpatrick) on 7th March, the responsibility for ensuring that the necessary funds are forthcoming for the payment of such pensions, rests with the Secretary of State for India, and the consent of Parliament would be required to any change in this position. As I stated on that occasion, it is inconceivable to the present Government that, in dealing with any scheme of constitutional change in India, Parliament could fail to provide such safeguards as may be necessary to ensure the due payment of pensions to officers who have served the country.