asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education what education authorities have raised the school-leaving age to 15; and if he is able to furnish details of the local authorities that incurred additional expenditure in anticipation of the general raising of the school-leaving age, and the sum involved?

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. I am afraid that it is not possible to answer the second part of the question, as expenditure incurred by local education authorities in anticipation of the general raising of the school-leaving age cannot be differentiated from other expenditure incurred on the improvement of educational facilities.

asked the Minister of Health if he has considered the petition sent to him by certain ratepayers in the county borough of Merthyr Tydvil concerning the financial administration of the council; and what steps he proposes to take in the matter and what reply he has sent?

I have this matter under consideration and I hope to be shortly in a position to reply to the petitioners.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will take steps to secure that the whole-time maintenance and repair of telephone lines, at present confined to so-called emergency lines for doctors, hospitals, police, and fire stations, may be extended to all classes of private telephone lines?

The week-day hours of attendance of the maintenance staff at a large number of towns have been extended, with the result that attention is now given to a considerably larger number of faults each day. In addition, I have arranged for the repair service to be available at night and during the weekend for important circuits, such as those of hotels and firms which carry on business to a late hour, as well as for the circuits of doctors, etc., mentioned by the hon. Member. Arrangements are also in hand under which all subscribers will, I hope, be able to get attention to faults on their circuits during the week-end.

asked the Attorney-General whether he is aware that the township of Harworth, with a population of over 5,000, is without a magistrate, and that schoolmasters, doctors, and other local people are inundated with forms requiring a magistrate's signature; and whether he will recommend the appointment of a magistrate in this township?

The appointment of a magistrate who will be resident in the township of Harworth is at present under the consideration of my Noble Friend the Lord Chancellor.

asked the Minister of Agriculture for the following information with regard to the Agricultural Returns: what is the yearly number sent out; what is the total number of staff required to deal with the returns; and what use is made of the information derived from the 83 questions?

The number of holdings exceeding one acre in respect of which returns are collected annually is about 400,000. The issue and collection of the schedules is undertaken as part of their duties by 311 crop reporters who are part time officers, while the tabulation is carried out by a temporary staff averaging 137 for a period of six weeks. A preliminary statement is issued early in August as soon as the tabulation is completed and a full report is published some months later in Part I of Agricultural Statistics. With regard to the last part of the question, reliable statistics are essential to a proper understanding of the social and economic problems affecting the industry.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the fact that there is considerable variation between different districts in the proportion of water to flour used in baking; and whether he will consider the desirability of taking some action to standardise the water-content of bread?

I am aware that there are variations in the amount of water used in preparing the dough for bread making, but I have no power to take action on the lines suggested by my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that employés' superannuation funds are being established throughout the country and that the rules of most of these funds provide for the production of entrants' birth certificates, which at present cost 3s. 7d. to obtain; and, as birth certificates are obtainable at reduced rates for the purposes of the Factory and Workshops Act, the Savings Bill Act, and the National Insurance Act, will he take steps to enable these reduced rates to apply to the purchase of birth certificates for the purpose of superannuation funds which have been approved by the Inland Revenue authorities or registered under the Validation Act, 1927?

The charge in question is statutory, and legislation would be necessary to amend it. The hon. Member will appreciate that any further reduction of these fees would increase the charge upon public funds in respect of the registration service.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that at certain Employment Exchanges unemployed men who have reported jobs of work they have themselves found have not been allowed to fill the posts themselves, but have been told that their notifications must be regarded as vacancies only and allotted to persons higher up on the waiting list; and whether he will take steps to change this practice?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given orally today to a similar question by the hon. Member for Romford (Mr. Hutchison).

asked the Home Secretary how many orders extending shopping hours have been made under Section 6 of the Shops (Hours of Closing) Act, 1928; in what places the orders have been made; whether such orders apply to the whole or part of the shops situated in the area of the local authority concerned; and how many orders contained provisions protecting shop assistants from excessive hours of labour?

The orders made by the local authorities under this Section do not require to be submitted to me, and I regret that I am not in a position to furnish the information for which the hon. Member asks.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, whether he is aware that the import duty paid on foreign potatoes brought into this country since 1st January, 1931, and sold wholesale at £7 to £8 per ton, has been based in some cases on a value of £4 to £5 per ton; and if he can state what arrangements are made by the Customs and Excise authorities to ensure that the 10 per cent. ad valorem duty is calculated according to the full selling value of such imported potatoes?

Potatoes were not chargeable with ad valorem duty prior to 1st March, 1932. If my hon. and gallant Friend will supply me with particulars of the cases he has in mind, I will have inquiry made. I may, however, point out that the statutory value for duty purposes is the value at the port of importation, and that this is likely to be less than the wholesale selling price.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if his attention has been called to the fact that the French Government is ceasing recruitment for its own civil service for a given period in the interests of economy; and whether he will watch this experiment with the object of adopting some similar policy in this country?

I have seen a reference in the Press to the matter referred to in the first part of the question. As regards the arrangements in this country, new appointments, whether by recruitment of new personnel or by transfer, are being made by Departments only where the clearest need exists and my Noble Friend may rest assured that this policy will continue to be strictly observed. Having regard, amongst other considerations, to the inevitable wastage of existing personnel the complete cessation of recruitment is not, I think, practicable, nor would it serve the purpose which my Noble Friend has in mind.