asked the Minister of Health when the report of the Commission dealing with the boundaries of local authorities will be circulated; and whether he is aware that, owing to the delay, local authorities are being prevented from making arrangements (for their future policy?

I presume that the hon. Member has in mind the review of county districts which is now proceeding. Decisions have been already given for no less than 30 counties. My decision on the proposals for the county which the hon. Member probably has in mind has been unavoidably delayed in consequence of certain special difficulties. I fully recognise the considerations alluded to in the latter part of the question, and I hope to be able to communicate with the county council at an early date.

asked the Secretary for Mines how many colliery companies use machinery to extract dust and dirt from hay prepared for consumption by horses and ponies in mines; whether he is aware that the use of such machinery has resulted in many cases in reducing the death rate among ponies caused by calculi or dust balls; and whether he will take steps to bring the matter to the notice of those companies who do not use the machinery in question?

Some colliery componies buy prepared feed for their horses from contractors, while others have their own central organisations for preparing it. In both cases dust-extracting machinery is used very largely in its preparation, and the death of a pit pony from calculi or dust-balls is a rare occurrence. The advantages of using clean food are unquestioned and well known, and, as the matter already receives the attention of the inspectors of horses in the course of their daily duties, I see no need to take further steps to call attention to the matter.

asked the Secretary for Mines if he is aware that certain mines horse inspectors employed by his Department have advocated the use of loose boxes in mines stables in view of the difficulty in getting ponies to lie down underground; whether he can state the number of mines in which loose boxes have been provided; and whether he will consider the desirability of issuing a circular recommending that all underground stables should have brick partitions instead of bars and owing bales?

I am not aware that the horse inspectors have advocated the general use of loose boxes in underground stables because of any difficulty in getting ponies to lie down. No such difficulty is in fact usually experienced. Loose boxes are generally provided in order that sick or injured horses may be suitably treated. The use of bars or swing bales is exceptional, and nearly' all underground stables are equipped with rigid partitions of some kind. The adequacy of these and all other details of the stabling of pit ponies is subject to regular inspection by the inspectors of horses, and I consider that such matters axe more effectively dealt with in this way than by the issue of circulars in general terms.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether any Russian, strawberries have been imported into this country since the recent embargo on Russian trade; and, if so, in what quantities and under what conditions?

There were no imports into this country of strawberries registered as consigned from the Soviet Union during May. Particulars for June are not yet available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the volume of trade

Unemployed persons on the registers of Employment Exchanges in the undermentioned ports.
—		26th May, 1930.	18th May, 1931.	23rd May, 1932.	22nd May, 1933.
Blyth	…	1,944	3025	3,241	2,995
Newcastle	…	19,880	25:838	28,308	28,338
Gateshead	…	9,721	12,888	13,302	13,695
Jarrow	…	3,396	6,301	6,647	7,371
North Shields	…	3,858	5,300	6,730	6,792
South Shields	…	8,614	13,709	14,545	14,287
Wallsend	…	2,523	4,667	5,877	5,780
Hebburn	…	1,411	3,724	4,090	4,500
Sunderland	…	12722	24,192	27,783	27,011
Hartlepool	…	7389	12,214	11,526	12,641
Stockton-on-Tees	…	6,799	10,951	14,166	13,347
Middlesbrough	…	8,908	15,427	17,242	17,089
Hull	…	15,847	18596	21,136	19,362
Goole	…	797	1,205	1,777	1,925
Grimsby	…	2,818	5,078	6,229	6,007

As regards the second part of the question, I am unable to estimate the extent to which employment at these ports has been affected by the embargo on imports from Russia.

asked the Secretary of State for India how many at the several ports on the north-east coast of England during the period since the embargo on the importation of Russian goods compared with the trade for the corresponding periods in the past three years?

The desired information is not available, as statistics of aggregate trade at individual ports in this country are not compiled in respect of periods of less than a calendar year.

asked the Minister of Labour the latest figures of the number of unemployed at the several ports on the north-east coast of England compared with the corresponding figures for the past three years; and whether he can give an estimate of the extent to which unemployment at those ports has been aggravated by the embargo on imports from Russia?

The following table gives the information asked for in the first part of the question:Government officials and service officers travelled to and from India by air at Government expense during 1932, and in how many cases British and foreign air services, respectively, were used?

No Government officials or Service officers were provided with air passages to, or, so far as is known, from, India at Government expense in 1932. A number of officers, and in some cases their families, travelled by air instead of by sea between India or the Persian Gulf and this country when proceeding on or returning from leave, and paid any difference between the cost of the journey and the maximum amount debitable to the Passage Fund for the return journey between Bombay and London. In almost every case British Air Services were used.