asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that the Minister of Home Affairs in Northern Ireland has undertaken to instruct the county borough councils and county councils in Northern Ireland to issue renewal notices before the expiration of motor-vehicle driving licences; and whether he will take steps to require similar action by the licensing authorities in Great Britain?

I believe that my hon. and gallant Friend is correctly informed as to the intention of the Government of Northern Ireland. So far as Great Britain is concerned, the question has been carefully reviewed from time to time, and I see no sufficient reason for altering the decisions of my predecessors that registration and licensing authorities should not be required to issue reminders or renewal notices before the expiration of driving licences.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the continuance of excessive noise from the exhausts of motor bicycles and sports cars in spite of the provisions of the Road Traffic Act, he will consider giving instructions to his commissioners in various districts to inspect all types of such cars and motor bicycles at the factories in order to make certain that these machines do not contravene Regulation 16 of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulation, 1931, before they are delivered to the public?

Neither the traffic commissioners nor the certifying officers appointed under the Road Traffic Act have any powers in relation to ordinary motor cars or motor cycles, and it is not competent to me to issue instructions of the nature suggested by my hon. and gallant Friend. I am, however, in communication with the manufacturers on this subject.

asked the Minister of Transport which is the further section of the South Circular Road which is to be undertaken by a grant this year from the Road Fund?

The further section of the South Circular Road, for which I am prepared to make a grant from the Road Fund, is approximately one mile in length, and extends from Burnt Ash Hill, near its junction with Baring Road, to Eltham Road, at its junction with West-horne Avenue.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will publish a White Paper showing the present debt of the Unemployment Insurance Fund; and at what dates and in respect of what classes of beneficiaries it was incurred?

The debt of the Unemployment Fund at 30th November, 1933, amounted to £112,330,000. Borrowing in respect of the fund commenced in July, 1921, and the amount of debt outstanding at the end of each financial year since that date was as follows:

			Debt outstanding at end of Year.
Financial Year.			£
1921–22	…	…	13,950,000
1922–23	…	…	16,840,000
1923–24	…	…	10,450,000
1924–25	…	…	7,430,000
1925–26	…	…	7,177,569
1926–27	…	…	24,710,000
1927–28	…	…	24,530,000
1928–29	…	…	35,960,000
1929–30	…	…	38,950,000
1930–31	…	…	75,390,000
1931–32	…	…	115,000,000
1932–33	…	…	115,000,000

In the case of benefit years commencing after March, 1929, the cost (including administration) of transitional benefit and transitional payments accruing in those years was repaid to the Unemployment Fund by the Exchequer and the amount thus refunded up to the end of October, 1933, was £141,000,000. Advances to the fund ceased on 31st March, 1932, when the statutory limit of borrowing powers of £115,000,000 was reached. On and from that date any deficiency of the fund on insurance account (apart from the debt of £115,000,000) has been met by deficiency grant payable by the Exchequer. During 1933-34 the excess of receipts over payments on insurance account has enabled a commencement to be made in repaying debt and, up to the end of November, 1933, £2,670,000 has been so repaid. The debt has been incurred in respect of the excess of the total outgoings over the total income of the fund, and not in respect of any particular classes of beneficiaries.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the annual rents of

Local Authority.		Annual Rents (exclusive of Bates) for houses built under the:
		Housing, etc., Act, 1923, and Housing (Scotland) Act, 1930. (Slum Clearance).		Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1924, (Ordinary).*
		3 apartments.	4 apartments.	3 apartments.	4 apartments.
Edinburgh Burgh	…	£15	—	£20 to £28	£26 to £34
Aberdeen Burgh	…	£15	—	£16 to £28	—
Dundee Burgh	…	£15	£16 6s.	£21 10s. to £28	£39
Kilsyth Burgh	…	£10	£11	£16 to £22;	£19 to £22 9s.
Lanark Count	…	£14	£15	£14 to £23; 10s.	£15 to £27
Ayr County	…	£15 10s.	£19	£15 10s. to £17	£19
Glasgow Burgh	…	£15 10s. to £21	£15 12s. 9d. to £21 10s.	£19 10s. to £30†	£22 5s. to £35†
*For the purposes of this statement, "ordinary" houses have been taken to mean houses erected by local authorities under the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1924.
†These are the ordinary rents. The special rents for "intermediate types" are £20 5s. for three-apartment and £23 5s. for four-apartment houses. The term "intermediate" as applied to types of houses is peculiar to Glasgow, and all such intermediate houses have been built under the Act of 1924.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce legislation to amend the existing Acts which allow magistrates to carry on commercial contracts with licensed firms whilst they sit on the licensing bench?

I am unable to give, any undertaking on the subject of legislation to amend the Licensing (Scotland) Acts.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many loans have been granted by the Colonial Development Advisory Committee since three- and four-apartment municipal houses of ordinary slum-clearance and intermediate types, exclusive of rates, in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Kilsyth, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Glasgow, respectively?

The following statement shows the rents charged for houses of three and four apartments erected under the various Housing Acts by certain local authorities in Scotland.its inception, giving the amount and nature of each loan?

Some 70 loans have been recommended by the Colonial Development Advisory Committee and approved by His Majesty's Government. Lists of those approved prior to 31st March, 1933, are contained in tables appended to the four interim reports of the committee, published as Command Papers under the following numbers:—Cmd. 3540, Cmd. 3876, Cmd. 4079 and Cmd. 4316. The amount and nature of each loan are given in the tables. Details of the further loans which have been recommended by the committee and approved by His Majesty's Government since 31st March, 1933, are contained in the table attached.

asked the Attorney-General whether and, if so, when it is intended to introduce legislation to give effect to the recommendation of the Report of the Crown Proceedings Committee of 1927 [Cmd. 2842]?

It is not desirable to introduce legislation of this nature unless it is reasonably clear that it will receive general assent in both Houses of Parliament; and such information as the Government have been able to obtain leads them to think that no such general assent exists.

asked the Minister of Agriculture (1) the latest figures available of those employed in agriculture in each county in England and Wales, together with figures for the corresponding date in 1931 and 1932;(2) the latest figures available of the acreage under cultivation in each county in England and Wales, together with the figures for the corresponding date in 1931 and 1932?

The replies to these questions involve in each case a lengthy statistical statement which I am sending direct to my hon. Friend, with a view to economy in printing. He will observe that in framing the answers, it has been assumed that by "the acreage under cultivation" is meant the area of arable land as recorded from time to time in "Agricultural Statistics."

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of head of cattle, sheep and pigs in Great Britain on the last available date, and figures for the corresponding dates in 1931 and 1932?

The following table gives the total number of cattle, sheep and pigs as returned in June in each of the years 1931, 1932 and 1933 in Great Britain.

—		1933.	1932.	1931.
		No.	No.	No.
Cattle	…	7,899,000	7,591,278	7,273,890
Sheep	…	25,835,000	26,411,842	25,580,022
Pigs	…	3,235,000	3,349,883	2,945,211
Note.—The above figures relate only to cattle, sheep and pigs on agricultural holdings above one acre in extent.
The figures for 1933 are subject to slight revision.