asked the Secretary for Mines whether he can make any statement as to the extent that Finland is carrying out her obligations under the coal provisions of the Anglo-Finnish Trade Agreement; and whether he can give the House any information on the position?

The coal provisions of the Anglo-Finnish Trade Agreement re- late to a yearly period, so that no question of their fulfilment or non-fulfilment can arise at present. I have no reason to doubt that 75 per cent. of the annual imports of coal into Finland will in fact be derived from the United Kingdom, and in this connection I understand that a Measure for the regulation of coal imports has now received a Third Reading in the Finnish Parliament.

Has the hon. Gentleman's attention been directed to the Press reports in this connection?

Yes, and I deprecate the statement that has appeared in certain sections of the Press; it has done harm.

asked the Secretary for Mines whether he can now make a statement concerning the working of overtime at the River Level Colliery, Aberdare?

Inquiries into the overtime worked at this pit over a period of 12 weeks show that the amount of overtime is less than 0.5 per cent. of ordinary time worked. The management claim that in all cases the overtime was permissible under the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1908. In one case, however, namely, when 11 men worked overtime for three hours each clearing coal at the pit bottom, I do not agree that the overtime worked was permissible, but since the management have undertaken not to work overtime for this purpose in future, I have decided not to take action on this occasion.

Can the hon. Member inform me whether the representatives of the workers were consulted during the course of the inquiry?

The hon. Member knows the difficulties there are, because this is a matter of management.

The workmen's representatives are able to give information dealing with overtime, and why should they Trot be consulted?

asked the Secretary for Mines the number of coal-cutting machines and conveyors in use in the mines of Great Britain and South Wales, respectively, for the years 1931, 1932, and 1933, also the quantity and percentage of the total output cut by machines for the same years?

As the reply involves a statistical table, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if, having regard to the fact that the import of rubber footwear in February of this year from Hongkong and Singapore were approximately 250,000 pairs as compared with one-eighth of that number in February of last year, he can state what steps he proposes to take to protect the British rubber footwear industry from this growing competition?

I cannot add anything to the reply which was given to my hon. Friend on the 6th February.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that in the first two months of the present year the imports of carpets from Belgium were 245,423 square yards, as compared with seven square yards in the same months of 1932; and what steps it is proposed to take to protect the British carpet industry against this increase in imports?

I am aware of the figures to which my hon. Friend draws attention. It is open to the industry to apply to the Import Duties Advisory Committee for an increase in the duty on these goods.

Is not Hong Kong still part of the British Empire?

The hon. Member has mistaken the question.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the increase in the value of cut flowers from the Netherlands and Belgium during the month ended February, 1934, over that of the previous year?

During February, 1934, the value of the imports of cut flowers from the Netherlands was £29,669 and from Belgium £301. Imports of fresh flowers during February, 1933, amounted to £29,080 from the Netherlands and £155 from Belgium. The figures for the two periods are not precisely comparable, as those for February, 1934, may include a small amount of dried flowers.

In any negotiations with foreign Powers on this and other matters, will my hon. Friend remember that this is a very highly organised and efficient industry?

Certainly.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he can now estimate the number of factories erected during the year 1933; the total employment they give; and how many of these new enterprises are controlled by foreign capital?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on the 6th March to the hon. Member for Widnes (Mr. Robinson).

When the hon. Gentleman is giving figures of new factories opened, will he take into account the fact that such figures are meaningless unless we get also figures showing the number of factories closed during the same period?

No answer that I give will ever be meaningless. If there is ever a desire for the figures of factories shut as well as factories opened, and that desire is made clear on the Order Paper, an answer will be forthcoming.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many of the 646 new factories erected during the year 1932 are controlled by foreign capital?

I regret that the desired information is not available.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department whether his representative in Warsaw is assisting the British industrial delegation now visiting Poland to explore the possibilities of mutual trade increase; and whether he will instruct him to bring to the notice of the negotiating parties the unsatisfactory importation into this country of cheap Polish clothing?

The United Kingdom Trade Commission to Poland has received all possible assistance from the Commercial Secretary to His Majesty's Embassy at Warsaw. As regards the second part of the question, the work of the mission was confined to exploring the possibilities of increasing United Kingdom export trade to Poland.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will state the number of public companies and firms, other than co-operative societies, which have in operation schemes for the participation of employés in profits and the number of employés participating therein?

At the end of 1932, the latest date for which statistics are available, 293 public companies and firms, other than co-operative societies, were known to have in operation schemes for the participation of employés, on a defined basis, in the profits of the undertakings concerned. About 185,000 employés were participating in these schemes. These figures and other statistics relating to profit-sharing were published in the "Ministry of Labour Gazette" for June, 1933.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that under the Additional Import Duties (No. 5) Order, 1932, customs duties are now levied on dried foliage and similar products which are the material for the production of medicinal preparations, whereas under the Horticultural Products (Emergency Customs Duties), which the above order replaced, such duties were not levied, and that application was made to the Import Duties Advisory Committee on 14th December, 1933, for an amending order; and whether, as trade in these products is almost at a standstill, he will press for an early decision in this matter?

I have been asked to reply. The Additional Import Duties (No. 8) Order, 1934, which was laid on the Table yesterday, provides for the removal of the additional duty on dried foliage, etc., of the kinds used solely for the manufacture of drugs or medicines.

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether purchases by the Russian authorities of British Empire teas, as a result of the trade agreement, have been made in London, or in India or Ceylon; and whether they are additional to the average total Russian purchases of tea made in India or Ceylon during the past two years;

The information asked for is not available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the weight and fresh-milk equivalent of butter imported in 1933 from foreign countries with which we have not entered into any treaty arrangements specifically covering butter since the passage of the Import Duties Act?

1,065,000 cwts. of butter were imported during 1933 from foreign countries with which no trade agreements in which butter is specifically mentioned have been concluded since the passage of the Import Duties Act. The fresh milk equivalent of this amount of butter is 281,353,000 gallons.

Can my hon. Friend say how this compares with the amount of butter that we have imported from New Zealand?

Certainly not without a good deal of notice.

Is not the fresh milk equivalent of this amount of butter vastly in excess of the surplus anticipated by the Minister of Agriculture?

That is a matter for another Minister.

asked the Minister of Agriculture (1) by what number of cwts. the imports of butter from Sweden in 1933 exceeded the amount below which their quota is not to be reduced under our trade agreement with them; and whether he proposes, in the interests of British producers, to take steps to see that in 1934 the minimum number of cwts. allowed them is not materially exceeded;

I have been asked to reply. The minimum quantities referred to do not apply except in the event of the supply of imported butter being regulated, which is not at present the case. Imports of butter in 1933 from Sweden and Denmark exceeded the minimum quantities provided for in the trade agreements with those countries by 41,777 cwts. and 219,119 cwts. respectively. With regard to the interests of British producers, I would remind my hon. and gallant Friend of the statement outlining the Government's milk policy which my right hon. Friend made on 22nd February.

Is the hon. and gallant Member aware that imported butter is seriously affecting butter made on British farms?

Yes, Sir, I am aware of that fact.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the imports of wheat, oats, and barley in the first two months of the year from Soviet Russia were 3,479,422 cwts. as compared with 457,062 cwts. in the same period last year; and what steps he proposes to take to deal with this growing competition to British agriculture?

I am aware of the facts referred to in the first part of the question, but I would point out to my hon. Friend that the total imports during the period in question declined by 5 per cent. The Government has taken and is taking energetic steps to safeguard the interests of the home cereal industry, but it would not be possible within the limit of question and answer to describe these steps in detail.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that oats subsidised by foreign Governments are being imported into this country, and does he propose to take any steps to prohibit their importation?

I am afraid I could not enter into any discussion with my hon. Friend by question and answer. The question of the subsidisation of foreign oats is one of the most difficult in the whole range of our import duties.

Will the right hon. Gentleman listen to further representations on the subject?

Certainly.

Will the right hon. Gentleman stop the importation of subsidised oats?

As I was saying to my hon. Friend the Member for East Aberdeen (Mr. Boothby), the House knows well that the subsidisation of oats is one of the most difficult questions to determine.

Are these oats in part payment for our herring?

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that the increase in the number of bulbs imported from the Netherlands during the two months ended February, 1934, over the two months ended February, 1932, amounts to more than 100 per cent.; and what steps he proposes to take to protect British bulb-growers?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative, though I should not be prepared to draw inferences from the volume of imports during only two months in the year. In reply to the second part I would remind my hon. Friend that the statutory procedure provides for consideration of these matters by the Import Duties Advisory Committee in the first instance.

In view of the very difficult state of the trade at the present time, will the right hon. Gentleman, in the interests of agriculture, look into this matter very carefully, and see to it that British industry is more efficiently protected?

Representations should be made in the first place to the Import Duties Advisory Committee.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that a great number of the bulbs that come from the Netherlands are diseased and are causing very grave unrest in the minds of horticulturists in this country, and that from the point of view of the well-being of the industry—not only from the point of view of protection—it is important that this matter should be looked into?

I am interested by the careful distinction drawn by the hon. Member, and I am not disposed to draw such a distinction, but I shall be most happy to examine from a sanitary point of view any evidence which he can lay before me.

May I ask my right hon. Friend if he does not agree that the limit to be aimed at should be to grow all the bulbs in this country which this country needs?

Will my right hon. Friend put a time limit on the consideration of the Import Duties Advisory Committee?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware of the complaint of residents in the rural areas of the counties of Moray and Nairn of the lack of housing accommodation; the number of houses that have been built by the local authorities in these two counties in each of the past three years; and whether the local authorities have any difficulty in securing land for building purposes from any of the local landowners?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. As regards the second part, the County Council of Moray built no houses in 1931, and 11 and 10 houses in 1932 and 1933 respectively, while the County Council of Nairn built no houses in 1931 and 1932, and four in 1933. As regards the last part of the question, my right hon. Friend's attention has not been drawn to any difficulty such as is referred to. I may add that, on the information before him, my right hon. Friend was not satisfied with the adequacy of the five years' programmes submitted for the two counties. He accordingly communicated with the county councils, and investigations and discussions are at present proceeding in the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that at the annual meeting of the Scottish National Housing and Town Planning Committee, held at Peebles on 2nd March, 1934, a resolution was passed that private enterprise under present circumstances is unable to erect houses for the working classes at reasonable rents, and that many local authorities in Scotland are unable to do so because of the small subsidy provided by the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1933; and whether he will take steps to augment the subsidy and thus make possible the provision of houses, as contemplated by the Act, without unduly burdening the local authorities?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his attention has been drawn to a resolution passed by the Scottish National Housing and Town Planning Committee to the effect that private enterprise is unable to erect houses to be let to the working classes at reasonable rents, that many local authorities are unable to do so with the modified subsidy provided by the Housing Act of 1933, and that a housing subsidy varying in accordance with local conditions is required; and whether he proposes to introduce legislation for this purpose before the end of the present Session?

My right hon. Friend is aware of the passing of the resolution referred to. The subsidy of £3 a house under the Act of 1933, which is available only in Scotland, is intended to encourage the provision of houses for low-paid wage-earners living in overcrowded conditions. As the right hon. and hon. Gentlemen are aware, measures for dealing with the whole question of overcrowding are at present under the consideration of the Government, who recognise the special situation of Scotland with regard to this problem.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has received a copy of the report of the Scottish National Develop- ment Council on Rating Reform; and whether he proposes to take any steps to reform the present system along the lines of either the majority or the minority recommendations, or otherwise?

I have received, and given careful consideration to, the report referred to in the question. Alteration of the existing rating system on the lines of either the majority or the minority recommendations presents very serious difficulties, and I cannot hold out any hope of early legislation on the subject. I am, however, considering the question of amending the Valuation Acts in certain respects.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has yet received the views of police authorities in Scotland as to the establishment of a police gazette?

I regret that I have not yet received final replies from all police authorities on this subject.

In view of the fact that my right hon. Friend asked for this information some four months ago, is he satisfied that his request is being complied with with due attention by the police authorities who have failed to answer so far?

I regret that delay has arisen. It may be that it has arisen in securing unanimous consent. I can tell my hon. Friend that 90 per cent. of the police authorities have approved of a scheme, and I can assure him that we shall exercise as much pressure as we can to get the other 5 per cent. to agree.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in view of the generally expressed desire for an inquiry into the conditions of Sunday trading in Scotland, he will take the necessary steps to institute such an inquiry?

I am not satisfied that an inquiry of the nature suggested would be justified at the present time.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that the wife of James Maclennan, Isle of Scarp, who was delivered of a baby by an untrained midwife at Scarp on 13th January, was conveyed over the island, the sea, and the uncompleted Hushinish road on a stretcher to a motor car for transport to Tarbert, Harris, 18 miles away, on 14th January; that ultimately she was conveyed by car to Lewis Hospital, Stornoway, where she was delivered of a second baby at nine p.m. on 15th January; and, seeing that the people of Scarp have repeatedly asked for a trained nurse, pier, and road transport facilities, what action he proposes to take in the matter?

I understand that the facts of the case are generally as stated. I am informed that some time before the birth the doctor visited Mrs. Maclennan and strongly urged her to go to Tarbert for her confinement. He again saw her a few days before the birth and repeated this advice. Neither the doctor nor the trained nurse was summoned until after the first child was born. Within two hours of receiving the telephone message asking for assistance they reached the island and under the doctor's personal supervision the patient was removed to the hospital where she was successfully delivered of the second child. As regards the last part of the question, a doctor and nurse are available in Tarbert and the installation of a telephone between Tarbert and Hushinish has reduced the difficulty of summoning them to Scarp to a minimum. The Department of Health are satisfied that these arrangements are adequate. The provision of improved transport facilities is a matter in the first instance for the County Council of Inverness. Any application which that body may make for assistance from State funds for that purpose will be carefully considered by the Departments concerned.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the doctor who gave that information also mentioned that, if a district nurse was given, they would be very lucky indeed compared with other parts of Harris, and is he also aware that many women in the Western Isles view with agonising dread the approaching time of child-birth on account of their isolation, the difficulties of transport and the inadequacy and uncertainty of medical and surgical facilities?

I think if in similar circumstances they would take the advice preferred to Mrs. Maclennan and go to a proper home in time, many of the difficulties incidental to life on a scattered island would be removed.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many teachers with qualifications under Chapter V of the Regulations for the Training of Teachers were employed in advanced-division schools or courses in Scotland for the years 1929, 1931, 1932, and 1933, respectively?

The number of teachers qualified under Chapter V of the Regulations for the Training of Teachers who were employed in schools with separately staffed advanced divisions was 565 at 31st March, 1933. The corresponding numbers in the same schools were 407 in 1929, 478 in 1931 and 505 in 1932. The number of such teachers employed in advanced division courses that are not separately staffed is not available and cannot be obtained without an expenditure of time that does not seem to me to be justified.

Is any attempt being made to raise the standard of qualifications of teachers employed in these schools?

The hon. Gentleman will see, when he looks at the answer that I have given, that the number of teachers is constantly increasing.

If the hon. Gentleman will look at his own figures, he will see that they are going up and down.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that complaints have been made in reports that recent economies in educational expenditure have resulted in inadequate cleaning and repainting of schools to an extent injurious to the health and happiness of the children; and what action he proposes to take to remedy this?

The reports of His Majesty's Inspectors do not support any suggestion of the kind referred to in the question, and I have no reason to think that this important aspect of school provision is being neglected. But if the hon. Member has any other reports in mind I shall be glad to look into the matter if he will let me have the particulars.

asked the Minister of Labour if he can furnish a list of Employment Exchanges in the London area not belonging to the Ministry of Labour Employment Exchanges, but which are recognised by his Department?

I am not clear what my hon. Friend has in mind and should be glad if he would communicate with me. I may say, however, that there is nothing that could be described as a list of unofficial Exchanges recognised by the Ministry.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has considered the petition from the town council of Clydebank in favour of the Government increasing the allowance to the children of the unemployed from 2s. to 3s. a week; and what does he propose to do about it?

I have seen the letter from the Town Council of Clydebank on this matter. I have nothing to add to the statements upon this subject made during the Debates on the Committee stage of the Unemployment Bill.

Is not the Chancellor of the Exchequer aware that 26 different town councils and county councils in Scotland are in favour of this increase?

The Archbishop of York too.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is now in a position to give an assurance that the first use to be made of the surplus realised for the financial year 1933–34 will be to restore all the cuts in unemployment pay?

I cannot anticipate the Budget statement.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the housing committee of Liverpool City Council is asking the permission of the council to increase the corporation contribution allowed for in the estimates in respect of houses completed under the 1924 Housing Act from £11,810 to £31,650; and whether, in view of the fact that the Liverpool Corporation has adopted no method of carrying out the principle laid down in Circulars 1334 and 1138 of the Ministry, that the benefit of subsidies should not be given to tenants who do not need them nor be continued for longer than they need them, this proposal to increase the rate charge on Liverpool houses has his approval?

My right hon. Friend's attention has not been called to a proposed increase in the corporation's estimates in respect of houses erected under the Act of 1924. It would not be proper for him to express an opinion upon a recommendation of a committee to the council. Subject to the rents charged in respect of the houses not exceeding in the aggregate an amount ascertained in the manner prescribed by the Act, any deficiency, after allowing for the Exchequer subsidy, is the responsibility of the local authority and is not a matter for my right hon. Friend's approval.

Is the hon. Member aware that since this question was put down the city council has consented to the proposed increase, which averages 3d. per week for each of the tenants relieved, and does he consider that that is a profitable use to make of the subsidy?

If the council has adopted the report of the Committee no doubt we shall be in a position to know to what cause the increase is due, and I will consult with the hon. Lady at a later stage.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the heavy burden on the taxpayer involved in housing subsidies and the insufficiency everywhere of the supply of subsidised houses to suit the means of the poorer tenants, he will consider taking steps to enforce on local authorities who disregard his circulars the principle that rent subsidies must be so used as to benefit those who need them?

According to my hon. Friend's information this principle is generally observed. The question whether any particular method of rent differentiation should be adopted is a matter which is left under the Housing Acts to the discretion of the local authority.

Will the hon. Member say why the method is left to the local authorities, and are the local authorities justified in using no method whatever to see that the rent relief is not given to those who do not need it, in view of the fact that by far the greater part of the money comes not from the rates, but from the taxes?

Parliament laid down certain conditions which fixed the level of rents under various Acts, but it is left to the discretion of local authorities to carry out the principle of differentiation, and, What being so, I cannot wear a black shirt and enforce a principle which was left to the discretion of local authorities.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that repairs to the 833 houses and 56 flats built by the local authority of Great Yarmouth since 1921 cost during the year 1933–34 the sum of £3,694; whether he will cause inquiry to be made as to the necessity for the spending of this sum on comparatively new houses; and if he is satisfied that there is efficient supervision over this expenditure?

Expenditure of this kind is not reported to my right hon. Friend by the local authority, but as on the facts stated it barely exceeds £4 per house he sees no prima facie reason for regarding it as excessive for a particular year.

Does not the Minister think that, for the period of the life of these houses, the sum spread over that number of houses is particularly excessive?

As I have said, we have not received information as to the expenditure, but it may well be that it is periodical expenditure, for painting, for example, and £4 a house does not appear to be excessive.

Will the Minister make inquiries, in so far as he says that they have no information regarding the actual figures, to see whether the figures submitted are accurate?

As the hon. Gentleman knows, there are the district auditors, and, if there is any irregularity, our attention is called to the matter. We have never had any complaints as far as Great Yarmouth is concerned.