asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that considerable expense has been incurred in repairs and decorations at the general offices at Perth; and whether the badly needed repairs and decorations at the warders' quarters at Perth, which have been neglected for some years, are to be put in hand?

It is the case that certain necessary work on the repair and redecoration of the general office at Perth Prison has been carried out. Certain of the old prison quarters occupied by warders which were unsatisfactory have been replaced by new buildings or reconstructed, and a scheme of redecoration at present in hand will be completed at an early date.

asked the Home Secretary the pay, increments, allowances, hours per day, and the number of days' leave with pay of quasi-permanent and temporary officers in the prison service; what percentage of them are ex-service men; and whether he will consider the possibility of putting them on the permanent staff in order that they may have the same conditions of service and share the same responsibilities as the established officers?

The rates of pay of quasi-permanent officers are 48s. 7d. a week for men and 37s. 11d. a week for women: for temporary officers 7s. 5d. a day for men and from 4s. 8d. to 6s. 2d. a day for women; and for night patrol reliefs (women) from 5s. 5d. to 6s. 2d. a day. These rates are fixed and there are no increments or allowances. The hours of duty for quasi-permanent officers and night patrols are six shifts of ten hours each a week; for stokers, not less than 48 hours' duty a week; and for others, 96 hours' duty a fortnight. Quasi-permanent officers receive six working days' annual leave with pay, plus the usual public holidays, and temporary officers receive similar leave after twelve months' service. Owing to the fluctuations in the population and duties required at the various establishments, the employment of a permanent staff based on maximum needs could not be justified, and I am unable to adopt the hon. Member's suggestion. The percentage of ex-service men included in the quasi-permanent and temporary staffs is 81.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will reconsider the claim of ex-Prison Officer E. Fry, formerly of Parkhurst Prison, for compensation for injuries to his wife and daughter in connection with the murderous assault by a convict who broke away from his working party in 1924 at Parkhurst Prison; what is the amount of pension awarded to the ex-officer; and whether he is aware that Mrs. Fry has had to be again returned to the nursing home after several previous detentions, in respect of which Mr. Fry has been put to very great expense?

Mr. Fry, who retired from the Prison Service in March, 1933, was awarded a pension of £84 12s. 9d. As I have previously stated, neither Mrs. Fry nor Miss Fry received any physical injury from the convict referred to, and, though they may have suffered some shock, I know of no evidence to support the suggestion that Mrs. Fry's recent ill-health is in any way attributable to the occurrence of 1924. An application by Mr. Fry was considered in June last and again in August, but no reason was found to modify the conclusion already reached that there was no ground on which any compensation could properly be paid to him.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the aggregate tonnage of

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to the conviction of Mr. G. A. Gale at Bridport on 5th October for dangerous driving; and whether, as Mr. Gale has no previous conviction against him, he will look into the case with a view to remitting the sentence?

I am having inquiry made, and will communicate with my hon. Friend, but I may perhaps say at once that I should not regard the

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, to help the British film industry, he proposes to suggest to the different Colonies that they should enact film-quota legislation and bring it into force, since not one Colony has taken this step up to the presents?

I have already suggested to a number of Colonial Governments that they should consider the enactment of film-quota legislation, but only those Colonies mentioned in the reply which I gave to my hon. and gallant Friend on 9th November have found it possible to enact such legislation. In the majority of the African dependencies and in the mandated territories film-quota legislation would be contrary to our international engagements, whilst in many of the other Colonial dependencies conditions are not yet ripe for such legislation. I am, however, considering whether there are any in which such legislation could properly be enforced at the present time.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, as a result of the recent shipping disasters, he is satisfied that sufficient inspection is carried out of all electric wiring apparatus on British passenger steamers; and whether he has called the attention of

asked the Minister of Health what is the total number of approved societies; how many of them give dental treatment as an additional benefit; how many assist both men and women; how many assist men only; and what is the maximum, minimum, and

I have no reason to think that the present inspection of such apparatus is not sufficient. The attention of shipowners has not recently been specially drawn to this matter by the Board of Trade, but shipowners and the other interests concerned were asked to take into consideration the whole question of precaution against fires in passenger ships in May, 1932, and I am aware that they have given special attention to electric wiring in the investigation.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he can furnish a statement of new capital issues on the London market for the years 1929–33 in a form comparable with that given at page 46 of Cmd. 3331 (1929)?

The following table gives the information for which my hon. and gallant Friend asks:average proportion of the cost of treatment paid by approved societies who give dental treatment as an additional benefit?

The total number of approved societies in Great Britain is 917, of which 26 are divided into branches, each branch being a separate financial unit. The total number of branches is about 6,600. As the membership of societies and branches varies between less than 100 and more than 2,000,000 any figures of the number of societies and branches giving dental benefit do not give any indication of the extent to which that benefit is available to insured persons. This is best indicated by saying that out of the total insured population of about 12,000,0410 men and 6,000,000 women the numbers who are members of approved societies or branches giving dental benefit are about 9,000,000 and 2,000,000 respectively. The minimum proportion of the cost of treatment payable by any society or branch is 50 per cent., and the great majority of societies have adopted this proportion. Some of the more prosperous societies pay a higher proportion and a few pay the whole cost of the treatment.