asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether it is the intention of the board to increase the building grants to local education authorities in respect of new buildings erected for the purpose of giving effect to the Hadow Report?

:I regret that I cannot add anything to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Kilmarnock (Mr. K. Lindsay) on 18th December last, a copy of which I am sending to my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the total quantity of milk distributed in connection with the scheme for the supply of milk to school children at ½d. a bottle in the months of October, November, and December, 1934?

:According to information supplied by the Milk Marketing Board, the quantities of milk distributed to schools and other approved centres in England and Wales under the Milk-in-Schools Scheme during the months in question were as follow:

The decrease in December is attributable to school holidays.

asked the Home Secretary how many experiments on animals under the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876, were performed in 1924 in which permission was given to use curare or curarine?

:During 1934, 37 experiments involving the use of curare were performed on living animals under permissions given by the Secretary of State. Seven of these experiments were performed on deeply anaesthetised animals; while the remaining 30 experiments consisted of injections only, no cutting operation being involved.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will give a list of charges per hour or day to police constables, police sergeants, inspectors, and superintendents for performing police duties at football matches and sports events in the Metropolitan area and the provinces; and whether the charges are different in amateur and professional games?

:The charges payable to the police fund for the services of Metropolitan police are 3s. an hour for a constable, 3s. 6d. for a sergeant, 4s. 6d. for an inspector and 8s. for a superin- tendent, whatever may be the type of function they attend. The county and borough police authorities fix the charges in respect of members of their forces, but they should not differ substantially from the above amounts.

asked the Minister of Health the following particulars for each of the last five years for which complete figures are at present available: The number of public vaccinations and re-vaccinations; and the expenditure of local authorities on vaccination from the rates and from Government grants, respectively, and the expenditure on the Government lymph establishment?

:The following statements give the particulars asked for:

asked the Home Secretary the number of cases of epitheliomatous cancer where the date of disablement, as fixed by the certifying surgeon or medical referees, has been more than 12 months after the workman was last employed as a mill spinning operative?

:I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Home Secretary the number of cases of epithelioma of parts of the body other than the scrotum, giving separate figures for each of the years 1929 to 1934, the geographical distribution of the reported cases, also stating the age analysis of all such cases in five-year periods, namely, up to 25 years of age, from 25 to 30 years, up to the age of 65, and over 65 years?

:It would involve considerable time and labour to prepare statements in the form asked for, and as at present advised I do not think this would be justified. If, however, the hon. Member will let me know the object of his inquiry, I will consider how far I can assist him.

asked the Minister of Health the number of slum-clearance schemes submitted by Welsh local authorities, and the total number of dwellings and occupants affected by such schemes?

:At 31st January, 1935, 250 areas had been declared to be clearance areas by Welsh local authorities. These areas included 1,909 houses and involved the displacement of 7,344 persons.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the percentage of duty payable on new and second-hand foreign taximeters imported into this country?

:New and second-hand taximeters of foreign manufacture imported into this country are liable to the Customs duty at the rate of 33⅓ per cent. ad valorem, imposed by Section 3 (1) of the Finance Act, 1925, on motor cars and component parts and accessories thereof.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the recent gambling in pepper and other commodities; whether such gambling is resulting in higher prices being paid to the foreign grower and by the home consumer; and whether he proposes to take any action against the persons or companies financing these gambling transactions?

:I am aware of the activities to which the hon. Member refers. Wholesale prices of pepper in the principal producing countries increased substantially in the latter part of last year, but retail prices in this country appear to have remained, in general, unchanged. With regard to the last part of the question, I have no power to take action in the matter.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office what proportion of Army recruits during the last 20 years showed no marks of vaccination when accepted for service?

:I regret that records covering the whole of the past 20 years are not available, but the proportion of recruits accepted for service during the last 10 years who showed no marks of vaccination was approximately 24 per cent.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether any records are kept by Army medical officers showing the results of the vaccination of recruits; and whether, if such records are kept, information is given as to whether the vaccination was a primary vaccination or a re-vaccination?

:The answer to both parts of the question is in the affirmative.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether records are kept showing the result of vaccinations performed on recruits for the Navy and dockyards; and, if such records are kept, whether information is given as to whether the vaccination is a primary vaccination or a re-vaccination?

:The reply is in the affirmative, except that for entrants to the dockyards the record does not distinguish between primary vaccinations and re-vaccinations.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of officers, including head warders and first class warders, possessing the necessary certificate, qualifying them for the care and attention of the insane in the criminal lunatic department of Perth Prison?

:The warding staff of the criminal lunatic department at Perth receive training as mental attendants in the department and are not required to undergo examinations for certificates granted by outside bodies. Two warders and one wardress employed in the department are, however, recorded as possessing such certificates.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether any payment under the removal expenses circular has been made for transfers of prison officers from Duke Street to Barlinnie, Glasgow, and vice versa; what is the date when it is proposed to apply the circular; and whether he can see his way clear to make the terms of the circular apply retrospectively from 1st April, 1926, when it applied to English prison officers?

:As stated in my reply to a question by the hon. Member on 13th November last, the provisions of the Removal Expenses Report were applied to the Scottish prison service as from 6th September last. Since that date there has been only one transfer of the kind referred to in the first part of the question, when an officer was transferred from the staff of Barlinnie Prison to that of Duke Street Prison. As this officer was already occupying official quarters at Duke Street, and the transfer was at his own request, no payment from public funds fall to be made under the report. As regards the last part of the question, I regret that I do not see my way to adopt the hon. Member's suggestion.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the officers were removed from the quarters which were demolished at Perth Prison village at their own expense or was the expense borne by the State; and whether the officers removed from the demolished houses were given preference for the new houses erected in their place?

:The occupants of quarters at Perth Prison marked for demolition were transferred to other quarters in the same prison. Under the rules relating to such removals no expense was incurred by the State, and so far as is known no outside help was hired by the officers concerned. In accordance with the practice in such cases, the new quarters were allocated among applicants according to seniority and family considerations.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the grant given to trades warders in the Scottish prison service is for instructional purposes only; whether trades warders are employed at their trade irrespective of instruction of prisoners; and whether, in the case of young officers, their pay is made up to trades union rates?

:Warders may be required to give instruction or assistance in any trade with which they may be acquainted without extra remuneration; but in certain cases instructing allowances are paid. Such allowances cover practical instruction to prisoners, supervision and the carrying out of operations which prisoners, owing to lack of the necessary skill, cannot undertake. Warders are not employed at their trade irrespective of instruction of prisoners. The pay and emoluments of warders are related to Civil Service conditions and not to those of outside trades.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that 45 per cent. of the first-class warders in the Scottish prison service were trades warders and ex-traders when promoted; can he give the ratio of this promotion to first-class rank within the trade warders' grade; and will he give the ratio of promotion to first-class rank from the purely disciplinary grades and the approximate number of annual promotions, respectively, of each of these grades?

:The percentage figure given in the first part of the question is approximately correct. As regards the remaining parts of the question, the information desired is not readily available; and I am not satisfied that it would serve any useful purpose to compile it, as first-class warders do not instruct in trades and accordingly trade qualifications are not taken into account in considering promotions to that grade.

asked the Minister of Labour the total amount which has accrued to the Unemployment Insurance Fund as a result of the increased contributions since 1931?

:It is estimated that, from 5th October, 1931, to 31st January, 1935, the increase in contribution income from the increased rates enacted in October, 1931, of contributions payable by employers, employed persons and the Exchequer, amounted to approximately £50,000,000.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed juveniles on the registers of the exchanges in each of the Ministry's divisions in January of each year from 1929 to 1935, inclusive?

:The following table gives the information desired.