asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the adverse trade balance in trade with Holland has risen from £6,500,000 in 1933 to £9,000,000 in 1934; and whether, in view of the fact that British exports to Holland are at present drastically limited by the quotas imposed thereon, he proposes to take any steps in the near future to protest against the continuance of this position?

I am aware of the increase in the adverse visible balance of trade with Holland in 1934. As regards the second part of the question, I would refer to the answer which was given on 30th April to the hon. Members for the Isle of Wight (Captain P. Macdonald) and East Dorset (Mr. Hall-Caine).

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is now in a position to make any statement with regard to the progress which has been made in opening negotiations with Spain with the object of arriving at a new trade agreement between that country and Great Britain?

As the hon. and gallant Member for the Isle of Wight (Captain P. Macdonald) was informed on 30th April, preliminary discussions with representatives of the Spanish Government, with a view to the negotiation of a Commercial Agreement, were formally opened on 30th April. Detailed discussions of the various aspects of the negotiations are proceeding.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether his attention has been called to the dismissal of a teacher because he refused to allow his class of senior boys to be examined by a woman inspector of physical training; and what is the attitude of the board on an issue of this nature?

My attention has been called to the case in question. I understand that the official described as a woman inspector is one of the women organisers of physical training employed by the local education authority. The board consider it very desirable that local education authorities should employ both men and women organisers, and that the organisation of physical training for senior boys should as a rule be undertaken by men organisers. At the same time it must be remembered that there has been a great advance in the technique of physical training for children in recent years, and that an expert woman organiser is qualified to give advice as to modern methods which would be of value both to men and women teachers. The board would not, therefore, be prepared to agree that, pending the appointment of men and women organisers in all areas, schools for senior boys should in no circumstances be visited by women organisers.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether he is aware that the school children of Disley, Cheshire, are not being supplied with milk; and will he take appropriate steps to see that they are so supplied?

I have now ascertained that milk is not being supplied to school children at Disley under the milk in schools scheme. The scheme is a voluntary one, and, while the Board of Education have expressed the hope that its development will be encouraged by local education authorities, they are not in a position to require that it should be adopted in a particular school.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will consider amending the regulation which restricts to a maximum of £500 the sum which may be deposited by a client at the Post Office Savings Bank in one year; and why such a restriction is now imposed?

I have been asked to reply. The effect of the restriction is to prevent the use of the Savings Banks by large depositors for whose benefit they are not intended, and I see no case for increasing the present limit.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether heavy oil for use in road vehicles and purchased before 8th August will pay the increased duty imposed under the Budget if used after the date referred to?

On and after 8th August no heavy oil which has not paid the increased duty of 8d. per gallon may be used as fuel in road vehicles. Stocks of heavy oils remaining in the hands of users or dealers on 8th August which have been rebated and therefore have only borne the existing duty of 1d. may, however, be so used provided that the full duty of 8d. is paid—that is, provided the amount of the rebate (7d. per gallon) is repaid to the Customs. I would add that full and detailed information as to the procedure in this respect, and in regard to the new duty generally, will be issued in due course.

asked the Minister of Labour the localities of the 11 training centres and the 53 educational centres, indicating in the latter case those centres which will include summer camp which will be carried on this year by his Department?

The numbers mentioned in the question are those of the training and instructional centres for which provision is proposed in the 1935 Estimates. There are at present in operation nine training centres and 31 instructional centres or summer camps, particulars of which follow:

asked the Minister of Labour the numbers of firms in this country where it is known that the system of the five-day week is now in operation, and the number of firms which have adopted any system of work-sharing, respectively?

No special inquiry has been made into the extent to which the five-day week is in operation, but I understand that certain information will be given in the report of the Chief Inspector of Factories which will shortly be published. With regard to the latter part of the question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Leigh (Mr. Tinker) on 18th February

asked the Secretary for Mines the number of miners employed on the latest available date in April, 1935, and also the numbers for a comparable date in 1934?

The number of wage-earners on colliery books in Great Britain on 20th April, 1935, was 765,900 and on 21st April, 1934, 786,500.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the fact that British millers have observed the undertaking given to him at the time the Wheat Act, 1932, was before the House of Commons that they would not export wheat offals, he will consult with the President of the Board of Trade with a view to preventing the importation of flour into this country, in order that the flour required may be milled in British mills and thus ensure an increased supply of freshly milled wheat offals for British agriculture?

There is nothing I can usefully add to the reply given yesterday to the question on this subject addressed by my hon. and gallant Friend to my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade?

asked the Minister of Agriculture what instructions have been issued to local authorities and the public generally in regard to the menace of the grey squirrel; whether his Department is aware of the ravages of this creature upon all kinds of nuts, seeds, bulbs, and roots; and what progress, if any, has been made by his Department in the extermination of this animal?

The Ministry is aware of the damage likely to be caused to agriculture and horticulture by the spread of grey squirrels in England and Wales. In May, 1931, a conference of representatives of interested bodies was convened at the Ministry's offices to consider what steps could be taken to deal with the situation, and in accordance with the views expressed by the conference the Ministry subsequently issued a leaflet on the subject containing information as to the available means of destruction. This leaflet, a copy of which I am sending the hon. Member, was circulated to all agricultural committees throughout the country and to bodies representative of agricultural, horticultural and landowning interests, who were asked to co-operate by giving publicity to the matter and by encouraging the destruction of the grey squirrel wherever possible. The authorities responsible for the maintenance of parks and open spaces in which grey squirrels were known to exist, and from which they were likely to spread to surrounding districts, were also asked by the Ministry to take steps to bring the grey squirrels under control. Mainly as a result of an epidemic disease, the grey squirrel population in this country was much reduced during 1932 and 1933. I am advised, however, that in the opinion of competent observers, grey squirrels are once again increasing in numbers, and I have therefore recently caused a further letter to be addressed to agricultural committees and other bodies again inviting their attention to the matter. I am also arranging for publicity to be given to the menace by broadcasting and other means. I am not yet in a position to express an opinion as to the results which have attended the efforts of the bodies to which I have referred. The Ministry has no power itself to undertake the work of destruction.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether his attention has been called to the fact that, owing to the regulations of the Milk Marketing Boards, some hospitals have had the price of milk raised against them from 33 per cent. to 63 per cent.; and to what extent the matter is being considered, so as to assure no limitation of milk con- sumption in such institutions and no substitution of inferior grades?

asked the Minister of Agriculture what is the reason why hospitals cannot purchase the milk they require for their own use at about the same wholesale price as they did before the existence of the Milk Marketing Board?

As regards the prices payable by hospitals for milk supplied under the Scottish Milk Marketing Scheme, 1933, which were considered by the Committee of Investigation for Scotland, I would refer the hon. Member for St. Rollox (Mr. Leonard) to the reply given on 8th April by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen North (Mr. Burnett,), of which I am sending him a copy. The position in England and Wales is that the Milk Marketing Board have prescribed a form of contract under which hospitals contracting with producers can obtain supplies at the wholesale price with small additional premiums for level deliveries or other special services. Hospitals not contracting with producers may obtain supplies from wholesalers under the resale clauses of the ordinary contract at the wholesale price plus premiums varying from ½d. per gallon for large quantities to 1½d. per gallon for small quantities. From particulars furnished by the British Hospitals Association, it appears that as regards approximately two-thirds of the voluntary hospitals in England and Wales the price paid for milk during 1934 was, on the average, about 15 per cent. more than in the year preceding the scheme, but that in individual cases the increase was 33 per cent. and in one instance 63 per cent. I understand that the Association have discussed the matter with the Milk Marketing Board, and that after very careful consideration the board have not been able to see their way to authorise the sale of milk to hospitals at less than the rates laid down, but they have suggested that if the Association can obtain the concurrence of the Central Milk Distributive Committee (as representing the distributive trade) to the supply at net wholesale prices they will give sympathetic consideration to a variation of the terms of sale accordingly.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the indignation that exists among hospital authorities at the high prices they have to pay for their milk supplies compared with the low prices paid by chocolate and cheese makers, he will take steps to obviate this differentiation?

My hon. Friend will appreciate that the effect of replacing purchases of milk at liquid rates by purchases at the manufacturing prices is to increase the loss already occasioned to milk producers by reason of these prices. I am not quite sure what steps my hon. Friend has in mind to meet this difficulty, but I should be glad to consider any proposals he suggests.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether it is possible to make arrangements that where a public authority is the owner of a farm they can purchase their milk requirements direct from their tenant without the intervention of the Milk Marketing Board?

The milk marketing scheme gives power to the Milk Marketing Board to exempt from the operation of the marketing provisions of the scheme sales of such classes or descriptions as may be determined by the board. The question raised by my hon. Friend is therefore a matter for the board.

asked the Home Secretary how many persons were arrested during 1934 in the Metropolitan police area for loitering with intent to steal, and how many were acquitted?

The number of suspected persons or reputed thieves proceeded against in the Metropolitan police district in 1934 for frequenting public places with intent to commit felony was 3,486 and, of these, 1,146 were discharged.

asked the Home Secretary the nature of the anti-gas material to be purchased during the current financial year under the expenditure provided for in the estimates of his Department; and whether this expendi- ture is to include the carrying out of any practice by the civilian population of action to be taken in the event of an air raid?

The only anti-gas material which it is at present the intended that the Home Office should purchase in this financial year is a first supply of anti-gas respirators, mainly for the personnel of air raid precaution service. There is no present intention of incurring any expenditure in this final year in connection with an air raid exercise for the civil population.