asked the Minister of Labour whether he can furnish an estimate of the increased extent to which unemployed juveniles are now included in the live register of the Employment Exchanges as a consequence of the insurance of juveniles between the ages of 14 and 16?

While the lowering of the age of entry into insurance so as to include persons under the age of 16 years has no doubt resulted in the registration for employment of some boys and girls who would not otherwise have registered, I regret that I have no statistics which would enable me to estimate the extent to which this has occurred.

asked the Minister of Labour whether the report of the work of the Commissioners for the Special Areas will be published before Parliament rises; and will the report contain sub-reports from the district commissioners?

These reports were published this morning, and include full information with regard to each of the districts.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he can furnish any estimate of the extent to which the grant of contributory old age pensions at the age of 65 has reduced the number of persons over that age seeking employment?

I regret that there are no statistics which would provide a satisfactory basis for estimates on this subject.

asked the Minister of Health how many men and women in the last 12 months failed to notify their claim for old age pension directly on the 65th birthday being reached; and in how many cases applications for payment of arrears were subsequently made?

I regret that the information asked for in the first part of the question is not available, but I should explain that a claim for old age pension may be made at any time from a date four months before the 65th birthday, and a large proportion of the claims are made in advance. Where the claim is not made until after the 65th birthday the Acts provide that arrears are to be paid in full if the claim is made within three months after the 65th birthday; where the claim is delayed for more than three months, three months arrears are payable. As regards the second part of the question, I am unable to state the number of cases in which applications for unpaid arrears, that is, arrears in excess of three months, are made, but the number is insignificant.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will give an opportunity to discuss the report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Migration?

I fear that in the present state of public business it would not be possible to provide a special opportunity for discussion of the Inter-Departmental Committee's report before the House rises. Apart from this, however, I understand that the views upon the report of all the oversea Governments concerned have not yet been ascertained.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether, in connection with the increased requirements of the Royal Air Force, he will state if any contracts for aero engines have been placed in Lancashire; and whether, in view of the state of employment in that county and the increase in the number of aero engine factories that should follow the placing of further orders from his Department, he will endeavour to secure some of this work for Lancashire?

Contracts are unlikely to be placed by the Air Ministry for aero engines to be manufactured in Lancashire, since it is at present anticipated that the capacity of the existing manufacturers will be sufficient to meet the increased requirements. Lancashire firms may, however, benefit indirectly through sub-contracts for materials and components.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will provide a statement showing the annual value to agriculture of the relief of rates on the pre-1923 basis, the Wheat Act, 1932, the Sugar Beet Act, including relief of Excise Duty, the Beef Subsidy Act, the Milk Subsidy Act, and differential Income Tax relief; and, further, will he state the estimated value of imported foodstuffs subject to duty and the expected revenue therefrom?

Figures are not available as to the amount by which agriculture now benefits by de-rating, but the amounts included in the block grants on the basis of benefit in the year 1928–29 under the provisions of the Agricultural Rates Act, 1923, and the Local Government Acts (but excluding benefit under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896) totalled approximately £9,300,000. For the current cereal year it is estimated that the levy payments under the Wheat Act, 1932, will amount to £6,800,000. In Estimates and/or Supplementary Estimates for the current financial year the following provision has been made:

	£
Beet Sugar Subsidy	2,878,000
Cattle Fund (Payments to Producers)	3,920,000
Milk (England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland)	2,115,000

The corresponding provisional figure for rebate of taxation in connection with the Beet Sugar subsidy is £2,900,000. There is no Income Tax relief specially confined to agriculture, and I do not understand what the hon. Member intends to convey by the use of the term "differential Income Tax relief." If he will communicate with me indicating what particular point he has in mind I will have further inquiry made. There is no information available as to the estimated value of foodstuffs delivered for home consumption on payment of duty, as no record is kept of the value of such foodstuffs liable to specific duty. Nor is it possible to give any reliable estimate of the future revenue from imported foodstuffs as a whole, but the approximate amount of Customs duties collected during the financial year 1934–35 on foodstuffs, including tea, coffee and cocoa, and certain foodstuffs used in part as feeding stuffs for animals, which cannot be separately distinguished, was £31,265,000.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that some hundreds of tons of potatoes have been allowed to rot at the London docks and finally sold for animal food; whether he can give information as to how this occurred; and what steps he contemplates taking to prevent a recurrence?

I understand that in consequence of a dispute between the owner and a prospective buyer the negotiations for the sale of the potatoes in question have been impeded, with the result that the condition of the consignment has deteriorated. I am afraid that there is no action which I can take to prevent such an occurrence. The Potato Marketing Board, who were not concerned in the dispute, have, I understand, been able to render some assistance in the salving and redressing of the potatoes.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many of the 16,396 cattle dealt with under the Tuberculosis Order in England in 1933 were dairy cattle?

16,005.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware of the dissatisfaction among typists, shorthand typists and writing assistants at the fact that more than half the competitors at the last clerical class examination have been offered appointments, whereas there has been no improvement in the promotion rate within the service; and whether he will safeguard the position of these grades by stipulating that there shall be a more equitable distribution of clerical vacancies in future?

Not only the grades mentioned but also "S" class clerks are eligible on their merits for promotion to the clerical classes, and Departments apply to the Civil Service Commission for open recruits only after paying due regard to the claims to promotion of suitable officers of these grades. The increased number of appointments from the last open competition is due to the needs of the service, which have also necessitated a very substantial number of promotions from the sub-clerical grades. I cannot accept the implication that the distribution has been inequitable to the promotion candidates, and I would point out that of about 15,000 appointments to the clerical classes in the last seven years only 5,000 have been filled from the open competition. Moreover, some of the successful candidates at open competitions are serving civil servants: 200 in all at the last competition.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the dissatisfaction among telephone subscribers in the Isle of Wight with regard to the delay they experience in putting through trunk telephone calls between that place and London; whether he is aware that in many instances it is necessary to wait for as long as one hour before obtaining a connection; and whether he can take steps to improve the service in this respect?

The delay recently experienced on trunk telephone calls from the Isle of Wight has been due to the exceptionally heavy increase in telephone traffic caused by the Naval Review. Additional circuits and staff have been provided at Ryde, and every effort is being made to keep delay to a minimum.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he will consider the introduction of legislation whereby local education authorities under the supervision of his Department will be forbidden to extend the time of service of any director of education or any other official beyond the period when such person becomes entitled to superannuation?

No, Sir. I see no occasion for interfering with the discretion of local education authorities in this matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs how much of the £3,000,000 per annum made available by the Empire Settlement Act, 1922, has been spent up to the present time for this purpose?

The sums available for expenditure under the Act are such sums as may annually be voted by Parliament, subject to the proviso contained in the Act that the aggregate expenditure in any one year shall not exceed £3,000,000. The actual annual expenditure from the passage of the Act in 1922 to 31st March last, the latest convenient date, has been as follows:—

Financial Year.	£
1922–23	34,464
1923–24	424,479
1924–25	423,622
1925–26	569,875
1926–27	1,128,896
1927–28	1,282,906
1928–29	1,139,620
1929–30	884,238
1930–31	485,228
1931–32	149,056
1932–33	67,638
1933–34	78,316
1934–35 (Provisional)	38,919
Total	6,708,257

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department the extent to which British exporters from, and importers into, Manchuria have been superseded by Japanese competitors since Japan obtained control of the country?

Since the inauguration of the separate regime in Manchuria one British merchant firm has withdrawn, and two more are understood to be contemplating withdrawal from that territory.