asked the Home Secretary whether he can give any information as to the progress of the inquiry being made by the Summary Courts (Social Services) Committee?

I understand that the Committee has been meeting regularly and is receiving evidence from a large number of societies and persons interested in the subject of the inquiry. The committee hopes to be able to complete the receiving of evidence before long and to issue a report before the end of the year. I should like, with my hon. and gallant Friend's permission, to take this opportunity of referring to the question which he put to my predecessor on 13th November last shortly after the committee was appointed. He was told in reply that it was not contemplated that the committee should consider questions relating to the procedure and constitution of summary courts when dealing with matrimonial disputes. In the course of their inquiry, however, the committee has found it impracticable to separate consideration of the duties undertaken by probation officers in connection with matrimonial disputes from consideration of the functions of the courts, and much of the evidence received bears directly on the procedure and constitution of the courts. I have, therefore, instructed the committee that it is open to them to deal with such evidence in their report and to make such recommendations as they may feel able to make on the information before them.

asked the Home Secretary which county councils, county borough councils, Metropolitan and municipal borough councils, and urban and rural district councils in England and Wales have already agreed to adopt the measures put forward in the air-raid precautions circular, and which councils have indicated their refusal to do so?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 29th July to a similar question by the hon. Member for Cardiff East (Mr. T. Morris).

asked the Home Secretary when specific advice will be available to people for the construction of private shelters proof against direct hits by bombs; and whether any approximate cost can be given for such a shelter?

I regret I am not in a position to give the information for which the hon. Member asks, but the matter is being actively investigated.

asked the Home Secretary whether, in the provision of gas masks for protection of the civil population during air raids, arrangements will be made for masks of a size and kind suitable to children; and if arrangements are being made to safeguard patients in hospitals and institutions where the inmates are unable to look after themselves?

Yes, Sir; these matters will be considered.

Have gas masks been issued to the Cabinet yet? It is of extreme importance in the national interest?

Not as far as I am aware.

asked the Home Secretary whether the position of the unemployed has been considered in relation to the use of gas masks in the event of air attack; and whether he will consult with the appropriate departments with a view to such gas masks being provided free by public assistance committees and the Unemployment Assistance Board in cases of proved inability to purchase them?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given yesterday to a question by the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. D. Grenfell).

asked the Home Secretary whether he has received a report from his factory inspector in connection with the fatal accident to a carman at the yard of Messrs. I. Leftley, transport contractors, 86, North Street, Barking, when a tank fell on him; and whether the methods used in moving the tank were adequate?

Yes, Sir. It appears that the tank had been regularly moved by the same method for a considerable time, and that the accident was due to a defect, which could not readily be detected in the metal of one of the shackles attached to the tank.

asked the President of the Board of Education what steps it is proposed to take in connection with granting pensions or superannuation allowances to supplementary teachers on reaching the age of 65?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 31st January last to my hon. Friend the Member for Eccles (Mr. Potter), of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the President of the Board of Education the estimated number of elementary school children in London who go away annually for a holiday, whether assisted through the schools or through private organisations?

I am informed by the London local education authority that the annual number of public elementary school children who are assisted to obtain a holiday is approximately 48,000. In addition, some 14,000 children are sent away annually on school journeys to the country or seaside for periods of seven days or more.

asked the President of the Board of Education what action he is taking as a result of his inquiries into the matter of elementary schools in the Childwall ward of Liverpool, with a view to expediting the provision of such a school in the ward?

I am in communication with the local education authority, and must await their observations.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking in regard to the inspection of accommodation for hop pickers in Worcestershire and Herefordshire prior to the arrival of the pickers in hopfields?

I am arranging for one of the medical officers of my Department to visit some of the hopfields in these counties before the arrival of the pickers, but as my hon. Friend is aware, the responsibility for supervising the accommodation provided for hop pickers rests with the local sanitary authorities.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the report of the medical officer who visited the West Kent hopfields last year and inspected the camps thereon; whether he will consider publishing this report, especially as extracts from it are quoted in the report of the local medical officer for the area; whether he proposes to do anything to secure improved conditions for the hop pickers, both as regards the sanitary conditions and the provision of proper water supplies; and, seeing that hop-picking commences in August, whether he will give his immediate attention to this problem?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. I do not consider that there would be any advantage in publishing this report, and I am not aware that any extracts from it have been quoted in the report of the local medical officer of health. But after consideration of the report of my medical officer, the Ministry addressed appropriate communications to the local authorities concerned, with whom it rests to secure proper conditions for the hop pickers. I have also arranged for one of my medical officers to visit some of the hop fields in Kent again this year both before and after the arrival of the hop pickers.

Does the right hon. Gentleman realise that this problem of deficient sanitary conveniences has been before his Department for many years and that progress, even after all those years, has been very slow, and will he use every possible pressure to stimulate employers to bring their facilities up to modern requirements?

I will gladly do everything I can in the matter, but I think progress depends a good deal upon co-operation between local authorities and employers, together with such assistance as my Department can give.

In default of appropriate action by local authorities, has the right hon. Gentleman any power to insist that a minimum standard of decent accommodation shall be provided?

Is my right hon. Friend aware that it is impossible to give these people an adequate water supply as long as there is no organised water supply in rural areas?

I thought, perhaps, my hon. Friend would have suggested the grid.

asked the Minister of Health whether, with a view to reducing the very heavy cost of the present lunacy administration based on a system of universal detention, he will introduce a short amending Bill to repeal Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of the Mental Treatment Act in so far as they involve detention, and take steps to enable and encourage the health committees of local authorities to provide inexpensive hostels to be run on a purely hospital footing for the benefit of such borderline cases as do not require detention?

My hon. Friend, no doubt, appreciates that the present lunacy administration is not based on a system of universal detention. Last year over 23 per cent. of the patients admitted to treatment were voluntary. This, in fact, is due to the successful operation of Sections 1 to 3 of the Mental Treatment Act, which only involve detention to the extent of requiring 72 hours' notice of a patient's intention to leave. The suggested hostels could not benefit borderline cases unless they afforded full facilities for treatment, requiring staff and equipment that could not, I fear, be provided inexpensively.

Is the right hon. Gentleman not aware that the fear of being in contact with persons of more disordered minds deters many people from seeking treatment? Will he give further consideration to the matter?

It is very difficult to answer a question like that by question and answer, but I shall be very glad to discuss it with my hon. Friend. I may point out, however, that the sections to which he calls attention have, in fact, proved quite successful in the direction that he desires.

Is my right hon. Friend at the same time considering the promotion of out-patients departments which have been very successful in those mental hospitals where they have been established?

asked the Minister of Health whether he can give any information in regard to the outbreak of paratyphoid at Grays, Essex, and neighbouring towns; what action is being taken to prevent the disease from spreading; and what was the cause of the outbreak?

I understand that 21 cases of paratyphoid were notified in the urban districts of Grays Thurrock, Purfleet and Tilbury, and the rural district of Orsett, in the six weeks ending 27th July. The outbreak has been under investigation by the medical officer of health and a visit has been paid by a medical officer of my Department. All cases were promptly isolated and the routine disinfection carried out. The cause of the outbreak has not yet been determined, but investigations are still in progress.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the hardship inflicted on an insured man who is compulsorily retired from his employment at 65 and whose wife has not yet reached that age, and is therefore unable to draw her old age pension; and whether he will introduce legislation to provide in such cases for the wife's pension to commence at the same time as her husband's?

This proposed extension would cost more than £6,000,000 in the first year and increasing amounts thereafter, and would consequently involve substantial additions to pensions contributions. I am afraid, therefore, that I cannot see my way to introduce legislation for the purpose at the present time.

asked the Minister of Health whether his assent has been given to the London County Council's scheme to appropriate 30 acres of playing fields on Hackney Marshes for the purpose of a new housing scheme?

I understand that the London County Council resolved on Tuesday, 30th July, to appropriate this land for housing purposes, subject to my consent, but I have not yet received any formal application in the matter.

While fully aware that slum clearance must have the first consideration of the Government, will my right hon. Friend withhold his assent to the scheme until every alternative has been carefully examined, in view of the importance of Hackney Marshes as the best open space for health and recreation in East London?

Yes, I will gladly look at that. Of course, if there is any substantial objection to the scheme, I shall take the usual course of ordering an inquiry.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the statement which has been made in some quarters that taking this ground will not interfere with playing-field facilities is totally contrary to the facts, and could he give an undertaking not to give his assent during the Parliamentary Recess?

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that, unless this portion of Hackney Marshes is appropriated as suggested, it will be impossible to remedy the serious overcrowding that exists?

This is a very difficult matter, and I cannot express an opinion until all the facts have been put before me. Then I shall have to come to an opinion on the matter.

Will the right hon. Gentleman make it a condition of alienating an open space for other purposes that another open space shall be provided in its place?

I will take all relevant facts into consideration.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the number of persons liable to pay Surtax in each of the years 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, and the percentage of such persons in arrears with payments at the end of each of the above years?

As assessments to Surtax can be made at any time within six years from the end of the year to which the assessment relates and the assessment of the tax is continually in progress, final figures of assessments for the years in question cannot yet be given. The hon. Member, however, will find in Table 56 of the 77th Report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue (Command Paper No. 4739) the latest available information as to the state of the Surtax assessment, as at 30th September, 1934, for the six years ending with the Surtax for the year 1932–33.

While appreciating the difficulty and thanking the Chancellor of the Exchequer for his answer, is it not possible to state approximately the number of persons in each year who are liable to the tax?

I think the hon. Member will find that in the answer to which I am referring.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether his latest statistics indicate an improvement in the financial position of smallholders, and how the number of bankruptcies of such men in 1934 compares with the total in 1933?

I have been asked to reply. My right hon. Friend has no statistics which indicate the financial position of smallholders as such, but he has reason to believe that on the whole smallholders, in common with other farmers, have shared in the general improvement in the position of agriculture as shown by the index of agricultural prices in 1934 as compared with 1933—an improvement which has continued during the first half of the present year. As regards bankruptcies, the latest return shows that during the first six months of 1935 six receiving orders and deeds of arrangement were made against smallholders, compared with eight in the corresponding period of last year. The numbers for the years 1934 and 1933 were 16 and 21 respectively.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the average wholesale price of potatoes in the years 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934 and 1935, to the nearest date available?

A statement is being circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT giving the information desired.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he proposes to take with a view to securing payment of interest to British holders of German bonds and shares in German companies and the payment in full to British holders of the proceeds of the sale of such securities when sold in Germany?

The payment of interest to British holders of German bonds is dealt with in Article 7 of the Anglo-German Payments Agreement of 1st November, 1934 (Command Paper 4726) to which I would refer the hon. Member. I do not think that any fresh steps in regard to these matters could usefully be taken at the present time.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that small investors are very perturbed at the continued German default and the difficulty of obtaining a realisation of their assets; and cannot he use the same sort of methods with regard to German default as he has applied elsewhere?

I think the arrangement that has been made with Germany is working as satisfactorily as can be expected.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the arrangement is entirely in favour of the holders of Dawes and Young Loans, which are very largely in the hands of the banks?

No, Sir; it is not entirely for the benefit of the banks.

What about Russia?

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that large quantities of fish for distribution in important cities in the Midlands are delivered in wooden boxes bound with steel bands; that these boxes are often left lying in the sun over the week-end and that the consequent deterioration of the fish is very great; and will he take steps to ensure that proper refrigerated fish-vans are used so that the public receive the fish as fresh as possible?

My right hon. Friend was not aware of the circumstances mentioned in the first and second parts of the question. If, however, my hon. Friend will bring to his notice any specific instances he will forthwith have them investigated, and, if necessary, bring them to the notice of the Sea-Fish Commission which is now considering the whole question of the distribution of sea fish.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he has yet gained sufficient experience as to the effect of the Sea Fishing Industry (Restriction of Fishing in Northern Waters) Order, 1933, to reconsider it so that during the summer months the fried-fish shops may obtain fish at the original cheaper rate, and thus be able to recoup themselves a little from loss during the winter months when the price of fish is high?

The average price per cwt. of white fish in 1934 when this Order operated for four months was 1s. lower than that of the past seven years. The average price for the first six months of 1935 was also lower than that for the first six months of 1934. My right hon. Friend does not think, therefore, that there is, so far, evidence to justify the withdrawal or modification of the Order. The whole position is now under review by the Sea-Fish Commission.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the average price of white fish at the port in the years 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, and 1935, to the nearest date available?

A statement is being circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT giving the information desired.

asked the hon. and gallant Member for Rye, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, whether any records are being compiled of the effect on various kinds of trees of the severe May frosts; and, if so, will the co-operation of nurserymen and the owners of private woods be sought?

A special investigation is being conducted into the damage caused on the operations of the Forestry Commission by the severe spring frosts, and the results will be published in due course. A good deal of information has also been received from private sources. Further data would be welcomed.

asked the hon. and gallant Member for Rye, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, whether he has any statistics showing the extent to which mature timber is still being cut down for sale in this country; and whether he is satisfied that re-afforestation is being carried on to a sufficient extent, both in respect of the numbers and types of trees, to make good these losses?

There are no statistics of annual fellings of mature timber, but it has been estimated from the Censuses of Production made in 1924 and 1930 that the quantity felled annually is of the order of 25,000,000 cubic feet. The total area afforested and replanted every year should more than maintain that out-turn, but it is very doubtful whether the current plantings of broadleaved trees will enable the fellings of hardwood timber to be maintained indefinitely. As to the general position, may I refer the hon. and gallant Member to pages 14–19 of the Commissioners' recently published 15th Annual Report.

asked the Prime Minister if his attention has been called to the difficulty of obtaining permission to move under Standing Order No. 8 for an adjournment on matters of public importance, seeing that in the last 10 years it has only been obtained on six occasions; and if he will consider whether an amendment of the Standing Order should be proposed?

The number of times the Adjournment of the House has been obtained under Standing Order No. 8 during the last 10 years may appear to be small. I would, however, remind my hon. and gallant Friend that this particular Standing Order was referred to in evidence given to the Select Committee on Procedure of 1930–1932, but the Committee in its report did not recommend any alteration.

Will the Prime Minister consider the fact that since that date Parliamentary institutions have come very much under criticism on the Continent and elsewhere, and as this is one of the safety valves of Parliamentary discussion, will he not reconsider the decision come to by the Select Committee?

This very difficult problem was examined with great care by the Committee, and the difficulty they found, of course, was to make any alteration in the Order which might possibly give more latitude without giving more licence and becoming intolerable to the whole House.

asked the Lord President of the Council whether he can give a table showing the comparable sums allocated by the Privy Council to the work of industrial and agricultural research, respectively?

The figures for which my hon. Friend asks are as follow:

	1935 Estimates.
	£
Scientific and Industrial Research	599,177
Agricultural Research	404,141

The first of the figures quoted above is the Estimate for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (including the Geological Survey of Great Britain and the Museum of Practical Geology) for the year 1935. The second figure is the provision for Agricultural Research made on the Votes for the year 1935 for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Department of Agriculture for Scotland, and Scientific Investigation, etc. (Subhead Q, Agricultural Research Council).

While thanking the right hon. Gentleman for his very informative reply, may I ask him whether the proportions given in these figures relative to the number of people employed in the industries do not disclose that agriculture is getting a much bigger share for research than is industry?

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the dissatisfaction in the British commercial community at Istanbul with the terms of the recently concluded Anglo-Turkish trading agreement; and why no arrangement was included to enable the British side to control the value of Turkish exports to England by accepting the offer of the British Chamber of Commerce in Istanbul to visa and register certificates of origin?

I am aware that the British Chamber of Commerce of Turkey has expressed disappointment with the recently concluded trade agreement with Turkey on the ground that certain recommendations they put forward were not adopted. I can, however, assure the hon. Member that full consideration was given to all these recommendations, and I have reason to hope that the agreement will prove of benefit to British trade. The particular suggestion to which the hon. Member refers was found on examination to be impracticable.

Was there not reason to suppose that the agreement might have been incorporated, as there are precedents in other arrangements of the same kind; and is it not very regrettable that this valuable offer was overlooked?

No, Sir, I think that we got the best terms we could in the circumstances.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the difficulty of distinguishing between aircraft destined for civil purposes and those destined for military purposes, he will take steps to ensure that no aircraft or aircraft necessities shall be exported from this country to any foreign country without a licence?

No, Sir. I do not consider that any sufficient ground exists for placing this obstacle in the way of this branch of our export trade.

May I ask whether it is a Cabinet decision or merely a departmental decree? I ask this question because I put the question down originally to the Prime Minister.

His Majesty's Government are responsible for the reply that has been given.