asked the Minister of Transport whether he will call for a return of the hours worked in excess of the normal working day by employés engaged on goods and mineral trains on the Midland section of the London Midland and Scottish Railway during each of the last three months?

I feel that without prima facie cause given it is unreasonable to ask the Railway Company to add to the returns which they are already required to furnish with much elaboration of detail.

asked the Minister of Transport whether consideration is being given to the need for an all-night train service on any branches of the Underground Railway by the London Passenger Transport Board?

I will make inquiries and will inform the hon. Member of the result.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether all milk bottles bear the reputed stamp of half-pint or one pint; and, if not, will he take steps to have all bottles stamped?

It has hitherto been considered impracticable by reason of the cost and the consequent increase in the price of milk to verify and stamp individual milk bottles. What alternative safeguards to the consumer are desirable and possible is now being considered by the Board of Trade in consultation with representatives of local authorities, dairymen and bottle manufacturers.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to the introduction of the pocket radio sets which are carried by the Brighton police for the purpose of receiving instructions and police warnings while they walk along the streets; whether the Metropolitan police authorities have investigated this system; and is it proposed to introduce it in the Metropolis?

My Department have kept in touch with the development of the pocket wireless receiver used by the police in the borough of Brighton, and the Commissioner of Police has studied the possibility of using the apparatus, but he is satisfied that—at any rate at present—it is not suitable for use under the very different conditions obtaining over the much larger area of the Metropolitan Police District.

asked the Home Secretary, in view of the fact that the Army, the Royal Air Force, the police, ambulance and hospital services, decontamination squads, etc., are administered by the War Office, Air Ministry, Home Office, and Ministry of Health, often working through local authorities, have any arrangements been made by districts for all such services to be under the actual command of one officer in the event of an air attack on this country; if so, is such an officer given facilities for the co-ordinated training of these services in peace time; and who is the official responsible at present in any district for ordering a blackout in the event of a sudden air attack?

Subject to general guidance from the Air Raids Precautions Department of the Home Office, the responsibility for working out and coordinating necessary measures of precaution against the emergency of air attack rests with the various local authorities. The question of the form of executive organisation to be adopted in the event of war is under consideration. With regard to the last part of the question, it would fall to the Secretary of State for the Home Department in time of war to issue any general orders that might be necessary for the regulation and restriction of lighting. It would be the duty of the Chief Officer of Police in each district to make the necessary arrangements for giving effect to any such orders.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that bakelite caps and cork discs for scent and hair-lotion flasks, made by Messrs. C. A. Griener and Sons, North Acton, are delivered at certain of His Majesty's prisons and assembled by prisoners for Messrs. Woolworth, Limited, as ordinary prison tasks, and that electric terminals have been assembled in prisons, as routine prison tasks, for Messrs. Gilson and Company, Limited; and whether it is now the practice of the Prison Commissioners to put on the market goods made by prison labour in competition with free labour?

Prison labour is almost entirely employed on work for Government Departments, but a very small amount of work is undertaken for private firms in accordance with the principles laid down by the Gladstone Committee of 1895 and re-affirmed by the recent Committee of which the hon. Member for Harrow (Sir I. Salmon) was Chairman.

asked the Home Secretary whether hypnotic or narcotic substances as, for example, dial, chloralose, or sodium veronal are regarded as anaesthetics within the meaning of the Act 39 and 40 Vict., cap. 77?

The question whether a particular substance is or is not an anaesthetic for the purposes of the Act 39 and 40 Vict., cap. 77, is one for decision in each case by the individual licensee.

asked the Home Secretary whether any licences and/or certificates have been granted during 1935 or 1936 under the Act 39 and 40 Vict., cap 77, for osteopathic experimentation on animals, or whether any of the laboratories registered for animal experimentation are under the control of osteopathic establishments?

The answer to both parts of the question is in the negative.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that, under the Nationality and Status of Aliens Act, 1933, minors born in this country, who emigrate with their parents to the United States of America, lose their British nationality if their fathers acquire United States of America nationality, whereas children born in the United States of America of such parents prior to their father's naturalisation retain British nationality; and if he is prepared to take action to correct this apparent anomaly?

Yes, Sir. There is a clear distinction between the two categories. It must be borne in mind that British law recognises that a child may acquire at birth the nationality of a foreign State in addition to British nationality. The naturalisation of the father in that foreign State does not in any way affect the national status of such a child. On the other hand, if a British subject only acquires a foreign nationality by virtue of the naturalisation of his father in a foreign State, British law provides that he shall thereupon lose British nationality, though he may resume it on attaining his majority. Such a provision appears to be not unreasonable, since the foreign nationality, of the child was acquired not by birth but by the voluntary action of the father.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has yet come to a final decision concerning the Haltwistle water supply scheme; and, if not, when such decision may be expected?

I have approved this scheme in principle. The proposed source of supply is a lake which is to be enlarged by the construction of a dam. The enlarged lake will fall within the scope of the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act, 1930, and my approval has been made subject to a satisfactory report from an engineer on the panel under that Act that the enlarged lake will be water-tight and will form a suitable source of supply. I expect to receive the engineer's report in a few days.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that local authorities in certain districts are presenting certificates to children who have undergone a complete series of injections for diphtheria immunisation; if these are given with the consent and approval of the Ministry; and whether he will state the terms of such certificates?

I have no official information to the effect of the first part of the question, and the second and third parts do not, therefore, arise.

asked the Minister of Health how many subsidised houses have been built in London, or within 10 miles of same, between September, 1931, and the last known convenient date; and how many of the said houses are let at rents within the means that members of the working classes can be expected to pay?

Between the 1st October, 1931, and the 31st December, 1935, 25,727 houses were provided with State assistance in Greater London, that is, the area which approximates to the Metropolitan Police District. The Object of the conditions on which this assistance is granted is to secure that the rents should be within the means of persons of the working classes.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will take steps to ensure that any Army horses found surplus to Army requirements in Egypt will be disposed of in such a way that they will not fall into the hands of undesirable owners?

asked the Secretary of State for War what methods be employed in the disposal of the horses of cavalry and artillery units of the British Army quartered in Egypt when such units are mechanised?

All Army animals in Egypt which on the mechanisation of their unit cannot be absorbed into another unit, will be destroyed under military supervision. My hon. Friends may rest assured that none will be sold to the local inhabitants.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will state those border-line occupations of male industrial workers which come neither under existing unemployment insurance nor will be affected by agricultural insurance; and whether he will consider the desirability of doing away with these anomalies and insuring the men concerned?

It is hardly possible to give a list of border-line cases. There is already power to bring such cases, in so far as experience shows that they give rise to anomalies into the insurance scheme. In this connection my hon. Friend may recollect a recent Regulation dealing with pit head bath attendants. In so far as workers on the border-line between agriculture and the trades now insured are not at present insured, the Unemployment Insurance (Agriculture) Bill will bring them into insurance.

asked the Minister of Labour how many claims for benefit have been before the court of referees for Leigh, Atherton and Tyldesley during 1935; and will he give the number of claims allowed and the number disallowed?

pursuant to his reply (OFFICIAL REPORT, 20th February, 1936, col. 1936, Vol. 308) supplied the following statement:

The number of claims for insurance benefit or unemployment allowances considered by the Leigh, Atherton and Tyldesley Court of Referees during 1935 was 1,427 of which 514 were allowed and 915 disallowed. These figures are exclusive of (a) cases considered under the trade dispute disqualification, as to which statistics are not available showing the total number of claims concerned, and (b) claims, by persons already entitled to

			Aged 12 and under 13.	Aged 13 and under 14.	Aged 14 and under 14¼.	Aged 14¼ and under 14½.	Aged 14½and under 14¾.	Aged 14¾ and under15.	Total—Aged 14 and under 15.
Boys	…	…	278,419	297,879	65,803	11,477	7,455	5,446	90,181
Girls	…	…	275,738	294,497	64,389	10,580	7,063	5,172	87,204
Total		…	554,157	592,376	130,192	22,057	14,518	10,618	177,385

asked the President, of the Board of Education whether he can state the number of children attending the elementary schools in England and Wales in receipt of meals under the Feeding of Schoolchildren Act, giving the number receiving full meals and the number of meals per day; the number receiving milk and biscuits; and the total cost of such for the year 1935?

I assume that my hon. Friend refers only to the provision of free meals and milk under Section 84 of the Education Act, 1921. In December, 1935, 322,878 children attending public elementary schools in England and Wales received free meals or milk. Of these 47,262 received ordinary meals only, 233,257 milk only, and 42,359 ordinary meals and milk. Some authorities give two or three meals a day, but in the majority of cases dinners only are provided. I have no information as to the number of children who are supplied with biscuits in addition to milk. The estimated net cost of the provision of meals and milk during the current financial year is £640,000.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he can state the number of children attending the elementary schools in England and Wales of the following ages: between 12 and 13 years, between 13 and 14 years, and between 14 and 15 years, respectively?

The number of pupils on the registers of public elementary schools in England and Wales maintained by local education authorities on the 31st March, 1935, was:

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he can state the number of certificated teachers at present unemployed in England and Wales; and what proportion of such teachers will be absorbed into employment under the proposals to raise the school-leaving age to 15 years?

I regret that the board have no means of ascertaining how many teachers are at, any particular time definitely seeking employment, and I have, therefore, no basis on which to construct the estimate required by the hon. Member.

asked the President of the Board of Education what change, if any, does he propose to make in the article of Statutory Rules and Orders (No. 614) Grant Regulations (Board of Education) (No. 1) Amendment (No. 4), 1929, dealing with maintenance grants?

No decision on this matter has yet been taken.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that officers' training corps and cadet corps in secondary schools are no longer allowed by a number of local education authorities throughout the country, in particular London and Glasgow, while appeals from such authorities have been made to the governing bodies of endowed secondary schools in their areas, which are aided from the rates, requesting them to disband officers' training corps and cadet corps in their schools; and whether, seeing that officers' training corps and cadet corps are an integral part of the Government scheme for national defence, pressure will be brought to bear on all local authorities who have directed the disbandment of officers' training corps and cadet corps in their secondary schools by means of reduction of any grant now paid them by the Government or otherwise?

Although officers' training corps and cadet corps are outside the purview of my Department, I am aware that some local education authorities look on them with disfavour. I entirely disagree with this view, but I have no power to interfere with the discretion of local education authorities either to discontinue these corps in schools provided by them, or to recommend such discontinuance in schools not so provided.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he has considered the resolution sent from the managers of the 10 non-provided schools and from a large number of ratepayers in Bury with relation to a proposal of the borough council to build a new council school in the east ward; and what steps he is taking to hold up this proposal until the existing schools in the borough have been re-assessed by his inspectors?

The statutory period of publication of notices of the authority's proposal is only now about to expire. The representations of the parties concerned will receive full consideration before a decision on the necessity of the proposed school is arrived at.

asked the President of the Board of Education what steps the Board is taking to persuade backward education authorities to make adequate provision for the ascertainment, treatment, and after care of children suffering from crippling defects?

The attention of local education authorities was directed to this matter in paragraph 17 (b) of the Board's Circular 1444 issued on the 6th January last, of which I am sending a copy to the hon. Member. In areas where adequate provision does not exist, the matter is discussed with the authority by the Board's medical officers at their periodical visits of inspection.

asked the Secretary for Mines what was the total expenditure out of the Miners' Welfare Fund during 1935; what new facilities were provided; and the expenditure on same?

The total payments made out of the Miners' Welfare Fund during 1935 amounted to £686,240.

The purposes of the allocations made from the fund in 1935 are classified as follow:

	£
Pit welfare	334,412
Recreation	177,729
Health	75,349
Research	45,367
Education	12,226
Administration	48,919
Total	£694,002

Further particulars will be published shortly in the Annual Report of the Miners' Welfare Committee, which is now in preparation.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when the building of a criminal lunatic asylum in Scotland, in keeping with the terms of the Criminal Lunatic (Scotland) Act, 1935, will be commenced; and what is the earliest date when the present unsuitable accommodation can be vacated?

Work will commence on the site of the new Criminal Lunatic Asylum about August of this year. It is anticipated that building operations will be finished in 1938, when the accommodation at Perth Prison at present utilised for criminal lunatics will be vacated.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make inquiries into the allegation that the amount of electric power developed by the water from the Sea of Galilee has not come up to the expectations of the Palestine Electric Corporation; and whether the same power could have been developed at less cost by other means without using the water of the Sea of Galilee at all?

I will ask the High Commissioner for Palestine whether he can supply any information on the points raised in the question.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that, in spite of repeated protests, the desecration of the Sea of Galilee by the operations of the Palestine Electric Corporation still goes on; that walls have now been built on the foreshore shutting off the public front access to one portion of the lake; that the raising of the lake level to a maximum of one metre above its normal height will inundate large tracts of land around the shore, including many sacred Christian spots; and if, in view of the dissatisfaction which exists, he will appoint an unbiased British electrical engineer of standing to go out to investigate and report on the whole position, steps being taken in the meantime to prevent further tampering with the lake?

I am aware that certain work is being carried out on the shores of the Sea of Galilee with a view to preventing a recurrence of flooding. I am at present awaiting the observations of the High Commissioner for Palestine upon the suggestion that an independent engineer should be appointed to report on the whole position.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the retail price per pint and the consumption of liquid milk per head of the population in the following countries, respectively: Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and France?

According to such information as is available, the retail price per pint and the annual per caput consumption of liquid milk in the countries specified in the question were as follow:

	Retail Price per pint in pence. October, 1934.	Average Annual consumption per head.
		Pints.	Year.
Germany	2·6	180	1934
Sweden	1·6	320	1934–5
Norway	1·9	386	1927
Denmark	1·7	317 (includes cream)	1932
Holland	2·3	246 (includes cream)	not known
Belgium	1·6	130	1933
France	2·5	187	1934

The figures of consumption are not strictly comparable as they relate to different years, and in some cases cover only the urban population and also include cream; comparability may also be affected by the methods employed in making the estimates in the different countries. The prices are those ruling in the month of October, 1934, as published in the International Labour Office Report of 1935, but convert ed to English currency at the average rates of exchange prevailing in that month.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether it is his intention in setting up the sugar marketing scheme to require that any contracts entered into by the board for the carriage of sugar beet should be open to all forms of appropriate transport?

The question of incorporating in the draft sugar beet marketing scheme a provision such as that to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers is primarily one for the promoters of the scheme, who are at present considering its re-submission to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and myself. If the scheme is re-submitted, notice of the submission will be published arid it will be open to any person, within a stated period, to make objections or representations with regard to it.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what is the total pig population in Hampshire; and if he can state the maximum annual curing capacity of bacon factories in the county?

The number of pigs returned by occupiers of agricultural holdings exceeding one acre on 4th December, 1935, in Hampshire, was 102,382. The annual curing capacity of the bacon factories in the county, as stated to the Bacon Development Board by the curers concerned, is 62,200 cwt.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will give, by counties, a list showing the acreage of common lands and manorial wastes in rural parishes outside the Metropolitan area over which the owner of the soil of the common or waste has by deed given the public rights of air and exercise since the passing of the Law of Property Act, 1925; and will he give a list of those counties in which no action has been taken?

The particulars which the hon. Member requires are as follow:

Name of County and Acreage of commons or manorial wastes in respect of which public rights have been conferred by deed under the Law of Property Act,1925.
	Acres.
Berks	1,117
Bucks	213½
Cambs. (Isle of Ely)	48
Cornwall	8½
Cumberland	7,246
Derby	41½
Devon	9,151

	Acres.
Essex	50
Gloucester	1,018½
Hants	2,050
Hereford (and Worcester)	22
Herts	791
Kent	388½
Lancs.	2,110
Oxford	24
Salop	356
Somerset	98
Surrey	8,386
Sussex	265
Warwick	178
Yorks.(N.R.)	6½
Yorks.(W.R.)	31
Caernarvon	4,679
Cardigan	26,791
Carmarthen	10,583
Denbigh	7,953
Flint.	57
Glamorgan	206
Merioneth	13,875
Monmouth	63
Radnor	10,987
Total	108,793

No deeds have been deposited in respect of lands in the following counties: Beds, Cheshire, Dorset, Durham, Hunts, Isles of Scilly, Isle of Wight, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, Notts., Rutland, Soke of Peterborough, Staffs, Suffolk, Westmorland, Wilts., Yorks. (E.R.), Anglesey, Brecon, Montgomery, Pembroke.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will give the names of any commons in respect of which application was made to his Department during 1935 under Section 194 of the Law of Property Act, 1925, to make an enclosure, specifying in each case whether a public inquiry has been held; the area of land sought to be enclosed; the purpose for which it was proposed to enclose the land; the area, if any, thrown into the common in lieu of the land enclosed; the result of the application; and the reason, in any case where consent has been given without an area being thrown into the common at least equal to the land enclosed, for not requiring this course to he followed?

The particulars which the hon. Member requires as to applications during 1935 under Section 194 of the Law of Property Act, 1935, are as follow:

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that the conditions of service of women tracers employed in Admiralty establishments are in many respects inferior to those of the clerical branches, and that they are unable to qualify for pensionable establishment; and if he will investigate the matter with a view to improving these conditions and enabling women tracers to become established?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which was given by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury to a similar question on the 6th February. No proposals concerning women tracers in Admiralty establishments have since been received from them or their representatives.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the imposition of Customs duty on racehorses from the Irish Free State entered in horse races run in England is materially affecting the number of such entries, which in turn adversely affects not only the revenue of English racecourse companies but reduces the standard of steeplechasing in this country; and what action he proposes to take to remedy such a state of affairs?

My right hon. Friend has noted the statements made in the first part of the question. As my hon. Friend is aware the duty on horses has just been reduced, and my right hon. Friend is unable to promise that further action will be taken in the matter.