asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the approximate total expenditure from national funds during 1934–35 and the proposed estimated total for 1935–36 in respect of development works and all subsidies and financial assistance to all branches of industry, agriculture, slum clearance, telephone development, and Special Areas, and in-

Statement of Expenditure from National Funds on Development Work, etc., as specified below.
Service.						Expenditure, 1934–35 (actual).	Expenditure, 1935–36 (estimated).
						£	£
1. Grants to Public Utility Companies under Part I of the Development (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act, 1929.						925,000	990,000
2. Slum Clearance	…	…	…	…	…	757,000	1,327,000
3. Other housing grants	…	…	…	…	…	15,182,000	14,910,000
4. Commissioners for the Special Areas		…	…	…	…	28,000	1,893,000
5. Grants in respect of Employment Scheme (Part II of Development (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act, 1929).						4,200,000	4,200,000
6. Rural Water Supply Grants	…	…	…	…	…	7,000	320,000
7. Expenditure by Office of Works on New Works, etc.					…	577,000	707,000
8. Transference, Training, etc.	…	…	…	…	…	608,000	1,732,000
9. Agricultural Development and Subsidies including Land Settlement:—
(a) Grants		…	…	…	…	9,838,000	10,957,000
(b) Loans		…	…	…	…	—	9,000
10. Forestry	…	…	…	…	…	450,000	450,000
11. Fishery Development, including the Herring Industry:—
(a) Grants		…	…	…	…	652,000	58,000
(b) Loans		…	…	…	…	14,000	5,000
12. Tramp Shipping Subsidy	…	…	…	…	…	700	1,999,000
13. Ships replacement loans (Repayable advances)				…	…	—	619,000
14. Grants by Department of Scientific and Industrial Research to Research Associations.						86,000	103,000
15. Grants by Board of Trade to British Standard Institution					…	3,000	3,000
16. Civil Aviation Subsidies	…	…	…	…	…	458,000	352,000
17. Light Horse Breeding	…	…	…	…	…	5,000	5,000
18. Mechanical Transport Subsidy	…	…	…	…	…	600	200
19. Grants to Unemployment Fund for Transitional Payments						45,612,000	200,000
20. Unemployment Assistance Allowances			…	…	…	—	50,000,000
21. Grants to Public Assistance Authorities			…	…	…	—	6,135,000
22. Road Fund Grants	…	…	…	…	…	18,149,000	19,728,000
23. Postal and Telephone Loan Expenditure			…	…	…	7,653,000	10,485,000
24. Advances to Cunard-White Star Company			…	…	…	2,043,000	1,500,000
						107,248,300	128,687,200
Of the above items, 1 to 21 are met out of moneys provided by Parliament, and with the exception of a proportion of the expenditure under items 7 and 8 which is recovered from the Unemployment Insurance Fund, they fall directly upon the Budget. The amount recoverable from the Fund in respect of the two items mentioned may be estimated at £364.000 in 1934–35 and £677,000 in 1935–36. The net total charge on voted moneys for items 1 to 21 is therefore £79,039,300 in 1934–35 and £96,297,200 in 1935–36.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total amount due to be paid as Income Tax for the two financial years 1932–33 and 1933–34; what is the total amount of it which has had to be written off as irrecoverable; and what is the further

The total as shown in the following table, is approximately £128½ millions in 1935–36 as compared with £107 millions in 1934–35.amount of it which, though not yet written off as irrecoverable, has not yet been paid?

It is not possible to state what amount of Income Tax is due for any particular year as the tax already in assessment may not represent collectible revenue, since the assessments include amounts under appeal or otherwise in dispute, and additional assessments for that year, which may be made at any time within six years thereafter, are accounted for by reference to the year in which they are made. The Comptroller and Auditor-General in his annual reports on the Revenue Departments Appropriation Accounts furnishes particulars regarding the Income Tax assessments made and the amounts written off in the years of account under review and the hon. Member will find particulars for the years of account to October, 1933, and October, 1934 (which would cover the Income Tax assessments made in the years 1932-33 and 1933-34) in paragraphs 6 et seq. of his reports on the Revenue Departments Appropriation Accounts, 1933 and 1934.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will cause a statement to be prepared showing for each of the financial years 1932 to 1933, 1933 to 1934, 1934 to 1935, and 1935 to 1936, the approximate total Income Tax, excluding Surtax, under Schedule D, assessed in and for the year, and collected by 1st January, 1st February, 1st March, and 31st March in each year, respectively, for the City of London, for the whole of England, excluding the City of London, for the whole of Scotland, and for the whole of Northern Ireland?

I regret I am unable to furnish the desired information regarding the assessment and collection of Income Tax under Schedule D as the accounts prepared in relation to the tax relate assessments to the year in which they are made, and do not distinguish the collection by reference to the various schedules of charge. The hon. Member, however, will find in Table 49 of the 77th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue (Command Paper No. 4739) and in Table 49 of the recently published 78th Report (Command Paper No. 5015) a summary of the assessments under Schedule D for the years 1932-33 and 1933-34 and in Table 41 of the 78th Report an estimate of the income assessable under Schedule D for the year 1934–35.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will state the total police man-hours and the estimated cost for dealing with traffic occurrences in police inquiries on traffic matters and in the courts for the counties of Cumberland, Lancashire, Westmorland, and Cheshire for the year ended 29th September, 1935, each county separately?

Such information as is available is the following:

Counties (including cities and boroughs therein).	Average daily strength of police forces.	Estimated equivalent in terms of man-power of time spent by police on traffic duties of all kinds, including motor patrol and point duty.	Approximate annual cost.
			£
Cumberland and West-morland.	387	52	16,000
Lancashire	7,377	1,363	409,000
Cheshire	1,216	154	46,000
NOTE.—Cumberland and Westmorland maintain a joint County police force.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can make any statement as to the present position of British trade with Austria?

Complaints regarding United Kingdom trade with Austria have been few, and the position on the whole appears to be satisfactory.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention is drawn from time to time to Section 112 (1) and (2) of the Companies Act, 1929; what steps he takes when default is brought to his notice; and what system generally is adopted to ascertain the names of companies who fail to conform to Sub-section (1) of the said section?

It is the practice of the Registrar of Companies, in the case of public companies, to report to the Board of Trade any default under Section 112 of the Companies Act, 1929, which is disclosed in the annual return required to be made to the Registrar under Section 110. On receipt of information of default from this or any other source, inquiries are addressed to the company and, if no satisfactory answer is received, the question of proceedings is considered.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that whilst, as a result of the imposition of duties, machinery imports fell in 1932, in 1935 the imports have increased and have reached the maximum ever realised; and, in view of the fact that Great Britain imports, proportionally to her industrial importance, a far greater quantity of high-grade machine tools than either Germany or the United States, he will say what steps he proposes to take to encourage the production of high-grade machinery in this country?

Although imports of machinery increased in 1935 owing to greater industrial activity, they were below the level of 1931 and of earlier years. The Import Duties Act affords considerable assistance to manufacturers, and I understand that home production of machinery is increasing.

asked the Minister of Transport whether any plans are on foot for the extension of the tube train service from Morden to Hook, under the Government's public works schemes to relieve the unemployed?

The London Passenger Transport Agreement was to secure the early provision of urgently needed facilities in accordance with an agreed programme of which my hon. Friend will be aware. The London Passenger Transport Board report that the railway to Morden is already working to capacity and there is not sufficient margin to admit of operating additional traffic to Hook.

asked the Minister of Health whether any inquiry is proceeding in this country at the moment into the question of temperature and humidity conditions in schools, hospitals, etc.; and, if not, whether he will take steps to institute such inquiries?

I understand that inquiries relating to questions of warmth and comfort in buildings are being carried out by an Inter-departmental Committee of the Medical Research Council and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and that a further report will shortly be issued by the Council. In these circumstances I do not at present think it necessary to institute further inquiries with special reference to schools or hospitals.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he can state the number of lives lost through accidents to aircraft during each of the last five years; and what relationship such losses bear to the number of machines used and/or miles flown?

The lives lost through accidents to United Kingdom civil aircraft during each of the years 1931 to 1935 are as shown below. (These figures include accidents abroad in the case of air transport services operated from this country.)

Year.	Lives lost.
1931	24
1932	20
1933	38
1934	43
1935	47

While these figures are related to a very great increase in the total flying carried out, there is no one criterion by which it is possible to compare them with the total flying activity of each year. It may be said, however, that in the period in question the mileage of regular air transport services has increased from 1,354,000 to some 7,764,000 miles, and the passenger mileage from 7,000,000 to 41,000,000. At the same time the total number of "A" and "B" pilots' licences has increased from 2,091 to 3,353 and from 315 to 583, respectively, and the total number of civil aircraft with airworthiness certificates from 707 to 1,108. As a further illustration, the hours flown by light aeroplane clubs in the Government scheme have risen from 28,700 to 49,200.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether be will arrange for a consultation with the National Council of Aircraft Workers in order to consider many questions that require attention in the aircraft industry?

My Noble Friend does not consider that there is any occasion for the particular consultation suggested. Questions relating to wages and conditions of employment in the aircraft industry, as in industry generally, are primarily matters for settlement between employers and employés. All Air Ministry contracts contain the fair wages clause, and any compaints of alleged infringement of it are investigated by the Department.

asked the First Commissioner of Works whether, in the case of any additional structures undertaken by the Government in connection with the programme of national defence, he will ensure that any stone which may be required is solely of British origin?

My Department has no responsibility for buildings erected by the three fighting Services, unless specially requested to undertake particular schemes as an agency service. As regards any civilian buildings erected by my Department, it is the practice to use only British stone for constructional purposes, but on occasions imported stones are sometimes required for special schemes of internal decoration.

asked the First Commissioner of Works whether, in view of the sacrifices made by members of the Royal Air Force during the Great War, he will consider the addition of a Royal Air Force ensign to the Cenotaph?

My hon. Friend's suggestion has already been considered in the past, but it has already been held that it is more appropriate not to display the Royal Air Force ensign on the Cenotaph as this ensign was not introduced into the Service until over two years after the War.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any records are kept of the number of British tourists to foreign countries, with the object of stimulating such tourist activity in friendly countries; and, if so, whether he can give the increase for 1935 for Austria?

No such records are kept, and I regret, therefore, that I am not in a position to answer the second part of my hon. and gallant Friend's question.