asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that it is the practice in certain employment exchanges to ignore names on the dead register when sending applicants after employment, and selecting only those from the live register; and will he take steps to see that those whose names are on the dead register have fair consideration?

I assume that the hon. Member is referring, not to the dead register which contains records of persons who have ceased to be applicants for employment, but to persons on the non-claimant; register who are not in receipt of insurance benefit or un- employment allowances. The latter are included in the live register and are considered according to their qualifications, with others on the register, when selection is made for vacancies notified.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he can yet inform the House what steps he proposes to take to provide medical treatment for young men?

Arrangements are being made to provide treatment in appropriate cases for young men in the Special Areas of the ages of 18 to 24 inclusive who are willing to attend a training centre, but who are at the moment prevented from doing so by reason of remediable defects.

Can my hon. and gallant Friend say what the arrangements are?

The arrangements are being undertaken, but they are not yet completed.

Can my hon. and gallant Friend say when the arrangements are likely to be completed?

I cannot give any date, but they are being pressed on as quickly as possible.

Are the people who come to those centres to have special preference over others who may not be able to get to the centres, and why, if this treatment is to be provided for men between the ages of 18 and 24 in Special Areas, should there not also be special consideration in respect of my semi-special area, where there are hundreds between the ages of 18 and 24 out of work?

This is a particular question about the medical examinations of persons who go to particular training centres.

asked the Minister of Labour whether a decision has yet been come to with regard to the provision of special work for men attending instructional centres in accordance with the recommendation of Mr. Malcolm Stewart?

asked the Minister of Labour whether it is the intention of His Majesty's Government to adopt the suggestion of the Commissioner for the Special Areas that works of public utility should be undertaken so as to give to unemployed men between the ages of 18 and 21, who have completed a course at an instructional centre, employment for at least one year?

I am not at present in a position to add to the answer which I gave to the similar question asked by the hon. and gallant Member for Carlisle (Brigadier-General Spears) on 12th March. I am sending my hon. Friends a copy.

Can my hon. and gallant Friend say when he will be in a position to add something to that answer?

No, I cannot give a date.

asked the Minister of Labour whether instructions have been issued by the Unemployment Assistance Board to the district officers, stating that in cases here the rate of transitional payments is higher than the rate provided by the unemployment assistance regulations a grant in respect of special needs is not to be sanctioned; and whether he will supply a copy of such instruction?

I am informed by the board that no such instructions have been issued.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that the unemployment allowance of Mr. R. Race, of Craghead, County Durham, was stopped for the whole of the week in which his 65th birthday occurred, whereby he lost his unemployment allowance before his pension began; and whether he will take steps to remedy such anomalies?

I am informed by the Unemployment Assistance Board that the facts are as stated. Steps have been taken, however to provide for cases of this kind in future.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he can now state when the new regulations under the Unemployment Assistance Board will be brought before this House?

I cannot add to the reply to a similar question by the hon. Member for Salford, South (Mr. Stourton) on 4th February. I am sending the hon. Member a copy.

Can the hon. and gallant Gentleman assure us that the new regulations will be brought in before the end of the present Parliament?

asked the Minister of Labour how long after a man who is in receipt of unemployment assistance becomes temporarily ill he is treated as ceasing to be able-bodied and ineligible for unemployment assistance?

The period varies from a week to 19 days, according to the incidence of the sickness or incapacity in relation to the pay week of the person concerned. I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of an explanatory leaflet on the matter issued by the Unemployment Assistance Board.

Is the Minister aware that this rule throws men back on to public assistance, and does he not think that something should be done to relieve the local authorities in these areas?

Cannot the leaflet be placed at the disposal of hon. Members in the Library, as it deals with rather an important matter?

If the hon. Member desires that this should be done, I will make arrangements to have the leaflet put in the Library.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in connection with the promised legislation bringing into insurance black-coated workers, he will suggest to the statutory committee the equal and simultaneous inclusion of managers, assistant managers, over-lookers, foremen, skilled workmen, etc., with a wage or salary exceeding the present limit of £250 a year?

There has been no promise of legislation but, as I have already informed the House, my right hon. Friend has under consideration a report by the Unemployment In- surance Statutory Committee upon the remuneration limit fir non-manual workers, a description which covers non-manual employés of the classes mentioned by my hon. Friend. There is no remuneration limit for manual workers.

asked the Minister of Labour how many local authorities have taken advantage of the facilities offered for obtaining special financial help through the establishment of the North-Eastern Housing Development Board?

I am informed that up to the present 24 local authorities in the north-eastern special area have approached the North-Eastern Housing Association in connection with the provision by the association of housing accommodation required by the authorities in relation to schemes under the Housing Acts, 1930 and 1935. Arrangements have beer or are about to be made by the association for the carrying out of schemes involving the erection of 4,109 houses and 150 flats for the councils of four county boroughs, one borough, four urban districts and two rural districts.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he can state for any available date during each of the last five years the total number of insured men, women and juveniles in each age group and the number of those unemployed in each age group; and whether, in the annual report or abstract of labour statistics, these particulars could be given?

As the reply includes a table of figures I will, if I may, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that the important industrial area of Wearside is unrepresented on the board of the North End Trading Estate Company, which will choose the site of the proposed estate; and whether he will make representations to the Commissioner for Special Areas for the appointment of a director representative of Wearside interests before the choice of site is considered?

The directors of tile Trading Estate Company have been chosen solely with regard to their experience and qualifications for launching and developing the scheme. It would not have been possible to provide representation for the numerous areas and interests which might be directly or indirectly concerned with the activities of the company without increasing the number of directors to a degree which would have affected the chances of successfully launching this enterprise, and my right hon. Friend therefore regrets that he is unable to adopt the suggestion made by my hon. Friend.

Does not my hon. and gallant Friend think that the board of directors would do their work better if they were not representative of one district, but of the whole of the districts, and does he realise that the directors are representative of Tyneside?

Is the hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that there is a population of 300,000 catered for by the Employment Exchange in Sunderland; that there are nearly 30,000 unemployed; and does he not think that it is very hard that a town of that size cannot be represented on the board?

The answer to both those questions is that the members of the board have been selected for their general business qualifications to undertake this difficult work, and no endeavour has been made to give specific representation to any particular area.

Will the hon. and gallant Gentleman take into consideration the fact that the area may be so large that one trading estate may not meet the full requirements, and that it may be necessary to have an additional estate with extra representation dealing with the particular locality?

I am encouraged to find that the hon. Member attaches so much importance to trading estates, and that, if I am allowed to have an additional trading estate, there will be no objection to it being set up.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the fact that the number of the insured unemployed in Sunderland is 39.4, South Shields 43.9, Jarrow 47.4, and Baldon 40.6, he is prepared to advise the North-east Development Board to choose a site for a trading estate in the centre of this particular area?

The selection of a site for the trading estate is a matter for the board of directors of the company which is bring formed to organise the estate.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware of the practice in police courts that during prosecutions of motorists for alleged offences against the Road Traffic Act witnesses for the defence are excluded from the court while preceding defendants and witnesses give evidence, but all police witnesses are allowed in court throughout; and whether he will take steps with a view to the discontinuance of this practice?

The question whether witnesses for the prosecution or the defence should remain out of court until they are called to give evidence is one for the court to decide, and my right hon. Friend has no authority in the matter.

asked the Minister of Transport whether there is within easy access of the House of Commons, so that Members may inspect it, an example of the new thin road carpet which his engineers hope will provide a durable non-skid surface; and of what materials it chiefly consists?

For the specifications I cannot do better than refer my hon. Friend to "Experimental Work on Roads, 1934," of which I am sending him a copy. The nearest site is the Oxford-Henley Road near Newnham Courtenay.

Is an experiment now being carried out in Great George Street and is the experiment being made with British granite? Also, will the hon. and gallant Member ask the local authorites to consider the use of British granite in preference to any other?

I think that question had better be put on the Paper.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that the urban councils of Consett, Benfieldside, and Leadgate have decided to postpone indefinitely their five-year road improvement programme, totalling the sum of £71,498, upon the ground that the grant of 50 per cent. of the cost offered is insufficient; and whether, in view of the fact that these are Special Areas where the burden of local rates is already excessive and where the necessity for such employment is most acute, he will recon sider his decision with a view to a more generous grant towards the scheme?

My right hon. Friend is not aware of any decision to postpone the works submitted for his approval by the councils concerned. He has approved these works at the request of the councils for the invariable standard rate of grant. All the roads concerned are unclassified.

asked the Home Secretary whether he has now completed his inquiries in connection with the Allard murder case, with a view to ascertaining to what extent foreign persons engaged in illegal and criminal activities are able to journey backwards and forwards between this country and the Continent without the consent and knowledge of the proper authorities?

I am not at present in a position to add anything to the replies which my right hon. Friend gave to questions on this subject on 6th February.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the case in which Kurt Kosterlitz and Heinrich Carl Andersen were charged recently at Clerkenwell police court with landing in the United Kingdom without the leave of an immigration officer and of being in the country without a passport; and whether, in view of the statement of the police that they had failed to discover bow the two men came into the country, he proposes to institute a special inquiry into the matter?

Yes, Sir. The aliens in question informed the police that they arrived at London Docks as stowaways on a Danish ship from Denmark, having bribed a member of the crew to bring them across. The master of the ship and the crew have been interviewed, but deny having any knowledge of them. On being taken to the ship, neither of them was able to identify any member of the crew or to substantiate their story by indicating any satisfactory place of concealment where they might have hidden during the voyage. Further inquiries are being made.

asked the Home Secretary the extent to which immigrant Jews have established new industries recently in this country and the number of British employés to whom work has been given?

It is not the practice of the Home Office to differentiate between a Jewish and any other foreign immigrant, whether he comes from a Continental or an extra-European port, and figures are not therefore available. If, however, the hon. Member has specially in mind refugees from Germany, it is estimated that during the past few years upwards of 200 enterprises covering a great variety of industries have been established in the United Kingdom by foreigners who have left that country for racial, religious or economic reasons, and that employment has been given directly to some thousands of British subjects.

Would it be fair to say that the figure is between 6,000 and 7,000?

I could not say.

asked the President of the Boad of Education the results of the experiments which have been made by the use of talking cinematograph films in schools; and what steps the board or the local education authorities take to ensure that correct English is used in such films?

The board are watching sympathetically experiments in the use both of sound films and silent films in schools, and they have no doubt that these experiments have demonstrated that talking films can be used with success. The hon. Member may rest assured that the important aspect of the matter which he raises in the second part of his question will not be lost sight of.

Is it not a fact that the majority of these films are made in America?

Perhaps the hon. Member will give me notice of that question.

Is it not a fact that American expressions like "gotten" which cannot be found in any English dictionary, are used in these films?

asked the President of the Board of Education whether any steps have been taken by the board to carry out the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Licensing, paragraph 699, that His Majesty's inspectors should inquire as to the extent to which instruction on the dangers of alcohol is carried out in the schools they visit; and can he present any return or report showing the results of the inquiries made?

The board's Handbook of Suggestions on Health Education contains a chapter on the hygiene of food and drink, which was revised after the publication of the report of the Royal Commission on Licensing, and the board consider that a knowledge of its contents should be regarded as part of the necessary equipment of every teacher. His Majesty's inspectors have been instructed to pay particular attention to, and to report on, the health instruction given in schools, but I am unable to furnish a report such as the hon. Member desires.

asked the President of the Board of Education (1) what progress is being made by local education authorities with regard to the board's recommendations in Circular 1443; the number of such authorities who fix an income scale similar to that governing unemployment benefit; the number of authorities where the scale is less than the present unemployment benefit; and how many nutrition surveys have been conducted and with what result;

(2) how many local education authorities are operating the recommendations contained in the board's Circular 1443, with regard to the provision of food in public elementary schools to children who are in need of such; and in how many instances interim arrangements are in operation for the immediate feeding of children recommended for meals?

There are 233 local education authorities providing meals under Section 84 of the Education Act, 1921. I have no reason to suppose that local education authorities generally are not carrying out the recommendations of Circular 1443 including the provision of interim arrangements. The method of application of the income scales of local education authorities varies considerably, and it is difficult to make any exact comparison with the scales for unemployment assistance. As regards nutrition surveys, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley (Mr. Joel) on 6th February, of which I am sending him a copy.

May I ask whether the right hon. Gentleman feels that certain economies exercised by many local authorities are equivalent to treating the circular with a measure of indifference and will he urge upon them the necessity of dealing with this matter?

I do not think that that is the case. The circular was drafted after consultation with local authorities, and I believe it represents the view of the great majority of them.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether the arrangements sanctioned for a four-year course, with a commercial or technical bias developing in the last two years, at the new South-East Technical College, Dagenham, involve any change in the views of the Board of Education on the position and status of the selective central school?

The arrangements for a four-year course in the junior day school to be provided in the new South-East Technical College at Dagenham, have been approved by the Board for an experimental period of five years, having regard to the special circumstances of the area to be served. This proposal does not indicate any change in the Board's views as to the position and status of the selective central school.

asked the President of the Board of Education (1) the records. that are kept of the service in elementary schools of supplementary teachers; and the time that elapses after a first appointment before such record is ordinarily commenced;

(2) how many supplementary teachers at present employed in elementary schools are over 60 years of age; how many have more than 40 years' service; and how many are over 60 years of age and have over 40 years' service?

The Board have no records about supplementary teachers except quarterly returns of the number employed and an annual return of the total expenditure on such teachers. I regret therefore that I cannot give the hon. Member the information which he desires.

Are we to understand that no records are kept giving the names of supplementary teachers and that, therefore, one dismissed in the area of one authority as unsatisfactory might be employed elsewhere without the Board realising that he has turned up in another area?

Perhaps the hon. Member will put that specific point in another question. He will realise that that is not the question on. the Paper.

But is not this information available to the Board?

asked the President of the Board of Education for how many children accommodation is available in special schools for mentally defective children; and for how many accommodation was available 25 years ago?

There is accommodation available in special schools for 16,562 mentally defective children as compared with accommodation available in 1911 for 11,854.

Does the right hon. Gentleman think that is satisfactory progress considering the importance of the problem?

In a recent circular I issued I pointed out that there was a need for better residential accommodation for these children m certain areas, and I urged local authorities to make progress in the matter.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he will arrange for the notification of defective children on leaving school to the mental deficiency authority?

Provision is made in Article 4 of the Mental Deficiency (Notification of Children) Regulations for the notification of mentally defective children due to leave special schools on or before attaining the age of 16. There is no power whereby local education authorities can notify children leaving other schools, but the Board have suggested that such children could be informally brought to the notice of the mental deficiency authorities for friendly supervision on a voluntary basis.

Is the President of the Board looking aster this to see if it is carried out properly, because the information generally is that it is not carried out?

The whole question of closer co-operation is now under consideration by the local authorities.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that young men and women teachers who secured a loan from the education authority 10 meet training college expenses and ate repaying the loan at the rate of £26 per annum, are being charged Income Tax on this sum; and whether he will take steps to secure that allowance is made for this sum seeing that these teachers never actually receive the money?

A loan granted by an education authority to a teacher in training is not part of the teacher's income and no Income Tax is charged upon it. The repayments of the capital are not deductions which under the general Income Tax law can be allowed in assessing the teacher's income.