asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that in the course of an inquiry on slum clearance in Birmingham on 17th March representatives of the city council officially dissociated questions of rehousing from the subject-matter of the inquiry; that there is now in Birmingham a shortage of 10,000 houses and tenants of houses to be demolished could not be accommodated; and will he require the council to produce evidence of ability to rehouse before they displace any occupants of houses?

I am aware that difficulties have been encountered in connection with the erection of rehousing accommodation in Birmingham. I under stand, however, that it was clearly stated on behalf of the corporation at the inquiry to which my hon. Friend refers, that rehousing accommodation would be provided before any persons were displaced from the areas which were the subject of this inquiry.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the rents charged to tenants on the Northfield Road estate, now in the area of the Esher Urban District Council, have been the subject of several requisitioned parish meetings for the past eight or nine years in the Parish of Cobham; that since the amalgamation of Cobham and Esher representations for a reduction of rents have been made to the Esher Urban District Council; and whether, in view of the high rents charged to these tenants, he will urge on the Esher Council the need for expediting consideration of the matter?

Yes, Sir. I understand that the matter has now been considered by the Esher Urban District Council and that it has been decided to make some reduction in the rents of these houses.

asked the Minister of Health the number of cases and persons, respectively, relieved by the Public Assistance Committee within the area of the Rhondda urban authority during each week in the month of February, 1936, and the cost; and how far the burden is due to unemployment, giving the number of cases that may be regarded as capable of and available for work?

The statistics supplied to my Department refer only to counties and county boroughs as a whole, and I regret therefore that the information desired is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the Law Officers of the Crown had been consulted before the conveyance of 205 acres of common land on which the interests of the Crown were involved to the Dunraven Estates, Limited?

The interests of His Majesty in Right of His Duchy of Lancaster being alone involved, the Law Officers of the Crown were not concerned and were not consulted.

asked the hon. and gallant Member for Rye, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, whether his attention has been called to the desirability that other trees besides conifers should be planted in Wales; whether his commission is experimenting with the planting of beeches; and, in that case, in which district?

The answer to both questions is in the affirmative. Beeches and other hardwoods are planted in belts and in many cases in replacing failures in coniferous plantations.

asked the Home Secretary (1) what departmental committees are now considering aspects of the existing provisions for workmen's compensation; and whether their terms of reference permit them to recommend such changes in the law and the medical arrangements as would bring British practice into conformity with the International Labour Convention of 1925 concerning workmen's compensation for industrial accidents;

(2) what alterations would be required in British legislation in order to bring it into conformity with the International Convention of 1925 concerning workmen's compensation for industrial accidents?

There is a Home Office Committee considering the question of compensation for nystagmus, medical procedure in the case of accidents and the scheduled diseases generally, and lump sum settlements; and there is another committee which considers questions of scheduling further industrial diseases under the Act. Other committees whose enquiries have some bearing on Workmen's Compensation provisions are the Board of Trade Com mittee on the law relating to the carrying on of insurance business and the proposed inter-departmental committee on the restoration of the working capacity of persons injured in industrial, road and other accidents. The law and medical arrangements of this country could not be brought into conformity with the Convention without great changes which would involve questions far beyond the scope of these committees. It would not be possible without a special investigation to say exactly what changer would be required by the various Articles in the draft Convention, but the most important would be the introduction of compulsory insurance or some other system for ensuring, in accordance with Article 11, the payment of the compensation in all circumstances in the event of the employer's insolvency. Important changes affecting the statue of the voluntary hospitals would also be involved, for the purpose of giving workmen a right to surgical treatment in accordance with Article 9.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will give the number of committals to approved schools during the last five years; and to what causes the increased number of committals is mainly due?

The number of boys and girls ordered to be sent to residential approved schools in the last five years 1931–33 is respectively 1,767, 1,819, 1,884, 2,825 and 3,133. The chief reason for the rise in 1934 and 1935 is the raising by one year, as provided by the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, of the age of boys and girls who may be sent to these schools, 542 boys and girls of 16 having been sent there in 1934 and 534 in 1935. Other reasons may be found in the high birth rates in 1920 and 1921 which mean that the number of boys of 14–16 in the country unusually high at present, in the wider definition contained in the Act of 1933 of boys and girls in need of care or protection, in a greater interest in the work of the juvenile courts, and in a growing appreciation of the value of the training given in these schools. While the per- centage rise of the figures is high, the actual rise in relation to the number of boys and girls in the country is negligible.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that, on Saturday, 28th December, 1935, Detective-sergeant Whitehurst, of the Criminal Investigation Department, gave evidence at Bow Street Police Court to the effect that a meeting between two persons at Vine Street Police Station, on 27th December, 1935, was a chance meeting; that after prolonged questioning by the learned magistrate he admitted that the meeting was not a chance meeting but had in fact been arranged by him; and that he subsequently attended before the learned magistrate and apologised for having given false evidence in the matter; what, if any, disciplinary action or criminal proceedings have been or will be taken against this detective-sergeant; how many persons have in the past been convicted of offences on his uncorroborated evidence; and whether any and, if so, how many other police officers who were present at the meeting at Vine Street Police Station were also present at Bow Street Police Court when the detective-sergeant gave his said evidence?

I have had before me full reports on this case, and I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that suitable disciplinary action has been taken against the officer referred to. It is not possible to say whether any person has ever been convicted on this officer's evidence alone; but there is no record of any suggestion that he had previously given unsatisfactory evidence. None of the other officers present at the meeting at Vine Street was in court while he gave evidence in this case.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to a suggestion made by one of His Majesty's inspectors that traffic police be relieved by the formation of an auxiliary force recruited from the unemployed; and will he consider the advisability of carrying out this suggestion by which unemployed ex-service men might be usefully employed?

I presume that my hon. Friend has in mind the remarks as to police strength and duties in the recent report of His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary, but I cannot find there any suggestion of the kind my hon. Friend mentions. I am in communication with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport on the whole question of the most efficient methods of controlling traffic on the roads.