asked the Minister of Labour whether he has considered recommendation 16, page 163, of the recent report of the Commissioner for the Special Areas; whether it is the intention of the Government to adopt that recommendation and enable numbers of older men and their families to be transferred, from the Special Areas to cottage homesteads in more prosperous districts; and, if so, to what extent?

Yes, Sir. As I stated in last Tuesday's Debate, it has been decided to initiate an experiment on these lines. A beginning will be made with schemes for 250 families, and the organisation to be set up by the Land Settlement Association will make possible an immediate extension of the programme if these first schemes are successful.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether this programme might not be made one of 2,500 instead of only 250?

The hon. Member will understand that this is an experiment.

Is this to be confined to one part of the country, or is it to be spread out over various places throughout the country?

This is a question of an experiment in family settlement. Perhaps the hon. Member would put his question down.

When are the Government going to stop tinkering with this problem, and tackle it in a proper fashion? Is it not dealing with the matter in a haphazard fashion to be providing for 250 individuals out of over 1,000,000? The thing is absolutely ridiculous.

I have said that this is only an experiment.

In cases where young men and women have been recruited, say, from South Wales to the North-East Coast or Birmingham, will the right hon. Gentleman make arrangements so that parents may follow a son or daughter without the application of the means test?

We have already made arrangements for the removal of families.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that in all cases where the family means test applies, it prevents the other members of the family from following these young people?

I understand that the family means test is a test of the family need.

Will the right hon. Gentleman, in formulating these schemes, consider the semi-depressed areas, some parts of which are as bad as the depressed areas?

That was discussed in the Debate two days ago, when I gave an indication about it.

What was the indication?

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will turn up the OFFICIAL REPORT and read it.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will arrange for unemployment benefit to be paid out to the unemployed on Wednesday, 23rd December, instead of Thursday, 24th December, this year?

It will not be possible to do this in all cases, but it will be done as far as is practicable.

Will the Minister take steps to avoid the queueing which usually takes place at this time of year; and will he also reconsider his previous answer with regard to increasing the benefit to the unemployed?

That does not arise on this question or answer.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that the assistance drawn by Neil Cannie, 160, Rankine Street, Greenock, from the Employment Exchange has been reduced from 17s. per week to 9s. per week; and whether this reduction is due to the application of the new regulations, or, if not, on what grounds it was made?

I am informed by the Unemployment Assistance Board that the reduction in the allowance was not a consequence of the new regulations, but was due to a change in the circumstances of the household.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether the area officers have been notified that they can make these reductions immediately and whether they have any power to do so?

I am not aware that any reduction has taken place.

Is the Minister aware that in this case, in the papers which were issued, the impression was given that the new regulations were being applied so as to produce reductions?

I am not aware of that. The facts are otherwise.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that the Unemployment Assistance Board is rejecting the claims for unemployment allowance made by single men in cases where such men have left their homes because, by the operation of the household means test, they have been given nil determination, and have subsequently left their homes and have taken lodgings elsewhere; and whether he proposes to take steps to revise the regulations in this respect so as to avoid producing a number of vagabonds driven from home by the means test and deprived of any form of public assistance?

I am informed that cases occasionally arise in which as a merely colourable arrangement a single man leaves or purports to leave his home for the purpose of obtaining an allowance at a higher rate than would otherwise be payable, and that in such cases the Board's officer may make an assessment on the basis that the applicant's home is still in fact open to him and that he is constructively a member of it. If in any instance the facts on which the officer has proceeded are in doubt or dispute, it is open to the aggrieved applicant to exercise his right of appeal under the Act.

Am I to understand that the decision as to whether a single man is to stay at home or is to leave his home, is not to be in his own individual right but is to be a decision of the Unemployment Assistance Board; and is not this an infringement of the rights of the working-man?

I said that these are cases where steps are taken to prevent collusive action.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say under what regulation the Unemployment Assistance Board refuses to give a man unemployment assistance after he has left home?

If the hon. Member will put that question down I will give him a detailed answer?

The right hon. Gentleman has answered to the effect that this has happened regularly, and surely as he is Minister of Labour and as this is an exceptional case he will know that there is no regulation—[HON. MEMBERS: "Speech!"] Will the Minister answer that point?

The hon. Gentleman says that I said that this happened regularly, but I said no such thing. I have said that cases occasionally arise. There have been a few, but there are rights of appeal, and they are decided in the light of the regulations.

Arising out of the Minister's second reply, in which he said that the fact that the allowances are being denied to these men is due to collusive action, may I ask whether that statement is based upon the facts in each case? If that is not the case, and I know it is not, will the Minister withdraw that insult to working men?

I have nothing to withdraw. I said there were occasional cases of colourable arrangements.

rose—

Mr. Buchanan.

On a point of Order. May I ask whether the Minister is entitled to use words which are insulting to applicants without any evidence of fact at all? Further, may I, in view not only of the Minister's unsatisfactory reply but also in view of the reflection cast upon my constituents, give notice that I will raise this matter on the first opportunity?

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman—

It is very unusual to pursue a question when notice has been given of an hon. Member's intention to raise it on a future occasion.

On a point of Order. I understood that I had been called by you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Taylor.

asked the Minister of Labour the nature of the arrangements made with regard to the rent allowance by the various advisory committees in Northumberland?

I will, with the permission of the hon. Member, circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a statement showing the recommendations for the adjustment of allowances in respect of rent which have been made by the four advisory committees whose districts includes parts of the geographical county of Northumberland. The committees have been informed that the board have instructed their local officers to give effect to the recommendations in applying the new Regulations.

asked the Minister of Labour how many applicants' claims have been received by the Unemployment Assistance Board; and whether he can state the numbers who have received increases and have suffered decreases, respectively?

The re-assessment of cases under the new Regulations has not yet been completed. Up to date reports relating to 504,526 cases so re-assessed have been received by the board. In about 395,000 of these cases there has been no change of circumstances since the last assessment prior to the coming into operation of the new Regulations, and in rather more than one-third of these the rates of payment have been increased while in the remainder they remain unchanged. In the balance of about 109,000 cases there has been some change of circumstances and there is therefore no direct comparison of the effect of the new Regulations; but the statistics received indicate that the proportion of these in which the rate of payment was increased as compared with that which would have been made previously was not less than one-third. No reductions have yet been made on account of the new Regulations.

Can the Minister tell us what proportion would have received a decrease if the Regulations had been applied?

Not at the moment until the review is completed.

The Minister can tell us the number who were to receive an increase, and why cannot he tell us the number who would have received a decrease if the Regulations had been in force?

The hon. Member knows that that depends upon how they are applied over a period of 18 months by 126 local advisory committees.

Do the figures as to the proportionate decrease include the nil determinations?

The figures I have given refer to the cases in which payments were made.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that what he has stated shows that there has only been a decrease where there has been a change of circumstance, and can he say whether there have been any decreases apart from change of circumstances?

My understanding is that there has been none on account of the new Regulations.

asked the Minister of Labour whether the scale of assistance laid down in the regulations of the Unemployment Assistance Board has taken into account the cost of a minimum diet necessary for health, as estimated by the nutrition committee of the British Medical Association or by any other scientific authority, and the cost of other primary needs; and, if not, upon what other considerations has the scale been fixed?

I am satisfied that in drafting the Regulations which have recently come into force with the approval of this House the Unemployment Assistance Board had regard to the considerations referred to by the hon. Member.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the actual determination falls short of minimum subsistence needs as estimated, whether by the British Medical Association or by any other authorities, by amounts which become more and more substantial according to the number in the family and in what sense, therefore, have these estimates been considered?

I must have notice of that question.

Is the Minister aware that the Secretary of State for War has decided to change the diet in the Army and will he change the diet out of the Army?

asked the Minister of Labour what steps are being taken by his Department to find employment for men from the Special Areas who have satisfactorily completed a course at the instructional centre and are physically capable of work, seeing that in 1935 only 20 per cent. and this year about 40 per cent have been placed in employment?

There has as the hon. Gentleman indicates been a welcome increase in the percentages of men placed after a course of training at instructional centres. I have good hopes that a further increase may result from certain developments which I am instituting to meet the greater opportunities now made available by the general improvement in the industrial situation. At the same time I am in consultation with some of my colleagues with a view to obtaining a full share of the employment on works under their control for men from the centres.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether at these instructional centres there are any courses of instruction in agriculture?

An attempt was made to give agricultural training, but I regret to say that it was not wholly successful.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) whether his attention has been drawn to the shortage of labour in the agricultural districts of Cumberland; and will he consider training unemployed miners in these districts who have little or no prospect of work;

Apart from purely seasonal requirements for short periods, I have no evidence of shortage of agricultural labour in these districts, but I shall be glad to consider any particulars which my hon. Friend may send to me.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that miners could be given work if farmers could only get assistance in the way of unskilled and other labour?

The issue is not quite that. In Cumberland there are 318 agricultural workers registered as unemployed. The real trouble is that the work is seasonal, which is a different matter.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of hands employed in the weaving industry in North-East Lancashire in 1929, 1931 and 1936, and the number of hands employed in the machine-knitting industry in the Leicester and Nottingham districts of the same years?

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

asked the Minister of Labour the annual amount of contributions made to the Unemployment Insurance Fund since its establishment by employers, employés, and the State,

asked the Minister of Labour the nature of the obstacles which his Department is encountering in trying to transfer men from the distressed areas in order that they may obtain seasonal or continuous employment in North Norfolk and South Lincolnshire; and will he explain what steps he is taking to abolish these obstacles so that public opinion in the distressed areas

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

The obstacles to which I referred in my reply of 3rd December related to employment in seasonal work. The work is normally paid for on, a piece-work basis and, especially if the weather is bad, the earnings of men from the depressed areas, who are, in general, unused to work on the land, are low. Accommodation is often difficult to obtain and, in some cases, is not of a high standard. With regard to the latter part of the question, my hon. Friend will appreciate that these are matters which I have no power to control.

Can my right hon. Friend tell us what obstacles there are to selecting suitable unemployed men and training them for aerodrome work on the East Coast, so that they can be transferred into employment?

We did attempt to get some training for agricultural work, but it was a comparative failure. It is simpler to train men for industrial work. When you have a matter of purely seasonal work paid by piece rates, the situation becomes very difficult from the point of view of labour.

Is it not a fact that during the past three years there were 78,000 fewer agricultural workers employed than before, and does not the right hon. Gentleman think that, if the work is really available, there are plenty of men waiting for it.

I cannot accept that. I have dealt with the question addressed to me.

asked the Minister of Labour the total amount of money paid from the Unemployment Insurance Fund and by the Unemployment Assistance Board and by the public assistance committees to unemployed persons in the county of Durham since the year 1922, up to the latest available date?

Statistics of payments of unemployment benefit, transitional payments and unemployment allowances in the county of Durham in the years 1931 to 1935 inclusive were given in statements circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT on 4th February, 1936, and 29th May, 1936, in reply to questions by the hon. Member for Houghton-le-Springs (Mr.W. Joseph Stewart). I am having extracted information relating to the years 1922 to 1930 and the year 1936, and will circulate a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT as soon as possible. Questions relating to payments of poor relief by public assistance committees should be addressed to my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that a serious dispute has broken out at three of the steelworks belonging to Messrs. Colvilles, Limited, namely, Blochairn, Dalzell, and Hallside, involving 6,000 men and holding up important shipbuilding and munition work, and that it has arisen through the refusal of the company to grant recognition of the union of which the clerical employées are members; and, in view of the protection afforded to this company under the Finance Act, what steps he is taking to bring the dispute to a speedy termination?

I understand that about 150 clerks have stopped work but that no shipbuilding or munitions work has so far been affected. As I understand that certain proposals for settlement are under consideration, I do not think I ought to make further comment on the position.

Is the Minister aware that in these proposals there is a clause which states that the union representing the men, namely, the National Union of Clerks, shall not be recognised by the employers?

I prefer not to make any comment on that.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that a Member of the Government, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, is associated with this firm?

Since these steel works have been in this difficulty has the Ministry of Labour sought to bring about ordinary conditions between employers and employées by meeting representatives of the union?

The hon. Member knows quite well that the Department always seeks the right moment for intervention. What we want to do is to get a settlement.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is in a position to state how many workers there are in Britain who get six or more days holiday in the year with pay, including civil servants, municipal employées, and those in the employ of private firms?

The number of wage-earners covered by collective agreements between organisations of employers and workpeople providing for annual holidays with pay is estimated to be about 1,500,000. In nearly all cases these agreements provide for at least six days annual holiday with pay, apart from public holidays, after a qualifying period of service. Particulars of these agreements, with a list of the industries covered, were given in the "Ministry of Labour Gazette" for April, 1936. I am not in possession of information as to the extent to which paid holidays are granted to wage-earners in industries not covered by such collective agreements, or as to the number of salaried workers whose conditions of service include annual holidays with pay.

Will the Minister use his influence with the Government to see that, as the heavy industries, the key industries of this country, do not have holidays with pay, legislation is introduced to provide for them?

The House has given a Second Reading to a Bill on this subject, and it will soon be considered in Committee.

Will the right hon. Gentleman see that those firms which are threatened with insolvency are provided with the money to pay for holidays?

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of constables or officers of the Metropolitan Police Force who were involved in accidents and sustained injuries, fatal or otherwise, whilst on duty, for the 12 months ended to the last convenient date; and what compassionate or compensatory allowances were made to the widows and/or children in fatal cases.

In the year 1935—the latest period of 12 months for which figures are readily available—962 members of the Metropolitan Police Force were placed on the sick list as a result of injuries and accidents of all kinds incurred while on duty. In addition, two members of the force lost their lives in the course of duty. Under the provisions of the Police Pensions Act, 1921, the widows were each awarded a pension of £78 per annum, and in respect of four children (three in one case and one in the other) an annual allowance of £15 12s for each child was granted.

Is there any machinery by which the widows or the other representatives of the men concerned may appeal?

I should like notice of that question.

asked the Home Secretary whether is is aware that the pay scales of several of the higher ranks in the prison service have been improved during the past year or so amounting to many hundreds of pounds; that the uniform staff rates of pay stand practically the same as they did for about 15 years; that, on the recent consolidation or revision of pay, no practical increase was made in the pay rates of the uniform staff and that the officers had to calculate their pay for a year ahead to find out whether they would gain or lose; and whether he proposes to have the rates of pay reviewed?

The scales of pay of subordinate officers in the prison service were revised a year ago, and the effect of the new scales was to improve the immediate position of many and the prospects of all such officers. The new scales were settled after consultation with the Prison Officers' Representative Board, and my right hon. Friend knows of no grounds on which he would be justified in reopening the question at this date. After the scales for the subordinate ranks had been revised, some changes were made in the scales of pay of governors and medical officers. These changes were mainly adjustments involving comparatively small sums, and in no scale was there an increase of as much as £100.

asked the Home Secretary whether the general associations of Civil Service are recognised trade unions; if not, what are the limitations; whether the representative board for the prison staff operates in a similar manner to the above-mentioned associations; and why the prison officers' representative board are barred from placing a case before the industrial court or the Civil Service arbitration tribunal?

The question whether any association of civil servants is entitled to recognition as representing a particular grade depends on the extent of its membership among that grade. In so far as the question relates to prison staffs, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Waltham-stow, West (Mr. McEntee) on 12th November last.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether, in view of the necessity for improved and increased accommodation in voluntary and non-provided schools, he will state what steps his Department are taking to assist such rebuilding and necessary alterations?

I would remind the hon. Member that the Education Act, 1936, empowers local education authorities to make grants to voluntary bodies of 50 per cent. to 75 per cent. of the cost of improving existing provision for senior children and of building new schools for such children. The expenditure of local education authorities in making such grants will be eligible for recognition for grant from the board on the same terms as expenditure upon council school buildings.

Can the Minister say whether he has had many applications for more assistance in this matter, and whether they have received attention?

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

asked the President of the Board of Education whether any children in schools are being supplied with preserved instead of fresh milk?

It is estimated that about five per cent. of the children receiving milk in the schools are supplied with preserved milk in some form or another. Preserved milk is not provided under the milk-in-schools scheme.

In view of the fact that some types of preserved milk have a much lower food value than fresh milk, will the Minister draw the attention of the local authorities concerned to that fact?

In the great majority of the cases in which preserved milk is supplied it is as the result of a voluntary arrangement carried on by the teachers. In the few cases where it is supplied by local authorities the Board try actively to discourage them, provided there are supplies of fresh milk available.

Will the Minister see to it that, unless special circumstances arise, nothing but fresh milk is supplied to the schools, because we have adequate supplies of fresh milk at the moment, and in many cases producers do not know what to do with it?

Will the Minister impress upon the Minister of Agriculture that it would be better to let the milk go to the children than to the manufacturers?

Is it not a fact that there is very little fresh milk at all in the country?

asked the President of the Board of Education how many separate infants' departments have been amalgamated with other departments during 1933, 1934, 1935 and 1936; how many of these amalgamated departments are in charge of men head-teachers; and whether amalgamations of this nature are in line with the policy of the board?

The information for which the hon. Member asks will take a little time to collect, but I will send it to him as soon as it is ready.

asked the President of the Board of Education the number of children now receiving school meals in the counties of Glamorgan and Monmouth and also in the borough of Merthyr Tydfil?

asked the Minister of Health whether he has considered the copy sent to him of the recent protest by the Society for the Preservation of Rural England against the unnecessary destruction of old buildings; and whether he will call the attention of all local authorities to the need for reconditioning, instead of destroying, ancient cottages of aesthetic value whenever it is possible to make them sanitary and convenient dwellings?

I assume my hon. Friend is referring to the November report of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England, in which reference is made to the importance both to local authorities and to cottage owners of securing adequate technical advice before deciding whether an unfit cottage, which is of architectural, historic or artistic merit, cannot be made fit for habitation. I have frequently called the attention of local authorities to the need for taking all practicable steps to secure the reconditioning of cottages which can be made fit for habitation, and I have recently issued a circular emphasising the importance of giving further publicity to the grants under the Housing (Rural Workers) Acts available for reconditioning agricultural cottages.

As the answer contains a number of figures, I will, with the hon. Members's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the provision under the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, making it an offence for a person habitually to wander from place to place with any child of school age who is not totally exempted from school attendance or unable to receive it, he can state the number of such children who have been brought into casual wards during the last year for which statistics are available?

229 children between the ages of five and 14 years were admitted to casual wards in England and Wales during the year ended 31st March, 1936. I have no information to show how many of these children were totally exempted from school attendance.

Have any prosecutions taken place during the last 12 months against people for dragging young children through the country without any adequate means of education or supervision?

If the hon. Gentleman will put down a question on the matter, I will give him the figures. I can tell him that action is being taken in many directions.

asked the Minister of Health whether, during the last year for which statistics are available, any cases have been brought to his notice in which the housing needs of the working-class population are not being wholly met by the activities of private enterprise; whether in these cases the local authorities have been asked to provide the required houses themselves; and whether he can give the names of such authorities?

Yes, Sir, and I have during the past year sanctioned loans for the erection of some 14,000 houses in the circumstances mentioned by my hon. Friend. I will send him a list of the authorities concerned.

Is the Minister satisfied that adequate water supplies are being passed on the plans, as part of the duty of the local authorities?

That is another matter. If my hon. Friend will put down a question upon it, I will answer it.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will assist local authorities, in declining trade areas such as North-East Lancashire, to recondition those areas by granting them powers to demolish disused, unattractive, industrial premises, thus creating cheap cleared sites for attractive buildings, by making grants-in-aid, or by giving the authorities power to raise loans for such purposes?

I have received representations on this matter, but I am not in a position at present to add to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour, in his speech at the Committee stage of the Expiring Laws Continuance Bill on Tuesday last.

Is the Minister aware that the proposal in the question is being widely called for in Lancashire as a means of attracting new industries to the area, and will he therefore bring it to the notice of his colleague the Minister of Labour, so that in this legislation Lancashire might not be disappointed and might not feel that the Government have once again let them down?

I could not agree with the last part of the hon. Gentleman's question. As a matter of fact, I myself have received several deputations on this matter, and my right hon. Friend is fully aware of the facts.

asked the Minister of Health what action, in addition to the Midwives Act, is being undertaken by his Department to reduce the large percentage of maternal mortality in the country?

I would refer the hon. Member to the annual report for 1935 of the Chief Medical Officer of my Department, recently published, which contains, in the section relating to maternity and child welfare, a summary of the action taken by my Department both by way of investigation into this problem and by way of administrative action for the improvement of maternity services. Further measures it may be desirable to take will be reviewed when I have before me the report, now in course of preparation, of the special investigations recently made into maternal mortality in various parts of the country.

Will copies of that document be available for Members of this House?

Yes, Sir; I shall make them available.

Will the Minister take steps to impress upon local authorities the desirability of establishing, wherever possible, gynaecological clinics in order to reduce the rate of maternal mortality?

I will send the hon. Member a circular which has been issued in relation to that matter.

asked the Minister of Health what action is being taken by his Department to see that a fully qualified midwife is at hand for every expectant mother in the country?

Each local supervising authority has been sent a circular, explaining the provisions of the Act and containing suggestions and advice as to how the objects of the Act can best be secured. I will send the hon. Member a copy of the circular. Under the Act, local authorities are required to submit their proposals to me by the end of January next, and to carry them into effect not later than the end of July next.

asked the Minister of Health whether local authorities and voluntary associations have been invited to co-operate in implementing the Midwives Act; and how far definite action is being undertaken by them?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. Consultations between the bodies referred to, as the Act requires, are, I am informed, now in progress throughout the country.

Is the Minister's Department giving as much encouragement as possible to these local and voluntary associations, which are professing themselves willing to co-operate in the working of the Act?

Yes, Sir. I am glad to say that many of them are in touch with us.

Will the Minister give favourable consideration to the applications of those non-county boroughs which are qualified and desire to be entrusted with the administration of their own maternity services?

That is another matter.

asked the Minister of Health the number of people who compose the Board of Control; and whether they visit in each year all the mental hospitals and colonies for mental defectives, particularly those which are privately owned and conducted for profit?

The Board of Control consists of the Chairman and four other members, styled Senior Commissioners. For the purposes of the work of visitation and inspection, the board are assisted by 12 commissioners and four inspectors. All institutions (including mental hospitals) accommodating patients under the provisions of the Lunacy and Mental Treatment Acts, 1890–1930, and all institutions (including colonies for mental defectives) accommodating patients under the provisions of the Mental Deficiency Acts, 1913–1927, are visited in each year, whether or not they are privately owned and conducted for profit.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will give particulars of what cinematograph films have been made during the last 12 months and are being made at the present time in which Government property and/or material has been or is being used; and what payment, if any, is made to the personnel of the Services for parts taken in these film productions?

The detailed information asked for is not readily obtainable, but I will communicate it to the hon. Member when it is available.

Is it not possible for the Minister to say what payment is made to the personnel of the Services for the work they do?

No, Sir.

Is it not a fact that those who are employed in the Army receive more pay than those who are employed in the Navy?

The hon. Member's question involves a good deal of research, and until that research is completed, I cannot give the detailed information.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what is the policy of his Department in regard to the duty payable on the re-importation of machinery, or machinery parts, into this country where such machinery has had to be returned to the country of origin owing to faulty or incorrect construction?

If my Noble Friend refers to machinery and machinery parts of foreign origin, the position is that under the law, unless the goods are covered by a licence for duty-free admission, duty is chargeable, on their re-importation into this country after previous importation and exportation for repair, only on the amount of the increase in the value attributable to the repairs, provided that the repairs have not changed the form or character of the goods.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will state, by administrative counties, the names of the new urban and rural districts which have been formed in the last year or will shortly be formed; the names of those which have been abolished for the same periods; and the dates of formation or abolition?

I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate the particulars in the OFFICIAL RETORT.

Will these newly-formed authorities be functioning at the beginning of the New Year?

The hon. Member will find his answer in the Schedule which I am circulating. I think it is at the beginning of April.