asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals the Government have formulated to arrest depopulation and poverty among the inhabitants remaining in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and to provide facili- ties whereby they may earn a decent livelihood?

I would refer the hon. and learned Member to the statement made by me in the Debate on the 16th December when I mentioned in particular the large new road programme in the Northern Counties, special aid to education, medical services and housing and the benefits which these areas are deriving from the Government's agricultural policy. Furthermore, the review of the block grant now in progress is being conducted with a full knowledge of and sympathy with the problems of the Highlands and Islands, though it is not of course possible at present to make any statement. In addition to those measures the problem of economic development of the Highlands and Islands is now being examined by the Highlands Sub-Committee of the Scottish Development Council which was appointed in consultation with the late Secretary of State, and the recommendations of that committee will receive full and sympathetic consideration by the Government.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that the Ross salmon fishings, consisting of about 40 miles of coast line in Argyllshire, are on lease, but only one out of about nine potential fishing stations is being worked; and what proposals, if any, he has to put forward to make this national asset available for beneficial use?

I presume the hon. and learned Member refers to the fishings at Ross of Mull. It is not always possible for fishing to be carried out profitably at all the stations comprised in a lease, and doubtless the lessee in this case is working all the stations which he considers economically practicable. In any case I have no power to interfere in this matter.

asked the Lord Advocate whether he is aware that the members of no other profession in Scotland pay to the State a tax corresponding to the payment of £6 per annum by solicitors outwith Edinburgh and of £9 a year in Edinburgh; and whether he will take the appropriate steps to have these taxes on solicitors abolished or, alternatively, placed to the credit of a guarantee fund to secure indemnification of clients against loss through intromissions of solicitors in Scotland?

I have been asked to reply. The hon. Member is no doubt aware that Solicitors' Certificate Duty is not confined to Scotland. In Scotland the persons affected are those practising as law agent, writer to the signet, or notary public. I see no ground for altering the present position.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether there is in any other profession a stamp duty corresponding to that of £55 paid by young solicitors in Scotland on admission; if so, what are the professions and what is the amount of the stamp duty; and whether he will take the appropriate steps to abolish the stamp duty of £55, the payment of which is a hardship to many young solicitors in Scotland?

Stamp duties on admissions are common to the United Kingdom. They are payable, in Scotland, on admission of any person—

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will give the number of ex-service men appointed to permanent or quasi-permanent positions in the Post Office during the three years ended to the last convenient date, and the number of these who were considered disabled ex-service men?

The number of ex-service men appointed to permanent and quasi-permanent situations in the Post Office during the three years 1933–1935 was 11,545, of whom 2,083 were disabled.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that many telephone subscribers in the Fort Matilda district of Greenock are given Gourock telephone numbers, and that much inconvenience is caused thereby; and if he will take the necessary steps to give these Greenock subscribers Greenock telephone numbers?

The premises of the subscribers at Fort Matilda are nearer to the Gourock Exchange than to the Greenock Exchange, and I regret that the additional expense of connecting the sub- scribers concerned1 to the Greenock Exchange could not be justified.

asked the Postmaster-General how many inactive accounts there are of £1 and over in the Post Office savings bank, and the average of these; and whether interest is regularly added to these accounts?

From time to time accounts with a balance of over £1 in which no transactions have taken place for many years are transferred to a special class. Transfers of this nature are made solely for purposes of economy in bookkeeping, and interest is added to these accounts at the close of each year ended the 31st of December. Precise figures for accounts so transferred during 1936 are not yet available, and it is not possible therefore to give the total number of such accounts; but at the 31st of December, 1935, they numbered 77,500 with an average of balance of £16 3s. 6d.

asked the Minister of Labour whether work has started upon the replacement of the temporary Employment Exchange in Barking, in view of the assurance given, in answer to a question on 5th March, 1936, that it had been scheduled as an urgent case and would be dealt with in the near future?

Work has not yet commenced on the replacement of the temporary Employment Exchange at Barking, but negotiations for a site are in progress.

asked the Minister of Labour when the Government propose to bring non-manual workers, earning between £250 and £500 a year, within the scope of the unemployment insurance scheme?

I am afraid I cannot add to the reply which I gave on Tuesday last to the hon. Member for Birkenhead East (Mr. White).

asked the Minister of Labour how many cases of alleged ill-treatment of boy and girl transferees have been brought to his notice; and what has been the result of investigations in each case?

In the thousands of cases of transfer of juveniles the only instance of alleged ill-treatment of a transferred juvenile which has been brought to my notice was a complaint that a boy in residential domestic employment at a boys' school had received corporal punishment for repeated disobedience and misbehaviour. The boy was subsequently sent home at the request of his mother, although by that time he gave every indication of having settled happily. Immediately the facts were reported a full investigation was made and the matter was taken up with the warden who gave an undertaking that nothing of the kind should again occur.

asked the Minister of Pensions the number of pensioners who have abandoned registering for work at Employment Exchanges owing to the fact that they will not be found work in competition with others who are not physically disabled?

I have been asked to reply. Considerable numbers of disabled ex-service men are placed in employment by the Employment Exchanges and I have no information which suggests that they are ceasing to register for the reason mentioned.

asked the President of the Board of Education the amount raised in fees for the years 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, and 1935 from pupils in secondary schools on the grant list?

The amounts received in fees from the parents or guardians of pupils in secondary schools on the grant list in England and Wales were as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is in a position to announce the Government's plans for raising the national Standard of physical fitness?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on the 21st January by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health to the hon. and gallant Member for Nuneaton (Lieut.-Commander Fletcher).

asked the President of the Board of Education whether, as a result of the report on public libraries, published in 1927, any improvement has been made in the library facilities of the five municipal boroughs with a population of over 20,000, which, whilst having adopted the Library Acts, had not provided a public library service?

Of the five municipal boroughs named in Table XIA of the report of the Departmental Committee on Public Libraries, 1927, four, Chepping Wycombe, Glossop, Gosport and Poole, have taken steps to provide a public library service. So far as I am aware, no such steps have yet been taken by the remaining borough, Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that 37,000 workers of the South Indian Railway have been deprived of their franchise in the railway trade union constituency of the Madras provincial legislative assembly by a recent decision of the Madras Government; and will he cause inquiries to be made into the reason for this?

Under Section 24 of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies Order in Council, approved by Parliament last year, a trade union, in order to form part of a trade union constituency, must be certified by the Governor as fulfilling certain requirements. It was necessary to revoke the certificate provisionally granted to the South Indian Railway Workers' Union because the union failed to satisfy the conditions prescribed by the Order. Since 1933–34 the Registrar of Trade Unions has received no properly passed accounts or annual returns from the union; there has not been any validly constituted annual meeting for the last three years; and owing to the union being split into rival factions it proved impossible to secure compliance with the provisions of the rules for the preparation and revision of an electoral roll.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether, in view of numerous recent disasters culminating in that at Poidih colliery, on 18th December last, in which over 200 miners perished, including a large number of women, any steps are being taken to rectify the conditions, the insufficiency of Government inspectors, and the inadequacy of precautions in the Jahriar and other British-Indian coalfields?

Yes, Sir. An Indian Mines (Amendment) Act was passed last April making various provisions for promoting safety in coal mines, more particularly in respect of danger from fires. In addition, the Government of India issued Coal Mines (Temporary) Regulations on 23rd May and 27th June. A Committee of Experts was appointed on the 29th October to inquire into the question of affording greater protection to persons employed in mines and to report on measures which should be taken to that end.

asked the Minister of Health which rural district councils in England and Wales have made arrangements with private builders under the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act,

asked the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence whether he will give particulars of the manner in which the Government has decided to improve the organisation of supply or in any way accelerate the expansion of the Defence forces of Great Britain?

The organisation of supply and methods for the acceleration of the rearmament programme are continually being reviewed and improved. I regret it is not possible within the limits

Up to 30th September, 1936, guarantees had been given under Section 2 of the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1933, by 14 Rural Districts in respect of 1,859 houses. I will send the hon. Member a statement giving particulars in regard to each of these authorities.

asked the Secretary for Mines what was the annual output of coal, and the quantity and percentage cut by machine mining in the South Wales coalfield since 1924, each year to date?

The information is as follows:—of question and answer to detail the steps that have been and are being taken.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, whether, having regard to present low rates of interest, he will consider the advisability of modifying the calculation of means of old age pensioners prescribed by Section 4 (a) of the Act of 1919?

I would refer the hon. Baronet to the answer given on the 5th November last to the hon. Baronet the Member for Ealing (Sir F. Sanderson).

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will ask local authorities responsible for road construction and maintenance to keep their cost accounts on a uniform basis approved by him, in order that the financial results of different methods of construction in different parts of the country may be comparable?

I hope to arrange for the general adoption of cost accounting in connection with expenditure on the maintenance and improvement of Trunk Roads from the date when I assume responsibility, and that this will lead to its wider use for other highway expenditure.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will urge upon local authorities the necessity for so constructing roads that the cost and maintenance is reduced to a minimum?

Yes, Sir, ceteris paribus.