asked the Minister of Health whether he can give particulars as to the prices of properties recently acquired by the Leeds City Council for street widening and other purposes, namely, land for street improvements at the junction of Great Harrison Street and Victory Road from the Cliffeman Estate Company, land and buildings in Whitehall Road for a depot from the Monks-bridge Iron and Steeel Company, land for buildings in St. Mathias Street and Bankers Street for the widening of Kirk-stall Road from the executors of T. P. Blythe, and land at the junction of Ring Road and Beeston Royds for an electricity sub-station from Mr. H. C. Hippisley Haycock; and whether he can state for each of these cases the area of the land and the previous rateable value of the properties in question?

No, Sir, but I am making inquiries and will let the hon. Member know the result.

asked the Minister of Health whether the Leeds Corporation has now completed the purchase from the owners of the manor of Leeds of the site of the Woodhouse reservoir; and, if so, what is the area of this site, the purchase price, and the previous rateable value?

I am informed that this purchase has not yet been completed.

asked the Minister of Health what has been the result of the efforts of the Allestree Parish. Council, Derbyshire, to acquire an area of 7½ acres for a recreation ground; what price was fixed, either by agreement or upon arbitration; and at what figure this land had been assessed for rating purposes?

This land has been purchased by the council at an agreed price of £1,700. I understand that the land was agricultural and therefore Berated.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the intention of the Glamorgan County Council to promote a Bill to provide for an alteration of statutory requirements in the administration of public assistance in the county; and whether, in view of the fact that the regulations which are to be changed were imposed by Parliament on the country as a whole, his Department is in favour of any piecemeal action of the kind suggested?

I understand that the Glamorgan County Council have decided to promote a Bill for the purpose indicated by my hon. Friend, but I have not yet seen the Bill. As soon as the Bill is available, I will examine it with a view to considering what report (if any) I should make to Parliament upon it.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will take steps to bring dental mechanics as employés under the National Insurance Acts under the operation of the fair-wages clause?

I see considerable practical difficulties in the way of the adoption of the hon. Member's suggestion, but I will give the matter my consideration.

asked the Minister of Health the estimated cost of providing free milk to all children under school age and to expectant mothers?

The estimated cost of supplying one pint of milk free daily to all such persons in England and Wales is about £18,000,000 per annum.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state, approximately, what proportion of the imports into the United States of America from this country in the year 1935, which were imported duty free, consisted of foreign and Colonial goods re-exported from the United Kingdom?

I regret that the information asked for is not available, as the import statistics of the United States of America do not enable a distinction to be made between imports of United Kingdom origin and those which are re-exports from this country.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the estimated value of the invisible exports of this country for the last year for which figures are available; and whether any estimate of such exports has been formed in respect of the first half of the current financial year?

For the year 1936 the invisible items entering into the balance of payments showed a net credit of about £330,000,000. It is not practicable to furnish any similar estimate for the first half of the current financial year.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department whether he will consider the inauguration of a substantial fund to be used for advertising British goods and services overseas before and during the currency of the Empire Exhibition, 1938, such fund to be created on the basis of £-for-£contributions by the Government and industrialists, local authorities, and other bodies likely to derive benefit from the Exhibition and the presence of oversea visitors who attend it?

The Department of Overseas Trade and its officers abroad are already taking steps to make known the existence of the 1938 Empire Exhibition. As my hon. Friend is no doubt aware, His Majesty's Government are erecting a United Kingdom Government pavilion. Any expenditure on publicity of the kind suggested is a matter for the Exhibition authorities and the commercial and industrial interests concerned.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in order to secure the eradication of tuberculosis, he proposes to make payments under the Agricultural Act, 1937, in respect of breeding herds not engaged in the production of liquid milk for sale; and, if so, whether he can now state what scale of payments is proposed?

When Part IV of the Agriculture Act, 1937, comes into operation, which will not be earlier than 1st April, 1938, it is proposed to extend the present Attested Herds Schemes to enable payments to be made, on a scale yet to be determined, in respect of herds maintained primarily for beef production.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the fact that the payments made by His Majesty's Government for compensation for animals slaughtered on account of foot-and-mouth disease amounted, during the years 1917 to 1936, to £4,900,223, and of the further fact that the total expenditure upon research into the causation, prevention and cure of foot-and-mouth disease during the financial year ended 31st March, 1937, was £16,591, he will propose that the expenditure upon this research should be increased?

This research is under the direction of a committee of distinguished experts in veterinary and human medicine, which frames the annual estimates of expenditure, and I have no reason to think that the committee has at any time considered its work hampered by reason of lack of funds.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the continued outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, the Government research department will consider the possibility of the disease being caused by the introduction into this country of imported cabbages and cauliflowers from the Continent, the outside leaves of which are torn off and fed to cattle, and the residue of which finds its way to the garb age pails from hotels and restaurants and is fed to pigs?

Investigations on the spot into the sources of outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease include inquiries as to the presence of any imported foodstuffs. There is no evidence that imported cabbages or cauliflowers have been associated in either of the ways suggested with any of the infected premises in the present series of outbreaks. Swill is required to be boiled for one hour before being fed to animals, and it is significant that in none of the recent outbreaks have pigs been the animals primarily affected.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what will be the minimum price guaranteed for manufactured milk under the Government's proposed scheme?

As indicated in my reply to the hon. Member on 8th November, the lowest figure to which the assisted price of milk for manufacture into butter and cheese can fall will depend upon a number of factors, some of which will, in turn, depend on the detailed arrangements for giving effect to the price insurance plan outlined in the White Paper last July, for example, as regards standard gallonages. These matters are being considered by the Government, and I hope shortly to be able to announce fuller details.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that there is at present an acute shortage of Cheshire and Lancashire cheeses, and that this shortage is due to the diversion of milk supplies to other manufacturing purposes by the Milk Marketing Board; and whether, in view of the agreement entered into between the Board and the cheese manufacturers regarding the surrender of a certain quantity of their milk for other purposes and the fact that the consequent rise in the price of these cheeses is causing the loss of the Home market in favour of foreign cheeses, he proposes to take any action in the matter?

I am aware that owing to a decline in the quantity of milk available for manufacture at the present time the intake of factories producing butter and cheese, which are the least remunerative outlets for milk, has had to be curtailed. My hon. Friend will appreciate that to increase the intake of these factories would mean depriving more remunerative markets of part of their supplies and would have the effect of depressing milk producers' returns. Since the price of milk for cheese-making is determined not by its plenitude or otherwise but by reference to the average prices of imported cheese, I cannot accept the suggestion that a rise in price has been forced upon the cheese-making industry by reason of the diversion of milk supplies.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, with regard to the purchases of estates in Bedfordshire and Warwickshire, he can state the use made by the Crown Lands Commission of these purchases; and whether they are regarded as investments or whether they were taken over for any other reason?

The estates purchased by the Commissioners of Crown Lands in Bedfordshire and Warwickshire were acquired as an investment of Land Revenue Funds under the Crown Lands Acts, which direct that all sums received for or in respect of any sales or exchanges of any part of the possessions of the Crown shall normally be invested in land. The estates are managed in a similar manner to other agricultural properties under the charge of the Commissioners, and in normal course the tenants who held under the late owners continue in possession of their several holdings after the change of ownership.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will arrange to have placed in the Tea Room of the House of Commons a map illustrating the incidence of accidents on certain of the main roads of London?

Yes, Sir, with Mr. Speaker's permission I shall be happy to do so. Such a map is bound to be informative.

asked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been drawn to a motor accident in Leasowe Road, Wallasey, on Monday, 4th October last, whereby Miss May Elizabeth Stevens, aged 22, lost her life; and whether he will now reconsider whether this road ought to be subject to a speed limit?

My attention has been drawn to the fatal accident to which the hon. Member refers, and I am in communication with the local authority on the question whether the speed limit should be reimposed on this road.

asked the Home Secretary how many convictions have been recorded for exceeding the speed limit during the last 12 months up to the most convenient date in Green Lanes, High Road, and Seven Sisters Road, Tottenham; and whether this is an increase or decrease on the previous year?

I regret that statistics are not available in a form which would enable me to give separate figures for the particular roads to which the hon. Member refers.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that on 17th November the ferry boat and motor-boat at Craignure, Mull, were driven on the rocks; that the passengers lives were seriously endangered in getting ashore through stormy water; and that all the goods, including the mails, were destroyed or damaged by sea water; and whether he will take steps to see that a pier is erected at Craignure, which is the main point from which the people of Mull leave the island?

I understand that the facts are as stated in the question. My hon. and learned Friend will be aware that the question of the reconstruction of the pier at Craignure is one for the consideration, in the first instance, of the Argyll County Council in the exercise of their powers under the Harbours, Piers and Ferries (Scotland) Act, 1937.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he can give the names of the Clyde Area Committee which has been appointed by the Herring Industry Board, and the sections of the herring industry which each of those members represents or of which he is a member?

The members of the Clyde Area Committee appointed by the Herring Industry Board are as follow:

• Eight local boatowners, fishermen or salesmen—Archibald Downie McNair, Campbeltown; Archibald McKillop, Campbeltown; David Robertson, Ayr; James McCreath, Girvan; James Anderson, Dunure; Thomas Jackson, Tarbert; John Turner McCrindle, Junior, Maidens; John McIntosh, Carradale.
• One local curer—Alfred Myles, Glasgow.
• One local exporter—Robert McLachlan, Glasgow.
• One local kipperer—A. M. Hailstones, Glasgow.
• One local fresher—John McMillan, Stranraer.
• One steam drifter owner—James Alexander, Dunure.
• One visiting curer—Robert Croan, Edinburgh.
• One visiting exporter—Thomas Dow, Newhaven.
• One visiting kipperer or fresher—James A. Stephen, Peterhead, Gourock, Hull. Three persons representing buying interests—James MacBrayne, Glasgow; Duncan MacFarlane, Glasgow; A. Ritchie, Junior, Glasgow.
• Three visiting fishermen—Robert Fairnie, Musselburgh; George Wilson, Newhaven, John Ballamy, Cockenzie.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what powers were given to the Clyde Area Committee, which was appointed by the Herring Industry Board; whether the board retains power to veto any proposals made by the committee; and, if so, whether such powers have been exercised recently and the nature of the proposals which have been vetoed?

With regard to the first part of the question, following is a statement of the powers delegated to the Clyde Area Committee by the Herring Industry Board.With regard to the second and third parts of the question, under paragraph 28 (

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the total number of gas masks storage centres now established in Sotland; the number of gas masks in storage; and the total cost of storage up to date?

A Regional Store with a total capacity of about three million gas masks is now in course of preparation at Galashiels and it is expected that it will be completed early next year. No complete gas masks are in storage in Scotland but large numbers are ready to go into storage there when the store becomes available. There has been no expenditure on storage at present except for the reconditioning of the building at Galashiels, particulars of which are not yet available.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education the total number of students admitted to universities in 1935–36, and the percentage to the pupils who left grant-aided schools during the year ended 31st July, 1935, and went to a university?

The total number of students admitted to universities in England and Wales in 1935–36 for first degree and diploma courses, according to returns received by the University Grants Committee, is 11,362. The number of pupils who left grant-aided secondary schools in the year ended 31st July, 1935, and who proceeded direct to universities was 3,824, representing a percentage of 33.7 of this figure.Owing to the form in which the returns are received, the percentage figure should be treated with considerable reserve. For example, the total number of new entrants to universities given above includes a substantial number of students from the Dominions and foreign countries whose number cannot be given separately. Further, pupils may proceed from grant-aided secondary schools to universities after an interval, and hence would not be included in the figure of 3,824.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education (1) what arrangements are made to ensure that an adequate number of children attending elementary and secondary schools are given proper opportunities to fit themselves for agricultural employment after their education is complete;(2) whether he has any statistics showing the number of children who, on leaving elementary or secondary schools during each of the past five years, have subsequently taken up agricultural employment?

The Board are anxious to secure that the instruction in public elementary and secondary schools in rural areas should be specially suited to their rural environment, and they have for some time been encouraging county local education authorities and governing bodies in this direction. I would invite the attention of my hon. Friend to the Board's pamphlet "Education and the Countryside," of which I am sending him a copy, and to Chapter 10 and other references in their recently published "Handbook of Suggestions for Teachers." The Board have no reliable statistics showing the number of pupils who have entered agricultural or rural occupations on leaving public elementary or secondary schools.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty on what information and by whose orders the British ship "Euphorbia" was brought to Gibraltar?

The steamship "Euphorbia" was intercepted and brought to Gibraltar by the orders of the Admiralty on suspicion that she was carrying arms to Spain. As, however, it proved on her arrival at Gibraltar that the ship was not bound for Spain she was allowed to proceed. I fear that it is not possible for me to divulge the nature of the information upon which we acted. I am glad to have this opportunity of expressing regret for any inconvenience caused through the necessity of investigating this case, and satisfaction that the suspicions were not confirmed.

asked the Secretary for Mines when the next report regarding the selling schemes will be printed?

A full report on the working of the schemes was issued in June of this year, and I hope to issue the next in about six months' time.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) whether, before sanctioning proposals for increased white settlement in Kenya Colony, he will consult with his colleagues on the general position as regards the requirements for increased migration throughout the Empire with a view to satisfying first such areas of the Empire as, being under-populated and incompletely developed, are better suited for settlement by people of our race;(2) whether he can give any information on the proposal to set up a committee in Kenya Colony to draw up a scheme for increasing white settlement; whether it is contemplated that their proposals will benefit European settlers alone; and, if so, whether similar schemes benefiting all races and the Indian community in particular will be promoted;(3) whether it will be within the competence of the committee which is being set up in Kenya Colony to promote schemes of white settlement to recommend the expropriation of lands now in the possession of landowners who own more than they are able to develop beneficially?

I understand that the Governor of Kenya has recently set up a committee with the following terms of reference:

"To consider, with a view to encouraging additional and closer settlement, what further assistance and facilities to new settlers can reasonably be provided, and to make recommendations for the inauguration of practical Settlement Schemes, and for the setting up of a permanent body for the administration and control of such schemes."

Apart from this I have no official information, but the committee is no doubt intended to deal only with the question of white settlement. I am aware that the question of closer settlement in the Highlands has been engaging the attention of the Government of Kenya for a considerable time and the committee will presumably take into consideration the question of the subdivision of existing large estates.I am unable to forecast what recommendations the committee is likely to make; and until their report is received it is impossible for me to say what considerations of a general nature may have to be taken into account.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, to what extent sugar plantations in the British West Indies are owned by British interests; what proportion are American-owned; and whether he is taking any particular steps to encourage the investment of more British and Empire capital in these plantations?

No figures are available; but, so far as my information goes, the number of foreign-owned sugar plantations in the British West Indies is negligible, and in the circumstances I see no occasion to take the action suggested in the last part of the question.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the fact that in isolated parts of the Highlands and Islands where applications for unemployment assistance are normally dealt with by post, which often involves a delay of several days, district officers of the Unemployment Assistance Board can be allowed to relieve cases of immediate need instead of having to refer them to the public assistance officer as at present?

I understand that the procedure relating to the payment of allowances to meet the immediate need of applicants for unemployment assistance in isolated districts in Scotland and elsewhere has recently been under review by the Unemployment Assistance Board. As a result revised and improved arrangements will shortly be introduced. My hon. and gallant Friend will no doubt appreciate that some delay in the remote parts of the Highlands and Islands is in some cases unavoidable by reason of the unusual difficulties of communications. The Board will keep a careful watch on the working of the revised arrangements to see how far they have been successful in meeting the difficulties. If my hon. and gallant Friend has any cases he would wish to bring specially to my notice I shall be glad to have them.

asked the Minister of Labour how many boys and girls have been transferred during the last 12 months under the training schemes adopted by the Minister of Labour?

The numbers of boys transferred in the 12 months ending 30th September after a period of training were:

Under the Land Training Schemes	338
Under the Sea Training Schemes	164
Under the Domestic Training Schemes	262

During that period 1,965 girls completed domestic or vocational training courses and the majority obtained work away from home.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in reviewing the needs and circumstances of claimants for assistance due to rising prices, local area officers under the Unemployment Assistance Board may modify their previous decisions in cases where such decisions were based upon an estimate of other sources of income?

The Board inform me that the rules provide that a determination made by an officer of the Unemployment Assistance Board may be reviewed by him at any time.

asked the Minister of Labour whether it is his intention to take the necessary steps to ensure that the unemployed and those who are in receipt of public assistance are provided with 30s., or whatever sum is necessary, for the purchase of the air-raid precaution domestic equipment as recommended by the Air-Raid Precautions Department?

I have no authority to provide funds for this purpose.

asked the Minister of Labour the total number of registered unemployed in Great Britain, and the total amount paid in benefit, for the years ended September, 1930 and 1937, respectively?

In the 12 months ended September, 1930, the average number of persons on the registers of Employment Exchanges in Great Britain was 1,657,000 and in the 12 months ended September, 1937, it was 1,514,000. The total expenditure on unemployment benefit (including transitional benefit) in the 12 months ended September, 1930, was about £65,000,000. In the 12 months ended September, 1937, expenditure on unemployment benefit and unemployment allowances was about £69,000,000.

asked the Minister of Labour how many men, women, boys and girls, respectively, are registered at the Leyton Employment Exchange as unemployed in the borough of Leyton; and how many of these have been unemployed for three months and for six months and more?

At 18th October, 1937, 3,559 men and 595 women, aged 18 and over, and 21 boys and 26 girls, aged 14–17, were registered as unemployed at the Leyton Employment Exchange.

asked the Minister of Labour the total number of registered unemployed in Glasgow for the years ended September, 1935 and 1937, respectively?

I am having the average figures extracted and will circulate them in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Minister of Labour what action is taken by his Department to encourage agricultural labourers now receiving unemployment benefit to take up work in other parts of the country where there is a serious shortage of agricultural labour?

The Employment Exchanges take every opportunity of bringing agricultural vacancies notified to them to the notice of suitable persons who are available, and where the number of local applicants is insufficient to meet employers' requirements the vacancies are brought to the notice of persons in other districts.

asked the Home Secretary what was the date of the experiments carried out on Salisbury Plain by the Air-Raid Precautions Department into the efficacy of gas-proof rooms?

The recommendations of the Air-Raid Precautions Department with regard to the protection of a room against gas are based on experiments which have been carried out over a period of years, and research on this subject continues. The experiments which I referred to in the Debate on the Second Reading of the Air-Raid Precautions Bill and which I presume the hon. Member has in mind, were carried out in the spring of this year.

asked the Home Secretary what was the character of the buildings which were erected on Salisbury Plain for experiments in the efficacy of gas-proof rooms and, in particular, of what material the walls were made?

The buildings employed in the Government's experiments upon the efficacy of gas-protected rooms were not erected for the purpose of the experiments. The building used for most of the tests was a brick-built game keeper's cottage with three rooms on the ground floor and three rooms upstairs. It had been unoccupied for several years, but was in a reasonable state of repair.

asked the Home Secretary what are the proposals to deal with patients in mental hospitals in the event of air raids and the incidence of poison gas bombs?

The Board of Control has been in consultation with the Home Office in regard to the measures which should be taken to safeguard the inmates of mental hospitals against the effects of poison gas following an air raid, and early this year the Visiting Committees of Mental Hospitals were informed by the Board of Control that the services of specially trained medical instructors would be available for the purpose of lectures and practical demonstrations to the medical and nursing staffs. The measures recommended will in general be those recommended for the civilian population as a whole, with such special arrangements as the condition of the patients may require.