asked the Minister of Labour whether the wage scales placed upon a notice board at the toy factory situate within the Treforest Trading Estate are supposed to operate; and how many girls employed therein actually re-vice the scales mentioned?

I am having inquiry made and will communicate the result to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Labour whether the wage rates paid to persons engaged at any or all of the factories at the Treforest Trading Estate are governed by trade boards; and, if so, will he specify them?

Inquiries are being made with a view to ascertaining what part of the work being carried on on the estate

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any recent application has been received from the German Government that the representative in this country of the organisation which looks after Germans living abroad should receive diplomatic status?

No, Sir. No application of this nature has been received from the German Government, either recently or at any other time.

asked the Minister of Labour what are the principal retail prices of English and imported food, respec-

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in connection with the introduction of new industries into the trading estates, any stipulation is made in relation to the rates of wages to be paid having regard to the fact that they are already industrialised areas?

There is no power in the Special Areas Acts to regulate the rates of wages to be paid by industries on the trading estates.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will state the number of cases in which the Unemployment Assistance Board allowances have been reduced in the last three months, with figures for the Swansea district, for the Wales Division, and for the United Kingdom, respectively?

Following is the reply:tively, to-day compared with those prevailing at the same time of year in 1929?

The following table gives particulars of the average retail prices at 1st November, 1929, and 1st November, 1937, of those articles of food of which account is taken in the compilation of the official cost-of-living index number. The particulars relate to the prices of those descriptions, of each commodity, which are usually bought by working-class families, irrespective of the origin of the article concerned, except in the case of beef and mutton, for which separate prices are obtained for home-killed and imported meat, respectively. For other commodities of which the supplies are in part imported, information is not collected distinguishing the retail prices of home produce from those of imported produce.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has given approval to the loan proposed to be raised by the Coventry Corporation for the purchase of land adjoining Barrs Hill Girls' Secondary School, at the rear of Trinity Terrace, for the purpose of playing fields; and whether he will state the price, the area, and the previous rateable value of this land?

Yes, Sir. The price paid for the land was £,300, and the area 2.85 acres. The land was agricultural and therefore derated.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland, what was the number of convictions for drunkenness in Scotland, Glasgow, Renfrewshire, and Greenock, respectively, during each of the last six years?

The numbers are as follow:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of persons convicted for drunkenness in each of the last six years in Pollokshields ward, Glasgow; and what was the average number of such convictions in all the Glasgow wards for each of these years?

The numbers are as follow:

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that many wives of men serving with the Navy, Army, and Air Force are compelled to apply to the public assistance committees for relief, owing to the inability of their husbands to provide sufficient for their maintenance; whether he is aware that some of these bodies are refusing relief; and whether it is the intention of the Government to increase the pay of the men at an early date?

The hon. Member is presumably referring to the wives of men in His Majesty's Forces who have married before reaching the qualifying age for marriage allowance. I am aware that there are such cases as those referred to in the first part of the question, but I would draw attention to the fact that all men are made fully aware that if they choose to marry before the qualifying ages they will not be eligible for marriage allowance.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will consider a general revision of the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Pensions Acts, with a. view to removing the more glaring anomalies and hardships which the administration of the Acts has revealed?

No, Sir. My right hon. Friend does not consider there are sufficient grounds for a general revision of the Acts.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury why W. Shaw, 19, Dunmow Road, Stratford, E.15, has not been accepted as eligible to receive an old age pension?

I have been asked to reply. Mr. Shaw's claim for an old age pension under the Contributory Pensions Act failed because he ceased to be an insured person before he attained, the age of 65.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will consider introducing legislation prohibiting the use of soft coal, now that smokeless fuel is available at a reasonable cost?

No, Sir. Apart from other considerations, I am advised that the quantity of smokeless fuel available is at present inadequate.

asked the Minister of Health, whether, with a view to preventing injustice and enlightening the public as to the powers conferred by the Lunacy Act, 1890, for intervention on the part of friends as well as relatives, he will take immediate steps to ensure that Sections 22 and 79 are posted up in the waiting-rooms of all infirmaries and lunacy institutions to which visitors resort, and to restrict the power of constables to arrest without warrant any person suspected of insanity?

I doubt whether any advantage would be secured by posting up notices regarding Section 22. As regards Section 79, I would refer the hon. Member to the replies previously given him upon the subject. The situation is, I think, adequately met by the existing rule which requires the managers of very institution on the admission of every rate-aided person to send a notice embodying the substance of Section 79 of the Lunacy Act to all persons whose names appear as relatives or friends of the patient on the statement of particulars accompanying the reception order. With regard to the provisions of the Lunacy Act which require the police to apprehend any person deemed to be of unsound mind who is wandering at large, I do not consider that any modification of the existing law is desirable.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has inquired into the case of a lady, Miss H. E. H., who was arrested on 20th March last in Hyde Park and detained in Long Grove asylum for two months, in circumstances described in a statement submitted to him by the hon. Member for Gower; and has he any statement to make?

I am communicating with the hon. Member in regard to the several questions raised in the statement which he has sent me; but, in the meantime, I think it desirable to say that he has been misinformed on certain points and that there is conclusive evidence that this lady was of unsound mind and in urgent need of care and treatment.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will consider taking powers to raise a loan to enable highway authorities controlling other than trunk roads to purchase all existing tolls and pay off the loan out of revenue at the earliest possible moment, thereby freeing the bridges and ferries?

I have drawn the attention of highway authorities in recent circulars to their powers under Section 53 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, in regard to the acquisition of tolls, and to my readiness to consider applications for grants at the rate of 60 per cent. in the case of Class I roads and 50 per cent. in the case of Class II and Unclassified roads towards approved expenditure incurred in the exercise of these powers. I understand that my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health is prepared in appropriate cases to sanction the raising of a loan by a local authority to meet their share of such expenses.

asked the Minister of Transport whether any progress has been made in freeing from tolls the Teignmouth and Shaldon Bridge?

The Devonshire County Council have been informed of the terms on which a grant might be made from the Road Fund towards the cost of acquiring the bridge. I understand that they are still considering the maatter.

asked the Minister of Transport when the new Bebside-Furnace Bridge is to be commenced?

A grant of 50 per cent. was issued in June, 1937, towards the cost, estimated at £69,000, of constructing a new road including a new bridge over the River Blyth. I cannot say when work on this bridge will be commenced. Negotiations for land acquisition are still proceeding and final details are being prepared by the Northumberland County Council. There need be no delay.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that considerable hardship is caused to children in rural areas in wet and inclement weather by the rigorous limitation of the number of passengers carried in public service vehicles; and whether he will consider some modification of existing regulations to meet public needs?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Southwark Central (Mr. Day) on 17th November last, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps are being taken to provide that mutual indemnity associations transacting compulsory workmen's compensation business shall furnish to the Department accounts and information in respect of the whole of their employers' liability, whether compulsory or not; and whether it is contemplated to make such associations subject to the Assurance Companies (Winding Up) Acts, 1933 and 1935?

The hon. Member no doubt has in mind the recommendations to this effect which were made by the Departmental Committee on Compulsory Insurance. The committee's recommendations are receiving active consideration.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can give an estimate of the amount of shipping required to convey the oil annually imported into this country?

It is estimated that rather less than 200 tankers each of 10,000 tons dead weight would, if constantly employed, be required to carry the quantity of oil imported into this country in 1936.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will introduce legislation to make illegal the form of trading known as snowball trading to which his attention has been drawn by the hon. Member for Middlesbrough East (Mr. Edwards)?

As the hon. Member was informed on 17th November, my right hon. Friend is prepared to consider any representations made to him as a result of investigations made by organisations representing traders in the area affected. The Board of Trade have received reports of a meeting held in Middlesbrough at which the matter was discussed and they are seeking further information.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the negotiations in respect to the glebe land, Finchley, have been completed; whether he is aware of the strong opposition of the Finchley ratepayers to the use of any of this publicly-owned land as anti-aircraft headquarters; and whether he has been informed of the opposition of the Middlesex County Council to this project?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. As regards the second part, the site in question was suggested to the War Office by the Finchley Borough Council as being preferable, from their own point of view, to one which the War Office and the Territorial Army and Air Force Association had suggested. As regards the last part, I understand that at the moment the Middlesex County Council have objected.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can make any statement with regard to the labour trouble in Jamaica and, in particular, the unrest amongst the banana porters employed in that place?

I am informed by the Governor of Jamaica that there has been a certain amount of intermittent unrest in the parish of St. James and at one port in St. Mary where strikes have occurred. Agreements have beer reached between the employers and labour and the Government has been in close touch with all parties and with the situation throughout. Increases in wages have been given in the case of the banana labourers and as a result of the conciliatory attitude adopted by both sides, many of the difficulties which had arisen between employers and labourers have now been settled. There has been no disorder, and the situation at present is normal.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why Mr. Hawariate, formerly Ethiopian delegate at Geneva, has been refused permission to reside in Kenya?

I would refer the right hon. Member to the reply on the same subject which I gave to-day to the hon. and gallant Member for Nuneaton (Lieut.-Commander Fletcher) and the hon. Members for Kingswinford (Mr. A. Henderson) and Derby (Mr. Noel-Baker).

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air how many of the shadow factories are now complete; and what is the approximate number of persons in employment in these factories?

Seven shadow factories are now complete employing at the present time some 5,800 persons.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether in the layout, design, and construction of the shadow factories, consistent attention has been given to vulnerability from air attack?

Yes, Sir, attention has been constantly given and is continuing to be given to this question.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether any of the receipts from the Royal Air Force display go to the Royal Air Force Sports Board or if all are allocated to charity?

The Sports Board as well as Service charities benefit.

asked the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence whether his attention has been drawn to the establishment of oil-refining plants in Italy for the refining of crude oil; and whether the Falmouth Committee have taken any evidence as to the desirability of having more refining facilities in this country?

I am aware of the existence of the plants to which the hon. Member refers. As to the second part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to a similar question to-day.