asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether air traffic between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight is suspended in weather which renders the land invisible from the air, in view of the fact that the regulations for the officially recognised air route require pilots on part of the course to keep 4,520 yards distant from Ports-mouth dockyard clock tower?

No, Sir, when the ground is invisible from the air, aircraft equipped with radio can obtain guidance and information regarding their position, from Portsmouth radio station. Aircraft not fitted with radio should not be flying in such conditions.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he will take steps to remove the steel masts recently erected by the Air Ministry on the south side of Croydon aerodrome, as they are likely to cause accidents?

The mast erected on the south side of Croydon Aerodrome was originally intended to give warning of the spire of a school and the scheme was proceeded with as a safety measure. Owing to difficulties in connection with lighting the spire itself, the obstruction light was placed about 100 yards away in a group of trees. Representations having been made about its height, it has been decided to reduce the height of the obstruction light to about three feet above the tops of the trees. In this position the light will serve to give warning of the trees. The question of an alternative method of lighting the spire of the school is being actively pursued.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether, in connection with the instructions to pilots to fly at specified heights under certain weather conditions, there is any system for advising pilots in flight of the precise time at which they should adjust their altimeters, as otherwise the pilot of one aircraft might have corrected his altimeter while the pilot of another in close proximity might not, so that aircraft on converging courses might be flying at the same height with their altimeters showing different heights; and, in view of the danger of issuing instructions based on altimeter reading unaccompanied by any system for uniform correction of altimeters of aircraft in close proximity, will he have these instructions revised?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. It is not considered practicable to control altimeters on a time basis. An order will shortly be issued to Royal Air Force pilots and a Notice to Airmen to civil pilots drawing attention to the necessity of correct adjustment to altimeters.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether the inquiry into the loss of plans from Parnall's Aircraft, Limited, indicates culpable negligence on anybody's part; if so, what action has been taken; and whether it is established that these plans were stolen in the interests of a foreign country?

No culpable negligence was brought to light during the investigation referred to, but as I informed the hon. and gallant Member last Wednesday, action has been taken to increase existing safeguards. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether competitive tenders were considered before a subsidy was granted to the proprietors of Gatwick aerodrome for the starting of a training school for pilots?

No, Sir. The agreement entered into was one of the 18 referred to in the reply given to the, hon. Member to-day, in which I stated the reasons why competitive tender action was not practicable.

asked the Minister of Agriculture (1) whether he is prepared to consider setting up a Government commission to control the sale of eggs by grade weight;(2) whether he is prepared to consider setting up a producers' board as a price-fixing committee regulating the sale price of eggs?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Members for Normanton (Mr. T. Smith) and Linlithgow (Mr. Mathers) on 14th February. My hon. Friend will appreciate that it is for the producers themselves to decide whether they will submit a scheme for the regulation of the marketing of their product by a producers' board and the form that any such scheme shall take.

asked the Minister of Labour how many instructional centres for unemployed men are now in existence and for how many men; at what annual estimated cost; how many persons passed through them last year; and how many persons obtained employment directly after leaving these centres, with the relative figures in each case for 1933 or 1934?

There are at present 25 instructional centres, mainly of the residential type, with accommodation for 4,510 men; this accommodation is increased during the summer months by the establishment of camps, as necessary. In the last complete financial year, namely, 1936–37, 16,330 men were trained at these centres and camps and 3,362 persons obtained employment directly after leaving.The expenditure at the centres in 1936–37 was £365,479 gross (including £104,832 in respect of capital works) with receipts amounting to £83,815. These figures exclude any allowance for Headquarters administration.Relative figures for 1934–35 are:

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the sums raised by taxation and by rates, respectively, for the years 1927–28, 1932–33, and 1937–38, with the total debt liabilities of the

asked the Secretary for Mines the number of mines at work in the coal producing counties in Scotland for the years 1934, 1935, 1936, and 1937, respectively, and the number of workers employed, giving each county separately?

The information is as follows:nation and the local authorities for similar periods?

Figures for the year 1937–38 are not yet available. For the years 1927–28, 1932–33 and 1936–37 the figures so far as available are as follow:

asked the Minister of Health whether it is within his knowledge, and with his approval, that national health insurance inspectors are ruling that partly employed non-manual workers in receipt of less than £250 per annum cannot be recognised for national insurance purposes on the ground that, if they were fully employed, their wages would amount to more than £250 per annum?

Rulings given by national health insurance inspectors in the type of case referred to by the hon. Member are governed by the provisions of the National Health Insurance Act. The question whether a non-manual worker is insurable depends on the yearly rate of his remuneration, and the Act provides that where the employment involves only part-time service the rate of remuneration is to be taken as the yearly amount that would be payable for whole-time service.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will state the present position with regard to the elections in the Sanjak of Alexandretta, under the auspices of the League of Nations?

The regulations governing the elections to be held in the Sanjak of Alexandretta are at present the subject of consideration by a committee of the Council of the League of Nations, consisting of representatives of Belgium, France, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom and set up by a resolution of the Council of 31st January. The Committee met on 7th March.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, seeing there were 29 engine-room artificer candidates for sub-lieutenant (E) in 1937, but only eight were commissioned, and that between 55 and 60 special entry cadets are to be entered this year for engineering duties, in addition to those from Dartmouth College, he will have similar inquiries made in the engineering branch, as were last year made in the executive branch, to ascertain the reason why such a comparatively small number of artificers attain commissioned rank, and also to provide improved facilities as has been done for seaman ratings?

The inquiries referred to by the hon. Member were not confined as he supposes to the seaman branch. He will be aware, however, that the chief defect brought to light was the difficulty experienced by promising young seamen in attaining the prescribed professional and educational qualifications while serving afloat. This defect has been remedied by sending selected ratings to a ship in which special facilities are provided. No similar need was apparent in the engineering branch.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can now supply the promised information regarding Arab houses destroyed in Palestine?

I have now received a report from the High Commissioner for Palestine which shows that 102 houses were blown up in 1936 and 14 in 1937 as punitive measures. These figures do not include the clearing demolitions at Jaffa in 1936, for which compensation is being paid. All demolitions were carried out by the military forces.With regard to the last part of the hon. Member's question of 22nd November last, I am informed that in some cases the houses destroyed were the property of persons whose guilt could be proved but who could not themselves be apprehended and therefore could not be tried. In other cases it was not possible to trace the particular offender, and the buildings selected for demolition were chosen as a general punishment on the inhabitants of a village whose collective guilt had been clearly established but amongst whom the actual offenders could not be traced.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, having regard to the extended validity period of three years for a road service licence which has been allowed for an omnibus and the extended period of five years which has been allowed for a goods vehicle licence for a public carrier, he is prepared to extend the validity period of a road service licence for a passenger express carriage which is now valid for only one year?

Before extending the validity of express carriage road service licences I should wish to have rather longer experience of the working of the regulation, less than a year old, which extended stage carriage licences to three years.

asked the Minister of Transport whether his department is requesting county councils to make application to him to apply the provisions of Section 2 of the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act to roads in the county other than classified roads; and whether, in view of the obvious intentions of Parliament, he will deal with such roads as from time to time becomes necessary on the merits of each case?

The attention of all highway authorities has been drawn to the powers with which Parliament has vested them in Sub-section (2) of Section 2 of the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act. In the few cases in which I have found it necessary to withhold approval to a resolution, the roads were not roads to which I felt the provisions of the Act could appropriately be applied.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the fact that there are over 1,800,000 unemployed, he will state what steps are being taken to expedite the speeding up of work necessary for the transmission and development of the ordinary electrical programmes and the electrification of railway lines, with a view to reducing the unemployment figures?

I am satisfied that the electrical industry continues to expand progressively and that the railway companies are proceeding expeditiously with the various schemes of electrification which they have in hand. I have no power to require works of electrical development to be undertaken.

asked the hon. Member for Camberwell, as Chairman of the Kitchen Committee, whether he can arrange for a hot meal to be available for the Members' secretaries at lunch time?

There are already facilities for Members' private secretaries to have hot luncheons, but the limited accommodation of the Strangers' dining-room does not permit of more than 12 being allowed this privilege. Application for inclusion in the list should be made by Members' secretaries to the Chairman, Private Secretaries' Committee, who, if the full complement of permits has not already been issued, will submit their names to the Serjeant-at-Arms for approval.