asked the Minister of Labour whether a person receiving unemployment allowances from the Unemployment Assistance Board will suffer any reduction in their allowance should they take children or others into their houses under the Government evacuation scheme?

As the hon. Member's question relates to the arrangements proposed under the Government evacuation scheme, I would ask him to await the reply to the similar question relating to public assistance which he has addressed to my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Health.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in the assessment of accommodation available for evacuated children in the receiving areas, he can say whether the accommodation is to be on a temporary or a permanent basis?

The survey of accommodation which is at present being conducted by local authorities is primarily directed to ascertaining to what extent householders would be willing to receive children into their homes. The standard which has been suggested for adoption is one calculated to ensure the maintenance of proper housing conditions during any period for which it may be necessary to retain the children.

Is it not likely to be a wrong calculation if one child per room is taken as the standard, rather than the cooking and other domestic arrangements which are a truer guide to the accommodation available? If this accommodation is to be on a temporary basis, will it not be easier to deal with cooking and other domestic arrangements than it would be if it were on a permanent basis; and will the Minister, therefore, reconsider the matter to see whether it should not be on a temporary basis, so that it would be possible to get more children out into the country?

In the first place, I think it desirable to continue the census on the basis on which we are now working. Confusion would be caused if we altered the basis now. Having got this information, I will naturally consider whether any further classification might be adopted.

asked the Minister of Health whether householders in receipt of public assistance will suffer a reduction in the amount received from the public assistance committee should they take children or others under the Government evacuation scheme?

I am in sympathy with the view implied in this question and in the hon. Member's similar question No. 5 addressed to my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour, and he can be assured that any steps necessary to give effect to it will be taken by the Government if and when the occasion arises.

asked the Minister of Health whether it is his intention to make the requisite funds available for the provision of essential standby electrical plants for hospitals and other essential institutions?

I assume that my hon. Friend is alluding to standby plants required for use in the event of failure of the normal supply in time of war. In so far as equipment of this kind is of no substantial peace-time use to the institution, a contribution to the cost may be made by the Exchequer, but I am advised that normally provision should be made against the possibility of breakdown in peace-time, and, therefore, the question of grant would not arise.

asked the Minister of Health how many first-aid posts, including decontamination centres, have been established in the ctiy of Liverpool; how many the local authority have undertaken to establish; and how many, in the opinion of his department, are immediately necessary?

The city council have not yet formally submitted to me their scheme for first-aid posts and cleansing centres but I understand that they have so far allocated 27. Of these 21 are at hospitals or other medical premises which could function at very short notice. The adaptation of the remaining six, the allocation of additional posts, and the provision of mobile units are at present receiving consideration. The council's proposals have been under frequent discussion with my hospital officer and I have no reason to believe that they will not be adequate.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether the position now is that 35 have been deemed to be necessary, that 10 have been deemed to be immediately necessary, but do not exist,. and that the local authorities on 8th December postponed consideration of the matter indefinitely?

The hon. Member seems to be giving me information rather than asking for it.

I am asking whether the statement which I have just made does, in fact, represent the position or not?

If the hon. Member had listened to the beginning of my answer, he would know that I said that the city council have not yet formally submitted their scheme to me.

But is the statement in my question correct that, on 8th December last, the local authority postponed consideration of this matter indefinitely?

I am unable to say that.

asked the Minister of Health whether he proposes to utilise empty mansions and other suitable empty properties throughout the country for purposes of evacuation; whether any survey has been made of such properties; and, if so, with what result?

Local authorities have been asked to complete by the end of February a survey of all available accommodation, including empty houses. I shall then consider, in conjunction with the evacuating and receiving local authorities, to what use special categories of accommodation, including large houses and empty houses, can best be put.

In view of the fact that there are 139 questions on the Order Paper to-day, I do not propose to ask supplementary questions to any of my three questions, so as to give other hon. Members a chance of getting answers to their questions.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in connection with billeting arrangements under evacuation schemes, householders will be permitted to give preference to their own relatives, including children, from vulnerable areas; if so, whether definite instructions to this effect will be issued, and, in such cases, the persons concerned will be accommodated in Government-commandeered transport or will be expected to make their own travelling arrangements?

asked the Minister of Health whether he will confirm that householders who, in time of war, will be called upon to accept persons from evacuated areas, will have a recognised prior right to nominate their relatives and friends to occupy vacant rooms in their houses?

If, as I gather, my hon. Friends have in mind private arrangements by individual householders for the reception and care of children, and persons necessary for their care, from evacuable areas, there will be no objection to the making of such arrangements and the survey provides for the noting of any such arrangements. It would not, however, be practicable to provide transport officially for those who are making their own travelling arrangements.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he proposes to provide any financial help towards the cost of providing shelters and essential equipment for firms doing essential defence work?

This matter is so closely bound up with legislative provisions which it is proposed to introduce defining the obligations of employers in regard to air raid precautions that I am afraid I can only ask my hon. Friend to await the introduction of a Bill.

asked the Lord Privy Seal how many sandbags have been indented for by local authorities; and how many have been supplied?

108,000,000 have been indented for by local authorities and 85,000,000 have already been supplied.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what precisely are the present instructions issued by his Department to local authorities with regard to the question of paying instructors and lecturers under the air-raid precautions scheme; and from how many districts he has received reports that the recent instruction that such persons should be paid has been resented by many of the persons concerned, including doctors?

Local authorities have always been encouraged to arrange, so far as practicable, for the training of A.R.P. personnel by voluntary instructors, but experience has shown that it is impossible in many areas to find a sufficient number of persons in a position to give the necessary time for this purpose without remuneration. I have no evidence to show that the payment of A.R.P. instructors is generally resented.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that in Dudley there is resentment on the part of air-raid wardens and other volunteers over the fact that payment is made to gas instructors and doctors and that the latter have themselves asked the local authorities to rescind their decision to pay them?

I have heard of that, but I do not think that it is quite reasonable.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he has considered the recommendations made by the Institution of Structural Engineers, in paragraph 55 of their report, issued last year, upon air-raid precautions; and can he make a statement?

The recommendations of the Institution of Structural Engineers in the report to which my hon. Friend refers are being considered together with information available from other sources. Some of the suggestions made by the institution do not agree with recommendations from other sources, and the points of difference are at present the subject of full-scale tests.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what steps he has taken to assist the depressed areas of West Wales in giving orders for the necessary steel required for shelters under the air-raid precautions scheme; and will he give the quantity ordered and the names of the works up to date?

In allocating orders for steel air-raid shelters consideration is given to the manufacturing facilities afforded by all Special Areas, and a large share in the initial orders for galvanised corrugated sheets has gone to firms in West Wales. I will send the hon. Member the further information which he wishes.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he will arrange for copies of all circulars and memoranda sent to local authorities in connection with air-raid precautions to be sent also to all Members of this House?

I have arranged that copies of ail such circulars and memoranda shall in future be available in the Vote Office.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he will include in the circular to be issued to local authorities regarding steel shelters advice regarding the strengthening of basements and information regarding the issue of equipment and arrangements for grants for this purpose?

The distribution of the steel shelters will begin in certain areas before the end of this month, and a circular restricted to information regarding these shelters has therefore been issued as a matter of urgency to the local authorities affected. Arrangements are being made for the survey of basements and the provision of material for strengthening them, and I hope to be in a position shortly to issue a further circular to local authorities dealing with this part of the shelter programme.

Will my right hon. Friend hasten that circular, because in London, at any rate, the question of dealing with basements is even more important than the provision of steel shelters?

I will do all I can in that matter.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say whether householders who receive those shelters are expected to erect them now or to keep them ready?

The circular, already issued and now available, is perfectly explicit on that point.

asked the Minister of Labour when he estimates that the result of the recent inquiry into the cost of living will be available; and when it is proposed that they shall be the basis of the official index statistics?

The tabulation of the data contained in the budgets which have been collected by means of this inquiry is proceeding as rapidly as possible, but I regret that I am not yet in a position to state by what date statistics summarising the information obtained will be ready for publication. The revision of the basis of the cost of living index cannot be undertaken until a summary of the results of the inquiry is available. As I have previously stated, over 50,000 budgets giving particulars of full weekly expenditure, and over 150,000 returns of weekly expenditure on clothing, have been collected. The examination and tabulation of this material is a task of great magnitude, but every effort is being made to expedite the progress of the work with a view to the publication of the results of the inquiry at the earliest possible date.

Does not the Minister think that it is desirable that he should make inquiries into the budgets of the people who are out of work?

That was not the view of the very powerful Advisory Committee which advised me on this matter.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will introduce legislation to safeguard the pensionable position of employés of local authorities serving in the auxiliary forces; whether any such safeguards now exist for civil servants so serving; and what is the reason for the withholding of such privileges from the first-mentioned citizens?

Steps are being taken to prepare legislation with the object stated in the first part of the question for introduction in the event of an emergency by the Government of the day if they so decide. As regards civil servants, I must refer my hon. and gallant Friend to my right hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that these men employed by the local authorities are paid in exactly the same way, by rates and taxes, by their fellow-citizens, and therefore are entitled to equal treatment?

As I have said, legislation on this matter is being prepared for introduction.

Will the legislation be passed in anticipation of an emergency, to come into force when an emergency arises, or only in the event of war?

That is a question which applies generally to all emergency legislation, and would be at the discretion of the Government of the day.

Would it not be advisable to pass such legislation now in order that the men may know their position?

asked the Minister of Health whether he has any intention of altering the particulars to be stated in the Census returns, in order to provide more information as to the composition and origins of the population; and what opportunity will be provided for Members to propose such alterations?

asked the Minister of Health whether it is his intention to restore, in the 1941 Census, two questions omitted in the 1931 Census, namely, the declaration of birthplace and of the place of work; whether he is aware that information as to the place of work is essential for the economic development of transport facilities; and whether he will, in general, guarantee that false economy shall not be allowed to jeopardise the value of the next Census, and how far preparations for the 1941 Census are now advanced?

The programme of inquiries to be included in a Decennial Census is reconsidered on each occasion and finally decided after a review of ail the proposals which have been put forward. While executive preparations are now being made for the 1941 Census enumeration, the settlement of the Census inquiries has not as yet been undertaken, since experience suggests that it is preferably carried out at a time somewhat closer to the actual Census date. The suggestions contained in the questions and any others which I may receive from hon. Members will be noted for consideration. Inquiries as to both birthplace and nationality were included in the 1931 Census.

Is there a special reason for this Census?

Will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that it is an established custom in this country that no sectarian or denominational questions should be put in the Census, as is done in certain other countries?

Yes, Sir.

Will the right hon. Gentleman answers the last part of my question, as to how far the preparations are advanced for the next Census?

The executive preparations are considerably advanced, but the actual question of the 1941 Census paper has not yet been taken into consideration.

Is there any special reason for the early preparation of this Census?

It is desirable that the executive arrangements should be advanced so that, if necessary, the Census could be taken before 1941.

asked the Minister of Health what instructions have been issued to the various officers of municipal authorities asking them to make the necessary preparations for an early Census of the population?

Officers of local authorities have been asked to take charge locally of the arrangements now being made for the recruitment of enumerators for the 1941 Census.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether this is intended to form a basis for compulsory national service?

No, Sir.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will consider getting a tabulated statement showing what each local authority pays by way of public assistance to old age pensioners; what percentage of the rates for each area this represents; and the number and the cost for England and Wales?

I do not think I should be justified in imposing on local authorities the labour and expense which the compilation of such a statement would involve.

Is the Minister aware that this matter is causing great concern, and that hon. Members would like to know exactly what is being paid by local authorities in public assistance to old age pensioners, in view of the demand for an addition to the pension?

There is much information which we should like to get from the local authorities, but the local authorities them selves resent the continuous increases in clerical duties which are imposed upon them.

But is the right hon. Gentleman not aware that this question of old age pensions has now become a most acute political issue; and in view of that fact and the likelihood of controversy arising upon it, possibly at an Election, does he not think that it would be well for the House of Commons to have this information?

I have given the matter consideration, and, so far, I do not think that I should be justified in calling for this information.

Is the Minister aware that the local authorities have already prepared this information, and that it is only a matter of communicating with them in order to obtain it?

If the local authorities made representations to me, I should naturally give them consideration.

Is the Minister aware that the Kirkcaldy local authority is calling a conference on this question?

Was not the reason first given that it would impose too great a liability of labour upon the local authorities to supply this information; and now that the right hon. Gentleman knows that the local authorities have the information, will he take steps to see that it is supplied to the House?

I simply said that I did not think I would be justified in imposing upon local authorities the labour of supplying the information.

Does the Minister not think that he would be justified in doing so, if only to disabuse the minds of hon. Members of the belief that he is afraid to do it?

asked the Minister of Health the number of old age pensioners in Wolverhampton, Wednesfield, and Willenhall who are in receipt of help from public assistance committees in order to supplement their pensions?

On 1st January, 1939, the latest date for which particulars are available, there were 786 old age pensioners in Wolverhampton County Borough in receipt of poor relief. I am unable to furnish figures for Wednesfield and Willenhall, as the returns made to my Department of the number of persons in receipt of poor relief do not contain separate particulars for parts of an administrative county.

In view of the very large number of persons affected by this in Wolverhampton, would not the simplest plan be to increase the amount of old age pensions; and will the right hon. Gentleman be glad to consider that suggestion.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he obtained the information contained in his reply by applying to the local authority; if so, is there any difficulty in applying to other local authorities for the corresponding information from their areas; and in the event of hon. Members asking specific questions about specific local authorities will be obtain the information?

If the local authorities were as hard-hearted as the Government, what would happen?

asked the Minister of Health whether he has considered a resolution from Atherton Urban District Council asking for an increase in the rate of old age pensions and spinsters', widows', and orphans' pensions; and how many similar resolutions he has had from other local authorities?

I have received the resolution to which the hon. Member refers, and consideration is being given to it. Thirty-one similar resolutions have been received from other local authorities.

When may we expect a decision from the right hon. Gentleman when he has considered it?

Can my right hon. Friend say what the cost will be?

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that an overwhelming number of people are now of the opinion that the time is ripe for an increase in old age pensions, and will he take active steps to put it into operation?

asked the Minister of Health what is the number of old age pensioners in the City of Nottingham; and how many of these are in receipt of Poor Law relief?

I regret that the information asked for in the first part of the question is not available, as the records of pensioners are not kept on a territorial basis. On 1st January, 1939, the number of old age pensioners in receipt of poor relief in Nottingham was 2,816.

Can my right hon. Friend say what would be approximately the nearest area for which figures would be available?

Not without notice.

asked the Minister of Health how many applications for pensions with special benefits were made in England and Wales under the 1937 Act, prior to the closing date on 2nd January, 1939, and how many of these applications have been granted?

The number of applications received in England and Wales for admission to the new voluntary pensions scheme on the special terms offered to initial entrants was 693,136, of which 375,000 were received after 1st December, 1938. Up to 1st February last, the latest date for which the figures are available, 254,589 applications had been admitted.

What is the approximate proportion of the possible number of applications; and is the Minister satisfied with the response which has been made?

I think the response made, particularly in the closing stage, was very remarkable indeed and very satisfactory. I cannot give any information as to the proportion, because a great many have yet to be decided.

I was referring to applications and not to those which have been granted.

As to the applications, I should have liked to have seen more people taking advantage of the offer. Still, I think 693,000 is a very good number.

asked the Minister of Health the number of persons who were in receipt of public assistance in England and Wales, giving outdoor and indoor numbers, respectively, as at July, 1931, and January, 1939?

On Saturday, 21st January, 1939, there were in England and Wales 151,503 persons in receipt of institutional relief and 933,769 persons in receipt of domiciliary relief, making a total of 1,085,272. The corresponding figures for Saturday, 18th July, 193r, were 193,929, 778,101 and 972,030. These figures exclude rate-aided patients in mental hospitals, persons in receipt of domiciliary medical relief only and casuals.

Will the right hon. Gentleman put this to the credit side when claiming what has been done by the National Government?

The provision made for the poor in this country is a very creditable thing.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in order to enlarge the deterrents against aggression, and in order to demonstrate our physical ability to make good our unequivocal intention of assisting France to maintain the integrity of her territories, he will substantially increase the establishment of His Majesty's Army?

:The development of the rearmament programme so far as the Army is concerned will be dealt with by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War when introducing the Army Estimates for 1939, and I would ask my hon. Friend to await that occasion.

May I ask the Prime Minister whether the despatch of a Continental expeditionary force forms any part of our plans?

No, Sir.

Why is it necessary to increase the forces against aggression when the right hon. Gentleman so actively encourages it?

To what is my right hon. Friend saying "No"? Did my right hon. Friend say "No" to my request that he should answer my question, or in answer to the question whether an expeditionary force forms any part of our plans?

My answer referred to my hon. Friend's question whether I could give him an answer, and I said, "No"

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it has yet been decided to introduce legislation amending Section 6 of the Official Secrets Act, 1920?

asked the Home Secretary what steps have been taken towards implementing his undertaking to amend the penal provisions of the Official Secrets Act, as affecting journalists in the discharge of their professional duties?

His Majesty's Government have given careful consideration to this question and have decided to introduce a Bill to amend Section 6 of the Official Secrets Act, 1920. In view of the state of business in this House, the Bill will be introduced in the House of Lords.