asked the Minister of Labour whether any persons included in the Schedule of Reserved Occupations are being or will be accepted as volunteers for National Service?

Persons who by virtue of their occupation and age are covered by the Schedule of Reserved Occupations may volunteer for whole-time service in war in any branch of National Service which will enrol them for service in their skilled trade or professional capacity. Alternatively, they may volunteer for part-time service in war in any branch of National Service, on the understanding that in war their normal occupation will have first claim on their services. Many persons covered by the Schedule are, in fact, offering their services in these ways, and it is hoped that many more will do so.

Can my right hon. Friend take steps to make that answer more widely known than it is at the present moment, especially in banks and industry generally?

We are taking vigorous steps to that end.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he has made any official or unofficial request to the two associations of newspaper proprietors that they should publish the advertisements calling for voluntary National Service without charge to the Treasury; and, if not, will he make such a request?

No, Sir. The Press have given immense assistance by the editorial space they have devoted to National Service, and I think that it is reasonable to hold that, to secure the necessary emphasis and repetition, part of our publicity campaign should consist of display advertisements paid for in the usual way.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say whether or not he has asked the Press to give free the space which is utilised in appealing for voluntary services?

I have had conferences on the subject with representatives of the Press, and I understand their attitude.

May I ask whether or not the right hon. Gentleman has submitted such a request to these Associations?

Having heard the point of view of the Press, I did not think it reasonable to submit such a proposal.

Why does the right hon. Gentleman show such tenderness for the profits of the Press, while he is prepared to receive any amount of voluntary service from poorer people?

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether, following the precedent of the Great War, he would consider inviting the central offices of the various political parties to appoint a joint committee for the purpose of co-operation in the National Service campaign?

Under the present National Service campaign actual recruitment and specific recruiting publicity remain a matter for the services for which volunteers are required, while the general co-ordination and stimulation of the campaign have been entrusted to the local National Service committees which have been established throughout the country, and the Central National Service Committee which has recently begun its work. Hon. Members of all parties are readily giving their assistance, and while I appreciate the intention of my hon. Friend's suggestion, I should hesitate to add to the machinery already in existence.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether, in view of recent events, he has any further announcement to make as to the measures proposed to be taken to further recruitment for National Service?

Recent events are of themselves helping to reinforce the measures already taken by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour to assist local National Service Committees in the stimulation and intensification of the National Service campaign wherever necessary throughout the country.

Will the right hon. Gentleman be good enough to say whether the pledge given by the Prime Minister, that conscription would not be introduced by this Government in peace time, holds good?

That is not a matter for me.

asked the Minister of Labour what draft International Labour Conventions were approved by the Mexican Government in October and December last; and how many of these Conventions have also been ratified by Great Britain?

I understand that Presidential Decrees were published in the Diario Oficial in Mexico City in October and December of last year approving six Conventions, of which I will circulate a list in the OFFICIAL REPORT. His Majesty's Government have ratified one of these Conventions (No. 7) and have announced their intention to ratify another (No. 56).

Is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied with the record of the Government with regard to the ratification of these Conventions? Does he not think there is a tendency to lag behind certain foreign countries?

I think nothing of the kind. Indeed, as was shown by the last list produced by the International Labour Office, His Majesty's Government have a very fine record in this matter.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is now in a position to give the results of his inquiries into the conditions of employment in the foreign-owned firm, the Mossley (Lancashire) Woolcombing Company; and whether there are any regulations laid down by his Department to prevent such firms from lowering British standards of labour?

I am informed that certain male employés in the spinning section of this establishment may be required to work for 61 hours per week. The contention of the management is, I understand, that this arrangement is necessary in the interests of efficient and economical production and in order to avoid dismissals, but I am informed that the firm propose to review the arrangement at the end of an experimental period of three months.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman see now that 61 hours per week in any part of this country is really a very serious lowering of the standard of labour in this land? Will he answer the second part of the question, as to whether there is some arrangement to prevent foreign capitalists from coming into this country and lowering the standard of life of our workers?

This is entirely open and the firm is a non-federated firm, and it does not break any agreement.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say specifically whether, when foreign capitalists apply to the Home Office and his Department to come here to establish factories, they are told that they must conform with the conditions of employment here?

They are given all the information, but the hon. Member would be the first to complain if a Government Department did anything extra-legal.

Will my right hon. Friend do his best to ensure that these constituents of mine will not be thrown out of work?

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he is aware that the experience of the Great War proved that half the value of respirators depended upon the facility with which they were worn; and whether he will therefore encourage the public to accustom themselves to their use by occasional practice for brief periods of time?

I agree that it is desirable that members of the public should accustom themselves to wearing respirators. Over the greater part of the country the respirators have been distributed, and air-raid wardens can encourage their being worn from time to time.

Will my right hon, Friend say how soon all the necessary respirators are likely to be issued?

In the remainder of the country a fitting census has been or is being conducted and it is expected that the delivery of the balance of the respirators will be completed in a very short time.

Is the Minister aware that people who suffer from bronchial afflictions cannot wear these respirators; and has his Department taken any steps to make an amended form of respirator available for those who suffer in that way?

I have no reason to suppose that such an expedient would be practicable.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he has yet reached any decision regarding the payment of compensation to dependants of persons who may be killed during peace time training for national voluntary service in connection with an industrial establishment; and whether he proposes to make any pro vision for compensation for disablement, either total or partial, which may be necessary as the result of an accident during peace-time training in an industrial establishment?

Volunteers undergoing peace-time training for air-raid precautions duties in industrial and commercial establishments, in fulfilment of the statutory obligation which, as I stated recently in reply to a question, it is proposed to impose by forthcoming legislation, will come within the scope of the scheme of compensation which I announced on 2nd March.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether anything has been done by his Department in connection with air-raid precautions to deal with the burning pit-heaps in Durham, many of which would act as beacons to enemy aircraft in the event of war; and whether a survey of these heaps has been made from the air as a test of their visibility?

Yes, Sir. My Department have, after consultation with the Ministry of Health and the Mines Department, been in communication with the Mining Association on the question of burning pit-heaps generally, and have stressed the importance, from the point of view of air-raid precautions, of securing the extinction of the fires as rapidly as possible. The Mining Association have brought the Department's representations to the notice of their district associations and requested them to appoint local committees to investigate the problem, where such committees were not previously in existence. I am informed that the committee concerned with pit-heaps in Durham has made considerable progress with its investigation and that many heaps which were at one time on fire are now extinguished. As regards the second part of the question, aerial surveys were made last year of burning pit-heaps in Durham and elsewhere.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there are thousands of people living in close proximity to these burning heaps, and will he at the earliest opportunity see that something is done to ascertain their visibility, because these people will be subject to great danger in the event of war and air raids?

That is realised, and that is why the investigations to which I have referred have been so actively pursued.

Will the right hon. Gentleman's Department provide local authorities which wish to have the information with particulars as to how these fires can be damped down?

Certainly; any information that is obtained as a result of the investigations will be made fully available.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether it is his intention to arrange a test black-out for the industrial districts of the North-East Coast; and, if so, in which month?

Arrangements have been made for a black-out on Tees-side to be held on 18th April and in the Humber district on 24th April.

What about the Tyneside area?

I cannot give an answer on that point at the moment.

Perhaps if I put down a question?

Yes, please.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether his attention has been drawn to the protests of Glasgow East End tenants in the Sandyhills housing scheme, and by the Shettleston Ward Committee, against the air-raid precaution shelters being forced upon tenants, as they believe them to be of little value during bombing raids, and urging deep bomb-proof tunnels; and whether he proposes to take action along the line suggested?

It is not the intention of the Government that any householder should be forced to accept delivery of a shelter. There seems to have been some misunderstanding on this point when the distribution of these shelters first began in Shettleston, and I am glad to have this opportunity of making the position clear. At the same time, I would add that, as is already known to the House, these shelters have been submitted to very searching tests and have been shown to be completely effective for the purpose for which they are designed.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that a large number of these shelters have been dumped down without the consent of the people, who have neither paid for them nor desire them, that there is a complete lack of confidence, even of people who have knowledge, as to the ability of these shelters to protect the people, and that the general view of the inhabitants is that they are a complete sham?

In reply to the first part of that supplementary question, as I indicated in my reply there was some misunderstanding on the first distribution of those shelters, but that, I believe, has been completely removed. As regards the second part, I can only say that what the hon. Member has just stated is not borne out in actual experience.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he has now completed his examination of the question of the registration of property as well as personnel; and what are his conclusions?

I presume that the hon. Member has in mind certain remarks which I made towards the close of the Debate on National Voluntary- Service on 6th December last. The point I was concerned to make then was that registration of property could only be regarded as part of a much larger problem concerned with the adjustment of the whole economic structure of the country to meet the shock of a major war. This larger problem has wide ramifications, many of which have been under examination which is still proceeding.

Will the right hon. Gentleman be prepared to admit that the difficulty exists in the minds of many patriotically-minded people that the Government have not taken steps to require of the owners of property similar service, and also the difficulty about the way in which the Government are fumbling with foreign policy in these times?

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he is aware that in the Ardwick division of Manchester no houses exist with the necessary accommodation to erect the proposed steel air-raid shelters and none with basements suitable for such shelters; and what provision is he making to cope with circumstances of this description?

I am aware that in this and some other urban areas there are numbers of such houses, and work has been proceeding for some time on the best alternative methods of providing protection in these cases.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he has considered the question of whether Greenock, Port Glasgow, and Gourock, with a population of about 110,000, forms a natural unit for the purpose of air-raid precautions; and whether he has any statement to make with regard to the organisation of this combined area for air-raid pre cautions purposes?

It is for the local authorities concerned, in the light of their local knowledge, to take the initiative in making proposals of this kind. The local authorities for these areas have not submitted to me any proposals for a joint scheme, but if any such proposals were submitted, they would at once receive sympathetic consideration.

asked the Minister of Health how many blankets have been ordered for air-raid precautions and emergency hospital requirements; and how many of these have been placed with Scottish manufacturers?

The number of blankets ordered for these services is 425,000. Scottish manufacturers were invited to tender and did tender, but I am afraid that no Scottish manufacturer was successful.

May we be assured that in the placing of orders to meet his requirements, the Minister will bear in mind that in the matter of quality and price Scottish manufactures of this commodity are the best in the market?

Tenders are being called for for a further 50,000 blankets, and Scottish firms have been invited to tender for them also.

asked the Minister of Health the amount of compensation paid per acre for the compulsory purchase of freeholds in the county of London in the last three years; the amount of compensation paid based on one year's purchase; and whether detailed particulars will be made readily accessible to the public?

The responsible local authorities are not required to furnish information on this subject to my Department, and I regret, therefore, that I am unable to supply the particulars for which my hon. Friend asks.

asked the Minister of Health the number of persons in Stepney who are recipients of old age pensions; and the number of such persons who are also in receipt of public assistance committee allowances?

I regret that the information desired is not available. The records of old age pensioners are not kept on a territorial basis, and the returns made to my Department by public assistance authorities of the number of persons in receipt of poor relief do not contain separate particulars for parts of an administrative county.

Is it possible for the right hon. Gentleman to reply to the latter part of the question?

No, Sir.

asked the Minister of Health the number of old age pensioners and pensioned widows in Manchester, who also receive help from the public assistance committee?

On 1st January, 1939, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 6,475 old age pensioners and 1,747 widow pensioners in receipt of poor relief in the city of Manchester.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in the last financial year these old age pensioners and widow pensioners who have had to go on public assistance cost Manchester rates an extra £183,000a year, and, in view of that, will he take steps to see that these people are paid decent pensions?

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what would be the cost of raising contributory old age pensions for widows to 15s. per week, after making allowance for such saving as might be expected to result in expenditure by public assistance committees?

:I assume that the pensioners to whom my hon. Friend is referring are those widows who are aged over 65. The additional cost involved in increasing pensions by 5s. a week to widows between 65 and 70 is at present about £3,000,000 a year. With regard to widows aged over 70 who are in receipt of an old age pension by virtue of the provisions of the Contributory Pensions Act, I regret that the records of old age pensioners over 70 do not distinguish those who are widows or provide data on which a reliable estimate could be formed of the numbers who would be affected by my hon. Friend's proposal.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that approved societies under the National Health Insurance Acts have within their rules a pro- vision that members in receipt of sick benefit shall not be out of doors after a certain hour at night, and that breach of this rule entails loss of benefit; and whether he will advise such societies that attendance by a sick person upon a medical adviser at his surgery after such a permitted hour should not be interpreted as a breach of this rule?

I am aware that the rules of approved societies require that an insured member who is in receipt of sickness benefit shall not be absent from his-home between certain specified hours; but at the same time a society has power, if it thinks fit, to exempt a member from this requirement. While a society might take the view that absence from home between the specified hours constituted a technical breach of the rule, I take it that, in considering whether a penalty should be imposed, the society would have due regard to the explanation given by the member of his failure to remain at home between the prescribed hours. If the hon. Member has any particular case to which he wishes to direct my attention I shall be happy to make inquiries.

Is it a fact that in cases such as this there is a right of appeal if any injustice is being done by the approved society?

I think so, but in any case we believe that in the first instance the society will act reasonably.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that in many public works, where employés are entitled to benefit under the Workmen's Compensation Act, the employers or their representatives insist on receiving or seeing a National Health Insurance certificate from the injured person's panel doctor before paying the compensation that is due; and, as these certificates are only issued for National Health Insurance purposes, will he take steps to end this practice?

I am aware that health insurance medical certificates, which are the property of the insured persons to whom they are given, are in some cases shown to employers either in connection with a claim for workmen's compensation or for some other purpose. I do not think there can be any objection to an arrangement of this nature, provided that it does not interfere with the prompt despatch of the certificate to the man's approved society. In the absence of loss of benefit to the insured person I see no reason to intervene in the matter.

asked the Minister of Health whether he can state, according to the returns made by his Department, the number of persons in receipt of public assistance, and the greatest number of persons in receipt of public assistance on any one day in England and Wales during the six months ended to the last convenient date?

Returns of the numbers of persons in England and Wales in receipt of poor relief are rendered to my Department weekly, the figures relating to Saturday in each week. On Saturday, 25th February, 1939, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 1,087,266 persons in England and Wales in receipt of poor relief. The highest number in receipt of relief on any Saturday during the six: months ending on that date was 1,088,263 on 4th February, 1939. These figures include dependants but exclude rate-aided patients in mental hospitals persons in receipt of domiciliary medical relief only and casuals.

Do these figures include persons who were also receiving old-age pensions or widows' pensions?

They include all persons.

asked the Minister of Health how many port medical officers of health have submitted their reports to him for the year 1937; and how many reports are still out standing?

The answer to the first part of the question is 101 and to the second part one.

asked the Minister of Health how many of the 24,948 defects and nuisances in crews' accommodation reported in 1937, were found in the 9,760 vessels in which defects were remedied; how many defects remained unremedied, and what action has been taken to secure that they shall be remedied?

I regret that the information desired by the hon. Member is not available.

Cannot the right hon. Gentleman undertake to find out how many of these defects there were, for men are still going to sea in ships infested with vermin, and surety it is the right hon. Gentleman's duty to see that that state of affairs is stopped?

As the hon. Gentleman knows, I have written to him to come and consult me on the inquiries that have been made, and I think we should be able to work out a satisfactory series of inquiries in conjunction with each other.

The right hon. Gentleman also knows that I am coming to see him on Monday at 11 o'clock.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that 1,069 dirty and verminous beds were found in crews' quarters in Newport in 1937, of which 1,068 were in British vessels and that 1,637 dirty and verminous beds from crews' quarters were destroyed in Swansea in the same year; and whether he will give the corresponding figures for the other ports?

I am aware of the facts, stated. I will have the available information on the subject examined and will communicate with the hon. Member.

Will the right hon. Gentleman note that there were 1,069 dirty and verminous beds, and that 1,068 were in British vessels?

asked the Prime Minister whether he will arrange for the primary responsibility for policy as to food reserves to be assigned to a Minister in charge of a Department dealing with the subject in the same way that a primary responsibility for the number of battleships, aeroplanes, or units of the Army is assigned to Departmental Ministers?

I have been considering whether the present arrangements in regard to this matter can be improved, but I have not yet reached a final decision. Perhaps the hon. Member would be good enough to repeat his question at a later date.

asked the Prime Minister which of His Majesty's Ministers is responsible for the control of the reserve food stocks and for the prices at which they are transferred to manufacturers or other users; and whether transfers are made at cost price or at current market prices?

My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is responsible for the control of food under the Essential Commodities Reserves Act, and for the prices at which such food is transferred to traders. Transfer is effected at current market prices.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will indicate the reasons for which he has refused to recommend the payment of compensation to two men who, at the West London Police Court on 27th September, 1938, were charged with stealing bags of flour, when one of them was sentenced to three months' hard labour but was released on appeal, while the other was remanded in custody but subsequently granted a free pardon; and whether he has taken into consideration the ignominy and loss of wages suffered by the men concerned?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to a question by him on the same subject on 23rd February last. My right hon. Friend can assure the hon. Member that he took into account all circumstances which it was proper for him to consider, but he would not be justified in authorising any payment to the men concerned unless it were clearly established that their chargeing or conviction was due to some culpable error or to some misconduct on the part of the police. In the present instance the police would have been guilty of a dereliction of duty if they had not brought the charges and no question of payment arises.

Is it not a fact that these two men were found to be innocent, and should not some consideration be given to them in view of what they have endured?

We cannot proceed on the basis that compensation should be payable to people who are properly charged and are found innocent afterwards.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in order to answer German aggression in Europe, he will consult the Governments of France, Belgium, Australia and the Union of South Africa with a view to incorporating in the French, Belgian and British Empires, respectively, the former German Colonial possessions now held under mandate by those countries and ourselves?

No, Sir. I do not think that my hon. Friend's suggestion would have the effect he has in mind.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that as long as these territories remain under mandates the agitation for their return is far more easily conducted, and would it not be advisable to safeguard our position in Africa and elsewhere?

It is a very complicated matter.

Will the Prime Minister bear in mind that a great many people would strongly object to the act of aggression suggested in this question?

asked the Home Secretary whether he can give any information in connection with the lift accident at Du Cane Court, Balham, at which a 14-year-old page-boy was killed on Sunday last?

This accident occurred in a block of flats where, I regret to say, the boy was found dead at the bottom of a lift shaft. The inquest has been fixed for Tuesday next, and my right hon. Friend does not think he can usefully give any further information at this stage.

asked the Home Secretary whether he can give any information in connection with the death of a widow who had been working at the Cape Asbestos Company, Barking, from asbestosis which was the subject of an inquest held at Ilford Town Hall, on Wednesday last; whether he is aware that this is the second woman's death within three weeks from asbestos dust; and when the masks will be made compulsory at the works?

In the case referred to by the hon. Member, the deceased woman left work in 1924. She was formerly employed in a process for which, since the special Regulations of 1931 came into force, efficient exhaust ventilation has been required. Breathing apparatus or aproved respirators are required by the Regulations to be provided and worn in certain specified processes for which localised exhaust ventilation is impracticable, and I understand that some 300 of the Mark IV type dust respirator approved by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research are in use in this factory.

Does the Under-Secretary know that in many cases these people would rather wear silk handkerchiefs round their mouths than wear respirators to keep the dust out?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that Germans have been instructed to offer all their foreign securities to the Reichsbank for sale; whether he has considered what effect this will have on London, Paris and American stock markets, and on the sterling position; and whether he is doing anything to protect British interests in the matter?

German regulations of the kind referred to by the hon. Baronet have been in force for some years past, but if there are any new developments to which he would desire to draw my attention, perhaps he would be good enough to communicate with me.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is in a position to announce the date upon which he proposes to open his Budget?

I understand that the date will be announced in the statement as to business this afternoon.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can now state the amount of gold and assets in foreign currency in the Czecho-Slovak National Bank that has fallen into the hands of Germany?

No, Sir. This information is not in my possession.