asked the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether his attention has been called to the trial in the Glasgow sheriff court, on Tuesday, 23rd May, of a woman, stated to be an Austrian, for an offence in connection with the registration of aliens; whether he will state the circumstances in which this case was heard in camera; whether his Department issued any request to this effect to the court; whether he has seen a statement authorised by the court for publication with reference to the result of the case; whether this statement was prepared after consultation with his Department, or whether it was settled by the court; whether the Press were present; and, if not, whether they were excluded by order of his Department?

My attention has been called to this case. A plea of guilty to a contravention of the Aliens Restriction Order was tendered in open court, the Press being present. The question having then been raised as to whether the Court should recommend that a deportation order should be made, the Procurator Fiscal represented to the Court that it was not desirable in the public interest that this matter should be debated in open Court, and the Sheriff agreed to hear the application in chambers, which was done. I am unaware of any statement having been authorised for publication either by the Court or by any Department. I am investigating the matter further, and I shall communicate with my hon. and learned Friend as soon as I am in a position to answer a further question.

asked the Minister of Health, whether, as the abolition of the patent duty on medicines will result in many cases in the discontinuance of published formulae, measures will, for the protection of the public, be taken to ensure the continued publication of this information?

As was stated on the 23rd May in a reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Abingdon the question whether any further control should be imposed on the sale or advertisement of proprietary medicines is engaging my attention. The publication of formulæ is one of the matters to be considered in this connection.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the serious accident to two women and a child in Reading Street, Liverpool, last week, when a tenement flag broke and hurled them 30 feet down into, the street; is he aware that Councillor Past after the accident called the attention of the Liverpool authorities to the unsafe condition of these private tenements; has he made inquiries; and what action has been taken by the council to avoid further accidents?

My attention has not previously been drawn to this matter. I am making inquiries and will communicate with the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Health, whether he is aware that approximately nine per cent. of the free meals supplied to schoolchildren by the Liverpool Education Committee on a means test basis are supplied to children of families in receipt of widows' and blind persons' pensions; and, having in mind the heavy burden borne by the Liverpool ratepayers in respect of these children and poor persons generally, will he consider increasing such pensions to a point that the children in such families can be properly fed at home, thus obviating recourse to the free-meal system?

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 3rd November last to the hon. Member that the Government cannot see their way to introduce legislation for this purpose. I would, however, point out in connection with the question of the expenditure falling upon the Liverpool ratepayers that the block grant was revised by Parliament two years ago as a result of which the corporation of Liverpool received additional assistance amounting to about £434,000 a year equivalent to a rate of 1s. 5d. in the £. The next revision of the amount of the block grant will be based on local expenditure for the year 1940–1.

asked the President of the Board of Trade, whether firms who buy new ships built abroad are equally regarded as entitled to the subsidy as those who build them at home?

The subsidy for tramp shipping proposed in my statement of 28th March is not yet in operation and legislation will be required. The point my hon. Friend has in mind is under consideration and I would ask him to await the publication of the details of the scheme.

asked the Secretary for Mines, whether he is aware that, whilst a system of price co-ordination in respect of export business has been established amongst the various United Kingdom coal-producing areas, it is left to the discretion of individual coal exporters in all but the Midland (amalgamated) district area to decide what amount they should add to colliery quotations when offering abroad; and, in view of the possibility of this latitude defeating the object of price co-ordination, steps will be taken to extend the Midland (amalgamated) district scheme to other districts?

I am aware of the arrangement in the Midland (Amalgamated) District to which the hon. Member refers. The general question of price co-ordination in the coal export trade is the subject of consultation between the exporting districts at the present time.

asked the Minister of Transport, whether he is aware that the London Passenger Transport Board are reluctant to use the powers transferred to them by Section 19 of the London Passenger Transport Act, 1933 (Thames River Passenger Service); whether he can say how soon the Board propose to exercise those powers; and whether, under Section 17 of the Ministry of Transport Act, 1919, by which he has power to make advances for the promotion and improvement of transport services by water, he will consider making an advance to the London Passenger Transport Board for the promotion of such a service?

I am not in a position to say when the London Passenger Transport Board propose to exercise their powers under Section 19 of their Act, 1933. As regards the latter portion of my hon. Friend's question I would refer him to the reply given by my predecessor on 15th March.

asked the Minister of Transport, whether he is aware of the great inconvenience and delay occasioned to pedestrians on the Thames embankment by the recently installed system of level-crossing gates at the entrance to the Kingsway tunnel and by the gangways adjacent thereto in connection with the demolition of Waterloo Bridge; and whether, with a view to the removal of such inconvenience and delay and the provision of uninterrupted entrance to and egress from the said tunnel for tram-cars, he will consult with the local authority concerned as to the provision of a permanent subway for foot passengers beneath the existing tram-tracks?

I will inquire into this matter and communicate with my hon. and learned Friend after the Recess.

asked the Minister of Health, whether he is now in a position to sanction loans of £65,068 10s. and £49,043, applied for by the Derby Borough Council for the construction of new houses on the Roe Farm and Radford Street sites?

The corporation have been informed that the estimated cost of these houses is too high, and that my right hon. Friend is not prepared to sanction a loan on these estimates. He is still in communication with the corporation and hopes that if the work is put out to tender acceptable prices may be obtained.

asked the Prime Minister, whether a decision has yet been reached on the measures to be taken to counter the action of the Japanese Government in restricting exports from North China to those financed through Japanese-controlled banks; and whether it is proposed to prohibit the entry into British and Crown Colony ports of all exports from North China unless accompanied by a consular certificate that they have been financed through a British, American, or French bank?

The position remains as stated in my reply to my hon. Friend on 5th April.

asked the Prime Minister, who is the British member of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations; when he was appointed; and what are his qualifications for the work of the commission?

Lord Hailey has resigned his office of British Member of the Permanent Mandates Commission. Lord Hankey was appointed at the meeting of the Council of the League of Nations on 23rd May to the vacancy caused by this resignation. Lord Hankey's qualifications are so well known that I do not feel that it is necessary for me to enumerate them.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) whether he will state approximately the amount paid in benefit and allowances in Wales and Monmouthshire during each of the last ten years;

(2) whether he will give the amounts of the contribution to the Unemployment Fund from Wales and Monmouthshire during each of the last ten years;

(3) whether he will state the numbers employed in each of the principal industries in Wales and Monmouthshire in 1927 and 1938, respectively?

I am having the information desired in these questions extracted and will circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Minister of Labour, whether he will give the reasons for inserting the age of 35 in the Schedule of Reserved Occupations covering distributive workers when the age in nearly all other occupations is 25 and under?

The age-limits for occupations included in the Schedule are settled after careful consideration of all the circumstances and I regret that I cannot enter into the reasons, with regard to particular occupations more fully than was done in the answer which I gave to the hon. Member on this subject on 16th February last.

asked the Minister of Labour, whether steps will be taken to arrange for the calling up of agricultural workers, notably tractor drivers, after 30th September in England and Wales and after 31st October in Scotland, in view of the existing shortage of labour on the land and the importance of carrying this year's harvest in proper condition?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the reply given yesterday to questions by the hon. Members for Sedgefield (Mr. Leslie) and Don Valley (Mr. T. Williams).

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether in view of the large number of persons in the country at the present time who are anxious to participate in some form of National Service, but who are unable to ascertain in what capacity they can most usefully serve, he will consider the desirability of opening an information bureau in London and in each of the principal cities of the country, with a view to supplying official information to supplement that already given in the National Service Handbook, and in the Press from time to time?

I have been asked to reply. The supply of information for persons who are anxious to participate in National Service but are uncertain in what capacity they can most usefully do so is a matter in the first instance for the National Service Committees established in each locality. In London, a Central Information and Recruiting Bureau has been in operation experimentally for the past five weeks; and National Service Committees have recently been invited to consider whether similar bureaux might usefully be opened in their respective localities.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can arrange for the names of those who entered their names in the National Register for service in the land army to be communicated to the appropriate authority ii each county so that a scheme may be devised for such persons to have the opportunity to volunteer to obtain experience in assisting to carry this year's harvest under proper wage conditions laid down by the Wages Board?

If my hon. and gallant Friend will refer to the National Service Handbook, he will see that women were invited to enrol in the Women's Land Army to undertake farm work in the event of war. As stated in the reply which I am giving to-day to my hon. Friends the Members for Tamworth and Devizes respectively, arrangements are being made to provide training facilities for Land Army volunteers in time of peace. While the primary objective of such training is an addition to the agricultural labour supply available in time of war, there is no objection to any member of the Women's Land Army undertaking farm work in peace time under the usual conditions applicable to agricultural employment.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he has any statistics showing the extent to which farmers without any subsidy are clearing semi-derelict acreage for the purpose of cultivation; and, if so, whether he can give any details?

I regret that the information is not available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what was the number of sheep and acreage of oats and barley in the United Kingdom for each of the last five years?

The following statement gives the number of sheep and the acreages of oats and barley in the United Kingdom as returned by the occupiers of agricultural holdings in June in each of the last five years.

Year. Sheep. Oats. Barley. Number. Acres. Acres. 1934 … 24,943,828 2,498,301 959,282 1935 … 25,061,719 2,518,221 871,272 1936 … 25,040,177 2,513,692 893,999 1937 … 25,540,905 2,298,830 906,420 1938 … 26,775,421 2,395,016 987,857

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the paragraphs of the Regulations for the Army Medical Service regarding the vaccination of recruits after reaching the depot will be altered to meet the case of conscripts, who cannot be compelled to be vaccinated?

Any necessary alteration of regulations will be made.