asked the Minister of Labour what steps have been taken to inform unemployed persons, and particularly new claimants to standard benefit, of their rights in respect of winter allowance?

:The general principles on which the Board proceed in regard to winter allowances have been announced each year in this House, and such announcements have been given wide publicity in the Press. As regards persons on standard benefit, posters are exhibited in all Employment Exchanges informing applicants that assistance may be granted to persons who are within the scope of the Unemployment Assistance Act, 1934 (including persons in receipt of benefit) and who can prove that they are in need. Where such assistance is granted by the Unemployment Assistance Board, winter additions are made in appropriate cases without requiring the applicant to make a special request for such an addition.

Is the Minister aware that during the recent bad weather there were many new claimants, and that many of these claimants have no knowledge that they could get supplementary benefit?

I am surprised at that, but I am glad the hon. Member has made it clear.

Will the Minister do what he can to let it be known that the unemployed have every right, particularly during the terrible winter through which we are passing, to make application for extra assistance?

Yes; but, in spite of what the hon. Member for West Fife (Mr. Gallacher) suggests, these people are not so uninformed on these matters.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that in the administrative county of Durham there were, on 11th December, 1939, 41,693 persons unemployed, and in the five county boroughs 31,450, making a total of 73,143; and can he state whether it is the intention of the Government to build factories in this area, other than on the Team Valley Trading Estate, or to introduce some other means with a view to providing for these people?

I am aware of the position in this area, and would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 21st November last. Subject to strategic and technical considerations, it is the settled policy of the Government that new production capacity should be located where suitable labour is available. As regards the provision of alternative sources of employment, I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Chester-le-Street (Mr. Lawson) on 8th February.

Will the right hon. Gentleman answer the last part of my Question, with regard to the Government's intentions in providing work for these people? Is it not a serious matter that, after five months of war, we still have in one county over 75,000 persons unemployed?

That is so; but the hon. Member knows that there are particular difficulties in that area.

Would the Minister like to share the 17s. worth of democracy of those people?

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware of the increased number of persons un employed in the Pontardawe area who have been thrown idle at the Gilbertson works and also by the Tirbach Colliery, Ystalyfera, being on stop; and will he cause inquiries to be made and see if anything can be done to get a resumption of work at an early date?

As regards the tinplate works at Pontardawe, I cannot add anything to the information I have already given to the hon. Member. My hon. Friend the Secretary for Mines is, I understand, making inquiries to see whether anything can be done with regard to the Tirbach Colliery.

Is it a fact that the Gilbertson steel mills at Pontardawe are idle because of the lack of coal?

I was not aware of that. In the correspondence that I have had on the subject, that point has not been put to me.

Will the right hon. Gentleman make inquiries, in order to see whether that is so?

That is a point for my hon. Friend the Secretary for Mines.

:asked the Minister of Labour the number of wholly unemployed registered at Normanton, Castleford and Pontefract, at the latest date available, and the comparative figure in August, 1939?

As the reply includes a table of figures, I will, if I may, circulate a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Is the Minister satisfied with the progress made in absorbing the unemployed?

I am never satisfied.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons registered as unemployed and available for work who, when last in employment, were not insured for unemployment insurance?

At 15th January, 1940, there were on the registers of Employment Exchanges in Great Britain, 129,259 persons who were not classified as insured persons. Statistics are not available as to the number of persons on the register whose last employment was not insured under the Unemployment Insurance Acts.

In that case can the Minister explain why, in a recent speech, he dwelt on this aspect?

Certainly, I was pointing out that a great number of people who were not in employment before had come forward since the war started to help in our war effort.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the decision at present ruling prohibiting the erection of Government factories in the counties of Northumberland and Durham, he proposes to continue payment of travelling and removal expenses for people desirous of seeking employment in more fortunate areas?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for East Rhondda (Mr. Mainwaring) on 13th February.

Is my right hon. Friend going to alter the decision announced in the answer given to the hon. Member?

I think not. It seems to me to meet the case.

Is the household removal scheme still in operation? It was limited at one time to the Special Areas.

That is another issue. If the hon. Member will look at the answer, he will see that it does set out the amounts that were given.

Does the right hon. Gentleman admit the suggestion in the hon. Lady's Question that it has been decided that no more Government factories are to be set up in these two counties?

Certainly not.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) how many instructors at training centres with more than four years' service were dismissed in 1938 and 1939, respectively, with a month's notice, on the ground that they were redundant; what salaries are paid to such instructors; and how many years' service have they to give before receiving establishment and superannuation rights;

(2) the number of instructors at training centres, with more than two years of service, who resigned their posts in 1938 and 1939, respectively; whether all instructors at such centres have served an apprenticeship to the craft they teach; what form of technical training have they to undergo before appointment; and how are they recruited or appointed to this service?

I am having inquiries made, and will communicate with the hon. Member in due course.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that many thousands of highly-skilled woodworkers are unemployed, and that the number is increasing; and what steps are being taken to utilise the skill of these men in the war effort?

I am aware that unemployment amongst certain classes of skilled woodworkers has increased as a result of the change from peace to war conditions. Following discussions with certain trade unions concerned, the attention of local offices was specially drawn to the possibility of securing alternative opportunities of employment for such workers, and I am hopeful that, in the expansion of the war effort, their services will thus be fully utilised.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in association with other Government Departments, he is preparing plans to deal with the difficult situation that will arise in South Wales and Monmouthshire when the large amount of Government work now proceeding comes to an end; and, if so, can he indicate when the plans are expected to be completed?

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave on 1st February to the hon. Member for Lincoln (Mr. Liddall), of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he can state at the most recent date the numbers of applicants for unemployment assistance at Pontypool, Blaenavon and Pontnewydd, to whom the wage-stop provision applied; and the number of those applicants who have been granted additional assistance in consequence of the increase in the cost of living?

I regret that the information asked for is not available, and I am asking the Board how far it can be obtained without undue expense.

asked the Home Secretary whether he has any statement to make regarding the dangers to the civil population of the possible use of a new war gas by the enemy?

I assume that the gas which my hon. and gallant Friend has in mind is arseniuretted hydrogen, the properties and limitations of which have long been well known to every competent chemist. The present civilian respirator gives protection against this gas and, as at present advised, I do not consider that any further measures are necessary.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that if the public are warned, as they have been in the present instance, they are prepared to accept any risk and any sacrifice?

I think that my answer to the Question on the Paper is that protection is afforded by the civilian respirator.

asked the Minister of Health the number of school clinics which have been taken over as first-aid posts for air-raid precautions purposes?

I cannot give the figure asked for by the hon. Member without special inquiry from the responsible local authorities. I will send her copies of circulars which my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Education and I have issued to the authorities, asking that where such clinics have been taken over as first aid posts they shall be made available for the work of the school health services.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has now been able to extend the concession of part-time service in the Emergency Medical Service to the recipients of second grade salaries on a parity with the terms offered to the higher grade salaried officers in the same service, that is, with a remuneration of five-eighths of the full salary; how many officers have been admitted to this concession; what is the full number of officers open to receive it; and at what date the offer was made?

Careful consideration has been given to representations made on the matter by the Advisory Emergency Medical Service Committee, but the volume of work now falling on officers of the grade referred to is such that I am unable, at the present time, to make them the offer which the hon. Member suggests.

Will the right hon. Gentleman state what steps should be taken by junior consultants of honorary staffs who wish to undertake part-time service, in view of the fact that in certain instances such applications have met with no satisfactory reply?

If the hon. Gentleman will let me have particulars, I will make inquiries.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the secretary of the Central Medical War Committee has represented the Advisory Emergency Medical Service Committee as a body delegated by the Central Medical War Committee of the British Medical Association to present the profession's views on Emergency Medical Service problems to the Ministry; whether the Advisory Committee is in effect a subcommittee of the Central Medical War Committee, deriving authority from that body; and whether the Advisory Committee is in any way subordinate or responsible to the British Medical Association Committee?

I think that the hon. Member is under some misapprehension. The Advisory Committee was appointed by, and reports to, the Central Medical War Committee, which is not a committee of the British Medical Association.

asked the Minister of Health what increase he proposes to make in the billeting allowances for evacuated schoolchildren?

I am making a statement at the end of Questions on evacuation and will refer in that statement to the point raised by the hon. Member. I would ask him to await my statement.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has considered the report sent to him of a speech made by Mr. Charles Segal, a headmaster who was evacuated with North Kensington schoolchildren to Taunton, in which he described the evacuation scheme as a complete failure; and whether he will consult with local health and education authorities with a view to effecting improvement?

I have seen a Press report of the speech in question. I am in close touch with health and education authorities, through my Advisory Committee on Evacuation, and otherwise. I am circulating particulars of the membership of the Advisory Committee in the Official Report. I do not think it necessary to take special action in the particular matter referred to.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman think that this schoolmaster spoke the truth?

Can my right hon. Friend say of what school in North Kensington Mr. Segal is headmaster?

I am afraid I could not answer that question.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether the evacuation has not shown the complete incompetence of the London education and health services?

asked the Minister of Health whether he has any statement to make about the progress and development of the Government's evacuation plans?

Yes, Sir. The Government have had the question of evacuation under careful consideration. They remain convinced of the desirability of the dispersal of children from the evacuating areas. Plans have therefore been prepared with the object both of retaining in the reception areas as many as possible of the 400,000 children who are still there and of providing for a further large scale evacuation to take place if air raids develop on a scale involving serious and continuous bombing. These plans for a new evacuation have been prepared in close consultation between the Departments concerned and representatives of local authorities and the teaching profession both in England and in Scotland. They will apply to school children only— not to adults. It will be for the Government to decide, in the light of prevailing circumstances, when these plans are to be put into operation and in respect of which areas action is to be taken.

Evacuation will be voluntary: the parents who register will however be required to sign an undertaking that they will send their children away when evacuation is ordered, and a statement that they intend to leave them in the reception areas until the school parties return. In the meantime, the Government attaches great importance to the retention in the reception areas of those children who are already there. The nation, I believe, is deeply grateful to the householders who have provided homes for these children and does, I am sure, recognise its exacting nature and the calls it has made on their time, labour and home life.

I am happy to be able to inform the House that Her Majesty the Queen desires to show her appreciation of the great public, spirit shown by those householders who, during the last six months, have sheltered children unknown to them and provided for strangers a home and a sympathy of incomparable value. To each of these householders Her Majesty proposes to send a personal message as a token of her recognition of their service to others. It is the desire of the Government to ease, wherever possible, the burden which this task inevitably involves to the hosts. It has been decided that the billeting allowance in respect of children who have attained the age of 14 should be increased to 10s. 6d. per week. This will not be confined to the scheme for further evacuation, but will come into force in the week beginning 2nd March.

The provision of sick bays and of hostels for difficult children and for those who are unsuitable for billeting in private houses and for other purposes will continue to be developed. Local authorities are being encouraged to make the best use of houses suitable for these purposes. Although other forms of accommodation will be used to the fullest extent practicable, billeting in private houses must remain the main source of provision for the 400,000 children already in the reception areas and for those others who, in the event of air raids, would be evacuated under the plans which I have described.

The equitable distribution of this service among suitable householders is of great importance. At the present time only about one in five of the householders who volunteered a year ago are being called upon, and it will be generally agreed that it is scarcely fair that this task should fall solely on the shoulders of this minority. The Government are therefore making an appeal to the general body of householders and it is a part of the Government plan for 1940 that local authorities should establish a roll of householders willing, when called on, to share with their neighbours in the work of receiving and caring for the children. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and I are each to-day issuing a circular and memorandum to local authorities, in England and Wales, and in Scotland.

Arising out of the very interesting statement, may I ask the Minister whether the new scheme makes, arrangements as far as possible for the schools to be evacuated as schools and for the children to go under their own teachers instead of mixing children from various schools? Will the Board of Education have more responsibility in this scheme because they are in closer touch with the education authorities than the Minister's Department?

It will be our desire that schools should go as units. We hope that with the greater time which will be available under this scheme it will enable this to be more satisfactorily carried out than was possible under the emergency provisions last year. Furthermore, my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Education and I are in close co-operation, and we are arranging as far as possible for the same close co-operation to take place locally also.

Will this scheme not come into operation until the bombing has actually started? Will parents who are willing, having given further consideration to the matter and to the statement made by the Government, be able to send their children now, into a safe area in the country, or must they wait until bombing commences?

The main scheme which I have outlined will be a scheme providing for a further large-scale evacuation to take place if air raids develop on a scale involving serious and continuous bombing. It has been possible for parents to send their children away and we hope it will be possible for that still to be done. That is one of the reasons we desire to obtain a roll of householders to assist in this survey.

Is the Minister aware that there is a great shortage of billeting accommodation at the other end, partly owing to the absence of the use of compulsory powers? Does he not regard it as a hazardous business to delay deliberately further evacuation until bombing is actually in progress?

No, Sir, I am aware that there is at present a shortage of billeting in the Home Counties and areas which have already received a great number of children, and of the difficulty of accommodating a certain number of children from London arising out of the desire to re-unite children with their schools. It is scarcely fair that the whole of this burden should fall on a small minority of householders who are at present accommodating children. As to the danger which may arise, I think the right hon. Gentleman will be aware that the number of children at present registered for evacuation is extremely small. One of the reasons for making the new plan contingent upon the development of air warfare is that without that it has been our experience that parents do not register, nor do they bring children for evacuation even when those registered are called upon.

Is the Minister aware that one very important factor in the problem of evacuation is the desire of the parents to see their children as frequently as possible, and does his scheme cover that very important point?

We have made arrangements to deal with the desire of parents to see their children and considerable advantage is being taken of them. I think this problem is not a major reason for the return of children at the present time.

Will those parents who take advantage of the new scheme be allowed to withdraw their children again, or will it be a compulsory scheme once advantage has been taken of it?

I am asking, as I have said, that parents should sign an undertaking that they will send their children away when evacuation takes place. Our intention is to leave them in the reception areas until the school parties return. A rigidly compulsory scheme on a scale involving hundreds of thousands of children would be, I think, impracticable. One must work with the good will of the parents, which, I am sure, will be forthcoming under these conditions.

Will the Minister make a statement to explain how the parents are to register? Is it to be done through the local authorities as before?

That is set out in considerable detail in the circular we are issuing to-day, copies of which will be in the Vote Office. Leaflets are being issued to householders to explain to them how this is to be carried out.

In regard to the statement as it applies to Scotland, has there been a new survey in order to try and prevent children being sent, as was the case the last time, over 200 miles away from their parents, who could not even pay them an occasional visit?

Whatever survey is carried out in Scotland in some cases children from certain areas will have to go long distances before suitable billets can be found, and this will also hold for the great city of London.

What measures are being taken to secure that there is an expert medical inspection before the children are evacuated?

That is also set out in considerable detail in the circular which will be found in the Vote Office. It is the intention that inspection will form an integral part of the scheme.

Would it not be better if the Minister were to reconsider the billeting allowances of those under 14 in view of the difficulties of finding billets at the present allowances?

It is true that the allowances have to be considered, but I am convinced that it is the disturbance of the home life people feel most, rather than the insufficiency of the billeting allowances. I think the example given of the desire of the Government and of the nation to recognise the importance of the national service being rendered will weigh very greatly with the householders of this country.

Is there to be any contemplated extension of the camp system, or the utilisation of large houses or schools?

As I have said, the authorities are being encouraged to use private houses, empty houses, for sick bases, hospitals and other purposes. As to camps we are already taking steps to fill up the whole programme of camps already constructed. The construction of further camps will need to be considered in the light of the labour and the material available.

Will the Minister, in asking mothers to allow their children to remain away for the whole period, have regard to the fact that one of the great factors in bringing children back is the incapacity of the father and mother with a family of four children to pay 24s. a week?

In the Government scheme I do not know any case for which such a charge for a child is made.

For four children?

As the hon. Member knows, the scale on which recovery is based has been very carefully worked out and remissions are made wherever cases of hardship are found to exist.

Can the Minister say how many children were taken in at Windsor and Balmoral Castle?

A considerable number were taken in at Balmoral Castle.

Does the Minister think that a more satisfactory billeting arrangement would be made in reception areas if the local education secretary was made the billeting officer?

I do not think that it can be said that the local education secretary is more acquainted with the housing position in an area than the housing authority. After all, billeting to a certain extent is a question of housing.

asked the Minister of Health whether any instructions have been issued to local authorities to supply institutions and householders with necessary window glass or a substitute for the immediate repair of air-raid damage; and is it proposed to make a charge for such necessities?

The statutory provisions governing assistance in repairing war damage are contained in the Housing (Emergency Powers) Act, 1939, and the Essential Buildings (Repair of War Damage) Act, 1939. I issued circulars on the subject to local authorities in August and September last, and I am sending my hon. Friend copies. Under the Acts referred to local authorities can in proper cases repair, or assist in repairing, houses and other essential buildings and any expenditure incurred may remain as a charge on the premises until the end of the war.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether the allowance paid to unpaid voluntary air-raid precautions workers for injuries received by them while on duty may also be paid when the injuries are the result of accidents incurred in consequence of the black-out, while they are proceeding from or to duty?

The terms of the Personal Injuries (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1939, admit of the award of compensation in those cases only where the Civil Defence volunteer is on duty at the time of his injury. The question whether this condition obtains in any individual case must be judged in the light of the particular circumstances. The difficulties caused by the black-out are common to the whole civil population. Cases might, however, arise, e.g., an emergency summons, where a volunteer proceeding on duty would be eligible for an award of compensation.

Does not my hon. Friend agree that these persons have to be abroad during the black-out in consequence of the obligation which they have undertaken; and would it not be possible to extend the period of duty so as to cover all the time from the hour when they leave their homes to the hour at which they return home?

If they are out during the black-out period on duty they are eligible for compensation.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether he is aware that the percentage of under-nourished school-children in Tyneside and Durham areas was 10 per cent. higher in 1938 than in 1935, and that routine school inspections showed more than three times as many under-nourished school-children in Tyneside and Durham areas as in London and the South-East in 1938; and what steps he proposes to take to ensure that the condition of children in Special Areas shall be safeguarded throughout the war food shortage?

Figures for the year 1935 for the Tyneside and Durham local education authority areas show that the percentage of children with slightly subnormal nutrition was 16.8 and of children with bad nutrition 1.6. Comparable figures for 1938 are 18 per cent. and ·98 per cent. Similar figures for 1938 for all areas in Kent, Surrey and Sussex together with London, which may be taken as representing the South-East, are 8.28 per cent. slightly subnormal and ·23 bad. Durham County, which has by far the largest number of children in the areas to which the Question relates, has been providing liberal quantities of free milk and is now commencing to provide solid meals for the more seriously undernourished children.

I have carefully examined the: figures for Tyneside and I cannot accept the hon. Member's general deductions. The Board have surveyed the arrangements made in most of these particular areas and will continue to urge authorities to use their full powers to provide additional nourishment.

In view of the fact that this depreciation in standards is admitted in the reply of the Parliamentary Secretary, do I understand that further investigation will take place with a view to remedying this provision?

The decision has already been taken. The surveys of these particular areas were made almost entirely in the year 1939, and they urge a larger ration of milk, more solid meals and a revised income scale.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary tell us whether the word "normal" is to be understood as being the average of those examined in the district, or does it mean coming up to some preconceived standard which children ought to attain?

I would rather not enter into that very difficult problem by question and answer. We always debate it on the Education Estimates.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether the new arrangements for part-time education will include provision for nursery schools and classes operative before the beginning of the war; whether provision is being made for the provision and training of children in cultural, recreational and other beneficial activities during the part of the school day when they will not be in the school building; and whether the services of teachers will only be employed for half the school day or, if possible, for those other activities?

I presume the hon. Member has in mind the arrangements for the resumption of education in the evacuation areas. These arrangements, which are described in the circular, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy, contemplate that all children remaining in these areas should be enabled to return to school at the earliest possible date; this would include children in nursery schools and classes as provision can be made for them. Local education authorities have been notified that where full-time schooling is impossible in the immediate future less formal occupations for the remainder of the school day should be organised.

Do I understand that for the remainder of the schooldays some attempt will be made to organise services for the children?

A special note was sent out two months ago about the effect.

Is it the policy of the Board of Education to have full-time educational facilities for the children in these areas at the earliest possible date?

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether he will state the position at the present moment throughout the country with regard to the medical inspection of schoolchildren?

From the statements received from local education authorities in response to the Board's Circular 1490, a copy of which I am sending to the hon. Member, it appears that in the great majority of areas routine medical inspection is being carried out or will very shortly be resumed. In this circular the Board urged authorities to take steps to secure that within a period of three months all children, whether attending school or not, should have the benefit of medical inspection and, where necessary, treatment. My Noble Friend has urged authorities to treat the matter as one of the greatest urgency.

Is there any particular reason why this should not have taken place five months ago?

There were a great many reasons, but the main reason was the very great difficulty of carrying out the supplementary services connected with Civil Defence..

asked the Parliamenetary Secretary to the Board of Education (1) how many children evacuated to the reception areas are now attending school half time, and how many full time;

(2) how many of the local children in the reception areas are now attending school half time, and how many full time?

Local education authorities of reception areas have been asked to furnish returns by the end of this week which will enable me to give the information desired.

As the non-existence of whole-time education in reception areas is due to the lack of accommodation would it not be possible, now that many children have returned to London, to amalgamate schools? Has this policy been considered?

In a great many districts local and evacuated children have been amalgamated to great advantage.

Why has it not generally been done?

Because some latitude is still left to local education authorities.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that London school children in the East. South and West of England are now talking in the dialect of their adopted counties and does he propose to take any steps to deal with the situation when the children come back talking these different languages?

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether he can state the number of schools in Monmouthshire now operating a two-shift system in order to provide accommodation for children evacuated from other areas; and when the necessary additional premises will be available so as to return to a full-time system of education?

In December last, the latest date for which information is available, there were 44 public elementary schools or departments in Monmouthshire providing accommodation for evacuated children, and in only seven cases was it found necessary to adopt a double-shift system. Endeavours were being made to provide full-time education as soon as possible. I am making inquiries and will communicate with the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that many hospitals have closed down their massage departments as a war-time economy, and that as a consequence, not only have a number of skilled masseurs been thrown out of employment, but great hardship has been caused to thousands of patients; and whether, as the cessation of massage treatment for such complaints as rheumatism will cause many post-war cripples, he will take steps to get massage facilities brought up to at least a pre-war level?

I appreciate the importance of maintaining massage facilities, and inquiries which I have made show that, although there was at the beginning of the war some curtailment of the work of the massage departments of some hospitals, there has been a general reopening of out-patient departments at which massage treatment is given. I may add that provision for massage is also being considerably increased under the emergency hospital scheme.

Is the Minister aware that there is a large number of masseurs unemployed at the present time, and in view of the condition of victims of rheumatism, will he take steps at the earliest possible moment to see that these people are employed?

That is being done by the out-patients' departments of these hospitals,

asked the Minister of Health what additional powers are now being conferred on the Welsh Board of Health over and above those which the board now holds?

The additional powers of the Minister of Health which it is proposed to exercise through the Welsh Board of Health are those relating to (a) Housing and town and country planning; (b) General local sanitary services, e.g., water supply, sewerage and sewage disposal, public cleansing, etc., as well as certain other local government services; (c) Alterations of boundaries of local government areas.

asked the Minister of Health whether he can make any statement as to the number of cases of influenza and their severity reported up to the present?

The number of cases of influenza is not exactly known, because the disease is not notifiable, but the number of deaths ascribed to influenza in the great towns in England and Wales (which include over half the total population) give some indication of the prevalence of the disease. The numbers of such deaths reported in the period of six weeks ended 3rd February, 1940, have been successively 46, 94, 158, 291, 416and 350. These figures are higher than the normal figures for this time of the year, but the age distribution of the deaths is of the normal type, so that the greater numbers of deaths suggest greater prevalence of the disease rather than its occurrence in unusual severity.

:asked the Minister of Health in how many tubercular sanatoria non-tubercular soldiers are receiving treatment; and whether this arrangement is temporary or permanent

In a certain number of sanatoria, as in other hospitals under the casualty scheme, service patients are occupying blocks of beds which have been organised for casualty purposes. The accommodation in sanatoria which is being used in this way for non-tuberculous patients is quite separate from that occupied by tuberculous patients. I am unable to give the figures asked for by the hon. Member without calling for a special return.

Are hospitals which are required for civil casualties to be used for military purposes as well?

Obviously there is a certain amount of accommodation available just now, and obviously it is to the advantage of all concerned that that accommodation should be used. Further accommodation is being provided in the hutting programmes and in other ways.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will state the name of the Member of the War Cabinet who presides over the committee which is constantly sitting to deal with questions connected with the Food Ministry on the one hand and the Ministry of Agriculture on the other?

As my right hon. Friend the Lord Privy Seal explained in the House on the 8th February, he is the chairman of the committee in question.