asked the Prime Minister whether he can give some guidance to Members of Parliament as to what explanation they are to give to the large number of correspondents who communicate with them complaining that they cannot get their services utilised in the present war, many of such being known to Members as men of proved capacity, energy and probity; and whether it is the intention of His Majesty's Government to mobilise this reserve in a more total war effort?

I have been asked to reply. Every effort is being made—not without success—to use the nation's reserve of man-power to the best advantage. Under war conditions, however, it is impossible to secure for every man and woman employment for which in peace-time they may have been best qualified. This applies in particular to many professional and business men and women, whose special ability is not required for the war effort. But there are many ways in which such persons can serve their country at the present time if they are willing to take on jobs which are arduous and probably quite different from any job which they would have considered under peace-time conditions. I am sending to my hon. Friend particulars of some of the openings of this type which are available at the present time for men and women respectively.

asked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been drawn to the shortage of labour in the agricultural industry; and what steps he proposes to take to assist the industry to fulfil its war-time requirements?

I am not aware of any general shortage of labour for agriculture at the present moment. I am, however, in consultation with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries as to the measures necessary to maintain an adequate supply of workers. I would point out that as in other industries the supply of skilled workers is limited and it is essential that farmers should realise the need to take on unskilled labour, especially women, with a view to supplementing the existing labour force.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the difficulty of obtaining spare parts for commercial and other vehicles; and whether he has any statement to make thereon?

I have been asked to reply. Yes, Sir. I am taking steps to improve the position.

asked the Minister Transport Whether he is aware that many persons have suffered personal injury and loss of life by the negligent driving of motor vehicles by persons without means and they, or their dependants, have been left without redress by reason of the insurance policy being repudiated by the insurers because of misrepresentations or non-disclosures in the proposal form; and whether he will consider introducing legislation to remedy this state of things and make it impossible for insurance companies to repudiate liability for claims made by innocent third parties and their dependants against the insured?

I am aware that there are cases of this kind, but according to the evidence given to the Committee on Compulsory Insurance they are not numerous. The committee recommended the establishment of a fund by contributions from insurers to meet such claims, and when war broke out legislation to implement this and other recommendations was under consideration. As my predecessor indicated in an answer to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for South Portsmouth (Sir J. Lucas) on 10th April last, this legislation presents considerable difficulties and under present circumstances it is not practicable to undertake it. Insurers cannot be expected to accept liability for claims made under policies which are not valid.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will make it possible for all persons who so desire to get themselves inoculated against typhoid free of charge or at a nominal cost?

I have recently authorised all local authorities to provide free facilities for inoculation against fevers of the typhoid group, and I have arranged for supplies of the vaccine required for this purpose to be issued to the authorities at the cost of the Exchequer. I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of two circulars which I have recently issued on this matter.

asked the Home Secretary when the scheme by which Members will be notified at once if their constituencies have been bombed will become operative?

My hon. Friend appears to be under some misapprehension. No such scheme is in contemplation. Arrangements have however been made whereby hon. Members may obtain general information about bombing in their constituencies from the appropriate local authorities. These arrangements were outlined in the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for West Birmingham (Mr. Higgs) on 7th November.

asked the Home Secretary how many earplugs have been distributed?

About 34 million pairs have been issued to local authorities.

asked the Home Secretary whether he can now reconsider the restrictions, such as curfew, which are placed on friendly aliens in this country, such as Americans and Greeks; and whether, in particular, he will consider removing the restrictions on such aliens who are actively helping the war effort of this country?

I agree that a liberal policy should be followed in granting exemptions from the aliens restrictions imposed during the war on nationals of Allied and friendly countries, and steps have been taken to this end. Any such alien who is actively helping the war effort of this country may apply to the chief officer of police of the district in which he is registered for exemption from any restriction which hampers that activity.

asked the Home Secretary how many interned aliens have been released under each category of the Government White Paper up to the latest convenient date?

The figures are as follows:—

^* These categories were added after the original issue of the White Paper and many internees who would have been eligible under one of them had already been released under one of the earlier categories.

asked the Home Secretary whether any opportunity will be offered to aliens in Category B, released from internment on grounds of sickness or personal hardship before having their cases revised, of having their cases so revised with a view to re-classification?

Most of the released Category B internees have been deliberately subjected for particular reasons to the special restrictions applicable to enemy aliens. It is open to any alien in Category B who is at liberty to apply to me for a review of his or her classification and I shall be glad to consider the case and if necessary to refer it to the Regional Advisory Committee for a recommendation.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that there is considerable uncertainty among interned aliens other than those now in Category B and coming under the terms of the White Paper as to whether their cases will be revised by the committee now sitting in the Isle of Man; whether he will state, distinguishing between men and women internees where necessary, what other groups will be revised; and whether they will include women classified as C, or internees who have never appeared before a tribunal or who have already appeared before two tribunals?

The committee sitting in the Isle of Man are dealing first with the cases of internees of both sexes whose classification as B was not made or confirmed by a Regional Advisory Committee and whose cases fall within the categories of eligibility set out in the White Paper. Later there will, as stated by my predecessor during the Debate on the 22nd August, be a review of all Category B cases (not eligible to apply under the White Paper) on general grounds of equity even though there may be no immediate question of release. For the purpose of this review interned refugees who arrived in this country after the German invasion of Norway and Denmark and have not been classified by a Tribunal or Regional Advisory Committee will be regarded as in Category B. This committee does not deal with cases which are referred to the Hurst Tribunal. No woman classified as C has been interned except on specific security grounds personal to herself which have altered her classification to A.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works and Buildings when sufficient cement will be released to provide satisfactory and adequate shelter accommodation in schools in Cornwall?

As I have already informed the House, there is no present restriction on the sale of cement; any cement required by the authorities responsible for providing shelters for schools in Cornwall can now be obtained by them, subject to transport difficulties.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that candidates from the ranks of the Royal Army Pay Corps who wish to train for a commission in that unit can only be considered for acceptance in an Officer Cadet Training Unit if of medical categories between B1 and B5, and that candidates in the A1 category are ineligible; and if he will consider an alteration of the present regulations in order that those desirous of training for commissions may not be handicapped by the fact that they are physically fit?

Soldiers of the Royal Army Pay Corps who enlisted before the war are eligible for consideration for appointment to immediate emergency commissions in the Royal Army Pay Corps without further training provided that they are fit for the performance of the duties of the Corps both at home and abroad. Post-war entrants to the Royal Army Pay Corps whose medical category is A1 are gradually being transferred to combatant units, and no new entrants of this category are being posted to the Corps. There is nothing to prevent an A1 category post-war entrant from being recommended for training in an Officer Cadet Training Unit of a combatant arm.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that in various districts of the country the military are the worst offenders in respect of inadequate screening of lights, both in buildings and on trains; and whether, as this practice entails serious con-sequences he will issue stronger warnings on the subject to the Army officers concerned?

This matter has been and is receiving close attention. Strong warnings have recently been repeated on the subject, and disciplinary action against offenders is invariably taken in all cases of infringement of lighting restrictions which are brought to the notice of the military authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will make available to residents in Eire, whose relatives are serving with our Forces overseas, the same facilities with regard to the special cablegram forms which are available to residents in this country?

My right hon. Friend is in communication with my right hon. Friend the Postmaster-General on this subject.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will instruct the relevant military authority to enter into discussion with the relevant civil authority in Barnstaple, with a view to releasing to them one of the partially-used premises now requisitioned by the War Office, so that it may be used for urgent purposes in connection with the problem of civil evacuees?

The premises to which my hon. Friend is referring are now fully occupied by troops for whom there is no suitable alternative accommodation, and I regret that I cannot agree to release these premises for other purposes.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware of the serious difficulties now experienced in Liverpool, and likely to be accentuated in the near future, in finding suitable and sufficient accommodation for key production workers in priority industry, and of the urgent representations that have been made by the local authority for the release, in the vital interests of production, of the 642 houses on the corporation's Woolfall Heath Estate, at present held by the War Office, and also by the Ministry of Home Security, as an aliens' internment camp; and whether to ensure the maximum contribution to the national war effort, he will take immediate steps to restore the use of this accommodation to the corporation of Liverpool for the housing of skilled factory workers at the earliest possible date?

I regret that, in the absence of any suitable alternative accommodation, I see no possibility of surrendering this property.

asked the Secretary for Mines whether it is intended to make available, in the form of a White Paper, the scheme proposed by the coal factors, and adopted by his Department, for the more economic distribution of domestic coal supplies?

At the present stage in the development of arrangements for facilitating the distribution of house coal, I feel that the issue of a White Paper as proposed would be of little value. The original suggestions of the distributive trade have undergone great modification as the result of discussion between the Mines Department and organisations representing the trade and the coal producers, the general line of development being indicated in the Press announcement of 14th August last (of which I am sending my hon. Friend a copy). Very considerable progress has since been made by the distributive trade in building up an organisation which is giving great assistance in meeting present difficulties in coal distribution; co-operating in this matter with the new house coal officers, who have been added to the divisional organisation of the Mines Department.

asked the Secretary for Mines if, in view of the fact that dumps are prepared to receive 8,000 tons of coal in Wandsworth, and that up to date no coal has been received, he will expedite delivery?

The first consignment of Government coal has been delivered to one of the Wandsworth sites, and arrangements for consigning coal to the other site are now being made. The hon. and gallant Member will, of course, appreciate that with The limited supplies now coming forward preference must be given to the immediate requirements of consumers, especially those who could not afford to lay in stocks during the summer.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware that, on 7th December, the British Broadcasting Corporation announced at 7 a.m. that a South-west town had been bombed, at 8 a.m. that a town on the Bristol Channel had been bombed, and at 1 p.m. that Bristol had been bombed; and whether he will explain the reason for the stages of this disclosure?

My hon. Friend will appreciate that information in detail about air attacks on this country cannot be given until the facts are available and they have been investigated and considered. This accounts for the greater particularity of later announcements. In the case mentioned by my hon. Friend, the announcement at 7 a.m. was made before the Air Ministry bulletin was available, and it therefore referred in broad terms only to the area affected. This is the usual procedure. The 8 a.m. announcement was based on the Air Ministry bulletin. It is not usually possible for the Air Ministry in these early morning bulletins which are prepared and issued before daylight, often while operations are still in progress, to give information about the particular locality bombed without risk of giving information to the enemy. Later in the day, when further information is available and the security considerations can be more accurately assessed, it is sometimes possible, as in the case mentioned, to release the name of the town attacked.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he will give an assurance that, when compensation has been paid, or is due to be paid, for loss of kit, a statement has been, or will be, furnished to the claimant, showing the basis on which each claim has been dealt with and how the amount of compensation has been calculated?

It is the general practice of public departments to refrain from furnishing a detailed explanation of assessments to claimants for compensation, and I see no reason for departing from this practice in the class of case referred to. Broadly, the basis of assessment, as set out in paragraph 2639, clause 1, of King's Regulations and Air Council Instructions, is that the value allowed for each article lost will be assessed on the basis of the price of such article at the time of assessment, less an abatement in respect of wear and tear according to the length of time which elapsed between the purchase and the loss of the article. In certain special cases, however, the cost of replacement can be allowed irrespective of the amount of wear and tear to which the kit has been subject.

asked the Minister of Information Whether he will give a list, up to the end of November, of the books and pamphlets supplied to local information committees in the London region with the intention of building up a Ministry of Information library in each borough; and also a list of the boroughs to which this issue of literature has actually been made?

The following is a list of publications supplied to all local information committees in the London Region:

Leaflets and Booklets:

"Britain Acts."

"The Issue."

"India."

"An Airman to his Mother."

"German Peace.

"Carrying On."

"Who are the real peace lovers?"

"German workers under Hitler's Rule."

"What is at stake?"

"Mightier Yet."

"Keep it dark; Silently she slipped away."

"What is the British Empire? "

"Waste collection."

"Food for Thought."

"Sea Power in Europe."

"Stay where you are."

"Let's face the facts."

"Prime Minister's Speech No. 1."

Macmillan's "War Pamphlets" Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

"Commonwealth in Arms."

"Speaker's Notes" Nos. 1–38 dealing with numerous points such as "Life under German occupation" "Economic Resources of Britain and Germany" "Food Supplies," etc.

"Mr. Smith and Mr. Schmidt."

"People you Love."

"They like Sheep."

"Winston Churchill: Man O'War."

"The Quislings."

"Home from Dunkirk."

"More Gems of German Propaganda."

"The British Social Services."

Penguin "Hansard."

The areas to which the above publications have been sent include the county boroughs of East and West Ham and Croydon, as well as the Metropolitan and Municipal boroughs of the London Region.

There is no intention of establishing, in each borough, anything in the nature of a Ministry of Information Library.

asked the Minister of Information whether he is aware that the current issue of "London's Awake," No. 18, the official organ of the London regional office in its frontpage article, states that the average Englishman dislikes having to use his mind and distrusts words, that he is indolent by nature and averse to intellectual exercise; whether he intends that this description shall be taken as a cue by the 1,500 infor- mation officers and speakers in the London area; and, as the dissemination of such information, whether true or untrue, is detrimental to the national effort and likely to be of assistance to the enemy, will he see to it that greater care is taken in future to prevent such statements appearing in this official publication?

I have read the signed article by Sir Wyndham Deedes in the current number of "London's Awake" to which the hon. Member refers. I suggest that he must judge by the whole substance of the letter and not by certain words taken out of their context. Any author can be misrepresented by extracting phrases from their proper context.

asked the Minister of Supply whether his attention has been called to the number of steel girders lying among house debris all over the country; and why they are not collected and used for steel making?

I understand that there is a limited quantity of steel girders lying among house debris in various parts of the country. Where the clearance and disposal of material is not undertaken by the owner, the local authorities have been asked to undertake this work. The steel girders and other materials are made available, first for the requirements of local authorities for A.R.P. and similar purposes, and secondly for Government requirements. Any surplus is disposed of to the iron and steel industry or for other appropriate use.

asked the Minister of Supply whether he will take steps to see that timber for the manufacture of tinplate boxes is not imported from overseas, nor oak for general purposes, in view of the large home-grown supply which is available?

I am glad to inform my hon. Friend that tinplate boxes are now made entirely of home-grown wood, apart from the remnants of a quantity of imported low grade birch. Further purchases of oak are being made abroad only for uses for which there are not sufficient supplies of home-grown hardwoods. The production of home-grown oak is being stimulated and full use is being made of our supplies of home-grown timber.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has given consideration to the memorandum sent him by the Church of Scotland Committee on Temperance; and what action he proposes to take?

The memorandum referred to deals with points which were fully discussed with a deputation, including representatives of the Church of Scotland, which I received last" month. As I then indicated, I am not satisfied, on^ the evidence at present available, that I would be justified in asking Parliament to impose general restrictions of the kind suggested. I have, however, brought the views expressed in the memorandum to the notice of the other Ministers concerned and I shall continue, along with them, to keep a close watch on the position. As regards restrictions on the production of alcoholic liquor I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to his Question on the 15th October.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) whether, for the convenience of leaving certificate candidates and prospective employers of those boys and girls, he will take steps further to amend Circular 149 (1940) of the Scottish Education Department, in order to allow employers to examine and candidates for employment to show individual examination passes when these are obtained, without the present necessity of special application and fee to the education authorities; and whether he will arrange for certificates of individual passes to be issued;

(2) whether he is aware of grave dissatisfaction among such bodies as the Glasgow Chapter V Men Teachers' Association with Circular 149 (1940), because pupils who fail to obtain a leaving certificate are not to be notified of the subjects in which they pass or fail; pupils who fail to obtain the leaving certificate must sit the universities preliminaries in September; and whether he will modify these regulations in the interest of pupils wishing to show passes to employers, and in view of war conditions and individual and financial difficulties;

(3) for what reasons the Scottish Education Department, in amended Circular 149 (1940), have altered the old leaving certificate regulations, under which candidates for employment on leaving school were able to show employers individual passes related to their intended employment, even when they failed in odd subjects; and whether teachers' organisations were consulted before this alteration was made?

The old Regulations for the senior leaving certificate were suspended because of the risk under war conditions of interference with the complicated procedure for holding a comprehensive national examination and because it was felt that the results of such an examination would provide no reliable index of ability in the case of many pupils affected by circumstances arising out of the war. The regulations were replaced by a scheme providing for the issue of certificates on an area basis to candidates who successfully complete their approved course as a whole, allowance being made for war conditions which may have adversely affected their work. Both the Educational Institute of Scotland and the Association of Headmasters of Senior Secondary Schools were consulted when the scheme was framed. The scheme does not provide for the award of passes in specific subjects as these could not be awarded on a uniform basis in the absence of a written examination conducted by a central authority. The question of their entry on the certificate not does, therefore, arise. Unsuccessful candidates for the senior leaving certificate who intend to proceed to a Scottish University may obtain from the Scottish Universities Entrance Board information as to the subjects in which they have been credited with the attainment of a satisfactory standard for the purpose of admission to a University, and a general indication of a candidate's performance may be obtained without any fee from his headmaster by the candidate or by a prospective employer. I have carefully considered the representations made to me regarding the present arrangements, but I regret that I am not prepared to make the amendment which my hon. Friend desires.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is yet in a position to announce the future price of white bread and wholemeal bread?

I regret that I am not yet in a position to make any statement on this subject.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether steps can be taken to regulate the limited supplies of chocolate in order that more standard slab chocolate could be offered to the public in place of expensive chocolate creams?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 3rd December to my hon. Friend the Member for Tam-worth (Sir J. Mellor). Of the reduced supplies of ingredients available a considerably greater proportion than pre-war is already being used in the production of slab or block chocolate and proposals are at present under discussion with the industry for increasing this proportion.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that in a large household with two or three young children the householder, by the differential price of milk, is not only subsidising the milk for his own children but is, in many cases, providing an extra sum for the Treasury; and to what use is this balance applied?

The National Milk Scheme, to which I presume my hon. Friend is referring, enables milk to be supplied free or at the reduced rate of 2d. per pint to nursing and expectant mothers and to children under the age of five years. For other domestic users the full price is charged. The extra cost of milk supplied under the National Milk Scheme is met by Government subsidy. No profit is made by the Government on milk sold at the full price, so that there is no question of the purchaser of such milk either subsidising other milk consumers or providing money for the Treasury.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether his attention has been called to the slow rate at which the sugar-beet factories are taking delivery of the crop; and whether anything can be done to speed up the reception, in order to have the beet in strong condition?

Deliveries of sugar-beet during the present campaign have been maintained at the average rate of previous years, notwithstanding difficulties imposed by war-time conditions. Factories are working to capacity.

asked the right hon. and gallant Member for Rye, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, whether he will give an assurance that the Commissioners will consult with the societies interested before buying or renting any land on, or near, the southern slopes of the mountain at Coniston, which is known as the Old Man; and, in general, whether they will consent so far to modify the detail of their White Paper of 1936 about planting in the Lake District as not to afforest the fells, valleys and slopes on the west side of Coniston Water facing Ruskin's former home at Brantwood, in view of the association of this landscape with the life and work of Ruskin?

In the report of the Joint Committee of the Forestry Commission and the Council for the Preservation of Rural England it was stated that the Commissioners could not refrain from planting in the section west of Coniston Water, but they had noted the special considerations urged with regard to afforestation and would take careful account of them in consultation with the Joint Committee, if and when the necessity arises. In the Commissioners' view this general arrangement, should meet contingencies such as that which the hon. Member has in view.

asked the right hon. and gallant Member for Rye, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, whether his attention has been called to the fact that there will be a scarcity of tree seeds in the spring for replanting areas denuded of trees by the present abnormal rate of felling and that it will not be possible to obtain any from those areas in the Continent of Europe which usually supply us; and whether, in consequence, any special precautions are being taken to preserve the cones of pines, larches and spruces which are now being felled?

This question has received the closest attention and steps have been taken by the Forestry Commission to secure the maximum quantity of cones of the species mentioned by collection in Great Britain.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Treasury attached a condition to the repayment of the deposit receipts of £25,000,000 for the five weeks ended 30th November, 1940, that the banks should re-invest these funds in 2½ per cent. War Loan or other similar security; and whether it is his intention to attach conditions of this nature on all future repayments of Treasury deposit receipts to the banks?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave him on 3rd December. The whole of the sum mentioned in this Question was invested by the banks in 2½ per cent. National War Bonds.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been drawn to conflicting rulings which have been given in respect of different articles as to their liability under the Purchase Tax in a number of cases by provincial and London Customs officials, respectively; whether he is aware that, as a consequence, in many industries great difficulties have arisen owing to the inability to obtain conclusive decisions as to which goods are or are not taxable; and what steps he proposes to take to deal with this situation?

No, Sir. I am not aware that any serious difficulty of this kind has arisen. If the hon. Member will furnish particulars of the cases I will look into the matter.