asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food, whether he is aware that certain people in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, are having civil servants and others billeted upon them and are unable to secure supplies under the rationing scheme owing to the large influx of people to the town; and what action he is taking in the matter?

I am informed that there was some difficulty in regard to supplies at the outset but the persons referred to are now registered with retailers and the grounds for complaint have been removed.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food, whether the calcium he proposes to add to white flour is to be added in the form of chalk, or in what other form?

Tests are being conducted with various types of salts and until these have been completed, I am not in a position to give a definite reply to my hon. Friend's Question.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food, whether, in making his arrangements for the addition of vitamin B1 and calcium to white flour, he will also arrange for a supply of white flour unadulterated with these two ingredients to be available for those persons who dislike wholemeal bread and fear the results of eating bread to which calcium has been added?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Central Bradford (Mr. Leach) on 29th January.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether, in order to avoid the prejudice which is created in many quarters by the use of the term communal feeding, he will encourage municipalities and others concerned with the new centres to adopt a happier term such as national restaurants?

A number of local authorities have already adopted terms other than that just mentioned and any steps taken to add to the attraction of community kitchens will be welcomed by my Noble Friend.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether, having advised the public to eat more oatmeal porridge, he proposes to increase the supply of milk and/or sugar to the public, as both of those commodities are used with oatmeal porridge?

All possible steps are being taken to ensure the maximum output of milk during the coming year. My Noble Friend is not prepared to increase the sugar ration as suggested by my hon. Friend.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether, to increase the production of tame rabbits, he will permit a price higher than that for the wild rabbit, on which no special outlay is made in respect of food, attention and housing?

My Noble Friend's attention has been called to the special position of the tame rabbit in relation to the Maximum Prices Order for rabbits. The practicability of authorising a higher price for such rabbits is now under consideration.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he will state the present position with regard to the supply of meat to restaurants and canteens; whether he is aware that the former appear to be greatly favoured at the expense of the latter; and whether he will make arrangements to change the present system which is causing considerable dissatisfaction?

There is no ground whatever for my hon. Friend's suggestion that restaurants are obtaining meat supplies at the expense of works' canteens. Catering establishments of all types are at present supplied with not more than 30 per cent. of their normal requirements of meat. In the case of canteens serving the needs of persons engaged in work of vital national importance sufficient meat is supplied to provide, where necessary, a daily meat meal for each essential worker.

asked the Minister of Supply whether, in view of the urgency of providing more war material, he will send a skilled representative of the Ministry to Northern Ireland to study on the spot the man-power and resources available for war work and report thereon in order that more employment may be found for those willing to undertake it?

Several visits have recently been made to Northern Ireland by senior technical members of the staff of the Ministry for the purposes indicated by my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Supply whether he is aware of the position in the Lancashire cotton industry, consequent upon restrictions about to be imposed by the cotton control; and has he any statement to make on the subject?

For a number of reasons, it will be necessary to reduce the consumption of raw cotton below the high level of recent months. As an interim measure, some reduction has been made in the amount of raw cotton licensed for use in the month of February.

asked the Minister of Labour how many able-bodied men are employed as gamekeepers and other occupations ancillary to landed sport; and whether he will consider diverting such labour to the service of agriculture?

Statistics are not available. My right hon. Friend will consider with his right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture whether any special steps should be taken to transfer these men to other work, so far as they are not already engaged on essential work as vermin killers or otherwise.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that there is a number of young, capable, able-bodied women of independent means at present wholly unoccupied; and whether he will ensure that such women are recruited into industry before other industries are dislocated by the transfer of women already usefully employed?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. Friend in the Debate on 21st January last.

asked the Minister of Labour what further representations he has received from the Birmingham City Council on the urgency of immediate effort to provide labour for the repair of damaged property and the restoration of public utility services?

My right hon. Friend states that he has not received at headquarters any specific representations from the Birmingham city council on this subject, but as he informed my hon. Friend in answer to a previous Question, substantial assistance has already been given In the provision of the necessary labour and the officers of the Department continue to keep in close touch with the council to give them every assistance in their power.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that old age pensioners are caused hardship when living at considerable distance from the office charged with the issue of appeal forms against supplementary pensions allocations; and whether he can make these forms available at post offices or at least at one office in each town?

There is no special form of notice of appeal for use in supplementary pension cases. Any pensioner who wishes to exercise his right of appeal can do so by an intimation in writing to that effect addressed to the local office of the Assistance Board.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will arrange for the children's allowances now payable to widows to be continued from the children's 14th birthday until the end of the term they leave school?

I have no power to make such an arrangement as the Contributory Pensions Acts provide that the allowances payable in respect of a child shall continue to be paid for any period during which he is at school between his 14th birthday and the 31st July next following his 16th birthday.

asked the Home Secretary whether the arrangements whereby husbands and wives detained under Regulation 18B should have opportunities of visiting one another once a fortnight have now been brought into operation; and whether he has any intention of extending this concession?

The arrangements for enabling men and wives who are both detained to visit each other are now in operation. There is no present intention of extending them.

asked the Home Secretary for what reason Mr. Erwin Löwenstein has been detained since the 5th July, 1940, in spite of the fact that nothing to his detriment is known to the Czechoslovak authorities?

This man is detained on security grounds in pursuance of an order made under Article 12 (5A) of the Aliens Order. The case is at present under consideration.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will arrange for the London Regional Commissioners to be included in the London Telephone Directory?

No, Sir. My right hon. Friend is satisfied that the balance of advantage is against the course proposed.

asked the Home Secretary the cost of the ear-plugs which he has distributed for issue to the public?

Ear-plugs are being distributed free to members of the public. The cost to the public for replacement is 2d.

asked the Home Secretary how many enemy aliens are still employed in London catering establishments and hotels, giving particular figures regarding the Dorchester Hotel, Savoy Hotel and the Café Royal, London?

The information asked for in the first part of the Question is not available. I am informed that the number of foreigners of enemy nationality employed at the Dorchester Hotel is 22 out of a staff of about 525, at the Savoy Hotel, 12 out of a staff of about 300, and at the Café Royal 18 out of a staff of about 175.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that his appeal for fire-watchers is in many cases physically impossible of response; that there are not enough men of the appropriate ages available; that employés are unwilling to watch over their employers' premises whilst their own homes are in danger; and what further steps does he propose taking?

My right hon. Friend has no information which would lead him to suppose that, for the reasons suggested by my hon. Friend, the recent Statutory Orders regarding fire prevention will not in general fulfil their purpose in providing an adequate number of fire watchers. Persons undertaking fire prevention duties at their place of work should bear in mind that it is the responsibility of the local authority to organise, where necessary, fire parties for the protection of the homes in which they live.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that the Essex Education Committee's expenditure on air-raid precautions in schools before 19th October, 1941, was £175,000; that the Exchequer is repaying only one-half of this; and whether they will pay the full amount, so that a committee which did its job before 19th October, 1941, is not penalised for having done so?

Yes, Sir, but in limiting the 100 per cent. rate of grant in respect of school shelters to expenditure incurred on or after 19th October last the Board followed precisely the same line as was adopted by the Ministry of Home Security in regard to expenditure on public shelters, and I can hold out no hope of the new rate being applied retrospectively.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he will now pay to all education authorities 100 per cent. of the cost of providing approved school air-raid shelters, whether or not contracts for them were placed before them before 19th October, 1940?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to-day to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Lieut.-Colonel Macnamara).

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the increase of wages owing to the cost of living of various sections of civil defence including the Civil Nursing Reserve, he is proposing to raise the billeting allowances to those boarding such workers, since the householder has to provide food which now costs more than at the time the arrangements were made?

The allowances payable to householders for the billeting of the classes of person to which my hon. Friend refers are fixed in relation to other billeting allowances. I would refer him to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to a Question by the hon. Member for Evesham (Mr. De la Bère) on 10th December last in which he indicated that he was not prepared to consider a revision of the existing billeting rates.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he has considered the reconditioning of a certain shipyard, of which he has been informed, with the object of building ships there; and will he inquire whether this yard could be put in working condition again with very little expense?

The answer to the first part of the Question is in the affirmative. The information and advice at my disposal does not support the contention in the latter part.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that there is a serious shortage of gold lace in Belfast required for the uniforms of men serving in the Royal Navy and kindred services; and, whether, in view of this, he will see that a sufficient supply of gold lace is placed at the disposal of the tailors requiring such in Northern Ireland to enable them to turn out these uniforms?

There is a general shortage of certain types of gold lace throughout the United Kingdom and not only in Northern Ireland, but it is hoped that manufacturers will be able to produce adequate supplies before long. As a temporary measure to meet this situation a modified form of distinction lace has been approved for certain officers of the Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will requisition all supplies of vegetable seeds, in view of the shortage this year, and put them at the disposal of local authorities, so that allotment holders and other growers can be supplied at cost Price?

I do not consider that the hon. Member's proposal is either necessary or desirable.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that the majority of farmers in the country at the present time are unable to afford to pay for the regular services of veterinary surgeons to inspect their livestock, with the result that a great deal of waste is caused through diseases becoming so established that they cannot be cured; and whether he will take steps at an early stage to arrange for a regular inspection of all essential livestock in this country?

I am not prepared to accept the implications contained in the first part of the Question. As regards the latter part, I indicated in the reply given to my hon. and gallant Friend on 5th February that consultations are taking place on the subject of the control of diseases of dairy stock which account for the greater part of the economic losses caused by diseases of farm livestock.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that in many of the depressed areas children's boot funds have been established where footwear is distributed, the cost of the articles being borne by the fund and parents in the proportion of 75 per cent. and 25 per cent., respectively, and that the administrators of such funds are now confronted with the difficulty of the increased cost of footwear, together with the additional Purchase Tax; and whether he is prepared to remit this tax on the footwear provided by these funds, as the money required for such an object is raised by voluntary subscriptions and public appeals?

I would remind my hon. Friend that footwear of a kind suitable for young children's wear is exempt from Purchase Tax. As regards the last part of the Question, I would refer to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Denbigh (Sir H. Morris-Jones) on 20th November.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that certain building societies stipulate that a surveyor shall be employed for the purpose of assessing damage to house property by enemy action; and whether, in cases where a surveyor is employed, he will take steps to ensure that the cost should be shared in proper proportion between mortgagor and mortgagee?

I am not aware that the building societies are insisting on the employment of a surveyor as suggested in the first part of the Question, and I would point out that there is no requirement by the Government that claims for compensation for war damage should be drawn up with professional advice. Where, however, in the case of a mortgaged property which has suffered war damage the claimant prefers to employ a surveyor in connection with the making of a claim, it would seem to be a matter for private arrangement between the mortgagor and of the mortgagee as to how the expenditure involved should be apportioned.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food the names of his representatives appointed to act in the county of East Sussex; in what areas they act; and what are their qualifications and salaries?

I am obtaining the information and I will communicate with my hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Attorney-General whether, having regard to the increasing number of claims for damages by subjects against the Crown owing to the extended activities of Government Departments and, in particular, owing to the many accidents involving Service drivers, he will reconsider his decision not to introduce the Crown Proceedings Bill in order that justice in such matters may more evidently be done?

The Government do not propose to introduce legislation on the lines suggested.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will introduce legislation to make the definition of a workman under the Workmen's Compensation (Supplementary Allowance) Act, 1940, identical with that under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1925, in view of the injustice of supplementing the allowance only to the dependent children of male workers?

Women workers are entitled under the Act of 1940 to the flat rate supplementary allowance in the same way as male workers. As regards the supplementary allowances in respect of children, provision is made for allowances in respect of the children of widows under the Widows Pension Act and other schemes, and a provision in the Act of 1940 for allowances in respect of such children would have meant a duplication of allowances in these cases.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that the cost-of-living bonus is awarded to most single women, and is withheld from practically all married men, teachers; and if he is prepared to remedy this?

The war allowance for teachers Tests on a recommendation of the Burnham Committees, the general effect of which is to limit such allowance to teachers whose remuneration does not exceed £260 per annum. This recommendation has been accepted by the Board for the purposes of their grant and it is not for me to reopen the matter.

asked the Minister of Health in what circumstances attendants at the Rampton Mental Institution are required to work approximately 113 hours a fortnight, including meal-times, as against the 88 hours per fortnight required of the staff at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum?

I am making inquiries and I will communicate with the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will investigate the case of a Kent Employment Exchange which replied to an appeal by an employer of labour that there was no one available whereas there were six registered men all of whom, on their own initiative, subsequently obtained work with the said employer who was thereupon officially reprimanded by his Department for engaging such men except through the exchange?

I am making inquiries into that case and will communicate with my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of diphtheria and deaths from that disease were recorded in Edinburgh in each year from the year in which immunisation was introduced down to the latest date for which the figures are available, in immunised children, and their ages?

I am informed that the figures desired by the hon. Member are not available for the City of Edinburgh.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of diphtheria in immunised, and non-immunised children, respectively, were recorded in the county of Aberdeen in the years 1938, 1939, and 1940; and whether any of these were fatal?

The required figures are:—

asked the Secretary of State for War whether leave granted to a soldier on compassionate grounds is reckoned against his allotment of ordinary leave?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Morpeth (Mr. R. J. Taylor) on 22nd October last, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he can state the full nature of the scheme for loaning a certain sum per acre, so that troops may cultivate allotments and provide their own vegetables?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Lewes (Rear-Admiral Beamish) on Tuesday last, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Minister of Transport how many schemes for providing "Cross Now" signals or additional three-light signals to traffic lights to provide greater protection to pedestrians, have been submitted to him for the period ended 31st December, 1940; and how many have been approved by him?

I am making inquiries and will let my hon. Friend know the result.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that the 7.30 p.m. train from Birmingham which originally proceeded to Leeds now stops at Sheffield; that upwards of 100 Service men and others have in consequence to wait at Sheffield some hours every night and difficulty is caused to the station staff; and whether he will arrange for the train to continue to Leeds in future?

I am making inquiries and will communicate with my hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he can provide any general analysis of the causes of the 1,313 road fatalities for December?

I regret that no analysis of causes is available, but I am sending my hon. and gallant Friend a copy of the statement issued to the Press on this matter.

asked the Attorney-General, whether his attention has been called to cases in the High Court in which large awards of damages have been made to witnesses of motor accidents because of the shock they suffered; and whether he will consider the possibilities inherent in such awards with a view to legislation?

I think that the matters to which the hon. Member refers are best left to the common law and to the discretion of Judges and juries, and it is not proposed to introduce legislation on the matter.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that the question of renewal of justices on-licences in respect of premises which have been destroyed by enemy action is causing concern to benches of licensing justices; and whether, pending any other action which he may subsequently consider proper, he will give guidance as to what should be done on applications now pending for renewals of such licences, with a view to ensuring uniformity of action by licensing justices on the general principles involved throughout the country?

I am aware that this Question has been the subject of some concern in certain cases and I appreciate the object of my hon. and gallant Friend's suggestion, but I regret that I am not at present in a position to make a statement which would be helpful for the purpose which he has in view.