asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food the number of producers represented on the Home Egg Advisory Committee and the number representing the distributors?

I am sending my hon. and gallant Friend a list of members of the Home-Produced Egg Trade Advisory Committee with the organisations they represent. I am also arranging for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he has considered the magistrates' decision at Hove, Sussex, on Friday last, in connection with the 10 summonses taken out by the Hove food controller; who will pay the costs awarded by the magistrates against the food controller; and what action he intends taking in the matter?

I will communicate further with my hon. Friend and circulate a copy of my reply in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that one effect of fixed maximum prices for rabbits is that it is usually less profitable to sell them in the larger industrial towns, owing to cost of transport, than nearer a source of supply; and whether, in order to encourage the better distribution of rabbits, he will permit some local addition to maximum prices to cover transport costs?

The answer to the first part of the Question is in the affirmative. The question of permitting some local addition to maximum prices to cover transport costs is being urgently considered and I hope that an announcement on the matter may be made shortly.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether, to encourage much-needed production, he will consider whether the present identical price for wild and tame rabbits is equitable, in view of the cost of the latter due to housing, food and attention?

My Noble Friend's attention has been called to the position created by the present identical prices for wild and tame rabbits. The question is being considered in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and I hope to be in a position shortly to inform my hon. Friend of the result.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will now arrange that, in spite of the provisions of the Protection of Practices Scheme, insured persons, when their doctors leave the district for the duration of the war, shall be allowed forthwith to choose any doctor willing to attend them, without regard to the fact of whether he has joined the Protection of Practices Scheme or not?

If my hon. Friend has in mind the case of a doctor undertaking national service, I would refer him to the reply given to him on the same subject on 30th January. The Protection of Practices Schemes have no application to the case of a doctor who leaves the district without undertaking national service.

asked the Minister of Health whether a scheme has been prepared for the exchange of medical officers of hospitals in bombed areas with those in less active areas; and, if so, what is the procedure?

No arrangements for such exchanges have yet been found necessary, but the matter is being kept under review.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware of the proposal by certain firms to secure contributions from members of their staff towards the cost of the employment of fire-watchers; whether he will take action to stop this; and whether he has fully consulted the trades unions respecting the operation of fire-watching schemes as affecting employés?

I take it my hon. Friend is referring to fire-bomb fighters. There is nothing in the Fire Prevention (Business Premises) Order to authorise a charge being levied upon persons working at the premises to which the order applies so as to absolve them from the performance of duties which they may otherwise be required to undertake. I am not aware of any specific case of this character but it should be clearly recognised by those who contemplate making any arrangement for payment that they may still be required to undertake fire-prevention duties under the Civil Defence Duties (Compulsory Enrolment) Order. They would be free from this obligation if they performed the duties on the premises at which they were employed. I hope that a realisation of the position will make it unnecessary for my right hon. Friend to amend the Order. As regards the last part of the Question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement which I made in the House on 6th February.

asked the Home Secretary what representations he has received from any local authority as to the need for warmer uniform for air-raid precautions personnel during the winter months; and what action he has taken or proposes to take?

This question is being sympathetically examined but the production position has hitherto made it difficult to supplement the waterproof garments already authorised.

asked the Home Secretary whether he has authorised justices of the peace, who are also special constables, to continue performing their judicial functions?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to a Question on this subject by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Stretford (Flight-Lieut. Etherton) on 17th October last.

asked the Home Secretary for what reasons it has been found necessary to refuse Mr. Stefan Kaufmann's application for release; whether the fact that he had set up six plants employing 24 British workers on production vital for the national effort has been taken into consideration; and whether he is aware that Mr. Kaufmann, a Jewish refugee from Nazi oppression and a strong anti-Nazi, is still compelled to live together with Nazis in the same camp at Huyton?

After consideration of all the circumstances including those referred to by my right hon. Friend, I came to the conclusion that it was not in the interests of national security to authorise Mr. Kaufmann's release from internment at the present time. As regards the second part of the Question, a broad distinction is drawn in the camps between those who are considered to be friendly towards the Allied cause and those who are not, and I regret that further sub-divisions are not practicable.

asked the Home Secretary in how many instances persons detained under Regulation 18B had been before the advisory committee before 15th January, 1941, or near date, and the recommendations of that committee had not been received by him by15th February, 1941, or near date?

Up to the 15th January last, the advisory committees had heard over 1,200 cases, and in only nine cases had a report not been received by the 15th February.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is still satisfied with the working of the "Help your Neighbour" motor scheme of transport; and whether he intends to continue it

The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes." It has already been announced that the scheme will continue until the end of March. I am not yet in a position to say whether it will continue beyond that date.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will give special attention during his inquiry into the greater use to be made of canals, to those passing through industrial areas, such as the Rochdale Canal from Manchester to Yorkshire, which carries little or no traffic over the greater part of it, although it has been continuously maintained and kept open?

I have brought this suggestion to the notice of Mr. Frank Pick, who, as recently announced, has been appointed to investigate and report on the carriage of traffic on canals.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether the process of producing organic manure from household refuse and liquid sewage, as practised by the Maidenhead District Council, has been found satisfactory as a result of the experiments made at Reading; and whether he will encourage its production by other local authorities?

Arrangements for experiments into the utilisation of town refuse and sewage sludge as fertiliser are well in hand, but they will necessarily take time to complete, and it is not at present possible to say when results will be available. In these circumstances the second part of the Question does not arise.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what is the action of his Department with regard to the preservation of rooks, especially in view of the large number of wire-worm and similar insects in the newly ploughed-up land; and whether he has issued any advice to farmers on the subject?

I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of the Ministry's Advisory Leaflet No. 244 which calls attention to the beneficial character of this bird when its numbers are not excessive. County War Agricultural Executive Committees have been advised of the varied nature of the food of the bird and asked to satisfy themselves, before taking action under the Rooks Order, 1940, in regard to any particular rookery, that the rooks therein are on balance injurious to crops.

asked the Attorney-General whether the Government have yet come to a decision on the subject of the extension of the provisions contained in the Landlord and Tenant (War Damage) Act, 1939, to include ground landlords and their tenants?

As I stated in reply to the hon. Member for Moss Side (Mr. Rostron Duckworth) on 18th February, the Government are proposing to introduce further legislation to that contained in the Landlord and Tenant (War Damage) Act, 1939, dealing with the rights of those who have interests in property damaged by war damage. The question of ground rents is one of those being considered.

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that six Halifax youths, sentenced at the Leeds quarter sessions on 6th and 7th January to three years' Borstal treatment, are still detained in Armley Prison, subject to solitary confinement; and whether, as this is contrary to the 1933 Act, he will see that they are released on recognisances until such times as there are vacancies at Borstal?

These six persons were removed to a Borstal Institution last week. While at Armley Prison they were not in solitary confinement, and my hon. Friend is mistaken in thinking that the detention in prison of offenders awaiting removal to a Borstal Institution is contrary to law; but I fully agree that such temporary detention should be as short as possible. There have recently been special difficulties arising partly from the fact that the Borstal accommodation available has been curtailed by enemy action against one of these institutions.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that in three buildings at Colwyn Bay rooms have been requisitioned or utilised by the civil servants for the purpose of being used as club premises; to whom rental is paid by these clubs; and whether, as the use of this space has involved the requisitioning of other property in the borough for Government use, inconveniencing residents and visitors seeking accommodation in this area, he will remedy this matter?

Yes, Sir. At three of the Ministry of Food's Offices canteens are provided for the use of the staff. In addition, in one of these buildings certain rooms are set aside for social and recreational purposes. Some of these rooms are also used for official purposes. No rent is charged for the accommodation so allocated. I regard provision on this basis for evacuated staff as both proper and desirable,

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether, as anti-Nazi women aliens of German-Jewish origin are now being admitted on like terms with the British to the ranks of the Auxiliary Territorial Service and air-raid precautions services, he will now permit approved cases to enter the Women's Auxiliary Air Force?

It is already open to friendly aliens of enemy origin to present themselves for enrolment in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and, provided their bona fides are established and they are in all other respects suitable, they can be enrolled.

asked the Minister of Health what is the allowance to a widow for the first child of a second marriage where there were children by a first marriage?

The allowance payable under the Contributory Pensions Acts for the first child of the widow's second marriage would be 3s. a week, so long as any child of the first marriage was eligible for an allowance.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he can give an assurance that those serving officers and other ranks possessing suitable qualifications are properly considered, and the necessary returns called for, in connection with appointments requiring special knowledge; and that such appointments are not offered in the first place to those outside the Army?

Serving officers and other ranks possessing suitable qualifications are considered for special appointments when they occur. Returns are called for in connection with appointments requiring special knowledge. It sometimes happens that an officer or other rank with special qualifications is more usefully employed in his existing military capacity, that is, he may be a military specialist. In certain cases of great urgency where it is known that a man in civil life would suitably fill a special appointment, such a man is sometimes specially enlisted or commissioned for that appointment.

asked the Minister of Pensions what compensation is to be given to the parents of James Coulman of Hull, a steward's boy, who was drowned by enemy action on the 28th November, 1940?

It has not been possible in the time available to obtain the papers which relate to this case from our office in the North. I will, however, look into it and write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Pensions if an officer's pension can be granted to the widow and children of No. 741009, Sergeant-Pilot Richard Burls Barr, of No. 500 squadron, who at the time of his death had been recommended very highly by his wing-commander for a commission, as the delays which occurred in getting the document through were due to enemy action; and is it possible, therefore, not to adhere too closely to technicalities in a case of this kind?

I have no power, under the provisions of the Air Force War Pensions Order, to grant pension at a higher rate than that appropriate to the rank held by the deceased man at the time of his death.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works and Buildings what was the composition of the technical committee set up by his Department to inquire into the possibility of the use of blast furnace cement; and were their findings unanimous?

The technical committee was composed of: —Director of Cement (Lord Wolmer), Chairman.Dr. Lea, Building Research Station.Mr. Jensen, Chairman of Tunnel Portland Cement Co., Ltd., and Chairman of Clyde Portland Cement Co., Ltd. (manufacturers of blast-furnace cement).Controller of Building Materials.The technical committee was not set up to inquire into the possibilities of the use of blast-furnace cement, but to report on action to be taken to enable machinery to produce 400,000 tons of blast-furnace cement a year to be erected and operating by the summer of 1941. The report was unanimous on all major questions; the necessary Treasury sanction has been obtained and the work is now in hand. There was disagreement as to the relative values of some of the available slags. This is a matter which can only be settled by further investigation, which is taking place.

asked the Postmaster-General the method of disposal of parcels which cannot be delivered to the addressees, and the senders of which cannot be traced; and whether such disposal is for the exclusive benefit of the Crown?

Parcels which cannot be delivered, or returned to the senders, are, unless they contain perishable articles, retained for at least three months pending application from the sender or addressee. The contents, unless clearly valueless, are subsequently sold by public auction. All amounts realised are normally applied to the benefit of the Crown. If, however, a belated application can be connected with an article or articles sold, an appropriate amount is remitted to the applicant.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that wholesale and retail providers in the Western counties are being subjected to continual inquiries for increased supplies of normal requirements by the civil population but which are beyond the permitted quota, this being consequent on the large increase of population in these counties; and, as the present quota is insufficient to meet such increased requirements of the civil population, will he take steps to remedy the situation?

The present quota is sufficient for essential needs provided it is distributed with due regard to the increased requirements of reception areas. On this I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the replies given on the 28th January to my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr. Liddall) and to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for East Cardiff (Mr. Temple Morris).

asked the President of the Board of Trade if the Limitation of Supplies (Miscellaneous) Order, 1940, with regard to the sale of sports goods can be relaxed in view of the present inconvenience caused to officers and men of the different branches of the Services and the hardship placed on sports dealers who are trying to keep their businesses alive and pay their rates and taxes, particularly in view of the fact that the shops are suffering from unfair trading arrangements comparable with the service department?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 11th February to my hon. Friend the Member for Newport (Sir R. Clarry).