asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that proprietary articles and chemical mixtures purporting to extinguish incendiary bombs are still being offered for sale to private householders by canvassers, and civil defence units in certain localities are being permitted to engage in sales demonstrations which often influence bulk purchases by business firms; and what steps he is taking to put an end to this practice?

Yes, Sir; I am aware that such articles and mixtures are still being offered for sale. All authorities concerned have recently been requested to prevent their officers from attending demonstrations of the kind referred to.

asked the Minister of Health what communication the Central Medical War Committee has recently made to local medical war committees upon the subject of the Home Guard Medical Service; whether such communication was approved by the full committee; and whether it received his sanction before issue?

I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of the communication to which I presume he refers; he will see that the relevant portion merely conveys to secretaries of local medical war committees certain decisions of the War Office affecting the medical organisation of the Home Guard. The answer to the second and third parts of the Question is No.

asked the Minister of Health when the Central Medical War Committee last held a meeting; what matters connected with the Home Guard Medical Service were then discussed; and whether he has received any report of such discussions?

The Central Medical War Committee last met on 14th February last. No matters connected with the Home Guard were then discussed, and the last part of the Question therefore does not arise.

asked the Minister of Health whether the Central Medical War Committee or local medical war committees, or both, have authority to decide upon the duties or rank of any medical officer in the Home Guard, or whether they are restricted to the duty of seeing that the civilian services are not prejudiced by the enrolment of particular officers in the Home Guard Medical Service?

No civilian body has authority to decide upon the duties or rank of any officer in the Home Guard, but I would remind my hon. Friend that the Central Medical War Committee has a general responsibility to advise the Government on matters involving the supply of medical men and women for war-time duties, and also to represent the medical profession in negotiations with Government Departments on these matters.

asked the Minister of Health whether medical officers of the Home Guard are to be called upon for whole-time service with their units in the event of invasion; and, if so, what steps have been taken to provide for the medical treatment of civilians, in view of the injunction to civilians to stay where they are?

As regards the first part of the Question, the position is set out in the communication, which as stated in my reply to a previous Question, I am sending to my hon. Friend. He will see from this document that the second part of the Question does not arise.

asked the Minister of Health whether, having regard to the additional duties imposed upon medical officers of health by reason of the war, arrangements have been made or recommended for the services of available local general practioners to be utilised for the regular medical inspection and supervision of the children at war-time nurseries referred to in his Department's Circular No. 2388, dated 31st May, 1941, and Memorandum 247/111A; and, if so, what remuneration is proposed?

The detailed arrangements for the medical supervision of children in war-time nurseries are a matter for the Medical Officer of Health of the welfare authority establishing the nursery. Such arrangements will usually take the form of an extension of the authority's existing scheme for the medical supervision of young children, whether by whole or part-time medical officers.

asked the Home Secretary to what extent it is intended that the Fire Prevention Organisation shall be linked up with the decentralisation to regional authorities of the fire-fighting services; and whether the National Fire Board will include representatives of the Fire Prevention Organisation?

I am not yet in a position to make a statement on this matter.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport whether he has now come to any conclusion with respect to revision of the regulations which will enable drivers of motor-cars carrying trade plates, to give lifts to serving men in uniform without breaking the law?

Yes, Sir. A regulation was made on 16th June to the effect that for the duration of the war it will not be an infringement of the regulations if a. casual free lift is given to members of H.M. Forces in uniform in a vehicle being otherwise lawfully used under a limited trade licence.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport whether, in view of the statement of the Director-General of the Ministry of War Transport, to the effect that the provision of repairs to motor vehicles would be a matter for his Department and the Ministry of Supply and that that organisation was advised before the advisory committee on motor transport made its report, what was the purpose of setting up the committee; were the details of this organisation brought to the notice of the advisory committee; and what was their report on same?

I cannot trace any such statement as that to which my hon. Friend refers. The Motor Vehicle Maintenance Advisory Committee was set up by the Minister of Supply and the late Minister of Transport jointly to advise them on the various questions relating to the maintenance of civilian road transport vehicles and the repair of service vehicles in civilian establishments. Full information was placed before the committee whose report has been received. The committee's recommendations are accepted and in large part have already been implemented or are in course of being so.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that parents and wives of prisoners of war are unable to provide wearing apparel and footwear to their relatives who are prisoners of war because no coupons are available; and will he take the necessary steps to provide additional coupons covering the needs of the prisoners?

As my right hon. Friend stated yesterday, arrangements have now been made for this purpose.

asked the Minister of Health whether, as many parents will not supply clothes for their evacuated children, the householder on whom the children are billeted is entitled to use the coupons and debit the parents with the cost of the articles supplied, or whether the local authority can use the coupons and collect the sums due from the parents with whom they keep in touch?

The primary responsibility for supplying evacuated school children with clothing must continue to rest with the parents and the question of coupons is one for private arrangement between the parent and the householder with whom the child is billeted. To cover the exceptional case where the parent fails to make provision for his child, arrangements already exist under which the local authority for the evacuating area, in co-operation with the teachers and W.V.S., can supply necessary articles, recovering the cost from the parent if he is in a position to pay. The introduction of a rationing scheme for clothing does not affect these arrangements except in so far as it will now be necessary for coupons to be collected from the person in charge of the child's ration book in respect of new articles provided in this manner. Detailed instructions have been sent to my Regional officers who are in a position to give guidance to local authorities and others on the procedure.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware that a Brighton member of a certain squadron has a wife and two children in Canada who cannot receive his Air Force pay as the drafts are sent to her marked" not payable out of the United Kingdom," and are cancelled within three months ii not cashed; and will he take steps to alter this system of payment, as the wife in the meantime is dependent on the charity of friends in Canada?

If my hon. Friend will furnish me with particulars of the airman concerned, I will have inquiries made.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether his attention has been drawn to the delays experienced by cadets of the Air Training Corps in being accepted for the Royal Air Force; and what steps he is taking to minimise these delays?

I have not had my attention drawn to any undue delays. A.T.C. Rules and Regulations provide that cadets can attest in the R.A.F. at the age of 17¼, if they so desire and if they have passed the appropriate tests. It is, however, expressly stipulated that such men will be placed on deferred service and will not be called up for Air Force training earlier than is the general rule.

asked the Secretary of State for Air why Thomas George Bevan of 21, Llwyn on Street, Caerphilly, was sent home on sick leave without pay or allowances and was compelled to apply for public assistance for himself and his wife, assistance having been refused by the Assistance Board and, despite three letters from the public assistance officer to the air authorities, this airman and his wife were chargeable to the public assistance committee from 28th January, 1941, to 23rd April, 1941, and continued so to be; and whether he has any statement to make thereon?

This airman was sent home on sick leave on 18th December, 1940. On 23rd December, 1940, his discharge was authorised, but was held up pending his return from sick leave. The airman's pay ledger shows that in the third week in December he received the sum of £3 10s. in respect of pay up to 27th December. As regards allowances, the airman's wife was drawing family allowance at the rate of 25s. a week at the time he was sent home and she continued to draw this allowance until the second week in February. Payment was interrupted when Mrs. Bevan, without being asked to do so, returned the Order Book on 19th February, having cashed orders up to 12th February. In the meantime an oversight had unfortunately occurred in regard to the airman's pay, in that the fortnightly interim payments which should have been made to him under the regulations were in fact not made. He received the sum of £10 in March, however, and a further payment of £6 15s. was made to him in April. On 30th April his discharge was effected and a payment of £3 us. 1d. has now been issued in final settlement of his account. The arrears of family allowance from 13th February to the date of her husband's discharge, were paid to Mrs. Bevan on 23rd May. Although Mrs. Bevan, in returning her order book voluntarily, was in part the unwitting cause of family allowance being stopped, much of the blame for the trouble and inconvenience, which are regretted, rests with my Department, and steps are being taken to prevent, as far as possible, the occurrence of similar cases in future.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether, before issuing the final scheme for egg rationing, he will consider making provision for preferential treatment for children, and for sick and delicate people?

:My hon. Friend's suggestions are already under consideration by the Ministry with the help of the Food Rationing (Special Diets) Advisory Committee of the Medical Research Council which advises on all such matters.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is satisfied that communal feeding centres are supplying meals to those for whom such centres were instituted; is he aware that many members of the working-class community are unable to leave their homes to take meals at such centres; and that those who can take meals at such centres, without surrendering coupons, are thereby drawing double rations?

:I can assure my hon. Friend that British Restaurants are used by the persons for whom they were intended, namely, the poorer classes, evacuees and those factory workers for whom catering facilities do not already exist in their own works. The restaurants are undoubtedly used by other people for whom they were not intended but it is difficult to see how this can be prevented. It is appreciated that some members of the working-class community are unable to take meals in the restaurants but a cash and carry system has been provided to enable these people to send someone to purchase food at the restaurant for consumption in their homes. British Restaurants are registered as catering establishments and those who take meals there do so under the same conditions with regard to coupons as people taking meals in any other catering establishments.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food, seeing that meat and other rationed commodities, which would ordinarily be supplied through the traders to registered customers, are now being supplied for service at communal feeding centres without the surrender of coupons, how it is proposed to build up stocks; when supplies are adequate will be, in the interests of the public, issue a higher weekly percentage to the traders; and has the meat ration been maintained at is. in order that supplies can be found for communal feeding centres?

The total releases of rationed foodstuffs including those supplied to catering establishments of all types are regulated so as to ensure the building up and maintenance of adequate reserves. The proportion of total releases which goes to catering establishments including British Restaurants, works canteens and War Time Meals Centres is small as compared with the releases for domestic consumption. I can assure my hon. Friend that as and when the supply position of any commodity permits releases will be increased.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he will take steps to institute a system of rationing for beer and spirits; and whether he will issue coupons for them?

No, Sir.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food the cost of running the Food Advice Bureau in Reading, including rent, rates, taxes and decoration of the premises; and the number of new visitors to this bureau each week?

The total cost of running the Food Advice Centre at Reading, including wages, is approximately £25 a week. The average attendance at demonstrations is 50 a week, and the personal inquiries average 130 a week. The duties of the staff are not confined to the centre; they also carry out visits and demonstrations throughout the Southern Division.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he will control the price of tomatoes in view of the excessive prices now being charged?

:As my hon. Friend may have noticed, since he put his Question down, an Order has been brought into operation controlling the price of tomatoes as from 22nd June.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food when it is proposed to commence the fortification of white flour; and when this process is likely to be completed?

Flour millers supplying flour to the whole of South Wales have commenced the fortification of their deliveries of white flour with vitamin B1. The area over which fortified white flour will be delivered will be extended rapidly with the increase of supplies of vitamin B1 but I am not able to state precisely when it will be possible to fortify all white flour delivered throughout the country.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Food whether his attention has been called to the fixing of controlled prices of articles of food at higher rates than obtained just previously in markets open to the operation of supply and demand; and whether, before fixing such higher prices, he ascertains whether the producers have hitherto been selling at a loss.

I am unable to answer my hon. Friend's Question in general terms but if he will give me particulars of any commodity or commodities which he has in mind, I will gladly give the matter consideration.

asked the Minister of Health the number of deaths from tuberculosis in all its forms in England and Wales during the third and fourth quarters of 1940, and for the whole of 1940, in comparison with corresponding periods in 1937, 1938 and 1939, with separate figures for males and females?

The following is the information desired by the hon. Member:

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any arrangements exist whereby the names of British civilians abroad who become casualties through hostile air activity are reported to his Department by the British consular representatives concerned; and whether notification thereof is sent to the next of kin of such casualties in this country when the names and addresses of such next of kin are known?

In the course of their duties consular officers would report to the Foreign Office all cases coming to their knowledge where British subjects in their district had been killed or seriously injured as the result of enemy action. If necessary and possible, steps would be taken to notify the next of kin. It will, however, be appreciated that in certain circumstances a consul might not find it possible to obtain details of casualties or to communicate with the relatives.

asked the Secretary for Mines whether his attention has been called to the complaint of the shortage of coal supplies of the Metropolitan Water Board; and what immediate steps he proposes to meet the situation?

This undertaking has reserve stocks of coal far greater than those of most public utility undertakings. In spite of the heavy demands made upon the Board last winter at no time did their total stocks fall below three months' consumption and the total decrease during the winter was only eight weeks. Since then there has been some further addition to stocks which now stand at about sixteen weeks' needs. This is a far stronger position than that of most public utility undertakings in the country. While I recognise the exceptional importance of the Metroplitan Water Board, I feel that in the present position of coal supplies, I should be justified in placing some limitation upon supplies to this concern in order that the supplies available shall be reasonably distributed to other undertakings.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, taking the list of men returned as permanently unemployed, he will state the chief reasons why, when almost every sort of labour is universally wanted, these men cannot obtain, and are not offered, work?

:There is no list of men returned as permanently unemployed. If my hon. Friend is referring to men classified as wholly unemployed, the majority of these are unemployed for only short periods between jobs. Of the men returned as wholly unemployed on 12th May, 36,393, about a quarter of the total, had been classified by local employment committee panels as unsuitable for ordinary industrial employment for physical and other reasons. It is not to be expected that men so classified can be easily placed in employment but a fair number of them do nevertheless get back into work.

asked the Minister of Information whether his attention has been called to the increasingly dull and unimaginative methods of introducing the British Broadcasting Corporation news bulletins on the Home Service; that this is very much better done by the overseas services of the British Broadcasting Corporation; and whether arrangements can be made either to effect a change in the personnel of the news editing staff of the British Broadcasting Corporation or to arrange that the editors of the leading newspapers in this country shall be allowed to present news bulletins over the British Broadcasting Corporation in rotation, with a view to demonstrating how such matter can be more attractively and intelligently presented?

Yes, Sir, I have seen the suggestion that the news is more attractively presented in the Overseas Service than in the Home Service. I believe that this is principally due to the fact that those who prepare it for the Overseas Service are not so rigidly confined to the mere repetition of official bulletins and communiques which have just been received from the various Departments.

asked the Undersecretary of State for the Colonies the money gifts which have been made, or promised, by the British dependencies, as contributions to the war effort from their own revenue or reserves?

The list of Colonial Government money gifts is as follows:

asked the Home Secretary the designation of appointments, remuneration to be paid for each, and which appointments were advertised, in connection with the new approved school to be opened shortly at the Castle, Stanhope, county Durham?

I have sent my hon. Friend the information he asks for.

asked the Minister without Portfolio what is the relation between the Nuffield Reconstruction Survey and his functions?

The Social Reconstruction Survey was instituted on the initiative of the authorities of Nuffield College, and the conduct of the survey is in the hands of a committee appointed by the College authorities for that purpose. The subjects under investigation include the changes in the location of industry and the distribution of population which have been caused by the war, and a report will be submitted to my Noble Friend the Minister of Works and Buildings and myself. I anticipate that the report will be of value in the preparation of plans for post-war rehousing, resettlement and industrial transfer.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has considered the protest from the Government of Iceland concerning the ban on the Communist daily paper, "Thjodvil-jinn," and the arrest and deportation of a Communist member of the Icelandic Parliament; whether he is aware that a joint meeting of both houses of the Icelandic Parliament has also registered a unanimous protest against this action as being contrary to the constitutional immunity of Icelandic members of Parliament under that country's law; that further protests have been made by the Society of Icelandic Writers and by almost every newspaper of all political views; and whether any steps are being taken to remedy these grievances?

The answer to the first part of the Question is in the affirmative. Protests were registered by certain organisations in Iceland and the fact of the suppression of the newspaper referred to by the hon. Member and the deportation of the editors was naturally reported and commented on generally in the Icelandic Press. As regards the last part of the Question, the three persons concerned were arrested and deported for having endeavoured to spread disaffection among the British troops and to promote ill-feeling between them and certain sections of the inhabitants of the island, thus affecting the security of His Majesty's Forces in Iceland. While His Majesty's Government regret that this action should have been necessary, they have no reason to believe that it has impaired the friendly relations existing between them and the Icelandic Government or led to ill-feeling between the British Forces and the inhabitants of Iceland. They do not, therefore, propose to take any further action in the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many deer forests existed in Scotland at the commencement of this war and how many now exist; the acreage in both cases; the extent of the land in these forests now used exclusively for grazing sheep; and the extent of such land now brought under cultivation?

At the beginning of the war there were 193 subjects in Scotland classified as deer forests, covering some 3,287,000 acres. Steps have been taken to increase the use of these forests as grazings for sheep and cattle to the extent to which suitable additional stocks are available. The increased use of deer forests for grazing cannot be expressed in terms of acreage, but the numbers of stock on deer forests as at 4th June this year is in process of compilation and I will communicate with the hon. Member at an early date. No details are available about the area of land on deer forests brought under cultivation, but from the nature of the land the area cannot be large.

asked the Minister of Supply what are the rates of pay for juveniles employed in depots and establishments under his control; what is the greatest sum that a boy of 16 years of age, with overtime, can earn per week for unskilled work; and how frequently is this maximum attained?

The rates of wages of boys on industrial work at Ministry of Supply establishments, which in general have been fixed in agreement with the trade unions concerned, vary according to the class and place of employment. The time rates for unskilled work in force at establishments of an engineering character, where the majority of the boys are employed, range from 20s. at age 16 to 49s. 6d. at age 20 for a week of 47 hours, additional payments being admissible where overtime and piecework arise. As the precise information sought in the second and third parts of the Question could only be obtained by circular inquiry of the many establishments concerned, I hope that my hon. and gallant Friend will not press for it, but I would do my best to obtain the details for him in the case of any particular establishment which he may have in mind.