asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is now able to provide coupons for physical training clothes for members of the Air Training Corps?

No, Sir. I am unable to agree to provide coupons for this clothing out of civilian rations.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will inquire into the circumstances attending the demand by his Department at Bournemouth, reference No. 1 & M. Div 2 C/13/124526, that coupons be surrendered for second-hand clothing which had been sent from America to a firm in London for distribution among the employees who had suffered from enemy action; and whether he will consider freeing from the coupon procedure any clothing which is given freely to those who, owing to enemy action, are poor and distressed?

Persons who as a result of enemy action suffer from shortage of clothing may obtain sufficient supplementary coupons to restore their wardrobe to an adequate level. It would therefore be unfair to other members of the community and wasteful of supplies if they were enabled to obtain clothing, whether as gifts or otherwise, without surrendering the appropriate number of coupons. Second-hand clothing, if given or if sold below certain prices, is coupon-free. It has now emerged that the gift clothing to which the hon. Member refers is second-hand and there will therefore be no need to collect coupons in this case.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the great scarcity of low-priced utility household cups and saucers; whether, in the scheme of industrial concentration, manufacturers of this commodity have been merged with the makers of established higher-priced goods; and what steps he proposes to take to rectify the position?

Yes, Sir. I am aware that there has been a shortage of cheap crockery in some districts. Under the concentration arrangements a small number of firms that produced, predominantly, cheap crockery have closed but other firms of this kind have obtained nucleus status, and the great majority of nucleus firms are equipped to increase their production of plain ware at the expense of their production of decorated ware. A general licence has now been issued under the Limitation of Supplies Order, permitting the unrestricted supply of utility articles made of plain undecorated earthenware or china.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what arrangements are made to ensure that adequate technical and scientific advice is available to the dyestuffs controller; and whether he will consider appointing an adviser with full technical and scientific abilities to assist him in his work?

The Dyestuffs Controller already has the assistance of an advisory committee and of two part-time technical advisers appointed respectively by the Association of British Chemical Manufacturers and the Colour Users' Association. As at present advised, I therefore do not consider there is any need for the additional appointment suggested.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that Mr. J. C. Rodgers, recently appointed to the Department of Overseas Trade, concerned with post-war planning, is a director of J. Walter Thompson and Company, Limited, advertising agents; that this appointment has created apprehension among other advertising firms in competition with Walter Thompson and Company, Limited, for advertising business arising after the war; and whether he will consider utilising Mr. Rodgers's services in a sphere where no suggestion can arise that his present official duties may he inconsistent with duties which will fall to him if, at the end of hostilities, he returns to active participation in the firm of which he is now a director?

I have been asked to reply. When Mr. Rodgers joined the Ministry of Information he retained his directorship of the firm in question, giving an undertaking that he would take no part whatsoever in the control of that firm whilst in Government employ. I have no knowledge of the apprehensions referred to which, if existent, are unwarrantable. If, for such reasons, persons connected with business were debarred from undertaking in the Civil Service duties for which their qualifications appear to fit them the State would suffer serious loss, and I am accordingly not prepared to act as suggested in the last part of the Question.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department what other candidates were considered for appointment to the post to which Mr. J. C. Rodgers has been appointed in his Department; what is the salary attached to the post; and whether he is satisfied, in view of the fact that this gentleman is only 34 years of age, that it was not possible to obtain the services of another person with the necessary qualifications who was not of military age?

The suggestion that the appointment in question should be of a person above military age is irrelevant, since Mr. Rodgers, who is 35, is above the reservation age applicable to temporary civil servants holding appointments in the administrative, executive and analagous grades. Several other names were considered for the post in question and Mr. Rodgers, whose qualifications as director of the Commercial Relations Division of the Ministry of Information were well known to my Department, was selected. The Ministry of Information concurred in his transfer which was effected on the basis of his retaining his existing salary of £1,000 per annum.

asked the Secretary for Mines to what extent have the losses of certain colliery companies been borne by his Department; and the latest available figures.

In a very small number of wholly exceptional cases the Mines Department has found it necessary, in order to maintain production, to undertake to give financial assistance in the working of collieries. It is not possible at present to give an estimate of the charge which may be involved.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food the reason for the refusal to apply the principles of price inquiry and regulation to commodities of food obtainable in hotels, restaurants and railway buffets?

Owing to the wide differences in the services and amenities provided by various classes of establishment, it is not considered practicable to devise a satisfactory scheme for controlling the prices charged by catering establishments.

asked the Minister of Pensions (1) how many families of men serving in the Royal Air Force have been granted improved allowances under the provisions of Command Paper 6318;(2) how many families of men serving in the Navy have been granted improved allowances under the provisions of Command Paper 6318?

I regret that I am unable to furnish the detailed information asked for in these Questions. The information could only be obtained by a detailed statistical analysis which would involve a disproportionate expenditure of time and labour.

asked the Minister of Health whether it is still the policy of His Majesty's Government that additional benefits should be provided for insured persons in connection with National Health Insurance as in times of peace; and if he will take steps to provide for the manufacture of frames for spectacles stamped O.B.A.C.

The answer to the first part of the Question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part every effort is being made to ensure that a sufficient supply of spectacle frames of the standards laid down by the ophthalmic benefit approved committee is available for insured persons. My right hon. Friend, in conjunction with other Departments and bodies concerned, is carefully watching the position. Under arrangements already in operation, if an insured person is in urgent need of glasses and cannot for the time being be supplied with a spectacle frame stamped as indicated in the Question, the optician concerned should apply to the approved committee for special authority to supply a suitable frame not so stamped.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in order to reduce unnecessary use of paper, he will take steps to see that the records required to be maintained of attendances, etc., on insured persons by insurance practitioners, are abolished?

No, Sir, I am not satisfied that the suspension of the system of medical records would be justified in present circumstances.

asked the Minister of Health how many members of the Insurance Acts Committee of the British Medical Association have, during the last four years, been appointed to any remunerative work directly or indirectly at the disposal of his Department; and how much has been paid to such appointees by way of remuneration and expenses?

The only appointments of the kind described in the Question which are or have been held by any of the 33 members of the committee in England and Wales are as follow: Three hold or have held whole-time or part-time salaried posts in the Emergency Medical Service at £800 or £500 a year respectively, with travelling allowances at the prescribed rate. A fourth is enrolled in this service on a sessional basis and has received £7 17s. 6d. in all. Nine others are similarly enrolled, but have not been called on for duty or received any fees. Any inquiry about the members of the committee who reside in Scotland or Northern Ireland should be addressed to the Ministers concerned.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has considered the circular letter D.I (1941–42) sent by the British Medical Association to local medical war committees administering local protection of practices schemes; and whether he will specify the particular Regulation under which these proposals are made?

I have seen the circular letter to which my hon. Friend refers. As I understand it, it advises local medical war committees as to certain arrangements which could be made by voluntary agreement between practitioners in connection with protection of practices schemes.

asked the Minister of Health the various sources, other than local medical war committees, and the other medical organisations and channels of communication from which the Central Medical War Committee obtains information for the maintenance of the National Register of the Medical Profession; what efforts the local medical war committees make to keep their local registers up to date; and why it was necessary to advertise for information concerning a large number of missing medical practitioners in the "British Medical Journal"?

I cannot state all the sources from which the Central Medical War Committee and local medical war committees, in the course of their day to day operations, obtain material for correction to the registers, but I may instance notifications of appointments in the Emergency Medical Service and other services made by my Department and by other employing authorities and notifications of new registrations and changes of address obtained from the General Medical Council. The notice in the "British Medical Journal" referred to in the last part of the Question was inserted in order to seek information about a number of practitioners with whom the Central Medical War Commtitee had lost touch in spite of the normal machinery for keeping the records up to date.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what is the percentage of officers, other than in the general duties branch, whose rank was, war substantive, temporary, and acting, respectively, in the appointments which they were filling at the last convenient date in the war establishment for flying officers, flight-lieutenants and squadron-leaders?

The production of figures in the complete detail asked for by my hon. and gallant Friend would involve unproductive effort which could hardly be justified at the present time. The broad fact that the promotion of non-flying personnel has been more rapid than that of flying personnel is, however, well known throughout the Service.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether European doctors who have been called up or who have volunteered from the tea gardens in Assam and are now serving with the Indian Medical Service or doing full time medical work with the Army in India, are receiving the same pay and the same overseas allowances and given the same opportunities for promotion as European doctors of similar rank and doing similar duties in India who may have joined up in England?

I have already made inquiries on this subject, and will communicate with my hon. Friend on receipt of a reply from the Government of India.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will consider the practicability of arranging for an issue of non-interest-bearing bonds, at 5s. or 10s. each, numbered for the purposes of a lottery for substantial prizes, thus gaining for the national effort part of the sums now spent upon racing and football pools, as well as saving a considerable sum otherwise payable in interest, and reducing the administrative cost involved in the calculations and transmissions of interest?

No, Sir.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the complications involved in an adjustment of the pay of His Majesty's Forces, as compared with the wages received by those engaged in industry, he will give an assurance that careful consideration will be given to the possibility of granting a gratuity to members of the Fighting Services on demobilisation commensurate with the capital sums likely to be saved by industrial workers, with a view to enabling those at present in the Forces to embark upon the post-war period without unfair financial hardship?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Mr. Lipson) on 3rd December.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether farm profits for the year 1940, under Schedule B, become liable to be assessed for tax under Schedule D in 1942?

For the purpose of assessment under Case I of Schedule D the profits of farming, like trading profits in general, are measured by the profits of the taxpayer's year of account immediately preceding the year of assessment. The application of this measure in the case of a farmer who becomes chargeable under Schedule D for the year 1941–42 by virtue of Section 10 of the Finance Act, 1941, is not affected by the consideration that the farmer's year of account preceding the year of assessment may fall within a year or years of assessment for which he was charged to tax under Schedule B on the annual value of his land. In this connection I may invite the attention of my hon. and gallant Friend to the provisions of Sub-Section (4) of Section 10.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what proportion of farmers for the last tax year paid their Income Tax on the basis of rent, of the previous year's profits, and of the current year's profits, respectively?

For the last tax year, namely, 1940–41, the great bulk of farmers would have been assessed by reference to the anual value of their farms, and only a comparatively small number would have elected to be assessed on the basis of the actual profits of the preceding year. In the current year, however, my hon. Friend will recollect that the last Budget provided that all farmers whose farms exceeded £300 in annual value were no longer to be assessed by reference to that annual value, but were to be assessed under Schedule D on the basis of the actual profits of the preceding year. I am not yet able to state the number of farmers so assessed in the current year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, since 330,000 of the 430,000 people in receipt of non-contributory old age pensions also receive supplementation, he will take steps to economise in man-power and costs by bringing both these processes under the one administrative Department?

The possibility of effecting a saving in the manner suggested is under consideration.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why rent is exempt from Excess Profits Tax; and whether he is aware that farmers earning excess profits are easily compelled to pay higher rents rather than Excess Profits Tax, the increase of rent going free of Excess Profits Tax to the landlord and thus being lost to the Treasury?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to his previous Question on this subject on 5th August last. I have no evidence to support his statement with regard to farmers in the second part of the Question.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that in order to avoid payment of Excess Profits Tax the habit of buying up land at high prices is on the increase; and what steps he proposes to take to stop this?

I have no evidence that persons are buying up land at high prices in order to avoid payment of Excess Profits Tax, but if my hon. Friend has any definite evidence to this effect and will let me have particulars I will look into the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for War in how many cases his Department has repudiated responsibility for damage caused to property by drivers of War Department vehicles on the ground that the drivers were unauthorised, or that the drivers were not authorised to drive War Department vehicles at the times of the accidents?

No figures are available for the period before 1st August, 1941. Since that date there have been 55 cases of the kind referred to by my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the case of 4196372 Fusilier R. A. Williams, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, who has been detained under arrest on a charge of desertion since 30th October, 1941, first at Lymington police station and then at Brecon barracks; and whether his trial by court-martial will be expedited?

This soldier's case was summarily disposed of by his commanding officer on 25th November, and the period spent in custody was taken into account by the commanding officer in awarding punishment.

asked the Secretary of State for War who is responsible for the statements published in the Press from a military spokesman; to what extent are such statements approved by higher authority; and what is the responsibility of the military censorship if the military spokesman is in Cairo or at some other headquarters overseas?

The Ministry of Information is responsible for Press conferences held at the Ministry at which official statements on military affairs are made. Such statements are approved by high military authority before issue. Statements made by military spokesmen overseas have the authority of the Commander-in-Chief concerned, and all messages reporting such statements are subject to censorship by the local military censors in the ordinary way.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is satisfied, on the information he has obtained, that our prisoners of war in Germany are receiving food, care and attention equivalent to what the German prisoners in the hands of the British are receiving?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to a similar Question by him on 10th September.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware of the intention to open a dog-racing track at Stevenston, Ayrshire, and of the local feeling against the project; and what action he is prepared to take in the matter?

I am informed that it is not intended to proceed with any work on the proposed track during the war.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware of the increasing number of milk cows that are being purchased in Scotland and sent to England; and, in view of the milk shortage in Scotland, whether he will prevent the exportation of milk cows from Scotland?

While the purchase of milk cows in Scotland for use in England is a normal feature of the live stock trade, and the numbers of cows in Scotland in June, 1941, particularly young dairy stock, showed an increase over the year before, I am making special inquiries into the present position in the light of milk supply difficulties in Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether evidence will be asked for from public bodies and private individuals by the committee recently appointed to inquire into the question of hydro-electric development in Scotland?

The answer is in the affirmative.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that Irish sweepstake tickets are at present being imported into Scotland; and what steps he proposes to take to prevent this?

Although the information in my possession does not suggest that there is any large scale importation of these tickets at present, the situation is being closely watched with a view to appropriate action being taken.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works and Buildings what, approximately, is the shortage to date in deliveries of utility goods in earthenware for Government contracts; and what steps he proposes to take in the matter?

In view of the great variety and volume of the goods involved, it is impossible to give any estimate of the existing shortage without undue expenditure of time and labour. Production has, however, within recent months been insufficient to meet current requirements and negotiations have taken place with the manufacturers association, which have resulted in a gradual improvement in deliveries.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport, whether he will take steps to adopt the suggestion of various organisations of ramblers, and others, that the derelict track of the Welsh Highland Railway should be converted into a highway for pedestrians only?

I am looking into this matter and will communicate with my hon. Friend.