asked the Secretary of State for War, in view of the fact that it is now the policy to mention the names of British regiments in action whenever possible, whether he will see that the same policy is applied to Indian regiments?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Secretary of State for Wax whether the furniture and effects of those people who are dispossessed by the establishment of battle areas will be carted back to their homes without charge when their houses are restored to them?

Expenses reasonably incurred in moving furniture and effects back to these homes, when they are relinquished by the Army, will be repaid under the Compensation (Defence) Act, 1939.

asked the Prime Minister whether, following the improvement in the remuneration of miners, he will now address himself to raising the basic pay of the rank and file of His Majesty's Forces, with a view to bringing this more in line with industrial wages and the rates prevailing in the Fighting Services of His Majesty's Dominions and the United States of America?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer which was given on 2nd June in reply to a Question by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Epsom (Sir A. Southby), of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury to what extent the personnel of Government Departments has increased since the war; and the cost to the country of this increase?

The estimated total number of non-industrial Civil servants at the outbreak of war was 443,000 (395,000 whole-time and 48,000 part-time). At 1st April, 1942, the total number of whole-time non-industrial Civil servants was 696,669 (641,267 whole-time and 55,402 part-time). On these figures the increase since the beginning of the war is, therefore, 253,669 (246,267 whole-time and 7,402 part-time). The figures include staff engaged on reserved and agency services, Northern Ireland. In order to ascertain the cost of this increase with any accuracy, considerable inquiry would be necessary which I do not feel justified in undertaking in present circumstances.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he can give particulars of the new Government Departments which have been established since the war, showing, separately, the number of staff employed by each Department, together with the total cost of the salaries paid by each Department?

The number of whole-time non-industrial staff employed at 1st April, 1942, in the Departments which have been established since the war is as follows:

Ministry of War Transport	13,611
Ministry of Economic Warfare	1,320
Ministry of Food	35,811
Ministry of Information (including 11,231 in the Postal and Telegraph Censorship Department)	13,488
War Damage Commission	1,638
Ministry of Aircraft Production	13,784
Office of Minister of Production	335

There is also the Petroleum Department with a staff of 2,455 which now forms part of the Ministry for Fuel and Power for which figures are not available at present. Some of these Departments, e.g., Ministry of War Transport and Ministry of Aircraft Production, are carrying on duties which were performed by pre-war Departments so that the numbers given include many staff transferred from pre-war Departments, and it would be a mistake to assume that the cost of the Departments is due solely to war activities. On the other hand, many Departments, e.g., Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Supply and Board of Trade, which were established before the war, have greatly expanded during the war and have taken on new duties. It would be impossible without unjustified expenditure of time and labour to assess the cost of the strictly war-time functions of Departments.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason he refuses to allow the Admiralty to base the pensions of industrial civil servants upon the actual wages they receive during their working life rather than upon the notional wages which they do not receive; whether he has considered counsel's opinion submitted to him, that this interpretation of the Superannuation Acts is not justified; and whether, despite the fact that the Superannuation Act, 1859, allows the Treasury decision in these matters to be final, he will allow this matter to be referred to independent arbitration of some kind?

I assume that my hon. Friend is referring to the claim that the pensions of those industrial civil servants employed by the Admiralty who are paid at piece-work rates should be calculated upon their piece-work earnings instead of as at present upon the weekly rates of pay of their grades. Under Section 2 of the Superannuation Act, 1859 the pension of a civil servant falls to be calculated upon "the annual salary and emoluments of his office" and the administration of this section is a matter for the discretion of the Treasury. It has always been the practice of the Treasury to assess pension with reference to the stable and permanent remuneration of the office held and not with reference to the fluctuating earnings of individual officers. Payment by piece rates is not a stable and permanent element of the remuneration of industrial civil servants. Its incidence varies from time to time as well as between individuals, grades and dockyards, and many specially skilled individuals or grades cannot, owing to the nature of their work, be paid on a piece-rate basis. If therefore the claim were conceded it would produce serious inequalities. On the other hand, the weekly rates of pay attached to a civil servant's grade, which are guaranteed to him even when he may be doing piece work, yield stable rates of pension on a uniform basis for all the officers concerned. The answer to the second part of the Question is in the affirmative. I regret to be unable to accept the suggestion made in the last part of the Question.

asked the Minister of Health what was the death rate per 1,000,000 persons living in each of the years 1938, 1939, 1940 and 1941 from smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping-cough, enteric fever, cancer and diabetes?

The total death rate per million in England and Wales from the diseases to which my hon. Friend refers, was as follows:

—	1938	1939	†1940	†1941
Smallpox	0	—	—	—
Measles	40	7	21	28
Scarlet Fever	9	4	4	3
Diphtheria	71	51	60	64
Whooping Cough	27	29	16	57
Enteric Fever *	4	3	3	4
Cancer	1,665	1,620	1,662	1,670
Diabetes	173	124	129	117
* Enteric Fever includes Typhoid and Paratyphoid.
†The rates for 1940 and 1941 are provisional. They are calculated on the total population of England and Wales for 1939.

asked the Minister of Health what was the death rate per 1,000,000 living, under 15 years of age, in 1939. 1940 and 1941 from diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, whooping-cough and tuberculosis?

The death rate per million under 15 years of age in England and Wales from the diseases to which my hon. Friend refers, was, for the years 1939 and 1940, as follows:

——		1939.	1940.
Diphtheria	…	227	265
Scarlet Fever	…	15	12
Measles	…	34	95
Whooping Cough	…	140	78
Tuberculosis	…	240	264
The rates for 1940 are provisional. No rates are yet available for age groups in 1941.

asked the Minister of Health how many cases of diphtheria were notified in the Walsall area in January and February this year; and whether there has been any diphtheria outbreak in any part of Staffordshire this year?

The cases of diphtheria notified in the county borough of Walsall in January and February of this year numbered 21 and 22 respectively. I am not aware of any abnormal incidence of diphtheria in the county of Staffordshire during the present year: the number of cases notified to date has been only slightly higher than in the corresponding period last year, and there has been no unusual fluctuation week by week.

asked the Minister of Health how many of the Lakhovsky multiple wave oscillators for the treatment of cancer have been installed and where, since 1936; and whether the results of such treatment compare favourably with the results claimed and photographically shown in the book of Georges Lakhovsky, published in 1939, on cosmic rays and radiations of living beings, under the title "The Secret of Life"?

I do not know of any of these oscillators installed in this country and I have therefore no information on the second part of the Question.

asked the Minister of Health how far, and with what results, spectrobiological therapy has been investigated and tested under the auspices of the British Empire Cancer Campaign?

I am informed that the British Empire Cancer Campaign have not investigated a spectrobiological treatment of cancer and have not been asked to make such an investigation.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will make an impartial and comprehensive inquiry into all methods of healing other than those usually adopted by the general medical profession; and, in cases where, after investigation, he finds that unorthodox methods of healing have established cures, will he consider making any such methods of healing available at hospitals and/or elsewhere, to patients who may not have reacted beneficially to other treatment?

An inquiry of the kind suggested by my hon. Friend would be impracticable at the present time.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that, under the scheme of the Ministry of Labour for the training and resettlement of disabled persons which applies to tuberculosis ex-patients, but only to those capable of whole-time employment under ordinary conditions, many ex-patients, considered by their tuberculosis officers to be suitable for part-time employment, are being compelled still either to remain idle or to return to full-time work with the risk of relapse; and whether he proposes to take any action in the light of the suggestions in the report of the committee of the Tuberculosis Association, that the principle of temporary, part-time or half-time employment with subsidised wages is essential for the rehabilitation of ex-patients with quiescent disease?

Yes, Sir. This question is one of those that are being considered jointly by the various Departments concerned with the rehabilitation of disabled persons in general.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the 766,000 immunised children who were immune from fatal diphtheria in 1941 were also immune from diphtheria in 1940; and whether any of them were immunised in 1940?

I regret that the information requested by the hon. Member could not be obtained without laborious investigations which I do not feel justified in making.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the circular recently sent to the secretaries of approved societies by the National Ophthalmic Treatment Board proposing to introduce a means test for ophthalmic treatment; whether he was consulted before this circular was issued; and whether he proposes to take any steps to meet the objections which have been put forward by friendly societies?

The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes." As regards the second part, I was advised by the National Ophthalmic Treatment Board of the changes they proposed to make in the relevant scale of charges as from the 1st July, 1942, and I informed the Board that these proposed changes were a matter for discussion in the first instance between the two parties mainly interested, namely, the board on the one hand and representatives of approved societies on the other. As regards the third part of the Question, I am informed that the operation of the new scale of charges has been postponed, pending a discussion of the whole situation with representatives of the bodies concerned.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will consider sanctioning the release of the Coalville baths, at present used for casualty services, in view of the fact that there is alternative accommodation available in the town for these services and that these baths, built by the Miners' Fund, are the only facilities for bathing in the neighbourhood?

I am informed that the Regional Commissioner in consultation with the scheme-making authority has agreed to the release of these baths which are being used in connection with Civil Defence services falling within the province of the Minister of Home Security and myself. Temporary alternative accommodation is being actively sought and the baths will be released as soon as this is available.

asked the Minister of Supply (1) whether he will consider the appointment of a representative of authoritative herbalist associations to the Vegetable Drug Committee;

(2) whether he is aware that if great quantities of suitable herbs are to be gathered organised collections must begin at once, otherwise the roots will decline and not grow again until next year; will he consider the operation of a scheme at an early date, and invite medical and herbal practitioners and pharmacists to co-operate in their respective areas in an advisory capacity?

The Vegetable Drugs Committee is an inter-departmental committee and all its members are representative of official or semi-official bodies. My right hon. Friend does not propose to extend the membership of this committee but he would be glad if members of herbalist associations would assist the county herb committees, of which there are already 58 in England and Wales. I am sending the hon. Member a list of these committees. The collection of medicinal herbs has already begun and medical and herbal practitioners and pharmacists are cooperating in many parts of the country and are in fact serving on many of the county committees.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will consider increasing the allowances to old age pensioners, the blind and the disabled and all those who, in spite of the demand for man-power, cannot be placed in employment?

I have been asked to reply. In accordance with the Resolution passed by the House on 17th June, the Government are carrying out an immediate examination of the present position of old age pensioners as accentuated by war-time conditions. The duty of providing the blind with financial assistance rests with local authorities. Pensions for disablement in the present war have already been increased, and similar increases have been given to soldiers discharged for disability since the last war. Pensions for disablement due to the last war are based on a cost-of-living figure in excess of that now prevailing.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the difficulties of parents in sufficiently clothing their children with the present ration; and whether he will consider reducing the clothing ration for adults and proportionately increasing it for children up to 12 years of age?

I have no reason to think that the present clothing ration for children is inadequate, having regard to the difficulties of the supply situation. All children receive a supplementary ration of 10 coupons in the present rationing period. In addition, they benefit substantially by the lower coupon rates for their clothing.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether, in view of the anxiety and apprehension felt by small growers of strawberries and gooseberries, he will take steps to amend the existing scale of prices and, further, to consider the conditions of sale?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave on 25th June [OFFICIAL REPORT, col. 2151] to a Question by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for South Cardiff (Colonel A. Evans) and to the subsequent Debate on the same day.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food the terms of the agreement reached between the milling industry and the Government, as regards remuneration of the industry during war-time; who were the persons making the arrangement, and the names of any of the officers representing the Government who were also representatives of the trade-interests concerned?

The agreement between my Noble Friend and the milling industry provides for the remuneration of millers for the three years ending 29th August, 1942, such remuneration consisting of the reimbursement of all expenses properly incurred in flour milling, together with an amount of profit per sack of output based on the average profit per sack realised during a pre-war datum period, and subject to a maximum of the average profits of the industry for the datum period. The agreement was reached, with Treasury approval, as a result of negotiations between representatives of the milling industry and officers of my Department, none of whom is or has been connected with the industry.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food what are the infant foods referred to in the confidential instruction, C.M.C. 179, for which plain flour of 75 per cent. extraction, deprived of the germ, is still to be supplied; for what other purposes this flour is to be provided; to what firms; and what proportions these supplies bear to the whole output controlled by the Ministry?

Pending the results of research work which has been undertaken by the Food Rationing (Special Diets) Advisory Committee, all infant foods are permitted to include white flour. Certain service requirements for which national flour would not be suitable are also met with white flour. The tonnage concerned in these special arrangements is small and represents less than 2 per cent. of the total flour output.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food, what are the medical products for which controlled millers are authorised by the Confidential Instruction C.M.C. 191 to supply the wheat germ which the Statutory Order 451 directed should be provided in the national bread; which of these medical products are proprietary articles; what proportion of the whole yield of flour controlled by the Ministry is supplied for speciality flours; and what firms are in receipt of these supplies?

The medical products referred to are those approved by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health. They are I understand proprietary articles. The wheat germ supplied for these purposes is not at the expense of national bread, which contains the full amount provided for in the Order to which my hon. Friend refers. Speciality flours include self-raising flours and are probably equal to approximately 10 per cent. of the total flour output. Practically all distributors of flour and bakery products handle speciality flours.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food, what arrangements are made for testing at the time of milling; and whether, in view of the examples revealed by the public analyst employed by the Lambeth Borough Council, that some of the bread and flour sold does not accord with the regulations, he will institute a permanent and independent inquiry at the source of production of the flour before distribution to the bakers or to the public?

In the opinion of my Noble Friend the existing arrangements for the testing of national flour and bread are adequate. He is not prepared to institute the inquiry suggested.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether owing to the hard crusts of standard bread, he is satisfied there is no avoidable waste as compared with consumption prior to the introduction of this article of food?

As there is no reason why the crust of national broad should be harder or less edible than that of white bread, there should be no more avoidable waste on this account.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether any of the national bread upon the market contains chalk; what firms are supplying it; under what contracts; and whether tenders were invited before concluding them?

The fortification of national flour and bread with creta preparata is proceeding according to plan. Supplies are being obtained from a number of firms and the usual commercial procedure is being observed in the placing of orders.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food the number of bacon-curing establishments that will be closed as a result of the Ministry's scheme for the concentration of this industry in West Bromwich and in the Midlands, respectively?

The scheme for the concentration of the bacon industry is still in draft form and the application of the principles to individual factories is under active consideration. I am not at present in a position to state the number of bacon curing factories that will be closed in West Bromwich and in the Midlands, respectively.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether inquiries have now been completed respecting the allegation that the Butterley Coal and Iron Company was working the uneconomic seams of coal as against the more productive ones; and, if so, with what result?

I have had a special investigation made by my technical adviser in the district, obtained a full report and find that the allegation was completely unfounded. In fact the output from the collieries concerned has considerably increased and recently was the largest for many years.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he will consult with local authorities in rural districts with a view to the establishment against the coming fuel cut of stocks of derelict wood suitable for burning?

My predecessor approached all local authorities on this subject last October and a considerable number of directions have been issued for schemes of the type suggested. I am hoping to secure a wide extension of this policy.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware of the widespread ignorance in Great Britain regarding our Chinese Allies; and whether he will take steps to rectify this so far as the educational system is concerned?

As far as the public system of education is concerned, knowledge of our Chinese Allies can best be imparted in connection with instruction and discussions on current affairs. The importance of such instruction and discussions in present times is fully recognised by the teachers and is emphasised by H.M. Inspectors.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he will arrange with the Department concerned that in cases where teachers are posted for Civil Defence duties in the immediate neighbourhood of their schools they may be allowed to continue their teaching duties, subject to the completion of any course of training which their Civil Defence duties may require and on the understanding that they be released immediately if at any time the service is called into action?

I assume that my hon. Friend is referring to teachers of military age, who have been called up under the National Service Act, 1941, and subsequently posted to Civil Defence duties. It is for the A.R.P. authority to decide whether in such circumstances permission should be given to a teacher to continue to teach: but if my hon. Friend has any particular case in mind and will communicate with me I shall be glad to see what can be done.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether his attention has been drawn to the difficulty which is being experienced by a firm of contractors, engaged on work for the Air Ministry, the name of which he has been given, in carrying out the Essential Work Order payment by results scheme, owing to lack of experienced administrative staff; and whether, in view of the importance of this work, he will investigate the matter with a view to obtaining the release from military service of one of the members of the firm of whose name he has been given notice?

The man referred to was released from the Army in July, 1940, at the request of the Air Ministry to undertake work for his firm in connection with Air Ministry contracts. Applications for the extension of his release were made by my Department on several occasions and granted in each case, the final extension expiring on 31st December, 1941. An application for a further extension was not successful.

asked the President of the Board of Education what number of elementary teachers have been withdrawn for military service who were employed by the Lancashire Education Committee and in the country generally; and whether there is any arrangement whereby headmasters of secondary and grammar schools are exempt, as in the case of the recently-appointed headmaster of Bristol grammar school to Harrow?

My information is that something over 15,000 public elementary schoolmasters in England and Wales have been withdrawn for military service but I have no figures for separate authorities. Arrangements have been made with the Ministry of Labour for the deferment of the calling up of headmasters in all types of school who had passed the age of 30 at the date of their registration.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will look into the case, details of which have been sent to him, of the confidential secretary of a consulting physician, who also fills an important position in the Emergency Medical Service and on the staff of several hospitals, whose calling up would dislocate the work of this physician, which is of national importance; and whether he will allow an exemption in this case?

The case to which my hon. Friend refers has been reconsidered by the District Man-Power Board and it has now been decided not to withdraw the woman in question from her present employment.