asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he will make an Order to provide for the exchange of rationed foods between individuals, the foods having originally been acquired on coupons?

May I ask my hon. Friend to repeat his Question in a week's time when I shall be in a better position to reply to it.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that eating apples are being held off the market in order to obtain a higher price at a later date; and what steps he proposes to take in the matter?

Yes, Sir. It is a normal practice for growers to store part of the apple crop for marketing after Christmas at prices higher than those ruling in the Autumn. The higher prices reflect not only the greater scarcity of English apples late in the season, but also the cost of storage. The Home Grown Apples (Maximum Prices) Order, 1942, recognises this and provides for an increase in prices in December and again in February. The storage of a part of the crop is regarded as desirable in order that the apples may be marketed at a time in the year when, in the absence of imports, very little other fruit is available.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether, in all cases, dental officers now serving with the Royal Air Force and who had attained the rank of captain when serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps in the last war are now given equivalent rank?

An officer's rank on entry is related to the post he is required to fill and, ordinarily, dental officers are appointed initially in the rank of flying officer and earn time promotion to flight lieutenant after 12 months' satisfactory service.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether recruiting for the Royal Observer Corps, Glasgow, has now ceased; whether this unit is at full strength; and whether future vacancies in the Royal Observer Corps, Glasgow, will be offered first to those persons who have already volunteered for that service?

The Royal Observer Corps Centre at Glasgow is at present at full strength but in so far as vacancies, occur they will be filled by the most suitable men or women irrespective of dates of application.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what duties are being carried out by Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke Popham?

Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke Popham who is on the retired list of the Royal Air Force is assisting in the preparation of a scheme for the instruction of officers of the Air Training Corps. He is giving his services without remuneration.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what is the normal working week for maintenance staffs on air stations; and whether the recommendations of health authorities and the Minister of Labour regarding the optimum productive hours have been brought to the attention of commanding officers of industrial units?

I presume that the hon. Member has in mind industrial personnel employed at units of the R.A.F. Maintenance Command. The normal working week of these employees is 48 hours. The actual number of hours worked under war conditions varies with operational requirements, but in general, the average week is from 57 to 58 hours for men and 55 for women. Instructions have been issued to Commanding Officers that hours of work are not to exceed 60 per week without reference to the Air Ministry.

asked the Home Secretary what responsible representatives of his watched the recent invasion exercises in the city of Liverpool; whether he can report to the House their impressions as to the adequacy and efficiency, or otherwise, of the city's defence services; and whether the North Western Regional Commissioner was present at a fire incident at the Custom House and was satisfied with the speed and manner in which this fire was tackled by the National Fire Service organisation?

The exercise to which my hon. Friend refers was a large-scale exercise covering the whole of Merseyside and including an urban population of over 1,250,000. The fighting services, Civil Defence Services and local staffs of many Government Departments took part. In accordance with the usual arrangements, responsible representatives of the authorities concerned attended the exercise, and the Regional Commissioner and the Secretary to the Ministry of Home Security also visited the exercise during its course. The exercise was very successful. The purpose of exercises of this kind is to ascertain in what respects defence plans and the co-operation and functioning of the services concerned can be improved, and the material provided by the exercise is being carefully studied from this point of view. The Regional Commissioner was present at the fire incident at the Custom House and and saw no reason to comment adversely on the work of the Fire Service. The chief umpire of the exercise has, in fact, paid a special tribute to the work of the National Fire Service on this incident.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works and Planning how many officers of his Department and their staffs are posted at the 12 Civil Defence regional offices to be available for consultation with the Commissioner but not under his orders, showing each regional staff separately, and indicating the total cost, including buildings requisitioned or hired, fuel, light, etc.?

The numbers of staff of the Directorate of Emergency Works of the Ministry who are available for consultation with the Civil Defence Regional Commissioners but not under their orders, are as follow:

Region.				No. of Staff.
1	…	…	…	11
2	…	…	…	12
3	…	…	…	11
4	…	…	…	10
5	…	…	…	31
6	…	…	…	12
7	…	…	…	18
8	…	…	…	10
9	…	…	…	13
10	…	…	…	19
11	…	…	…	13
12	…	…	…	11
				171

The approximate annual cost of their salaries is £101,500 and the estimated cost of their office accommodation, including rates, heat, light and furniture, is £3,800 per annum.

asked the Home Secretary whether fireguards are expected to patrol the buildings to which they are attached at regular intervals during their period of duty so as to watch out for possible fires not caused by enemy attack?

Fireguards at business premises are under an obligation to take steps for the extinction of a fire of any kind on its being detected but on man-power grounds it has not been found practicable to impose a legal obligation on fireguards to patrol premises in order to keep a watch for fires not due to enemy action.

asked the Home Secretary whether he can give any information about two women, Beatrice Mary Madge, of Stantford, Crediton, Devon, and Nellie Stoneman, of Ebington Road, Exeter, who fed shell cases wrong way round into the machinery; how long they had been doing that kind of damage; and what he intends doing about the matter?

It appears that Beatrice Mary Madge on several occasions in October last put a rough shell into a finishing grinder in order to have a rest while the machine was being repaired and that Nellie Stoneman fed the shells into another machine the wrong way round for the same purpose. Both women were indicted at Exeter Assizes on November 6th, 1942, charged with offences against Defence Regulation 2B. They were found guilty on all counts, the jury adding a rider that neither woman realised the gravity of the offences at the time. Madge was sentenced to twelve months' and Stoneman to nine months' imprisonment.

asked the Home Secretary whether he can give particulars as to the various countries in which marriage by proxy is recognised by canon and civil law?

I regret that the information which the Home Office has on this subject is scanty and incomplete. It may be difficult in present circumstances to get anything like full particulars but I will see what can be done and communicate with my hon. Friend.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will suspend, for the duration of the war, the regulation under the Cremation Act which makes it compulsory to sign a form in the presence of a justice of the peace or commissioner of oaths in view of the great inconvenience caused to relatives?

I am not aware of any serious inconvenience arising from the requirement in the cremation regulations to which my hon. Friend refers but if he will send me any information in his possession I will see that it is considered.

asked the Minister of Information whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a list of Members of both. Houses of Parliament who have broadcast over the British Broadcasting Corporation system since the beginning of the war, stating the amount paid to each individual by the British Broadcasting Corporation and/or the Government as fees?

Yes, Sir. The list of Members of this House who have broadcast since the beginning of the war was circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT of 21st October. I append a similar list of Members of the other House. The fees for broadcasts by Members of Parliament are, like those paid to any private individuals, a matter for the Governors of the B.B.C., unless the broadcasters are servants of the Crown.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has any further statement to make on the whereabouts of the prisoners taken in Malaya and Singapore and of the Government servants and other civilians captured at the same time, in view of the anxiety still felt by the friends and relatives of these persons?

No, Sir. As regards prisoners of war I must refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the statement made by the Secretary of State for War on 10th November, to which I regret that I can add nothing. I fully sympathise with the friends and families of those who are held by the Japanese, but I am sorry to say that it has not yet been possible to obtain official information regarding the whereabouts of those members of the local forces and civilians who were captured in Malaya. The very scanty and unconfirmed reports so far received do not suggest that the treatment of British civilians is unduly harsh.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will seek the good offices of the Vatican in order to get a more comprehensive list of prisoners in Japanese hands?

Repeated representations to the Japanese Government have been, and are being, made on behalf of His Majesty's Government by the Swiss authorities and the International Red Cross Committee, both of whom are doing everything possible to induce the Japanese authorities to furnish full information. I am obliged to my hon. Friend for his suggestion but I doubt whether any advantage would be gained by approaching the Vatican in this manner.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the Commissioner at Nicosia refused permission to the Cyprus Working People's Party to hold a meeting in celebration of the Soviet anniversary on the 7th November, including speeches in support of the struggle against Fascism and a performance of a play on Stalingrad; whether he will restore some democratic rights to the people of Cyprus who are fighting and suffering heavy casualties in the cause of the United Nations and meanwhile immediately take steps to secure that no further incidents of this kind take place?

I am aware that the Commissioner at Nicosia received an application for permission to hold a meeting and refused it. The Governor of Cyprus has been asked to furnish a full report on the question and I will communicate with my hon. and learned Friend when the report is received. No change in the constitution of the Cyprus Government is contemplated at present. But my hon. and learned Friend may like to know that the Governor is taking steps to restore municipal elections in Cyprus and it is his intention that such elections should be held as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made.

asked the Prime Minister whether it is the policy of His Majesty's Government that the principles of the Atlantic Charter shall apply to the British Colonial Empire?

I have been asked to reply. I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement made in this House by the Prime Minister on 9th September, 1941, in which he made it clear that British Colonial policy is entirely in harmony with the high conception of freedom and justice which inspired the Atlantic Charter.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies by whose authority complete sheets of the new overprinted commemoration stamps of the Bahamas were cancelled to order before being sold; and has he considered its effect upon the long standing instructions to all colonial postmasters not to bring the postal administration into disrepute by cancelling stamps to order?

I have no information to show whether these stamps were cancelled before or after they were sold; but I am causing inquiries to be made.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will call for a report from the Agricultural Production and Settlement Board of Kenya as to the use that they have as yet made of their powers under the Defence (Increased Production of Crops) Regulations, 1942, to enter upon and cultivate the land of persons not now in the Colony where the land was not already being cultivated?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies to what extent there is a shortage of coal in Jamaica; whether the Government railway has had to dismiss employees because of the coal shortage of that undertaking; to what extent the Kingston Corporation had taken precautions to prevent either a coal or gas shortage; and why the Government stipulated earlier on that all coal purchase must be from Britain rather than from wherever it could be secured?

The Governor reports that there is no immediate coal shortage in Jamaica, although there was a temporary shortage earlier in the year owing to shipping difficulties. The answer to the second part of the Question is in the negative. The Kingston and St. Andrew's Corporation took precautions to secure cargoes of gas coal well in advance of its needs, and there has been no shortage of this coal. Requirements of steam coal are small and have been obtained locally, and although some difficulty was experienced recently the corporation has carried on by substituting wood as fuel wherever possible. The instructions referred to in the last part of the Question were issued at an earlier period of the war, when it was necessary to restrict purchases in the United States, even of essential requirements, to the absolute minimum in order to conserve dollar resources. More recently orders for coal for Jamaica were placed in the United States, but the shipping situation caused considerable delay in supplies.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he will give the percentage of manshifts lost at the coalface, including absences due to sickness or accident, for each of the eight weeks ended 31st October this year, together with similar figures for the same weeks last year or, if the latter are not available, for the months of September and October, 1941?

Figures relating to manshifts lost at the coalface are not available in respect of the separate weeks of September and October last year. Calendar monthly figures are therefore given:

Week ending.	Percentage of shifts lost at the coalface.
12th September, 1942	14·20
19th September, 1942	13·86
26th September, 1942	12·83
3rd October, 1942	13·54
10th October, 1942	13·86
17th October, 1942	13·71
24th October, 1942	14·02
31st October, 1942	13·71
Month of September, 1941	11·54
Month of October, 1941	11·78

No information is available to show what movements have taken place in the average number of shifts worked per man.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the wife of a soldier, living at 3, Westfield Avenue, Knottingley, Yorkshire, received notice to quit a council house by the Knottingley surveyor in order that his typist might occupy the house; that the soldier's wife allowed the typist to live with her as an evacuee after an air raid; and whether he will ensure that this soldier's wife shall be given security of occupation and that the attention of all concerned is drawn to the undesirability of such action?

The facts appear to have been misrepresented to my hon. Friend. No notice to quit this house has been issued. Both the parties involved are, I understand, the wives of serving soldiers; and I will send my hon. Friend further details in writing as the circumstances are somewhat complicated.

asked the Minister of Health what was the rate per 1,000 of the population of notifications of tuberculosis in London, and outside of London, during each of the years 1938, 1939, 1940 and 1941?

—Movements of population in recent years have made it impossible to provide any sound information in the form which my hon. Friend requests.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport when the report of Sir John Forster on the Liverpool docks will be ready; and whether he proposes to publish the evidence and recommendations?

I understand that Sir John Forster's report will shortly be presented to my Noble Friend, and to the Minister of Labour and National Service. The evidence is confidential and will not be published. The question of publishing a summary of the recommendations will be considered when the report has been received.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether, in view of the hardships involved in the withdrawal of 1s. day tickets and the system of return fares in the London area, he will consider extending the issue of workmen's fares to the petrol-driven omnibuses and the issue of workmen's tickets on all the services of the London Passenger Transport Board and suburban railways to a later hour in the morning?

As I explained to my hon. Friend on 10th November, the 1s. day ticket was available after 10 a.m. Its withdrawal has, therefore, no bearing on the question of workmen's tickets, I am, however, looking again into the matter raised in the latter part of the Question and will let him know the result as soon as possible.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether a locomotive pool, analogous to the wagon pool, has yet been formed to meet the varying needs of different sections of the main line railways?

Locomotives cannot be used in a common pool, as wagons can. Arrangements have, however, been made both for the joint working of locomotives and for the transfer of locomotives from one railway company to another, when this is required. Under these arrangements large numbers of locomotives have been transferred since 1939 and considerable economies in motive power have been obtained.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he can give any information in connection with the two hours' wave of gas emitted on a Salisbury suburb about midnight, causing distress and annoyance to residents; and why the Southern Command were not prepared to make a statement about the matter?

I much regret the inconvenience caused to the local inhabitants by the release of some gas in a camp near Salisbury. I have received a report on the incident. The gas was released as part of an exercise necessary for the training of the troops. It was expected that the effect of the gas would be confined to the camp, but, unfortunately, the direction of the wind changed. As soon as the sentries specially posted to observe the spread of the gas reported this the generator was buried and no more gas was released. Numerous exercises of this kind had been held before without any inconvenience to the local inhabitants, but in view of what happened on this occasion the military authorities have agreed to keep the chief constable of Salisbury informed of such exercises in future, and I hope that an incident like this will not happen again. As regards the second part of the Question, no statement was made by the Command as the incident was then being investigated.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he can give any information as to where the 1/5 Sherwood Foresters were last fighting; under whom they were serving; and what happened to the unit after the surrender of Singapore?

The 1/5 Sherwood Foresters were captured at the surrender of Singapore on the 15th February, 1942. They formed part of the 18th Division commanded by the late Major-General M. B. Beckwith-Smith, D.S.O., M.C. No information is available with regard to the unit after the surrender of Singapore.

asked the President of the Board of Education how many applications were received in response to Circular 1593 with reference to State bursaries in science; how many were awarded, by whom and upon what basis the selection was made, as no mention was made in Circular 1593 of a competitive basis; and what steps he proposes to take with regard to those applicants who were unsuccessful?

The number of applications received for State bursaries this year was 2,809; 1640 awards were offered. The selection was made by a committee of Vice-Chancellors and other university representatives with officers of the Board. As regards the basis of selection, I am sending the hon. Member a copy of an answer given to the hon. and gallant Member for Carnarvon (Major Owen) on 7th October. All the unsuccessful candidates for State bursaries have been invited to apply for the newly-established engineering cadetships.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that the Income Tax authorities at Rochdale have ruled that the only pension not subject to tax is a war disability pension and that in the circumstances of the call for woman-power for even part-time employment such a ruling not only involves hardship but affects the country's production effort and the public morale; and whether he will consider granting the concession of exemption from tax to a war widow's pension?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Deritend (Sir Smedley Crooke) on 24th June last. I am sending him a copy of that reply.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the urgent need of repairing several bombed buildings in different cities, what right of appeal exists against the collaboration of the War Damage Commission and the local authorities in holding up such repairs until town planning takes shape?

The War Damage Commission performs in this matter a quasi-judicial function from which there is, as determined by Parliament, no appeal.

asked the Minister of Labour how many men under the age of 25 on 1st January, 1942, are at present employed in agriculture in the county of Gloucestershire?

I regret that these figures are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can make any statement about the conditions of members of the International Brigade who have been in concentration camps in French North Africa; whether these men have now been invited to join in the fight against Fascism and have now been given their freedom?

I would refer by hon. Friend to the answer given to-day to the hon. Members for Richmond, Yorks (Major Dugdale), Sedgefield (Mr. Leslie), the English Universities (Miss Rathbone) and Eye (Mr. Granville).

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will consider, in view of the influence of war conditions on the nation's teeth, the advisability of marketing a utility toothbrush of good quality and durability for public purchase and use, especially having regard to the poor specimens now available in the market?

I am already giving consideration to this matter.