asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether his attention has been called to the general shortage of fish supplies in the city of Leicester; and can he make a statement thereupon and indicate whether an early improvement is likely?

In January the supplies in Leicester, as in other towns attached to the same chief port, were less than the national average. The position in February was better and with larger landings and an improved system of primary allocations there is every reason why the city should receive its full share in future of supplies available.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that cultivators of vegetable allotments are being refused fruit by retail shops on the ground that vegetables are not bought from those shops; and whether he will, in the interests of food production, put a stop to this discrimination?

Yes, Sir. Complaints of this character are received by my Department occasionally. It would be illegal for a shopkeeper to attach to the sale of fruit a condition that vegetables should also be bought, but my noble Friend has no power to compel any trader to make a sale to a particular customer.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food what price per ton was paid to growers under contract for cabbage, savoy and winter, during February; what was the net price returned to the Ministry per ton from these sales; what was the total tonnage handled and the net gain or loss on the transaction; and what were the prices at which this cabbage was retailed in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff?

The prices paid to growers, under contracts placed by my Department last autumn, for savoy and winter cabbages delivered in February were, according to the type of contract, £18 or £22 per ton for savoys and £16 or £20 per ton for winter cabbages. The average price returned to the Ministry for these cabbages, after allowing for agents' commission, was £5 18s. 4d. per ton. Savoy and winter cabbages marketed on behalf of the Ministry during February amounted to 1,185 tons I cwt. Including agents' charges and transport costs, the net loss was £19,360 12s. 6d. From the returns available the average retail prices appear to have been about 2½d. per lb. in London; about 3¼d. per lb. in Liverpool, about 3d. per lb. for winter cabbage and 4d. per lb. for savoys in Manchester, about 3d. per lb. in Birmingham, and between 2½d. and 2¾d. in Cardiff.

asked the Home Secretary whether he can give any information in connection with the charge made against Judah Woolf, of Bignor Street, Hightown, Manchester, charged, at the Leeds Assizes, for obtaining and selling saccharin tablets as full strength when they were only half strength; and what steps he is taking to prevent a repetition of this fraud?

I am informed that this man was convicted on two charges of obtaining money by false pretences and was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment with hard labour. I understand from my Noble Friend the Minister of Food that as the sale by retail of full-strength and half-strength saccharin tablets has been prohibited as from 31st January, 1943, and sales are now confined to standard tablets, a repetition of the fraud committed by Woolf is not likely to occur.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food the average prices of lunch in British Restaurants, Young Men's Christian Association, Toc H and factory canteens?

My Department has no jurisdiction in the matter of the price of meals beyond that defined in the Meals in Establishments Order, which sets a maximum price for meals.

asked the Minister of Aircraft Production whether he will make a detailed statement of the reasons which have actuated him in taking over Messrs. Short Brothers and also control of the General Aircraft Company, Limited?

As regards the first part of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to-day to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Mr. Lipson). As to the General Aircraft Co., Ltd., I was of opinion that it was necessary for the efficient prosecution of the war and for maintaining supplies of aircraft essential to the war effort that I should take control of the whole undertaking of General Aircraft, Limited, and in consequence I appointed an authorised controller to the undertaking.

asked the Minister of Aircraft Production who are the contractors responsible for the laying of the pipe lines for the new factory at a certain place of which he has been informed; and whether he is satisfied that the firm is capable of undertaking urgent engineering contracts of this nature?

The pipe lines are being laid by seven contractors. All have the experience and capacity for undertaking urgent contracts of this nature.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will allocate three out of the 524 houses, requisitioned by him in Gloucestershire, to the Air Training Corps as permanent headquarters at Stroud, Stow-on-the-Wold and Wotton-under-Edge?

In view of the special circumstances in this case, arrangements have been made for the Air Training Corps to use a house at Stow-on-the-Wold and a house at Stroud has been offered to them. If a suitable house is available at Wotton-under-Edge similar arrangements will be made there. I must, however, emphasise that these houses are requisitioned for a specific military purpose. They can only be loaned temporarily to the Air Training Corps who will have to vacate them as soon as they are needed.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will consider making arrangements whereby former professional journalists now serving in the Armed Forces in the various theatres of war will be encouraged to apprise the public in this country in regard to political developments in their area?

As a result of the Debate on the Adjournment on 23rd March the question of the rules in regard to contributions to the Press by officers and men is now being re-examined. I should, however, point out that since the journalists referred to by my hon. and gallant Friend are now soldiers they should devote their energies and abilities particularly in theatres of war to their military duties.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to statements made by prisoners of war recently released from prisoners-of-war camps in Italy, to the effect that they were rationed on the lowest possible scale, that of unemployed civilians; and, as Italy is a signatory to the Geneva Convention, which provides that the diet of prisoners of war shall not be inferior to that of garrison troops in the country where they are located, whether representations will be made with regard to the above through the Protecting Power and as to the rationing of British prisoners of war still confined in Italy?

My attention has been called to statements made to the Press by recently released prisoners of war. Full accounts of their capitivity by the released prisoners will shortly be in my hands and until then any action would be premature.

asked the Home Secretary how many refugees from Nazi persecution who are of enemy origin have been admitted to the United Kingdom during the years 1940, 1941 and 1942 respectively, and how many during the first quarter of 1943?

The detailed information asked for is not available but some 260 Germans and Austrians are registered as having been admitted to this country as war refugees since 12th May, 1940.

asked the Home Secretary how many refugees have been admitted to the United Kingdom other than those who have come to join His Majesty's Forces, or the forces of our Allies or the Merchant Navies, or to do work of national importance for ourselves or our Allies, or are the wives or children of such men, during 1940, 1941 and 1942, respectively, and during the first quarter of 1943?

The statistics are not kept in a form to enable me to furnish the information for which my hon. Friend asks. Moreover, as the hon. Member will appreciate, it would not be in the national interest to give any information from which it would be possible for the enemy to infer the approximate number of aliens who, since coming here, have joined the Armed Forces of the United Nations.

asked the Home Secretary how many evacuees from the Channel Islands, Gibraltar, Malta and other British possessions are included in the 63,000 as refugees admitted to this country during 1940, 1941 and 1942?

I presume my hon. Friend refers to the figures given by the Lord Privy Seal during the Debate in another place on 23rd instant. Those figures related to aliens who came here as refugees from enemy and enemy-occupied territory and did not include British subjects who came here from British Possessions.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he has considered the alternative pension scheme for disability-pensioned Service men and widows of Service men sent to him by the Dundee and District Association of Wives, Widows and Dependants of Sailors and Soldiers; and what reply he has made?

After full examination of the question of alternative pensions in the light of the experience gained after the last war I am convinced that a scheme of this kind is both unsound in principle and unsatisfactory in its results, and I regret that I can hold out no hope of any similar provision being introduced for the present war. A reply to this effect is being sent to the Association.

asked the President of the Board of Education, in view of the desirability of preparing the rising generation to travel in pursuit of trade with the Argentine and other South American countries, how many education authorities have continuation or other classes, in which Spanish or Portuguese is taught?

Owing to the necessity to reduce statistics to a minimum in wartime, I regret that I am unable to give up-to-date information. For 1937–38, the last year for which information is available, there were 391 part-time classes in Spanish and 11 in Portuguese, but the number of authorities providing these classes is not available. As regards secondary schools, the number of candidates offering Spanish in the school certificate examination in the summer of 1942 was 866. There were no candidates offering Portuguese.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works whether he has any further Report to make on the progress of the Simmonds' Committee for the Brick Industry?

Yes, Sir. My Noble Friend wishes me to say that the final Report of the Committee on the brick industry under the chairmanship of the hon. Member for Duddeston (Mr. Simmonds) will be issued to-morrow with a note by the Minister on the recommendations. The Report deals with the technical side of the brick industry and indicates steps designed to increase efficiency and enable it better to contribute to the post-war building programme. My Noble Friend is very grateful for the valuable work which the hon. Member and his Committee have carried out.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the annual cost of the Department dealing with work arising under the Registration of Business Names Act, 1916; what is the average

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether he will increase the weight of steel which may be used in the manufacture of perambulators to enable more lasting and satisfactory products to be made; and whether he is aware that a suggested increase from 14 to 17 lbs. per perambulator would only require an addition of 250 tons per annum;(2) whether besides examining the distribution of such perambulators as are now authorised, he will increase the numbers which may be made, as an earnest of the desire of the Government to arrest the decline of the birth-rate?

As my right hon. Friend stated in reply to a Question on 16th March, production has increased considerably since last year. Steel is a limiting factor, and I am advised that a reasonably durable perambulator can be

The work arising under the Registration of Business Names Act, 1916, is estimated to cost about £2,500 a year at the present time. The average yearly number of original registrations since the Act came into force is 21,550 and the average yearly number of registrations of change of particulars in the same period is 5,742. The number of searches made in the years 1940, 1941 and 1942 was approximately 15,150, 8,650 and 6,150 respectively. No precise information is available of the proportion of these searches disclosing no entry, but it is estimated to be about 40 per cent. The absence of an entry does not however necessarily indicate a failure to register. 196 prosecutions were instituted by the Board of Trade during the six years 1937 to 1942 inclusive, with the following results:made with 14 pounds; it was therefore right to use the available steel for increasing the number produced rather than the amount of steel per perambulator.

asked the Minister of Health which countries, other than Soviet Russia, have adopted a universal and free medical service such as is contemplated by Assumption B of the Beveridge Report; and whether he has any information as to the measure of success which has attended the experiment where it has been in operation?

I am not aware of any very close parallel in other countries to the comprehensive health service in the sense in which we are now considering it. The second part of the Question therefore scarcely arises.

asked the Home Secretary whether he will consider making it an offence for any unauthorised person to enter a shelter except during an alert, or at night, as the wholesale destruction of fittings of shelters still continues?

I have been asked to reply. A provision to the effect suggested would be elaborate and far-reaching without helping to solve the problem, which arises not from any inadequacy of existing powers but from the practical difficulty of enforcing them.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies when the Colonial Products Research Council was appointed; whether any information can be made available as to the scope of the work of this Council, its membership, whether selective or representative, what interests were consulted before the final decision on the Council's membership, what colonial contacts on the scientific and practical side are envisaged, and what executive functions will be delegated to this Council; and whether it is the intention to allow representation on behalf of the Colonial producer or consumer?

The Colonial Products Research Council was appointed towards the end of last year, and held its first meeting on 12th January. Its function is to consider what Colonial raw materials may be made of value for the manufacture of intermediate and other products required by industry and it will initiate and supervise researches, both pure and applied, on such products and generally consider how by the application of research greater use can be made of them. In framing their programme, the Council will have as their principal objective the promotion of the welfare and prosperity of Colonial peoples, and will endeavour also to increase the Colonial contribution to the welfare and prosperity of the British Empire and of the world as a whole. In carrying out their programme, the Council, which is financed by grants from the Research Fund created by the Colonial Development and Welfare Act, 1940, will co-operate with existing institutes, such as the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Medical Research Council and the Agricultural Research Council, to the greatest possible extent, and will "farm out" work to these and other bodies by arrangement. It will set up facilities of its own only for work which cannot be done by other means.The Council is composed of Lord Hankey, Chairman, Mr. Eric Barnard (Department of Scientific and Industrial Research), Mr. G. L. M. Clauson (Colonial Office), Mr. Aneurin Davies (Co-operative Wholesale Society), Dr. J. J. Fox (Government Chemist), Professor W. N. Haworth, Sir Harry Lindsay (Director of the Imperial Institute), Sir Edward Mellanby (Medical Research Council), Professor Sir Robert Robinson, Mr. G. W. Thomson (Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen), Dr. W. W. C. Topley (Agricultural Research Council). Professor J. L. Simonsen, F.R.S., lately of the University College of North Wales, has been appointed Director of Research. In constituting the Council, my predecessor was guided by the advice of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the War Cabinet. Formal contact between the Council and Colonial Governments will be maintained through the Colonial Office, and this will be supplemented by personal contact between the Director and those engaged in research in the Colonies. The Council is a practical working body of persons with a special knowledge either of the conduct of research, or of Colonial products, or of possible markets. It would, therefore, as a general rule, be contrary to the principles on which the membership was made up to admit representatives of particular Colonial interests.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many doctors qualified at the central hospital at Suva, Fiji, during the year 1942; and from what places in the Pacific did these medical practitioners come?

As the annual medical report for Fiji for 1942 has not yet been received, I have no information as to the number of doctors who qualified at the central medical school at Suva in that year, but I am asking the Governor to furnish particulars.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make arrangements for the training of nurses from other island groups in the Pacific at the Central Nursing School at Suva, Fiji, and not allow nurses from Fiji only to monopolise the training at this institution?

Although the fourteen nurses who qualified at the central nursing school at Suva in 1941 all came from Fiji, the training at this school is in no sense monopolised by nurses from the colony. In 1941 an additional four pupils from other Pacific administrations were received at the school, and although the building programme anticipated a total of 75 pupils, it is considered that accommodation for at least 100 will eventually be necessary to meet the combined requirements of Fiji and other island groups.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the names and qualifications of the committee he has set up to examine and approve schemes submitted by Colonial Governments under the 1940 Act?

Under the terms of the Act, it is the Secretary of State who, with the concurrence of the Treasury, makes schemes. In making schemes for expenditure from the provision for research, I have the advice of the Colonial Research Committee, whose membership has been announced in replies to Questions on 10th June, 1942, and the 24th February, 1943. Proposals for expenditure otherwise than upon research are, for the present, examined departmentally by an official committee under the chairmanship of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the Sierra Leone Government, under the Defence Regulations last year, bought from ginger farmers of Sierra Leone the whole of their dried ginger crop at £30 per ton f.o.b. Freetown, although at the time British firms were quoting £92 10s. f.o.b. Freetown for this crop, whilst Syrian buyers were offering £80 per ton f.o.b. then; and whether he will ensure either that equitable prices are paid by the Government for the 1943 crop or that farmers are permitted to benefit by the high prices by private sales?

During 1941, very little West African ginger could be imported into this country, although the demand was keen. Therefore, before control was assumed by the Ministry of Food, prices in this country were high, but could only be paid in respect of small quantities. The price received by the producers for the remainder of the crop went as low as £10 a ton. The Sierra Leone Government, with the object of assisting the producer, therefore decided to purchase the whole 1942 crop at a figure of £30 per ton to the producer, and to recoup themselves from sales to the Ministry of Food. These sales exceeded expectations, so that the Sierra Leone Government have secured a profit. The disposal of this profit for the benefit of the producers is now under consideration. For the year 1943, the producer will receive £40 per ton and the ginger will be bought from the Sierra Leone Government by the West African Produce Control Board. After the 1941 crop private sales were discontinued.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport, whether he is aware that the Western Welsh Omnibus Company and other companies in Monmouthshire and South Wales have stopped issuing three or six months' tickets and only issue monthly ones; whether this is a decision arrived at by the companies themselves or a national order issued by the National Transport Board; and whether, seeing this is an increased cost to persons using these services and also an increase of office work, he will take steps to see that the order is cancelled?

At the instance of the Regional Transport Commissioner for Wales, the issue of three-, six- and twelve-monthly season tickets was suspended from 1st January, 1943, on the services of certain omnibus companies in Monmouthshire and South Wales. As has already been announced in the Press, the Commissioner has found it possible to allow the restoration of these tickets as from 5th April, 1943, subject to a right of withdrawal at seven days' notice if circumstances should render this necessary.

asked the Home Secretary the names of those members, other than the chairmen, who now serve on the Advisory Committees?

Membership of the Advisory Committees appointed under Regulation 18B of the Defence (General) Regulations, 1939:

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware of the satisfaction given to thousands of people who saw the procession of British and American men and women through Manchester on 20th March and the exhibits, which included a Lancaster bomber; and will he arrange for the display to be repeated in Stoke-on-Trent and other large centres, subject to military requirements, in order that the people may see more of what they have worked on for five years and at the same time to create more interest in national savings and encourage the war effort?

The answer to the first part of the Question is in the affirmative. In reply to the second part, as my hon. Friend appreciates, the number of aircraft and other exhibits that can be made available for "Wings for Victory" Weeks is strictly limited by military requirements, but I assure him that within those limits the utmost will be done to achieve the objects he has in mind.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether he is aware that certain seaside resorts are now advertising their attractions to induce visitors during the coming summer; and whether he will define in advance his attitude towards a campaign of this nature?

I have seen it stated in the Press that the authorities of one seaside town have authorised expenditure for advertising the attractions of their resort. I deprecate any campaign the effect of which is to induce additional travel.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what financial concession has been recently made to British personnel in the Egyptian police?

Under existing arrangements certain British members of the Egyptian Police are paid from British funds and the remainder from Egyptian funds. The concession takes the form of the payment, with effect from the 1st October last, to the British personnel paid by His Majesty's Government of a cost-of-living allowance on the same scale as a similar allowance granted, from the same date, to the British personnel paid by the Egyptian Government.

asked the Secretary of State for Air (1) whether in view of the important operational value of meteorological services to the Royal Air Force, he will investigate the complaint of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Meteorological Branch, that the civilians who are in complete though nominally only technical control, have no experience of the conditions and exigencies of the Royal Air Force and are therefore unable to afford the maximum of desired assistance; and whether he will reorganise the work and place it under a Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve branch of the Meteorological Office, administered and paid in a manner uniform with the administration and payment of other technical branches of the Royal Air Force;(2) whether he is satisfied that pre-war volunteers who joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Meteorological Branch, were made aware of the fact that they were joining a civilian organisation and not the forces;(3) the reason for maintaining the civilian status of the Meteorological Branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, with the consequent dissatisfaction among all ranks of the branch, which suffers in particular from the non-observance of the promotion procedure normally followed in the Royal Air Force; and whether he will investigate these grievances with a view to their removal?

The Meteorological Office is a long-established civil Department which provides a meteorological service not only for the Armed Forces but also to meet civil requirements. Even in peace-time, a large proportion of its staff was employed on work for the Royal Air Force and as it was obvious that the number would have to be greatly increased in the event of war, the Meteorological Branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve was formed in 1939 to facilitate the inevitable expansion. It was inherent in these arrangements that the service would remain partly civilian in character. Members of the Meteorological Branch of the R.A.F.V.R. have had military status continuously since the outbreak of war. They are interchangeable with civilian meteorologists of the same relative ranks, and since the criterion for advancement must, in the main, be technical proficiency and experience the Service and civilian personnel are considered together for promotion.The status of that part of the staff of the Meteorological Office which is employed with the Royal Air Force has recently been under consideration and it has been decided that all the personnel employed in the overseas operational Commands and certain grades of the staff employed in the home operational Commands are to be fully militarised.The remainder of the staff serving in the United Kingdom are carrying out much the same duties as in peace-time and under much the same conditions; some of them are employed on work not directly connected with the Fighting Services. There is accordingly no justification for altering their status. I do not consider that any advantage would be gained by divorcing the control of the meteorological services provided for the Royal Air Force from the central direction of the Meteorological Office. Neither can I accept the suggestion that this organisation is in any way out of touch with Royal Air Force requirements. On the contrary, it has met those requirements with acknowledged efficiency for over 20 years.