asked the Minister of Labour whether any consideration has or is being given to the cases of young people who, because of the war, have been denied careers to which they might have aspired and may be unemployed when the war ends; and are adequate training schemes going to be inaugurated.

This subject was dealt with at some length in my reply of 25th March last to the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Mr. Pearson), of which I am sending my hon. Friend a copy. I am also sending my hon. Friend the published leaflet describing the Government's Further Education and Training Scheme. The provision of training of certain kinds not covered by the scheme already announced is under consideration.

asked the Minister of Labour why the owners of small businesses are called for National Service and compelled to cease to trade although firms like Woolworths and Marks and Spencer have several thousand full-time employees.

Under the arrangements for the withdrawal of men and women from the retail distributive trades no preferential treatment is given to large firms. It is further open to any person, including the working owner of a business, who is due to be withdrawn under these arrangements to apply for his case to be considered on grounds of exceptional business hardship.

While thanking my right hon. Friend for the consideration shown by officers of his Department, may I ask whether he is aware that these large firms are securing an unfair advantage over their smaller competitors; and is he prepared to acquiesce in that position?

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that his Department has called up owners of one-man businesses, with the result that those businesses are closed; and that although several persons employed by large firms are called up, those large firms are able to continue in business at the expense of the small men?

A complaint is often made to me about the treatment I have given to the co-operative societies, about which my hon. Friend is very keen. It is not true.

I have sent cases to my right hon. Friend.

That complaint has been made about co-operative societies and multiple shops, but I assure my hon. Friend that the matter is dealt with equitably.

Do the Government realise that a large number of cases at Bilston are giving great dissatisfaction, because small traders are forced out of business by being called up?

Can we be assured that there is no unfair discrimination between owners of small businesses and multiple firms, because it appears that a large number of small businesses are being closed down owing to shortage of labour, whereas large firms are able to carry on?

I can assure my hon. Friend that the scales are being held fairly. If there is any complaint at all, it has rather been of the favouritism shown for small businesses. [HON. MEMBERS: "No."] It is all very well for hon. Members to shout "No," but the war has to be fought and inconvenience is suffered by a lot of people, and I cannot keep every small shop going because it is a small shop. I have to find the man power and to provide a ratio as between one class and another.

Cannot my right hon. Friend give special instructions to hardship tribunals to show extra sympathy to the small man as against the big business, because they both serve the public in the same way?

I cannot start issuing special instructions to statutory bodies. It would turn them into a complete farce. I might as well abolish them and do the work myself.

In view of the importance of this matter and the unsatisfactory nature of the Minister's reply, I beg to give notice that I shall raise this matter at an early date.

asked the Minister of Labour if his attention has been drawn to the lack of organisation in Manchester for the reception of mining conscripts under which a party of 20 boys were not allotted billets for 36 hours after their arrival; and what steps he has taken.

I assume that my hon. and gallant Friend refers to a group of men from the Isle of Wight and other places in the South of England who arrived at an outlying railway station in the late evening of 19th January on their way to a coal-mining training centre in the neighbourhood of Manchester. Owing to the difficulties of transport and of black-out conditions it was impracticable to take them that night to the lodgings which had been found for them as these were scattered over a wide area. Instead, they were found emergency accommodation with food in the immediate neighbourhood. All were settled in their permanent lodgings by 2.30 on the following day.

Is it not possible to make arrangements in time so that these boys may not be exposed to this discomfort?

I would ask my hon. and gallant Friend not to make "-Cissies" of these boys.

asked the Minister of Labour in how many cases the employer has refused, under the Essential Work Order, to reinstate a workman at the instance of the National Service Officer; and what action his Department has taken as the result of any such refusal.

Information showing the exact position in individual cases of this kind is not readily available, and I should not feel justified in authorising the expenditure of the time and labour that would be involved in collecting it. It is my policy to institute proceedings in such cases wherever I am advised that the necessary evidence exists to secure a conviction.

What sort of diseased imagination does the Minister think exists where the Minister can prosecute work-people for violating his Regulations and let an employer go scot free for violating the same Regulations?

That is another piece of bad imagination. I do not do it.

Is it not a fact that employers, as well as employees, do try to carry out the intentions of the Minister regarding the Essential Work Order?

In the bulk of the cases; but there are a few exceptions, and only a few, on either side.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the increase in the cost of living since the beginning of the war, he is now prepared to increase the billeting allowances for transferred industrial workers.

It is only a small minority of transferred industrial workers which has needed to be accommodated by way of compulsory billeting, and when such billeting is necessary it is for lodging only, the worker making his own arrangements for board. I have no grounds for considering that the billeting allowance payable in these circumstances calls for revision.

Is the Minister aware that the reference to billeting allowances is to the standard of 24s. per week which is given to industrial workers, compulsorily transferred, and does he not think that that rate of 24s., fixed at the beginning of the war, ought to be substantially increased?

I do not think that the Question makes the point which the hon. Member desires to make. The billeting allowances for transferred industrial workers are, as I said, for lodging only.

asked the Minister of Labour whether steps are taken by his Department to correlate the wage rates of various industries, or whether these are solely determined by agreement between employers' associations and trades unions.

Apart from the statutory wage-fixing machinery in certain trades and industries, it is the Government policy to entrust the responsibility for wage regulation in war-time to the industrial joint machinery, save where statutory wage-fixing already existed, subject only to the Conditions of Employment and National Arbitration Order which provides for the reference of unsettled claims to arbitration.

Has my right hon. Friend any observations to make on the recent award to surface mine-workers of 85s. a week in the light of the wages of agricultural workers of 65s.?

No, Sir; I never discuss awards in this House.

In cases where the Government are really paying the money, do not the Government take some interest in these discussions between employers and employed?

I am satisfied that the parties to this joint industrial machinery have acted with a sense of responsibility, as much as if the Government were not paying during the war.

asked the Secretary of State for India if he will give figures showing the number of men, women and children who have died from starvation and resulting diseases in India since the commencement of the recent famine.

No reliable figures are yet available of the number of deaths in India from starvation and resulting diseases. For the nearest estimate which can be given I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for West Leyton (Mr. Sorensen) on 20th January.

When does the right hon. Gentleman think he will be able to inform the House as to the deaths that have taken place, in view of the fact that the interest felt in this country in relation to the terrible famine is very great indeed?

This information has, in the first instance, to be collected by the Provincial Governments, whose machinery of collecting such information perhaps is not as effective as it might be; and then it has to be communicated to the Central Government of India before it can reach me. I hope to get information, and reliable information, as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for India what are the numbers of unemployed men in India at present.

No general statistics of unemployment in India are maintained.

Cannot the right hon. Gentleman give the House some figures, say to within the nearest million, out of the many millions who are known to be unemployed in India? Is it not a fact that the right hon. Gentleman's not being able to give me any information on this matter is dictated by the step that his Department has taken to drive women to work in coal mines in India, notwithstanding the large number of unemployed men?

My Department has taken no such step at all. As a matter of fact, there are not millions of unemployed in India, because a very large part of the industrial population work, when not in employment, in their villages. Statistics of unemployment are kept, I imagine, by the Provinces, but there is no general figure of unemployment for the Continent of India.

asked the Secretary of State for India the hours worked by Indian miners; their scale of wages; the number and percentage of fatal and nonfatal accidents annually; and the scope and scale of workmen's compensation.

The Indian Mines Act provides that no person may work more than six days or 54 hours in one week, or more than ten hours above ground or nine hours below ground in one day. The average daily earnings of coal miners working underground in 1942 varied from 1 Rupee 10 annas 9 pies to 10 annas and 9 pies according to the coal field. Wages have recently been substantially increased and in most pits stand at over 50 per cent. above pre-war rates. In 1942, in all mines, 342 persons were killed in 287 accidents. 1,522 suffered serious injury and 10,871 minor injuries. The total employed was 357,600. I am sending the honourable Member a copy of the Indian Workmen's Compensation Act.

Has any consideration been paid to the possibility of substantially raising the wages of Indian miners and improving their conditions, and thus attracting more men to that particular employment?

Yes, Sir, that has been considered, and I hope that more will be done in that direction.

Can the right hon. Gentleman tell us the reasons why coal miners in India could not be put under the same conditions as coal miners in this country?

All the conditions in India are so very different from conditions in this country that it is impossible to draw exact parallels.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that when in the recent famine the Government of Bengal realised the position and endeavoured to secure grain from the surplus areas, some 2,000 telegrams passed through the Calcutta post office advising up-country dealers not to buy or sell at the prices quoted; and whether, in the interests of the people of India, he will instruct the censorship in future to stop such telegrams.

I have seen reports to this effect. I will inquire as to the facts and as to the most suitable means of dealing with such matters in future.

Surely the senders of those 2,000 telegrams nullified the efforts which the Government evolved to deal with the famine, because they were engineering a corner in grain. Cannot steps be taken to stop such telegrams?

Yes, Sir, but I am really not in a position to know how far that information reached the Government of Bengal at the time or how far the Government were in a position to apply the censorship Regulations.

Could not my right hon. Friend make the suggestion to these people, who are new to the art of government, that they might look into the matter later on, in view of the fact that thousands of persons lost their lives in the famine?

If my hon. and gallant Friend will read my answer he will find that that is exactly what I propose to do.

asked the Secretary of State for India if all the Indian political detainees and prisoners are incarcerated in India; the number of these at the present time; whether any of the Indian Congress leaders may associate together; and whether records are kept respecting the religious persuasion both of ordinary and of political prisoners and detainees.

The answer to the first and last parts of the Question is in the affirmative. On 1st November last, the latest date for which figures are available, 15,763 persons were undergoing imprisonment in connection with the Congress movement and 7,267 persons were in detention. Congress leaders detained at the same place are allowed to associate together.

Has the Secretary of State figures showing the respective religious persuasions of these detainees, and if so could he give those figures?

I have given the figures.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that he has given the general figures, not the distinct numbers of various religious persuasions?

As I understand it, these figures are taken by the various provincial authorities who are responsible for detention. No figures have been centrally supplied and I do not see any special reason for troubling the Central Government of India to collect and supply them.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that the members of the warden's service can be compelled to do an unspecified number of hours duty in any four weeks, whereas members of the fire guard are not liable for more than 48 hours duty, which affords an inducement to some local authorities to take advantage of those who are subject to compulsory part-time service; and whether he will take steps to abolish this discrimination.

No part-time member either of the warden service or the Fire Guard is required to perform more than 48 hours of rota duty at his post or action station in each four weeks. In both services this requirement has been relaxed to the fullest extent possible, having regard to the operational needs of the area concerned. In many places, this relaxation has been facilitated in the Warden Service by the system under which wardens turn out on an alert either at any time or on specified nights in place of performing the full hours of duty at the post. Local authorities have been asked to operate this "on call" system in such a way as not to interfere with the social or other activities of wardens, provided that they come on duty promptly when needed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what has been the response to the offer made under his authority of the repair or replacement of anti-gas respirators by the Civil Defence services for the civilian population.

I have no statistical information yet, but the indications are, I fear, that the response has been small. I am glad of this opportunity of reminding the public of the ever-present need for being sure that their respirators are in order. The charges for repair are being waived this month and in February.

Is it not a fact that the danger of a gas attack on industrial establishments and cities still continues, and will not the right hon. Gentleman issue an urgent warning to the public of the necessity of maintaining their respirators in proper order, as a matter for the protection not only of themselves but the whole community?

It is of course the case, as my hon. Friend says, that gas attacks are possible. I hope that the question he has put and the answer I have given will serve as a warning to the public.

Will the right hon. Gentleman take steps to use the advertisement columns in the Press? Money is spent on things that do not matter, and this subject does matter.

The Press have been very good in giving publicity to the matter, and I am sure they will continue to co-operate with us.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that if he really wants to get the respirators inspected and put in order he will have to exercise some measure of compulsion?

Will my right hon. Friend extend the time for the repair or the exchange of respirators in the London area, which has already expired? Only a fortnight, I think, was given?

I think all the areas were the same, but I will look into that point. Regarding the point put by my hon. and gallant Friend, that has been considered but there are difficulties about it. I do not want to make Defence Regulations if I can avoid doing so.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether schools which relinquished direct grants from the Board after Circular 1259, in exchange for increased grants from local education authorities, will be restored to the direct grant list should their governing bodies so desire.

My hon. Friend will appreciate that the responsibilities of local education authorities and the position of schools financially dependent on them would be materially affected by the present Education Bill. The conditions of recognition for direct grant have yet to be considered. I cannot, therefore, undertake that schools should be given the option of transferring to direct grant status, but my hon. Friend may take it that, in appropriate circumstances, they will not be precluded from representing a case for consideration.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that it was not the intention of the Circular that these schools should suffer any loss of status? Would it not, therefore, be unfair to deprive them of their right to charge fees?

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will do me the honour of reading the speech I made on Second Reading. He will see that I made a reference to this matter. His remarks are not very much to the point if he reads my speech.

asked the President of the Board of Education what progress has been made in providing meals for schoolchildren since he offered equipment and pre-fabricated huts gratis for this purpose; whether this was done to raise the number of those to be provided for to 3,000,000, and how many would still be left unprovided for.

Since the free supply of premises and equipment was announced in May last, 3,850 new proposals have been approved, to make provision for 470,000 additional children. The Government is aiming at provision for 75 per cent. of the pupils in daily attendance at elementary and secondary schools, that is to say about 3,500,000. This percentage is already exceeded at many schools. So far as can be estimated at present, an average over-all provision on this scale will suffice to enable every child to dine at school who wishes to do so.

asked the President of the Board of Education the number of men and women teachers; and the number of each belonging to the National Union of Teachers.

Owing to the need for reducing the collection of statistics to a minimum in war-time, complete figures are not available for a date later than 31st March, 1938. On that date the number of men and women teachers respectively employed full-time in public elementary schools, certified special schools, grant-aided secondary schools and technical schools was 65,964 and 133,220. I am informed that the present membership of the National Union of Teachers exceeds 150,000, but I have not had separate figures for men and women.

Has it not been possible to count the teachers since the war started?

I have given my hon. and gallant Friend some fairly elaborate statistics, which I think should satisfy him.

asked the Minister of Health whether such steps as are possible in war-time will be taken to ensure that inmates of mental homes and homes for incurables, maintained out of public funds, are supplied with simple forms of amusements such as playing cards and draughts, especially since most of this provision has become derelict in the course of the last few years.

Yes, Sir. I sympathise with the intention of my hon. Friend's Question, and shall be glad to give what assistance I can in any case of difficulty.

Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman not aware that in all well-conducted public mental hospitals there is a very wide entertainment provision, even under war conditions?

I am not aware of any case where an application for help has been refused.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that 14304913 Craftsman Staines, R.E.M.E., was discharged from a hospital, of the identity of which he has been informed, instructed to rejoin his unit several hun- dred miles away, and obliged to walk four miles to the nearest town, although he had been in bed for 10 days with acute bronchitis and complained that he was still unfit; that on arrival at the town he was taken seriously ill and found to be suffering from pleurisy; and if he will take steps to ensure adequate inspection of all patients in this hospital before discharge.

I have obtained a report on this case which does not bear out the facts stated in the Question, and I will, with permission, circulate a summary of it in the OFFICIAL REPORT. With regard to the last part of the Question, I have no evidence that it is not the practice at the hospital to examine patients adequately before discharge.

Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that it is not disputed that, within an hour or so of being discharged as fit, although he complained that he was still unfit, this man collapsed with pleurisy?

I think my hon. Friend had better wait until he sees the facts as I understand them to be.

Is it not a fact that our hospitals are so full that nearly all patients are discharged before they are cured?

No, Sir.

If this man actually had pleurisy, will the Minister see that he does not have to go back to the unit, as pleurisy is a very serious matter?

This man was not found to have pleurisy.

He was certified by a doctor as having had it.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has considered a communication from the Sedgefield Rural District Council urging for legislation to settle a standard of bacteriological count for rinsings of churns, bottles, &c.; and what action he intends taking.

Yes, Sir. Under the Milk and Dairies Order, 1926, persons who empty and return churns in which milk has been delivered to them are required to cause the churns to be thoroughly cleansed before they leave their custody or control; and producers and other dairymen are required to cause all vessels used for containing milk to be kept in a state of thorough cleanliness. A considerable amount of bacteriological testing and advisory assistance in relation to the cleansing of churns is now being given under the National Milk Testing and Advisory Scheme, but I think that it would be premature to prescribe statutory bacteriological standards at the present stage.

Will the Minister not agree that, in the interests of public health, this is a matter for attention?

It is receiving attention, but it is not easy to lay down bacteriological standards for cleansing every bottle.

Are we to understand that the cleaners of bottles in future have to be bacteriologists, in order to count the number of bacteria?

asked the Minister of Health whether the corporation of Liverpool has yet acquired equipment for mass radiography efforts to identify persons suffering from tuberculosis; and how does he propose to accommodate in Liverpool hospitals and sanatoria the additional cases of this disease which will inevitably be traced, having in mind the already known shortage of accommodation for such cases now existing?

No, Sir. As the corporation were lately informed, I hope to provide a mass radiography unit for Liverpool early in May. The proportion of persons examined by mass radiography who are found to require institutional treatment is very small, and I am not aware that the Corporation forseee difficulty in this connexion in the near future; having regard to the measures now being taken to increase the city's present accommodation for tuberculosis cases, of which I have informed my hon. Friend.

Is the Minister aware that the measures proposed have not yet come to pass and that when they do, we shall be short of accommodation for those who require treatment?

The hon. Member's next Question deals with that point.

Has the Minister considered the material produced by Dr. Munro in Ross-shire on the limitations of radiography? He has paid particular attention to this subject and recognises the value of radiography but that there are certain limitations.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will visit Liverpool for the purpose of considering on the spot the treatment of tuberculosis and inspecting the provision of beds in hospitals and sanatoria for that purpose with a view to judging their sufficiency and suitability.

The matters to which my hon. Friend refers have been the subject of consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Hospitals and Health Committee of the Liverpool Corporation and the Medical Officer of Health, and I do not think it necessary to pay a special visit to Liverpool for the purpose suggested.

If I send correspondence I have received to the right hon. and learned Gentleman will he reconsider the situation?

No, Sir; the matter is under close consideration. It is not easy to find time in these days for another visit to Liverpool—I paid one last week.

asked the Minister of Health the extent of the outbreak of catarrhal jaundice; to what cause or causes it is attributed; and whether the liability to infection at public baths has led to any special action being taken.

Catarrhal jaundice is not a generally notifiable disease although, for research purposes, it was recently made notifiable in certain eastern countries and I have, therefore, no definite information about its incidence. It has latterly become prevalent throughout Europe and in North Africa as well as in this country. Its causes have not been established, and at my request the Medical Research Council is at present making a special investigation of the disease. I am advised that there is nothing to show any connexion between catarrhal jaundice and public baths.

Can the right hon. and learned Gentleman say whether the report on the incidence of this disease will be made at an early date, because it is getting rather serious?

We would all be well advised to await the result of the investigations by the Medical Research Council.

That is what I mean.

It is a body independent of myself.

Was Mosley suffering from catarrhal jaundice?