asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can give any statistics to show the rate at which shops and other small businesses are closing under war conditions.

I regret that the information on this subject is very incomplete. But my hon. Friend will find useful figures regarding retail businesses in the Appendix to the Third Report of the Retail Trade Committee, of which I am sending him a copy. The total number of persons who have applied for inclusion on the Register of Withdrawing Retail Traders is now about 14,000.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has considered the proposals of the Central Price Regulation Committee for tightening up the present arrangements for control of prices of second-hand furniture; and if he can now make a statement.

These and other proposals have been examined, and detailed plans are now being worked out, from which a scheme for the better control of these prices will, I hope, emerge. As my hon. Friend is aware, this problem has proved to be one of great difficulty, and I cannot as yet give a more definite answer.

asked the Minister without Portfolio if he has considered the need for a reclamation of land scheme, prepared with special reference to the Dee estuary, Conway estuary, and other parts of the coast, all reclaimed land to be owned and worked by the Government.

No, Sir. I have no such general scheme under consideration. If proposals for the reclamation of land in particular areas are put forward by the local bodies or other interests concerned arangements will be made for them to be examined by the appropriate Government Departments.

asked the Minister of Health whether he can give an estimate of the existing stocks of wallpaper available for use in the houses which are now to be repaired under the new ceiling limit of£500.

The repairs to houses under the scheme is restricted to essential work on a war-time economy standard. As a rule, therefore, no wallpapering is done.

asked the Minister of Health (1) whether there is an adequate supply of wallpaper for houses which are now being constructed;(2) to what extent he is advising those undertaking the construction of houses not to use wallpaper; and what he is recommending in its place.

Most of the houses now under construction are being built by local authorities. It is not their practice to paper the walls, at any rate until after a period of two or three years. The walls are normally distempered. The question of supply of wallpaper does not, therefore, arise at present.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will make it clear to municipal authorities contemplating development schemes of a luxury type that priority alone will be given to housing, rehousing and particularly problems affecting bombed areas.

I can certainly assure my hon. Friend that any scheme submitted by a local authority will be considered in the light of the Government's decision that housing should be given the highest level of priority in post-war reconstruction.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he can give any information in connection with the explosion in a North-west of England factory; how many men and women were killed and injured; and what was the cause of the explosion.

I regret to have to report that four men and seven women lost their lives in the explosion to which my hon. Friend refers. Thirty-nine persons were injured, but only seven of them had to be detained in hospital. The circumstances of the explosion are being investigated by a Board of Inquiry. I should like to take this opportunity of expressing the sympathy of the Admiralty with the relatives of those who have lost their lives and with the injured.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether any steps have been taken to ascertain what men and women in the various military forces of the Crown would wish to be retained in such permanent forces as may be required after the war.

Arrangements have been in force for some time whereby men serving in the Army on any form of engagement, other than a normal Regular Army engagement, can re-enlist on a Regular engagement. Similarly, officers holding emergency commissions who wish to be granted Regular commissions have been invited to register their names. These problems are being closely studied, and other measures will be announced in due course when it is clearer what the requirements and the conditions of service in the Army will be after the defeat of Germany and Japan.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is now in position to make a statement on the issue of war correspondents' permits by his Department to approved women journalists on conditions similar to those authorised by the U.S. Army.

I have very carefully considered my hon. Friend's suggestion. War correspondents accredited by the War Office must in the course of their duties accompany troops into the firing line. Members of the women's services are not employed in the firing line, and it would, I think, be inappropriate to accredit women as war correspondents. But the War Office will gladly arrange for special facility visits for women journalists at home and in theatres of war where circumstances permit.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he can make any statement as to the circumstances in which Major A. S. Hooper has been banned from lecturing to the British Army.

Lecturers to the Forces are required to hold a certificate of employment issued by one of the Regional Committees of the Central Advisory Council for Adult Education in H.M. Forces and countersigned by the appropriate military authorities. The latter are invariably the military Command in which the particular Regional Committee is situated. All certificates are reviewed each year, and in a certain number of cases the military authorities give notice to the Regional Committees that they do not propose to renew the certificates. If the Regional Committee thinks this decision unjustified in any particular case it may submit to the Army Commander evidence of the lecturer's suitability, and ask that the case may be reconsidered. The decision of the Army Commander on this request is final. In accordance with this practice all certificates of employment automatically expired on 31st August, 1943. As a result of the subsequent review, the London Regional Committee were informed on 10th September, 1943, that Major Hooper's certificate would not be renewed. I understand that the Committee informed Major Hooper of this decision on 2nd December. Presumably in the interval they were considering whether they would ask for reconsideration. No such request was in fact received. Perhaps, in view of the allegations which have been publicly made, I may add that no search of Major Hooper's rooms and belongings was made by any military authority.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the cost to the Exchequer of Income Tax allowances for the years 1937–38 and 1942–43, in respect of earned income allowances, other personal allowances, wives' allowances, children's allowances and adult dependants' allowances.

The personal allowances to which my hon. Friend refers constitute, in effect, exemption limits below which no Income Tax is charged. These exemption limits are, of course, fundamental to the system of Income Tax, and their existence cannot be regarded as a cost to the Exchequer. The question of loss or gain to the Exchequer arises only in respect of changes in these allowances, and the reductions made in recent years have, of course, increased the yield of Income Tax. The allowances in force in 1937–38 and 1942–43 respectively were:

	1937–38	1942–43
	£	£
Personal allowance (single man)	100	80
Personal allowance (married man)	180	140
Child allowance (each child)	60	50
Housekeeper allowance	50	50
Dependant Relative	25	25
Earned Income allowance	1-fifth	1-tenth

If the 1937–38 allowances had obtained in 1942–43, it is estimated that the produce of the yield of Income Tax for 1942–43 would have been approximately£300,000,000 less.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why unmarried wives are held eligible for the grant of dependant's allowance when their men serve with the forces, but are not treated as dependants for Income Tax purposes; and if he will remedy this anomaly.

I regret that I could not see my way to modifying the conditions governing the Income Tax allowances on the lines suggested by my hon. Friend.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements have been made by His Majesty's Government and by the Governments of our Allies with regard to the issuance of currency in the liberated countries of Europe; whether he has considered the advantages of issuing invasion notes in terms of local currency instead of in terms of pounds or dollars, respectively; and whether he will establish future rates of exchange at a level that will not cause an excessive devaluation of the local currency.

—	1st Year.	2nd Year.	3rd Year.	4th Year.	5th Year.	6th Year.	7th Year.	Ultimate Cost
	£(m)	£(m)	£(m)	£(m)	£(m)	£(m)	£(m)	£(m)
1. Re-casting Full-time Education	2·8	10·4	23·7	44·7	58·2	71·7	85·2	163·0
2. Reform of Dual System	—	—	1·2	4·0	8·1	14·8	21·6	81·1
3. Young People's Colleges	1·5	3·0	4·5	7·5	10·6	13·6	15·1	15·1
4. Technical and Adult Education	2·0	4·0	6·7	10·0	13·3	17·8	22·2	32·0
5. Nursery Schools	0·3	0·5	0·7	0·9	1·1	1·2	1·4	1·8
6. Medical Inspection and Treatment	—	—	—	0·2	0·5	0·9	1·4	2·9
7. Totals	6·6	17·9	36·8	67·3	91·8	120·0	146·9	295·9

The estimates have been prepared on very broad lines to represent, so far as can be forecast at present, the total additional capital expenditure chargeable to public funds and attributable to the proposed legislative reforms in England and Wales.

asked the President of the Board of Education if the grant now paid to secondary schoolchildren at the age of 14 years will continue to be payable

This is a matter affecting military operations, on which I am not at present prepared to make any statement. The hon. Member may, however, be assured that the points raised in the latter parts of his Question have received and will continue to receive the most careful attention.

asked the President of the Board of Education if he will show separately the figures in Table 1 of the Financial Memorandum of the Education Bill relating to capital expenditure, giving these figures in the form of the capital sums which it is estimated will be spent each year and relating them to the different types of school buildings, and stating whether these estimates are likely to cover the total expenditure on each class of school buildings as far as can be seen at the present time.

The figures in Table 1 of the Financial Memorandum of the Education Bill make allowance in terms of loan charges for capital expenditure as follows:when the school-leaving age is raised to 15 years.

Under Clause 76 of the Education Bill the power of local education authorities to grant maintenance allowances will be limited to pupils over compulsory school age. The hon. Member will realise that the Government's intentions in regard to children's allowances have a bearing on this question and this is a matter which is at present under active consideration.

asked the Minister of Food how many British Restaurants have been closed; what is the estimated capital loss; and what portion of the loss will fall on the Exchequer.

Up to 31st December, 1943, 115 British Restaurants and 142 other feeding centres have been closed. Excluding 64 centres under the control of the London County Council included in the latter figure, the cost of adaptation of premises for the 193 closed centres was approximately£50,000. Particulars in respect of the L.C.C. centres are not available, but it is known that little expenditure was incurred in adapting buildings. The equipment from the closed centres has been or will generally be transferred for use in other British Restaurants. It is not at present possible to estimate the amount of the capital loss which will fall on public funds.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1) whether, since male and female employment exchange clerks are recruited by the same examination and do the same work, he will cause them to be given equal rates of pay;(2) whether, since male and female members of the Admiralty and Air Ministry departmental clerical class are recruited through the same examination and are required to perform the same range of duties, he will cause them to be given equal rates of pay.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to him by the late Chancellor of the Exchequer on 1st July, 1943.

asked the Minister of Supply the number of persons licensed to deal in iron and steel scrap under the Control of Iron and Steel (No. 7) (Scrap) Order, 1940, up to and including the 3rd December, 1940; and the total number of persons licensed to deal in iron and steel scrap under this and subsequent Orders at 31st December, 1941, 31st December, 1942, and 31st December, 1943, or any other convenient dates.

The numbers of persons licensed to deal in iron and steel scrap under the Control of Iron and Steel (Scrap) Orders have been as follows:

At 3rd December,1940	…	3,885
At 31st December,1941	…	4,378
At 31st December,1942	…	4,122
At 31st December,1943	…	3,971

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs if he will provide facilities to enable British mothers, who took their children to Canada early in the war, to return to this country if they so desire.

The possibility of providing accommodation for mothers who took their children to Canada early in the war and now wish to return to the United Kingdom, is constantly under review. It must be remembered, however, that owing to the needs of war, which must be given absolute priority, the number of passages available for carrying women and children is inevitably very limited.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the investigations regarding the stabilisation of African labour on the Northern Rhodesian copper-belt have now been completed; and whether the Report of the officer appointed to conduct this survey has now been received and what recommendations have been made.

A report on some aspects of African living conditions in the Copperbelt has been submitted and is now under consideration by the Northern Rhodesian Government.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make a statement regarding the work of the Commission dealing with the land situation in Northern Rhodesia; whether its Report is available; and what are its recommendations and the policy of the Government regarding them.

I am not yet in a position to make a statement. No decisions have yet been taken on the work of any of the three Commissions. As I stated in my reply of 28th October last, the third Commission was only appointed in the second half of last year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can state the present food position in Mauritius; and whether he is aware of the shortage of salt in the island and the need for price control.

In view of its isolated situation and of the fact that the island requires to import a large proportion of its essential food requirements, the maintenance of Mauritius's food supplies has for some time required special attention. Arrangements have been made for regular imports of flour and for stocks to be maintained at a satisfactory level. Most other imported food supplies are also being maintained in satisfactory quantity with the exception that great difficulty has been encountered in maintaining supplies of meat, which has to be imported in the form of live cattle. Arrangements have, however, now been made which should result in increased supplies of meat. In addition, there has been a substantial increase in the production of food for local consumption. I have just been informed by the Governor that salt stocks are causing him some concern as a result of a decline in production owing to unfavourable weather conditions. Arrangements are being made for importation of supplies. The Governor has full powers to control prices and my information is that he is exercising them in all necessary cases.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies to what extent public funds have been granted for industrial development in Kenya during the war period; whether these enterprises are operated by private persons and companies; and what is to be the policy in relation to these publicly-financed undertakings when the war ends.

The East African Industrial Council is in charge, under the East African Governors' Conference, of the development of secondary industries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika and Zanzibar. An advance of£100,000 has been made by the Government of Kenya for this purpose, and the question of participation by the other Governments is under consideration. The following are details of allocations from this fund for projects to be operated by the East African Industrial Management Board, which is subordinate to the Industrial Council referred to above:

	£
(1) Sulphuric acid production	4,500
(2) Hydrogenation of oils	12,000
(3) Glass manufacture	12,000
(4) Pottery plant	4,000
(5) Fibre boards and paper manufacture	10,000
(6) Caustic soda	1,000
(7) General chemicals	4,000
(8) Lime and cement	4,000
Total	£51,500

The post-war policy in regard to these publicly financed undertakings has not yet been settled.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will state in which Colonies labour advisory boards have been established; whether native workers are represented on the boards; and, if so, to what extent; what are the powers of the boards; whether their decisions are mandatory; and what improvements have been given effect to as a result of their activities.

At the present time Labour Advisory Boards, or Committees of that nature, are functioning in Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Ceylon, Falkland Islands, Fiji, the Gambia, Grenada, Jamaica, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Sierra Leone, Tanganyika Territory, Uganda and Zanzibar. Native workers are directly represented on a number of these Boards, but in territories where it is impossible to find qualified workers' representatives, the interests of such are entrusted to officials and others nominated by the Governor to represent them. The Boards are set up to advise Governors on labour questions generally, and their decisions are not mandatory. The matters so far reviewed by them have covered a wide field, including fundamental labour legislation, wage rates, cost of living, unemployment, relief to workers, recruitment, employment of women and children and the abolition of penal sanctions for breaches of contract of employment. In many instances legislation has been passed on the lines advised by these Boards and I am satisfied that their activities have been and will prove to be useful in advising the Governors on these important matters.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport at what date it is proposed to extend the Oxford laundry zoning scheme to the rest of the country.

The Government do not propose to extend the Oxford laundry zoning scheme to the rest of the country. While the same principles have been applied to other parts of the country, my hon. Friend will realise that there are some thousands of schemes for the rationalisation of retail deliveries, and that it is neither possible nor desirable to make them uniform. They vary from commodity to commodity and from place to place, according to the local conditions. The Government do not think it wise to impose a greater measure of uniformity on laundry services than has been imposed on delivery services of other kinds.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport, since the principal canals of the country are under the control of the Government, whether he is satisfied that all of them are in effective use; and whether the Government is concerning itself with the future of the smaller canals not under official control.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Bury (Mr. Chorlton) on 8th October, 1942, about the use made of the canals during the war. The utility of the smaller canals is not being lost sight of in the inquiries which are now being made into the future of inland waterway transport after the war.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of Scottish land purchases by private trusts, companies or individuals during the past nine months; and the total acreage of such purchases.

The number of separate plots of ground of one acre or over recorded in the General Register of Sasines for the nine months to 26th January, 1944, is as follows:

County.		Number of Purchases
1. Aberdeen	…	241
2. Argyll	…	52
3. Ayr	…	113
4. Banff	…	60
5. Berwick	…	16
6. Bute	…	2
7. Caithness	…	24
8. Clackmannan	…	3
9. Dunbarton	…	6
10. Dumfries	…	68
11. East Lothian	…	13
12. Edinburgh	…	15
13. Elgin and Forres	…	10
14. Fife	…	88
15. Forfar	…	42
16. Glasgow	…	3
17. Inverness	…	82
18. Kincardine	…	40
19. Kinross	…	12
20. Kirkcudbright	…	37
21. Lanark	…	52
22. Nairn	…	2
23. Orkney and Zetland	…	57
24. Peebles	…	10
25. Perth	…	104
26. Renfrew	…	27
27. Ross and Cromarty	…	21
28. Roxburgh	…	30
29. Selkirk	…	6
30. Stirling	…	90
31. Sutherland	…	16
32. West Lothian	…	8
33. Wigtown	…	27
		1,377

As some of the deeds of transfer do not specify the extent of the land transferred, I regret that information as to the total acreage involved is not available.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Warfare, if he can make any further state- ment regarding the present position of German occupied countries, especially Greece and Belgium, in respect of the import and distribution of food supplies from the United Nations and neutral countries.

On the general question of the despatch of foodstuffs to German-occupied countries I have nothing to add to my previous statements. As regards the Greek Relief Scheme, however, I can now inform the House of the addition of certain Swedish vessels to the Relief Service. The first of these, the "Saggat," is already on its way from Canada to Greece with relief goods. The other two, the "Pedro Christopherson" and the "Virginia" are expected to leave Sweden in the immediate future. The "Virginia" is intended to replace the "Camelia," which recently sustained damage at Salonika and will take some time to repair. It is intended that the "Pedro Christopherson" should proceed to an Argentine port in order to transport thence to Greece a cargo of wheat from stocks given to the Greek Government by Argentina. The "Virginia" will proceed directly to Greece, and will carry approximately 2,000 tons of salt fish, and 200 tons of dried milk, the gift of the Swedish Government. This ship will probably thereafter be employed in the local distribution of relief from Piraeus to other centres.