asked the Minister of Food under what circumstances his regulations permit rationed food to be given from a private store to a friend who may need it.

Rationed food may be supplied by way of gift by a person who has duly obtained the same from a retailer for household consumption.

asked the Minister of Food if he will give a comparison of the amount of intake in cod-liver oil, vitamin A and D tablets and orange juice, in Scotland and England in December, 1943, and January, 1944.

The following tabular statement supplies the information:buildings from spent bullets from aircraft engaged in aerial target practice shall be repaired under Air Ministry direction; and whether he is aware of the extent of this damage and that at present no scheme exists for either repairs or compensation.

I have been asked to reply. Few cases of damage have been reported to the Air Ministry, and my right hon. Friend has no reason to suppose that it is desirable to change the present procedure under which repair is arranged by the owner and the cost refunded. If, however, my hon. and gallant Friend is aware of any special difficulties and will forward particulars, my right hon. Friend will gladly see what can be done to meet them.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will consider granting extra coupons to women working in British Restaurants in a voluntary capacity.

Yes, Sir. Any workers, whether paid or voluntary, who are engaged for 22 hours a week or more in the cooking, preparation or service of food are eligible for the "Industrial Ten" supplementary coupons.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will consider making available for farm-workers Army boots or boots of a similar standard.

I am afraid that, in present circumstances, Army boots must be reserved for the Army, but I would assure my hon. Friend that the supply of heavy boots for agricultural and industrial workers has been improving and is now not unsatisfactory.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what arrangements are being made in regard to premises in the reception areas requisitioned for factories by the Government for their return to the original owners immediately after the defeat of Germany.

The arrangements for the release of factories from requisitioning must depend on the progress of the war, not only in Europe, but also in the Far East.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how long it is proposed to continue the office of Controller of Factory and Storage Premises in North Wales.

Since the Factory and Storage Premises Control was first set up, there has been only one Regional Controller for the whole of Wales, having his main office in Cardiff and a sub-office in North Wales. It is the present intention to continue these arrangements so long as it is necessary to maintain the control over factory and storage premises.

asked the Minister of Supply whether, in view of the waste of effort involved, he will take power to stop in urban areas the erection of wooden palings round the private gardens of squares to replace the iron railings which have been taken by Government order.

The only wood which may be used for such purposes is of small diameter and was excluded from the Timber Control Orders as not being required for essential purposes. My right hon. Friend would not, therefore, be justified at present in adopting the suggestion on supply grounds.

asked the Minister of Supply what types of salvage are still needed and to what extent.

I am glad to have this opportunity of stressing the importance of salvage collection. It is essential that salvage of waste paper, the heavier types of ferrous scrap, non-ferrous scrap, textiles, bones and the higher grades of rubber scrap should continue until further notice on the greatest possible scale in all areas. Kitchen waste is urgently needed for pig and poultry feeding, though local authorities are not asked to collect it in areas where it is customary for local feeders to make their own collections; and light ferrous municipal scrap is required in those areas where suitable flattening and baling machinery is available. Numerous other types of waste materials are required for essential purposes, and these materials should also be made available in all cases where collection, sorting and delivery to users can be undertaken without uneconomic employment of labour and transport.

asked the Minister of Supply what types of salvage are still needed and to what extent.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I have given to-day to the hon. and gallant Member for the Chatham Division of Rochester (Captain Plugge).

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty when the Board of Admiralty intends to extend provisions similar to those in Statutory Rules and Orders, 1943, No. 1140, to the rest of the areas restricted under the Vessels (Immobilisation) Orders.

The Vessels Immobilisation Orders are necessitated by Security considerations which differ from time to time and from place to place. There is no present intention of making any further relaxations.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that the Army and Royal Air Force have provided opportunities of reaching commissioned rank for sanitary inspectors joining those services; what prospects there are for naval ratings who are in civil life sanitary inspectors reaching commissioned rank in the Royal Navy; and if any particular naval rating selected by sanitary inspectors is helpful to this end.

Naval ratings who are sanitary inspectors in civil life have the same opportunity of being recommended and selected for temporary executive, or other types of commission, as other ratings. They are not eligible for promotion to commissioned rank in respect of their qualifications as sanitary inspectors, since duties in connection with sanitation and hygiene are the responsibility of the Naval Medical Officers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what policy is being adopted by the Government of Cyprus to protect the interests on the animal breeders of the Nicosia district; and, in particular, whether prices have been fixed for lamb-meat and wool.

Measures taken by the Government to protect the interests of animal breeders in Cyprus are not limited to a single district only but apply throughout the Island. They consist in:

(1) Measures for the control of animal Diseases.—All vaccines and medicines for parasitic diseases are distributed free of charge by the Government. Approximately 600,000 animals are vaccinated each year. As examples of the results of this policy the Governor reports that the annual losses from anthrax have been reduced to almost negligible proportions and that the oxen warble fly has been virtually exterminated during the last five years.

(2) Provision of foodstuffs.—The Government have assured stock breeders of supplies of fodder, both locally produced and imported, during the war. Amongst imported foodstuffs cotton seed cake, sesame cake and barley have been distributed to stockbreeders in the form of compound fodder, in some cases at less than cost price.

(3) Breeding.—Stud animals are available at the Government Stock Farm at Nicosia and at stud stables elsewhere throughout the Island for improving the local livestock. Selected bulls, jack donkeys and boars are also issued on loan to farmers.

As regards price fixing, the policy during the war in relation to locally produced commodities has been to fix maximum prices, as may be necessary to protect the consumer, at levels which afford fair remuneration to producers. Maximum prices for all types of meat have been fixed except unweaned lamb, the price of which has not been controlled partly because a high price for this class of meat tends to restrict the slaughter of young lambs and partly because unweaned lamb is a luxury foodstuff which is not considered appropriate for price control as long as adequate supplies of other types of meat are available. The slaughter of unweaned lamb below a minimum weight is prohibited.No price has been fixed for locally produced wool. The export market for Cyprus wool has shrunk to very small proportions, and ample supplies are available for local consumption.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the number of sheep killed by the recent epidemic of stomatitis in Cyprus; and what steps are being taken by the Government of Cyprus to stamp out and to prevent a recurrence of this disease.

I have been asked to reply. 2,500 sheep, representing less than 1 per cent. of the sheep population, were killed by an acute catarrhal fever locally known as stomatitis, but not apparently the disease generally associated with that name. The mode of transmission and means of prevention of this disease are not at present known. No effective preventive or curative treatment has yet been discovered, but everything possible is being done to find out the cause of the disease. No new cases have been reported since the middle of January.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether any Report on local agricultural and fishery problems will be published in consequence of the recent visit to Cyprus of the two joint scientific advisers to the Middle East Supply Centre.

Joint Scientific Advisers to the Middle East Supply Centre were appointed last autumn to consider, among other things, the principal scientific and technical resources of the area and the organisations available for supplying scientific and technical information. Until their Report is received and considered, I am unable to say whether it will prove possible to publish it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware of discontent among West African dockers, particularly at Burutu; and what steps have been taken to assist the dockers to secure the 50s. plus 56 per cent. cost of living allowance per month demanded.

I have been asked to reply. No, Sir, but my right hon. and gallant Friend is making inquiries from the Governor and will communicate further with the hon. Member on the subject.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware of the grievance of the peasants in the mining areas in Ilerha, Nigeria, and their claim to £14,000 compensation, based on 3d. per tree, arising out of the defacement of their land and the destruction of economic trees through mining development; and whether, as Section 17 of the Mineral Ordinance in practice has operated adversely to the interest of the peasants and some of the mining areas have ceased to be worked, he will enable the claimants to compensation now effectually to secure redress from the owners.

I have been asked to reply. My right hon. and gallant Friend has no information regarding the claim referred to, but he is calling for a report from the Governor and will communicate further with the hon. Member when this has been received.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what amount of security the Local Loan Commissioners demand when the loan is to a company or to an individual respectively; and if he can give the total loss during the year ended December, 1943.

Loans from the Local Loans Fund to companies and individuals are at the present time in practice confined to loans under Section 92 of the Housing Act, 1936, which lays down the maximum amounts which the Public Works Loan Commissioners may lend according to the security offered. Figures of losses for the calendar year 1943 are not yet available: in the financial year 1942–43 the total of losses sustained was £7,493, 6s. 1d., all in respect of advances to individuals under the Agricultural Credits Act, 1923.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what new instructions have been sent out to the Services relating to the release of ex-underground workers since 1943.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which my right hon. and gallant Friend gave yesterday to my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley (Mr. Collindridge).

asked the Minister of Information whether he will give the names of Members of Parliament who have broadcast in the Home and Forces programmes during the past 12 months and the number of occasions on which each individual has broadcast.

I would refer the hon. Member to the list given on 27th October, 1943, in reply to a Question by the hon. Member for Lincoln (Mr. Liddall). The following hon. Members, other than Ministers, broadcast in the Home and Forces programmes between 1st October, 1943, and 31st January, 1944:

Astor, Viscountess	1
Bartlett, Vernon	4
Braithwaite, Lieut.-Commander J. G.	1
Brown, W. J.	1
Chair, S. S. de	1
Davidson, Viscountess	1
Doland, Lieut.-Colonel G. F.	1
Drewe, C.	1
Elliot, the Right Hon. W. E.	3
Evans, D. Owen (in Welsh)	1
Gammans, L. D.	1
Grant-Ferris, Wing-Commander R.	1
Gruffydd, W. J. (in Welsh)	3
Hannon, Sir Patrick	1
Hogg, the Hon. Quintin.	5
Hughes, R. M. (in Welsh)	5
James, Admiral Sir William	3
King-Hall, Commander S.	1
Lawson, J. J.	4
Lloyd George, Miss Megan	3
Longhurst, Captain H.	1
McNeil, H.	3
Mainwaring, W. H. (in Welsh)	1
Morris-Jones, Sir Henry (in Welsh)	3
Nicolson, the Hon. H. G.	1
Pickthorn, K.	1
Southby, Commander Sir Archibald	1
Summerskill, Dr. Edith	3
Thomas, Ivor	1
Thorneycroft, Major G. E. P.	4
Tate, Mrs. M. C.	2
Wakefield, W. W.	3
Walkden, E.	1
Winterton, the Right Hon. Earl.	1

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how much in the £1 in national wages is represented by the £205,000,000 spent last year in subsidies in food.

I am not sure what conclusion my hon. Friend wishes to draw from the information he seeks. As a matter of arithmetic, provisional estimates suggest that the figure of £205,000,000 represented about 1s. 1d. in the pound of the total of wages (including the pay and allowances of "other ranks" of the Forces) in 1943. If salaries (including the pay and allowances of officers of the Forces) are added to wages, the figure of £205,000,000 represented about 9d. in the pound of the total of salaries and wages in 1943.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in any final agreement based on the Draft International Fisheries Convention proposals recently published, the closing of the Minch and the extension Northward, Southward and Westward, to 13 miles of the territorial limit for travelling around the Hebrides, will be given full consideration.

The purpose of the draft International Fisheries Convention is not to delimit or interfere with the existing fishing areas of the various countries concerned with the Convention, but to promote the general safety of fishing vessels and equipment and the protection of immature fish in the general interest of the various countries concerned with the preservation of the fishings. The special problems of the white fish industry in Scotland, including the problems of the in-shore fishermen, are at present being investigated by a Committee of which the hon. and gallant Member for Orkney and Shetland (Major Neven-Spence) is Chairman, and the attention of the Committee will be drawn to the implications in the hon. Member's Question.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications for new houses under the 1938 Act have been received from each of the islands of the Outer Hebrides by the county councils of Ross and Cromarty and Inverness-shire, respectively, since the Act became effective; how many houses have been built with its assistance; and how many of the other applications have been approved for the time when building resumes.

The figures relating to applications made under the Housing

Island.			Number of Applications.	Applications granted.	Houses completed.	Applications approved but building deferred.
			(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Inverness-shire
Barra	…	…	23	11	3	7
Benbecula	…	…	7	6	2	3
Eriskay	…	…	3	3	1	2
Harris	…	…	24	12	5	7
North Uist	…	…	28	19	1	8
South Uist	…	…	19	14	1	5
Scalpay	…	…	6	4	—	3
Skye	…	…	56	27	5	13
Ross-shire
Lewis	…	…	150	115	40	75

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of applicants in the Outer Hebrides whose applications for small holdings are at the Scottish Department.

The number of applications for small holdings in the Outer Hebrides outstanding at the end of 1943 was 887. In the preceding 10 years 151 new applications were received and 111 applicants were settled. Most of the 887 applications have therefore been outstanding for 10 years or more and are probably ineffective.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if the Argentine Government has given any explanation to His Majesty's Government of their decision not to give full non-belligerent rights to the British Government but to restrict them to American countries.

No, Sir.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs when the Annual Return of the Suez Canal will be published for 1943; if he can state the amount of tonnage that passed through the canal for 1943; how many countries used the canal during 1943, giving the percentage of gross tonnage and name the country that had the greatest number of ships that passed through the canal and the greatest amount of gross tonnage.

As regards the first part of the Question, the Suez Canal is too closely connected with the zone of operations to allow the publication of the Annual Return for 1943. For the same reason I am unable to reply to the second and third parts of the hon. Member's Question.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the conflicting patriot interests in Greece have now reach agreement for common action; and whether we are supplying arms to both of them.

With regard to the first part of the Question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by the Prime Minister yesterday. As regards the second part, the supply of arms and ammunition was naturally reduced as a result of the civil war; but we have maintained the supply of clothes and other material, of which in most cases the guerrillas stood in greater need than of arms and ammunition.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any satisfactory progress has yet been made in the matter of exchanging scientific information between Great Britain and the Soviet Union; and whether arrangements can now be concluded for the exchange of scientific missions between the two countries.

An Anglo-American-Canadian medical mission visited the Soviet Union in the summer of 1943, and an Anglo-American medical mission is there at the present time. Among the items of information now being communicated to the Soviet authorities is the present state of research into the clinical uses of penicillin. The question of further contact for the purpose of exchanging scientific information between Great Britain and the Soviet Union is being pursued.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport what is the maximum limit of weight prescribed for goods consigned by Service Departments as priority by passenger rail service to be handled by the present temporary staff of women, youths and old men.

The weight of packages consigned by passenger service is governed by "The Limitation of Packages by Passenger Train Order, 1942" (S.R. & O. No. 159). Under this Order, no package exceeding 1 cwt. in weight may be accepted for conveyance by passenger train, unless prior arangements have been made with the railway company for its acceptance. The Order applies to packages consigned by the Service Departments.

asked the Lord President of the Council if there has been any recent chemical analysis of the air during a foggy day in Glasgow and Edinburgh; and, if not, will he cause such an analysis to be made.

Regular observations of the sulphur content of the air and of impurity deposited from the atmosphere are made by the civic authorities at Edinburgh and Glasgow by methods recommended by the Atmospheric Pollution Research Committee of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. In addition, measurements of suspended impurity are made at Glasgow.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will discourage any attempt to breed larger sheep in the Exmoor Horn flocks; and, in view of the fact that the Exmoor Horns are used largely as stock foundation for crossbreeds in other counties, will be consult the secretary of the Exmoor Horn Sheep Breeders' Society on the matter.

Under the Hill Sheep Subsidy Scheme only pure-bred Exmoor Horn Sheep of the hardy type kept in accordance with the recognised practices of hill sheep farming are eligible for subsidy at the full rate. This encourages the maintenance of pure-bred foundation flocks for this breed of sheep.

asked the Minister of Agriculture why payments of hill sheep subsidy have been more satisfactory on the Somerset side of Exmoor than on the Devon side; why certain Exmoor Horn flocks have only received part payments this year, whereas they were paid in full the previous year; and will he consult the secretary of the Exmoor Horn Sheep Breeders' Society on this matter.

I am having inquiries made and will write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been naturalised under the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act of 1943, including Frenchmen who are fighting with the various Forces.

The only persons to whom certificates of naturalisation can be granted under the Act of 1943 are French nationals with service in His Majesty's Forces. The number of such certificates granted is 43.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women police there are in England and Wales.

On 31st January last there were 348 policewomen, of whom 335 were attested, serving in England and Wales, and 4,247 whole-time auxiliaries, of whom 1,093 were attested.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many men and women, respectively, of British parentage, are now detained in His Majesty's prisons under Regulation 18s; and how many in the Isle of Man;(2) how many men and women, respectively, of British parentage, now detained in His Majesty's prisons under Regulation 18B, have been continuously in prison since 23rd May, 1940.

As I explained to the hon. Member in reply to his Question on 16th December last, the statistics are not kept on a basis of birth or parentage. Out of the 255 persons still detained, 201 were detained on the grounds of their hostile origin and associations, while some of the remainder, who are detained on other grounds, are also of foreign origin. Of this number of 255, 218 (184 men and 34 women) are detained in camps, and 37 (26 men and 11 women) in prisons; 7 persons (3 men and 4 women) have been detained in prison since the 23rd May, 1940.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport how many persons were killed, and how many injured, for the 12 months ended 31st December, 1943, by motor vehicles that failed to stop; in how many cases was the driver subsequently traced; and in how many cases was he untraced.

I regret that the information for which my hon. Friend has asked is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Air how are the recent increases in supplementary pensions treated for the purpose of calculating dependants' Service allowances in cases in which a supplementary pension enters into the household income of a Service man's dependant.

It is the normal practice in assessing dependant's allowance to take into account income from other sources, and where a person is eligible for more than one grant from public funds the grant already in issue must be taken into account in assessing a new grant. In order, however, to avoid a series of adjustments in cases where a person is eligible for both dependant's allowance and supplementary pension the practice of the Service Departments is to disregard supplementary pensions when assessing dependant's allowance, and of the Assistance Board to take dependant's allowance into account, subject to certain disregards, when assessing supplementary pensions. The recent increases in supplementary pensions therefore have no effect on dependant's allowances.