asked the Minister of Agriculture whether the Agricultural Wages Board have made any fresh arrangements with regard to holidays with pay during the coming year in the agricultural industry.

The Board has just announced that it is considering revising the provisions of its Orders under the Holidays with Pay Act, in order to secure a greater measure of uniformity and simplicity.

asked the Minister of Production whether in view of the great shortage of tractor ploughs, instructions have now been issued for all British firms normally engaged in the manufacture of ploughs to be permitted to concentrate on that production, since tractors are being delivered and there are insufficient ploughs to meet requirements; and whether the necessary allocations of material are being made to enable a sufficient number of ploughs to be issued to complete the orders to be placed by and through war agricultural committees at the earliest possible date.

This is really a matter which is being dealt with by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, and, as stated in his reply to the Question put by my hon. Friend on 24th February, arrangements have been made for an increase in the home output of tractor ploughs from both existing and new productive capacity. The necessary allocations of materials have been made to enable firms to fulfil the production programmes laid down for them.

asked the Postmaster-General (1) what reasons are assigned for the failure of such a volume of duty free cigarettes sent to our troops in India ever to arrive at all; to what extent such parcels used to arrive when they were insured which is not now permitted; what type of persons and of what nationality handle the parcels after they have been handed in to the British postal office under special licence and permit; and what steps are taken by the G.P.O. staff who have the responsibility for transport to investigate these losses;(2)whether he can give an approximate estimate of the number of parcels of duty free cigarettes which have disappeared on their way to India; and whether, as his Department accepts no responsibility for any refund of money to cover the value of the lost parcels, he will intensify his investigations to discover the reason for their non-delivery.

I regret that I am not in a position to give comparative figures of present and past losses of cigarettes sent to the troops in India, and in considering the number of complaints, it has to be remembered that delays amounting to several weeks have occurred before cigarettes which have been ordered have been despatched by the manufacturers, so that a number of complaints of loss may turn out only to be cases of delayed arrival. Nevertheless, I am concerned about the number of cigarettes which have failed to arrive owing to a variety of reasons, among which must unfortunately be included deliberate pilfering. While in the custody of my Department the parcels are dealt with by permanent or temporary civil servants of British nationality, and in the Army Postal Service they are handled by Army personnel. Mails for India are taken over on arrival by the Indian Army Postal Service. A joint investigation is being made by my Department and the military authorities, and I can assure my hon. Friend that efforts to discover and remove causes of non-delivery are being intensified.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been drawn to the pilfering which has been occurring for some time, in particular, from parcels from America in the course of their Customs examination in this country; what action is being taken in the matter; and if full compensation will be paid to those who have suffered by these thefts.

Opportunities for pilfering have unfortunately increased under war conditions, but there is no evidence that any considerable number of losses has taken place during customs examination. Every precaution is taken to safeguard the mails, and where tampering occurs full inquiry is made by trained investigators and appropriate action is taken. Compensation is paid if it is established that such parcels have been pilfered whilst in the custody of my Department.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the large sum of money which Members of Parliament have to spend per annum on postage, he will consider making arrangements for the letters of Members to their constituents to be officially franked.

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer given by the Chanceller of the Exchequer on 19th November, 1940.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether he will state the number of men in the clerical and supervisory grades on the L.N.E.R. who are classified as redundant; in how many cases this redundancy is due to the recently changed form of organisation which passed the control of technical stores to the using departments; the number of new posts created by this change; whether he is satisfied that the fullest use is being made of this redundant staff; and that national interests and individual interests are not being sacrificed to departmental or other prejudices.

There are no redundant members of the staff in the clerical, supervisory or other grades of the L.N.E.R. I am informed that the reorganisation of the control of the Technical Stores of the L.N.E. Railway has resulted in some staff being transferred with their work from the stores department to other departments. Up to the present, new posts for four males and three females have been created. Twelve males and two female posts have been saved and the persons concerned transferred to other departments which are under-staffed, and where they are fully employed. I have no reason to believe that the change of organisation is in any way contrary to national or individual interests.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in connection with the murder by Jewish terrorists of Inspector Green and Constable Ewer in Palestine, he will hear information from the hon. and gallant Member for South Midlothian and Peebles concerning a meeting held in London prior to the formation of the Stern group and confined to Jews, at which large sums of money were appealed for and subscribed for financing terrorist activities in Palestine in resistance to the White Paper; and if he will arrange to receive this information under conditions precluding the percolation of the facts related to Jewish quarters.

If the hon. and gallant Member has any information on this subject which he thinks I should have, I shall be glad if he will write to me about it. I would then give full consideration to it.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total tax payable, respectively, on unearned incomes of the following amounts and the tax if on earned incomes £150,000, £65,000, £40,000, £10,000, £5,000 and £1,500 a year, and on £600, £500, £300 and £120 a year, with the amount paid in tax by a single man and the amount refunded in post-war credits.

I would refer my hon. Friend to Table X, Parts (1a) and (1b), of the Financial Statement, 1941–42 (House of Commons 73, 1941), in which all the figures are given except those relating to an income of £66,000. A single man, whose income, £66,000, is all earned, pays £61,024 17s. 6d. in tax, of which £60 will be refundable as a post-war credit, while a single man with £66,000 income wholly unearned pays £61,099 17s. 6d. in tax, of which £10 will be refundable as a post-war credit.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any statement to make about the amount of the fiduciary note issue.

Yes, Sir. The Treasury, acting under the power conferred by Section 8 of the Currency and Bank Notes Act, 1928, as subsequently amended, have authorised an increase in the amount of the fiduciary note issue by £50 millions to £1,150 millions as from 7th March, 1944. The Treasury Minute will be laid before Parliament.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what proportion have honours been awarded to whole-time paid and part-time unpaid personnel, respectively, of the N.F.S., showing the firemen and firewomen and the officers separately.

Since the outbreak of war awards of honours have been made to 411 men and 32 women in the National Fire Service. In addition there have been 326 commendations of men and 42 of women. The awards include 2 George Crosses and 88 George Medals. I regret that I could not, without detailed examination of the records, give separate figures for officers or whole-time paid and part-time unpaid members, but it is estimated that about one-third were officers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recognition has been shown by his Department to unpaid personnel who have performed continuous service of over six years in the A.F.S. and the N.F.S.

No separate mark of recognition has been approved for unpaid service in the Auxiliary Fire Service and the National Fire Service. But apart from honours granted in consideration of gallantry or distinguished service, the personnel to whom my hon. and gallant Friend refers are eligible for the award of service chevrons in the same way as members of other Civil Defence Services in respect of service during the war.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if there are any plans under consideration for a long term Indus- trial trial programme in Scotland which will enable the major industries to provide continuity of employment.

Yes, Sir. The consideration which, as already announced, is being given by the Government to postwar industrial reconstruction necessarily includes consideration of the problems of the major industries of Scotland. The Scottish Council on Industry, working in close contact with my Advisory Council of Ex-Secretaries, is considering the special problems of Scottish industry, and I have sent to my hon. Friend copies of the Reports which it has issued from time to time summarising what has been done to ensure that the industrial position of Scotland is fully safeguarded. Plans covering a wide range of post-war development in Scotland are being actively prepared, including in particular a considerable housing programme, the utilisation of hydro-electric power and of Scottish coal resources, and the development of agriculture and the fishing industry.