asked the Minister of Labour if he will give up-to-date figures showing the number of lads conscripted for employment in the mining industry.

I am obtaining the up-to-date figures and will send them to my hon. Friend.

Has my right hon. Friend any information to show whether the number is increasing or declining each week?

I think my hon. Friend had better await the figures.

Will the figures be published in the OFFICIAL REPORT?

I would like notice of that question.

asked the Minister of Town and Country Planning what powers his Ministry possesses with regard to preserving buildings and sites which can be regarded as of national importance in contra-distinction to those which concern more peculiarly the local authority in which they may be situated.

Apart from the limited power which I have under Section 17 of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1932, to approve an Order made by a local authority for the preservation of a building of special architectural or historic interest, I have at present no power to preserve an existing building. The provision of further powers for this purpose is under consideration in connection with future legislation. In regard to sites, the existing Acts empower me to prevent the development of any site for a purpose inconsistent with national requirements but do not enable me to secure its use for a particular purpose.

Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that it is desirable that his Department should take powers in the sense indication in the Question?

I will gladly consider that.

asked the Minister of Pensions if he will reconsider his decision on the question of granting a flat rate war pension to all parents, irrespective of means, who have had the misfortune to lose either sons or daughters in this war, in view of the growing dissatisfaction now being expressed throughout the country in the delay in dealing with this important question.

I cannot accept the implication in the second part of the Question. The Government's decision on this matter was announced by the then Lord President of the Council in the course of the Debate on war pensions on 20th July, 1943, when he confirmed previous decisions of the Government against the automatic award of parents' pensions irrespective of their circumstances or of need. I can find no grounds on which to recommend that these decisions should be altered.

Is the Minister aware that there is a rising tide of public opinion, which wants to see this injustice and inequity swept away once and for all? Is he further aware that parents are demanding justice for the loss of their sons and daughters?

I am aware that that is so in a corner of Lancashire. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh!"] Yes, I am watching this. It is not at all widespread and where the true position is put to the people, they have approved the Government's action.

Is the Minister aware that when I raised this question some time ago, I had letters not from one corner of Lancashire, but from every part of the country?

I have no doubt that when it comes to a question of people getting money, the hon. Member could get letters from anywhere.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he is prepared to take power to make compassionate grants in cases where serving officers and men have died of cancer leaving dependants destitute and not qualified for a pension.

I should not feel justified in selecting one particular type of case for different treatment from others in which death is not due to service.

Will my right hon. Friend study the systems in force in America, and in some of the Dominions, whereby this difficulty is avoided and the life of the Service man is insured?

In those countries there is no system of social services such as we have here. The majority of these widows come under the Contributory Pensions Scheme. In the case of widows of the rank and file, they come in under the provisions laid down in the White Paper of last July.

But is not the position of the officer completely unsafeguarded by any of the observations my right hon. Friend has just made? Why should the officer be penalised in comparison with somebody else?

The ranker officer who has qualified for contributory pension benefits could continue as a voluntary contributor after he was commissioned and, therefore, could make provision.

Is it not a fact that the incidence of cancer is much harder to diagnose than any other disease and—

The hon. Member is giving information and not asking for it.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether in the case of a man discharged from the Army partially disabled but unfit to work for a period of time, he will consider supplementing the pension paid to the rate payable for a totally disabled man for the period until the man is fit to commence work?

The adoption of the hon. Member's suggestion would involve a departure from the principle that pension in respect of war disablement shall be assessed by reference to the degree of disablement and not to earning capacity. If a man who is unable to work fulfils the statutory conditions, he receives in addition to his partial disablement pension the appropriate sickness or disablement benefit under the National Health Insurance Acts. Where treatment is required for the pensioned disability and such treatment precludes the man from working, treatment allowances equivalent to 100 per cent. pension are payable, together with family allowances.

Is the Minister aware that where a man is in receipt of a small pension from his Department, plus National Health Insurance benefit, the total amount is not sufficient to enable him to maintain his family and that in some cases men in these circumstances have had to apply to public assistance committees? Is that desirable?

No, it is not desirable but it is not happening. I am looking into all these cases and trying to trace to bed-rock these allegations about men having to go to the poor law. I am dealing with these cases fairly and squarely.

Why does the Minister say it is not happening when it has happened? I have sent him a case of that kind, of a man who served four years in the Middle East who is now receiving a small pension and has had to go to a public assistance committee.

It is not because of the man's disability. I am investigating the hon. Member's allegation.

asked the Minister of Pensions, if he has given consideration to a resolution passed by the Lancashire Mental Hospitals Board, forwarded to him on 29th February, 1944, and whether he has any statement to make, particularly with reference to the reintroduction of the scheme operating during the last war under which Service personnel discharged from the Forces on the grounds of mental disorder, irrespective of whether they were pensionable or non-pensionable, became and remained the charge of the Ministry of Pensions.

asked the Minister of Pensions what reply he has tendered to the protest of the Lancashire Mental Hospital Board against the treatment meted out by his Department to members of His Majesty's Forces discharged on account of mental disability and admitted to public mental hospitals.

asked the Minister of Pensions, whether he has considered the resolution passed by the Lancashire Mental Hospitals Board, which has been sent to him, regarding ex-members of His Majesty's Forces in mental hospitals; and whether he is able to make a statement concerning the request made by the Board.

asked the Minister of Pensions if he will consider the desirability of reintroducing the scheme operating during the 1914–18 war under which Service personnel discharged from the Forces on the grounds of mental disorder, irrespective of whether they were pensionable or non-pensionable, became and remained the charge of his Ministry.

This matter is receiving my attention and I would refer my hon. Friends to the reply to similar Questions on 7th March by the hon. Members for Blackburn (Sir W. Smiles) and Ever-ton (Mr. Kirby).

Is the Minister aware that a growing number of mental cases discharged from the Forces have to go into local hospitals, and that local authorities and the parents of the men are very much concerned about having to maintain such cases?

I think the hon. Member had better await my further reply on these matters. A deputation is to be received by me to-day after Questions, and perhaps the hon. Member and others interested will come along.

Will the Minister bear in mind that the complaint of the authorities is to the effect that the treatment meted out to these cases in this war is not as generous as that meted out to similar cases after the last war?

I am aware that that is a statement which was made by the clerk to the Lancashire County Council.

asked the Minister of Pensions how long it is taking to provide artificial limbs for repatriated prisoners of war; and whether the provision of these limbs can be speeded up.

asked the Minister of Pensions if his attention has been drawn to the delay in obtaining artificial limbs for repatriated prisoners of war; and if he is taking steps to remedy this state of affairs.

As I explained in reply to a Question on 24th February, the time taken to provide an artificial limb necessarily varies according to the nature of the limb, the condition of the stump and other factors, so that no figure of general application can be given. Delivery is, unfortunately, not at present up to the pre-war standard but I am doing everything possible, in conjunction with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour, to speed up the rate of production.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he has considered the circular letter, dated 1st March, 1944, which has been sent to him and other Members of the House by the British Limbless Ex-service Men's Association, and whether he intends to take any action to remove the injustices referred to therein and also to reduce the length of time that injured men are kept waiting for treatment and limbs.

I have seen the letter from the general secretary of this Association. It contains a number of broad imputations and generalisations which I am in no way prepared to accept. There is no delay in the provision of treatment for disabled men. In regard to the supply of artificial limbs, I would refer the hon. Member to my replies to similar Questions today by other hon. Members.

Will my right hon. Friend consider asking the Association to provide definite instances such as those to which they referred in their circular?

I should welcome that. I have investigated an allegation that a man was kept waiting for four months and find the facts are that he specially requested that he should be allowed to go home and, having been a prisoner of war for so long, we thought that a reasonable request. He stayed at home for two months, but we provided him with a chair so that he could be taken out and wheeled about, and, as soon as he was ready, we took him back into hospital and went on with the fitting of the limb.

asked the Minister of Pensions how long it is taking to provide invalid chairs for repatriated prisoners of war; and whether the provision of these chairs can be expedited.

There is no delay in the supply of invalid chairs where the ordinary type is suitable. There have, however, been two cases in which a chair of the lever hand-propelled tricycle type was required and these take longer to supply. There have been certain production difficulties but steps have been taken to overcome them and I hope that in the near future supplies will be available to meet all immediate needs.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library an estimate of the present electorate in Parliamentary constituencies.

The statement already placed in the Library includes figures showing the estimated number of electors in each constituency in 1941. To prepare a new estimate for 1944 would, I am informed, involve a very great expenditure of labour, which it would be most desirable in present circumstances to avoid.

Does the right hon. Gentleman not agree that it is difficult to put up suggestions regarding the boundaries of divisions unless the people know, more or less, what the present population is? In many constituencies it has gone down since 1941.

If the hon. and gallant Gentleman has any particular case in mind, I will endeavour to arrange that the information shall be conveyed to the right quarters, if it is available, but to make a general return about 1944, as distinct from 1941, would involve a great deal of work.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is in a position to indicate the steps taken so far by the Service Departments and the Ministry of War Transport to implement Section 10 of the Parliament (Elections and Meeting) Act.

The necessary administrative arrangements to enable members of the Forces and merchant seamen to qualify for registration in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament (Elections and Meeting) Act are in an advanced state of preparation, and I understand that the Departments concerned hope to begin the distribution of the necessary declaration cards at an early date.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has considered the cases of a number of persons, of friendly nationality or Stateless, now interned in the Isle of Man under Regulation 12–5A of the Aliens Order, not for suspected collusion with the enemy, but for previous convictions for offences for which normally they would have been deported; and as at least 17 of them have already been detained for over three years and as many of them were petty offenders whose offences were previously punished by short terms of imprisonment, will he release them with the warning that any further offences will lead to their reinternment.

The fact that owing to war circumstances it may be impracticable or inexpedient to deport an undesirable alien who has been convicted of offences, is not a good reason for leaving him at liberty in this country to continue to prey upon the public, and it was for this reason that special provision was made for the internment of any such persons during the war. The question whether continued detention is still necessary in present circumstances, must be determined in each instance with regard to the facts and circumstances of the particular case. A general review of these cases, with a view to considering what releases could now be justified is in progress, but it has not yet been completed.

Does the right hon. Gentleman consider that at this stage of the war it can be justifiable to keep people in detention for years on end, merely for fear that they might commit some offence against the ordinary law? Some of them are going mad with anxiety and distress. Will he, therefore, speed up his review?

I have told the hon. Member that I am engaging in a general review, but one cannot generalise about the matter. I think the country really has a right, in wartime, to expect people who have come here and accepted our hospitality to behave themselves. If they do not, they must take the consequences.

Without contesting the general principle in the first part of my tight hon. Friend's last answer, may I ask whether he is not aware that in a large number of these cases the offence with which they were originally charged was a very trivial matter indeed, for which, in no circumstances, before the war would deportation ever have been contemplated; and, as many of them have now been continuously in prison for three or four years on quite petty charges, will he not expedite the review on which he is now engaged?

I do not accept this description of the position, nor that whatever may have happened before the war is relevant to what has happened during the war. The House is aware that the conduct of some of these people is bringing unjustified discredit on the whole of the refugees who have come to this country.

Accepting the fact that, in some of these cases, the man may have been guilty of serious offences, is it not a fact, nevertheless, that in some instances the offences have been quite petty?

I do not accept that extreme description, but I am going into the case taking into account that point of view. If aliens come to this country and expect to be trusted, they must behave themselves.

Is the right hon. Gentleman not aware that some of these men have lived in this country practically all their lives?

Is there any truth in the hon. lady's statement that some of these men go mad as the result of being in prison?

Not as far as I know.

Have there been any cases of suicide?

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reply he has tendered to the representations of the Magistrates' Association calling his attention to the growing practice of chief constables dealing themselves with young offenders instead of bringing them before the juvenile courts.

I have received a number of resolutions passed by the Magistrates' Association on the subject of the treatment of young offenders, including the matter referred to by my hon. Friend. They are receiving my careful consideration and I hope to be able to make a statement before very long.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the action of chief constables in dealing with young offenders themselves, without bringing them before the juvenile court, would be a very serious departure from the practice already in operation?

I see my hon. Friend's point and I am going into it, but there may be cases in which a talk from the chief constable or a policeman might be more beneficial to the young offender.

But is it not quite possible for the chief constable or policeman to threaten a boy for an offence which has not been proved? Is not that a danger?

I agree there are dangers about it but, if the case is handled properly, I am not sure that it is always bad. However, I will look into the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he can give any information in connection with the police raid made on the Cypriot Café in Charlotte Street which was being used as a gaming place; how many people were in the café; and if there were any of the armed forces there.

This café was entered by the police on 4th March and a game of dice was found in progress. Seventeen persons were found, all of whom were arrested. One of them, who was charged as principal, was fined £40 and ordered to pay £12 costs. The other sixteen were bound over, three of them being ordered to forfeit recognizances previously entered into. Of the persons found on the premises, one was a serving soldier, one a deserter from the Army, and three were merchant seamen. The deserter was subsequently handed over to a military escort.

My right hon. Friend has informed me on several occasions that he has no power to close down these clubs. Will he not seek powers?

I will consider the point but I am not anxious to secure additional powers.

asked the President of the Board of Education if he is aware that many school children in Birmingham have recently had to wait three months or more for eye examination under the School Medical Service; and what action he proposes to take to remedy this matter.

The school medical staff in Birmingham, as in other areas, has suffered some reduction owing to the demands of the Services for medical personnel and this has led to some delays in the ophthalmic examination of school children. The authority are this week engaging the part-time services of one or more additional ophthalmologists and hope to overtake the arrears in the near future.

Is it not the case that in a perfectly run service you have to wait a long time to get things done?

Will doctors in the school medical service still be called up for military service?

Perhaps my hon. Friend will be good enough to put that question down.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether, in connection with the School Optical Service, he is aware that visual tests alone are inadequate since, although normal vision may exist, the eyes of the child may possess errors of refraction of high degrees which, if not corrected by spectacles, may lead to strain, squint or other eye troubles; and what steps he proposes to take to remedy the matter.

I am well aware that visual tests of school children are in themselves inadequate to detect all those who have errors of refraction. In the annual reports of the Board's Chief Medical Officer on the health of the school child attention has from time to time been drawn to the importance of authorities arranging for nurses and teachers to refer to the school medical officers all children displaying symptoms suggestive of defective vision.

Is it the intention in the new order of things to arrange for qualified opticians to visit schools in the same way that qualified dentists examine the teeth of the children in these schools?

It is our desire to make things better and to do it as soon as we possibly can.

asked the Prime Minister whether he can now make some pronouncement as to the steps he proposes to take to reduce the volume of delegated departmental legislation.

This matter is kept under constant review by Departments, and it is their duty to secure the repeal of any subordinate legislation which is obsolete or redundant. No special action is called for on my part.

Are we to understand from that answer that this departmental legislation, which has been endured with some misgiving as a war expedient, is to be carried on in perpetuity; and may we have some assurance that the Home Secretary's words will not be carried out?

I did not notice any reference in my hon. Friend's Question to the Home Secretary.

The implication is obviously there.

With reference to the Prime Minister's use of the stock phrase that this is constantly under review, will he tell the House how many Questions have been put to him that are constantly under review?

A certain amount of latitude in the use of stock phrases has always been accorded to every Government as long as I can remember.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that since some of us started to take an interest in delegated legislation, the number of statutory rules and orders has been reduced by one-third?

Is the Home Secretary taking part in the review?

There is a Question on the Paper on that subject later on.

asked the Prime Minister whether, when differences of opinion occur between the Ministries of Fuel and Power, Labour, War Transport or the services, reference has to be made in each case to the War Cabinet; and whether, in order to ensure adequate attention and prompt decision, he will arrange for such matters to be decided by the Minister of Production or other specially appointed Minister.

Satisfactory arrangements already exist for settling differences of opinion between Departments by means of War Cabinet Committees, and of the powers of the Minister of Production to settle production priorities and to make allocations.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that the present deplorable situation in regard to the supply of coal is due entirely to the failure of the Minister of Fuel and Power to be able to put his case with sufficient force for the release of men to work the mines?

asked the Prime Minister if the speeches made by the Home Secretary at Mexborough, on 4th March and at Bradford, on 5th March on post-war plans represent the policy of His Majesty's Government.

My right hon. Friend in these speeches was, of course, expressing his own personal views.

Even though the speeches were made at party meetings, does not my right hon. Friend consider that to make statements which mean that in the post-war period Parliament should give up part of its power and much of its normal work, is likely to disrupt national unity at a time when that unity is most necessary?

I am quite sure that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has no desire to disrupt national unity. I gather that he was embarking on a purely philosophical disquisition on a hypothetical and conjectural situation which might arise after the war.

In view of recent pronouncements on post-war reconstruction by several highly-placed Members of the Government—the Minister of Production, the Home Secretary and others—who have apparently been speaking for themselves, would the right hon. Gentleman consider selecting a Member of the Government who will speak for the Government?

If the worst came to the worst I might have a shot at it myself.

In view of certain ex cathedra utterances, has the worst not now come to the worst?

On the contrary. I do not think so. Indeed, I was very much encouraged by some remarks of my hon. Friend himself during the weekend.

asked the Prime Minister, if he will consider a revision of service pay with a condition that such increase shall accrue as a post-war credit.

I have nothing to add at this stage to what I said on 7th March, and to the statements made by the Leader of the House in the course of the Debate on 2nd March.

As the main reason for not conceding this increase of pay was that it would create wild inflation, and as there is not the slightest justification for such a statement, does the Prime Minister not realise that, in withholding this increased payment which is due to these men, the rest of the community are merely picking the pockets of the Service man?

Of course, it is always easy to get popularity by using an expression like picking people's pockets," but when you consider the gravity of the times in which we live, it is a pity that these matters should be discussed other than with a great sense of responsibility. I have nothing to add, because Question Time is not the time when the merits of these important matters, about which there is legitimate and keen interest in the House, should be discussed. Question Time is not the time when the merits of a large question can be threshed out.

Without pressing the Prime Minister on this point, may I ask that he will bear in mind that, as things now stand, most Service men will have a far smaller nest-egg of savings at the end of the war than most civilians?

I naturally am deeply concerned with the position of our Armed Forces, and the statements made by the Foreign Secretary show that, within certain limits and subject to the reservations which he most prudently affirmed, a certain re-consideration is now being given to these matters.

asked the Prime Minister whether he is now in a position to announce the decisions of His Majesty's Government on the Report of the Committee of Ministers on Basic English.

As the answer to this Question is, I regret to say, rather lengthy, I propose, with the permission of the House, to make a statement at the end of Questions.

Could not the Prime Minister shorten the answer by putting it in Basic English?

The Committee of Ministers on Basic English, after hearing a considerable volume of evidence, have submitted a Report which has been approved in principle by His Majesty's Government. The Committee, in their report, distinguish between the use of a system such as Basic English as an auxiliary international language, and as a method for the teaching of ordinary English. In this latter field, several very promising methods, other than Basic, have been developed in recent years, which make use of progressively increasing vocabularies based on analysis of the words most frequently used in conversational and literary English. In foreign countries, the method used in the teaching of English will naturally be a matter for the decision of the Departments of Education of those countries, and, where teaching is conducted in British Institutes, it will be a matter for the free decision of those who direct the teaching of English whether they employ any of these methods or the Basic method. There is no reason why His Majesty's Government should support one method rather than another. So far, however, as concerns the use of Basic English as an auxiliary international language, His Majesty's Government are impressed with the great advantages which would ensue from its development not in substitution for established literary languages, but as a supplement thereto. The usefulness of such an auxiliary language will, of course, be greatly increased by its progressive diffusion.

His Majesty's Government have, therefore, decided on the following steps to develop Basic English as an auxiliary international and administrative language:—

(1) The British Council will include among its activities the teaching of Basic English, so far as may be practicable, in any area where there may be a demand for instruction in Basic for its specific purpose as an auxiliary medium of international communication. This will be in addition to, and not in substitution for, the Council's more general activities in promoting the teaching of English for its own sake.

(2) Diplomatic and commercial representatives in foreign countries will be asked to do all they can to encourage the spread of Basic English as an auxiliary language.

(3) It is also intended to arrange for the translation into Basic English of a wider range than is at present available of literature—scientific, technical and general—both from ordinary English and from foreign languages and also to increase the supply of manuals of instruction in Basic English.

(4) Some Colonial Governments will be invited to experiment by the issue in Basic English of handbooks for colonial peoples on agriculture, hygiene, etc. and by the use of this simplified language as the medium for some administrative instructions issued by the Government.

(5) The British Broadcasting Corporation has been asked to consider a recommendation to include the use and teaching of Basic English in appropriate overseas programmes. The Corporation has already expressed its willingness to make experiments on these lines within the limits imposed by special war-time responsibilities and conditions. It is re-cognised that such developments as may be practicable must proceed in parallel with the steps to be taken by other agencies.

It will be seen that several Departments are concerned in these measures. It has been decided, however, that primary responsibility for questions affecting Basic English, and for giving effect to the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers, should rest with the Foreign Office, through the British Council. The British Council will, of course, keep in close contact with the Foreign Office and with the other Departments concerned, and an inter-Departmental committee has been established for this purpose, under a chairman who will be nominated by the British Council.

Will the Prime Minister arrange for that statement to be translated into Basic English?

I put this question quite seriously. Will my right hon. Friend have the statement which he has now given translated into Basic English, so that we may get some idea, by comparison of the two, whether it is possible for a foreigner to express himself in Basic English in a manner which is both precise and easily understood?

I think that that is a very good suggestion. I will ask some of my friends in the Basic English movement to see how it goes. I would like to see how it works out before I commit myself.

Have the Government been able to agree on these proposals with the promoters of Esperanto?

In view of the importance of Basic English as an auxiliary language, will the Prime Minister ensure that when it is being taught, the clear Scottish pronunciation is used, thereby avoiding the fluctuating and irritating noises that are generally made by the English?

Will the Prime Minister direct the attention of those officials whose duties lie in countries not covered by the activities of the British Council, to undertake the work which in other areas is being carried through by the British Council?

What about winning the war?

This is in connection with winning the peace.

Have any discussions taken place with the United States Government, with a view to obtaining their co-operation?

I have had considerable discussion with the President of the United States, and, as my hon. Friend probably knows, the teaching of Basic English plays a very considerable part in the United States in respect of teaching citizenship to foreigners who have not completely mastered the English language. Therefore, the matter is of great interest to both countries. But I have not yet obtained any formal, or official, policy from the Government of the United States.

Will my right hon. Friend consider asking the B.B.C. to broadcast statements in Basic English, so that the people of this country, and not only foreigners, may have an opportunity of judging whether they like it or not?

This is, for many, an opportunity for humour, but I agree with the Prime Minister that it is a matter of first-class importance. Has he considered that perhaps the picture-house would be a good medium for acquainting people with Basic English, perhaps even more valuable than the air?

That is a valuable suggestion.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that on 8th October last his Department received representations about the conditions of employment of collectors and assistant collectors of fisheries statistics employed in his Ministry but that no reply has yet been received although an undertaking was given that the matter would be dealt with expeditiously; and if he is now in the position to indicate the conclusions that have been reached.

This matter has been under consideration in the meantime, and I hope that it will be possible to send a reply shortly to the representations raised.

asked the Minister of Health, if his attention has been drawn to the reassessment of supplementary pensions; that applicants have been reassessed and notified of the increase they will receive, but told they will not receive it until two weeks after notification; and will he see to it that they are paid as from the date of reassessment.

The Assistance Board inform me that they found it necessary to adopt the practice of sending out supplementary pension order books some time in advance of the date when the pensioner's current book expires in order to make sure that a pensioner would always have a book in his possession and to avoid risks of delay or of breakdown in communications.

Seeing that there has been so much trouble about these payments, could the right hon. and learned Gentleman get the Department to hurry on with payment, and not delay it, as they are doing, as the delay is causing a lot of trouble?

As I have already told the hon. Gentleman—and I think it is generally accepted—the Assistance Board are doing their utmost under present conditions.

Is it not possible for the actual increase or reassessment to apply from the date on which the reassessment was made?

I am not clear to which class of case my hon. Friend is referring. I took it that the hon. Member for Leigh (Mr. Tinker) was referring to the perfectly ordinary case where there is a review which comes into operation when the current book has expired, and that the question which he was asking was whether the new book could be sent in advance of that date for the new payment to take place on that date. That would obviously be quite impossible.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of a misunderstanding on the application of a supplementary pension; that some assistance boards are placing the pensioner living in lodgings, not with relatives, on the 17s. 6d. a week basis and not on the £1 a week; and will he examine this matter.

The Assistance Board inform me that there must be something quite exceptional about a case where a pensioner living in lodgings, having no resources beyond his main pension, has his needs assessed at less than £1 a week. If my hon. Friend has any particular case in mind and cares to send me details I will ask the Board to look into it.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power, whether his attention has been directed to correspondence, that was placed in the possession of his Department on 26th January last, concerning the proposal to close the local fuel office of the Blackburn rural district; whether it is yet possible for a reply to be given to such correspondence; and whether, in view of the facts therein disclosed, he will direct that this office shall be allowed to remain open.

The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes, Sir." The position is still being considered by my Department and my right hon. and gallant Friend is not yet in a position to give a decision.

Would the hon. Gentleman do everything possible to expedite this decision as the matter has been going on for a considerable time?