asked the Secretary of State for War what information he has regarding the numbers of officers and men who have so far filled up A.F.B. 2626, which gives them the right to registration for the parliamentary franchise.

I regret that the information for which my hon. Friend asks is not available. No record is kept by units of the number of officers and men who have filled up this form. It is the duty of every commanding officer to ensure that all ranks are given the opportunity of completing this form.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, when a Serviceman is an only son, mothers of such men can be given equal treatment with wives so far as travelling expenses are concerned when notified that their son is dangerously or seriously ill.

When an officer or soldier is dangerously ill, the next-of-kin receives a specially worded telegram. On production at the nearest police station, a return railway warrant for two persons, one a relative, may be issued. In the case of a married man the next-of-kin is his wife. But if the mother receives the notification it can be presumed that she is the next-of-kin and therefore entitled to the free railway warrant. In any case she may be one of the two persons for whom free return travel is provided. In cases of illness, which are not dangerous, mothers and wives are in an identical position and can receive concession vouchers and avail themselves of the reduced concession fares granted by the railways.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether arrangements can be made to supply the surplus citrus fruits in Palestine to the Imperial Forces in Egypt and the Canal Zone.

The Forces in the Canal Zone and in Egypt generally rely for their supplies of fresh fruit, including citrus fruit, on local produce in the first instance. This cuts down the use of transport to the minimum. If these supplies are insufficient full use is made of such supplies as are available in Palestine.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will arrange for films produced for the British Council to be exhibited in this country as well as abroad.

All British Council films are available for showing in the United Kingdom. Forty of them are at present being rented by the major film distributors in this country. Sixteen-millimetre copies of all films are available for private showing in schools and clubs and may be obtained through the Central Film Library and the Gaumont British Equipments.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any further statement to make about the alleged murder of a British officer in Greece by an Elas guerilla.

Our inquiries into this matter are not yet complete and investigations are being continued. I will make a full statement as soon as they are concluded.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether he will state the names of all committees, advisory councils or like bodies under the ægis of his Department on which any Member of either House of Parliament sit, together with the names of those Members.

Lord Assenden and my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley (Mr. Joseph Maclay) are members of the Shipping Advisory Council; my hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead East (Mr. G. White) is Chairman of the Committee on Seamen's Welfare in Ports, which was appointed by my Noble Friend in consultation with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour.

asked the Minister of Food whether he can make any statement on the purchase of mutton from Iceland, including its age, price, and quantity.

Yes, Sir, we bought a small quantity of mutton from Iceland and unfortunately some of it was marked on the package as lamb, which it was not. We have taken steps to see that any butcher who was issued with mutton as lamb can claim an appropriate refund for it as mutton.

asked the Minister of Food whether in view of the strenuous nature of the work of members of the W.L.A. and the impossibility, in certain isolated districts, of obtaining a midday meal off the ration at a café or restaurant as is possible for workers more conveniently placed, he will arrange with the Ministry of Food for an increase in the food ration to W.L.A. members in cases of special hardship as determined, after individual applications, by the local food control officer.

No, Sir. Members of the Women's Land Army, like other agricultural workers, are already eligible for the special cheese ration, with which they can provide themselves with a packed mid-day meal, and for the special allowances of rationed foods that are made available through their employers to agricultural workers during periods of seasonal activity.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps have been taken to increase the salaries of the directors of Government research establishments; and how their present salaries compare with those paid before the changes were made.

There has been no general change in the remuneration of the Directors of Government Research Establishments as such. It was, however, recently decided to bring up to a salary level of £2,000 a certain number of scientific posts which require outstanding professional qualifications, and involve specially heavy administrative responsibilities.

asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department whether in view of the existing ban on travel abroad which applies to Government officials unless their business is of immediate urgency, and as this ban will operate in the case of the Director of the Overseas Division, he will consider withdrawing the special allowance granted to a principal officer in his Department, in view of the fact that the allowance was given to compensate this principal officer for deputising for the Director of the Overseas Division on the occasions when the latter officer would be out of the country.

The ban on travel will not be permanent and therefore provides no grounds for interfering with the existing arrangement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the cost to the Exchequer in issuing transfer deeds free to stock-

Exchange.	Duty if exigible at £1 per cent.	Exigible and paid under Section 42.	Difference.
	£	£	£
London Stock Exchange	2,220,019	388,366	1,831,653
Birmingham Stock Exchange	4,809	1,279	3,530
Bristol Stock Exchange	3,746	1,075	2,671
Cardiff Stock Exchange	4.528	2,339	2,189
Halifax Stock Exchange	308	109	199
Huddersfield Stock Exchange	340	41	299
Leeds Stock Exchange	57	45	12
Liverpool Stock Exchange	2,852	573	2,279
Manchester Stock Exchange	5,329	1,649	3,680
Mincing Lane Tea and Rubber Shareholders' Association Ltd.	355	116	239
Newcastle Stock Exchange	42	12	30
Nottingham Stock Exchange	392	92	300
Provincial Brokers Stock Exchange	3,872	1,042	2,830
Sheffield Stock Exchange	19,251	3,614	15,637
(a) Total for period 1st April, 1939, to 31st March, 1944.	2,265,900	400,352	1,865,548
(b) Total from 1st September, 1920, to 31st March, 1944.	13,977,399	2,551,102	11,426,297

As regards the last part of the Question, I am unable to add anything to the replies which were given to the hon. Member by my predecessor on 6th May, 1941. I am sending him copies of those replies.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that 80 men from Northern Ireland were sent through

The cost of the transfer forms issued free to the public for the period 1st April, 1939, to 31st March, 1944, was approximately £1,700. The following table shows (a) for each Stock Exchange the effect over the same period of the operation of Section 42 of the Finance Act, 1920, as amended by the Finance Act, 1931, and (b) the aggregate total from the 1st September, 1920, when that Section came into operation, to 31st March, 1944.the employment exchange to work in Great Britain as builders' labourers on a job near Tilbury on condition that when the job was finished they could return home; that on the completion of the job they were transferred to Portsmouth, placed upon a tender and taken four miles out to sea to shovel coal and are now stranded with no income; and what arrangements is he making to return them to their homes with adequate compensation for loss while they have been stranded.

I am not aware of the existence of any condition such as that to which my hon. Friend refers. When the work at Tilbury came to an end the men concerned were placed on important work at Portsmouth, but they would not continue with this nor take other work in the area. Instead, they came to London, where they were offered further employment without delay, and I am informed that all those available for employment are now working. The question of permitting the return to Northern Ireland of these workers is one for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, but I understand that in view of the present travel restrictions this is not possible. As work was available to the men, I cannot agree that they are entitled to any compensation for loss of work.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how many civil servants are represented by the staff associations comprising the National Whitley Council.

At the end of 1943 there were approximately 490,000 civil servants (i.e. nearly three-quarters of all non-industrial civil servants, established and temporary, then in post), in the grades for which the staff associations on the national Whitley Council are recognised in a representative capacity.*

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how many civil servants are represented by the staff associations not on the National Whitley Council.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works whether the official estimate of £550 per prefabricated house includes cost of transport and erection; and, if this is not so, what is the estimate of the additional charge.

As my Noble Friend stated in another place, he is aiming at a figure of £550 for the emergency factory-made house, delivered and erected with the necessary services laid on.

^*See OFFICIAL REPORT, 15th June, 1944.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the percentage of places that wall be allocated to ex-Navy, Army and R.A.F. candidates when permanent recruitment for the Foreign Service is opened.

In his statement on post-war recruitment for the Civil Service on 17th February my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that any arrangements made for recruitment to the Civil Service immediately after the war should ensure that generous treatment is given to suitable candidates from the Forces. The same principle applies to recruitment in the post-war period for the Foreign Service, but as arrangements for such recruitment have not yet been completed, I cannot yet state the percentage of vacancies that will be allocated to ex-Service candidates.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what progress has been made with the compilation of a combined seniority list of the permanent members of the Foreign Office, Diplomatic and Consular services, as an essential step toward the reorganisation of the Foreign Service.

It is not considered necessary or even desirable to compile a combined seniority list of existing members of the Foreign Service, if only because, for the reasons explained in paragraph 6 of Command 6420, it is impracticable that posts in the three branches of the Service should at once become completely interchangeable. In making appointments in the combined Service it is my right hon. Friend's intention to select the men who are most suitable for the posts in question without regard to the branch of the Service in which they have hitherto served. A combined seniority list will come into existence when recruitment to the combined Service begins after the war.

asked the Minister of Information if he will make a statement on the constitution and functions of the United Nations Information Organisation; and if the Soviet Union is represented en this body.

Eighteen National Information Services are at present represented on the Organisation, which is designed to distribute information of common interest to the United Nations. The new Organisation is the successor to the Inter-Allied Information Committee established in 1941. The U.S.S.R. were invited to participate at an early stage and have appointed an observer.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if His Majesty's Government are proposing, in the near future, to institute conversations with the U.S.S.R. in regard to matters of civil aviation concerning both countries.

His Majesty's Government are hoping to have conversations with the Government of the U.S.S.R. and with other Governments prior to an International Conference on post-war civil air transport.

asked the Minister of Production whether provision of music during work has established its utility to the extent of justifying its post-war continuance.

During the war the provision of music during working hours has been progressively developed in several hundred factories in this country, as well as in the United States. I am informed that researches made by the Industrial Health Research Board and the Institute of Industrial Psychology in this country and by the Stevens Institute and the War Production Board in America suggest that, in the field covered by those researches, music has helped to alleviate monotony and fatigue, particularly in repetitive and assembly work. It will, of course, be for those concerned in industry to decide whether the experience gained during the war justifies the postwar use of the scheme.