asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that, in the U.S.A., there has now been authorised an increase of goods for civilian consumption, in view of the decline in demand for certain war goods; and whether he is prepared to take steps in a similar direction so far as this country is concerned.

Yes, Sir; and I shall be glad to take steps such as my hon. Friend suggests, as soon as circumstances permit, but, as I informed my hon. Friend, the Member for Aylesbury (Sir S. Reed) last Tuesday, the principal factor now limiting the production of goods, both for home consumption and for export, is the supply of labour, on which, at this critical stage of the war, ever-increasing demands are being made, and will continue to be made, in support of our military operations.

Do I understand the right hon. Gentleman to say that the demand for labour is diminishing in the United States and is increasing in this country?

It is increasing in this country but it is not diminishing in the United States, according to my information. I was interested to read the paper which my hon. Friend was kind enough to send to me, "The Journal of Trusts and Estates," for January, 1944, but I think the expectations there expressed are very exaggerated.

May I ask whether the expansion of our export trade is not even more urgent than the production of goods for the home market?

Yes, Sir, but it is not more urgent than the expansion of our bridgehead in Normandy.

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he is in a position to make a statement concerning the Report of the Cotton Board Committee concerning post-war problems of the industry;

Since the publication of this Report, I have been in consultation with the Chairman of the Cotton Board, the Cotton Board Committee, the trade unions in the cotton industry and with other persons concerned with this industry. I am giving careful consideration to the various proposals which have been made. On juvenile recruitment, the Cotton Board has done valuable work, and the rate of entry of juveniles into the industry is now I am glad to say increasing. On this subject I am in touch with my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Labour.

While appreciating the complexity of these matters, may I ask that my right hon. Friend will bear in mind the very considerable interest which Lancashire and the cotton industry have in the matter?

Yes, Sir.

Is my right hon. Friend bearing in mind that the deplorable facts set out in Question 5 are due in the main to insecurity of imports, due to the lower price of labour? May I ask what action he is taking, in conjunction with the United States, to develop export markets in the United States in the future?

I do not think that my hon. Friend's diagnosis is quite correct; the trouble is due to certain deeper causes, but I am studying the whole matter very closely.

While not wishing to press my right hon. Friend unduly, may I ask whether he will bear in mind that a statement from him will be considerably relevant to the question of full employ- ment? Can he give any indication when he will be in a position to inform the House further in this matter?

I will do so as soon as I reasonably can.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will introduce legislation to ensure that there will be no telescoping of the heavy engineering and shipbuilding industries in regard to production without his consent.

As stated in the White Paper on Employment Policy, it is the Government's policy to promote the basic industries of this country and to help them to reach the highest possible pitch of efficiency and secure overseas markets. The Government are, and will continue, in close touch with these industries regarding the change-over from war to peace production.

Can the right hon. Gentleman assure us that no conversations have taken place between industry and his Department with regard to telescoping?

I was not quite sure what the hon. Lady meant by telescoping. It is not a phrase we commonly use. I did not know whether she meant concentration, which has been going on for some time as a war measure, or something else. If she will talk to me and say exactly what she means, I shall be glad to deal with the question.

Will there in future be further concentration of industry in the postwar period?

Concentration of industry has been a war-time measure designed to free factory space and labour. It is a war-time measure, and there is a commitment entered into by one of my predecessors that as soon as reasonably possible we shall give facilities for deconcentration to take place in various industries.

Can the Minister tell us that in the change-over from war to peace men will not be sent to the employment exchange and get£1 a week, but that when displacement takes place the workers will get maintenance?

That rather falls outside my Department. I think the Minister of Labour would answer that question. He and I are in very close touch on this matter.

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether he will state the number of new publishing firms having started business since the beginning of the war; where they get the paper for the books they publish; and the nature of the books they publish.

No record is kept in my Department of the numbers of new publishing firms that have started since the outbreak of war. Their output, like that of other publishers, is very mixed. As explained by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Supply, in reply to my hon. Friend, the Member for Maldon (Mr. Driberg) on 20th October last, these firms use paper from printers' and other stocks, and returns, which have been made, show that the quantity of paper so used is small and diminishing and is, in fact, less than one per cent. of the allocations made to general printing.

Is the Minister aware that there have been 100 new publishing firms started since the war and that this year seven have been started? Does he not think it rather foolish that in the fifth year of war these firms can get plenty of paper to print trashy novels while the Minister's advisory committee refuses paper for the printing of educational books?

My hon. Friend has another Question about my advisory committee and educational books. As a matter of fact the Ministry of Supply, as the paper issuing authority, keep a record of these matters. These new firms are using together less than one per cent. of the total allocation for general printing—in actual figures between 220 and 230 tons for a four-monthly period. This is a very small figure.

Is it not obvious that even that paper, under the control of the Board of Trade, could go a long way towards meeting the requirements of printers who are publishing educational books for the schools? Why should these new firms be allowed to get paper even from stock? It must have been a very big stock to allow all these firms to print this class of novel.

How does the quantity mentioned by the right hon. Gentleman compare with the quantity used by publishers established before the war?

I would like notice of that question. This is a joint responsibility of the Minister of Supply and myself. In many of these matters I have to seek information from him.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why the Advisory Committee on paper supply to publishers is refusing paper for the publication of necessary educational books for the elementary and secondary schools in England, Scotland and Wales.

Most of the paper used for publishing books, including school books, is allocated direct to the publishers, and the Committee to which my hon. Friend refers advises me only on the distribution of a small reserve. Figures for the last three months show that, contrary to my hon. Friend's suggestion, the Committee has recommended grants from this reserve to three-quarters of the applicants for extra paper for school books.

Is the Minister not aware that a very good firm of publishers of educational books in Scotland have been refused paper to publish a book necessary for the schools in Scotland, and will he go into the matter more closely and find out whether there is anyone on his advisory committee who knows anything whatever about the educational system of Scotland and its requirements in relation to the schools?

I will be glad to go into any further information which my hon. Friend will be good enough to give me. The firm he refers to is Robert Gibson and Sons. They have applied for paper to print a new edition of an arithmetic textbook. That would be equally desirable in Scotland or England; arithmetic is not specifically Scottish. The reason why this application has, for the moment, been refused is because this firm have an edition still at the binders; therefore this book will not run out of supply. It was thought that the application for more paper was premature. When there is a case for publishing more copies I am sure they will apply.

If His Majesty's Stationery Office makes an application for more paper to have further reprints from HANSARD will the right hon. Gentleman see his way to help?

Each case on its merits.

Will my right hon. Friend be good enough to inform the House why his advisory council refused this firm the printing of the necessary examination questions required in order that the scholars in Scotland could sit for their examination this year?

My hon. Friend has been in correspondence with me on this earlier case. I have written to him a letter explaining the reasons for that decision.

Yes, but they do not hold water.

What percentage of the total amount of paper used for general printing is allocated for educational books?

I cannot say that without notice, but my hon. Friend can take it from me that this Committee to which he refers have been instructed, and carry out their instructions, to give preference to essential books of educational, cultural, religious and public interest.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to what extent, that before any shop can be established in any district by an invalided ex-Service man or anyone else, he inquires from the local retail licensing committee as to whether they approve such application or not; how many such applications have been rejected by the local licensing committee; in how many cases he has overridden the decisions of such committee; and whether this principle of a closed shop district applies to all areas in the country.

All applications for licences under the Location of Retail Businesses Order, which applies to the whole country, are dealt with by the local licensing committees. Between 1st January, 1942, when the Order came into force, and 31st March, 1944, 35,425 applications were made and 15,557 were granted. The number of cases in which I have found it necessary to reverse the decisions of the local committees is very small indeed.

Could the right hon. Gentleman possibly give specially favourable consideration to invalided ex-Servicemen?

Yes, Sir. Some time ago, as the House has been informed, I sent special instructions to these Committees to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is in a position to give the results of his inquiry into the extent to which A.F.B. No. 3626 has been completed.

More than 200 units stationed in this country have now been visited by War Office liaison officers, with the specific object of finding out how the Army Council instructions regarding the registration of Service voters are being implemented and what proportion of the officers and other ranks have completed A.F.B. 2626. On an average, 70 to 80 per cent. of the personnel in the units visited had already completed the form. In a number of cases, the percentage was much higher.

While thanking my right hon. Friend for the trouble and interest he has taken in this matter, might I ask whether he does not think that 70 to 80 per cent. is still an inadequate proportion for the whole establishment?

No, Sir, it is not the whole establishment. A good many of the units visited are now in Normandy. I should think that, in view of the difficulties which have arisen since this registration took place, it was an extraordinarily good result.

In view of the difficulties encountered over registration, has not the time arrived to provide automatic registration for men who are fighting for the country?

Automatic registration is impossible when a considerable element of the registration is the provision for a proxy.

Apart from the proxy arrangements, cannot we provide, as we do for civilian electors, that they should be registered?

That was discussed when the legislation came before this House, and it was decided that they should not be automatically registered.

Surely it is possible to obtain the registration of a disciplined body of men? If the commanding officers had been told that, if all the men had not been registered in 24 hours, they would be sacked, it would have been done.

Is there any difficulty, apart from the words of the Statute, about making the registration compulsory and universal?

I would like notice of that. It is a new proposal to make registration of soldiers compulsory.

Are men now asked at pay parades whether they have registered?

Some are. Commanding officers use their own methods, but the possibility of using pay parades has been specifically brought to their attention.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he can do anything in the case of Private J. Sanderson, who has been recalled to the Army after working on open-cast coalmining for seven months, as he has five children in his home, under 14 years of age, in the care of a guardian, and in view of the importance of allowing this man to return to coal production.

As the answer is necessarily rather long. I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Is the Minister aware that this man was taken away from a colliery, where the production was 1,500 tons a day, and where this man had been cutting coal? If my information is correct, this man, after being out for seven months, is now back in the Service, cutting grass.

The hon. Member can read my answer, and, if he is not satisfied, he can put down another question.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that some of the suits made for discharged Service men are of shoddy material, roughly thrown together, and, because of their fit and appearance, quite unwearable by self-respecting men; and will he take steps to see that all these suits are up to standard.

If my hon. Friend will give me particulars of these cases, they will be investigated. In any case, as I indicated in a reply to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Petersfield (Sir G. Jeffreys) on 9th May, as soon as supplies are available of the suits which will be issued to men discharged on the termination of hostilities, they will be issued instead of the present suits.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that some of these suits are so bad that there must be something seriously wrong with the manufacture? It is not a question of looking into individual cases, but of looking into the whole system.

Perhaps the hon. Member will give me specific instances of complaints, so that I can follow them up.

asked the Secretary of State for War the proposed instructions regarding the issue of overcoats to men discharged from the Army and the degree of responsibility which rests with medical boards.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that men may be discharged from the Army as unfit for further service whilst still patients in hospital, and that, if their discharge from the Army takes place between 1st March and 1st October but they do not leave hospital until the winter, greatcoats are not issued to them; and will he take steps to see that greatcoats, or an allowance in lieu, are always issued to men leaving hospital in the winter, regardless of the date of their discharge from the Service.

Under existing regulations, a soldier discharged on medical grounds is supplied with a civilian overcoat or a cash allowance in lieu if he is sent home between 1st October and 31st March; a similar issue may be made if a man is sent home at any other time, provided a medical board recommends such an issue. A soldier discharged on other than medican grounds between 1st October and 31st March, who is without a civilian overcoat or sufficient funds to provide one, may be supplied with one from store, provided that the medical officer of the unit recommends such an issue. The coat in this case is charged against the man's account.

Will the right hon. Gentleman give consideration to this matter, as, at whatever season of the year a man is discharged, he will want an overcoat at some time?

That will be automatically considered when the present arrangements are changed. At any rate, a very good raincoat will be included.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will ensure that when a soldier is paid in excess of what his trade qualification warrants, due to an erroneous rate of pay being recorded in his pay-book, any excess payment, when discovered, will not be put against the man's account and recovered from his Army pay, so long as it has not been established that he had any responsibility for the erroneous recording.

Issues of cash to soldiers are invariably recorded against their accounts as soon as the paymaster receives his notification of the payment, and I am afraid that it is impracticable to depart from this rule. Where an over-issue has occurred, owing to causes outside the soldier's own control, any resulting debt or balance is submitted by the paymaster for consideration of a write-off, in whole or in part, if the debt is not recoverable by restriction of ordinary cash issues within a reasonably short period. Where the case is not so submitted by the paymaster, it is open to the commanding officer to ask for it to be specially submitted if any special considerations arise. I am satisfied that the procedure relieves soldiers of any real hardship, and I cannot agree that a soldier who has received money to which he is not entitled should be automatically relieved of any liability to repay it.

Can I take it that, when there is specific hardship, the money overissue is not deducted from the man's pay in future?

It is adjusted either by the regimental paymaster or by the commanding officer, but the hon. Member can take it that, broadly speaking, hardship does not arise in these cases.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he has made inquiries into the practice of depositing military equipment and ammunition on refuse and salvage dumps in certain areas of Suffolk, of which he has been advised; and what action he now proposes to take to deal with this.

This matter has now been exhaustively investigated with both civil and military authorities, and I regret that, contrary to the regulations, some items of equipment which had still some life in them had been deposited in civilian refuse dumps. In the movement to battle areas of large bodies of troops, some malpractices of this nature—however regrettable—are, I am afraid, inevitable. The units in question are now elsewhere, and, in view of their present preoccupations, I do not propose to pursue this matter with them. But I have issued instructions to ensure that the present regulations are brought to the attention of all concerned, and that the regulations are strengthened where this is necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether any official representatives of the French resistance movements are attached to the Allied Armies in France to help in dealing with the problems which arise whenever a town or village is liberated.

I understand that the Supreme Allied Commander has made arrangements to establish the necessary liaison between his staff and the Resistance Movements.

That means that no such liaison has existed up to now?

No, it does not.

That was the Question I asked—whether any such liaison exists? Has there been any such liaison since the beginning of the Resistance Movement?

They have been attached in accordance with the arrangements I said have been made.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he can give any information in connection with the 19 soldiers who were killed, out of 21 who were riding in an Army lorry, after crashing into a cottage at Burley-in-Wharfedale, Yorkshire, early on Thursday morning last.

No, Sir, but I am expecting a report.

asked the Secretary of State for War to what extent protected personnel, not being called upon to do other than medical work while in enemy hands, are at a disadvantage as compared with other prisoners of war, who receive lager-geld from the enemy in addition to their ordinary pay, which is credited to their accounts in England; and if he will make a statement.

The hon. Member's Question, broadly speaking, sets out the present position, and at first sight the position is certainly anomalous. But protected personnel are only called upon to perform the duties which they would normally undertake. Other prisoners earn working pay for the work in industry and agriculture which they are compelled to do for the Germans, often, as the hon. Member is doubtless aware, in very arduous conditions.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that many of these medical personnel would prefer to do work of an agricultural nature, but are not permitted to do so, because of the nature of their calling; and, as so many of these gallant men will have to stay until the termination of hostilities, can he not give them some recompense?

I have been into the matter at great length. Whatever is done will provide either an apparent or a real anomaly. In the present case, I think that the anomaly is apparent, and any remedy might provide a real anomaly. But I will continue to look into the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what local authorities, including small burghs, were consulted before the Rent Tribunal was set up in East Fife; and what are the names and qualifications of the members of the tribunal.

Local authorities were not directly consulted, but the convenor of the county and the provosts of all but three of the burghs in Central and East Fife were invited to submit personal recommendations for membership of the tribunal. The exceptions were three small burghs whose councils, at the time of the invitations, had already decided against the application of the Act to their areas.

• Mr. Walter Herd, Solicitor, Kirkcaldy (Chairman);
• Mr. James G. White, Chartered Surveyor, Markinch;

In view of the assurance which my right hon. Friend gave when this matter was before the House, can he assure me now that local authorities in East Fife, on the whole, expressed a desire for this court to be set up?

That is another question. I can only say that three authorities in this particular area expressed the view that they did not desire to have this court.

Would the Minister consider getting some working class men and women on a committee of that kind?

The tribunals are working very satisfactorily.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he has considered the petition sent to him by 245 local ratepayers in the Kingskettle district of Fife protesting against the recent action of the Fife County Council in filling the vacancy in the Kingskettle district caused by the death of the late Mr. W. Dawson; and what steps he proposes to take to meet the expressed wishes of the local community.

I have considered the petition referred to. While I have no power to intervene in the filling of vacancies on county councils, I have on several occasions impressed upon local authorities the view of the Government that persons co-opted to fill such vacancies should, where the person creating the vacancy has been elected on a party basis, be a member of the same party. I am bringing to the notice of the County Council of Fife the contention that, in the case in question, the former member did not, in fact, belong to the same political party as the person appointed to the vacancy. I understand that the matter is likely to be further considered by the county council on 27th instant.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what salary is to be paid by the Ministry to the recently appointed Directors of Production.

I presume my hon. Friend is referring to the recently appointed Group Production Directors and in that connection I would refer him to my reply to the hon. Member for Yardley (Mr. Salt) on 25th January last.

Arising out of that reply, may I ask the Minister whether, since these persons, against whom I do not desire to reflect in the slightest, were in complete charge of these mines beforehand, what earthly effect did he hope to make by appointing them directors?

I do not quite follow what my hon. Friend means. If he would like to know what idea I had in mind, it was that of taking those people who are better qualified and extending their supervisory powers.

Is it not a fact that these several men were in complete charge of the same group of collieries beforehand?

That may be so in a particular case in South Wales. If the hon. Member takes account of the whole country, he will find that it is not so general.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he will take steps to see that suitable employment is provided in the mining industry for partially-incapacitated miners, due to sickness or accident, with a view to assisting towards complete rehabilitation of such workmen and to reducing the wastage of man-power in the industry.

All partially-incapacitated miners are interviewed to determine the type of work upon which they could be employed, and employers who have suitable work available are pressed, and if necessary directed, to engage such men in order to accelerate their complete rehabilitation. Work of a suitable kind is not, however, always available, and in this connection I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave on 13th June to the hon. Member for Morpeth (Mr. R. J. Taylor).

Is the Minister not aware that there is quite a large number of cases where an employee can secure his release from industry by application to the National Service Officer, and that they have no difficulty in that connection, so that there is a large drain of man-power from the industry by the release of these miners?

If the hon. Member will bring to my notice cases of anything not in order, I will look into them. We all know, of course, that there has been a very heavy drain from the industry, but there has been a check on that, and it has been reviewed recently. If the hon. Member will give me cases, I shall be glad to look into the matter.