asked the Minister of Labour to what extent charitable voluntary organisations responsible for homes and other institutions for the care of children are obliged to consult representatives of his Ministry or juvenile advisory committees before placing in employment children under their care; whether he is satisfied that there is no exploitation of these children and that their after-care when in work is satisfactory; and whether he will consider empowering juvenile advisory committees or other impartial agencies to supervise the placing of all such juveniles in work and to investigate and supervise the conditions in which such work is carried out.

There is no legal obligation on these organisations to consult my local officers or juvenile advisory committees before placing in employment children under their care except in so far as the engagement of boys and girls under 18 is governed by the Undertakings (Restriction on Engagement) Order which requires all persons entering employment in some of the main war industries to be engaged through the Ministry's local offices. I have no evidence of exploitation of these children. These institutions normally have arrangements for aftercare in varying degrees of detail and, although there may be difficulty in keeping these arrangements up in war-time owing to other calls on the time of voluntary helpers, my present information would not justify me in proposing special action such as is suggested in the last part of the Question.

Would my right hon. Friend consider any proposals that may be made for protecting these defenceless children from unscrupulous employers?

I would consider any proposal to check unscrupulous employers, for both young and old.

; asked the Minister of Health, how many homes and institutions run by charitable voluntary organisations are subject to inspection by his Ministry; how many inspectors are employed for this purpose; how many visits were paid to these homes and institutions by these inspectors in 1943; how many public assistance homes and institutions include children; and how many children under the age of 17 years they contain.

Two hundred and twelve homes and institutions run by charitable voluntary organisations are recognised by my Department as certified schools for the reception of children sent by public assistance authorities. They are subject to inspection by my inspectors, but I cannot readily state the number of visits paid to them in 1943. These visits are part of the duties of a staff of 45 inspectors who are not specially employed for this purpose. There are 571 homes for children provided by public assistance authorities in England and Wales in addition to 388 institutions, most of which include nurseries, and many of which admit older children for short periods. The total number of children under the age of 16 in receipt of poor-law institutional relief is about 30,000.

Do the inspectors of my right hon. and learned Friend's Department report their visits to him? If so, could he let me have figures?

Reports are, of course, made, and are placed in the appropriate files, but the actual number of visits is not really a very important consideration.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is in a position to define the attitude of the Government in the matter of local government reform.

Various proposals relating to the reform of local government in England and Wales put forward by the local government associations and received from other authoritative sources have been carefully considered. It is clear from these that there is no general desire to disrupt the existing structure of local government or to abandon in favour of some form of regional government the main features of the county and county borough system; and the Government do not consider that any case has been made out for so drastic a change.

On the other hand, the Government are satisfied that within the general framework of the county and county borough system there is need and scope for improvements, and in particular for amending the machinery of the Local Government Act, 1933, relating to adjustments of status, boundaries and areas. Before putting detailed proposals before Parliament I propose to take advantage of the experience and knowledge of the local government associations and for that purpose to open discussions with these bodies as soon as may be. My intention would be, in the light of these discussions, to lay before Parliament a general outline of the Government's proposals before submitting actual legislative measures.

While thanking my right hon. and learned Friend for the important statement which he has just made, and which I am sure will be welcomed, may I ask him whether he is able to give the House an indication of the date when it is expected that these consultations to which he has referred are likely to begin?

Subject to the convenience of the associations, I shall be ready, and I hope to begin discussions in the course of next month.

Is not the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that his predecessor replied to a similar question by saying "in the Spring" and that he now says "as soon as may be"? Can he give us an idea when that will be?

I have indicated that "as soon as may be" will be next month.

Will the Minister have the proposals examined by a Joint Select Committee of both Houses of Parliament as that is the best body for dealing with such local affairs?

I think the time to consider such a suggestion is after I have had the preliminary discussions, the result of which I promise to bring before Parliament.

May I put this further point? The Minister is aware, as the House is aware, that, under recent legislation, notably the Education Bill, and under the legislation which is contemplated by his own White Paper proposals, a substantial redistribution of functions among certain authorities is likely to take place. May I ask him whether he can give an assurance that the position of authorities who will be affected by that redistribution, will not be prejudiced in those consultations, or in the subsequent proposals which he will bring before the House?

That is a very long question.

I can certainly give that assurance.

Will the Minister's arrangements give to local authorities and the various associations adequate time to consider any proposals that he may make?

On a matter of this importance that will certainly be secured.

asked the Minister of Health if he will consider suspending for the duration of the war under Defence Regulations paragraph 14 of the Eighth Schedule of the Local Government Act, 1933.

I assume that my hon. Friend is referring to paragraph 14 of the Eighth Schedule to the Local Government Act, 1929. I am advised that legislation would be required to effect the object which he has in view, and I do not think that I should be justified in putting before Parliament a proposal for this purpose.

Would not the suspension of this Regulation lead to the more efficient utilisation of the services of retired civil servants?

This matter refers not to civil servants but to local government servants. It has been discussed in this House in relation to civil servants. I do not think this inducement is necessary in time of war.

asked the Minister of Town and Country Planning if he is aware that the plans prepared by the Court of Common Council for the rebuilding of the City of London will perpetuate much of the present bad layout; and what steps he proposes to take to see that the City is redeveloped in accorddance with the best town-planning practice.

The plan to which the hon. Member refers has been prepared by the Improvements and Town Planning Committee of the City Corporation. The proposals are tentative, and I understand that the Committee will receive and consider comments and criticism before reporting again to the City Corporation. My right hon. Friend is now studying the proposals and will in due course let the Corporation have his comments and suggestions.

Will the hon. Gentleman bear in mind that the replanning of the City of London is a national matter, and not just a local matter for the City itself?

We shall certainly keep that in mind.

asked the Minister of Town and Country Planning the present position with regard to the views of the Royal Fine Art Commission concerning the new plan for the City of London put forward by the Corporation; and whether he will give an assurance that approval will not be given to this until the Report of the Commission is received.

I understand that the tentative plan recently published is being considered by the Royal Fine Art Commission and that the City Corporation hope to have the benefit of their advice in due course. My Right Honourable Friend will also consult the Commission in the course of his examination of the plan.

Does the hon. Gentleman know whether the Royal Fine Art Commission has formed any provisional conclusions about the plans, and why the City of London did not wait until they got the benefit of its excellent advice?

I think that there has been some correspondence between the Corporation and the Commission, but I cannot add to my answer. I am not aware that there are any grounds for the hon. Member's suspicions.

Can my hon. Friend say what are the terms of reference of the Commission in a matter of this nature, and what sort of advice is asked from them?

I could not possibly restate the terms of reference without notice, but I think they are wide enough to enable the Commission to comment fully on the plans which are submitted to them.

Will my hon. Friend separate the true from the false and the real from the unreal?

asked the Minister of Pensions what are the diseases which are regarded by him as not caused or aggravated by war service; and what are the respective causes giving rise to such diseases.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Maldon (Mr. Driberg) on 29th July, 1943, a copy of which I am sending him, and to my remarks on this subject in the course of the Debate on the 25th July last.

As to the second part of the Question, my hon. Friend will doubtless be aware that in the majority of these diseases the cause is still the subject of medical research.

Will the right hon. Gentleman give further consideration to this matter?

asked the Minister of Pensions if he is aware that a disabled ex-Service man may be disallowed supplementation for unemployability even though he is so seriously disabled by his pensionable disablement as to be unemployable for a period of years; and what steps he proposes to take to remove this anomaly.

As I recently announced, a new provision has been introduced to meet the case of the married man who, though he cannot and in his own interest should not, be regarded as unemployable is nevertheless likely after a course of hospital treatment to be unfit for work for a lengthy period because of his pensionable disability. Such a man, in addition to a treatment allowance equivalent to pension for total disablement and allowances for his wife and family, will receive a supplementary allowance of 9s. a week if he is not eligible for National Health Insurance benefit.

Surely the Minister is aware that there are still many cases of men who are unemployable because of their pensionable disability who are not admissible for general social service schemes and who still are not covered? Was not the answer the right hon. Gentleman gave me last week to the effect that if ever it was believed a man would be fit for employment again, he could not draw this grant?

I am afraid my hon. Friend is confusing two issues. By the Royal Warrant I have to award a supplementary allowance to a man who is declared to be totally unemployable by reason of his pensionable disability. That I am doing. The other point is that where a man is not going to be permanently disabled by reason of his pensionable disability, but is not likely to be employable for some time, under these new arrangements I have now made, I can make this supplementary allowance.

If a man has been discharged for three years, and been unemployable for three years, and he is still unemployable, the Minister in reply to me—taking up a case individually—could only say that ultimately he would be employable. Surely that case should be covered?

It is difficult to generalise on a particular case. If my hon. Friend will call my attention to the case he has in mind, I will look into it.

What period has to elapse before the man in a case of this kind is considered to be totally unemployable? Is there any period?

No, the method is first to have a medical opinion. If the medical opinion is that a man is not likely to be employable, he is admitted for extra benefit. If the medical opinion is that after a course of treatment the man will be able to resume work, we deal with that under the new arrangement I have announced. If, after that, he is handed over to my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour to go to a training centre, and it is decided by the officials in charge there that he is not likely, even after training, to be employable, we admit that. I can assure hon. Members we do everything we possibly can to meet these cases.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say whether cases in this category now have to make application to have this benefit?

If we know of them we deal with them, without application; but there will be cases of which we do not know, and we welcome applications being made. I can assure the House that we shall deal with them sympathetically.

asked the Minister of Pensions how many children there are who have lost their fathers in war service, who are receiving the allowance of 11s per week; and what is the estimated annual cost if they were placed on the same basis as other children, who are getting 12s. 6d. a week.

Somewhat over 70,000 children are at present in receipt of allowances at the 11s. a week rate. The immediate annual cost of raising this rate of 12s. 6d. would be about £275,000.

Then why not do it?

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he is now in a position to make a statement regarding mental cases discharged from the Services without pension who are being maintained in mental hospitals by relatives or local authorities.

Mental patients discharged from the Services in the present war, whose condition is not attributable to their service, and who require institutional treatment for more than six months after discharge, are entitled in common with other patients of unsound mind to treatment in mental hospitals administered by local authorities. The Government would strongly deprecate any suggestion that the treatment so provided is not fully satisfactory or that under modern conditions such patients have a status inferior to that of other patients in local authority hospitals.

Is the Minister aware that the reply just given is not an answer to the Question, and that in reply to questions which have been put previously, and in reply to a speech which I made in the war pensions Debate, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry undertook to give consideration to this matter and to make an early statement to the House as to what the Minister was prepared to do?

It is not really a question for me to answer, except as a courtesy to my hon. Friend, because the matter was taken entirely out of the hands of the Ministry of Pensions in 1924, and handed over to the Board of Control. I undertook to make inquiries from the Board of Control and to ascertain what the Government decision on this matter was, and I have given it in this answer.

Is it not a fact that the Board of Control and local authorities are pressing the Minister to accept these cases as Service cases?

No, Sir, not the Board of Control. One authority representing the Lancashire County Council have done so. That is all I have had up to now.

Am I to understand from the reply the right hon. Gentleman has given that the Government have decided that no action is to be taken in these cases to recognise these cases, as was done in the last war?

Yes, that is right.

asked the Secretary of State for Burma whether the Government have given, or can give, any undertaking that property and goods destroyed or damaged in Burma as a result of the Japanese invasion will be replaced or repaired, so far as possible; and that if the resources of Burma are insufficient, His Majesty's Government will give what assistance they can.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by the late Chancellor of the Exchequer to the hon. Member for Stoke (Mr. Ellis Smith) on 28th February, 1943.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the removal of the extra hour of summer time on 13th August conflicting, amongst other things, with the holidays with pay period, he will consider either extending the period of the extra hours of Summer Time or relaxing the present total black-out arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any statement to make in regard to the extra hour of daylight and, in connection therewith, about the black-out regulations.

His Majesty's Government have given the most careful consideration to the question whether Double Summer Time should be prolonged after 13th August, and whether some relaxation of the black-out could be made. As regards Double Summer Time, when, on 24th February last, I announced the Government's decision, I said that, but for agricultural considerations, there would have been a case this year for extending the period beyond the middle of August. Since this decision was announced new factors have arisen, which have caused His Majesty's Government to re-open the question. These factors are the operational needs of the Armed Forces invading the Continent and the problems created by the flying bomb. Having weighed the arguments for and against the continuance of Double Summer Time, and having given the most sympathetic consideration to the difficulties of the agricultural community, the Government have come to the conclusion that, on balance, the national interests require the extension of Double Summer Time to the morning of Sunday, 17th September, and a Defence Regulation for the purpose will be made as soon as possible. I should like just to add that the Government fully sympathise with the difficulties of the agricultural community, and regret that it should be necessary to add to their problems under present conditions. For their part, the Government will do everything they can to help in the provision of additional labour for the harvest, as far as this is practicable, and to give every encouragement to further volunteers to come forward to assist with it. Persons who volunteer for this purpose will be doing a most important national service, and it is hoped that hon. Members will take any opportunity which arises of making this as widely known as possible. As regard the black-out, the Government are anxious that it should be relaxed, or removed, as soon as the interests of national safety permit. All the relevant considerations have again been carefully reviewed, but the Government have come to the conclusion that it would not be desirable to lift the blackout at the present time. The question will, however, be reviewed again.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this proposed extension of Double Summer Time will greatly increase the difficulty of harvest and the risk that some of our crops will not be gathered? I hope, therefore, that the steps the Government will take to provide additional labour will be taken promptly, and that they will not wait until it is too late for them to be of any use.

I accept entirely what my right hon. and gallant Friend has said about the added difficulties that this will involve for agriculture. I have given full weight to agricultural considerations but I think that these further considerations now turn the balance. Nevertheless, I appreciate the difficulties, and I assure my right hon. and gallant Friend that the Government will do everything that they can to help the agricultural community to meet the undoubted added difficulties.

In considering the question of the black-out regulations, will my right hon. Friend consider not only the military risks, but the fact that our people have made up their minds that the disadvantages of the black-out outweigh its advantages?

If my hon. Friend is so confident about the feelings of the people at this end of the country, I do not share his confidence. I do not know what the feeling is, and I would not dogmatise about it. Everything that my hon. Friend has mentioned is taken into account. We will review the matter again, and if we can relax the black-out, we shall be delighted to do so.

Would there be any danger about having the black-out only when the warning is given?

There are difficulties about that.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in East Anglia agriculturists have always regarded Double Summer Time as foreign time and that they call the old time real time, and that his statement will make no difference to the position there?

That comforts me very much.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is yet in a position to state when the Government propose to introduce legislation giving effect to the recommendations of Mr. Speaker's Conference on the subject of Redistribution of Parliamentary Seats.

Notice of introduction of a Bill on this subject has been given to-day. It may be some little time before the Bill will be ready for circulation, but I hope that it may prove practicable to circulate it for the information of Members before the House resumes after the Recess.

Can my right hon. Friend indicate that this will be got on with quickly after the Recess, so that when election time comes all parties can have their candidates adopted, and not be forced to make mistakes through hasty decisions?

That relates to the Business of the House, for which the Leader of the House is responsible. But I can assure my hon. Friend that I am very anxious to get the Bill through as quickly as possible.

Will this be a comprehensive Bill, dealing with all the recommendations of the Speaker's Conference, or will it be just a Bill dealing with one point, to be followed by other Bills dealing with other points?

It will be a Bill dealing with redistribution only.

Is it intended to pass the Bill into law before there is a General Election?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, approximately, the relation between the number of election registration forms received by the Central Registrars Department from the three Fighting Services, and the number of men and women eligible to register in these three Services.

I shall be glad, at a later date, to consider how far information can be given on this point, but at present the number of counterparts received by the Central National Registration Office does not show how many Service declarations have reached electoral registration officers, since many such officers have not yet been able to carry through the work required to be done before the counterparts can be completed and transmitted to the Central Office. This work is less urgent than other electoral registration work, because delay in transmitting the counterpart does not affect the Service voter's right to be placed on the electoral register. That right is assured as soon as a valid declaration reaches the electoral registration officer.

Will the right hon. Gentleman try to be in a position to give a more definite answer to the Question when we meet again, after the brief Recess?

I am not at all sure. It is a choice between setting labour to work in collecting statistics, and letting the same labour get on with the job. That is the dilemma I am in.

Will the right hon. Gentleman ask the 600 separate registration officers how many they have received, because this is the only way of getting a global figure of the whole thing? The Service Ministers will not tell us.

The hon. Member must not use me to get round the Service Ministers, by outflanking them. I will consider the point, but I think it would not be possible at this stage, anyway.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of electoral registration forms received by registration officers from the Forces are incorrectly filled in and result in the applicant not having his or her name placed on the register; and what steps are taken to inform the applicant that the application is invalid.

Defective declarations are returned through the appropriate channels with an indication of the defect for the purpose of giving the person who made the declaration an opportunity to make a new one. I am not at this stage in a position to give figures, but I understand that a proportion of the declarations received have been found to be defective, and that the Army Council are in the course of issuing a supplementary instruction calling attention to those defects which are more frequently found.

Does the same thing apply to defective proxies? The registration may be all right, but the proxy might be defective. Are these sent back also?

Now my hon. Friend is drawing me into a sphere which is the responsibility of a Service Minister. The hon. Member's question to me is perfectly proper, but it is on another subject. I cannot answer for each Service Minister's administration.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of the Forces have now been registered as Parliamentary electors as a result of the distribution of forms to the Services; and if he is satisfied that the present staff of electoral registration officers is adequate to deal with these forms as soon as they are received and to keep records of the numbers of those registering.

In my reply of 8th June to a similar Question by my hon. Friend the Member for the City of Oxford (Mr. Hogg) I explained the reason for not calling on electoral registration officers to make special returns giving these figures at the present time. As soon as a valid declaration is received by the electoral registration officer the Service voter becomes qualified to be placed on the electoral register, and I have no reason to doubt that despite staffing difficulties the electoral registration officers will keep the records in such a state that whenever an election is initiated a register of the Service voters entitled to vote in the constituency can be produced.

When the right hon. Gentleman has these figures, if he finds they are not very satisfactory, will he consider the question of automatic registration?

I had better not say anything about that at present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the new electoral register will be available for use.

I hope that it may be possible to operate the new electoral arrangements from 1st October, or shortly thereafter, but in present conditions I cannot be certain.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether it is intended that pending by-elections shall be held on the new register?

I doubt whether they can; it depends on when the Writ is moved.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) in view of the fact that the present suspension of exit permits to Northern Ireland is imposed for security reasons, why evacuees from Gibraltar are given preference over residents in Northern Ireland who are refused permits to go to their homes;

(2) whether residents in Northern Ireland, now situated in areas in England, subjected to air attack and not engaged in essential war work, will be granted exit permits to return to their homes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is now prepared to withdraw the restrictions on overseas travel and on travel between Great Britain and Ireland.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he will reconsider his decision not to allow widows of Service men killed on active service to return to their homes in Ireland, in view of the suffering caused in cases of this kind;

(2) whether he will reconsider his decision not to allow Service wives, unless they come within the priority classes, to travel to Ireland to live with relations when their husbands go abroad, in view of the suffering caused in many instances.

As the House knows, the restrictions on overseas travel, and on travel between Great Britain and Ireland, were imposed for military reasons, and I am advised that the time has not yet come when they could be withdrawn without prejudice to military operations. At the same time, His Majesty's Government are aware that these restrictions have imposed considerable hardship and inconvenience and, with a view to mitigating such hardship, I am prepared to consider applications for travel facilities in the following limited classes of cases. As regards overseas travel, I am prepared to consider applications from wives of persons permanently stationed overseas and persons returning to their homes within the Empire or Allied countries. As regards travel between Great Britain and Ireland, I am prepared to consider applications from persons who desire to visit their homes in either country as the case may be, and leave certificates may be issued for this purpose. Of course, in any case, an application will be refused if there is any security or other cogent objection to the proposed journey. It will in future be necessary for intending travellers between this country and Ireland to obtain a sailing ticket from the railway or shipping company before applying for an exit permit or a leave certificate.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman, if his grounds are those of security, whether Gibraltarian evacuees are considered to be more discreet than residents of Northern Ireland who are trying to get back to their homes?

We had a problem in London, as my hon. and gallant Friend may know, in connection with the flying bomb, of housing all sorts of people, including workpeople who have been brought into London on housing repairs. The Northern Ireland Government very kindly and very patriotically agreed to receive the Gibraltarians—who will, in due course, go back to Gibraltar—in order to relieve the situation in London, and I am very grateful to the Northern Ireland Government for their help.

Cannot the right hon. Gentleman be as sympathetic to the difficulties of Northern Ireland people trying to get back to their homes as he is to his own difficulties?

On balance, the problem of the Gibraltarians was the more important.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he can now announce the composition of his proposed Advisory Council on the Treatment of Offenders.

Yes, Sir, and I am glad to be able to tell the House that I have been fortunate in obtaining the services of Mr. Justice Birkett as chairman of the Council. I am circulating the full list of members in the OFFICIAL REPORT, and it will be seen that, in addition to persons with specialised knowledge of the subjects with which the Council will deal, I have, as I told the House was my intention, included men and women with other outlooks who will bring to the human problems confronting the council experience gained in varied walks of life.

Has the right hon. Gentleman considered my suggestion that an offender who has later on made good should be included in the Council?

I did consider it. It was not without its attraction, but I have not been able to find a suitable offender.

asked the Prime Minister whether the Government will provide the House with an early opportunity of discussing the Report of the Inter-allied Committee on the Future of the Permanent Court of International Justice, Cmd. 6531.

The future of the Permanent Court of International Justice is intimately bound up with the forthcoming Four Power discussions on World Organisation. These are due to begin in Washington on 14th August. In these circumstances it would be well to postpone any public discussion of the valuable Report of the Inter-Allied Committee for the time being.

asked the Prime Minister whether any official cognisance is being taken of the contribution being made to the allied victories in Italy by the Italian partisan troops and workers as revealed in the communiques of General Alexander; and whether the Government has any announcement to make in acknowledgment of the heroism and sacrifice of these Italian Allies.

Yes, Sir, His Majesty's Government are well aware of the appreciable aid rendered to the operations of the Allied Armies by the patriots in the parts of Italy still occupied by the enemy. They are also aware of the impediments placed by patriotic Italian workers in the way of German exploitation of Italian war industry.

In view of the wide extent of these activities—and I understand that there are 300,000 of these patriots now fighting—will the right hon. Gentleman inform us whether it is the case that any suggestions have been made to the Press in this country that reports of their activities should be damped down?

I am afraid that is hardly a question for me. Perhaps my hon. Friend will put it to the appropriate Minister.

asked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the functions to be discharged by the Department of Overseas Trade in fulfil- ment of the duties imposed on the Board of Trade as indicated in the White Paper on Full Employment.

As the White Paper emphasises, a great expansion of our export trade is essential to the success of the policy outlined. The functions of the Department of Overseas Trade, working in the closest collaboration with the Board of Trade, will be to assist the efforts of our exporters in recovering old markets and winning new ones.

Is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied with the present administration at the Department of Overseas Trade, and does he contemplate making any change in that direction?

That is hardly a question for me.