asked the Minister of Labour whether he can give the percentage figure of the compulsory mobilisation of the women of this country into the Services and into industry; and the comparative figures for the women of Germany.

All women in Great Britain in the 18–51 age-classes have been compulsorily registered under the Registration for Employment Order. Women not already in jobs who were found to be available for and capable of work have been required to enter employment in the Auxiliary Services, in Civil Defence or in industry, and of those who already had jobs large numbers have been transferred to more important work. About 86 per cent. of the total number of single women of the registered classes are now in the Auxiliary Services, Civil Defence or industry; among married women and widows the corresponding proportion is nearly 30 per cent. Information as regards Germany is not available in sufficient detail to enable a comparison to be made between the two countries.

asked the Minister of Labour why Mr. R. S. Cooper, 67, Hanover Gardens, Ilford, a carpenter, employed by Messrs. Sands and Lipscomb, Limited, a firm of contractors engaged upon the repair of war-damaged houses under the Walthamstow Corporation, has been called up for service in the Forces although no carpenters can be found by the employment exchange in the district to take his place.

I would refer my hon. and learned Friend to the reply given to him on 17th October with regard to building and civil engineering workers. Mr. R. S. Cooper was born in December, 1925, and was not granted deferment as an apprentice. He was accordingly called up for service with the Forces.

asked the Minister of Labour why the reception hostel at the Y.M.C.A. in Redditch has been closed and is now standing empty, in view of the fact that a number of A.T.S. are now to be forced into billets under compulsory powers in the town, in which housing conditions are already bad and the lack of accommodation as bad as anywhere in the country.

I think my hon. Friend is under a misapprehension. The Y.M.C.A. hostel in Redditch is still in use for the reception of transferred workers, and there is at present no intention of closing it.

asked the Minister of Labour in view of his declaration at the conference of the National Chamber of Trade on 16th July, 1942, that it was the policy of the Government to try to establish for the post-war period minimum wage regulations for all forms of employment and of the anxiety of the men and women serving overseas, whether he has any further statement to make on this question.

I am aware of the anxiety which is felt on this question both by men and women serving overseas and by workers and employers at home. During the past few months I have had discussions with both sides of industry and I hope in the near future to be able to put forward definite proposals.

asked the Minister of Pensions the time taken to provide wheelchairs with motor attachments for war pensioners who have lost both lower limbs; what steps are being taken to expedite deliveries; and whether he will consider the provision of motor attachments by his Ministry instead of, as at present, from charitable funds.

I understand that owing to scarcity of labour and prior claims on engineering production the time taken to supply the special chairs fitted with motor units has varied during the past year from six weeks to twenty-four weeks. I am glad to say, however, that my Noble Friend the Minister of Works who undertakes the supply of invalid chairs on my behalf, has been instrumental in stimulating the output of motor units and that the position is already showing signs of improvement. As to the last part of the Question, the present arrangements have worked satisfactorily for many years and I see no reason for changing them.

asked the Secretary of State for India in view of the necessity for training nurses and health visitors for the Indian civilian population, any assistance is being given from this country to help the Government of India with this task.

The Government of India are examining a scheme for the establishment of scholarships for 20 Indian ladies to be trained in the United Kingdom as nurses and also for six selected qualified nurses to be trained here in hospital administration and for sister-tutor appointments. I am glad to say that the principal training hospitals and the General Nursing Council have promised their co-operation.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he will arrange for an early re-issue of the India Office List, the last publication being in 1940, in view of the recent re-issue of the Foreign Office List.

It is hoped to publish a new edition of the India and Burma Offices' List in the early part of 1945 and arrangements to this end are already in hand. Owing to the need for economy in the use of labour and material it will probably be necessary to reduce the size of the volume.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he has considered the memorandum that he has received from the Land Settlement Association in connection with ex-Service men and land settlement; and if he can now make a statement indicating the attitude of the Government to the suggestions and proposals contained in the memorandum for land settlement of ex-Service men and their post-war livelihood and the question of smallholdings.

I have received a memorandum from the Land Settlement Association which summarises their conclusions reached as a result of the experimental work done by the association during the past ten years. Full consideration will be given to the results of this experiment in formulating post-war policy. I have no statement to make at the present time.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is advising any extension of the area under sugar beet cultivation during the coming year.

No, Sir.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the needs of smallholders and especially of ex-Service men to secure cold frames and cloches for vegetable cultivation, he is able to ensure an adequate supply of these articles for use in the coming spring.

I regret that owing to the continued shortage of softwood it is not possible to relax the existing limitation on supplies of cold frames. Increased provision has recently been made for the manufacture of cloches, however, and I have no reason to suppose that supplies will be inadequate,

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he can state, approximately, the money value of the increase of British agricultural production from the year 1938 to the last available year of the war period.

The value of the agricultural output of the United Kingdom in 1938–39 is estimated at just over £280,000,000. As I stated on 17th October in reply to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Howdenshire (Colonel Carver) the preliminary estimate for 1943–44 is somewhat over £540,000,000. In both these estimates Exchequer payments in respect of individual commodities have been taken into account.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what acreage of good agricultural land is still occupied owing to varied military and supply requirements; and what steps are taken by the Ministry to ensure that so far as possible such land is progressively returned to agriculture.

The total area of land in England and Wales held under Defence Regulation 51 as at 30th June last by the War Department was 428,000 acres, and by the Supply Departments 35,500 acres. The former figure includes substantial portions of park, scrub, waste and recreation land, but I regret I have no information as to the exact proportions. It does not include the land used under Defence Regulation 52 for Military Training. As regards the second part of the Question, my Department is in consultation with the War Department with a view to returning to agricultural use as soon as possible those areas which are nn longer required for military purposes.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of milk farmers producing T.T milk in the North, East and West Ridings of Yorkshire, respectively.

The numbers are: North Riding, 155; East Riding, 6; West Riding, 127.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can now state his plans for controlling the breeding of poultry in this country after the war.

Not yet, Sir.

asked the Minister of Agriculture why it has been found necessary to authorise the use of steel-toothed traps for rabbits, in view of the suffering involved by the use of these traps and the objection taken to them by many landowners.

I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham (Sir R. Gower) on 24th October.

asked the Minister of Agriculteure what steps he is taking to stimulate, in this country, the production of machinery to lighten the labour cost of harvesting.

Agricultural machinery manufacturers are already producing machinery of established types to the maximum permitted by existing facilities. I am taking all possible steps to assist in bringing newly-developed harvesting machinery of approved types into commercial production. In doing so I have the benefit from time to time of reports from the Agricultural Machinery Development Board, while testing and research facilities are available to inventors and manufacturers at the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering. Special attention has been paid to the harvesting of the potato, sugar beet and corn crops. Of a number of complete potato harvesters recently inspected, four have reached the stage of experiment on a commercial scale, and the firms concerned are receiving allocations of materials accordingly. One sugar beet harvester is in production on a small scale, and I hope that as a result of trials now in progress larger numbers will be available next year. Trials have been made this year of a British produced combined harvester-thresher; and steps have been taken by my Department substantially to increase the British production of binders.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works whether, as in 1914 the cost of labour was 25 per cent. of the total cost of a house and has now risen to 65 per cent. and as in the experience of builders a good bonus leads to a preponderance of absenteeism, he will withdraw the bonus under the Essential Work Order.

At the present time if the work is carried out under the Essential Work Order and the Uniformity Agreement, the labour cost is estimated at approximately 37 per cent. of the total cost of building a house. This compares with 32 per cent. in 1939. The question of bonusing in the building industry in the post-war period must in the future as in the past be a matter for negotiation within the building industry itself.

asked the Minister without Portfolio if his attention has been drawn to the absence of any reference in the White Paper on Social Insurance to the absorption in Government service of expert personnel at present employed in the administration of insurance schemes or allied services; and if he will give an assurance that some Government employment will be forthcoming for such persons.

I think my hon. and gallant Friend has overlooked paragraph 166 of the White Paper. The Government hope it will be possible in the new organisation to make use of the services of numbers of the officers to whom my hon. Friend refers.

asked the Minister of Health whether the Last sentence in paragraph 152 of the White Paper (Part 1) on Social Insurance is to be understood to mean that insured persons under the existing National Health Insurance Act, who are at present entitled to receive dental treatment and other additional benefits out of the valuation surpluses in their approved friendly societies, will continue to receive the same until the new scheme becomes operative.

Yes, Sir.

asked the Minister of Health how many children's homes or institutions, whether publicly provided or voluntary, are under his control; the number of children living in such homes; and the number of trained staff employed in inspecting these places.

As regards homes, institutions and nurseries of a permanent character I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Mr. Keeling) on 3rd August, a copy of which I am sending him. In addition there are at present 581 hostels of varying types for children of school age and 407 residential nurseries established under the Government Evacuation Scheme. The number of places in the hostels is approximately 14,300 and that in the nurseries 13,000 but the number of children occupying those places varies from week to week. They are under close and constant supervision by the medical staff, women inspectors, and welfare officers of my Department.

asked the Minister of Education how many children's homes or institutions, whether publicly provided or voluntary, are under his control; the number of children living in such homes; and the number of trained staff employed in inspecting these places.

273 homes or institutions with some 21,500 children are subject to inspection by the Ministry, the inspection in the case of 32 of these homes which are recognised as elementary schools being limited to the educational arrangements. The inspection is included in the normal duties of H.M. Inspectors and the Ministry's medical officers.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the difficulty which faces civilian men and women who are old age pensioners in obtaining needed replacements of artificial limbs; and what assistance his Ministry is prepared to give to these people.

I am aware that some difficulty may be experienced in obtaining artificial limbs owing to the shortage of labour and supplies. I understand that so far as possible preference is given to war casualties and to persons whose capacity for employment is adversely affected by the absence of an artificial limb. So far as the question is one of cost, the provision of an artificial limb for a pensioner in need is a matter for the decision of the Public Assistance Authority and any such person should make application to the appropriate officer of the authority.

asked the Minister of Health what representations he has received from rural local authorities in Yorkshire in respect of requirements for financial assistance in installing adequate water supplies in sparsely inhabited districts.

I have received no such representations. I am sending my hon. and gallant Friend a copy of a communication which I have addressed to local authorities on the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Act, 1944.

asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that many artistes who desire to entertain the Services abroad are prevented from doing so by the requirement that they must be vaccinated and inoculated; and, if the members of the Services they are going to entertain have the right to refuse these operations, will he give the artistes a similar right.

I have been asked to reply. It is important that in areas particularly liable to outbreaks of smallpox, typhus and so on the number of men and women who are not protected by vaccinatio should be as small as possible. This is particularly important in the case of those who like artistes travel from unit to unit. It is therefore considered that the present policy should be maintainted.

asked the Minister of Supply whether, in order to give facilities to men discharged from hospitals in the provinces the same advantage of choice of civilian suits as those in the London area, he will set up depots in each military command.

I have been asked to reply. A mail Order system is in force to provide men discharged outside London with their civilian clothing. Each man's individual measurements and his choice of style and colour are forwarded on a form to the depot in London. These arrangements are working satisfactorily, and in view of the difficulties of finding accommodation and staff and in view of the small numbers involved the provision of clothing depots outside London would not at the present time be justified.

asked the Secretary of State for War when the rate of subsistence allowance payable to Service personnel whilst on leave was fixed at its present level; and whether he will take the necessary steps to adjust this allowance to the existing level of the cost of living.

The leave rate of ration allowance in the United Kingdom was fixed at its present level on 1st March of this year. It is revised from time to time to take account of changes in the cost of food, and I am advised that no change would at present be justified.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether any inquiry has been made into the death of Beatrice Cook, aged 24 years, of the A.T.S., who lived at Camden Crescent, Dagenham, and became ill shortly after being injected with anti-typhoid vaccine and died on the way to hospital; and what conclusion was arrived at in regard to this case.

Yes, Sir. A post-mortem examination was held to establish the cause of death, and it is clear that this auxiliary died of anaphylactic shock following an anti-typhoid inoculation. The vaccine used on this occasion was examined and was found normal. A case of this kind is very rare and a full medical investigation of the circumstances of the auxiliary's death was carried out and the conclusion reached is that the medical officer concerned should not be held guilty of negligence.

asked the Postmaster-General if he can give a definite date when ordinary correspondence, both business and private, will be able to be posted to France and Belgium.

I have been asked to reply. I hope it will be possible early in November to restore some form of letter service between this country and France. As regards Belgium, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Penryn and Falmouth (Mr. Petherick) on 25th October.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport if his. attention has been called to the closing of the highway from Upwood, Huntingdonshire, to Ramsey Heights and the inconvenience caused to people at Ramsey Heights and district, whose facilities for shopping and transport are curtailed; and whether he will further consider the position and arrange for some alternative roadway to the many miles that people now have to go and bearing in mind the increased transport through Upwood owing to the diversion of the roadway at Warboys, Huntingdonshire.

I greatly regret the inconvenience unavoidably caused to the people at Ramsey Heights due to the closing of the Upwood-Ramsey Heights Road. A review is now being made of all roads closed under emergency powers, and, if it should be found impossible to reopen this road within the reasonably near future, I will consider whether alternative means of access should be provided.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport if he is aware of the overcrowding on the road transport services in East Norfolk and, particularly, between Norwich and Great Yarmouth; and if he will take steps to increase and improve the facilities, particularly in view of the approach of winter.

I am aware that there was some overcrowding on the omnibus services in East Norfolk during the summer months. Relief omnibuses were provided, so far as there was staff available to man them. I am glad to say that traffic loadings in the area are now considerably reduced, and the road and rail services are considered to be adequate. If, however, my hon. and gallant Friend will give me evidence of any continuing difficulties which there may be, I will cause inquiries to be made.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer which are the

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the product of a penny in the £ on Income Tax for 1943–44, and the estimated figure for 1944–45.

On the basis of the existing graduation the product of a penny in the £ on the standard rate of Income Tax for 1943–44 was approximately £10,000,000. For 1944–45 it is estimated to be £11,000,000.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Registrar of Friendly Societies has any record covering any recent period of time of the number of juvenile members of registered friendly societies. salaries of scientific posts of the highest importance in the Civil Service which have been increased since the date of the Sixteenth Report from the Select Committee on National Expenditure.

My hon. Friend is no doubt referring to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Rugby (Mr. W. J. Brown) on 17th October last. I give below particulars of the six posts to which I was then alluding. I must, however, make clear that this list does not purport to be an exhaustive catalogue of all changes which have taken place in higher scientific salaries since October, 1942, when the Select Committee on National Expenditure produced their Sixteenth Report.

Yes, Sir; in 1938 there were 1,370,000 juvenile members of registered friendly societies.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Registrar of Friendly Societies has a record for 1938, or any previous year, or period of years, of the total contributions voluntarily paid by members of registered friendly societies and of the total benefits paid by such societies to their members during the same year or other period.

In 1926 contributions received and benefits paid by registered friendly societies amounted to £10,320,000 and £9,280,000 respectively. Figures of contributions received are not available for later years, but benefits paid by registered friendly societies in 1938 amounted to £12,720,000.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any special instructions are to be issued regarding the lighting of motor-cars during fogs this winter.

During fog, drivers of motor-cars are permitted to use one unmasked headlamp or a fog lamp, subject to certain conditions stated in Article 17 of the Lighting (Restrictions) Order, 1944, of which I am sending my hon. and gallant Friend a copy. I do not think that any further instructions are, therefore, necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the fact that the original objects for which they were appointed have now passed and, in view also of the reduction of their staffs, it is proposed to abolish the offices of all Regional Commissioners; and when.

Regional Commissioners, who have rendered admirable public service, were appointed to deal with emergencies caused by air attacks. So long as the danger of such attack continues, I cannot accept the view that the original objects for which Regional Commissioners were appointed have passed. I do not, therefore, at present propose to abolish the offices of all Regional Commissioners. But, as I have already stated in answer to previous Questions, the Regional organisation is being adjusted to public need. Some of the posts of Deputy Regional Commissioners have already been discontinued, as have also those of the District Commissioners in Scotland.

asked the Minister of Information what arrangements are made by the B.B.C. to take expert advice in the arrangement of their broadcasts relating to all branches of science; what is the membership of the Corporation's scientific advisory committee; and, if such a committee is not in existence, whether he will recommend to the governors that such a body should be appointed in the near future.

The B.B.C. has no scientific advisory committee. Its present practice is to seek advice on scientific subjects from the Royal Society, the British Association, the Medical Research Council and other authoritative sources, according to need. This procedure will be reviewed in due course in relation to the B.B.C.'s post-war arrangements for advisory committees generally.

asked the Minister of Education whether, taking the £68,000,000 in the Social Security White Paper as representing the cost of meals, milk, etc., in the schools, he will divide up this sum among the different forms of outlay.

The cost of supplying meals and milk to children at school in England, Wales and Scotland when the service is fully developed will amount to something of the order of £60,000,000. Of this sum about £48,000,000 represents the cost of meals and £12,000,000 the cost of milk.

asked the Lord President of the Council whether the coal-gas and electrical industries have yet submitted any programmes for post-war research; and whether an assurance can be given that the Government will contribute at least 50 per cent. of the cost of such schemes however great.

The Gas Research Board and the British Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association (both of which receive grants from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research under the Research Association scheme) are both engaged upon programmes of research which are reviewed from time to time in the light of current needs. Both these organisations are contemplating considerable expansion after the war, plans for which are in preparation. The proportion of the cost of such work which may appropriately be met by grants from the Government will be carefully considered in each case by my Advisory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research when such plans are formulated.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in order to ensure a better standard of decency and comfort for tenants and the repair of dilapidated occupied houses, he will take steps to extend the provisions of Section 2 of the Housing Act, 1936, to all dwelling-houses of which the rateable value on 1st April, 1939, did not exceed in the Metropolitan Police district or the City of London £100, in Scotland £90, or elsewhere £75.

I understand that the Inter-Departmental Committee on Rent Control have this matter under consideration, in the light of representations made to them, and I am awaiting their report.