asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many taxi-cabs in the Metropolitan Police area are now off the streets awaiting repair; how many have been licensed by the Commissioner of Police and how many have been refused as their condition falls below the standard; and what steps have been taken to put taxi-cabs in repair and to order new ones to meet the urgent post-war requirements for transport.

I am informed by the Commissioner that, of a total of 5,297 taxi-cabs licensed by the Metropolitan Police, about 400 are at present off the streets awaiting repair. In addition there are some 1,200 cabs which have not been presented for current licensing and are laid up for various reasons, including overhaul, lack of spare parts and insufficiency of labour to carry out repairs. None of this latter group of vehicles has been presented for current licensing; but it must not be assumed that if these 1,200 cabs could all be made serviceable drivers would be available for the full number. The taxi-cab trade is suffering, like other trades, from shortage of the materials and labour necessary to keep the vehicles in proper repair; and these difficulties are not easy to solve in present conditions, but I am making inquiries and will consider whether anything can be done to improve the position. The question of securing an output of new cabs after the war is primarily a matter for the trade and the manufacturers.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport what considerations led him to propose driving through the middle of Hereford a road, described as an internal by-pass road, which by its proximity to the existing bridge will impair the view of the river and cathedral, will necessitate filling in the ancient ditch, will threaten the ancient city wall and will not divert traffic from the middle of the city; whether the views of the Royal Fine Art Commission have been sought on the artistic aspects of the proposal; and whether consideration will be given to a local proposal that the road should follow the line of the railway, crossing the river Wye at a higher point and thus providing at much less expense a real by-pass.

The existing trunk road through the city of Hereford is narrow and congested, and it cannot be widened. There is comparatively little through traffic, and a by-pass road outside the city would not, therefore, meet the need. For this reason, the County Highways Committee and the Town Council are considering an alternative route immediately outside the city wall, with a new bridge over the River Wye. I am assured that this plan would not spoil the views of the river or of the cathedral, and that it would open up a better view of the city wall structure. The Committee and the Council also hope to preserve a portion of the ancient ditch. The scheme is still in a preliminary stage, and the advice of the Royal Fine Art Commission will be obtained before it is adopted. The authorities also considered another route parallel and adjacent to the railway, but it was found to be unsuitable for the traffic to be carried

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether any early decision is to be expected to build a road bridge over the Forth.

His Majesty's Government do not consider that the construction of a road bridge across the Forth can be accorded a high priority among the public works required after the war. They will, however, keep the matter under review, and will consider whether progress can be made with any preliminary work that may be needed by way of further investigation or the preparation of plans. I should explain, however, that such work could only be undertaken when the technical staff required could be released from other work of higher priority.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether he is aware of the needs for more widespread routes and more frequent services of motor-omnibuses in rural districts after the war; and whether plans for these are now being prepared.

My Noble Friend is now trying to improve the omnibus services in rural districts, so far as man-power and other resources permit. In due course after the war these omnibus services will be again governed by the provisions of the Road Traffic Acts of 1930 to 1937. Under these Acts all services are licensed by the Area Traffic Commissioners; in deciding upon applications, the Commission must have regard, amongst other things, to the provision of adequate, suitable and efficient services, and to the provision of unremunerative services, if there is a public need to be served.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport if he is now in a position to state what effective steps have been taken to provide the skilled mechanical help to Anns Garage, at Faringdon, Berkshire, so that ambulances, doctors' and nurses' motor-cars, and other vehicles needed for local public service, can be employed; and why a business which is under the Essential Work Order was allowed to remain for 18 months without adequate staff to the detriment of the locality.

As no mechanics are available in the district, it has been very difficult to provide skilled assistance for Anns Garage, Faringdon. One mechanic was temporarily provided at the beginning of this year, and I understand that my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service has taken special action and has now directed two men to this work. The fact that a firm is scheduled under the Essential Work Order affords no guarantee that labour can be supplied, and I am afraid that the help it is proposed to give to Anns Garage may mean taking mechanics from important work elsewhere.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether his attention has been called to a pronouncement by Sir John Maxwell, the Northern Regional Transport Commissioner, speaking at Newcastle in December last, to the effect that changes by way of increased omnibus fares were bound to take place so long as omnibus undertakings were chiefly private companies; and whether this announcement was made with his approval and, if not, what steps he has taken to discourage officials holding semi-judicial appointments from making political statements.

I have asked the Commissioner to let me have a report of what he said and I will communicate further with my hon. and gallant Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of National Insurance whether, at the present time, any personnel within the established Civil Service are receiving training as sickness visitors or other work now being carried out by agents of approved societies.

No, Sir.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give an estimate of the deficit arising from entrants over age 16 in the National Insurance scheme which will fall upon the taxpayer.

This question is not susceptible of a simple answer. The cost to the taxpayer of admitting all persons to the benefits of the scheme at the rate of contribution appropriate to entrants at age 16 is in part offset by the application of current contributions in full to meet the cost of current benefits instead of applying them in part to build up reserves against the benefits ultimately to be paid to those contributors. This in its turn leads to charges on the taxpayer in future years, e.g., when the present contributors come to retire. The relative amounts of the total cost at any time and of the offset from contribution income vary with a number of factors, the most important of which is the extent to which the number of beneficiaries falls short of the number which will emerge in due course from the present working population. As the scheme matures over the years, the cost to the taxpayer will steadily increase as is shown in some detail in Table IV on page 49 and in Table VI on page 53 in the White Paper on Social Insurance, Part I, Cmd. 6550. I do not think it is practicable to dissect these figures in any substantially greater detail.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether, in view of the loss of man-hours and general public inconvenience caused by fog, he can state the names of the societies and institutions who are engaged in research work to discover an antidote to this affliction; and what steps the Government are taking to encourage them to develop their researches.

A great deal of research and experiment has been carried out on this subject, much of which has an important bearing upon military operations. I regret, therefore, that I cannot at present give the information requested.

asked the Minister of Labour what steps have been taken by his Ministry and the Ministry of War Transport to place in civil employment trained mechanics invalided from the Services; and if the facts are also made known to men about to be discharged through Commands.

Arrangements have been made for men discharged from the Services on account of disability or on medical grounds to be specially interviewed in hospital and at local offices of my Department, where every effffort is made to place them in suitable employment. These facilities are well known to Service Welfare Officers and I can assure my hon. Friend that every help is given whilst discharge is pending. A booklet entitled "Release and Resettlement" will shortly be issued to all serving members of the Forces, which will include a description of the arrangements for training and placing in employment those who have been disabled.

asked the right hon. and gallant Member for Rye, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, if he will take steps to ensure that, where compulsory felling has been carried out, the owners of plantations shall not be prejudiced in participating in grants of aid for planting.

The Commissioners will do their best to ensure that, where compulsory felling has been carried out, the owners of plantations shall not be prejudiced in participating in grants of aid for planting.

asked the Prime Minister whether the United Nations, having decided upon the policy of unconditional surrender of enemy countries, have also decided upon the terms to be imposed upon them afterwards; and whether those terms will be communicated to this House before hostilities cease in Europe.

The terms to be imposed on Germany are under consideration by the European Advisory Commission. The answer to the second part of the Question is in the negative.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether a weekly personal soap ration has yet been made available as a Government issue to patients in Service hospitals.

Yes, Sir, the scale is one 2 oz. tablet per bed per week.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport if he is aware that owing to the limited number of trains to and from King's Cross, London, which stop at Durham L.N.E.R. station, much inconvenience and loss of time is experienced by the travelling public; and, seeing that the first daytime train from London which stops at Durham arrives there at 9.35 p.m. and that no through train from Durham to King's Cross is available between 8.32 a.m. and 7.3 p.m., will he arrange for more trains on this route to stop at Durham.

Passengers from King's Cross can travel to Durham by trains which leave at 4.15 a.m., 10 a.m., and 12.45 p.m. Passengers from Durham to London can travel on trains which leave at 7.40 a.m., 12.16 p.m., and 2.56 p.m. On these trains, a change must be made either at York or Darlington The traffic on this line is very heavy, and I regret that more long-distance trains could not be stopped at Durham without seriously affecting the general operation of the goods and passenger services involved.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport who ordered the special non-stop race train from London to Cheltenham and back on 6th January; what disciplinary action has been taken against him; how many coaches were there on the train and how many passengers; what was the cost involved; will this have to be met by the taxpayer; and what amount of coal was consumed on the two journeys.

The responsibility for running this train rests with the Great Western Railway Company. My Noble Friend has seen the Chairman of the Company, who has expressed to him their regret for this breach of his instructions, and has assured him that steps have been taken to prevent any further breach in future. The Board and Management of the Company are dealing with the individual officers concerned. The train consisted of 11 coaches and carried 66 passengers. I can assure the hon. Member that no charge in respect of the train will fall on public funds. The coal consumed was approximately six tons.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport the amount of the losses sustained or the claims met by the shipping companies and dock authorities during the war in consequence of thefts of goods in transit.

I regret that I am unable to give my hon. Friend the information which he desires. Shipping companies and dock authorities have to meet claims for damage and shortages due to many causes, and they do not keep any separate record of the claims which are due to theft.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport what proposals have recently been made to him by the U.S.A. with regard to the transfer of merchant shipping to this country; if he will state the terms on which the transfer was proposed; and if it has been accepted.

The United States Government have made no proposals for the permanent transfer of merchant ships to this country. My hon. Friend is no doubt aware, however, that a large number of United States ships have been transferred under Lend-Lease arrangements for temporary war-time duty under the British flag. The title to these ships remains vested in the United States Government.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport if he is aware that, in cases of collision between a vessel owned or requisitioned by the Government and another vessel, the Ministry forbids persons in the service of the Government, even when on duties unconnected with the first-named vessel, to give statements to the legal representatives of the other vessel; and whether, as this gives the Crown an unnecessary advantage over private litigants, he will give instructions that witnesses in the service of the Crown will give statements, provided that a representative of the Department is present if desired when the statement is taken.

The Crown's practice is similar to that usually adopted by other litigants in like circumstances, namely, that it does not afford facilities to solicitors who are engaged in the preparation of adverse claims to take statements from their servants for the purpose of establishing a claim against their employers. The hon. Member will appreciate that there is no right to take, or obligation on any one to give, a statement before trial, and a distinction must be drawn between affording a claimant facility to take statements before trial and the production of evidence at the trial upon subpoena. Subject to the exigencies of wartime service the Crown gives assistance to private litigants for the service upon Crown servants of a subpoena by means of which the presence of the Crown servant at the trial is assured, so that his evidence may be available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement about the work of the East African Industrial Research and Development Board; what assistance it has received from public funds; and what are the Government's plans for the future of the industries it has helped to establish.

The East African Industrial Research and Development Board was created in 1942 to continue the work of the East African Industries Technical Advisory Committee, founded in July, 1941, with the object of facilitating the establishment of new industries and processes, with the primary purpose of meeting military and civil needs with the minimum quantity of imports. The Board was replaced in 1943 by an East African Industrial Council, set up by the East African Governors Conference, and its executive side was divided into two parts, namely, the East African Industrial Research Board, and the East African Industrial Management Board. The functions of the Research Board are to conduct the preliminary laboratory and pilot plant tests necessary for the establishment of new industries. It is financed by contributions from the East African Governments. The Management Board manages such enterprises as it is decided to finance from public funds, the whole amount being payable by the Govern- ment of the territory in which the enterprise is located. A report has lately been published on East African industrial research activities from 1941 to the end of 1943. A copy will be laid in the Library of the House. No definite decision has as yet been taken regarding the future of the industries established by these agencies. I have no up to date information as to the expenditure of Government funds on this service, but I will make inquiries and communicate with my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, with a view to the early development of local resources, any, and what plans, have been considered for the gradual electrification of considerable stretches of the western half of the Kenya and Uganda Railway.

I am not aware that the electrification of any part of the railway is contemplated.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of giving every person who reaches the age of 60 years 30s. per week without reference to means; how much this figure would be increased if it were based on the 1939 cost of living; and what difference the withdrawal of Government subsidies would make.

At the present time the cost of paying old age pensions at 30s. a week, without reference to means, to all persons aged 60 years and over in Great Britain would be about £390,000,000 a year greater than the cost of existing pensions (including supplementary pensions) to persons of those ages. The cost-of-living index is now about 30 per cent. above the mid-1939 figure, and if a rate of 39s. a week were substituted for 30s. the cost of the proposal would be £550,000,000 a year instead of £390,000,000. If food subsidies were withdrawn, the cost of living might, on certain assumptions, be expected to rise to 46 per cent. above the 1939 level. If a rate of 44s. were substituted for that of 30s. the cost of the proposal would rise to £650,000,000. The cost of these increased pensions would rise substantially in future with the growth of the population of pensionable age. The above figures do not include any credit for such increases of contributions as might be made if the pension rate were altered to the figures mentioned.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total sum paid in compensation for mining royalties and the income from these royalties received by the Government for the last complete year.

I have been asked to reply. The payment of compensation by the Coal Commission has not been completed; but the total payments made to date, on account and in settlement (including interest from the Vesting Date until settlement, after allowing for payments on account) amount to £58,085,129. The Royalty income (gross) receivable by the Coal Commission for the year ended 31st March, 1944, was £4,300,934.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is able to give the total value of money orders, ordinary and telegraph, and postal orders originating in Great Britain and Northern Ireland and paid in Eire during the six years 1939–1944.

The total value of these orders paid in Eire during the period in question was £22,830,000.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of depositors and the average amount of their deposits in the Post Office Savings Bank for the latest convenient date in 1945.

The total number of depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank at 31st December, 1944, the latest date for which figures can conveniently be given, was approximately 18,950,000 and the average balance due to each depositor was £78 17s.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will put a representative from Wales on the Moberley Committee for Paper Supplies, in view of the fact that the problems of publishing in Wales are fundamentally different from those of English publishers.

No, Sir. Members of this Committee do not represent particular areas, and I do not think that such representation would be appropriate.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he intends to stop the allotment of paper to manufacturers of boots and shoes for the purposes of wrapping their articles between factory and shop.

No, Sir. I am not satisfied that this important industry can go without wrapping paper.

asked the Minister of Works to what extent the cost of the various types of temporary houses approved by the Government have been revised; whether he will now state the estimated total cost of each type as erected on the site and the various items which go to make this total; and whether these estimates are based upon an assumption that there will be a supply of material as a free issue or at less than the market price.

The figure of £600 has at different times been referred to as a target price for the pressed steel bungalow. We have still insufficient experience of the process of production and erection of temporary houses upon which to base any reliable estimates. It is, however, clear that the cost of all types of temporary houses will, in practice, work out very considerably higher than the original target figure, more particularly in the case of those erected under present wartime conditions in advance of the original programme, which had not been planned to start until after the end of hostilities in Europe.

asked the Minister of Works whether he is already using the cement-gun process described in the Bossom Report to repair damaged brick houses in London; and whether he will consider the extended use of this process.

Yes, Sir. The cement-gun is in limited use for the repair of war damaged houses. This process will be increasingly employed when the repair of the more seriously damaged properties is undertaken. However, in view of my hon. Friend's Question, I am inquiring into the possibility of extending the use of this method for the work now in hand.

asked the Minister of Works if he is aware that Members of Parliament are seriously hampered in the discharge of their duties by the inadequate space and facilities at present available in the Palace of Westminster; that the architect's report included in the Report of the Select Committee on House of Commons (Rebuilding) implies that the rebuilding will not be complete until some six years after the delivery of the necessary surveys by his Department; approximately, how long the preparation of such surveys will take; and what priorities in respect of labour and material will be allocated to a work of such national importance.

The answers to the first two parts of the Question are in the affirmative. The surveys referred to are nearly completed. A full statement on the matters raised in the last part of the Question will be made by the Government in the Debate on the Select Committee's Report to-morrow.

asked the Minister of Works whether, in order to enable the Northern Region to develop new industries and expand existing industries, he will give permits for the immediate construction of factories.

Subject to the labour and material requirements for war production and housing, licences for the construction of factories will be issued in cases where the application is supported by the Board of Trade or other appropriate production Department. As the hon. Member knows, six standard factories are already under construction by the Government in the Northern Region at South Shields, Hartlepool, Sunderland, Bishop Auckland, Southwick and Middlesbrough.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware that R.A.F. personnel who have been released against their wishes for industrial work, for which they possess special qualifications, have now been informed that the period of such release will not be counted as service, either for the award of chevrons or for demobilisation, notwithstanding that at the time of such release they were informed that the period of release would count as service towards their current engagement; and if he will review this decision.

Releases of R.A.F. personnel to industry are on a voluntary basis. Although the period of release is allowed to count towards an airman's current R.A.F. engagement, service qualifying for priority of release from H.M. Forces is, as stated in the White Paper on Re-allocation of Man-power, whole-time service in the Armed Forces since 3rd September, 1939, which counts for service pay. Similarly, only whole-time service counts for the award of chevrons. These arrangements apply to the three Services and I see no reason for modifying them.

asked the Minister of Labour who are the members of the Joint War Office and Ministry of Labour Release Committee; and how many of them have first-hand knowledge of conditions in Northern Ireland.

The Joint Release Committee is not a formally constituted body. Informal meetings are held twice weekly between responsible officers of the War Office and my Department who deal with applications for release from the Army. It has been found by experience that this is the most convenient procedure when it is necessary to weigh the industrial aspects of an application against military requirements. Every application for release is sponsored by the Government Department concerned with the civilian work for which the member of the Forces is required, and any necessary information regarding an application affecting Northern Ireland would be provided by the Department supporting the application.