Written Answers To Questions
Housing
Empty Houses
asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that some 15 houses fit for habitation, particulars of which have been given to him, situate near to, but outside, the borough of Hammersmith, are all standing empty; and whether he will take steps to see that they are requisitioned and applied to relieve the grave housing shortage in the neighbourhood.
I have looked into these cases and am communicating with my hon. Friend.
Requisitioned Houses (Release)
asked the Minister of Works if consideration has been given to and a decision reached on a policy for the release of requisitioned houses; and, if so, will he make a statement on the matter.
I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which my right hon. Friend gave on the 7th February to the hon. Member for Ogmore (Mr. E. J. Williams), of which I am sending him a copy.
Rural Cottages
asked the Minister of Health whether the specific recommendation of the Scott Report that all new cottages in rural districts should be built wired for electricity, whether or not the supply is at present available, is being complied with.
Some of the war-time agricultural cottages were wired in advance for electricity where it was reasonably likely that a supply would be available in the not too distant future. It is the Government's intention that new council cottages in rural areas should be built so far as possible in or near existing villages where public services are more readily available.
Police (Post-War Recruits, Pensions)
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider permitting post-war recruits to the Metropolitan Police who have served in the Armed Forces to count their war service as approved police service.
The question whether service in the Armed Forces can be allowed to count as approved service for pension purposes in an employment entered into after the war, raises wide issues affecting other public services as well as the police. As far as post-war recruits to the police service are concerned, I can only say that I can see no justification for the introduction of legislation which would place them in a specially favourable position in this respect.
National Health Service
asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that the benefits of the Health White Paper are given in Part III of the Social Security Act, 1938, of the Dominion of New Zealand, and that this Act is worked with the goodwill of their medical profession and the voluntary hospitals; and will he, before coming to a final decision, consider embodying similar proposals in the forthcoming Bill.
I am aware of the scheme to which my hon. Friend refers, but I am satisfied that it would not suit the very different circumstances of this country.
International Fisheries Conference
asked the Minister of Agriculture what foreign Governments have been consulted about proposed arangements for improving conditions of fishing after the war.
I assume my hon. Friend has in mind the International Fisheries Conference which took place in London in October, 1943. If so I would refer him to the White Paper recording its proceeding, Cmd. 6496–1943.
Agricultural Tractors (Rubber Tyres)
asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the fact that farmers are not allowed to purchase tyres and tubes for agricultural tractors unless they own a threshing machine or have old tractor tyres and tubes for replacement and that as a result farmers who own tractors fitted with spade lugs suffer considerable loss in time and money, he will arrange for permission to be granted to such farmers to fit rubber tyres and tubes to their tractors, provided that each application is approved by the appropriate county war agricultural executive committe
I am well aware of the advantages of rubber tyres for agricultural tractors, but I regret that with the present acute shortage of both rubber and tyres it would not be possible to adopt the suggestion of the hon. and gallant Member.
Ex-Service Personnel (Overseas Settlement, Dominions)
asked the Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs what steps have been, or will be, taken in conjunction with the Dominions to assist the post-war emigration of ex-Servicemen and women.
I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer given on 30th January in reply to a Question by the hon. Member for Holland with Boston (Mr. Butcher).
Coal Industry (Directed Labour)
asked the Minister of Labour whether he can state approximately the percentage of boys from privately controlled public schools and publicly maintained secondary schools, respectively, who have been directed to coalmining.
Details of the educational establishment which a man attended are not recorded on his National Service documents and accordingly, I regret I cannot supply the required information.
National Insurance (Legislation)
asked the Prime Minister whether he will give an assurance that a comprehensive national insurance scheme similar to that outlined by the Government White Paper will be placed upon the Statute Book during the life of the present Parliament.
The Government programme in this respect was outlined, as definitely as present circumstances permit, by my right hon. Friend the Minister of National Insurance in reply to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Chislehurst (Sir W. Smithers) on 6th February. The first item on that programme, the Family Allowances Bill, was introduced yesterday, and the Government intend to press on, with all diligence, with the remainder of the programme. The Government cannot give a pledge that Parliament will pass particular legislation.
National Finance
Commercial And Currency Agreements
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is now in a position to state whether or not acceptance of the Bretton Woods Final Act would commit Great Britain to a policy of non-discrimination in foreign trade.
I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Lord President of the Council to the hon. Member for Aberdeen East (Mr. Boothby) on 10th October, 1944.
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, as a result of exchanges of views pursued during recent months between His Majesty's Government and the United States Government, it has been possible to arrive at an agreed interpretation of the Bretton Woods Final Act, so as to preclude the possibility of subsequent disagreements on its interpretation.
Article XVIII of the Articles of Agreement in the International Monetary Fund provides for the interpretation of the document. We cannot know in advance every point on which differences of interpretation might arise, and in any case bilateral discussions with the Government of the United States would not bind other governments who might become Members of the International Monetary Fund.
Sterling (Gold Value)
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, as a result of exchange of views between His Majesty's Government and the United State Government, the latter has now accepted the official British interpretation of the Bretton Woods Final Act, according to which its acceptance would only commit His Majesty's Government to consultation with the fund and would not necessitate a legal stabilisation of sterling.
I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Southampton (Mr. Craven-Ellis) on 17th October, 1944. I am not aware that any question of interpretation arises in this connection.
Officers (1914–18 War Gratuities)
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the allowances to officers of all grades made after the last war and the amount of tax that had to be paid in each case where the recipient had no private income.
I am not aware that officers were eligible for any payments after the last war other than war gratuities, which were free of tax. The rates of war gratuity were as follow:
Temporary Officers.—124 days' pay for the first year's war service and 62
days' pay for each subsequent year's service.
Regular Officers.—The minimum gratuity was £35 for a Second Lieutenant, with larger amounts for officers above this rank. For officers who completed more than 12 months' war service there were additions to the minimum gratuity, of amounts ranging, according to rank from £1 to £3 for officers with overseas service, and from 10s. to £10s. for officers with no overseas service, for each month of war service in excess of 12 months.
Retired Officers, Re-employed.—31 days' pay for every year of war service.
Liberated Territories (Supplies And Transport)
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the urgent need to provide assistance for liberated countries and the failure of U.N.R.R.A. to meet the need, he will consider the advisability of a complete reorganisation of the machinery for meeting requirements.
The answer to my hon. Friend's question is in the negative. For reasons given in my statement yesterday, I cannot accept the implication that U.N.R.R.A. has had responsibilities in this matter which it has failed to discharge.
Post Office
Mail Service, France
asked the Postmaster-General if the fact that there is no postal service between this country and France is due to the inability of the French postal authorities to organise their part of the service owing to transport conditions in France; and if we are in a position to arrange our part of the service as soon as the French authorities ask us to do so.
My hon. and gallant Friend is under a misapprehension, as there is a service for the transmission of letters and postcards in operation and, in reply to a Question, I have already furnished my hon. and gallant Friend with some detailed information on the subject on 23rd January. I am in touch with the French Post Office with a view to the extension of the present facilities.
asked the Postmaster-General what is the cause of the delay, sometimes amounting to two months, in the delivery of mail from this country to civilians in France; and whether parcels are now allowed to be sent.
When the letter service to France was re-established transport conditions along the route made delay inevitable. With the comparatively recent introduction of the direct London-Paris train and boat service the postal service has much improved, but I understand that transport difficulties in France are still considerable. So far as delay is occurring it is to be attributed to such difficulties and in quite a minor degree to the normal operations of Censorship in France and this country. It is not yet possible to establish a parcel post to France.
Undelivered Parcels (Proceeds)
asked the Postmaster-General to what purpose the money arising from the sale of undelivered parcels sent by Forces overseas is devoted.
The proceeds are credited to appropriations in aid.
Hm Coastguards (War Gratuities)
asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether, in view of the magnificent service rendered by all ranks of His Majesty's Coastguards in face of special difficulties arising from the war and enemy action, he will give an early assurance that they are to be acknowledged for the purpose of the war gratuity scheme recently announced.
His Majesty's Government will certainly consider the proposal made by my hon. Friend.
Motor Vehicles (Hand Signals)
asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport, whether he is aware that motor vehicles with left-hand drive have no means of signalling when they are about to turn to the right; and whether he will cause all such vehicles to be fitted with an arm signal, which the driver could operate and so warn following vehicles of his intention to turn.
I regret that the present shortage of labour and materials would make it impracticable to carry out my hon. and gallant Friend's proposal at present, but I am glad to assure him that it will be fully considered by the Road Safety Committee.
| Metropolitan Borough. | 1940–41. | 1941–42. | 1942–43. | 1943–44. | 1944–45 (to 31/12/44) | Totals. | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Battersea | … | Nil | 113,000 | Nil | - 80,000 | Nil | 33,000 |
| Bermondsey | … | 200,000 | 352,000 | 13,000 | - 75,000 | Nil | 490,000 |
| Bethnal Green | … | 50,000 | 118,000 | 57,000 | 5,000 | Nil | 230,000 |
| Camberwell | … | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil |
| Chelsea | … | 90,000 | 97,000 | 28,000 | 17,000 | - 35,000 | 197,000 |
| Deptford | … | 90,000 | 97,000 | - 53,000 | - 44,000 | 36,000 | 116,000 |
| Finsbury | … | 75,000 | 294,000 | - 77,000 | Nil | Nil | 292,000 |
| Fulham | … | 80,000 | 96,000 | Nil | - 30,000 | Nil | 146,000 |
| Greenwich | … | Nil | Nil | 72,000 | - 50,000 | 10,000 | 32,000 |
| Hackney | … | 220,000 | 180,000 | 50,000 | - 50,000 | - 125,000 | 275,000 |
| Hammersmith | … | 160,000 | 72,000 | Nil | Nil | - 72,000 | 160,000 |
| Hampstead | … | 90,000 | 72,000 | - 12,000 | - 150,000 | Nil | Nil |
| Holborn | … | 110,000 | 193,000 | - 31,000 | - 175,000 | - 65,000 | 32,000 |
| Islington | … | Nil | 99,000 | 30,000 | - 129,000 | Nil | Nil |
| Kensington | … | 300,000 | 230,000 | - 90,000 | - 160,000 | - 100,000 | 180,000 |
| Lambeth | … | 40,000 | 281,000 | - 145,000 | Nil | - 76,000 | 100,000 |
| Lewisham | … | 200,000 | 209,000 | - 83,000 | - 30,000 | 11,600 | 307,600 |
| Paddington | … | 400,000 | 253,000 | - 24,000 | - 78,000 | 31,000 | 582,000 |
| Poplar | … | 165,000 | 293,500 | 137,000 | 102,000 | 10,000 | 707,500 |
| St. Marylebone | … | 400,000 | 406,000 | -106,000 | - 281,000 | Nil | 419,000 |
| St. Pancras | … | 250,000 | 204,000 | - 150,000 | - 154,000 | -145,000 | 5,000 |
| Shoreditch | … | Nil | 230,000 | - 40,000 | Nil | 30,000 | 220,000 |
| Southwark | … | 75,000 | 143,000 | 32,000 | Nil | Nil | 250,000 |
| Stepney | … | 210,000 | 468,000 | 373,000 | 91,000 | - 12,000 | 1,130,000 |
| Stoke Newington | … | 60,000 | 37,000 | 50,000 | Nil | 12,000 | 159,000 |
| Westminster | … | 300,000 | 690,000 | - 146,000 | -500,000 | - 344,000 | Nil |
| Wandsworth | … | Nil | 150,000 | Nil | - 150,000 | Nil | Nil |
| Woolwich | … | 80,000 | 21,000 | 76,000 | 60,000 | Nil | 237,000 |
| City of London | … | Nil | 550,000 | -100,000 | -450,000 | Nil | Nil |
| 3,645,000 | 5,948,500 | -139,000 | -2,311,000 | - 843,400 | 6,300,100 |
Public Health (Soldier's Illness, Anglesey)
asked the Minister of Health whether the case reported as smallpox in Anglesey has or has not been found to be a case of that disease.
The case to which my hon. Friend refers was a serving soldier in a military camp, and my information is that the Army medical authorities found that it was not a case of smallpox.
Metropolitan Boroughs (Finance)
asked the Minister of Health what are the amounts of money advanced each year from 1940 to 1945 to individual Metropolitan boroughs in order to prevent a serious increase in rates and the amounts repaid.
Advances to Metropolitan boroughs (including the City of London) to enable them to maintain essential services without an unreasonable increase in rates were as follows:
Old Age Pensions
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will give instructions that, where the recipients of non-contributory old age pensions are in receipt of another pension which has been increased by the award of a cost-of-living bonus, the increase in the pension necessitated by the increased cost of living should not be used to reassess the old age pension.
My hon. Friend's proposal would lead to the serious anomaly that of persons with the same amount of yearly means some would be eligible for old age pensions and others would not, while in other cases persons with the same amount of yearly means would be eligible for different amounts of old age pension. I cannot, therefore, see my way to introduce the legislation which would be necessary to give effect to it.
Rent Restrictions Committee
asked the Minister of Health whether he will now say when the Rent Restrictions Committee will present its Report.
I expect this Committee to present its Report next week.
Parliamentary Returns (Suspended Compilation)
asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will give a list of Papers that by Statute should be presented to Parliament and be printed each year but which for reasons of economy have not been printed and therefore are not available on payment by the public.
In 1940 it was decided to suspend the compilation and publication of reports which were not of direct assistance to the prosecution of the war. This decision was based upon a variety of considerations, including security, but the primary reason was the desire to eliminate work not directly related to the war effort. To produce a complete list of suspended reports would require an expenditure of time and labour which I would suggest to my hon. Friend could hardly be justified at the present time.
British Army
Deceased Officer (Returned Kit)
asked the Secretary of State for War if he has considered the details of a case, which have been sent to his Department, in which a uniform which was a mass of jagged holes was returned to the home of a dead soldier and that the receipt of this relic caused great revulsion and pain to the mother of the soldier who received it; and will he see that this unfortunate occurrence is not repeated.
When an officer is killed, a Standing Committee of Adjustment collects his effects to send to his next-of-kin. The instructions for these committees state specifically that any clothing which it is considered might cause distress to the relatives shall be extracted and destroyed. On the other hand it is realised that next-of-kin are anxious to have as many articles as possible, even though they are of no intrinsic value. My hon. Friend will, therefore, appreciate that it is sometimes difficult to decide in a given case whether an article shall be sent on or destroyed.The particular case to which my hon. Friend refers has been investigated. The torn uniform returned with the officer's effects was not worn by him when he was fatally injured. It was with his kit with his unit, and it was therefore not thought that it would cause distress to his next-of-kin. I am sorry that it did. The attention of those concerned has been drawn to the existing instructions, but in view of what I have said above it is, I regret, impossible to ensure that distress to next-of-kin will always be avoided.
Auxiliary Territorial Service
asked the Secretary of State for War what restrictions there are preventing A.T.S. personnel whose parents arc naturalised British subjects from volunteering for overseas postings.
Members of the A.T.S. whose parents are naturalised British subjects must inform the War Office of the date and place of their parents' birth. Each case is then considered. There might be some danger in sending to some theatres of war auxiliaries whose parents were enemy aliens although they are now naturalised.
asked the Secretary of State for War what allowances for new clothing, what paid leave and what gratuities are offered to members of the A.T.S. on retiring, with permission, from the Service.
A.T.S. auxiliaries who are granted discharge as a result of their own request, are in general not given any paid terminal leave but they normally receive £12 10s. od. to buy civilian clothes. This grant is not, however, paid to those who have not yet completed their basic training or, in the case of those discharged on compassionate grounds, 6 months' service. In the case of local service personnel, 12 months' service is necessary to qualify for the grant. As regards gratuities, I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 6th February.
Historic Buildings (Guides)
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will introduce legislation for the licensing of qualified persons who offer themselves as guides, since under present conditions, anyone can undertake this function and there is no protection for strangers against undesirable persons.
Inquiry of the authorities responsible for some of the more important historic buildings in London shows that they take useful measures for the instruction of visitors and the prevention of abuse: and my present information does not indicate that there is a case for legislation on this subject at the present time.
German Aliens, Great Britain
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the 40,021 persons registered with the police as of German nationality include children as well as adults; and if Austrians, members of the Forces or Mercantile Marine, persons interned in the Isle of Man and persons of former Ger- man nationality. but now stateless by German law are included.
The figure of 40,021 persons registered with the police as of German nationality does not include children under the age of 16 or members of the Forces, who are not required to register with the police, but does include seamen and also persons interned in the Isle of Man who were so registered before internment. It was announced in 1943 that any alien then registered as German, who could furnish to the police with whom he was registered satisfactory evidence that he possessed Austrian citizenship when Germany annexed Austria, might on application be registered as Austrian. Germans deprived of their nationality under Nazi laws are as a rule regarded as German for the purposes of the Aliens Order, 1920.
Overseas Trade Department (Staff)
asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department what is the total staff of his Department; and how many receive salaries in excess of £600 per annum.
Excluding cleaners, the present staff of my Department numbers 214, of whom 45 receive salaries in excess of £600 per annum. The Department has an authorised complement of 299 excluding cleaners, and steps are being taken to obtain the additional staff to reach this complement.