asked the Minister of Health for what purpose large dumps of clothing, originally intended for bombed-out people from coastal towns after D-day, are now being stored; and if he will consider using this clothing for those in need through local welfare organisations, or sending it to the liberated countries.

Clothing provided for bombed-out people is held chiefly by W.V.S. and, where it is no longer required for that purpose, is being taken into store by W.V.S. with a view to its being used for other purposes. My hon. Friend may be confident that in the dispersal of any clothing which is surplus to the requirements for which it was provided, the objects which he mentions will not be overlooked.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that, in at least one instance, food dumps intended for rest centres, have not been inspected since last spring; and when and to what use these dumps will be put.

Rest centre food stocks are inspected on my behalf at regular intervals by inspectors of the Ministry of Food. If my hon. Friend has reason to believe that this inspection has been ineffective in any particular instance, and will furnish me with particulars, I shall be glad to look into the matter. The last part of the Question is for my right hon. and gallant Friend the Minister of Food, who has asked me to refer my hon. Friend to the reply which he gave to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Mr. Lipson) on 7th February.

asked the Minister of Health how many cases of yellow fever have been notified to the League of Nations Health Organisation during each of the past six years; and in what areas have they occurred.

The return to which I assume my hon. Friend refers has not been made by the League of Nations Health Organisation for the period in question. I am sending him what recent information is available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he can give any information about the 10,000 eggs that were stolen from Brixton Road, London, on Thursday, 14th February; and if the police have arrested the people who stole the eggs.

A lorry loaded with 116 cases, each containing thirty dozen eggs, was stolen from premises on the Brixton road during the night of 14th-15th February. The lorry was found empty and abandoned on the afternoon of 15th February. No arrests have yet been made, but the police—who are pursuing their inquiries—have succeeded in recovering 109 of the 116 cases of eggs.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he is aware of the low quality of the coal now being distributed by coal merchants in many areas; that the price per cwt. is much above prewar prices; whether the extra profit goes into the pocket of the coal distributor or the coal producer; and whether he is aware of the hardship inflicted on wage-earners who are compelled to buy low quality coal at extravagant prices.

Whilst I am aware of some decline, under war-time conditions in the quality of coal, I have no evidence of any recent further deterioration. During the recent difficult weeks Government dumps have been opened to meet deficiencies in normal supplies and very few complaints have been made concerning the quality of this coal. The price of coal sold from dumps is fixed according to the appropriate Retail Coal Prices Schedule for coal of a similar grade and the merchants receive no more than their normal profit margin. As my hon. Friend, is aware, the price of coal, as of other commodities, has increased substantially in war-time, owing to increased costs.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he is aware that some coal and coke merchants in the London area now require longer notice of an order for their commodities than the amount permitted on each delivery can possibly last, thereby causing hardship to a number of consumers; and what he proposes to do to ease this situation.

I am aware that delays in delivery in the London Region were substantial, but with the help of military vehicles and labour the arrears are rapidly being overtaken. If a consumer is suffering hardship because of lack of fuel he should apply to the Local Fuel Overseer for assistance in obtaining delivery.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he will consider increasing the amount allowed for domestic consumption for villages which have not the alternative facilities for cooking, such as gas and electric heaters, that are provided in towns, but are solely dependent upon coal for cooking purposes.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answers which I gave to Questions by my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda East (Mr. Mainwaring) on 23rd November, 1943, and on 10th October last, of which I am sending him copies.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he has given consideration to the Report and policy of the Central Electricity Board; is he satisfied with the policy; and what steps are being taken to bring about an increase in power production, to be distributed as cheaply and as soon as possible after the termination of hostilities.

I am constantly in consultation with the Central Electricity Board and am satisfied with the policy they have pursued in regard to the provision of adequate supplies of electricity. I would like to take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation of the services that the Board has rendered during the war. The increase in generating capacity to be provided during the next few years is receiving my active consideration, but I am not yet in a position to make any statement.

asked the right hon. and gallant Member for Rye, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, what steps have been taken to clear up and make use of the broken timber left behind after many woodland sites have had the trees cut down, as much of the wood could be used to help to relieve the fuel shortage.

I have been asked to reply. The fuel value of the waste wood left on felling sites must be considered in relation to the labour and transport required to deliver it in burnable sizes to consumers, and the present restricted transport facilities do not allow lengthy hauls into urban areas. My Department has, however, made special arrangements for the creation of emergency reserves of wood fuel by local authorities in those areas where surplus supplies of waste timber are available. In this way nearly 100,000 tons of waste wood have been collected, and in addition most coal and timber merchants are handling considerable quantities of logs for current distribution.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether members of the women's Services discharged on compassionate grounds and subsequently recalled for service are now eligible for the full grant for civilian clothing.

When auxiliaries who have not already had a plain clothes allowance are relegated to the unemployed list on compassionate grounds they are given the option of taking the grant of £12 10s. at once or of waiting for a later occasion, for example, when they are finally discharged. As I say, this applies to those who have not already had any grant for plain clothes. Those who in the past had the old lower grant and are then recalled become eligible for the full new one after they have completed a further six months' service.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he has any information as to the approximate numbers of German troops operating in Western France; how many of them occupy fixed positions; and how many are engaged in guerilla fighting in forest or mountainous regions.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Denbigh (Sir H. Morris-Jones) on 15th December. I have no evidence that the Germans are engaged in guerilla fighting.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is now in a position to give more detailed information as to how many prisoners-of-war camps and the number of prisoners from the British Commonwealth are now in Russian hands; and what steps are being taken to repatriate these prisoners to their respective countries.

No official information has yet been received from the Soviet authorities. An unconfirmed report has, however, been received that 1,400 of our men have been liberated from camps in Poland. Every effort is being made to obtain confirmation of this and the Soviet authorities have undertaken to give full details as soon as our men come into their hands. Both the Soviet Government and His Majesty's Government are pledged by the agreement reached in the Crimea to do all in their power—subject to the overriding needs of operations—to repatriate these men at the earliest possible moment.

asked the Minister of National Insurance whether he will give an undertaking that the offices of his Ministry will not be transferred in whole or in part to Newcastle-on-Tyne or other provincial centre until adequate permanent accommodation is available in sufficient volume to house all the staff involved.

No, Sir. Certain transfers of existing staff will be unavoidably necessary in order to set free for normal use the accommodation they at present occupy. At a later stage it will be necessary to make other transfers in order to build up the organisation without which the new insurance scheme cannot begin to function. These operations will be carried out in consultation with the staff and every effort will be made to mitigate hardship in individual cases.

asked the Minister of Education how many pupils are at present assigned to the elementary and secondary schools, respectively, in England and Wales; and how many university graduate teachers are employed in each of these categories.

On 31st March, 1938, the latest date for which figures are available, the number of pupils on the registers of public elementary schools in England and Wales was 5,039,321 and of grant-aided secondary schools, 470,003; on the same date the number of graduate teachers in public elementary schools was 11,865 and in grant-aided secondary schools 19,624.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will instruct the British representative at Soviet military headquarters to ascertain the fate of Allied officers and non-commissioned officers of the Polish Underground Army liberated by the Soviet troops from German concentration camps and, if necessary, to take steps to secure their complete freedom.

I have been asked to reply. The freeing of all members of the former Underground Army in Poland who fought against the Germans is a matter to which His Majesty's Government attach great importance, and it is hoped that the matter will be fully explored with the Soviet Government in the near future when such cases, if any, as those referred to by my hon. Friend will be kept in mind.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will consider the advisability of adding a trained scientist to the staff of commercial councillors or attaches in selected embassies overseas to travel, observe and report to the appropriate Government Department the evolution of all new experiments.

It is desirable that information about scientific developments in other countries should be readily available to the appropriate British authorities and interests, and my right hon. Friend is prepared to consider the attachment to His Majesty's Missions of specially qualified scientific and technical advisers when this appears to be in the national interest. In many cases, however, it may prove that the most satisfactory means of attaining our objective is by direct contact between individual scientists, groups of scientists, or business interests, assisted where necesary by the regular members of His Majesty's Missions.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs if, in view of the current reconsideration by various Departments of the position of sick and wounded Servicemen whose 56 days' discharge leave has to be spent in hospital, he will ascertain from the Dominion representatives and circulate in HANSARD details of the practice of the various Dominion Forces in this matter.

Yes, Sir. My Noble Friend is making inquiries, and I will circulate the information as soon as it is obtained.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Warfare, in view of the satisfactory and successful arrangement for supplying foodstuffs and other commodities to British people in the Channel Islands, whether any similar arrangement can be adopted for other parts of Europe in enemy occupation where urgent need is proven.

I have been asked to reply. From the blockade aspect the Channel Islands are now in an almost unique position, since the German garrison can, of course, neither import nor export food supplies. Very different considerations arise if relief supplies are sent to occupied countries in direct communication with Germany. His Majesty's Government and the United States Government have nevertheless permitted relief supplies to be sent to occupied Allied countries, when they were satisfied that an urgent need existed and that due supervision of the distribution of these supplies was possible. Before the liberation of Poland certain relief was sent to that country from Switzerland and for a considerable time relief has been sent from Sweden to Norway. The scale of relief sent to Norway has recently been increased, and at the same time relief ships have been permitted to sail from Sweden to occupied Holland.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether a full survey has now been made of the Outer Hebrides for the purpose of providing a modern and adequate sewerage system in that area.

No survey of sewerage needs is being made by the Department of Health. Local authorities have, however, been invited to submit by 31st October, 1945, applications for grant in respect of sewerage and sewage disposal works under the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Act, 1944, and are no doubt making surveys for that purpose so far as war-time conditions permit.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty for what reason W.R.N.S. are not subject to the Naval Discipline Act, despite the fact that A.T.S. and W.A.A.F. are subject to the Army and Air Force Annual. Act.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Viscountess Davidson) on 16th July, 1941, when the A.T.S. and W.A.A.F. were first made subject to the Army and Air Force Acts as members of the Armed Forces. I am satisfied that the decision reached by the Board of Admiralty in this matter in 1941 was a right decision and that there is no more reason now than there was then for applying the Naval Discipline Act to the Women's Royal Naval Service.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what provision is now being made to assure to the shipbuilding areas of East of Scotland, with special reference to the Firth of Forth yards, a reasonable share of the post-war shipbuilding programme.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Dumbarton Burgh (Mr. Kirkwood) on 24th January last. The Committee to which my right hon. Friend the First Lord of the Admiralty then referred will have regard to the maintenance of a proper balance between the various shipbuilding areas of the United Kingdom.

asked the Secretary of State for Air under what Statutes his Department has acquired and holds airfields and other R.A.F. establishments; and whether these powers are in any instance shared with other Defence Departments.

The Statutes under which my Department has acquired and holds R.A.F. airfields and other establishments are the Defence Acts, 1842 to 1873, as applied to the Royal Air Force by Order in Council made under the Air Force (Constitution) Act, 1917, and the Defence (Barracks) Act, 1935. The powets granted by these Acts may also be exercised by the Admiralty and the Secretary of State for War.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) why the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, by powers under the Defence Regulations Act, 1939 (16b) (Control of Imports), adopts the policy of denying the merchants of that Colony permission to import the full quantity of British goods allocated to Trinidad and Tobago out of the British West Indian quota of exportable goods sanctioned by the Board of Trade; and whether he is aware that as a result of this policy merchants are being forced to purchase goods from Canada, which were previously imported from the United Kingdom, irrespective of whether shipping space is available from the United Kingdom;(2) whether he can give an assurance that steps will be taken to ensure that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago lifts the ban on the importation of goods from this country and that merchants will, in future, be permitted to import their full quota of any merchandise made available to the West Indies by the Board of Trade;(3) whether the British Colonies in the Caribbean area, with the exception of Trinidad and Tobago, are importing their full allocation of available British goods within the West Indian quota; and obtaining the necessary shipping space to do so.

No general prohibition on imports into Trinidad and Tobago from the United Kingdom exists, but some general prohibitions on imports of non-essential goods from any source have been imposed in order to save materials and shipping. Other goods are generally subject to import licensing whether imported from the United Kingdom or elsewhere. For some, but not all, exports from this country the Board of Trade make allocations to specified Colonies or groups of Colonies. I cannot say without a great deal of research whether Trinidad and Tobago or other Colonies in the Caribbean area have made full use of the allocations so available to them in every case, but I can assure the hon. Member that such use is in no case impeded by import prohibitions or by lack of shipping space. I should be glad to have inquiries made about any particular cases the hon. Member has in mind.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the total of grants or loans which have been made to the Palestine and Trans Jordan Governments from the various Colonial Development Funds since their inception to 31st December, 1944; and whether he has under consideration any schemes, over the next five years, involving expenditure under the Development and Welfare Act, 1940, for these territories in respect of social and economic progress for the benefit of all races.

The answer to the first part of the Question is as follows:

Palestine:	£
Grants made under the Colonial Development Act, 1929.	98,162
Grants made under the Colonial Development and Welfare Act, 1940.	94,000
	£192,162

Trans Jordan:	Grants.	Loans.
	£	£
Under the Colonial Development Act, 1929.	114,100	13,000
Under the Act of 1940.	20,000	13,600
	134,100	26,600	160,700
			£352,862

As regards the second part of the Question, I have no schemes before me at the moment. A general survey of the position has been made by the Palestine Government, but no specific proposals have yet been formulated.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport how the eight Rolls Royce limousines, requisitioned by his Department, have been allocated between the Service Departments, respectively, and the Foreign Office; and what he proposes to do with three similar vehicles now being acquired.

Four of the eight limousines have been allocated to the War Office, two to the Admiralty, one to the Air Ministry and one to the Foreign Office. The allocation of the further three, which are not yet ready for service, is not finally decided.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has given consideration to a resolution passed at a recent joint meeting of the South Wales Regional Council of Labour and the South Wales and Monmouthshire Industries Association, pointing out the insufficiency of factory premises in their area to employ the labour becoming redundant on the cessation of hostilities and will facilities for the erection of new factories be given in authorised cases forthwith.

Yes, Sir. The building labour available in South Wales which is not required for war purposes and other urgent work is already being employed on the erection of new factories. I hope the number so employed will increase from now on.

asked the Minister of Food whether he is aware that the extra ration of cheese which farm workers receive owing to the nature of their work, is denied to small farmer employers, who do exactly the same kind of work; that such denial is due to the fact that they cannot produce an unemployment insurance card; and whether he will take steps to remove this grievance.

The special cheese ration is not granted on account of the nature of the work performed but is allowed to certain categories of employees for whom it is impossible to provide canteens or other catering facilities. I regret that I cannot extend this concession to the small farmer, whose home is usually situate where his work is.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what is the present cost of the Annual Reports of the Medical Research Council, the Department of Scien- tific and Industrial Research and the Agricultural Research Council; and what have been the approximate sales of these documents in recent years.

No reports have been published for these Departments for the war years. The price of the Medical Research Council Report for the year 1938–39 was 3s. and the sales 854 copies; the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Report for 1937–38 was 3s. and sales 1,132 copies; the Agricultural Research Council Report for the period October, 1935-September, 1937, was 5s. 6d. and the sales 398 copies.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, in view of the fact that the principal source of infection causing outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in this country is imported meat, and in order to provide guarantees against the sale of such diseased meat to the public, in addition to safeguarding our flocks and herds from slaughter, with consequent heavy expenditure on compensation, whether he is prepared to undertake, after giving due warning, that in future the import of meat will be prohibited from any country which has not taken satisfactory steps to eradicate this disease.

I have consulted my right hon. Friends the Minister of Health and the Minister of Food on this matter. I am advised that there is no evidence of danger to human health from the importation into this country of carcases from countries in which foot-and-mouth disease occurs, though there is a serious danger to our own farm animals if they are allowed to come into contact with meat which may be infected. There would be difficulty about adopting the course proposed in the Question at present.

asked the Secretary of State for War if free transport to this country is provided for the wives of Army personnel who marry in South Africa when stationed there.

The family of a soldier who has married in South Africa and who has lived with his family at his duty station there is brought to this country at public expense when the soldier is posted away from his employment in South Africa to this country.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he has yet considered the allegations of injustice and harsh treatment made by Mr. W. E. George, late Postmaster of Keston, Kent, of which particulars have been sent to him; and what action he proposes to take.

I am making inquiries into this case and will communicate with my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will consider allowing private individual parcels to be sent to France through recognised channels which will ensure fair distribution in the most needed quarters.

My right hon. Friend hopes to be able shortly to allow a substantial increase in weight for letter packets sent to France; but I cannot say when the Parcel Post is likely to be restored. The question of equitable distribution in France of goods sent from this country is not of course a matter for my Department.