asked the Minister of Labour what provision he is making for releasing labour in order to accelerate the manufacture of the 3,000,000 kw. of new electrical plant that is to be installed before the winter of 1948.

This at present is regarded as post-war production, and it cannot be given labour which might otherwise be employed on war production. Subject to this, my Department will do what it can to supply labour, as I am well aware of the importance of heavy electrical plant.

asked the Minister of Labour how many women he has directed into the W.L.A. from civil employment; and what steps are proposed to assist them to rehabilitate themselves in their former professions when released from the W.L.A.

No women have been directed into the Women's Land Army. Members will be eligible to apply for grants under the Further Education and Training Scheme applicable to training for the professions and higher-grade posts, and for training under the training scheme set out in the statement made in the House on 6th April, 1944. I am sending the hon. Member papers in which these Schemes are described.

While appreciating the Minister's reply, may I ask if he realises that many of these women who have been working in the roughest weather and under the hardest conditions will require rehabilitation before they can take up their professions again?

The question of how the Land Army shall be treated is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, but I would point out that women have been directed to many other very difficult jobs, and the question you have to decide is whether you will make an exception in one case and ignore all the others who have suffered inconvenience.

Do the schemes to which my right hon. Friend has referred as being available to the Land Army, include entry into the Civil Service under the scheme recently announced?

I must have notice of that question.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that numbers of building operatives are unwilling to be demobilised from the Forces because they object to the condition of release, that they are to be subject to direction for an indefinite period; and whether he will consider some relaxation of this condition.

I assume my hon. Friend is referring to release from the Forces in Class B after the defeat of Germany. Men who are offered and accept out of turn release for urgent reconstruction work must expect to remain on that work as long as they are required for it. It is not possible at present to say how long this will be.

Will my right hon. Friend note from the question that there is at least one Member of his Party who is not rejoicing very much over controls?

asked the Minister of Labour whether demobilised men and women who are offered employment by his Department will be required to become members of the appropriate trades unions.

No such requirement is imposed by my Department.

In the event of someone being found employment through the right hon. Gentleman's Department, and being unwilling to join a trade union, what power has the right hon. Gentleman got to stop strikes and other industrial disturbances?

Will non-unionists be entitled to trade union rates, which they have never contributed for or helped to get?

asked the Minister of Health how many children of or under school age are awaiting admission to anti-tuberculosis sanatoria in England and Wales, each separately; what is the average length of waiting time between application and admission; and whether all possible steps are being taken to reduce the interval of waiting by temporary improvisation or otherwise.

Returns from local authorities as at 31st December last showed that 436 children in England and 112 in Wales were then awaiting institutional treatment for pulmonary or non-pulmonary tuberculosis. I regret that I have no information as to the average length of the waiting period, and to obtain it would involve an extensive special inquiry. All possible steps continue to be taken to increase institutional accommodation for tuberculosis cases, but the exigencies of war make this very difficult at present.

While realising the difficulties, may I ask my right hon. and learned Friend to give an assurance that he will keep on trying to reduce this waiting period as much as possible?

Certainly, Sir.

Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that the waiting period is due to lack of people to look after the patients, rather than to any lack of accommodation?

The greater difficulty is with regard to staff rather than accommodation.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is now in a position to accede to the requests that have been made to him from the Defford Parish Council, in view of the hardship and danger to health which exist through the inadequate water supply at the present time.

No, Sir. The extension of the main desired by the parish council is a matter which concerns the Pershore rural district council. As the authority responsible for public water supplies, the rural district council submitted a scheme to me in September last for providing piped supplies in the parishes of Defford and Woodmancote at an estimated cost of £6,400. They wish this scheme to be considered for Government grant under the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Act, 1944. The position as regards this, and other schemes of the kind, is that while execution of the schemes and determination of grant must await the end of the war in Europe, I am prepared to examine the schemes now from the technical standpoint and, if necessary, to hold local inquiries.

Is my right hon. and learned Friend fully aware of the urgent need of enlightened action in these matters, in view, of the fact that these places have no water supply?

That is why the Bill was introduced last year. It was in order to make sure that all these districts got on with their plans now so that they can be put into operation at the earliest possible moment.

Then my right hon. and learned Friend will help us in every way?

Certainly, Sir.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that dwelling-houses and flats suitable for occupation as such are being used in various parts of London for storage purposes; and whether he will introduce a regulation to make it possible for Metropolitan borough councils to requisition such premises for the housing of bombed-out persons.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that many buildings designed and erected for residential purposes are being used, or are being acquired with intention to use, for office and commercial purposes; and whether, in view of grave housing short age, he will encourage local authorities to requisition such buildings for the use of homeless citizens.

I am aware that a number of buildings erected for residential purposes are being used for other purposes. It would not be appropriate that requisitioning powers should be applied to such properties generally, but if my hon. Friends have any particular case in mind and will let me have details I will have inquiries made.

I will let the right hon. and learned Gentleman have details. Is he aware that what is happening is that a flat becomes vacant, and before anybody can come along and live in it, the landlord fills it with stored goods, and when the council are asked to requisition it, they say that the landlord has already occupied it?

I shall be glad to look into cases of that kind, but many of these houses are large old-fashioned houses which are not suitable for rehousing homeless persons.

Will my right hon. and learned Friend bear in mind that one of these large old-fashioned houses can be converted into two or four smaller dwellings which give housing accommodation, whereas if it is used for office accommodation there is actually a loss of housing accommodation?

There is a case for the sort of conversion my hon. Friend has in mind, but that is not the sort of work we are able to do much this year.

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman accept my assurance that there was no collusion between the hon. Member for Holland with Boston (Mr. Butcher) and myself in putting these Questions?

asked the Minister of Health whether, before approving the Hampstead Borough Council's proposal to acquire and pull down numbers 7 and 9, Well Walk, he will consult the Minister of Town and Country Planning and the Royal Fine Art Commission.

Yes, Sir.

asked the Minister of Health which person, or what body, decides who shall be the inhabitants of the new houses; under what system of priority are they allocated; and is he satisfied that the allocations made to date have been made impartially.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave on 14th December to my hon. Friend the Member for Holland with Boston (Mr. Butcher) which explained the principles on which tenants are selected for council houses. I have no reason to suppose that local authorities are failing to observe these principles.

Has not the right hon. and learned Gentleman received complaints on the lines indicated in the Question?

No, Sir, not that I can remember.

asked the Minister of Health whether it is proposed to give early sanction for the construction of a workable disposal unit, by the Colne Valley Sewerage Board, so as to permit the Amersham Rural District Council to proceed with the 300 houses scheduled for this area as soon as labour and materials are available.

I am afraid that I can hold out no hope that permission will be given to begin the Colne Valley Sewerage-Board's constructional programme until after the end of the war in Europe. I understand that the Board are advised that it is not practicable to construct a sewage disposal unit dealing solely with sewage from the Amersham rural district. Consequently, facilities for disposing of the Amersham sewage will not be available until the first instalment of the board's programme, which comprises the disposal works and such trunk sewers as are required to pass an adequate volume of sewage to the works to enable them to-function satisfactorily, has been completed.

Does my right hon. Friend recognise that this area is comparatively ready, and that it only needs the construction of the sewage disposal works to make a very large area immediately available for houses?

Yes, Sir, and the Board has been given definite assurance that this, scheme will be given a high priority at the earliest possible moment; but it may be that temporary arrangements will have-to be made for the first year or two.

asked the Minister of Health how many hutments and what types are being or will be erected on sites whose vicinity has been conveyed to him; how many persons these will accommodate; whether these hutments are available only to those who lived in adjacent areas; and what arrangements have been made respecting the ultimate restoration of amenities.

It is proposed to erect on the site to which my hon. Friend refers, 100 hutments of the curved asbestos type which will accommodate about 300 people. They will be offered in the first place to people who have been made homeless in the area of the local authority concerned but any surplus will be offered to homeless people from other areas. The intention is that the land shall ultimately be restored to its former use.

When is that restoration likely to take place? Further, is the Minister aware that the 100 huts proposed are quite inadequate for the tremendous need that exists in the area? Can he say whether a much wider area will be taken over for that purpose?

We are aware of the need, as my hon. Friend I am sure appreciates, but this way of dealing with the matter, the provision of emergency huts, is not one that we want to extend too far.

While I agree that the huts are horrible constructions, nevertheless, are they not very necessary at this time?

The best way we can use our labour at present is in the repair of damaged houses.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether, in view of the strain upon the resources of the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in the West Indies, he will afford special encouragement to the develop- ment of one or more such centres of postgraduate teaching and research in India.

There are in India a number of institutions concerned with agricultural post-graduate teaching and research. The Government of India have under active consideration plans for the extension after the war of the facilities available.

asked the Secretary of State for India if he is aware there is need for information on the following points to our troops in India: the rate of exchange of rupees to £ sterling paid to a British subject receiving pay from the British Government, the amount of Income Tax which a married man with children, a single man with dependants and a single man without dependants, respectively, have deducted from their pay when paid in rupees by the British Government; and will he make a statement.

I assume my hon. Friend is referring to the British troops in India who are paid in rupees under the Indian Pay Code and are liable to tax under the Indian Income Tax Act. The troops are paid by the Government of India and not by the British Government. British other ranks are paid their sterling Royal Warrant rates of pay converted at is. 4d. instead of the official rate of is. 6d. This amounts in effect to a colonial allowance of 12½ per cent. In the case of officers there is no direct conversion of sterling rates, but the consolidated Indian rupee rates are built up on a basis of is. 4d. The amount of Indian Income Tax varies, of course, with the rate of pay, but as I have explained previously, it does not, under the Indian Income Tax Act, vary according to whether the man is single or married or is with or without dependants. I am sending my hon. Friend a statement of the present rates levied under the Indian Income Tax Act.

The right hon. Gentleman has said he is sending me a statement; would it not be of interest to other hon. Members if it were printed in HANSARD?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Secretary of State for India if he has considered a statement made at a meeting in Washington by Mrs. Pandit, a delegate to the Pacific Relations Conference, of which a copy has been sent to him, that India is a vast concentration camp and a country without religious differences; and whether he proposes to take steps to counteract the harmful effect that such statements may have on public opinion amongst our Allies.

Yes, Sir. I have seen the statement referred to. I have no doubt that both the Indian Agency-General and the British Information Services in Washington will take whatever steps they judge necessary to deal with the matter unless, indeed, they feel that the American public have already assessed such obviously fantastic assertions at their true value.

Has my right hon. Friend had any chance of seeing the actual report? Does our information service take any steps to make the public wiser on the subject?

Yes, our information service in Washington is doing very good work.

Are steps taken by the Information Department to publish leaflets and statements by Mr. Roy and other Indians in public life on the action of the Congress Party, in which they say Congress is run by the most reactionary employers and big financiers in India?

I will make inquiries.

Is the Mr. Roy to whom the Noble Lord has referred, the one who received £12,000 subsidy from the Indian Government?

I have already dealt with that point.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been called to the action of wholesale milk dealers in Bombay who poured large quantities of fresh milk into the streets as a protest against the recent Government Order restricting the use of fresh milk in restaurants so as to enable supplies for children and expectant mothers; what action is being taken against those responsible for this action; and will he now remove the distribution of milk and other essential food from such private interests with a view to its public control and distribution.

I have no information about this regrettable incident beyond the Press reports. The matter is obviously one for the Government of Bombay who, I am confident, will take whatever action is called for.

Are any inquiries being made into the authenticity of this report; and in view of the unfortunate repercussions which this kind of thing must have on the war effort, is the India Office taking any action?

I must leave a matter of this sort to the Government of Bombay. It is impossible for the Secretary of State, at this end of the world, to deal with a matter of that sort. The Government of Bombay have been doing everything they can both to control the milk supply, and to see that it reaches those who need it most.

While recognising that these provincial matters must be left to provincial Governments does the right hon. Gentleman not recognise that an incident of this sort, if accurately reported, has violent reactions on our associations with India? Ought he not to consider the matter from that angle?

I am not depreciating the importance of this matter in any way, and I nope that the Government of Bombay are dealing effectively with it.

asked the Secretary of State for India how many Indian officers of the Indian Army now hold command and staff appointments.

Indian officers are now in command of 18 Infantry battalions, three Regiments of the Indian Armoured Corps, and nine Units of the Indian States Forces serving with the Indian Army. There are also 10 Indian officers in Lieutenant-Colonels' appointments in the Royal Indian Army Service Corps. On the staff there is one Indian officer serving in the rank of Brigadier, and 19 in Lieutenant-Colonels' staff appointments. I have no figures for staff appointments below the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

asked the Secretary of State for India if he will make a statement respecting the present food situation; and what progress has been made respecting the campaign to increase the production of foodstuffs.

The food situation in India and the progress of the "Grow More Food" campaign have been reviewed at an All-India Food Conference recently held in New Delhi and I am placing in the Library of the House reports of speeches by Sir J. P. Srivastava, Member for Food, and Sir Jogendra Singh, Member for Education, Health and Lands.

Meanwhile, could the right hon. Gentleman say exactly what percentage increase in the production of foodstuffs has been achieved during the last two or three years?

I cannot answer that question off-hand.

asked the Secretary of State for India if the Government of India have taken any steps to encourage Indians, who could do so, to offer hospitality to British troops in India.

Yes, Sir. The Government of India and the Commander-in-Chief have brought to the notice of the Indian public the importance offering hospitality to British troops in India and many British troops have been so entertained. Generous hospitality has also been extended by the Princes of India.

Has this encouragement been extended to all kinds of Indians who do not live in the princely States, including, for instance, Mrs. Pandit?

Yes, Sir. If the hon. Member will read my answer, he will see that I have covered that point.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he can now name the members of the committee which is to inquire into the provision made for children deprived of a normal home life.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he can now give the names of the members of the proposed committee on children who lack a normal home life.

As the answer is rather long, I will, with permission, answer these Questions by means of a statement at the end of Questions.

This committee, which as previously stated, is to be appointed jointly by the Minister of Health, the Minister of Education and myself, will be constituted as follows:

• The Chairman will be:
• Miss Myra Curtis, C.B.E.—Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge.
• The members will be:
• The hon. Member for Dartford (Mrs. J. L. Adamson, M.P.).
• The hon. Member for Islington, East (Mrs. Cazalet Keir, M.P.).
• The hon. Member for Birkenhead, East (Mr. H. Graham White, M.P.).
• Miss S. Clement Brown—In charge of Mental Health Course for Psychiatric Workers, London School of Economics.
• Mr. R. J. Evans—Chairman, South Wales Regional Council of Labour, and Organiser (Cardiff and District) Shop Assistants' Union.
• Miss Lucy G. Fildes—Provisional National Council for Mental Health.
• Miss M. L. Harford—Chief Woman Officer, National Council of Social Service.
• Dr. Somerville Hastings—Chairman of the London County Council.
• Alderman Miss M. Kingsmill Jones, O.B.E., City Alderman, Manchester, and Chairman of the Residential Homes and Special Schools Sub-Committee of the Manchester City Council.
• The Rev. J. H. Litten—Honorary Secretary to the Council of the Associated Children's Homes.
• Mr. J. Moss—Public Assistance Officer, Kent County Council.
• Mrs. Helen Murtagh—Chairman, Maternity and Child Welfare Committee, City of Birmingham.
• Mr. Henry Salt—Member of the Chancery Bar.
• Professor J. C. Spence, M.C., M.D.— Professor of Child Health in the University of Durham.
• Mrs. F. G. A. Temple—Widow of the late Archbishop of Canterbury.
• Mr. S. O. Walmsley—Headmaster of Bewerley Park Camp School, Yorks.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the selection as chairman of this Committee of one of the two persons who made the much-criticised report on the L.C.C. remand homes will not inspire public confidence in the inquiry?

If I may say so I think that is a regrettable and an unfair observation. The point not unnaturally was taken into account but the question is whether the controversy has impaired the integrity of these two eminent persons and I do not think it has. Moreover, some of the comment has really been grossly unfair, as witness one extract from a leading article in a newspaper which1 says:

"His Committee"—

"has made every possible effort to whitewash the London County Council and the Home Office."

On a point of Order. If my right hon. Friend is to give a lengthy defence of the attacks which he alleges have been made upon the head of the L.C.C. are we to be allowed to debate the question, because it seems to have nothing to do with the Question and the answer?

There was a supplementary question which raised the point, but the main Question asked for the names of the Committee, and I think we might leave it at that.

On that point of Order. As, following the reading of the list of names, a statement was made casting prejudice upon the chairmanship of this Committee, is not my right hon. Friend entitled to try to remove that prejudice?

I have very little more to say, but my hon. Friend made an imputation that this lady was not fit to be chairman of the Committee, and I submit that I am entitled to give reasons why I think she is.

I cannot stop the right hon. Gentleman doing that, but I suggest that we ought not to go on to a Debate. An imputation was made, and the right hon. Gentleman is entitled to give an answer.

I can only add that all this was taken into account and the question is whether criticism of the kind I have quoted is fair. I think it is disgracefully unfair, if not libellous, and that if we had dropped our intention, which was made before the Report was published, to appoint Miss Curtis in the light of statements of that sort, we should not have been very upright in our conduct.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the public will welcome the setting up of this Committee and particularly the choice for chairman of a woman of the highest integrity?

The hon. Lady cannot go into the personalities of the members of the Committee.

I promise to keep off personalities. In view of the urgency of this matter, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman to press the Committee to expedite their business in order that their recommendations may be implemented without delay?

I will certainly do anything I can in that direction. They have a big job, as hon. Members will recognise, but it may be possible for interim reports to be presented.

Can the Home Secretary say how many of the ladies who are to be on this Committee are married, and how many are mothers?

As to those who are married, I gave their names with "Mrs." How many children they have, I do not know.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many charitable homes for children are not inspected by Government officials; and how many children are resident in these homes.

It is provided in the Children and Young Persons Act that any home or other institution for the boarding, care and maintenance of poor children or young persons, being a home or other institution supported wholly or partly by voluntary contributions, shall send prescribed particulars to the Home Office, and all such homes are subject to inspection by Government inspectors. There are a few charitable homes so well endowed that they do not depend on voluntary contributions: the number, I understand, is very small, but I am not in a position to furnish the statistics asked for.

In view of the general disquiet which has been caused by the disclosures about these homes and about cruelty to children, will my right hon. Friend acquire powers to inspect every home?

That is a matter which will come within the terms of reference of the Committee which is to inquire into the provision of homes for children, and no doubt they will give very considerable attention to it.

Is not the whole of this trouble caused very largely by the shortage of staff, and also of inspectors?

That is undoubtedly a difficulty which the House, and also the Press, must take fully into account. All these places, whether municipally or privately conducted, have great difficulty in getting adequate staff in present conditions.

What does the right hon. Gentleman mean by "subject to inspection"? Does that mean that there is a regular inspection, or only an occasional one?

It means that, legally, they are capable of being inspected; and we inspect them as far as time permits and with such regularity as we can. But it is a very big job, and the number of inspectors is very limited just now.

At this moment, when the country is so disquieted about some of the shocking homes and about the conditions of children, will the right hon. Gentleman tell people that there are some magnificent homes,, and magnificent women working in them, and that it is wrong to let the world think that England is behind any other country in looking after its children?

I agree with the spirit of what my hon. Friend has said. I think there is some danger of our getting that wrong impression.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements have been made for the disposal of C.D. vehicles, surplus to requirements, with particular reference to fire pumps and ambulances.

Surplus fire pumps and other surplus vehicles of the National Fire Service and the Civil Defence Reserve, being Government property, will be handed to the appropriate Disposal Department in accordance with the White Paper on the Disposal of Government Surplus Stores. Special consideration is being given to the possibility of arrangements under which works brigades could acquire, at reduced prices, pumps which have been on loan to them on behalf of the Government. Other Civil Defence vehicles are the property of local authorities, who have been told by circulars that surplus vehicles may be sold locally under certain conditions. With regard to ambulances in particular I have arranged, in agreement with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister of Health, that the best vehicles will be available to be retained by local authorities requiring them for their normal ambulance services.

Is it proposed that the whole of the Civil Defence organisation should be disbanded? Surely some sort of nucleus will be kept.

I can assure the hon. Member that that is not being lost sight of.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if any decision has been come to as to the eligibility of the N.F.S. and Civil Defence services for war gratuities.

I cannot add anything at present to the reply which I gave to the Question on this matter by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Hornsey (Captain Gammans) on 14th February.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware of the large number of beds and blankets which are not in use in certain parts of the country since the fire guards were ordered to stand down; and will he permit them to be sent to relieve the needs of bombed areas in London or on the Continent.

With regard to the comparatively small quantities of beds and blankets which are held by local authorities for Fire Guard purposes, I have authorised the surplus to be sold either to individual ratepayers who, by reason of war circumstances, are considered deserving of special assistance, or to recognised traders. Occupiers of business premises probably possess larger quantities of these articles, and are at liberty to dispose of them as they wish. Many have, I understand, been informed by the Board of Trade by what channels they can be sent for the benefit of persons in bombed areas or for relief on the Continent.

Does my right hon. Friend not think that aerial bombing is nearly over now?

When will these instructions come into effect? The shortage of blankets in many places is very serious.

The authorisation has been given already.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to be able to make a statement on the future of the N.F.S.

I am not yet in a position to add to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Penryn and Falmouth (Mr. Petherick) on 7th December, except to say that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and I intend to resume our discussions with the representatives of the Local Authorities' Associations as soon as they are ready.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether he feels himself bound by any previous declarations that the fire brigades must return to local authority control, or if he feels he has a free hand to deal with this matter in accordance with the experience gained in the past four years?

I have made two declarations, and they should both be examined. The line we have taken is that we have come to no decision, that we want first to know the views of the local authorities.

Will the right hon. Gentleman also consult with the representatives of the National Fire Brigades Association?

Perhaps, in due course, but first we thought it right to consult the local authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reconsider the release of the fireman of whose name he has been informed, in view of the fact that his employers are at least four months in arrears with orders for schoolchildren's clothing; that no alternative pattern cutter can be found by the Ministry of Labour; and that his release has been recommended by the Board of Trade.

Applications for the release of members of the National Fire Service for industrial employment are not granted unless they are recommended by the Ministry of Labour and National Service. On reconsideration of the case referred to in the Question the Ministry of Labour have recommended that the fireman in question should be released for the particular employment suggested, and arrangements are being made for his discharge from the National Fire Service as soon as possible.