asked the Minister of Education whether, in view of the fact that the maximum fine which can be imposed on the parents and guardians of absentees from school is, in many cases, quite insufficient to prevent habitual repetitions of the offence, he will take steps to bring about a more satisfactory state of affairs.

Under Section 40 of the Education Act, 1944, which comes into

asked the Minister of Education if he will give a revised list of districts, indicating in each case their population and elementary school population, which have applied to be excepted districts by reason of special circumstances under the terms of paragraph 4 of Part III of the First Schedule to the Education Act, 1944, together with the decision of the Minister on the application.

Following is the list requested:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the rate of war gratuity would be, per month of service, if the suggestion of a flat rate, irrespective of rank or sex, were adopted, and if the total sum allocated to gratuities were approximately the same as the total under the present scheme.

Twelve shillings.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if Regular officers and men of His Majesty's Forces entitled to war gratuities will have to wait until they retire before being able to draw them.

No, Sir. Their gratuities will be made available at some convenient time after the final conclusion of hostilities.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a White Paper comprehensively setting out the grants, gratuities, post-war credits and allowances as well as the assistance and opportunities for training and rehabilitation in civil life which the Government are offering to ex-Service officers and men.

As I indicated on 6th February, a comprehensive booklet entitled "Release and Resettlement" will shortly be distributed to all serving members of the Forces. An adequate supply of copies will be available for the use of hon. Members.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he is aware of the dissatisfaction caused by the import duty and Purchase Tax imposed on personal presents sent from U.S.A., often resulting in a charge on the gift of its value; and will he consider allowing these gifts into this country on the same basis as food parcels.

I am afraid I could not agree to exempt personal presents from the U.S.A. from the import duty and Purchase Tax imposed by law. Foodstuffs are not chargeable with Purchase Tax, but it is not the case that all food parcels sent as presents are treated as exempt from import duty.

asked the Minister of Health whether, for the purpose of preventing the erection of jerry-built dwelling-houses, he will take such steps as may be necessary to secure that in all private contracts for the building of dwelling-houses there shall be an implied condition or warranty as to fitness, notwithstanding any term to the contrary, or a provision that the builder shall make good any defect or imperfection which may appear during a specified number of years.

The Government have accepted the recommendation of the Private Enterprise Sub-Committee of my Central Housing Advisory Committee that support should be given to the development of a scheme on the lines of the National House Builders' Registration Council for securing the maintenance of good standards of building, and I have under consideration an application for approval under Section 5 of the Building Societies Act, 1939.

asked the Minister of Production whether, as a Northern Ireland building contractor his offered to erect a sample bungalow for £500, containing entrance hall, three bed-rooms, sitting-room, kitchen, scullery, pantry and bathroom, he will release the essential building materials required; and, if found satisfactory, whether he will release the necessary materials for the erection of these bungalows.

An application for essential building materials for the purposes of this project should be made to the Ministry of Commerce, Northern Ireland, who receive allocations of controlled materials for building work in Northern Ireland.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he has yet received any Report from the Committee on Farm Buildings which he set up some time ago.

I am informed that I shall receive the Report of the Farm Buildings Committee during the next few days.

asked the Minister of Agriculture who bears the loss when sugar beet is left on railway sidings or lost in transit after the factories close.

In the circumstances postulated the loss would fall on the contracting grower. I am informed, however, that cases of this kind are of very infrequent occurrence.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware that the closing of the sugar beet factories at Bury St. Edmunds on 25th January, Ipswich on 26th January and recently at Spalding, together with the refusal of the L.N.E.R. to accept further consignments, has left many farmers in the Eye district with hundreds of tons of sugar beet in the fields and heaped on the roadside; and if, in view of the serious loss to agriculturists and the national sugar supply, he will take steps to extend the period for the delivery of the crop.

When the Bury St. Edmunds and Ipswich factories were closed all beet available for transport from the localities had been accepted. A certain acreage was, however, trapped in the ground by frost, and I fear that, owing to the sudden thaw and ensuing mild conditions, a good deal of this beet will be quite unfit for sugar manufacture. The Spalding factory was kept open, and is still open, to deal with such of the trapped beet as is suitable for processing, and I understand that deliveries are being made from the Eye district by road. I hope that it will be possible to arrange for the delivery of all sound beet from this district.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he proposes to make any regulations for the sale and transport of day-old chickens, in order to prevent them from being sold as toys and to ensure that transport is carried out under suitable conditions.

I have no power to make regulations for the purposes suggested by the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the procedure adopted by independent investigators sent by him to investigate cases of dispossession of farmers, upon complaints being made by hon. Members of this House.

Usually it is left to the investigating officers to adopt the procedure they consider most suitable for ascertaining the whole of the relevant facts; and their subsequent reports receive my careful consideration.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is now able to make a statement on the Government's proposals regarding the future of the W.L.A.

I regret that I am not able at present to make a statement on this subject.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether any scheme is to be introduced for the training and resettlement of the W.L.A. after the war.

The further education and training scheme, and the vocational training scheme, particulars of which have already been announced, will be available for suitable members of the Women's Land Army in common with men and women released from other forms of war service.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the approximate number of W.L.A. that he wishes to retain for the 12 months immediately following on the conclusion of the European war.

I am satisfied that agriculture will need, during the period to which my hon. Friend refers, the services of as many of the present members of the Women's Land Army as can be retained, and that a substantial number of new recruits will also be required.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if it intended to give war gratuities to members of the W.L.A.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether it is the Government's intention to offer to the W.L.A. on demobilisation allowances, grants, gratuities and training facilities similar to those now made available to the women's auxiliary services.

asked the Minister of Agriculture (1) if he can make any statement on the resignation of Lady Denman, honorary director al the W.L.A.;

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware that Lady Denman, the honorary director of the W.L.A., has resigned from that position as a result of his refusal to include the members of the W.L.A. in the Government's schemes of post-war gratuities for the Forces and capital grants for resettlement; and if he will now reconsider this and place the W.L.A. in an equal position on these matters with other members of the home Forces.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware of the great dissatisfaction felt by members of the W.L.A. in connection with the plans for their demobilisation as compared with other women's Services; and will he reconsider the whole position.

I regret that I am not in a position, for the time being, to amplify the statement which I made on Tuesday of this week.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can state the present amount of Government grants to assist agricultural research.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Lord President of the Council to the Hon. Member for the Forest of Dean (Mr. Price) on 8th November, 1944.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what steps are being taken to discover the extent of the unsatisfied demands by farm workers and by Servicemen experienced in agriculture for small holdings on suitable land equipped with an adequate dwelling-house.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him on 9th November last.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many holdings of more than one acre and less than 50 acres there are in the Holland division of Lincolnshire.

The number of agricultural holdings in the Holland Division of Lincoln recorded in the 1944 Agricultural Returns as being under 50 acres was 3,783.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that there is a great shortage of German dictionaries and text books in this country, and that Army educational authorities are consequently handicapped; and will he give publishers added facilities for printing necessary books of this kind.

As I have previously stated, I have arranged for a further increase in the quantity of paper in the special reserve designed to relieve the shortage of educational and other essential books. In addition, the Army Education authorities have a separate allocation of paper to be used as they think best.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish the wording of the inquiry of the British Ambassador in Brazil on Anglo-Brazilian trade; how many applications for licences have been made and granted during the past six months by his Department for Anglo-Brazilian trade; and what is their value.

His Majesty's Ambassador in Brazil inquired last July about the probable capacity of this country to export goods to Brazil after the war. I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of a statement in reply to this inquiry which was published in Brazil. The information requested in the last two parts of the Question is not readily available and could not be obtained without the expenditure of a quite disproportionate amount of time and labour; but the Export Trade Accounts, published on 17th February, show that the value of exports from the United Kingdom to Brazil in 1944 was £2,307,000, as compared with £4,085,000 in 1943.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the policy of His Majesty's Government with regard to the Most Favoured Nation principle; and whether any exchange of views on that subject has taken place in Anglo-American economic discussions.

The whole subject of post-war commercial policy is being carefully explored. As has been previously stated in this House, there have been a number of discussions between British, United States and Dominion officials, but no conclusions have yet been reached.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that young men who have been in the Services some years have no civilian clothes which fit them, as their last suit of civilian clothes is six or seven years old; that there is much feeling because they have no clothes to change into when they come home on leave; and will he see that these men are supplied with sufficient coupons to enable them to secure a suit.

I regret that the shortage of supplies makes impossible a general issue of civilian clothing coupons to members of the Forces, but arrangements exist for the replacement, up to a reasonable standard, of their civilian clothing if it has been lost or destroyed while they were abroad.

asked the Minister of Supply if he can give the amount added for average carriage over cost of production, respectively, for basic pig-iron, soft hearth billets, wire rods, wire, galvanized and black steel sheets and plates under one-eighth-inch thick and finished tube.

The average cost of carriage of the products in question is as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Trade what progress has been made by his Department towards the setting up of new industries in the administrative county of Durham: and whether it is the intention of the Government to set up additional trading estates or trading sites and, if so, in what part of the county.

Considerable progress has been made along the lines which I indicated in my reply to my hon. Friend on 13th December last. It is intended to set up additional trading estates in various parts of the county. The exact sites are now under consideration.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if the question of the award of prize money is under consideration by the Government; and, in view of the possible new recipients in the award involving the Air Ministry as well as the Admiralty, does the Government intend to make an early announcement on this matter.

Yes, Sir. The question of the award of prize money is under consideration by His Majesty's Government and my right hon. Friend hopes to be able to make a statement in clue course.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that young men from Northern Ireland who volunteered for and were accepted by the R.N. are now being transferred against their wish to the Army; and if he will alter this procedure.

Naval ratings domiciled in Northern Ireland or in Eire are not being transferred to the Army against their wish.