asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Report of his inquiry into the employment of children and young persons is likely to be published.

As I informed my hon. Friend the Member for Westhoughton (Mr. Rhys Davies) on 21st December, arrangements were made for consultations between the Departments concerned and representatives of the local authorities, with a view to seeing how far agreement can be reached as to future policy. Those consultations are now proceeding, and I am not yet in a position to make any statement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called. to a circular issued by the Holborn Conservative Association to business premises electors, of which a copy has been sent to him; and whether he will make clear to electors how to secure their votes and that no political party has any authority to claim to be the only channel of application for the franchise.

I have seen the document to which my hon. Friend has drawn my attention. A person is, of courser, entitled to make application for registration other than through a political organisation and therefore the circular is wrong in saying that "Unless we have returned your Claim to the Registration Officer by the 28th of this month, your name will not be entered on the Business Premises Register and you will lose your right to vote at the next Parliamentary Election"; but I do not think that any action on my part is called for. Extensive publicity has already been given in the Press and by the B.B.C. to the method by which electors who think that they are qualified to vote in respect of their occupancy of business premises may claim to be included in the appropriate register.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he is aware that in districts where deliveries of coal and coke by dealers have been more than one month in arrear, householders have not been receiving their proper allowance of coal, since it is the practice of dealers with the sanction of his Ministry to cancel orders which have not been fulfilled within one month; and whether he will now issue instructions that an order once made shall remain on the dealer's books until delivery is effected.

My hon. and gallant Friend will appreciate that the delivery of supplies is subject to whatever restriction may be in force in a given period and must be related to the consumer's need. With this reservation, however, I agree with my hon. and gallant Friend that unnecessary inconvenience may be caused by the cancellation of consumers' orders at the end of a restriction period, and I am therefore considering what arrangements can be made to ensure their continuance. My hon. and gallant Friend will appreciate that the maximum permitted quantities are not allowances to which all consumers are entitled.

asked the Minister of Labour why the Report of the Catering Wages Commission, on the Rehabilitation of the Catering Industry has not been presented to Parliament.

This Report was made to me by the Catering Wages Commission following a direction which I gave them under Section 2 (1) (b) of the Catering Wages Act, 1943, to make a special inquiry. The Report is not one which is inquired by the Act to be laid before Parliament, but I am arranging for copies for copies to be available in the Library.

asked the Minister of Food whether he is aware of the anxiety prevailing amongst wholesale and retail seedsmen, farmers and allotment holders, owing to the acute difficulty of obtaining seed potatoes ordered many weeks ago from Scotland; and what steps he is taking to remedy this state of affairs.

The recent severe weather aggravated the effect of the wet autumn on deliveries of "seed" potatoes from Scotland, with the result that the programme has fallen behind schedule. My right hon. and gallant Friend is taking all possible steps, in consultation with my Noble Friend the Minister of War Transport, to ensure that "seed" will be moved and delivered in time for planting.

asked the Secretary of State for War if some method of compensation will be devised for farmers whose crops have been damaged by rabbits from defence works and minefields.

This question has been very carefully and sympathetically considered, and I regret that it is not possible to pay compensation to farmers whose crops have been damaged by rabbits in the circumstances set out in my hon. Friend's Question.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the present understanding with regard to compensation for the owners of requisitioned hotels in respect of the period between de-requisitioning and rehabilitation, especially in view of the fact that rehabilitation cannot be commenced until labour and materials are made available by the Government.

An arrangement was negotiated with the Hotels and Restaurants Association in 1942 under which compensation rental continues to be paid for a rehabilitation period calculated on a formula which relates the length of the period to the number of bedrooms in the hotel. Representations have recently been made by the Association on the point mentioned by my hon. Friend in the latter part of his Question. These will be fully considered, but it will be appreciated that the shortage of building labour and materials involves general considerations not limited to the case of hotels and that the matter has to be considered in that light.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he took, prior to 30th June, 1943, to warn local authorities that he did not intend his statement of 20th May, 1941, to imply that fire brigades would necessarily be restored after the war to the authorities from whom they were taken.

None, Sir, because, as I explained in my speech on 30th June, 1943, my statement on 20th May, 1941, did not imply that fire brigades would after the war necessarily return to the same local authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is satisfied that the present machinery enables him adequately to ascertain and hear representations from official police representatives on questions affecting conditions of service, pay and pension anomalies; and what steps he is taking to improve the machinery.

In my experience the representatives of both the regular and the auxiliary police have ample facilities for making representations on matters affecting their interests, and make full use of them.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether disability pensions awarded for naval or other military service are disregarded in full or in part when old age pensions committees are assessing the income of applicants for non-contributory old age pensions.

No, Sir. The statutory provisions governing the calculation of means for the purpose of non-contributory old age pensions do not permit disability pensions to be left out of account.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can state the amount of war damage contributions; the amount expended in repairs to date; and whether there is any likelihood of reduction of these contributions in the near future.

Section 81 of the War Damage Act, 1943, provides that statements of payments and receipts for each financial year shall be laid before Parliament on or before 30th November next following the expiration of that year, and I would refer my hon. Friend to these statutory statements. In reply to the last part of the Question, it seems clear that the total payments to be made under Part I of the Act will exceed twice the yield of the contribution provided for in the Act, and I can hold out no hope of its reduction.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the disclosure to the French Government of information concerning holdings in this country by persons resident in France has been limited, or will be limited, so as not to disclose individual names and amounts.

No, Sir. As I stated in my reply of 13th February, the arrangements will involve the reciprocal exchange of information regarding the holdings of individuals.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether in view of the desirability of settling before it is too late in connection with other reconstruction plans, the controversy with regard to the desirability and practicability of constructing a Thames Barrage, he will arrange with the various Ministers concerned to institute a full and public inquiry into this subject at the earliest opportunity.

In 1943 my Noble Friend received a deputation who urged upon him the advantages of building a dam across the Thames at Woolwich. My hon. Friend will realise that there is a considerable divergence of opinion about the merits of this proposal, and that many important interests are involved. For these reasons, and because of the technical complexity of the scheme, a prolonged and detailed inquiry would be required before any decision to build a barrage could be made. I regret that I cannot encourage my hon. Friend to hope that this inquiry will be begun during the period of the war.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the basis of representation and the number of delegates who will attend at the General International Organisation as envisaged at Dumbarton Oaks, of the British Empire, the U.S.A., the U.S.S.R. and China, respectively.

As far as His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom are concerned this matter is under consideration, but I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by the Prime Minister on this subject in the Debate on 27th February, as regards the chief representatives of His Majesty's Government at the Conference. I cannot, of course, speak for the Governments of the other countries mentioned, but hon. Members will have seen the announcement made by President Roosevelt on 13th February on the subject of the composition of the United States delegation.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that dissatisfaction exists amongst officers of the R.A.F. with the £60 gratuity proposed for their resettlement in civil life, which, in view of the fact that many of these officers were university graduates who have sacrificed some years of university training to enter the R.A.F. and have lost opportunities of undertaking the professions for which they have been trained, is inadequate; and will he review these proposals.

I have seen certain criticisms, on the lines of my hon. Friend's question, which have appeared in the Press, but I cannot agree that they are justified. The figure of £60 quoted is below the minimum value of the release benefits in the case of an unmarried officer in the lowest paid non-flying branch of the R.A.F., with as little as six months officer service, none of it abroad. As shown by the examples which I gave on 6th February (OFFICIAL REPORT, Columns 1905–9), officers in general will receive substantially greater sums. For instance, in the case of a Squadron-Leader in the flying branch of the R.A.F., married with one child, and with five years' war service (six months in the ranks, three years abroad) the release benefits will be worth £335. In addition to these financial benefits liberal provision is made for education, including University education, or training to suit the individual requirements of ex-members of the Forces.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how many temporary civil servants have been nominated from each Department, respectively, as suitable candidates for established higher administrative posts on the grounds of special duties or qualifications; and how many vacancies, approximately, it is proposed to fill in this way.

Nominations of senior temporary civil servants recommended for establishment in higher administrative posts are in process of being made. I am not yet in a position to say how many such temporary civil servants will eventually be nominated to the Civil Service Commission, or to the Treasury and the Civil Service Commission, in accordance with paragraphs 33 and 34 of Cmd. 6567; nor how many vacancies approximately it will be proposed to fill in this way.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what was the supply of milk in England and Wales in January, 1945, compared with January, 1944, and the average supplies in January before the war.

The supply of milk in England and Wales for January, 1945, was 89,000,000 gallons, as compared with 87,000,000 gallons in 1944, while the average supply in the month of January in 1937, 1938 and 1939 was 76,700,000 gallons. I regard this as a really fine performance on the part of farmers, particularly as the weather conditions last month were very unfavourable.

asked the Minister of Health if he will consider issuing orders to the police to take steps to check unnecessary smoke pollution, in line with pre-war practices.

The enforcement of the law against smoke nuisances under the Public Health Act, 1936, is for the local authorities and I am not empowered to issue orders on the matter. There is, however, no restriction on the institution of proceedings under the statutory provisions in appropriate cases.