asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why men and women who are now receiving the non-contributory old age pension are not allowed to earn up to £3 a week without their pension being stopped, as this would encourage those fit enough and wishing to work to do so and would lessen the man-power shortage.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 19th December to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Chichester (Lieut.-Commander Joynson-Hicks). [Vol. 406, C. 1630.]

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, what are the current rates of subsidy in respect of the principal foodstuffs.

Since my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave the figure of £218,000,000 on 16th January in reply to a question by the hon. Member for Chislehurst (Sir W. Smithers) the estimate of the current cost of the food subsidies, which is revised monthly, has risen to £225,000,000 per annum owing to increases in the cost of sugar, tea, milk, cereals and eggs.. The 225,000,000 can be apportioned as follows:

asked the Minister of Works if any steps have been taken to amend the Superannuation Acts of 1834–1935 so as to increase the quota of established civil servants among those persons employed under the Ministry; what numbers of ex-Servicemen are anticipated to return to positions now held by men over age; and under what conditions will men from the Services be engaged for the first time.

I have been asked to reply. The number of established civil servants among the employees of the Ministry of Works is not governed by the Acts to which my hon. Friend refers. Regarding the second part of the Question my right hon. Friend the Minister of Works is obtaining the information required and will communicate with my hon. Friend. In answer to the third part of the Question, which I assume to refer to the opportunities to be provided for men from the Forces to enter the Civil Service, I would refer my hon. Friend to paragraphs 16-29 of the White Paper (of which I am sending him a copy) on Recruitment to Established Posts in the Civil Service during the Reconstruction Period (Cmd. 6567), which describe the special arrangements proposed for the recruitment of ex-Service men and women to the main Civil Service classes. In addition, the Ministry of Works has a large number of Departmental grades, but the methods of recruitment to those grades after the end of the war with Germany will vary considerably, and detailed regulations for entry to them have not yet been settled.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether Army officers are instructed when recommending vaccination and inoculation to the troops to give them an assurance that these operations will protect them from the diseases against which they are aimed, or to tell the troops that, as there are degrees of immunity, vaccination and inoculation cannot be guaranteed to protect them from the diseases they may encounter.

Medical officers are instructed to explain to the troops that vaccination and inoculation are measures which increase man's resistance to germs and constitute one of measures advised for the maintenance of their health.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that Mrs. T. O. Davies, of Metfield, Suffolk, has been notified by the Regimental Paymaster, A.P.O., York, that her married allowance had been stopped, as her husband Private T. O. Davies, No. 4194113, of a unit in the B.L.A. of which he has been informed, was illegally absent and that this soldier who served on the Italian front, was wounded in France after D-Day and is now serving on the Western front; and as Mrs. Davies is badly in need of her allowance, if he will investigate this matter and make an explanation.

I have had this case investigated and I regret to say that Mrs. Davies' allowance was wrongly stopped as a result of a mistake, or series of mistakes. Action has been taken to reissue the proper allowance, and an Allowance Order Book, covering all arrears due from the original date of withdrawal, was sent to Mrs. Davies on 15th March. I very much regret the inconvenience she has suffered.

asked the Minister of Education why, though there is a shortage of teachers in London, many of them are being taken away and directed by the Minister of Labour to other parts of the country.

A small number of London teachers have been directed to serve in reception areas to which London children have been evacuated under the Government Evacuation Scheme. It became necessary to use the powers of direction under Defence Regulation 58A because the number of teachers willing to volunteer for such service proved to be insufficient to meet the urgent needs of the receiving authorities who had to provide for the education of the evacuated children. There is a general shortage of teaching staff throughout the country and the position in London is more favourable than that in most authorities' areas.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Aircraft Production, as representing the Minister for Civil Aviation, when he proposes to introduce a Bill dealing with air transport.

The Government are as anxious as any Member can be to introduce the necessary legislation on air transport at the earliest moment. The first step must be to introduce a Bill to vest the ministerial control of civil aviation in my Noble Friend the Minister for Civil Aviation. This Bill is in an advanced state of preparation. A second Bill will then be introduced to give effect to the Government policy for the operation of air transport activities. This also will be introduced with the least possible delay.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instructions he has given to chiefs of police with regard to the withdrawal of firearms; whether the 1937 Act has been suspended in war-time; and what reasons he accepts from applicants for permission to hold licences for firearms.

The Firearms Act, 1937, has not been suspended or modified in any way in war-time. As I explained in answer to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton (Mr. Summers) on 18th January, the grant or renewal of a certificate under the Act is dependent on the applicant satisfying the chief officer of police that he has a good reason for the possession of the firearm. The decision is entirely one for the discretion of the chief officer of police on the merits of each individual case.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many cases of smallpox have recently occurred in Ceylon; and how many of them were fatal.

Since October, 1944, 358 cases of smallpox have been notified to me from Ceylon. Of these, 70. were fatal.

asked the Secretary of State for Burma whether he is aware that Mrs. P. Watt, of the Exeter Laundries, Limited, 15a, Rolle Street, Exmouth, widow of the late Chief Engineer P. Watt, of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company Limited, whose death was due to enemy action in the Port of Rangoon, in December, 1941, has been refused compensation by the Minister of Pensions and the Secretary of State for Burma; and what arrangements the Government propose to make to compensate cases of this kind.

Yes, Sir. I am advised by the Ministry of Pensions that Mrs. Watt cannot be held eligible either under the Mercantile Marine War Pensions scheme, or, since Mr. Watt was not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, under the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme in the United Kingdom. The Government of Burma having now no revenues of its own is not in a position to provide compensation. It has not been represented to me that the case in question is one where there is serious distress. The general question involved is, of course, one which affects other territories besides Burma.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether plans are proposed to enable electors absent from home under the Essential Work Order to register their votes at the forthcoming General Election.

Such persons will, lit common with all other civilians, be auto, matically registered for the addresses ceittained on their National Registration Cards on 31st January. I regret that it has not been found practicable to arrange for any special procedure in these cases.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what action he is taking in regard to bribery of State officials in Palestine.

My hon. Friend has been good enough to send me a copy of a Press report. I have no information on the particular points raised in that report, but I am making inquiries regarding them.

asked the Secretary of State for War the approximate total value and proportion of building and structural work carried out for his Department in the United Kingdom during the past five years and controlled by civil or structural engineers acting as the principal co-ordinators.

The total expenditure on works of a building and structural nature carried out by my Department during the past five years is some £135,000,000. This excludes the value of work done by military labour, which is not recorded; work carried out by other Departments for the War Office is also excluded. Consultants were employed to supervise certaitt major works costing £8,000,000, but in all cases Royal Engineers officers necessarily retained a degree of responsibility.