asked the Secretary of State for War for what length of time parachute pay is given to paratroops when in hospital owing to sickness or accident or when they are on 28 days' leave to the U.K. from the C.M.F.

:In the case of officers, parachute pay is continued during absence on leave up to 61 days in any financial year, and, during absence from duty on account of ordinary sickness, up to 28 days in respect of each period of sickness. Other ranks retain parachute pay during the first 21 days of absence owing to leave or ordinary sickness; leave during a financial year is not aggregated as in the case of officers. When officers or other ranks are absent from duty on account of injuries due to flying or parachute duties or on account of wounds received in action against the enemy, parachute pay may be continued for a period not exceeding 91 days, but such additional pay will cease forthwith if within the period of 91 days, the officer or other rank joins for duty in an appointment or with a unit for which additional pay is not approved. Parachute pay is continued while an officer or other rank is a prisoner of war.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he can state the number of houses requisitioned by his Department which are now empty; and why there is delay in releasing them.

:As regards the first part of the Question, I would refer my ban. Friend to the answer given to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Waterloo (Captain Bullock) on 10th April. On the second part, I must once again emphasise that accommodation must be held for personnel returning from overseas who will be undertaking future commitments in other theatres. In addition, it is necessary to reserve accommodation for such purposes as repatriated prisoners of war, and Allied and Dominion troops in transit. But, in order to ensure that requisitioned property is not held unnecessarily, a comprehensive review is in progress to balance requirements against accommodation now held requisitioned.

asked the Minister of Pensions if he has given consideration to the letter, forwarded to him by the hon. Member for West Fife, from Mr. Lessels, of Newmills, Fife; and if he has any statement to make.

:I am looking into the individual case which is the subject of the letter referred to and will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Pensions if he is aware that the widowed mother of H. W. Carter, No. C.A. S/63/1505, Royal Fusiliers, who was killed in action, has been refused a dependant's pension despite the fact that after her usual outgoings she is left with only £1 15s. 10d. per week for maintenance; and if he will reconsider making a grant in this case.

:I am looking into this case and will write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he is aware that Gunner Stephen Potter, 937630, R.A., who is in receipt of a pension of 17s. 3d. per week for himself, wife and child, has been declared unfit for employment since his discharge from the Army in 1942 and has had to resort to public assistance; and if he will take steps to see that 100 per cent. disability pension be granted to all discharged Service men and women until such time as they are declared fit for employment.

:The criterion for the award of pension is not whether a discharged member of the Forces is unfit for employment, but whether his disablement is due to war service. In the case referred to by my hon. Friend, the man is suffering from two disabilities, one of which has been accepted as attributable to service. The other disability, which is the major cause of the incapacity for work, is, as I am at present advised, unconnected with service. I am, however, having the latter disability further investigated and will write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Information whether he is aware that Victor Cecil Burgess and Edgar Frederick Boismaison, carrying on business in Whitchurch Lane, Edgware, are importing anti-British, anti-Semitic, anti-Soviet, pro-Nazi and pro-Fascist literature, particulars of which have been communicated to him, from Eire; whether any control is exercised on the importation of literature from that country; and what steps he will take in this matter.

:The answer to the first part of the Question is, "No, Sir." With regard to the second part, there is some control over the importation of literature from Eire, but the need for the strictest economy in man-power prevents this from being complete. I am arranging to have the publications to which the hon. Member refers examined.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the painted black-out area on the windows of railway coaches cannot yet be removed, in view of that fact that shortage of labour will prevent all coaching stock being dealt with for many months.

:Permission to remove the painted strips on railway carriage windows has recently been given and I understand that a start has been made.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give the necessary instructions for masks to be removed from traffic light road signals so that the colours can be more readily seen, especially in strong sunlight.

:There are no restrictions on the amount of light which may be shown from traffic signals in the daytime.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will grant permission to local authorities to remove baffle walls wherever this is considered desirable.

:I fully recognise the desirability of removing, as soon as possible after the cessation of hostilities, these and other protective measures in streets which constitute an obstruction to traffic, but in view of the very heavy demand that work of greater urgency and importance from the national point of view will make on the limited labour resources expected to be available when all risk of enemy air attack has disappeared, it is unlikely that it will be possible to spare anything but a small allocation of labour for such removal work. However, we will do what we can in the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the fact that the two hon. Members for Tyrone and Fermanagh (Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Mulvey) have never taken their seats in this House and that consequently these two counties have been disfranchised for nearly 10 years; and what steps he proposes to take to prevent this anomaly from re-occurring in the coming Parliament.

:The electors of Tyrone and Fermanagh are the only persons who can alter this state of affairs by electing persons who are prepared to take their seats in this House.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has considered the release of special constables; and if he is in a position to make a statement on the question.

:Yes, Sir. I am anxious to lighten the burdens of the part-time special constables as soon as it is possible to do so, and I am glad to have this opportunity of making a statement on the subject and of expressing my appreciation of the important part the special constables have played throughout the war in maintaining the efficiency of the Police Service, and of the debt which the country owes to them for much steady, unostentatious and devoted work.

While, however, I am anxious that those of the Special Constabulary who wish to obtain release shall be released at the earliest possible moment, my hon. Friend will appreciate that the favourable war situation does not materially affect the burdens on the police. The whole-time strength of the police throughout the country has been greatly reduced by releases to the Armed Forces, and while this situation exists it will probably be essential for the adequate protection of the community that the services of the special constables should remain available. I cannot, therefore, give any undertaking now that special constables will be automatically released immediately on the termination of hostilities in Europe, but I have every hope that it will not be necessary to retain them compulsorily for long after that date. Meanwhile, I have asked Chief Officers of Police to do everything possible to relax their hours of duty.

I feel sure that the special constables themselves will recognise the need for the continuance of their services under the present abnormal conditions and will accept the position with the loyalty which has always characterised their service, in the knowledge that the obligations placed upon them during the war will be progressively relaxed, and will be finally withdrawn as soon as this is practicable.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he can now make any further statement about the organisation and delivery of food and other relief supplies to the Channel Islands.

:I would refer my hon. Friend to the answers to questions by my Noble Friend the Member for South Dorset (Viscount Hinchingbrooke) on 12th April, and my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Hornsey (Captain Gammans) on 13th April. There is at present nothing further to add.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that since the s.s. "Vega" reached the Channel Islands with Red Cross parcels the rations formerly given to civilians have been withdrawn by order of the German commandant, so that the civilian population are now entirely dependent on Red Cros parcels; and whether steps are being taken to see that under these circumstances there is no interruption or delay in the delivery of Red Cross parcels either by the s.s. "Vega" or other ship.

:The information I have received does not support my hon. Friend's suggestion that the rations formerly given to civilians have been completely withdrawn. The local produce of the Islands was never sufficient for the population and when the Islands were cut off from supplies in France it was inevitable that the food situation would deteriorate, and that with the exhaustion of imported supplies increased demands would be made on local produce. Steps have been taken to ensure that the German Commander is aware of his obligations under the Hague Convention in regard to the feeding of the civil population from local resources. Every possible step has been, and will continue to be, taken to ensure a regular supply of Red Cross parcels to the Islands.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that some men in the N.F.S. have been transferred to duty in districts which involve a single journey of one and a-half hours' duration by train for which they are supplied with a free season ticket; and if he will give instructions that such transfers should be, where possible, avoided, as they cause hardship to the men concerned and increase congestion on the railways.

:While every effort is made to station members of the National Fire Service as near their homes as possible, it is not always practicable to man essential stations by persons residing in the locality, and some transfers are necessary to make good such deficiencies. Every effort is made to keep such cases to a minimum and they are kept under review with a view to the return of transferred men to their home districts as soon as arrangements to that end can be made.

asked the Prime Minister if, in connection with British Empire war casualties, he will give casualty statistics in reference to all ranks recruited from Eire.

:Efforts will be made to obtain this information, but I cannot guarantee their success. This will in any case take some months, as I cannot have other more urgent work hampered.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware that a Scottish sailor, John Connor, 22 years of age, has been sentenced by a Soviet court to one year's imprisonment with hard labour for the offence of drunkenness and disorderly conduct; that this man had made four voyages in convoys to Soviet Russia and that Mrs. Connor's allotment has been stopped by the shipping company; and whether representations have been made to the Soviet authorities and with what result.

:Yes, Sir, this case has been brought to my notice. The Soviet Government was asked some time ago whether this case could not be reviewed. No reply has yet been received, but I have every hope that our representations will receive sympathetic consideration.

asked the Minister of Works when he proposes to make his promised statement on the control of prices intended to check any tendency to inflation in the cost of building.

:I have nothing to add at this stage to the Government's White Paper on Housing (Cmd. 6609) and to the statements made in the Debate on Housing on 23rd March.

asked the Minister of Works when he anticipates that the requirements of house repair work in London will have been met so that provincial workers can return to their native towns to continue the house repair work which, owing to shortage of labour, is being held in suspense.

:I have nothing to add at present to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Southampton (Dr. R. Thomas) on 28th March, and to the statement which my right hon. Friend made in the course of his speech in the Debate on Repair of Bomb Damaged Houses on 10th April.

asked the Minister of Works what decision he has reached upon the protest of the National Federation of Building Trades Employers against the extension of the £10 repair limit to the country as a whole.

:I am in touch with the National Federation of Building Trades Employers and shall shortly be sending them a considered reply upon the various issues which they have raised in their communication.

asked the Minister of Health what is the Government's policy with reference to men in the Services who, prior to the war, bought their own houses and immediately they return home intend to get married and desire to live in their own houses; how does he propose to meet this situation; and will these men have to wait for years before they are able to obtain possession of their own property.

:The matter is one on which the Government are considering the views of the Committee on Rent Control before reaching a decision.

asked the Minister of Health when he intends to issue to private enterprise builders a circular similar to that issued on 6th April to local authorities, under reference 66/45.

:The conditions on which it will be possible in the emergency period to entertain proposals for house building by private persons or bodies are under immediate consideration, and I intend to issue full guidance when the proposed legislation to authorise the payment of Exchequer subsidy on privately-constructed houses is introduced.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer with regard to the scheme he has announced for the preselection of candidates for the Civil Service, what provision is made for the admission to the service of persons who were studying for entry to the administrative grades but have been prevented by war service from success through the usual examinations and to ensure that service in the Forces has not disqualified such students from entry to the administrative grades.

:I would refer my hon. Friend to the White Paper on Recruitment to Established Posts in the Civil Service during the Reconstruction Period, Command 6567. As is there stated, anyone who has been prevented by the war from taking a normal examination for entry to the Civil Service will be eligible to compete in the special reconstruction competitions; these competitions will be of a simplified type so that candidates whose study has been interrupted by war service will not be debarred; and minimum quotas of the vacancies will be reserved for ex-Service candidates.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will take appropriate steps to ensure that payments by way of gifts by employers to em- ployees in celebration of VE-Day will not be halved by being made subject to Income Tax.

:I am afraid that I could not see my way to accept my hon. Friend's suggestion.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what has been the total amount received to date in contributions to war damage insurance; what are the estimated liabilities involved; and to what extent it is intended to continue the levying of premiums after the cessation of war in Europe.

:Sections 81 and 99 of the War Damage Act, 1943, require statements of receipts and payments for each financial year to be laid before Parliament on or before the 30th day of 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, as my right hon. Friend stated in reply to a Question by the hon. Member for Bournemouth (Sir L. Lyle) on 1st March, 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 he could hold out no hope of its reduction. As for Part II of the Act, existing policies under the Business Scheme and Private Chattels Schemes have been extended without payment of further premium, in the case of the former from 1st October last to 30th June and in the case of the latter from 23rd November last to 30th April, a period which is to be further extended to 31st July. New or supplementary policies are being issued at much reduced rates.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he is aware that volunteers were called for from the R.A.F. at various periods for special work on aeroplane production and that these volunteers hold a document in which it is stated that the period of release would count as service towards current engagement; and if, in view of this undertaking, these periods of release will be counted as service for demobilisation purposes.

:I would refer the non. Member to the statement which I made yesterday during the Debate on the Adjournment.

asked the Secretary of State for India it he will give an assurance that in future every white woman regardless of rank travelling in India, in the Services, or in connection with welfare work for the Services, will have first-class travel in accordance with the acknowledged custom of the country; and what departures from custom have taken place and why.

:The present rule for the Women's Services is that other ranks travel second class. Welfare workers, who are regarded as performing duties comparable with those of officers, travel first class. Accommodation marked "Ladies Only" is normally reserved for women travelling unaccompanied by men.

asked the Secretary of State for India what proportion of the new locomotives and the 5,400 railway wagons which are being replaced on the Indian railways will be built fully or in part in India; and what is the approximate period covered by this replacement programme.

:I understand the hon. Member to refer to India's post-war requirements. Those of wagons will be 5,400 per annum for 10 years, all of which it is expected will be made in India. Those of locomotives have not yet been definitely estimated; it is expected that a substantial part of them will be made in India.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether, in view of the refusal of the Union of South Africa to respond to the representations made by the Government of India in regard to racial discrimination, he will now consider instructing the Government of New Delhi to recall the Indian High Commissioner from the Union.

:No, Sir. The matter is entirely one for the Government of India.

asked the Secretary of State for India why reports of the British Labour Party Conference and the debates on Greece at that Conference sent to Indian newspapers, and particularly to a non-party news magazine of Bombay called "The Blitz," were stopped or delayed by the censor.

:I have no knowledge of this, but I am making inquiries of the Government of India and will inform the hon. Member when I receive a reply.

asked the Minister of Labour who are the shareholders in the Disabled Persons Employment Corporation, Limited; and for what purpose this limited company has been formed, having regard to the fact that the directors are to be appointed by the Treasury and his Ministry.

:The Disabled Persons Employment Corporation, Ltd., is a public company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital. There are, therefore, no shareholders. The Corporation has been formed by virtue of the powers conferred upon the Minister of Labour and National Service by Section 15 of the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act with the objects specified in that Section. I am proposing to appoint the Directors at an early date.

asked the Minister of National Insurance if he can give an assurance that under the proposed national insurance scheme blind persons will not be worse off financially than they are at present under the Blind Persons Acts, and that full State-aid for the blind whether through national insurance or national assistance, or both, will be administered with the same understanding as the welfare of the blind is now administered by local authorities.

:I can assure my hon. and gallant Friend that it is the object of the new arrangements to improve the general system of assistance to blind per- sons under its various heads. Having regard to the wide variation in the standards adopted by the different local authorities under the existing system, it is not possible at present to give undertakings in detail as to the effect which would be produced by the proposed scheme, but it is certainly the intention that in working out their details blind persons shall be treated with the fullest sympathy and understanding.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is now in a position to announce the composition of the Scottish committee of inquiry into the provision made for children deprived of a normal home life.

"To enquire into existing methods of providing for children who, from loss of parents or from any other cause whatever, are deprived of a normal life with their own parents or relatives, and to consider what further measure should be taken to ensure that these children are brought up under conditions best calculated to compensate them for the lack of parental care."

Mr. James L. Clyde, K.C., has agreed to act as Chairman of the Committee. The full list of members of the Committee is as follows:

James L. Clyde, Esq., K.C. ( Chairman ).

Councillor Dr. May Baird.

C. A. Cumming Forsyth, Esq.

Tom Curr, Esq.

John W. Gordon, Esq., M.B.E.

Councillor Miss Margaret F. Jobson, M.A., B.Sc, J.P.

Lady Margaret Kerr, J.P.

Councillor J. B. Stewart Lamb.

Mrs. Elizabeth H. McKerrow, M.A.

Mrs. Naomi Mitchison.

Mrs. J. C. Paterson.

Councillor Mrs. Jean Roberts, J.P.

Provost James Strachan.

The Very Rev. C. W. G. Taylor, D.D.

Dr. Nora I. Wattie, M.B., Ch.B., D.P.H.

Secretary: W. Hewison Brown, Esq.

asked the Minister of Education how many local education authorities have, since Part II of the Education Act, 1944, came into force, made arrangements for the transport of children who live not within walking distance of their schools; how many have made no such arrangements; and what assistance is being given to local education authorities to enable them to carry out their obligations in this respect.

:I have no information which would enable me to answer the first two parts of the Question. Local education authorities' expenditure on transporting children to school is eligible for the standard percentage grant at the rates indicated in the recently published draft Grant-Regulations No. 1.

asked the Minister of Health what facilities are available for persons living in the East Riding of Yorkshire to be medically examined with the aid of mass radio-photography.

:The number of mass radiography units that can be manufactured is, unfortunately, still limited, nor is it possible at present to make available more than a proportion of the medical specialists needed to operate the system. I regret, therefore, that it is not yet practicable to extend mass radiography facilities to the area mentioned by my hon. Friend.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the University Grants Committee, in making their recent recommendations for increased grants to the universities, took into account the increased cost of living, building, equipment and salaries; whether he can give any estimate of the anticipated percentage real increase in university grants after allowing for such factors; and to what extent such increase will permit expansion of university activities as opposed to meeting increased expenditure due only to the above-mentioned causes.

:The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes, Sir." As regards the second and third parts, I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement which I made on this subject in reply to questions on 13th February. As I then explained, there are many factors of uncertainty which make it impossible to estimate with any accuracy what will be the financial needs of the universities during the transitional period between war and peace. In these circumstances it appeared to the University Grants Committee (and I agreed with them) that it would be inadvisable at this stage to determine the amount of Exchequer grant for more than a short period ahead; and the amounts which the Government propose to devote to university purposes during the transitional period of the next two years are not to be regarded as directly related to the cost of a long term programme of expansion. As I indicated in my previous statement, I recognise that the grant may have to be further and substantially increased during the later part of the decade covered by the Committee's review. The fact that the Government have already decided to make increases of grant which have the effect of almost trebling the existing grant and that they contemplate the need of further increases at a later date are, I think, a clear indication that so far as they are concerned the need of university expansion on a considerable scale is fully recognised.