asked the Minister of Production if he is making any arrangements for the importation of esparto grass for paper making from North Africa.

Yes, Sir.

asked the Minister of Production what arrangements he has made for the importation of paper-making material from Sweden as soon as the Baltic is open for navigation.

Arrangements have been made to import substantial quantities of woodpulp from Sweden and the necessary purchases have been negotiated.

asked the Minister of Education whether he is satisfied that all local education authorities are, in accordance with the Education Act, 1944, making the necessary transport provision to take young children to school in rural areas.

A complete picture of the arrangements proposed by all local education authorities for the transport of pupils to and from school will not be obtainable until they have submitted their development plans in accordance with Section 11 of the Education Act, 1944. Meantime, I trust that authorities will make adequate transport provision for young children in rural areas.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs when he expects deliveries of timber from Germany without payment will be able to be made to the United Kingdom in order that the repair and building of houses may be expedited.

I regret that in the present circumstances I am unable to say whether or when such deliveries will be made.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what answers he proposes to give to the memorandum he has received from the Austrian Freedom Front giving details of their composition and activities; and whether the Government has approved their request that Austria should be permitted to raise an armed formation to fight on the side of the United Nations.

The Memorandum in question, although dated 11th March, 1945, only reached London at the end of April. I think my hon. and gallant Friend will agree that in view of all that has happened in the meantime no useful reply could now be sent.

asked the Minister of Information why the B.B.C. announcers continue to preface the news with the announcement of their own names now that there is no longer any need on security grounds for the public to be able to identify their voices; and whether he will direct the B.B.C. to discontinue the practice.

asked the Minister of Information for what reason the names of announcers on the B.B.C. are still given out; and whether this practice can now be stopped.

My hon. Friends have only to ask to receive.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the phrase in Section 3, Part II, of the Seventh Schedule, Finance (No. 2) Act, 1939, moneys not required for the purposes of the trade or business, is being interpreted by the Inland Revenue in computing Excess Profits Tax standards as moneys not used by the trade or business during the accounting period and that in consequence many firms are being deprived of capital which is required for ordinary business purposes when normal trading is resumed; and if he proposes to take any action in the matter.

I would remind my hon. Friend that the matter to which his question refers was the subject of Debate at the Committee stage of the Finance Bill of 1943, on a Clause moved by my hon. Friend the Member for Edgbaston (Sir P. Bennett). The Debate is reported at columns 451 to 454 of HANSARD for 3rd June, 1943. As my predecessor then explained, it would be unreasonable that a taxpayer should derive financial advantage by receiving the percentage allowance for capital in respect of money which is, in fact, lying idle during the period of assessment.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any statement to make about the amount of the fiduciary note issue.

Yes, Sir. The Treasury, acting under the power conferred by Section 8 of the Currency and Bank Notes Act, 1928, as subsequently amended, have authorised an increase in the amount of the Fiduciary Note Issue by £50,000,000 to £1,300,000,000 as from 8th May, 1945. The Treasury Minute will be laid before Parliament.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether he will arrange, in consultation with the other Ministers concerned, for a supply of new taxicabs to be built at an early date, in order to relieve the present shortage in London and other large towns.

The production of new vehicles for use as cabs, including the special type of taxicab required in London, is under consideration by the Departments concerned, but I am not yet in a position to make a statement.

asked the Minister of Food whether, in view of the expected large fruit crop, he proposes to liberate a larger quantity of sugar for the purpose of jam making.

I propose, as I did last year, to issue 1 lb. of sugar per ration book for domestic jam making, but this year to make it available in time for the soft fruit season. In view of the serious world shortage of sugar and the requirements of liberated areas, I regret I can not hold out any prospect of the further addition which I had hoped to be able to make available this year.

asked the Minister of Food whether he is aware that in some cases greengrocers are compelled to accept supplies of vegetables in unsound condition, and since they are not able in good faith to offer such vegetables to their customers, they are obliged to bear the loss; and what steps are taken to provide compensation in such cases.

No, Sir. Green grocers are under no compulsion to accept supplies of vegetables, whether sound or otherwise. The question of compensation does not, therefore, arise.

asked the Minister of Works (1) whether, in view of the amount of knowledge which now exists about alternative methods of building houses and the improvements which could be made as regards insulation, heating, ventilation, kitchen appliances, etc., steps can be taken to lay down minimum requirements at the earliest opportunity, and to concentrate all available resources by way of scientific research and development on the problem of reducing the cost and time of building operations to the minimum.

(2) what is the present scientific staff available to his Department and to the Building Research Station; and what steps are being taken to increase the personnel at the earliest opportunity, in order to enable effective work to be carried out on research problems connected with the building programme which is now imminent.

The minimum requirements referred to have already been laid down in the Government's Housing Manual issued last autumn. With regard to the second part of the Question, I can assure the hon. Member that the most intensive efforts are being made both by the Ministry of Works and by the industry to apply the latest scientific and technical knowledge to the problem of reducing cost and man-hours in building. About 100 scientific and technical officers are employed in the Ministry of Works on research and development. A further 150 are engaged on this work at the Government Building Research station. Important work in this field is carried out for the Government by the National Physical Laboratory, the Universities and industrial firms. In addition, I have recently set up at the Ministry of Works a Scientific Advisory Committee on which some of our foremost scientists are serving.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport how many British ports have been affected by the compulsory acquirement of requisitioned vessels.

Vessels of several different classes have been compulsorily acquired. Some of these vessels operated regularly from one particular port; in this sense, a number of different ports have been affected.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport how many trawlers have been acquired by his Department on behalf of the Admiralty; whether the Ministry of Agriculture, the individual owners or the representative organisations of trawler owners were consulted before the vessels were acquired; what were their views; and how many indivdual owners have agreed to accept cash in settlement for the vessel acquired.

My noble Friend has acquired 44 trawlers which he had previously requisitioned. He consulted my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries or my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scot land in order to make sure that the acquisition of the vessels did not adversely affect the fishing industry. Neither the individual owners nor their representative organisations were consulted. In all cases except six the trawler owners concerns have accepted cash in settlement for the vessel acquired.

asked the Minister of Works whether he is aware of the serious discontent existing among Scottish and provincial building trade workers engaged on bomb damage repairs in London, on account of the proposed reduction in their pay due to the introduction of the 54-hour week; that danger of strikes exists; that hundreds of these men demand to be returned home unless their original working arrangements are adhered to; and if he will reconsider this matter, in view of the injustice of the proposed alteration and the fact that every working hour during the summer months is of great value to the provision of habitable accommodation.

The decision to reduce the maximum hours of work was taken on the unanimous advice of the national organisations of employers and operatives. I am just as anxious as the hon. Member to secure the maximum output from the labour force available. On the other hand, after thorough consultation with the building industry I am convinced that continuous working for seven days a week is neither efficient nor economical, and in the long run is prejudicial to health.

asked the Secretary of State for Air why L.A.C. A. Hill, No. 1282161, about whom he has been informed, has not had leave for two years, although it is the custom that 14 days' leave per year in India is granted to airmen in his Command; and what steps are taken to ensure that airmen in this Command are given at least some kind of annual leave.

I am making inquiries about this airman, who is at present serving in a forward area, and will communicate with my hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware that the improvement in the military situation in Germany has resulted in redundancy in the Air-Sea Rescue Service; and what steps he is taking to prevent discontent among men who dislike this enforced inactivity.

Reductions have already been made in the Air-Sea Rescue Service, and more are intended soon, which will release men for other duties.

asked the Secretary of State for Air the number of architects and Surveyors and the number of building trade operatives now in the R.A.F.

There are approximately 1,400 architects and surveyors and 65,000 building trade operatives in the Royal Air Force. The latter figure includes general labourers allied to the building trades.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of Argentina's tardy entry into the war, and the profits made out of her trade with the Allies, he will try and arrange that meat, wheat, etc., supplied to the United Nations should be under Lend-Lease conditions and not paid for in cash.

I have no doubt that my hon. Friend's suggestion will be borne in mind by those Departments of His Majesty's Government which are charged with the duty of negotiating agreements for the acquisition of Argentine products.

asked the Prime Minister if he is aware that the Service Departments have refused to provide any Service personnel or bands to the East London boroughs for the Victory parades; and will he have this matter reconsidered with a view to showing some recognition of the bravery of the residents of the boroughs which withstood the brunt of the enemy air attacks.

I have been asked to reply. I fully sympathise with my hon. Friend. Instructions have been issued to all Commands to co-operate with the local authorities in Victory parades on Thanks giving Sunday. There are very few bands and for that matter very few troops in or near London. But requests from East London will be met whenever possible. Orders have been given that all possible shall be done.

asked the Secretary of State for War the extent to which we are under taking to feed German civilians; and what ceiling there is to the amount of food we are able to supply.

Instructions have been issued by the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, that no imported foodstuffs will be issued to the German people except in extreme emergency. Such a state of emergency will only be held to arise when indigenous resources available in any area are insufficient to prevent disease or are such that, unless supplemented, they will lead to conditions which will interfere with the objects of the occupation. While it is further laid down that the levels of food consumption by the German population will not be permitted to exceed those for civilians in liberated countries, the actual amount of food which may be available is subject to the limitations, first, that the requirements of Allied countries have priority over those of German civilians, and, second, that the amount of food which can be imported into Europe as a whole is limited by transportation difficulties.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware of the difficulties caused to repatriated prisoners of war, many of whom are unfit, by the demand for particulars of earnings whilst in enemy hands; and whether he will consider cancelling or relaxing this obligation.

This information is required before we can settle the repatriates' accounts and I regret that it cannot be dispensed with.

asked the Secretary of State for War if the same quantity of rationed food will be allowed returned prisoners of war who are living at their homes and Service personnel on leave as that issued to working German prisoners of war in Great Britain.

Service personnel on leave or living at their homes may buy the same quantities of nationally rationed foods as civilians. Returned prisoners may buy twice as much as this for the 42 days of their repatriation leave. Non-working prisoners never have had more of the nationally rationed foods than civilians, and as my hon. and gallant Friend will be aware from the reply given by my right hon. Friend yesterday to several hon. Members, working prisoners will also in future be restricted to these quantities of these foods.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the long delay, amounting often to over 30 years, which takes place between the registering of a man for the grant of the Meritorious Service Medal with annuity and the actual award, he will recommend to His Majesty a change in the conditions governing the award of this medal.

There are 750 annuities of £10 each associated with the Meritorious Service Medal. The qualifications for registration for the medal and annuity are, briefly, that in general the candidate must ( a ) have 21 years' Colour service, ( b ) be at least a sergeant, ( c ) possess the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal and ( d ) have an exemplary character. Cases are registered on the recommendation of the man's commanding officer and remain on the waiting list until the candidate's turn for a vacant annuity occurs: the medal and annuity are then given. The waiting list is long, and the method of selection adopted is to take the oldest eligible candidate belonging to the branch of the Army to which the vacant annuity is allotted. It is thus the case that a candidate does not achieve his medal and annuity until long after he has left the Army, and usually in his old age. Were annuities to be awarded earlier in life, for example, to persons leaving the Colours, although the individuals selected would benefit, and would draw their annuities for many years, a far larger proportion of eligible and registered candidates would never be able to get their annuity at all.

asked the Post master-General whether he is aware that the difficulty of obtaining the 1½d. air mail letter form is causing disappointment and annoyance; and what steps are being taken to correct the present short age.

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer which I gave on this subject to the hon. Member for Llanelly (Mr. J. Griffiths) on 2nd May.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty why men with long periods of service in the Navy are being transferred to the Army.

These transfers have been made to maintain the strength of the Army during a critical period. The men selected for transfer have been those who would be useful to the Army and could be released with the least disadvantage to the Navy. It was inevitable, therefore, that a proportion of long ser vice ratings were among those transferred. The question of terminating these transfers is now under consideration.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether any decision has been come to about improving the rate of promotion and the status of the schoolmaster branch of the Royal Navy.

I regret I am not yet in a position to add anything to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for the Combined English Universities (Miss Rathbone) on 24th January last.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Trans port, when the tube railway between Kingsway and Aldwych will be reopened for the running of trains.

This section of the tube railway was closed to enable it to be used as an air-raid shelter and for other essential war purposes. I am not yet able to state how long it will be before the necessary arrangements can be made for resumption of services on the section.

asked the Minister of Information what progress he has now made in the reduction of his regional organisations.

Some reduction in the regional staff of the Ministry of Information was made in January this year. Now that hostilities in Europe have ended we hope to be able to make drastic reductions in this and other branches of the Ministry's work.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will initiate negotiations with the Governments of the United Nations to secure the speedy abolition of postal censorship.

The Postal and Tele graph Censorship Department work in close liaison with the censorship authorities of the other United Nations. Prearranged plans are in process of being carried out for the rapid reduction of censorship by the United Nations to the minimum required for the purposes of the Japanese war and the enforcement of the terms of surrender imposed on our European enemies.