asked the Minister of Labour if men who served both in the last war and in this can have their service in the former taken into account in the determination of their release group.

No, Sir.

Does not my right hon. Friend agree that this war is a continuation of the first world war and, as these men are often on low medical category, and have important business matters to attend to, could he not give further consideration to my Question?

I am afraid not. It is really impossible of application.

asked the Minister of Labour why men in Category B for demobilisation are granted 21 days' pay in view of the Government's policy that all men honourably discharged were to be given 56 days' pay.

As stated in the White Paper, it is essential to the scheme that there should be a clearly marked difference in the treatment of the men released in Class A in their turn, and of the men released in Class B out of their turn. The latter will have definite employment to which to go, whereas men released in Class A must be given time for resettlement and to secure suitable employment if necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take all possible steps, by legislation or regulation, to enable hospital patients and other sick persons to record their votes at the coming General Election.

The Speaker's Conference recommended that persons physically incapacitated shall be allowed to vote by post at a Parliamentary election. It is impossible in the time available to pass the legislation which would be necessary for this and other recommendations of the Speaker's Conference.

Would it be possible in the large hospitals and sanatoria, where patients remain for a very long time, to have polling booths at the hospitals themselves so that at least walking patients could vote?

I am afraid that would be impossible. We cannot make alterations at this stage.

Would it be possible to arrange for transport facilities to take people to the polling booths from hospitals?

Of course, transport facilities can be arranged under the existing procedure, but I do not think the State could do that.

Can the right hon. and learned Gentleman give an explanation why the late Government were so dilatory in bringing before Parliament the quite elementary Bill which would have been necessary to deal with matters recommended by the Speaker's Conference?

No, I do not think I could give an explanation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision he has made to enable the large number of men engaged in the building trade who have been directed to bomb-damage repair work in London, to record their votes in the constituencies where their homes are.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to a similar question by the hon. Member for Greenock (Mr. McNeil) on 6th June.

asked the Minister of Education if his Department will prepare and supply to headmasters and head mistresses apparatus and instructions on how to apply the methods of industrial psychology to children of school-leaving age and so help such children to make a right choice of their careers.

The problem of ensuring that children make a right choice of their careers is at present being examined by a committee of industrialists and educationalists under the chairmanship of the Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and National Service. I would suggest that my hon. and gallant Friend awaits the publication of the report of this committee which is expected shortly.

Is it proposed that teachers should be associated in this, since they have a greater knowledge of the psychology of children even than industrialists?

I think that if the right hon. Baronet sees the names of the members of the Committee, which I will show him afterwards, he will be satisfied on that point.

Is the hon. Lady in a position to say that her Department is determined not to let elementary schools be in a worse position than American schools of the same type?

asked the Minister of Education whether anything more can be done towards paying travelling expenses when children live a long way from their denominational or other suitable schools; and whether these facilities will be made as wide as possible.

Administrative Memorandum No. 63 issued on 1st June, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy, has explained fully to local education authorities their duties and powers in this matter under Section 55 of the Education Act, 1944.

Is the hon. Lady aware that many local authorities have strictly limited the distance which children can travel on free transport, which in many cases has resulted in their going to a school which the parents do not desire—I refer to denominational schools? Will she look into the matter?

I think the right hon. Gentleman will agree that it is important that the arrangements made under Section 55 (1) should be in harmony with Section 76 of the Act.

Will the hon. Lady undertake to see that the development plans are examined to ensure that the provisions specified in Section 55 are clearly set out and are generous?

Yes, Sir.

Is the hon. Lady aware that in many districts in the country, children just a few months over five years old are expected to walk long distances to get to school because it is inside a certain restricted area; and as in many cases those lines of approach have been widened right up to the banks on either side and there are buses and so forth travelling along those roads, such children are in imminent danger? Is there no possibility of my hon. Friend making provision to have those restrictions modified?

asked the Minister of Education the procedure education authorities must follow in order to obtain the release of teachers under Class B of the Re-allocation of Manpower Scheme.

The arrangements which have been made for the release of teachers under Class B of the Re-allocation of Manpower Scheme have been explained to local education authorities in Administrative Memorandum No. 64 issued on 6th June, a copy of which I am sending the hon. Member.

Is the hon. Lady aware that this is a complete reversal of the policy which was in force up to a week ago, and that local authorities hardly know where they are with it? Would her Department be willing to let local authorities write in about names which they are anxious to have?

I think that local authorities would be entitled to write to the Ministry and we would look into the cases.

Have not some local authorities been advised that they should not ask for individual teachers, and is it not most important that they should go to the right schools?

I think local education authorities or governors of schools who are interested in the early release of a particular teacher should make sure that he is on the list of teachers identified by the Ministry.

In view of the obvious confusion on this issue, would the hon. Lady in the course of the next few weeks go into this matter?

Would the hon. Lady go back to the sensible arrangement we had before she took office?

asked the Minister of Health how many houses in the county of Essex and in the Maldon division of Essex, respectively, are without a piped water supply.

According to the information supplied by the rural district councils concerned, the number of houses without a piped water supply in the rural districts of Essex is 22,315, of which 3,258 are in the Maldon Parliamentary division.

asked the Minister of Health what progress has been made in the county of Worcester, particularly in the Redditch and Bromsgrove areas, in the last 12 months in the provision for maternity cases; and whether he will give the number of beds now available for women who cannot have their babies at home owing to unsuitable conditions, as compared with the position a year ago.

According to the annual returns made by the welfare authorities, there were on 31st December, 1943, 46 maternity beds in institutions owned by local authorities in Worcestershire and 20 in voluntary institutions. The corresponding figures on 31st December, 1944, were 87 and 20. In addition, the County Council are at present using a former Emergency Maternity Home, which provided 18 emergency maternity beds, as an annexe to one of their own institutions, and have also made arrangements to send cases to another former Emergency Maternity Home, now returned to its former owners, which provided 33 emergency maternity beds.

May I ask my right hon. and learned Friend whether he is aware of the extreme hardship caused to mothers in the towns named and by the distances which it is necessary at present to convey them by ambulances or otherwise? Is there anything he can do to provide further homes for these cases?

The distances between the additional groups of beds which I have mentioned—and which together amount to quite a substantial number—and the towns to which my hon. Friend has referred are not very great. I should not think it right to promise the building or equipping of additional maternity homes at a very early date, and I am afraid that expectant mothers must at present be prepared to go 10, 15 or even 20 miles for their accommodation.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has ascertained, or will ascertain, from public hospitals when and where there is acute understaffing, with a view to relief being secured from other hospitals, including military hospitals where there is temporary overstating.

Yes, Sir. This is my regular practice and that of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service, with whom my Department works in close collaboration on these matters.

Could the right hon. and learned Gentleman say whether many nurses have been transferred from military hospitals to civil hospitals? Is he aware that nursing staffs in many hospitals are breaking down under the strain, and that some wards have had to be closed?

We all know there is a serious shortage of nurses and domestic staffs, but with regard to the point put to me, we have for some time had arrangements for the transfer on loan of both nurses and medical officers from the medical services of the Armed Forces.

Can the Minister say how many?

No, Sir.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is able to make any statement about the future of the blood transfusion services organised during the war in connection with the emergency hospital scheme.

Yes, Sir. Although demands have naturally fallen with the end of the German war, the emergency blood transfusion service must be kept in being for some time to meet the needs of the Service and civilian patients for whom it is being used. When the emergency is over, it is intended to provide a blood transfusion service on a permanent basis; and any necessary changes in organisation consequent upon the transition from war to peace are now being considered in detail.

asked the Minister of Health if he is satisfied that the diet of returned prisoners of war undergoing treatment for tuberculosis in civil hospitals is in all respects equal to that given in military hospitals.

Civilian tuberculosis institutions provide the ordinary civilian diet with the addition of two pints of milk daily. I have not the detailed information on which to base the comparison asked for by the right hon. Member but I am making inquiries.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is in a position to make any further statement with regard to Government assistance to house building by private persons.

Yes, Sir. The Government intend, if returned, to introduce legislation early in the next session to enable local authorities to make grants in respect of small private houses built for sale or letting. These grants will be by way of either one lump sum payment or payments spread over five years and the Exchequer would bear the whole of these grants up to the first £100, and half of any grant in excess of £100, subject to a maximum from the Exchequer of £150. Payment of the grant would be subject to strict conditions as to size, construction, selling price, and rent. The size to be allowed would range from 800 to 1,000 superficial feet for houses and from 730 to 930 superficial feet for bungalows or flats. The controlled-contract or selling price would be according to the size of the house, subject to an over-riding maximum of £1,200, including the cost of land, roads and services.

While thanking the Minister for this very welcome statement, may I ask him if the same financial assistance will be open to local authorities?

It will not be on the same basis. There will, of course, be subsidies for houses built by local authorities but, as I have said before, the associations of local authorities have agreed that the exact figures should not be fixed until we have a clearer knowledge of the level of building costs, and they have been promised that the subsidies, when fixed, will be retrospective for all houses in their post-war programmes.

Does the Minister realise that many of the houses to which he referred will be in rural and semi-rural areas; and does he realise the importance of trying to get back into those areas the small builders who, unfortunately, have been taken away?

That is the reason why I made this rather full statement.

Can the Minister give some closer indication upon what initial principle the limitation of prices will be settled?

No, Sir, not in answer to a supplementary question. I stated the over-all maximum price, which is to include the cost of land, roads and services.

Will the Minister make clear to the House how in this scheme it is proposed to arrange for the selling of these houses by the owner-occupier? Will he be able to sell at an increased price or at a loss, or is there any limitation?

The details will be for consideration by Parliament when the legislation is introduced, but, as I have said, the grants will be subject to strict conditions as to size, construction, selling price and rent.

I gather from the Minister's answer that the subsidy is to be granted to the man who is to own the house after it has been built. Do I understand that the builder who builds the house with a view to letting or selling it is not to have any subsidy?

The reply to the latter part of my hon. Friend's question is "No." This subsidy is intended to ensure that those who desire to buy or rent small houses will not suffer unduly from the high cost of building immediately after the war.

Is not this subsidy which has been announced this afternoon, put out for vote-catching?

No, Sir; this is an expansion of a policy which I announced on behalf of the late Government in July of last year.

Docs it not mean that instead of the Government granting a subsidy to the builder of a house, the subsidy will go, in effect, to the owner-occupier who, instead of having the full benefit of the subsidy paid to him, will have to pay interest?

No, Sir—exactly the contrary; because the price of the house will be fixed and the whole scheme is to be within the administration of the local authority. It is simply for the purpose of saving those who desire to own small houses from having to stand the high cost of building immediately after the war.

asked the Minister of Health what he will do for the housing of a family, the particulars of which have been communicated to him, where an ex- Serviceman and his pregnant wife and a son of five years sleep and eat in one room, and have to find accommodation for a returned prisoner of war, and another son awaiting an operation, but with no other home to come to when he leaves hospital.

I have already brought the case to the notice of the local authority, who will offer the family alternative accommodation as soon as they are in a position to do so.

Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that this extremely efficient local authority just has not got any accommodation to offer, and does he propose that these people shall sleep in the streets or parks?

The amount of accommodation local authorities have to offer is continually increasing, owing to the repair of war damaged houses in the London area.

Is not the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that in this particular borough, in which he is occupied and I am occupied, however much the repair work goes on, the long list of bombed-out people and others seeking accommodation prevents these people from getting accommodation for months or years, and would he like to exchange his accommodation for that of people like these?

I do not propose to answer the second half of the hon. and learned Gentleman's question. There is no definite line drawn for priority. There are definite powers of requisitioning for both classes of persons, the bombed-out and the inadequately housed.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he will take to house a family of seven persons in North Hammersmith, particulars of whom have been given to him, who are at present living in two rooms with one insanitary scullery-kitchen.

I am getting into touch with the local authority, who are already aware of the case and will consider the provision of alternative accommodation as soon as suitable property becomes available.

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman say how many years or months he thinks it will be before such accommodation will become available?

I make no promises. I know quite a lot about this family; the children are well looked after, but the regrettable thing is that they came back from the reception area before their parents had proper accommodation for them.

I asked for an estimate. Is the Minister deliberately sacrificing the citizens of London?

asked the Minister of Health how many dwellings were erected by the L.C.C. in the ten-year periods 1924–1933 and 1934–1943, respectively.

In the ten-year period April, 1924, to March, 1934, 46,979 dwellings were erected by the London County Council. For the ten-year period April, 1934, to March, 1943,the figure is 33,836, of which 30,189 houses were completed before new housing operations were suspended in September, 1939.

Do not these figures show that the statement made by the hon. Gentleman the Member for North Lambeth (Mr. G. Strauss) in the House last Thursday, that in the London area four or five times as many houses were built by a Labour majority as had been built by a Conservative administration, was quite in accurate?

The hon. Member is anticipating the battle; it starts the day after to-morrow.

May I ask the Minister of Health whether in fact this comparison shows anything at all, because no houses were built after the war period; and whether the number of houses built in the London County Council area was four or five times greater under the Labour administration in the London area?

If the hon. Member will look at my answer, he will find that I separated the period up to the time when housing operations were suspended and that the average number of houses built by the London County Council in the first ten-year period was 4,700 a year. The average built by the London County Council in the period from 1934 up to the beginning of the war was 5,509 a year. The hon. Member's statement in the course of the Debate was wholly inaccurate.

Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that the figures he gives have no relation to what I was speaking about? I was speaking about the number of houses built in the London County Council area, in respect of slum clearance.

The hon. Member did not say "the London County Council area"; he said "the London area."

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that certain local authorities are contemplating evicting allotment holders in order to erect temporary houses; and whether he will consider issuing an instruction that where other sites are available it is not in the public interest in view of the food scarcity that allotment holding should in this way be discouraged.

The cases my hon. and gallant Friend has in mind are I imagine those where land intended for other purposes has been temporarily used for allotments during the war. While every endeavour is made to find sites which will not involve disturbing allotment-holders, in some cases such disturbance is inevitable if enough sites are to be provided for temporary houses.

Would my right hon. and learned Friend give an assurance that where allotment-holders are disturbed, other land will be found to take its place and that appropriate compensation will be paid?

I could not possibly undertake that wherever there has been an allotment, whether permanent or temporary, during the war—and such allotments have been situated in public open spaces and on land which had originally been cleared for the building of houses—other land will be provided in exchange. What I can say is that in every case where an allotment is concerned my Department consults with the Ministry of Agriculture.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that local authorities who have to give property owners whose houses they wish to requisition time to dispose of such property to any tenants or purchasers they wish, frequently find that instead of the returned soldiers and others on the authority's waiting list for whom the requisitioning is required obtaining them, the properties go to outsiders willing to pay more; and whether he contemplates any action in this matter.

I am aware of cases such as those to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers. The question whether any amendment should be made to the existing powers of local authorities in regard to the requisitioning of dwelling accommodation for the inadequately housed is under consideration.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will consider making capital loans to borough councils and other appropriate bodies, free of interest, to afford these authorities an early opportunity of proceeding with post-war housing schemes where it can be shown that they are prepared to let the newly-erected houses at a rent comparable with existing estates, especially bearing in mind the amount that the ratepayers will be able to afford.

The arrangements made by the Government for the supply of capital for local authorities ensure that they will obtain the full benefit of the Government's cheap money policy. The Government also recognise that, for housing, cheap money will by itself be insufficient in present circumstances, and that further financial assistance from the central Government will be necessary. They consider, however, that this further assistance should take the form of subsidies provided on Votes, and so brought openly to the notice of Parliament, and should not be in the concealed form of concessions on rates of interest.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that one of the difficulties of local authorities is that they do not know how much they are going to get? Will the Government make up their mind soon, so that the authorities may have some idea of what their financial commitments may be?

I will take that into account.

I think it was quite a good answer.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if his attention has been drawn to the expressed intention of certain hunting interests to secure the importation of foxes from Belgium; and will he give an assurance that the existing prohibition of these animals will not be relaxed for such a purpose.

My right hon. Friend is not aware of any proposal to import foxes into Great Britain from Belgium, but the hon. Member can rest assured that my right hon. Friend has no intention of relaxing in any way the present restrictions on their importation.

Could the right hon. Gentleman consider the export trade as well?

Could my hon. Friend ask the hon. Member from where he got this story, because it sounds to me like so many other Socialist stories?

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether land taken over during the war in Europe by war agricultural executive committees is now in some cases to be restored to the dispossessed farmers.

In view of the critical food situation and the necessity for continuing to produce the maximum amount in this country, my right hon. Friend cannot at present contemplate the restoration of land to farmers who have been dispossessed for bad farming.

In order to enable a fair review to be made of these comparatively few but sometimes rather distressing cases, could the Parliamentary Secretary say whether his right hon. Friend is contemplating reconstituting these committees on a broader and more representative basis?

That is another question, with which I shall be dealing in a moment.

asked the Minister of Agriculture (1) whether, now that the war in Europe is ended, he will make provision for a right of appeal to the courts of law by an individual against decisions of the county war agricultural executive committees;

The whole question of the future constitution, functions and powers of county war agricultural executive committees is under consideration.

Does not my hon. Friend appreciate that there should be a right of appeal, in times of peace, from the war agricultural committee? It is unconstitutional when there is no right of appeal. That is of vital importance.

Full consultation will have to take place with all interested national bodies, and that and many other points will be considered.

Should I be returned in August, I shall have another go at this.

Is this not a question, not of war agricultural committees, but of restoring personal liberty?

asked the Minister of Agriculture what measures are being taken to add to the numbers of trained biologists employed by his Ministry.

The future programmes of work involving the employment by the Ministry of trained biologists are under consideration.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in post-war development plans, trained biologists may have a very important part to play?