asked the Minister of Health what regulations exist for the control of rent in relation to a licence granted for the reconversion of a purchased house into a number of flats.

There are no regulations dealing with the matter to which the hon. and gallant Member refers, and I doubt if, in view of the widely varying circumstances, this matter could appropriately be dealt with by general Regulation.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman realise that the Rent Restriction Act does not apply to houses not let in 1939, and that unlimited profit can be made from houses now let that were not let at that time? Will he make Regulations to prevent such profits being made by this exploitation of the housing shortage?

These circumstances are of infinite variation, and it is extremely difficult to see how Regulations can be framed which will deal accurately with each set of circumstances. I will, however, look at the matter again to see if something can be done.

Is the Minister aware that in one London borough his Department is preventing conversion of war-damaged houses into flats by insisting that the houses shall first be restored as single houses before the necessary money is spent on converting them into flats? Is not that a great waste of money?

That is an entirely different question.

asked the Minister of Health how many local authorities have fixed the terms and conditions for providing furniture to tenants of prefabricated houses; and if he will give the average minimum deposit required, the average period to be covered by the agreement, and the average interest rate to be charged.

I regret that the information is not available.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the number of houses which his Department estimates it will be necessary to build before the housing stringency is eased

Easing of the.housing stringency is a matter of opinion and does not lend itself to precise statistics. The erection of the 750,000 houses which have been estimated to be needed in order to provide a separate house for each family would substantially improve the present position.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say whether this figure of 750,000 was the one which he had in mind when he said that the stringency-would be eased by the end of 1947?

The answer is that various estimates have been formed as to the number of houses needed to be built in Great Britain, and they vary from 750,000 to 6,000,000, so the hon. Member can take 'his choice.

asked the Minister of Health if he will direct local authorities to give a priority in housing to ex-Servicemen, who are disabled in the highest degree, which will override municipal boundaries.

Housing authorities have already been asked in Circular 109/45, of which I will send the hon. and gallant Member a copy, to give ex-Servicemen every consideration in accordance with their relative needs and in appropriate cases to waive any residential qualification they may have laid down.

Is the Minister aware that some local authorities have passed resolutions confining their housing list to their own inhabitants, and will he bear in mind that these men fought for Britain and not for parish boundaries?

If the hon. and gallant Gentleman will let me knew the authorities who have passed resolutions of that sort, I will redirect their attention to my circular.

asked the Minister of Health the number of applications made for houses by local authorities; the number of houses in course of erection; and the number approved.

Local authorities have applied for authority to invite tenders for 81,007 houses and have been authorised to invite tenders for 78,301 houses. Tenders for 25,676 of these houses have been accepted. The number of houses in course of erection will not be known until returns are received from the local authorities in the New Year.

Will the Minister say how that answer squares with the promises made in such wholesale fashion by the Socialist Party at the General Election?

When these figures are announced they will prove that the Government have accelerated their housing programme far more than they might have been expected to do if hon. Members opposite had been in office.

:Can the Minister say if the plans of the local authorities are making more rapid progress through the bottleneck of Ministerial approval, which appears to average three months?

This was the sort of question that might well have been put down for a written answer. The supplementaries are not really relevant.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the fact that housing associations intend to provide a good type of house at the lowest possible rent, he will make an early announcement regarding a lower rate of interest on loans for housing purposes; and whether such loans can be made on a basis of 100 per cent, of the total valuation.

The rate of interest on loans by local authorities to housing associations depends on the rate of interest at which the local authorities themselves are able to borrow. The rates of interest charged by the Public Works Loan Board for loans to local authorities for this and other housing purposes, and for loans made by the Board direct to housing associations are for the Treasury to determine. Loans by local authorities or by the Public Works Loan Board to housing associations are limited to 90 per cent. of the value of the property.

Can the Minister say when local authorities are to be told what rate of interest they will be charged?

Local authorities are much more interested in the subsidy than the rate of interest.

They want to know both.

They have been told.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that there are in the Longbenton urban district area a number of military camps, complete with hutments and equipped with water supply and drainage facilities, which have been unoccupied for a considerable time and in the opinion of the urban council are suitable for meeting the need for houses as a temporary measure; and what steps under these circumstances does he intend to take to get the use of these buildings to house the people in this district.

I have been approached by the Longbenton Urban District Council about various camps in their area and I am seeing whether they can be made available. If they can, I am prepared to consider proposals for their use as temporary housing accommodation.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that, under Regulation 56A, plans for the erection of houses have to be refused by local authorities if they provide for a maximum area of more than 1,000 superficial feet; and whether, in view of the fact that this restriction prevents the building of desirable types of houses in rural districts, he will take steps to amend the regulation at an early date.

I am aware of the limitation to which the hon. Member refers and consider its retention necessary in order to ensure that the most urgent needs are met first.

Does the Minister agree that although these limitations may be necessary in urban areas, in rural areas where there is no pressure on space the amenities could be considerably improved without any additional cost?

I have already arranged a limit very much above that of the previous Government. It is now from 900 to 950 superficial feet upwards to 1,000. The increase is substantial, and is much appreciated by the rural authorities.

Will the Minister say what increase he has made in the limits for private houses; and secondly, whether the maximum of 1,000 superficial feet takes in outbuildings?

No, it does not. As to the first part of the supplementary question, in fact the limitation is not upon the superficial area but upon the price. If hon. Members opposite will co-operate with me to bring down costs, a bigger house can be built for the same price.

Will the Minister reconsider that answer? Is it not a fact that there is a limitation not only on price but in regard to the size of houses built by private enterprise? Will he also answer the first part of the supplementary question as to whether he has raised the standard of houses to be built by private enterprise, as he alleged in his own answer?

The limitation is on price. Within the limits of that price the private builder can build what he likes. There are certain standards which the private builder must obey, because we do not want the speculative builder building any kind of houses in Great Britain.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the number of prepared sites in the hands of private builders and of unprepared sites taken over by local authorities, with details as to the number of houses actually completed by local authorities and private firms, respectively, in the county of Kent to the present time.

In the county of Kent there are, I understand, privately owned building sites capable of taking approximately 19,000 houses; and publicly owned building sites capable of taking approximately 25,000 houses, excluding sites earmarked for approximately 5,000 temporary houses. These sites are in various stages of development, and I am not at present in a position to give fixures of the number of houses completed.

Will the Minister tell us whether, if these sites are available, he will give the same advantage to private enterprise to enable it to put the houses up?

That is merely repetitive.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the instructions issued to local authorities as to how they are to work a points scheme in allocating new houses when they are built.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. and gallant Member for East Renfrew (Major Lloyd) on 15th November. A copy of the report mentioned therein is being sent to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Health whether as he has been asked for 2,000 prefabricated houses for Northern Ireland where the housing problem is specially pressing, he will state the number of these houses granted, as the foundations for the first instalment will shortly be ready.

I have placed orders which will enable me to allocate 2,000 temporary houses for Northern Ireland. The allocation of these houses within Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Ministry of Health.

Will the Minister see that these houses are forwarded as sites are ready, as it is a pressing matter today?

I will give exactly the same guarantee as to dates of arrival for Northern Ireland as for England and Wales.

asked the Minister of Health if he is now able to say what will be the form and amount of the housing subsidy to local authorities.

This question is still under discussion with the representatives of the local authorities, who have asked that they should be given time to consider it.

Could the Minister say when he hopes to be able to give this information?

I had hoped to do so before the House rose for the Recess, but it now looks to me as though it will have to be afterwards.

asked the Minister of Health to what extent the reduction in the amounts of housing tenders is due to local authorities modifying their specifications to enable the cost of houses to come within the prescribed limit.

In certain instances items which were not essential have been taken out, but this is not the means by which I am seeking a general reduction of tenders, and I shall do all I can to uphold and improve standards and amenities, as circumstances allow.

Will the Minister inform his officers that a reduction in price is not to be obtained by providing an inferior house?

There are some instances of tenders being reduced by taking out frills while retaining standards.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will now state the percentage grant which will be paid to local authorities who undertake water supplies and sewage disposal schemes under the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Act, 1944; and whether it is proposed to increase the grant of £15,000,000 as stated in Subsection (5), of Clause 1, of the Act.

There will be no fixed rate of grant. The grant will be assessed on the estimated net annual cost of the scheme, with due regard to the ability or otherwise of the local authority to meet the cost. I am not yet in a position to say whether the £15,000,000 provided by the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Act, 1944, will be sufficient or will need to be increased.

Will the right hon. Gentleman reconsider the question of increasing this grant, in view of the fact that many grandiose schemes are being prepared which will involve expenditure of £50,000,000 or £60,000,000, and is it worth while a rural district council going in for expensive schemes unless they know that they will get some satisfactory recompense?

I hope that nothing the hon. Member has said will deter local authorities from preparing their water schemes. I am very anxious that they should go on. If more money is needed, I shall not hesitate to ask Parliament for it.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the loss being sustained by the Hayes Urban District Council, Middlesex, owing to Section 64 of the Rating and Valuation Act, 1925, under which Crown properties are not subject to the ordinary method of valuation, but the Crown makes a contribution in aid of rates; and as by reason of the recent increase in the number of Crown properties in their district and throughout the country, the continued operation of such provision is increasingly inequitable to local authorities, whether he will introduce legislation to end this state of affairs at the earliest possible date.

I cannot accept the statement that contributions from national funds in lieu of rates in respect of Crown property involve local authorities throughout the country in loss, and I can hold out no hope of legislation on the lines suggested.

Will the Minister see that the ex-gratia payments which are made approximate more nearly to the rates that would have been received by the local authority in the ordinary way?

I car recollect no representations having been made by associations of local authorities on the point. I am quite certain that if they felt aggrieved they would be very active in raising the matter.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been drawn to the de-grading of certain nursing officials employed by the Lancashire Mental Hospitals Board, due to the introduction of the Rushcliffe salaries scale, which is having an unfavourable effect on the qualified staff who are still performing the same duties as previously and who, by reason of this de-grading, are receiving little or no financial benefit; and if he will take steps to ensure that local authorities are more generous in their interpretation of the Rushcliffe recommendations.

I understand that the point to which my hon. Friend refers has been, and still is, under consideration by the Mental Nurses' Sub-Committee appointed in association with the Rushcliffe Nurses' Salaries Committee, and I do not think I could usefully intervene.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has yet received a report on mental nursing from the Athlone Committee; and what action he proposes to take.

Yes, Sir. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Education and I have received from the Earl of Athlone the report of the Sub-Committee on Mental Nursing and the Nursing of the Mentally Defective which was appointed by the Athlone Inter-Departmental Committee on Nursing Services. The report, which will be published as a Stationery Office publication before the House rises for the Recess, is a most valuable survey of the whole field falling within the Sub-Committee's scope, and my right hon. Friend and I are deeply indebted to the members of the Sub-Committee. I propose to obtain without delay the views of the various interested bodies regarding the recommendations, many of which would require legislation.

asked the Minister of Health what are the principles upon which has been based the acceleration of the release of medical officers from the Forces under Class A in order to relieve the inadequacy of medical services available for the civilian population; how many doctors will have been demobilised under existing arrangements by 1st January, 1946, under A and B; and how many will be demobilised from the services during the first six months of 1946.

In accelerating the release of medical officers from the Forces, the aim has been to reduce the ratio of doctors to serving personnel to about two per thousand. I cannot give the exact number who will have been released by 1st January next, but it is expected to be at least 5,000. I regret that I cannot yet give the figure asked for in the last part of the Question.

Is the Minister aware that in the Navy there is one doctor for every 300 personnel, whereas in some parts of this country, there is one doctor for every 3,000 persons; and is he satisfied that this acceleration is enough to catch up with this discrepancy?

I am satisfied that very considerable acceleration has been achieved and will be achieved. The comparison of the number of doctors per thousand in civil life with the number of doctors in the Navy is obviously unfair, beacuse you have to have a certain number of doctors per ship.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the fact that there are about 70,000 deaths annually from cancer and that a large proportion of these only obtain specialist treatment when too late, he will provide lectures for general practitioners on the early recognition of this disease.

The object my hon. Friend has in mind can perhaps be best attained by encouraging early and frequent consultation between general practitioners and specialists in the work of diagnosis and treatment. Organised arrangements for this purpose are now being developed under the Cancer Act, 1939, as far as present circumstances permit.

May I ask the Minister if he is aware that where such lectures have been instituted, they have been much appreciated and well attended by general practitioners?

I appreciate what the hon. Gentleman says and I will direct the attention of the appropriate authorities to his comment.

Will the right hon. Gentleman also take steps to instruct the general public with regard to the early signs and symptoms of cancer, as very often when a patient goes to his general practitioner it is then too late for specialist treatment?

Speaking on the impulse of the moment, it would, I think, be extremely dangerous to try to instruct the general public, because you may have a nation of hypochondriacs.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will arrange to have available a number of priority dockets for the use of medical officers of health for the supply of blankets for use when patients are unable to obtain immediate admission to hospital and have to be temporarily treated at home because of lack of nursing staff or hospital accommodation, as is already being done in the case of expectant mothers.

The evidence I have does not suggest that action on the lines suggested by my hon. Friend would be justified.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there are large numbers of cases of tuberculosis which have been diagnosed as a result of radiography, and that many of these cases will need such help?

I am aware of the development of early diagnosis, and that earlier diagnosis has resulted in the detection of a larger number of tuberculosis cases. Where there are distressful cases of the kind mentioned by my hon. Friend, the local authority would obviously deal with them.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will arrange to have available additional clothing coupons for tubercular patients to obtain certain necessary clothing for use in hospitals, who are otherwise under hardship and who are unable to obtain them except after long delay, thus accentuating their suffering and mitigating their usefulness; or alternatively, if he will place a small number of clothing coupons at the disposal of medical officers for use in such urgent cases.

If my hon. Friend would let me have fuller particulars of any cases of special hardship in this matter which have come to his notice, I will be glad to look into them.

Is the Minister aware that I have already sent three letters to him on 28th November, 30th November and 4th December dealing with these points, which give this information and that I am still awaiting a reply?

If my hon. Friend mentions that he has sent letters towards the end of last month I must now make inquiries back to the source, and the information must come back before I reply. In this case I should have thought that the lapse of time was quite reasonable.

asked the Minister of Health what number of parishes in the constituency of Peterborough are without a piped water supply; and in what areas have schemes been prepared for the extension of piped supplies.

The answer to the first part of the Question is 26. Schemes have been prepared by the Oundle and Thrapston Rural District Council for 24 of these parishes and by the Kettering Rural District Council for one of them.

asked the Lord President of the Council by whom penicillin has been synthesised; and what is the structural formula.

A practical process for synthesizing penicillin has not yet been evolved. As regards the second part of the Question, I understand that the British workers associated with the Medical Research Council and their American collaborators propose to publish available information at an early date.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that penicillin has already been synthesised by the "Daily Express"?

I would not be a bit surprised.

asked the Minister of Education whether she has yet issued regulations under Section 81 of the Education Act authorising county education committees to make increased financial awards to those winning county major scholarships at Oxford and Cambridge; whether any such increased awards have been made; and whether these increased awards will be given to those awarded similar scholarships before the date of the new regulations.

Yes, Sir. The regulations for scholarships and other benefits made under Section 81 of the Education Act, 1944, were issued last March, together with a circular in which guidance was given to local education authorities as to the amounts appropriate for major awards. A large number of authorities have submitted their arrangements indicating substantial improvements in their awards, and these have been approved and are already in operation. I have asked authorities whose arrangements have not yet been submitted to let me have them as soon as possible. I must leave it to authorities to decide whether to increase awards which were made before the new schemes were adopted, but I have no doubt that some will wish to do so and their expenditure will, of course, be recognised for grant.

Does my right hon. Friend appreciate that the awards granted are not the same for both classes of people holding the same scholarship under the various education authorities?

We have that point fully in mind. If my hon. Friend will wait a little while he will see that that point is met by my answer.

asked the Minister of Education whether she will improve the accommodation for married resident lecturers at present available at teachers' training colleges.

This matter will not be overlooked when it is possible to undertake new building work or substantial extensions to existing training college buildings.

Does the right hon. Lady realise that the lack of accommodation is seriously deterring would-be lecturers from taking up posts in training colleges, so jeopardising the success of the training scheme? It is an urgent matter to improve the accommodation.

I am fully aware that it is an urgent matter. It is equally the fact that it is impossible to do anything about it, except in a rather improvised way. Colleges are meeting the problem in an improvised way, and I would like to say that the staffs, on the whole, appreciate our difficulties.

asked the Minister of Education if having regard to the provision of boarding facilities by L.E.A.s and the desirability of children of different types and from different localities mixing together, she will refuse her sanction to L.E.A.s establishing boarding schools which are confined to children all of whom arc drawn from the same area.

The primary duty of a local education authority is in respect of pupils in its own area and, while I do not question the advantages of admitting pupils of different types and from different localities to maintained boarding schools, I am not prepared to lay down a general rule of the kind suggested in the Question.

Would the right hon. Lady consider if local authorities could get together on a regional basis in order to control schools over a wider area?

They are in process of working out regional arrangements.

asked the Minister of Education whether she is aware that a qualified teacher, R. Anderson, 26, Craddock Street, Spennymoor, County Durham, has been released from His Majesty's Forces to return to the teaching profession under scheme B, was brought back to this country by air, has been employed nine days and at present is out of a job; and if she will take steps to sec that this young man is engaged at an early date.

I am aware that Mr. R. Anderson was released under Class B and was appointed as from 5th November to a teaching post under the Durham County Education Authority. He was not on the permanent teaching staff of this authority before he was called up and the post to which he was appointed was only a temporary one, but the authority did not expect when they made the appointment that it would be of such short duration. I understand that he has since been given another teaching appointment in the authority's service.

Is the right hon. Lady aware that there is increasing need for improving the machinery for letting these Class B release men know where the teaching vacancies are? There is quite a pocket of these people who have been released and cannot get jobs.

I should like to know where any such pocket is, and if the hon. Member will give me the information, I shall be glad to dip into it at once.

I will do so.

Is there any likelihood of this appointment being any longer than nine days?

I have already said that the gentleman in question has been given another teaching post.

asked the Minister of Education whether she is prepared to recognise for grant the remuneration paid to teachers engaged.in supervising preparation classes at the Stratford and Plaistow grammar schools, West Ham.

Preparation classes, like various other school activities, inevitably entail additional work for the teachers, by whom it is generally accepted as part of their professional employment. I do not feel that I should be justified in recognising for grant special remuneration to teachers in the particular circumstances to which my hon. Friend refers.

Is the right hon. Lady aware that in West Ham there has been a terrible amount of bomb damage and, therefore, the school children cannot do their home work at home, and must of necessity do it in the school? Is it fair that the local councils should have to find out of the local rates £700 a year, bearing in mind the fact that the Board of Education did until March, 1939, make provision for things of this kind?

I must ask my hon. Friend to take my word for it that we have looked at the matter very sympathetically, but the difficulty is that there is so much work done out of school time by teachers. It is impossible to remunerate most of it and difficult to pick out any local authority.

asked the Minister of Education if she will ensure for children in rural areas equal opportunities with children in urban areas for a liberal education; and if she will resist pressure for specialisation in agricultural teaching in rural schools, or where such teaching is provided see that it is given in schools specially provided for senior age groups who have decided upon agriculture as a career.

My policy is to secure equal educational opportunities for town and country children. It will be no part of the function of the secondary modern school to give specialised vocational training for agriculture or any other industry. These schools, whether in town or country, will aim at giving a balanced general education. Farm institutes and the like, which give special training in agriculture for senior pupils, are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.

May I ask the right hon. Lady whether she will consider including in this liberal education, classes of children for instruction in filling up Government forms, which is going to take up so much of their time later on?

Will the hon. Lady consider including in the syllabus something of the danger to the nation which arises when the whole country at large ignores the wellbeing of its agriculture, as has happened in the past?

asked the Minister of Education if the outstanding points which have been delaying the construction of a school canteen at Rack- heath, Norfolk, have now been disposed of; and if the Ministry of Works have been asked to commence the work.

No, Sir. The Norfolk County Council will not consent under the Ribbon Development Act, 1935, to the building proposed by their Education Committee, although they state that its removal would not be enforced until the end of the war period. I have informed the authority that I am unable to approve the work unless the county council will undertake to bear the cost of replacing the building without Exchequer aid if it were demolished before its useful life for school meals had expired but I have not yet received a reply.

Is the right hon. Lady aware that this modest project has been under consideration for 2¼ years, and could she not use her influence and, if necessary, her authority to bring it to a head so that these children can have the facilities so lacking in this respect?

I am worried about it, and we are looking into it.

asked the Minister of Education whether she will give any information as to the arrangements made for the continuation of education of the children of civilian internees from the Far East; and what grants are available.

I have not so far been asked to make grants for this purpose, but I shall be glad to consider any case, details of which the hon. and gallant Member may care to supply.

asked the Minister of Education what steps she is contemplating to make the training of teachers a national charge; what progress has been made in giving effect to the McNair Report; and whether she will establish a central body to assist her in framing a short term and long term policy for the profession.

It is not proposed that the whole cost of the training of teachers should fall upon the Exchequer as a national charge, but I am proposing to revise the grant regulations so as to secure that the permanent training facilities provided by local education authorities shall be treated as a common service and their expenditure thereon shared appropriately between all authorities irrespective of whether they are themselves responsible for maintaining training colleges or not. As regards the second and third parts of the Question, the recommendations of the McNair Committee, including that for the establishment of a central training council, I am now engaged in the necessary consultations.

Will my right hon. Friend expedite them? The Report has been out for a year and a half and universities and other bodies are very worried.

The Ministry of Education has hardly had a passive life for a year and a half with the change of Ministers, which makes some difference to these matters.

asked the Minister of Education how many of the Belgian teachers selected to teach in English schools have arrived and started work.

Only one such teacher is at present at work under this scheme. Vacancies have been offered to a number of other Belgian teachers, but these posts have not been taken up.

Could my right hon. Friend explain why, since these negotiations were started last February, and this is the one country in Europe which can afford to give us facilities, this practical arrangement has not produced more than one?

I am sorry, but as far as we are concerned we have done everything we undertook to do and we have offered more posts to Belgian teachers than they have been able to take up. We cannot do more, unless they themselves can do more.

Will the right hon. Lady consult with the Home Secretary about some of the Belgian teachers who might be demobilised in this country and would like to teach in this country? I have information about one such teacher, and 1 know of others.

That is his affair, not mine.

asked the Minister of Education if she will amend Clause 12 of Circular 30 issued by her Department to make provision for Froebel-trained teachers who do not hold Certificate A to apply direct to her for approval as qualified teachers, thus obviating the hardship caused when their employing local authorities or governing bodies are not prepared to put up their cases for consideration.

While I cannot undertake to make the general change suggested, if my hon. Friend can inform me of any cases which employing local authorities or governing bodies have shown themselves unwilling to put forward, I will gladly make inquiries into them.

Is the right hon. Lady aware that one cannot necessarily have specific information, but there may be great hardship caused by this, and it would be quite easy to allow the individual cases who have applied for consideration, thus preventing the hardship?

The hon. Lady will understand that we should get hopelessly at cross purposes if we corresponded with individual teachers as to salaries and conditions behind the backs of their employers. If there are individual teachers who, as a result of this Question, would like to communicate with me, I will communicate with their employers as to why their names have not been put forward.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will make a statement as to the action which it is proposed to take with regard to the requests made to the Lord Privy Seal recently by a deputation from 51 coastal resorts in former defence evacuation areas.

The position of the coastal resorts in former defence evacuation areas affects a number of Departments, and my right hon. Friend the Lord Privy Seal agreed to hear the views of the local authorities concerned. Since then, he has seen a deputation of the hon. Members from these areas and has undertaken to discuss their claims with the Ministers concerned.

asked the Prime Minister when the present charter of the B.B.C. expires; and whether it is proposed to set up a committee to consider on what terms it is to be renewed.

The present B.B.C. Charter expires on 31st December, 1946. The Government have been giving careful consideration to the terms on which the B.B.C. Charter is to be renewed, but it is not yet possible to make a statement on this matter.

Will my right hon. Friend say whether it is the intention of the Government to set up a committee or some other body to investigate the whole of the matters relating to broadcasting in this country?

That has not been decided yet.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that until recent months students have been allowed to complete the course at Lough-borough Engineering College, Leicestershire; that young men of 18 years, completing their course next July, are now being called up for General Service, not as engineers, in the Army; and whether he will defer such calling-up to enable these young men to take their diploma.

Until this year, students at Loughborough College were deferred in order that they might be allocated, on the completion of their training, to take technical commissions in the Services or important posts in connection with the production of munitions of war. On the termination of hostilities it became desirable to reduce the number of students attending science courses, and accordingly, a proportion of the students at colleges including Lough-borough College were not granted deferment by the Joint Recruiting Board. I regret I am unable to continue the deferment of these young men, but I am arranging to notify the Service Departments of their technical qualifications.

Will the right hon. Gentleman agree that this indifference towards the young men who are on the point of taking their diploma next summer is most unfair?

I cannot agree with that, because, after all is said and done, there are men in the Services who want to complete their time and get out.

Does not the Minister agree that the lives and the future of these young men are involved?

No more than those of the men who have already served six years.

asked the Minister of Labour when the Gas Industrial Union was established; what is its present membership; and whether it has a part in the consultative machinery of the gas industry.

This union assumed its present name in June, 1945, having previously been known as the National Gas Fitters and Allied Workers Trade Union, but it has been registered with the Registrar of Friendly Societies since 1896. Its present membership is not known. It is not represented on the Joint Industrial Council for the Gas Industry.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the number of men engaged in the motorcar manufacturing industry who were discharged as redundant during the months of August, September, October and November, 1945, respectively.

I regret that this information is not available.

Has there been any attempt at restrictive production on the part of the heads of the motorcar industry?

I have no information of that at all.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is now in a position to state the Government's conclusions on the Markham-Hancock Report on Domestic Service.

I have at the moment nothing to add to the reply which I gave to the right hon. Member on 18th October.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the failure of the Government to deal with the Report will be widely regretted in many circles in this country as it is of interest to many people? Will he therefore expedite consideration of this Report and give an assurance that the Government will come to a conclusion at an early date?

I cannot agree to the first part of the question, namely, that the Government have failed to deal with the Report, but I agree with the latter part. It is a matter of great importance, and I assure the right hon. Gentleman that we are pressing forward with the matter as rapidly as we can.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he has considered the protest of the employees at Morris Radiators, in which they express concern over the recent redundancy in the Oxford area; and whether he will make a statement on this matter.

Yes, Sir. As the reply is rather long I will circulate it in the Official Report.

asked the Minister of Labour why lodging allowances and cheap travel vouchers are still available to workers in this country who have come from Eire, and when these increments on their wages will cease.

Facilities of this kind provided by the Ministry are the same as for British workers temporarily employed on important work away from their homes, and I see no reason at present to withdraw them from Eire workers when they are still needed for such employment in this country.

Can the right hon. Gentleman give any indication of the total cost?

It is in the next Question.

asked the Minister of Labour the total outlay for the past three months on lodging and other allowances paid to directed workers.

For the three months ended 31st October, 1945, the most recent period for which complete figures are available, the sums paid by my Department on grants and allowances for workers transferred to employment away from home amounted to £1,076,987. A separate figure cannot be given for workers transferred by compulsory direction.

asked the Minister of Labour if he proposes to initiate discussions with the trade unions and employers' associations with a view to formulating a national wages policy in conformity with the Government's policy of industrial planning and the White Paper on employment policy; or whether wage rates will continue to be settled by collective bargaining in individual industries.

There is no intention of departing from the existing policy of entrusting the responsibility for wage regulation to the traditional and well-tried system of joint voluntary negotiation.

Does the answer mean that the Government exclude the wage factor entirely from the scope of economic planning?

I would have thought the wage factor was the most important part of these negotiations.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the normal time that ex-Service applicants for vocational training courses in painting and decorating have to wait before being allotted a vacancy on a course.

:I regret that owing to the large numbers applying for training as compared with the available training facilities, there has been delay amounting on the average to some weeks in allocating ex-Service applicants. I am glad to say that facilities are being rapidly expanded and should before long be sufficient to meet all requirements.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the labour shortage, he will assist the cutlery trade, and particularly its export trade, by placing the cutlery industry on the civilian preference list.

The export industries are already eligible for labour preference. My officers are always ready to help individual exporters, whether in cutlery or other industries, to obtain their proper share of available labour that may be suitable for their needs. I have been in consultation with my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade concerning possible other measures to build up the labour force of the cutlery industry.

Is the Minister aware that the cutlery trade needs labour, and all it has got so far from the Government is a working party?

:Can the Minister say whether this also applies to paper which is specially manufactured for export, for which they have not been able to get any people at all since the war ended?

As it happens, I am rather interested in paper, but the Question dealt specifically with cutlery and I cannot deal with paper at the moment. I shall, however, be glad to answer any point which the hon. Member cares to put.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this matter is of serious concern to the City of Sheffield, where there is a great lack of employees in the cutlery trade, and, as my hon. and gallant Friend said, all we have got is a working party?

But the working party, getting the men out of the Forces, is doing a good job as well.

:" the Minister of Labour whether he is now in a position to state the Government's policy on the control of labour.

I propose to circulate in the Official Report a full statement of the Government's decision, and will confine myself now to the main principles.

We shall review industries and individual undertakings now within the scope of the Essential Work Orders and decide in which cases it is no longer necessary, from the point of view of production and manpower, to continue this control. Three months' notice of withdrawal will be given in the case of any industry. Both sides of industry should begin now to consider jointly any adjustments that may be necessary in their industrial agreements when the Orders are withdrawn.

The following changes will operate on and from 20th December. In general, direction of labour will be limited to men who are liable for military service, i.e. up to and including age 30, and the direction of women will be discontinued. Similarly the control of engagement whereby labour can only be engaged through a local office of the Ministry of Labour will in general be confined to men, up to and including the age of 30. Existing controls must, however, be retained for men up to age 50 in building and civil engineering, in agriculture and in nursing,

and for women up to age 40 in nursing and midwifery. The controls in nursing will be maintained for six months only. Control under the Essential Work Orders and similar Orders which tie a worker to his employment may require the use of directions in exceptional cases.

In reaching these decisions the Government's aim has been to restore individual freedom as rapidly as possible, but this must be done without peril to the fulfilment of urgent national needs.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that his statement on the subject of women, at any rate, will give great satisfaction, particularly to those of us on this side of the House who have been pressing this policy upon the Minister for some time? Is he also aware that this statement, which, is very comprehensive, will need very careful study from this side of the House, particularly in its application to the housing programme and agriculture, which I understand are included in it, and that it may well be necessary to discuss it in more detail at a later date?

I must remind the right hon. Member that questions should be kept short.

In view of the conditions of employment in the agricultural industry, will the right hon. Gentleman explain his reasons for tying such a loyal body of workers to such a badly-paid industry?

The decision of the Government is that there are still vital industries where men must be retained if the work of the nation is to be kept going. We hope that there will be sufficient interest in the industries concerned to prompt them to get together to remove any conditions that are a drawback, and it is preferable that that should be done rather than that we should attempt to do it from outside.

Can my right hon. Friend say anything about the Civil Service (Control of Employment) Order, 1945, which has the effect of imposing the Essential Work Order on public servants?

I cannot say without notice. The full statement occupies four pages of foolscap, and perhaps the hon. Member may find that his point is covered.

Will the right hon. Gentleman make representations to the Minister of Agriculture with a view to securing that farm workers, after being tied to the industry, will receive a quid pro quo in the form of increased wages?

No doubt the Minister of Agriculture will. note that question, but I doubt whether he has power to fix wages.

Will my right hon. Friend take steps to see that agricultural workers in Scotland are not treated differently from agricultural workers in England?

Does my right hon. Friend include employees in garages in his reference to the civil engineering trade?

asked the Minister of Labour whether he has any avail- able data as to the effect on industrial production of a five-day week; and whether he is aware that it is desirable that Saturday morning work should be abolished as being wasteful.

The advantages and disadvantages of the five-day week have been reviewed from time to time in the Annual Reports of the Chief Inspector of Factories. The question whether the abolition of Saturday morning working in a particular industry or establishment is desirable is a matter for negotiation between the employers and workers concerned, in the light of their expert knowledge of all the relevant circumstances.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he intends that works committees should be established in every factory employing more than 10 workers; and whether, in view of the excellent results achieved by existing works' committees, he will consider making their establishment obligatory.

No, Sir. The establishment of works' committees and similar bodies is a matter for voluntary arrangement between the employers and workers concerned, on whose mutual desire and good will they finally rest. It is my policy to encourage the establishment of such machinery, but compulsion would be likely to defeat its own object.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in every case where they have been established production has improved, and conditions for the workers have likewise improved, and, in view of that fact, would he not reconsider his answer?

No, Sir. If we were to step in and attempt to compel the establishment of these committees, we might get a result exactly the reverse of what we desire.

Is not the association of the workers with the processes of production an indispensable feature of Socialism, and.would not my right hon. Friend, therefore, give urgent consideration to the encouragement of joint production committees throughout industry?

I think that all possible advice and assistance are given by the Ministry to the workers' organisations, who are themselves very keen to see the project carried out.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that in Scotland men supplied to building contractors to enable them to fulfil their housing contracts for local authorities are being used for other purposes; and will he take steps to ensure that the firms concerned use the men for the purpose for which they are provided.

No, Sir; but I will look into any such cases if my hon. Friend will let me have particulars.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will publish a monthly report showing the number of workers employed in each industry and trade.

A statement is being published each month showing the changes in the distribution of manpower, including separate figures of the expansion of employment in home civilian industries and services and manufacture for export. I propose also to publish each month in the "Ministry of Labour Gazette "a statement giving the available information as to the number of persons employed in each industry.

Would the Minister give a list of those who are unemployed as well as those who are employed?

The figures of unemployed are published periodically.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) in what proportion the additional 10,000 men to be released under Class B for agricultural work are to be released from each of the three Services, respectively; whether any instructions are being issued with regard to their distribution throughout the country; and how many men will be released during the next three months, respectively; (2) whether, to ensure an immediate and effective response to his purpose for a block B release of 10,000 agricultural workers, he can give an assurance that men so released will not be compelled to work out of range of their present homes or in districts other than those of their own choice.

Of the 10,000 men who are being released in Class B for agricultural work, it is anticipated that approximately 1,100 will come from the Royal Navy, 6,700 from the Army and 2,200 from the Royal Air Force. Every effort is being made to effect the whole of the releases as quickly as possible. Save in exceptional circumstances, men who accept Class B release to agriculture will be placed by the Ministry of Labour and National Service after consultation with agricultural executive committees, either with their previous employer or on another farm near their homes. Every effort will be made to place the men on the farms to which they desire to return.

Can the Minister give any indication of the date when these people will be released?