asked the Minister of Health whether his regulations will permit local authorities, if they so desire, to sell houses they build to the occupiers; and whether the purchasers will enjoy the full benefit of the financial arrangements established between the Government and local authorities.

I would refer the hon. Member to the statutory provision made for this matter in Section 79 of the Housing Act, 1936.

asked the Minister of Health at what price the Hampstead Borough Council has now acquired the site between Well Walk and New End Square on which it is proposed to build 62 working-class flats; what existing buildings require to be demolished for this housing scheme; and what was their rateable value when last occupied.

The purchase price has not yet been settled. Four houses are to be demolished; their aggregate rateable value when last occupied was£526.

asked the Minister of Health how many contracts for municipal houses and how many licences for private enterprise houses have been issued for Southend, Bristol, Hull and Maidstone.

asked the Minister of Health what house-building programmes have been submitted by the Pontardawe Rural District Council, the Neath Rural District Council and the Neath Borough Council, respectively; and what schemes have been approved by his Department.

I would ask the hon. Members to await Appendix B to the Housing Return which will be published next week. This Appendix will contain details of the progress made in each local authority area.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in his monthly progress reports on housing, he will give the number of permanent houses and temporary houses completed and actually occupied.

As the hon. Member will have seen, the Return contains statistics of permanent and temporary houses completed. Statistics of actual occupation are not available.

asked the Minister of Health how many fully developed housing sites were available on 1st August last; what proportion of these belonged to local authorities and private enterprise builders, respectively; and on how many of these has no attempt yet been made to erect either temporary or permanent houses.

As regards housing sites belonging to local authorities, I would refer the hon. Member to the Housing Return, Cmd. 6744. As regards housing sites belonging to private enterprise builders, I would, refer him to the answer given to the hon. and gallant Member for Basingstoke on 6th December, which contained the latest information available on this subject.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is satisfied that four inspectors are capable of supervising the 1,281,882 simple inoculations and similar experiments as performed on living animals in 1944; if, as no single case was reported of cruelty or unnecessary suffering, he is satisfied that no such case occurred; and will he permit independent impartial observation of these experiments.

Inspectors do not, of course, attempt to supervise every inoculation or other experiment performed under the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876, but I am satisfied that they exercise proper general supervision. The Act provides that all registered places shall be visited from time to time by the Inspectors, but I have no power to give authority to others to enter premises where experiments are conducted under the Act.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress is being made with the naturalisation of aliens, and, particularly with the list of 40 merchant seamen sent to him by the secretary of the Seafarers' Benefit Insurance Company, Limited, Cardiff, many months ago, who has, so far, not received acknowledgment of his letters.

:As regards pre-1940 applications, I would refer to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend's Question on 22nd November, 1945. I regret that that reply was not brought specially to the notice 0f the secretary of the seafarers Benefit Insurance Company. As regards later applications, service on British merchant ships during the war will stand on the same footing as other forms of war service and I am arranging to supply to-the Mercantile Marine Offices at an early date forms on which claims for priority on this ground can be made.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when gratuities will be paid to members of the N.F.S. who have served in No. 9 Fire Force Region.

1 would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to Questions by the hon. Members for Hendon, South (Sir H. Lucas-Tooth) and the hon. and gallant Member for Hythe (Lieut.-Colonel Mackeson) on 31st January.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the reason for the long delay in the appointment of a stipendiary magistrate for the city of Cardiff.

It is my duty to satisfy myself before recommending to the King the appointment of a stipendiary magistrate that I have selected the candidate most suitable to fill the appointment, and the steps to be taken for this purpose necessarily take some time. As has already been announced, Mr. George Parsons was appointed on the. 13th February.

asked the Minister of Education the present shortage of primary and secondary school teachers; how many are now in training for short and long periods, respectively; and, approximately, how many are expected to enter the teaching profession from the Forces during the next six months.

The position differs, of course, in different areas, but the total teaching strength over the country as a whole is now the same in proportion to the number of children as it was before the war. About 17,000 students are now training for teaching in courses of two years or more and about 2,400 are taking one-year courses at Emergency Training Colleges. About 500 students will complete their courses at Emergency Colleges during the next six months, but as these-will all have begun their courses before the end of hostilities, very few of them will have come from the Armed Forces.

asked the Minister of Education when it is expected that hot drinks and hot meals will, be available for the scholars attending Streetly, Stafford shire, elementary school.

I am informed that the authority expect to bring the scheme for supplying school meals to, the children at Streetly School Staffordshire, into operation in a month's time.

asked the Minister of Education at what price the L.C.C. is acquiring the site for a new elementary school in the Abney Park district, Stoke Newington; and if she will state the area and the previous rateable value of that land.

I understand that the London County Council have reopened negotiations to complete the purchase of six small plots required to round off the new site as a whole, the area of which is 2.1 acres. Since negotiations are still in progress, I am not yet in a position to answer the First part of my hon. Friend's Question. I regret that I cannot give the previous rateable value of the land, since the site consists of part- only of existing properties

asked the Minister of Education (1) whether she intends setting up an emergency training college for teachers in Cardiff;(2) what developments have taken place in the effort to establish an emergency training college in South Wales.

1 hope that it may be possible to establish an emergency training college in or near Cardiff, but definite arrangements to secure a suitable building have not yet been completed.

asked the Minister of. Education whether she is aware of the plight of students in training at Wrexham Emergency Training College, where members of the staff are having to give weekly loans to students for the maintenance of their families; and what steps she is taking to remedy this state of affairs.

The maintenance grants for students at Wrexham were despatched three days ago.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General for what purpose regulations have been issued directing that the discharge of redundant staff of his Department shall be in order of seniority, regardless of sex.

:The instructions issued in the Post Office about the release of temporary staff when they become redundant are based on principles agreed on the Civil Service National Whitley Council. Broadly speaking, the arrangement is that temporary staff who are efficient and willing to stay will be retained as long as possible, those with the shortest service going first, regardless of sex. There is, however, a preference in favour of ex-Servicemen of the 1914–18 war, who will go last.

asked the Assistant 'Post master-General the number of applicants awaiting telephones in the Edinburgh area and the steps that are being taken to supply them.

The number of waiting applicants in Edinburgh at 31st January was 3,600. The steps being taken to supply telephones throughout the country were described in the reply I gave on 4th February to a question by the hon. Member for Clay Cross (Mr. H. Neal). In Edinburgh, new plant is being provided both in the exchanges and in the underground cable network and new subscribers are being joined up at the rate of about 500 a month. The current demands for service are, however, very high, those in January having been 80 per cent more than those in December.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General if he has any announcement to make as to the amount of material becoming available for the installation of private telephones.

The difficulty for the moment in still further accelerating the rate of installation of telephones. which is already more than 30 per cent. higher than the prewar peak rate, is primarily the shortage of labour and not of materials, which are being ordered and supplied to the Post Office by its contractors in quantities sufficient to employ all the labour available.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to-the fact that Mr. R. W. Horton, of Broad Hinton, near Swindon, posted by registered post his nominating papers as a candidate for the Wiltshire County Council on Thursday, 14th February, and that these papers were not delivered to the returning officer at Chippenham, 20 miles distant until 5 p.m. on Monday, 18th February, thus rendering Mr. Horton's candidature invalid; and whether he will give guarantees of a more reliable postal service in that district in future.

I have ascertained that a registered letter addressed to E. P. Awdry, 3, St. Mary Street, Chippenham, was posted at; the Wroughton Post Office on Thursday,; 14th February, too late to be included in the last despatch on that day. It was despatched in normal course the following morning, Friday, and should have been sent out for delivery at Chippenham on the afternoon of that day, 15th February. Owing to a regrettable oversight, arising out of staffing difficulties at the Chippenham Post Office, it was unfortunately not sent out for delivery that afternoon. It was sent out for delivery on Saturday, 16th of February, but the addressee's premises are closed when morning delivery is made and on Saturday afternoons, and there was no one at the address to accept delivery and give a receipting signature. It was again sent out on,the morning of Monday, 18th February, but again the addressee's premises were closed,; and delivery could not be effected until the afternoon of 18th February. I very much regret this unfortunate occurrence, and I am taking Steps to prevent any recurrence

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General when normal postal facilities will be restored between this country and Malaya.

All the principal postal facilities to Malaya have already been re stored with the exception of the insurance service, and this will be reintroduced as soon as possible.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he estimates would be the cost to the Revenue if Income Tax was levied upon husbands and wives separately instead of jointly.

The treatment of husband and wife as separate individuals for tax purposes would result, on balance, in a gain to the Revenue and not a loss, since in many cases the husband alone is in receipt of income and would lose, if separately assessed, the benefit of the married allowance.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that all railway porters at Brighton station and Hove station have recently been assessed for Income Tax at the rate of£27 to 30 for tips alone; what basis of calculation has been used to reach this figure; for what reasons it is intended to tax tips when tipping is discouraged by the present Government; and what trades are now assessed for tipping taxes.

All tips are income for purposes of Income Tax.

asked the. Chancellor of the Exchequer why, in view of the shortage of paper, have the Inland Revenue authorities been permitted to increase the size of paper used for tax receipts

Income Tax receipts, like other Income Tax forms, were reduced in size during the war in the interests of paper economy. In this instance the economy, which was comparatively small, has proved to have been achieved at a disproportionate cost in terms of Departmental efficiency.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the unpopularity of the schemes made under the Essential Work (Trawler Fishing) Order, 1943, and the administration and financial burdens imposed on the trawling industry, he will now take steps to terminate them.

I am not yet in a position to announce the termination of schemes under the Essential Work (Trawler

asked the Minister of Labour the proportion of ex-Service-men to civilians found employment by the Paisley employment exchange during the past six months.

I regret that this information is not readily available, and its ex

asked the Minister of Labour the latest details on an occupational basis of unemployed persons in Stoke on Trent, and, if possible, separate figures for each of the towns included in that area.

The following table shows the numbers of insured persons aged 14years and over, suitable for ordinary employment, registered as unemployed at each employment exchange in the Stoke on Trent area at 14th January, 1946, distinguishing the principal industries:traction would involve a disproportionate expenditure of time.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether, in view of the fact that existing British universities can only hold about 1.8 per cent. of the appropriate age group and that; it is probable that 10 per cent, have sufficient ability to benefit from university education, he has any proposals to make for the foundation of new universities.

the addition to university grants announced on 22nd February provides for an increase in the number of students. Further increases may be necessary and this is being considered.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he is aware of the number of young men with five or six years Service in the Forces who volunteered or were called up before they started any university course; that these men are now finding it difficult to gain admission to universities; and what proposals he has for meeting this difficulty.

If my hon. Friend will send me particulars of the difficulties referred to 1 will have them examined.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what legal formalities are required to enable a British subject, resident in France up to the-German occupation and now temporarily resident in England, to make payment out of money standing to his credit in a French bank, of debts due to French residents.

If the hon. and gallant Member will send me particulars of any individual case he has in mind, I will let him have a reply.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that there are men in the Army who are in their sixth year of service who do not know their demobilisation date; and why men who were conscripted into the. Army are called upon, to serve months and some times years longer than men conscripted on the: same day into the R.N.

I am aware that, as the release scheme takes account of age as well as length of service, there are some young men with over five years' service who are in age and service groups which have not yet been promulgated for release; as regards the second part of the Question, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply I gave on 26th February to my hon, Friend the Member for the Drake Division of Plymouth (Mr. Medland).

asked the Minister of Labour whether members of the Armed Forces who were born on or before 1st July,1915, and have been placed on W(T) reserve may resign there from and seek other employment without application for permission to do so to any employment exchange.

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply I gave on 18th December to the hon. Members for South Islington (Mr. Chuse) and Bewdley (Major Conant), a copy of which I aim sending him.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is satisfied that there are proper facilities in Falmouth to enable apprentices to attain the National certificate with reference to leaflet M.L.11.

I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply,to his other Question on this subject today.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why Mr. Philip Massey, of West Winds, Ringway, Cheshire, who has written to his Department three times since December, 1945, for form C.R.S.C.IA, coloured white, covering the replacement of lost clothing, has received no acknowledgment.

I regret that no trace of Mr. Massey's applications can be found but a copy of the form has now been sent to him. For the convenience of the public, stocks of this form are avail able at local council offices and information centres.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the fact that British apparatus for helping deaf persons is both better and cheaper than U.S. apparatus designed for the same purpose and, as the U.S. imports have to be paid for in dollars, he will restrict, in the present critical position of dollar scarcity, the import of U.S. apparatus which can be replaced by home products; and if he will state the value in dollars per year of U.S. aids at present imported.

As 1 informed the hon. and gallant Member for Down (Sir W. Smiles) on 28th January last, imports of hearing aids are confined to cases of special need which cannot be met from domestic production. The rate at which licences for such imports are being issued is about 37,800 dollars a year.

asked the Minister of Supply and of Aircraft Production, to what extent the shortage of tools, needed in the building of houses, is due to those tools being manufactured for export.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 28th January to the hon. Member for West Willesden (Mr. Viant) of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Minister of Supply and of Aircraft Production the number of men and women of all grades in the direct employ of his Department at the latest convenient date.

The number of men and women of all grades in the direct employ of the Ministry of Supply and Aircraft Production on 1st January, 1946, was I77.857

asked the Minister of Supply and of Aircraft Production (1) which royal ordnance factories are now producing building materials components or fitments; how many men in each of these factories are engaged on this work; and what is the present total labour force of each of the factories concerned;(2) what building materials, fitments and components are at present being manufactured in Government-owned factories; what further items of this, kind the Government are planning to manufacture in the next 12 months; and when he proposes to make a comprehensive statement to the industry in regard to the Government's manufacturing programme, in order that private factories may be in a position to plan their own production programme.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which 1 gave on 25th February to the hon. Member for Enfield (Mr. Ernest Davies). [OFFICIAL REPORT, Vol. 419, c. 1539.]The direct employment to date is mainly on installation of plant and tooling, and the amount of operative labour to be used in the production of housing equipment has not yet been assessed. Manufacture of housing requirement- in the Royal Ordnance Factories is undertaken in cooperation with the industries concerned, with the object of assisting them to deal with shortages. Those industries are being urged, if possible to increase their output and there is nothing to limit their plans in the arrangements that have been made for assistance from the Royal Ordnance Factories.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he has investigated complaints sent to him in respect of conditions at, and treatment of troops at,186 Transit Camp, Taranto; and what action he has taken to improve condition at this camp.

Yes, Sir. I have now received a report on this matter. The delay in serving a meal to the draft in question was due to the fact that no notification of its arrival had been received. A meal was, however, prepared as soon as possible after arrival. Further inquiries are being made into the circumstances under which the draft arrived without notification. When this transit camp was first opened there was no canteen, but arrangements were made for the men to use canteens in adjacent camps. A canteen was, however, subsequently provided, and is now operating. This camp is due to close down on about 1st March.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that letters from the British Army in Italy now take eight to 10 days to reach this country; and if he will state the reason for this delay and take steps to expedite delivery.

. Letters from troops in Italy are carried by air As a result of bad weather conditions, there have been occasions when letters have taken eight to 10 days, but the normal transit time is much less. As weather conditions improve, the service should become more satisfactory.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will now derequisition the Tilehouse Housing Estate, near Guildford, which had been prepared for the erection of 1,000 houses, but the release of which has been refused on the grounds that the site is used as a dispersal centre; and as this purpose is no longer urgent and there are over 3,000 families in the area in need of houses if he will expedite the release of this property.

The War Department occupies only a part of the Tilehouse Building Estate. A militia camp has been built on this site and I regret that it is not possible to relinquish it at present. There is, of course, no objection, so far as the War Office is concerned, to the owner building on the rest of the estate, which is not requisitioned by the War Department.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will institute a system of cross-postings from B.A.O.R. for men over 40 years of age with younger men from Britain.

It would; I think, be unfair to discriminate against all other overseas commands by instituting such. a scheme in B.A.O.R. alone, and it would be impracticable to extend the scheme to other commands in view of the difficulty already experienced in finding essential replacements for those due for release or repatriation. The hon. Member may care to refer to the answer I gave to a similar Question.by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Aston (Major Wyatt) on 30th October last, which is still applicable.

asked the Secretary of State for War what is the cause of the delay in Army units at Hastewell Signals LT 307624 Base Training Unit, West African, Dhond, India Command, receiving notification regarding Class B release, in view of the fact that the Ministry of Labour's notification was received six weeks ago.

I assume that the Question refers to Lieutenant C. H. Hastewell. This officer was included in a list of individuals required for the wool industry which was received from the Ministry of Labour and National Service in January. His release was not however approved by the War Office in view of his late age and Service Group. The only officers in his Group who were at that time being released under Class B were those required for certain special occupations. It would, moreover, be very difficult to replace this officer in his present post without interfering with the Class A release of another officer.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many houses have been built and are in course of construction for our service personnel on the Continent of Europe; what is the total number of new houses aimed at for the purpose of the occupation of enemy countries; and how many building trade operatives in our Forces are being employed on such operations.

I am not clear whether my hon. Friend has in mind the accommodation required for troops, which is normally in the form of barracks or hutted camps, or whether he is referring to quarters for married families. In either case the information asked for is not readily available, and could not be obtained without a considerable amount of research..

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware of the discontent caused among men. serving in B.A.O.R. by the shortage and the lack of varieties of pipe tobacco; and whether he will arrange for larger quantities of well-known brands to be made available.

I am not aware of any discontent about the quantity or variety of pipe tobacco supplies in B.A.O.R., and so far as I am aware the position is satisfactory. If, however, the hon. Member will send me full particulars of any specific complaint on this matter I will gladly investigate it.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will consider the suggestion that Servicemen due for demobilisation at the end of the year, now serving in hot climatic countries, be repatriated to this country during the summer in order that, they may gradually become acclimatised before the winter months set in.

I regret that it would be impracticable to adopt the hon. Member's suggestion. Owing to the acute shortage of manpower in the Army due to the rapid progress of the release scheme it is becoming increasingly difficult to replace.essential personnel who are posted to the United Kingdom on release or on Python, and if those becoming due for release at the end of the year were repatriated some months in advance of their release date an already most difficult situation would become even more acute.

asked the Secretary of State for War why so little publicity is being given to the Yokohama trials; and if ex-prisoners of war will be informed as to how they are proceeding through the.medium of the magazine, "Far East "

I will certainly beat in mind the suggestion that more publicity should be given to these trials. 1 understand, however, that the publication of the magazine "Far East" has now been discontinued, so that it would be impossible to use this particular medium for giving publicity to the trials

asked the Minister of Information if he has any statement to make as to the future of Stagshaw broad casting station.

No. Sir.

asked the Minister of Information if he has any English copies of "British Ally" at his disposal; and if he will arrange for copies to be placed in the Library of the House.

No English version of the "British Ally "is published but the English originals of the articles which have appeared in recent issues are being sent to the Library.

asked the Minister of Food in what specified areas he has put into operation Defence Regulation 55c whereby no milk may be sold retail unless it is tuberculin tested, accredited or heal treated.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which was given to the hon. Member for Moseley (Sir 1 Hannon) on 23rd August, 1945, a copy of which 1 am sending him. Since this date my right hon. Friend has continued to give this matter his active consideration.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air why 200 aeroplanes belonging to the Polish corps commanded by General Anders have been stationed along the old Austrian frontier from Corvignano to Udine.

No combat aircraft belong to the Polish Service Corps. The only Polish-manned aircraft in Italy are 16 Fighter-Reconnaissance aircraft at an airfield eight miles south of Udine and 16 unarmed observation aircraft nine miles north of Milan. These two squadrons are attached to the R.A.F. Desert Air Force, all of which is stationed in the North of Italy. No recent change has been made in their disposition; they have been at their present bases for about five months.

asked the Minister of National Insurance how many persons who, because they are in receipt of compensation for partial disability, receive less than the full rate of unemployment benefit at each of the following employment exchanges in West Wales: Amman-ford, Garnant, Tumble, Ystalyfera, Neath and Resolven.

The available information is being collected and I will send it to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when the Report of the Scottish Housing Advisory Committee on the provision of houses for owner-occupation will be available.

The Committee's report has been presented to Parliament and copies are now available in the Vote Office.

asked the Minister of Pensions the number of members of the Services, during the war period, whose mental illnesses have been admitted by his Department as attributable to, or aggravated by, war service, and pensions awarded.

Up to the end of December last pensions had been granted in about 3,000 cases of psychosis and 1,000 of epilepsy accepted as attributable to or aggravated by service in the recent war. In addition awards had been made in about 27,000 cases of psycho-neurosis and other nervous disorders.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the number of road accidents which took place within the Metropolitan Police area during 1945, where drivers of vehicles involved failed to stop; and the number of such cases where the drivers of such vehicles have subsequently been traced.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if, in view of the present food situation, he is taking steps with the service departments, to free and clear camp sites and surplus airfields, etc., that are lying derelict in Suffolk, and for the W.A.E.C.s to undertake the work of growing urgently-needed crops this season.

Close liaison is being maintained with the Service Departments with a view to ensuring that all land on camp sites and airfields which can be made available for food production is used to the maximum possible extent for that purpose