asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the insufficient medical services in Stowmarket; if he is satisfied with the present supply of doctors and what changes he contemplates in the near future.

I have received representations from the hon. Member on this subject. The East Suffolk County Insurance Committee have, I understand, received few complaints from insured persons about the medical service available under the National Health Insurance Acts but they are considering whether there are any steps they can take to improve the position. As to private patients I have no jurisdiction I have no doubt, however, that the hon. Member's suggestion that the number of doctors in this area needs to be augmented will be of interest to doctors who are deciding where to practise.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many boys under 17 years of age were received in prison on remand in 1945; how many of these were under the age of 16 years; and how many under the age of 15 years; how many of these were not subsequently sentenced to any form of detention; how many were sent to approved schools; how many were committed to Borstal; and how many sentenced to imprisonment.

Six hundred and sixty-seven boys under the age of 17 years were received in prison on remand in 1945: 157 of these were under the age of 16 and 42 were under the age of 15 years. Complete information about the action subsequently taken in every case is not available but 287 were committed or returned to approved schools, about 260 were committed to Borstal and 23 were sentenced to imprisonment.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty when the road through the aerodrome West of Funtington, West Sussex, is to be reopened to the public; and whether, in the interests of food production, the vehicles on the parks will be closed up and good arable land freed for return to agriculture.

It is hoped to reopen the road by the end of June. With regard to the second part of the Question, the vehicles on the parks are being concentrated in one small area. Arrangements are being made to make available the maximum area of land for agricultural purposes, and ploughing has already started.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many acres of land in Gloucestershire have been excluded from ploughing orders because of the danger of flooding from the Severn.

There are no precise statistics of the acreage of land in Gloucestershire which has been excluded from ploughing orders because of the danger of flooding from the Severn, but, upstream of Gloucester, there are some 14,000 acres of land which are subject to fresh water flooding and are deliberately retained in this condition by the Catchment Board to allow a reservoir for winter floods.

asked the Minister of Food whether he will consider action to make it obligatory to label all jam for sale with an indication of the percentage of fruit which it contains and of the nature of the rest of the contents.

I appreciate the suggestion made by the hon. Member. The standards for jam are laid down by the Food Standards (Preserves) Order, 1944, and the use of preservative and/or colouring matter is regulated by the Public Health (Preservatives, Etc., In Food) Regulation. The fruit content varies for different kinds of jam, the aim being to keep up a reasonable supply of the more popular kinds. It would be an offence against the Food Standards and Labelling Order to include in jams any fruits or vegetables not named in the description on the label.

asked the Minister of Food how many discoveries of food which had become unfit for human consumption while stored in warehouses controlled by his Department were reported during January and the first three weeks of February of this year; what quantities and varieties of food were involved; whether any disciplinary action is contemplated; and what steps are being taken to prevent similar cases from arising in the future

Pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 27th February, 1946, Vol. 419, col. 388] "supplied the following statement

About 950 reports of small quantities of food being condemned as unfit for human consumption in warehouses controlled by the Ministry of Food were received during the period under review. Quantities and particulars are given in the table below. Except in the one case of canned fruit, where defects in manufacture were responsible, the quantities involved represent a small fraction of the tonnage stored, and indicate a degree of efficiency in storage which compares favourably with prewar commercial experience. No disciplinary action is called for. In addition, in the early months of the year very severe flooding damaged foodstuffs in some districts. These, however, have been reconditioned and re-issued for human consumption with negligible loss.

DETAILS OF FOOD FOUND UNFIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION IN WAREHOUSES CONTROLLED BY THE MINISTRY DURING THE PERIOD IST IANUARY TO 23RD FEBRUARY, 1946 commodity Quantities and Varieties involved Dried Fruit 50 cwts 24½ lbs Dried Egg 43 cwts Condensed Milk 19 tons Butter 22½ Cwts Milk Powder. 3 cwts 98 lbs. Canned Fish 4 tons Frozen Meat. 32 tons 16 cwts Canned Meat 18 tons 7 cwts. Fish 38 stones 8 lbs. Frozen Fish Tea 214 lbs. Canned Fruit 924 cases Tomato Puree 83 cases Beans in Tomato 125 cases Cereals and Cereal Products 165 tons

asked the Minister of Food how many gallons of liquid milk were sold to consumers in the month of January, 1946, and at what price per gallon; and how many gallons were sold to manufacturers, and at what price per wholesale gallon during the same period.

During January, 1946, the estimated total quantity of milk sold off farms in England and Wales was 95.5 million gallons; of that quantity 90.1 million gallons were sold for liquid consumption by domestic consumers and catering establishments and the balance of 5.4 million gallons were manufactured into milk products in accordance with the Ministry's instructions. The Ministry of Food sells milk to distributors and manufacturers at the uniform wholesale price of 2S. 1½d per gallon, but, in respect of milk used for manufacture, subject to the payment of appropriate rebates which vary according to the product. The net average realisation value to the Ministry of the milk used for manufacture was 13.24d. per gallon. Of the quantity put into liquid consumption, some 74.0 million gallons were sold retail at or below prescribed maximum prices, which vary according to the designation of the milk.

the greater part being sold at 4½per pint which is the maximum retail price for milk of ordinary quality; the balance was supplied to children under the milk in schools scheme (3.3 million gallons) at 1½d. per pint or free of charge and to beneficiaries under the National Milk Scheme (12.8 million gallons) at 2d. per pint or free of charge.