asked the Secretary of State for War upon what grounds T.258964 Driver A. J. Bettle, B Platoon, 519 Company, Infantry Battalion, R.A.S.C., C.M.F., Group 37, has had his demobilisation deferred and for how long.

This soldier, being in age and service Group 37, is not due for release at the moment. His compulsory deferment beyond the normal date of release would be within the discretion of the Commander-in-Chief, C.M.F., and I have no information on his particular case. I explained the general reasons for the deferments in this command on 9th July, in reply to Questions by my hon. Friends the Members for Maldon (Mr. Driberg) and South Cardiff (Mr. Callaghan). As I informed the hon. Member for Rugby on 23rd July, regarding R.A.S.C. drivers in particular, replacements are being sent as quickly as possible, both from the United Kingdom and from other overseas theatres, and I hope that any deferments which prove to be necessary will be for only short periods.Major Bruce asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will explain the circumstances in which the weekly allotment of £3 3s. 6d. payable to the wife of 14285138 Signalman V. A. Barnett, Installation Section, No. 1 Company, 3 G.H.Q. Signals, M.E.F., has been reduced to £2 9s.

No such reduction has been made. According to my information Mrs. Barnett is still receiving £3 3s. 6d. weekly.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will state the quantity of rum, the property of his Department, packed in cases in the two bonded warehouses in Birmingham and where it came from; how much was recently disposed of to other Government Departments; which Departments participated; and how much was kept by his Department.

The total quantity was 20,000 gallons: the rum was forwarded to the bonded warehouses on the instructions of the Ministry of Food, to whom it had been handed over as surplus to military requirements. I have no information as to its subsequent disposal.

asked the Secretary of State for War why the Army doctors in India omitted to record the vaccinal condition of smallpox cases in recent years, in view of the fact that the vaccination record of the men appears in their paybooks and is easily ascertainable.

I have asked for the information from India and will write to my hon. Friend when it is received.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has considered a communication from the South-wark Borough Council referring to accidents to children when playing in or near bombed houses in a dangerous state of disrepair; and if he has any proposal to make with a view to preventing similar accidents in future.

I am unable to trace the receipt of the communication referred to, but I have received certain representations on the subject of accidents of this kind and am at present considering the whole problem.

asked the Minister of National Insurance when he expects to receive the recommendations of the subcommittee of the Dental Benefit Council, which was set up to consider the rates of dental fees; and whether he will give an undertaking that, on the receipt of these recommendations, he will take steps to settle the dispute, in view of the fact that it has continued for over a year and affects 5,000 approved societies with a total membership of about 13,000,000.

The Dental Benefit Council met on 24th July and had before them a report from the sub-committee appointed to review the prescribed scale of fees. I have now to consider, in consultation with my right hon. Friends the Minister of Health and the Secretary of State for Scotland, a report of the views of the members of the council and will do so without delay.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he will now relax the rule which obliges members of the W.A.A.F. to wear stockings during the summer season.

The W.A.A.F. authorities do not consider that any further relaxation of dress regulations can be permitted. Members of the W.A.A.F, are already allowed to wear silk stockings with uniform off duty in the summer. And they can now wear civilian clothes at any time when off duty away from their station.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, whether he is aware that before the war the landing fee at Elmdon Airport for a small aeroplane was is. 6d. and that it is now apparently 17s. 6d.; and if he will explain the reason for this increased charge.

Before the war Elmdon was a grass-runwayed aerodrome. It was operated by the Birmingham Corporation in accordance with the scale of charges of the Aerodrome Owners' Association. The landing charge was is. 6d. in respect of an aircraft of more than 1,500 lb. but less than 2,500 1b. permissible weight. In the case of commercial aircraft, load and freight fees were also levied. The normal load fees were at the rate of is. 6d. per passenger embarked or disembarked; and, as regards freight at the rate of is. 6d. for each 150 lb. of goods or, at the option of the aerodrome owner, for each four cubic feet of goods loaded or unloaded. The comparable landing charge for an aircraft of similar weight at a prewar state-owned aerodrome was 7s. od. Elmdon aerodrome was requisitioned during the war and equipped with hard-runways. Aircraft of 1,800 lb. but less than 2.200 1b. permissible weight are now liable for a landing charge of 17s. 6d. under the revised scale tor State-controlled hard runwayed aerodromes.As I stated on 24th July in reply to the hon. and gallant Member for Central Glasgow (Colonel J. R. H. Hutchison), the scale of landing charges has been revised in the light of increases in establishment and maintenance costs, especially at aerodromes provided with hard runways. I should add that my noble Friend is prepared to make special arrangements for flying clubs using State-controlled aerodromes.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why the British Passport No. 166375, recently issued to Mr. Hugh Joseph Lorant, described the holder as Mr. Hugh Joseph Krausz, a name which he has not used for 35 years and which was changed with the permission of the Hungarian Home Secretary in 1911 when Mr. Lorant was a Hungarian subject.

In accordance with the normal practice the passport granted to Mr. Hugh Joseph Lorant was issued in the name given in his certificate of naturalisation. It is open to Mr. Lorant to execute a deed poll formally abandoning the surname Krausz and assuming in its place the surname Lorant; such a deed poll, after enrolment in the Central Office of the Supreme Court, will enable a passport to be issued without mention of his former name.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs when Dr. Mirabel G. Harrison, of Brown Heath, Buxted, Sussex, may expect to receive the passports for which she has applied in person and, on several occasions, in writing.

Passports were issued to Dr. Weham R. E. Harrison and Dr. Mirabel G. Harrison on 17th July, 1946, and collected the same day.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what action he is taking to see that applicants for employment or settlement in any one of the East African territories shall receive equal consideration and treatment for employment or settlement in all of the East African territories.

Applicants for employment in the Colonial Service are considered for any vacancies for which they are suitable in territories where they are prepared to serve. As regards settlement in East Africa, candidates from this country are at present only being considered for Kenya as no settlement scheme has been fully completed for any other East African territory. Schemes are still under consideration in Tanganyika and, in the meantime, although names of applicants are being recorded, their final examination must be postponed until the settlement schemes have been completed and approved. The Northern Rhodesia settlement scheme has not yet been extended beyond local applicants. In these circumstances the question of consideration of applicants for the three territories jointly does not yet arise. I am, however, referring the suggestion to the respective Governors for their consideration in due course. In the meantime applicants wishing to be considered for Kenya and in due course for the other two territories should make separate applications to the Governments concerned.

asked the Minister of Education what sums of money were provisionally promised by the Grants Committee of the National Fitness Council under the Physical Training and Recreation Act, 1937, in respect of schemes involving capital expenditure; what sums had been paid to local authorities and voluntary organisations, respectively, at the outbreak of war in respect of such schemes; and whether these bodies will still receive payment of the sums promised on the completion of such schemes.

The total sum offered up to the outbreak of war in grants under the Physical Training and Recreation Act, 1937, towards the cost of schemes involving capital expenditure was £2,077,536 (£1,366,677 to local authorities and £710,859 to voluntary organisations). Offers of grant were withdrawn when war broke out except where schemes had been completed or definite commitments had been entered into. The actual payments on account of these schemes amounted to £418,577 (£193,632 to local authorities and £224,945 to voluntary organisations). These payments were made as follows: —Up to the outbreak of war, £245,680 (Local authorities, £92,959: Voluntary organisations, £152,721).During the war, £172,897 (Local authorities £100,673: Voluntary organisations, £72,224).It is now open to local authorities and voluntary organisations to re-submit their applications for grant, though these will, in most cases, need some modification in the light of existing conditions. Present arrangements for the submission of applications for grants under the Physical Training and Recreation Act, 1937, as amended by the Education Act, 1944, are set out in Memorandum A.W.I, a copy of which I am sending to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Education how many vacancies for boy students there are in the cookery and hotel school of the Westminster Technical Institute of the London County Council; and, in view of the importance of improving the hotels and restaurants of this country, what action she is taking to fill them.

I understand that there will be 185 students in September and that there is still room for 40 students. The local education authority is taking all possible steps to fill the vacancies, but much necessarily depends on the opportunities and conditions of service offered by the industry.

asked the Minister of Education the number of children receiving school meals in primary and grant-aided secondary schools in Colchester at the most recent convenient date; the number in receipt of these meals in 1939; and the proportion of all children of school age which these figures respectively represent.

Separate figures are available only for public elementary schools in Colchester and, owing to the changes made by the Education Act, 1944, do not go beyond February, 1945. The daily number of children then having dinner at school was 1,622 out of 4,598 present. In 1938–39 approximately 80 children daily had dinner, or some other meal, at school out of an average attendance of 4,907.

asked the Minister of Education if she is aware that Scottish candidates who sat for the Forces Preliminary Examination, held at Glasgow University last February, are greatly prejudiced by the 4½ months' delay in announcing the results; and if she will state the cause of this delay and indicate what steps she proposes to take to rectify the loss and injury thereby caused and to enable the candidates to continue their academic careers without loss of priority.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 5th July to the hon. Member for the English Universities (Mr. K. Lindsay) by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War. As regards the last part of the Question, I have no direct means of intervention but I am consulting my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War in the hope that some means of meeting the difficulty may be found.

asked the Minister of Education if she is aware that the principle of the multilateral school is widely accepted; and if she will impress upon the local education authorities the importance of including provisions in their development plans for this kind of school.

I am aware that the provision of multilateral schools is being considered by a number of local education authorities. In circulars and other pronouncements, I have made it plain that I welcome experiments of this kind. I do not, however, wish to dogmatise about the form in which secondary education should be organised at the outset of the great experiment of educating all children according to their ability and aptitude.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is to become of the funds accumulated by friendly societies for sickness and funeral benefits.

Funds held by friendly societies to meet voluntary contracts of insurance outside the National Health Insurance Scheme will remain in the possession of the societies which hold them.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will make a statement on the question of reducing Civil Service examination fees and other expenses incurred by candidates.

Yes, Sir. In order to encourage applicants of good quality to come forward in sufficient numbers and to avoid the risk that suitable entrants whose resources are small will be deterred from application by fees and expenses, His Majesty's Government have decided on the following changes:(1)

asked the Minister of Transport if he will inquire into the case, details of which have been submitted to him, of Mr. Arthur Craig, who served throughout the war in the Merchant Navy and now wishes to take up an engineering position in Buenos Aires to supervise repairs to British merchant vessels, taking his wife who is a subject of Argentina and his child, but is unable to secure sea-passages; and, as the serious illness of his wife requires an operation in her native country, if he will allocate priority of passage to these people.

The demand for passages to South America greatly exceeds the accommodation available. The Departments concerned endeavour to allot the available space fairly between the applicants. I regret that Mr. Craig's case, on its own merits, is not considered to qualify him for special facilities in comparison with other applicants. Further consideration will be given to the case submitted by Mrs. Craig, on compassionate grounds.

asked the Minister of Transport the number of level crossings situated on trunk roads as at February, 1946.

The number of level crossings on the roads which were trunk roads in February 1946, is 110.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General when it is intended to set up the Regional Advisory Board of the B.B.C. for Wales.

The B.B.C. is giving active consideration to the setting up of the Regional Advisory Committee for Wales but is not yet in a position to make an announcement.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware that the Cotton Control in Egypt recently rejected a British firm's tender, causing the firm to sell the cotton to an Egyptian firm who immediately resold it to the Cotton Control, which transaction resulted in the consumer having to pay the addition of an increased price and two lots of commission; and whether he will have the trading operations of the Cotton Control in Egypt investigated.

I have been asked to reply. I am not aware of such a case, but if my hon. Friend will furnish me with particulars, I will have the matter looked into.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that representatives of Australia are going to Japan to revive trade in raw wool supplies; and, in view of the threat to our woollen trade of a return to uneconomic competition with the products of low-paid Asiatic workers, if he will ask the Wool Working Party to consider this problem as a matter of urgency.

I understand that an official of the Australian Government may shortly visit Japan but I am not aware of the purpose of his visit. The industrial policy to be applied to Japan is the subject of discussion on the Far Eastern Commission in Washington between the Allied powers concerned. It would not be appropriate to refer the matter to the Wool Working Party.