asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many appeals have been received, up to 30th September, 1946, under the Police (Appeals) Acts, 1927 and 1943, from punishments of dismissal or enforced resignation and other punishments, respectively; how many, in each class, related to the Metropolitan Police and other police forces; in how many cases were inquiries held; in how many were appeals dismissed without an inquiry;

asked the Prime Minister when a reprint will be available of the Government's demobilisation plans.

Reprints of this statement are available in the Vote Office.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons found guilty of criminal offences during the past 12 months have been found to be deserters from the Forces of this and other countries; and if he will give, in tabular form, the number and type of offence and the age and nationality of the persons sentenced.

I regret that the information requestéd is not available. I would, however, refer the hon. Member to the reply

The Police (Appeals) Act, 1927, gave a right of appeal to the Secretary of State against the punishments of dismissal and requirement to resign as an alternative to dismissal. The Police (Appeals) Act, 1943, gave, in addition, a right of appeal against the punishments of reduction in rank and reduction in rate of pay. The following table shows the appeals received from the various police forces in England and Wales since the coming into force of the Police (Appeals) Act, 1927:given to a Question by the hon. and learned Member for North Aberdeen (Mr. Hector Hughes) on 21st November.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if any special steps have been taken, or are to be taken, by the U.S.A. and other national authorities, to cooperate with the police of the United Kingdom in seeking out and placing under arrest, persons who have deserted from the Forces of those countries during the war, and who are now existing in this country without coupons or identity cards; and how many of these foreign deserters have, in fact, been repatriated during the last six months.

Full cooperation is given by the United States and other Allied military authorities to the police in seeking out and arresting deserters from the United States and other Allied Forces. I regret that I have no information as to the number of deserters who have been repatriated during the last six months.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in those areas where local authorities have announced percentage increases in the rents of their council houses in order to cover the increased cost of repairs, he will permit private property owners, many of whom have invested their savings in house property, to impose the same increases as their local authority, as at present they are still restricted to their prewar rentals.

I have no power to permit such rent increases and can hold out no hope of early legislation to amend the Rent Restrictions Acts.

asked the Minister of Education what is the present number of secondary schools classed, respectively, as grammar schools, technical schools and modern schools; and what is the proportion in each of these categories of graduate teachers.

In January, 1946, there were 4,366 maintained secondary schools in England and Wales. 1,199 of these were classed as grammar schools, 324 as technical schools and 2,843 as modern schools. The percentage of graduate teachers in the three groups of schools at 31st March, 1946, was 79 per cent., 49 per cent. and 15 per cent. respectively. These figures are provisional.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he will now say what steps are being taken to apply the improved British Service pension rates to British officers and other ranks of the Indian Service.

It has been decided that the new British pension code will apply to those Indian Service personnel to whom the 1938 British Code was applied. This covers the great majority of British officers of the Indian Army. The new code applies also to departmental and warrant officers class I of the Indian Unattached List. The question whether the new code should be applied to other categories and services is under consideration. It has also been agreed that the scheme for re-assessment of pensions in respect of war service which was announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War on 15th April shall similarly apply to the Indian Services.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the number of petitions received by him and the number of signatories on those petitions concerning the imprisonment of the Archbishop of Zagreb.

Yes, Sir. Up to date approximately 550 petitions have been received on this subject in the Foreign Office, signed by roughly 212,600 people.

asked the Minister of Food what steps he is taking to ensure adequate supplies of soft soap to the paper-making industry.

Industrial users can get soap if they used it before the war, but I am not aware of any difficulty regarding supplies for the paper-making industry. If the hon. Member has a particular case in mind, and will let me have the necessary information, I shall be glad to look into it.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that at Eglinton Fleet Air Arm station five ex-Servicemen were discharged from employment as mess attendants while non ex-Servicemen were retained in employment of this capacity; and whether it is the policy of his Department in any area where all recruiting is voluntary to give priority to those who served throughout the war in a civilian capacity over those who served in the Armed Forces.

The five ex-Servicemen were among eight mess attendants who became redundant at Eglinton, the other three being non ex-Servicemen. One of the five ex-Servicemen was found alternative employment at another station, but the remaining four were eventually discharged, together with the three non-ex-Servicemen. These seven men were selected for discharge on redundancy in accordance with an agreement between the trade union and official sides of the Admiralty Industrial Council, which regulates the procedure in such circumstances at all Admiralty establishments. Efficiency, length of service, and the completion of an Admiralty apprenticeship, are all taken into consideration. The local officers of the Ministry of Labour and the British Legion were informed of the details of these discharges, and raised no objections.

asked the Secretary of State for War how much is spent by his Department annually in purchasing copies of the publications of the Bureau of Current Affairs; how this cost compares with that of the publications of the former Army Bureau of Current Affairs; how many copies per issue are being acquired; who decides on their distribution and who gets them; and what assessment is made of the demand of recipients to get them.

The cost is at present al the rate of about £24,000 a year and is paid from Stationery Office not Army Funds. No strict comparison can be made since the former staff of A.B.C.A. were responsible for other duties besides the production of these publications and they provided also for the requirements of the Air Ministry, but the cost under the present arrangement is certainly less than it was. About 53,000 copies of "Current Affairs" and 20,000 of "Map Review" are acquired at present. They are distributed on a scale sufficient to allow the material in the publication to be communicated to, and discussed by, all ranks in training or working hours, as laid down in Army Council Instructions.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General what is the average length of time taken by surface mail between London and New York.

Surface letter mails from London to New York have recently taken an average of 12 days in transmission from office to office.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General whether the existing telephone exchange is to be adapted for the automatic system in Chiswick or a new building is to be used; and what building has been chosen in this event.

No, Sir. An entirely new Automatic Exchange building is to be erected on a site which has been acquired for this purpose. As stated in my reply of 20th November, I expect that work on the new building will commence shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he has investigated the allegation, particulars of which have been supplied to his Department by the hon. Member for Withington, that a sergeant stationed at Locking, Weston-super-Mare, punished a young recruit reported for being on parade in a n unclean condition, without preferring any charge against the accused before his commanding officer; and what action he proposes to take.

This recruit was checked with others for being untidy on parade, and his Commanding Officer ordered that he should forego privileges for 14 days. This does not constitute punishment under the Air Force Act, and no entry would be made on the airman's conduct sheet. A commanding officer has discretion to withdraw privileges at any time if he thinks an airman does not deserve them. I do not think that any further action is called for.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury why certain grades of civil servants who complete their 45½-hour week by Friday evening always have to work on Saturday mornings, for overtime, even though it is sometimes possible for them to be spared.

Overtime is not normally payable in respect of work on a Saturday morning which at present is part of the normal working week in the Civil Service. In the circumstances described in the hon. Member's Question attendances would usually be adjusted so as to eliminate or reduce the overtime on the other days of the week. If the hon. Member has a particular case in mind, I should be glad to have inquiry made.