asked the Secretary of State for War if he is satisfied with the services, staffing, cleanliness and efficiency of the 94th British Military Hospital in Hamburg; and what steps he is taking to provide the British community in Hamburg with an adequate medical service.

Yes. I have recently visited the 94th British Military Hospital in Hamburg and am satisfied as to the services provided by the unit, which include those to the British community in Hamburg. If the hon. and gallant Member has any evidence of unsatisfactory services or conditions perhaps he will let me know.

asked the Secretary of State for War why service and other fuses are being collected from ammunition dumps in England for dispatch to Scotland; and if he will give an assurance that no further consignment of fuses or ammunition will be sent to Scotland.

The only fuses consigned to Scotland are for immediate disposal by deep sea dumping. This will cease after the end of March.

asked the Secretary of State for War (1) why the 27 German officers and 187 other ranks interned by the Japanese at Singapore were changed from prisoners of war to surrendered personnel on 19th February, 1946, and changed back to prisoners of war in July, 1946, with consequent loss of hopes of repatriation;(2) why the German military personnel interned by the Japanese at Singapore were not repatriated as surrendered personnel on arrival in this country as they had been promised by the military authorities in Singapore but converted into prisoners of war and therefore retained in this country.

These men were treated as surrendered enemy personnel from the date on which they came into the custody of Allied Forces, and were given prisoner of war status on arrival in the United Kingdom for administrative reasons. Surrendered enemy personnel have no prior right, as such, to repatriation before prisoners of war, and they therefore lost nothing by the change of status. My information is that no official promise of repatriation was made to them.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, in considering the eligibility of German prisoners of war, for whom application is made to remain as civilian agricultural workers in this country, their civil state is taken into account.

If by "civil state" the hon. Member means the former civilian occupation or the domestic state of these prisoners of war, the reply is "No." The factors that are taken into account are the prisoner of war's character, the quality of his work while a prisoner of war and his physical suitability for agricultural work.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of commodities from Colonies in the sterling area are being sold to other countries outside the sterling area for resale by them in dollars, with consequent loss of dollars to His Majesty's Government.

I regret that no statistics are available to show what percentage of commodities from Colonies in the sterling area are being sold in this way but I believe the figure to be very small. The Government are fully alive to the possible loss of dollars and are considering as a matter of urgency what protective measures can be taken. I am grateful to the hon. Member for the assistance he has given in this connection.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is now in a position to consider the reinstitution of the practice of publishing revenue and expenditure returns for Scotland and England respectively.

No. It would not be opportune to add at present to the arrangements proposed in the recent White Paper on Scottish Affairs.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set an example to all workers demanding increased wages by introducing legislation to impose a tax of 100 per cent. on all salaries above £5,000 a year.

My hon. Friend will not expect me to deal with questions of budgetary policy in advance of my Budget Statement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider adopting in his negotiations with the American film industry the arrangements made by Australia to deal with the dollar cost of imported American cinematograph films.

No. They would not be appropriate to our situation. As I understand it, they consist in the investment in Australia for a fixed period of a proportion of the earnings of American films shown there. As I stated in my reply of 27th January to the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight (Sir P. Macdonald), His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom are not prepared to substitute for the Customs duty any arrangement involving the holding of blocked sterling.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the Government's general policy regarding American offers of private industrial investment in this country.

In reply to the first part of the Question, I regret that the information is not available. In reply to the second part I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade on 3rd February to the hon. and gallant Member for East Renfrew (Major Lloyd). I would add, that we are concerned to ensure that, in cases where a substantial proportion of the control and the equity interest remains in non-resident hands, a comparable proportion of the total capital should be put up in appropriate foreign currency, from non-resident sources.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will identify the document by which the Treasury signified the opinion that British Transport Stock, 1978–88, was worth par on 1st January, 1948.

The Transport Act does not require the execution of any specific document; I will circulate at the end of this reply the text of the Minute of 1st January, 1948, in which the opinion of the Treasury is formally recorded.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how many Statutory Rules and Orders were issued during 1947; and how many were withdrawn during the same period.

During 1947, 2,916 Statutory Rules and Orders were made. Information as to those which were revoked or otherwise ceased to be in force during the year is at present being compiled, but is not yet complete.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what is the amount of annual income being received from investments overseas at the present time as compared with 1939.

Net income from interest, profits and dividends is estimated at £51 million for 1947, compared with £175 million in 1938. I regret that 1939 figures are not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the amounts allowed by the Board of Inland Revenue from profits in respect of depreciation or replacement of capital assets, including allowances made by virtue of the provisions of the Finance Act, and the total profits for each year 1912, 1920, 1932, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1945, 1946 and 1947; also for each same year the amounts allowed for obsolescence and the amounts allowed on a renewals basis.

This information, in so far as it is available, appears in the Annual Reports of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will set out in tabular form the total national income for 1914, 1920, 1929, 1938, 1946, 1947; the amounts for the same years of total wages and salaries; the average amount and totals paid by people on salaries and those receiving wages for the same years; and the amounts paid in Surtax and total Income Tax.

Official estimates of the national income and the national wage and salary bills of the United Kingdom in the calendar years 1938 and 1946 are set out in the White Paper on National Income and Expenditure (Cmd. 7099). No such estimates have been made for years earlier than 1938 and the estimates for 1947 are not yet completed. The amounts paid in Income Tax and Surtax in the calendar year 1938 and 1946 are also recorded in Cmd. 7099; the amounts paid in each financial year are, of course, regularly published in the Finance Accounts of the United Kingdom.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to what extent he estimates his housing programme may be accelerated as a result of the timber provided for under the Marshall Plan and the Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement, respectively.

It is not possible to estimate at the present stage what timber may become available to this country under the European Recovery Plan. Regarding timber under the Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement, I have no doubt that in the negotiations for which provision is made in the recent agreement, the question of timber will arise, and we shall hope to conclude a satisfactory agreement for such timber as is available. As to the housing programme, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the White Paper on Capital Investment in 1948 (Cmd. 7268) from which it will be seen that the programme is to be reviewed in the summer in the light of the amount of timber which we are likely to import this year.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what evidence was obtained by his Department's consumer needs service in support of the opinion that supplies of inexpensive pottery to the shops of Braintree, Essex, during the past six months were relatively greater than supplies to other districts; what inquiries were made locally; and what check is made from time to time by his Department on the manufacturers' claim that supplies are distributed fairly to small towns and villages remote from the places of manufacture.

Records of six months' pottery deliveries to the Braintree shops abstracted from retailers' invoices and related to the local shopping population, as shown by food registration records, were compared with a national standard derived from a series of similar investigations in all parts of the country and adjusted from time to time to take account of changes in the current level of output. The Board's regional distribution officers keep a constant watch on supplies in the shops. Assessments of the kind described are made where local under-supply of crockery is suspected, and, where it is proved, there is a long-standing voluntary arrangement whereby the potters make up local deliveries to the standard level.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why import licences are refused for furniture made in the Gold Coast.

In view of the restrictions imposed on our own furniture industry by the shortage of timber and the operation of the Utility scheme, furniture imports are limited to articles comparable in type, quality and price to home-produced Utility furniture, and to cases where no special currency problem arises. We would be prepared to consider applications to import from the Gold Coast furniture which satisfies these conditions, but no such applications have so far been received.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps are being taken to make supplies of cloth available for the home market to enable the clothing industry to make up the loss of 1,000,000 yards of extra cloth with which it is to supply the Ministry of Supply for the manufacture of demobilisation suits.

The Wool Control have arranged that clothing manufacturers who use their own cloth in making up suits for the Ministry of Supply will be able to reorder similar material from their cloth suppliers, and the latter will give priority to the production of this replacement material.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when the ban on prior exchange permits for importation to Argentina is likely to be lifted, particularly in view of the demand in that country for high class British goods.

Perhaps my hon. Friend will await the statement on the current trade negotiations with the Argentine which my right hon. and learned Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer hopes to make on Thursday.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when it is anticipated that more supplies of the goods most urgently needed will be available for the people; and if a plan of production has been worked out showing the dates and quantities of the urgent consumption goods that the people can look forward to.

Our production plans are necessarily aimed first at increasing exports so as to finance our essential imports, and increased supplies of consumption goods on the home market must depend on increased output, which is governed partly by the availability of raw materials and, in the important case of textiles, quite largely by the rate of increase of the labour force, Moreover, the absorptive capacity of foreign markets can never be accurately gauged and this is bound to impose an element of uncertainty into any calculations of the amount that will be available at any particular time for the home market.I am glad to say that home supplies of certain essential goods, for example, cutlery and perambulators, are already easier, but in other directions, for example, pottery, I can foresee no important change in the supply position for a considerable time. As regards clothing, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 27th January to my hon. Friend the Member for South Battersea (Mrs. Ganley) on the clothing ration.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many investigators from the market research section are employed touring the country to inquire from shopkeepers the number of infant nightdresses and carrying shawls they have sold during the past three months; and how much petrol is being used in this investigation.

A sample inquiry designed to provide information of practical value to the Board in planning the production of infants' wear was carried out by four officers. Sixty-nine gallons of petrol were used.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what are the estimated requirements of the cotton and woollen textile industry for the next two years in cotton carding engines, blowing room machinery, M.I. Type ring frame, ring frame conversions new comber, now being tested in prototype, woollen cording sets and worsted cords, and carpet looms and combers.

No estimates are available in the detail required by my hon Friend, but some indication may be obtained from the fact that, at the end of November last, orders on the books of the textile machinery industry for machinery for spinning and all processes preparatory to weaving, amounted to about £4½ million worth from firms in the cotton industry and £5¼ million worth from wool firms. Total orders for these machines amounted to £56½ million worth, most of which were from export customers. There are no separate figures for carpet looms and combs.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the shortage of wool suitable for hand knitting into stockings and socks for men; and what steps he proposes to take to increase the supply.

I have no information of the proportion of hand knitting wool supplies which is suitable for stockings and socks for men as distinct from other purposes. As regards total supplies of hand knitting yarn, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the answer given on 29th January to my hon. Friend the Member for Accrington (Mr. Scott-Elliot).

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware of the serious shortage of hotels in the city of Aberdeen; that two big hotels there, the Palace Hotel, damaged by fire, and the Station Hotel, recently derequisitioned, are lying idle; and what steps he is taking to see that there is adequate accommodation for overseas visitors available in Aberdeen.

I am consulting my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and will write to my hon. and learned Friend as soon as possible.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will reconsider his refusal to help a lady, details of whose case have been sent to him by the hon. Member for Louth, and who is unable, after suffering from infantile paralysis, to obtain the special shoes she requires without undue expenditure of money and coupons, since one foot is larger than the other.

The Board of Trade always try to help in cases where there is a particular need for special shoes. In the particular case to which the hon. Member refers, the lady concerned was recommended to a society who specialise in offering this service to the public.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what measures are taken to see that all firms to whom a paper allocation for the publication of books is made do in fact publish books; and whether he is satisfied that all such paper allocations are used for publications by the firms to whom they are made.

Publishers are required to give-an undertaking that they will not transfer any paper licensed to them for books to other publishers except with permission from the Paper Control. Inquiries are at present being made into certain groups of quota holders to check that proper use is made of any paper licensed for book production. If the hon. Member has any case in mind I shall be glad if he would send me particulars.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the shortage of grey lisle stockings which are an essential part of a nurse's uniform; and whether he will take steps to increase the supply.

I know that warm and durable stockings are at present less easy to obtain than light weight stockings, and I am endeavouring to correct this. But I am afraid that I cannot undertake to increase supplies of one particular type or colour for nurses.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the difficulty in the way of industry working for the export trade whereby certain upper leather imported for manufacture and re-export continues to be subject to an ad valorem Import Duty while the specific rebate allowed on re-exported leather goods and footwear under the Import Duties (Drawback) No. Order, 1932, is nil on some leathers and is in no case higher than 3d. per square foot; and whether he will amend this order so as to extend the rebate to cover all leathers and either change the basis of the rebate or raise the rate in order to bring it into line with present-day costs.

Representations have been received from the Boot and Shoe Manufacturers' Federation about the existing drawback arrangements for footwear and discussions with the federation about possible adjustments are now proceeding. I cannot anticipate the result of these discussions.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will consider the necessity for taking action to bring wholesale dealings in non-prepacked foodstuffs within the purview of the Sale of Food (Weights and Measures) Act, 1926, and thus provide protection for retailers against short weight in such articles.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 20th January to my hon. Friend the Member for South Tottenham (Mr. Messer). When a general inquiry into weights and measures legislation is made, it will include the consideration of its application to the wholesale supply of food.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether it is with his authority that some 300,000 women's coats, suits and dresses are to be sold for export to the British zone of Germany; and, in view of the shortage of clothing among British working-class women, if he will consider making these clothes available to the wives of workers in the essential and under-manned industries as a reward for their efforts and an incentive to further production.

Discussions are taking place with my right hon. Friend's authority with a view to selling women's coats and dresses to the British zone of Germany, since we must increase our exports of all kinds, including clothing, to all countries from which we can obtain an adequate return. If these discussions result in a sale, the purchase price will enable us to buy goods we need more urgently than the clothing which is exported.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when he will be able to allow the hairdressers of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, a further allocation of coupon-free towels.

The issue in 1946 was made from stocks of utility towels which had accumulated because they were unpopular with the public. Similar stocks do not exist now, and I cannot say when production will be high enough to make another issue.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when the war damage claim lodged by B. W. Eele, 25, Alpha Street, Kingsthorpe, Hullow, Northampton, at the Claims Office, Seven Sisters Road, in 1941, in respect of furniture destroyed at 36, Chalfont Road, Holloway, N.7, is likely to be disposed of.

The claim to which my hon. Friend refers was received in November, 1940, but it was unsigned and all efforts to trace the claimant failed until he himself wrote to the Insurance and Companies Department of the Board of Trade on 15th July, 1947. At that time the Department was, and has since been, engaged in the heavy task of paying out chattel claims and action on the claim in question was postponed. An assessor has been instructed to deal with the claim with a view to its early settlement.

asked the Minister of Labour if he has any statement to make regarding the outcome of the meeting of employers and trade union representatives called to discuss with him schemes for stepping up output in the cotton industry.

I assume that my hon. Friend refers to the meeting which my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade and I held with representatives of the two sides of the cotton industry on 27th January. I have at present nothing to add to the terms of the statement issued to the Press following the meeting, of which I am sending a copy to my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Labour how many workers have their weekly half-holiday on a day other than Saturday.

This information is not available.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) if he is aware of the anxiety of the employees at Messrs. Platt Bros., Oldham, owing to the transference of machinery for producing cotton carding engines from Messrs. Platt Bros., Oldham works to their works at Barton, near Eccles; and what measures he is taking to prevent consequent unemployment;(2) what his Department proposes to do to prevent a large number of highly skilled textile machinery producers becoming redundant as a result of the present policy of the T.M.M.

asked the Minister of Labour how many redundant workers from Textile Machine Makers Limited, Oldham factory, have been offered work through the Oldham employment exchange at Messrs. Textile Machine Makers Limited, Barton, factory.

I am aware that the employees at Messrs. Platt Brothers' Oldham factories have expressed concern at the transfer of certain types of production to Barton. The transfer is part of the long-term plan of Textile Machinery Makers to rationalise production in the various factories of the group so as to achieve maximum output on the most economical basis. I am informed that the group are satisfied that sufficient orders will be available to keep the factories fully employed. While it was thought possible that some of the employees of the Oldham works might be stood off temporarily, no redundancy has occurred and the latest information suggests that none will arise during the period of re-organisation.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will cause his Department to give the highly skilled textile machinery makers now becoming redundant at Platt Bros., Oldham, a prior opportunity of employment at the Barton works of the Textile Machinery Makers, Ltd.

I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to his other associated questions today.

asked the Minister of Labour how many disabled persons are now employed at the Oldham disabled persons training centre; and what is the maximum it is hoped to employ.

There is no disabled persons training centre at Oldham, and I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the training centre for the cotton industry there. This accepts for training disabled persons who are suitable for employment in the industry. Of the total of 38 men and 98 women now in training in the centre, three men are disabled. Three disabled persons are awaiting admission to the centre and it is hoped to arrange this shortly.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will give special attention to the difficulty in finding employment for disabled men in the Gravesend area; to what extent a corresponding difficulty exists generally throughout the country; and whether he will consider raising the necessary percentage of disabled men employed in larger establishments from 3 per cent. to some higher figure, either generally or in areas where special difficulty is experienced.

The number of registered disabled men unemployed on 19th January, 1948, at Gravesend was 105, of whom 77 are classified as capable of ordinary employment and 28 as severely disabled needing sheltered employment. Every effort is being made to find employment for these men in this area as in other areas where there is a similar problem. The position varies as between one area and another throughout the country but there is no power to fix special percentages for particular areas. Taking the country as a whole I am not convinced that an immediate increase in the percentage obligation would be appropriate or effective; but, in order to explain the position, I give the following statement on the measures taken to secure compliance with the existing obligation.

Total Letters Issued.	Replies received indicating:—				No reply:—
	Quota satisfied.		Visits requested.
	Number.	Percentage.	Number.	Percentage.	Number.	Percentage.
79,840	45,067	56·5	21,502	26·9	13,271	16·6

During the period 1st December, 1946, to 26th July, 1947, visits were paid to 12,500 employers who had requested them.A systematic programme of inspection was introduced last autumn, starting with those cases in which no reply had been received to the letter of inquiry. This programme will be pursued until all employers are covered but, as there are some 80,000 employers involved, it cannot be completed with the limited staff available before early next year. Special inspections are, however, arranged in the event of complaints or other evidence of non-compliance reaching my Department.

asked the Minister of Labour what were the number of registered disabled men recorded as unemployed in Great Harwood, Lancashire, and the total number of days unemployed and employed during 1947; and what efforts are being made under the quota scheme and otherwise to place them either in suitable employment or under sheltered conditions.

The number of registered disabled men recorded as unemployed at Great Harwood on 15th December last was 50, of whom six were classified as severely disabled and needing sheltered employment. Exact details of employment and unemployment by days during 1947 are not readily available, but in the 44 less severe cases the periods of unemployment were as follows:

• In 10 cases—8 weeks or less.
• In 6 cases—from 8–13 weeks.
• In 6 cases—from 13–26 weeks.
• In 9 cases—from 26–52 weeks.
• In 13 cases—for more than 52 weeks.

Continuous effort is made by the employment exchange, through direct approach to employers and otherwise, to find suitable employment for these men having regard to the individual disability.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the total intake of foreign workers to the textile industry expressed under appropriate headings such as Poles, European volunteer workers, prisoners of war, etc., with reference to the sections of the textile industry in which they are working.

Up to the end of January, 1948, a total of 1,633 members of the Polish Resettlement Corps and 3,791 European volunteer workers had been placed in employment in the cotton industry; 1,417 members of the Polish Resettlement Corps and 2,664 European volunteer workers in the wool textile industry; 635 members of the Polish Resettlement Corps and 918 European volunteer workers in the silk and rayon industries; and 564 members of the Polish Resettlement Corps and 295 European volunteer workers in other branches of the textile industry. The number of prisoners of war employed in the textile industry is negligible.

asked the Minister of Labour what are the numbers of prisoners-of-war and other foreign workers at present employed in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex.

This information is not available.

asked the Minister of Labour how many of the 13,174 street traders registered under the Registration for Employment Order were found to be bona fide traders; how many are to be offered essential employment; and how many have actually been found alternative employment up to the present.

Statistics of the numbers of street traders registered under the Registration for Employment Order who have been placed in other employment will be obtained at monthly intervals. The first returns will be available towards the end of February.

asked the Minister of Labour what are the latest numbers of unemployed men, women, boys and girls registered at Airdrie employment exchange and Shotts employment exchange, respectively.

The numbers of insured persons registered as unemployed on 12th January, 1948, at Airdrie and Shotts employment exchanges were as follows:

			Airdrie	Shotts
Men	…	…	773	233
Boys	…	…	25	2
Women	…	…	625	95
Girls	…	…	44	25
Total	…	…	1,467	355

asked the Minister of Labour what percentage of workers employed at the factories in the Chapelhall and Newhouse Industrial Estates have been drawn from Airdrie employment exchange and Shotts employment exchange, respectively.

I regret that the information in the form in which my hon. Friend asks for it is not available without a disproportionate amount of work. The total number of workers employed at Chapel-hall is 1,758 and at Newhouse 42. The number of applicants placed at Chapelhall since 1st July, 1947, from Airdrie employment exchange is 463, and from the Shotts employment exchange 21, while the placings at Newhouse from the Airdrie exchange are 9 and none from Shotts.

asked the Minister of Labour at what employment exchanges the 2,173 agricultural workers are registered as unemployed.

Small numbers were registered at a considerable number of employment exchanges. The table below shows the employment exchanges at which there were 15 or more wholly unemployed men registered for employment as farm workers at 8th December, 1947:

York	…	…	…	40
Penzance	…	…	…	38
Norwich	…	…	…	27
Amlwch	…	…	…	26
Llangefni	…	…	…	23
Hull	…	…	…	18
Wick	…	…	…	18
Boston	…	…	…	18
Scarborough	…	…	…	17
Skegness	…	…	…	17
Maidstone	…	…	…	16
Diss	…	…	…	15
Fakenham	…	…	…	15
Pwllheli	…	…	…	15
Redruth	…	…	…	15

The remainder were spread over a large number of local offices.

asked the Minister of Labour what were the unemployment figures in Ramsgate, Margate, Broadstairs and Sandwich, respectively, at the latest available date.

At 12th January the numbers of insured persons registered as unemployed at the employment exchanges in Ramsgate, Margate and Sandwich were 1,095, 967 and 252, respectively. There is no separate exchange at Broadstairs and the numbers unemployed in that area are included in the figures for Ramsgate.

asked the Minister of Labour under what circumstances local officers of his Ministry are not allowed to issue the latest available figures of unemployment in their areas to the Press and other interested bodies.

Instructions have recently been issued that figures may be released by local offices as soon as they are available after the monthly count of the unemployed.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will instruct his officers, who send workers to farms, not to send untrained men to do specialised work, such as milking, without notifying the farmer beforehand.

It is the practice of my local officers to endeavour to submit workers who are in all respects suitable for the vacancies concerned. They are instructed that, where any person is submitted for employment in which he is not fully experienced, the employer notifying the vacancies should be advised accordingly.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of clerks between the ages of 40 and 60 who are at present registered as unemployed.

This information is not available.

asked the Minister of Labour what percentage of firms in industry at 1st January, 1948, had joint production committees; and whether the number in existence showed an increase or decrease over 1st January, 1947.

This information is not available.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the hardship inflicted on those P.O.W.'s who have volunteered to stay in this country and are not being allowed to do this, he will consider making arrangements to enable them to take up work in undermanned industries such as textiles and coal mining.

I have nothing to add to the reply given to the hon. Member's previous Question on 30th October.

asked the Minister of Supply if he is aware that rubber machinery is still included in the Statutory Rules and Orders, 1945, No. 631, although rubber reclaiming machinery is excluded from that order, and in view of the fact that a high proportion of the same plant is common to both industries, will he take steps to annul the order.

No. The demand for rubber working machinery still greatly exceeds supply, so that it is essential to continue the control of production to ensure the best use of manufacturing capacity. There are similar difficulties in the supply of rubber reclaiming machinery, and the question of including it in this order is at present being considered.

asked the Minister of Supply what steps he is taking to remedy the acute shortage of electric light bulbs in Sunderland.

I was not aware of a shortage of electric light bulbs in Sunderland, but the trade associations concerned are making investigations and if they find that Sunderland is not receiving its fair share, further supplies will be sent to that area.

asked the Minister of Supply what progress has been made in the establishment of the Aeronautical Research Station in Bedfordshire; and whether in the interests of the future plans of churches, and welfare organisations generally, he will indicate which parish or parishes are likely to embrace the bulk of the new population which will eventually be housed in the area.

The preliminary work of road construction and site clearance is almost completed, but it will be some time before the first of the buildings is ready for use. It has not yet been decided where the houses for the staff will be built.

asked the Minister of Supply why priority has been granted for the manufacture of cars for London taxi-owners, while taxi-owners in Scotland are unable to secure supplies which is a serious hardship, particularly to Glasgow taxi-owners as the city magistrates have decided, in the interest of public safety, that all cars built prior to 1937 must be replaced.

Taxis are obtained from the manufacturers according to the orders placed and no priority has been granted or imposed. Present production is, however, not sufficient to meet the orders from London and Glasgow in full.

asked the Minister of Supply if he will give the number of cotton carding engines produced by Messrs. Platt Bros., Oldham, in the years 1913, 1923 and 1933; and the number produced by the Textile Machinery Makers, Ltd., in 1947.

It would be contrary to established practice to give details of the production of individual firms.

asked the Minister of Health what is to happen to the un-expired deeds of covenant to hospitals which are being taken over by the Government.

Like other endowments they will, in the case of teaching hospitals, pass to the new Boards of Governors and, in the case of non-teaching hospitals, to the Hospital Endowments Fund for use at the discretion of the hospital bodies for hospital purposes or research. They will not pass to the Exchequer.

asked the Minister of Health, in view of his announcement in circular 3, 1948, that Health Centres must be indefinitely postponed, what arrangements he is making for those young doctors who may be willing to accept service under the Act to be equipped with surgeries; and what arrangements, in view of the present building situation, he is making to provide the greatly increased institutional treatment promised by the Act.

The hon. Member seems to be under a misapprehension. No immediate substantial increase of building work under the Act has ever been promised or regarded as feasible, but I have made it quite clear that building development in all fields of the Act will be carried on as fast as conditions allow.

asked the Minister of Health when the financial grants for coast protection officially announced in January last year, will be made to local authorities who have already embarked upon considerable expenditure; and on what basis such grants will be calculated.

On receipt of certain details, for which the local authorities concerned have now been asked, decisions on the grants payable will be given without delay; the amounts will depend on the circumstances of the individual cases.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power how many dollars are saved by the net saving on the petrol issued to A, B and C vehicles of 100,000 tons a year.

A saving of 100,000 tons of petrol a year at current prices represents a saving of approximately 4,500,000 dollars.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he is aware of the serious shortage of materials for the building of overhead lines, including poles, steel cross arms, insulators and copper wire in the power and electrical supply industries in East Suffolk; and if he will take immediate steps to see that a higher allocation is made to meet urgent and immediate requirements.

The Departments concerned are doing everything in their power to make good the shortages which do not appear to be greater in East Suffolk than elsewhere. Meanwhile, as the licensing authority for wooden poles, my Ministry will continue, as far as possible to meet urgent and immediate requirements within those priority categories to which the issue of licences must in present circumstances be restricted.

asked the Minister of Works if he will state, in tons, the licences granted for the use of steel in each month of 1946 and 1947; the amounts licensed in the London area, Manchester area, North Staffs; the six principal type of buildings; and the purpose they are to be used for after construction.

There are no separate statistics of this kind.

asked the Minister of Works how much surplus Army and N.A.A.F.I. canteen equipment was disposed of for use in school canteens.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 26th January last.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has any statement to make on the subject of development of industry in the areas nearest to the source of the new hydroelectric supply.

The North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board are in negotiation with a number of firms who are considering developments in the highlands based on hydro-electric power. The Government for their part will do all they can to assist and I am considering how the investigation of the possibilities can best be carried further.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the Government intend to produce further films on Scottish affairs similar to the film Report on Industrial Scotland 1948.

Yes. The production programme for the Scottish Government Departments includes similar films.