asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the dismissal of Messrs. Rickards, Pretty and Dugdale, members of the technical staff of his Department; and whether he is satisfied that the Department, in dismissing these officers, has taken into account the Redundancy Agreement entered into between the staff and the official sides of the National Whitley Council, the preference by the Government for the retention of ex-Service men of the 1914–18 war and the obligations of the Government to disabled officers.

Yes, Sir

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether men directed to the mines, on being released, will be given extra clothing coupons comparable to the amount granted ex-Servicemen, in view of the fact that while in the mines they used 37 out of 60 civilian coupons for essential mining clothes in addition to the 10 extra coupons allowed to them.

No. I am satisfied that the arrangements made for meeting the special clothing needs of miners (which include, besides extra coupons, coupon free supplies of a considerable amount of special clothing and footwear) take due account of the extra wear and tear on their clothing.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, having regard to the importance of the sail-making industry to the British export trade and to the necessity of maintaining the industry in a high state of efficiency, he will take steps to increase the production of cotton yarn for sail-making purposes in order that deliveries to firms engaged in this industry may be resumed at the earliest possible date.

As far as I am aware, deliveries of cotton yarn for sail-making purposes are being made against past allocations. New allocations for export purposes, including exports of sail cloths and sails, have, however, been suspended at present in view of the heavy arrears of production in the cotton industry. I hope that firms engaged in sail-making will be able to place fresh orders for future delivery at an early date.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he is aware that Wickhall flats, Hove, with over 400 residents, were allocated 621 tons of coal for 1946–7, and were still unable to have central heating after 31st January or any hot water for baths or kitchens for three weeks in February; that they have now been allocated 346 tons only for 1947–48; and whether, in view of the extra coal-gas and electric fires that will have to be used in individual fiats, he will have this allocation raised.

I assume that the hon. Member is referring to coke, as the allocation to this block of flats is coke and not coal. I regret that a mistake was made in calculating the 1947–48 coke allocation for the Wickhall flats, Hove. The coke supply position generally, however, is under review, and the flats will be notified as soon as possible about the amended allocation.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what arrangements have been entered into, or are contemplated, whereby the U.S.S.R. receives from us industrial and scientific secrets in return for supplies of materials.

I am not aware of any arrangements of the kind referred to by the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the police have completed their inquiries to ascertain the persons responsible for the publication and distribution of the seditious leaflet issued in the Edgware district during Easter week; and whether he will make a statement in connection with the distribution of these anti-Semitic leaflets.

I regret that exhaustive police inquiries have so far failed to discover who printed or published this leaflet.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the Castle Street school, Plymouth, has not yet been derequisitioned; and whether he is aware that adequate arrangements for the accommodation of those children remaining at school until 15 years of age are much impeded by withholding from the local education authority the use of this building.

The release of this school has been held up owing to the difficulty of obtaining alternative accommodation for the firemen who are stationed there. The alternative premises have now been secured, the necessary adaptations have been started, and it is hoped that they will be completed in about two months' time, when the school will be vacated.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the rule in the past in providing for the protection of leading Ministers of the Crown.

The practice has been to authorise personal protection of Ministers in cases in which, and for so long as, this is considered necessary or desirable.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that wives of Service personnel serving in B.A.O.R. and who are living with their husbands in Germany, are debarred from having their names placed on the Register of Absent Voters; and if he has now finished his consideration of the Report of the Committee on Electoral Registration and will make a statement.

The position is still as stated in my reply to the noble Lord, the hon. Member for South Dorset (Viscount Hinchingbrooke) on 20th March.

asked the Minister of Health whether in view of the increasing birthrate and the clear evidence that German measles in the mother can produce serious defects in the unborn child, he will make this a notifiable disease, so that precautions can be taken to prevent its spread to those most liable to be adversely affected by it.

The effects of this disease in pregnancy are being investigated in conjunction with the Medical Research Council, and perhaps my hon. Friend will let me have the evidence he refers to. I should prefer to await the results of this investigation before considering the matter futher.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that villagers in Costoch, Notts, have to walk half-a-mile to get water for 12 council houses because their wells have been condemned as unfit for use; that his attention was first drawn to this state of affairs by the hon. Member for Rushcliffe in 1945; and whether he will take steps to provide water for these houses since there is no shortage of the necessary waterpipes.

I am aware of the need. A scheme for the area was ready for approval, but owing to the shortage of steel I am unable for the moment to release the materials required for it.

asked the Minister of Health why he is preventing Mr. Robert Moran from building a bungalow in Carlton, Blackpool, when he has building materials available and is at present living in a two-roomed house where there are three adults and two children.

The circumstances have already been explained by letter to the hon. and gallant Member. The allocation of the limited number of licences which can be issued in the district this year is within the discretion of the local authority, and they have not granted one to Mr. Moran.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that architects to local authorities are being prevented from proceeding promptly with the acceptance of contracts for the building of houses through the shortage of extra copies of bills of quantities and incidental documents stipulated for by his Department; and if he will arrange for a more adequate supply of these documents to be made available.

Adequate supplies of bills of quantities and other documents are now available and local authorities should have no difficulty in obtaining extra copies where required.

asked the Minister of Health how many applications have now been made by local authorities for the higher rate of subsidy in respect of the number of new houses allocated to the agricultural population since 28th November, 1946.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Northern Norfolk (Mr. Gooch) on 15th May last, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the value of the gold held by, and belonging to, the Bank of England on 1st May, 1947.

£247,833.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury when he intends that additional copies of the Report of the Canadian Royal Commission on the Gouzanko case will be available for sale in the United Kingdom.

So soon as they are received from Canada.

asked the Minister of Education if he is aware of the anxiety arising from the decision of the Lancashire education authority to institute a file record card for every schoolchild in respect of its home life; what representations he has received from the Citizens Association of Stretford; and what action he is taking in the matter.

I am informed that the Lancashire local education authority has not yet authorised the issue of a standard record card for use in schools, although a draft is under consideration.

asked the Minister of Education if he will circularise the local education authorities and the governors of maintained grammar schools to the effect that the Ministry has no objections to three of the 10 days' holiday allowed, beyond the main 12 weeks, being used on Mondays at the beginnings of terms, and that the Ministry advises such authorities always to consult the wishes of grammar school staffs in the matter of the use of the 10 days.

The hon. Member is under a misapprehension. The occasional holidays which, as I indicated in my answer of 28th April, may be granted in term time are intended to be breaks in the term.

asked the Minister of Supply how many motor-cars manufactured since the end of the war have been allotted to home users; what the proportion is to the number exported; and how many motor-cars of U.S. make have been licensed for entry into this country for the same period.

Between 1st January, 1946, and 30th April, 1947, 162,556 motor-cars were produced for the home civilian market and 137,065 for export. I am informed by my right hon. and learned Friend the President of the Board of Trade that during the same period 304 motor-cars were licensed for entry from the U.S.A. into this country.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation if he will publish the terms of reference and the names of the members of the Civil Aircraft Research Committee of the Aeronautical Research Council.

I have been asked to reply. The terms of reference of the Civil Aircraft Research Committee of the Aeronautical Research Council are as follow: (1) to consider the basic research problems arising from the evolution and operation of civil aircraft, having regard, inter alia, to the probable requirements of the operators; (2) to recommend periodically to the Council programmes of research; (3) to report to the Aeronautical Research Council. The names of the members are:

asked the Minister of Agriculture what are the latest figures for prisoners of war still remaining in this country who are employed in industry and agriculture; and what steps are now being taken to replace the labour force now working on the land by the time all prisoners of war are returned to Germany.

I am informed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War that the number of prisoners of war employed in Great Britain at the end of April was 168,379, of whom 118,747 were employed in agriculture and 49,632 in industry. For an account of the measures which the Government are taking to assist and supplement the recruitment of labour by the industry itself, I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement which I made on the subject in the course of the Debate on the Distribution of Manpower on 19th March last.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will order the Bucks A.E.C. to release the requisitioned common at Newport Pagnell to the commoners entitled to the grazing rights, in view of the misuse of this land, of which he has received particulars, and inquire into these and other misuses of food and cause those responsible to be dealt with.

In 1942, with the concurrence of the common holders, the Buckinghamshire war agricultural executive committee took possession of Bury Field, and let it under a contract of tenancy. The crops grown subsequently on the 114 acres of this common under arable cultivation have made a valuable contribution to the national larder and I feel that, for the time being, this land must continue to produce crops instead of reverting to grazing land. The evidence I have does not indicate any misuse of this land, but I am making a further investigation into the allegations which the hon. Member has transmitted to me, and will write to him.

asked the Minister of Works whether he proposes to take any further steps to review the prices of building materials.

Yes. My Department continues to exercise price control in accordance with the principles set out in the statement upon the price control of building materials published last November. In order to assist in this matter I have appointed an independent committee whose terms of reference are:

"To consider and keep under review the prices of building materials, and to make recommendations."

The Chairman of the Committee is Sir William Palmer, and the other members are:—Mr. P. F. Carpenter, Chartered Accountant; Mr. Luke Fawcett, General Secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers; Professor Arnold Plant of the London School of Economics; and Mr. John Ryan, Director of the Metal Box Company, Ltd. The Secretary of the Committee is Mr. D. F. Mann, of the Ministry of Works, Lambeth Bridge House.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he proposes to take any further steps to review the cost of house building in Scotland.

Yes. I shall continue to exercise the closest control over the cost of houses built by local authorities. In addition, I have appointed an independent committee with the following terms of reference:

"To consider and keep under review the costs of house building in Scotland and to make recommendations."

The Chairman will be G. P. Laidlaw, Esq., O.B.E., and the members of the Committee are Robert Adam, Esq., O.B.E.; Lockhart W. Hutson, Esq., O.B.E., F.R.I.B.A., F.R.I.A.S.; James McInnes, Esq., M.B.E.; Alexander McKellar, Esq., C.A.; Eric Maxwell, Esq., F.S.A.A.; J. S. Paterson, Esq.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what provision is made by Scottish education authorities for teaching children whose speech is defective and curing their defects; how many, and in what Scottish schools, speech therapists are employed; what are their qualifications; and what is their record of success or failure.

pursuant to his reply (OFFICIAL REPORT, 3rd June, 1947, Vol. 438, c. 32), supplied the following Particulars:The ten education authorities who employ speech therapists are: Aberdeen (Burgh), 4 (I post vacant); Dundee, I; Edinburgh, 2 (I post vacant); Glasgow, 5; Ayrshire, 4; Dumbarton, 3; Fife, 4 (2 posts vacant) Kirkcudbright 1; Lanarkshire 1; Midlothian, 2—total 27. The authorities who make use of provision made by neighbouring authorities are Aberdeenshire, Banff, Kincardine, East Lothian, Roxburgh, Angus.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether Service personnel are allowed to write direct to Members of Parliament holding Service departmental offices.

There is no discrimination in this respect between one hon. Member and another whatever his profession or employment outside this House.