asked the Secretary of State for War if the cut in pensions made in 1930–31 in the case of retired officers will now be restored, in view of the higher cost of living and increased taxation.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence to a question by the hon. Member for Westmorland (Mr. Vane) on 14th May.

Could we know what was the answer to that question? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that many of these officers are in sore straits, and that wound and other pensions have been increased?

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the answer was highly unsatisfactory, and does he recognise that failure to restore these pensions is a very great breach of honour?

On the previous occasion this Question was addressed to the Minister of Defence, who was answering for all three Services, and he said it was not possible to grant further increases on consolidated rates of retired pay beyond those obtained by applying the terms of the Pensions Increase Act, 1947.

Why should these retired officers who have served their country equally with others be singled out for a special act of injustice?

This matter has been debated very fully in the House on more than one occasion, and I have nothing further to add to what has been said.

Will the right hon. Gentleman go into this matter again? Why should the Civil Service, for instance, have very much more improved prospects for pensions than these retired officers, who surely might have at least the same?

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that many of these retired officers, through ill health and no fault of their own, are now incapable of getting any employment? Will he ask his right hon. Friends, particularly the Minister of Labour, to look into the matter?

Will the right hon. Gentleman refer to the last Pensions Act, of 1947? Is he aware that so far, that does not apply to officers of the Indian Army; and will he ask the Secretary of State for India to have that matter looked into, and register in his mind the profound dissatisfaction of many of these retired officers?

Will the right hon. Gentleman at any rate undertake to look at the matter again?

The matter is not entirely one for me. No doubt the Minister of Defence, who considers all these questions in relation to the three Services, will note what has been said in the House.

Will the right hon. Gentleman urge the Minister of Defence to do so?

asked the Secretary of State for War what progress has been made by the Manpower Economy Committee in his Department; what recommendations he has received; and what action he has taken.

This committee has held several meetings and instituted a number of investigations, which will necessarily take a little time. Action will be considered in the light of the results.

Will the Secretary of State say when the report will be available, and whether the recommendations of the committee will be reported to this House, so that we shall know what kind of inquiry is being made, and whether the committee are working with a real sense of urgency?

I do not think there is any doubt that they are working with a real sense of urgency, but it will be a long-term inquiry rather than a short-term one. We are asking for some sort of interim report as soon as possible.

Will my right hon. Friend undertake to announce the result of the work of this committee regularly, say, at three-monthly intervals?

As soon as I have anything of substance. I shall be glad to do that.

How many hours per week is this committee working? Will the Secretary of State stress that it is most important, in view of the fact that he has the job of economising in the use of manpower in the Service, that this committee should make urgent recommendations, and that he should take urgent action to implement those recommendations?

No, Sir. Short-term economies are a matter for me. For the long-term economies, I want the advice of the committee, and it will take some time before they can report.

asked the Secretary of State for War what rate of voluntary recruitment is required in the next 15 months in order to maintain an army of 425,000 at the end of 1948.

The figure of 425,000 to which my hon. Friend has referred, will, of course, be made up of Regulars and National Service men. The Regular content will ultimately be in the region of 220,000 and we should like to get some 4,000 recruits a month to hasten the build-up of our Regular Forces to this figure.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many of the 700,000 men and women in the Armed Forces at home are Army personnel; how many of these men and women are regarded as trained personnel; and what is their rôle.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence in the course of the Debate on the Adjournment this morning.

Is it not a fact that this figure is really nearer 800,000, and can the Minister explain why the Government find it necessary to have double the number of men at home at the moment than the total of the Forces of all three Services before the war?

The answer to the first part of that supplementary question is that I do not think it is nearer 800,000. In answer to the second part of the question, I think my right hon. Friend dealt with that this morning.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many of those who are at present serving on normal Regular engagements and on short-service engagements, respectively, are serving in the R.A., R.A.C., R.E., Royal Signals or infantry; and how many in other branches of the Services.

It would be contrary to present policy to give information about the detailed composition of the Army.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman remember that his hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary gave that information for the whole of the Army when replying to the Debate on the Army Estimates? Why is it, if his hon. Friend is allowed to give the figure for the whole of the Army, he is not allowed to give it for a part of the Army? Does that not make nonsense?

I should not like to reply to that observation without examining what my hon. Friend said.

Is there any precedent, in relation to any previous war, that two years after it has ended, information which has always been available to the House has not been given? Will the right hon. Gentleman give some reason?

The noble Lord will know that I have undertaken to see whether more information can be given in the Estimates next year. I am looking into that now, but I must remind the right hon. Gentleman that although before the war we gave a lot of information which was of value to the House, it was also of value to those outside the House.

asked the Secretary of State for War why prisoners of war billeted with farmers are not allowed to receive payment for bank holidays, although the farmers are charged for the full amount.

So far as I am aware, prisoners of war billeted on farmers are paid for all the hours they work, and this arrangement applies to all prisoners of war wherever and whenever they are employed.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there is, at any rate among some farmers in my constituency, a sense of injustice that they have to pay in respect of a bank holiday for the men-billeted upon them, and that the men themselves receive nothing?

There must be some misunderstanding here, because these prisoners of war are paid on the basis of a 48-hours working week, so that it does not matter when they work, whether it is a bank holiday or not. If my hon. Friend has any special case in mind, perhaps he will have a talk with me.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will issue extra coupons or dockets to agriculturists employing prisoners of war in process of civilianisation to enable them to acquire furniture, linen-, towels, etc., for the use of these workers.

I assume that the hon. and gallant Member refers-to those German prisoners who have agreed to stay beyond their time for repatriation, to work on the farms. These men are already given a small initial issue of coupons, as well as the proportionate share of the basic ration, and I doubt whether they need extra coupons and dockets for the purposes described as well. The matter is, however, under consideration.

Is not the Parliamentary Secretary aware that the Question does not refer so much to personal dockets as to household dockets, because the women have to supply the goods for the use of these workers?

That is one of the matters under consideration.

asked the Minister of Agriculture approximately how many German prisoners of war will be engaged in agricultural work at the end of September, 1947, and at the end of September, 1948; and what steps are being taken to fill the gap in agricultural manpower caused by their repatriation.

I expect that the number of prisoners of war working in agriculture in Great Britain at the end of September, 1947, will be about 110,000, and that by September, 1948, the great majority will have been repatriated. Plans are being prepared by my Department, in consultation with the other Ministries concerned, for recruiting labour from various sources towards the requirements of the new food production targets for the next few years which were announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in the course of the Debate on 6th August.

While welcoming whatever is done to speed up the repatriation of prisoners, may I ask my hon. Friend if he is satisfied that the recruitment from all the various sources will, on the present showing, be sufficient to fill this gap?

I assure the hon. Member that this is a matter which is engaging our every attention at the moment. We are preoccupied in placing European volunteer workers, a process which is proceeding with reasonable success.

But are they going to occupy the camps now occupied by the prisoners? How are they to be fitted in?

At the moment there are camps in the country which the European volunteer workers are taking over, but it is true that one of the chief problems is that of accommodation.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the steps taken so far to replace repatriated German prisoners of war are totally inadequate, and that by his own figures only 4,000 Poles from the Polish Resettlement Corps and only 2,000 ordinary European volunteer workers have been placed in the first six months of this year, and is it not time for a little energy to be shown in this matter?

I am very glad to tell the hon. and gallant Gentleman that a considerable improvement has been made since then, and that the figure now runs in the region of 10,000. Having regard to the short time since the European voluntary workers arrangement was made, that is pretty good going.

Is not the hon. Gentleman aware that instead of slave labour, what we want to employ is regular British farm labour, and can he say whether an effort will be made to get agricultural cottages built in the country, because 200,000 men are needed on the land?

I entirely share the hon. Gentleman's view as to the desirability of getting the greatest possible number of British workers employed regularly on our farms. That is a common aim which we all share. My own Ministry is, in contact with the farmers' organisations, considering how best this part of the problem can be met, and we are fully alive to the importance of housing in this matter.

May we know what are the sources from which the Government hope to recruit agricultural labour?

As I have already said, there are various sources of alternative supplementary labour——

Foreign?

Yes, they include European volunteer labour.

Have the Government considered the fact that there are already 65,000 Poles who cost us £10 a month each and are doing nothing, and are they not going to use these people for some useful purpose?

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that so far as my Department is concerned, we have certainly done everything we possibly can to encourage the Poles to work in British agriculture, and there are facilities available to them at the moment in this connection.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the total quantity of glazed-kid leather imported into this country from the U.S.A. during the last six months or the last period for which figures are available; and the cost in dollars.

In the first half of this year, 257,000 square feet were imported from the United States, having a c.i.f value of £38,800.

Is it not a fact that this leather used to come from East Africa direct to this country to be tanned, and is it not quite unnecessary to secure it from America? Will the Government arrange to import leather direct to this country and get it tanned here?

If we could import leather from East Africa to be tanned here, we should be very glad to do so. We have imported leather from America in order to make up our own necessary supplies.

Is it not the case that it has been imported from America because there is a Government arrangement with America whereby they import it from East Africa?

Not to my knowledge. The amount imported represents a very tiny proportion of the total amount sold on the home market in this country.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware of the shortage of gabardine raincoats for schoolchildren; and if he will arrange for greater supplies in the immediate future in answer to the representations made by the Lindsey Education Committee.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. and gallant Member for Chelsea (Commander Noble) on Thursday last.

As I was not present at the time that answer was given, and as I have seen a copy of a letter sent from the education committee, may I know if anything has been done?

The hon. Member can read in HANSARD the reply given last Thursday. A reply has been sent direct to the Lindsey Education Committee.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that surplus Army boots are being sold at 65s. a pair, free of coupons; how many pairs have been disposed of by his Department; to whom were they sold; at what price; and if he is satisfied that he received an adequate price for them.

Seventy-one thousand pairs of officers' surplus boots were sold on behalf of the Board of Trade to King's Industries, Ltd., of Brighton, at 26s. a pair. They were sold on condition that they would be exported and I am satisfied that the firm acted in good faith and resold the goods on the same conditions. A small proportion, however, appeared on the home market, and, with regard to these, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Harborough (Mr. Attewell) on 12th June, of which I am sending him a copy.

Is the Minister satisfied that the Government received an adequate price at 26s. a pair when these boots were sold freely in Leicester at 65s. a pair?

The price of 26s. was fixed as being, in the Government's view, a fair one. What happened subsequently is a matter for regret, and we are taking steps to see that it does not occur again.

May I ask whether, in view of the original reply, these boots were sold to these people for the purpose of export? Is there not something radically wrong when we allow these people to resell them and make a profit in this country?

I stated in my first reply that we are taking steps to avoid this sort of thing happening in future. We sold them to a firm to resell to other firms, who guaranteed to export them, and some of them did not honour their guarantee. We will take steps to see that it does not occur again.

Will the Parliamentary Secretary say how it is that these boots were sold for export when they are wanted in this country?

Will the Parliamentary Secretary say how the price of 26s. was arrived at, and whether the boots were put up for public tender?

The price of 26s. was arrived at by officials of my Department, who considered that it was a fair price. In view of the shortage at the moment, I have no doubt that it is possible to get more than a fair price, but it is not the Government's policy to get more than a fair price.

Will the Minister see that this scandal, in which boots sold at 26s. have been resold at 65s., does not occur again with any other firm?

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that supplies of English salt are now being withheld from the herring fishing industry; and, in view of the fact that imported salt is greatly inferior for the purpose of keeping the herring in good condition, whether he will make a supply of English salt available.

I regret that the available supply of coal does not permit the production of sufficient coarse salt for the fishing industry. Imported salt is not, however, inferior in keeping qualities.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to issue the report of the Lace Working Party.

I regret that it has not been possible to get this report into print earlier, but it will be published next Thursday.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether any artificial jewellery has been imported into this country since January, 1946; from which countries it has been imported; and what is the amount, expressed in dollars, expended.

The c.i.f. value of imports of jewellery made of non-precious metals and also of beads made of imitation stones, artificial pearls, etc., from January, 1946, to June, 1947, amounted to £366,000. Imports were mainly from Czechoslovakia (£170,000), France (£64,000) and the United States (£63,000). It is not possible to state the expenditure in terms of dollars.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what representations have been received from the Soviet authorities in regard to the reopening of the Anglo-Soviet trade talks; what reply has been returned thereto; and if he will endeavour to secure the reopening of these talks at the earliest possible moment.

The only representation received from the Soviet Government in this sense is an expression of hope that the negotiations can be recommenced. This was in a reply to an initiative taken by His Majesty's Government. Further discussions are at present held up pending the fulfilment by the Soviet Government of their obligations up to the 1st August under the terms of the Civil Supplies Agreement of 1941. These, of course, remain in force pending such provisions as may be agreed between the two Governments as part of a general agreement.

May we take it that, during the Recess, His Majesty's Government will continue to make every effort to reopen these very important talks?

The Government are always anxious to do anything they can to establish a trade agreement with the Soviet Government.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether one-man-pick-up balers are being manufactured in this country; if so, what is the estimated output for the next 12 months; or whether any steps are being taken to start production.

One-man pick-up balers are being manufactured in this country and the estimated output for the next 12 months is about 300 machines. Other manufacturers have plans for producing balers of this type and my Department will give every assistance, consistent with other agricultural needs, so that production can be increased.

In view of the fact that this machine is one of the greatest savers of manpower in agriculture at the present time, can the Parliamentary Secretary assure the House that the allocation of steel to the agricultural engineering industry will not in any way curtail the numbers of these machines able to be produced by the firms making them?

We are most anxious to increase the production of one-man balers to the maximum possible extent, and there would be no difficulty in finding the necessary raw materials.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what are the requirements of the agricultural industry during the next 12 months of the following machines: tractors, light, medium and heavy, potato harvesters, combine harvesters, grass-drying plants, pick-up balers, one-man, and other essential machinery; what is the estimated number of each that will be available on the market; and what steps he is taking to close the gap.

It is not possible at the present stage to give more than a general indication of the probable supply and demand position for agricultural machinery over the next 12 months. In the main we must rely on our own efforts to expand our agricultural machinery production and great efforts are being made to this end. While I cannot make any precise forecasts, I am hopeful that, during the next year, our increased home production of agricultural machinery will have enabled us to meet to a fairly full extent the demand for medium and light tractors, and equipment designed to work with them; that we shall have received both from home and overseas sources larger supplies of combined harvester-threshers and one-man pick-up balers than we have obtained this year, though there will still be a substantial outstanding demand for these machines; and that we shall be able to meet most other essential machinery requirements at any rate by the end of the 12 months, though some items, particularly hay machinery, are likely to be more difficult than others owing both to the production difficulties involved and the time factor. We are not likely to be able to meet more than part of the demand for heavy tractors and equipment, of which there is a serious shortage throughout the world and production of which cannot be rapidly expanded. The Government will take all practicable steps to provide the necessary facilities in the way of materials, etc., that can assist manufacturers to meet requirements.

May I ask, first, whether the answer which the Parliamentary Secretary gave to me on the last Question, regarding the steel allocation, also applies to his answer to this Question, and whether in fact, the answer given to me on 9th June by the Minister of Agriculture is now a dead letter, and whether the steel allocation to the engineering industry has been increased?

The hon. Member can rest assured that we are most anxious to make available to the agricultural engineering industry the utmost possible supplies of raw materials, so that we can increase to the maximum possible extent the supplies of various agricultural machines.

In view of the delay which often occurs between the dispatch of these implements from the works and their receipt by the farmer, will the hon. Gentleman endeavour to arrange for a very high rate of priority in their transport, and is he aware that I have received representations in this sense from one of my constituents?

I should be very obliged if the hon. Gentleman would draw my attention to any particular case because I appreciate the point he has made.

In view of the Ministry's efforts to increase home-grown food production, will the Government ensure that the home market has priority over the export market with regard to this agricultural machinery?

Certainly. The essential home requirements will come first

With regard to the allocation of steel, is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that the allocation by the Ministry of Supply to the whole of the agricultural engineering industry is only two per cent. of this year's output, and is he satisfied that that is sufficient?

I do not think we are entitled to complain too much on this matter. I would suggest that the hon. Gentleman should look at the monthly Digest of Statistics where one of the striking things is the very considerable increase in the production of agricultural machinery in this country. As a matter of fact, for the first quarter of 1946 the value was about £5,500,000, and for the fourth quarter it had increased to £7,500,000. which is pretty good going.

Would the hon. Gentleman ask his right hon. Friend the Minister of Supply to investigate to what extent the production of this vital equipment can be increased by rationalising design, reducing the number of products of very similar design on offer, and manufacturing longer runs of fewer types?

I appreciate the point of the hon. Gentleman's observations. He will know that there is an agricultural research body in being which deals solely with machinery, and anything we can do to standardise design is obviously very desirable.

Can the hon. Gentleman say whether, in the plan for stepping up production of machinery, and so on, which his Department has in view, they are not losing sight of the absolute necessity of adequate supplies of spare parts for this machinery—not only for that now being made, but for that already in existence, which is badly in need of them?

I can assure the hon. and gallant Gentleman that no one is more fully aware than I am of this very important question of the supply of spare parts. It is a matter which is before us day by day, and everything we can possibly do is being done. As far as home-produced agricultural machinery is concerned, there are not many difficulties The main difficulties apply to American-produced machinery.

Can my hon. Friend say whether the figures he gave from the Digest of Statistics refer to machinery for the home market or for both the home and export market?

It was an inclusive figure.

Could the Minister supplement his answer, in the OFFICIAL REPORT, by giving the individual figures which were asked for in the last part of the Question?

I do not follow the point the hon. and gallant Member is making.

The Minister was asked if he would give the estimated numbers of each of these various machines, but he did not do so, and I am asking if he could publish them in the OFFICIAL REPORT?

I am afraid not at this stage.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many officers of the Animal Health division of his Department have now received increases in salary equivalent to 30 per cent. to 45 per cent. of their prewar scales; and whether, in arriving at these figures, the bonus additions to basic rates have been included or excluded.

All the professional officers of superintending inspector rank and below who were employed in the Department at the outbreak of war are paid on scales which have been increased from 30–45 per cent. over their prewar scales. The question of bonus additions no longer arises since the staff are paid consolidated salaries.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the misunderstanding which exists with regard to recent salary increases for the veterinary staff of his Department, he will arrange for an explanatory statement in this connection to be made available for publication in the Veterinary Record, so that the full facts may be available to all members of the veterinary profession in this country.

Within the next few days I will send to the hon. and gallant Member an explanatory statement which can be made available for publication in the Veterinary Record or elsewhere.

Will the hon. Gentleman publish the statement so that members of the veterinary profession will know where they stand, and in order that the discrepancies which obviously occur may be explained?

As I have indicated, we shall send it to the hon. and gallant Gentleman, and if the parties concerned publish it, that is their responsibility, as I am sure the hon. and gallant Gentleman would agree.