asked the Minister of Health whether he will consider controlling inflated property values by pegging them; whether he is aware that the unchecked rise in property values on successive sales of houses increases rents and the cost of living generally; and what action is contemplated by the Government to check this growing menace.

The Government have fully considered this question, particularly in the light of the Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on the Selling Price of Houses, presented in August, 1945 (Cmd. 6670) and have concluded that the practical difficulties are such as to preclude effective legislative measures.

asked the Minister of Health if he will arrange for the same priority in housing allocation to be given to workers in the fishing industry as to agricultural and mine-workers.

I am conferring with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries as to the most appropriate action to be taken to meet the need.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that many local authorities in the mining areas of West Wales are seriously perturbed because they have not been granted allocations of the special aluminium bungalows for miners, in spite of repeated requests to the Welsh Board of Health; and if he will state why these requests were refused.

I am aware of these requests, but I regret that, owing to the limited number of aluminium bungalows available, it is not possible to meet them all.

asked the Minister of Health which local authorities in South Wales have received allocations of aluminium bungalows for miners; how many have been received by each authority; and on what principle were the allocations made.

The following local authorities in Wales have allocations of aluminium bungalows:

asked the Minister of Town and Country Planning whether he will make a statement about the outcome of the efforts of speculative builders to re-open the small and long-abandoned chalk quarry in the Chiltern Hills between Sharpenhoe and Sundor, Bedfordshire; and whether he will undertake to uphold the Planning Authority in resisting the people whose contemplated activities would despoil a bit of delightful downland.

I assume that my hon. Friend is referring to an application by Toddington Estates Limited to re-open the lime kilns and the chalk quarry, near Harlington, Ampthill, Beds. This is at present before me on an appeal by the Company against a refusal of permission by the Ampthill Rural District Council. I can assure my hon. Friend that I will give full weight to all relevant considerations, and I will inform him as soon as I issue a decision.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the names of the British delegates to the forthcoming World Conference on Trade and Employment.

My hon. Friend the Secretary for Overseas Trade will lead the United Kingdom Delegation to the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment to be held in Havana, and will return after the initial stages. Ministerial attendance will be arranged as required during the subsequent stages. The composition of the Delegation will be as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Trade if, in view of the fact that the only persons entitled to priority dockets when setting up a home are newly married couples and those who have been bombed out, he will consider extending their issue to single men and women setting up a home for the first time, in view of the high prices being asked for second-hand furniture and the difficulty in obtaining other household goods which do not require priority dockets.

I regret that to extend the scheme for utility furniture and household furnishings on the lines suggested by the right hon. Gentleman would increase the demand beyond the point where it could be met out of current resources.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of exports from this country during the three periods, January to June, 1946, July to December, 1946, and January to June, 1947, were made against cancellation of previous debts or other financial arrangements which would make such proportion of exports into unrequited exports.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the size of our adverse balance on current account for the period January-August, 1947; what was the magnitude of our national drawings on the American and Canadian loans; and if he will give details of the capital transfers in categories, of unrequited exports, payments in respect of the deficit on current account of the sterling area as a whole, other than the United Kingdom, and straightforward net conversion of pounds into dollars.

, pursuant to his replies [OFFICIAL REPORT, 28th October, 1947, Vol. 443, c. 45 and 30th October, c. 99–100], supplied the following information:I regret that after careful consideration I find that it is not possible to give a statistical answer to these Questions. Exports from this country are only one part of the total financial transactions between ourselves and other countries. I gave details, on 24th October, of the changes in sterling balances since July, 1946. These are the result of the total of dealings on both sides of the account, and one cannot relate any particular series of transactions, e.g., exports from the United Kingdom, to individual changes in the account as a whole.