asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what are the conditions under which non-military members of the Control Commission in Germany may consult German medical specialists; and why any such restrictions are necessary.

Except in Berlin, there is no restriction on the treatment of civilian members of the Control Commission by German specialists. In Berlin, under an order issued by the Allied Kommandatura this is forbidden for certain diseases unless permission has been obtained from the Chief Public Health Officer. I am inquiring into the reasons for this restriction and will write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why the survey of the economic situation of Germany is not yet available in the Library although promised on 17th November.

A copy of this survey was received from Germany yesterday and immediately sent to the Library.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what reports he has received of the revival of slave traffic in the Red Sea and elsewhere.

I have been asked to reply. The Saudi Arabian Government recently informed His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Jedda that eight natives of Eritrea had entered Saudi Arabia illegally in April, 1947, or thereabouts and asked him to arrange their repatriation. All eight stated that they had been persuaded to travel to Saudi Arabia by dhow owners with a promise of highly paid work in that country. On arrival they were, according to their own statements, sold as slaves and taken to Mecca, where in due course the transaction became known to the Saudi Arabian Government who liberated them. Reports that a certain number of other natives of Eritrea may have been kidnapped in similar circumstances are being fully investigated.

asked th Minister of Supply the number of employees, male and female, respectively, employed by Government transport pools for the year 1946 and first six months of 1947; how many of these are drivers and how many on other work such as care and maintenance, etc.

, pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 27th October, 1947, Vol. 444, c. 29], supplied the following information:In order to secure economy and control over the employment of cars for Government purposes, the Official Car Service was instituted by the Government on 17th June, 1946, to serve Government Departments in London and elsewhere. It had as its nucleus the Ministry of Supply Departmental Car Service which, at that time, employed the following:—

—		Drivers.	Maintenance Personnel.	Total
Male	…	25	15	400
Female	…	360	—

The Official Car Service is progressively replacing facilities formerly available through various departmental transport pools, transport units of H.M. Forces, W.V.S., other vehicles both private and Government owned, driven by officials themselves on duty, and hire and contract services. The extent of these former facilities cannot be accurately assessed, but in replacing them the strength of the Official Car Services has been built up as follows:—

—	Drivers.	Maintenance Personnel.	Total
1947:
1st January:
Male	76	27	707
Female	604	—
1st June:
Male	86	28	784
Female	670	—

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will take steps to prevent the continued cruelty of docking the tails of horses, a painful operation that deprives these animals of their only means of defence against flies in the summer.

I am advised that legislation would be required, and regret that no time is at present available for the purpose.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that at a Fascist meeting held at Rushcroft Road, Brixton, on 17th October, a police officer took the name and address of a spectator and gave them to the chairman of the meeting without having any suspicion or ground for belief that the spectator had committed any offence against the Public Order Act; and what steps he will take to see that his own declared policy in this matter will be observed.

I have made inquiries and am informed that the police officer who took the name and address of the man referred to did suspect him of having committed an offence against the Public Meeting Act, 1908. I am satisfied that the Metropolitan Police have been properly instructed as to the law in this matter.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedure should be adopted by the British mothers of illegitimate children of American Service men in order to secure financial assistance; whether any such assistance has yet been obtained as a result of representations made through his Department; and what information and documentary evidence is required to initiate action and to what address the application should be made.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in his reply to a Question by the hon. Member for West Leyton (Mr. Sorensen) on 12th November indicated the scope of the arrangements which it has been possible to make. In a number of cases allowances have been authorised by the United States Service Departments or Veterans' Administration under existing United States statutes; in a few others the putative father has undertaken payments as a result of representations made through His Majesty's Consuls. Any mother desiring assistance should write to my Department, or if she resides in Scotland to the Scottish Home Department, St. Andrew's House, Edinburgh, giving the facts relating to her claim, the date and place of birth of the child, the dates during which the putative father was stationed in this country, and his last known address in the United States.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he proposes to take to vary the hours at which licensed premises are permitted to open in areas where staggering of working hours takes place on a substantial scale.

I shall keep this matter under review in consultation with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister of Labour and National Service. I think it should be possible for the needs of the workers to be met in many cases by works canteens. In addition Section 55 of the Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910, enables the justices in England and Wales to allow special hours to clubs and licensed premises serving workers employed in the immediate neighbourhood.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the average daily calory value of the diet consumed at the latest convenient date by the inmates of His Majesty's prisons specifying any differences that there may be in the cases of different classes of prisoners.

The overall average calorific value of prison diets on 14th November, 1947, was 2,712. The figures for the various classes of prisoners are as follows:—

Local Prisons:
Men	…	…	…	2,860
Women	…	…	…	2,510
Boys	…	…	…	2,957
Girls	…	…	…	2,510
Convict Prisons:
Men	…	…	…	2,925
Women	…	…	…	2,510

In comparing the figure of 2,712 with the average for the whole population of 2,700 it must be remembered that 80 per cent. of the prison population consists of males engaged on manual labour, and that the calorific value of the diet of an ordinary industrial worker, including unrationed foods and rations provided to canteens, would be substantially above the figure of 2,700.

asked the Minister of Works what is the cost of the works under construction at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell, in excess of the £1,343,375 which was the sum expended by the beginning of February, 1945; what is the estimated date when the work will be completed, and what proportion of this figure represents wages and salaries paid to the contractors for their workers.

No expenditure was incurred on Harwell works by February, 1945. The £1,343,375 was an estimate prepared late in 1946, on the information then available, of the total cost to date. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Supply considers that it would not be in the public interest to disclose the total estimated cost. The relationship of wages and salaries to the total cost varies widely over the many different jobs and to present it in the form of a percentage of the whole would involve a great deal of work and would be misleading. It is not possible at present to say when the work will be completed as developments are continuing on this novel project.

asked the Minister of Works the amount of licences granted in connection with the holiday camp near The Priory, at Christchurch, Hants, the purpose for which such licences were granted; and upon whose representations.

A licence authorising an expenditure of £3,200 was granted last February to the Wick Ferry Holiday Camp at Christchurch, Hants, for the erection of second-hand huts and incidental work to provide facilities for holidays. The work had the support of the local authority.

asked the Minister of Defence if he will give a statistical analysis of the male intake and wastage of officers and men in the Regular Armed Forces, showing separate figures for the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, and the Army, respectively, by monthly totals for the period January to September, 1947.

I regret that statistics are not maintained in precisely the form required by my hon. Friend. I hope, however, that it will be sufficient for his purpose if I indicate the growth of the Regular Forces in this period in the following way:As regards intake the monthly totals of acceptances (officers and men) for the Regular Forces during the first nine months of 1947 were:

1947.	Royal Navy.	Army.	R.A.F.
January	2,826	5,103	6,480
February	2,295	4,796	4,230
March	2,121	4,350	4,130
April	2,422	3,873	4,010
May	1,594	3,709	4,440
June	1,686	3,553	4,000
July	2,136	3,665	3,430
August	1,779	3,006	2,240
September	2,154	3,967	2,470
Total—January September	19,013	36,022	35,430

The strengths of the Regular Forces at the beginning and end of the period were:

—		R.N.	Army	R.A.F.
31.12.1946	…	100,600	126,000	69,500
30. 9.1947	…	109,000	154,200	94,500

The net quarterly increase was as follows:

—	R.N.	Army	R.A.F.
1st qtr. 1947	3,500	10,000*	5,600
2nd qtr. 1947	3,000	10,400*	11,500
3rd qtr. 1947	1,900	7,800	7,900
TOTALS	8,400	28,200	25,000

asked the Minister of Food what increases and decreases took place in the prices of controlled foodstuffs between 1st January and 1st November 1947.

I will send my hon. Friend a list giving the information asked for

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has yet reached a decision regarding the inadequate allocation of urea and butyl alcohol to British Paints, Ltd., and the present allocation of phenol and cresol to the Bladon factory of this firm; and whether he is aware that this matter has been under consideration by his Department since September, 1946, and that a decision was last promised in a letter dated 1st September, 1947.

I am aware that the question of the raw material requirements of British Paints, Limited, has been frequently reviewed by my Department since September, 1946, but I regret that in the absence of any material improvement in the supply position of urea and butyl alcohol, it has not been possible to allocate more than small additional supplies to them. I understand from my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Fuel and Power, that the position regarding phenol and cresol is similar. British Paints, Limited, have been advised to get into touch with suppliers of cresol and have been offered the co-operation of the By-Products Branch of the Ministry of Fuel and Power. Allocation of cresol is impracticable in view of the large number and type of specifications of the varying requirements. There are no cresols available in this country, but this firm has been given a licence to import a substantial part of their requirements of phenol over the next six months.

asked the Minister of Transport on what authority permission was granted for oil tankers JTU 54, JMB 19 and EBU 9 to make a journey of some 200 miles in order to deliver fuel oil to an hotel in London on the night I5th–16th November, 1947.

Specific authority for individual journeys is not normally required. I am making inquiries as to whether these particular journeys were within the purposes for which fuel was authorised.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will give an estimate of the number of journalists who are out of employment as a result of the recent reduction in the size of newspapers; and what action is being taken by his Department to find suitable alternative employment for them.

Information is not available on which to base the estimate desired. As regards the second part of the Question, my Department will give to those who register for employment every possible assistance in finding alternative work.

asked the Minister of Labour what consultation he had with the Minister of Food before deciding to direct barrow boys to more useful work.

The decision to register street traders with a view to their transfer, in appropriate cases, to more useful work was taken by the Cabinet.