asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation what discussions he has had with the Canadian Company for the use of the D.C. 4M aircraft by the British Airways Corporations.

None.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation what is the comparative cost for his Department's provision of airport services at other airports, such as Heathrow and Northolt, similar to those services provided under a management contract at Prestwick, and which he has stated to be £103,918.

No such comparison can be made.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether it is proposed to take any steps to obviate the hardship caused by the failure to implement the Peace Treaty with Germany on relatives of Germans posted missing in the late war, whose death cannot be presumed until the end of one year from the date of the ratification of peace.

There appears to be some misunderstanding regarding the present position. In cases where a member of the German Armed Forces has been posted as missing and there is evidence that his decease is highly probable, a German Court may make a declaration of death at any time. Where, however, there is no evidence or insufficient evidence of death, German law previously provided that a declaration of death could be made after a lapse of one year since the end of the year in which peace had been concluded or military operations had ceased. Owing to the peculiar circumstances now obtaining in Germany, the German authorities in the British zone, with the approval of Military Government, in December 1946, amended the rule in the sense that the period of one year is to run from a date yet to be appointed. The fixing of the appointed date will depend on a number of factors, including the return of the prisoners-of-war from countries which were not signatories of the Geneva Convention and are, therefore, under no obligation to report the names of prisoners held, or their deaths, to the International Red Cross. It will be seen, therefore, that the delay in not due to the failure to conclude a Peace Treaty, but rather to the difficulty of obtaining evidence of death and that the law in the British zone is designed to protect not only the missing persons but also their relatives from the consequences of a mistake.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in the interests of German export trade and with the object of lessening the expenditure of this country in maintaining the British zone, he will review with the Americans the price fixing system which in its present form is a brake on the expansion of Germany's future peace-time production.

A review of the German price structure is now being undertaken on a quadripartite basis in Berlin with a view to expanding German production both in the domestic and foreign markets.

asked the Minister of Defence if he will now estimate the size of the Armed Forces of the Crown on 30th June, 1948, and 31st December, 1948.

A statement regarding the size of the Forces in 1948–49 will be made in the White Paper on Defence, to be published next month, and I would ask my hon. Friend to await its publication.

asked the Minister of Defence what is the purpose of retaining in existence the Anglo-American Combined Chiefs of Staff Board in Washington.

The Anglo-American Combined Chiefs of Staff Board in Washington is retained to discharge military responsibilities on Anglo-American commitments and interests connected with combined Command problems of the last war.

asked the Minister of Food if, in view of the potato shortage, he will now restore the loaf to its full one or two lb. weight.

No.

asked the Minister of Food if in view of the serious effect on nutrition of the shortage of potatoes combined with bread rationing, he will consider some relaxation of the latter at least for the time during which potatoes are in short supply.

When potato rationing was introduced, we were glad to be able to provide an additional bread allowance of 7 oz. per week for children and adolescents of five to 18 years. No further relaxation of bread rationing is at present contemplated, although if the potato situation deteriorates badly, we should, if possible, increase the bread allowed to certain categories of consumer.

asked the Minister of Food what special provision is made in allocations to hotels and other catering establishments for the provision of meat for Jews by slaughtering animals by the Jewish method.

None, but catering establishments which cater in the main for Jews can register for meat with kosher butchers, who are allocated meat which has been slaughtered by the Jewish method.

asked the Minister of Food if he will publish a list of the increases and decreases in the prices of controlled foodstuffs during 1947.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to his question on 11th December.

asked the Minister of Food what were his reasons for decontrolling the price of mackerel; what was the last controlled price of mackerel; what is the retail price now or at the last convenient date in London and in the East Midlands; and whether he is prepared to re-impose control at the last controlled price.

The price of mackerel was decontrolled because the market price during the summer season had been well below the statutory maximum price. Mackerel is not plentiful until summer and it was also my right hon. Friend's policy to encourage heavier landings in the autumn and winter months. I am glad to say that twice the quantity was landed in the last four months of last year compared with 1946. The controlled maximum retail price was 6½d. per lb. In London last week, retail prices ranged from 1s. 3d. to 1s. 8d. per lb. In the East Midlands, hardly any mackerel has been on sale recently; one consignment sold before Christmas fetched 1s. 4½d. per lb. retail These prices naturally reflect the general scarcity of all fish supplies at this time of year. While my right hon. Friend would be reluctant to re-impose control of mackerel prices, the possibility will be considered again in the course of the next review of fish prices generally.

asked the Minister of Food if he will state for 1946 and 1947, respectively, the value and weight of the principal foodstuffs consumed in the United Kingdom; the breakdown in each year in respect of each of the foodstuffs rationed, giving estimates where precise figures are not available, between domestic purchases by households, including value at farm prices of produce consumed on farms and value of welfare foods, purchases by restaurants and hotels, purchases by category A catering establishments other than restaurants and hotels, purchases by category B catering establishments, purchases by the services of food for the Armed Forces in the United Kingdom, and ingredients used for the production of manufactured foods.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Newport (Mr. Peter Freeman) on 6th August, 1947, and to the White Paper on National Income and Expenditure (Cmd. 7099). Corresponding figures for 1947 are not yet complete. I regret that a more detailed analysis is not available.

asked the Minister of Food what proportion of the bread units surrendered by bakers are counted by food office staffs.

The proportion checked varies from month to month.

asked the Minister of Food to state in detail the amount of foodstuffs exported from Britain during 1947; and the stocks of food in Britain on 1st January, 1948, as compared with 1st January, 1947.

Below is a statement giving the exports of food in the year 1947. Full details of the exports will be found in the December Trade and Navigation Accounts which were laid on the Table of the House yesterday. Stocks of food and feedingstuffs in the United Kingdom amounted to 4,762 thousand tons on 1st January, 1948 and 4,033 thousand tons on 1st January, 1947.

asked the Minister of Food what steps are being taken by his Department to encourage exports of high grade British fruit and particularly apples.

The demand in this country for home grown high grade fruit, particularly apples, is still far from satisfied. Until there are signs of the demand being met, my right hon. Friend would not feel justified in encouraging exports.

asked the Minister of Food what will be the cost of the various feedingstuffs which he has purchased from Russia when landed in this country.

It would not be in the national interest to give this information just now.

asked the Minister of Food when His Majesty's Government stated its needs under the Marshall Plan, what request for fresh fruit over the period July, 1948, to June, 1952, was included; and what was the proposed proportion of apples and pears.

The figures included in the Paris report for fruit for the three periods beginning in mid 1948, mid 1949 and mid 1950 respectively were: 2,074,000, 2,274,000 and 2,280,000 metric tons. The figures were not sub-divided into separate categories of fruit. No figures were included beyond mid 1951.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the total amount of funds of the Native Administrations in Nigeria; what use is made of these; and how much is invested outside Nigeria.

The total ordinary revenue of the Native Administrations of Nigeria for 1945–46 was £2,430,168 and their surplus balances on 1st March, 1946, amounted to £3,100,026. No more recent figures are available here. About half of the total recurrent expenditure is devoted to general administrative purposes such as district and village administration, judicial, treasury, police and prisons, and with the remainder provision is made for agriculture, education, forestry, health, public works and other services of a local character. £1,580,400 of the surplus balance is invested outside Nigeria.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps have been taken by his Department and the local government to secure the development of electricity supply and distribution in Uganda.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Dodds-Parker) on 6th August last, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what reasons account for the recent drastic increase in the price of West African cocoa; and how far it is due to a lack of European supervision and pest control in the cocoa growing areas.

The increase is part of a rise in world prices for cocoa resulting from a decline in production accompanied by the maintenance of demand on the prewar lever or higher. The decline in output in British West Africa is due partly to disease and partly to exhaustion of old cocoa areas. The only effective means of eradicating the disease so far discovered is to cut out the trees affected, and that task is being vigorously tackled by the Gold Coast Government; but as it takes some years for new trees to come into bearing I fear that the degree of success of that campaign is not a very material influence on the current price.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many British civilians, soldiers and police, respectively, have been killed in Palestine in the last six months of 1947 and to date in January, respectively.

The numbers are as follow: In last six months of 1947: civilians 6, soldiers 29, police 25. From 1st January—18th January inclusive: civilians 3, soldiers 9, police 6.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what reply has been sent to a telegram from the Sarawak Dyak Association and the Malay National Union of Sarawak, addressed to him on about 11th December, 1947, a copy of which has been sent to him.

The Governor of Sarawak has been asked to reply to the telegram, on behalf of the Prime Minister, reminding the senders of the reasons for Mr. Brooke's exclusion from Sarawak.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty the number of cases in which refunds have been claimed from ex-naval personnel after all clear chits have been signed.

Save for a few classes of wartime entrants who are signed off under mercantile practice, there is no regular system of all-clear chits for naval officers and ratings. Only in a very few cases, compared with the total number of releases from the Navy, has it been necessary to take action to recover debts to the Crown from ex-naval personnel, but without a disproportionate expenditure of time and labour it would be impracticable to ascertain the number of cases in which a claim has been made.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what Royal Naval installations there are in Palestine; and how much it is proposed to dismantle.

The only significant Royal Navy installations remaining in Palestine are three comparatively small storage depots. The movable assets from these depots have been included in the tonnages of stores which it is hoped to remove from Palestine before August, 1948.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty if he will reconsider the question of non-recognition of the Amalgamated Association of Royal Dockyard ex-apprentices and apprentices, in view of the fact that they were established for many years before 1927 and were received by the Admiralty prior to that date on a number of occasions.

No, I am satisfied that existing Whitley machinery provides adequate facilities for dealing with any grievance which may arise relating to pay and conditions of service of Admiralty workpeople.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty the number of persons, both naval and otherwise, employed in Admiralty establishments in the London area now and in 1938, respectively.

The total number of Naval, Royal Marine, W.R.N.S. and civilian non-industrial personnel employed in Admiralty establishments in the London area, including the Admiralty itself, on 1st January, 1938, was approximately 4,950 and on 1st January, 1948, approximately 8,700.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what recommendations he has received from the Manpower Economy Committee in his Department; and what steps he proposes to take.

The Admiralty Manpower Economy Committee has not yet completed its work. It has rendered an interim report which is now under consideration by my noble Friend.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty how many men are still serving in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines who joined as boys in the early days of the war when recruiting on "Hostilities Only" engagements in branches of their choice was not open.

The numbers of men still serving who entered as boys at the time when men were not being accepted for "Hostilities Only" engagements cannot be given without a disproportionate amount of work. I should, however, point out that at no time was recruiting on "Hostilities Only" engagements open to boys who entered the Navy at the age of 15–16.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty if he will give an assurance that the aerial bombing practice operations which his Department propose to carry out in the sea areas off the Mull of Kintyre and the Islands of Gigha and Islay will not in any way interfere with the steamer services to the Islands of Gigha and Islay.

No air bombing practices are carried out by naval aircraft off the Mull of Kintyre or the Islands of Gigha and Islay, nor it is proposed to carry out such practices in this area except in times of emergency.

asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware that pillar boxes in the Moorgate area are so crammed with mail, that those who wish to post letters at 6 p.m. are unable to do so; and what action he proposes to take.

All pillar boxes in the Moorgate area are cleared regularly throughout the day and at frequent intervals between 4.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. No difficulty has hitherto come under notice, but if the hon. Member will furnish me with details I will look into the matter.

asked the Postmaster-General how many applications for the installation of telephones have been made in the City of Manchester; and how many telephones have been installed during 1947.

During 1947 10,140 telephones were applied for in the City of Manchester and 11,285 installed.

asked the Postmaster-General how many individual tele- phones were installed in 1938; and how many in 1947.

379,520 telephones were installed in 1938 and 624,809 in 1947.

asked the Postmaster-General what instructions are issued to post offices in Great Britain with regard to the acceptance of Scots one pound notes when tendered.

The standing instructions to all post offices in Great Britain provide for the acceptance of a Scottish bank note where there is no reason to doubt its genuineness, and subject to the general conditions that change, if required, is available.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will arrange for order forms and cash for Government publications to be accepted at local post offices for despatch to His Majesty's Stationery Office.

No. The Post Office cannot undertake this further agency work which would benefit only a very small proportion of the population.

asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware of the lack of public telephone facilities in the village of West Wycombe; and whether he will instal such services in the near future.

A public call office already exists in the West Wycombe post office. It is the intention to replace this by an outside kiosk but I am not able to say when the work can be put in hand in view of the limited resources available and the large number of other orders for kiosks outstanding.

asked the Postmaster-General how many posts there are on the Post Office establishment of the following grades, respectively: higher clerical officer, junior executive officer, clerical officer, clerical assistant; and what the comparable figures are for the estab- lishment of the Post Office Savings Department.

The following table gives the information required:

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that in some offices members of the National Association of Postal and Telegraph Officers represent 100 per cent. of the postal and telegraph staff; and why, in such cases, this Association is not recognised on a local basis as a representative body.

I am aware of the circumstances. The National Association of Postal and Telegraph Officers is not recognised centrally and I cannot agree to recognise it locally. An arrangement under which local recognition was, in certain circumstances, granted to an association of Post Office manipulative staff although it was not recognised centrally was abandoned some years ago because it worked very unsatisfactorily.

asked the Secretary of State for Air how many sewing machines are stored at Marston Moor Aerodrome; and for what purpose they are being retained.

One hundred and fifteen. These sewing machines are not required by the R.A.F. but they are unsuitable for domestic use and need repairing. They are stored under cover and will shortly be disposed of by the Ministry of Supply.

asked the Secretary of State for Air on how many occasions during the last six months thefts have been reported to him as occurring at Marston Moor aerodrome.

Three, Sir.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what steps are being taken to level-up the rate of release as between the different trades in the Royal AU Force.

Special efforts are being made to improve the rate of release in those trades which are behind the general level of release from the R.A.F. Certain duties in the retarded trades are being taken over by less skilled men; airmen from allied trades, as well as recruits, are being trained for these trades; and the largest possible deficiency in strength is being accepted It is hoped that, as a result of these measures, the gap between the highest and lowest groups for release will become less from April onwards.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when the report of the Trade Mission to China, of last year, will be published; and what is the reason for the long delay in its publication.

I hope that the report of the Trade Mission to China will be published on 14th February. It is a long term survey of probable trends in the Chinese market, on which the mission worked until the end of last August. When published it will run to 231 pages. In present conditions some delay in printing a volume of this size is unavoidable and this has been slightly increased while maps were being specially drawn. We have also to arrange for copies to be available in China for members of the Chinese Government and for the Chinese Press at the same time as the book is published in this country.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the Dutch paper controller has suspended exports to this country of strawboards; that as a result English binders will be unable to execute their orders and great dislocation will be caused in the book trade; and whether he will arrange for a more liberal home supply of straw-boards.

I understand that exports of Dutch strawboard have not been suspended although they have been severely curtailed owing to the shortage of straw in Holland. The Paper Control is however prepared to license home produced board in substitution for Dutch strawboard.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date the Economic Survey for 1948 will be published.

It is hoped to publish the Economic Survey for 1948 as a White Paper towards the end of February. A more popular version will also be prepared and will probably be published a little later.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the amounts of German assets on the termination of hostilities held by the Allies and by neutrals, respectively; and if he will make a statement on the progress achieved by the Inter-Allied Reparations Agency in distributing these sums.

The 18 Allied countries who signed the Final Act of Paris which established the Inter-Allied Reparations Agency, are estimated to hold German assets amounting to £116 million. Each Allied country is entitled to hold and charge against its reparations share, the German assets under its jurisdiction. No reliable estimate can be given of the total German assets held by neutral countries at the end of hostilities. Agreements with Switzerland and Sweden on the dis- posal of German assets have already been made and negotiations are in progress with Spain and Portugal.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider the introduction of a points system which could be used either to buy petrol or to buy tobacco, so that a non-smoker would be able to buy petrol, and a non-motorist would be able to buy tobacco.

I have already considered this possibility but the administrative difficulties are insuperable.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how many posts there are throughout the Civil Service in the following grades, respectively: higher clerical officer, junior executive officer, clerical officer, clerical assistant.

As at 1st October, 1947: Higher clerical officers 8,787, junior executive officers 6,887, clerical officers 35,285, clerical assistant 5,777.

asked the Secretary of State for War how much petrol was consumed by B.A.O.R. during July-December, 1947; and what was the corresponding amount consumed by the Eighth Army during the same months of 1942.

During the period in 1947 mentioned the amount of motor spirit consumed by the Army in Germany and certain organisations dependent on it was approximately 114,000 tons. Figures are not available showing the amount consumed by the Eighth Army in 1942.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the acute housing situation caused in Tidworth by the eviction of non-service tenants from War department houses, the disused camp at South Tidworth will be placed at the disposal of those tenants for temporary accommodation.

The camp at South Tidworth known as Arena Road Camp has been offered on loan terms to the local authority for two years to house families evicted from married quarters in the district. The offer is subject to review at the end of this period, and I understand that the local authority has accepted the camp on these terms.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power why, since Mr. C. R. Ramsdall of 2, Council Houses, Nether Whitacre, was authorised in January, 1946, by the county and district councils to run a motor car for hire, his repeated applications for petrol coupons have been rejected; and why a letter upon this subject, dated 22nd October, 1947, from the hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield to the Parliamentary Secretary, was not answered until 14th January, 1948, notwithstanding requests for expedition dated 2nd, 5th and 30th December.

I can only reiterate the information contained in the letter addressed to the hon. Member, that the existing hire car service in Nether Whitacre is sufficient to meet public needs. I regret very much the delay in replying which was due to the very large number of cases under local investigation.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what is the amount of petrol saved to date by the abolition of the basic ration, after deducting the amount of petrol granted under the supplementary allowances.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the saving effected by the abolition of the basic petrol ration.

Deliveries of petrol in bulk by the Petroleum Board to garages and other large consumers averaged 73,000 tons a week during December; and it is estimated that had the basic petrol ration not been withdrawn and other economies made deliveries would have been about 90,000 tons a week. The net saving during December appears to have been about 17,000 tons a week. The total saving from 1st October to 31st December is estimated at 160,000 tons, which would have cost over seven million dollars at present prices. Approximately four-fifths of the saving is attributable to the withdrawal of the basic ration and one-fifth to the other economies.

asked the Minister of Transport on what grounds the decision has been made to transfer the administrative headquarters of the Railway Regional Control Office for Scotland from the capital to Glasgow

Before 1st January, 1948, the area operational headquarters of the L.N.E.R. were in Edinburgh, but the L.M.S. Scottish administrative headquarters and the office of the L.N.E.R. Goods Manager for Scotland were in Glasgow. As a result, 1,904 of the headquarters' staff of the two companies were stationed in the Glasgow area and 605 in Edinburgh. I am informed by the British Transport Commission that the selection of Glasgow as the administrative headquarters of the Scottish Region, which conforms to existing arrangements, will also, in their view, be to the convenience of industry and commerce. It is the intention that certain departmental work shall remain in Edinburgh.

asked the Minister of Works how many operatives aged 16 and over were on the average employed in the building and civil engineering industries in Exeter City in the four months ended 31st December last.

The average number of male operatives aged 16 and over in the building and civil engineering industries work- ing in Exeter City during the four months ended 31st December last was approximately 2,400.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the scale of rations given to inmates of His Majesty's prisons; and how it compares with the rations available to the general public.

The scale of rationed foods for prisoners is the same as that for members of the general public except as regards potatoes. A special arrangement as regards potatoes was found necessary to prevent the calorific value of prison diets falling so much below the average for the rest of the population as to become insufficient, and after consultation with the Ministry of Food it was arranged that for prisoners the allowance of potatoes should be 14 oz. a day. With this allowance the over-all value of the diets for prisoners, of whom 80 per cent are males engaged on manual labour, approximates to the average for the whole population but is less than the value of the diet of an ordinary male industrial worker.