asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the annual outlay on staff, buildings and incidental expenditure in connection with the maintenance of the customs barrier on the land and sea frontiers of Northern Ireland.

For the year ended 31st March, 1947, the total cost of Customs and Excise Services in Northern Ireland was approximately £216,000, but this includes certain other services than the Customs work on the land and sea frontier for which no separate figures are available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will now make a statement regarding the grant to universities which he proposes to make in the forthcoming Budget.

Provision will be made for recurrent grants to universities for general purposes and for medical and dental education on the scales announced by my predecessor in his statement of the 10th March, 1947. Since that date, responsibility for aiding agricultural and veterinary education has been assumed by the Treasury, and I shall ask Parliament to provide £232,500 for these purposes. After the present academic year the teaching hospitals will be financed under the National Health Service Act, and the need for Treasury grants to them will cease. Provision for such grants can, therefore, be reduced to £250,000. As regards non-recurrent grants, experience has shown that the rate of expenditure on capital developments was somewhat over-estimated last year and I propose this year to provide £2,000,000 for this purpose. Accordingly, the total amount which Parliament will be asked to vote for 1947–48 is £11,880,000.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how many copies of the Lucas Report on the working of the Agricultural Marketing Acts have been sold.

Thirteen thousand copies.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of workers employed in industrial building, for which he is responsible in Scotland, in June, 1947, and how many will be employed on such work in Scotland at June, 1948, in accordance with the proposals set out in the White Paper, Command 7268, Capital Investment in 1948.

The number of building and civil engineering workers employed on industrial building work sponsored by the Board of Trade was included in the figure given by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Works on 19th February in reply to the hon. Member's Question about licensed building work. The Board of Trade have no direct works.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will arrange for soldiers who are not regular soldiers, but who have served for over six years, and may still have so serve some time, to receive a small allowance of coupons in order that they might purchase some non-military shoes for walking out purposes.

I regret that I cannot see my way to extend the scheme which was evolved last year to enable men serving on a regular engagement, to purchase certain quantities of civilian clothing. I am advised that the soldiers to whom my hon. Friend refers will be passing into civil life within nine or ten months at the latest, when they will all receive appropriate demobilisation clothing benefits.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is satisfied that all manufacturers of woollen textiles may export all orders received from Canada, U.S.A. and Argentine, provided they are in a position to make the goods required, and that no other obstacle stands in their way.

No obstacles are placed in the way of anyone wishing to export wool cloth to Canada, the United States or the Argentine. Further, as regards wool tops, the rapid increase of production in recent months will make it possible in the near future to allow any firm to export tops without reference to their past trade; arrangements for this purpose will shortly be announced by the Wool Control. The production of wool yarn, however, remains much below the total demand for home and export, and since the requirements of the home weaving and knitting industries must have first consideration it is not possible to allow firms to export yarn except against allocations issued on an equitable basis designed to keep the total within the amount available. Arrangements, however, will shortly be announced under which spinners who have specialised capacity available for additional production after meeting all other obligations, may apply for extra yarn export allocations provided that 75 per cent. of the yarn is exported to the United States, Canada or the Argentine.No difficulty should be experienced in importing these goods into the United States or Canada. As regards Argentina, under our recent Agreement with that country, import licences will be issued for £10 million of traditional United Kingdom exports, including woollens.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many applications have been received in the last two years for licences to repair farm houses and farm buildings in the county of Radnor; how many have been granted, with the total value; and what is the procedure adopted by the Radnor A.E.C. to examine and report upon each application.

The Radnorshire A.E.C. sponsored 23 applications in 1946 and 16 in 1947, the total estimated cost of the repairs being approximately £9,300 and £6,300 respectively. I am informed by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Works that records of licences granted by his Department are not kept by counties, and that an examination of all applications from Wales would be necessary to produce the information asked for. As regards procedure, the executive committee arrange for the farm concerned to be visited by one of their officers immediately on receipt of the application. This officer reports on the contribution to food production which can be expected to result from the carrying out of the proposed work. Where they are satisfied the committee sponsor the application for a building licence.

asked the Minister of National Insurance if he will give an assurance that it is still his policy to negotiate any retrospective payments to dentists doing N.H.I. work, only with the Joint Advisory Dental Committee.

I can assure my hon. Friend that the Government has no inten- tion of departing from the terms of the agreement reached with the Joint Advisory Dental Council of which I gave particulars in reply to a Question from my hon. Friend on 3rd December, 1946.

asked the Minister of National Insurance whether arrangements have been made whereby women who are now in receipt of the widow's pension and who emigrate to Canada or other Commonwealth countries, will still be able to draw the pension at current or future rates; and what action they should take to enable themselves to do so.

Under the Contributory Pensions Acts now in force a woman who is entitled to a widow's pension can continue to draw her pension in any part of His Majesty's Dominions. In order to avoid delay in payment, a widow intending to emigrate should notify my Department of her new address before she leaves this country. Provision has been made under the National Insurance (Pensions, Existing Beneficiaries and other Persons) (Transitional) Regulations, 1948 for the continued payment of the pensions of such widows after the repeal of the present Acts.