asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in relation to his recent decision that prisoners of war married to British women would be given priority consideration in the matter of remaining as civilian workers in this country, he will arrange for such men to be classified as displaced persons, so that they may be available for work in this country in all categories of employment which will not adversely affect British labour.

Prisoners of war married to British-born women, if and when discharged to civilian status in this country, will be subject, so far as employment is concerned, only to such controls as are applicable to British subjects, except that those discharged to agricultural employment will be expected to serve out their contracts. No question of classifying them as displaced persons arises.

asked the Prime Minister if he will indicate the results of the consideration by the various Departments concerned of an extension of the scheme under which German prisoners of war may remain in Britain as civilian agricultural workers; and approximately how many additional prisoners are to be retained.

County agricultural executive committees have been given discretion to exceed the authorised number of German civilians for their county to enable a farmer to retain the services of a German who has been working for him regularly as a prisoner of war, if this is essential in the interests of food production. I regret that I cannot estimate the effect of this decision in statistical terms.

The right hon. Gentleman said "retain." Does that answer also apply to getting a man back?

I should need notice of that question.

Can the Prime Minister say whether there is any possibility of extending the categories of employments in respect of which prisoners may be allowed to stay here, provided that British labour is not thereby adversely affected?

Not without notice.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if, in view of the food situation in Germany and the small total quantity of seeds involved, he will consider issuing, through the commandants of prisoner of war camps, or otherwise, export licences which will enable German prisoners to include limited quantities of vegetable seeds in the parcels they send home.

I am prepared to issue export licences in these cases, and I am examining with my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Agriculture, the question whether the supply position would enable the requirement of an export licence to be waived.

While thanking my right hon. Friend for his forthcoming attitude, may I ask him to bear in mind the small and decreasing amount which would be required, as the men are going home?

asked the Minister of Health what is the cost to the Government of the scheme carried out by his Ministry at Harvard Hospital, Salisbury, for seeking volunteers for experiments on catching cold.

No expense has been incurred in seeking volunteers, but the total cost of the work up to 31st December last was £14, 170.

May I ask the Minister if he is aware that this is quite a wrong approach to the treatment of illness and disease and a complete waste of public money; and if he will arrange for his medical advisers, who are behind this scheme to be placed in some comfortable home of rest or detention out of harm's way?

I should be happy to receive from my hon. Friend or anyone associated with him technical advice as to how to prevent or cure the common cold. It is extremely unfair to cast doubt on research workers because a certain amount of money is being spent; otherwise, we would never get any research done at all.

asked the Minister of Health which voluntary hospitals in the London area have been disclaimed from the provisions of the National Health Act.

As the list is long. I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Could the Minister say what conditions the Government are imposing on these hospitals?

The conditions vary with the nature of the hospital.

asked the Minister of Health if he will take steps to secure that local authorities in rural areas shall allocate more council houses to agricultural workers; and that farmers may be able to obtain licences to construct houses for farm workers with less delay.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will allow some licences to be issued for the building of houses for agricultural workers by landowners and farmers in view of the urgent need in rural districts, the fact that material is available, and that such houses would be additional to the quota already allocated to R.D.Cs?

Licences are issued within the capacity of local building resources for the building of houses for agricultural workers. I am sending the hon. Members a copy of a circular which was sent to rural housing authorities on the allocation of council houses for this purpose.

Would the Minister answer the last part of my Question as well?

I have answered it, and, if the hon. Member will look at the circular, he will see that all the information is contained there.

This question applies to farmers getting licences without the terrific trouble which they have experienced. Cannot they be given an easier passage to get, the houses built? They are ready, the workers are ready, but they cannot get the houses.

Farm workers do not live in licences; they live in houses, and it is no use issuing licences in excess of the capacity of the local resources to build houses.

As I did not hear what the first part of the Minister's answer was, would the right hon. Gentleman repeat it?

On a point of Order, Mr. Speaker, may I seek your guidance? When you called Question No. 16 addressed to the Minister of Health, he very indistinctly said that he would answer my Question, No. 25, at the same time. I did not in consequence hear the first part of his answer. I rose and asked him to repeat it to you. Am I not entitled in a case like that to have the answer repeated?

I did not know that the Minister refused. I remember that he looked at me. I did not hear the hon. and gallant Gentleman. I did not quite know that his Question was being answered at the same time. It is impossible to have the answer now. All I can say is that I recommend him to read the answer when it appears in HANSARD.

Further to that point of Order, Sir. If you did not hear my Question called at the same time as it was going to be answered, how could possibly hear it?

I suffer from various disadvantages which do not affect hon. Members. I have no amplifier anywhere near me, but I understand that hon. Members do have amplifiers, which enable them to hear.

On that point of Order, is it not a fact that Ministers can only answer Questions together, with the permission of the hon. Members concerned? That would seem to imply that if one of the hon. Members concerned asked for a separate answer, he is entitled to have it.

That is perfectly true. Actually, I did call the hon. and gallant Member for No. 25, but he did not get up to ask it. He had his opportunity then.

asked the Minister of Health, whether his attention has been called to the consequences flowing from the decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of Ellis and Sons, Amalgamated Properties Limited against Sisman; and whether, in view of the hardship to tenants of bombed property thereby occasioned, he proposes to introduce amending legislation.

I am aware of this decision, but can hold out no prospect of early legislation.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this decision has deprived certain of these tenants of the protection of the Rent Restrictions Act, and will he issue a circular to local authorities giving them guidance as to the course to be followed in regard to these unfortunate people?

I will consider whether guidance is practicable in the circumstances, but I think the hon. Member will agree that this was an extremely delicate point of law on whether the house had been destroyed and whether the original tenancy was alive. Unfortunately, the house had been completely destroyed, and the original tenancy destroyed with it. There is a difficulty in such a case, but we will consider whether any help can be given.

asked the Minister of Health, why his Department has rejected the plan to convert a building on Wood Green, Witney, Oxon, into a block of sixteen flats, when all local authorities had given full support to the scheme.

The cost in labour and materials is much too great, having regard to the accommodation that would result. No official notification has been received that the local authorities support the scheme.

Will the Minister, then, take the trouble to find out that this scheme has, in fact, been supported by the local authorities of Witney and Reading, and his Department in London knew the circumstances? Is it not a case where the best use of the labour and the workers and the results achieved should be left to the local authorities?

If the local authorities had supported the scheme that would be another matter. So far as my information is concerned, the hon. Member's statement that the local authority supported the scheme is incorrect.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the increased cost of building and the recent increase in the interest rates for loans raised for housing purposes, he will introduce legislation to increase the annual contribution of £16 10s. per house which is made by Parliament and local authorities under the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1946.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 4th March, 1948, to the Question asked by the hon. Member for the Buckrose Division of the East Riding of Yorkshire (Mr. Wadsworth), of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the Paddington Borough Council have referred to the tribunal under the Furnished Houses (Rent Control) Act, 1946, some 550 contracts for furnished lettings and unfurnished lettings with services in respect of flats at Park West, W.2, without any initiative having been taken by the tenants in regard thereto; and whether, having in mind the amount of statistical work involved in supplying particulars under the Act, he will issue a circular deprecating these comprehensive references in cases where tenants make no complaints.

The answer to the first part of the question is "Yes, Sir," and to the second part. "No, Sir." As I have said before, it is for a local authority to decide in what particular cases they should exercise their powers of reference to a tribunal.

Is not the Minister aware that, in this case, the action taken by the Paddington Borough Council is an abuse of their powers in that there were no complaints to the borough council; that this is likely to cause considerable bad feeling between landlord and tenant, which should not exist; and that I have had numerous letters from the tenants protesting against having their cases referred to the tribunal, because they were perfectly satisfied with their rent?

The power was given to the local authorities to refer rents to the rents tribunals where the authority considered that the rents were unreasonable and where they believed that many appeals to the tribunals were not being made because of the fears of reprisals by the landlords. I do not propose to interfere with the discretion of the local authority in this case.

While recognising what the Minister has said regarding the fear of the three months' notice in this case, may I ask him if he is aware that the Council could have no cause to consider that the rents were high, because there had been no complaints made about them?

I think it would be a gross interference with the powers of the authority to make any remark reflecting on the way they used them.

Will the Minister say whether these 550 cases were the subject of individual and separate references to the tribunal, or whether they were all lumped together in one reference?

That is an entirely different matter, and if the hon. Gentleman will put down a Question on it I will reply.

They were.

Does not this point arise out of the Question, which refers to "comprehensive references"?

Whether the references are put forward before the tribunal in that way or not is for the tribunal to determine.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in fixing the maximum number of houses which he will allow to be under construction at any given time in Blackpool, he has taken into account the 8,774 families on the waiting list for houses or of the great increase in population in recent years.

The number of houses which should be under construction from time to time must be determined mainly by the possibilities of completing houses at a reasonable rate with the resources available.

Surely, in allocating these resources over the whole nation, the Minister must have regard to the facts mentioned in the Question, and, in particular, to the fact that, in the last 10 years, the population of Blackpool has increased by 7,000?

It is not only a question of local resources, but national resources. It means, for example, that it is no use giving authority to build more houses in a particular area if the national resources of timber are not sufficient. However, this matter has been considered, and I hope the hon. Gentleman will find that additional approvals will soon be given.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has considered a letter dated 9th February, sent to his Principal Housing Officer by the Town Clerk of Blackpool on behalf of the Blackpool Corporation, requesting that in certain specified cases permission should be given to the Corporation to sell houses to persons on the Corporation's priority housing list; and what answer he has made thereto.

Yes, Sir. The Town Clerk was informed in reply that as it is the Government's policy that the maximum number of houses should be available for letting, the sale of Council houses cannot be agreed to at the present time.

Is the Minister aware that the Town Clerk gave as his reason for asking permission to sell certain individual houses that it was administratively wasteful for the Council to be responsible for houses scattered all over Blackpool, and did the right hon. Gentleman take that factor into consideration?

I took all the factors into consideration, and I must say at once that I am disinclined to permit local authorities to sell houses to private individuals.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the reply which has been sent by his Department to the Colchester Borough Council's application to build a thousand temporary bungalows of the Handcraft type; on what date details of this scheme were forwarded to his Department by the local authority; on what date his Department replied; and in what form his reply was conveyed to the Press by or on behalf of his Department.

Yes, Sir. I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT a copy of the letter which was dated 13th March. The original proposals were submitted by the local authority on 28th November, and have been the subject of full investigation in the meantime. The Press have been informed in reply to inquiries that the bungalow was considered below standard and the scheme therefore not acceptable.

Does not the Press statement imply that the external appearance of the bungalows was a major factor in the Ministry's decision, and has he any comment to make on that?

The reason why this particular type of bungalow was turned down was because the accommodation provided was substandard, and had nothing to do with the external appearance.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that a house at' 6, Broadclyst Gardens, Thorpe Bay, near Southend, Essex, the property of Mrs. Ivy Allison Bird of the White House, High Oak Road, Ware, was requisitioned by the Southend borough council on 25th July, 1947, and has remained unoccupied thereafter; and whether in these circumstances and in view of the fact that Mrs. Bird wishes to let the house to a young ex-Serviceman and his wife, he will cause the local authority to derequisition this house forthwith.

I am making inquiries, and will communicate with the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Health what stocks of timber are available for house building in the West Midlands.

Stocks of timber held by merchants are not specifically earmarked for house building, or for any other particular purpose.

If the Minister does not know what are the stocks, how can he say that there is a shortage?

The hon. Member is asking whether I know what stocks are held in a particular area. I would point out to him that the stocks in a particular area are not necessarily earmarked for building in that area.

Would it not be much better if the right hon. Gentleman were to allow stocks in the West Midlands to be used in the West Midlands? If he did, we might get the houses.

It would also be much better if the hon. Member asked his Question with more precision.

asked the Minister of Education whether he will reconsider the decision to build a new senior school at Burford, Oxfordshire, south rather than north of the main A40 trunk road in view of the dangerous nature of this road crossing.

No, Sir. My right hon. Friend is satisfied that there is no better alternative. He is assured that the authority will take all possible steps to obviate danger to the children.

Is the Minister aware that before the war the local justices of the peace, the parish council, the local police authorities and everybody locally, appealed against this decision to build the school on the wrong side of the road; that land was acquired for building it on the correct side of the road; and that, when an already high accident rate is increased, it will be the direct responsibility of the Ministry of Education?

We have consulted the local authority, and, at the present time, there is no alternative but to give the answer I have given.

There is an alternative on the other side of the road—the land acquired before the war.

asked the Minister of Education whether it is with his approval that the Cardiganshire Education Committee have barred members of the Sea Cadets, Army Cadets, Air Training Corps and Junior Training Corps from applying for three bursaries offered to Cardiganshire youths for a month's course at the Outward Bound Secondary School, Aberdovey.

These conditions are laid down by the school, not the authority, and the approval of my right hon. Friend is not required.

Can the Minister say whether any grant is made by the Ministry of Education towards these three bursaries, and will the hon. Gentleman take all possible steps to stop this discrimination being continued?

I do not acknowledge that there is any discrimination. As to the first part of the question, I think we should have notice of it.

asked the Minister of Education how many necessitous school children attended the Cardiff Education Committee dining centres for meals during the Christmas holidays, 1947; and whether the feeding of these children is to be carried out during future school holidays.

The highest number on any day was 628, spread over 22 dining centres. As the attendance was small and irregular, the authority have decided to discontinue holiday dinners in view of the waste of food involved.

Whilst I appreciate the local authority's point about the wastage of food, could my hon. Friend tell me how many necessitous children who were fed at Christmas will not be fed at Easter?

No, Sir. I could not give that information.

asked the Minister of Education whether he contemplates a more extensive use of his powers to compel local authorities to pay grants on the Ministry's approved scale to all students securing a place at a university.

Awards by local education authorities are made under arrangements approved by the Ministry of Education, and, in the majority of cases, follow the Ministry's scale. On present information my right hon. Friend sees no need for further measures, but he proposes shortly to examine with representatives of local authorities and others such questions as the scale and conditions of university awards.

Can my hon. Friend say what steps are taken when a local authority scale falls below that recommended by the Ministry?

When we get particulars of such a case, we naturally inquire of the local authority, but I would point out to my hon. Friend that the Ministry's scales are fixed on recommendations of the University Scholarships Committee and are reviewed every three years. We hope very shortly to have consultations in order to see what revisions can take place.

asked the Minister of Education what steps he is taking to promote the interchange of teachers between countries who have signed the Treaty of Brussels.

My right hon. Friend is anxious to encourage the interchange of teachers between this country and any other country with which such arrangements are practicable. It will be one of the objects of the recently established Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges to review and supplement, where possible, the work of existing agencies in this respect.

Will my hon. Friend take note that Article 3 of this Treaty lays very special emphasis on co-operating in this sphere between the countries concerned, and will he also take more active steps, now that the Treaty has been signed, to see that Western Union is based on something positive and not just on the hostilities of Eastern Europe?

We have already taken positive steps. The Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges has been set up by my right hon. Friend, and will no doubt supplement all previous activities.

asked the Minister of Education when he proposes of this statement and as U.N.E.S.C.O. Conference held last autumn at Mexico City.

The document in question will be published by His Majesty's Stationery Office not later than the 20th April, 1948.

asked the Minister of Education how many British subjects are employed on the staff of U.N.E.S.C.O.; who is responsible for the direction of the Education Division; and what is the total cost to this country since the establishment of the Organisation.

As the answer is somewhat long, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Can I have an answer to the second part of the Question as to who is responsible for the direction of the education division?

The present head of the Education Section is Dr. Kuo Yu-Shou. Dr. Beeby of New Zealand has recently been appointed Assistant Director-General, with special responsibility in the field of education.

In view of the importance of this statement and that U.N.E.S.C.O. can now get a move on, will the Parliamentary Secretary convey our pleasure and thanks to New Zealand for allowing Dr. Beeby to be seconded to this Organisation for 18 months?

Surely, the Parliamentary Secretary can answer the last part of the Question as to what is the total cost?

The total expenditure of this country on U.N.E.S.C.O., including expenditure in the United Kingdom, from the inception of the Preparatory Commission to 22nd March, 1948, has been £274,623. A further sum of £,304, 530 remains to be paid to the Organisation to meet our commitments until the end of 1948. Of the total sum of £579,153 to be paid by the end of this year, £68,114 is recoverable by His Majesty's Government.

asked the Minister of Labour where he is to house workers whom he is to transfer to the cotton industry, in view of the housing shortage in these areas at the present time.

Lodgings are available for some of the workers, and others will be accommodated in existing hostels and in additional ones which are being provided by the adaptation of Service camps and other premises.

Is there not already a very great shortage of housing accommodation in these areas? Where does the Parliamentary Secretary intend putting these people? Why cannot camps be used for this purpose?

These hostels are not usually used for accommodating families, but are used to accommodate single people. It is because we can use the camps for single people that we are now adapting them for this purpose.

asked the Minister of Labour if, in view of the pressure on lodging accommodation in Birmingham and overcrowded condition of the Prison Gate Shelter, he will establish a workers' hostel without further delay.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that I recently visited this shelter and found 90 people sleeping on the floor because there were no beds or bedding? In these circumstances cannot my right hon. Friend press on with this matter which is one of extreme urgency—I understand that a hostel is to be provided?

Yes, Sir, we are anxious to get a hostel there, because there are many vacancies in Birmingham which workers from outside will not take because there is no accommodation for them. This Mission is doing very valuable work, but the 90 people referred to were not sent there by the Ministry. Only in the last resort is a man sent there.

Will the right hon. Gentleman consult the Minister of Health with a view to seeing whether more housing facilities cannot be provided in the neighbourhood of works, because we are turning away workmen, as we have nowhere to house them?

The quickest way to provide accommodation for casual workers is by hostels.

asked the Minister of Labour how many men are now unemployed in the building industry in the West Midlands.

Six hundred and twelve at 16th February, 1948.

Can the Minister say how many of these men were recently discharged by highway authorities, because of the compulsion of the Minister of Transport, to seek work in the building industry.

Obviously I cannot answer that question without notice.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what principle he now applies to applications by boot and shoe repairers and retailers for increased supplies of coupons; and will he reconsider the application of Mr. Andrew G. Sheret, 57, and 26, Powis Terrace, Aberdeen, for a larger coupon float in view of the need of the district in which Mr. Sheret trades, particulars of which have been sent to him.

Boot and shoe repairers do not require coupons for their business and retailers of shoes or other rationed goods are normally given them only if the position of the business is particularly bad in comparison with its pre-war position, or where there is consumer need or extreme hardship. My hon. and learned Friend will by now have received a letter about the case of Mr. Sheret.

Is not the just principle to apply that of need, with the float increasing according to the needs of the district. Will not rigid adherence to the contrary, work injustice, particularly in the case of a growing district?

As my hon. and learned Friend knows, it is not possible, in view of the present supply position, to increase the allocation to a particular retailer, except where there is a strong case based on consumer need.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this is a growing district where there is a great need for an increased allocation?

asked the President of the Board of Trade the nature and scope of the activities of the Regional Export Officer for the Midland area; if intimate contact has been established with the local chambers of commerce and trade organisations; and if the duties of this officer are being supported by the co-operation of local manufacturers and business firms.

The Regional Export Officer in the Midland area, as in other areas, was appointed to render any assistance possible to firms in the region in the development of their export trade. He fulfils this purpose by personal contacts with exporting firms, discussions on methods of trading, supply of information On trade opportunities and conditions in overseas countries. He has established friendly co-operation with local chambers of commerce and trade organisations. Exporters in the Midland area, as elsewhere, are making a valuable contribution to the export trade of this country.

Is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied that this officer is rendering real service to industries in the Midlands in regard to the export drive?

Yes, Sir. I have been into this question in Birmingham myself, and I have received sufficient assurances from manufacturers to show that he is giving very valuable assistance.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what progress has been made by the working party on export forms which he appointed in November last.

The working party to which my hon. Friend refers was set up to examine forms required by Government Departments in this country and also those for which shippers and others are responsible; and finally those required by overseas governments. It has now completed the first part of its task and has presented a report upon Government forms. The report and recommendations will be summarised in an early issue of the "Board of Trade Journal." After a careful review, the working party was satisfied that there was no undue delay in handling these forms; that the arrangements for dealing with them were sufficiently flexible to meet the circumstances; and that in general their scope and form could not be modified so long as the present controls must be maintained. Certain minor amendments of procedure were suggested, and are being implemented by the departments concerned. I am grateful to the working party, which was fully representative of the interests concerned, for its valuable report and I am glad to find confirmation of my own view that exporters are not worried by unnecessary forms or unimaginative procedure. The working party is now engaged on the second part of its task—the examination of forms required by banks, shippers, etc.

Can the Minister tell us whether there is any hope of the number of these forms being reduced in the near future?

So far as the forms required for direct export are concerned, I think the working party was satisfied that it was impossible to reduce the number.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is now in a position to issue the industrial ten clothing coupons to those persons now employed as home and domestic helpers.

No, Sir. The industrial ten is given to factory workers because of the abnormal wear and tear on their clothes through working in a factory, but there are schemes already in force under which home helps and domestic helpers employed full time in approved local authority schemes, and also holders of the Diploma of the National Institute of Houseworkers, are assisted with the provision of protective clothing.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the response to the appeal which has been made by the Minister of Labour has not been very ready, because these people who are prepared to work as domestic helpers and home helpers cannot get the industrial ten to help to furnish the clothing which is absolutely necessary, and will he have another look at this?

Would the right hon. Gentleman consider allowing to domestic helpers in private establishments, who have to use their own clothes, the same coupon facilities as those provided for local authorities, as they are doing just the same work?

I will have a look at the whole thing, but I do not see very much hope of extending the industrial ten far beyond its present coverage.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say why there should be such a discrimination between, say, a cook who happens to hold the particular diploma he has mentioned and somebody who does not hold it, but who is doing similar work which is equally hard on clothes?

It is necessary to draw the line somewhere, because it is not possible to extend this concession to domestic workers without equally extending it to the housewife, which is the first thing I should like to be able to do.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will at once issue emergency clothing coupons to the family of Mr. Weller, Bardfield Road, Finchingfield, Essex, whose bungalow with all its contents, including clothing books, was completely destroyed by fire on 15th March, and who has had no reply to his application for immediate replacement.

No completed form of application appears to have been received from Mr. Weller. As soon as I heard of the case, however, I arranged for an officer of the Assistance Board, who act as the agents of the Board of Trade in these matters, to call on Mr. Weller, and he has instructions to deal with this matter urgently. As soon as I receive a report on the case I will communicate with my hon. Friend further.

While thanking my right hon. Friend for that answer, may I ask him if he is aware that no application form was received from this man only because some of the details which are required on such an application form were destroyed with the clothing books, so that he could not fill in the details?

Yes, Sir, that question was was gone into very urgently, and special steps were taken to give him interim help in the matter.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why there have been substantial recent increases in the selling price of raw cotton to manufacturers.

As stated in the Press notices issued by the Raw Cotton Corn mission, of which I am sending my hon. Friend copies, the increases are designed to bring their selling prices into line with those ruling in the principal producing countries.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that certain former employees of the Egyptian Government whose pensions have for many years been paid by the latter into a bank in London and who are permanently resident abroad are now prevented by the Bank of England exchange control department from having the money transferred to them because they are British subjects; and if he will lift the restrictions in these cases and allow the persons concerned to receive their pensions.

Yes, Sir. My attention has recently been drawn to this difficulty, which has arisen because Egypt is no longer in the Scheduled Territories. There is no question of the transfer of these pensions abroad being prevented by the Bank of England on the grounds that the recipients are British subjects. Responsibility for the payment of the pensions rests with the Egyptian Government. I understand that the Egyptian authorities are only prepared to make payment in Egypt or in the country of the pensioner's nationality, but not in a third country. Enquiries are being made of the Egyptian authorities and I will communicate with the hon. Member when they are completed.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why clearances of wines and spirits from bond have been refused, although duty had been paid some days previously and physical removal was only delayed by shortage of staff and transport, particularly as these withdrawals only represented the normal seasonal trade.

The legal powers under which clearances are restricted before a Budget relate to actual physical clearances during the period to which the restrictions apply. It would tend to defeat the object if account were taken of duty paid before the restrictions came into operation.

As these were purely normal withdrawals and there was no suggestion of a panic withdrawal, and as the physical withdrawal was only limited by transport difficulties, could not an exception be made in this case?

The procedure which has been followed is, in fact, the normal procedure which has always been followed in these circumstances.

But the circumstances are not normal.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why he has chosen withdrawals during the months of January and February, 1948, as a basis for imposing a percentage restriction on the withdrawal of wines and spirits from bond prior to the Budget.

These months were selected because clearances were about normal then and were considered to represent a fair basis.

Did the hon. Gentleman take into account the fact that a similar restriction has not been made in previous Budgets, with the exception of the Interim Budget, since 1943 and also that the months of January and February were particularly bad months for the trade?

My information is that those months showed normal withdrawals and, therefore, provided the fairest basis on which to take this action.