asked the Minister of Health whether he will make arrangements to meet the difficulty of medical practitioners at holiday centres, where the population is increased at certain times of the year, but the practitioner's capitation fee is to be based on patients from the permanent population, with a consequent loss to the practitioner during the holiday months.

The arrangements for paying doctors for attendance on temporary residents, which will be simplified under the new scheme will meet this difficulty.

asked the Minister of Health when he will announce the constitution of the Central Health Services Council, as required by the National Health Service Act, 1946.

Invitations to serve on the Central Health Services Council will be sent out very shortly.

asked the Minister of Health how many doctors in the borough of Finsbury have opted for service under the National Health Scheme.

I am afraid it is not at present possible to separate the figures for Finsbury from those for London as a whole.

asked the Minister of Supply (1) what his Department is doing or intends to do to reduce the noise of civil aeroplanes and whether the main difficulty is mechanical or financial;(2) what researches or experiments are being made by his Department with a view to the reduction of the noise of aeroplanes and what progress has been made.

Research directed towards the moderation of noise is being undertaken by the Ministry of Supply in conjunction with leading aero-engine firms. A Noise Suppression Panel meets regularly at the Royal Aircraft Establishment and my Department has the assistance of the Acoustics Section of the National Physical Laboratory. Noise within aircraft can be reduced by sound insulation, but there is little hope of reducing appreciably the noise from aircraft in flight. The difficulty is mechanical; aircraft propulsion depends upon the transfer of energy to a stream of air and the creation of noise is unavoidable.

asked the Minister of Education what proportion of the 9,000 new teachers recruited since 1938 for the National Schools included unqualified teachers.

The figure of 9,000 represents the approximate difference between the total number of teachers employed in the schools at two dates nine years apart. The number of new teachers recruited between these dates is very much larger. As I said in my answer to the hon. Member on 17th June, 1948, particulars of the present composition of the teaching force are not yet available.

asked the Minister of Education what is the total number of school buildings now used for the National Schools and how many of these are permanent buildings, school buildings blacklisted in 1925, pre-fabricated huts, and classrooms extemporised from redundant war buildings, respectively; and how many of the total of buildings now in use accord with the standard required by the Education Act, 1944.

I could not without a disproportionate expenditure of labour say how many buildings are being used for school purposes, or specify their type of construction or the extent to which they comply with the Building Regulations. The number of school buildings on the 1925 Black List still in use is 654.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty if he is aware that members of the medical branch of the Royal Navy, in service group 72, have had their release date deferred for the second time; if he is aware of the acute disappointment caused by this decision; and if he will take steps to speed up the release of these men.

The Fleet was informed on 8th March that ratings of the Sick Berth Branch in release group 72 would normally be due for release between 7th April and 30th June. There has been no alteration to these dates for the group as a whole and so far therefore no men have been retained under the Military Needs Clause. In view of the acute shortage of men in the Sick Berth Branch, however, it is possible that some ratings in Group 72 may have been warned that they will be retained beyond the 30th June. I can assure the hon. Member that every effort is being made to meet the shortage of men in the Sick Berth Branch, and that the provision of reliefs for men retained beyond their normal release date has priority over all other commitments.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that the reduction called for in the number of road-men employed in Somerset is equivalent to 48.9 per cent. of those employed in such work in August, 1939, and that the labour force of 1,020, which is regarded as an irreducible minimum for the needs of the county, is 109 in excess of that laid down by the Government; and what action he has taken or proposes to take to meet the requirements of the County of Somerset in this connection.

The reduction which I have requested the Somerset County Council to make in their highway labour force is equivalent to 51.2 per cent. of the number employed in August, 1939, but only 25 per cent. of the number employed in September, 1947. The reduced number should be sufficient to prevent any undue deterioration in the state of the roads, and I hope that the Council will comply with my request so as to make more labour available, in the national interest, for the export and import-saving industries.