asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the reason for the continuance of the control forbidding an individual to sell furniture at more than one auction in a period of six months; and whether he will now consider abolishing it.

The object of the control to which the hon. and gallant Member refers is to ensure that advantage is not taken of auction facilities to carry on a business of selling furniture without complying with price control regulations which cannot conveniently be applied to sales by auction of all types of furniture. In bona fide cases of disposal of personal effects, for which auctions are primarily designed, exemption from the six month requirement is freely given by licence. I am satisfied that this control is still necessary and the answer to the second part of the Question is accordingly in the negative.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement with regard to recent negotiations between this country and Canada for a supply of Canadian timber in exchange for steel; and what progress has been made to date towards reaching

asked the President of the Board of Trade what quantity of coal and of what quality was imported

There have been no negotiations between the Governments of the United Kingdom and Canada for a supply of Canadian timber in exchange for steel; arrangements for the supply of timber from Canada are made between the Timber Control and Canadian shippers, so that no trade agreement between the two Governments is necessary or appropriate. The Canadian Government are aware that we are anxious to purchase as much Canadian timber as our financial resources permit; and we are constantly in friendly consultation with them about our supplies of timber and other essential products from Canada.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what quantity of textile material and manufactures and of what kinds was imported into this country from Poland between the period October, 1947, and September, 1948; what was the cost; and what were the corresponding figures for the import of textiles from Poland in the years 1937 to 1938.

Following are the particulars:into this country from Poland between the period October, 1947, and September, 1948; what was the cost; and what were the corresponding figures for the imports of coal from Poland in the years 1937 to 1938.

Imports of coal from Poland in the period October, 1947, to September, 1948, amounted to 117,000 tons valued at £587,000; the different qualities imported are not separately recorded in the trade returns. No figures are available for the same period in 1937 and 1938, but in the year 1937 we imported from Poland 6,500 tons of coal £3,300. Imports in 1938 were nil.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if, in view of the fact that the economic welfare of Britain is bound up with the prosperity of the Lancashire cotton industry, and that the purchases of raw materials made by the Raw Cotton Commission are not correctly related to spinners requirements at home, he will introduce legislation to re-open a free market on the Liverpool Cotton Exchange.

No.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he proposes to take to encourage the export of British handicrafts.

In agreement with my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the sum of

asked the President of the Board of Trade what quantity of coal and of what quality, was exported to Poland from October, 1947, to September, 1948; what quantities of textile materials and manufactures and of what kinds were exported to that country during the same period; and in each case what were the export figures for the same period in 1937–38.

Following are the particulars:£12,500 has been lent, as a charge on the Board of Trade vote, to British Handicrafts Export, a non-profit making company formed on private initiative last summer which will undertake the sale overseas of hand-produced British goods of a high standard. The Board of Trade have also agreed to give financial assistance to the newly formed Crafts Centre of Great Britain, from which British Handicrafts Export hope to obtain information about craftsmen able to make goods suitable for export. My Department will also give all possible help to individual craftsmen, commercial firms and non-profit making export organisations, such as Women's Home Industries Limited, which was set up by the Women's Voluntary Services last year, in obtaining supplies of scarce materials needed for any export work in hand-made goods which they undertake or organise.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he will now make it easier for householders to change their coal merchants.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the hon. Member for Hastings (Mr. Cooper-Key) on 8th November.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what amount of the annual loss in production of coal is represented by a rate of absenteeism of 10 per cent.

No reliable estimate can be made.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he will arrange for the continuance of the interim income of collieries till they have received the compensation due to them.

The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act provides for continuing accrual of interim income from the vesting date (1st January, 1947) until compensation is fully satisfied; but the Act only provides for revenue payments, as a form of interim income, for two years. Revenue payments represent considerably larger sums than interest at 3 per cent. on estimated compensation and the Government could not contemplate provision for their continuation. After the cessation of revenue payments interim income accrues and will be added to the amount of compensation.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power how much petrol has been saved up to the nearest convenient date as a result of the introduction of "red petrol."

It is impossible to say with complete confidence that any change in petrol consumption is due to any particular step which may have been taken; there are too many factors involved. But I estimate that from 1st June when the "red petrol" plan came into operation, until the end of October, enough petrol has been saved not only to provide for the standard ration (about 50,000 tons) but a further I00,000 tons as well.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he is considering increasing petrol allowances to commercial travellers; and if he is aware of the considerable hardship that the continued 10 per cent. cut in their allowances is causing throughout the country.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he has any further statement to make about petrol allocations to commercial travellers.

As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary informed the hon. Member for Macclesfield (Air-Commodore Harvey) on 11th November, I have received certain proposals from the United Commercial Travellers' Association regarding petrol allocations to commercial travellers and these are now being examined.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he will consider increasing the allocation of petrol to commercial travellers to implement their ration of 4.3 gallons per week, which amount includes the standard ration, and only permits them to do an average of 120 miles per week and is affecting their work.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I have given today to the hon. Member for Brighton (Mr. Teeling).

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power on what date the regional petroleum offices were first informed that the standard petrol ration for the period November, 1948, to March, 1949, would be unchanged.

This is a matter of the internal administration of my Department and it would be contrary to normal practice to indicate when particular instructions are issued to particular officials.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he is aware that there is no car hire service in Southwold owing to lack of petrol; and whether, in view of the fact that this town has no direct railway service and an inadequate bus service, he will reassess the needs of those responsible for car services.

Petrol allowances are granted to six firms operating 12 hire cars in Southwold and I have no reason to suppose that the amount of petrol allocated to them, about 750 gallons a month, is insufficient for the normal requirements of this area.

asked the Minister of Labour at what approximate monthly rate European voluntary workers are being brought to Britain; and what proportion of the males are being allocated to coal mining and agriculture, respectively.

During October 630 men and 900 women were brought to this country. About half the monthly intake of men are placed in agriculture. The coal-mining industry is not at present recruiting E.V.Ws. and no E.V.W. was placed in coalmining in October.

asked the Minster of Labour how many Poles remain unemployed; how many of these have failed more than twice to retain position found for them; will steps be taken in such cases to transfer these Poles either to Poland or elsewhere; and what is the monthly cost of maintaining unemployed Poles now that the Resettlement Corps has been disbanded.

The Polish Resettlement Corps has not yet been disbanded but at the end of October it had been reduced to about 20,000 men and the reduction will continue as rapidly as circumstances permit. No information is available regarding the number of Poles who have failed more than twice to retain employment found for them on leaving the Corps, or as to the cost of maintaining former members of the Corps during periods of unemployment. These men now form part of the ordinary industrial community and when they lose their jobs they are entitled to claim National Insurance Benefit or National Assistance, subject to the usual rules. Since the Corps was instituted, over 18,000 of its members have emigrated or been repatriated on a voluntary basis, but I should like to make it clear that there can be no question of requiring a former member of the Corps to return to Poland merely because he is unemployed through no fault of his own.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he is proposing to take in connection with the letter addressed to him by the Engineering Industries Association about the treatment of losses for Income Tax purposes in view of the present high rate of taxation and the losses which certain engineering companies are facing.

The Association's letter, in common with other representations for legislation in the next Finance Bill, will be taken into account in framing the Budget of my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but I cannot anticipate his decision.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer approximately how many dollars have been gained in the last six months by the export drive in the nationalised industries.

Since the nationalised industries are largely public utilities or basic industries, direct exports of their products are naturally not large. Dollars are, of course, also earned indirectly by the services of other nationalised industries such as transport; but the amounts cannot be precisely computed. So far as coal is concerned, the value of exports to Canada and Newfoundland increased from $371,800 in April-September, 1947, to $1,955,324 for the same period this year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many towns or areas in the United Kingdom have municipal savings banks in addition to the facilities available generally throughout the country.

The Birmingham Municipal Bank is the only municipal bank authorised as such by specific Act of Parliament. Savings agencies connected with municipalities exist in a number of other cases and I will send the hon. Member such particulars of these as I have.

asked the Economic Secretary to the Treasury whether members of the Armed Forces in Kenya are now paying Income Tax at the colonial or the home rate.

I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the Local Armed Forces in Kenya in whose case during the war Income Tax was charged at local rates. Pending consideration of the whole question, I understand that Income Tax continues to be deducted at local rates.

asked the Economic Secretary to the Treasury what is the national money value of a rise or fall in the cost of living index by one point.

It is impossible to estimate in money terms the extra cost to consumers of a rise in the Interim Index of Retail Prices.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what balances belonging to the Government of Yugoslavia were held in this country on 1st January, 1945; and what balances are held at the present time.

I regret that I am not in a position to provide this information, which is confidential between the banks holding these balances and their clients.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many aliens have been deported from the United Kingdom on security grounds since the end of the war; and to which States these persons belonged.

Since 8th May, 1945, deportation orders have been made and enforced against six aliens on security grounds. Four of the aliens were Czechs, one a German and one a Pole. The figure given excludes aliens who were detained on security grounds under orders made during the war but who could not be deported till it was over.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied that none of the aliens who have come to this country from Eastern Europe since the end of the war are engaged in subversive activities.

In such a matter there is no discrimination against aliens based on their country of origin. Appropriate action would be taken in respect of any alien who engages in subversive activities in this country.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he has issued a third order prohibiting political processions in the Metropolitan Police area for a further period of three months.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Beswick) on 5th November.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employees of his Department have authority to enter private domestic dwellings without first obtaining an official search warrant.

Fifty-three inspectors of the Children's Department have powers to enter any place where a child is boarded out, and six Explosives Inspectors have powers to enter any premises where offences are suspected in connection with explosives or petroleum. In each category the power of entry is statutory.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will state the number of officers in the Metropolitan Police Force who have applied for an interview with the Commissioner according to police regulations, and been refused.

During 1947 and 1948 there have been 41 applications for interviews with the Commissioner; all but six of the applications were granted and the applicants seen either by the Commissioner or by a senior officer acting on his behalf.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what purpose a prison camp was established at Draycott, Staffordshire; and how the prisoners there are employed.

This camp was opened in July, 1945, to house some 36 men from Stafford Prison. The purpose was to reclaim over 300 acres of farmland which had been devastated by the explosion of an underground bomb-store. On a recent visit to the site I was glad to see that this difficult and valuable piece of public work has been most effectively carried out by the prisoners. All land capable of reclamation is now in cultivation, and the afforestation of areas about the crater 1.nd elsewhere is proceeding.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many I.R.A. prisoners are still held captive in this country; and when they will be released.

Two. Their cases are at present under consideration.

asked the Minister of Health whether it is his policy to pay grants under the Rural Water Supplies Act, 1944, towards water supply schemes in scattered rural areas where the only persons benefiting will be farmers and farm workers.

The schemes are eligible if they will supply groups of houses as well as farms, but schemes carried out primarily to give agricultural supplies will not rank for grant under the Act. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries is empowered to make grants towards expenditure incurred by landowners and farmers in bringing supplies, public or otherwise. to their farms.

asked the Minister of Health the acreages of land in water gathering grounds where there are restrictions on agriculture and where public access is prohibited, respectively.

Complete information is not available. Evidence submitted to the Gathering Grounds Sub-Committee of the Central Advisory Water Committee by a number of water undertakers in regard to areas totalling 380,061 acres showed that there were restrictions on agriculture over 87,492 acres and public access was prohibited over 33,454 acres.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he proposes to take to implement the report of the Gathering Grounds Sub-committee, which recommended that, subject to certain limitations, the public should be allowed access to gathering grounds.

Copies of the report were sent to all water undertakings, who will, I am sure, give full consideration to the recommendations.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the inadequacy of the premises occupied by the Hampshire Health Executive Council in Winchester; that serious delays of work are caused by lack of space and staff; and what measures are being taken to improve the situation.

Yes. My officers are discussing with representatives of the Council what further steps can be taken.

asked the Minister of Health what charges, and under what conditions, hospitals controlled by his Department may impose on patients; and whether they are informed on admission of such charges.

Patients may go into pay-beds, at full cost. Otherwise they can only be charged for extra privacy in single rooms or small wards, for the extra cost of certain expensive appliances, and for renewal of appliances through negligence. They are informed on admission.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that mental nurses, male and female, who can only qualify at mental hospitals and have contributed under the Asylum Officers (1909) Act, upon transfer, prior to 1938, to public assistance institutions, are deprived of their contributory service and all refund of their contributions; and if he will review this matter.

Yes. This situation was an inevitable result of the patchy application of superannuation schemes in the Local Government Service before 1939. I see no reason to review the matter now.

asked the Minister of Health if he will make a statement on the result of his inquiry into the matter of the colour bar at St. Benedicts Hospital, Tooting.

I have made inquiries and am satisfied that the hospital management committee have taken steps to ensure that this sort of incident does not occur again.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been drawn to the case of a man in Newport who was charged 3s. for the extraction of a tooth by his registered dentist, but which was subsequently repaid on demand; how many similar cases have been brought to his notice; and what steps are being taken to ensure that this Service shall be free and without involving the public in such claims.

Yes. The remedy is for the public to make it clear when applying for treatment that they desire to be treated under the Service.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will arrange for splinter-proof lenses to be supplied within the new service to children.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Mr. C. Smith) on 11th November.

asked the Minister of Health why claims for payments due to opticians under the National Health Act are not paid in full monthly; and is he aware that many practitioners are unable to meet their accounts because of the delay in payments.

I have suggested that Executive Councils should make payments monthly and have stressed the need for punctual payment. Heavy pressure has caused delays in some areas, but every effort is being made to overtake arrears and ensure prompt payment in future.

asked the Minister of Health what arrangements are being made for a trial use of B.C.G. vaccine in this country, with a view to better protection of nurses, doctors and other contacts, particularly exposed to the risks of tubercular infection.

Arrangements are nearing completion, but I am not yet in a position to make any useful public statement on them. I will do so as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Health if he has considered the report, sent him by the hon. Member for Wallsend, on a factory abutting on three streets; if he is aware that old bottles are piled above the walls of this factory close to bedroom windows; that the noise of barrels being rolled over cobbles, in addition to the noise of the machinery and the 20-ton lorries used by this factory, has created a general nuisance to the neighbourhood; and, in view of the fact that a petition to the Gosforth Council over a year ago has had no result, what action he is taking on the report.

I have considered the report. I am informed that the present stock of bottles will be rapidly reduced. Noise is not a nuisance which can be dealt with under the Public Health Acts.

asked the Minister of Health how many applications for houses or homes in rural areas throughout the country have been received to the latest convenient date.

I am sending the hon. Member a copy of a circular which I have sent to housing authorities asking them to review their waiting lists and prepare returns of the number of live applications. At present the information is not available.

asked the Minister of Health what is the approximate number of additional applicants who are now applying in rural areas for Government-built houses; and how does this compare with the number of houses being completed.

As to the first part of the Question I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given him today, and on the second part to the Housing Return.

asked the Minister of Health to state in tabular form for the years 1930 to 1947 inclusive the numbers of local authority houses available in each year for purchase under the provisions of the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts and the number of houses actually so purchased; whether he is satisfied that all local authorities today are operating these Acts; and if he will take steps to publicise further this important facility to would be houseowners.

The provisions of the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts are not appropriate for the sale of houses which have been provided by a local authority and the Government do not in any case favour the sale of such houses. Facilities for the purchase of other houses have been made available by the majority of local authorities either under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts or under parallel provisions in the Housing Act and I will take an early opportunity of publicising these facilities.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that many local authorities do not include in the housing waiting lists families living in insanitary conditions; and whether he proposes to include such cases in the housing waiting list he is compiling.

I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the circular I have issued to local authorities.

asked the Minister of, Health how far his Department has succeeded in reducing the cost of house-building in the last year; and can he state the approximate percentage of reduction that materialised.

The findings of the Departmental Committee on House-Building Costs have just been published, and it would be too early to give further figures at this stage.

asked the Minister of Health whether his regulations provide that the period over which financial loss is necessarily incurred within the meaning of Part VI of the Local Government Act. 1948. which provides for the payment of travelling and subsistence allowances to, and expenses incurred by, members of the local authorities and other bodies, must in all cases be the same as the period during which public duties, which were the occasion of the loss, were performed.

The point is governed by Section 112 of the Act itself. The period referred to in that Section as determining the amount of financial loss allowance is not the period during which duties are performed but the period of time over which earnings are lost or additional expenses are incurred.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will issue an interim order transferring the parish of Millbrook to the county borough of Southampton, as suggested to the Local Government Boundary Commission in 1946.

I have no power to make such an order.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the big decrease in the lapwing population of the country and having regard to the great value of these birds to agriculture, he will take steps to inform farmers of the need next year to exercise every care to avoid destroying their nests and young when carrying out ploughing activities.

I am obliged to my hon. Friend for his suggestion, and when the appropriate time comes I will consider taking steps to remind farmers of the need for care in farming operations where lapwings are breeding on cultivated land.

asked the Minister of Transport if he is aware that, on the ss. "Durban Castle," which arrived at Cape-town on 23rd October, a bathroom was set aside for three Africans on board, two of whom were Methodist ministers, with the notice "for non-Europeans only"; and, in view of the fact that the introduction of a colour bar on this ship does not tend to improve relations between His Majesty's Government and the Colonies, if he will make representations to the Union Castle Line on this matter.

Whilst I have no powers to deal with such a matter, I have made inquiries of the Union Castle Line because, as my hon. Friend will be aware, I deplore any racial discrimination. The Line inform me that they share my views and that the arrangements on board their ships are designed to give effect to this principle whilst meeting the general convenience and comfort of all passengers.

asked the Attorney-General whether he is aware that by virtue of Section 41 of the Army Act, persons subject to military law are frequently tried by court-martial on charges of statutory offences against the civil law without his fiat being first obtained, although the statute creating the offence requires the obtaining of such fiat before criminal proceedings can be taken; and under what authority the granting of the fiat in such cases is dispensed with.

The requirement of the Attorney-General's fiat prior to the prosecution of certain offences is a procedural provision relating to the administration of the civil law in the civil courts, and Section 41 of the Army Act, whilst making certain civil offences also under military law, does not purport to attract the procedural provisions of the civil law in regard to such offences. The Attorney-General does not exercise any control over the jurisdiction of military courts or the administration of military law.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that alleged war criminals are still being extradited from the British zone of Germany to Poland, Czechoslovakia and other Eastern European countries; whether he will give orders for this to cease; and how many persons in British hands awaiting extradition to such countries have in the past twelve months committed suicide rather than incur the consequences.

Where the Military Governor is satisfied that clear prima facie evidence of guilt has been established he sanctions extradition of suspected war criminals to the countries named by the hon. Member as to others. Since 1st September the Military Governor has restricted his acceptance of applications for the extradition of suspected war criminals to those which show a clear prima facie case of murder as defined in the German Penal Code, but my right hon. Friend sees no reason to adopt the further modification of policy which is suggested. I regret that the

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what is the amount claimed by British nationals in respect of property expropriated by the Government of Yugoslavia; and what amount has been received to date.

It is impossible to estimate with any precision the value in sterling, at the time of its expropriation, of all property of British nationals expropriated in Yugoslavia. Negotiations are now proceeding with a view to payment of a global sum in sterling and I hope that it will not be long before a

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the annual value of imports from dollar sources to British Honduras, British Guiana, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Trinidad, respectively.

The following figures give the 1947 imports into the five Colonies named from U.S.A. and Canada together with the provisional figures for 1948 (annual rates):result can be made known. The answer to the second part of the Question is that, so far as His Majesty's Government know, no payment has yet been received.

asked the Minister of Food if his Department has, at any time, paid the cold storage charges on tripe commodities, during peak periods, either on behalf of groups of traders or on behalf of individual traders; when such payment ceased; and what was the date of cessation of the arrangement.

During the peak slaughtering periods of the last four years my Department paid for the cold storage of certain unprocessed tripe and offals which were sold to and stored on behalf of Associated Tripe Dressers Ltd., and which otherwise would not have been utilised for human consumption. These arrangements cease each year as soon as the seasonal fall in slaughtering enables tripe dressers to resume the immediate processing of supplies.

asked the Postmaster-General in regard to the long-term plan for the move of the Post Office Savings Bank to Sheffield, what plans have been made for the move of the branch at Harrogate; and if he will give an under- taking that this branch will not be moved before 1954, or alternatively, how much notice of the removal of this branch he expects to be able to make.

The projected move of the Post Office Savings Department to Sheffield is still in the proposal stage, and no detailed plans have yet been made. The move cannot in any case take place for many years. The bulk of the work at Harrogate consists of stock and bond work, and this section of the work is likely to remain at Harrogate until the last. Any detailed plan will be subject to discussion with the Staff Side and as long notice as possible will be given both to the staff as a whole and to individual members of it who may be required to move.