asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will institute a world trade week similar to that held in the United States of America in May, 1949.

I understand that the object of World Trade Week was to draw the attention of the United States public to the importance of foreign trade in both directions. I do not consider that there is any need in this country to undertake further means of making the public export-conscious, though I am always ready to consider suggestions for increasing the flow of exports to the United States and Canada.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he can give any estimate as to the proportion of utility furniture which within three years of purchase has been damaged by woodworm; and whether he will ensure that the loss shall fall not upon the purchaser but upon the manufacturer when the latter is responsible.

It is not possible to give any estimate of the proportion of utility furniture which has been damaged by woodworm; but from such evidence as we have, we are satisfied that this proportion is very small indeed. As regards the second part of my hon. Friend's Question, the responsibility for the cost of repairs is a matter of civil law and the Board of Trade has no power to intervene.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what conditions have to be fulfilled before firms in the timber trade may purchase from the national stock hardwoods through the Timber Control.

Sales of hardwood from national stock are confined to established hardwood importers and merchants, whose pre-war business reached a certain minimum level.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that Mr. A. Potter of Portsmouth, who served four years in the First World War and six years in the second, opened a small business in Portsmouth on 27th July, 1948, for the provision of stationery and conduct of a lending library; that he applied to the Newspaper Proprietors' Association for an allocation of newspaper supplies, and that despite the need for such a service in the neighbourhood of his shop an allocation has been refused him; and what action he proposes to take in referring the activities of the Newspaper Proprietors' Association to the Monopolies Commission.

The arrangements for distribution of newspapers operated by the Newspaper Proprietors' Association and similar arrangements by other organisations, will be considered when the time comes to make further references to the Monopolies Commission, but in view of the Commission's heavy programme of work, I do not propose to refer any more cases for the time being.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the amount of money expended on radio equipment by the police and fire services in the United Kingdom for the year 1948.

Exact figures are not available but the approximate amount so spent was£70,000, including£21,000 paid as rentals by the English and Welsh police and fire authorities who rent their equipment from the Home Office.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will circularise the clerks of all courts of summary jurisdiction directing the justices' attention to the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act, 1948, that no court shall impose imprisonment on a person under 21 years of age unless the court is of opinion that no other method of dealing with him is appropriate, and ensure, pending the passing of the Legal Aid Bill, that all young persons are given legal assistance in every case where a sentence of imprisonment is in contemplation by the justices in order that all material facts may be properly placed before the court.

A detailed explanation of the provisions of Section 17 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1948, relating to the imprisonment of persons under the age of 21 was included in one of the circulars about the Act which was sent to all clerks to justices on 14th December last. The question of the grant of legal aid is a matter for the court, and I have no reason to think that it would be withheld in the class of case to which the hon. Member refers if it was applied for.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that at the present time cats are being imported from Ireland for medical research; that sometimes they are packed so tightly that they arrive at their destination dead or dying, as happened recently at Cambridge; that these animals are made to undergo painful experiments, sometimes enduring weeks of agony, in the interests of science; and what steps does he intend to take to stop this unnecessary suffering.

I am not aware that cats are now imported from Ireland for medical research. In 1947 some cats were sent from Ireland to Cambridge. The person in Eire responsible for the despatch of the cats was prosecuted and convicted. The seven cats received were used for class demonstrations for which purpose the experiments were made under anaesthesia throughout, the cats being killed before they recovered consciousness.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress is being made in the discussions with the Governments of the Channel Islands on reciprocity in legal procedure which will enable civil claims arising in England to be pursued in Jersey if the defendant is now resident there.

A memorandum setting out the action necessary for this purpose has been prepared by the Lord Chancellor's Department and is at present being examined by the Law Officers of Jersey and Guernsey, with a view to submission to the States for consideration of a scheme for reciprocity between the Islands and this country.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will now make a statement concerning the Government's intentions arising from the recommendations of the Gowers Committee Report.

The numerous recommendations in this Report relate to a considerable variety of subjects and concern a number of Government Departments, in varying degrees. As a necessary first step arrangements have been made for their detailed examination by the interested Departments, to assist the Ministers concerned to decide the further action to be taken as regards the various groups of recommendations.

asked the Minister of Health what resolutions he has received from the local medical committee for the County of London in regard to the present difficulties of securing admission to hospital of acute cases; and, in view of the possibility of a complete breakdown of the service during next winter, what action he proposes to take.

I have received the Committee's resolutions of 24th May. The position is continuously under review by the four Metropolitan regional boards and everything possible is being done to increase the pool of staffed beds, which is the only effective remedy.

asked the Minister of Health if there has been any increase in the number of hearing aids supplied from distribution centres operating in Manchester and Preston since 1st, November, 1948, when the number was 100 per month; and what is the demand per month for these hearing aids in this area.

About 400 aids per month are being issued from these two centres, and the total will increase to 600 when a new centre opens at Stockport in July. The monthly demand is about 1,200.

asked the Minister of Health how many deaf-aids have been issued to old age pensioners under the National Health Act; and how many applications are still outstanding.

I regret the information is not available.

asked the Minister of Health what was the approximate cost of the publicly-owned hospitals and clinics which were completed in 1937 and 1938, including the value of any extensions to such institutions.

I regret that these figures are not available but in each of the financial years in question the capital expenditure of local authorities on hospitals and clinics was in the region of£5 million.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the fact that a number of British subjects living abroad in countries where there are British hospitals, recognised as such by our Embassies in those countries, contribute to the National Health Scheme, but do not receive free medical treatment while abroad; and he will either subsidise such hospitals or arrange for free treatment for these British subjects in them.

I have no power to provide treatment abroad, but, as I informed the hon. Members for Newark (Mr. Shephard) and Bury (Mr. W. Fletcher) on 5th May, discussions are proceeding with certain countries on reciprocal arrangements for medical care.

asked the Minister of Health what arrangements are in hand to provide some improvement in the wages and conditions of mental nurses; and if he will speed up matters so as to allay the discontent among the staff concerned.

No claim has yet been submitted by the Staff Side of the Nurses and Midwives Whitley Council. It has been already agreed that the new salary scales will operate from 1st February, 1949.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the delays in supplying spectacles prescribed for patients under the Supplementary Ophthalmic Service of the National Health Service; what steps are being taken to overcome these delays; and how long such delays are likely to continue.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for East Islington (Mr. E. Fletcher) on 19th May.

asked the Minister of Health who is responsible for deciding whether an applicant is entitled to have his glasses repaired when accidentally broken; whether they are examined, and by whom; when it is decided they were carelessly broken and consequently cannot be repaired until the appropriate form is filled up; and the cost of repair to be paid by the applicant.

The ophthalmic services committee of the local Executive Council is responsible for deciding if glasses need repairing as a result of carelessness. If they so decide, the applicant must meet the cost. The full procedure is in the Supplementary Ophthalmic Services Regulations.

asked the Minister of Health if he will now give in tabular form a list of hospitals and the amount of cuts he has asked them to make this year.

I have asked regional hospital boards and boards of governors of teaching hospitals to prepare their revised estimates on the basis that there is to be no closure of beds or reduction of other services essential to the care and welfare of patients.

asked the Minister of Health the actual number of building contractors, excluding sub-contractors, who were awarded contracts in respect of the houses under construction by local authorities at 30th April, 1949.

Exact information is not available, but the number of contractors (excluding sub-contractors) engaged at 30th April, 1949, on local authority house erection was approximately 5,200.

asked the Minister of Health whether the delay of nine to 12 months in the delivery in galvanised piping for council housing schemes is general throughout the country, or limited to some areas only; and whether he will do anything directly, or in co-operation with other Government Departments, to improve the position.

Some delay in obtaining this type of tubing is general but contractors normally order well in advance and few houses are held up on this score. To assist in meeting the demand, production has recently been substantially increased.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has considered the case, of which details have been submitted to him, where a woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy and her husband have been turned out of their lodgings and have been forced to sleep on the beach; and what steps he proposes to take, in connection with the National Health Service or otherwise, to deal with such cases.

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

asked the Minister of Health if he will raise the allocation of houses to local authorities by the number of houses they have built or intend building for district nurses.

Allocations for new house building made to housing authorities are related to the building resources of the area and the course which the hon. Member suggests is impracticable. I am aware that difficulties do arise in finding accommodation for district nurses and have already drawn the attention of housing authorities to the matter in circulars of which I am sending the hon. Member copies. I am also prepared to consider on their merits and in relation to the building resources of the area proposals from local health authorities for erection of houses specifically for district nurses.

asked the Minister of Health whether extra costs of non-traditional types of houses will rank for grant if the tenders for these houses were not accepted before December, 1947.

Under Section 17 of the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1946, proposals in England and Wales must have been submitted by the local authority to me before 31st December, 1947.

asked the Minister of Health whether a decision has yet been reached in regard to Dr. J. Barg's application for registration under the Medical Practitioners and Pharmacists Act.

This is a matter for the General Medical Council. I understand they have not yet reached a decision but hope to be able to do so very shortly.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that, in spite of his assurances that urgent staffing matters affecting Broad-moor Institution would be brought to an issue immediately, these matters are still outstanding, with the result that essential recruitment to augment the present staffs of this institution is in suspense, and will remain so until decisions have been taken; and by what date firm decisions on these matters will be taken and communicated to the Prison Officers' Association.

On two of these matters proposals are under discussion with the Treasury. The third involved a general issue regarding the terms and conditions of service, on which a memorandum is being sent this week to the staff for their comments; and a meeting will be held shortly with the staff to discuss the various points arising.

asked the Minister of Health if he is satisfied that reasonable steps have been taken to prevent the recurrence of flooding of the Pool river in Lewisham.

The Lewisham Borough Council are aware of the position, and I have no doubt that they are taking all reasonable steps, within the powers available to them, to prevent further flooding.

asked the Minister of Health what use is being made of dowsers to locate water where there is need of it for agricultural or other purposes.

I have no information on the subject.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what acreage of land is being farmed in each county by agricultural committees, common land, and other land formerly occupied either by tenants or owner-occupiers, respectively.

The reply contains a number of figures which I give below. I cannot say what part of the acreage farmed direct by committees is common land as opposed to land formerly occupied by tenants or owner-occupiers, but committees have under their control a total area of about 22,000 acres of common, some of which is let to occupiers under licence.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is satisfied that farmers will be able to obtain adequate supplies of sacks for use with combine harvesters this year.

To ensure that adequate supplies of sacks are obtainable for use with combine harvesters, my Department has again circularised all known owners of combines offering them two-bushel hessian sacks to supplement the supply of the four-bushel sacks which are obtained on hire from the Railways and the usual sack hire firms.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will make a statement as to the progress which has been made in increasing the cattle and sheep population of Exmoor.

I will write to the hon. Member when the preliminary results of the 4th June, 1949, census are available, which I hope will be during the latter part of August.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason the Statement of National Income and Expenditure of the United Kingdom, 1946 to 1948, Command Paper No. 7649, does not contain a table comparable to Table 13 contained on page 16 of the Statement of National Income and Expenditure of the United Kingdom, 1938–1945, Command Paper No. 6784.

It was decided that this table should be given in the 91st report of the Commissioners of His Majesty's Inland Revenue, which will be published shortly.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will recommend a rise in the bank rate in order to attract capital from abroad and prevent it from leaving this country.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what subsidies were paid from public funds in the last financial year to the railway, coal mining, air

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what approximate amount Income Tax receipts during the last financial year for which accounts are available were increased by the taxation of family allowances; and what approximate percentage this represents of the total family allowances paid.

About£4 million and 7 per cent. respectively.

asksed the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the number of married women who are employed on clerical work in Government offices in Edinburgh.

I regret that this information is not available centrally.

asked the Minister of Labour how many persons over 65, and

Following is the reply:60 years of age in the case of women, are at work, producing wealth, as employees or otherwise.

It is estimated that at July, 1948, the latest date for which information is available, there were about 950,000 persons of these ages in the total working population of Great Britain, of whom about 700,000 were employees.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that the s.s. "Georgic" has just arrived carrying 300 unemployed Jamaicans who are seeking work in England; and, in view of the danger of serious unemployment here, what steps he proposes to take to discourage the immigration of cheap labour into this country.

Yes, 262 British subjects from the West Indies recently arrived in s.s. "Georgic" to seek work in this country. They will be given every help to find suitable employment. When placed they receive the rate for the job and must not, therefore, be regarded as cheap labour. There are no restrictions on the entry of British subjects into Great Britain, but my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies has made it known in the West Indies that inexperienced or unskilled workers may find serious difficulty in getting work and accommodation in Great Britain.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is in a position to make any statement in regard to the extension of the broadcasting system available for the Colonial Empire.

Yes. My policy is to encourage and assist Colonial territories to develop their broadcasting services and, as the House was recently informed,£1 million have now been earmarked for this purpose from the general reserve of funds provided under the Colonial Development and Welfare Act. A number of important developments are already taking place.A complete technical survey of the broadcasting needs of the four West African Colonies has just been completed and will be acted upon with all possible speed. A wire rediffusion service aiming to serve upwards of 10,000 houses has just been opened in Hong Kong, and, as also in Malta and Trinidad, there has lately been a particularly rapid increase in the number of licensed listeners. The Governments of the Federation of Malaya and Singapore have agreed plans for providing their broadcasting service with what will probably be the finest studio equipment and premises in South East Asia. A detailed broadcasting scheme for Cyprus has been drawn up and is being considered. In Northern Rhodesia the Government are installing a transmitter of much increased power, and some thousands of cheap receivers, specially designed by a British manufacturer, are being made available to African listeners.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what has been the cost of producing the monthly international review "Knowledge," published by the Central Office of Information; how many copies are distributed monthly; and how much of the cost is recovered from sales.

The cost to date is£1,488. Fifteen issues have been published, the first 12 consisting of 1,000 copies each and the last three of 500 each. The estimated amount received from sales is£296 at the official rate of exchange (or£190 at the free market rate). It has now been decided to discontinue distribution of a separate publication for Thailand.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he is aware that anthracite is now unobtainable in certain districts; that many institutions and dwellings have cooking and heating stoves that are designed for anthracite and in which the use of other fuel causes damage; and what steps he proposes to take to supply coal merchants south of the Thames with adequate stocks to meet the normal demands of their customers.

As I have repeatedly explained there is a general shortage of anthracite on the home market because of the need to increase exports, particularly to Canada. Coke which is plentiful in most districts can be used in nearly all stoves and boilers and I have not heard of any case where it caused damage. I will, however, make inquiries if the hon. Member will let me have details of any case he has in mind.

asked the Minister of Works what plans he has for permitting a larger amount of new office building construction for private firms, thereby releasing older property for the use of Government Departments.

There is still so much building work of high priority in hand that I cannot hold out an expectation of any substantial increase in the amount of office building in the near future.

asked the Minister of Works what progress his Department has made towards securing alternative and more accessible premises for the Chiswick food office, at present temporarily located at Sutton Court School, Park Road; and whether he will now expedite this matter.

No other suitable premises have been found for the Chiswick food office. I am considering the possibility of erecting a new building.

asked the Secretary of State for War why no pre-embarkation leave was given to 150 National Service soldiers who sailed for Singapore on the "Empire Windrush" on Wednesday, 22nd June.

The National Service men referred to were originally in a draft which embarked for overseas early in May having had seven days' embarkation leave. On the instructions of my right hon. Friend they were disembarked and given further training to comply with the new arrangements that all troops going to the Far East must have completed at least 16 weeks' training and 18 weeks' service, after which they again became eligible for posting and were required to be ready for embarkation on 20th June. They were not eligible for any further embarkation leave, but three periods of 48 hours' short leave were granted between the two embarkations.

asked the Secretary of State for War why his Department informed the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Press on 7th May, 1949, that no men called up for National Service in 1949 would be sent to the Far East, in view of the fact that such men are now being sent to the Far East.

The statement issued to the Press and the B.B.C. on 7th May said that "no 1949 men are sent to the Far East." This reflected the interim instruction which had been given by my right hon. Friend at that time, pending the issue of final instructions. The final position was set out by my right hon. Friend in the reply which he gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Mr. Swingler) on 17th May.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many houses remain requisitioned in the Marylebone and Paddington districts of London for the accommodation of officers and other ranks as transit hostels; what is the cost of these premises; how many noncommissioned officers and other ranks are engaged in supervising these premises; and what is the average weekly use made of this accommodation by troops in transit.

Twelve houses and a school remain requisitioned for the accommodation of officers and other ranks at the London District Assembly Centre, including those in transit. Payments under the Compensation Defence Act in respect of these buildings amount to£4,588 a year. Eleven officers, 20 warrant officers and non-commissioned officers, 126 other ranks and 11 civilians are engaged in the supervision of the Centre. The average weekly number of officers and other ranks in transit and others who are temporarily accommodated at the Centre is about 714.

asked the Minister of Food what quantities of sugar, in terms of weight, are represented by the annual allocations now being made for each class of pharmaceutical preparations designated as official, non-official and medicinal tablets and lozenges.

The estimated usage of sugar for pharmaceutical preparations for the year 1949 is as follows:

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware of the inconvenience caused to bathers on the South Coast and also the danger to bird and fish life by the increased amount of oil pollution in the English Channel; and whether he will use his best endeavour to institute international discussions, with a view to preventing this by providing all oil-burning ships with suitable equipment and forbidding the pumping out of oil at sea except under special conditions.

In answer to the first part of the Question, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Central Bristol (Mr. Awbery) on 30th May, last. Discharge of oil has already been considered internationally on two occasions, in 1926 and 1935. The problem is appropriate for the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organisation and when that is established my right hon. Friend will consider putting it before them.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will give figures to the end of 1948 bringing up to date the shipping tabulation as noted in paragraphs 148 and 149 of the Report on West Indian Shipping Services issued by His Majesty's Stationery Office.

The final figures for 1947 are: