asked the Minister of Health by how much the net expenditure falling on Class V, Vote 2, during the first six months of the present financial year, exceeded half the net sum granted for that Vote in the Appropriation Act, 1949.

The information asked for by the hon. Member is not available. I shall shortly be receiving revised Estimates from the regional hospital boards and later on, in accordance with usual practice, I shall make a full review of probable income and expenditure for the year in order to determine the size of any Supplementary Estimate it may be necessary to present to the House.

asked the Minister of Health how many dentists are now practising under the National Health Service in the Middlesex Executive Council area; and of these how many are available to patients in Brentford and Chiswick.

560, of whom 17 reside in Brentford and Chiswick.

asked the Minister of Health the nature of the regulations issued to hospital boards whereby payment is made to ministers of religion for visiting patients.

The fees payable to hospital chaplains are governed not by regulations but by an administrative memorandum issued by my Department. Part-time chaplains are paid on a varying scale in accordance with the number of patients for whom they are responsible. I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of the memorandum.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that in the Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith, 1,645 married couples who have as yet no children are registered for housing accommodation and that, as preference is given to those with children, the prospects of re-housing the former are remote; whether a similar position prevails generally; and what steps he is taking to secure the early re-housing of both groups and all other groups requiring accommodation.

Detailed statistics of this kind are not available. I hope that local authorities will follow the recommendations made by the Central Housing Advisory Committee in their recent report on the selection of tenants and will make suitable provision for all groups, including old persons, single persons, and married couples without families.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the bad conditions in Bulford Fields Camp, Wiltshire, and that the £500 sanctioned by his Department is not sufficient to make these huts wind and water-tight; and if, as the inmates will now be obliged to remain there indefinitely owing to the slowing-down of the housing programme, he will sanction the necessary extra expenditure at once.

The work referred to in the Question has not yet been carried out. Considerable expenditure has already been authorised at this camp, but if more should prove necessary it will be approved.

asked the Minister of Health what is the cost of medical education in England and Wales borne by his Department.

The cost of medical teaching does not fall on my Department. The provision of hospital facilities for it is a matter for the teaching hospitals, but their expenditure on this item alone is not identifiable.

asked the Minister of Health when it is expected that Whitley machinery will be set up for public dental officers.

The local authorities and dental organisations are now considering detailed proposals for a Whitley Council, and I hope to have their decision in about a month's time.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the serious understaffing at the State Mental Institutions at Broadmoor, Rampton, and Moss Side which is resulting in additional duties for the staffs concerned; that the risk of assault on members of the staff is increasing and, in one institution, the number of actual assaults has increased; and what steps he proposes to take to put an end to this situation.

I am aware of the shortage of staff in mental institutions generally; but it is less acute at the State Institutions than elsewhere. Constant efforts are made to keep the staff at full strength. I am making inquiries into the points raised in the other parts of the Question; and, in the meantime, I do not accept the implication.

asked the Lord President of the Council what remuneration and payments for expenses are to be given to the water bus liaison officer recently appointed by him.

If, as I assume, the hon. Member is referring to the officer who maintains liaison with the Ministry of Transport the Port of London Authority, the river steamer operators and others concerned with river traffic for the Festival of Britain, 1951, his remuneration is £500 per annum. He receives no expense allowance, but is of course repaid the expenditure necessarily incurred in connection with his official duties in accordance with normal arrangements.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the extent to which the Marshall Plan technical assistance project for the provision of American agricultural books, periodicals and motion picture films, has become operative; and in what manner distribution of these publications is made available for study and consultation.

My Department has asked for the supply of a quantity of American technical books, periodicals and films on agriculture out of the special dollar fund for technical assistance. The Economic Co-operation Administration Mission to the United Kingdom has announced the allotment of 10,200 dollars out of the fund for this purpose, and is now helping in the selection of suitable material. The publications will be added to the Ministry's libraries at headquarters and in the provinces, mainly for use by the National Agricultural Advisory Service and the staffs of county agricultural executive committees. The films will be shown to farmers at events organised by the committees. This material will form a most valuable adjunct to that already in use.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how much expenditure the closing down of the Women's Land Army will save.

The net provision on the Vote for my Department for the current year in respect of the Women's Land Army is £741,000. There will be some expenditure next year and on remnants in the succeeding year but the effect of closing down will ultimately be to save the whole of this cost.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what is his forecast of the acreage of wheat for the coming year in the County of Gloucester; and what steps are being taken to see that the target set will be reached.

Cropping forecast forms recently completed by Gloucester farmers indicated that they were intending to sow only 44,000 acres of wheat for the 1950 harvest, compared with the county target of 65,000 acres. Intensive local propaganda is now being undertaken by the county agricultural executive committee with the full support of the National Farmers' Union, and I hope that as a result the county target will be reached.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what are the duties of members of the Agricultural Land Service in sub-professional grades.

The duties of officers in the sub-professional grades of the Agricultural Land Service are to assist the professionally qualified officers, more particularly on those matters which do not require expert professional knowledge.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the fact that holders of National Savings Certificates have lost nearly 4s. in the pound sterling in real purchasing power since 1945, if he will now consider guaranteeing the small saver further loss of capital by fixing repayment to the cost-of-living index as is done with certain classes of wages.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many dollars were earned by the sterling area in 1948; how many of these came from manufactured goods from the United Kingdom and how many from primary non-manufactured products from the Commonwealth and Empire, respectively; and what his estimate is of the receipts for the latter in 1950.

About 1,900 million dollars on visible trade. United Kingdom exports, which are mainly manufactured or processed good's, earned about 700 million dollars, and those by the rest of the sterling area, which are mainly primary products, 1,200 million. I cannot yet give any estimate for 1950.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what have been the monthly receipts from Entertainments Duty on film exhibitions since 1st January, 1949, and for the corresponding months of 1948; and what is the overall increase or reduction in terms of percentage.

The approximate receipts of Entertainments Duty from cinemas during the months January to October, 1948, and 1949, respectively, were as follows:

		1948	1949
		£	£
January	…	3,818,000	3,381,000
February	…	3,174,000	2,967,000
March	…	3,073,000	3,113,000
April	…	3,897,000	3,473,000
May	…	2,929,000	2,920,000
June	…	2,960,000	2,792,000
July	…	3,366,000	2,547,000
August	…	3,145,000	3,075,000
September	…	3,290,000	3,217,000
October	…	3,418,000	3,185,000
Total (10 months)	…	£33,070,000	£30,670,000

The figures for 1949 show a reduction of 7.25 per cent. compared with those for the previous year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why, in connection with war damage to Chalk Villa, Beverley, the property of Mr. F. W. Arnott, the War Damage Commission are insisting upon the repayment of £212 already paid before they will agree to consider further claims which have been made for damage subsequently discovered.

I regret that I cannot undertake to answer Questions concerning individual war damage claims, but I will forward the hon. Member's inquiry to the War Damage Commission.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that Mr. O'Rourke of 382 City Road, Old Trafford, has been waiting three years for a settlement of a war damage claim relating to 378–382 City Road, Old Trafford; that in regard to work supposedly completed, the Stretford Borough Council has served a sanitary inspector's defect notice on Mr. O'Rourke; and if he will hasten action by the War Damage Commission to enable Mr. O'Rourke to satisfy the council's requirements in this matter.

I regret I cannot undertake to answer Questions about individual war damage claims. I will however forward the hon. Member's inquiry to the War Damage Commission.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money has been spent since the end of 1944 in all forms of aid to Greece, such as loans, military assistance, mission maintenance and other forms.

Assistance to Greece from the end of 1944 to date in respect of loans, equipment and mission maintenance is estimated at some £68 million. In addition, sterling drawing rights have been granted to Greece under the Intra-European Payments Agreement equivalent to 51 million dollars for the two Marshall Aid years to the 30th June, 1950.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he has taken, or proposes to take, to counteract the lowering of the value of Government securities through speculative activities on the Stock Exchange.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he proposes to take in view of the recent falls in the prices quoted on the Stock Exchange for Government securities.

It is not in the public interest to discuss the Government's policy or action in regard to fluctuations in the prices of Government securities on the Stock Exchange.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will introduce legislation to forbid the selling of stocks and shares which, at the time when they are offered for sale, are not the property of the seller.

No. I do not think it would be practicable to enforce legislation on such a matter.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what sums are held by charities in post-war credits.

This information is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why he has not yet decided when charities will benefit from post-war credits held by them.

Any extension of the present limited release of post-war credits must depend on economic circumstances.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that in the September, 1949, monthly Digest of Statistics, the total of persons employed in the national and local government service in December, 1948, is shown as 1,470,000 and in the March, 1949, issue of the Digest as 2,138,000; and whether he will analyse the difference of 671,000 between these two figures.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Maidstone (Mr. Bossom) on 15th November, of which I am sending him a copy. I am also sending the hon. Member a copy of the article describing the effect of these changes and of the introduction of the new series of manpower statistics which appeared in the February, 1949, issue of the Ministry of Labour Gazette and to which reference is made in the Introductory Notes to the March, 1949, Digest of Statistics.

asked the Minister of Labour how many disabled men in Newport were receiving unemployment pay at the latest known date; and when the proposed new factory for their employment will be started.

At 17th October there were 264 disabled persons registered as unemployed in the Newport area, of whom 47 were in need of sheltered employment. The hon. Member will be aware that it has been necessary to slow down the programme of building for Remploy factories, and as a result of this it is not expected that the work on the factory at Newport will start before the second half of 1950.

asked the Minister of Labour how many man-hours were lost per year by industrial disputes or otherwise from 1935 to 1938 inclusive in the coal mining industry; how many miners were registered as unemployed; and how many were working a short week.

The following are the available figures:

Year	Number of man-days lost through all causes other than absenteeism	Number of man-days lost through industrial disputes	Average number of persons registered as unemployed
1935	34,600,000	1,368,000	241,500
1936	30,300,000	852,000	198,600
1937	22,700,000	1,496,000	129,300
1938	32,600,000	697,000	133,400

The figures in the first column cover holidays, disputes, accidents, breakdowns and repairs to machinery, rail transport difficulties and other causes. They exclude days lost through absenteeism. Information is not available as to the number of persons in the coal mining industry who were working a short week.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of man-days lost by strikes in nationalised and non-nationalised industries this year to the latest convenient date.

During the first 10 months of 1949 about 790,000 working days were lost through industrial disputes in nationalised industries and about 875.000 days in other industries.

asked the Minister of Labour whether the committee on the recent Smithfield dispute which prevented the distribution of the 6d. meat bonus in London, has yet reported; and if he will now make a statement.

Yes. The committee reported on Monday, 14th November. I have asked the parties to give early consideration to the report and I understand that they are in fact meeting today for this purpose.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that Irish potato-pickers in this country can earn an average of £12 per week on which no Income Tax is paid; that accommodation, bedding, cooking utensils and fuel are provided for them free at public expense, and that a lodging allowance of 24s. per week is also drawn from public funds: and whether he will investigate this expenditure of public money, in view of the discontent which it is arousing among English agricultural workers.

Subject to the statutory provision for minimum wages, rates of wages for this work are a matter for agreement between employers and workers. Accommodation, bedding, cooking utensils and fuel are not provided from public funds. Irish workers who have family responsibilities may qualify for lodging allowances under the general scheme at present available for British workers who transfer to important work.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed signing-on at Brunel Road employment exchange, Bermondsey, during the last week of October in the years 1937, 1938 and 1939: the numbers of vacancies available if any; and also the figures showing the position for the same period in the years 1947, 1948, and 1949. including vacancies.

Unemployed persons on registers				Vacancies notified by employers to the employment exchange and remaining unfilled at the under-mentioned dates
Date			Number	Date			Number
18th October, 1937	…	…	2,717	October, 1937	…	…	Figures not available
17th October, 1938	…	…	3,393	October, 1938	…	…
16th October, 1939	…	…	5,280	October, 1939	…	…
13th October, 1947	…	…	225	29th October, 1947	…	…	1,384
11th October, 1948	…	…	383	27th October, 1948	…	…	602
10th October, 1949	…	…	213	26th October, 1949	…	…	1,406

asked the Minister of Education to what extent suitability for the profession, as apart from scholastic attainments, is taken into consideration in selecting students for scholarships and maintenance grants for training for the medical profession; and what steps are taken to assess this.

The assessment of suitability of candidates for the medical profession is mainly a matter for the medical schools, acceptance by which is one of the conditions of an award by my Department or local education authorities.

asked the Minister of Education how many medical students are now in receipt of scholarships and maintenance grants provided by the State and local authorities, respectively, in England and Wales; and how many were in receipt of similar awards in 1938.

At present 3,071 awards by my Department to medical students are current, of which 2,634 are under the Further Education and Training Scheme. The comparable figure for 1938 was 29, all of which were State scholarships. I am unable to state how many of the awards by local education authorities are for medical students.

asked the Minister of Education what is the cost of medical education in England and Wales borne by his Depart-

The expenditure on medical education falling on my Department

The following Table gives the desired figures for the Bermondsey employment exchange so far as they are available.ment is confined to awards to students. The estimated cost in the current year of awards made direct by the Department is about £814,000. A substantial part of the expenditure by local education authorities on their awards to medical students is met by my Department, but figures of this expenditure are not available.

asked the Minister of Education whether he is aware that of 13 dentists available in area No. 9, all but three have now resigned; that preventive work in this area is now at a standstill and that even emergency treatment is not properly available; and what steps he is taking to ensure that more dentists are recruited into this area.

I am aware of the difficulties in the School Dental Service of area No. 9 of Middlesex, but I am assured that emergency treatment is being maintained in the whole of the area and preventive treatment in part of it. I dealt with the general difficulties affecting the School Dental Service in the answer which I gave the hon. Members for Sutton Coldfield (Sir J. Mellor) and Mile End (Mr. Piratin) on 20th October last.

asked the Minister of Education when the reports conducted at his request for the Foundation for Educational Research on the corporal punishment of children in schools will be available.

The research into rewards and punishments in schools which the National Foundation for Educational Research undertook at my request is now entering its final stages and the Foundation hopes to produce a report about the middle of 1950.

asked the Minister of Education if, in view of the hardship likely to be caused to young people, particularly apprentices, by the instruction to local education authorities to increase night school fees from 1st January, 1950, he will consider the withdrawal of the instruction.

No. Local education authorities can remit fees in cases of hardship.

asked the Minister of Education, in view of the present small proportion of male teachers in the primary schools when the supply of men teachers threatens to be redundant, and the extreme shortage of women teachers willing to join the service, if he will increase the proportion of men teachers in all schools, even if only as a temporary measure, in view of the imminent addition to the primary schools of one million new pupils.

I cannot accept the hon. Member's assumptions in the form in which they are stated, but as I explained in the answer which I gave him on 7th November, the proportion of men employed in teaching children over the age of eight is being continuously increased. I have recently received from local education authorities estimates of the numbers of teachers they expect to employ in September, 1950, and, when these have been examined by my Department in consultation with the National Advisory Council on the Training and Supply of Teachers, I shall issue such further guidance to the authorities as may appear to be necessary.

asked the Minister of Education how many scholars were in sixth forms of secondary grammar schools under the Hertfordshire local education authority in 1939 and how many in 1949; and what were the comparative figures for the country as a whole.

I regret that the exact information is not available. Some measure of the position is given by the figures of children aged 16 and over on the registers of maintained and assisted secondary grammar schools. These were for 1st October, 1938, and January, 1949, respectively, 448 and 1,194 for Hertfordshire, and 36,207 and 76,249 for the country as a whole. The position in 1939 was affected by the war.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what reply he proposes to give to the petition of the Paramount Chief of Basutoland requesting the establishment of a court of criminal appeal in that territory and the reduction in the proportion of nationals of the Union of South Africa employed as officials in the territory.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what action is being taken on the petition from the Paramount Chief of Basutoland for the removal of South African nationals from Government service.

I have seen the petition to His Majesty the King from the Paramount Chief of Basutoland, which includes the requests mentioned by my hon. Friends. On the question of a court of criminal appeal for Basutoland and the other High Commission Territories, I have the matter under active consideration, but I cannot yet say that the right solution has been found. I have every confidence in the staff of the High Commission Territories, from whatever country they may have been recruited, and I would be glad to explain to my hon. Friends why I do not contemplate any change in the present method of recruitment.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations whether he is aware of the concern felt in Basutoland at the large numbers of official posts in that territory held by nationals of the Union of South Africa; and what steps it is proposed to take to meet the request of the Paramount Chief made to the High Commissioner for the appointment of more officials from the United Kingdom.

I have seen a petition from the Paramount Chief to His Majesty The King which includes a request of this nature. I have every confidence in the officers serving in the territory, from whatever country they may have been recruited, and I do not contemplate any change in the existing methods of recruitment.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what progress he has made with the Government of India in arranging that the same increases of pension are awarded to retired British Indian Army officers who were re-employed by the British Army during the war as are awarded to retired British Army officers re-employed in the same circumstances.

I regret that no reply has yet been received from the Government of India. I can assure the hon. and gallant Member that the United Kingdom representative in New Delhi is doing his best to obtain an early decision.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what consultations there have been with other members of the Commonwealth about Chinese Nationalist interference with shipping proceeding to Shanghai.

We have throughout kept all the other Commonwealth Governments fully informed about our policy, and we will continue to do so.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if, in view of the opening of the London Metal Exchange, he will re-open the Liverpool Cotton Exchange.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether it is now possible to free from requisitioning the part of the Daisy Works, Stockport Road, Manchester 13, used for pay department purposes, since the owners, W. & H. Pownall, Limited, urgently require this space for production for export to Canada.

I regret that it is not possible to release these premises in the near future since no suitable alternative accommodation is available. It is intended that the Army Officers' Pay Office shall later be housed in new office accommodation which has yet to be built. A search for a suitable site is now in progress.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will make a statement on the degree of Ministerial control and supervision exercised over the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes.

The policy of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes Corporation in such matters as the scope of trading and limitation of financial and commercial operations is subject to directions issued by the Council of the Corporation, which consists of 12 members appointed in equal numbers by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the Army Council and the Air Council. The Council obtains the general approval of the Service Departments prior to giving such directions.Subject to such restrictions, the business of the Corporation is conducted by a Board of Management, which consists of seven members, including a Chairman, appointed on the joint recommendation of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and the Army Council, a deputy Chairman, appointed on the joint recommendation of the Army Council and the Air Council and three serving officers appointed by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the Army Council and the Air Council respectively.The Services thus exercise direct control of the general policy of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes but the only control exercised over the day-to-day business of the Corporation is in respect of the appointment of members of the Board of Management. No direct Ministerial control is exercised over the conduct of individual Navy, Army and Air Force Institute canteens.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what is the amount of tonnage under construction in Scottish shipyards; what is the amount of tonnage on order but not yet under construction; and what tonnage has been ordered in Scottish yards from 1st January of this year to the latest available date with comparative figures for the same period last year.

The gross tonnage of merchant vessels of 100 gross tons and over under construction in Scottish shipyards on 31st October, 1949, was 727,060. The gross tonnage on order but not yet under construction on the same date was 536,955. New orders for merchant vessels of 100 gross tons and over licensed between 1st January and 31st October, 1949, to be built in Scottish yards totalled 113,250 gross tons. The corresponding figure for the same period of 1948 was 512,665 gross tons, of which orders for two tankers totalling 21,500 gross tons were subsequently cancelled.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware of the urgent need of the rubber industry in Malaya for some substantial payment on account in connection with war damage compensation; and whether, in view of the continued delay in the settlement of this scheme, steps will now be taken to arrange for some immediate provisional assessment of claims and reasonable payments on account.

The hon. Member for West Leicester (Mr. Janner) will appreciate from the reply which I gave to his question on 19th October that I am fully aware of the hardships caused to individuals and industries, including the rubber industry, by the delay in making war damage compensation payments in Malaya. A Bill which is designed to set up a local War Damage Commission and to provide for the number and terms of payments in respect of all classes or any particular class of war damage is being debated in the Second Session of the Federal Legislative Council. Until this is enacted and the necessary regulations are published it is not possible for any payments to be made.

asked the Minister of Town and Country Planning if, in view of the fact that a development charge is levied on buildings acquired as homes for the aged and chronic sick by charitable bodies, he will consult with the Minister of Health, with a view to reconsidering the position in order that encouragement may be given to all those trying to help the chronic sick and aged who are not dealt with adequately under the National Health scheme.

Provided the charity pays no more for land (including buildings) than the value of that land for its existing use, the total cost of the land after payment of development charge ought not to be more and may well be less than the charity would have paid before the Act was passed. I can see no justification for reducing the development charge.

asked the Minister of Food if he will give particulars of the persons working in his Department who have been seconded, and are paid, by private firms.

A number of temporary officers in the Ministry have been seconded from private firms. In many cases they are receiving some payment from their previous employers but I do not know the details. All officers loaned to the Department in this way undertake not to favour, or to exercise executive control of, any food business.