asked the Minister of Food what the price of bread is likely to be arising out of the increase of Australian wheat.

I do not contemplate having to pay a price for Australian wheat that would make necessary another increase in the price of bread.

asked the Minister of Food from what countries bacon will be imported during 1950; and at what average price per lb. when landed in the United Kingdom.

Bacon imports in 1950 will be mainly from Denmark, Holland, Poland and the Irish Republic. There will also be some 10,000 tons from Canada carried over from the 1949 Contract. The question as to whether we shall be able to buy further bacon from Canada in 1950, will depend on the dollar situation and on the volume of goods and services we shall be able to sell for Canadian dollars. Since we do not know exactly what quantities will come from each country, I cannot estimate the average price.

asked the Minister of Food the total quantities of wheat arranged for import during 1949–50 from each country exporting to the United Kingdom; and what will be the average price when landed in this country.

Arrangements for imports of wheat during 1949–50 have not yet been completed.

asked the Minister of Food what steps have been taken since 1945 to make herring more popular as a food; and to what extent these have been successful.

Since the beginning of 1945, my Department has spent nearly £60,000 in advertisements on herrings in the national and provincial Press, and has distributed over a million leaflets. To encourage a wider distribution, we have also since 1946 paid for the cost of providing dry ice with all consignments of Scottish summer herrings to destinations in England and Wales. Because of other factors, such as the supply of other foods, it is impossible to measure the effect of these steps upon sales of herring in the home market. From 1945 to last year, much larger quantities of herrings were sold than before the war, and in 1948 consumption was over 50 per cent. greater than in 1938. This year, so far, landings have fallen by 25 per cent., demand has slackened markedly, and consumption has been about the same as in 1938.

asked the Minister of Food if, before making any contracts for foreign fruit for 1950, he will consult with the National Farmers Union, particularly the section for Kent, to avoid a repetition of the loss experienced by Kentish farmers over pears in 1949.

Apples are the only fruit grown in this country which my Department imports under contract. Annual imports of apples are still less than a third of the volume imported in pre-war years and since every effort is made to ensure that the bulk of the imported supplies, which consist mainly of eating varieties, are distributed at a time when the home-grown crop is wholly insufficient to meet the demand, I can see no necessity for consultation with the growers. So far as pears are concerned, I could not agree that the private imports we allowed have been too heavy, since home production is well below the demand.

asked the Minister of Food what principles govern the supplies of meat issued to retail shops; whether these principles ensure equitable distribution between retailers; and to what extent departures have been made from these principles.

The quantity of meat supplied to retail butchers is based on ration registrations; the distribution of the various categories and qualities, both between individual butchers and over the country, is as equitable as physical difficulties will allow.

asked, the Minister of Food if he will require a longer period than three months guarantee as to the quality of canned meats originating from European sources.

Canned 'meats from Europe are imported and distributed by private traders. It is the job of the private traders to agree warranty periods and I do not propose to introduce legislation to impose them.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will give an assurance that road works of urgent importance and which have a high economic value will not be postponed as a result of any rearrangement of the construction programme.

The urgency and economic value of road works have to be considered in relation to the general economic situation of the country. It. will be my endeavour to see that the resources which can be made available for these works are employed to the best public advantage, but it would clearly be impracticable to give so wide an undertaking as that for which the hon. and gallant Member asks.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the increasing obsolescence of British shipping, he is taking steps to plan the building of merchant ships to replace those becoming more obsolete and less efficient.

The shipping industry have made great progress since the war in modernising the merchant fleet and by the end of 1952 the abnormal amount of old tonnage will have been largely replaced. I shall continue to do all in my power, in conjunction with the shipping industry, to facilitate this process.

asked the Minister of Transport what consultation has taken place at workshop or operative level in the transport industry as a result of the Prime Minister's appeal for increased production.

In so far as my hon. Friend's Question refers to the transport services for which the British Transport Commission are responsible, the information he asks for is a matter for the Commission whom I have asked to communicate with my hon. Friend. Other transport undertakings are too numerous for this information to be obtained without much time and correspondence, but I have no doubt that they have paid heed to this aspect of the Prime Minister's appeal.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, having regard to the propaganda value of the achievements of the bombed city of Plymouth in its reconstruction, he will approve road works in the city to enable Festival visitors in 1951 to see a completed programme of reconstruction of a damaged city.

I appreciate the desire to complete the programme of road reconstruction in Plymouth in time for the Festival of Britain, especially as Plymouth is one of the official Festival centres. Substantial road grants have already been made in respect of reconstruction works in Plymouth. These will enable visitors to see that considerable progress has been made in making good war damage in the city, but I regret that, in view of the urgent need to restrict capital investment. I do not see any prospect of approving further expenditure on this programme before 1951.

asked the Minister of Works how many men were employed on building married quarters for the Forces in October; and how many on other building works for the Forces.

At the end of October it is estimated that 5,300 building workers were employed on building married quarters for the Forces, and that 27,100 building workers were engaged on other building work for the Service Departments, of whom 13,100 were in the direct employment of the Service Departments. These figures do not include any Service personnel engaged on building work.

asked the Minister of Works when the licence applied for last April is likely to be granted to Messrs. Keith Blackman of Tottenham.

The licence was issued on 24th November.

asked the Minister of Pensions how many men and women, respectively, have claimed pensions arising from the 1939–45 war and been refused; and how many claims were outstanding as at the most recent convenient date.

Up to 1st October, 1949, there were 260,527 men and 19,979 women whose claims to disability pension in respect of the 1939–45 war had been rejected. At the same date. 7,528 claims were outstanding.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he now has the full information concerning Lieut.-Commander R. Wolfenden, R.N.R., in particular, as to the date of drastic slipping of the spine and the amount of slipping which took place while Lieut.-Commander Wolfenden was in the care of naval hospitals between April, 1945, and September, 1945.

The complete medical records of this officer during his war service, including the period in question, have been available to my Department during the consideration of Lieut.-Commander Wolfenden's pension claim. The records were reproduced in the Statement of Case sent to Lieut.-Commander Wolfenden on 21st May. 1948.

asked the Secretary of State for War how far vaccination and inoculation are still voluntary for all recruits, as was announced by the late Prime Minister in September, 1943.

Vaccination and inoculation are still voluntary for all Army recruits.

asked the Prime Minister if he will add a state registered nurse to the Committee on Industrial Health Services, the membership and terms of reference of which were announced on 1st June, 1949.

I have appointed Miss M. M. Edwards, M.V.O., S.R.N., S.C.M., Director of Nursing Services, King Edward's Hospital Fund for London, and Miss E. M. Gosling, S.R.N., S.C.M., of Unilevers Limited, to be members of the Committee.

asked the Economic Secretary to the Treasury for what purposes the £25 million gift made to Great Britain by Australia is being applied.

The gift of £8 million sterling received last week from the Government and people of Australia, like earlier similar gifts of £20 million and £8 million, has been paid into the Exchequer. It thus increases the capital resources available for meeting Government commitments

asked the Minister of Town and Country Planning whether he is aware that two years have elapsed since a local public inquiry was held upon the application of the Teignmouth Urban District Council for a Declaratory Order and Compulsory Purchase Order, No. 1, 1947, and since the continued delay is causing concern and inconvenience to the inhabitants of Teignmouth and interference with its amenities, if he will hasten his decision on the amended proposals submitted by the Council on 11th April last.

I regret the delay which has occurred in arriving at a decision on these two Orders, though as the hon. Member will appreciate it was impossible for my Department to take any effective action until the Council's amended proposals were received. I am now in a position to inform the Council of my decision on both Orders.

asked the Minister of Education if, having regard to the need for a secondary school in the Broughton-in-Furness area to accommodate children from Coniston, Torver, Aulthurstside, Ulpha and Seathwaite, Grizebeck, Kirkby-in-Furness and Broughton-in-Furness, he will advise the Lancashire County Council to utilise the newly acquired premises at Kepplewray, Broughton-in-Furness, for a secondary school instead of for a special school.

I cannot accept the hon. Member's assumption that the needs of the children from the districts in question would best be met by the provision of a secondary school at Broughton-in-Furness or, therefore, that the premises at Kepplewray should not be used as a special school. These premises may not be ideally situated for the latter purpose but they would make reasonably good accommodation for crippled children for whom additional provision is badly needed in Lancashire.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware of the widespread concern occasioned by the diversion to other purposes of land used for allotments; if he will state the acreage concerned in each year since the war; and, in view of the need to grow more food at home, what is the Government';; policy in this matter.

I regret that the required figures are not available, but the loss is mainly of war-time allotments on land now needed for its original purpose or other purposes of national importance. I have asked local authorities to do all that is possible to provide permanent plots for displaced allotment-holders and also to take the opportunity to get land reserved for allotments in the development plans being prepared under the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947.

asked the Attorney-General whether he will name the boroughs in which it is now proposed to abolish courts of quarter sessions with the number of cases dealt with by each of these courts in 1947 and 1948, respectively.

The following table gives the information which is desired: