asked the Minister of Labour to what extent he is proposing to permit a relaxation in the standards of flameproof equipment to be installed in the new British refineries.

Relaxations will not be permitted.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the number of disabled persons now registered; and how many are awaiting employment.

The number of registered disabled persons in Great Britain on 17th October, 1949. was 935,009, of whom 65,367 were recorded as unemployed, including 10,318 classified as severely disabled and needing sheltered employment.

asked the Minister of Education what ratio he has laid down of school dentists to schoolchildren; how many more dentists will be needed to reach this ratio; and what steps he is taking in the matter.

For a complete service of dental inspection and treatment, it is estimated that a ratio of about one dentist to 3,000 children would probably be required. In January, 1949, the latest date for which figures are available, the number of school dentists employed by local authorities was equivalent to 868 whole-time officers. To give a ratio of one dentist to 3,000 children, an additional 975 would then have been required. Since then, there are indications that the number has seriously decreased. On the steps which are being taken to overcome the present difficulties, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave him on 20th October last.

asked the Minister of Education how many new places at schools will be required to accommodate the 1 million extra children anticipated by 1952; how many such places will be provided in 1949; and how many are planned for 1950.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave him on 24th November.

asked the Minister of Education why, for the purposes of the Teachers (Superannuation) Acts, he disregards service overseas as an Army teacher for the purpose of computing the superannuation allowance due to a retired Army schoolmaster.

The categories of contributory service laid down in the Teachers Superannuation Acts are limited to service in England and Wales, but under the Teachers Superannuation (Army Education) Scheme, a draft of which was laid before the House on 11th of last month, it will be possible for certain overseas teaching service in the Army by persons who are not subject to the Army pension arrangements to be treated as contributory service under the Teachers-Superannuation Acts.

asked the Minister of Education if he is aware of the concern amongst London schoolmasters at the decision to cancel the special general meeting of the Association of Education Committees arranged for the end of October, in view of their dissatisfaction over their present salary position; and what action he is proposing to take to alleviate their grievance.

The decision to cancel the meeting was a matter wholly within the discretion of the Association. The proposals of the Teachers' Panel on the Burnham Committee for an increase in salaries were considered by the Committee on 23rd November and a statement was issued, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy. In view of the decision of the Committee not to submit recommendations, I am not prepared to take any further action.

asked the Minister of Education the cost per child per annum in elementary schools for the years 1913 and 1949.

The net expenditure per child in public elementary schools in the year ended 31st March, 1913, was £4 13s. 6d. As regard the current cost per pupil in maintained primary (including nursery) schools, I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on 30th June last, which contains the latest figures which I have available.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations if he will give the number of migrants to Australia from the United Kingdom during the past 12 months to the latest convenient date; and how far the number of prospective oversea settlers awaiting passage is still in excess of shipping availability.

During the 12 months which ended on 30th September, 1949, a total of 49,778 British men, women and children went by sea from the United Kingdom to settle in Australia. There is at present no appreciable delay in the departure of migrants who are accepted under the Government schemes of assisted migration. I understand that other migrants who now register with the British shipping lines to Australia will probably be offered passages within the next six months or so.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what was the number of South African officials within the Administrations of the protectorates of Bechuanaland, Swaziland and Basutoland, respectively, in January, 1938, and 1948, and September, 1949, respectively.

At the beginning of 1949 the numbers of Europeans, of all grades, on the staff of the High Commission Territories, who were recruited from the Union of South Africa, were as follow: Basutoland, 159; Bechuanaland Protectorate, 197; Swaziland, 139. 1 regret that I have not figures for the particular dates mentioned in the Question.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the shortage of utility shirts for men; and what steps he is taking to make it economically possible for shirt manufacturers to make utility shirts.

The supply position of utility shirts has improved during 1949. Further improvement is dependent upon an increased output of cloth so that all home and export demands for the cloth may be met. We are considering whether the increases in the maximum prices of some utility cotton cloths and the decreases in others, which came into force in October, call for any corresponding changes in the maximum prices for utility cotton shirts.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when the hon. Member for Hornsey may expect to get a reply to his letter of 19th September about Camber Chalets, Limited.

I much regret the delay in answering the hon. Member's letter of 19th September. I have now written to him.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to announce his decision on whether morphia can be added to the medical supplies left at rescue posts in mountainous areas for administration to injured climbers.

Representatives of mountaineering interests were invited some time ago to discuss with officers of my Department and of the Health Departments how suitable arrangements might be made for the administration of morphine to injured climbers; and I hope that a meeting will be held next week. I will announce my decision as soon as possible after this meeting.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many volunteers have enrolled for the revived Civil Defence Services in the various regions; how many will be required in each region; and what further steps he proposes to take to make the public conscious of the urgency of this question.

Pending returns which are being obtained, I cannot state the total number of enrolments nor is it possible at this stage to say what will be the ultimate requirements of the various services. As regards the last part of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave on 24th November to a Question by the hon. Member for Hornsey (Mr. Gammans).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many scientists are now employed on research work for the protection of the civilian population from the effects of atom-bomb warfare; and what is the annual cost.

The Scientific Advisers Branch of the Home Office consists of a Chief Scientific Adviser and six other Scientific Officers whose total salaries amount to £7,893 per annum. The work of this branch is not limited to research connected with the effects of atomic warfare but covers the whole field of Civil Defence for which the Home Office is responsible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will now give the inclusive dates for summer time in 1950 in order that the River Dart Steamboat Company in South Devon and other like water transport companies may arrange their new time-tables.

The matter is under consideration. I will make an announcement as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that parish councils in many parts of the country are seriously concerned over the heavy cost of the parish council elections held earlier this year under the Representation of the People Act, 1948, as compared with the almost nominal cost of such elections held under the previous law; and what proposals he has in mind to correct the present unsatisfactory position.

Some increase of cost is a necessary consequence of the change—for which there was a widespread demand—from election by show of hands to election by nomination and poll. A county council has power under Section 54 (3) of the Local Government Act, 1933, to fix a scale of expenses in relation to the holding of a parish council election, and if a parish council consider that any item in the scale applicable to their parish is too high, it is open to them to make representations to the county council with a view to a reduction.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what authority Glanville Thompson, a Jamaican, recently sentenced to imprisonment as a stowaway at the Thames Court, has been refused permission to stay in Britain.

This man was refused leave to land in this country in accordance with the usual practice under which leave to land is refused to stowaways who are unable to establish that they are British subjects.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Joint National Council for the Probation Service will hold its first meeting.

I have made proposals for the establishment of a joint negotiating committee on conditions of employment of probation officers, and a draft constitution is being considered by the associations who would be represented on the committee. The committee will be constituted and will meet as soon as agreement can be reached with the associations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the population entitled to vote have sent in their names for inclusion on the most recent electoral register; and how this figure compares with the percentage on the register at the last General Election.

I regret that I am not able to give this information, because no precise estimates are available of the numbers of British subjects of full age and otherwise qualified to vote on the relevant dates.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what fresh representations have been received by him from union representatives of London taxi-drivers in regard to limitation of new entrants; and how far his refusal to make such limitation is supported by the taxi proprietors' associations.

I have been asked to receive a further deputation from the Transport and General Workers' Union on the question of the limitation of taxi-cabs and drivers; and I have agreed that the deputation shall be received at the Home Office. As regards the second part of the Question, I am informed that two of the Proprietors' Associations were not in favour of the Union's scheme at the present time.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware that the gang labour service has involved losses amounting to more than £3 a week for every man employed; that the labour has been unsatisfactory and inefficient; and what steps he is taking to ensure that agricultural jobs are offered first to British rather than foreign workers.

I am aware of the losses incurred on the pool labour service of C.A.E.Cs. in 1947–48. While the pool labour system has its drawbacks, I do not accept the general charge that this labour is unsatisfactory and inefficient. It has been indispensable to farmers over a difficult period. As regards the last part of the Question, preference for British labour is automatic in the placing arrangements of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service.

asked the Minister of Agriculture why the Provincial Land Commissioner agreed to the use of 44 acres of good dairy farm land at Preston, East Yorkshire, for the purpose of providing playing fields for the new Hedon Preston secondary school when an alternative site was available on Hedon Race Course which would interfere much less with food production.

The acquisition of this land was agreed by the Provincial Land Commissioner because the alternative site on Hedon Race Course was found to be unsuitable for the purpose of a school and playing fields for the children whom it would have to serve, and no other suitable alternative site could be found.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if, in view of the fact that in 1947–48 the average loss on lands in possession of county committees was £6 per acre and in some counties it was £12 to £20 per acre farmed, he will now do away with the county committees.

No.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will publicly instruct the county committees to offer all land in their possession for lease to individual farmers.

Committees already have instructions to let land in their possession wherever practicable.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what steps he is taking to meet the criticism contained in the Eleventh Report from the Select Committee on Estimates.

The Eleventh Report from the Select Committee has received detailed examination in my Department and comments on the recommendations are being submitted to the Select Committee in the immediate future.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will require all county committees to submit the financial and crop result of each block of land they farm to a strict scrutiny so that a closer balance may in future be struck between food production and economy.

Instructions on these matters have already been issued to county agricultural executive committees.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will instruct the county agricultural committees not to insist on growing crops on land which in the opinion of the resident farmer is unsuitable.

County agricultural executive committees have no power to insist on a farmer growing any particular crops unless he is under supervision for failing to practise the rules of good husbandry. In endeavouring to secure the necessary acreages of wheat and other priority crops they use advice and persuasion in accordance with the national need.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider granting to new traders the allowance of certain pre-trading expenses, where it can be proved that delay in commencing to trade is solely due to shortage of materials and hold-ups in obtaining licences from Departments, to obviate double taxation and hardship on the new trader.

The general rule is that expenses incurred prior to trading are not deductible in computing profits for tax purposes—such expenses may arise from various causes and I cannot authorise any departure from the rule in the particular circumstances suggested by my hon. Friend.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why the foreign exchange department of the Bank of England has forbidden banks to allow the honouring of sterling contracts containing an exchange clause, whereby the sterling price of the commodity to be imported was increased in the event of devaluation of the pound.

The exchange variation clause means that the importer had assumed a contingent liability to pay more sterling than was allowed by the licence. My right hon. and learned Friend has not felt able to make arrangements to allow an uplift of the sterling value of the licence in such cases. If any importer feels that there are special circumstances in his case which would justify an uplift, he should apply to the Import Licensing Department of the Board of Trade.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make a statement about the withdrawal from this country of the sterling assets of the Republic of Ireland.

No. My right hon. and learned Friend does not think that any statement is called for.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his regulations permit sterling balances held in this country, both by members of the sterling block and by other countries or individuals, to be "transferable without permission of the Exchange Control, or whether sterling balances of this nature are to be considered as blocked sterling, being only transferable with the direct consent of His Majesty's Government through the Exchange Control.

Sterling balances held by residents of the scheduled territories may as a rule be used freely within those territories, but payments to countries other than the scheduled territories require Exchange Control permission. Sterling balances held by non-residents of the scheduled territories may be used only subject to Exchange Control permission; but certain general exemptions are provided for in the Exchange Control (Payments) Order, 1948, Statutory Instrument No. 1080 of 1948 of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy. These enable such balances held by nonresidents (other than blocked sterling) to be spent in the scheduled territories or transferred to other non-residents, as detailed in the Order.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will consider making rewards paid by the Treasury to informers liable to Income Tax.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any statement to make in view of the fact that many corporate bodies which have hitherto been recognised by the Inland Revenue as charities and have limited themselves solely to charitable activities are now being told by the Inland Revenue that such recognition must be withdrawn because of the decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of the Oxford Group versus Commissioners of Inland Revenue.

Yes. I am aware of the difficulty that has arisen in the case of bodies, hitherto recognised as charities by the Inland Revenue, which include in the objects set out in their memorandum and articles powers to establish and support or aid in the establishment and support of charitable or benevolent associations and to subscribe or guarantee money for charitable or benevolent purposes or to do such things as the organisation may think conducive to the attainment of its objects. In view of the fact that these powers, in cases such as those to which my hon. Friend refers, have in the past been regarded as merely ancillary to admittedly charitable objects and have accordingly not been called in question by the Inland Revenue, I propose that, subject to certain conditions, an opportunity should be afforded to such bodies to amend their constitution without being deprived of relief from Income Tax in respect of the intervening period. The conditions are:

(a) that the body concerned has hitherto been recognised by the Inland Revenue as a charity for Income Tax purposes,

(b) that its status as such is impugned by reason only of the fact that its memorandum and articles include a paragraph or paragraphs in the terms to which I have referred or in terms closely approximating to those terms, and

(c) that before the end of the current Income Tax year 1949–50 (ending 5th April, 1950), it amends its memorandum and articles to conform with the requirements of the law as now declared by the Court of Appeal.

Where these conditions are satisfied the Inland Revenue will allow relief in advance of legislative provision which I would propose to introduce in a Finance Bill in due course.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury at what date prior to 1949 did his Department make authorisation for extra responsibility allowances to be payable in the Civil Service to officers in posts appropriate to a higher grade; and if it applied to all classes in the scientific section of the Civil Service.

The war-time arrangements for allowances in lieu of promotion were promulgated on 31st March, 1941. They did not expressly include or exclude any section of the Civil Service, individual cases being examined on their merits.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the terms of the new authorisation that the principle of paying the rate for the job is to be applied to the Civil Service departments; and in which Departments and to which classes the new authorisation applies.

The authorisation referred to, which is of general application, states that when an officer is appointed to carry out the full duties of a post in a higher grade, otherwise than by ordinary promotion machinery or in substitution for an absent officer, he should be paid the same mount as he would have been paid if promoted in the ordinary way.

asked the Minister of Health what methods are employed by his Department to check the delivery of spectacles after approval for supply has been granted.

Payment is not made until the Executive Council have received the prescribed form, with statements signed by the optician that he has delivered the glasses and by the patient that he has received them.

asked the Minister of Health how long the St. Giles Home near Chelmsford has been used for the treatment of lepers, and whether during that period any cases had arisen of this disease being contracted by people in the neighbourhood.

I understand that the home has been used for 35 years and that no cases of local infection with leprosy are known.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the use of the Reigate and Redhill Infectious Diseases Hospital for leprosy means that the only isolation hospitals available in this area will be at Bletchingley and West-cott with a maximum of 56 patients, and as the area concerned has a population of 145,000, hospital accommodation will only be available at the ratio of 0.33 beds per thousand of the population; and how this compares with the average provision of accommodation in the country.

The hon. Member is under a misapprehension, since beds in other fever hospitals in the region are available to meet the needs of this area.

asked the Minister of Health why the Mid-Worcestershire Hospital Management Committee are advertising for a whole-time Church of England Minister as Chaplain for the six local hospitals, at a salary of £500 per annum plus a rent allowance and subject to superannuation benefit, when in the past local ministers have willingly done this service free; and if he will give further consideration to the saving of this expenditure, and allow the voluntary system to continue.

Chaplains have held paid hospital appointments widely in the past, including two in this group, and this advertisement accords with the general policy framed after consultation with the churches. Voluntary visiting of patients by their own ministers is also continuing in the future as in the past.

asked the Minister of Health why Chloromycetin is no longer available to patients under the National Health Service in cases where it is prescribed by their doctors.

To ensure that this scarce and expensive drug is used to the best advantage, I have arranged to purchase all available supplies and to distribute them through regional hospital board centre:. The boards have discretion to make supplies available through the distribution centres to practitioners in domiciliary practice in exceptional cases.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that out of all the patients diagnosed during any one year as suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, approximately 70 per cent. receive institutional treatment in public sanatoria, and some 60 per cent. will have died from tuberculosis during the following five years; and, in view of these extremely unsatisfactory results of treatment in public sanatoria, what measures he proposes to take.

I am not sure that an up-to-date long-term follow-up of patients would bear out the hon. Member's figures. In any case, the best hope of making curative treatment more effective lies in detecting the disease in its earliest stages. This is being increasingly achieved through mass radiography and supervision of contacts.

asked the Minister of Health how many hospital beds for tuberculosis patients are unoccupied through lack of nurses; and what measures he is now proposing to take to make these beds available for tuberculosis patients in view of the rapidly rising mortality from tuberculosis.

About 4,400 beds in sanatoria and tuberculosis hospitals are at present unoccupied for lack of staff. Nursing staff in these institutions increased in the year ended 30th June by 774 full-time and 319 part-time, and in the same period 652 beds were re-opened. Apart from a few slight fluctuations, tuberculosis mortality in relation to population has steadily fallen for several years past, and touched a new low record last year.

asked the Minister of Health what were the total costs of the lawsuit unsuccessfully brought by him to gain possession of £6,000 bequeathed by Mrs. Alicia Kellner to the Royal Cancer Hospital.

No legal proceedings were instituted by me. The matter came before the court on a summons taken out by the executor of Miss Kellner's will to construe its provisions in the light of the provisions of the National Health Service Act, 1946. I am not in a position to state the costs of the proceedings, which were ordered to be paid out of a proportion of the estate and have not yet been taxed.

asked the Minister of Health what restrictions are placed by him on the use of ambulances to convey patients from hospital to home on discharge when the patients have been given medical instructions to remain in bed for a period after returning home.

None. The question whether an ambulance is necessary must be determined by reference to the condition and needs of the particular patient.

asked the Minister of Health when the hearing aid for Mr. E. H. Hogg, of 101, Lord Street, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, which was promised him as a matter of priority on 25th January, will be supplied to him; and if he is aware that such aids are being supplied to people in Scotland within one week of application.

Whilst my right hon. Friend cannot undertake to investigate every individual case, I understand that it is expected that an aid will be fitted within the next two months. I am not aware of any basis for the statement in the second part of the Question.

asked the Minister of Health how many Medresco deaf aids have now been issued; and what is now the number of people on the waiting list for such aids.

asked the Minister of Health how many Medresco hearing aids have been issued; what is the number now being issued weekly; and what steps he is taking to reduce the size of the waiting list of persons in need of such aids.

Up to 5th November, 39,159 patients in England and Wales had been supplied with Medresco aids, and the current average rate of issue is 1,015 a week. Waiting lists total about 86,000. My right hon. Friend is arranging for the staffs of the distribution centres to be increased and new centres to be opened as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Health the number of patients in epileptic colonies in England and Wales at the latest convenient date; the number of epileptics registered at employment exchanges; and what facilities exist for teaching them a trade in view of their difficulties in obtaining employment.

The number of persons in epileptic colonies in England and Wales at the end of October, 1949, was 2,604. The second and third parts of the Question are matters for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service.

asked the Minister of Health in what circumstances the county council maximum charge for home help service will be able to be reduced.

The maximum charges for the services of home helps can be reduced at the discretion of the local health authority.

asked the Minister of Health if he will hold an inquiry into the slow rate of progress of housing in the City of Bradford, where only 845 permanent houses have been completed since 1945 and where over 13,000 families are awaiting houses; and if he will consult the Minister of Labour with a view to increasing the supply of building labour in order that the people of Bradford can be adequately housed in a reasonable period.

No. The Ministry of Labour are already doing all they can to increase the manpower engaged on house building, and I understand that the city council propose in future to distribute their contract work over a larger number of firms.

asked the Minister of Health what answer he has given to the resolution passed by the St. Faiths and Aylsham Rural District Council, in Norfolk, a copy of which has been sent to him, urging that building licences should be issued to those applicants who have already incurred expense by the acquisition of land and the taking of other steps to erect houses for their own occupation.

The clerk to the authority has been informed that the future arrangements for the issue of licences are under consideration.

asked the Minister of Health what has been the total allocation for new municipal houses made by his Department in respect of the Turton urban district since July, 1945; when the first decision was taken; and what alterations have since been made.

The present system of allocations was started in January, 1947. Before that date I had approved a scheme for the completion of 52 houses by the council. The first allocation covered 26 houses. A further 32 houses were allocated in January, 1949, but the allocation has not yet been taken up.

asked the Minister of Health what has been the total allocation for new municipal houses made by his Department in respect of the Borough of Darwen since July, 1945; when the first decision was taken; and what alterations have since been made.

The present system of allocations was started in January, 1947. Before that date I had approved a scheme for the erection by the council of 100 houses. The first allocation made in November, 1948, covered 60 houses. This was increased to 160 in May, 1949, and in November, 1949, a further allocation of 50 was made in advance of the 1950 programme.

asked the Minister of Health whether the reviews by local authorities of applications for housing accommodation, carried out on his instructions, have been completed; and what these reviews broadly indicate.

I would refer the hon. Member to my replies to questions on this subject on 24th October and 24th November, copies of which I am sending to him.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is now in a position to make a statement on the erection of houses under licence.

Yes. The issue of further licences has been suspended for the time being pending further directions as to the restricted volume of private house building licences which could be authorised under present circumstances. I have now decided that local authorities will be given a discretion to resume the issue of licences and to issue 'them up to a maximum of one-tenth of the further allocation of houses made to them by the principal regional officers of my Department. The new arrangements will operate as from 1st February, 1950. The principal regional officer will communicate with each local authority who should await this communication from him. The Government will permit the erection of houses for letting for purposes approved by the local authority and at rents approved by them. Special consideration will, therefore, be given by my principal regional officers to any applications made to them by a local authority for approval, within the limits of their allocation, to exceed the proportion of houses which can be authorised to be built under licence.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that, in spite of Services' broadcasts in the Middle East urging personnel to have their names entered on the register of electors as Service voters, the appropriate forms are not available there; and if he will take steps to ensure that a supply of these forms is made available to company offices of Army personnel serving abroad.

I am not aware of any shortage of supplies of this form in the Middle East. Ample instructions exist about its use, and the method of obtaining it. If the hon. Member will send me particulars of any case he has in mind, I will have further inquiries made.

asked the Minister of Supply what consultations have taken place in the Royal Ordnance factories, Government research departments and other branches of industry for which he shares responsibility in answer to the Prime Minister's recent appeal for greater production.

Steps have been taken to bring the Prime Minister's appeal for increased production to the special notice of the Ministry of Supply Joint Industrial Council. In addition, each Royal Ordnance Factory has a joint production consultative and advisory committee whose function is "to consult and advise on matters relating to productivity and increased efficiency, in order that maximum output may be obtained from the factories," and these committees have been meeting at regular intervalsIn the engineering industry, there have, over the last two years, been frequent discussions on the means of increasing productivity, and in many sections of the industry mutual aid schemes have been set up, through which firms help each other to improve their productive efficiency. A new force has been given to these activities by the events which gave rise to the Prime Minister's appeal. Many consultations have already taken place with sections of the industry, at which the effects of devaluation and the possibility of increasing exports, especially to the dollar countries, have been discussed in relation to productivity.Ministry of Supply research establishments are not, of course, concerned with production in the ordinary sense, but arrangements are made to ensure that the results of research are made available to increase production wherever they are likely to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies when he anticipates that the rescript of the further trial of Sergeant Ewin and the comments of the High Commissioner will be received by his Department.

I expect to receive the report of the proceedings in this case within a few days. A petition praying for the exercise of mercy together with the report of the proceedings has been placed before the Sultan of Perak, with whom the power of pardon or remission of sentence rests. he Sultan's decision will be made known as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Food, in view of the heavy fall in prices realised, if he will take steps immediately to regulate the imports of foreign-caught fish which represents 10 per cent. of all landings in Hull and 25 per cent. in Grimsby.

The fall in first-hand prices of fish last week was virtually con- fined to cod, of which exceptionally heavy supplies were landed, mainly by British distant water trawlers. At the ports mentioned, out of 7,000 tons of fish landed at Hull only 138 tons were by foreign vessels, and at Grimsby out of 6,000 tons only 762 tons were by foreign vessels. As such heavy landings are exceptional at this time of the year, I do not propose to make any change in the present arrangements for regulating foreign supplies.