asked the Secretary of State for War why it has been decided to stop all parachute training for men of 16 Airborne Division, Territorial Army.

Parachute training for this Division is to be reduced in scale because of cuts in R.A.F. Transport Command which provides the aircraft and other training facilities. It will not, however, be stopped altogether.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many married quarters have now been allocated to Service personnel in Hong Kong, giving the numbers for officers and other ranks separately.

Married quarters in Hong Kong have been allocated to 91 Army officers and 154 other ranks.

asked the Secretary of State for War how much of the gun site situated on Hampstead Heath is now in the occupation of troops; how much is unoccupied and derelict; and whether he will take action to have the derelict portion restored to a state of tidiness and amenity.

The hutted camp on this gun-site is occupied by troops by arrangement with the London County Council. The remainder of the site is in process of release to the London County Council.

asked the Secretary of State for War to what extent service in the Armed Forces counts in assessing seniority when staff are being discharged as redundant at War Department ordnance depôts.

In the case of industrial employees, service in the Armed Forces counts for seniority, provided it was immediately preceded by service in Government civil employment. Men with a service disability under 65 years of age are given first consideration for retention in employment. So far as clerical grades are concerned, service in the Armed Forces after 3rd September, 1939, counts as temporary Government service, provided only that the employee entered or re-entered Government employment in a non-industrial capacity within three months of ceasing to draw pay from Service sources. In addition, ex-Service men of the First World War have preference for retention in temporary employment over all other temporary employees.

asked the Secretary of State for War why compensation for loss of effects in the Far East is considered only in the case of those who were serving in the Regular Army on 3rd September, 1939, and were stationed in the Far East on that day.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for the Pavilion Division of Brighton (Mr. Teeling) on 9th May.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware of the continued shortage of married quarters for officers and other ranks in the Canal Zone; and what steps he is taking to provide accommodation for families waiting to join their husbands in that zone.

Approval has been given for the construction of a further 220 temporary married quarters in 1950–51, and a scheme has been approved to provide a further 80 married quarters by leasing flats from a contractor.

asked the Secretary of State for War what notification is given to employers in regard to the obligation of National Service men to the Territorial Army on the expiration of their National Service.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether territorial drill halls will be erected in the new satellite towns.

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for War why Army officers have had 1s. deducted from their marriage allowance since 1st April, 1950.

The hon. and gallant Member presumably refers to the supplementary marriage allowance, which was introduced with effect from 1st April, 1947, in order to mitigate the loss which some officers and senior non-commissioned officers suffered on the introduction of the post-war code of pay and allowances, owing to the taxation of marriage allowance. The rates were on a diminishing scale and it was made clear in Command Papers 6750 of 1946 and 6788 of 1948 that the allowance would cease altogether on 1st April, 1950.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will arrange for the next annual report and accounts of the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation, due for presentation to the House of Commons in August, to be published by the Stationery Office as a printed Parliamentary Paper, as it was in earlier years, for sale to the public and to be available in the Vote Office.

The practice of issuing annually the report and accounts of the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation as a Command Paper, on sale to the public, was discontinued after 1919. As regards the report and accounts for 1949, which are expected to be published about the end of August next, I have no doubt that the Corporation would be prepared to increase the number of copies furnished to the Library of this House.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will state the capital of the Soldiers' Effects Fund; the amount expended in the last year; the balance of income unexpended; the number of beneficiaries, showing widows and orphans, respectively; and the average annual grant to these two classes.

The last published account of the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation, that for the year 1948, of which copies have now been placed in the Vote Office, shows that on 31st December, 1948, the market value of the securities forming the Soldiers' Effects Fund was £291,615. The amount expended from that fund in the year 1948 was £7,892 19s. 9d., and the balance of income unexpended was £2,036 12s. 1d. The report for that year shows that 61 widows and 336 children were in receipt of weekly allowances from that fund on 31st December, 1948. Grants, as distinct from weekly allowances, are not paid annually but to meet special circumstances. The amount spent from the Soldiers' Effects Fund in such grants is not separately shown in the account, but I understand that 235 widows and orphans received a total of £1,738.

asked the Secretary of State for War the number of officers' daughters whose education fees are paid by the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation; the number of other ranks' daughters of the Roman Catholic and Church of England faith, respectively; the average amount in each category; and the number accommodated in the Royal Victoria Patriotic School, Hatfield, and their religious faith.

The last published report and accounts, for the year 1948, show that in that year the number of orphan girls accommodated in the Royal Victoria Patriotic School was 63. I understand that no education fees were paid in respect of officers' daughters; that grants were made in favour of 16 Roman Catholic girls being educated at convents and elsewhere and three Church of England girls not at the School. Such grants vary, according to need, from about £10 to about £40 a year. Religious instruction in the School is based on the teaching of the Church of England.

asked the Secretary of State for War if it has yet been decided to award the Meritorious Service Medal without the granting of the annuity, the latter to follow as soon as an appropriate vacancy occurs.

This matter has not yet been finally decided.

asked the Minister of Town and Country Planning if he will give details of the rents, inclusive of rates, of all types of new houses under construction in new towns.

The information is as follows:

HOUSES ON WHICH RATES HAVE BEEN ASSESSED
New Town		Number of Bedrooms	Weekly rent inclusive of rates
Aycliffe	…	2	20/6d.
		3	25/-
Crawley	…	2	20/7d.
		3	31/6d.–33/9d
		4	37/6d.
Harlow	…	2	24/5d.
		3	34/10d.
Hemel Hempstead	…	2	29/6d.
		3	31/–37/4d.
		4	42/7d.
Stevenage	…	2	16/8d.-29/2d.

A number of other houses in these and other New Towns are under construction, but rate assessments have not yet been made.

asked the Minister of Town and Country Planning what is his policy in regard to the removal of villages which his local planning officers may consider advisable; and if he will consult the residents in such villages before any action is taken or publicity given to his intentions"

Local planning authorities in England and Wales, but not in Scotland, where responsibility rests with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, must submit plans to me not later than July, 1951. If these should contain proposals to remove villages such proposals will be very closely examined by me, and no decision will be taken without full consultation with those affected, including the residents, who will be entitled to state their case at a public inquiry.

asked the Minister of Town and Country Planning, what approvals have been given for the development of sites in Holborn and south St. Pancras for office building and for university building, both teaching and residential.

This information cannot be made available without a street-bystreet analysis of the London County Council's register of permissions. This register is open to public inspection at County Hall.

asked the Minister of National Insurance the number of persons prosecuted in Glasgow for defrauding the National Assistance Board during the year 1949; and if she will state the percentage of these in receipt of National Assistance during the said period and the money involved.

Forty-six persons-less than one-tenth of 1 per cent. of the recipients of national assistance. The total sum overpaid was £614.

asked the Minister of National Insurance how many offices she has in Scotland; what staff are employed; and what is the cost per head, of their service to people of Scotland.

Including the Central Office, there are 145 offices. The number of staff employed is 3,010. The cost of the great majority of this staff is borne by the insurance funds administered by my Department, and separate figures of staff costs for Scotland are not available. On the basis of the published Estimates they would amount to about 1d. per head per week of the population.

asked the Minister of National Insurance whether, in view of the fact that provision for ex-miners who left the industry before the passing of the Industrial Insurance Act cannot be made under the Industrial Injuries Act, she will take steps to allow benefit to these men under the old Workmen's Compensation Acts.

The hon. Member has already approached me about this matter and will by now have received my letter. If he has any further points perhaps he will let me know.

asked the Minister of National Insurance the number of persons in receipt of sickness benefit during the month of March in 1948, 1949. and 1950, respectively.

It is estimated that the average number of claims for sickness benefit current during the month of March in 1949 and 1950 was 1,050,000 and 1,070,000, respectively. No comparable figures are available for March, 1948, as the National Insurance Scheme had not then come into operation.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why it was not possible to give an earlier notification than the Board of Trade Journal of 29th April, that applications for the possible granting of concessions in the United States Tariff must be received in Washington not later than 10th May; and, in view of the short notice, what steps are being taken by his Department to assist traders in this country in the submission of their applications.

The notification in the Board of Trade Journal of 29th April related solely to the procedure of public hearings by which the United States authorities seek domestic advice on the list of items on which they are willing to consider granting a tariff concession at Torquay. The notification was made in the first issue of the Journal after receipt of this list from Washington. His Majesty's Government have already provided the United States Government with a list of commodities on which tariff concessions will be sought and, having consulted industry, will submit a detailed final list of requests by 15th June. 1950

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is satisfied that a complete up-to-date register of traders covered by the census of distribution is available for the sending out of forms.

As no comprehensive list of retail, wholesale, catering, and other distributive and repair establishments covered by the census of distribution was available in the Board of Trade or elsewhere, various methods of compiling a list of traders' names and addresses were tested in 1947 at the time of the pilot census. It was found that the least costly method, consistent with completeness, was to use census staff to list on the spot names, addresses and kind of business done, checking or supplementing the information so obtained against information available from other sources. Traders will not be questioned personally, or put to any inconvenience in the listing which is now going on throughout the country. The results will be compiled at the census office into the register of businesses to which forms will be sent at the end of this year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when Messrs. F. T. Ruston & Sons, Huntingdon, may expect a reply to their letter, dated 18th April, to Customs and Excise City Gate House, London, E.C.2, asking for permission to take to France a Hume Pea Harvester on a Fordson major tractor as a demonstration unit, and to bring them back to this country after the demonstration is over.

A reply was sent on 9th May, giving details of the appropriate procedure for exportation and re-importation, and the local officer of Customs and Excise has been instructed to give any further assistance which may be required.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total amount allocated for university building in the present quinquennium; and how much of this is allocated to London University.

The amount of university building work licensed since 1945 up to the end of the present academic year is approximately £16¼ million. Of this amount slightly less than £4½ million has been in respect of the institutions of the University of London.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why members of the British Pure Tobacco Growers' Association have been forbidden by the Customs and Excise Department to shred cured tobacco communally.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. F. P. Crowder) last Thursday. The Customs and Excise Department has prevented the Association in question from shredding tobacco, because in doing so it was disregarding a decision conveyed to them with my approval, and carrying out this manufacturing operation without authority, and contrary to the law.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state the yield of the Purchase Tax for 1949–50 and the estimated yield for 1950–51 on each of the following categories of articles: those subject to 100 per cent. duty, namely, jewellery, furs, gold and silver watches, mirrors, cut glass, electric space and water heaters, leather trunks, bags, etc., greetings cards, ornamental and fancy goods and perfumery and cosmetics; those subject to 66⅔ per cent. duty, namely, non-utility textiles used for domestic purposes, namely, furnishing fabrics, blankets, sheets, etc., non-utility tissues and fabrics, namely, dress materials and woollen and worsted cloths, handwoven tweed, non-utility furniture, gas space and water heaters, suitcases, etc., not made of leather, paper serviettes, table covers, shelf paper, etc., gramophones and gramophone records and cameras; and those subject to 33⅓ per cent. duty, namely, utility fully-fashioned stockings, utility furs, non-utility clothing, non-utility bedding, cutlery, wallpapers and floor coverings, sewing machines, carpet beaters and vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, gas mantles and electric light bulbs, wireless sets and wireless batteries, toilet soap and toilet requisites, toys, motor cars and motor cycles, bicycles, stationery and the cheaper kinds of greetings cards, and drugs not on the exempted list, respectively.

Estimated receipts of Purchase Tax in 1949–50, and the estimated yield in 1950–51 at each of the three rates of tax are as follow:

Rate		Estimated receipts in financial year
		1949–50	1950–51
Per cent.		£m	£m
100	…	42	42½
66⅔	…	46	43½
33⅓	…	203¾	217
Total	…	291¾	303

Particulars of the receipts of tax in 1949–50 and corresponding estimates for 1950–51 from each of the categories of articles listed by the hon. Member are not available. Estimated receipts in 1949 under the main headings were given in reply to the hon. Member for Devonport on 6th April.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total cost, including advertising displays and all expenses, other than administration, of the National Savings Movement during the last convenient period of 12 months.

About £470,000 in the 12 months ended 31st March, 1950.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the estimated establishment required in the professional grades of senior rating valuer, and valuers grade I, grade II and grade III in planning the new rating valuation organisation within the Valuation Office of the Board of Inland Revenue; and how many appointments have been made in each grade.

It is estimated that in order to complete the work of revalution it may be necessary to recruit in all 75 senior rating valuers, 175 rating valuers grade I. 200 grade II and 250 grade III. The numbers of appointments made to these grades by 1st May, 1950, were 37, 69, 166 and 277 respectively. It has been possible to recruit more grade III valuers than the authorised complement requires, but as promotions are made from this grade to higher grades the distribution will be corrected.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware of the hardship caused under the present Income Tax regulations where a business, which makes a loss in its second year of trading and is unable to continue to trade, is assessed to tax in each of these two trading years on the actual profits made in the first year, and where against the second year's assessment no claim for relief can be made which will cover the case where the partners in the business have no other income against which the loss can be set; and whether he will amend the regulations so that businesses in this position are not called upon to pay tax except on the actual profits of the two trading years taken together.

The point which I understand the hon. Member to be raising is one that is within the terms of reference of the Tucker Committee, which is reviewing, among other things, the basis of assessment of businesses to Income Tax under Schedule D. I must await the report of that Committee before I can consider any issue of this nature.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what sum has been recovered during the years 1947, 1948 and 1949 from Ministers for the private use of ministerial cars.

In the financial years 1947–48, 1948–49, and 1949–50, the sums were £651, £496 and £578, respectively.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether, with regard to the examinations in the Open Clerical Class competition and in the Limited Clerical Class competition, he will direct the Civil Service Commissioners to issue the different parts of the papers separately instead of together so that the chances of disqualification will be lessened.

No; but I understand that the Commissioners intend to issue in a separate booklet the practice parts of the question paper to which the noble Lord refers. The other parts could not be issued separately without unduly extending the duration of the examination.

asked the Minister of Labour why Constable E. S. Cotton of the East Riding Constabulary is being drafted into the National Service when he has only five weeks' service to do to complete his training in the Police Force

I have already written to the hon. Member and explained the circumstances of this case.

asked the Minister of Labour to what extent a student, preparing at a coaching establishment in order to take an agricultural course at a university, is exempt from military service.

Such a student would normally be given deferment to enable him to complete these preliminary full-time studies.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of registered disabled persons in Cardiff who are now employed in the Remploy factory at Treforest.

Thirty-two severely disabled persons from Cardiff are now employed in the Remploy factory at Treforest.

asked the Minister of Labour what has been the increase of unemployment in the Grimsby area owing to the recent depression in the fishing industry; and what steps he proposes to take to relieve this unemployment.

At 17th April, the latest date for which figures are available, 1,359 men and 416 women were registered as unemployed at the Grimsby employment exchange compared with 1,141 men and 326 women in January and with 744 men and 206 women at October, 1949. The increase was mainly attributable to the seasonal variations to which the fishing industry is subject. The employment exchange service is giving persons who register all the assistance they can in obtaining alternative employment.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will give figures of total distribution of total manpower in Great Britain at the latest available date on the same basis as was used in Table 4 of the Monthly Digest of Statistics for March, 1949.

Owing to the introduction in 1948 of a new series of manpower statistics and a different system of industrial classification, it is not possible to give figures comparable with those referred to by the hon. Member for dates later than December, 1948. The reasons why these changes were made and the differences between the old and new series of statistics are fully described in an article in the February, 1949, issue of the Ministry of Labour Gazette, a copy of which is in the Library.

asked the Minister of Labour to what extent the recent strike at Richborough related to pay and conditions.

I understand that this dispute related entirely to the rates of pay of certain workers in engineering grades.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will review the decision to import under licence 7,200 tons of tomatoes in the month of July, when the Scottish crop is likely to be at its height.

The quota fixed for imports of tomatoes in July is 7,200 tons. This quota will be subject to review in the light of supplies available from home production. Any such review would take into account total home production and not production in Scotland alone.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has considered the letter dated 27th April from Mrs. Macrae, Castle Dhu, Erribol, wife of a shepherd, whose children, aged 6 and 8, respectively, have been deprived of education since May, 1949; if he is now aware that the parents are not blameworthy; and if he is satisfied that the provisions of the Education Acts have been properly carried out in respect of these children.

I have seen the letter and have also had inquiry made locally. On the fuller information now available I agree that there were reasonable grounds for the parents' refusal of the conveyance offered. I feel, however, that the offer to have the children taught in the house, as had been the practice with a previous family, might have been accepted. I am satisfied that the authority did what they could to discharge their statutory duty in circumstances of exceptional difficulty.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the Government's expenditure on subsidising municipal housing in Scotland in 1950; and how these subsidies work out per head of population.

Estimated expenditure on housing subsidies to local authorities and the Scottish Special Housing Association in the year ending on 31st March, 1951, is £10,873,000 or £2 2s. per head of population.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many dentists in Scotland were undertaking work under the National Health Service scheme at the last convenient date; and how many assistants are included in the figure.

At 31st March, 1950, the figure was 1,231 dentists of whom 110 were assistants.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what have been the results of the decision to reduce the price of herring bought by the Herring Board for reduction to oil and meal from 35s. to 15s. per cran; and what reply he has given to the protest from the Secretary of the Federation of Scottish Fishermen.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that herrings were dumped back into the sea at Mallaig, Inverness-shire, on Thursday, 11th May, 1950, because the fishermen refuse to accept the reduction in prices ordered by the Herring Industry Board; and what steps he proposes to take to prevent this waste of food.

It is the case that 110 crans of herring were dumped at Mallaig on the 11th May. There are many factors affecting the herring industry at present and the effects of each cannot readily be distinguished. The whole position is receiving the urgent consideration of the Government.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the Knightswood Hospital has any records of the vaccination of its nursing and other staff, and on what dates were the nurses and the laundrymaid who died from smallpox vaccinated; and whether the 17 year old trainee nurse who died was actually on the staff of the hospital.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of the hospital staff who died from smallpox at Glasgow had been vaccinated but bore no soar; and whether the laundrymaid who died had been employed at the hospital during the period when all the staff were required to be vaccinated.

The hospital staff records include notes of any known successful or attempted vaccinations. These records, together with subsequent special enquiries, have yielded the following particulars about the three student nurses and the laundrymaid who died during the recent smallpox outbreak:

• Nurse (aged 20); vaccination attempted thrice in infancy.
• Nurse (aged 19); vaccination attempted in 1942.
• Nurse (aged 17); vaccination attempted in infancy, and again a few months before joining the staff of the hospital in September, 1949.
• Laundrymaid (aged 20); vaccination not attempted before the recent outbreak. At no time was vaccination a routine requirement for laundrymaids in the hospital.

None of those persons bore any scar, which I am advised is always found after a successful vaccination.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will make inquiries into the death of James Taylor, 15-year old pupil at the school at Gordon-stoun, Morayshire, who died on 4th May a few weeks after vaccination undergone as a condition of returning to school from his home at St. Olaf Street, Lerwick; and into the death of Emily Sutherland, Greenside Street, Provenmill, aged nine years, who died on 4th April in a school playground four hours after being vaccinated at a Glasgow clinic.

I am making inquiries, and will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the doctors who performed the vaccinations during the recent smallpox outbreak in Glasgow issued certificates showing whether the vaccinations had been successful.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will give an assurance that the people who were vaccinated in Glasgow and Hamilton during the recent smallpox scare had their vaccinations inspected a week later so that certificates could be issued showing the kind of reaction, and whether the vaccinations had been successful.

I am informed that by no means all the persons who were vaccinated returned to have their reactions inspected. Where reactions indicating successful vaccination were found on inspection, or reported by general practitioners, these were noted in the local authority records, but certificates to individuals were not normally issued.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what tests his medical officials applied in deciding that none of the six persons who died in Glasgow from smallpox during the recent outbreak had been successfully vaccinated; and whether any of them had been vaccinated as contacts.

The test is that the person has no vaccination scar. Four of the six persons who died were vaccinated as contacts when already in the late stages of incubating smallpox; the other two were vaccinated on admission to the smallpox hospital.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to extend the functions of Rent Tribunals to enable owners of property to submit evidence in support of rent increase where costs were proved to be in excess of rent receipts.

I regret that there is no prospect of early legislation to amend the Rent Restrictions Acts.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the shortage of hospital and sanatorium acommodation for tuberculosis cases in Liverpool; and, in view of bad housing conditions, if he will take action to remedy this defect.

Yes, and every effort is being made to recruit more nurses so that more beds can be opened.

asked the Minister of Health if he will make a statement on the present position of the devolopment of audiometers for the National Health Service.

My right hon. Friend is in consultation with the Medical Research Council on the matter.

asked the Minister of Health why Warwickshire chemists have not yet received the balance of payment for prescriptions dispensed last August under the National Health Service.

I understand that the chemists in Warwickshire will receive these payments on 19th inst. I regret the delay which is due to staffing difficulties in the pricing bureaux.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he will take to reduce the delay experienced by those requiring bi-focal lenses for their spectacles.

I am in consultation with the industry on delays generally; I am advised that the supply has improved and should improve still further.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that there is a long waiting list for vacancies in institutions for mentally defective children in Lancashire; and what steps he is taking to remedy this situation.

I am aware that in Lancashire, as in other parts of the country, there is a waiting list for vacancies in mental deficiency institutions. Hospital services in Lancashire are provided by the Manchester and the Liverpool Regional Hospital Boards. As regards the steps being taken to provide additional accommodation for mental defectives in the Manchester Region, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Accrington (Mr. H. Hynd) on 6th April. In the Liverpool Region, proposals to extend the accommodation at Greaves Hall are now under discussion with the Regional Hospital Board.

asked the Minister of Health if he will issue a table showing the incidence and percentage of deaths from cancer, diphtheria, scarlet fever, whooping cough and measles, respectively, in 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940, and at the latest known date.

The table is as follows:

DEATHS FROM CERTAIN CAUSES
ENGLAND AND WALES, 1900–1949
	Number of deaths	Per cent. of total deaths for the year	Death-rate† per million population
	CANCER
1900	26,721	4·55	829
1910	34,607	7·16	967
1920	43,687	9·37	1,166
1930	57,883	12·71	1,454
1940	68,922	11·85	1,723
1949*	80,732	15·81	1,852
	DIPHTHERIA
1900	9,345	1·59	290
1910	4,284	0·89	120
1920	5,641	1·21	151
1930	3,497	0·77	88
1940	2,680	0·46	62
1949*	85	0·02	2
	SCARLET FEVER
1900	3,844	0·65	119
1910	2,370	0·49	66
1920	1,430	0·31	38
1930	740	0·16	19
1940	154	0·03	4
1949*	20	0·00	0
	WHOOPING COUGH
1900	11,467	1·95	356
1910	8,797	1·82	246
1920	4,401	0·94	118
1930	2,037	0·45	51
1940	678	0·12	17
1949*	528	0·10	12
	MEASLES
1900	12,710	2·16	394
1910	8,302	1·72	232
1920	7,190	1·54	192
1930	4,188	0·92	105
1940	857	0·15	21
1949*	308	0·06	7
* Provisional figures.
† For the years 1920 and 1940 death rates are based on civilian deaths and civilian population only.

The number of deaths for each year includes non-civilians who died in this country.

asked the Minister of Health what rise there has been in the figures for death due to bronchial carcinoma; and in what age groups the figures are highest.

Deaths registered in England and Wales classified to carcinoma of the bronchus numbered 1,548 in 1940, 2,839 in 1944 and 5,198 in 1948. The age distribution of the deaths specified as carcinoma is not available, but in 1948 the distribution for cancer (i.e., Carcinoma, Sarcoma and unspecified) of bronchus was:

All ages	…	…	5,253
Age—
0 to 14 years	…	…	1
15 to 44 years	…	…	454
45 to 64 years	…	…	3,159
65 and over	…	…	1,639

asked the Minister of Health the number and names of local authorities who have provided homes for aged people.

All county and county borough councils have provided residential accommodation under Part III of the National Assistance Act, 1948, for persons who by reason of age, infirmity or other circumstances are in need of care and attention not otherwise available to them. Some 200 small homes for the aged accommodating on an average about 30 residents have been provided to date by 80 of these authorities.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that six elderly people living in Peppers Wash, Suffolk, have to walk half a mile to get water, despite the fact that they are paying water rates; and what steps he is proposing to take to get water supplies to villages in Suffolk.

Yes. The hon. Member will know from the letter that was sent to him on 27th April that the local authority have decided that the cost of providing a public supply would be unreasonable, and that I cannot determine the question in this particular instance unless I am asked to do so by the county council or by 10 or more local government electors in the district. In general, I am always ready to consider proposals submitted by the responsible local authorities and, I have in fact authorised since the end of the war work to the value of more than £750,000 on rural water supplies in Suffolk.

asked the Minister of Food, if he is aware that the subsidising of imported wheat, bacon and meat and the absence of subsidy on Scottish oats and fish is causing concern in Scotland; and if he is prepared to consider re-adjustment.

No, the primary object of food subsidies is to enable consumers to buy basic foods at reasonable prices, and I am satisfied that from that standpoint no adjustment is necessary.

NUMBERS ON REGISTERS AND DETAILS OF TEACHERS AND CLASSES AT COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS January, 1950
		Boys	Girls	Total	Fulltime Teachers	Pupil-Teacher Ratio	Numbers of pupils in Class				Total
							1–20	21–30	31–40	41 and over
1. Joseph Leckie School, Walsall	…	358	373	731	31	23·6	1	5	17	—	23
2. Evelyns School, Uxbridge, Middlesex	…	495	531	1,026	43	23·9	2	4	15	8	29
3. Parkfield School, Potters Bar, Middlesex	…	285	240	525	25	21·0	2	12	5	—	19
4. Hayes and Harlington School, Mellow Lane, Middlesex	…	559	557	1,116	48	23·3	2	5	23	3	33
5. West Norwood School, Lambeth, London	…	434	570	1,004	50	20·1	5	7	21	—	33
6. Haverstock School, St. Pancras, London	…	614	643	1,257	59	21·3	3	6	30	—	39
7. Walworth School, Southwark, London	…	334	379	713	37	19·3	8	5	10	2	25
8. Battersea School, Battersea, London	…	364	626	990	54	18·3	5	11	19	—	35
The schools numbered 5 to 8 inclusive are at present experimentally organised and are not fully comprehensive.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what new scheme for the Agricultural Research Station, St. Vincent, has been brought into operation to replace that due to end last December; and what are its main features.

A supplementary grant from Colonial Development and Welfare Funds has been made to enable the Camden Park Experiment Station to continue on the original basis until the end of June, 1950. Meanwhile, the Governor of the Windward Islands has reviewed the work of the Station. I expect shortly to receive his proposals for a new scheme to continue the work of the Station for the next five years.

asked the Minister of Education whether he will give the number and location of all comprehensive schools showing the number of children at each, the ratio of children to teachers, and the size of classes.

The latest information available is contained in the following table:

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will ascertain on what instructions twin-engined aircraft flew at roof-top level over Aldeburgh, Suffolk, on 30th April last; and whether appropriate action has been taken to prevent a recurrence of the incident.

On 30th April aircraft of Fighter Command took part in a special air defence exercise which included low flying attacks and interceptions over East Anglia. I regret the disturbance caused, but occasional exercises of this kind are essential to the training of our air defences.

asked the Postmaster General if he will consider establishing a section of the Post Office Engineering Department at Pwllheli to cope with the long waiting list of applications for telephones, particularly from farmers in south Caernarvonshire.

To meet the needs of south Caernarvonshire, engineering staff are stationed at Caernarvon, Portmadoc and Pwllheli. Restrictions on our labour force rule out any possibility of increasing these groups at present.

asked the Postmaster-General how many applicants are waiting for telephones in Cardiff; and how many come from the Cathays, Central, Gabalfa, Penylane and Plasnewydd wards, respectively.

There are 3,687 waiting for telephone service in Cardiff. I regret that the information asked for in the second part of the Question is not available.