asked the Minister of National Insurance what is the total amount received during the last convenient period in respect of employers' contribution for men and women drawing retirement pensions but continuing at work.

It is estimated that National Insurance contributions paid only by employers amount to £4½ million, but it is impossible to say how much of this is paid in respect of pensioners actually drawing retirement pensions.

As it is impossible for the right hon. Lady to give accurate figures would she investigate this further with a view, if possible, to waiving the contribution from employers so as to encourage them to retain older people at work?

I would remind the hon. Gentleman that there is a danger there. If employers were relieved of their contribution there would be a danger that they might discriminate against the employment of young workers.

asked the Minister of National Insurance the number of non-contributory old age pensioners and retirement pensioners, aged 70 years and over, receiving regular weekly grants of assistance, either directly or as a wife dependent on her husband, at the end of each of the months June, September and December, 1949 and 1950, respectively.

As the reply contains a number of figures, I will, if I may, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Minister of National Insurance the number of retired pensioners in Scotland and the number in receipt of supplementary pensions.

There are 397,000 retirement pensioners in Scotland, of whom some 61,000 are receiving, supplementary allowances from the National Assistance Board.

Is the right hon. Lady aware that a large number of pensioners still do not like going to the Assistance Board to get supplementary pensions; and will she bear that in mind in considering the question of retirement pensions?

I am sorry that the hon. and gallant Gentleman has said that, because we try to encourage people to go to the Assistance Board. My experience is that once they have been they are never reluctant to go again.

asked the Minister of National Insurance what would be the total increased cost per annum to raise the weekly amount payable to old age pensioners from 26s. to 30s. in respect of single persons, and from 42s. to 50s. for married couples.

The cost of such an increase in National Insurance retirement pensions would be about £40 million a year at present, rising to about £82 million in 1977.

In view of the smallness of this amount compared with the cost of other schemes, and the relief and happiness it would give to old people, would not the Minister seriously consider increasing the amounts to 30s. and 50s., respectively?

In spite of the hon. Gentleman's blandishments, I cannot commit myself.

Will the Minister bear in mind that if maximum want is to be relieved it is more important to increase the scale rates payable by the National Assistance Board than to increase the basic rate of old age pensioners?

asked the Minister of National Insurance what use is made of postcard, Form FAM 7, required to be completed for renewal of a family allowance order book.

Primarily to obtain from the claimant a declaration regarding the facts on which title to an allowance rests.

Will the right hon. Lady discontinue the use of the postcards, which cause a great deal of trouble and use a lot of paper?

It is of no use to do that. A check is applied to these application cards. Occasionally, I agree—and I know that the hon. Gentleman is thinking of a particular case—a card is missed, perhaps; but I think he will agree that it is better to miss a card in that way than to inconvenience mothers by withholding allowances.

asked the Minister of National Insurance how many seasonal workers are registered in Herefordshire; how many have applied for unemployment pay; how many claims have been refused; and what is the estimated contribution of each worker towards the unemployment fund in 12 months.

On 10th March there were 14 persons registered as unemployed who appeared to be seasonal workers. Ten had made claims for benefit, of which one has been disallowed. As regards the last part of the Question, I am not clear what the hon. Member has in mind; perhaps he will write to me.

asked the Minister of National Insurance how many claims for unemployment benefit have been made by women agricultural workers in England and Wales since the National Insurance (Seasonal Workers) Regulation came into force; and how many have been allowed.

I regret that this information is not available, but figures relating to women agricultural workers now on the unemployed register are being obtained, and I will write to my hon. Friend.

Does not my right hon. Friend agree that we have got to play the game by these women workers, or they will not be there when they are badly wanted?

I think that when my hon. Friend examines the answer he will not be disappointed.

Does the right hon. Lady not realise that there are nearly 3,000 of these women in Lincolnshire, and does not that very large concentration indicate that seasonal work is a vital necessity in certain parts of England in carrying on agriculture properly?

Yes, certainly, and every claim is carefully examined.

asked the Minister of National Insurance whether, in order to maintain as many persons over 65 years of age in employment as possible, she proposes to make any alteration in the operation of the earnings rule.

asked the Minister of National Insurance whether, in view of the manpower shortage, she will now make it more attractive to allow old age pensioners to earn more than at present before suffering a deduction in current pension.

I would refer the hon. Members to my reply to the hon. Members for Stafford and Stone (Mr. H. Fraser) and Sutton and Cheam (Mr. S. Marshall) on Monday last.

asked the Minister of National Insurance what progress is being made with the examination of the operation of Section 39 of the National Insurance Industrial Injuries Act, 1946; and whether she will make a statement.

The hon. Member is no doubt referring to the limitation of the right of appeal against provisional assessments. Progress has been made, but I am not yet in a position to make a statement. I would remind the hon. Member that any change would require legislation.

Can the Minister tell the House the nature of the representations which were made to her by the Trades Union Congress in respect of the present operation of this Section of the Act?

Representations were made along the lines the hon. Gentleman has suggested.

asked the Minister of National Insurance in what proportions it is estimated that the 26s. per week National Assistance Board allowance is spent on food, fuel and light, clothing, shoes and renewals and repairs thereto, household and toilet requisites, and all other expenditure, respectively.

In view of the differing ways in which people live the Board consider that it would be useless and misleading to compile and publish a typical budget purporting to be the basis for a general scale.

Is the right hon. Lady aware that I am astonished and, indeed, alarmed to learn that, with the facilities available to her for securing this information, she does not know the answer? Will she tell the House how, if she does not know these facts, we can possibly know whether the allowance of 26s. a week is adequate or not?

The hon. Gentleman has overlooked the lump sums which are given. Perhaps I might remind him of these: 132,500 lump sum grants for clothing were made during 1950; a little over 16,000 allowances containing a special addition for fuel were made last September; and in about 400,000 cases, at a cost of about £4,700,000 a year, additions to weekly allowances to meet special needs, such as extra nourishment, fuel and laundry, were made.

As the right hon. Lady mentioned clothing and fuel allowances, she must know that very many questions are being asked about the unsatisfactory nature of these all the time.

asked the Minister of National Insurance what provision is made for married women who are working to obtain the necessary information on how to apply for the maternity allowance six weeks before confinement; and if she is satisfied that adequate sources of information are available.

Posters are displayed and an information leaflet is available at ante-natal clinics and at food offices, as well as at all National Insurance offices. The leaflet is issued with the expectant mother's ration book. The necessary information has also been widely publicised through such means as Press releases, notes to trade unions and industrial welfare officers, and the B.B.C. I am satisfied that adequate information is available.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what proportion of coal was mechanically cleaned during 1949 and 1950 respectively; and what was the corresponding figure for 1938.

Forty-five per cent. of the saleable output of coal was cleaned by mechanical means in 1938; 50 per cent. in 1949, and 52 per cent. in 1950.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power why instructions have been given to the local fuel overseers not to forward complaints on the quality of the coal.

No such instructions have been given. Local fuel overseers have standing instructions to be as helpful as possible to any consumer who complains about the quality of the coal which he receives, and to ensure that he brings his complaint to the attention of the merchant who sold him the coal. This is necessary, because only the merchant can identify the coal and the pit from which it comes; a regular procedure for dealing with complaints has been agreed by the National Coal Board and the distributive trade.

If complaints go forward from the fuel overseers to the right hon. Gentleman's Department, why do answers not come from his Department back to the consumer via the fuel overseer?

With respect, I think the hon. Lady has misunderstood my answer. The fuel overseers advise the consumers to take their complaints to the merchants who sold the coal. That is the only practicable plan.

Is the Minister aware that coal merchants are very reluctant to make complaints because they are victimised if they do?

No, Sir. If that were true, I should certainly hear about it from the Coal Merchants' Federation.

Is there any reason why the fuel overseer should not institute inquiries into these complaints?

That would transform him into a kind of bureaucratic inspector of the private merchant. I think it is much better to trust the merchants to carry out the procedure to which they have agreed.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what representations he has received from the Industrial Consumers' Council and the Domestic Consumers' Council on the quality of coal; and whether he will give the substance of the complaints and state what action was taken.

The Consumers' Councils have drawn attention to the quality of coal in their annual reports, in the minutes of their meetings, and in other papers which I receive. It was with their views in mind that I asked the National Coal Board a year ago to take special measures to improve the cleaning of their coal. As I have said in answer to earlier Questions, and as the distributive trade agree, those measures have succeeded in a considerable degree.

Is the Minister aware that according to the last annual report only 30 complaints were made to the Domestic Consumers' Council; and does he not think it is about time that there were regional domestic consumers' councils so that the complainants can be brought nearer to the people to whom they can complain?

As I explained on the last Question, the proper course for the consumer to take is to complain to his merchant, who will then carry out the agreed procedure.

Has the Domestic Consumers' Council policy been abandoned by the right hon. Gentleman?

No, certainly not. They have done very useful work.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the percentage of the 30,000,000 tons of household coal delivered to domestic consumers during the last year which was reported to be un-burnable due to dirt and deleterious matter; and what recompense is to be offered to domestic consumers in respect of the losses they have thus incurred.

No statistics are available which would enable me to reply to the first part of the hon. Member's question. There is an established procedure for dealing with complaints about the quality of housecoal, and I have no reason to suppose that it is not working well.

Is the Minister aware that, notwithstanding his conversations with the Coal Board, there is still considerable dissatisfaction with the quality of household coal? How long does he propose to allow this fuel fraud to continue?

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will send me some specific evidence after having verified the facts. As the right hon. Member for King's Norton (Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd), who I regret is not now in his place, knows—I apologise, I think that it was another hon. Member who last week put on the Order Paper a Question in which he alleged that a Mrs. Tansley had received 1 cwt. of coal of which 35 lb. was stone and slate. I inquired of the merchant and found that in tipping out that cwt. he had seen no signs of stone or slate, and that in respect of some 10 tons which he had delivered to other people he had not received a single complaint.

Does the right hon. Gentleman mean that I should make myself responsible for my right hon. Friend the Member for King's Norton (Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd) and that this is an open invitation to the whole country to send the right hon. Gentleman "concrete examples"?

It means that the hon. Gentleman should make himself responsible for the alleged facts which he presents to the House.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he will consult with the National Coal Board with a view to taking the necessary action to ensure that miners who receive concessionary coal as an agreed part of their emoluments shall take a quarter of it in cash instead of in kind, in view of the fact that the saving thereby would largely obviate the need for any imported coal, and thus relieve both the dollar and the shipping situation.

In many districts of the coalfields, the miners can, and do, surrender part of their concessionary coal in return for cash, and many miners voluntarily take less than the quantity to which they are entitled. But the arrangements governing the supply of concessionary coal are too various, and the issues raised too complex, for any useful result to be likely to follow from the proposal which the hon. Member has made. These arrangements, as I have explained before, have always been part of the wage agreements in the coal industry.

Is it not a fact that if only a quarter of this coal were taken in cash instead of in kind it would make a very large difference to this very critical situation; and does the right hon. Gentleman not realise that if this were put to the miners as a patriotic gesture they would be the very first to consider it?

This is a very difficult question. Arrangements about concessionary coal vary in almost every area. Many miners take less than their entitlement without expecting any payment; many miners put some of their coal into a pool for aged miners and the widows of miners. To try, in a precipitate way, to upset these arrangements might do much more harm than good. I think it is far better to leave it to the union and the Board to settle it.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether, having regard to the fact that the cost of freight included in the retail price of coal in Cornwall is 34s. a ton, he will consider reducing such freight content to such level as would be chargeable if the coal was supplied from South Wales instead of from Newcastle.

I regret that the principle proposed by the hon. Member would, in practice, be both unworkable and inequitable.

Could the Minister tell us the amount of difference involved? Does he think it fair that the consumer in Cornwall should pay a higher price for his coal when he is prevented from getting it from a cheaper source by the creation by the Government of a monopoly of the coal industry?

Coal has always come to Cornwall from the north-east coast.

Not from Wales?

What was the proportion of this freight carried by sea and by rail in 1938; and what is the proportion now carried by British Railways?

I should like notice of that question.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power why coal is sold at a higher cost in the south than in the Midlands.

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to my reply to his Question on uniform prices on 8th May last. If the price of coal, of comparable quality, is higher in one place than in another, it is due, in the main, to the greater costs of transport and distribution; these costs vary with the method of transport, the distance from the coalfield and other factors affecting local distribution.

I presume that the Minister knows that transport is nationalised. If so, will he say whether he is selling American and other imported coal at a higher price at the ports than in the Midlands, or is it the same price in both areas?

Imported coal will be sold at the same price as British coal.

Will the right hon. Gentleman give old age pensioners in Portsmouth cheap coal?

Will my right hon. Friend advise the hon. and gallant Gentleman to study the map of England so that he can better understand where the coalfields lie?

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he will allow consumers who have not had their ration of fuel during the present shortage to make up such quota during the summer months.

As I have explained on previous occasions, there is no ration of coal which all consumers are entitled to receive. Maximum quantities are fixed up to which householders may purchase coal, if supplies are available. I regret that it is not practicable to make good in one period deficiencies which arose in a previous period. But where hardship would otherwise arise, the local fuel overseer is empowered to authorise an extra supply.

What is the position today? Are all requirements likely to be met, especially in the event of colder weather?

I think that merchants are now able to deliver the quantities for which they are being asked. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh!"] There is not enough coal, of course. I have always said that there is not enough coal for households, and that I hope to get more, but all cases of hardship are being met.

Will my right hon. Friend now consider the question of coal allocations for next winter?

I am considering that now.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power why only 10,000 tons of Nigerian coal is being bought.

The National Coal Board have bought all the Nigerian coal that is available for shipment to this country during the winter months.

Is that due to the fact that the Nigerian railways are in a state of chaos?

It is due to the fact that they cannot deliver more to us than I have said. Other Nigerian coal is going to the Gold Coast and Tripolitania or other British Government Departments.

Is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied that this coal can be carried by sea without risk of spontaneous combustion?

I believe that in the quantities we are taking, it can.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power why the price of coke has been increased by 6s. 3d. per ton while that of coal has been increased by only 4s. 2d. per ton.

An addition of 4s. 2d. a ton to the price of coal increases the costs of producing coke by not less than 6s. 3d. a ton.

Do not the gas companies make some profit out of the by-products in the manufacture of coke, and does this not offset, to some extent, the increase in price?

The main by-product is gas, the price of which is fixed mostly by long-term contracts.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he is aware of the widespread over-delivering of coal by coalmen to certain consumers; how many prosecutions have taken place in the last three months; and what additional steps are being taken in this matter.

No, Sir, I have no evidence that there has been widespread over-delivery of coal to certain consumers during recent months. During the December quarter of 1950 there were 18 prosecutions under the Coal Distribution Order of 1943; they covered 45 charges of over-delivery, of the failure to record deliveries, or of deliveries to persons who were not registered consumers.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that in many parts of London people are getting regular over-deliveries, simply by paying the coalman a certain amount of money? Is it not a fact that one North London coal merchant has lost £4,000 worth of stock in this manner?

That is a very serious charge to make. I hope that the hon. Member will bring the evidence to me. I should be very reluctant to accept this charge against the coal industry without the evidence.

Does the right hon. Gentleman regard the loss of £4,000 worth of coal by one merchant in London as proving that this sort of thing does not exist?

I should like to see the facts in writing before commenting upon them. The hon. Member made a charge against the miners in a debate a little while ago, but he had no evidence to support it.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the number of shifts worked per wage earner in the coal mines of Great Britain for the four weeks ended 10th March, 1951, and the four corresponding weeks of 1950.

In the four weeks which ended on 10th March the average number of shifts worked per wage-earner on colliery books averaged 5.09 per week. The corresponding figure in 1950 was 4.88.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this is a great improvement on anything that has been known under private enterprise?

It is a very good performance, and it has meant more coal.

On a point of order. The right hon. Gentleman has just stated that I made an allegation against the miners.

We have passed that point now; but there will be other opportunities for the hon. Member to raise the matter.

If the Minister makes an allegation against me surely I am entitled to make some reply. The right hon. Gentleman said that I made an allegation against the miners which I was unable to support. Is he not aware——

That is not a point of order.

On a point of order. Mr. Deputy-Speaker, I desire to raise a question on a reference made about me by the Minister of Fuel and Power earlier today. Will you please say what means are open to me now to see that there is a public withdrawal of a statement about me which was not, in fact, true, and which the Minister himself, I think, now knows was not a true statement?

As I understand it— I am speaking without the papers here, but I looked at them this morning—what happened on a previous occasion was that the hon. Member used language which was plainly intended to make the House understand that there was widespread abuse of the privilege of concessionary coal by the miners. When asked for evidence of that by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary the hon. Member replied that he could give no specific cases to support it, but that he thought it was a matter of general knowledge.

Is not the right hon. Gentleman aware that that is an even greater distortion of the facts? My first reference was purely interrogatory, by asking the Parliamentary Secretary if he was aware of any abuse. Secondly, I agreed to provide to the Minister—[An HON. MEMBER: "Is this a debate?"]—definite information of abuse, provided the Minister would agree to safeguard my informant and not disclose his name. Would the right hon. Gentleman now tell the House——

Clearly, we cannot debate a matter of this kind now. It has been ventilated, and I presume it will be inquired into. Maybe the right hon. Gentleman or the hon. Member may think fit to make a personal statement on some other occasion.

But is it in order, Mr. Deputy-Speaker, for the right hon. Gentleman to refuse to give an assurance to safeguard my informant, so that the matter can be investigated?

Answer.

Order. The matter having been raised, it will no doubt be taken into consideration. Clearly, it cannot be debated now.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he is aware of the present acute shortage of coke in Dursley, Gloucestershire, which is resulting in people having to queue at the gasworks for one-and-three-quarter hours in order to get half cwt. of coke; and whether he will consider increasing the allocation to Dursley.

I am making inquiries and will write to the hon. Member as soon as I can.

Is the Minister aware that ever since there have been gasworks in Dursley, for nearly 100 years, there has never been a shortage of coke? Is he aware that the real reason for the shortage is because his Department removed the store of coke which they were accumulating during the summer in order to release it during the winter? Is this not the fundamental cause of the trouble?

I am told that the fundamental cause is that the demand has increased three-fold since coke supplies were de-restricted a year ago. While-I am awaiting fuller information, I am trying to get more coke for Dursley from Gloucester.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he will make a statement on the Report of the accident at Knockshinnoch Castle Colliery, Ayrshire.

Yes, Sir, I have given the Report most careful consideration and action has already been taken on some of its recommendations. The National Coal Board have taken steps to carry out the first four recommendations made. Research into geophysical and other methods of rapid and accurate surveying is being dealt with by the chief scientist of my Department. The development of a more resistant telephone cable for use underground is being discussed with the manufacturers.

Research and experiments with lightweight self-contained breathing apparatus have been going on for some months. The National Coal Board have procured a number of sets from the United States; they have been allocated to certain central rescue stations, so that they can be easily and quickly distributed to any part of the country where they may be required. Samples of a type of British manufacture are undergoing test.

Is any legal action contemplated as a result of this Report?

I am considering that matter in consultation with the Lord Advocate.

Will my right hon. Friend's Department give active and urgent consideration to recommendation No. 11 in His Majesty's Chief Inspector's Report, which is of paramount importance in preventing a disaster of this, kind happening again?

Yes, Sir.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman think that there ought to be an early issue of respirators even if they are not 100 per cent. perfect? Is it not better to have something rather than nothing at all?

Yes, Sir. I have said that the Coal Board have secured a number of respirators from the United States which have been distributed to the central rescue stations so that they can be issued when urgently required.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what progress is being made towards introducing an annual X-ray scheme for miners.

The National Joint Pneumoconiosis Committee recently decided that an experimental scheme for the periodic X-ray examination of miners is required, before any general plan can be drawn up. The personnel, equipment and organisation of the experimental scheme are now under consideration. In the meantime, all miners who have been diagnosed as having pneumoconiosis, including many thousands who continue their work at the mines, are re-examined from time to time. Fifty thousand other miners have been examined by miniature radiography under the National Health Service.

Will the Minister bear in mind that such schemes have been tried out in other countries and are known to be practicable? Ought we not to capitalise on the other splendid work the pneumoconiosis research unit has carried out and give it top priority?

Yes, Sir, we will certainly give it top priority as soon as it can be done without risk of failure or setback.

Will the right hon. Gentleman consult the Minister of Health with a view to diverting some of the mass radiography facilities to this work which is even more important than that upon which it is normally engaged?

The Ministry of Health are represented on the Committee which deals with this matter. As the hon. Member for Luton (Dr. Hill) will know, there is some division of opinion among the experts on whether mass miniature radiography does detect pneumoconiosis in its early stages.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he will make a statement as to the likelihood of the Prime Minister's request for an extra 3,000,000 tons of coal being realised in the near future.

From 1st January to 10th March, there have been, on the average, 11,100 fewer miners on the colliery books than there were during the same period of 1950. But the output of coal from the pits has been 1,460,000 tons greater than it was then. During the last four weeks, the average increase over last year has been a quarter of a million tons per week. If this rate of increase could be maintained until the end of April, the target of three million tons would be reached. In any case, it is already clear that everyone in the coal industry, the national and divisions board, the managers, the deputies and overmen, and the miners have made a magnificent effort to meet the nation's needs.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the statement he has made will give great satisfaction to the miners? When we register the three million tons, will the Prime Minister or my right hon. Friend himself consider sending a special letter of thanks to the miners?

I will consider that

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he is now satisfied that the publicity activities of the electricity and gas industries are being properly co-ordinated with his own appeal for economy in the consumption of these fuels.

Yes, Sir.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that he gave an assurance on 1st February to the effect that previous advertising policy had been reversed, and on that very day there was a case of a consumer in Essex receiving a document advertising the hire-purchase terms of six heat consuming mechanisms from the North Thames Gas Board?

Some of the new appliances save a great deal of gas. If an old cooker is replaced by a new cooker, 40 per cent. of gas is saved, and I would be reluctant to stop that.

Does the answer mean that the right hon. Gentleman has given up the assurance which he gave on 1st February, that he would exercise his authority to discourage the sale on hire-purchase terms of fuel-consuming appliances?

I think that the hon. Gentleman had better look it up again.

If these appliances save fuel, why is there a Purchase Tax of 66⅔ per cent. on gas water heaters?

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power when he proposes to carry out his undertaking to send to the hon. Member for Kingston-upon Thames reports of Lord Citrine's speech on 5 th December.

I did not send the hon. Member the transcript of Lord Citrine's words because, before I could do so, he had put down a further Question, from which I assumed that he preferred to deal with the matter in the House rather than by correspondence. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary answered that Question on my behalf, and pointed out that the extracts from the Press reports of Lord Citrine's speech which the hon. Member sent me did not bear the interpretation which the hon. Member had placed upon them in his original Question. I therefore considered that the matter was closed. But since the hon. Member still desires to have it, I am now sending him a verbatim transcript of what Lord Citrine said.

While thanking the right hon. Gentleman for the last part of his reply, may I ask is he aware that his hon. Friend, in the Question referred to, did not deal with that matter at all? If the right hon. Gentleman has any doubt about that, will he look it up again?

If the hon. Gentleman will look up what my hon. Friend said, he will see that he said quite plainly that Lord Citrine's words did not bear the interpretation which the hon. Member puts upon them.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he will give an estimate of how much additional coal would be needed to raise the consumption of power from two to six units per man-hour worked.

to increase the total consumption of electricity in manufacturing industry from two to six units per operative hour worked, by the addition of extra supplies from the grid, would require an increase of about 40 million tons a year in the coal consumed.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this is considerably above the output of the coalfields, and will he consider, in collaboration with the Governments concerned, the development of coalfields within the Commonwealth such as those at Blair Atholl, Queensland?

That is proceeding.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the global value of current building licences issued to the British Electricity Authority, including the regional, area and sub-area organisations of the Electricity Authority, for new offices and administrative centres; the aggregate of steel, timber, cement and bricks involved; and to what extent this building programme will now be curtailed in view of the needs of the defence programme, productive industry, and the housebuilding programme.

Figures are not readily available of the value of authorised building work at present in progress, but during 1950 and 1951 I have authorised the 14 divisions of the British Electricity Authority and the 14 area boards to proceed with 102 projects for new offices and administrative centres, and for structural alterations to existing offices and centres. The estimated cost of these projects amounted in all to £400,709. About 75 standards of softwood would be required, but as no licences are needed for steel, cement and bricks the figures of the quantities of these materials which are required are not available. These works have no priority, and will not, therefore, interfere with urgent work for the defence programme. I cannot say to what extent the defence programme may make it necessary to defer them.

In view of the very considerable building resources which are being devoted to building these electricity offices, will the right hon. Gentleman now consider diverting the materials to building houses for the homeless, instead of palaces for bureaucrats?

Building for the electricity industry, which is growing on an immense scale, with great new investments and rapidly expanding supplies, amounts to.02 per cent. of the building of the country.

When the right hon. Gentleman issues his plans, is final approval given, or has the board concerned to get the necessary permits which apply to any private citizen?

I would like notice of that question.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power why the first Report and Statement of Accounts of the Scottish Gas Board dealing with the period up to 31st March, 1950, was only published on 14th March, 1951; and what steps he proposes to take to see that the Report for 1951 is published timeously.

Under the Act of 1948, the reports of the Gas Council and of all the area boards must be laid before Parliament at the same time. The boards took over the work of more than 1,000 undertakings, some of which were municipal or statutory enterprises, while others were owned by private individuals or companies. The accounting methods of these undertakings varied widely, and to secure a workable common basis for the presentation of the boards' accounts has been a long and complex task. These difficulties will not arise in future years.

Does the Minister not realise that it is very unsatisfactory for Parliament to have the Report almost a year late, that it is unsatisfactory to the taxpayers, who realise that there is a lot of money involved—about £280,000—and that it is unsatisfactory to consumers to know that they have had to pay up to 3½d. more per therm, as well as being unsatisfactory to the administrative staff who have had no increase in wages since 1945? Will he at least look into the last part of the Question?

I have explained the great difficulties that arise. The Boards are fully alive to the importance of getting their reports out as soon as possible.

I hope that my right hon. Friend's Department do not make a practice of using the last word in the Question.

Is not the right hon. Gentleman aware that it is a jolly good Scots word?

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power how much money has been spent by his Department since the beginning of the fuel crisis asking the public to save fuel.

The amount is £2,000.

Does the Minister not realise that the money would be better spent advertising the failures of his Department?

Is the Minister aware that to congratulate the housewives on not using coal which does not exist is merely adding insult to injury?

I congratulated the housewives on using less gas and electricity, which they did in a spirit of patriotism.

Has any success been achieved?

Yes, Sir, a very considerable success, as the statistics amply prove.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what steps are being taken to provide the gas industry with coal of suitable grades and qualities.

The National Coal Board and the Gas Industry work together closely in all matters affecting the supply of coal to gas works. Their cooperation is described in paragraph 180 of the first Annual Report of the Gas Council.

Has the attention of the right hon. Gentleman been drawn to an earlier paragraph in the Annual Gas Report (1949–50), which states that many millions of pounds of additional expenditure was incurred last year by the Gas Board, due to the unsuitable grades of coal which had to be used? What steps is the right hon. Gentleman taking to protect the gas industry against the misdemeanours of the Coal Board?

The ash content of the coal supplied to gas works is a very little higher than it was before the war, but that is due to the facts of which I have already spoken, that many of the best seams of gas coal have been worked out, and that the gas industry itself takes seven million tons per annum of coal more than it did before the war, because the demand has so greatly increased.

Does the right hon. Gentleman consider the statement of the Deputy-Chairman of the Gas Council to be legitimate evidence of the bad quality of the coal supplied to the gas industry?

I am perfectly aware of that statement, and it is fully covered by the explanation I have made.

asked the Prime Minister if he will give details of the advance bookings for guaranteed admission to the South Bank Exhibition up to the last convenient date.

I have been asked to reply. The total number of bookings reported up to 13th March is about 710,000. Bookings for Saturdays in May and June have been very heavy.

As the number of guaranteed admission tickets will not meet the demand, will my right hon. Friend do what he can to see that large numbers do not get into the hands of black market "spivs," as already there is evidence that they are buying up tickets to sell at greatly increased prices?

Let us wait and see how the position develops.

Does my right hon. Friend not think that the best corrective would be to continue the Exhibition in 1952 and make an early announcement that this is what will be done.

asked the Prime Minister whether it was with his sanction and authority that the Director-General of the Festival of Britain issued a statement associating the Festival with the International Women's Day Committee.

I have been asked to reply. It was not with my sanction and authority that the Director-General of the Festival issued this particular statement, and it would not have been issued had he then been aware that this formerly non-party body had come under Communist influence.

To avoid any mistakes of this kind in future will the right hon. Gentleman ensure that the powers of the Director-General are limited, because there are a large number of such bodies seeking support from reputable people?

I think the lesson has been learnt, and we had better keep in mind that reputable Members from both sides of the House can be led up the garden by these bodies.

asked the Prime Minister whether the mayors and other heads of co-operating local authorities will be invited to any of the opening ceremonies in connection with the Festival of Britain.

I have been asked to reply. Out of a total of approximately 2,600 seats in St. Paul's Cathedral for the Festival of Britain Service of Dedication on 3rd May, 580 are being allocated to heads of local authorities in the United Kingdom. Together with their ladies, they are also being invited to the South Bank Exhibition on the occasion of the visit of Their Majesties The King and Queen on 4th May.

Will my right hon. Friend ensure that none of those places is given to the heads of any of the local authorities who have disgraced themselves in this connection by allowing political prejudice to override their duty in regard to the Festival?

Have a closed shop.

I am not quite sure whether we have the necessary information, but I am perfectly certain that anybody who has persistently opposed the Festival will have the graciousness not to go.

Will any Members of Parliament be invited to attend the opening ceremony?

Arrangements are being made through the usual channels in order that there may be appropriate Parliamentary participation.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will make a further statement on the finances of Festival Gardens, Ltd.

I have been asked to reply. Following my previous written answer to the hon. Member for Abingdon (Sir R. Glyn) on Tuesday, 6th March, the Finance Committee of the Board of Festival Gardens have carried out a further review of their rate of expenditure which, as I informed the House, was proving to be in excess of earlier estimates. This excess expenditure has now reached a more serious scale than the information supplied to me by the company when I gave the previous reply indicated. The company accordingly finds itself in a difficult financial situation, and it is only too clear that its task cannot be completed without further provision of development capital.

The company, after consultation with me, are taking certain steps to strengthen their executive arrangements, and the Government propose also to institute a thorough inquiry into the reasons for this excess expenditure. At this stage it appears that the main factors concerned have been the extraordinary loss of working time from incessant and continuing bad weather which keeps the site in an extremely muddy state; further loss of time from labour troubles; the heavy cost of special measures for overcoming these delays; the strain placed on the management in coping with these and other problems against a very tight time-table, and also the heavy increase which arises from the world-wide forcing up of prices of commodities and from increases in costs generally.

The Government therefore proposes to introduce legislation at the earliest possible date to amend the Festival of Britain (Supplementary Provisions) Act, 1949, in order to provide legislative authority for a further loan of £1 million to the company. As legislation cannot be introduced in time to give statutory authority for the immediate advance which is necessary to enable the opening to take place on 3rd May, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will, in the meantime, make additional sums available from the Treasury within this limit.

I am particularly sorry that in my reply of 6th March I should unwittingly have given the House what now proves to have been an incorrect view of the prospects of total expenditure which, on the revised figures now available, will be approximately £2½ million. On these figures the loss on operation for six months only may amount to as much as £1½ million, and this greatly adds to the financial argument in favour of continuing to operate the Gardens for a further period, during which more revenue could be put against the initial cost of development.

Can my right hon. Friend tell us whether the Corporation have been able to estimate the effect on their finances of the decision not to open certain parts of the Festival on Sundays?

I am not quarrelling with the decision of the House, which it freely reached, but inevitably the decision of the House not to open on Sundays did make a material difference to the possible revenues. I am speaking from memory, but I think the difference is about £200,000?

We are all agreed about the change made by the decision of the House, but is the right hon. Gentleman aware that that decision was commented on by him on 6th March, when he gave us an overall estimate? He said that all this had already been allowed for. The right hon. Gentleman told us, less than a fortnight ago, that the loss would be £1,600,000. Are we to understand that the figure is now to be a whole million more?

It is not as bad as that. It is the case that the figure is different. [Laughter.] The right hon. Gentleman has been perfectly courteous. I think his hon. Friends behind him might be courteous, too. It is perfectly true that the figure is materially different now from the figure that I gave to the House. I gave the House the figure in all good faith, on information supplied by the company, and I am as disappointed and as irritated as the House is about this change. That is a matter which I am taking into serious account.

I should like to try to get at the comparable figure, because it is important. I think that the figure which the right hon. Gentleman gave us on 6th March was a total loss of about £1,625,000. I think he has told us today, unless I misheard, that it will now be £2,500,000. That is a difference of almost a million pounds.

It is less than a million.

It is nearly a million pounds.

I quite agree that it is a material change, and I am very cross about it.

I have just one more question. It is about procedure. The right hon. Gentleman no doubt realises that it is very desirable in a case of this kind that Parliament should approve this money before anything is spent, and I was very disturbed to hear the right hon. Gentleman say that it could not be done. What are his views about asking for Parliamentary approval in a case of this kind, in view of the circumstances?

Parliamentary approval will be required, and we shall bring in a Bill at the earliest possible moment. The Treasury have powers to make advances out of the Civil Contingencies Fund, and that is proposed to be done, because the alternative would be to bring this part of the whole affair to an end. I think the House generally agrees that that would be a great pity. Let the right hon. Gentleman be under no fearsome apprehension on the point. Parliamentary approval will be obtained and we will bring in a Bill at the earliest moment.