asked the President of the Board of Trade why the expression "uplift" is used without definition in the explanatory note to Statutory Instrument, 1951, No. 401, although absent from the text of the Instrument; and what the said expression means in this context.

The object of an explanatory note is not to paraphrase the Instrument, but to indicate its general purport, as far as possible, in popular language. The expression "uplift" is a colloquial term that has been used in the explanatory notes to a number of Instruments of this kind, and is well understood by traders to mean a percentage increase in an amount specified in a schedule of prices.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if, in view of the present shortage of paper in this country and of the clean food campaign, he will revise the list of paper supply priorities and bring wrapping paper for home food supplies higher on the list than it is at present.

I have already asked the paper industry to ensure supplies of wrapping paper where this is essential for the protection or transport of foodstuffs. In view of the other essential demands which need to be met, I should not be justified in requesting any higher priority than this, or insisting that all orders for the less essential shop wrappings should be met in full. Although for a time supplies may not be sufficient for traders to put into practice all the precepts of the clean food campaign, they should try to make the best use of the supplies available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what were the total quantities of rayon yarn and staple fibre shipped abroad during January, February and March, 1951.

The United Kingdom exports of spun and filament rayon yarns in January, 1951, were 3,190,000 lb. and in February, 1951, were 2,494,000 lb. Exports of staple fibre in the same months were 707,000 lb. and 1,718,000 lb. respectively. Figures for March are not yet available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that the addition of Purchase Tax to carriage and packing has the effect of reducing agreed price margins and thereby places small traders in rural areas at a disadvantage with their competitors in centres of population; and if he will take steps to remedy this position.

The provision for computing Purchase Tax on the value inclusive of carriage and packing charges was based on the consideration that most goods subject to the tax are sold on these terms and special adjustment for these items would therefore be avoided in most cases. There is nothing in Purchase Tax law which prevents a retailer from recovering on resale the full tax charged and where trade price maintenance rules preclude the passing on of special carriage and packing charges and the tax thereon, this would be a matter between the traders concerned. I am afraid that it would not be possible to assess the tax on any different basis without entailing practical difficulties for the great majority of traders.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will now review Purchase Tax on carpets and rugs with a view to reducing the present rate.

I cannot anticipate my right hon. Friend's Budget Statement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many copies of "Report to Women," No. 9, February, 1951, issued by the Economic Information Unit of the Treasury, have been printed; how many issued; and what was the cost.

12,668 copies of the February "Report to Women" were run off, of which 12,473 have been distributed to date. The cost, including distribution, was £46 1s. 0d.

asked the Minister of Health how many persons in the United Kingdom suffering from tuberculosis are waiting to enter sanatoria.

In England and Wales, for which I can speak, the estimated number at 31st December, 1950, was 10,400.

asked the Minister of Health whether he can give an assurance that all regional hospital boards have been required to take similar steps to those taken by the Manchester Regional Hospital Board to prevent a recurrence of the circumstances leading up to the death of Charles Walker of Urmston.

No, but my right hon. Friend is asking them to do so.

asked the Minister of Health how many mentally defective children in Cheshire are awaiting treatment in a special hospital; how many are on the urgency list; and what is the average period which elapses between the time these children are accepted as needing special care and treatment and the time when they obtain it.

The information asked for is being obtained and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Health if he will designate the provisions of the Census Act, 1920, which authorise him to demand answers to columns A to S inclusive of the Census of England, 1951, form and especially panel T of that form.

The questions on the Census schedule are asked by virtue of the Census Order, 1950, made under Section 1 of the Census Act, 1920. Paragraph 4 of the Schedule to the Census Act, 1920, which defines the particulars which may be asked, covers the questions in panel T.

asked the Minister of Health if, in view of the fact that the questionnaire contained in the Census paper, 1951, is marked strictly confidential, he will state how many persons will have access to that information; and whether all those persons are bound by oath taken under the Official Secrets Act.

There are some 50,000 enumerators and 1,200 registrars concerned with the census in England and Wales but only one enumerator and one registrar (and his assistants, if any) see any one form; they all sign a declaration acknowledging the provisions of the Census Act, 1920, under which irregular disclosure of Census information is made liable to a fine or imprisonment up to two years or both; and they have been reminded in many other ways of the absolute confidentiality of the census. The staff in the Census Office, about 650 at the maximum, all civil servants, are subject to the aforesaid provisions of the Census Act as well as to the Official Secrets Act, of which they are made aware in the usual manner.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power why the local fuel officer has refused a priority permit to obtain boiler fuel to Mr. Campbell, Dyke Road Avenue, Hove, who has no such fuel in a house containing young children.

I am making inquiries into this particular case and will write to the hon. and learned Member as soon as I can.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power how far, in his consultations with industry about the more efficient use of fuel, the application of financial incentives and methods of compulsion were considered as a means of procuring certain minimum standards of efficiency.

The Fuel Efficiency Committee and other bodies have from time to time suggested various financial incentives. Their use, however, raises considerable administrative difficulties. The Fuel Efficiency Committee have advised that the co-operation of consumers is preferable to compulsion. A major difficulty is that many particular sources of inefficiency are not susceptible to enforcement by general regulation. Study of this aspect is being pursued.

asked the Minister of Supply to what extent there have recently been reductions in the allocation of steel for the manufacture of agricultural tractors and machinery.

The allocation of sheet steel for the manufacture of agricultural tractors and machinery in each of the first two quarters of this year is higher than in 1950.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to what extent General Morgan in his pronouncements at his New York press conference on 28th March last was expressing the views of His Majesty's Government; and what authorisation he has received to make political pronouncements on its behalf.

In his remarks regarding the crossing of the 38th Parallel and other political questions made at a press conference in New York on 28th March, General Morgan, who is no longer a regular serving officer, made it clear that he was expressing his personal views. He has received no authorisation to make political pronouncements on behalf of His Majesty's Government.In agreement with the Ministry of Defence, General Sir William Morgan was invited by the Foreign Office to undertake a lecturing tour in the United States of America with the object of acquainting American public opinion with the scope of Britain's defence effort. The briefing given to him before he left for the United States dealt only with the various aspects of our defence programme. He is, of course, at liberty like all other speakers who lecture abroad at the invitation of the Foreign Office, to express personal views, providing it is made quite clear at the time that such views are not necessarily those of His Majesty's Government.

asked the Minister of Agriculture why the rate of grant this year for drainage improvement schemes carried out by the Isle of Wight River Board has been reduced to 33⅓ per cent. from the 50 per cent. which was available to the former Isle of Wight Rivers Catchment Board when the river board has new and increased functions but only the same area and resources as the former catchment board; and upon which methods or formula the rate of grant for such schemes is determined.

This change in grant rates has no relation to the transfer of functions from a catchment board to a river board, as the Question would seem to imply. It is the outcome of a general review of grants payable under Section 55 of the Land Drainage Act, 1930, which was carried out by my Department last year. These grants have regard to the relative needs and resources of the different catchment boards and river boards. Many river board areas differ in extent from the catchment areas which they have superseded, but, so far as comparisons are possible, the outcome of the review was to increase the rate of grant for some authorities and to reduce it for others, including the Isle of Wight. I am not prepared to disclose the detailed calculations on which rates of grant are based.

asked the Minister of Local Government and Planning how many private building licences have been issued for the Herne Bay Urban District Council area in 1951; and how many licences issued in respect of the Studd Hill area.

Herne Bay Urban District Council have allocated but not yet issued, six licences for private building, one of which is for the Studd Hill area.

asked the Minister of Local Government and Planning if he will give a list of the local authorities which have announced reductions in their rates for 1951–52.

A large number of local authorities have not yet announced their rates of 1951–52. In due course, the old and new rates will be published, as usual, under the title "Rates and Rateable Values in England and Wales."

asked the Minister of Works if he will make a statement about the future of the Apprentice Master Scheme which is sponsored by his Department.

The Apprentice Master Scheme was instituted in 1945, on the recommendation of the Building Apprenticeship and Training Council, as an emergency measure to assist recruitment to the building industry at a time when the number of boys wishing to enter the industry and needed to maintain its manpower exceeded the number of normal vacancies for apprentices. Over 6,000 boys have been trained under the scheme and absorbed into the industry, and over 2,000 houses have been built. The Ministry of Works has borne the difference between the actual cost of work under the scheme, and the cost which would have been incurred had the work been done normally by competitive tender with the usual complement of adult labour.The scheme was inaugurated as a temporary measure to meet immediate post-war needs. In view of the extent to which it has by now served its purpose, and of the calls of the defence programme on Government expenditure, it has been decided not to put in hand further works under the scheme after 31st March, 1951, and to bring the whole scheme to a conclusion by 31st March, 1952. The building industry has been invited by the Building Apprenticeship and Training Council to consider, while the present scheme is running down, the establishment of an alternative scheme of its own.

asked the Minister of Transport why the Parade, Marlborough, is no longer to be classified as a trunk road.

I have not yet reached a decision on this matter but I am considering a proposal that the Parade, Marlborough, should cease to be a trunk road because it is seldom used by trunk road traffic. I understand that the highways committee of the county council are in agreement with the proposal.

asked the Minister of Supply whether, in view of the fact that men are being dismissed from Imperial Chemical Industries copper works at Kirkby, he will give an assurance that this firm will continue to receive a plentiful supply of copper.

No firm can at present be guaranteed a plentiful supply of copper. I.C.I. (Metals Division), like all other first-line consumers, are allocated 85 per cent. of the copper they had during the first six months of 1950; and it is primarily for them to decide how the available metal shall be divided between their various factories.