asked the Minister of Food if he will investigate the extent to which action by the owners of trawlers in restricting, by owners' agreement, the number of trawlers going to sea during defined periods, is creating a scarcity with resultant high prices for fish; and what action he proposes to take to remedy this matter.

I think my hon. Friend has in mind the scheme introduced by distant-water trawler owners last September to meet problems created by lack of demand. This scheme has been suspended since 1st January.

asked the Minister of Food what has been done to secure a general improvement in the conditions of slaughterhouses which were described as unsatisfactory in the recent Report of the Departmental Committee on Export and Slaughter of Animals; how soon the findings of this Committee as to central control and supervision will be carried out; and whether it is his intention to provide slaughterhouses for horses killed for human consumption.

These aspects of the Report of the Departmental Committee on the Export and Slaughter of Horses are being examined, in relation to slaughterhouse policy generally, but I cannot make any statement at present.

asked the Minister of Food whether he will consider revising the nine-year copra agreement with Fiji in view of the higher costs of production resulting from Britain's decision to devaluate, which was not known when the contract was made.

This contract was freely made and like all other similar contracts must be regarded as binding on both parties.

asked the Minister of Food how much copra he has exported from this country in the last two years; what was the selling price per ton; and what price was paid to the producers of the copra.

None. The second and third parts of the Question do not therefore arise.

asked the Minister of Food by how much the price of a 2 lb. loaf of bread has increased during each year since 1945.

The following prices are for unwrapped national bread sold by retail in England and Wales in areas for which special prices were not prescribed. In 1945, the maximum price of the 2 lb. loaf was 4½d. From 5th May, 1946, the weight of the loaf was reduced from 2 lb. to 1¾ lb. without change in price. The maximum price of the 1¾ lb. loaf remained at 4½d. until 25th September, 1949, when it was increased by 1d. to 5½d. There was no further change until 8th April this year when the maximum price of the 1¾ lb. loaf was increased by ½d. to 6d.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the measures adopted by the Governments of Malaya and Singapore regarding destination control in the export of rubber; and to what extent agreement has been reached with other rubber-producing countries on the same lines.

The following statement was issued by the Governments of Singapore and the Federation of Malaya on 5th April:"The Governments of the Federation of Malaya and Singapore have been informed by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom that the latter are taking steps to exercise destinational control over rubber exports for the purpose of preventing unduly large quantities being sent to any destination so that insufficient supplies are left available for the United Kingdom and other friendly countries. His Majesy's Government in the United Kingdom have invited the Governments of the Federation of Malaya and Singapore to collaborate with them in these measures. Accordingly the Governments of the Federation of Malaya and Singapore wish to announce that they intend to adopt measures similar to those effected in the United Kingdom by the Export of Goods (Control) Amendment Order No. 6 issued by the Board of Trade. In Singapore no alteration in licensing procedure is envisaged and intending exporters will continue to apply in the normal manner to the Controller of Imports and Exports. In the Federation the open general licence for rubber exports will be withdrawn with effect from 9th April, thereafter all rubber exports other than to Singapore will come under licensing control and the quantities sent to various destinations will be kept under continuous supervision. In order to avoid inconvenience to exporters the authority to approve exports will be delegated so far as possible to senior Customs officers at the main Customs stations and their advice as to procedure should be obtained as soon as possible by intending exporters. No special written applications for export licences will be necessary for shipments to the United Kingdom, the fully self governing countries of the British Commonwealth, the U.S.A., or the Irish Republic. In these cases authority to export will be endorsed by the Customs officer upon the ordinary export declaration. In all other cases written application should be made in advance for an export licence."The answer to the second part of the Question is that this matter was not discussed with the Governments of other rubber-producing countries.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what representations he has had from the West Indies regarding the proposal to grant more advantageous terms to the producers of Cuban sugar and cigars.

I have received many representations from the West Indies on the subject of current trade discussions between the United Kingdom and Cuba. His Majesty's Government are taking them fully into account.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the annual value and volume of cigars imported into this country from Jamaica; approximately the number of persons employed in this Jamaican industry; and in view of the disaster threatened to this industry by the increased importation of Cuban cigars, what steps are to be taken to avert this threat.

Average annual imports of Jamaica cigars into the United Kingdom during the past three years were 180,000 lb., valued at approximately £430,000. Cigar factories in Jamaica employ about 1,500 workers all the year round. About three times as many are employed in the field for six months of the year. Cuban cigars are not at present imported into the United Kingdom. Trade discussions with Cuba are still in progress and I am therefore unable to reply to the last part of my hon. Friend's question.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is satisfied that the salaries paid to members of the Colonial Civil Service in the West Indies are sufficient to secure personnel whose qualifications are adequate to the duties they are called upon to perform; and whether he will consider the introduction of an expatriation allowance.

I am not satisfied that all salaries are in all cases adequate, but the terms of service, including the question of the grant of expatriation allowances, are determined by the Colonial Governments concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it is the intention of the Government of Antigua to return the lands of the Christian Valley area and Dam site to the peasants who formerly cultivated the estate now that water is available for development.

As was announced in the Press in Antigua on 11th March, those parts of the land in the Christian Valley which can be cultivated without causing erosion or affecting water supplies will be made available for cultivation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if any progress has been made towards implementing the Maude Report on local government in Barbadoes, thus bringing to an end the ancient relics of the vestry system, based on a very limited franchise.

A Bill incorporating such recommendations as have been accepted is now under consideration by the Executive Committee and is expected to be presented to the Legislature during the next few weeks.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) whether he is aware of the low standard of administrative experience often shown by local government officials in Kenya and Uganda; and what facilities are at present available for Africans to obtain special training in such administration prior to their appointment;(2) approximately how many Africans in Uganda are appointed annually as local government officials; and how many on average have attended a course at the Uganda Local Government Training School prior to their appointment.

I am fully aware of the need to provide employees of African local authorities in Kenya and Uganda with training in administration. I am asking both Governors for the most recent available information about these facilities and the extent to which they are being used and will write to the hon. Member as soon as their replies have been received.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies approximately how many Africans passed through the African Local Government Training School in Uganda annually; and what are the length of the normal course and the number of the European staff.

I am asking the Governor to supply me with this information. I will communicate with my hon. Friend when it is received.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many hospitals and dispensaries have been closed down in Kenya and Sierra Leone through shortage of doctors; what steps are being taken to recruit African doctors in Great Britain for the Colonial Medical Service; and how many scholarships for medical training have been awarded during the last three years by the Governments of Kenya and Sierra Leone.

No hospitals or dispensaries have been closed in Kenya, but I regret that in February, 1951, staff shortages made it necessary temporarily to close two hospitals in Sierra Leone. Posts in the Colonial Medical Service are widely advertised, and African medical students are encouraged to apply for them.During the last three years, the Kenya Government has awarded seventeen scholarships for medical training, and has also paid £21,000 to Makerere College for the training of African Medical Officers. The Sierra Leone Government has made seven awards, and two awards have been made to Sierra Leone students from the central allocation of colonial development and welfare funds.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what proportion of the children of the employees of the Cameroons Development Corporation have been provided with schools; and how many university scholarships have been awarded by the Corporation to the University of Ibadan.

Five students from the Cameroons are studying at the University College, Ibadan, with awards from the Corporation. I have asked the Governor of Nigeria for information on the first part of the Question and will write to my hon. Friend when I have his reply.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what facilities have been granted for the filming of naval operations in Korean waters.

Facilities have been granted to the Newsreel Association of Great Britain and the B.B.C. Television Newsreel.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what steps he is taking to survey Admiralty electrical installations in Pembrokeshire to ensure that there will be no recurrence of the recent tragedy at Solva, when a boy was electrocuted.

None. All Admiralty electrical installations are regularly surveyed to see that they are safe. The situation at Solva is altogether exceptional. Although the sub-station there belongs to the Admiralty, the local rural district council use it to supply electricity to the people who live in nearby hutments.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware of the losses of gear which the local fishermen continue to sustain as a result of ships traversing the fishing grounds by the Owers lightship; and if he will now have the grounds charted.

Yes. I have considered the hon. Member's proposal but as the Channel Pilot, Part I, informs mariners that crab and lobster pots are set in the area during the summer months, I do not think that marking the grounds on Admiralty charts would have any greater effect.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what charts of coastal waters surrounding the British Isles he has, or proposes to have, over-printed with the lines of bearing of the Consol Radio Navigation System; and if he will apply this service to the general charts of the English Channel, Bristol Channel and Irish Sea.

The following Admiralty charts are being over-printed for the Consol Radio Navigation System:No. 12—Norway to Iceland including the Faeroes.No. 2—The British Islands.No. 13—Western Approaches to the British Islands.No. 2339—The North Sea.These charts cover the areas mentioned by the hon. and gallant Member. They are on a small scale and over-printing on larger scale charts is not being undertaken since it is not considered that the accuracy of the system permits its use for coastal navigation.

asked the Postmaster-General what arrangements have been made to enable sound and television broadcasts to be relayed through the telephone system.

The question whether the telephone line system should be used to carry sound broadcast programmes to subscribing listeners has been considered from time to time but at no time has a decision to establish such a service been taken.

asked the Postmaster-General what arrangements are available at Sizewell, Suffolk, for public telephone facilities, in view of the fact that the sea shore is used by large numbers of visitors during the summer months.

In view of the heavy demands on our limited resources, I regret that public telephone facilities cannot be provided at this spot.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of new telephone installations made during the five years 1933 to 1938 and the number of requests for removals, with comparable connections, removals, and requests for connections during 1945 to 1950.

In the first period, there were 1,080,000 new installations; in the second period, 1,580,000 new installations and 1,920,000 requests. Separate figures of removals are not available.

asked the Post master-General what is the estimated cost of converting telephone machines from 2d. to 3d. per call; how many such machines there are; and how long it will take.

asked the Postmaster-General what is the estimated all-in cost of adapting public kiosk and coin-box telephones to the proposed increased charge.

asked the Postmaster-General what will be the cost of converting all the public telephone kiosks in Great Britain to take the threepenny local call, including the wages for man hours of General Post Office employees diverted to this work.

The cost is estimated at £25,000. There are some 100,000 coin boxes, including spares, and the work will take about two months to complete. The average pay of the men who will do the work is 3s. 2d. an hour.

asked the Postmaster-General whether 5.30 p.m. is still the latest time for posting letters to reach country districts from London by first post; and whether now that letters can be posted up to 9 p.m. in many districts of London for delivery by first post the following morning, he can arrange for a time later than 5.30 p.m. for posting letters for delivery by first post in the country.

Letters posted in the street posting boxes in London up to 6 p.m. in the sub-districts and up to 7.30 p.m. in the head districts are due to secure first delivery next weekday throughout England and Wales.

asked the Postmaster-General at approximately what time on weekdays the first morning mail should be delivered in Piccadilly and Savile Row; and at approximately what time the second post should be delivered.

The first delivery of letters in Piccadilly is due to be made between about 8.20 a.m. and 8.55 a.m., and in Savile Row between 8.20 a.m. and 8.50 a.m.: the times for delivery of the second post are 12 noon to 1 p.m. in Piccadilly and 12.20 p.m. to 12.50 p.m. in Savile Row.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will publish the full list of overseas parcel rates now in operation, showing what these would be if the proposed increased rates were charged.

Individual rates to some 200 countries are involved. In accordance with the terms of the British Commonwealth and Foreign Parcel Post Warrant of 1950 (Statutory Instrument 1950, No. 1200) the revised rates will be published in the London Gazette. I will arrange to place in the Library copies of the relative Gazette together with the Gazette of 1st September last which sets out existing rates.

asked the Postmaster-General what staff was required to compile Appendix F of his Estimate; and why an additional 2,000 staff would be needed to make charges against the Departments.

I am sorry that thinking of a different operation I inadvertently misled the House in saying that 2,000 additional staff would be required to make charges for Post Office services against other Departments. I should have said about 100. Additional staff would also be required in the other Departments.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether, in view of the representations made to him on behalf of the 40,000 people living within three miles of Greenham Common, he will abandon the proposal to base a heavy bomber squadron there.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he has now been able to find a satisfactory alternative site for the heavy bomber airfield which it was pro posed to establish on Greenham and Crookham Commons close to the town of Newbury.

I have re-examined this proposal in consultation with the other Ministers concerned in the light of the representations which have been made. We are satisfied that it is in the national interest that the airfield at Greenham Common should be taken back into use. In spite of an exhaustive examination no satisfactory alternative has been found.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether a sufficient number of radar and reporting stations will be available during the coming months to enable adequate training to be undertaken by the reservists who are to be called up.

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for Air how many Class G reservists are to be called up for training; and how their services are to be utilised.

About 8,600 G reservists will be called up for 15 days refresher training this summer. They will be trained in technical and operating duties at radar stations in Fighter Command.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what percentage of the G reservists have acknowledged their warning notice of call-up.

98 per cent.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will arrange that, in future, Royal Air Force records keep a check not only on the unit to which a Service man was posted, but also on the trade in which he was employed, as this will avoid men being called up for courses in trades to which they are mustered but in which they have little or no experience.

Under the present trade structure of the R.A.F. it is extremely improbable that an airman would have little or no experience of the trade in which he is mustered, and I do not therefore think it necessary to amplify all airmen's records on the lines suggested. If, however, an airman is employed outside the duties of his trade, his records will be annotated to that effect, as suggested by the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Air to what extent 12,000 lb. radio-controlled bombs have been used by British troops in Korea.

These bombs have not been used by British forces in Korea.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will make a statement on the abandonment of the heavy concrete runway at Changi Aerodrome, near Singapore; and state how much money has been written off for compensation.

It was originally intended, as the result of a joint decision between the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Government of Singapore and the Air Ministry, to develop Changi with a heavy concrete runway as a combined R.A.F. station and civil airport. Owing to site difficulties which emerged in the course of preliminary work, it became necessary to modify this plan and a flexible runway has been constructed instead to meet R.A.F. requirements only. Liabilities amounting to £218,433 were incurred jointly by the Air Ministry, Ministry of Civil Aviation, and the Government of Singapore for disturbance to the contractor on the modification of the scheme and £153,357 for work done but not directly required in the project as revised.

asked the Secretary of State for War to what extent Z Reservists now called up are receiving alternative dates; and why an alternative date has been refused to Mr. S. Andrews, 161B, Dundyvan Road, Coatbridge, Records. Royal Army Service Corps, and Army Catering Corps, 3/Z/15/5.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Mr. Dodds) on 10th April. In the case of Mr. Andrews, it is not possible to arrange an alternative date and the circumstances are not considered to justify the cancellation of his training.

asked the Secretary of State for War what is the percentage of men over 40 years of age who have been called up under the Z Reserve recall.

I regret that this information is not readily available. I would, however, refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, Central (Mr. Awbery) on 3rd April.

asked the Secretary of State for War how far plans are advanced for the building of Territorial offices at Harrow Road, Wembley.

The County of Middlesex Territorial and Auxiliary Forces Association is now preparing, for examination by the War Office, preliminary plans for the building of a new Territorial Army centre in permanent construction.

asked the Secretary of State for War the amount of Bailey Bridge equipment held by his Department which is available in this country and not used for training or operational purposes.

All Bailey bridging equipment held in this country is for training or to meet foreseen operational purposes.

asked the Attorney-General whether he has received the report from the Public Prosecutor on the case submitted to him in connection with the removal of the Stone of Destiny.

Yes. The matter is receiving my consideration.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is in a position to inform the House of the decisions taken by the Council of Ministers of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation to remedy the deficit in the German balance of payments.

I will arrange for some copies of the Managing Board's Report and of the Council's decision to be placed in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the recent crossing of the 38th Parallel by United Nations troops, he will propose to the United Nations a further statement of war aims in Korea.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement which I made on this subject today.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how much grain and other controlled feedingstuffs suitable for poultry and pigs is now permitted to be used for the rearing of pheasants in Ayrshire.

No rationed feedingstuffs have been issued by my Department for the rearing of pheasants in Ayrshire. I have no information as to the use of home-grown grain for this purpose.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is yet in a position to give any further information about the proposal to set up a Pulp and Paper Committee in Washington.

Invitations to join such a Committee have now been extended through the United States Government to the principal producing and consuming countries. I understand that an announcement as to actual membership will be made by the Central Group of the International Materials Conference as soon as the necessary replies have been received.

asked the Minister of Transport why he did not accept the recommendations of the Central Transport Consultative Committee, as indicated in paragraph 12 of their Annual Report for the year ended 31st December, 1950, that the Railway Commission be pressed to economise rather than to increase their charges.

As I indicated in the House on 27th April, 1950, when I announced the increase, I was satisfied that there was no means of meeting the financial problem then facing the railways by any rapid and substantial economies, although, of course, the Commission is achieving economies where possible.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation whether it is intended to operate a London—Manchester air service; and, if so, whether he will give the date of the commencement.

It is understood that one of the two private companies authorised to operate scheduled services between Manchester and London under associate agreement with British European Airways intends to provide a service on Saturdays from 5th May. The other company has now withdrawn its interest in the route. Applications from other companies to provide services on this route will, if forthcoming, be considered in the normal way.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation whether consideration has been given to the advantages of his Department using the short ton of 2,000 pounds, instead of the long ton of 2,240 pounds, as a unit of measurement for civil aviation statistics and thus following the practice that has already been adopted by the Airways Corporations.

Yes. It has been decided that in future the short ton of 2,000 lb. will be used in all statistics issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The long ton will be used in the monthly statistics relating to the Corporations' activities and to the use of aerodromes that are issued for the period up to 31st March, 1951, but after that date the figures in these and other statistics will be expressed in short tons.