asked the Minister of Food if he is aware that many gypsies are without ration books; and what steps he proposes to take to remedy this in the near future.

I do not think that any special measures are either called for or are practicable. There are already arrangements to enable any person living in this country to get a ration book on application. If these people are without ration books it is their own fault, and they must take steps to get them. I know of no way in which I can take responsibility for exercising the personal rights of any free citizen in the United Kingdom.

Is not this another example of how little is known of the gypsy population of this country? Is my right hon. Friend aware of the campaign which is now hounding gypsies from one place to another? Is he further aware that the fact that very few of them can either read or write makes it necessary for the Government to recognise that the gypsies are a minority problem and should be given the same facilities as are afforded to other people?

All the facilities are there. It is open to any gypsy, or any other person who has citizen rights in this country, to exercise them. Merely by going into any local food office they can exercise their rights in this matter. Beyond that I do not see what I can do.

asked the Minister of Food what control there is over the addition to foodstuffs which are processed or manufactured, of chemicals or substances which may ultimately prove to be poisonous, although no evidence is yet available of their toxic nature; and whether he will consider banning their use unless there is ample evidence that they are not harmful.

The Food and Drugs Act, 1938, puts a direct responsibility on manufacturers and distributors to supply safe food and they frequently seek, and adopt, our advice about the wisdom of using particular chemicals or substances. There is at present no more direct control over the use of substances which are not known to be harmful, and which arc not open to reasonable grounds of suspicion; and I do not not think that I should be justified in seeking to employ the powers granted by Section 8 of the Act to make a general prohibition of the kind proposed, even if it could be drafted, which seems doubtful.

Is my right hon. Friend aware, however, that he used the word "frequently" and that he did not say "always"? Is he aware of the innumerable new substances turned out by the chemical industry and that none of us know at first whether they are toxic or non-toxic? Will he look again at the 1938 Act and strengthen it to protect the public?

The simple point between us is that at the moment I am quite content to rest on administrative action, with the advice that I am given. I do not think that any change in the law is required, but if, in the light of experience. such change is required, we will look at it.

asked the Minister of Food whether he will give a list of the chemical substances which are used to refine, improve, preserve or adulterate foodstuffs.

It is an offence under the Food and Drugs Act to adulterate food; and the use of preservatives in food is prohibited, with a few exceptions, by the Preservatives in Food Regulations. Chemicals have, of course, been used in the preparation of food for very many years, and as the list is a very long one, and constantly being added to, it would, I am afraid, be impracticable to provide the information asked for by my hon. Friend.

While we all recognise that about 700 additives are in use in connection with foodstuffs of all kinds, may I ask my right hon. Friend whether he is aware that, from time to time, we find that some which we accept as being harmless prove to be dangerous and toxic? Will he not please look at Section 8 of the Act of 1938, and give himself more power to protect the public?

I should be very glad to look at that Section if my hon. Friend would explain to me the meaning of the word "additives." I do not know what it means.

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I will raise the matter on the Adjournment tonight.

asked the Minister of Food to what extent flour is still treated with agene; and when he estimates this type of flour treatment will have entirely ceased.

The proportion of flour used for human consumption at present treated with agene is estimated at about 90 per cent. As has already been announced, agreement has been reached with the milling industry to stop the use of agene and consideration is now being given to the choice of an alternative improver; but I cannot yet say when the treatment of flour with agene will cease.

Does not my right hon. Friend realise that his answer cannot be satisfactory to those of us who are interested in this subject and who suspect that agene is a toxic agent? Is he aware further that such an authority as Lord Mellanby recently stated that in his view it might be that peptic ulceration and acute appendicitis result from the use of agene'? Cannot my right hon. Friend hurry up the process?

We are trying to hurry it up, but there is a conflict of evidence about it. There is no real evidence to support the rather alarming suggestions made by my hon. Friend. We have agreed to make certain changes in the production of flour and in the end to eliminate the use of agene. I hope that my hon. Friend will exercise some patience in allowing us adequate time in order to get this matter through the industrial machine.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the first answer he gave was exactly the same as the answer he gave to me in April, 1950, with the exception that he then said "in the immediate future." More than a year has elapsed and he has taken no action.

It is not surprising that my answer is not dissimilar from the one I gave in April, 1950. I said then that it was a long process. [An HON. MEMBER: "Why?"] For all sorts of reasons into which I cannot go now. We are committed to the change, but the task of effecting it is complicated and takes a long time; but we are proceeding with all due speed.

Is it not a fact that the millers would not have put this substance into the flour unless the right hon. Gentleman's Department had forced them to do so?

Does not the fact that the Minister has now decided to terminate the use of agene as a chemical ingredient, in spite of the conflict of evidence, indicate that he has come to the conclusion that there is something radically wrong with its use? In view of that, ought he not to speed up the process?

I am doing all I can to speed up the process. It is not as easy as it looked when I started and entered into commitments about it. There are really serious difficulties for the people who are engaged in the milling of flour, all of which I have to take into account. They themselves agreed to this new arrangement, and they will, I am convinced, make the necessary change at the earliest practicable moment.

Is any direct research carried out in my right hon. Friend's Department into the toxicity or otherwise of such substances as agene?

I should like notice of that question.

asked the Minister of Food if he will give the analysis of flour for bread used today, showing, in particular, how much potato flour is included.

The flour supplied by millers for bread-making is composed of home-milled wheaten flour with an 81 per cent. extraction rate and imported wheaten flour with a 72 per cent. extraction rate. Calcium carbonate, at the rate of 14 oz. per 280 lb. of flour, is also added. Bakers may add potato flour in baking bread, but because of its relatively high price hardly any is being used at present.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that deterioration in the quality of our bread is entirely due to bulk purchase and State monopoly? Is he also aware that shortages are produced by restricting consumption, and that there are no real shortages in the world today?

I cannot accept that supposition, because long before the State bulk-purchased wheat, private enterprise bulk-purchased wheat and flour.

asked the Minister of Food what information he has as to whether, in accordance with the recommendation of the associations in the hotel and catering trades to their members, which he approved last December, meal prices are now generally displayed outside hotels and restaurants.

My information is that there has been a good response to this recommendation, and that many more restaurants and hotels are now displaying meal prices.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the repeated request of the Catering Wages Commission for the public display of priced menus incates that many restaurants are continuing to exploit the public by not showing their prices outside their premises?

This is really a matter for voluntary choice. If the customer does not wish to go into a restaurant because the price list is not displayed there is no compulsion on him to go inside.

What about British Railways?

asked the Minister of Food what action he proposes to take to improve the facilities for slaughtering fat stock in Norfolk when large quantities are forthcoming during the autumn months.

I do not think that this will be a very difficult problem. Fat cattle marketings in Norfolk are greatest in the spring, not in the autumn. Other parts of the country are then able to help, and in the autumn Norfolk helps them.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the conditions of the slaughterhouses, whether in autumn or spring, are the subject of most adverse criticism by medical officers of health, and does he not agree that it is urgent that something should be done?

That is a wider question. I am conscious of the lack of adequate facilities for slaughtering, not only in Norfolk but in other parts of the country.

asked the Minister of Food how many fat pigs were accepted at the collecting centres and by the area pig allocation officer in Norfolk during 1950; how many were sent outside the county for slaughter; and what was the shrinkage allowance made in respect of these pigs.

One hundred and four thousand, two hundred and sixty pigs were accepted at collecting centres and 47,114 by the Area Pig Allocation Officer. About 146,000 were sent out of Norfolk to bacon factories in Suffolk and the Midlands, which are partly dependent on that county for supplies. About 5,000 pigs were slaughtered in Norfolk for use as fresh pork and for manufacturing purposes. Considerable labour would be needed to work out the shrinkage payments on all these pigs, but I am sending my hon. Friend copies of the scale on which they are calculated.

Does not my right hon. Friend appreciate that shrinkage of pigs in transit, before they get to the slaughterhouses, is a matter of concern to the producer and that it should be to the Ministry, because of the loss of weight? Would it not be better to make some re-arrangement of the slaughtering facilities in the Eastern Counties?

I have already explained to my hon. Friend the difficulties in this matter. I cannot add anything to my previous answers.

Does not this Question, and the last, indicate the importance of having slaughterhouses at places nearer to where the meat is produced, and also illustrate the general shortage of slaughterhouses in the country?

I think that is so.

asked the Minister of Food why some egg retailers in Islington are able to give their registered customers only one egg a week and others six or more each week.

I am very surprised to be told that there are retailers in Islington who have been unable recently to let their registered customers have more than one egg a week. If my hon. Friend will let me have the names and addresses of these retailers I will make inquiries.

May I inform my right hon. Friend that I will certainly let him have the names of the retailers in question, and that I should be most grateful if he would look into the matter?

asked the Minister of Food why he will not allow newly laid eggs to be sold by producers direct to retail shops thus enabling the public to buy home-produced eggs before they are 48 hours old; and the average time taken under present arrangements for eggs to travel from producer to retail shop.

This proposal would lead to a very unfair distribution of eggs between the town and the country. Under the present arrangements consumers in the large towns get a fair share of home-produced eggs but if producers were allowed to sell direct to retail shops the towns would get a very poor share, and I really cannot permit the urban population to be treated so unfairly. An investigation carried out last year showed that a fair average time between collection of eggs from a farm and their receipt at a retailer's shop would be seven to nine days. I have no reason to think that it takes any longer now.

How can the Minister's reply be valid, when, before eggs were controlled, there were plentiful supplies of newly laid eggs for town and country alike? If the present arrangements involve nine days for distribution, whereas private enterprise could do it in three days, why is the Minister dooming the unfortunate consumer to hoary and antiquated eggs for ever?

The hon. Gentleman is mistaken, and is under a complete illusion. This is not a comparison with completely free enterprise in a market unrestricted in any way. Long ago, long before we had our present system of distributing eggs, there were all sorts of controls and arrangements, including guaranteed prices and egg marketing boards, to limit the freedom of the private competitor.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman's answer mean that, to prevent unfairness as between one section of the population and another, it is necessary that everybody should have more or less stale eggs?

Is it not a fact that all the eggs that go to collecting centres are now tested and graded before they are distributed, whereas in the old days they had often got spots and other things in them and were sold direct?

I can state quite emphatically that the general quality of eggs under our present methods of packing and collecting is immeasurably better than it was years before the war.

asked the Minister of Food the percentage decline in quantum of shell eggs passing through the packing stations in the United Kingdom during May, 1951, compared with May, 1950, and April, 1951, compared with April, 1950; why the quality and freshness of recent supplies has declined; and what steps are in hand to improve the position.

The quantities of shell eggs which passed through the packing stations in the United Kingdom in May, 1951, and April, 1951, were 8.8 per cent. and 7.4 per cent. respectively, less than the quantities in the same months of 1950. Neither the quality nor the freshness of eggs has declined, and if the hon. Member has evidence to support his suggestion I shall be glad if he will produce it.

Is it not a fact that this decline in shell egg production is the direct result of an inadequate price paid to the farmers, coupled with the fact that because of the shortage meat birds which should have been retained for egg production have been slaughtered for the table? Would not this muddle have been avoided if the Minister had left the trade in private hands?

I do not agree that those allegations are true; but if they are true, they are a very grave reflection on our farming community.

Is it not a fact that there are still more poultry in the country than before this slaughtering; and is it not the intention of my right hon. Friend to have more autumn and winter eggs when they are more needed by our population?

What is called by the trade —not by the Ministry—the egg population of this country was, at the end of March, at the highest level in our history.

If the arrangements the right hon. Gentleman refers to are so admirable, why is it necessary for him to continue rationing eggs this year when at this time last year they were on free, unrationed sale?

asked the Minister of Food whether the shell eggs delivered to the Borough Stores, High Street, Bewdley, Worcestershire, on 21st May, 1951, were fewer than nine days old.

I understand that this retailer had no complaint about the quality of the eggs delivered to him on that day.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that his inspector called on this retailer and was shown a photograph of the condition of the eggs, which involved a nest of mice being found in one case; and does the Minister believe that the period of gestation for a mouse is fewer than nine days?

I am aware of the photograph. I am also aware that the photograph was arranged with the support and active organisation of the hon. Gentleman. I am also aware that it is just as easy for mice to get into egg boxes as it is for bees to get into bonnets and bats into belfries.

Is my right hon. Friend sure that this was a mouse's nest and not a mare's nest?

Is the right hon. Gentleman suggesting that this photograph was fraudulent, or that the information about the nest of mice is inaccurate; and, if so, would he say so?

It was a very good photograph, and I compliment the hon. Gentleman on his organisation.

asked the Minister of Food to what extent custard powders, ice-cream powders and similar articles contain adulterating material.

I have no evidence of the use of adulterating material in any of these products.

Is it a fact that the by-products of gas works are used in the production of the articles mentioned in this Question?

That may well be so, but I have no knowledge of it.

The right hon. Gentleman ought to know.

asked the Minister of Food when the price and ration of meat is to be increased; and to what extent.

I cannot at present add to my recent statements on this matter.

asked the Minister of Food how many forged emergency food coupons have come into the hands of his Department so far this year.

About 10,000.

Is not the right hon. Gentleman aware that there is very considerable public concern over this matter, not only among consumers—the purchasers in the shops—but also among the traders themselves? While I realise that the right hon. Gentleman has given the only official figures available, may I ask him whether he will do his utmost to assure the public that everything is being done to prevent a spread of this trouble?

Yes, Sir. This is a serious matter, and it causes concern to the Ministry as well as to the trade. Numbers in recent cases have not been too large, and, though they were serious enough in themselves, they were quickly got in hand: but I can assure the House —and I am sure that the House will expect assurance—that we want to give the utmost attention to putting this matter right.

asked the Minister of Food what precautions are taken by his Department to see that unissued emergency food coupons do not get into circulation.

I am satisfied that the present precautions taken are effective; but I do not think that it would be in the public interest to disclose the actual arrangements.

Bearing that answer in mind, will the right hon. Gentleman also remember the remark of the Lord Chief Justice on this subject at a recent trial when he said, in connection with one incident, "There must be gross corruption somewhere"? Where is the corruption?

asked the Minister of Food if he is aware that boxes of sultana raisins imported by his Department from Turkey and sold to bakers and confectioners in Bury St. Edmunds, contained quantities of stones, nails, gramophone needles, string and other extraneous material; and what precautions officials of his Department will take to avoid a repetition of this occurrence.

In one of the cases referred to me by the hon. Member the fruit was unfortunately released, despite firm instructions to hold it because it was not fit for distribution. We do our best to minimise mistakes like this, but they are bound to occur from time to time, and I am sorry about this one. We are still making inquiries into the second case, and I will write to the hon. Member when they are completed. I should add, however, that these are relatively insignificant incidents against the general scale of our trading operations.

Is the Minister aware that in a good many cases confectioners and bakers take the box of dried fruit which is marked "clean" and dump it straight into their mixture, and that but for extra precautions taken by the two firms I have mentioned these extraneous ingredients might well have been lethal to a number of people in Bury St. Edmunds? Is the right hon. Gentleman willing to send a notice to all the people who received these 28 lb. boxes asking them to exercise greater care in mixing them with food supplies?

I do not think it is necessary to send a notice to the trade. The trade are very co-operative in this matter, and do help us greatly. Incidents of this sort are very small. I do not want to under-estimate them, but it would be equally unwise to exaggerate them.

Could the Minister say whether this purchase of sultanas was a private transaction, or whether it was done through the Ministry of Food?

Not without notice.

Whether traders are co-operative or not, does the right hon. Gentleman not know precisely to which traders these Turkish goods were sent, and can he not circulate those traders and tell them that in the event of an accident or prosecution he would be able to indemnify them?

That is a much wider question. I have already authorised such steps as we now think are necessary to deal with this problem, and if it involves circularisation of that sort I am quite prepared to look at that.

asked the Minister of Food how far he intends to continue to allow the importation of cream after the prohibition of manufacture in this country; and for what length of time.

As already announced, no cream will be imported after 30th June.

Could the right hon. Gentleman give his reasons for not allowing the importation of cream? Is he not aware that there are some shipping companies who are able to continue the importation of cream for the next five or six months?

That is not the only factor that I have to take into account. I have also to take into account the interests of the home industry, and it is generally agreed that this is a proper thing to do at this time.

asked the Minister of Food what weight of pig offals from the Elmswell and Ipswich bacon factories, or elsewhere, was sent to the butchers in the urban district of Hunstanton and rural district of Docking during the last four weeks.

The quantity supplied to butchers in these districts from the Ministry's slaughter-houses during the four weeks ended 16th June was 300 1b. I have no information about quantities supplied by the Elmswell and Ipswich bacon factories, since distribution from these sources is not controlled by my Department.

asked the Minister of Food how many tons of Dutch tomatoes were imported during the 14 days prior to 16th June; and what percentage of the total importation of tomatoes expected from all countries during 1951 this tonnage represents.

According to my Department's information, 2,676 tons of tomatoes were imported from Holland between 3rd June and 15th June. I cannot give the information asked for in the second part of the Question. Tomatoes are imported by the private trade and I cannot, therefore, estimate the total tonnage likely to be imported this year.

asked the Minister of Food the tonnage of home-grown tomatoes placed on the market during the, 14 days prior to 16th June; and if he is satisfied that sufficient home-grown tomatoes are available at the moment to supply all consumer needs.

Precise figures are not available but my Department's estimate is that during the first half of June some 10,000 tons were marketed, including supplies received from the Channel Islands. At this time of the year homegrown supplies at reasonable prices are not sufficient to meet the demand and limited imports are, therefore, being allowed from abroad.

asked the Minister of Food if his attention has been called to the high rates at present charged for the carriage of empty food and produce containers; and if he will negotiate with the Road Transport Executive to secure a reduction of these charges.

No, Sir. I have received no such complaints. In any event these charges are not my responsibility and are matters for negotiation between the carriers and traders concerned.

Is not the Minister aware of the old saying, "The servant when he reigneth throws the blame on someone else?" Is not this a typical example of the cumulative effect when two nationalised industries try to compete one against another?

asked the Minister of Food if he is aware that, owing to delays in the morning delivery of fish to the Birmingham Market by British Railways, Midland Region, it frequently arrives too late to be sold to the dealers until the following day, by which time, particularly in hot weather, it has in many cases become unfit for sale; and if he will approach the British Railways Executive to expedite this service.

My information is that delays have not been frequent but our regional transport officer will be glad to join in any consultations between the traders concerned and the local officials of the Railway Executive, to deal with any particular difficulty.

If I send the right hon. Gentleman a schedule showing some of the recent late arrivals will he look into the matter? Will he bear in mind that be-fore the war the fish was cleared at the market by 7 a.m. whereas nowadays the retailers have very often had to leave for their shops before the fish is cleared. so that it remains unsold for a whole day?

I am very well aware of recent difficulties and should be glad to look at the schedule.

asked the Minister of Food what is the number of the staff of his Department at present located at the headquarters of the Milk Marketing Board, Thames Ditton; what are their functions; and what is the weekly cost in salaries and wages.

Sixty members of the staff of my Department work at Thames Ditton. The weekly cost in salaries and wages is £716. These officers are responsible for giving effect to the Government's milk policy in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including subsidy, improvement of quality, welfare and school milk. They also arrange for the payment of guaranteed prices to producers under the Agriculture Act and determine distributive prices and margins.

Could not a great deal of the work be done by the existing staff of the Milk Marketing Board without extra cost to the taxpayer? Is it not a waste of money and manpower to have these people carrying out the work there?

The work would still require the same number of people. The point is which authority should be responsible for organising the work, and that is a rather wider question.

Is not this administrative work actually being carried out by the Milk Marketing Board with officials of the Ministry seeing that the work is properly done?

I could not accept that as a fact.

asked the Minister of Food whether he is aware of the large number of unborn calves found in the beasts sent for slaughter; and what steps he proposes to take to protect the supply of next winter's potential milk.

The hon. Member's assumption is far from being correct. The number of these unborn calves is quite insignificant and it would certainly have no appreciable effect on milk supplies. There is a standing instruction to livestock grading panels not to accept for grading and purchase any cow which in their opinion is in calf, unless they are satisfied that its condition is such that it should be slaughtered.

Is the Minister aware that, unhappily, my assumption is not incorrect? Is he not aware of the figures which support this fact? If this unhappy practice is continued, does he not realise that we shall be heading for milk rationing again and that the Government must accept responsibility for this because of the poor prices which they are paying to the milk producers today?

We must separate the two things. I do not think that the situation, however serious it was, would have an appreciable effect on the supplies of milk this autumn, but in so far as it is a problem I should be glad to look at it.

Is not the right hon. Gentleman aware that the figures support me? I am right.

asked the Minister of Food how many packed meals a day are distributed to agricultural workers in the county of Essex under the rural meals scheme; and what steps he is taking to make this service more widely available in this county.

An average of about 24,000 meals a week are provided in Essex under the Rural Meals Scheme. My officers are ready to assist and advise any organisation that is willing to prepare and distribute this type of meal where there is a need for it. If my hon. Friend has any proposals to make to extend this valuable service in Essex, I should be glad to consider them.

Does the initiative rest with my right hon. Friend's officers? Do they take any steps actively to stimulate the service?

I think they do; if they do not, I should like to stimulate my officers.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that he has not answered the Question, which inquired how many packed meals get into the hands of the farm workers? Is he aware that the packed meals do not find their way into the hands of the farm workers but go to the community at large?

That is really a serious reflection on the farmers and I should not like to accept it without further examination.

asked the Minister of Transport if, during the harvest season, he will permit a farm tractor to draw two laden trailers provided a speed limit of five miles per hour is not exceeded.

I have no power to grant such a concession.

Will the Minister bear in mind that it would be an enormous advantage to the farming community during hay making and the corn harvest for a tractor to be able to draw two trailers? If he has no power at the moment will he get that power before next season?

I have no information to show that this is a widespread demand. There is no possibility of bringing in legislation before next season, but this is one of the matters to be borne in mind when amendment of the Road Traffic Acts is considered.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will make regulations allowing rewards to railwaymen who return lost property, for whom there is at present no reward.

Present arrangements in regard to the disposal of money or other property found by railway employees are of long standing and so far as I am aware have worked reasonably well. I see no sufficient reason to alter them.

Is it not clear that if a railwayman has no chance of obtaining a reward when he finds lost property, and be sees the lost property being sold at public auction sales, he is not likely to return it? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that I have lost a gold watch and a dress shirt in railway sleeping compartments and that, therefore, the present arrangements cannot be very satisfactory?

In the case of money, 50 per cent. of the value is returned, but "property" covers such a wide and varied range that it presents a special difficulty.

Is it not a reflection upon railwaymen to suggest that they should be rewarded for doing their duty? Is it not their business to return anything which they find on the railways?

Why does the right hon. Gentleman see a valid distinction between a reward for money and a reward for property, especially as property is now very much more valuable than when the regulations were framed and money is worth much less?

There is really a great difference between the two when we consider the bulk of property which travels on the railways.

asked the Minister of Transport what practical steps he is now taking to provide additional parking facilities in the West End of London.

I have set up a working party to consider the recommendations of the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee in their report on London traffic congestion in regard to car parking in the inner London area and to formulate detailed proposals.

Is this really satisfactory? We have had a committee and now we are to have another committee. In a very short time we shall have a committee to supervise the committee which was set up to supervise the committee. That is not good enough in such an urgent situation as exists today.

The hon. Member is wrong. The London and Home Counties Committee pointed out the urgency of the problem, and I have now appointed the chairman of that Committee, with others, to inquire how to give practical effect to their general recommendations.

What is the difference between a working party and a committee? Does not one involve fewer letters?

asked the Minister of Transport if his attention has been drawn to the dangerous overcrowding outside Morden underground station during rush hours owing to the inadequate facilities for subsequent dispersal by bus; and what steps he is proposing to take to overcome this congestion.

I am not aware that conditions outside Morden underground station during rush hours are dangerous. The limiting factor on the rate of dispersal of passengers at these times is the area available for buses outside the station. Subject to this the London Transport Executive maintain as intense a service as possible.

Is the Minister aware that long queues stretch across the highway at this point during the rush hours, that 120 or more buses an hour have to be handled there during the peak period, and that it is only through special measures that accidents are prevented? Apart from the danger, is he aware that great inconvenience is caused to thousands of people returning from work day after day and that it is a very widespread grievance in the neighbourhood?

The comment of the hon. and gallant Gentleman itself emphasises the difficulty of the situation. This is a built-up area and the difficulty is in providing additional space for accommodation. That is why London Transport devotes special attention to the problem during the peak hours.

In view of the very widespread complaints from all surrounding areas about this matter, will the Minister personally look into it again?

Certainly, Sir.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Merton and Morden Urban District Council have submitted plans for the enlargement of the area but are unable to get any redress of the grievance by this means?

It is sometimes very difficult nowadays to carry out improvements like this because of difficulties and restrictions in other directions, but this is an exceptionally difficult point.

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the new considerations submitted to him, he will now authorise the completion of the Totnes by-pass.

I do not know of any new considerations which would warrant my altering the decision of which I informed the hon. and gallant Member on 11th December last.

Will the right hon. Gentleman spend a night in South Devon, when I would show him how little has been done and how much remains to be done to the road. I think that would change his opinion.

I am afraid that that would be exercising undue pressure upon a Minister.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he has now given further consideration to the establishment of a trunk road through the Island of Skye.

Yes, Sir. Traffic on island roads is not, in general, through traffic of the kind for which the trunk road system is provided, and I cannot therefore justify the establishment of a trunk road through the Island of Skye.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that if there were a decent road through Skye, and a, steamer service from Dunvegan to the outer Islands that would be the best and fastest surface route to the outer Islands? In view of the tourist trade and of trade generally in the Highlands, would he not reconsider the matter?

I cannot add anything to the statement I have made already.

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of that reply, I beg to give notice that I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment.

asked the Minister of Transport whether any special provision is to be made in the near future for the improvement of Highland roads for strategic purposes.

A close liaison is maintained between the Service Departments and my engineers in order to ensure that defence requirements are not overlooked in the allocation of funds for road works.

Do I understand from that reply that a special allocation is being made? Can the Minister give an assurance that no attempt is being made by the Government to curtail in any way expenditure by local authorities on unclassified roads?

That raises two different matters. I would like the noble Lord to put down a Question on the second point. In regard to the point about defence, it appears to me that he is endeavouring to get me to make a statement on the degree of consultation, which I think would be undesirable.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will introduce legislation to make ferries in the Highlands and Islands part of the highway.

I hope that there will be an opportunity before long of introducing a Measure to assist in bringing ferries into closer integration with the highway system.

Does not the Minister recollect that he has been promising that for nearly a year? Can he make a statement soon about this, so that we can know when this integration will take place?

I would remind the noble Lord that for an exceedingly long time nothing was done with regard to ferries. Under this Government at least an investigation has taken place and the draft legislation is almost complete. When time will be found to deal with it is another matter.

asked the Minister of Transport how many area transport consultative committees he has so far appointed; how many he proposes still to appoint; and how many meetings have so far been held by that appointed for East Anglia.

The Transport Users' Consultative Committees for Scotland and Wales were appointed in 1949. England will be covered by nine such committees. Of these, eight have been appointed and I hope shortly to appoint the other. The committee for the East Anglia area has held one meeting.

In view of the slow pace at which this matter is proceeding, does the Minister wish us to understand that he has now been converted to the view of his friend the hon. Member for Coventry, East (Mr. Crossman), who says that they were appointed for window-dressing purposes only and cannot be of any use?

I certainly do not agree that they were appointed for window-dressing purposes. The type of organisation which has accepted an invitation to serve on these committees is a clear indication that the matter is taken seriously.

asked the Minister of Transport on what grounds he permitted the sum of over £900 to be spent on cultivating and planting the land of the new roundabout on a trunk road at Roundhouse, Sturminster Marshall; and what has been the total expenditure to date, on making this roundabout.

The central island of this roundabout was planted so as to obviate dazzle which is a frequent cause of accidents. The total expenditure has been £444 for land and £11,536 for works of which the estimated cost of the planting operations was about £1,000.

Is the Minister aware that quite a number of local authorities have the planting of the trees and shrubs done by local nurserymen, who use these sites for advertising? There is no cost whatever to the local authorities. Why does his Department spend such a large sum of money in this way?

I am not aware that the local nurserymen were not consulted. That appears to me to be a different point.

The Minister has said that he is not aware that nurserymen were not consulted, but is he aware that in the adjoining local authority area he could drive round a large roundabout and see the name of the nurserymen posted there?

It is the normal practice for my Department to work through the local authorities as our agents.

Can the right hon. Gentleman tell us the acreage of this forest because, according to Forestry Commission costs, it must be at least 50 acres?

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1) whether, before handing over the Island of Heligoland to the German authorities, he will ask for an assurance that the Anglo-German Agreement of 1890, under which native laws and customs should be undisturbed, shall be carried out and that the clause in the Treaty of Versailles, in accordance with which no fortifications were to be erected on the island, shall be adhered to:

(2) whether, before handing over the island of Heligoland to the German authorities, he will ask for an assurance that Article 12, Subsection 6, of the Anglo-German Agreement, 1890, guaranteeing the rights to property of private persons and corporations, shall be carried out, and also that Subsection 7, ensuring the rights of British fishermen to anchorage in all weathers, to the sale of fish, and the landing and drying of nets, shall be adhered to.

The Anglo-German Agreement of 1890 was not revived after the 1914–18 war and is, therefore, no longer in force. As far as fortifications are concerned, the hon. Member will no doubt be aware that the Occupying Powers have prohibited them under direct Allied demilitarisation legislation which applies to Heligoland as to the rest of the Federal territory. No question of obtaining assurances from the German Federal Government therefore arises at present.

Would it not be possible, before handing over the Island on 1st March next year, to secure at least that the Frisian language shall be maintained, because that is the matter to which the natives attach by far the greatest importance? The Frisian language should be taught in their schools, and the teaching of the various subjects should be given in that language.

I am sure that the authorities will take note of that, and I, of course, will always be glad to receive any representations from the hon. Member; but so far as the agreement ensuring these rights is concerned, I am afraid that that no longer applies.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what further efforts have been made during the past six months to secure financial assistance for the unmarried German mothers of children whose fathers are British soldiers or civilians; and what conversations in respect of this problem have taken place with the German authorities.

As regards the first part of the Question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 17th May last year; the position regarding legal remedies has not changed since that date. I would add, however, that although an affiliation order cannot be legally enforced, the army authorities do their best to encourage the man to admit responsibility and to facilitate payments to such unmarried German women. The Forces Help Society, though unable to give direct financial help, also furnish whatever assistance is within their power.

As regards the second half of the Question, no conversations in this respect have taken place with the German authorities, nor have the German authorities raised the matter recently.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this is still a grave problem and is giving serious concern to many people both in Germany and in this country? In view of the fact that it affects not only Germany but other countries, will not my right hon. Friend initiate action to deal with this important problem?

There will, no doubt, be discussions on this matter as relations with the German authorities are put on a contractual basis.