asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the strength of the Civil Defence Corps and of the Auxiliary Fire Service in England and Wales on 31st May.

The figures are 143,000 and 10,100 respectively. I will circulate the detailed figures in HANSARD.

Does that represent a satisfactory improvement?

It is a steady improvement, but of course my right hon. Friend is not satisfied.

Am I right in saying that recruitment in the rescue and pioneer sections is particularly unsatisfactory? Is the hon. Gentleman taking any special action to improve this position?

It is particularly unsatisfactory in those sections. We are looking into that matter.

How far does the number fall short of the number required?

It is between one-third and one-quarter of what we want.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress is being made in recruiting for Civil Defence.

The strength of the Civil Defence Corps in England and Wales was doubled in the last seven months. It is now 143,000 which is just over three per thousand of the population.

How far does that fall below the minimum necessary for safety?

As I said in reply to an earlier supplementary question, the provisional peace-time strength is between three and four times as high as that.

Are not the main obstacles to Civil Defence recruiting at the present time the absence of an age ceiling for liability to recall to the Services and the absence of a decision about recruitment to the Home Guard?

I do not agree with that. The subject has been dealt with on more than one occasion by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence and others, from this Box.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recruits for Civil Defence have been enrolled during the last six months in East Anglia.

In the Eastern Region 7,100, half of whom are in East Anglia proper, that is, Norfolk and Suffolk.

In view of the gratifying results which we naturally expect from East Anglia, would my hon. Friend say how those figures compare with the overall figures for the rest of the country?

The Eastern Region as a whole is top of the regions, but there is still room for an increase, especially in certain sections of the Corps.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement with regard to the possible use of light aircraft for Civil Defence operations.

Light aircraft may well play a useful part in Civil Defence and we are taking this fact into account in planning to meet the effects of enemy attack.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is in a position to make a statement regarding the issue of uniforms to members of the Civil Defence Corps.

During the next year or two a considerable amount of cloth will be required for the Armed Forces and it is unlikely that the Civil Defence Corps will get all they need for uniforms. As I told the House in April the issue of uniforms has been suspended. My right hon. Friend is consulting the local authority associations as to which of these three alternatives should be followed:

Can the hon. Gentleman say whether protective clothing against atomic radiation is included in "uniforms"?

Except for certain specialist sections of the Corps, it is.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether wireless sets will be available for inter-communication between the Civil Defence central war-room in London, the regional war-rooms, and local authority headquarters.

I do not think it would be in the national interest to disclose details of our inter-communication system in war time, but I can assure the hon. and gallant Member that wireless will be used whenever it is practicable on technical grounds.

That is a rather uninformative reply. Does the hon. Gentleman realise that wireless is used in the Army from the highest command to the lowest unit, by the police, and even by taxi drivers? Does he also realise that a message is no alternative if there is a breakdown of telephonic communications between regional headquarters and London, and will he please take urgent steps to see that the highest form of wireless inter-communication is installed?

I certainly appreciate that the use of wireless saves time, but the appropriate wave bands have to be available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made with the organisation of Civil Defence mobile columns: whether they are to be equipped with wireless for inter-communication; and what vehicles will be available to them.

Plans for an experimental mobile column are far advanced, but I cannot yet make a detailed statement.

Can the hon. Gentleman say what vehicles are to be used? Will they be commandeered vehicles or will their own vehicles be issued to them?

They will have all the vehicles they require and they will be issued to them, but I am not yet ready to make a detailed statement.

Considering that these mobile columns are one of the key features of the new organisation of Civil Defence for dealing with atomic attacks, could the hon. Gentleman give an assurance that he will press on with this important problem?

Yes, Sir. It is because this is an entirely new conception that we are not launching it until we have worked it out carefully, especially with the military.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that his reply is almost identical with those he has given in reply to similar questions over a long period and that the general impression—which is growing—is that there is no sound Government policy?

I would certainly not agree with that.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that certain members of the Polish community in the United Kingdom are engaged in the practice of collecting for transmission to the Polish Government information about other members of the Polish community; and since such activities are not conducive to the public good, whether he will exercise his power to deport the persons concerned.

Yes, Sir. The activities to which my hon. Friend refers have for some time been known to me, and I take a serious view of them. Thirteen persons concerned have been identified and I have made deportation orders against them on the ground that their continued presence in this country is not conducive to the public good. One has already left the country and others will be deported as soon as practicable. I hope that this reply will be a warning to Poles and nationals of other Communist-controlled countries who are resident in the United Kingdom to be on their guard against approaches by persons who may be collecting information for the Governments of those countries. Any such approaches should be reported to the police.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been drawn to the proposal to allow two American children, aged four and five years respectively, to attempt to swim the English Channel this summer and to prepare for this attempt at a holiday camp in Great Britain; and if, with a view to preventing the exploitation and commercialisation of these two young children in this country, he will refuse permission to the parents of the children to land in Great Britain.

The information available, which is derived from Press reports, does not suggest that there are likely to be grounds for refusing leave to land to this family. But if they come to this country it will be for the immigration officer to ascertain what are the intentions of the parents and, if it is decided to grant leave to land, to attach suitable conditions.

Is the Home Secretary aware that it has been stated that these children are being flown to Europe tomorrow, and that there will be widespread support on both sides of the Atlantic for anything which can be done to prevent what, according to our standards, would certainly be cruelty to children?

Is it not the case that the elder of these children is an infant prodigy and has swum successfully many miles, and that their father, who is a trainer in swimming, wants to develop these children?

That may well be so, but I cannot help thinking that swimming the Channel at that early age is rather a severe test even for an infant prodigy.

asked the Minister of Health what steps are being taken to increase the accommodation for mentally defective children.

The attention of regional hospital boards has been drawn to the urgent need to increase this accommodation; and since the appointed day a number of new schemes have been approved or are under active consideration.

Is the Minister aware that, whatever they may be, these facilities are quite inadequate, and that appalling delays are occurring? I know of one delay dating back to December when the authorities of the Shipley Council made application and there have been many cases since then. If I send him details, will he give full consideration to the matter?

Yes, Sir, I will, but I assure the House that I am well aware of the difficult and awkward situation here.

Will the right hon. Gentleman assure the House that there is no undue delay in inspecting these children, which is the earliest stage of sending them to the appropriate place, so that their case can be considered as soon as possible for the proper treatment?

I am not aware of undue delay in classification.

asked the Minister of Health what quantity of the new American drug cortisone has been imported during the quarter ended 31st March, 1951; and how far this amount has fallen short of medical requirements.

One thousand five hundred grammes of cortisone were purchased by my Department from the American manufacturers during the quarter ended 31st March, 1951. As the use of this scarce drug is still experimental, requirements cannot be estimated, but we are importing all the manufacturers can make available.

But does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that, as far as is known at present, this drug is the only known one that can relieve the painful malady of arthritis, and will he not either obtain the release of further dollars for such quantities of the drug as are available, or else encourage its manufacture in this country?

It is not a shortage of dollars that is the limitation; there is export control in the United States of America.

asked the Minister of Health the reasons for the long delay in the production and supply of bone conductor hearing aids.

Research resources had at first to be concentrated on the production and improvement of the air-conduction aid, the different models of which have now been found to meet the needs of the great majority of people requiring an aid. The production of a satisfactory bone-conduction aid raises difficult technical problems involving considerable research, but encouraging progress is now being made.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in the last two years many hon. Members have received many letters from their constituents complaining of the inconvenience of not being able to get these aids? Will he hasten their production as rapidly as possible?

I think we are now at the point where the production of models for clinical trials is possible, and if those trials are satisfactory we shall certainly press on with rapid production.

asked the Minister of Health what arrangements he has made for the local manufacture of ear moulds at Cardiff in order that the supply of hearing aids might be facilitated.

Ear moulds for use with Medresco hearing aids are normally supplied to distribution centres under contracts placed by my Department. Trial arrangements for local manufacture by a firm in Cardiff have been discontinued on grounds of expense.

asked the Minister of Health what is the average length of the waiting periods between application and delivery of priority and non-priority hearing aids in the South-West Hospital Region; and how these compare with other regions.

Average figures of this kind are not available, and it would require a disproportionate expenditure to obtain them.

Is the right hon. Gentleman getting any effects from the adjustment of allocation he promised to make to the Bristol Hospital on 3rd May, or is it a fact that Bristol are still dealing with 1,948 patients, as I was informed in a letter on 22nd May?

The new allocation has been made and, therefore, there must be an improvement in the supply in Bristol, but it must be borne in mind in making comparisons that there were particularly heavy initial demands in Bristol in 1948.

What is the meaning of "priority" in this case? Priority seems to give a false indication to the patient that he is to get exceptional treatment.

Priority patients receive their aids in, at most, five months.

asked the Minister of Health why the premature baby unit at University College Hospital is being closed; and whether he will institute an inquiry into the subject of premature births and mortality resulting therefrom.

This unit will not be closed. Investigation of the general problem of premature births has already been made by a Joint Committee of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Paediatric Association, as part of an inquiry into neonatal mortality and morbidity and I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of the committee's report.

asked the Minister of Health whether he accepts the recommendations of the majority Report of the Cope Committees.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 19th April to the hon. Member for Reading, South (Mr. Mikardo).

asked the Minister of Health when he proposes to begin discussions with the professions covered by the Cope Committees on Medical Auxiliaries.

I hope to do so shortly.

Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate the great anxiety which is felt in these professions about their future, and will he press on as quickly as possible with the discussions with them?

Yes, Sir, but altogether there are 122 recommendations in these Reports. They have to be considered carefully, and the practicability of legislation to carry them out has to be gone into before we can actually meet the organisations concerned. We will, however, press on as fast as possible.

asked the Minister of Health why he has refused to recognise the qualification of the Joint Council of Chiropodists of Great Britain for new applicants for posts in the National Health Service.

One of the recommendations of the Cope Committees, which were appointed to review, inter alia, the training and qualification of medical auxiliaries in the National Health Service, was that chiropodists, to be qualified for employment in the Service, should not only have passed the appropriate examinations but should also have been trained in suitable schools. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and I have accepted this recommendation as a criterion for the selection of chiropodist entrants to the National Health Service in future.

asked the Minister of Health in view of the shortage of almoners in the National Health Service, what action he proposes to take to encourage recruitment into this profession.

The matter is being considered, but I am doubtful whether it will be decided to take any special steps in the present circumstances.

Is the right hon. Gentleman discussing the matter both with the universities who train students in social science and also with the Institute of Almoners with a view to overcoming the present shortage in the latter profession?

Yes, Sir, I am considering what the Cope Committees reported about this matter and my right hon. Friend the Minister of Education may also have to be consulted.

asked the Minister of Health the total amount still due and unpaid by him to chemists for services rendered under the National Health Service Act.

It is estimated that at 30th April, 1951, the total amount due and unpaid was of the order of £5 million. A substantial supplementary payment is accordingly being made this month.

Is the Minister aware that there is an overwhelming number of chemists who have something like £350 to £400 owing to them and that this is an intolerable burden when added to the many other difficulties with which they have to contend?

I know that some of the accounts are not finally completed but, on the other hand, payments in advance are regularly made and I am advised that even if the pricings were up to date the chemists would have £3 million to £3½ million owing to them at the end of any month.

Would my right hon. Friend not agree that, making all the allowance that might be made for the fall in the value of the pound, the average private chemist over the last three years, in terms of real pound value, has made more money—I do not complain about that—and has had a higher income than ever before?

That is not the Question. The Question asks what is unpaid.

What is it that prevents a Government Department, with the great funds at its disposal, from carrying on the ordinary honest principles of business and paying their debts when they become due?

We cannot, obviously, pay at once without checking the figures in a matter where public funds are concerned.

asked the Minister of Health what is the last date up to which chemists have been paid in full for their work under the National Health Service.

Substantial payments on account are made each month. Executive Councils have been authorised to make final settlements up to June, 1950, in all cases and up to July, 1950, in about 70 per cent. of cases.

Is the Minister aware that it is very unsatisfactory indeed for 12 months' business to remain unsettled and uncompleted, and is he making any progress in reducing the present time lag of 12 months between the issue of the account and its final settlement?

Yes, Sir. Progress is definitely being made, and we are not far now from the point of being able in any one month to keep pace with all the accounts for that month.

Is the Minister's pricing system now catching up with the arrears, so that, once those arrears are cleared off, current prices will run with current needs?

I cannot say that the arrears are actually being overcome. My information is that they are almost at the point of being overtaken.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that in at least 5 per cent. of cases where accounts are rendered by chemists, there is very good reason to suppose that the accounts need looking at? Despite the pressure from the Opposition, will my right hon. Friend not prevent his Department from ensuring that the National Health Service is not made into a racket by private enterprise?

The situation is that with the institution of the free supply to all persons of drugs of this kind, there was an enormous increase in the number of prescriptions. It is not possible, with the numbers of competent staff available, immediately to overtake those arrears, but the chemists themselves are not at any serious disadvantage because these payments are regularly made in addition to payments on account.

Are we to understand from the Minister's reply that he can hold out no prospect of the arrears being overtaken and that he will be content merely to complete the pricing of these goods some 12 months after they were supplied?

No, Sir. That would be an incorrect deduction to draw from what I have said.

Is the Minister taking action to improve the existing machinery, because even if he pays off the outstanding arrears for the last 12 months other arrears will be accumulating and with the rise in prices the time lag will become even greater?

That is a perfectly fair question. As I have said, progress is being made in dealing with these arrears.

asked the Minister of Health when he expects to make the alternative arrangements for the 60 beds no longer available in St. Luke's Hospital owing to the decision of the regional board, approved by him, to transfer certain wards to the Chelsea Hospital for Women for pathological laboratory work; and whether this alternative accommodation will be available before this transfer is started.

I regret that I cannot yet add to the reply given to the hon. and gallant Member on 31st May.

In view of the fact that the Minister told me a short time ago that there were over 1,300 on the waiting lists for chronic sick beds in London, will he bear in mind that it would be a very good thing if these alternative arrangements were made before the wards were actually taken over?

Yes, I will bear that in mind. I understand that the Regional Board was having a meeting to discuss that yesterday.

Has the right hon. Gentleman earmarked accommodation for this purpose, and are there identifiable beds which he hopes to put into use?

I should require notice of that question.

asked the Minister of Health what amount of money he has sanctioned the United Cardiff Hospitals governors to offer as prize money in a national competition for architects to submit a plan for the new 800 bed medical teaching centre at Heath Park, Cardiff.

The question is under consideration. No amount has yet been sanctioned.

In view of the fact that the United Cardiff Hospital governors have given publicity to their desire that prize money shall be on a substantial scale, will my right hon. Friend see that while the hospitals are cutting down in other important aspects, they will not get out of proportion in this matter?

I am sure that they will not get out of proportion. Discussions will go on with my technical advisers and the Royal Institute of British Architects. We must, on the other hand, bear in mind that we want good designs and we must hold out an attractive prize to get them.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that the successful architect will in any case have a substantial commission apart from this prize money?

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that, contrary to the terms of the advertisement inviting applications for the post of part-time consultant physician to serve the Caernarvon and Anglesey Hospital Management Committee group fixed on Bangor, a person unable to speak or understand the Welsh language has been appointed by the Welsh Regional Hospital Board; and what action he proposes to take in the matter in exercise of his statutory powers.

It is the practice of the Welsh Regional Hospital Board to indicate through their advertisements for certain appointments that where the professional and other qualifications of rival candidates are adjudged equal, preference will be given to a Welsh speaking candidate. The assessment of these qualifications is a function of the Reginal Hospital Board as advised by an Appointments Advisory Committee. I understand that the normal practice was followed in the particular appointment in question.

Is my right hon. Friend not aware of the very grave misgiving about this appointment which has been expressed in the form of resolutions by local authorities, and that this person, however well qualified he may be otherwise, does not have the essential qualification of being able to speak to his patients?

I should be surprised to hear that there were widespread misgivings as the result of an appointment made by the Welsh Board to look after Welsh interests.

Can the right hon. Gentleman explain how and why this unfortunate committee is "fixed on Bangor"?

asked the Minister of Health if, in view of the fact that there are understood to be between two and three million sufferers from rheumatism in its various forms in the United Kingdom, of whom a large proportion are dwellers in the country, he will give greater priority to research into the causes of the disease, and to the treatment and rehabilitation of rheumatic cases.

I am very much alive to the importance of this problem. Special research and treatment centres for chronic rheumatism have already been set up in many of the hospital regions, and this will be developed as fast as medical and other resources allow.

Is the Minister aware that this painful complaint, which is responsible for the loss of a great number of working hours, appears to be on the increase, and will he do all he possibly can to keep pace with this problem?

I should require notice to answer whether or not it is on the increase; but we certainly intend to continue to develop research in this field.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the unnecessary expense which is being caused by the supplying of complete new spectacles in those cases where the new lenses could be fitted to the old frame; and if he will take steps to encourage the more economical method to be followed whenever possible.

Opticians are required to satisfy themselves before supplying a person with new spectacles that he has no suitable frame which could be used for the new lenses. The charges recently imposed for new frames supplied should add an additional incentive to economy here.

asked the Minister of Health what are the qualifications of the newly appointed Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Hospital Board for that appointment.

The Chairman has had long experience of hospital and health work, and since the inception of the National Health Service has been Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Board and of an important hospital management committee.

Does my right hon. Friend realise that this appointment caused widespread disappointment in the Midlands and will he tell me why the present vice-chairman of the Board with even better qualifications, being an alderman of Birmingham City Council, chairman of its Finance Committee and leader of the Labour group, was overlooked for this appointment?

No, Sir, I am not prepared to make comparisons between individuals in this way. I am, of course, aware, as we must all be that whenever appointments are made some people may be disappointed.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this appointment was generally welcomed in Birmingham because of the outstanding record in health administration of Mr. Grosvenor, notably his maintenance of the high standard of the Birmingham health services and hospitals during the difficult time of the war?

I am hoping that this exchange across the Floor of the House will not give the impression that any party consideration entered into the appointment.

asked the Minister of Health if his attention has been drawn to the speech of the Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Hospital Board on 7th June, in which he attacked his Department for its opposition to the Voluntary Leagues of Hospital Friends; and if he will appoint a new chairman.

I have seen a newspaper report, the terms of which I naturally regret, but I think that the Chairman must be under some misapprehension which I shall endeavour to clear up.

Will my right hon. Friend appreciate that this gentleman is one of the most reactionary Tories of Birmingham and has always been an enemy of the National Health Service?

asked the Minister of Health what arrangements exist to make available to the public the contents of the annual accounts of hospital management committees after their presentation to Parliament.

Management committees are free to publish their accounts after the national accounts have been presented to Parliament, and some of them do so.

Could the Minister do anything to ensure that more of them do so, because it is difficult to get the public to take a lively interest in hospital accounts if they do not see the accounts?

I think I can leave it to their discretion, but no doubt their attention may be called to the matter by this exchange of question and answer.

Could one of the reasons be that the enormous amount of money spent on administration so far exceeds that spent on the real welfare of the hospitals that the Government would not like to publish the figures?

That could not be the reason because the statement is not justified by the facts.

Will my right hon. Friend suggest that other hospitals do what is done at Cardiff, hold public meetings at which these things can be considered? They are well attended at Cardiff.

Will the right hon. Gentleman say what is the time lag between the submission of the accounts to a hospital group and submission to him before they are published to Parliament? Does he realise that there is an immense delay?

I could not say without notice.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to ensure that the cuts in hospital estimates now being imposed do not adversely affect the interests of the patients.

The reduction in estimates still allows, of course, for a substantial increase in hospital expenditure and there is, in my view, no reason at all why the interests of patients should be adversely affected.