asked the Minister of Defence whether he has considered permitting the delivery of certain aeroplanes which have been ordered in this country by the Syrian Government; and what decision has been arrived at.

The position has recently been reviewed, but I regret that it has not been possible to modify the decision which I announced on 29th November, 1950, that delivery of these aircraft cannot be authorised in view of the increased armament needs of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and N.A.T.O. countries.

asked the Minister of Defence whether it is now possible for men of foreign nationality to enlist in the regular Armed Forces.

There is no statutory bar to the recruitment of foreign nationals into the Services, but it is at present the practice to accept them only in exceptional circumstances.

asked the Minister of Defence if he will now make a statement regarding the revision of Service pensions.

I propose to issue a White Paper early next week which will give details of the new and improved rates of retired pay and pensions for personnel of the Armed Forces.

asked the Minister of Food what is the average monthly cost to his Department of replacing bad eggs sold to the public.

Separate figures for this are not available; but my Department makes a cash allowance for every allocated box of eggs to cover wastage from damage and deterioration, and the cast of this during the past year averaged just under £60,000 a month, or 9iel per box of 360 eggs.

asked the Minister of Food what arrangements have been made for the bulk purchase of the crockery and cutlery required for emergency feeding for Civil Defence purposes.

Orders for some essential items have already been placed, but it would obviously not be in the public interest to outline the detailed arrangements.

asked the Minister of Food when it is his intention to release stocks of potatoes for the small pig keepers.

My Department has no stocks of pig potatoes and is unlikely to have any to sell for several months.

asked the Minister of Food if he will increase the import of dried fruit from non-dollar sources.

We are already buying all we can from non-dollar sources.

asked the Minister of Food what quantity of sugar he sold to Persia during the first six months of this year; and whether he is continuing to sell sugar to Persia.

The figure is 86,000 tons. Further sugar has been ordered by Persia, and is being loaded, but the position is under review.

asked the Minister of Food if he is satisfied that deliveries of a minimum of 200,000 tons of carcase meat, in accordance with the terms of the recent Protocol to the Anglo-Argentine Agreement, are still attainable in view of the decision of the Argentine Government to limit the export slaughtering of beef to a maximum of 10,000 tons a month from July to October, inclusive, of which, in view of Argentina's other commitments, not more than 50 per cent. is likely to be earmarked for the United Kingdom.

It is still possible for Argentina to ship the agreed minimum quantity of meat, and I have no reason to suppose she will not do so.

asked the Minister of Food what he estimates will be the weight of one week's ration, priced at 1s. 7d., and composed of first quality Argentine frozen beef, in the period ending 19th August next; and what was the weight of a ration of the same composition and quality in the corresponding period last year.

The weight of first quality Argentine frozen beef obtainable at any particular ration level must obviously depend upon the cut.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement upon the working and progress, to date, of the regional development boards in Nigeria.

Four regional development boards, to cover the Northern, Western and Eastern Provinces and the Colony, were set up in 1949 to provide financial assistance to local authorities and individuals for projects of economic importance. Funds of over £1 million have been allocated to these boards. According to my latest information advances of over £800,000 have been authorised. The boards, which all have a majority of African members, have already played a valuable part in encouraging local undertakings.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how far he has authorised the programmes broadcast from Accra; whether he has considered the nature of the political broadcasts given from that station; and what steps have been taken to ensure objectivity, accuracy and restraint in colonial broadcasting of criticism of foreign Powers.

The responsibility for the programmes broadcast from Accra, as from other overseas Government stations, rests with the Government concerned, and they are not subject to authorisation by my right hon. Friend. I am confident that those Governments exercise all proper care to ensure that the content of the programmes transmitted are not open to justifiable criticism on any ground.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why the Nyasaland delegation to visit the Festival of Britain includes no African representative.

An African representative, Chief Katumbi, has joined the Nyasaland delegation. My right hon. Friend has written to my hon. Friend on this matter.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what action will be taken in respect of the Report of the Bermuda Commission of Inquiry into the questions of population growth and illegitimacy; what other similar inquiries have taken place in the Colonies; and what progress has been made by family planning associations in Hong Kong, Malaya and Singapore.

On the first point, the Bermuda Legislature will consider the report of the commission of inquiry relative to the growth of the population and the high rate of illegitimacy when it convenes next October. I am aware of no similar inquiries in other territories. On the last point, I am not able to answer for the activities of voluntary family planning associations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies in view of the recent events in the Middle East what special steps are now being taken to discover new and more dependable supplies of oil within the British Empire.

I would invite the attention of the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Mininster of Fuel and Power on 23rd July.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what casualties have been inflicted upon police and civilian population in Malaya by bandits; how many bandits have been killed during the last two months; and if he will make a statement on the situation in Malaya.

Up to 12th July, 764 police had been killed and 847 wounded by bandits since the beginning of the emergency. Civilian casualties were 1,592 killed, 969 wounded and 404 missing. In the same period 2,195 bandits were killed, 184 of them in the last two months. 1,300 bandits have been captured or have surrendered.In spite of a marked increase in the rate of bandit casualties during 1951 the level of bandit activity is still high. Further stringent measures were taken in June with the object of denying food supplies to the bandits. It is too early to judge the effect of these measures but support for them among the Chinese population has been widespread. There has been a further increase in the amount of information received from the civilian population.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the number of police lieutenants that the Singapore Government have recently recruited from the Singapore Harbour Board Police; what are the terms of service offered; and, in particular, what are the conditions of home leave.

Sixty police lieutenants were recruited from members of the Singapore Harbour Board Police on agreement for a period of six months in the first instance from 1st January, 1951, on the following conditions:Salary—$380 a month.Allowances:

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the composition of the Legislative and Executive Councils of Antigua; how many officials and how many unofficials; and, of the unofficials, how many represent the workers on the plantations.

The Executive Council of Antigua consists of the Governor, four official members and four nominated unofficial members, one of whom is the President of the Antigua Trade and Labour Union. The Legislative Council consists of the Administrator, two other official members and eight unofficial members, five of whom are elected, three of them being officials of the union which I have mentioned.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the report of the inquiry into the causes of recent strikes and lockouts in Antigua.

The board of inquiry have not yet submitted their report.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether trade union officials are now allowed by the employers to enter sugar estates in Antigua for the purpose of organising the workers.

There has been no general prohibition of visits by union officials to workers on the estates. Pending the report of the board of inquiry, such visits are governed by a condition laid down by the Governor and accepted by the union and the employers. This is that

"any representatives authorised by the union in writing to do so shall be allowed to visit workers on the estates in order to discuss conditions of employment with the workers provided that any such representative or the Secretary of the Union shall first communicate with the estates manager concerned and arrange a convenient time for his visit."

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what are the plans of the Government of Barbados for the acquisition of estates owned by people in this country; and whether they will give consideration to the establishment of peasant co-operatives for the working of such estates.

I am informed that the Barbados Government have no plans for compulsory acquisition of estates owned by persons in this country.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the total number of colonial students for whom hostel accommodation in London will be, ultimately, provided by the British Council; whether this accommodation is to be permanent or for transit purposes; and what steps are being taken to provide this accommodation.

The present accommodation in London is for 167 men and 33 women. This is to be increased to 197 and 60 respectively during the autumn. My right hon. Friend is giving urgent consideration to the possibility of further increasing the available accommodation so as to provide for an additional number of students in transit or on vacation. Meanwhile, an emergency transit hostel is being brought into operation from August to October, 1951.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what reserve is considered necessary as a stabilisation fund for the Uganda cotton growers; and whether he will consider using part of the £22,000,000 fund to assist African participation in the ginning of cotton.

The Government of Uganda have at present under consideration both the question of the amount which should be set aside for the stabilisation fund and the question how any surplus over and above that amount can best be used for the benefit of African producers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware of the disappointment among Mauritian civil servants at his decision that it would be unwise to allow the use of accrued surplus funds for the payment of cost-of-living allowances; and if he will state his reasons for that decision.

The general revenue balance of the Mauritius Government at 30th June this year was estimated at about Rs.15 million. This balance has been built up only with difficulty even during the recent prosperous years, and even if the Reserve Fund of Rs.12 million is included the total of Rs.27 million is equivalent to less than six months' expenditure at the rate estimated for 1951–52.The expression of opinion quoted in the Question was based upon the view that that sum is the minimum which it is desirable to retain intact as a safeguard against the effect of any possible recession in prosperity or any other unforeseen contingency.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether any decision has yet been made in regard to making the naval ordnance inspection department a uniformed branch of the service.

I am not yet in a position to add anything to the reply which I gave on this subject on 2nd May last.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty how many men in His Majesty's dockyards have been discharged for drawing sick pay under the paid sick leave scheme while working elsewhere; and whether legal proceedings were taken against these men.

None.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty how many of the ship's company of H.M.S. "Veryan Bay" have had the requisite amount of foreign service leave on their return to this country; how many did not get leave: and why.

The ship's company was sent on foreign service leave on 26th April except for three ratings who volunteered to take their leave later and five officers who will wait until relieved.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what instructions he has given on the escorting of merchant ships in Levantine and Near and Middle Eastern waters.

It is not customary to divulge the instructions given to commanding officers of H.M. ships.

asked the Postmaster-General what authority post office assistants have for demanding to see identity cards before paying out sums of money on demand to persons holding Post Office savings accounts.

Authority is given by Regulation 6000 of the Defence (General) Regulations as extended by the Emergency Laws (Continuance) Order, 1950.

asked the Postmaster-General what evidence of identity is at present required by post offices upon the opening of a Post Office Savings account in the name of a child under seven years of age; and what evidence of identity was required in similar circumstances before 1939.

Any civilian applying to open a Post Office Savings Bank account either in his own name or in the name of another person, including a child under seven, is required to produce his National Registration identity card. The identity card required is that of the person who attends at the post office irrespective of whether or not he is the intended depositor. Evidence of identity was not required before 1939.

asked the Postmaster-General why Messrs. Whizards, 136, Baker Street, W.1, have to pay £3 10s. in order to collect their own mail by their own messenger.

This firm is renting a private box and is paying the usual prescribed fee. There are some 290 private box renters in the W.1 district.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will publish the text of his hand-out issued to the Press on or about 1st July inviting the public to purchase books of stamps rather than individual ones.

A notice on this subject was issued to the Press and B.B.C. on Thursday, 28th June. The text of the notice is as follows:

asked the Postmaster-General in what circumstances, when two telephone subscribers are carrying on a conversation, a third subscriber is sometimes connected to the line and can hear and he heard by both of the others.

This very infrequent occurrence may be caused by an operating mistake or a fault on automatic switching equipment.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will publish in the Post Office telephone directories details of the facilities which are published on pages 319–320 of the current Post Office Guide, so that subscribers may be more generally aware that they may obtain weather forecasts free of charge by telephoning the local meteorological offices.

Yes.

asked the Postmaster-General what is the number of would-be telephone subscribers in the constituency of Edinburgh, South; and at what date he expects that present applicants will all be supplied.

1,083. During the past six months 305 new connections were made, but in view of the many urgent claims on our limited resources I cannot say when all the outstanding applications will be met.

asked the Postmaster-General what reduction is made for the rental of a shared telephone line as compared with exclusive line service.

11s. 6d. a year.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, under his regulations, any waiting list is kept of applicants for telephone service who are not prepared to accept service on a sharing basis.

No such list is kept, as all new and removing residential subscribers are required to accept liability to share a line as a condition of service.

asked the Postmaster-General what was the composition of the special scientific committee which had been examining the problem of very high frequency and which reported to him at the beginning of July.

I was advised by members of my Department who had been examining the problems connected with very high frequency communications.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will give further information as to the discovery of an entirely new method of broadcasting on very high frequency; and when he will be able to report on this development so that it may be studied by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the radio industry.

I am not in a position to amplify my previous remarks.

asked the Postmaster-General what approaches he has received from the United States authorities, with a view to arranging to change the existing system of amplitude modulation for marine communication to that of frequency modulation; and if he will give an assurance that he intends to maintain his declared policy.

The Post Office has been asked by the United States authorities to reconsider, in the interests of world standardisation, its decision that amplitude modulation should be used for single-channel very high frequency maritime radio services in the United Kingdom. Discussions with United States representatives have not yet taken place but, as matters stand, I propose to support the case for amplitude modulation in any international discussions.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will take steps to see that Royal Air Force machines do not fly low over Scarborough as they have been doing in recent weeks.

Instructions are being issued that pilots authorised to fly low in the neighbourhood of Scarborough are to take every possible care to avoid the town itself.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation on what dates the orders for the Hermes and Argonaut types of aircraft for British Overseas Airways Corporation were placed; and for what services they were originally intended.

The Hermes and Argonaut aircraft were ordered respectively on 17th March, 1947, and 30th September, 1948. The Hermes were originally intended for the main Empire routes, namely, to Australia, South Africa, and East Africa, the precise allocation depending on its performance after trials and on its date of delivery. The Argonauts were originally intended for routes to the Middle East, India, and Canada.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations whether permission has now been given to Tshekedi Khama to return to Bamangwato territory; and why, when he does so with official permission, it will be necessary to present him with a notice of expulsion on his arrival.

As I explained in reply to the hon. Member for Blackpool, North (Mr. Low) on 12th July, arrangements for the kgotla that the Government will invite the Bamangwato people to hold, including the question of Tshekedi Khama's entry into the Reserve and attendance at the kgotla, will be discussed with tribal representatives as soon as the observers from the United Kingdom have arrived in the Reserve. The observers left the United Kingdom yesterday by air. The exclusion order will be served to preserve the status quo pending the arrangements to hold the proposed kgotla. This is particularly necessary in present conditions in the Reserve in the interests of peace and good order as well as in Tshekedi Khama's own interests.But as I have, on several occasions, made clear in the House, the order will not operate as a bar to his entry into the Reserve to attend the proposed kgotla. I have informed Tshekedi Khama that when arrangements have been made for holding the proposed kgotla the exclusion order will be waived to enable him to enter the Reserve for the period before the kgotla and for the kgotla itself. I have also suggested to Tshekedi Khama that, to avoid subsequent delay, he would be well advised to be in the Protectorate about the same time as the observers arrived. I made an airplane booking to enable him to do so.

asked the Minister of Works why he has refused a licence for the building of a club at 92, Cabul Road, Battersea, by the Royal Naval Association for the use of ex-naval men and for the instruction of sea cadets.

As explained by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 21st June, still further restrictions have had to be imposed recently upon applications of this kind and I regret that for this reason it is impossible for me to grant a licence at the present time.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many Centurion tanks were available, in the week ending 14th July, at the East Wretham Camp, Thetford, Norfolk, for the purpose of use by, and training of, Z reservists; and how many qualified instructors were available to instruct these reservists in the use of these tanks and modern armaments.

I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply of 24th July. Fifty-seven qualified instructors, well trained and experienced in the tanks used at this camp, were available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what applications for financial assistance he has before him from Inverness County Council in respect of roads in the Island of North Uist.

There are no applications at present before me for financial assistance in respect of road works in North Uist.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what application for a grant he has before him from Inverness County Council for a grant for the reconstruction of the Garrynamonie road in South Uist.

I have not received any application from the county council for a grant for the reconstruction of the Garrynamonie road. I am, however, communicating with the Inverness-shire County Council in this case.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what reconstruction work is in view for the roads at Bayble and Sheshader Point, Isle of Lewis.

I have not before me any proposals for reconstruction works on these roads.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what applications for a grant he has before him from Inverness County Council towards reconstruction of the township road at Cleat, Isle of Barra; and what other applications for grants for road works in this island are now before him or have been recently approved.

No applications for grants in respect of road works in Barra by the Inverness County Council are at present before me. No grants have been approved in this area recently.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress has been made since April in the supply of suitable equipment for those with defective hearing and for whom the existing Medresco apparatus is not suitable.

Considerable progress I am glad to say has been made. Clinical trials of experimental models of a bone conduction aid, produced as the result of laboratory investigations, are now proceeding.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland to what extent the Scottish Housing Association investigates housing needs in Scotland; and on what basis they make their investigations.

The hon. Gentleman is misinformed. This Association do not investigate housing needs.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will introduce a Pet Animals Bill for Scotland along similar lines to the Bill for England and Wales which received its Second Reading on 6th April last.

The Pet Animals Act, 1951, applies to Scotland as well as to England and Wales.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, in view of the difficulties caused to county councils by his refusal to pay for the cost of temporary accommodation for persons whose Cruden houses are being fireproofed, he will reconsider his decision.

Since experience has shown the removal of the tenants to be unnecessary, I find no reason to reconsider my decision.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will introduce legislation at an early date to authorise sufficient increase in rents of houses coming within the Rent Restrictions Act to permit the necessary repairs to these houses to be carried out.

I can hold out no hope of early legislation on this subject.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress has been made by the Catto Committee on the financial relations between England and Scotland; and when it is expected that this Committee's investigations will be completed.

I understand that the Committee on Scottish Financial and Trade Statistics has now examined most of the available evidence and hopes to be able to submit its report by the end of the year.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of inspectors engaged by his Department in the inspection of homes for the aged, established by local authorities under the National Assistance Acts; and when a report will be submitted on these homes and the general welfare of the aged in residence.

Eleven officers are authorised, as part of their duties, to inspect homes for the aged. The annual reports of the Department of Health contain a general account of the progress being made in this field.