asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Bank of England notes were printed in 1951; and what was the cost of printing them.

I am satisfied that it would not be in the public interest to depart from the long-established practice of not giving more information about the note issue than is already available from published returns. The Bank of England Report for the year ended 28th February, 1951, shows that £916 millions of notes were issued (as opposed to printed) in that year. A Report for the year ended 28th February, 1952, will be published shortly.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that under the D scheme wholesalers are often involved in considerable work collecting as little as one penny tax on invoices of as much as £100 to £200; and if he is prepared to take steps to eliminate this uneconomic work.

No. Some work is inevitable in calculating the tax under the D scheme, but I do not think it is anything like so serious as the hon. Member suggests.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what extent the reduced drain upon our gold and dollar reserves has been due to improvements in the trading accounts of the United Kingdom and of the Sterling Area; to what extent it has been due to other causes; and if he will give a list of the other factors operating and the amount involved in each category.

My right hon. Friend is not prepared at present to add to his statement of 2nd July.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what consultations he has had with the Medical Research Council about the epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease with a view to combating this plague.

The scientific programme of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Research Institute is under the supervision of the Agricultural Research Council. The Council works in the closest touch with the Medical Research Council, and there is also frequent interchange of ideas and experiences between the Medical Research Institute at Mill Hill and the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Institute at Pirbright.

asked the Minister of Agriculture when he hopes to be able to publish the report of the conference on starlings which he has set up.

The investigation into the starling problem is proceeding as rapidly as possible. When the report reaches me I will consider the question of publication.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware that concern is felt in Birmingham that milk standards are steadily falling; and what action he is taking to see that the public get only good quality milk.

I am aware that the City Analyst of Birmingham is reported as having stated that a higher proportion than usual of samples of milk tested during the first quarter of this year were deficient in fat and non-fatty solids. The question whether the composition and quality of milk sold off farms in the United Kingdom is in need of improvement and if so what action should be taken is being considered by a Working Party which was appointed by the previous Government and is nearing the end of its task.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that in Leicester the fatal accident rate in the home is approximately 35 per year, compared with about 20 on the roads; that posters and leaflets of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents are used in the maternity and child welfare clinics there; that they are shown to groups of women who receive talks on home safety and are placed at the disposal of home nurses and other social workers; and whether he has any further statement to make as to the restoration of the grant of £2,000 to the Home Safety Committee of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

My right hon. and learned Friend is well aware of the valuable work which the Royal Society has done in giving publicity to methods of preventing accidents in the home, and it was with great regret that he decided that the grant which they have received during the past four years must, in the interests of economy in Government expenditure, be discontinued. The question of the restoration of some financial assistance from the Exchequer for the purpose of the Society's home safety work is still under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will examine the amounts of all fines imposed by statute, in the light of the fall in the value of money and of changed considerations about the relative seriousness of offences.

The question whether the maximum penalty for a particular offence should be changed is always considered if the relevant statute is being amended, but my right hon. and learned Friend is not satisfied that there are any sufficient grounds for undertaking a general review of all the existing statutory provisions which empower the imposition of fines. Courts are required to take into account the means of an offender when fixing the amount of a fine to be imposed within the limits prescribed by the law, and my right hon. and learned Friend has no information to suggest that the courts generally regard those limits as inadequate and are thereby deprived of the opportunity of awarding condign punishment by this method of treatment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what precautions he takes to ensure that refugees in this country are not subjected to intimidation by staffs of foreign embassies in the United Kingdom.

Foreign refugees in this country have the same rights as British subjects to the protection of the courts and the police. It has already been made clear that they are under no obligation whatever to entertain approaches from the staffs of foreign embassies and that they can rest assured that no foreign authority can by arbitrary action force them to leave this country. Refugees have been asked to report to the police any cases in which they think that improper pressure is being put on them and the activities of staffs of those embassies who are making approaches to them are being carefully watched.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many detention centres, as provided for in Section 18 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1948, are now available.

The first detention centre, at Campsfield House, Kidlington, Oxfordshire, for boys aged 14 to 16, will open next month.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how far the police force of Great Britain is below establishment; and in which parts of the country the shortage of new entrants is greatest.

At 30th June, 1952, the male strength of the police forces in England and Wales was 8,667 below the authorised establishment, as compared with a deficiency of 11,079 at 30th September, 1951. The largest deficiencies are in the Metropolitan, City of London, Birmingham, Bristol, Coventry, Liverpool, Manchester and Oxford police forces.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will encourage local authorities to incorporate air raid shelters in new buildings; and if he will give financial assistance in their erection.

In September last local authorities were asked to submit proposals for the incorporation of air raid shelter in new constructional works, on the understanding that Exchequer grant would be paid. My right hon. and learned Friend would like to see a start made in providing shelter in this way in selected areas as soon as the necessary materials can be made available, but it has not so far been possible to approve any such schemes owing to the shortage of steel for building purposes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish Regulations under Section 3 of the Civil Defence Act, 1948,

asked the Minister of Labour when Mr. P. D. A. Baird, Crooms Hill, Medstead, Hampshire, will be interviewed by a selection panel of the Disabled Resettlement Organisation; and when he will begin his resettlement course.

Mr. Baird has applied for a course of training in

This matter is still under consideration with the representatives of the local authority associations, but my right hon. and learned Friend hopes to be able to lay Regulations before Parliament for approval in the autumn.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will give in their respective age groups the number of men and women unemployed in Bristol on the latest available date and for the corresponding period of last year.

An age analysis is available only in respect of persons registered as wholly unemployed (i.e. it excludes persons registered as temporarily stopped).The Table below gives the figures for June, 1952, and June, 1951.draughtsmanship. The selection panel will interview him in about two weeks' time, and if he is accepted he will be able to start training on 8th September.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) how many of Her Majesty's factory inspectors have had managerial or industrial experience before being appointed factory inspectors;

Table showing, on 11th July, 1952, the number of H.M. factory inspectors who had had managerial or industrial experience before being appointed as factory inspectors. Figures are given separately for the General Inspectorate and the three classes of Specialist Inspector (who are recruited separately).

asked the Minister of Labour the average age of the persons appointed as factory inspectors since January, 1949.

The average age of the persons appointed as factory inspectors since January, 1949, is 26 years 8 months on appointment.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that loss is being incurred by workmen who have to attend hospital for treatment under the National Health Act by deductions from their wages for the time lost; and what steps he will take to remedy this position.

I have no power under the National Health Service Acts to reimburse wages lost by patients through having to attend hospital, but hospital authorities have been encouraged to hold treatment clinics outside normal working hours.

asked the Minister of Health (1) how many hearing aid distributing centres there are in the south-west region; and what action he is taking to increase the number so as to facilitate the distribution of these instruments;(2) if he is aware that a large number of persons in the south-west region have been waiting for hearing aids for three years; and what action he is taking to speed up the supply of these instruments for this region.

There are at present three hearing aid distribution centres in this region. I know the length of time patients are having to wait there for their aids, and I am at present considering with the hospital authorities concerned various methods of shortening it. There has already been a large and steady increase in the rate of distribution at Bristol and a fourth centre is to be opened shortly at Gloucester.

asked the Minister of Health the average delay in supplying hearing aids in Devon; and what steps he is taking to improve the position.

I understand that most patients now being fitted there applied between 2 and 2½ years ago. The local hospital authorities are at the moment considering how the two centres serving the area can be strengthened.

asked the Minister of Health (1) what changes he proposes making in the trainee scheme for general practitioners;(2) how many general practitioners now receive the trainer's supervision fee; and how many did so a year ago.

No changes are at present under consideration. During the quarter ending 31st March, 1952, 363 doctors in England and Wales were receiving a Training Grant: in the quarter ending the 31st March, 1951, the number was 359.

asked the Minister of Health how many mentally defective adults and ineducable children residing in the administrative county of Warwickshire are at present awaiting admission to institutions.

Eight defectives over 16 and 53 under 16 are awaiting admission.

asked the Minister of Health (1) the highest, lowest and average prices of elastic stockings of the two main types supplied under prescriptions issued by general practitioners in Cornwall and paid for through the accounts of the Executive Health Council during the latest year for which costings are available;(2) how many elastic stockings of above-the-knee and below-the-knee types, respectively, were supplied under prescriptions issued by general practitioners in Cornwall and paid for through the accounts of the Health Executive Council during each of the years 1949, 1950 and 1951.

I regret the information is not available.

asked the Minister of Health what progress has been made in increasing the nursing staffs at mental hospitals; and what is the present shortage in this respect.

During the past year there has been a slight improvement on the women's side, but on the men's side the position has worsened. The present shortage is about 3,400 men and 7,800 women.

asked the Minister of Health approximately what number or proportion of hospitals have introduced a system of daily or frequent periods of visitation of relatives and friends to patients and in particular child patients.

I have at present no comprehensive information on the frequency of visiting patients in hospitals. I have, however, instituted a special inquiry on the visiting of children and will inform the hon. Member when the results are known.

asked the Minister of Health what estimate he has of the percentage of working time lost in hospitals through the nervous illness or breakdown of nurses due to under staffing.

None.

asked the Minister of Health how many people were employed in an administrative capacity in the hospitals which comprise the Guildford Group, on the 1st January, 1946, and on the 1st January, 1952, respectively.

On 1st January, 1952, the administrative and clerical staff totalled 83. Comparable figures for 1st January, 1946, are not available.

asked the Minister of Health the nature of the new system of indenting for stores, equipment, &c., which has recently been adopted within the Guildford Group of Hospitals; and what expense this has involved in the purchase of new ledgers.

I am informed that central stores accounting system was recently adopted by the three main hospitals in this Group in the interests of efficient management. This has involved the purchase of new ledger cards, books and cabinets (some of which represent routine replacements) at a total cost of £261.

asked the Minister of Health how many hospital management committees have delegated certain executive powers to house committees for individual hospitals.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Minister of Health how many of the regional hospital boards, because their regions are too large for effective administration, are working through a number of area committees.

One board has appointed area committees for the whole region and three for a part of their region. The functions of these committees vary widely, and not all have executive powers.

asked the Minister of Health what guidance he is issuing to hospital authorities in connection with the pre-registration period under Section 2 of the Medical Act, 1950.

I am informing hospital authorities that the General Medical Council have prescribed a year as the requisite period of employment in an approved hospital or approved institution following the passing of a qualifying examination before a person can be registered under the Medical Acts, and that the necessary draft Order will be laid before Parliament. The new provision will come into operation on 1st January, 1953, and the necessary formal draft Order in Council has been submitted for the approval of the Privy Council. I shall place in the Library a copy of the circular I shall be issuing to hospital authorities giving guidance on the action to be taken by them.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that mental patients have to be sent away from Bristol because the mental hospitals in that district are full; what steps he is taking to remedy this; and if he will arrange for patients to be accommodated in hospitals nearest their own homes when this is possible.

It was necessary in the last year to send 2.7 per cent. of these cases to mental hospitals outside the city. The accommodation in Bristol will be increased when conditions allow. In the meantime, the regional hospital board will do all they can to mitigate hardship.

asked the Minister of Health, in view of the urgent need in the Health Service, if he will take steps to utilise the services of foreign trained medical practitioners and dentists who are domiciled in this country and are at present unable to follow their profession.

The Dentists' Bill includes provision to facilitate the registration of foreign trained dentists. I am not advised that any change is necessary in the present legislation applicable to doctors.

asked the Minister of Education how many pupils from schools in the West Riding of Yorkshire obtained State-aided grants to universities in the years 1949, 1950 and 1951.

It is not possible to give numbers relating to pupils from schools in the West Riding. The following are figures for the years in question for students living in the area of the West Riding Local Education Authority who were awarded state scholarships (including supplementary scholarships) and students who were offered awards by the West Riding Authority. The figures do not include students holding awards from the Ministry of Education under the Further Education and Training Scheme or students who were awarded four-year grants as intending teachers.

asked the Minister of Education how many new schools were under construction in England and Wales on 1st June, or nearest convenient date, in each of the years 1946 to 1952 inclusive.

Figures are not at present available in this form for the years before 1950. The figures for the last three years which relate to 1st February in each case, are as follows: 1950, 913; 1951, 1,013; 1952, 1,147.

asked the Minister of Education to what extent the higher estimates of local education authorities for 1952–53 are due to the rise in the cost of living; to what extent they are due to higher salaries and wages; and to what extent they are due to extensions and improvements of the service.

No doubt all the factors mentioned by the hon. Member affect the estimated expenditure of each local education authority in varying degrees. But it would not be possible, on the information available to me, to evaluate the effect of each factor separately on the total estimated expenditure of the authorities.

asked the Minister of Education which of the 81 local education authorities which were asked for an explanation of their estimates have now replied; and what action she is taking.

I have received replies from all the authorities concerned except Staffordshire, Coventry and Brecon. Generally speaking, the replies are helpful and satisfactory, and I take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation of the co-operative attitude shown in them. Any particular matters that require further action will be taken up separately with the authorities concerned.

asked the Minister of Education the value of the educational building projects under construction at the latest available date; and the figure for the corresponding period last year.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to his Question on Thursday, 26th June. No later figure is yet available.

asked the Minister of Education how many boys and girls receive education in Newport in each category available; and, of these, how many are being taught Welsh.

The following is the information:

asked the Minister of Education the names of the two education authorities who propose to discontinue school meals on Saturdays as a result of her Circular 250; and what arrangements they have informed her that they will make for necessitous cases.

The only authority now proposing to discontinue Saturday meals is Rochdale. Only one canteen is affected, and no alternative arrangements are proposed for necessitous children.

asked the Minister of Education if she is aware of the overcrowding of schools in the administrative county of Surrey; and what she proposes to do in this matter.

I am aware that there is heavy pressure on school accommodation in several parts of Surrey. The building programme, however, which I have approved for the current year should provide 3,800 primary and 2,250 secondary places in addition to the new places which will be provided on the completion of projects included in earlier programmes and by minor works. The authority's proposals for the 1953–54 building programme are at present under consideration.

asked the Minister of Education what schemes she is considering for training suitable girls leaving secondary modern schools to enter the teaching profession, in view of the shortage of women teachers.

My aim is to find means of widening the field from which entrants to training colleges can be selected. I am therefore particularly concerned both that more boys and girls should remain at schools of all kinds after the statutory leaving age and that those who have left school should have opportunities of further education before committing themselves to the teaching profession.

asked the Minister of Education if she will make a general statement on how the stimate of 1,150,000 new school places required by the end of 1953 was arrived at, including, in particular, the difference between this estimate and that made by her predecessor in 1946 and the amount of allowance made in her estimate for the difficulty of planning a correct geographical distribution of new school building.

Yes. Between January, 1946, and December, 1953, the total school roll will increase by about 1,353,000.During the same period, my predecessor estimated that about 700,000 new school places would be needed for children moving to newly developed areas. As, however, some of these children are included in the figure of 1,353,000, and as others will free existing places in the areas from which they move, the net effect of re-distribution of population was estimated to be an additional 240,000 places, making 1,593,000 in all.This figure is, however, reduced to 1,150,000 when account is taken of an estimated reserve of 330,000 places available in 1946, mainly as a result of a reduction of about 500,000 in the school roll since 1939, and of my predecessor's decision to write off a deficiency of 110,000 places which had accumulated by the end of 1949. This decision, which took into account the prospective supply of teachers, meant recasting the school building programme on the basis of maintaining class sizes at the level existing at the end of 1949.

asked the Minister of Education when the new secondary school at Market Weighton, East Yorkshire, will be opened; what is the number of pupils that can be accommodated; and the estimated cost on completion.

This school is expected to be opened at the beginning of September and will provide 360 places at a net cost of £432 a place. The project was designed in 1947. For comparable projects designed in 1950 or later my Department has not approved a cost per place of more than £240.

asked the President of the Board of Trade approximately the total sum paid by British importers in 1951–52 to meet the export duties levied by the Governments of our Dominions and Dependencies on goods exported to Britain.

I regret that the information is not available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that cars assembled in Belgium and then exported as part of the Belgian export quota to other countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, and consisting of components fabricated in Britain and exported to Belgium under the completely knocked down system, are described as Belgian cars; and, in view of the fact that this practice is interfering with the goodwill of the British industry, if he will make appropriate representations to the Belgian authorities.

I understand that cars assembled in Belgium from British components may be exported to other countries, such as Germany. As direct sales from this country are restricted by quotas in many of these countries, this practice is advantageous to our export trade and to employment in our industry. I see no grounds, therefore, for representations in the sense suggested by the hon. Member.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the functions of the Finance Division of his Department; and why it is necessary for this division to employ 140 people.

The Finance Division of the Board of Trade assists the Permanent Secretary in the discharge of his duties as Accounting Officer by exercising supervision over the financial policy and transactions of the Board, and applying the necessary controls over expenditure from voted money and issues from the Consolidated Fund. My hon. Friend will, therefore, appreciate that the functions of the Finance Division are quite different from the investigations carried out by the Accountants Division, and I am satisfied that the staff employed is required to carry out these duties.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the duties of the Accounts Division of his Department.

I regret that the printed Civil Estimates for 1952–53 contain a misprint and what is described as the Accounts Division should have been described as the Accountants Division. This Division carries out all accounting investigations required by the Board, by the Monopolies Commission and the Development Area Treasury Advisory Committee.

asked the Secretary for Overseas Trade, as representing the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the reasons for the fall in the price of salvaged waste paper; and whether, in existing circumstances, the salvage of waste paper is economically justified, having regard to the cost of collection, baling and storage.

The price of waste paper has fallen partly because supply now exceeds demand, and partly because of the fall in price of alternative raw materials for paper-making. The cost of collection varies from district to district, but I have no reason to think that efficient collecting systems in urban and semi-urban areas cannot pay their way at present prices.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the total imports of raspberry pulp for the years 1950 and 1951 and the first six months of 1952, respectively.

Imports of raspberry pulp are not recorded separately in the import statistics. The Ministry of Food have made estimates of imports of raspberry and loganberry pulp, and pulp of mixed fruits containing raspberries, loganberries, blackcurrants or strawberries; raspberry pulp is the main item in this group. Imports of these pulps from all sources were approximately:

asked the President of the Board of Trade what new factory projects have commenced in the Development Areas in Scotland since 1st November, 1951; and what is the floor space given separately when completed.

Since 1st November, 1951, building, in the Development Areas in Scotland, has been started on three new factories, with a total floor area of 75,750 square feet, and on 13 extensions to existing factories with a further total floor area of 304,945 square feet.The details are:

asked the Secretary for Overseas Trade, as representing the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, what steps he is now taking to reduce the price of newsprint.

As I said in the House on 23rd June, my noble Friend is arranging for a further review of maximum permitted newsprint prices, which he hopes will be carried out shortly.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, when the initial meeting of the Advisory Board for African Education in Bechuanaland will be held.

The Board to which the hon. Member refers was first set up in 1930 and was reconstitued in 1948. I am seeking from the High Commissioner for Basutoland, the Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland further information about its meetings and will communicate with the hon. Member.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, on what authority he requests refunds of compensation from former members of the Indian Services who were not Regular officers and who obtain permanent and pensionable employment under Her Majesty's Government.

The authority in question is to be found in paragraphs 7 and 8 of Command Paper 7116 presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for India in April, 1947. I have already written to the hon. Member about this matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that the cut in the allocation of steel to the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board for the third period of this year will put construction back for one year and delay distribution to Lewis, Perthshire, Angus, Caithness, Kyle, Kintyre and Aberdeenshire, depriving over 5,000 farms of electricity and retarding food production; and if he can state the steps he intends to take to remedy this situation in the next allocation period.

Owing to the general shortage of steel it has not been possible to meet the full demands of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board for the current period. This unfortunately means some delay in the Board's programme. The Board's demand for the ensuing period will be given every consideration along with other urgent claims.

asked the Minister of Works when repairs to the clock at the head of the stairs on the Committee Room floor of the House will be completed.

Repairs to this clock will be carried out during the forthcoming Recess.