asked the Minister of Food by what annual amount it is estimated that the margins of manufacturers and distributors will be increased by the Meat Products (No. 2) Order, 1952.

The Meat Products (No. 2) Order was not designed to increase the profit margins of manufacturers or distributors. The new price structures merely enable manufacturers to pass on the higher cost of meat and the increases in other costs. The small adjustments in distributors' margins only provide for the extra cost of financing and wastage arising from higher prices.

asked the Minister of Food why Mr. Oliver E. Durham of Shetlands, Crowborough, Sussex, has had no reply to a letter written to the area pig allocation officer at Maidstone two months ago and to his telephone conversation of 26th June.

The area pig allocation officer concerned, whose office was removed to Ashford from Maidstone last September, cannot trace any recent letter from Mr. Durham and neither he nor his staff have any recollection of the telephone conversation mentioned. I am therefore sending one of my officers to see Mr. Durham.

asked the Minister of Food in what currency the tinned fruits now available in this country, imported from Formosa, and marked Taiwan, China, were paid for.

My hon. Friend is presumably referring to some canned pineapple which my Department purchased from Formosa (Taiwan). Payment was made in sterling to a Formosan account.

asked the Minister of Transport the number of streets in the Metropolitan Police area in which one-way working has been abandoned after being tried out; and if he will state briefly the reasons for reverting to two-way traffic.

The number is comparatively small, but the precise information for which the hon. Member asks is not readily available and could not be obtained without considerable labour. As regards the second part of the Question, the reasons were that the experiments did not show worth-while improvement, caused congestion of alternative routes or generally that the inconvenience caused was not justified by the results obtained.

asked the Minister or Transport the total mileage of streets and the total mileage in which one-way working is in operation in each of the following places: London, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, Leeds Sheffield and Bristol.

The following table gives the information requested:

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government the position of the joint water scheme for Llandegley and Penybont in Radnorshire; how long water has been conveyed to the Llandegley school; how it is carried; and what are the sources of water supply in Penybont.

The scheme is about to be approved in principle, and a provisional offer of grant will be made to the local authorities. Water has been conveyed to the school in tanks belonging to the fire authority since late 1944. The existing sources of supply are the River Ithan and wells

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will, in view of the Government's pledges to horticulture and the large supply of home grown tomatoes, cancel the new licence for 1,500 tons to be imported at the end of this month and review the licence for 2,300 tons in August.

It is not proposed to vary the quota of 1,500 tons for the last week of July, which was fixed in consultation with my right hon. Friends the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Food. The quota of 2,300 tons for August is, as already announced, subject to review in the light of the supplies available from home production.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he proposes to take to meet the request of the archaeological and historical societies in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire to reconsider the recent cuts in grants to national museums.

On the general question of the staffing of museums I have nothing to add to the statement I made in the House in the debate on 14th July. I have written to the hon. Member in order to clear up one or two misapprehensions which, from the terms of their resolution, appear to exist in the minds of the societies concerned.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the stocks of coal and coke as compared with this time last year in the area covered by the Dursley Rural District Council, the area covered by the Stroud Urban and Stroud Rural District Councils, the area covered by the Nailsworth Urban District Council, the area covered by the Gloucester Rural District Council, and the area covered by the Thornbury Rural District Council, respectively; and whether he is satisfied with the position.

I am making inquiries and will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government the reason for the delay in his Department in sanctioning the scheme proposed to him by the Romsey and Stockbridge Rural District Council, which will provide a sewerage scheme for Upton Crescent, Nursling.

The relative urgency of this scheme is still under investigation.