asked the Minister of Health how many consultants in psychiatry have been appointed by the Welsh Regional Hospitals Board; and how many of these were Welsh-speaking.

The numbers are eight and three, respectively. In addition, the Board employ 14, six of them Welsh-speaking, who were in post when the Board was established.

asked the Minister of Health (1) what consultations he has had with the Royal College of Nursing and other interested bodies over the decision of the Coventry local authority to pay increased salaries to nurses only if they are members of a trades union; and what advice he has tendered;(2) what representations he has made to the Coventry local authority protesting against their decision to pay increased salaries to nurses only if they are members of a trades union.

I have received representations from the Royal College of Nursing and the Women Public Health Officers' Association on this matter and am considering them in the light of the observations which I have obtained from the Coventry City Council.

asked the Minister of Health how much money has been granted to the Sheffield teaching hospitals, per bed, for the years 1950, 1951 and 1952, respectively, compared with similar grants, per bed, to the teaching hospitals in London.

The following table shows the figures of expenditure per bed for each of the financial years 1950–51 and 1951–2 and of grant per bed, based on the approved revised estimates, for 1952–53:

asked the Minister of Health the estimated capital expenditure on hospitals in 1950–51 in England and Wales as compared with the capital expenditure 1937–38 after allowing for changes in the price level.

About £9 million compared with about £17 million.

asked the Minister of Health the cost per child in residential homes for children which are under State management; how many such homes there are; and how many children are in these homes.

If my hon. Friend will let me know which homes he has in mind I will endeavour to give him an answer.

asked the Minister of Education her policy towards the development plans for comprehensive schools submitted to her by local authorities.

I am prepared to sanction limited experiments with comprehensive schools. I would not approve a proposal that the secondary provision of an area should take the form of comprehensive schools and nothing else.

asked the Minister of Education how many local education authorities have abolished the special place examinations for selective secondary school education.

So far as I know, only Anglesey.

asked the Minister of Education how many extra grammar school places will be needed in the years 1956, 1958 and 1960 if the present overall figure of 20 per cent. of the 13 year olds now in grammar schools is to be maintained; and what steps she is taking to ensure that local education authorities will provide the necessary places.

If the present proportion of grammar school places in maintained and assisted secondary schools were to be kept constant, the cumulative additional number of such places needed in these schools would be 41,200 in 1956, 115,500 in 1958 and 155,700 in 1960. I cannot accept that a fixed percentage is applicable to all areas, since their circumstances vary widely; but if I find that the provision of grammar school places is, or is likely to become, insufficient in a particular area, I shall of course take the matter up with the authority.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, if Her Majesty's Government will reconsider the decision not to permit Seretse Khama to return as Chief of the Bamangwato tribe, in view of the decision of the kgotla at Serowe on 10th November last year.

No. Her Majesty's Government will not reconsider their decision: in fact the kgotla reached no decision and was adjourned until after the present planting season.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will now state in detail the matters that have been, and are now, under discussion with Argentina concerning a new trade agreement; how many meetings have been held; when the discussions first commenced, and how the progress on these talks compares with similar discussions last year.

As the House will be aware, a further Protocol to the Five Year Trade and Payments Agreement of 1949 with Argentina was signed in Buenos Aires on 31st December last. The text has been published as Cmd. 8744.The Protocol makes provision for the supply of coal, oil and tinplate to Argentina and the supply of meat to the United Kingdom, and for the establishment of quotas to the value of £3 million for the import of less essential goods from the United Kingdom. As to the financial clauses, I would refer to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the 20th January to my hon. Friend the Member for Louth (Mr. Osborne).The Argentine and United Kingdom representatives will now meet in Buenos Aires to settle before 15th February those goods from the United Kingdom of a less essential nature for which licences are to be issued: one-half of the total by 31st March and the balance by 30th September.As to the number of meetings, there were nine plenary sessions between the first which was held on 9th April, 1952, and the signature of the Protocol on 31st December, 1952. There was a break in the discussions for some weeks in the summer. There were also a large number of sub-committee and less formal meetings in addition to the plenary sessions.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to give details in quantity and value of the various categories of fruit pulp imported into Great Britain during 1951 and 1952, respectively.

Imports of all fruit pulp are not separately distinguished in the official trade statistics, but it is estimated that 49,000 tons valued at £4.9 million were imported in 1951 and 29,000 tons valued at £2.7 million in 1952. A detailed analysis of these amounts by type of pulp is not available, but imports of apricot, grapefruit, peach, pear and pineapple pulps together accounted for about 29,000 tons valued at £3 million in 1951 and about 15,000 tons valued at £1.6 million in 1952.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what consultations have taken place with the Brazilian Government with a view to resolving the difficulties at present hampering trade between Britain and Brazil; and when he expects to be able to make a statement.

Since the discussions in Rio de Janeiro, to which I referred in my answer to my hon. Friend's Question on 25th November last, we have had certain exchanges of view with the Brazilian Ambassador in London and I hope that more formal consultations will be started at an early date. Meanwhile, any statement on the difficult questions involved would be premature, and I can only say that I shall make a statement as soon as I can do so without prejudice to our efforts to reach a satisfactory agreement.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the amount outstanding at the latest date due to British manufacturers and traders for goods exported to Brazil; and what part of this total is covered by policies issued by the Export Credits Guarantee Department.

It is estimated that the amount oustanding in respect of goods already exported to Brazil was £56 million at the end of December last and £53 million at the end of November. Of the latter figure the amount covered by policies issued by the Export Credits Guarantee Department was approximately £20 million; figures for December are not yet available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what further consultations have taken place between his Department and the company proposing to export jet aircraft to Brazil in exchange for Brazilian cotton; what advice he has given to the aircraft company; and what representations other traders have made to him about the consequent worsening of their position if this deal is allowed to proceed.

The answer to the first two parts of the Question is none. As to the last part of the Question, I have received a large number of representations. But the transaction to which my hon. Friend refers is not between Governments, and the position of the Board of Trade in this matter was explained by my right hon. Friend in reply to a Question by my hon. Friend on 13th November last.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why he has refused to refer the activities of the Trawler Owners' Federation to the Monopolies Commission.

I assume that the hon. Member has in mind the industry's ban on Icelandic fish landings. My right hon. Friend does not consider that the subject is one which could be appropriately referred to the Monopolies Commission.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the changed position in the cycle industry, he will now modify the regulations governing hire-purchase of bicycles.

No.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will make a statement about the present position of the distribution of the proceeds of German enemy property.

Yes. In all, some 33,500 claims to share in the distribution have been received. Many of the claims are, however, extremely complicated and the final determination of all those received is likely to be a lengthy process. In order to make a payment to the maximum number of claimants at the earliest possible date, it has been decided to pay 1s. in the £ as a first instalment on account to all those whose claims have been established and determined at the time of this distribution. Such persons will receive formal notice to that effect.It is expected that the first payments will begin to be made during March. All claimants whose claims have not then been determined will be notified as and when this is done and those with valid claims will thereafter receive similar advance payments. This procedure of advance payments will apply both to claimants against the general fund and to those for whom it is more favourable to receive a special distribution from the proceeds of the property formerly belonging to their German debtor.A considerable part of the funds available for distribution is subject to claims in respect of debts due by the German debtors formerly owning the assets and, until all these claims have been determined, it will not be possible to estimate the size of the general dividend or the special dividends payable if these are more favourable. Successful claimants to whom the advance payment is made will later receive the balance of the amount to which they are entitled either out of the Administrator's general fund or out of the proceeds of property which formerly belonged to their debtors.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how far he is anticipating that the United Kingdom dollar gap will be filled by the United States purchases of armaments made in the United Kingdom; what talks he has had with the United States authorities on this subject; and if he will make a statement.

We are in continuous contact with the United States Mutual Security Mission in London about furthering sales of United Kingdom-produced armaments to the United States for supply to North Atlantic Treaty powers. My right hon. Friend attaches great importance to this development which enables us to increase our dollar earnings from exports and at the same time to contribute to the defensive strength of N.A.T.O. Contracts so far placed in the United Kingdom amount to about 150 million dollars in value and more may be expected.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the United Kingdom has received since the end of the war in the form of gifts and loans from abroad and from the sale of overseas investments; and how much has our standard of living been higher proportionately because of this.

From the end of the war to the end of 1951, the latest date for which comprehensive figures are available, gifts and loans received by Her Majesty's Government from abroad amounted to £775 million and £1,568 million, respectively; sales of investments in the non-sterling area amounted to £435 million; a total of £2,778 million. It is impossible to say how much higher our standard of living has been on account of these receipts because it depends upon how we would have acted without them: by how much, for example, imports and overseas investment would have been reduced and the effects of these reductions on consumption and home investment. Nor is it likely that we would have made all the overseas loans and gifts—amounting to £1,400 million—that we made in the same period. As a matter of arithmetic, the total of £2,778 million is equivalent to about 5 per cent. of the national output, about 6 per cent. of personal expenditure, or about 25 per cent. of United Kingdom imports, in the period.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent on tobacco, beer and spirits, respectively, in 1951 and in 1935, at retail prices.

Estimates for 1935 are not available, but for 1938 and 1951 the figures in millions of £s sterling were:—tobacco, 177 and 801; beer, 195 and 530; and spirits 60 and 182.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the cost of the administration of the National Savings movement; and how many men and women, respectively, are employed in that work.

For the current financial year the Votes for the National Savings Committee and the Scottish Savings Committee totalled £942,884. In addition, they receive services from other Government Departments valued at just over £250,000. The official staff employed by the Movement on 1st January, 1953, was 343 men and 364 women.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the growing unemployment, particularly in the textile industry, and the need to stimulate trade and the consumer goods industry generally, he will repay Post-War Credits.

I regret that I cannot anticipate my Budget statement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many cases of fowl pest were recorded in 1952; how many hens were involved; in how many cases the battery system was in vogue; and in how many the hens had free run.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many cases have been reported during each of the past two years of cattle infected by anthrax; to what extent such cases are considered to have been caused

There were 498 outbreaks of fowl pest in 1952 and some 275,000 fowls were involved. I regret that I am unable to say how many of the birds were hens or how many were kept on the battery or free range system, but there is no evidence that outbreaks of fowl pest are more likely to occur where hens are kept on one system rather than on the other.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, in view of the large number of hens found diseased by fowl pest, what evidence exists that eggs laid prior to the discovery of the disease or subsequently are unfit for human consumption; and what steps are taken to prevent them being sold in the ordinary market as fresh eggs or used for dried-egg preparation.

I am advised that there is no evidence that the eggs of hens involved in outbreaks of fowl pest are unfit for human consumption, and no steps are taken to prevent their sale for this purpose.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of cases and the number of animals and birds involved where compensation was payable for any form of notifiable disease during 1952; and what was the total compensation paid in each variety.

The following is the information:by imported meat and bone meal; and what steps are being taken to prevent the further importation of any such fertiliser which may be a source of infection.

There were 382 and 730 cases involving cattle in 1951 and 1952, respectively. Anthrax in this country is mainly caused by the use in feedingstuffs and fertilisers of contaminated imported materials. It is seldom practicable to identify the particular ingredients responsible, but there is little doubt that imported animal products, such as bone meal, are a fairly common source of infection. As a first step my Department is now discussing with the appropriate trade associations further measures to reduce the risk from this source. Until these discussions have been concluded, I should be reluctant to take any action which might substantially reduce the quantities of feedingstuffs and fertilisers available in this country.

asked the Minister of Agriculture to what extent vaccine against anthrax, developed by his Department's research laboratory at Weybridge, is now being used in this country; and with what results.

An effective vaccine against anthrax has been used for a number of years under the supervision of my veterinary staff, but only for animals known to be exposed to a particular risk of infection. During 1952, vaccine sufficient to vaccinate about 13,000 cattle or twice as many pigs was issued. The vaccine has now been made available generally to veterinary surgeons for use at their discretion, but it is too early to say to what extent its use will increase under the new arrangements. Generally, the vaccine has given good results.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will arrange for guidance to be made readily available to farmers by his Department on the use of antibiotics as a dietary supplement in the feeding of pigs.

Yes: as soon as this practice has been legalised.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether the new Imber trap for the destruction of rabbits is yet available for testing by his Department; and whether he can give an estimate as to when the trap will be available to the public.

No; the manufacturing difficulty to which I referred in my reply of 4th December to the hon. Members for Newport (Mr. Peter Freeman) and Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Dr. Stross) is not yet fully resolved.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what steps he has taken. and is taking, to encourage farmers and other residents in the country to exterminate grey squirrels.

County agricultural executive committees and county branches of the National Farmers' Union and Country Landowners' Association have been urged to organise vigorous action against grey squirrels through shooting clubs which are provided with free cartridges for the purpose. The growing menace of the grey squirrel will be stressed in material for the Press and by other forms of publicity. The Forestry Commission has set up a committee to consider measures against grey squirrels as forest pests and, in collaboration with the Ministry, is conducting, on its own lands, an intensive campaign against these squirrels.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will prepare both short and long-term schemes for land reclamation around the Wash.

The enclosure of saltings formed around the Wash must be a gradual process as the land becomes ripe for reclamation. It is for the owners of the land behind the existing sea embankment to undertake this work, but my Department will continue to give such practical help as it can in developing proposals.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now make a statement upon the results of his inquiry into methods of preventing the sale of coshes, stilettos, and other weapons, in view of their use by very young people in the commission of unlawful acts.

I am not yet in a position to add anything to the statement which I made in reply to a Question by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for South Shields (Mr. Ede) on 19th December.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now make a statement on the introduction of a Bill to amend the Firearms Act, 1937, in order to impose a longer prison sentence on persons found carrying firearms or other lethal weapons and to impose more severe penalties for other offences under the Act.

I am not satisfied that there are sufficient grounds for proposing any amendment of the Firearms Act, 1937. As regards the carrying of offensive weapons generally, I am not yet in a position to add to the reply which I gave to a Question by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for South Shields (Mr. Ede) on 19th December.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he proposes to take to implement the recommendations of the Committee on Publications in the Welsh Language.

The Government have asked the Council for Wales and Monmouthshire and the Welsh Joint Education Committee for their comments on the Committee's recommendations, and until these have been received and considered I regret that I am unable to make a statement of the Government's intentions.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to a leaflet entitled, "Plans of the Synagogue of Satan," which is being sent to this country from Duncan, British Columbia, a copy of which has been sent him; whether he is aware that this contains anti-Jewish propaganda of a disgusting and dangerous kind; and what steps he is taking.

Yes. I have seen this document, but on the information at present before me I do not think that this anonymous and obnoxious rigmarole represents a danger which calls for further action on my part.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is now in a position to make a statement on the payment to widows of police officers killed on duty.

This difficult question is still under consideration and I am sorry that I am not yet in a position to make a statement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has now considered the suggestion that special remission of sentence should be granted to prisoners on the occasion of the Coronation.

It has for long been the well-established practice not to recommend the exercise of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy to mark the celebration of ceremonial occasions, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and I do not propose to depart from this practice on the occasion of the Coronation.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what progress is being made in the project for the new oil refinery between Titchfield and Warsash, Hampshire.

I understand that the negotiations for acquiring all the land needed have not yet been completed, and no plans for the erection of a refinery have yet been submitted to my right hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will indicate, county by county, the rural water supply and sewerage schemes to which he has given approval during 1952, and the contributions he has made, or promised, towards the expenses of these schemes incurred by district councils under Section 1 of the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Act, 1944.

Three hundred and five schemes for rural water supply and 153 schemes for sewerage were approved during 1952 to a total value of £6,953,450 and £3,516,985, respectively. During the year the grants promised, finally or provisionally, amounted to £2,150,060 in respect of water supply and £1,127,040 in respect of severage schemes, while grant payments towards these two services totalled £1,704,232 and £1,625,105. There is necessarily a time lag between the approval of a scheme and my right hon. Friend's final undertaking to pay grant, and again between that undertaking and actual payment, so that the promises and payments made in 1952 relate partly to schemes approved in earlier years. He regrets that detailed lists of the individual schemes are not readily available.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is aware that a number of bona fide applications for assistance under the provisions of the Housing Act, 1949, in respect of alterations and additions to houses have been refused on the ground that the application was made only after the work had been commenced; and whether he will take steps more fully to publicise the provisions of this Act and to abolish this technical rule which is depriving many people of the benefit of the Act.

My right hon. Friend is aware of the difficulty to which the hon. Gentleman refers, but he cannot over-ride statutory conditions. The total number of applications received, however, is not as large as might have been expected, and he is at present considering what steps might be taken to make these facilities more widely known and used.

asked the Minister of Food how much Danish boxed fish has been landed in British ports since August, 1952; what were the monthly landings up to and including January, 1953; and how these compare with the corresponding period 12 months previously.

The following is the information:

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what loans to native co-operative organisations have been made during the last three years by the Uganda Credit and Savings Bank.

Complete information is not available in London and I am asking the Governor for it and will circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the composition and functions of the Tanganyika Coffee Curing Company; and what representation on the company is allocated to cooperative organisations.

This Company is jointly owned by the Tanganyika Coffee Growers Association, a co-operative organisation open to all races but in practice composed largely of Europeans, and by the Moshi Native Coffee Board. These two organisations have equal shares in the Company and its functions are to cure coffee produced by them and by any other producers who wish to send their coffee to the Company. No details of the composition of the Company are available in London and I am asking the Governor for detailed information, which I will cir- culate in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the membership and the functions of the Moshi Native Coffee Board; and what is the number of representatives of the native coffee growers and other interests on the Board.

The Moshi Native Coffee Board consists of such members as the Governor chooses to appoint. At present the board consists of the District Commissioner as chairman, three other official members and three unofficial African members. The board is the sole purchaser of African-grown coffee in the Moshi district and may give directions on its cultivation and preparation. The board is empowered to impose a levy on coffee sold to it and to use the proceeds for the work of the board.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what changes he is considering in the charges made for school dinners.

After a full review of all the circumstances, I have decided to increase the normal charge for school dinners in each education area by 2d. with effect from 1st March. A circular is being sent to education authorities informing them of the decision and asking them to consider whether their arrangements for the remission of charges in whole or part need amendment to avoid hardship.