asked the Minister of Food, now that sweets are off the ration, if he will give a bigger allocation of sugar to the housewives in the near future.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Sorensen) on 11th February.

Can the Minister say if the recent statements in the Press that a new issue of dollars has been allocated to the purchase of tobacco are correct, and if so, would it not have been better to apply dollars to the purchase of sugar? Is not there plenty of sugar to be purchased?

I do not know how much the dollar figure for tobacco was, but what happened about sweets has no relation to or effect on the domestic sugar ration.

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that housewives are saying the shops are full of sweets; that fresh sweet shops are being opened and that therefore there should be more sugar to spare for domestic consumption?

If the hon. Member will look at the Order Paper, he will see that there is a later Question to the opposite effect. I am saying that this amount of sugar, allocated on a once-and-for-all basis, will have no effect whatever on the domestic supply.

asked the Minister of Food if he will consider the inclusion of a special section devoted to pensioners in the next report of the National Food Survey.

The National Food Survey Committee already publishes in its reports detailed material on food consumption by old age pensioner householders. I doubt whether a rearrangement of this material would serve a useful purpose.

We are aware that there is a cross-section of old age pensioners in this Survey, but is the Minister aware that the Old Age Pensioners' Association believe it does not give a true picture of the position? Is he further aware that they state that, in the cold months, old people must choose between food and warmth because they cannot afford both? Will he look into the matter if I send him evidence?

I do not underestimate the difficulty of old people, and I will certainly look into any evidence the hon. Lady cares to send me. I would point out that we have a changing cross-section every quarter which takes in every part of the country, both rural and urban. It is a very good cross-section, and I doubt if there is any better indication in existence.

Is there any co-ordination or co-operation between the right hon. and gallant Gentleman's Department and the Ministry of National Insurance where, judging from Press reports, they are conducting a survey into the economic conditions of old age pensioners?

Yes, Sir. There is close co-operation in these matters. I am not sure which survey the hon. Gentleman means, but the survey referred to last week in the Press relates to a period in 1950–51.

According to a report which appeared in the "Daily Mail" last week, a survey is being made jointly by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of National Insurance into the economic conditions of old people. Has the Department of the right hon. and gallant Gentleman anything to do with it?

There is close co-operation and we hope to contribute, because we have this very good survey going on all the time.

asked the Minister of Food to state, for the four ration weeks ending February last, the non-take-up of meat, bacon, butter and margarine; and how these figures compare with the four ration weeks ending October, 1951.

For the four weeks ended 21st February the percentages not taken up were nil, 8 per cent., 3 per cent. and 6 per cent., respectively. For meat, this is the same as for the four weeks ended 6th October, 1951; for bacon, more; and for butter and margarine, slightly less.

asked the Minister of Food if he will now improve the minimum standards of ice cream.

I shall raise the standard as soon as the supply of ingredients, particularly milk powder, permits.

Is it not deplorable that the Minister should allow the continuance of the sale of this commodity which is nothing more than frozen water, the relationship to ice cream being only in name and appearance?

asked the Minister of Food if he will now increase the fruit content of jam.

The Food Standards Committee has recently made further recommendations which I propose to adopt. I shall shortly make an Order increasing the minimum fruit content of both raspberry and loganberry jam from 25 per cent. to 30 per cent. and of blackcurrant jam from 22 per cent. to 25 per cent.

Is the Minister aware that this long-delayed decision will be very welcome to growers and consumers in this country?

Will my right hon. and gallant Friend bear in mind the large surplus last year in the Worcestershire plum crop and apply similar increases in the case of plum jam?

asked the Minister of Food what quantity of eggs per week has been imported by his Department since 1st January, 1953; and what quantity he estimates will be imported per week up to the end of April, 1953.

The average weekly imports from 28th December, 1952, to 7th March, 1953, were 111,000 boxes of 360 eggs each. The quantities for the period 8th March to the end of April, 1953, are expected to be at least as good as in the corresponding period of 1952 when they averaged 72,000 boxes per week.

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that he has not answered my Question? I did not ask him for the average per week, but for the actual imports per week so that the House may know whether or not he is now cutting the import of eggs and whether or not he contemplates doing so still further? Can he give an answer saying whether or not he is cutting imports and, if so, why?

I do not see what complaint the hon. Lady has. If one has the average one can total it up over the period. The average import per week is 111,000 boxes, which is slightly more than last year.

My right hon. and gallant Friend referred to 1952 in his answer. I presume that he intended to refer to 1953?

No, Sir. I referred to 28th December, 1952, which is almost 1st January, 1953.

Do not we get three-quarters of our imported eggs from Denmark, and have we not seriously reduced the number we are to take during the coming year?

The average per week up to date from Denmark is 83,000 boxes. In 1951 it was 80,000 boxes, so that certainly shows an improvement.

I was asking the right hon. and gallant Gentleman about the new contract we have signed under which we have reduced the amount seriously.

I will answer that question when I come to it.

asked the Minister of Food why he has reduced the minimum quantity of eggs to be shipped from Denmark to the United Kingdom.

As one element in a wider agreement, which is, I hope, advantageous to both parties.

Is it not a fact that we get three-quarters of our imported eggs from Denmark, that the Danes have reduced their prices, and that, in spite of that fact, we have reduced the percentage of eggs that we take from Denmark quite substantially? Is not this most important, if eggs are to be de-controlled, because imported eggs cost much less than home-produced eggs and will act as a means to keeping down the price?

As I said in my answer, this is one element in a wider agreement, and to make an agreement we have to get both sides to agree. Part of the agreement was the reduction of the minimum to 66 per cent., and the Danes also gave us a reduced price.

Did not the Danes ask us to take more eggs? Surely, that has nothing to do with two people making an agreement, but only with the fact that the Danes asked us to take more eggs?

I agree that that is one element of the agreement, but the Danes are satisfied with 66 per cent. [Interruption.] They are, and the difference is that, before the war, we took 50 per cent., against which the figure of 66 per cent. is a very great improvement.

asked the Minister of Food if he has been informed of the shortage of sweets supplied in the Merseyside area and that, as stated by the wholesale representatives, an increase in prices of sweets will regulate the sales in future; and whether he will take the necessary steps to prevent the manufacturers and traders increasing the price of sweets because of the shortage.

asked the Minister of Food whether he is aware that supplies of sweets to small shops in South London are inadequate and that wholesalers are having to operate their own system of rationing supplies; and whether he will reimpose control.

asked the Minister of Food if he is aware that there are no sweets and chocolates in many wholesale warehouses in Liverpool to replace the abnormal demand at retail shops; and what immediate steps he is taking to prevent a shortage.

I have made special inquiries in these areas. They do not bear out any suggestion of a general shortage. Some price increases would probably have been necessary if control had continued. I have no intention of reimposing control.

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that last Monday in the Liverpool Press, which covers the whole of Merseyside and elsewhere, it was admitted by two wholesalers that they were short and that their stocks had run down? Is he aware that last week I checked with two firms, Edmundson's and Williams's, and they had actually increased the price of their sweets by Id. a quarter—4d. a lb.? Is not that robbing the children? What does the right hon. and gallant Gentleman propose to do about it?

I do not know what the hon. Gentleman means by the last part of his Question. If this is robbing the children, we will not be half so successful as were hon. Gentlemen opposite when they were in power. While there may be shortages of certain lines, as indeed there were during control and even before the war, the position is as I have stated.

But has the right hon. and gallant Gentleman seen a statement by the President of the National Union of Small Shopkeepers that manufacturers and wholesalers are deliberately withholding supplies while they await the price increases that everybody knows are on the way?

Inquiries have been made in the three constituencies represented by the hon. Members who put down the Questions, and the facts are as I have stated.

Would not my right hon. and gallant Friend agree that the best way in which hon. Members could satisfy themselves on this question would be for them to go out and try to buy sweets, when I am sure that they would find no shortage?

On a point of order. There have been three Questions on the Order Paper which have contained the affirmative statement that there is a serious shortage of sweets Is not every hon. Member responsible for the accuracy of the Questions he puts upon the Order Paper? One hon. Lady has not arrived at all to ask her Question. There is an increasing tendency to use the Order Paper for party propaganda. May I ask you to rule, Mr. Speaker, whether or not hon. Members are responsible for the accuracy of their statements?

I have frequently ruled in that sense, but there are often disputes as to facts.

asked the Minister of Food to what extent the demand for sweets has increased since they were de-rationed.

asked the Minister of Food what increase there has been in the demand for, or shortage of, sweets since they were de-controlled.

No precise estimates can be made, but I am satisfied that any suggestion of a general shortage is unfounded.

asked the Minister of Food what action he is taking to reduce the costs of distribution of fruit and vegetables.

I cannot add anything to the replies which I have given to numerous Questions on this subject over the past year.

Is the Minister aware that in the Conservative Party's statement of policy, which I have in my hand—[HON. MEMBERS: "Hear, hear."] I am glad to have the encouragement of hon. Gentlemen opposite. Is the Minister aware that in the statement it is said:

"The cost of distribution of some foodstuffs is very high and we intend to review these commodity by commodity, beginning with fruit and vegetables, and to apply practical remedies according to the facts of each case."

Would the right hon. Gentleman kindly indicate whether he has examined the excessive price of fruit and vegetables due to the high costs of distribution, and what action he proposes to take in accordance with the promise made in the statement of policy issued by the Conservative Party?

At the moment I cannot do any more than hon. Gentlemen opposite could do in the whole of the six years they were in office. There has been plenty of information on this complicated business in the last few years. It is obvious that anything which is to be of permanent benefit in this respect will involve a large capital expenditure which can be undertaken only when funds are available.

Could the right hon. and gallant Gentleman at least give the House an assurance that he will not give in to the pressure from the N.F.U. for increased tariffs on imported fruit and vegetables in addition to the reduced quotas of imports which they have already secured?

Are we to take it that this is merely another broken pledge?

asked the Minister of Food the price, per lb., of meat, cheese and bacon on 1st October, 1951, and at the latest convenient date; what the percentage increase in price of these commodities has been during this period; and what were the reasons for these increases.

I will, with permission, circulate the figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT. As regards the last part of the Question, the greater part of the increases in bacon and cheese were needed in order to keep within the subsidy ceiling fixed by the late Administration. As regards the balance, I would refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in opening his last Budget.

In support of my hon. Friend the Member for Goole (Mr. G. Jeger), may I ask the Minister whether or not he saw the promise in the Tory Election Manifesto saying that they would bring down the price of food? Is not it a fact that it has been substantiated that the price of every commodity has gone up and up and not one has come down since the present Government came into power?

I do not know what the hon. Gentleman is getting at. His Question criticised me for actions for which I am in no way responsible. The ceiling of £410 million was fixed by the late Administration. They did not keep to it. They left us to find a way to bring the figure down to £410 million. They had not the courage to face up to the facts.

Is the Minister aware that the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in his Budget speech that he was responsible

asked the Minister of Food the items of food which, on 1st October, 1951, were price-controlled by his Department; their respective prices; which of these have been de-controlled since this date; and the price of these controlled items at the latest convenient stated date.

As the reply contains a number of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT. for increasing the price of these foodstuffs? Are we to take it that the right hon. and gallant Gentleman disagrees with the statement made by the Chancellor?

The hon. Gentleman must look at his facts more carefully. He referred specifically to three items. The increases in those items were to meet liabilities which the late Administration incurred.

Is the Minister aware that he is such a muddler that he did not get within the limit and that, in any case, the Trades Union Congress advised him at the time that it would be the best course to allow the food subsidies to run rather over that limit, and that that is what we should have done if we had remained in office?

The fact is that it was running at £430 million when the ceiling was fixed by the late Chancellor at £410 million. The hon. Gentleman and his colleagues had not the courage to face up to the position.

Can the Minister tell us of any commodity or article of foodstuffs which has gone down in price since the Minister de-controlled it? Tea has gone up by 15 per cent. Could he give us any idea of the percentage increase that has taken place in those foods which have been de-controlled?

I think the hon. Gentleman had better wait to see this rather long list.

asked the Minister of Food whether he will state the increases in the prices of the various foods necessitated by the reduction in subsidies; when they became effective; and how much saving was achieved in each case in the financial year 1952–53.

asked the Minister of Food whether his attention has been called to the curtailment by Argentina of meat shipments to this country under the recent agreement; what representations he has made to the Argentine Government; and what further action he intends to take.

asked the Minister of Food to what extent deliveries of meat promised under the recent Anglo-Argentine Agreement are to be slowed down by the Argentine Government.

I hope that any delay in shipments, due I understand to local marketing difficulties, would be quite temporary. No representation seems to be called for at present.

Does this mean the Minister expects that the supply of meat from Argentina this year will still be up to the figure which the Government gave the House in a recent debate?

I have no reason to doubt that this is merely a temporary delay due to a local shortage at Buenos Aires. As soon as that is cleared up, I do not think there should be any difficulty.

Can the right hon. and gallant Gentleman say whether Lord Woolton, now happily recovered,

As the Answer involves a number of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Not only has he been told, but he has also been told that we are importing considerably more and better meat than in the time of the hon. and gallant Gentleman's Government.

asked the Minister of Food if he is aware that the price of bananas has still not fallen; and if he will now reconsider the de-control which resulted in these high prices.

I have nothing to add to the reply given to the hon. Member for Sunderland, North (Mr. Willey) on 26th January last.

We have had a lot of information since then. Is the Minister aware that in Regent Street, Oxford Street and Edgware Road last week, bananas were 2s. a lb. on Thursday, that on Friday most of the bananas on the barrows were unpriced, and that when I asked the price, the answer was "One and nine, to you, dear"? Is he aware that on Saturday the barrows had no prices for most of the morning, but that towards lunch time they had cards stating "Today's price 2s. 6d."? Is that the policy of the Tory Government?

I am glad to hear that the hon. Lady got 3d. knocked off. With regard to the price of 2s. 6d., the actual average price is working out at 1s. 2¾d. If bananas are marketed at 2s. 6d. per lb., I have only one thing to say. They should not be bought, and that would soon bring the price down, because bananas do not keep at all well.

Could my right hon. and gallant Friend say whether the barrow boys always kept to the controlled prices in the old days?

Since the Minister said that bananas which are dearer than under control should not be bought, is he aware that I did not buy them at 2s., but that I told the barrow boy that that was the worst of having the opposite party in power?

What did he say?

As a matter of fact, had control remained in force, the price of bananas would have had to go up in any case because of the cost of production, and the fact of the matter is that there has been an exceptionally strong demand at the moment, and that this is the first time the supply has been equal to pre-war days.

Is the Minister aware that, in a personal food survey I have just conducted, bananas were revealed nowhere at less than 2s. per lb., and that I should like to get some, because I have a family? Can he tell me where I can get them at Is. 2d. per lb.?

I will let the hon. Gentleman know as soon as I possibly can, because I have seen them myself at below 2s. per lb. [HON. MEMBERS: "Where?"] I walk about London as well as the hon. Lady, and I will gladly send the hon. Gentleman a telephone message telling him where he can get them.

asked the Minister of Food why the consumption of full price fresh milk for January, 1953, was 1,400,000 gallons less than for January, 1952, and two million gallons less than January, 1951, although the production of milk for January, 1953, was greater than in the corresponding months in 1952 and 1951.

The change is too small to be assigned to any specific cause.

Is the Minister aware that most of us do not regard this change as small, and that what we now want from him is an assurance that there will be no further increase in the price of milk this year?

I am not at all sure that the price has much to do with it, because welfare milk and school milk, where the question of price does not arise, have fallen by about the same proportion.

Will the Minister look up the figures for school milk, when I think he will find that consumption increased last year as compared with the previous year, according to the figures published by the Labour Government?

It is because I have looked at the figures that I gave them.

asked the Minister of Food whether, in view of the proposed increase in the retail prices of tea, especially the cheaper brands, he will reintroduce price control.

No, Sir.

What did the right hon. and gallant Gentleman mean when he was talking on the radio about the reduced price of tea and all that nonsense, when, immediately after de-control, the price went up?

Are we to take it from the fact that the Minister gave no details that the price of tea has gone up since decontrol, and is not that contradictory to the statements of the Minister and his hon. Friends on the wireless on various occasions?

During the last six months, some of the cheaper-priced teas have gone down to 2s. I have only given the general average, which is 3s. 4d. as opposed to 3s. 3.6d. last year. I do not call that very high.

Is my right hon. and gallant Friend aware that the general public are very well satisfied with all the arrangements he has made for de-rationing tea and sweets, and urge upon him the need for the de-rationing of the remainder of rationed foodstuffs at the earliest possible moment?

Is the Minister not aware that the official organ of the grocery trade, "The Grocer," only a couple of weeks ago was complaining about large stocks of cheap teas which could not be sold? Is he not aware that, in taking these cheap brands of tea into account in quoting the average price, he is misleading the public?

I am not misleading the public; I would not mislead anybody. We must compare like with like, which is what I have done.

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that the general public consider him irresponsible? Is he also aware that his main success as a Minister has been keeping food out of the stomachs of the people and limiting it to a small section of the population?

I would say that exactly the opposite is the truth.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is satisfied that high stretches of main road, such as that over Shap Fell, are provided with the most effective types of snow clearing and grit-spreading equipment.

Many modern machines for snow clearing and gritting have been added to the equipment of local highway authorities and my Department during the last 10 years. Conditions over Shap Fell are particularly difficult, but special attention is given to this length of road. The permanent solution is the construction of the new road to which I referred in my answer to my hon. Friend on 9th March.

Is my hon. Friend aware that he has not really answered the Question? I asked whether he was satisfied that the maintenance equipment on this particularly difficult road was of the most modern type? Is he further aware that the spending of a little more money on maintenance would save a great deal of capital expenditure?

Perhaps I may send my hon. Friend a rather long list of the equipment available.

Is the Minister aware that this problem will be worsened by the introduction of the proposals to destroy the road transport system, because the road transport organisation supplements the existing local authority machinery for dealing with these roads?

Is my hon. Friend aware that time is very important in this matter? This road ices and snows up very quickly, and if the most modern equipment were available on this stretch of road there would be a great improvement in traffic conditions in the height of winter?

The solution lies in the construction of a new road to which my hon. Friend was objecting on Monday last.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will take steps to amend the notices in unilateral parking streets in order to remove the ambiguity in that part of the notices which reads, "Waiting limited to 20 minutes in any hour."

I am not aware that ambiguity has arisen regarding these notices in any part of the country. They refer to any consecutive period of 60 minutes, no matter when such period commences.

As the notices do not comply with the Statutory Instrument under which they have been exhibited, and as no hon. Member who has read them can understand what they mean, will the Minister take care not to put up a notice which has no intelligible meaning of any kind whatsoever?

I can only inform my hon. Friend that no complaints have been received. If serious difficulty arises, my right hon. Friend will, of course, reexamine the matter.

Does it mean that in future all policemen are to be provided with a stop-watch?

Is the Minister aware that these are not the only ambiguous notices to be seen in the West End of London?

asked the Minister of Transport if he will introduce legislation to enable local authorities to install parking meters, as an experiment, to deal with traffic congestion in busy shopping areas.

The Report of the Working Party on Car Parking in the Inner Area of London, which has just been published, includes a proposal of this kind. The recommendations in the Report must be considered as a whole, and it is too early yet to come to final conclusions about them.

Is it necessary for legislation to be passed before any local authorities can make an experiment? If there is need for a small piece of legislation of the kind, would he consider introducing it, because this matter affects not only London but other local authorities as well?

Obviously the first thing is to consider the Report, and my right hon. Friend remains of the same opinion as when replying to my hon. Friend the Member for Wembley, South (Mr. Russell) on 26th January.

Will the hon. Gentleman remember, while his Department is plucking up courage to reach a decision on this matter and on other matters, like unilateral parking, that the traffic system in London is getting daily more difficult and chaotic?

It is a matter not of lack of courage but of need for thought.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will make a further statement about the Traffic Advisory Committee's Report on Car Parking in Central London; and whether he will arrange to display in the Members' Tea Room a specimen parking meter of the type recommended in the Report.

I should like to congratulate the Working Party on Car Parking in Inner London on their Report, but, as it was only published last Thursday, I cannot make any statement about it at the moment. I will consider the hon. and gallant Member's suggestion of putting a specimen parking meter in the Members' Tea Room.

Will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that the Government are taking over £330 million a year in tax from motorists, and will he undertake to make a start with these four underground garages which have been proposed in the West End of London? He has had the Report long enough to enable him to make up his mind.

In a matter of this kind it is very important to get the public's reaction as well.

Would it not be better to put a specimen parking meter on these benches?

Can the Minister say when the Department will reach a decision on unilateral parking, which forms part of this Report?

I have not been asked about that in this Question.

asked the Minister of Transport when the survey stage of the Rochester by-pass road will be completed.

In seven or eight months, I hope.

Is the Minister aware that the high casualty rate in my division is largely due to the absence of the bypass road? Will the Minister consult his right hon. Friend the First Lord of the Admiralty about the need for this by-pass road for purposes of strategy?

We are fully aware of the need. The hon. Gentleman may be aware of the fact that there is opposition from certain farming concerns to the tentative line that is now being surveyed. We hope that this difficulty will soon be settled. As I have said, the survey will be completed in seven or eight months' time.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will sanction as a top priority the construction of the proposed Eton—Windsor relief road, bypassing Eton High Street.

No, Sir. It will not be practicable to carry out so expensive a scheme until economic conditions are a good deal easier.

Is the Minister aware of the very great urgency for relieving the crush of traffic between Windsor Bridge and the Burning Bush, that owing to the "No waiting" notices shopkeepers are in many cases in danger of being ruined, and that the sons of many hon. Members opposite are in great danger from the excess traffic in that street?

The hon. Gentleman asks a number of supplementaries. On the main issue, the cost of the scheme to which he refers in his original Question would be about £1 million, for which funds are not available. The "No waiting" arrangement is, of course, an endeavour to get the traffic through, and has been approved by the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee and other bodies concerned.

asked the Minister of Transport how many road accidents occurred in Kent during 1952.

The number of accidents in Kent involving personal injury during 1952 was 4,637. These accidents involved the following casualties: 117 killed, 1,319 serious1y injured, and 4,254 slightly injured.

Is the Minister aware that this works out at an average of about one accident every 39 minutes three seconds and that many of these accidents were the result of the condition of the road? Will he put into operation a programme that will enable some of the arrears of maintenance that have occurred during and since the war to be made up?

I have not made the particular calculation to which the hon. Member refers, but he will be glad to know that these figures in all categories show a considerable reduction on the previous year, 1951, though the need for road improvement is ever present in the mind of my right hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Transport to make a statement on the London Plan in regard to priority for transport facilities in North London.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave the hon. Member for Edmonton (Mr. Albu) on 9th March.

But is the Minister aware that that answer states nothing whatsoever? Does he recall that on 20th October he promised that he would make a statement in the House shortly about the implementation of the plan in relation to North London? Is he aware that we are still awaiting the statement, and can he say when we may expect it?

I am fully conscious of the importance of this plan, but as the plan, when it was published, was estimated to cost £340 million even at 1949 prices, I think that I can be allowed a little tolerance in this matter.

Will the Minister state which section of the plan will receive priority? Is he aware that we have asked frequently in this House that North London should be taken into account? Has he yet decided on the priorities for the implementation of the plan?

Without mentioning any definite priorities, I can say that we are all agreed that Route C of the new tube is a matter of very great importance.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware of the letter, dated 11th February, from his Department's divisional road engineer, Edinburgh, to Sutherland County Council instructing that all preparatory work for crofter counties road schemes must stop forthwith and confirming the instructions given to the county road surveyor to have the services of Mr. Miller, crofter counties engineer, terminated; and what arrangements he proposes to make for the reconstruction and maintenance of roads in the county of Sutherland.

I am aware of this letter which did not, however, specifically refer to the termination of Mr. Miller's services. Plans have been prepared at the expense of the Road Fund for schemes covering over 40 miles of the 103 miles of road in Sutherland remaining to be dealt with under the crofter counties programme, and expenditure on further planning would not be justified in present circumstances. Provision is being made as usual from the Road Fund for the maintenance and minor improvement of trunk and classified roads in the county.

Can my hon. Friend say whether his reference to "present circumstances" has anything to do with cash or the appalling state of the roads? Is he not aware that the roads are rapidly deteriorating at a time when we have a very large number of people, including skilled roadmen, paid off and maintained in idleness? Is not that the economy of a lunatic asylum?

My hon. Friend's Question referred to the dismissal of a certain gentleman whose duties were concerned only with planning. That gentleman has put before the council sufficient in the way of planned works on the roads to make his services no longer required for the time being.

Could the hon. Gentleman indicate whether the decision to stop this priority work in the crofter counties was taken by his permanent officials in Scotland or here in London?

My right hon. Friend is responsible for all decisions.

asked the Minister of Transport the approximate costs, including compensation, of the alternative routes for the proposed new roads between Lossiemouth and Hopeman.

The cost of the route to the north of the airfield is estimated at £45,000. It now appears, however, that there would be no objection to the continued use of the length of Drainie Road skirting the airfield to the south, and it is estimated that a diversion involving the use of this length of road would cost about £30.000.

Would my hon. Friend say whether the latter alternative will be adopted in view of the cost involved and the loss of amenity which would result from using the route to the north of the airfield?

It is thought to be more economical and convenient following discussion and the public inquiry.

asked the Minister of Transport by what date the proposed new road between Lossiemouth and Hopeman must be completed for Service reasons.

Traffic will be allowed to use part of the airfield perimeter track in place of the closed section of Covesea Road until the alternative route has been provided. No precise date for this can yet be given.

Is my hon. Friend aware that he has given two satisfactory answers, and would he care to receive the freedom of Lossiemouth?

I think there would be linguistic difficulties attaching to that.

asked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been drawn to the proposal of certain local authorities to plant trees on the verges of arterial roads in the interests of beauty; and whether he will bear in mind, before agreeing to these proposals, the danger of children or dogs running out from behind such clumps of trees.

I understand that proposals relating to the Edinburgh—Glasgow trunk road have been put forward by certain Scottish interests. I will bear in mind the point to which my hon. and gallant Friend draws attention.

Will the hon. Gentleman remember that Scottish local authorities are extremely careful in this matter? On the main arterial road verges, trees are planted singly and the lower limbs are lopped off.

Generally speaking, the planting is very good.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will make a regulation to raise the speed limit of heavy goods vehicles from 20 to 30 miles per hour.

I have under consideration further representations which have been made to me recently on behalf of vehicle manufacturers and users, but I am not at present in a position to add to previous statements on this matter.

Before the Minister comes to any conclusion on this matter, will he be sure to consult the appropriate unions concerned, who have a very strong feeling about it?

Will the Minister also take into consideration the fact that many responsible people would view this alteration with very serious concern until some of the very dangerous places on our main trunk roads are put right?

With regard to the first supplementary question, I would consult with the unions on the matter before action was taken. With regard to the second, I would remind the hon. Member that a large number of his colleagues in the last Parliament signed a resolution in favour of this change.

Can my right hon. Friend say whether the Road Safety Committee have expressed any opinion either in favour of or against the proposal?

They judge the matter solely on considerations of road safety and have made no objection on that score.

Can we have an assurance from the right hon. Gentleman that if any change is contemplated or is put into effect, it will not apply so far as built-up areas are concerned?

There would be a 30-mile limit in the built-up areas anyhow.

I am asking that if any change is made in the 20-mile-an-hour speed limit for heavy vehicles, it will not apply to built-up areas?

That is another matter. As I have said, I am not in a position to make any definite statement on the matter at the moment, but that is, of course, one of the points I would bear in mind.

Has the Minister any information as to the number of vehicles which travel at 20 miles an hour?