asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if his attention has been drawn to the fact that certain employers in Singapore are using the Emergency Regulations to give false information to the police in order to intimidate their workers who are active in the trade unions, and that Labour Department officials are unqualified; and what steps he is taking in this matter.

No. But if the hon. Member has any information and will write to me, I will gladly make inquiries.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware that an official committee dealing with legislative changes in the Singapore Council has recommended that the number of elected representatives should be increased from nine to 18 before the elections of next year; and what steps he is taking to implement this recommendation.

I understand that a report by the committee which the hon. Member has in mind was laid before the Singapore Legislative Council on 21st April and is at present under consideration by the Government of Singapore.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the progress to date in implementing Malaya's six-year development plan.

The Emergency has made it impossible to keep to the original development programme. Some projects have had to be deferred and others, notably communications, accelerated. Schemes for improved irrigation, water supplies and education and for electricity development have been going forward, but by far the biggest undertaking has been the resettlement of some half a million squatters in new villages. This scheme had to be given high priority as an essential Emergency measure but it is at the same time a very great achievement in social development.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what consultation he had, and how far he achieved agreement with the Committee of the Kilimanjaro Native Co-operate Union before drafting the African Produce (Chagga Council) Cess Order, 1953.

None. This is a matter for the Tanganyika Government and I am not aware whether there were any local consultations. I am asking the Governor for information on that and will circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what crops or livestock produced in Tanganyika, other than coffee, are liable to a cess or tax similar to that levied by the African Produce (Chagga Council) Cess Order, 1953.

This information is not available in the Colonial Office. I have asked the Governor for it and will circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what disciplinary action has been taken against the officers involved in the failure of the Caura Dam scheme.

One officer was allowed to retire with some reduction of retiring benefits, and two officers were severely reprimanded. The two other officers concerned had been transferred from the Trinidad service to posts under other Governments before the Commission of Inquiry was set up. One of them has since retired. In these two cases it was decided that no useful purpose would be served by taking disciplinary proceedings which would have involved considerable expense and would have been unlikely to result in any more severe punishment than a reprimand.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in view of the fact that the shipbuilding figures show that for the 12 months ended March, 1953, the United Kingdom commenced 24 per cent., launched 27 per cent., and completed 29 per cent. of the world total compared with 34 per cent., 37 per cent., and 36 per cent., respectively, for the corresponding period ended March, 1952, he will institute an inquiry to determine what factors have caused this decline.

I do not think there is any doubt about the main factors which have led to the decline in the United Kingdom's share of world shipbuilding. They are the rehabilitation and expansion of shipyard capacity abroad, and also the restriction of U.K. shipyard activity imposed by the steel plate shortage. I do not therefore consider that a special enquiry is necessary at present.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what factors have caused the fall of 85,000 tons gross in the amount of shipbuilding commenced in the first quarter of this year compared with the immediately preceding quarter and the fall of 20,000 tons gross compared with the corresponding quarter last year.

There are bound to be fluctuations in the amount of new tonnage started in each quarter. The figure for the first quarter of this year, though below the corresponding figures for the first and fourth quarters of 1952, is slightly higher than the average quarterly figure for 1952. The present shortage of steel plate affects all these figures.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many orders for inshore minesweepers and other vessels the United States Bureau of Ships have placed with his Department during the last 12 months; what is the tonnage and value of these vessels; what tonnage and value of these ships have been allotted to Scottish shipyards; to which shipyards they have been allotted; and how many are completed and uncompleted, respectively.

Only one such order has so far been placed with the Admiralty by the United States Bureau of Ships and that was for a number of inshore minesweepers. As already announced, the value of this contract will be in the region of 11 million dollars. The vessels are to be delivered to member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on completion and they will be selected from those already on order in the United Kingdom. The selection has not yet been made, and I am therefore unable to say how many of the vessels will be built in Scottish shipyards. None is yet completed.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what facilities will be available for retired naval officers and ratings to see the Naval Review.

Certain distinguished retired naval officers are being invited to the Naval Review as official guests. There will also be facilities to enable a limited number of other retired Regular officers of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Women's Royal Naval Service and Naval Nursing Services, retired permanent officers of the Reserves, and Naval and Royal Marine Pensioner ratings to witness the Review as spectators on board Her Majesty's Ships.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General the profit or loss on the operation of the British post office at Tangier for the past five years; what is the estimated cost of rebuilding this post office; and on what grounds it is being rebuilt.

It is not the practice to maintain profit and loss accounts for individual post offices. It is necessary to obtain fresh premises at Tangier because additional working space is needed owing to growth of business and the tenancy agreement for the existing office has expired. The new premises are to be rented, and the cost of building will not fall on the Exchequer.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General when building work on the new head post office in Plymouth will be commenced.

Every effort is being made to start the building for the Plymouth new head post office in 1954–55.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General how many new pillar-boxes with the inscription E II R he has recently installed in Scotland.

None.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General if he is able to announce the completion date of the telephone exchange extension in Sale; and what steps he is taking to ensure that the necessary underground cabling work is being undertaken now, so as to avoid further delays on this account.

The extension of the exchange should be finished in the autumn. Because of the need to give priority to new local cable schemes required for essential and business users, the local cables in Sale will unfortunately still be inadequate to meet all demands when the new exchange is opened, although the position will be much improved. I am considering whether anything more can be done and I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the provisions of the Bonn Agreement regarding the numbers of jet fighters and jet bombers to be allowed to the West German Air Force.

There is no provision in the Bonn Agreement regulating the number of jet fighters and bombers which the German Federal Republic will contribute to the air strength of the European Defence Community. The size and nature of the German defence contribution will be fixed by the competent organs of the European Defence Community in consultation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the attitude of Her Majesty's Government to the naming of an Asiatic country as the neutral custodian of war prisoners in Korea.

I have nothing to add to the reply which the Prime Minister gave to similar Questions on Monday.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will make a further statement on the progress of discussions with the Icelandic Government on fishing restrictions.

I am still unable to add anything to the answer given on 29th April to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Macclesfield (Air Commodore Harvey).

asked the Minister of Food if he will reduce the riddle for seed potatoes to 2¼ inches.

A top riddle of 2¼ inches has been prescribed for certified seed for many years.

asked the Minister of Food whether he is aware that the present price of clotted cream is over 13s. per lb. compared with 6s. 6d. as the controlled price in 1951, and with about 2s. before the war; and whether he will now impose price control.

While fresh cream is on sale free of price control there is no occasion to control the price of clotted cream.

asked the Minister of Food what water content of butter in the United Kingdom is permitted under his regulations.

No Regulation concerning the maximum water content of butter has been made by my Department, but under the Food and Drugs Act, 1938 (Section 32) it is an offence to sell, offer or expose for sale any butter that contains more than 16 per cent. of water.

asked the Minister of Food how the negotiated Commonwealth price for Jamaican sugar compares with the latest United States price for Cuban sugar for consumption in the United States of America equivalent to £43 8s. 7d. per ton f.a.s.

The negotiated Commonwealth price for Jamaican sugar f.a.s. is £42 7s. 8d. per ton including £1 for the average value of the certificated preference.

asked the Minister of Education what action is being taken to give wide and more vigorous publicity to the activities of the Imperial Institute.

Publicity for the Institute is primarily the responsibility of the Board of Governors. They are taking vigorous steps to make the educational facilities of the Institute more widely known to education authorities and teachers, both in this country and in the Commonwealth, and I am glad to say that figures for the sales of publications, school lectures, and attendances at the Institute for the first quarter of this year, all show satisfactory increases. Where special publicity is required there is close co-operation between the Institute's staff and the Press officer of my Department. The "Queen and the Commonwealth" exhibitions beginning on 27th May should give wide and continuous publicity to the activities of the Institute throughout the summer.

asked the Minister of Education whether she will arrange for the grant to the Imperial Institute to be made on a quinquennial basis.

This was one of the recommendations of the Tweedsmuir Committee of Inquiry. I shall of course be ready to consider the views of the Board of Governors on this or on other recommendations of the Committee, but, as at present advised, I am not aware of any reason why the Imperial Institute should be treated differently in this respect from other national museums and galleries.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will now introduce a national mark for home-grown apples and pears.

My right hon. Friend has no evidence of any substantial demand from apple and pear growers for national mark schemes, but he will watch the position carefully.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of people from the county of Midlothian who are awaiting admission to Edinburgh hospitals.

I regret that this information is not available, since separate waiting lists are not maintained for particular areas.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of people from the county of Midlothian who were treated in Edinburgh hospitals last year.

The number of patients from Midlothian treated in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in 1952, was 2,689. I regret that I am unable to give figures for the other Edinburgh hospitals, but most Midlothian patients are treated in the Infirmary.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people are officially recorded as awaiting admission to the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, for treatment.

The total awaiting list at 31st March, 1953, was 3,788.

asked the Minister of Health what extra cost would fall on the Exchequer in this financial year if the National Health Service were made free in all respects.

It is of course difficult to estimate the level of demand that would result if charges were removed and therefore no accurate estimate is possible, but I think that the extra cost in a full year would be at least £40 million.

asked the Economic Secretary to the Treasury the present total of British investments in the United States of America.

The estimated nominal capital value of United Kingdom holdings of quoted United States domestic securities at the end of 1951 was £125 million. This figure, which is the latest available, continues a series of estimates for the years 1938 to 1950 published by the Bank of England.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will make a statement on the results of the loading tests on the Hay-on-Wye-Clyro bridge: and what recommendations have been made to the county councils of Breconshire and Radnorshire.

These tests have shown that the bridge has deteriorated during the 10 years since the last examination. My engineers have been in communication with the county councils and I understand that the Breconshire County Council have decided in favour of restricting the weights of vehicles using the bridge to 2½ tons with a 50-feet minimum spacing and a speed limit of 10 m.p.h. The matter will be considered by the Radnorshire County Council on the 8th May.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of police in the Metropolitan area engaged in seeing that vehicles are not parked in improper places; and what was the number of prosecutions made by them during the past year.

It is part of the normal duties of all police officers on beat and traffic patrol duty to enforce the law in regard to obstruction and waiting in restricted streets. In 1952, there were 18,075 prosecutions in the Metropolitan police district for obstruction by motor vehicles, and 969 for obstruction by horse-drawn and hand-propelled vehicles. There were 7,503 prosecutions in respect of motor vehicles waiting in a "no waiting" street, and 1,383 such prosecutions in respect of horse-drawn and hand-propelled vehicles. There were 103 prosecutions under Section 50 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, in respect of vehicles left in a dangerous position.