asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the estimated cost of removing Purchase Tax altogether on those articles which were taxed at the rate of 33⅓ per cent. before 15th April.

About £94 million in a full year, in addition to £30 million in a full year which is the cost of the reduction announced in the Budget.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the separate cost in each of the three ranges of Purchase Tax of the changes made in the Budget.

I estimate the cost in a full year of the tax reductions on goods formerly charged at 100 per cent., at £8 million; on goods formerly charged at 66— per cent., at about £22 million; and on those formerly charged at 33⅓ per cent., as stated in my earlier answer, about £30 million. In the present year the cost will be, respectively, £6 million, £16½ million, and £22½ million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much Purchase Tax was received from cotton textiles during the year 1952–53, compared with the year 1951–52.

While precise figures for this particular class of textile are not separately available, I estimate that less than one-half of the total receipts from textiles of £78½ million in 1951–52 and about £45 million in 1952–53 related to cotton textiles.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury to set out in tabular form the division between depreciation and initial allowances, current provision for maintenance and repair of buildings for a few pre-war years and several post-war years including the latest figures.

Figures showing the provision for depreciation for the years 1948–52 are given on page 11 of "Preliminary Estimates of National Income and Expenditure 1948 to 1952" (Cmd. 8803). The limitations of these figures are described on pages 85 and 86 of "National Income and Expenditure 1946–1951." Comparable figures for 1938, when however there were no initial allowances, are:

		£ million
Professional persons	…	197
Farmers	…
Other sole traders and partnerships	…
Companies	…
Public corporations	…	3
Central Government:—
Trading	…	10
Other	…	—
Local authorities:—
Trading	…	23
Other	…	32
TOTAL	…	265

Figures for the current provision for maintenance and repair of buildings are not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish, as an addendum to each of the five Income Tax tables contained in the financial statement, a table showing the number of persons in each income group and the total value of the reliefs given to each group by the Budget proposals.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 21st April, 1953, to the hon. Member for Stockton-on-Tees (Mr. Chetwynd), in which the numbers of taxpayers in various income groups and the aggregate value of the reliefs given to each group were shown.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of cattle on agricultural holdings at the latest available date.

The Agricultural Returns for December, 1952, showed the total number of cattle in the United Kingdom to be 9,892,000.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will make a statement on his order banning the movement of pigs in Shropshire and neighbouring counties.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I have given today to the hon. Member for Rugby (Mr. J. Johnson) and to my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Mr. Hurd).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to enable him to make regulations to ensure the safety of members of the public attending floodlit football matches.

At the instance of the Home Office, the attention of the clubs concerned has been drawn by their national associations to the importance of taking measures for the safety of spectators attending floodlit football matches, in particular by installing emergency lighting. I have no information to suggest that the clubs concerned are failing to take precautions, and on present information I see no grounds for legislation in the sense suggested by the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what certificates were granted last year for experiments on monkeys under the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876; how many experiments were performed; and what was the purpose of the experiments.

This information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give an assurance that St. James's Park will only be closed to traffic when abso- lutely necessary during rehearsals for the Trooping the Colour, as distinct from the actual ceremony; and if he will give the times of closing the widest possible publicity and encourage drivers to avoid the district as far as possible.

Yes. The Park will be closed for the minimum period necessary, and the arrangements will be publicised by Press and broadcast announcements. Drivers will be advised to avoid the area at these times and alternative routes are to be signposted.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware of the increase in the accident rate in industries where transport is involved and on prime movers; and what steps are being taken to reduce the number of accidents.

I am aware of the increases for 1951 as compared with 1950 reported on page 47 of the recently published Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories, under the headings of Transport Vehicles (except for railways) and Prime Movers, respectively. The predominating factors giving rise to such increases have been a progressive increase in the use of trucks and other methods of internal transport in connection with greater mechanisation, and the progressively greater use of sectional machine driving resulting in an increase in the number of prime movers. The increases in accidents under these heads are, however, offset to some extent by reductions in accidents under the heading of Handling Goods and under the heading of Transmission Machinery, respectively.The attention of managements has been drawn to various means of minimising transport accidents, and this is followed up by inspectors in the course of their visits. Inspectors also devote close attention to the fencing of prime movers.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will now make a statement on the employment of blind persons in Scotland; and on the appointment of a placements officer.

The conference to which my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary referred in his reply to the hon. Member on 24th March, decided that further information about the numbers of employable blind persons who are in need of employment was required before a decision could be made about the appointment of a placement officer. Inquiries are therefore to be made.

asked the Minister of Labour the figures of unemployment and under-employment, respectively, in the Falkirk area, expressed as percentages of the insured population; and what are the percentages for men, women, boys and girls, respectively.

The latest available figures relate to the numbers registered as unemployed on 16th March, They include persons working short-time or otherwise stood off from employment who were not at work at that date and were registered at the employment exchange, but they exclude short-time workers who were at work on that date but were stood off on some other day or days of the week.The numbers on the registers at the Falkirk Employment Exchange and Youth Employment Office at 16th March represented the following percentages of the estimated total numbers of employees in the area:

—		Total numbers on registers	Temporarily stopped (included in previous column)
Males	…	4·9	2·8
Females	…	5·8	1·5
TOTAL	…	5·2	2·4

It is not possible to compute separate figures for boys and girls under 18.

asked the Minister of Labour why a permit was issued recently in contravention of existing quota agreements to a foreign ventriloquist in a production at the London Casino, details of which have been sent him, although the names of equally suitable British ventriloquists were submitted by the Variety Artistes' Federation.

The maximum proportion of foreign acts permitted in variety shows is regulated by a quota recognised by the parties concerned and is not therefore dependent on the availability of British artistes.Shortly before the London Casino production was due to open and after the issue of permits for the foreign artistes, including the ventriloquist, there was some disagreement between the management and the Variety Artistes' Federation on whether the production came within the scope of the existing agreement on the quota. I understand that there are to be early discussions with a view to clarifying the scope of the agreement.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed in the London area, men and women; how many of these are over 40 years of age; and for what length of time they have been registered as unemployed.

The total numbers of men and women aged 18 and over on the registers of employment exchanges in Greater London at 16th March were 37,323 and 14,610, respectively. The latest date for which an age analysis is available is 8th December, 1952, when the total numbers of wholly unemployed men and women on the registers in Greater London were 37,095 and 13,766, of whom 20,810 and 6,776 were aged 40 and over. (The figures exclude a small number of temporarily stopped and "casual" unemployed for whom an age analysis is not available.)The following table gives an analysis of the figures for 16th March according to duration of unemployment:

Duration of unemployment (in weeks)		Men	Women
8 or less	…	22,974	11,704
Over 8 and up to 13	…	4,743	1,100
Over 13 and up to 26	…	5,057	1,073
Over 26 and up to 52	…	2,801	538
Over 52	…	1,748	195
TOTAL	…	37,323	14,610

asked the Minister of Labour whether the legislation concerning night baking, promised by him in his statement to the House on 24th July last, will be introduced this summer.

I am anxious to proceed with this matter as quickly as practicable. I do not expect, however, to be in a position to introduce legislation during this Session.

asked the Minister of Labour the total insured population of Scotland for each year from 1946–52, inclusive.

The total insured population includes not only employees but also self-employed persons and persons not gainfully occupied. It is assumed that the Question concerns insured employees, and the estimated total numbers of these in Scotland in each of the years 1948 to 1952 were as follows:

End-June 1948	…	…	…	2,090,000
End-May 1949	…	…	…	2,086,000
1950	…	…	…	2,105,000
1951	…	…	…	2,105,000
1952	…	…	…	2,102,000

The figures are based on counts of insurance cards held under the National Insurance Scheme, which came into operation in 1948. Comparable figures are not available for 1946 and 1947.

asked the Minister of Health what steps are taken to ascertain whether persons employed in the preparing, cooking and serving of food in hotels, restaurants and road-side cafes are free from infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.

There is no general power to require the persons concerned to be medically examined for this purpose, and my right hon. Friend is advised that the present state of our knowledge does not suggest that such a power would be justifiable as a means of preventing the spread of infection.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that constant appeals are being made for funds on behalf of the National Fund for Poliomyelitis Research; what steps are being taken to combat this disease; and whether he will consider increasing Government assistance to facilitate the work of finding a cure for the disease.

My right hon. Friend is aware of these appeals, and welcomes help which the fund may be able to give to supplement research in this field. Treatment is provided within the National Health Service mainly by the hospitals, in an increasing number of which special units are being provided. My right hon. Friend understands that an extensive programme of research is being sponsored by the Medical Research Council and is not restricted by lack of funds.

asked the Minister of Health what further research he is undertaking consequent upon the report of his chief medical officer that suspicion continues to be thrown on tobacco, especially heavy cigarette smoking, for the disturbing increase in male mortality from cancer.

This matter has been referred to my right hon. Friend's Standing Advisory Committee on Cancer and Radiotherapy, and he is awaiting their advice. Meanwhile, the existing research will be continued.

asked the Minister of Health to what extent the terms of reference of the Committee which is to investigate the costs of the National Health Service include powers to consider salaries paid to medical and non-medical staff, and the economies that might be effected by employing consultants on a full-time basis only.

My right hon. Friend would certainly not expect the Committee to deal with actual rates of pay. For the rest, the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. Friend are anxious not to hamper the Committee in their work by seeking to restrict their field of inquiry.

asked the Minister of Health whether he can make a further statement as to the composition of the Committee of inquiry into the National Health Service.

Not yet, but my right hon. Friend hopes to be in a position to do so in a few days.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to safeguard doctors from litigation resulting from their work in the health scheme.

Officers of the Department are at present discussing with representatives of the profession the relations, financial and other, between hospital authorities and their medical staffs when legal actions are brought against either or both.

asked the Minister of Health what evidence he has received from interested bodies that some people are not able to afford spectacles since the charges were introduced; and what classes of the community are especially affected.

While certain bodies have represented that some people may be deterred by the charges from obtaining glasses or be unwilling to apply to the National Assistance Board for help, no evidence to this effect has come to my right hon. Friend's notice.

asked the Minister of Health when David Wilson, who has been listed by the Manchester Regional Hospital Board for admission into a mental deficiency hospital since June, 1951, is likely to be found a place.

As explained in my right hon. Friend's recent letter to the hon. Member, owing to the number of even more urgent cases awaiting admission it is not possible to say when a vacancy is likely to arise for this patient.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the shortage of nursing staff at the West Park Hospital, Macclesfield, which is resulting in the closing down of wards; and what remedy he has to meet the situation.

Yes. My right hon. Friend is informed that the Hospital Management Committee is taking all possible steps to recruit additional nursing staff so as to reopen the closed beds.

asked the Minister of Health the estimated cost of maintenance of hospital buildings and plant for each regional hospital board area for 1953–54 as compared with 1952–53.

I regret that this information is not yet available.

asked the Minister of Health why the standard charge for children in day nurseries has been increased in Staffordshire to 8s. per day from 1s. 9d. per day for meals only.

The National Health Service Act, 1952, authorised a charge in respect of accommodation and services: the Act of 1946 authorised charges only for meals and articles provided.

asked the Minister of Education what profits have been made by the Teachers Superannuation Fund since its inception of the scheme in 1925 of the latest convenient date; for how many years ahead there will continue to be a credit balance; and when she estimates the scheme will begin to run at a loss.

The Teachers Superannuation Acts do not provide for the setting up of a fund, but the Government's Actuary reports include consolidated accounts of revenue and expenditure under the Acts. While the total of the contributions so far received exceeds the total of the pension payments made in respect of contributory service, this excess cannot be described as a "profit," as the contributions received have to be set against the Exchequer's future liability for the payments of pensions. I cannot forecast over what period current receipts by way of contributions are likely to exceed current outgoings by way of pension payments in respect of contributory service. But, as the last report of the Actuary shows, the estimated deficiency in the account, after allowing for the Exchequr's future liability, amounted to over £100 million at 31st March, 1948, the contributions received are less than sufficient to support the benefits payable, and the deficiency is therefore increasing.

asked the Minister of Education in view of the fact that the starting of the building of new schools was suspended for three months and only two schools, begun after January, 1952, have been completed, what special permission was given to enable nine schools, begun after October, 1951, to be completed.

No special permission was required; seven of the nine schools were started between 1st October, 1951, and the beginning of the three months' period to which the hon. Member refers, and two of them after its conclusion.

asked the Minister of Education if she can now give an assurance that the St. Aidan's Roman Catholic School, Huyton, cut out of last year's school building programme through the educational restrictions, will now be included in the programme for 1953–54.

I cannot usefully add to the reply which I gave to the right hon. Member on 4th December about the inclusion of this project in the Lancashire education authority's school building programme for 1953–54. The authority have not yet formally submitted their programme for 1954–55.

asked the Minister of Education the number of places provided by the £12,585 Blackfield County Primary School, Hampshire, and the £56,400 Birley County Primary School, Derbyshire.

160 and 320 places, respectively.

asked the Minister of Education if she is aware that workers in the school meals service in the Huyton area are being dismissed because of a reduction of 18 per cent. in the number of school meals now being taken; and what action she proposes to take in the matter.

I understand that there has been some reorganisation of the school meals service in the Huyton area, and that this, together with a reduction in the number of pupils taking school dinner, has resulted in some part-time dining room assistants becoming redundant. I am not proposing to take any special action in the matter.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what reply he proposes to make upon the offer made by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics delegate to the Economic Commission for Europe to further trade between our two countries.

Officials representing the Governments of almost all the countries in both Western and Eastern Europe are currently re-examining, under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Europe, what possibilities there may be for increasing trade between them. Since this meeting is still in session, I am sure that the right hon. Member would not wish me to anticipate its conclusions.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to which countries cast-iron enamelled baths were exported in 1952; and in what numbers.

I regret that I cannot provide this information, since exports of cast-iron enamelled baths were not separately recorded in the trade statistics in 1952. I would add, however, that figures of such exports have been separately recorded since January, 1953.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number and cost of umbrella handles and umbrella sticks, respectively, which may be imported into this country in the first six months of 1953 and in the second half of the year, respectively.

Umbrella handles and umbrella sticks may be imported from Western Europe and certain other foreign countries affected by our balance of payments restrictions under a quota for fancy goods which includes a number of other items. For the first six months of 1953 this quota is £25,000 and for the second half of the year, £32,000. Some imports of umbrella handles and umbrella sticks may also be made under trading arrangements with certain other foreign countries not covered by this quota. There is an open general licence for imports of these articles from the sterling area. I cannot estimate the number or cost of umbrella handles and umbrella sticks which will in fact be imported under these arrangements.

asked the Attorney-General whether he has yet completed his inquiries concerning an illustrated publication entitled, "The Place of Electricity in the Nation's Fuel and Power Policy," a copy of which has been sent to him, which purports to represent the views of the British Electricity Authority, but carries no imprint of the body or persons issuing the document, and no imprint of the publishers or printers and thus constitutes an offence; what steps have now been taken to establish whether this document was published with or without the authority of the British Electricity Authority, or by it; and, in view of the requirements of the statutes bearing on this matter, what steps he is taking to establish the identity of the issuers, printers and publishers of the document to secure compliance with the law.

I have now completed my inquiries and have given instructions for proceedings to be instituted against the British Electricity Authority for an infringement of the Newspapers, Printers and Reading Rooms (Repeal) Act, 1869.

asked the Minister of Civil Aviation if he is now in a position to say when this country will ratify the Rome Convention on Damage caused by Foreign Aircraft to Third Parties on the Surface.

asked the Minister of Civil Aviation whether he is now able to make a statement concerning the signature of the Convention on Damage caused by Foreign Aircraft to Third Parties on the Surface.

The Convention was signed on behalf of Her Majesty's Government on 22nd April, but its provisions will not come into force in this country until it has been ratified. I am unable at present to make any statement concerning ratification since legislation will be necessary before ratification can be effected.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what supervised credit programmes are to be instituted for the Uganda Credit and Savings Bank.

I assume that the hon. Member refers to the recently published Bill under which Africans who have no recognisable title to land may be granted loans for productive development from the Uganda Credit and Savings Bank on the recommendation of an African Local Government which would guarantee 50 per cent. of any such loan, and would have rights of supervision to ensure fulfilment of the terms of credit. Loans in respect of buildings and lands in townships and in Buganda are expressly excluded from the Bill.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why the Colonial Secretary in Singapore refused to meet the representatives of the seven Government employees industrial unions which had formed themselves into a council of action to discuss a joint application of the unions for an increase in the wages of the lower paid industrial workers; and why he afterwards agreed to meet the unions separately.

The council of action is an ad hoc body without legal status; it is not confined to the grades of employees whose pay is under negotiation and is not accountable to the individual employees concerned. The Government considered that they should negotiate direct with the properly constituted trade unions and are now negotiating jointly with the representatives of all the seven unions concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what arrangements have been made by Malta with other members of the Commonwealth, including the United Kingdom, in connection with the four-year migration scheme; and what proportion of the cost Her Majesty's Government is defraying.

I am asking the Deputy Governor to inquire from the Government of Malta about arrangements with other members of the Commonwealth. As regards arrangements with the United Kingdom, I am still awaiting proposals from the Government of Malta for a four-year programme of emigration: two- thirds of the cost of this programme, up to £200,000 in any one year, will be borne by Her Majesty's Government when the scheme is agreed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will instruct the Governor of Trinidad to take steps to establish a maximum of election expenditure by candidates for the Legislative Council and other public bodies in the Colony.

This is a matter for decision by the Trinidad Government. I understand they are at present considering the question.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by whom Her Majesty's Government is represented at the meeting of the inter-Governmental Committee for European Migration which is taking place this month in Geneva; when he hopes to receive a full report of this meeting; and when he will be in a position to announce the Government's policy in regard to this organisation.

The acting Head of the United Kingdom Permanent Delegation in Geneva is representing Her Majesty's Government as an observer at this meeting. I hope to receive a report of the proceedings shortly after the conclusion of the meeting. Her Majesty's Government's policy in regard to this organisation remains as stated in my reply to the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Derby, South (Mr. Noel-Baker) on 17th December last.