asked the Minister of National Insurance how many claims for injury benefit were made under the Industrial Injuries Act in each year from 1949 to 1952; and how many of these claims came from the mining industry.

The available information, which relates to awards of injury benefit, is set out in the table below.

asked the Minister of National Insurance how many fatal accident claims were made under the Industrial Injuries Act in each year from 1949 to 1952.

Figures of claims are not available, but figures of awards are as follows:

asked the Minister of National Insurance if he is aware that a death grant of £6 was awarded to one of the constituents of the hon. Member for Cheadle in respect of the death of a child; and that, because the father delayed in cashing the draft, his Department repudiated the payment; and what action he is taking to deal with this practice.

The rules regarding the extinguishment of right to benefit where a draft or order is not presented for payment within a reasonable time were modified to bring them into line with recommendations made by the National Insurance Advisory Committee in a report presented to Parliament in March, 1952. I see no reason to alter them.

asked the Minister of Materials why he allowed the volume of pitwood imported into this country in 1952, a year of high prices in the exporting countries, to be 75 per cent. greater than the amount imported in 1951, and 100 per cent. greater than the amount imported in 1950, when the production for our home woodlands was and is capable of considerable expansion year by year; and what is his policy for 1953 and 1954.

Stocks of pitwood were heavily drawn on in 1950, and supplies were still below consumption during 1951, when stocks fell so low as to jeopardise coal production. In 1952 heavy purchases at home and abroad by the National Coal Board were needed to rebuild sound working stocks, with some margin to spare against an international emergency. Purchases of home-grown mining timber in 1952 were 50 per cent. above those of the previous year, and represented the maximum that could be procured after special arrangements to expand home production. The policy in 1953 and 1954 will, as in the past, be to authorise the import of pitwood only at a rate which, taking full account of the availability of home produced timber, enables consumption to be met and adequate stocks maintained.

asked the Minister of Materials if he is prepared to consider giving the same cover facilities for raw materials to the wool trade as those he proposes to give to the cotton industry.

No. The circumstances which led to the cotton cover facilities for this next year, to which the hon. Member refers, are special to the cotton trade, and do not apply to the wool trade.

asked the Minister of Transport if he has investigated the probability that flashing beacons on pedestrian crossings near traffic lights may confuse drivers of motor vehicles; and if he is satisfied that this will not be the case.

The possibility was considered, but the flashing sign is distinctive and, so far is I am aware no confusion has arisen.

asked the Minister of Transport if the meeting has yet taken place between the Durham county and city councils and officers from his Department and from the Ministry of Housing and Local Government on the question of the new road through Durham; and if he will make a statement.

Yes, a meeting was held on 26th April and it was agreed that further information on the probable costs of the schemes and the movement of traffic in the centre of the city should be obtained. As a result of the meeting, an Origin and Destination Survey was taken last Friday, 26th June.

asked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been drawn to the danger to life caused in Western Avenue, Orbital Road, Car diff, due to the absence of any speed limit being imposed upon traffic; and whether he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has given the most careful consideration to the Cardiff Corporation's application for the 30 m.p.h. speed limit to be re-imposed on 2,800 yards of Western Avenue, but must adhere to his decision that he would not be justified in approving it.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the interest in the matter of raising the maximum speed limit of 20 miles per hour imposed on certain goods vehicles, he will in future arrange for records of speed limit prosecutions to be kept in such a way as to indicate how many prosecutions are brought for infringement of the 20 miles per hour limit in particular.

I have been asked to reply. No. My right hon. and learned Friend does not think that the value of the information so obtained would justify the additional work which would be imposed on the police, who are at present undermanned and overworked.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will arrange for individual import licences instead of the block-licence system now in existence for the import of broccoli and cauliflowers; or, alternatively, if he will have the seasonal import quota divided into weekly or fortnightly quotas throughout the periods of restricted imports.

For those vegetables, including cauliflower and broccoli, where crop prospects are subject to rapid variation, it is necessary to be able to adjust the import quotas at short notice, and this would not be possible under a system of individual specific licensing. The enforcement of the block licensing arrangements, however, depends on the receipt of periodic returns of actual imports which enable the licences to be suspended as soon as the quota approaches fulfilment. It would, therefore, not be generally practicable to enforce quotas fixed for as short a period as a week or a fortnight.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of factories commenced to be built and completed for each of the years from 1945 until the