asked the Minister of Labour the average numbers of men, women, boys and girls, respectively, registering as unemployed at the Church Road, Walton, Liverpool Employment Exchange, during the first six months of each of the last five years; and the numbers of vacancies available in the separate groups.

The table below gives the available figures for men and women aged 18 and over. Young persons under 18 in the area register with the Liverpool Youth Employment Office, which covers the whole of the county borough. The total number of vacancies

AVERAGE NUMBERS OF UNEMPLOYED MEN AND WOMEN ON THE REGISTERS OF THE WALTON EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE DURING THE UNDERMENTIONED PERIODS AND THE NUMBERS OF VACANCIES NOTIFIED TO THE EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE AND REMAINING UNFILLED AT THE END OF EACH PERIOD.
Period							Average numbers of unemployed persons on the registers		Number of vacancies notified to the Employment Exchange and remaining unfilled at the end of the period
							Men	Women	Men	Women
January—June,		1949	…	…	…	…	2,435	1,048	278	860
January—June,		1950	…	…	…	…	2,102	1,365	212	160
January—June,		1951	…	…	…	…	1,462	1,006	484	333
January—June,		1952	…	…	…	…	1,367	1,327	494	279
January—June,		1953	…	…	…	…	1,961	1,298	196	232

asked the Minister of Labour what grades of staff are employed upon the collection of information for the Household Expenditure Inquiry; how much of the work will be done on overtime; and what is the estimated cost of this extra work.

Information is collected by Grade 5 Officers and Grade 6 Officers—mostly Grade 6—of the Ministry of Labour and by part-time interviewers of the Central Office of Information who are making about one-third of the inquiries. Most of the work undertaken by the Ministry requires overtime working, as the visits to householders are normally made outside official hours in

asked the Minister of Labour to what extent the work in connection with the Household Expenditure Inquiry is being undertaken by staff who would otherwise be redundant.

Apart from a small number of headquarters staff engaged on the tabulation and interpretation of the statistics, no staff engaged on the inquiry would otherwise be redundant. The collection of information is a part-time job and much of the work is necessarily done outside office hours.

asked the Minister of Health what estimate he has of the numbers of citizens who are suffering from duodenitis and from gastric and duodenal ulcers; what evidence exists that the numbers are increasing or decreasing; and how far liquid milk is still advised by his Department in treating these conditions.

No figures are available for duodenitis, but it is estimated that about one person in 100 in England and Wales is suffering from gastric or duodenal ulcer. There is no evidence of any material change in total numbers in recent years, but the number of deaths from duodenal ulcer has increased and that from gastric ulcer has fallen. Responsibility for the treatment of patients must rest with the doctors in charge, and my Department does not issue advice in these matters.

asked the Minister of Health the number of centres in England and Wales in which cases of pneumoconiosis are treated by inhalation of powdered aluminium; and to what extent it is proposed to continue this type of therapy.

The Medical Research Council's trial of this treatment ended in April and conclusions as to its future usefulness must await the report. So far as is known, one privately provided centre is still using the method.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the Leeds Hospital Board is negotiating for the purchase of a house in Church Lane, Kirk Ella, to be used as an annexe to the De La Pole Mental Hospital, Willerby; that this proposal is opposed by the local authority concerned and resented by the residents in the neighbourhood; and what action he proposes to take in the matter.

Yes. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local Government is, at my request, arranging a local inquiry at which all the objectors can have their representations heard and considered.

asked the Minister of Health if he will arrange for a young man, particulars of whose case he has been sent, to be allowed to go home for the day occasionally from St. James's Hospital, Portsmouth.

This is a matter for the medical superintendent of the hospital to decide and I cannot intervene. I am advised that he considers the patient unsafe to be at large.

asked the Minister of Health what immediate steps he proposes to take to encourage doctors to reduce the present high cost of prescribing and so release funds for improvements elsewhere in the National Health Service.

Without prejudice to their right to prescribe whatever they think necessary in an individual case, I have recently invited all doctors to reexamine the cost of their prescribing. They have been supplied with lists of proprietary preparations classified by the Joint Committee on Prescribing as consisting of or including drugs of doubtful therapeutic value, which they have been asked to avoid prescribing, and of nonstandard drugs of proved value which the Committee recommended should be freely prescribable. Copies of these lists will be placed in the Library of the House. I have suggested to doctors that they should not prescribe other proprietary preparations without first comparing the cost with that of equivalent or similar standard preparations; and I have reminded them of the need for proper economy when prescribing standard products. I have been assured of the co-operation of the medical profession in our joint efforts to keep the cost of prescribing within proper limits.

asked the Minister of Education at which primary schools in Cornwall the managers, having regard to Section 4 (2) of the Education Act, 1948, are not prepared to admit children to school on reaching the age of five.

This information is not available in my Department, but it is possible that the Cornwall local education authority would be able to let the hon. Member have it direct.

asked the Minister of Education the reasons for the decline in the take-up of school meals from 2,757,608 in June, 1952, as compared with 2,509,786 in June, 1953; and how many of the total decline of 247,822 school meals was accounted for by non-take-up in the county borough of West Ham.

It is probably due to a number of causes, but I have no means of knowing how far any particular cause has been responsible. The decline in West Ham was 1,153, from 38·6 per cent. of the children in attendance in June, 1952, to 32·3 per cent. in June, 1953.

asked the Minister of Education the number of children taking school meals in Wales at the latest convenient date and the comparable number for 1952.

The number of children in maintained and assisted schools in Wales having dinner on a day in June, 1952, was 183,965 (49·4 per cent. of the children in attendance); the figure for June, 1953, is 161,127 (42·3 per cent).

asked the Minister of Education whether, in view of the fall in the number of children taking school meals from 2,757,600 in June, 1952, to 2,509,786 in June, 1953, she will now cancel the additional charge imposed last March on the price of these meals.

No.

asked the Minister of Education if she is satisfied with the progress on the schools building programme for 1953–54 made by the Essex County Education Authority for the new town of Harlow; and that the two primary schools due to be completed in December, 1953, will be finished according to programme.

I understand from the authority that they are up to date with their schedule of work on the 1953–54 programme of new schools in Harlow, and that the first two primary schools, which started in April, will be finished at the end of this year.

asked the Minister of Education if she is aware that there is about twice the normal density of the population in the 0–4 age groups in the new town of Harlow; and whether she will consider these special facts in approving future school building programme for the county of Essex.

I am aware of the high proportion of children in these age groups in the new town, and I shall continue to take it into account in determining the size of future school building programmes.

asked the Minister of Education if she will now make and publish a calculation of the number of school places required adequately to cater for the growing number of children in the schools and for the children moving to new areas; and if she will make this calculation the basis of determining her policy in the matter of school building.

No. I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave him on 16th July and to my Department's reply to the Select Committee on Estimates, published as their Tenth Report.

asked the Minister of Education how the estimate of 1,480,000 places, mentioned in the footnote of page 5 of her Department's reply to the Select Committee on Estimates, was arrived at.

This was explained in the answer which I gave the hon. Member on the 17th July, 1952. 1,480,000 represents the 1,593,000 mentioned in that reply, less the 110,000 written off by my predecessor when he decided to re-cast the school building programme on the basis of maintaining class sizes at the level existing at the end of 1949.

asked the Minister of Education, after a development plan has been approved by her under Section 11 (4) of the Education Act, 1944, what steps she subsequently takes to authorise such amendments to the plan as prove to be desirable.

The Education Act, 1944, does not provide for the formal amendment of a development plan which has been approved by the Minister. Where, however, local authorities have made desirable amendments to their plans in agreement with persons interested locally, neither my predecessor nor I have raised any objection.

asked the Minister of Education if she is aware of the serious lack of secondary education in South Warwickshire; and what steps she is taking to remedy this.

I am aware that many senior children in South Warwickshire are being educated in all-age schools. I regret that I cannot spare building resources solely for the purpose of reorganising such schools. I have, however, included in the Warwickshire authority's programmes for 1953–54 and 1954–55 instalments of new secondary schools at Studley and Shipston-on-Stour, respectively, which will result in some reorganisation.

asked the Minister of Education if she will make a statement on the request which has been made to her by the Graduate Teacher Association for a separate panel on the Burnham Committee.

I cannot add to the answer which I gave to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Ilford, North (Sir G. Hutchinson) on 14th July last.

asked the Minister of Education what instructions or advice she has given to head teachers of day secondary schools as to the out-of-school political activities of their pupils.

None.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the hon. Member for Uxbridge can expect a reply to his letter of 5th May asking why the youth organisation known as the Woodcraft Folk cannot be put on the same basis for tax purposes as other youth organisations.

A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 21st July.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any statement to make with regard to the views on the convertibility of the £ sterling expressed in the Fourth Annual Report of the International Monetary Fund; and whether, in connection with the scheme foreshadowed by the fund for letting the £ find its own value, he will take steps to liberate this country from the restrictions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade as a necessary corollary to freeing the £.

I cannot usefully add anything to my right hon. Friend's statement of 17th March in which he underlined the conditions precedent to sterling convertibility. The I.M.F. Report emphasises the importance of these conditions. In answer to the second part of the Question, I am not aware that a scheme in the terms stated has been foreshadowed in the Report.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that the annual reports and statement of accounts of the Inter-Parliamentary Union are not available for Members in the House of Commons Library, nor on request from the office of the Inter-Parliamentary Union; and whether, before making any further grant in aid, he will make it a condition that these documents are placed in the House of Commons Library for the reference of hon. Members.

I understand that every member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union is sent a copy of the annual Report and statement of accounts, and that arrangements have been made for a copy of these documents for this year and for future years to be placed in the Library. The second part of the Question does not therefore arise.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will increase the maximum amount allowed for annuity that may be purchased from the Post Office from the present figure of £300, in view of the increased cost of living since this amount was first fixed.

Government annuities in excess of £300 per annum can be purchased from the National Debt Office and, so far as I am aware, there is no general demand for an increase in the Post Office limit. Any such change would, of course, require legislation.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what steps are being taken to meet the demand for smallholdings in Durham county where there is a large waiting list for such holdings.

Although land with vacant possession is difficult to find, the county council are seeking opportunities, by purchase of new land and by reorganisation of their present smallholdings land, to create more full-time holdings.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many applications have been received by Durham County Council since and including 1950 from tenants on smallholdings for additional equipment such as piggeries and poultry houses; how many applications have been granted; and what has been the capital cost of such equipment.

My right hon. Friend is informed that up to 16th July last six applications had been received and five had been granted, the capital outlay being £1,152. The sixth application is still under consideration.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the number of pigs which have been affected by swine fever this year; the number which have been lost; and the number which have recovered from the disease.

No figures are available of the number of pigs affected by swine fever or of the number that recover. This year there have been 1,868 outbreaks in Great Britain and about 13,000 deaths from the disease have so far been recorded. This excludes deaths that have occurred on premises where movement restrictions are still in force, figures for which are not yet available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture why his Department insists that all correspondence sent to his Department in connection with the Fertilisers Scheme, 1952, should bear prepaid postage.

It is the general rule that letters to Government Departments should be prepaid unless the correspondence is in the interests of the Department concerned. Both farmers and merchants benefit from the operation of the Fertilisers Scheme and my right hon. Friend can see no justification for meeting the cost of postage from public funds.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what quantity of lime has been applied in Dorset during the last 12 months; and if he is satisfied that the farmers are taking full advantage of the present scheme.

Farmers in Dorset applied about 50,000 tons of liming materials in the last 12 months. This represents an increase of nearly a third over the previous year and shows that good advantage is being taken of the scheme.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many acres in Dorset have qualified for the £10 per acre ploughing grant in the past 12 months; and if he is satisfied with the progress of reclamation in the county.

1,990, which my right hon. Friend thinks is a useful beginning

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many calves have been reared in Dorset during the past 12 months; and what were the numbers for the corresponding periods in 1950, 1951 and 1952.

The only statistics available are those of the number of calves on farms at the census dates and these do not indicate how many are being reared. The total number of calves in Dorset at December, 1950, 1951 and 1952, which is the latest date for which figures are at present available, was 26,000, 24,500 and 27,000, respectively.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the recommendation for a further wage increase for agricultural workers, he will arrange for an interim price review to take place immediately.

The award of the Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales is provisional and will be further considered at the next meeting of the Board on 31st July. The Agricultural Wages Board for Scotland is to meet on 27th July, and I understand that no meeting of the Board for Northern Ireland has yet been arranged.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will now outline the Government's proposals for the marketing of home-grown cereals.

I am sorry I cannot at present add to the report I gave to the House in the debate on agriculture on 2nd July. Discussions with the producers and other interests concerned are still going on. It is my intention to make an announcement at the earliest possible moment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT the names of all those witnesses who appeared before the Scott Henderson tribunal together with the nature of their evidence and the particularised reasons why each piece of evidence was not published; or in the case of witnesses whose names he cannot give, the reasons why he cannot give them.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a photograph of the exhumed body of Mrs. Beryl Evans, a copy of which has been sent to him by the hon. Member for Brixton, was included with the other documents considered by Mr. Scott Henderson, Q.C., in the course of his recent inquiry.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make available to hon. Members a copy of that part of the transcript of the evidence taken before Mr. John Scott Henderson, Q.C., during his investigation of the cases of Regina versus Christie and Rex versus Evans relating to or bearing upon the time of the murder of Mrs. Evans by placing it in the Library of the House of Commons.

Mr. Scott Henderson, as pointed out in his report, had access to all the material which he considered relevant for the purposes of his inquiry, and he included in his report such extracts from, and summaries of, the material, both oral and written, as he judged to be relevant and necessary. I am not prepared to ask him to supplement the information contained in his report.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make available to hon. Members who wish to see it the log book kept at Pentonville Prison in which are entered statements made by John Christie up to the moment of his execution.

No. It is the long established practice not to disclose the contents of this confidential document, and I am not prepared to authorise a departure from that practice in this case.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the police forces as to the practicability, or otherwise, of enforcing the 20 mile-per-hour limit for goods vehicles over three tons.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will exercise his powers under the Capital Punishment (Amendment) Act, 1868, to provide that sentence of death shall be carried out before 6 a.m. on the day fixed.

The Royal Commission on Capital Punishment have been reviewing the arrangements for the execution of capital sentences and I propose to await any recommendations they may make before considering whether any change in the rules made under the Capital Punishment (Amendment) Act. 1868, is desirable.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances statements made by convicted prisoners to chaplains are communicated to the prison authorities.

Statements made by a prisoner in the course of religious confession are inviolate. Private conversations between a prisoner and the chaplain are not disclosed to a third party without the prisoner's consent, except where information is obtained of matters prejudicial to the safety or good order of the prison.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why it was decided that the patrol stewards employed by the Metropolitan Police to supervise schoolchildren crossing roads should lose three days' pay during the recent Coronation period; and, in view of the special circumstances and the fact that many depend on the pay to augment their low income, whether he will arrange that they shall be paid for that period.

These patrols accept appointment on the basis that they are paid for duty done, and are not to expect pay in respect of days when the schools are closed. The days on which schools were closed during Coronation week varied, but I have thought it right to authorise the grant to patrols of one day's pay in respect of Coronation day itself.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he will take in cases calling for the preventing of the disturbance of urban amenities from low-flying and noisy aircraft; what conversations he has had with the Secretary of State for Air in respect of this matter; and whether he will further confer with him in order to minimise the nuisance and to confine any necessary aerial exercises to publicly announced times and areas.

As I have explained to the hon. Member, this is not a matter for which the Home Secretary is responsible. I am bringing the suggestion in the last part of the Question to the notice of the Secretary of State for Air.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to state for each of the years 1938, 1946, and 1952 the number of cases known to the police of sex offences against children.

Sexual offences known to the police in England and Wales are not in general recorded according to the age of the victim. I give below, however, particulars of the number of offences of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 13 years of age and of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl between 13 and 16 years of age known to the police for the years referred to in the Question.

	1938	1946	1952
Unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under thirteen	80	109	199
Unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl between thirteen and sixteen	477	684	1,127

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied that the maximum punishments which can be inflicted for sex offences against children are adequate and appropriate.

I have no reason to think that the maximum penalties for such offences are not adequate. The majority of sexual offences are triable only on indictment and are punishable with maximum terms of imprisonment ranging from two years to life. The only offences of this character which may be tried summarily with the consent of the accused are indecent assaults when committed against male or female persons under the age of 16 years. The maximum penalty is then six months' imprisonment or a fine of £100, or both. It is open to the court in serious cases of indecent assault to commit the accused for trial at quarter sessions or assizes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what authority the police forbid the holding of meetings at West Green Corner, Tottenham; if he is aware that political meetings have been held at this spot for many years without disorder until the arrival of the Union Movement; and if he will withdraw any order which would prevent freedom of speech.

It is the duty of the police at public meetings to prevent obstruction and to ensure that there is no breach of the peace. In the performance of this duty the police have found it necessary to restrict the number of meetings held at West Green Corner, where the building of an ornamental garden has recently reduced the capacity of the site. There is no discrimination on the part of the police as between the meetings of particular organisations, and I cannot accept the implication in the last part of the Question.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will consider making available for confidential treatment to Army authorities the records of newly recruited National Service men where such records show imprisonment or delinquency.

There is no machinery at my disposal that would enable me to volunteer information to the military authorities about the past records of men called up for National Service except in the case of Borstal inmates who are called up for National Service immediately after completing their Borstal training. As regards them, I have for some time been in consultation with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War with a view to arrangements being worked out which will protect the interests of the Army without prejudicing the interests of the men concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in view of the bad herring season and the opinion of the industry and the Herring Board that a closed season would be of benefit to the industry, he will take steps to impose a closed season.

I have no power to impose a closed season. Although the Board in their last annual report mention closed seasons as a means of improving the quality of herrings and kippers, they have as yet formulated no specific proposals on the subject.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) which education authorities have expressed to him their objections to the Draft Training of Teachers (Scotland) (Amendment No. 7) Regulations, 1953;

The following bodies have supported the proposal in the Draft Regulations without suggesting any amendments:

Edinburgh Education Authority.

Moray and Nairn Education Authority.

Sutherland Education Authority.

The Association of Directors of Education.

The Association of Headmistresses (Scottish Branch).

The following have suggested that a pass in higher English should remain essential:

Angus Education Authority.

East Lothian Education Authority.

Peeblesshire Education Authority.

Perthshire Education Authority.

The National Committee for the Training of Teachers.

I have amended the Draft to give effect to this suggestion. Angus Education Authority suggested that a higher pass in another subject should also remain essential, but I have not accepted this proposal. The following have suggested that the proposed changes should be temporary:

Midlothian Education Authority.

Kirkcudbright Education Authority.

The Edinburgh College of Domestic Science.

I have not specifically provided for this because the standards required for entry to training colleges have frequently been changed in the past and are subject to alteration at any time. The following education authorities have opposed the Draft Regulations:

Aberdeen Education Authority.

Glasgow Education Authority.

Dumfriesshire Education Authority.

Kincardine Education Authority.

Lanarkshire Education Authority.

Renfrewshire Education Authority.

The Provincial Committees for the Training of Teachers of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen have objected to the Draft, but as I have said the National Committee for Scotland has approved them.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how far representations have been made to him by the Scottish universities on the Draft Training of Teachers (Scotland) (Amendment No. 7) Regulations, 1953; what was the nature of these representations; and by which universities were they made.

I have received representations from the Senatus of Aberdeen University. The representations recognise that the change in the standard of entry to the training colleges is intended to relieve the shortage of teachers and that the existing shortage and the employment of uncertificated teachers are both disadvantageous to education. They point out that the high birth-rate in the years immediately following the war has since declined and that this will result in a smaller school population within a measurable distance of time, but that the teachers who have been admitted to the training colleges with a lower qualification will remain in the schools for many years. I do not think that these representations take sufficient account of the forecast made by the Committee on the Supply of Teachers that if additional steps were not taken to increase the supply of primary teachers there would by the end of 1956–57 be a deficiency of over 2,000.