asked the Minister of Food his present plans to maintain for the British people a steady and continuous supply of fish at reasonable prices.

Plans for increasing the efficiency of the trade are primarily the concern of the White Fish Authority and the Herring Industry Board and practicable measures aimed at marketing improvements will have the support of my right hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Minister of Food in view of the developments in the fishing industry, if he will set up a committee to enquire into the cost of the distribution of fish.

No. The White Fish Authority are already doing this.

asked the Minister of Food the number of rations of foodstuffs not taken up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne for the last available ration period.

Information on a local basis is available only for meat. In the four weeks ended 3rd October, deliveries to butchers in the area served by the Newcastle-upon-Tyne depot averaged 1½ per cent. less than their ration entitlement. This 1½per cent. includes non-take-up by catering establishments and institutions which cannot be isolated as a separate item. If one ignored this factor, the shortfall could be expressed as 13,000 rations in a community entitled to 850,000 rations.

asked the Minister of Food why increases in butter, cooking fats, margarine and sugar were announced by his Department on 6th August, 1953, and Parliament not informed prior to 30th July.

The announcement was made at the earliest practicable moment.

asked the Minister of Food whether, in view of the congestion therein, he is satisfied with the provision of slaughterhouses in Sunderland.

No. It is for this reason that Sunderland was in the original building programme of Government slaughterhouses.

asked the Minister of Food what action he will take to reduce the retail price of the less popular cuts of meat, such as scrags, middles, flanks and brisket.

My right hon. and gallant Friend has no present proposals. I should, however, inform the hon. and gallant Gentleman that the prices of imported and second quality scrags and middles were reduced by 3d. per 1b. as recently as last July.

asked the Minister of Food why the price of sugar, since derationing, has been reduced for the brewing industry and not for the general public; and whether he will re-impose control to remove this anomaly.

It was the policy of successive Governments to subsidise the price of sugar to the housewife and to recover part or all of the subsidy in the price charged for sugar for manufacturing purposes. In the free conditions now obtaining, which have been warmly welcomed on all sides, the price of sugar for manufacturing purposes, including brewing, has naturally been put on the same basis for all uses. There is no anomaly to remedy.

asked the Minister of Food what steps he is taking to reduce the price of those foodstuffs under his control.

The policy of Her Majesty's Government is to eliminate controls and rationing as soon as practicable. We believe that by efficient private trading and effective competition, the best interests of the consumer will be served in respect of quantity, quality and price.

asked the Minister of Food the retail price of the principal items of food for which his Department is responsible at the nearest convenient date, and the comparable figures for 1951.

The only satisfactory measure of general changes in food prices is provided by the Interim Index of Prices. Between the revision of the Index at the end of 1951 and August, 1953, the food section rose by 12 per cent.

asked the Minister of Food why the price of eggs is so high; and what are the prospects of supply to the domestic consumer during the coming winter.

The shops have ample supplies of eggs at prices varying between 3½d. and 5½d. each according to size and country of origin. Only top-weight English eggs cost more. Supplies this winter should be reasonably good.

asked the Minister of Supply in what instances, since 29th June, the Inter-Departmental Committee on the allocation of steel plates has been able to arrange improved deliveries of steel plates for Wear shipbuilders.

During the period prior to 29th June, increased deliveries of steel-plate were arranged for all the shipbuilders on Wearside. Since then three of these firms have made applications for some further assistance. One of these applications has been satisfactorily dealt with. The other two applications, which were submitted more recently, are receiving attention.The Inter-Departmental Committee has proved most useful. Since its formation last April, it has arranged improved deliveries of plate to some 33 shipbuilders, ship repairers and marine engineers in different parts of the country.

asked the Minister of Supply whether he is in a position to make a statement about the prospects of developing atomic energy for industrial uses in Scotland; and whether a site has been chosen for building a breeder-reactor.

I regret that I am not yet in a position to make a statement on this subject.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he requested the National Insurance Advisory Committee for their observations on the situation arising from the lapsing of Section 62 of the National Insurance Act, 1946.

No.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will, in view of the growing disquiet now showing itself in the industrial areas of the country, which is arising from the lapsing of Section 62 of the National Insurance Act, 1946, give further consideration to the matter.

No. The information I have received about the effects of the lapsing of the provision for extended benefit does not lead me to question the correctness of the decision taken in 1946 to limit its operation to a period of five years.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will revise the regulations governing the allowance for a lowered standard of occupation, so that pensioners with 60 per cent. disability and upwards, who may be awarded an increase in their basic pension, shall be subject only to a proportionate decrease in the rate of allowance for lowered standard of occupation, even where this should bring the aggregate of pension and allowance to a figure in excess of 55s. a week.

No. The effect of the hon. Member's proposal would be that a partially disabled pensioner might draw by way of pension and allowance for lowered standard of occupation more than the pension rate for a totally disabled man assessed at 100 per cent.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance when he proposes to present a new Royal War-rent on Pensions in order to assist disabled ex-Service men.

I am giving close study to the war pensions provisions, but I am not at the moment contemplating tine presentation of a new Royal Warrant.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will make provision for a special allowance to elderly war pensioners in respect of amputations.

On existing medical advice I have no ground for discriminating in this way between the elderly limbless and other classes of elderly war pensioners.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will make a statement, following consideration of the correspondence sent to him by the hon. Member for Dartford, giving details of the hardships now being experienced by many old age pensioners, indicating that the present scales are insufficient; and what action is contemplated to meet the urgency of the present situation.

I have not yet completed inquiries into the seven cases covered by the correspondence which I received from the hon. Member last Wednesday. As soon as I have done so, I will write to him.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what a 5s. per week increase on the basic pensions to all old age pensioners would cost.

An increase of 5s. a week in retirement pensions and contributory old age pensions would cost an extra£56 million a year now, rising to double that amount in 25 years' time.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether, to assist those in receipt of pensions and allowances to meet the increasing cost of living, he will introduce the necessary regulations to ensure that all pensions and allowances will automatically rise in accordance with the cost of living.

No. This has never been regarded as practicable. Moreover, the cost of living has been practically stationary since pensions and other benefits were increased last year.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what would be the additional cost of an increase of 10s. a week in the retirement pension; and what would be the offset saving to the Exchequer in its grants to the Assistance Board.

An increase of 10s. a week in retirement pensions would cost an additional£110 million a year now, rising to double that amount in 25 years' time. The immediate consequential saving to the Exchequer on National Assistance payments might be of the order of£25 million a year.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the total number of persons in receipt of National Assistance as at the latest available date; how this compares with the position at the end of December, 1952; and how many are retirement pensioners or other categories of insured persons.

At 29th September, 1953, regular weekly grants of National Assistance were being paid to 1,713,197 persons, of whom 1,191,839 had retirement pensions or other National Insurance benefits. The comparable figures at 16th December, 1952, were 1,667,078 and 1,147,870.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will have published in HANSARD as comprehensive a list as possible, of the major diseases which give rise to appreciable loss of working time, tabulating the diseases according to the amount of time lost in each case.

I regret that I cannot, with the available information, publish a list of the kind asked for. A good deal of information is given in the Department's Annual Report, and I am sending the hon. Member some further details which, I hope, will be of use to him.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the number and grades of technical staff employed in his Department's Fuel Advisory Service now proposed to be transferred to the new Fuel Efficiency Advisory Company.

There are 150 technical staff at present employed in the Ministry's Fuel Efficiency Advisory Service. Of these 94 are in the professional fuel engineering grades and the remainder are employed in a lower technical capacity. It will be for the Fuel Efficiency Advisory Company to select its own staff, but all facilities will be given to the existing staff to apply for such appointments.

asked the Minister of State, Board of Trade, as representing the Minister of Materials, if he will publish tables showing the reduction in imports of hardwood and softwood, in pursuance of the Government's undertaking to assist the orderly marketing of timber blown in the gale of 31st January, 1953.

As regards softwood, I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power (1) the amount of expenditure on, and the number of persons fully engaged in, research on safety in mines in each of the last three years; and if he will take steps to increase the resources of the Safety in Mines Research Establishment in view of the importance of preventing accidents underground;(2) to what extent economies have been imposed on, and work has been slowed down at, the Safety in Mines Research Establishment since he took office.

My right hon. Friend is fully aware of the importance of research to prevent accidents underground. There was a temporary standstill in staff recruitment between the end of 1951 and early in 1952, but recruitment was resumed in May, 1952, and the statement below shows that in fact the staff and the expenditure increased in each of the last three years.to the reply given to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Berwick and East Lothian (Major Anstruther-Gray) on 18th June. As regards hardwood, imports from the sterling area are on open general licence, but those from the dollar area are restricted to essential types not obtainable elsewhere, and those from the rest of the world are strictly limited for currency reasons. There should therefore be no severe competition from non-sterling imports in selling the hardwood resulting from the windblow.

asked the Minister of State, Board of Trade, as representing the Minister of Materials, if he has now given fresh consideration to the suggestion that the present restrictions on the importation of softwood should be terminated; and if he will make a statement.

I presume my hon. and gallant Friend is referring to the present restrictions on the consumption of softwood. My noble Friend has already had discussions with the trade on this matter. It involves an issue of balance of payments, and he cannot, at this stage, make any statement on this subject.

asked the Minister of State, Board of Trade, as representing the Minister of Materials, when he proposes to wind up the Jute Control.

I am not at present in a position to make a statement on the future of the Jute Control. My noble Friend has the question under review.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether a decision has yet been reached as to which London square is to be used for an experimental underground parking scheme; and when it is expected that work will commence.

Not yet, but I hope to reach a decision fairly soon.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the Committee on the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil.

I am not yet in a position to add to the reply to a similar Question which my hon. Friend put to me on 27th July, when I said that, though many of the Committee's recommendations called for legislation, the British shipowners' organisations had advised their members to give effect voluntarily to those recommendations which they could put into force at once.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation to give a list of the road improvement schemes, amounting to£1,100 million, awaiting his approval; and whether he can yet give any indication as to the steps it is proposed to take to initiate and carry through the necessary programme for their completion.

I assume that the hon. Member is referring to my recent estimate of£1,100 million, which was intended to represent very approximately the cost of all the road proposals included, for the first 20-year period, in the development plans submitted or in course of preparation by local planning authorities. Most of the schemes in these plans have not reached the stage of detailed consideration and progress with them will depend on the financial circumstances prevailing at the time of submission.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to improve the franchise by enabling all citizens over 18 years of age to vote in parliamentary and local elections.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is prepared to publish in Welsh all Acts of Parliament relative to local authorities in Wales.

No. This expenditure would be difficult to justify.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is now in a position to make a report on the experience gained through the prototype Civil Defence mobile column.

The Civil Defence experimental mobile rescue column has provided the answers to a considerable number of operational and administrative problems, and these will be embodied, in due course, in a manual of instructions for the organisation, training and employment of mobile rescue columns. In the course of some six months of touring, through England, Scotland and Wales, it has been able to cooperate with the local authorities in many parts of the country in the holding of comprehensive exercises, which, besides their value for training, have provided valuable publicity for Civil Defence. Further experience however, is desirable to broaden the basis upon which final conclusions can be based. I am therefore glad to be able to report that, with the much appreciated co-operation of the Service Departments, I hope to continue the arrangements during the coming year.

asked the Minister of Education whether she is aware of the increased fees being charged by many university colleges; and what action she is taking to ensure that no student ceases to continue at college due to inability to meet these extra costs.

As far as my own awards are concerned, the assistance given to State scholars is in two parts. One part represents the payment of approved tuition, registration and examination fees, and this automatically covers any reasonable increases in those fees. The other part is in the form of a maintenance grant. The standard figures of maintenance on which this is based were revised last year to take account of increased costs. Local education authorities' awards are usually in a similar form to State scholarships. I have urged local authorities to base their maintenance grants on the standard figures used for State scholarships, and 131 out of 146 local education authorities now have schemes of awards based wholly or substantially on the financial principles applied to State scholarships. I have asked those authorities who are not in line to reconsider their arrangements for 1954–55.

asked the Minister of Education to publish in HANSARD a table of figures showing the annual amounts spent on education for each of the years from 1945 until the latest stated date, showing the comparative purchasing value of the money so expended by taking into account the depreciation of the purchasing value of the£ since 1945.

The expenditure from rates and taxes on educational services within the purview of my Department has been as follows:

			£ (000)
1945–46	…	…	151,583
1946–47	…	…	185,023
1947–48	…	…	216,675
1948–49	…	…	247,596
1949–50	…	…	267,903
1950–51	…	…	278,494
1951–52	…	…	315,912
1952–53 (Est.)	…	…	346,527

No index of prices is available which could properly be used to correct the above figures for the changes in the prices of educational services.

asked the Minister of Health the number of people in South Wales registered as waiting for admission to tuberculosis sanatoria.

The number is 772.

asked the Minister of Health the number of people on the waiting lists for admission to the Cardiff Royal Infirmary, the St. David's Hospital, Cardiff, and the Llandough Hospital, Cardiff; and what action he is taking to reduce these lists.

The numbers are 3,393, 171 and 2,087, respectively. Facilities in the area have been and are being considerably expanded.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will recommend the extension of the terms of reference of the Royal Commission on the laws relating to mental disorders, so as to enable the Royal Commission to consider improvements in the present law and medical treatment of homosexuals.

It would not be appropriate to extend the terms of reference to cover the law with regard to these cases and their medical treatment. In so far, however, as they may be suffering from mental illness or mental defect their position as regards certification, detention and care will be covered in the same way as that of other persons so suffering.