asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will now consider amending the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act, 1949, so as to provide for the payment out of the Legal Aid Fund of expenses awarded to a successful litigant against an assisted person.

The position is being kept under review, but amending legislation is not at present in contemplation.

Will my hon. Friend consult the Law Society of Scotland about this as there seems to be some hardship at present on successful litigants who may themselves be men of only moderate means?

I think we are in touch with them. There has always to be borne in mind the interest of the State, which bears a considerable part of this burden.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what assistance he has given to the East Kilbride Development Corporation in its endeavours to provide accommodation for industrial and commercial firms anxious to move from Glasgow, in view of paragraph 101 of the Corporation's report for 1952–53.

Every possible assistance short of subsidising factory building for this purpose at an uneconomic rent.

But is my right hon. and gallant Friend aware of the terms of the Corporation report, which says that very little assistance has been given to the Corporation? Is he further aware that I have already heard from the Chairman of the Corporation to the effect that they are most dissatisfied with the replies I received last week?

The assistance which has been given is this: a suitable industrial site has been selected and set aside, a certain amount of advance servicing has been done, the attention of industrialists is constantly drawn to the facilities available in Kilbride and houses are promised for the employees of incoming firms.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when his Department of Agriculture experts now surveying the Spey Valley can be transferred to the Clyde Valley to assemble hydrographic data regarding flooding.

The Spey Valley survey will, I hope, be completed about the middle of next year. While I will bear in mind the hon. Member's suggestion that a similar survey should be carried out on the Clyde, I regret that I cannot make any commitment at this stage.

Will my hon. Friend consider the possibility of establishing in the Clyde a gauge similar to that already in the tributary of the Clyde and in the River Nethan so that hydrographic data may be assembled meanwhile?

Yes, Sir. We certainly will consider it.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what grant has been made by his Department to the Moray County Council for the restoration and strengthening of the foreshore at Find-horn in order to prevent further damage by winter storms at the points weakened and damaged by the gale of last February.

The county council have been offered reimbursement of their expenditure, estimated at £600, on repairing a retaining wall and embankment adjoining the Findhorn-Forres road. So far as I am aware the county council are not contemplating any other works at Findhorn.

Is it not the responsibility of the county council to safeguard the buildings of ratepayers? Will my hon. Friend examine the position at Findhorn where damage was done and where danger exists from winter storms?

The point is that the county council know that they can get assistance for general schemes of that kind, and the most sympathetic consideration will be given to any application, but so far they have not made any application, such as my hon. Friend has mentioned.

Can the Minister say how it is possible for a ratepayer to get an answer to correspondence on this question?

If my hon. Friend will write to me, I will do something about it.

Do the Government intend to make any general announcement about the protection work being carried out in order to avoid a possible recurrence of last year's disaster?

I do not know the position, but no doubt at some point a report on the proceedings will be made.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland to what extent assistance has been provided by Forestry Commission employees in clearing blown timber in Scotland; and whether all requests for help have been fully met.

Assistance in the clearing of wind blown timber in Scotland has been provided by Forestry Commission employees to 11 estates. All definite requests for help on a repayment basis have been fully met.

Can the Minister say how many additional requests for assistance have been made which are under consideration?

I can only say that there have been a number of inquiries for assistance where the Forestry Commission's terms have been quoted which have not been accepted. I cannot give any more information than that.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that there are 1,706 fewer children being supplied with school meals in Midlothian compared with February of this year; and, as this represents 34·2 per cent. of the total number, if he can give any reason for this decline.

The decline shown by the figures referred to, which relate to the month of June, was due partly to the increased charges and partly to a seasonal fall-off in demand which takes place in the summer. I am glad to say that the October returns, now available, show, as compared with those for June, an increase of 613 in the number of children taking meals.

Can the Minister say, since these figures compare those of February and June, what the comparable figure was for June, 1952?

I am sorry but I have not that information. I will get the figure for the hon. Gentleman if he would like to have it.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of children provided with school meals in Glasgow during the months of March and September this year; and if he will give an estimate of the reason for the disparity in the returns for these two months.

The information asked for for the month of September is not readily available. Returns obtained in March and October show, however, that 52,996 children received meals in March and 54,195 in October. The increase is due to an upward trend in the demand for school meals.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of poliomyelitis have been notified in Midlothian this year.

Seventeen cases have been notified.

Can the Minister explain why his office took evasive action on my third Question?

I have no knowledge of it.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has now decided to introduce legislation to amend the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act, 1937, so that an order made in a Scottish court committing a child to the care of a Scottish local authority can be enforced if the child is subsequently abducted to England.

My right hon. Friend agrees that the law requires amendment in this respect, but he is unable at present to say when the necessary legislation can be introduced.

Is my hon. Friend aware of the great danger of leaving this loophole whereby irresponsible parents can evade the law? Will he make strenuous representations to introduce early legislation?

I share the hon. Gentleman's view, and we are doing everything possible to take the necessary action. I hope that we shall be able to announce something fairly soon.

Is the Minister aware that if his right hon. Friend takes action we shall facilitate its progress in the Scottish Grand Committee, so there is no excuse for delay?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what further consideration has been given to the provision of a grant for new sewerage work at Kirkintilloch.

I have nothing to add to the reply I gave to the hon. Member on this subject on 17th February last.

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that due to the extensive new housing development in Kirkintilloch this sewerage system is incapable of carrying the effluent from the new houses and that when we get heavy rain, as we unfortunately do very frequently, the effluent comes up through the gratings into the street and is a serious menace to public health? The people of Kirkintilloch cannot for the life of them understand why this Government, which spends so much money in other directions that do not seem necessary, does not give more help to provide health facilities for these people.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will include in future issues of the Digest of Scottish Statistics details of the school-building programme.

Yes, Sir.

Why were these figures omitted from previous issues of the Digest?

We are doing this in stages. The present Digests do contain some figures. We have thought it would be useful—the hon. Member apparently agrees with us—to expand these figures, and they will be so expanded in the next issue.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of Glasgow children who were engaged on the potato harvesting this year; how many were, respectively, from the senior and junior secondary schools; and what measures he is examining with a view to discontinuing this form of child labour.

Some 2,221 Glasgow children were granted exemption from school to take part in potato-lifting this year; 422 from senior and 1,799 from junior secondary schools. Every effort is being made to see that all other labour available is utilised before schoolchildren are employed and to effect improvements in potato harvesting machinery.

Will the Minister note that four times as many children came from the junior secondary schools, which are the Cinderella of Scottish education? In other words, it was the poorest children in the city of Glasgow who were concerned.

Will my hon. Friend note the extremely fine state of health in which these children went back to Glasgow compared with when they left?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps are being taken in Scotland to encourage Landrace pig breeding and Danish methods of bacon production.

No special encouragement has been given to Landrace as against other breeds of pigs, but my right hon. Friend's officers have kept in close touch with breeders who possess Land-race pigs. These breeders have received help and advice from the advisory services. As regards Danish methods of bacon production, my right hon. Friend is satisfied that producers are endeavouring to improve their methods of production in order to meet the higher grading standard now in operation for pigs.

Are more of these pigs being imported for Scotland? If so, what will be done with them? Will they be sold by auction?

There have been two importations of Swedish Landrace pigs into Scotland. They have been in the experimental stage until now, but, naturally, we are doing all that we can through our advisory services to help people to use these pigs to the best advantage.

Is my hon. Friend not aware that the last importation of Landrace pigs was sold at more than £900 apiece, which was much more than the average pig breeder could afford to pay? Will the Department, therefore, not do something definite to encourage Land-race pigs to be bought by those who believe that they would improve bacon production?

I remind my hon. and gallant Friend that the importation of Landrace pigs is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture.

Hear, hear.

Are the Ministry of Agriculture still pursuing their obstructive tactics with regard to the importation of Landrace pigs? If so, will my hon. Friend press for the control of the importation of livestock into Scotland by the Scottish Office and not by the Ministry of Agriculture?

I am not aware of any obstruction in regard to these pigs.

If these pigs were imported at, I understand, £25 apiece and were sold at £900 apiece, who made the profit?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to introduce measures which will enable a drainage scheme to be undertaken to prevent the flooding at Glengarnock, and of the agricultural land in the Garnock Valley.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 10th November, 1953, to Questions about land drainage legislation put by my noble Friend the Member for Inverness (Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton) and my hon. Friend the Member for Lanark (Mr. Patrick Maitland).

Is the Minister aware that the recurring flooding in this area each winter causes great distress and loss of agricultural produce? Is he aware that last weekend many roads and houses were under water? Can he not do something to get the Government to bring forward the necessary legislation so that action may be taken?

I appreciate the hon. Member's interest in this question, but he will realise that the reason there is flooding in this area is that under present legislation we are unable to take action. We are trying to get that legislation and discussions are taking place with the interests concerned. Until those interests have stated their views, we are not in a position to do anything more.

Can the hon. Gentleman indicate when he is likely to have the replies from the interested parties and when we may expect legislation?

I cannot give a date.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many students in 1953 were accepted for non-graduate teacher training in Scotland only after personal interview, as laid down by the latest Regulations.

The number is 57. In addition, my right hon. Friend authorised under the principal Regulations the entry after interview of eight students who were in the same position as those admitted except that they had taken the University Preliminary Examination instead of the Leaving Certificate Examination.

Does the Minister not now realise how foolish he was in introducing these Regulations? Is it not the case that a small number, a little over 60, will add very few indeed to the number of teachers and that this has been done at the expense of lowering the status of every teacher in Scotland?

No, Sir. With regard to the latter part of the Question, there is no evidence whatever for that. The director of the Edinburgh College explained to the country the other day that the numbers coming in this year are 50 per cent. higher than ever before. The fact that we have 65 additional students coming along is surely not to be ignored.

Is the Minister not aware that a statement merely showing that there are 50 per cent. more in the college in Edinburgh does not in any way do away with the fact that all through the teaching profession in Scotland there is real anxiety about this lowering of status?

I know there is anxiety in some places, but I do not think it is justified, because there is no lowering in any sense of the exit qualification. No woman can start teaching unless she passes all the necessary examinations.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board is applying a line-rental basis of charges for certain new consumers in the Western Isles; and if he will make a statement.

Yes, Sir. This, however, is a matter within the discretion of the Board.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware, since he is responsible for answering for the Board in this House, that the Board have an arrangement, by the agreement of this House, to carry out certain uneconomic schemes with profits made by the larger economic schemes? Is he further aware that they have selected a small number of isolated hamlets and are trying to balance up certain increasing costs and losses by imposing special terms on a small number of crofter consumers? Will he not approach the Board and ask them if they cannot abandon this rather niggardly imposition on people who have already had to wait for years longer than the rest for their electricity?

As I think the hon. Gentleman knows, the cases here are those where the power is supplied from diesel engines and that, as he also knows, is a much more expensive way of producing it.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that conditions in the Kilmarnock slaughterhouse are causing concern; and when the local authority will be permitted to provide the modern slaughterhouse premises necessary in the interests of food hygiene and public health.

Minor works have recently been carried out to improve conditions at this slaughterhouse. The question of major works will depend upon the recommendations of the Scottish Inter-Departmental Committee on Slaughterhouses who have been asked to consider an order of priority for new works to fit in with their proposals for a siting plan for the whole country.

Despite the minor repairs that have been carried out, is the Under-Secretary of State aware that the sanitary inspector recently described the conditions of this slaughterhouse as completely unsatisfactory and out of date and subject to periodic flooding, and that this danger was underlined by events in Kilmarnock last week? Is the hon. Gentleman further aware that for at least six years I have been asking this question of various Secretaries of State for Scotland, and that there is still no hope of progress? Can he hold out any hope that Kilmarnock Town Council will be able to provide the abbatoir that is required?

I think we must wait until we have the report of the committee.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of the 3,000 Weir timber houses already ordered have been built; and what further orders will be placed.

At 31st October, 618 had been completed and 1,080 more were under construction. I am not in a position to make any statement about a further programme.

Can my right hon. and gallant Friend say whether he is now fully satisfied with the quality of these houses and, if he is, will he consider arranging to obtain more of them?

I am satisfied about the quality of the houses which have been built. I am waiting to see what kind of timber comes forward for any remaining houses.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that 1,500 houses, privately owned and previously occupied by tenants, have been lying unoccupied for many months in Glasgow awaiting offers to purchase at high prices; and what action he proposes to take to ensure that these houses are made available now for letting.

I have no information about the precise number of unoccupied houses awaiting sale in Glasgow. As my right hon. Friend told the hon. Member for Gorbals (Mrs. Cullen) on 10th November, he hopes that the proposals in the Government's White Paper on Housing Policy and the increase in the number of new houses being built for letting will contribute to the solution of this problem. Apart from this, local authorities already have powers to acquire houses and to make them available for letting.

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that the figures quoted in the Question are definitely accurate and are provided by the Glasgow Corporation? Is he also aware that the proposals contained in the White Paper will not in any way remove the difficulty, and that to have 1,500 houses unoccupied in the City, where the demand is greater than anywhere else, is anti-social and a challenge to society? I hope that he will ask his right hon. Friend to deal with the matter and not clown around with it

Whilst I do not dispute the figures the hon. Gentleman has quoted, they are disputed, I understand, by the Factors' Association as being far too high. With regard to the second point, I hope that the hon. Member will be disappointed and that the new housing programme will be very beneficial in this direction.

Will the Minister encourage the people of Glasgow to purchase their own houses which, I understand, many of them want to do?

Is the Minister aware that it is being planned already to organise the houseless tenants in Glasgow to occupy these houses forcibly, and can he say why the tenants in Glasgow are deprived of the opportunity of having houses and whether the house factors are justified in having 1,500 houses lying idle?

I am quite certain that the citizens of Glasgow will stand by the law.

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that in a town that is so desperate for houses this is becoming something of a public scandal? Will his right hon. Friend not look into the question and see whether something cannot be done to stop these people holding poor folk up to ransom and forcing them to buy houses at prices far beyond their means?

I would not accept everything that the right hon. Gentleman has said. For the moment my right hon. Friend does not feel justified in taking action.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will appoint a special committee to inquire into the construction of the flats at Moss Heights, Glasgow, where, because of structural defects, rain penetrates into the houses with damage to both houses and furniture.

No, Sir. My right hon. Friend has received a report from Glasgow Corporation which indicates that the rain penetration, which occurred during a recent severe storm, was not due to faults in the structural design of the houses. The Corporation have the necessary remedial measures in hand.

What was the cause of the flooding? If the Secretary of State has this information, we are entitled to be told. My opinion is that there has been some mistake with the contractors on the site

The Corporation report is to the effect that 18 houses were affected, mainly because of flooding of balconies caused by choked surface drains.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of houses listed for demolition in 1939 in Lanark County Council area; and how many of these houses are still occupied.

Up to 1939, demolition or closing orders had been made in respect of 6,097 houses in Lanark County. I have no information as to how many of these houses are still occupied.

Is the Minister aware that more than 50 per cent. of these houses are still occupied and that the owners are still drawing rents? What are the possibilities of their continuing to draw rents after the new Measure goes through, with the increases of about 40 per cent.?

The hon. Member is, no doubt, aware that this is a matter for the local authority; they are charged with carrying out the law. Accordingly, I have no further information on the subject.

The question of the projected increase of rents is a question for this House and for the Secretary of State. Is the Minister going to apply the increase to these houses—over 6,000 of them—which have been listed for demolition since 1939?

If the hon. Member refers to the White Paper and to the Bill, which is now published, he will see that the increase in rent can be obtained only under certain specified conditions.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications have been received for modernisa- tion under the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1949; and how many have been approved.

My right hon. Friend has been consulted by local authorities about the improvement of 700 houses, and proposals covering 342 of these had been approved at the end of September. At the same date, local authorities had approved applications from private persons covering 3,540 houses. I have no information about the total number of applications received by local authorities.

Can the Minister say whether it is the local authorities who are responsible for retarding progress with these applications? I have a number of complaints that the local authority restricts and retards their progress.

Of course, it is for the local authority to approve the grant.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many houses have been modernised under the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1949, and the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1952, by private landlords, owner occupiers, and owners of tied houses, respectively.

Up to 30th September, 1953, local authorities had approved applications for improvement grant from private persons covering the modernisation of 3,540 houses. I regret that separate figures for the three categories mentioned by the hon. Member are not available.

Will the Under-Secretary try to get us the figures for private landlords and for the owners of tied houses? After all, we have had special legislation for this and we should be able to get the information.

It would mean asking for a completely new return and I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we do not think it worth while.

Is it not misleading to suggest that that is all that has been done since 1949? Is it not a case that after the Act was passed, owing to the need for new houses, it was impossible for some time for the Department to give permission for this kind of work to be done, and will the right hon. and gallant Gentleman tell us when permission started to be given for the modernisation of houses which would give us a more accurate idea of the rate of progress?

If the right hon. Gentleman will put down a question on the subject, I will try to answer it.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the total number of rooms provided in municipal houses completed during 1952; and what was the total number of rooms provided in the year 1950.

I regret that this information is not available, and to obtain it would involve a special return from local authorities which my right hon. Friend would not feel justified in calling for.

If that answer is correct, why was the right hon. and gallant Gentleman, in the housing debate in the Scottish Grand Committee last Session, able to quote the numbers of rooms for other years but not those for which I am asking? It seems that he is evading the answer, for it would show that while fewer houses were built in the period that the Labour Party were in office, we built more rooms than in the year when the hon. and gallant Member's party were in office, although they built more houses.

My information is accurate. The official returns of houses completed do not show the number of rooms per house. I can, however, give the numbers of houses approved in the two years and the numbers of rooms in them. In 1950, 25,689 houses were approved; that is, approximately 94,000 rooms. In 1952, the number of houses approved was 28,481, or approximately 98,000 rooms. But I point out to the hon. Member—

That does not mean a thing.

that the total number of rooms is not a good measure of housing output. The amount of plumbing and drainage, for example, does not vary with the number of rooms. There is as much work in that respect in a house with two rooms as in a house with five rooms.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that, by keeping untenanted 94 houses in Glasgow, the Western Heritable Investment Company are in breach of the provisions of the statute under which the houses were built with the aid of subsidy from public funds; and what action he proposes to take in the matter.

The question whether there has been any breach of the statute or of the agreement between the company and the Corporation is one for the Corporation in the first instance. My right hon. Friend has told the company that on the information before him he would not feel justified in giving consent to the sale of the houses covered by their application.

I am glad to hear the latter part of the right hon. and gallant Gentleman's reply, but surely he is aware that the Government subsidy to the extent of £9 per annum per house, as provided for in Section 3 of the 1924 Act, is payable to these people provided—and I quote from the Act—

"that the houses shall be let for occupation to tenants. …"

I think the hon. Gentleman is mistaken. The Exchequer contributions are payable to the Corporation and it is they who administer the scheme of assistance. The Secretary of State would not reduce or discontinue the contribution unless the Corporation decided, in the first instance, that the company were in breach of the agreement between them.

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman right in stating that the question whether or not the company are in breach of the law is, in the first instance, a matter for the Corporation? Is not the matter one for the right hon. and learned Gentleman the Lord Advocate, and will he take steps to make representations to the Lord Advocate on this matter?

I have nothing further to add to the reply I have given.

This is a most serious matter. The Under-Secretary of State says that he has nothing to do with whether the Corporation are paying out money illegally to the Western Heritable Investment Company. Surely it is the duty of the Secretary of State to see that the Corporation do not pay out public money unless it is in accordance with the Act of Parliament.

In view of the unsatisfactory reply, I beg to give notice that I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from owner-occupiers in the burgh of Milngavie regarding the operation of the present system of valuation in Scotland.

My right hon. Friend has received representations about certain assessments in Milngavie from the town council, the Milngavie owner-occupiers' committee, the hon. Member himself and from some private persons. He cannot intervene in proceedings under the Lands Valuation (Scotland) Acts, but he has referred the representations to the Committee on Valuation and Rating presided over by Lord Sorn.

While thanking the right hon. and gallant Gentleman for the last: part of his reply, may I ask him if he is aware that I have had many complaints from people in Milngavie who are owner-occupiers of houses to the effect that they were rung up and told that if they did not put forward an appeal they would probably knock £6 off, but that if they went ahead with the appeal they would only get £2 off? Does he not think that that is unwarrantable, and will he instigate an inquiry into what went on about these assessments?

I am not so informed, but I aim aware of the representations which have been made. As I have already stated, these have been submitted to the Committee dealing with the whole question.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland from which local authorities he has had complaints about the ill effects of condensation in temporary houses; and what steps he proposes to take to make these houses more habitable.

Complaints have been received from about 50 local authorities, but in the majority of these cases the degree of condensation is not serious. Experiments to remedy the trouble are being made in various districts, but the effectiveness of these measures cannot be fully determined until there has been experience of them under winter conditions.

Is the Minister not aware that about two years ago experiments were started on the aluminium type of temporary house, and that in my own area the local authority are again carrying out what they term as experiments only in the aluminium house? Further, is he aware that in my area it is the Arcon type of house where the greatest condensation is taking place, and what steps does he propose to take to deal with this?

The steps which I have already indicated.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland to what extent owners' rates paid in respect of rent-controlled property will be established at their present level and will not be increased or reduced in consequence of any fluctuation in any local authority rate poundage under the proposals contained in Command Paper No. 8997.

The Housing (Repairs and Rents) (Scotland) Bill proposes that the owners' share of the county or burgh rate payable on rent-controlled houses will be limited, from the financial year following the commencement of the Act, to the poundage in force at the commencement of the Act. If the owners' rate levied in any year should be less than that levied at the commencement of the Act, the lesser amount will be payable.

Do I take it from the reply that after the passing of the Bill, if the rate poundage of any local authority in Scotland increases the owners of any rent-controlled property will not pay that increase, and that if it is reduced they will still be stabilised, or do they move to the lesser figure? In other words, do they get the best of both worlds?

They would move to the lesser figure.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the total number of houses built for county council tenants in the islands of Barra, North and South Uist, Benbecula and Harris in the period 1948 to 1950 and in the past 24 months.

The number built in 1948–50 was 158. There have been none since.

In view of the deplorable record of the Government in this area in respect of housing of all things, will the right hon. and gallant Gentleman be very careful in his next propaganda speech about the Tories "300,000 houses" not to add a zero for their Western Isles' figure and make this figure 3 million?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many houses have been built in the burgh of Stornoway to the new space-saving standard.

None, but 30 are under construction.

Is it not the case that these houses of a lower standard are to be let at higher rents than the houses constructed previously at a very much higher standard under the Labour Government specification?

The question of rents is, as the hon. Member knows, a matter for the local authority. I can assure the hon. Member that the houses are not of any lower standard but are, in fact, better houses than those being built at the moment.

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that members of the local authorities that are letting these so-called "economy" houses have stated publicly that the houses are of a deplorably lower standard but of appreciably higher rents?

I think they had better wait until the houses are complete and they will be able to see for themselves.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Defence the present position in the three Services, including the Royal Marines, for discharge by purchase; and what are the detailed costs for each rank.

Discharge by purchase was re-introduced by the Army and the Royal Air Force on 1st October, 1953, under the same conditions, with one minor exception, as obtained before its suspension on 1st October, 1950. With regard to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, applications are only allowed on compassionate grounds; this was also the case between the end of the Second World War and 1950. I will circulate full particulars in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Can my hon. Friend tell me whether it costs more for a man from overseas to buy his discharge than for a man in England?

As about four pages of the OFFICIAL REPORT will be taken up by this matter, I shall be grateful if my hon. and gallant Friend will study them.