asked the Secretary of State for War why it is estimated for 1953–54 that an increase of 37 civilian specialists, temporary, various, will be necessary for the Forces Broadcasting Service abroad at an increased cost of £23,940.

A direct comparison of the numbers and cost of these specialists in the two years is misleading, since some 10 of the extra staff in 1953–54 were shown under a different heading in the printed Estimates 1952–53. The actual increase is 15 and the reason for it is to release soldiers for normal duty by the employment of civilians.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will ensure, with effect from a date not later than 1st January, 1954, that all adjutants appointments in the Territorial Army are subsequently filled by officers holding Regular Army commissions.

At present about 90 per cent. of the adjutants of Territorial Army units are officers who hold permanent Regular commissions or short-service commissions.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will make a statement with regard to the arrest and subsequent release of Private J. Kelly, Waghorn Road, Kenton.

Private Kelly was, on 17th November, charged with absence and placed under close arrest. On 19th November he was released, without prejudice to rear rest, and admitted to hospital. Investigations are continuing.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will introduce a tie to be worn by members of the Regular Army when off duty.

Yes. A tie which may be worn by all ranks who have served or are serving in the Regular Army has been designed and will soon be on sale.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the percentage of raw cotton imports which came from dollar countries in 1938, 1951, 1952 and 1953 to date.

The percentage of the total quantity of our imports of raw cotton which came from dollar countries was 38 in 1938, 29 in 1951, 40 in 1952 and 27 during January to October this year.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the value of seed exported during each of the last three years.

Exports, including re-exports, of seeds for sowing were valued at £2,971,000 in 1950, £1,776,000 in 1951, £1,888,000 in 1952, and £2,139,000 this year up to the end of October.

asked the Prime Minister if he will give an assurance that no proposal will be placed before the House for a change in the pay and conditions of Members of Parliament until the pensions of all retired Service officers are at the same level.

No. The question of pay and conditions of Members of Parliament is already before a Select Committee of this House.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many properties are still requisitioned; and how many have been released during the last three years.

The number of requisitioned properties used for emergency housing in England and Wales is now about 75,000. Some 15,000 have been released during the last three years.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many houses in Bristol have been declared unfit for human habitation; and how many of the latter are still occupied.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many applications have been made and approved for improvement grants under the Housing Act, 1949; and what is the value of the work approved.

I regret I have no information about the number of applications, but to 31st October last grants had been approved for 5,547 houses. The value of the work is not available.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether, in view of the concern felt in Plymouth about the delay in the provision of television facilities he will now announce his decision as to the use of the proposed site at Hessary Tor.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when he expects to announce his verdict on the public inquiry into the request of the British Broadcasting Corporation to erect a television mast on North Hessary Tor in the Dartmoor National Park.

My right hon. Friend realises the importance of getting this question settled as soon as possible, but he cannot yet add anything to what he told my hon. Friend on 16th November.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when he will make a statement on the licences to be issued for reconstruction in bombed cities during 1954.

I would refer the hon. Member to the statement made yesterday by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Works. After 1st January applications for building licences for all classes of buildings except housing are to be sent to the regional licensing office of the Ministry of Works. My right hon. Friend expects that licences will be issued for war damage reconstruction as for other kinds of work, except in areas where the load on the building industry appears likely to become excessive. In those cases, as he said, a starting date procedure will have to be applied; but even in those areas he hopes that it will be possible to allow substantially more work on reconstruction in bombed cities than has been allowed in the past year.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is aware that the proposed building of a power station at the Leys, Glamorgan, would destroy Gileston, among the loveliest of Glamorgan villages; whether he is further aware that alternative sites are available in industrial Barry and Port Talbot; and whether he will at once consult the Minister of Fuel and Power to prevent this building.

I have heard that the electricity authority are looking into the possibilities of building a power station in the locality. But I understand they have not yet applied for deemed planning permission and I have no details of the proposal.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he is aware of the stresses upon local government organisation in many Welsh counties; whether he will appoint a committee to make a special inquiry into the problem; and what steps he proposes to take to deal with difficulties arising from meagre rate incomes in such counties.

These and other large problems are constantly under review, but they are not easily dealt with by Question and answer.

asked the Minister of Works how many football clubs, which had stands and similar facilities for covered accommodation destroyed during the war by enemy action, have applied for building permits and been refused.

I regret that it has been necessary to withhold licences to reinstate stands destroyed in the war in respect of five of the principal Association and Rugby football clubs.

asked the Minister of Works whether he is now in a position to raise the licence free limit for industrial buildings from £2,000 to £5,000 per annum after 1st January, 1954; and whether he will make a statement upon the future of the industrial building licensing system.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the Statement I made in the House yesterday.

asked the Minister of Works whether he will make a further statement about the removal and replacement of dangerous trees in Kensington Gardens.

This is a melancholy operation which I wish could be postponed, but, having taken a great deal of expert advice, I conclude that delay would be dangerous. The removal of the old trees in the Broad Walk, Kensington Gardens, will start shortly, and new trees will be planted as soon afterwards as possible. Following the advice I have received, I propose to replace the elms with an inner line of scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea), and an outer line of common beech (Fagus sylvatica), with the light shaded variety of copper beech (Fagus sylvatica cuprea) at the ends of the rows and wherever there are breaks in the lines.

asked the Minister of Works why he is spending approximately £127,000 in adapting a house in Kensington Palace grounds, having regard to the urgent need for economy.

asked the Minister of Works if he will make a statement about recent expenditure at Kensington Palace.

I am not spending £127,000 on adapting a house in Kensington Palace grounds. The position is as follows:Kensington Palace is of outstanding historic and architectural importance and the repair and restoration of the Palace, including the private residences, is a duty which must be carried out. Very heavy expenditure is necessary because of war damage, and maintenance which was allowed to stand over during and since the war.The first step was to restore the State Apartments to public use in 1949. This cost £17,000. The next step was to accommodate the London Museum after His late Majesty King George VI had graciously granted to the London Museum the free use of about 20,000 square feet in Kensington Palace, thus saving public funds several thousand pounds a year in rent. The cost of this work was £50,000.A third item was the restoration and modernisation of other parts of the Palace, including a Grace and Favour apartment for H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent. Work was started in November, 1952, and £35,000 is provided in the Civil Estimates for Royal Palaces.Another important item is the provision of a new boiler house to serve the whole Palace, including the London Museum and State rooms. This work is now under construction at an estimated cost of £42,000.I should be glad to arrange for hon. Members who wish to see the present condition of Kensington Palace to be taken round.

asked the Minister of Works to what extent current production of bricks and cement in South Wales is meeting the demands of the building industry; and if he will make a statement.

While there are instances of delivery periods up to five months for bricks, the brick and cement requirements of the building industry in South Wales are in general being met. Further increases in production are expected in 1954.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what are the present plans for expanding the programme of research and development, so as to speed up the introduction on a large scale of adequate, efficient, economic and smokeless domestic heating plant and equipment.

A general increase of efficiency in domestic heating need not wait on further research. It would result from the wider use, with suitable fuels, of the improved type of appliances already on the market. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research will continue to give advice and help to manufacturers in the design and testing of more efficient appliances.

asked the Minister of Labour the average weekly earnings in the building, engineering, mining and railway industries, respectively, in October, 1951, and October, 1953.

Particulars of the average weekly earnings of manual workers in the building, engineering and mining industries in October, 1951, were published in the Ministry of Labour Gazette for March, 1952. Similar averages for April, 1953, were published in the September, 1953, issue. An inquiry relating to earnings in October, 1953, is now in progress but the results will not be available until about March, 1954.For employees of British Railways a wage census is taken annually in the spring and particulars of the average earnings of various grades of workers have been published by the British Transport Commission. Those for April, 1951, appear in the Financial and Statistical Accounts of the Commission for 1951. The corresponding figures for March, 1953, are given in "Transport Statistics No. 9 (1953)."

asked the Minister of Labour the annual number of persons supplied, trained and placed as domestic workers for the outlay of £100,000 during 195–53.

The figure quoted by my hon. Friend was the advance estimate of the net expenditure of the National Institute of House workers, on all its activities, for 1952–53. The amount actually spent that year was approximately £91,000. Training and placing domestic workers, which is only one part of the Institute's work, accounted for about half of that sum. The number trained and placed was about 340.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will consider issuing to local authorities a draft scheme for the allocation of council houses to applicants, so that there may be some co-ordination in their respective regulations on the subject.

A model scheme for the letting of council houses was incorporated in the Scottish Housing Advisory Committee's Report, "Choosing Council Tenants," which was commended to local authorities in Scotland in 1950. It is for local authorities to consider how far the model can be adapted to meet their local circumstances.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many properties are still requisitioned; and how many have been released during each of the last two years.

The number of properties remaining on requisition for housing purposes at 31st October, 1953, was 707. Properties released number 718 in the year up to that date, and 466 in the preceding year.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from the Town Council of the Royal Burgh of Lanark about the treatment of Uni-Seco houses to prevent dampness; and what advice he has received on the improvements obtained by lining such houses with plasterboard.

There are no Uni-Seco houses in Lanark. Experiments of the kind referred to by my hon. Friend have been carried out on a number of Uni-Seco houses in other parts of the country, but until these have been more fully tested under winter conditions I am not in a position to express an opinion as to their effectiveness.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will make a statement in regard to the explosion which damaged an electricity supply pylon at Skewbridge, near Dumfries, on Sunday, 22nd November.

An explosive charge was set at two of the four steel pillars supporting a pylon at Skewbridge. One charge exploded early on Sunday morning, 22nd November, causing slight damage, the other failed to detonate. There was no interference with the electricity supply. Police enquiries are proceeding.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Defence what additional charge is made for a man wishing to purchase his discharge, if he is sent overseas before authorisation comes through.

A man who had applied to purchase his discharge would not normally be detailed for overseas service while his application was under consideration.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Defence the total number of retired ex-officers of Her Majesty's Forces, whose services ended before 1st September, 1950, who have not had their pensions increased; the number in each stated officer category; and the annual pensions received in each case.

Of the 14,900 surviving officers pensioned on the 1919 Code, approximately 340 have received no increase in their pension. Similarly, of the 14,200 surviving officers pensioned under the 1945 Code, including ex-ranker officers pensioned on special terms which gave them the advantages of that Code, some 13,800 have received no increase.As regards the officers pensioned under the 1919 Code who have received no increase, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave yesterday to the hon. Member for Nottingham, East (Mr. J. Harrison).For the rates of pension under the 1945 Code I would refer the hon. Member to the White Paper of March, 1946, (Cmd. 6750).

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Defence whether he can now announce the composition of the committee under the chairmanship of Lord Waverley which is to review the medical and dental services of the Armed Forces.

As announced on 15th September, the Committee's terms of reference are:

"To review the arrangements for providing medical and dental services for the Armed Forces at home and abroad in peace and war; and to make recommendations."

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Defence why the Minister of Defence has sent no acknowledgment or reply to a letter addressed to him on 7th October by the hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East, on the subject of fighter aircraft.

My noble Friend much regrets that through an oversight the hon. Members letter was not acknowledged. He hopes to send him a reply shortly.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) the number of those called up for National Service; the number who were rejected on medical grounds; and the number deferred for the years 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1952, respectively;(2) the number of men sent into the Services fox the years 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1951, respectively.

Following are the figures:

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the present minimum income under his regulations which disqualifies a widow with no other dependants from receipt of family allowance in respect of a son serving in the Army.

If, as I assume, the hon. Member is referring to National Service grants the answer is that there are no fixed income limits. These grants are calculated on the facts of each case by reference to the income of the household before and after the man is called up. If the hon. Member has an individual case in mind, and cares to send me details, I will look into it.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the number of persons in receipt of National Assistance who are paying rent as such or owning the houses in which they live.

The latest information available is that given in the Board's Annual Report for 1952, which shows that about 1,250,000 of the 1,636,000 persons receiving assistance allowances at 5th November, 1952, were paying rent as such or owned the houses in which they lived.

asked the Minister of Food what consideration he has given to the agreements arrived at by the sugar producers, exporters and importers.

A full statement was issued at the close of the recent series of discussions between the parties to the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement, and I am sending the hon. Member a copy.

asked the Minister of Education on what dates since 1945 and prior to 1953 the cost of school meals was raised; and whether she will make a statement about the short- and long-term effects on the number of children taking school meals.

The price of school dinners was raised to a uniform charge of 6d. on 1st January, 1950, and to 7d. on 1st April, 1951. Following the introduction of the charge of 6d. the proportion of children in attendance who took school dinners declined by approximately 3 per cent., but this proportion did not decline appreciably when the charge was increased to 7d. I cannot asssess the long-term effects of these increases, and the further increase since made, on the number of children taking school dinners, the demand for which is influenced by many factors other than the charge made to parents.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power how stocks of house coal and coke, respectively, now available in Flintshire, compare with the stocks available at a similar time during the past three years.

Merchants' stocks of house coal in Flintshire on 14th November, 1953, were 5,592 tons, compared with 6,292 tons, 3,051 tons and 4,248 tons on the corresponding dates in 1952, 1951 and 1950. The corresponding figures for stocks of coke at gas works were 717 tons in 1953, 325 tons in 1952, 34 tons in 1951, and 1,083 tons in 1950.

asked the Minister of Health if it is his intention that the dispensing fee hitherto paid to opticians shall continue to be paid now that frames, other than National Health Service frames, are normally bought from opticians; and if he will consider an additional dispensing fee where National Health Service frames are dispensed.

The work for which a dispensing fee is paid has to be done

asked the Minister of Health whether any means have been devised to follow the medical history of school-leavers who undergo B.C.G. inoculation; and how, should such persons subsequently develop tuberculosis, can the fact that they had been inoculated be ascertained in the case of those who leave the area in which the inoculations were performed.

Local health authorities have already been advised to keep records of the vaccination of older school children together with information on their follow-up. These records should enable the date of a particular inoculation to be ascertained later by communication between the authorities concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the establishment and present effective strengths of the police forces for each of the cities of Birmingham, Bristol, Coventry and London, and for the Metropolitan police district; and, in respect of each of those forces, the net increase or decrease in their respective effective strengths during the period from 1st January, 1953, to 30th September, 1953.

The figures are as follow: