asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, following the conference of Commonwealth Finance Ministers, he will make a statement on the Government's policy in relation to financing Commonwealth projects of a social nature and those which cannot produce an immediate economic return.

I would refer the hon. Member to paragraph 17 and following of the Final Communiqué of the Sydney Conference.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the cost to public funds of the Holt v. Estate Duty Office case; and what action he is taking against the officers in the Estate Duty Office who assessed the Holt shares valued at 19s. at the price of 34s. which proved to be indefensible.

:The information asked for in the first part of the Question is not yet available. As regards the second part, the figure of 34s. was the figure arrived at by a distinguished chartered accountant who was consulted by the Revenue and who gave evidence when the case was heard, and I cannot accept the suggestion that the officials concerned were at fault in accepting that advice. At the hearing the learned judge himself referred to the difficulty involved in assessing thecorrect value.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether the estimate at the Sydney Conference of £200 million as the surplus expected for the sterling area in 1953–54 includes defence aid or capital imports; and how much of it is a dollar surplus;(2) whether he will explain the relation ship of the £400 million surplus for the sterling area in 1952–53 mentioned in the Sydney Conference Communiqué to the increase of £243 million in the gold and dollar reserves during the same period;(3) to what extent the £400 million surplus for the sterling area in 1952–53 mentioned in the Sydney Conference Communiqué includes either defence aid or capital imports.

:Hon. Members will realise that I am not in a position to publish details of sterling area transactions as compiled for Commonwealth Finance Ministers beyond the information which they collectively agreed to put in the Communiqué of the Sydney Conference, which did not include a forecast for 1953–54. The surplus of over £400 million in 1952–53 is broadly comparable with the sum of items 17, 26 and 27 of Cmd. 8976, which includes defence aid and capital receipts by other sterling area countries. The surplus did not produce a corresponding rise in the reserves since the United Kingdom had certain capital transactions to meet. The main examples of this were repayments of debt to E.P.U., the U.S.A. and Canada, and the drawing down of sterling balances by non-sterling countries.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has had from the Government of Northern Ireland on the subject of Purchase Tax on linen and its effect upon unemployment in Northern Ireland; and whether, in view of the fact that the linen industry's grievance on the subject has now been under consideration by him for two years, he will finally clarify his policy in this matter, in order that the industry may know definitely whether their grievance is to be removed or not.

:My right hon. Friend is considering a letter which he recently received from the Minister of Commerce on this matter; but I cannot make any further statement on this subject at present.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how much money has been paid by the Government into the Lord Mayor's Flood Relief Fund; and what proportion of the Lord Mayor's Fund this represents.

£1 million so far; and about one-sixth.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how much money was spent by Her Majesty's Government during 1951, 1952 and 1953, on the Children's Film Foundation, The British Film Institute, Departmental propaganda films, and on producing or assisting educational films.

The following is the reply:(1) No money was spent on the Children's Film Foundation.(2) The grant-in-aid to the British Film Institute (under the British Film Institute Art 1949) was:

	£
1951–52	44,620
1952–53	33,100
1953–54	36,700

In addition, the British Film Institute received the following amounts from the Privy Council out of the Cinematograph Fund (established under the Sunday Entertainments Act, 1932):

	£
1951–52	22,000
1952–53	20,000
1953–54	20,000

(3) Expenditure on the production and distribution of films by the Central Office

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will consider granting an additional foreign travel allowance to tourists wishing to visit countries over 2,000 miles away, particularly such countries as Brazil with whom we have a cultural convention, as the expenses of the journey are out of proportion to the £50 which a tourist may spend when he reaches his destination.

:It would be very difficult to fix differential rates according to the distance of a particular country from the United Kingdom, and I consider that a uniform rate creates the least anomalies and is the most practical and convenient arrangement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what additional Exchequer revenue would result if Income and Surtaxes were increased to leave a maximum net income of £2,000 and £1,000, respectively.

In theory, about £75 million and £400 million, respectively, at present levels of taxation and income. The disincentive effects of taxation at such rates, however, would very much reduce both these yields and those of other taxes if the change were actually made.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, in view of the changed value of money and in order to save executors from travel and expense, he will raise the maximum value of estates which can be handled by local officers of Customs and Excise from £500 to £2,000.

The hon. Member's suggestion has been considered, but my right hon. Friend cannot undertake to introduce legislation for this purpose. I am not aware that there is an appreciable demand for the change proposed, and it would involve additional staff and increased public expenditure.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what extent revenue from entertainments tax on cinemas declined in the first, second and third quarters of the financial year 1953–54.

Compared with the corresponding quarters of the previous year, receipts of Entertainments Duty from cinemas in the first and second quarters of the financial year 1953–54 declined by ¼ per cent. and 2½ per cent. respectively; but in the third quarter there was an increase of 3 per cent.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that, for the six months ended June, 1953, the Treasury lost £208,419 in pool betting duty from totalisators operated upon greyhound racecourses, as compared with a similar period in 1952;and whether, as the law of diminishing returns is operating in connection with this tax, he will consider in his forthcoming Budget removing the tax, and placing greyhound racing on the same basis as horse racing for the purpose of betting duty.

I am aware of the decline in pool betting duty receipts to which the hon. Member refers. Without accepting the inference he draws from this fact, my right hon. Friend will bear it in mind in his pre-Budget review of the duty.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what chemicals are used by his Department for prolonging the storage life of potatoes and onions; and whether he will make a statement concerning experiments conducted by his Department in this connection.

No chemicals are used by my Department for prolonging the storage life of potatoes and onions. The Agricultural Research Council are carrying out experiments into the use of maleic hydrazide to inhibit the sprouting of potatoes, but I cannot say when results will be available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware of the discontent among fanners and gardeners at the weed infestation of grass verges; and whether he will convene a conference of local authorities to acquaint them with the latest discoveries in control of verges with chemicals.

I am aware of the importance of weed control but it is a subject on which more investigation and information are needed. I feel that a conference of the kind suggested by my hon. Friend would be premature.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the present position with regard to myxomatosis in rabbits; and what progress has been made with his scientific investigations into this disease.

In reply to the first part of the Question, I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Mr. Hurd) on 28th January last. Since then a further outbreak of the disease has been confirmed in Kent.With regard to the second part, a study has been made of the scientific investigations into myxomatosis undertaken in Australia and elsewhere. Some recent investigations have been carried out on islands off the Scottish coast and others are contemplated both there and on the mainland. The main line of research will be into the ecology and distribution of mosquitoes and other rabbit-biting insects. This work cannot begin until the spring when the mosquito becomes active again.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many forms AM 54 are issued annually; what is the annual cost; and what purpose they serve.

These forms are the basis of the census of agricultural machinery. It is taken in alternate years. At this year's census of 14th January, the number of forms issued was 389,000 and the cost of printing, addressing and postage amounted to £3,500. The purposes are to assist in measuring the progress of agricultural production, in which farm mechanisation is a major factor; and in connection with the Annual Review of farm prices, to assist in assessments of the costs of machinery repair and depreciation, both of which are major items of farm expenses.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will introduce legislation to enable contributions towards the cost of land drainage works under taken by a river board on its main river to be obtained from owners and occupiers of land which derive benefit or avoid danger as a result of such works.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what consideration he has given to the recommendations of the Heneage Report on Land Drainage; and what are his proposals for introducing legislation to enable contributions towards the cost of land drainage works to be undertaken by a river board on its main river.

I would refer the hon. Members to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for The Hartlepools (Mr. D. Jones) on 2nd February.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how far the Press and the public are admitted to meetings of the county agricultural executive committees, especially when dispossession and supervision are under consideration.

The matters discussed at meetings of county agricultural executive committees are confidential, and neither the public nor the Press are admitted.

asked the Minister of Agriculture why he has considered it necessary, if the essential disease safe guards are observed, to bar the free importation from the Continent of Landrace pigs for breeding purposes; and whether he will review this policy.

:Under the Diseases of Animals Act, I am empowered in general to make an order allowing importations of live animals from the Continent and elsewhere only if they are required for exceptional purposes. Whatever precautions are taken, every importation of live animals involves some risk of importing disease, and for this reason, even when the exceptional purpose has been established, imports of live animals must be restricted to what is necessary to meet essential needs. I am not, therefore, able to allow free importation, though I am prepared to review, in due course, the case for a further limited import.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement concerning the future duties of the Advisory Council for Wales and Monmouthshire; and what matters for special investigation he has referred to them during the past 12 months.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what decision was reached as to the future activity or field of inquiry of the Council in his recent discussions with representatives from the Council for Wales and Monmouthshire; and if he will make a statement.

I would refer the hon. Members to the reply which I gave on 21st January to Questions by the hon. Member for Cardiff, West (Mr. G. Thomas).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action has been or will be taken in regard to recommendations of the Royal Commission on Betting, Lotteries and Gaming which reported nearly three years ago.

The Government have been considering the Commission's recommendations but as the House is aware, this is a controversial subject and there is already a full programme before the House for this Session. Some of the recommendations are followed in the Pool Betting Bill on which the House has not yet had an opportunity to come to a decision. If the House should give a Second Reading to this Bill the Government will carefully consider whether it can assist in its further stages.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware of the wider sales of obscene literature; and whether, in view of the serious anti-social results of this, he will circularise chief constables recommending increased police vigilance in the matter.

The police are I am sure fully aware of the need for vigilance in this matter, and I do not think that any action is called for on my part.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of prosecutions for traffic offences, on the part of the main trunk road A34 which runs within the boundary of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, undertaken during the years 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1953.

35, 53, 68, 59, respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions for traffic offences on the stretch of the A34 road which is within the boundaries of the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme were initiated in each of the years 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1953.

155, 159, 133 and 202 respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what figures are available showing, during the last three years, the number of delinquents, both adult and juvenile, who were considered to be educationally subnormal, or mentally deficient.

:The following table shows for 1950, 1951 and 1952, the numbers of persons dealt with by courts in England and Wales under Section 8 of the Mental Deficiency Act, 1913, and the number of persons certified mentally defective while detained in prisons, Borstal institutions, approved schools and remand homes. Figures for 1953 are not yet available.

—	1950	1951	1952
Persons aged 17 and over dealt with by magistrates' courts	204	164	172
Persons aged under 17 dealt with by magistrates' courts	99	74	95
Persons dealt with by quarter sessions and assizes	51	85	76
Certified in prisons and Borstal institutions	50	42	67
Certified in approved schools and remand homes	84	77	70
TOTAL	488	442	480

The number of delinquent children who were considered to be educationally sub-normal is not known.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why Civil Defence expenditure fell so short of the Civil Defence Estimates.

I would refer to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East on 28th January.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the peacetime establishment, present strength and numbers of members who have completed basic and section training,

—				Provisional peace-time establishment	Strength	Number who had completed Basic training	Number who had completed Section training
London*	…	…	…	52,250	13,624	5,830	2,219
Birmingham		…	…	15,460	4,176	1,137	623
Leeds	…	…	…	7,050	1,098	146	nil
Sheffield	…	…	…	7,300	2,260	1,024	nil
Manchester		…	…	9,760	4,043	1,711	681
Coventry	…	…	…	3,520	2,941	467	30
Plymouth	…	…	…	2,650	1,911	400	80
Southampton		…	…	2,520	1,534	218	125
Hull	…	…	…	4,150	790	82	59
Liverpool	…	…	…	11,940	4,221	636	nil
Glasgow	…	…	…	14,800	1,310	198	nil
* London County Council, City of London and Metropolitan boroughs.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the numbers, at the latest convenient date, of recruits to the Civil Defence Corps; how many had left the the Corps; and how many had started and how many had completed basic training and section training, respectively.

In England and Wales, by 31st December, last, 347,214 recruits had joined the Civil Defence Corps, of whom 44,808 had left. On the same date 226,557 were in training, of whom 79,190 had finished their basic training and 23,963 had finished their section training.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times in each of the years 1950 to 1953,inclusive, it has been necessary for the police in the Metropolitan area to request the British Broadcasting Corporation to broadcast requests for information about road accidents; and what proportion of requests in each of those years has been successful.

In 1950 the British Broadcasting Corporation broadcast

Following are the figures for 31st December, 1953:cast 126 requests for information about road accidents in the Metropolitan and City of London areas; 58 per cent. of these were successful. In 1951 the corresponding figures were 151 and 50 per cent., in 1952, 119 and 55 per cent. and in 1953, 134 and 50 per cent.

asked the Minister of Health what financial allocations for capital and other expenditure have been made to each regional hospital board for 1954–55 as compared with their allocations for the current year and as compared with their own estimates of their needs for 1954–55.

:The basic capital allocations to regional hospital boards for 1953–54 and 1954–55 are set out in Table A below. No estimates of needs for capital development for 1954-55 were invited from boards. The revenue allocations to regional hospital boards for 1953–54, revised to date, the allocations for 1954–55 and the forecast estimates of their needs as submitted by the boards for 1954–55 are set out in Table B. The allocations for 1954–55, both for capital and revenue, are subject to approval by the Government and by

TABLE A—CAPITAL
£,000 to nearest thousand
Regional Hospital Board								1953–54*	1954–55
								£	£
Newcastle-upon-Tyne			…	…	…	…	…	422	462
Leeds	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	380	413
Sheffield	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	576	630
East Anglian		…	…	…	…	…	…	200	209
N.W. Metropolitan			…	…	…	…	…	460	522
N.E. Metropolitan			…	…	…	…	…	375	407
S.E. Metropolitan		…	…	…	…	…	…	400	433
S.W. Metropolitan		…	…	…	…	…	…	630	677
Oxford	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	188	205
South Western		…	…	…	…	…	…	344	373
Birmingham		…	…	…	…	…	…	572	625
Manchester		…	…	…	…	…	…	545	592
Liverpool	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	260	283
Welsh …	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	382	419
TOTALS			…	…	…	…	…	5,734	6,250
* Allocations for this year were in terms of gross totals for planning purposes of which only 80 per cent. might be actually spent. The figures given above are net.
NOTE.—In addition to the figures shown in this Table, additional sums of about £0·9m. for 1953–54 and £2·45m. for 1954–55 have been made available for certain major schemes (some at teaching hospitals) and for contingencies. The figure for 1954–55 includes £1m. set aside specifically for schemes at mental and mental deficiency hospitals.

TABLE B—REVENUE
Region					Revised Allocation 1953–54	Allocation 1954–55	Forecast estimates 1954–55
							For the service as at 31.3.54	For developments in 1954–55
1					2	3	4	5
					£	£	£	£
Newcastle-upon-Tyne			…	…	13,082,000	13,181,000	13,635,451	409,550
Leeds	…	…	…	…	14,845,000	15,022,000	15,689,582	480,516
Sheffield	…	…	…	…	16,761,191	16,724,000	17,318,346	390,975
East Anglian		…	…	…	5,993,000	6,020,000	6,254,010	186,195
N W Metropolitan		…	…	…	20,519,000	20,584,000	21,061,082	655,933
N E Metropolitan		…	…	…	19,057,000	19,008,000	19,532,763	351,213
S.E. Metropolitan		…	…	…	19,152,610	19,256,000	19,805,402	614,294
S.W. Metropolitan		…	…	…	29,303,000	29,112,000	30,344,000	460,000
Oxford	…	…	…	…	7,284,000	7,336,000	7,396,688	273,360
South Western		…	…	…	15,598,125	15,614,000	16,191,458	334,742
Birmingham	…	…	…	…	19,691,000	19,827,000	20,167,984	510,829
Manchester	…	…	…	…	19,766,000	19,924,000	19,819,613	781,115
Liverpool	…	…	…	…	10,886,000	10,942,000	11,168,551	117,941
Total—England		…	…	…	211,937,926	212,550,000	218,384,930	5,566,663
Wales		…	…	…	13,008,350	13,064,000	13,390,242	305,490
Total—England and Wales				…	224,946,276	225,614,000	231,775,172	5,872,153
Col. (2) includes £2,209,000, the balance of a reserve for salary and wages awards which was not requiredto meet awards announced by 31.8.53. The total out-turn is expected to be appreciably less than the total of the revised allocations.
Col. (3) includes £811,000 for wages awards announced between 31.8.53 and 31.12.53 and not provided for in the Forecast Estimates of Boards (Col. (4)). It also includes £864,000 as a reserve to meet salary and wages awards which may be announced between 1.1.54 and 31.3.55.
Cols. (4) and (5) are on the basis of Salaries and Wages as at 31.8.53.

asked the Minister of Health what progress has been made in substituting suitable nylon fabric for cotton for nurses uniforms in view of the great saving of time and money that would be made in laundering.

:My right hon. Friend is awaiting with interest the result of an inquiry which is being conducted by the Newcastle Regional Hospital Board into this matter, but he is informed that this inquiry may not be complete for some months.

asked the Minister of Health when he expects to be able to make a statement on the report of the working party on the recruitment, training and qualification of sanitary inspectors.

My right hon. Friend is consulting his colleagues and expects to make a statement shortly.

asked the Minister of Health for an estimate of the annual loss incurred from thefts at hospital stores.

A precise estimate is not possible; but for the year ended 31st March, 1953, notified losses ascribed solely to theft, fraud or arson amounted to £16,000. Other notified losses, including stocktaking discrepancies, amounted to £176,000, but it is not known how much, if any, of this was the result of theft.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that there is usually a delay of two to three months in receiving from the Dental Board permission for orthodontic treatment in some parts of the country, as indicated by the correspondence sent to him; what is the cause of this delay; and if he will take steps to eliminate it.

No. My right hon. Friend understands from the Dental Estimates Board that the delay averages four to five weeks. Each orthodontic case requires consideration by one of the Board's small staff of dentists.

asked the Minister of Health the number of people being treated for tuberculosis in England; how many sanatoria there are exclusively for this disease; how many hospitals with separate wards for this disease; and what is the total annual death rate.

The number of tuberculosis beds in England occupied on 31st December, 1952 (the latest date for which figures are available), was 26,957 and the number of notified cases of tuberculosis then on clinic registers was 289,134; the number of sanatoria classified as having beds for tuberculosis only was 182 and the number of other hospitals with tuberculosis departments was 311. The death rate in 1952 was 237 per million living.

asked the Minister of Health why the Acute Rheumatism Regulations, 1953, as laid down in Statutory Instrument No. 1928 of 1953, apply only to the counties, county boroughs and boroughs enumerated in paragraph 2 and not to any other parts of the country.

The purpose of these Regulations, which replaced similar Regulations in force since 1947, is to assess the value of notification of acute rheumatism and of other procedures of medical interest in the prevention and management of rheumatic heart disease. The areas selected for notification constitute a sufficient sample for this purpose.

asked the Minister of Health (1) if he has now received their programme of capital works from the Birmingham Regional Hospital Board;(2) what proportion of the sum of £625,000, notified to the Birmingham Regional Hospital Board in July, 1953, for the financing of schemes in the region during the financial year 1954–55 has now been allocated by them;(3) what schemes have been approved for grant by the Birmingham Regional Hospital Board out of the sum of £625,000 allocated to them for the financial year 1954–55; and what is the estimated cost of each.

I have now received the Board's estimates of capital expenditure for 1954–55 showing the schemes on which they propose to spend the £625,000 allocated to them, and I am sending the hon. Member a copy.

asked the Minister of Health to what extent the communities selected to test the addition of fluoride to the water supply have arranged to obtain information on the incidence of dental caries in those communities, and to survey the fluoride excretion in the urine of representative children and adults in those communities.

The question of what information must be obtained is under consideration but no decision has yet been taken.

asked the Minister of Health what arrangements are being made for a survey of fluoride excretion in the urine of representative children and adults of all age-groups throughout the country; and how this survey is being made.

It is not necessary to obtain this information for the whole country. The arrangements which might be made in areas where tests will be carried out, and in corresponding control areas, are under consideration.

asked the Minister of Education how many new schools were, respectively, completed and started, between April, 1953, and the latest convenient date; and what were the corresponding figures for 1951.

Between 1st April and 30th November, 1953, 314 new schools were completed and 255 started. The corresponding figures for the same period in 1951 were 247 and 217.

asked the Minister of Education the number of university awards per 10,000 of the population made by the local education authorities of Somerset, Cornwall and Devon.

Following is the information:

UNIVERSITY AWARDS BY LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITIES
New awards taken up in 1952
Estimated population age 5–14 years (1 per cent. sample from 1951 census)	Total of new awards taken up in 1952	Total of new awards taken up in 1952 per 10,000 of the estimated population age 5–14
Cornwall 44,800	30	6·7
Devon 65,000	95	14·6
Somerset 60,400	54	8·9

These are the latest figures available in my Department: the figures for 1953 will be available in March.

asked the Minister of Education the amount spent by the local education authorities of Somerset, Cornwall and Devon per head of the population on university awards.

Following is the information:

UNIVERSITY AWARDS BY LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITIES
Average amount spent per head of population 1951–52
(Based on an estimated population all ages, 1 per cent. sample from 1951 census).
Average per head of total population academic year 1951–52
Cornwall	£0.07
Devon	£0.09
Somerset	£0.07

These are the latest figures available in my Department: the figures for the academic year 1952–53 will be available in March.

asked the Minister of Education in how many schools children were sent home during the cold spell through lack of proper heating facilities and through burst pipes; and what steps she is taking to ensure that schools are properly heated during the winter months, particularly in view of the fact that the mothers of many children work during school hours, and that as it is impossible to send the children home with no one there to look after them, they have had to be detained in cold school buildings.

I should not normally expect reports from authorities of cases of this kind and I have received none on this occasion. At the same time, I am sure that local education authorities realise that, if they are faced with difficulties in this matter which they cannot solve themselves, they can rely on any help that it is within my power to give them.

asked the Minister of Education how many schools in Glamorgan have had to send pupils home during the last 10 days because they were without coal.

I am informed by the local education authority for Glamorgan that, up to the 30th January last, four schools had been closed for periods ranging from a half day to three days for lack of fuel.

asked the Minister of Education if she will give an assurance that the graduate allowance for first-class honours degrees, proposed in the new Burnham scale, will be payable to graduates of University College, Dublin, as well as to graduates of universities of the United Kingdom.

I have not yet received the Burnham Committee's detailed recommendations for good honours degree allowances and I am, therefore, not in a position to comment on the matter.

asked the Minister of Education what interests she is consulting to see how the needs of the schools for a better supply of graduate teachers of mathematics and science can be met.

:Apart from the educational organisations with which I am in regular consultation on matters affecting the supply of teachers, I am specially consulting on this matter representatives of the universities and of industry. I shall also, of course, be consulting a number of my colleagues.

asked the Minister of Education the total amount of the balances accruing to the teachers' superannuation account in respect of the post-1922 service of teachers for 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1953, respectively.

The balances in the statutory teachers' superannuation account as at 31st March, 1948, 31st March, 1949, and 31st March, 1950, were about £167 million, about £176 million and £186 million. Provisionally estimated figures for the following years are:

31st March,	1951—£195 million.
31st March,	1952—£207 million.
31st March,	1953—£220 million.

asked the Minister of Education the names of the primary schools in Breconshire and Radnorshire at which pupils do not get a supply of fresh milk; which of the schools are in rural areas; and how long these schools have been without fresh milk.

No primary schools in Breconshire or Radnorshire are without a supply of fresh milk.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the decline in our export trade with Latin America, he will restore the cuts made in the budget of the Overseas Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation, which led to the virtual extinction of the South American Services.

I have nothing to add to the reply given on 28th January to Questions on this subject.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what types and sterling amounts are involved, respectively, in the obsolescent or common-use military equipment exported to Spain.

"Common-use" items to a value of £1,416,350 were licensed for export to Spain during 1953. The chief items were transport aircraft, piston-type aircraft engines, radio and radar equipment and gyro-compass equipment.

asked the Minister of Food the average price paid for home grown barley for each of the last seven years and for imported barley of comparable quality.

:The types and qualities of home-grown barleys vary so widely that no direct comparison with imported barley is possible. The best comparison available is between the average sale price of home-grown barley in certain selected towns in England and Wales, as shown by the Corn Returns, and the average price paid by the Ministry for imported barley in the years in question. The following are the figures:

Calendar Year	Average sale prices of home-grown barley as shown by Corn Returns (England & Wales only)		Average price c.i.f. (including duty payable) of imported barley purchased by the Ministry of Food
	Per cwt.		Per cwt.
	s.	d.	s.	d.
1947	24	9	29	0
1948	27	7	34	6
1949	26	4	22	5
1950	28	5	23	3
1951	42	5	35	0
1952	32	7	33	5
1953	30	5	32	6*
* This figure does not include the majority of barley imports since 1st May, 1953, which have been brought in by private importers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what further inquiries have been made and what report issued in respect of all the disturbances that took place last year in Nyasaland.

:I would refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to the Questions on this subject from himself and the hon. Member for Deptford (Sir L. Plummer) on 2nd December, 1953. There have been no further inquiries.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty on what estimate of cost the Board of Admiralty based their initial decision to modernise H.M.S. "Victorious"; and what is the latest estimated cost.

It would not be in the public interest that I should give the figures requested by the hon. Member. I can, however, say that the latest estimated cost is considerably higher than the figure which the Admiralty had in mind when the ship was taken in hand. The increase is due in part to rising costs and in part to subsequent decisions to incorporate a number of major improvements, including the angled flight deck, which were not envisaged at the time of the original decision.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what his policy is about the modernisation of further Fleet carriers apart from H.M.S. "Victorious"; and which, and when, and where and at what cost.

It is not proposed to modernise any more of the Fleet carriers, at any rate for the time being. Modifications to improve operational efficiency will, of course, be made during the course of normal refits.

asked the Minister of Labour how many medical centres have been established in our docks; how many accidents have been dealt with; and how far satisfactory progress is being made in the development of the welfare schemes for our ports.

The National Dock Labour Board now have in operation 44 medical centres and seven first-aid rooms. During 1953, 207,568 cases, largely resulting from accidents, were dealt with. Of those treated, 143,826 were dock workers and 63,742 other persons working in port areas. The National Dock Labour Board continue to expand their various welfare schemes for dock workers and details of the progress made appear in the Board's annual reports. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the latest report available.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General the total outstanding number of applications for the telephone service in the borough of Wembley; what is the earliest date of any outstanding application; and what is the number of new subscribers serviced during the year 1953.

326 applications were outstanding on the 31st December. 1953, of which 220 were in course of provision. The earliest is dated 12th May, 1951, and is from a subscriber who already has a telephone, but requires an additional line. During 1953, 1,195 new lines were connected.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what progress has been made in the development of F.I.D.O. at London Airport.

Development work on F.I.D.O. has now reached a stage

FATALITIES IN TRAIN ACCIDENTS RELATED TO PASSENGER JOURNEYS AND PASSENGER TRAIN MILEAGE
Year			Fatalities		Passenger journeys (millions)		Passenger train miles (millions)
			All Persons	Passengers	Number	Per Passenger Fatality	Operated	Per Passenger Fatality
1948	…	…	74	39	1,646	42	262	6·7
1949	…	…	12	—	1,634	Infinity	275	Infinity
1950	…	…	40	11	1,613	147	277	25·3
1951	…	…	55	43	1,624	38	270	6·3
1952	…	…	133	111	1,574	15	271	2·4
The fatalities in 1952 included 112 persons (108 passengers) killed in the double collision at Harrow and Wealdstone.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the number of fatalities arising from accidents in which passenger trains were involved on British Railways; and the percentage to passenger journeys and train miles run, respectively, for each of the years 1948 to 1953.

:The figures in the Table below covering the years 1948 to 1952 are extracted from the Annual Reports of the Chief Inspecting Officer of Railways. The figures for 1953 are not yet available.