asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance under which regulations the National Assistance Board refuse an allowance for a child over 15 years of age whom the local education authority consider should continue at school beyond the normal leaving date.

There is no regulation to compel the Board to refuse an allowance after the 15th birthday. If the hon. Member will give me particulars of any case he has in mind I will be glad to look into it.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether the medical examinations of 4,500 limbless ex-Service men of the 1914–18 war, commenced in June, 1953, have yet been concluded; when the findings of the Independent Committee of medical experts who have been inquiring, since July, 1950, into the long-term effects of amputations on the lives of those men may be expected; and when a decision is likely to be given on the claims of the ageing limbless pensioners for a special amputations' allowance to compensate for their now increased disablement which they claim is not reflected in their pensions assessments laid down in 1919.

:The medical examinations have been completed. The analysis and collation of the clinical data is proceeding with all possible speed and when completed will be sent to the committee. With regard to the other matters raised, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. and gallant Member for Norfolk, Central on 1st February.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what saving of coal there has been to date as a result of replacing colliery steam-raising plant by taking power from the national grid; and what will be the saving of coal when electrification is completed.

It is difficult to make a sound estimate of these savings, but in the 4 years ended in 1952 the board's consumption of electricity went up by 775 million units and its coal consumption fell by one million tons.

asked the Minister of State, Board of Trade, as representing the Minister of Materials, how far it is still necessary to maintain strategic stockpiles of timber, which entail considerable cost in rentals, supervision and wastage, in view of the fact that timber traders are now in a position to purchase an ample supply of timber as required.

In the view of Her Majesty's Government it is still necessary to maintain a strategic stockpile of timber in addition to the stocks held by the trade.

asked the Attorney-General what action is being taken to expedite the prosecution, which he has under consideration, of the officials of an organisation calling itself the Co-operative Football Pools Syndicate operating from offices in London and Manchester, for fraudulent solicitation of public moneys.

I have no knowledge of any such prosecution.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is now able to announce plans for the reinstatement of the Latin-American broadcasts of the Overseas Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will instruct the United Kingdom representative at the United Nations Legal Committee at its next review of the work of the International Law Commission to support the adoption of a code of offences against the peace and security of mankind, which the Law Commission is to restudy in May this year.

:Progress in this matter depends on the results of the work of the International Law Commission, which is to meet again in May. We hope that the results will be such as to enable further progress to be made by the Legal Committee of the United Nations General Assembly when it meets in the autumn.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will appoint an early day for his inquiry into the Surrey County Council Development Plan, 1953, in view of the representations which have been made to him on the subject of the proposed fire station and Home Office training centre at St. David's, Reigate.

The proposal to put a fire station and training centre at St. David's, Reigate, has been settled by my right hon. Friend's confirmation, on 1st October last, of a compulsory purchase order made by Surrey County Council for the site. It cannot be reopened, and theinquiry into the county development plan will not affect it. There was a local public inquiry before the order was confirmed and the proposal was, therefore, fully ventilated. Objections were made and these were considered before the decision was taken.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the purchasing power of £100 today compared with 1946.

Taking the year 1946 as 100, the purchasing power of the £ is estimated to have been about 69 in December, 1953. This estimate is based on the consumer price index calculated for national income purposes between 1946 and 1952 and the Interim Index of Retail Prices thereafter.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in his proposed Budget, he will introduce a system of a fair and equitable betting tax, common to all forms of betting, at a standard rate.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply whichmy right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Hammersmith, North (Mr. Tomney) on 11th February.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what interests connected with greyhound racing he consulted before imposing the 10 per cent, totalisator taxon greyhound racing.

This tax was introduced by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1947; it is hardly for me to say whom he consulted.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will reduce the entertainment tax on cinema seats up to and including 1s. so as to bring cinemas into line with all other forms of entertainment.

I cannot anticipate my right hon. Friend's Budget statement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the balance between wastage and recruitment in each month from October to December, 1953, inclusive, in the police forces of England and Wales, giving separately the figures for the Metropolitan Police, all the county forces and all the police forces for cities and boroughs; and what was the total balance between wastage and recruitment of each group over the period between 1st August, 1951, and 31st December, 1953.

OCTOBER-DECEMBER, 1953
Forces		Month (1953)		Men			Women
				Recruitment	Wastage	Increase (+) or Decrease (-)	Recruitment	Wastage	Increase (+) or Decrease (-)
Metropolitan		October	…	90	102	-12	5	8	-3
		November	…	146	122	+24	12	4	-8
		December	…	74	83	-9	14	3	+11
Counties	…	October	…	181	167	+14	14	11	+3
		November	…	215	157	+58	9	8	+1
		December	…	139	131	+8	13	12	+1
Cities and boroughs.		October	…	143	167	-24	20	10	+10
		November	…	175	167	+8	16	15	+1
		December	…	107	105	+2	10	13	-3

1ST AUGUST, 1951 TO 31ST DECEMBER, 1953
Forces		Men			Women
		Recruitment	Wastage	Increase (+)	Recruitment	Wastage	Increase (+)
Metropolitan	…	2,783	2,465	+318	259	136	+123
Counties	…	5,565	3,611	+1,954	466	301	+165
Cities and boroughs.		4,673	3,241	+1,432	388	258	+130
Total	…	13,021	9,317	+3,704	1,113	695	+418

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, the total expenditure of the Medical Research Council on research, and the proportion spent on research into mental health, for each year since 1945.

The Medical Research Council's total expenditure on research for each year from 1945 was as follows:

	£
1945–46	295,000
1946–47	415,000
1947–48	618,000
1948–49	770,000
1949–50	1,216,000
1950–51	1,363,671
1951–52	1,616,500
1952–53	1,505,917

The figures are as follows:During the same period the Medical Research Council spent the following sums on research specifically into mental health:

	£
1945–46	3,311
1946–47	300
1947–48	984
1948–49	5,991
1949–50	14,963
1950–51	18,176
1951–52	21,780
1952–53	21,361

In addition to these sums, the Medical Research Council have, during this period, devoted a considerable proportion of their resources to researches into psychological and neurologicalproblems, which, in many cases, are closely related to those of mental health. In the year 1952–53, for example, over £51,000 was spent on research in psychology and over £42,000 on research in neurology.

asked the Minister of Education the number of all-age schools, county, aided, and controlled; and how many children they contain.

In January, 1953, there were 4,588 all-age schools and departments in England and Wales, containing 770,082 children. Of these, 340,172 children were in 1,799 county schools or departments, and 429,910 in 2,789 voluntary schools or departments. Separate figures for aided and controlled schools are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many men and women teachers, respectively, were in service at the latest convenient date; and the total and average salaries of men and women teachers, respectively.

The numbers of men and women teachers in service in public and grant-aided primary and secondary schools in Scotland at 1st October, 1953, were 11,549 and 23,374 respectively. The total estimated annual salary bill for these teachers amounts, at present salary rates, to £21,545,000 (£8,892,700 for men and £12,652,300 for women). The average salary of a man was £770 and of a woman £541.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from representatives of breeders about the definition of over shot jaws in connection with the licensing of bulls.

A deputation from a number of the breed societies and other bodies concerned recently represented to my Department that too rigid a standard is being applied in rejecting bulls for licence because of over-shot jaws. I have undertaken to look at the matter again in consultation with the Licensing of Bulls Advisory Committee.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland in what respects he has changed the definition of over-shot jaws in instructions to Department of Agriculture inspectors examining bulls for licensing.

The definition was reworded to concentrate attention on the position of the four central incisor teeth and on the relation between the cutting edges of these teeth and the dental pad.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many bulls have been condemned by the Department of Agriculture for over-shot jaws to the last convenient date in 1954, compared with the figures for the corresponding periods of 1953 and 1952.

The number of bulls which have been refused licences because of over-shot jaws in the period 1stJune, 1953, to 31st January, 1954, is 60. The number refused licences in each of the corresponding periods in 1953 and 1952 was seven.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is continuing the investigation of bulls with over-shot jaws as described in the 1953 Report of the Department of Agriculture for 1952; and what conclusions he has drawn from the investigation.

Yes. The investigations are not yet complete but the conclusions reached so far are that the defect when found in a bull at licensing age does not improve as time goes on and that it is likely to be inherited by some of its progeny.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many classes in Dundee primary, junior secondary and senior secondary schools, respectively, contain more pupils than laid down by the Scottish Education Department code.

Eighteen classes in primary schools, 14 in junior secondary schools and none in senior secondary schools.