asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will give an assurance that, in any proposals to increase the benefits of old-age pensioners and others, the cases of blind persons will be considered at the same time, and will receive not less favourable treatment.

Blind persons qualifying for any National Insurance benefit or pension will, of course, benefit like anyone else from the increases recently announced. The non-contributory pension paid to blind persons at 40 is not being increased as blind persons who are unable to compete in the labour market will benefit from the increased rates of assistance for the blind provided for in the draft National Assistance Regulations now before the House.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance to give an estimate of the cost per 1s. increase in the non-contributory old-age pension.

The cost of a shilling increase in the non-contributory old-age pension would be about £830,000 a year, but there would be some saving of National Assistance paid in supplementation of non-contributory pensions.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many people covered by the Ashington office. Northumberland, were receiving National Assistance grants at the latest convenient date; and how this compares with a similar date in 1951.

At 26th October last, 4,760 regular weekly Assistance grants were being paid in the area covered by the Ashington office. A comparable figure for 1951 cannot be given, as in the meantime there have been substantial changes in the area covered by the office.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what proportion of our 1955 contribution to United Nations technical assistance will be available immediately.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what action he proposes to take in response to the request made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 18th November that Governments should make early payment of their contributions to the expanded technical assistance programme.

Subject to the approval of Parliament, it is proposed to pay £300,000 early in January next and to pay the balance of £500,000 in April, 1955.

asked the Minister of Defence whether he will issue a statement showing the information which he has obtained from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation concerning the effective period of national service in each of the member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

[pursuant to his reply, OFFICIAL REPORT, 24th November, 1954; Vol. 533, c. 1228–1229] gave the following additional information:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland to the attention of which industrialists, looking for new factory space, his departments have brought north Lanarkshire; and what reasons have been given by these industrialists for their unwillingness to establish themselves in north Lanarkshire.

I have been asked to reply.The Board of Trade brings the possibilities of North Lanarkshire to the attention of industrialists in all appropriate cases. I could not undertake to disclose the names or the course of the discussions.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many advance factories were built in Scotland in each year from 1945 to 1954; and where these factories are situated.

Programmes of Government factory building in Scotland in advance of demand were approved in 1945 and 1946 for the Estates at Blantyre, Carfin, Carntyne, Chapelhall, Coat-bridge, Dundee, Kilmarnock, Kilwinning, Larkhall, Newhouse, Port Glasgow, Queenslie, Thornliebank and Vale of Leven. These factories were completed between 1947 and 1951 as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will have built advance factories where there are suitable sites in order to attract work to north Lanarkshire.

I do not consider that the building of Government-financed factories in advance of demand is justified in present circumstances.