asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what conditions were laid down by the Capital Issues Committee when replying to the application from the firm which took over the Cordale Print Works, Renton; and what was the date of their reply.

It would be contrary to precedent and not in the public interest to give details of a particular application to the Capital Issues Committee.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what requests he has made to the Capital Issues Committee and to the banks concerning finance for hire purchase.

Yesterday I addressed the following letter to the Chairman of the Capital Issues Committee:Dear Kennet,I know that, since I wrote to you on the 19th August last about the general limitation of finance for hire purchase, the Capital Issues Committee have been giving close attention to applications coming within this category, but in accordance with my request have not operated the limitation by imposing a rigid ban on all new finance for hire purchase. The Government has now decided that the economic situation calls for a closer check on consumer credit, and an Order has been made reimposing limitations on hire purchase and credit sale agreements. At the same time, steps must be taken to curtail the volume of hire purchase finance and I therefore ask your Committee in future to examine more stringently any application for finance for this purpose.Yours very sincerely, (sgd.)

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury why Professor Lawrence Gowing's appointment as Trustee to the Tate Gallery is ending in July, 1956, whereas the usual seven-year appointment would lapse in 1960.

Professor Lawrence Gowing's appointment as a Trustee of the Tate Gallery is for the usual term of seven years and is due to expire on 25th July, 1960. I regret that my reply to the hon. Member for Cambridge (Mr. Hamilton Kerr) on 11th February gave the year in error as 1956.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air how many civilian general medical practitioners are employed on part-time medical work by the Royal Air Force; and what are their rates of remuneration.

One hundred and fourteen. Remuneration varies according to the size of the station and the nature of the duties, which range from the medical care of a small station to the weekly inspection of canteens and workshops. All rates are agreed with the British Medical Association.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air how many civilian doctors are employed on full-time medical work by the Royal Air Force; what are their duties; and what are their rates of remuneration.

Twenty-seven. Their duties include routine medical examinations, diagnoses and treatment which do not necessitate admission to hospital, emergency attendance, and inoculations. The salary is £1,500 plus a Civil Service Pay Supplement of £35. It is reduced somewhat if the doctor is below the age of 35.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air how many part-time civilian consultants and specialists are employed in the medical branch of the Royal Air Force; and what are their rates of remuneration.

Thirty-four. Six receive honoraria ranging from £360 to £750 a year. Fees of the remainder are from 2–7 guineas for each consultation and 2½-4 guineas for each session as member of a medical board.

asked the Minister of Defence what he anticipates will be the actual expenditure on defence for the financial year 1954–55 as compared to the official estimate in the Statement on Defence, 1954; and to what factors he ascribes the difference between the actual expenditure and the estimate.

I am not in a position to add to the information given in paragraph 55 of the Statement on Defence, 1955.

asked the Minister of Food if he will give details of the financial arrangements under which beef is being imported from the United States of America.

Small quantities of manufacturing beef are being imported from the United States of America by private traders under Section 550 of the U.S. Mutual Security Act, 1953. In order to make it possible for this meat to be procured at world prices, the U.S. Government are paying certain subsidies, the sterling equivalent of which will accrue to my Department and be disbursed to the importers. Provision for the receipt and payment of these monies has been made by Supplementary Estimate.

asked the Minister of Health what pilot investigations have been made to show the fluorine content of the urine of adults in the general population, and also in the general populations selected for the experiments concerned with fluoridation of water supplies, in accordance with the recommendation of the British Mission that visited the United States of America.

A few adults were included in the pilot study to which I referred in my answer on 14th February but, as explained in that answer, extensive surveys of the fluoride content of urine have been shown to be unnecessary by recent work in the United States of America, with which the results of our pilot study agreed.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will now state the final assessment of business transacted at the Scottish Industries Exhibition held in September, 1954; and if he will make a statement.

I am informed by the Scottish Council (Development and Industry), who were responsible for the Exhibition, that about 40,000 trade buyers visited it; that 90 per cent. of the exhibitors considered it well worth while; and that two-thirds regarded it as of more value than its predecessor in 1949. The Exhibition Committee are satisfied that the business done was substantially in excess of the 1949 figure of £10 million.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is now in a position to sanction work being started on the Whiteinch—Linthouse tunnel.

I hope to be able to give my formal approval very soon.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that British West Indies can meet all British requirements for grapefruit; and, in view of public disquiet, why he continues to allow these to be imported from Florida.

No fresh grapefruit is available from the British West Indies during the summer, and during the rest of the year they can supply only a small part of our requirements. Our present main sources are South Africa and Israel. Since the war there have been no substantial imports from the United States of America, a major prewar source of supply, until 1954 when 1,680 tons, or about 3 per cent. of our total imports, were provided under Mutual Aid. This quantity was shipped in the colonial off-season. Discussions now proceeding may lead to similar arrangements for 1955. It is not proposed that canned grapefruit, of which the British West Indies are at present our main supplier, should be included in such arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the inter-Departmental Committee inquiring into the Education of Military Families has yet reported or when it will be likely to do so.

Their report has been received and is under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will consider, with a view to revision, the pocket-money regulations for inmates of the Chelsea Hospital, especially in cases where they would not otherwise benefit from recent rises of pensions and allowances.

I have considered this matter and I cannot see my way to making new regulations.