Written Answers To Questions
Friday, 18th March, 1955
Motor Vehicles (Air Pollution)
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken by the Metropolitan Police to ensure the enforcement of the existing law which prohibits the emission of foul exhausts from motor vehicles, as recommended in the Report of the Committee on Air Pollution.
Regulation 78 of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations, 1951, provides that
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis assures me that the Metropolitan police do their best to enforce this provision. It does not often happen however that the circumstances are such as to warrant the institution of proceedings, and most offenders are dealt with by way of oral warning."Every motor vehicle shall be maintained in such condition, and shall be so driven and used on a road, that there shall not be emitted therefrom any smoke, visible vapour, grit, sparks, ashes, cinders or oily substance, the emission of which could be prevented or avoided by the taking of any reasonable steps or the exercise of reasonable care, or the emission of which might cause damage to other persons or property or endanger the safety of any other users of the road in consequence of any harmful content therein."
West South Wales (Lloyd Committee)
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his meeting with the members of the Lloyd Committee for the purpose of discussing the Committee's future; and what conclusions have been reached.
By last summer the Committee had dealt comprehensively with its main tasks and had submitted three confidential reports to my predecessor—about road communications, railway communications, and the attraction of new industry. Arising out of the first of these, the Government has already announced a comprehensive programme of road development for South Wales. The Committee has been primarily concerned with the long-term problems of the area; this applies particularly to the report about the attraction of new industry, in which the Committee has furnished the Government with extremely valuable information for their guidance in framing future policy.At the meeting I had with the Committee, we concluded after a full discussion that for the immediate future there is little more that the Committee can do to assist the Government, and that the best course would be for the Committee to dissolve on the understanding—willingly agreed to by the members—that the Government will be able to rely on the assistance of members, or of the whole Committee if it should prove necessary in the future to reconstitute it.I hope that this decision will be rightly seen, against the background of the present improved position in west South Wales, as a mark of the Government's confidence in the area's future. It is apparent from the recent report of the Iron and Steel Board on the Development of the Iron and Steel Industry, 1953–58, that, provided demand is maintained at the expected level, the threat is not now so immediate, and the redundancies which will ultimately occur when the hand mills finally cease production are not now expected to be concentrated entirely within a short period of time. The healthy state of existing industry is shown by the fact that, since the Committee was set up two years ago, there has been an increase in employment more than sufficient to absorb the redundancies which occurred in 1953, with the result that the rate of unemployment in west South Wales has declined substantially. This development has been aided by the efforts of the Government and members of the Committee to encourage industrialists who are seeking new quarters to set up in the area, and we have no reason to believe that the area will not be able to cope with the situation if progress continues at the present rate.The Government will not slacken their continuous efforts to promote the welfare of west South Wales; now that we have had the benefit of the Lloyd Committee's wise advice, we hope that these efforts will meet with even greater success in the future. I am sure Members on both sides of the House will join with me in thanking the members of the Committee for the very great care and attention which they have given to the problems of west South Wales.
Ministry Of Health
Denture Replacements
asked the Minister of Health if he is satisfied with the present machinery for making known to claimants for replacement of dentures that they may demand an oral hearing by a committee under paragraph 22 (22) of the National Health Service (General Dental Services) Regulations, 1948, if it is thought that the replacement may be necessitated by lack of care on the part of the patient; and if he will give details of this machinery.
The detailed machinery is left to the discretion of the local executive council, but I have not reason to think it is unsatisfactory.
asked the Minister of Health in what proportion of the claims for replacement of dentures it has been decided by the appropriate committee under paragraph 22 (2) of the National Health Service (General Dental Services) Regulations, 1948, that the patient shall bear the whole of the cost of replacement.
Approximately half.
Day Nurseries (Child Maintenance Cost)
asked the Minister of Health the average cost per day of maintaining a child in a day nursery for the last financial year.
The average daily cost of providing a place in a day nursery in 1953–54 based on a five day week was 10s. 10d.
Hospital Management Committee, Wakefield
asked the Minister of Health if he will make a statement on the running of the Wakefield Hospitals, Group B, on the payment of allowances there, and on the destruction of the hospital car and of the hospital records and accounts; and if there has yet been a change of the chairman of this hospital management committee.
asked the Minister of Health if he is satisfied with the administration of the hospitals under the control of the Wakefield, Group B, Management Committee; and if he will make a statement.
The committee have, to a large extent, met criticisms of their administrative procedures made in the past by the auditors, and I have no special statement to make either on the administration of their hospitals generally or on the payment of allowances. I shall, however, continue to keep the situation under review. I am informed that no hospital car controlled by this Committee has been destroyed and that none of their records and accounts are known to have been improperly destroyed. The present chairman of the committee was first appointed in April, 1952.
asked the Minister of Health the names of the committee responsible for the running of Stapleton Park Farm; if he is now satisfied with the staffing of this project; and when the Wakefield Hospital Group B Committee will have ended this farming experiment in accordance with his policy.
The Members are:
- County Alderman A. Flavell, J.P. (Chairman of the Sub-Committee).
- County Alderman A. Bednall.
- County Councillor G. Wright.
- Alderman Mrs. Hammond.
- Alderman Miss E. M. Lister.
- W. T. Imeson, Esq.
- Alderman H. J. Bambridge, O.B.E., J.P.
- B. Hazell, Esq., M.B.E., J.P.
Sports Grounds (Rating And Valuation)
asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is aware that local authorities are deprived of the power of assessing land used for the purpose of amateur games and sports at a nominal value; and whether he will now introduce legislation by which local authorities shall have the power to grant total or partial exemption in such cases where such land is not used for profit, in view of their importance to the health of the community.
I would draw the hon. Member's attention to the provisions of Clause 6 of the Rating and Valuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill introduced today.
"Treatment Of Prisoners Of War In Korea" (Booklet)
asked the Minister of Defence whether he will be prepared to provide copies of the Report issued by his Department entitled "Treatment of British Prisoners of War in Korea" in sufficient quantities to deliver one copy to every household throughout the country or put a sufficient supply of copies on sale at all bookstalls at a price not exceeding 6d. so that the largest possible number of people can buy it.
In view of the considerable sales of the booklet on the "Treatment of British Prisoners of War in Korea" at its present modest price of 1s., and the wide publicity which has attended this publication, while I sympathise with the object of my hon. Friend's suggestion, I do not think its sale would be largely increased by any reduction of the price.
National Insurance (Harvest Workers)
asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will amend the Special Rules for Contributions of National Insurance for Casual Workers in Certain Operations to include the lifting of sugar beet and the harvesting of other root crops.
My right hon. Friend is not satisfied of the need for such a change.
Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences)
asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what changes he proposes to make in the conditions at present attaching to the holding of a provisional licence to drive a motor vehicle.
Such changes are contained in Clause 9 (1) of the Road Traffic Bill now before Parliament.
Roads
Accidents, Blackwood
asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation how many accidents, fatal and non-fatal, respectively, have occurred each year since the war at Birkwood Bridge, Blackwood, in the county of Lanark, on the main Carlisle—Glasgow trunk road.
he numbers of accidents at Birkwood Bridge reported during the years 1949 to 1954 are given in the table below. I am afraid that comparable figures for the years 1946 to 1948 are not available.
| Year | Accidents involving personal injury | Accidents not involving personal injury | ||
| Fatal | Non-Fatal | |||
| 1949 | … | — | — | 2 |
| 1950 | … | — | 1 | 4 |
| 1951 | … | — | 1 | 5 |
| 1952 | … | — | — | 1 |
| 1953 | … | — | 2 | 5 |
| 1954 | … | — | — | 6 |
| Total | … | — | 4 | 23 |
Wakefield—Leeds—Bradford (Improvements)
asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when work will start on improving the road communications between the cities of Wakefield, Leeds, and Bradford; and what sum of money he has allocated for that purpose.
I intend to continue the resurfacing and improvement of the trunk roads A.61 and A.650 for which Iam responsible, and no doubt the local highway authorities are considering what should be done on the classified roads. As to the funds to be allocated for these purposes, I have nothing to add at present to my statement of 2nd February, for the reasons which I then gave.