asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will now take steps to grant the same rights to British women subjects who marry foreigners as are available to British male subjects who marry foreigners.

If, as I apprehend, the suggestion is that legislation should be introduced to provide that any foreigner who marries a British woman should be entitled to acquire British nationality thereby, I regret that I cannot accept it.

Is the Secretary of State aware that no such suggestion is being made? All I am asking is that the same right should be granted to a British woman marrying a foreigner as to a British man marrying a foreigner. Does not the Minister agree that it is time we brought ourselves in line with countries like America and Germany, and ceased to maintain this measure of sex discrimination?

The situation which obtained prior to 1948 was retained in the 1948 Act. Although there is what I suppose is equality in the United States, there is also, under the McCarran Act, power to refuse admission to the United States to either men or women.

Is the Secretary of State aware that if a British girl who has married an American is divorced in America, that divorce counts in both countries; but if a British man marries an American girl an American divorce does not count in this country, and causes endless complication and expense?

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British women subjects married to foreigners have been prevented by Home Office action during the past 12 months from living with their husbands in Great Britain.

The immigration statistics are not kept in a form which would enable me to give this information, but I can assure the hon. Member that every case is considered on its merits.

The Question is in regard to numbers. Am I not correct in assuming that there is a very small number indeed? In those circumstances, will the Home Secretary make inquiry into this matter and, in view of the smallness of the problem, will he see if he can remove this discrimination between British men and women subjects and return a little to the liberal principles of this country of the past?

There has been no departure from those principles in this respect. There is no discrimination. Every case is treated on its merits. This has been the practice for a very long time.

Is my right hon. and gallant Friend aware that not everybody still adheres to Liberal principles?

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Report of the working party set up to examine the hackney carriage laws is going to be published as a White Paper.

As my predecessors have said, it is not proposed to publish this Report, which was made by Departmental officials and technical experts.

May I ask my right hon. and gallant Friend whether he intends to take early action on this Report, and if he is not able to take early action, will he take action as early as possible after the end of May?

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that unauthorised obstructions have been placed on the footway outside the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane and in the roadway in Stanhope Gate; and whether he will instruct the Metropolitan Police to have these illegal obstructions removed.

As my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation has stated in reply to previous Questions by my hon. Friend, the question of ordering the removal of signs outside the Dorchester Hotel is under consideration by the Westminster City Council. As regards the signs in Stanhope Gate, the police propose to inform the frontagers that if the use of the signs is persisted in it will be necessary to bring the matter to the notice of the Westminster City Council.

But that is just not good enough. Is my right hon. and gallant Friend aware that I raised this matter in this House as early as 16th February this year, that is three months ago? Is not my right hon. and gallant Friend responsible to this House for seeing that the law is enforced rather than saying that it is being considered whether the law should be enforced?

I can answer only for myself. It is for the highway authority—in this case it is the Westminster City Council—to take action. The only other possibility would be for the Commissioner of Police, if he wanted anything done, to make a recommendation to the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation. This he has not done.

Is not my right hon. and gallant Friend aware that these signposts—whether they are outside the Dorchester or any other place does not matter at all—are illegal? Should they not, therefore, be removed rather than it be left to any local highway authority to take action?

I think my hon. Friend is under a misapprehension. Under the existing Act, it is for the highway authority responsible to take action—

No.

It is for the highway authority—in this case, the Westminster City Council—to take action if it considers that to be necessary. The Commissioner of Police can make recommendations to the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, but he has not done so.

May I ask the right hon. and gallant Gentleman whether his answer means that a private citizen who puts a "No parking" notice outside his house is acting illegally?

No, Sir. So far as I know, if the highway authority regards such a notice as an obstruction to traffic, it can have it removed, but it is for the authority to decide.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the day trips from London to France and Belgium, without passports, are one-way traffic only or if reciprocity is intended, thus increasing our foreign earnings; and if he will expedite his decision.

Her Majesty's Government accept the principle of reciprocity as between this country and France and it is hoped, in consultation with the French Government, to settle the detailed conditions in the near future. So far as I am aware no proposals have been made for similar excursions to or from Belgium.

Is my right hon. and gallant Friend aware that the discussions and preparations which have been made for these cross-Channel trips are now very far advanced and that a good deal of money has been spent on them? If anything were to go wrong on the French side, it would cause a lot of financial damage in our area. Will my right hon. and gallant Friend ensure, therefore, that the Foreign Office gets in touch as soon as possible with the French Foreign Office as, I understand, the French Ministry of the Interior is quite agreeable to things going on as have so far been arranged?

I can certainly give that assurance, because I am most anxious that this matter should be brought to a successful conclusion.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to enable electors attending an assembly of the established Churches in England and Scotland to appoint a proxy when such assemblies coincide with polling day for an Election.

I regret that I can hold out no prospect of legislation on these lines.

Could the Home Secretary not elaborate on that somewhat brief answer, in view of the fact that this matter is creating a good deal of concern in Scotland at the present time?

I would like to do so if I could, but here again I am bound entirely by legislation which has been passed by this House. Certain definite categories are laid down—for example, people who are sick and those, such as engine drivers, who, because of their occupations, have to be away. Those are all specified, and it is within the discretion of the registration officer, as laid down by this House, to grant permission.

Is my right hon. and gallant Friend aware that there is a good deal of dissatisfaction in connection with the Assembly of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh? Some of the electoral registration officers are refusing postal votes to the ministers who have to attend, because it is a statutory meeting called on orders from the Queen.

Here again I can do no other than act according to the law. It is within the discretion of the registration officer to grant permission or otherwise, and from his decision, of course, there is a right of appeal.

While I recognise that all the judicial machinery is contained in the Act, for the operation of which the right hon. and gallant Gentleman is responsible, is he aware that there is a good deal of perturbation as to the way in which that machinery is being used? Could he not meet the difficulty in this particular case by the laying of an Order?

I speak subject to correction, but I do not think that would be possible. It would not be an easy matter to draw the line as to who could or could not vote by post. One could get into the position that an enormous number of people were voting by post, which I do not think would be in the best interests of democracy, which already places a very heavy burden on registration officers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that a medical report by the Principal Medical Officer of Brixton Prison, dated 14th February, 1953, stated that a prisoner, whose name has been made known to him, was sane and fit to stand trial on a charge of attempting to murder his wife, and recommended him as suitable for voluntary treatment in a mental hospital; that, at his trial five days later, this man was found guilty but insane and ordered to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure, and that he is still detained at Broadmoor, where his wife and other relatives have found him in apparently normal health; and if, in these circumstances, he will allow an independent medical examination of this patient.

The responsibility for deciding when a Broadmoor patient is fit to be transferred or discharged rests on the Home Secretary; and my predecessors and I have consistently taken the view that the expert staff of psychiatrists at Broadmoor, who have the patient under constant observation, are in a better position than an outside doctor to advise the Home Secretary on the patient's mental state and future prospects. The answer to the last part of the Question is, therefore, "No, Sir."

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that Dr. Mathieson, of Brixton, also said that this man was suffering simply from a mild anxiety neurosis, which should yield to proper psychiatric treatment, but that since he has been in Broadmoor he has had no such treatment whatever? It is obviously impossible for the very efficient and conscientious staff at Broadmoor to give proper psychiatric treatment to the very large number of patients with whom they have to deal. In the circumstances, will the right hon. and gallant Gentleman consider either getting an independent opinion or transferring the man to a mental hospital where he can be treated?

As the hon. Members knows, these cases are very difficult. I am aware of the opinion to which he has referred and I have, of course, gone into the case myself with great care. On the information I have, I do not think anything can be done. But I am prepared to look at the matter again, and I will do so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will now announce the decisions he has taken on the Report of the Departmental Committee on the adoption of children.

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the answer I gave on 24th March last to the hon. Member for Tonbridge (Mr. G. Williams).

Is the Minister aware that quite a number of responsible people connected with adoption societies are very alarmed at the growing number of babies who are being smuggled out of this country by devious means to America? If the right hon. and gallant Gentleman is not doing anything about the Report of the Departmental Committee, will he at least urge the police to make the necessary investigation and to take the necessary action?

As the hon. and gallant Member knows, practically every one of the recommendations would involve legislation. I am not satisfied that the present system is working too badly. I do not share the hon. and gallant Member's view that there is a constant stream of babies going to the U.S.A. from this country. I have not come to that conclusion myself.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Committee investigating the law relating to homosexual offences and prostitution is likely to report.

I understand that the Committee is still receiving evidence and it is not yet possible to say when it is likely to report.

Will the Home Secretary do his best to get the Committee to speed up its Report and so end as quickly as possible the very unseemly hypocritical state of affairs now existing in London, whereby increasing numbers of women are soliciting in the streets subject only to a regular payment of 40s. whenever the police and the local magistrate think fit?

In common with most Members, I regard this as a very serious matter. I do not think that it would help if we stressed too much the need for speed in the Committee's work, because large numbers of bodies are still anxious to give evidence. As the Committee started work only in September, I do not think we can complain about delay up to now.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he has not yet made any detailed reply to the proposals relating to action by Her Majesty's Government for overcoming Northern Ireland employment, submitted to him five months ago by the right hon. Member for Blyth and other hon. Members.

The proposals to ameliorate the unemployment position in Northern Ireland submitted by the hon. Member and his right hon. and hon. Friends, together with the suggestions made by the hon. Members of the Ulster Unionist Party, covered an extremely wide field. They are being very carefully examined. In addition, those of my colleagues chiefly concerned and I have had the opportunity of a discussion with the Acting Prime Minister and other members of the Northern Ireland Government about the complexities of the short and long-term remedies which might be adopted.

Is the Home Secretary not aware that we have had that sort of reply for months, and that all the time unemployment is mounting? Can he not give a definite reply now on the proposals to establish a development corporation with executive powers and on the proposal to build a dry dock?

There is to be an opportunity for a debate on this matter, so I am told, before the House dissolves. We can then have more detail than I am prepared to give now, because it would take too long. I assure the hon. Member that I shall then tell him as much as possible.

In view of the debate that may possibly take place next week, may I ask whether the right hon. and gallant Gentleman will be able then specifically to answer all the questions and deal with all the points that were put forward in the memorandum which was submitted to him?

Yes, I think I can give the right hon. Gentleman that assurance. I will deal with most of them, at any rate. There are, of course, other matters in regard to the short-term problem, which is of equal importance.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the reason for the delay in rebuilding the Magistrates' Court at Balham; when work will start; and when the new court will be completed.

The rebuilding of the Metropolitan Magistrates' Court at Balham was interrupted by the war and its resumption has been delayed by the need for economy in capital investment. I am fully aware of the need for the new building, but I regret that I am still not able to say when work on it will start.

Does my right hon. and gallant Friend realise how extraordinarily overcrowded that building is, and how bad and undignified the conditions are? Can he not give the rebuilding a very high priority in the works for which he is responsible?

I can say that that will be the first court to be rebuilt.

asked the Minister of Education what progress has been made in the efforts to improve educational facilities for Service men's children.

I cannot, at present, add anything to what my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary said in last Tuesday's debate on the Estimates.

As that still is very disappointing information, will the Minister say when he hopes information can be given which will serve to encourage more men to take up Regular engagements in the Armed Services?

I think that this is a very important matter, but it concerns a large number of Departments and they have not all come to agreement.

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that men and women who serve their country ought not to have to sacrifice the education of their children? Is not this matter important enough for a committee to be set up to consider the whole question?

I entirely agree with the hon. Member, but I had hoped we should be able to find a shorter cut to the solution, and I still think we shall.

When giving further consideration to this matter, will the right hon. Gentleman give close study to the special arrangements already made for the education of children of officials engaged in the Foreign Service, which are dealt with exhaustively in the Report of the Select Committee? He might find some very useful information in that Report.

That is one of the examples which we are taking into consideration.

asked the Minister of Education what decisions have been reached in the consideration given to the recommendation of the Central Advisory Council for England in respect of early leaving at grammar schools; and what action is to be taken to increase maintenance allowances.

I cannot add to what I said in Tuesday's debate.

In respect of what he said in Tuesday's debate, will the Minister state what action he is taking to bring to the attention of grammar school children and their parents the advantages now to be gained by staying on longer at grammar schools for the education available?

On every opportunity I have tried to stress the importance of keeping children at grammar schools—and secondary modern schools as well—to complete the longer period of education, if their parents will allow them.

Could the right hon. Gentleman say anything about the last part of the Question? What action is he taking to impress on local authorities the need for increasing maintenance grants for children beyond the compulsory minimum school-leaving age?

I have had a very interesting meeting with local authorities and teachers' representatives on the question of maintenance allowances. A number of very interesting but different views were expressed, and we are now considering whether we can come to a common view as to what should be the future of maintenance allowances.

asked the Minister of Education why his Department instructed the Lancashire County Council that it could not accept on a 50 per cent. grant basis the church hall in Huyton, details of which are in his possession, for use as a school hall and dining room.

As the reply is extremely complex, I am writing to the right hon. Gentleman.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this hall is structurally sound, but if it were pulled down and a new one built on the site a grant would be automatically forthcoming? Since, presumably, the right hon. Gentleman does not want that to happen, will he have a look at this matter again and receive representations about it?

I am looking at the matter and will write to the right hon. Gentleman, but it is one of the most tangled legal questions with which I have had to deal.

asked the Minister of Education what representations he has received regarding the state of the buildings at Haverfordwest Grammar School and Tasker's High School for Girls, Haverfordwest; and what answers he has given.

I have received no such representations.

If such representations were forthcoming, would the right hon. Gentleman be prepared to look into the matter?

Yes, Sir. Perhaps the hon. Member could help the two schools concerned by pointing out in his constituency that under the freedom given in the minor works programme it would now be possible for the local authority to carry out certain improvements.

asked the Minister of Education the percentage fall in the number of primary schools under construction between 1st January, 1952, and 1st January, 1955; and the percentage rise in the number of primary classes with more than 40 pupils apiece from 1st January, 1952, to the latest date for which figures are available.

Fifty-seven per cent. and in the same period, 14 per cent. respectively. The decline in primary school building reflects the changes in the school roll to which I referred in Tuesday's debate.

Is the Minister aware that those figures also reflect the reality of the backward policy in primary education in the last three years, and stand in rather stark contrast to his sunshine talk the other day? Is he aware that these figures very clearly show that primary school building has been reduced during the period when there were more primary school children to be educated?

That is not at all an accurate account of the position. For instance, there are under construction today 130,000 primary school places, all of which will be completed after the primary school roll has begun to decline. The position will be getting steadily better in primary schools from now onwards.

How does the right hon. Gentleman explain the fact that there are now more overcrowded classes than there were three or four years ago? Is he aware that the number of overcrowded classes has increased by 10,000 since 1951? That clearly shows an increasing inadequacy of the number of school places.

I think the hon. Member will get some comfort from my Written Answer to Question No. 18.

asked the Minister of Education what proportions of local education areas had percentages of more than 50 and less than 20, respectively, of grammar to total secondary places, at the latest date for which figures are available.

In January, 1954, the percentages were 4·8 and 13·7 respectively. Such percentages do not, however, give a true picture of the opportunities open to children in different areas.

How long does the Minister think it will take to bring up those areas where there is less than a 20 per cent. opportunity of grammar school education to the average of which he was speaking the other day? Will he say if it is his policy to encourage education authorities which now have more than 20 per cent. of places to try to increase them to 50 per cent.?

Obviously I cannot answer the first part of the hon. Member's supplementary question, because it will take a different time in each area. But the total provision of grammar school places is now increasing, and year by year the number of authorities which have less than 15 per cent. will decrease. The hon. Member asked what I would do in the case of those which already have 20 per cent. If they wish to go to 25 per cent. I shall be very pleased.

Has the attention of the right hon. Gentleman been drawn to the decision of the Peterborough education authority so to arrange things that the classes in grammar schools will remain as they are, and all the overcrowding due to increased numbers in the secondary schools will be in the modern schools, thereby decreasing the percentage of children going to grammar schools from 25 per cent. to 19 per cent.? What action does he propose to take with regard to such authorities which are thereby decreasing the percentage of those going to grammar schools?

I will look into that case and will write to the hon. Lady.

asked the Minister of Education the number of new primary and secondary schools approved for building in the County of Stafford and the excepted district of Newcastle-under-Lyme, respectively, for 1955–56.

The approved Staffordshire school building programme for 1955–56 comprises 10 primary and 15 secondary school projects, of which two primary school projects are in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

asked the Minister of Education how many primary and secondary schools have been approved for construction in the County of Norfolk for 1955–56; and how many additional school places such schools will provide.

The Norfolk authority's approved school building programme for 1955–56 comprises the extension of a primary school to provide 120 places, and the construction of eight new secondary schools to provide 3,780 places. Six of these secondary schools were added as a result of Circular 283.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that these facts and figures, indicative as they are of very substantial progress, will be received with widespread satisfaction in Norfolk?

The Norfolk County Council got off the mark first after the issue of Circular 283, and deserves to be congratulated. If all county councils did the same, we should be in a very good way.

asked the Minister of Education what changes he proposes in the award and conditions of State scholarships.

I would refer the hon. Member to the statement I made during last Tuesday's debate.

Is the Minister yet in a position to give details of the revised assessment scales? Can he say whether he is considering increasing the actual number of State scholarships available, and does he think that the local authorities will be able to fall into line with these scales in time for the next academic year?

With regard to the first part of the supplementary question, the details are very complicated, as they include changes in the means test, and they will be published within the next day or two. As to the second part, the number of State scholarships has increased slightly. I think that the number is about right. I should not think that it would be very different this year from last year. As to the third part of the question, I have hopes that the local authorities, having seen the proposed scales and the rates for State scholarships, will be willing to adopt them for their own awards.

asked the Minister of Education whether he is aware that, in the new township of Kirkby, near Liverpool, voluntary schools to a total cost of £250,000 have been completed or are in course of construction; that so far no Ministry grant has been forthcoming; and whether, in view of the danger of further delay causing set-backs to the projected and approved building programme, he will take steps to assure a speedy settlement of questions outstanding.

An instalment of £15,738 has been paid towards the first of the three Roman Catholic Schools now being built in Kirkby. Grant on a further stage of this school and on the other two schools will be paid when the promoters let me have the particulars, for which they were asked some months ago, needed to assess the amount of grant.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that school building in what is virtually a new town in this area is on a scale and of a complexity which probably creates unprecedented problems both for those responsible and for his Department? In view of that, would he agree, either to send one of his officers there to-survey the problem as a whole in that area, or alternatively let one of his officers receive a deputation to look into this rather complex problem?

I am very willing to talk to the people concerned, but I asked them last November to furnish me with a list of displaced pupils, without which I cannot calculate the grant. If the promoters will give me these facts, I will get on with these grants.

Does the right hon. Gentleman not realise that When it is a question of building a secondary school and 30 families are arriving in this area from Liverpool every week, it is quite impossible for the promoters to know the names and addresses of the children who will be going to the new school when it is built.

I cannot pay a grant because I believe that sooner or later it will be justified. The promoters really must comply with the 1953 Act and let me have particulars.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is yet able to make an announcement about Government policy for the Lancashire textile industry.

No, Sir. I have nothing to add to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer last Friday.

When the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a statement last week in which he said that he hoped to make a statement before the House disperses, does that mean that he is to make a statement, or is the position similar to that when the Prime Minister indicated that he hoped to make a statement and later we were told that he did not make any promise but only expressed a hope? Is it a definite promise that a statement will be made before the House disperses?

The answer means exactly what it says.

Cannot the right hon. Gentleman be a little clearer than the Minister of State was as to whether the statement, if and when it is made, will relate only to Indian tariffs on goods exported to India from this country, or will the statement also deal with the much bigger problem of the imports of Indian cloth into Britain?

That is a little hypothetical, and we had better wait until the statement is issued.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will permit firms in this country to purchase Calcutta hessian at world prices, provided the hessian so imported is used exclusively in the export trade.

No, Sir. It is an essential feature of the arrangements regarding jute that purchases should be made only by the Jute Control.

Is the Minister familiar with the details in a letter which I sent to him of the position of a firm in my constituency which can purchase at world prices its raw materials at 20 per cent. below the prices here and thus expand its export trade, and would he say how that could hurt the jute industry in Dundee? If the facts which I have given are correct, will he not help this firm to expand exports rather than continue these restrictions which make it impossible for it to export?

I have studied the point which the hon. Gentleman put very clearly before me, and if I could help I would; but on looking at it in detail I find that it would not be consistent with these arrangements, which have advantages as well as disadvantages.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how much newsprint was saved during the non-publication of the national newspapers.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make an additional supply of newsprint available to provincial newspapers for the period of the forthcoming General Election.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what provision has been made for special allocations of newsprint during the period of the General Election.

The estimated quantity of newsprint saved during the period of non-publication by the national newspapers was 36,000 tons. So that those newspapers may now have the fullest freedom to use this newsprint, an Order will shortly be laid before the House to combine the current 12-week page rationing period with the one which begins on 29th May, thus forming a single rationing period of 24 weeks in which any unused paging allowances accumulated since 6th March may be printed.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that his statement will be very warmly welcomed in all parts of the House?

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that I am having the greatest difficulty in connection with the General Election in getting three tons of newsprint, and that his Department says that it is very unlikely that the mill will be able to supply it? How does he reconcile that with his statement that 36,000 tons of paper have been saved.

I am sorry to hear the difficulty which the right hon. Gentleman is in, and if he will communicate with me I will try to sort that out—but not all the other difficulties that he will find in the General Election.

Will my right hon. Friend agree that Question No. 34 is rather misleading in so far as Scottish national newspapers have been published all along?

I think that my hon. and gallant Friend is right to point out that the saving is on the English side.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that unemployment and under-employment have now arisen in the furniture industry, largely as a result of the recently imposed hire-purchase restrictions; and if he will consider immediate modification of those restrictions especially the prohibition of consolidated agreements.

As in previous years, there has been a seasonal increase in unemployment; despite this, total employment in the industry, according to the latest available figures, was higher in the early part of this year than in the corresponding periods of 1954 or 1953.

Is the Minister aware that the figures which were quoted by his hon. Friend last week were from 14th March, and they are now six weeks old? The position has deteriorated very considerably since then, and there are many thousands of men on short time and a large number unemployed. The Chairman of the Council of the London Furniture Manufacturers' Association stated in public last week that the furniture industry was rapidly becoming a depressed industry. This is a serious matter, and will the right hon. Gentleman look into it?

I will naturally watch the position very carefully, but I am not aware that a serious unemployment situation has arisen, and I am not in a position to say that I shall be prepared to modify the hire-purchase arrangements.

Since one of the purposes of the restrictions announced on 24th February was to promote the export trade, will the right hon. Gentleman tell the House what increases in furniture exports he hopes to obtain out of these restrictions?

Will the right hon. Gentleman meanwhile inquire from employment exchanges all over the country about the employment position? He will find that, except at High Wycombe, there is serious unemployment.

High Wycombe is a very important furniture centre.

Will my right hon. Friend keep his eye on the state of the order books in the furniture industry, not only in High Wycombe, but in Lancashire?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the 2,400,000 who will be relieved from paying Income Tax under the Budget proposals are agricultural workers.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will give an assurance that he will refuse to complete his negotiations for purchase of six million dollars worth of United States oranges as long as the United States Government insists that 50 per cent. of the purchase must be carried in their ships.

No, Sir. This transaction is part of a much larger programme of imports under the United States Mutual Security Act, 1954–55, from the sterling proceeds of which we shall receive this year's United States aid to the United Kingdom defence budget. I shall be informing the House about this programme next week.

Is the Minister aware that Denmark refused to enter a transaction of a similar nature? Does he realise that if he persists in his present attitude he will strike a very serious blow at the interests of British shipping?

I am prepared to say nothing else on this matter today. The House will be fully informed about it next week.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a statement about the current position regarding coracle fishing on the River Teifi between Llechryd Bridge and Cenarth Falls.

Coracle netting in this part of the river is prohibited except by persons who held licences in both of the years 1931 and 1932. Discussion with all interested parties has failed to find an acceptable means of lifting this restriction.

Is the Joint Parliamentary Secretary in favour of lifting the restriction? Is he prepared to commit himself to that? If so, is he saying that there are no administrative means by which this object can be achieved?

I am telling the House that after investigating every aspect of the problem we have not been able to find any means of lifting the restriction.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a further statement on the crisis in the hake fishing industry.

I have nothing to add to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member on 7th April.

Is the Minister aware that since the present Government took office the fishing fleet at Milford Haven has been more than halved? Has he really no constructive proposal to put forward?

As I told the House on 7th April—and told the hon. Member—we have promoted, with the White Fish Authority, research voyages. We have also promoted international action to meet the position. Further than that it is impossible for anyone to go. One cannot catch fish which are not there.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will provide a list of the research institutes which receive a grant-in-aid for working on matters of interest to the horticultural industry, together with the approximate annual cost to public funds of each; and, in view of the fact that the total number of horticultural research institutions now exceeds 30, what initiative he has taken to promote adequate co-ordination and avoidance of overlapping.

As the reply is rather long and contains a number of figures, I will, with permission, circulate particulars in the OFFICIAL REPORT. In answer to the second part of the Question, the duty of co-ordinating the work of the research institutions and of avoiding overlapping rests with the Agricultural Research Council.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what response he has received from manufacturers to provide adequate guards to power take-offs and driving shafts on agricultural equipment.

Recent discussion of this subject by the Agricultural Machinery Advisory Committee indicates that manufacturers of agricultural machinery are in general aware of the need to provide adequate guards for power take-offs and driving shafts. My Department has published a leaflet which emphasises the necessity of providing, and keeping in place, such guards.