asked the Minister of Education if he is satisfied that all children eligible for secondary education have an equal chance for selection for technical and grammar schools irrespective of the education authority area in which they live; and if he will make a statement.

It would not be realistic to lay down a uniform national percentage of children to be admitted to grammar and technical schools. I look for provision for between 15 per cent. to 25 per cent. of the senior age group, and where it is too low, it is my aim to have it increased.

asked the Minister of Education which local education authorities, in selecting children for secondary school education, rely on written examinations in arithmetic and English together with a general intelligence test and a report from the primary school headmaster.

In selecting children for secondary schools most authorities use to a greater or lesser degree the three methods mentioned in the Question.

asked the Minister of Education if he is aware that only two of the six constituent bodies represented on the Teachers' Panel of the Burnham Main Committee have now a greater membership than the National Association of Schoolmasters; and if he will reconsider his decision to exclude this Association from the Teachers' Panel thereby depriving its 15,000 members of adequate representation.

I have nothing to add to the Answer I gave the hon. Member for Barry (Mr. Gower) on 24th March.

asked the Minister of Education the number of school places provided by school buildings which received final Ministry approval in the years 1951, 1952 and 1953, respectively; and what is the number it is expected will be provided by those approved in 1954.

The following is the information:

(1) School places in projects approved during year ending 1st February			(2) Number of places in Col. 1 which were in use by 1st February, 1955
1952	…	163,650	154,550
1953	…	173,135	158,350
1954	…	223,294	99,729
1955	…	243,995	29,445

asked the Minister of Education the number of new primary and secondary schools approved for building in the county borough of Oldham and the urban district of Chadderton, respectively, for the year 1955.

The Oldham Education Authority expect to start building one primary and two secondary schools this year. No schools are due to be started in Chadderton this year.

asked the Minister of Education the capital cost of new school construction and extensions, together with the additional school places provided in schemes approved between 1st October, 1950, to 30th September, 1951, and each subsequent yearly period to the nearest convenient date, together with the number of classes of 40 or more pupils in each such period.

The following is the reply:

(1) Value of building projects approved in year ending 1st October			(2) Places to be provided by projects in (1)	(3) Number of classes with 41 or more pupils in January of each year
£ (thousands)
1951	…	47,095	214,160	35,103
1952	…	32,698	159,010	39,026
1953	…	41,465	211,180	43,202
1954	…	51,286	230,860	43,751

asked the Minister of Education how many new schools in Berkshire are projected for the next four years with the location and number of school places to be provided; how far this programme will ensure that every child will be able to attend either a grammar school or a secondary modern school; and what provision has been made for improving accommodation and facilities in the existing schools in the county.

I am writing to my hon. Friend in answer to the first part of his Question. From what I know of the Berkshire Authority's plans, I have no doubt that the authority will have made a start within four years on the new schools needed to provide secondary education in grammar schools or secondary modern schools for all senior children in the county. The authority proposes to spend during 1955 at least £100,000 on minor works of improvement and extension to its schools, compared with £56,000 in 1954.

asked the Minister of Education whether the Oakfield County Primary School, Hyde, is included in the building programme of the Cheshire Education Authority for 1956–57.

I have not yet settled the school building programme for 1956–57.

asked the Minister of Education the number of new school places provided in the area of the Worcestershire County Education Authority year by year since 1949.

The following is the information:

NEW PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL PLACES PROVIDED BY BUILDING
1949	…	…	…	…	2,235
1950	…	…	…	…	1,720
1951	…	…	…	…	1,650
1952	…	…	…	…	1,050
1953	…	…	…	…	730
1954	…	…	…	…	550

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that constructional steel firms are submitting identical tenders to local councils for the construction of schools; and what action he proposes to take, by reference to the Monopolies Commission or otherwise.

Yes; and I will take account of this in selecting further matters for reference to the Monopolies Commission.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that manufacturers of cement, chain link fencing, bolts, nuts and washers, metal windows, precast concrete goods, bitumen emulsion and road tar, are generally making a practice of submitting identical tenders for county council and municipal contracts; and what action he proposes to take, by reference to the Monopolies Commission or otherwise.

The supply of metal windows is already being investigated by the Commission. I will consider the possibility of other references where it appears that the conditions defined in the Monopolies Acts prevail.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received from the furniture industry as to the effects of the recently reimposed restrictions on hire purchase.

The National Association of Retail Furnishers, the British Furniture Trade Joint Industrial Council, and the London Furniture Workers' Shop Stewards' Council have represented to me that the restrictions should be relaxed.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications for permission to migrate under Section 468 of the Income Tax Act, 1952, have been received; how many have been granted; and how many refused.

1,100 applications have been made for Treasury consent to transactions falling under the four heads of Section 468 of the Income Tax Act, 1952. Of these, 1,085 have been granted and 15 refused.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer now many of the 2,400,000 persons who will be exempted from paying Income Tax under his Budget proposals are old-age pensioners.

I regret this information is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer which private and public enterprises received subsidies or allowances from the Treasury in the years 1952, 1953, and 1954; and how much they received in each case.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Civil Estimates and Appropriation Accounts, which contain information about amounts made available from public funds by way of grant, grant-in-aid, and subsidy in the years in question. If he has any particular field in mind, I would be glad to see if I could help him further.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will increase food subsidies to the level of 1951 in order to offset to some extent the rise in food prices.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the annual rates of production grants and subsidies and consumer food subsidies, respectively, in each of the past eight years.

The food subsidies administered by the Ministry of Food and the production grants and subsidies administered by the Agricultural Departments and the Board of Trade since 1947–48, inclusive, are shown in the following table:

Year	Food Subsidies administered by Ministry of Food	Production grants and Subsidies administered by Agricultural Departments and Board of Trade
	£M	£M
1947–48	365· 1	36· 9
1948–49	453· 4	53· 2
1949–50	394· 4	57· 4
1950–51	373· 8	49· 0
1951–52	396· 2	32· 5
1952–53	300· 4	44· 7
1953–54	294· 4	55· 8
1954–55	286· 4 (Estd.)	52· 6 (Estd.)

The Fertiliser Subsidy was transferred in 1951 from the Vote of the Board of Trade to the Votes of the Agricultural Departments. It is not possible to distinguish between the producer and consumer elements in the food subsidies over the period in question.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total amount of civil expenditure in 1938 and in each financial year since 1945.

The information is as follows:

CIVIL EXPENDITURE OF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EXCHEQUER ISSUES
(£ million)
—	Consolidated Fund Services	Civil Supply Services	Total
1938–39	244· 3	441· 3	685· 6
1945–46	485· 3	589· 0	1,074· 3
1946–47	577· 9	1,679· 1	2,257· 0
1947–48	556· 6	1,799· 0	2,355· 6
1948–49	541· 8	1,880· 7	2,422· 5
1949–50	538· 5	2,096· 1	2,634· 6
1950–51	544· 7	1,935· 2	2,479· 9
1951–52	592· 1	2,351· 4	2,943· 5
1952–53	666· 8	2,280· 1	2,946· 9
1953–54	674· 8	2,235· 2	2,910· 0
1954–55	664· 8	2,204· 0	2,868· 8

The figures for Civil Supply Services exclude all defence costs (including Ministry of Supply expenditure apportioned to defence). There may have been changes in definition from time to time which affect comparability. "Self-balancing" expenditure is excluded.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress is being made in experiments into the use of narcotics for the destruction of wild pigeons.

Experiments in Kent in clover and newly-sown peas, using narcotised peas and maize as bait, have so far been disappointing because of the difficulty of attracting the birds to the bait. Other baits are now being tried.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of farm workers fail to return to the industry upon completion of their period of National Service.

About one-third, according to replies to a questionnaire recently sent by my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service to a sample of the men called up from farms in Great Britain in November, 1951.