Written Answers To Questions
Friday, 6th May, 1955
Education (Expenditure)
asked the Minister of Education if he will give calculations or estimates showing the percentage relation of annual expenditure by local education authorities to total national income at five-yearly intervals going back as far this century as information is available.
Following is the answer, which has been calculated from the best information available to my Department. Figures for the Gross National Product for years earlier than 1938 have been based on an unofficial estimate. Five-yearly intervals have been preserved as far as the incidence of two wars allows.
| Financial year | Expenditure by local education authorities expressed as a percentage of the Gross National Product | |
| 1908–09 | … | 1·30 |
| 1913–14 | … | 1·22 |
| 1923–24 | … | 1·67 |
| 1928–29 | … | 1·71 |
| 1933–34 | … | 1·98 |
| 1938–39 | … | 1·83 |
| 1946–47 | … | 1·95 |
| 1949–50 | … | 2·16 |
| 1954–55 (estimated) | … | 2·48 |
Ministry Of Health
Hearing Aids (Battery Replacements)
asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the difficulty experienced by elderly people in some areas remote from hospitals who need battery replacements for their hearing aids; and whether he will make arrangements for local supply.
In order to ensure that patients receive batteries in fresh condition, and to avoid waste, it is desirable to limit the number of distribution points, and for this reason distribution can best be done at the hospitals. But patients needing batteries are not required to call in person, and in cases of exceptional difficulty special arrangements can be made, for example for postal delivery.
Nurses And Midwives (Pay)
asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that the Nurses and Midwives Council negotiated, on 1st November last, £30 weighting for London, and on 1st December negotiated an increase of £25; and why they have not yet been paid.
The dates mentioned are those from which the increases will have effect and not those on which the respective agreements were finally completed on the Whitley Council. The agreement on London weighting was issued to hospital authorities on 11th March and that on the salary increase is expected to be issued on 13th May.
Falkland Islands Dependencies
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Argentine and Chilean Governments have yet responded to Her Majesty's Government's offer to submit the dispute over the sovereignty in the Falkland Islands Dependencies to arbitration.
Hon. Members are aware that our sovereignty is being challenged by the Governments of Argentina and Chile, who lay claim to large parts of the United Kingdom sector of the Antarctic known as the Falkland Islands Dependencies to which our title goes back for more than a century, and have persisted in committing acts of trespass there. Her Majesty's Government have several times invited Argentina and Chile to resolve the dispute peacefully by referring it to the International Court of Justice. On 21st December last Her Majesty's Government repeated this offer in identical Notes addressed to the Argentine and Chilean Governments and stated that, if the two Governments still felt unable to accept our invitation, we should, as an alternative to adjudication by the Court, be prepared to consider reference of the dispute to international arbitration.
By the end of April the Argentine and Chilean Governments had returned no reply to our Notes and Her Majesty's Government therefore decided to make a direct application to the International Court and lay their case before it. They prepared two documents relating to encroachments by Argentina and Chile, respectively, and submitted these to the Court on 4th May. Our Ambassadors at Buenos Aires and Santiago have since been informed by the Argentine and Chilean Governments that they reject the offer of arbitration which we made last December. The Ambassadors have been instructed to express to the two Governments our disappointment at their replies and our hope that, in the light of the action which we have taken before the International Court, they will reconsider their attitude and accept the jurisdiction of the Court. If they do this the Court will be enabled to hear the case and give judgment. If the two Governments do not see fit to accompany us to the Court, we shall at least have acquainted the Court of the facts of the case, and have placed on record before the Court and world opinion generally the grounds on which we consider our title to the United Kingdom sector of Antarctica to be firmly rooted in international law.
I hope that Argentina and Chile will accept the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice and that this issue, which has impaired our relations with two countries with whom we desire to be on terms of friendship, may be resolved by a judgment of that Court.
Coal Supplies, South Caernarvonshire
asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he is aware of the difficulties now being experienced by consumers and merchants of anthracite and "Phurnacite" in south Caernarvonshire owing to the heavy arrears into which allocations of these fuels to suppliers have now fallen; and whether, in view of the fact that many in this area have no alternative to these fuels, he will inquire into the position and take immediate steps and alleviate the scarcity.
Supplies of anthracite and "Phurnacite" are not sufficient to meet the increasing demand for these fuels but coke is a suitable alternative for many purposes and normally should be available.