asked the Secretary of State for War what success has attended the efforts to eliminate stamping from Army drill; and how many noncommissioned officers have been put on charges for insisting on stamping in defiance of orders during the last five years.

Exaggerated stamping is a sign of bad drill and is discouraged.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will introduce legislation to place part of the National Land Fund at the disposal of the National Parks Commission to enable them to meet the additional amenity cost of approved schemes.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, East (Mr. Blenkinsop) on 23rd June.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the national income has been spent by the Government in each of the last three financial years; and what proportion it is estimated will be so spent during the current financial year.

The total expenditure by the Central Government, including all subsidies, grants and other transfer payments to persons, local authorities, the National Insurance Funds and other sections of the community, but excluding all payments by the National Insurance Funds, expressed as a percentage of the gross national product, was 31.9 per cent. in 1952, 31.2 per cent. in 1953, and 28.3 per cent. in 1954. Figures are available on this basis only for calendar years. It appears probable that the proportion for 1955 will be about the same as that for 1954.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the nationalised industries borrow from the joint stock banks; and whether he will arrange that these industries should seek their accommodation in future from the nationalised Bank of England.

The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes," and to the second "No."

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will consider setting up an inquiry to investigate the possibility of giving tax relief to persons who are educating their children without financial aid from the State.

No. The Royal Commission on the Taxation of Profits and Income had representations on this matter, and my right hon. Friend sees no reason to institute a further inquiry.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that, on account of the burden of the entertainments tax on the living theatre, the New Theatre, Darlington, has recently been obliged to close and the Royal Astoria Theatre has had to be converted into a cinema; and whether he will make some inquiry into these circumstances, with a view to early remedial action so far as the duty is concerned.

I have seen reports in the sense of the first part of the Question. The duty on admissions to theatres and other entertainments is being kept under review, and the particular cases mentioned by my hon. Friend will be borne in mind in this connection.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many non-industrial civil servants were employed by the Government at the latest date for which figures are available and 12 months previously.

On 1st April, 1955, there were 635,663 non-industrial civil servants as against 654,758 on 1st April, 1954. Thus the year saw a fall of 19,095.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when the housing authority submitted to him the compulsory purchase order made by them in connection with the proposed demolition, as being unfit for human habitation, of two blocks of tenement houses known as Ashfield Cottages, Liverpool, 5; what assurances he has received from the authority that adequate alternative accommodation would be provided; and when he expects to be able to make a decision in this case.

On the 27th May, 1955. The council has undertaken to secure the necessary rehousing. Objections must be heard and an inspection made before a decision can be given.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what specific steps he proposes to take to rehouse families at present living in war-time hutted camps.

It is the responsibility of the local authorities managing the camps to arrange the necessary rehousing. They are making good progress in doing this.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government the estimated number of houses to be built in rural areas in England and Wales by local authorities in 1955, and the equivalent 1954 figures; and how many of these are special allocations for rehousing those at present living in huts and other substandard accommodation.

I prefer not to try and forecast the future rate of house-building. The number built in 1954 was 44,737. The rehousing of families in hutted camps is one of the factors taken into account in issuing authorisations, but no part of an authorisation is specifically tied to a particular purpose.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what reports he has had of the state of the water supply at Beulah, Breconshire; what is the position of the comprehensive scheme expected to supply this village; and whether he will, in the meantime, consider a temporary scheme to meet the requirements of the villagers for a pure and piped water supply.

My right hon. Friend knows that the quality of the water at Beulah is not satisfactory and that there is no piped supply. The comprehensive scheme will go to public inquiry as soon as the necessary application and relevant information are received from the local authorities concerned. My right hon. Friend will certainly consider any temporary local scheme if he is asked to do so, but that is likely to be an expensive proposition.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what communication he has had from the National Parks Commission regarding the effect of providing overhead cables in Borrowdale upon the amenities of the Lake District National Park; and what action he proposes to take.

I am glad to say that the Electricity Board has now agreed to put the section of the line as far as Rosthwaite underground.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many applications for payment under Part I of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1954, in respect of loss of development value were outstanding on 31st December, 1954, and at the latest convenient date, respectively; and whether he is satisfied that the staff available to the Central Land Board is sufficient to discharge these applications expeditiously.

The Act did not come into operation until 1st January, 1955, by which time the Board had received 3,541 applications. The issue of determinations and payments on these applications began immediately after 1st January. By 17th June the Board had received 91,000 applications, of which 15,000 have been paid and 14,000 found not to qualify for a payment. Another 3,000 payments have been determined and will be paid as soon as the statutory period for appeals expires. This progress is reasonably satisfactory, having regard to the difficulties inherent in many of these cases; but I will continue to watch the position.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many grants have been made to local authorities to assist them in educating the public in the prevention of accidents in the home; if he is satisfied that local authorities possess sufficient powers to deal with this matter; and, in view of the number of preventable accidents in the home, if he will confer with other Departments with a view to encouraging action to minimise this class of accident.

There are no specific grants for this purpose. As regards the general question of accidents in the home, there are already arrangements for consultation through an Inter-Departmental Committee appointed by my right hon. and gallant Friend the Home Secretary, to whom I would refer the hon. Member for any further inquiries.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government why consent was given for the erection and extension of garages in High Road, Leytonstone, when the land could have been used for shops and domestic accommodation.

I assume that the hon. Gentleman is referring to my decision earlier this year not to confirm the compulsory purchase for housing purposes of land at 713, High Road, Leytonstone, and to permit the erection of a petrol filling station and motor car showroom on the site. These decisions were fully explained in letters sent to the borough council and to the firm concerned. I am sending copies to the hon. Gentleman.

asked the Minister of Labour why mercantile seamen are exempt from National Service; and if he will withdraw this exemption.

My hon. Friend is under a misapprehension. My right hon. end learned Friend has no power to exempt merchant seamen from National Service. Men employed as merchant seamen, if registered with the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, may have their call-up deferred so long as they remain satisfactorily employed in that occupation. This procedure has been endorsed by successive Governments since the war. The reason for it is the vital importance of maintaining a body of trained men capable of manning merchant ships both in peace and war. This purpose would not be served by calling them up for National Service, so long as they remain in the Merchant Service.

asked the Minister of Labour how many seamen engaged in an industrial dispute have been served with calling-up notices; on what date the notices expire; what effect this action will have upon the total manpower of the Merchant Navy; and whether he will delay the call-up notices pending an inquiry into the matter.

The answer to the first part of the Question is "None." The rest of the hon. Member's Question does not therefore arise.

asked the Minister of Labour, in view of the failure of the joint negotiations on salaries and conditions of service of justices' clerks assistants between the appropriate bodies, if he will expedite the appointment of the arbitration board which he has been invited by the parties to set up with a view to an early settlement of a claim which has already been discussed for nearly three years.

I have not so far been invited by the parties to make arrangements for arbitration in any current claim relating to the salaries and conditions of service of justices' clerks assistants.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received regarding the depredations of seals at the mouth of the Tweed; and what action he proposes to take.

I have received representations from the River Tweed Commissioners that damage is being done by grey seals to salmon fishings in the Tweed District. As these seals breed on Farne Island, I am consulting my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland, in view of the fact that it has taken his Department over four months to obtain information from the Sutherland County Council in certain cases of housing, what steps he is taking in the public interest to secure that the local authority efficiently carries out the functions delegated to it.

I understand that applications for the tenancy of houses belonging to the county council are considered by local house-letting committees as houses become available for letting. As the allocation of houses is left by Statute in the hands of the county council them- selves, I should not feel justified in interfering with the manner in which they consider applications.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will now announce the name of the chairman of the Crofters Commission.

I am not yet in a position to make an announcement, but I hope to be able to do so very shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps he has taken, or is taking, to protect Britain from an experimental hydrogen bomb explosion in extraterritorial waters surrounding Great Britain.

I would refer the hon. and learned Member to the reply of my hon. Friend to his Questions on 27th April and 13th June.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research has been undertaken and what have been the results concerning the fluorine pollution of the air in Fenton, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent and other parts of the country; and what research has been undertaken at the request of the National Farmers' Union.

My Department is studying fluorosis in livestock at Fenton Manor Farm, Stoke-on-Trent. The work includes experimental treatment to alleviate its effects on cattle; no firm conclusions on this can be expected for some time. Pigs and poultry are being reared there, apparently without ill effect. Surveys to assess the extent of danger to stock in some other industrial areas are nearing completion. These investigations represent the extension of work on fluorosis which the N.F.U. desire to see. I am writing more fully to the hon. Member in reply to his recent letter on the subject.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give consideration to a subsidy to help farmers in grubbing-up old orchards no longer of value.

The grubbing-up of old grass orchards normally comes within the scope of the £12 per acre ploughing grant, which in certain circumstances may be supplemented by assistance under the Marginal Production Scheme. Other old orchards also may come within the latter Scheme.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will confer with the railway authorities with a view to helping the sugar industry by arranging that all sugar beet should be carried on the same free-on-rail basis in the Southern Region as now applies to Scotland.

Although the cost of transport to the Scottish sugar beet factory is borne by the British Sugar Corporation and not by the grower, this is reflected in the lower price which the Corporation pays for beet to the grower. In England and Wales, on the other hand, a higher price is paid to the grower, but the grower bears the cost of rail transport to the factory up to a maximum of 15s. 3d. per ton. Freight charges in excess of this amount are borne by the Corporation. Growers in Southern England are the principal beneficiaries from this concession.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when he expects to be able to define the route of the by-pass for the Medway towns.

I am in consultation with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food about the considerable agricultural interests involved and, until these discussions have been completed, I am unable to say with any precision when I can publish the scheme under the Special Roads Act.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether the acquisition of property scheduled for demolition in Brentford and Chiswick under the Cromwell Road Extension Plan is now complete; and how many houses are involved in this borough.

Along the line of the new road in Brentford and Chiswick, fifty-seven houses will be demolished and have already been acquired. To make space away from the road for new schools to replace the old once affected by the road scheme, it is probable that some sixty-eight more family dwellings in the borough will have to be demolished, under arrangements which are being worked out with the education and housing authorities. Two properties in the borough other than houses have already been acquired for demolition, and negotiations are in progress to acquire eight more such properties.

asked the Minister of Works whether he will arrange exhibitions in this country of atomic energy in its industrial applications comparable to those which his Department is preparing for Geneva this year.

The matter to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers is at present under consideration.

asked the Minister of Works, in view of the successful experiments at the Building Research Station, Garston, Hertfordshire, in producing good quality bricks from pulverised fuel ash waste and 15 per cent. clay, what action has been taken to develop the production of bricks by this method.

I cannot yet add to the reply given to the hon. Member on 29th March.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement about the future work of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey.

Her Majesty's Government have decided that the work of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey should be enlaraged. I shall shortly seek the approval of the House for provision to cover the cost of additional activities. This includes: (i) the beginning of an aerial survey of Grahamland and the adjacent islands; (ii) further financial assistance to the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in order that an increase may be made in the number of bases in the region; (iii) the purchase of a second supply vessel to assist the R.R.S. "John Biscoe" in maintaining and relieving the Bases.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has yet approved the agreement of the Police Council for Great Britain that the working week of police officers below the rank of superintendent should be reduced from 48 to 44 hours.

Yes. The reduction will be effected by granting an additional rest day each fortnight, and in cases where this cannot be taken appropriate compensation will be given. Amendments to the Police Regulations to give effect to this arrangement and to certain consequential changes, including increases in the rates of overtime allowance and detective duty allowance, were agreed by the statutory Police Council for England and Wales on 22nd June, and I have now made the necessary amending Regulations. They will come into effect, in accordance with the terms of the agreement of the Police Council for Great Britain on 5th September, 1955.