asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the cost to date of the attempt to build a naval breakwater in Braye Harbour, Alderney; and when the task is likely to be completed.

The breakwater was completed in 1864. It is exposed to the full force of Atlantic gales and continuous maintenance and repair work is necessary. During the four years from 1st April, 1950, to 31st March, 1954, the average cost of this work was £28,820 a year. The provisional figure for the year ended 31st March, 1955, is £24,597.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement as to the date of Remembrance Sunday.

The matter is under consideration, but I am not able to make a statement at present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give an estimate of the number of persons receiving pensions from the Crown who are thereby disqualified under the present law for membership of the House of Commons; and of the approximate number under the House of Commons Disqualification Bill.

Owing to the obscurity of the existing law I cannot estimate the number of Crown pensioners at present disqualified. If the House of Commons Disqualification Bill were in force the number of persons who would be disqualified through receipt of pensions from the Crown would be about one hundred and sixty.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he had, and with what bodies, before the international ban on heroin was imposed; and whether he sought the advice of the British Medical Association at the same time.

As regards trade considerations, the Association of British Chemical Manufacturers and the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry were consulted informally. As regards medical considerations, I consulted the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Minister of Health and the Government of Northern Ireland, and the necessary consultations took place with the statutory bodies set up to advise Ministers on medical matters, namely the Standing Medical Advisory Committee for England and Wales and the Scottish Standing Medical Advisory Committee.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will authorise a thin summer uniform for the Metropolitan Police; and whether, in the meantime, he will authorise police to carry out their duties in shirt-sleeve order during heat waves.

A summer uniform jacket has been issued to the great majority of uniformed sergeants and constables in the Metropolitan police force, and virtually all those on foot duty will receive one in the course of the next few weeks.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give the complete list of all licensing districts in which an extension of permitted hours to 10.30 p.m. has been granted on weekdays, either for the whole year or lesser period, indicating where such extensions were newly granted at the last annual licensing meeting.

I am sending my hon. Friend the information for which he asks.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many postal votes were cast in England, Wales and Northern Ireland at the General Elections of 1951 and 1955.

The number of postal votes included in the count in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals have been made to him for abolition of the rank of Station Sergeant in the Metropolitan Police; and if he will give an undertaking to consult the Police Federation representatives of the rank concerned before reaching a decision.

I have decided to retain the rank of Station Sergeant in the Metropolitan Police Force.

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

I regret it is not possible to include this school in the 1956–57 programme.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will introduce legislation to enable him to include the nationalised industries and the restrictive

So far as a nationalised industry is a monopoly, it derives that status from an Act of Parliament, which could not properly be the subject of investigation by the Commission. So far as a nationalised industry participates in practices investigated by the Commission which do not derive from a Statutory monopoly, no special legislation appears to be called for. Questions about legislation affecting trade unions are not for the Board of Trade to answer.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if arrangements have now been agreed for an increased supply of newsprint which will allow the restriction on the size of newspapers to be abolished in the near future.

I am discussing the matter with the interests concerned, but I am not yet able to make an announcement.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the price of one ton of half-inch tube to the British Standard 18 gauge in 1933, 1936, 1940, 1942 and 1954, respectively.

I assume the hon. Member's Question relates to copper tubes. My information is that the prevailing price at the end of each of the years mentioned was per ton, £84, £105, £131, £180, £408.

asked the President of the Board of Trade, with reference to Eastern Europe, with which Governments trade agreements have been concluded; with which Governments trade negotiations are now proceeding; and with which Governments negotiations have broken down, and for what reasons.

We have trade agreements with Poland and Hungary and trade negotiations are in train with Bulgaria. The negotiations with Czechoslovakia are in suspense and those with Roumania have been adjourned, as we have not yet been offered a satisfactory settlement of our financial claims. I would refer in this connection to the answer given on the 19th July to the hon. Member for Leek (Mr. Harold Davies) by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what additions to or reductions from the embargo list applying to trade with the Soviet bloc have been made since the list was revised in October, 1954.

Since the embargo list was published in the Board of Trade Journal on 16th October last there have been added certain classes of turbines and parts thereof, certain communication cables and cablemaking machinery and transmission equipment and some types of aircraft refuelling apparatus. Certain dielectric driers, some types of electric generating equipment and certain microflash apparatus has been freed from embargo. In accordance with the usual practice, details of the changes which have been made will be published in the Board of Trade Journal.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what action he has now taken to prevent misrepresentation in hire-purchasing trading.

The Hire-Purchase Acts of 1938 and 1954 provide that the customer must sign an agreement showing the cash price, the hire-purchase price and the amount of each instalment. The Acts should be adequate protection against fraud. If the hon. Member has any specific evidence of abuse, I should be glad to look into it.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make an investigation into the high rates of interest charged under hire-purchase agreements in view of the effect they have in increasing the cost of living.

No. The Government believe that, in general, both cash and credit terms are best settled on a competitive basis.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will issue a notice making it clear that women inheriting post-war credits are entitled to repayment of those credits either on reaching their sixtieth birthday or on the sixty-fifth birthday of a deceased male holder of those credits, whichever date is the earlier.

I welcome this opportunity of again drawing attention to the fact that payment of a deceased person's post-war credits can be claimed when the original holder would have been 65 if a man, or 60 if a woman, or when the present holder reaches 65 if a man, or 60 if a woman, whichever is the earlier. Wide publicity was given to this matter when last year's Finance Bill became law, and I hope that this Question and Answer will serve to remind those concerned of the position. An explanatory leaflet and form of claim are available at all tax and post offices.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why Mr. G. T. Williams, 9, Red Lion Square, W.C.1, who reached the age of 70 years on 8th May, has been granted tobacco tokens only since 27th June; and whether he will now authorise the issue of tokens to cover this period.

I am inquiring into this case and will communicate with the hon. Member.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware of the damage which the entertainments tax is now imposing on the living theatre, of the increasing unemployment which it is causing in the theatrical profession, and of the cultural loss which it is inflicting on British people; and if he will make a statement in the near future so as to enable the theatrical profession to plan accordingly.

Representations about the Entertainments Duty were made to me by the interests concerned with the living theatre before the last Budget and I gave them very careful consideration. I am, of course, keeping the matter under review, but I cannot anticipate my Budget statement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was, for the last convenient yearly period, the total sum collected in Surtax and the cost of its collection; what percentage of all revenue Surtax contributed, and what percentage the cost of collecting Surtax was, of the cost of collecting all revenue.

The yield from Surtax for the financial year 1954–55 was £134,700,000, which represents 2·84 per cent. of the total ordinary revenue for that year and 5·3 per cent. of the total Inland Revenue duties. The cost of collection of Inland Revenue duties generally in the year ended 31st March, 1954, was 1·23 per cent. of the yield of those duties. I regret it is not possible to distinguish the cost of collecting individual taxes.

asked the Chancellor of Exchequer what information he possesses about the extent to which pensions and superannuation schemes have been instituted in British industry; and to which such schemes have increased in number since 1945.

The latest information available is that given in Appendix V of the recent Report of the Committee on the Economic and Financial Problems of the Provision for Old Age [the Phillips Committee]. The total number of pension and superannuation arrangements of all types in operation was about 12,000 at the end of September, 1945, and about 43,000 at the end of September, 1954. These figures bear no necessary relation to the number of employers and employees involved.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware of the large number of animals which are slaughtered in the district of St. Faiths and Aylsham, Norfolk, for disposal in other parts of the country; and if he will introduce new regulations which will permit this council, and other councils similarly placed, to adopt by-laws in relation to private slaughterhouses and to make an appropriate charge for the cost of meat inspection.

I am aware of the circumstances mentioned in the first part of the Question. As regards the second part, my hon. Friend will know that we have been awaiting the Report of the Interdepartmental Committee on Slaughterhouses before reaching a decision about the cost of meat inspection. The Report has now been submitted and my right hon. Friend is considering it.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to what extent myxomatosis has spread this summer; and what futher indications have been observed of wild rabbits developing immunity in districts where all the rabbits were cleared last year.

During the summer, myxomatosis has spread to many previously unaffected districts in the Midlands, the North of England and Scotland. There appears to be no significant change in the development of immunity by wild rabbits since the reply given to my hon. Friend on 16th June.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what agreements providing for Government

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air if he has now traced the jet aircraft which, on Sunday, 17th July, flew low over Cromwell Lane, Bartley Green, Birmingham, and nearby areas, terrorising the inhabitants; what action he is taking against the pilots concerned; and what compensation he is offering for the personal injuries and damage to property.

Inquiries into this incident are still proceeding. When they have been completed I will write to the hon. Member. Any claims for compensation for injury or damage caused by Royal Air Force aircraft will, of course, be fully investigated.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he will give a list of public roads closed during the establishment and development of Llandow Air Station; and what undertakings were given for their return to public usage.

I am sending the hon. Member a plan shewing the roads passing through Llandow airfield which have been closed to the public. No undertaking has been given that any of these roads will be reopened.

asked the Secretary of State for War in how many cases during the past year the lowest tenders accepted by his Department for the transport of civilian workers to and from War Department depots have been disapproved by the area traffic licensing authority; and at what extra cost to public funds.

In six cases, at an extra cost of about £1,000 a year so long as all the six contracts concerned continue in force.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many tuberculosis patients in Scotland, at any recent convenient date, were receiving domiciliary or out-patient treatment, were under observation, or were judged to be potentially infective, respectively; how many tuberculosis patients in these categories were being treated in Glasgow and Greenock, respectively; how many tuberculosis patients in each of these three areas were categorised as priority patients awaiting hospital treatment; and how many of these patients were living in homes of three apartments or less.

There are about 2,700 patients in Glasgow and 88 in Greenock under treatment while living at home. The total number of patients on hospital waiting lists in Scotland at the end of June was 462, of whom 106 were in Glasgow and 47 in Greenock. I regret that the rest of the information asked for is not readily available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when the publication of the annual reports of the two new towns can be expected; and what is the reason for the delay in publication.

The reports for the year ended 31st March, 1955, were presented to Parliament on 15th July, and are available in the Library of the House. They will be published on 27th July. There has been no undue delay.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the percentage of road accidents in which dogs were involved during 12 months up to the latest convenient date.

During the calendar year 1954 dogs were reported as a primary or contributory factor in 1·34 per cent. of road accidents involving personal injury.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, the names of the members of the committee which is examining the working of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

The members of the Committee are as follows:

Sir Harry Jephcott, M.Sc., F.R.I.C., F.P.S. (Chairman), Chairman and Managing Director, Glaxo Laboratories, Ltd.

Mr. G. H. Andrew, Deputy Secretary, Board of Trade.

Sir Hugh Beaver, M.I.C.E., M.I.Chem.E., Managing Director, Arthur Guiness, Son & Co. Ltd.

Mr. E. W. Playfair, C.B., Third Secretary, H.M. Treasury.

Sir Alexander Todd, F.R.S., Professor of Organic Chemistry, Cambridge University.