asked the President of the Board of Trade what information he has about the effect of the July credit restrictions on hire purchase.

Satisfactory statistics of hire-purchase business are not yet available. I cannot therefore now assess statistically how much effect the measures taken in July have had.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the recent trade agreement with Bulgaria.

This agreement was signed on 22nd September and will run until the end of 1957. It provides for the issue over the next twelve months of import licences to the value of about £1½ million of Bulgarian goods not already covered by open licensing arrangements and for Bulgarian purchases of about £2½ million of our goods including machinery, textile cloth and yarns, fish, and copper sulphate.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the latest index of wholesale prices of all goods taking 1938 as 100.

The latest available index number for "All Articles" in the Board of Trade's old series of wholesale price index numbers is that for September, 1955, when it was 337'9, taking 1938 as 100.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will make a statement on the applications for increased import duties reported in the Board of Trade Journal on 7th February, 1953.

The Board of Trade has announced from time to time the receipt of applications for increased protective duties on the main classes of horticultural produce, and the House will recall that Orders have been made increasing a number of the duties. As regards the items included in the announcement referred to in the Question, some are still under consideration. H.M. Government have come to the conclusion that a case has not been made out for increased protection for the following:—

Fresh fruit

Cider apples.

Fruit products

Dried apples and pears.

Fruit and fruit pulp, unsweetened, preserved by chemicals, artificial heat or artificial cold

Cherries (pulp and preserved in sulphur dioxide or brine).

Fruit preserved in syrup

Cherries (i) stoned.

(ii) not stoned preserved by a solution of sulphur dioxide and sugar.

Loganberries.

Fruit mixtures as defined in Part 4 of the Customs and Excise Tariff, i.e., Fruit salad, viz., mixtures of fruit preserved in syrup (but not including mixed fruit pulp) containing not less than four separate descriptions of fruit, in which each of at least four descriptions constitutes at least 8 per cent., and no one description represents more than 50 per cent, by weight of all the fruit in the mixture (excluding syrup) except where not less than 80 per cent. by weight of all the fruit in the mixture (excluding syrup) consists of all or any of the following fruits, viz.:

Peaches, nectarines, pears, apricots, cherries.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what action is being taken to arrange reciprocal trade with Czechoslovakia.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Cleveland (Mr. Palmer) on 27th October.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury in which branches of the public service non-contributory pensions or non-contributory superannuation payments are given.

In the Civil Service and certain bodies closely related to it, in the Foreign Service and in the Armed Forces. Pensions for dependants however are contributory, except in the Armed Forces.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total number of science graduates in the United Kingdom; and what is the proportionate distribution of such graduates according to broad categories of employment.

The number of graduates in pure science (including mathematics) is about 80,000. Nearly one-third are employed in teaching (in the schools, technical colleges or universities) and about one-eighth in the public service (including the Defence Departments) and the Atomic Energy Authority: some 3,000 or so young graduates are undertaking post-graduate research or instruction courses: and the balance are employed mainly in industry.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how soon he anticipates receiving the report of the Runciman Committee on Horticultural Marketing.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Eastleigh (Mr. D. Price) yesterday.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware that the Poultry Association of Great Britain, which represents 10,000 egg producers, is opposed to the Egg Marketing Board Scheme drawn up by the National Farmers' Union; and whether he can give an assurance that full consideration will be given to the views of the Association.

Yes, and full consideration will certainly be given to objections submitted in accordance with the statutory procedure.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a statement regarding the Government's policy towards the specific position of the agricultural industry in relation to general credit restrictions and bank advances.

The Government's general credit policy is in the interests of the nation as a whole, including the agricultural industry. The task of dealing with individual cases in all areas must be left to the banks, who alone are familiar with the circumstances of each. But as my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer indicated on 1st November, we are satisfied that we can rely on them to give due weight to the importance of agriculture.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is now able to make a statement on the future policy of the Government in relation to slaughterhouses.

No. As I said in reply to the hon. Member for Erith and Cray-ford (Mr. Dodds) on 26th October, I am having the whole subject studied in the light of the recommendations of the Interdepartmental Committee on Slaughterhouses and of comments on those recommendations by the interests concerned.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice has been given by his Department regarding the practice of burning wheat straw.

In general, the burning of wheat straw is not considered good practice and is not recommended, but conditions vary and advice depends on the circumstances of the particular case.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the number of farms not yet provided with a water supply in the Darlington rural area; and what assistance his Department is giving to have such service installed.

My information, which is not complete, is that out of the 450 farms in the Darlington Rural District 254 have a mains water supply and 99 have not. The question of mains supply is primarily one for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local Government. My Department makes grants to farmers towards the approved cost of distributing water from the mains over the farm, or where a main is not available, towards the development of a private source scheme. To date 50 farms in the Darlington area have taken advantage of these grants.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the figures for the imports of coarse grains and other feedingstuffs in 1955, to the latest convenient date; and how this compares as a percentage with similar imports in 1954.

The following is the information:

IMPORTS OF ANIMAL FEEDINGSTUFFS
—	January-September 1954	January-September 1955	Percentage Imports January-September, 1955 of Jaunary-September, 1954
	'000 tons	'000 tons
Coarse Grains	1,810	2,261	125
All other feedingstuffs	1,006	1,375	137
TOTAL	2,816	3,636	129

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will promote legislation to prohibit the sale of explosive fireworks except on a restricted number of days immediately preceding the fifth of November.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to his Question on Tuesday last by my hon. Friend the Joint Under-Secretary of State for Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what prosecutions have been instituted by the police in the Metropolitan area against persons exploding fireworks during the months of September and October this year.

During the months of September and October this year proceedings were instituted by the Metropolitan police in sixty-nine cases against persons exploding fireworks in or into a street or public place.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in order to give the people the benefit of the extra hour's daylight in the evenings, whether he will consider extending Summer Time in 1956 to all the year round.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer which I gave on 27th October to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Kemp-town (Mr. H. Johnson).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement on the working of the no-passport arrangement to the Continent under certain conditions during the past season; how many took advantage of these facilities; and whether he proposes to continue these proposals during 1956.

About 60,000 people took advantage of these excursions and in general the arrangements worked satisfactorily. My officers are meeting the shipping companies tomorrow, and the French Government will also have to be consulted. I am therefore not yet in a position to make a statement about next year's arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make an announcement about the request put to him by a deputation in July that a Royal Commission or Departmental committee should be appointed to inquire into the relationship between the statutory and voluntary social services dealing with the family.

The proposal which was made by this deputation goes a good deal further than is indicated in the hon. Member's Question and raises points on which consultation with a number of my colleagues is necessary. Until this consultation has been completed, I am not in a position to make any announcement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will resume publication of the annual list of persons licensed to conduct cruel experiments on animals under the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876.

No. I do not think that the expenditure involved would be justified.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has considered the request of the hon. Member for South-East Derbyshire that a public inquiry be set up to inquire into the whole of the circumstances surrounding the case of Olga Margaret Ann Newton, details of which were sent to him on 8th October, 1955; and if he will make a statement.

I have not yet completed my inquiries into the facts of this case, but I will communicate with the hon. Member as soon as I have done so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of the police forces in the United Kingdom have been convicted of a criminal offence in the last 12 months; and how many of them were members of the Criminal Investigation Department.

During the twelve months ended 30th September, 1955, twenty-six members of police forces in England and Wales were convicted of criminal offences. Information as to the number of these who were members of the Criminal Investigation Department is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now introduce legislation amending the Shops Act, 1950, so as to implement the recommendations of the Gowers Committee.

I assume that my hon. Friend has in mind the Gowers Committee's report on the closing hours of shops. I hope that it will be possible to introduce a Bill on this subject before very long.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many volunteers have now joined the various sections of the Civil Defence Corps; and how many are still needed.

The table given below shows the present provisional peace-time establishment and the number enrolled in each section of the Civil Defence Corps in England and Wales on 30th September last. More recruits are needed in all sections, but I cannot say how many more because the present peace-time establishments are necessarily provisional.

Section	Present provisional peace-time establishment	Number enrolled
Headquarters	47,661	41,455
Warden	130,671	78,829
Ambulance and Casualty Collecting	49,347	52,769
Welfare	192,914	128,132
Rescue	115,423	32,266
Volunteers not yet allocated to a Section	—	7,671
TOTAL	536,016	341,122

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the estimated establishments of the various sections of the Civil Defence Corps will be affected by new arrangements for training certain National Service men in Civil Defence.

Not at all: the arrangements for training the Armed Forces are in addition to, and not in substitution for, those directed to the formation of strong local divisions of the Civil Defence Corps.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will name the 11 persons appointed by him recently to the new posts of Regional Directors of Civil Defence in England and Wales; if he will indicate those of them who have not had any previous Civil Defence experience; how many of these new posts were filled by persons who, at the time of their appointment, were over the advertised age limit; and what are the salaries and expenses payable to each new director.

The names of the 10 persons appointed recently as Regional Directors of Civil Defence in England and of the Director of Civil Defence for Wales are given below. Three have had previous close connection with Civil Defence, and one was over 60 when appointed. The appointments carry salaries at the London rate of £2,000 per annum (less provincial differentiation where appropriate), and entitlement to the normal Civil Service travelling and subsistence allowances.REGIONAL DIRECTORS OF CIVIL DEFENCE IN ENGLAND

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the Ready Committee on Welsh Publishing.

The main object of the recommendations of the Ready Committee on Welsh Language Publishing has been achieved in another way by the establishment, by the Welsh Joint Education Committee, with the support of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Education, of a scheme to stimulate the supply to local education authorities of Welsh books for use in schools. The total estimated expenditure by local education authorities in the five years beginning 1st April, 1954, is estimated at £107,000, of which about £64,000 will be reimbursed by the Exchequer by way of education grant.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to be able to announce his decision concerning the capital city status of Cardiff.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer which I gave on 31st October to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff. North (Mr. Llewellyn).

asked the Minister of Education what instructions he has given to local education authorities about the inclusion of ballroom dancing classes in their further education programmes.

I have told local education authorities that the fees they charge for ballroom dancing and similar recreational classes should be sufficient to cover their cost.

asked the Minister of Education if he is aware that the policy of increasing interest rates and reducing subsidy is having a serious effect on the school-building programme of the Bristol City Council; and what steps he is taking to ease this burden.

I have no evidence that the first factor mentioned by the hon. Member is likely to prejudice the Bristol Education Authority's school building programme. There has been no reduction in the grants available to authorities for school building.

asked the Minister of Education whether he is aware of the shortage of housing in the borough of Tamworth and in the adjacent areas of the Tamworth and Lichfield Rural District Councils for teachers on the staffs of schools in the borough of Tamworth; whether he is aware that this is resulting in an acute shortage of teaching staff which is already serious, due to population over-spill from Birmingham; and whether he will authorise the Staffordshire County Local Education Authority to grant a subvention for houses for teachers in the borough of Tamworth under powers granted in the Education Act, 1944.

I am aware that there are unfilled posts at two schools in Tamworth and that the local housing authorities are being asked to help. I am not sure what sort of subvention the hon. Member has in mind, but if the local education authority make a proposal to me, I shall certainly see whether I am able to help them.

asked the Minister of Education the approximate weekly saving per child to local authorities by the issue of milk in tablet or powder form; to what extent this practice has increased or decreased during the past year; and what he is doing to stop this undesirable practice.

Milk in these forms is supplied only to schools where no suitable supply of fresh milk is available. There has been no significant change in the number of schools during the past year, apart from the elimination of a large group that was affected by a price dispute a year ago. This does not yield any significant saving.

asked the Minister of Education whether, in view of the fact that the administrative tribunal of the International Labour Organisation has condemned the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation for his action in dismissing four officials of the organisation because of their refusal to appear before a loyalty board set up by a member nation, he will instruct the British representative on the Executive Council of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation to request the resignation of the Director-General.

No.

asked the Minister of Education whether, in view of the action of a member nation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation in procuring the dismissal of certain of its nationals employed by that organisation, he will instruct the British representative on the Executive Council of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation to call the attention of all member nations to the importance of respecting the exclusively international status and responsibility of the staff of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

No. The responsibilities of Member States of U.N.E.S.C.O. are clearly laid down in the Constitution, and I see no reason to draw special attention to them.

asked the Minister of Education in how many cases he has approved the opening of new nursery schools in the last three years; and in which local authority areas.

None.

asked the Minister of Education to what extent the recent awards of special responsibility allowances have affected the shortage of science and mathematics teachers in grammar schools.

Figures of recruitment for the present term are not yet available.

asked the Minister of Education what steps he proposes to take to encourage science and mathematics teachers to continue teaching after reaching the age of retirement.

Continued teaching after retirement depends upon the willingness of the teachers and of the local education authorities who employ them. The authorities are aware of general Government policy on the continued employment of older people and of my particular wish that during the period of special difficulty they will make it possible for science and mathematics teachers to stay longer in service. I hope before long to introduce a Bill which will include provisions designed to encourage teachers to defer their retirement.

asked the Minister of Education what grant it is proposed to make towards improvements to Cippenham Community Centre, Slough.

As was explained in a letter sent by my Department to the town clerk on 18th July last, grants under the Physical Training and Recreation Act are not intended for cases of this kind.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air for how much longer it is planned to keep the Canberra in operational service.

The Canberra has many fine achievements to its credit and improved versions are planned for various operational rôles for some years to come.

asked the Minister of Works whether he will consider the publication of a fortnightly "Atoms for Peace Digest" similar to that now issued by the United States Information Services, details of which have been sent to him.

The Atomic Energy Authority have under consideration how best they can provide information concerning the civil uses of atomic energy. An announcement will be made in due course.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many children in Kenya are orphans or without parental care; and what help, other than that of the "Save the Children" Fund, is available for them.

The number of African orphans is not known, but children lacking parental care are, by tribal custom, normally cared for within their own clans. These arrangements have generally prevailed even in areas affected by the Emergency, and large numbers of children, including 4,186 from Nairobi, have been returned to homes in the native land units. A staff of welfare officers is employed to seek out such children, and those who cannot be settled within their clans are cared for in institutions set up for this purpose. These institutions have accommodation for 1,600 children, but only 399 places are at present filled. Apart from the "Save the Children" Fund establishment at Ugana Park where 178 places out of 500 are taken, there are the following institutions:—

Mathari, run by Catholic Mission for the Nyeri African District Council, where there are 84 children and a capacity of 100;

Dagoreth Reception Camp, run by the Christian Council of Kenya on behalf of the Kiambu African District Council; 31 children, capacity 500;

21 Mission Stations gazetted as institutions for the reception of children, providing a total of 500 places of which 106 are filled at present, 217 other children having been found homes.

Children in need of care also come within the scope of the Prevention of Cruelty to and Neglect of Children Ordinance, which came into force on 29th April, 251 persons, including all Administrative Officers and Government Medical Officers in Central Province, have been appointed Inspectors of Children under the Ordinance, and several organisations are seeking designation as Approved Societies for the care, protection and control of children.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government on what date the report of the Water Pollution Research Laboratory on the causes of the pollution of the River Thames was completed; whether it has yet been considered by the Departmental Committee; and with what result.

The Water Pollution Research Laboratory are still working on their final report, which will be considered by the Departmental Committee as soon as it is completed.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many local authorities have notified him that fires have at times broken out in British Iron and Steel Federation houses; and whether he will now allow the cost of the needed alterations to rank for grant.

Thirty-seven local authorities have reported that fires have occurred in such houses over the last nine years. It is normal for local authorities to take full responsibility, financial and otherwise, for dealing with defects arising in their houses. I see no reason for making an exception here.

asked the Postmaster-General how many applicants are waiting in the Hounslow area to have telephones installed; and whether he will speed up this service and end the delay.

One thousand eight hundred and eighty-six applications are outstanding. A new exchange is being built to relieve Hounslow exchange and will be completed in about 2½ years' time. New cables will be laid during 1956 and 1957.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that the shortage of staff at the occupational centre at Gogarburn Hospital has caused delays of up to two years in the training of children from West Lothian who would benefit from daily attendance at the centre, and that additional staff was promised to the hospital for this department a year ago; and if he will endeavour to increase this staff immediately.

It is the duty of local authorities to provide training and occupation for defective children not resident in institutions. The facilities at Gogarburn for resident child patients can be made available more widely than at present for others visiting daily for this purpose, if the local authorities are willing to defray the cost of the additional staff required. Discussions to this end are in progress, and I will let the hon. Member know the result. I am not aware of any promise made a year ago.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation on which road schemes work has been started since 20th July; and for which authorisation has been given but work has not started since the same date.

As the answer to the hon. Member's question will involve considerable work of collation, I will, with permission, circulate it in due course in the OFFICIAL REPORT.