asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will arrange for the bodies of soldiers killed on peace-time duties in Europe to be brought back to this country, or, alternatively, for the next-of-kin to be assisted to attend the funeral.

We do everything we can to assist next-of-kin in making arrangements but we cannot pay for it.

asked the Prime Minister if he will now make a statement on the purpose and results of the private conference on atomic energy attended by official representatives of the United States of America, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Canada, Czechoslovakia and the United Kingdom at Geneva in August, following the United Nations conference in the same city on the same subject.

The discussions referred to were concerned with certain technical aspects of the problem of safeguarding fissile material against diversion from peaceful uses. A useful exchange of technical ideas took place and the problems will be further studied by the Governments represented at the conference.

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will make a statement about the awarding to a United Kingdom undertaking of the United States contract for the Minidoka Reclamation Scheme in Idaho;(2) if he will make a statement concerning the new rules adopted by the United States Department of the Interior in awarding contracts to foreign competitors as it affects British interests.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has made to the United States Government on the alterations of the rules governing their acceptance of foreign tenders.

The new rules announced by the Department of the Interior provide that when the lowest United States bidder offers equipment which will be manufactured substantially in an area of substantial unemployment, the addition to the lowest foreign bid for the purpose of appraising the bids shall be 12 per cent., as compared with 6 per cent. in other cases. It is on the basis of these rules that the contract for the Minidoka scheme has been awarded to an English firm. This decision helps to clarify the conditions under which these contracts may be awarded in future, and there is certainly no question of making representations to the United States Government in regard to it.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many foreign countries are giving subsidies to their shipbuilding industry in competition with British trade, whether openly or in disguised form.

Of the foreign countries with important shipbuilding industries for which information is available, five assist the building of ships for their own fleets. Four of these also assist in various ways the building of ships for export; but in one of these the arrangement for doing this is due to lapse at the end of this year.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will now review his policy on the location of industry in view of the over-concentration of new industry around the London area.

No. Industrial development certificates are not normally granted for industry which is not already established in the London area. The new industrial building there is largely due to the expansion of existing industry which for economic reasons could not move out of the area.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many of the representations made to him by the tyre manufacturers to omit certain parts of the Report of the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission on the supply of pneumatic tyres related exclusively to matters connected with the export trade.

I have nothing at present to add to the Answer I gave to the hon. Member on 15th November.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement upon the inaugural meeting of the Council of the Association of the European Coal and Steel Community which he has recently attended.

My right hon. Friend has asked me to say that the first meeting of the Council was of necessity largely concerned with setting up the machinery for continuing consultations. It was, however, regarded by both sides as a successful first meeting. The following is the text of the Communiqué issued at its conclusion.

The Council of Association between the United Kingdom Government and the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community held its first meeting today under the chairmanship of M. René Mayer, President of the High Authority.

After the opening speech of welcome by the President of the High Authority, and the reply made by Mr. Peter Thorneycroft, President of the Board of Trade and leader of the British delegation, the Council laid down its rules of Procedure.

The Council decided to establish three standing committees: a trade relations committee, a steel committee and a coal committee.

The Council held a lengthy discussion on the coal situation and instructed the coal committee to review that situation in the widest terms. The committee was instructed to study, in particular, the short term difficulties, in regard to coal supplies both in the Community and the United Kingdom and to make any recommendations to the Council. The Committee will meet for its inaugural session on 18th November and will hold in London on 7th December a meeting under the provisions of Article 7 of the Agreement.

The Council also had an exchange of views on the steel situation. The Steel Committee will hold its first session in Luxembourg on 15th December.

The Trade Relations Committee will meet in London on 9th January, 1956.

17th November, 1955

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that, owing to the monopolistic tendency in the cement industry, local authorities are seeking tenders for the supply of cement from the Continent; and if he will refer the activities of this industry to the Monopolies Commission.

No. My right hon. Friend does not propose to make any further references to the Monoplies and Restrictive Practices Commission in the immediate future.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the maximum capacity of turbo-generators the export of which to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Eastern Europe is now permitted.

The embargo operates at 60,000 kilowatts. Turbo-generators of a rating between 5,000 kilowatts and 60,000 kilowatts may be exported within quantitative limits. Turbo-generators of a rating of less than 5,000 kilowatts may be exported freely.

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether he will place before the House details of the main categories of Britain's exports to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the first 10 months of 1953, 1954, and 1955, respectively, other than electric and other machinery and wool tops;(2) whether he will place before the House figures of the main categories of exports to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the first 10 months of 1953, 1954, and 1955, respectively, under the heading of machinery, other than electrical;(3) whether he will place before the House figures of the main categories of Britain's exports to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the first 10 months of 1953, 1954, and 1955, respectively, under the heading of electric machinery, apparatus, and appliances.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give a list of items included in the Embargo List in June, 1951, but subsequently removed in order to permit the export of these goods to the People's Republic of China.

Towards the end of 1953 we lifted the restrictions imposed in 1951 on the export of ordinary passenger cars and certain chemical and pharmaceutical products, namely: sodium peroxide, antibiotics, sulphonamides and anti-malarial drugs. There have also been minor modifications in the definition of some categories of goods.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the purchase by Czechoslovakia of 1,000 passenger cars from France; which British motor manufacturers were refused by his Department the opportunity to negotiate a similar deal; whether he will take steps to enable British manufacturers to compete on equal terms with their competitors; and what was the nature of the advice and assistance given by his Department to British manufacturers involved in these transactions.

The information is as follows:

I am aware that the Czechoslovak authorities have been negotiating for the sale of certain goods to the United Kingdom in exchange for motor cars. But licences for the import of these goods from Czechoslovakia have been withheld for the reasons given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 19th July. Such a deal would not be attractive to Her Majesty's Government pending a satisfactory trade and payments agreement including provision for the settlement of outstanding debts and claims. We still await the reply of the Czechoslovak Government about the resumption of trade and debt talks and, in the circumstances, it would not be desirable that I should comment in public on matters that may arise in these talks.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how his directive to the banks on the restriction of credit facilities will affect farmers, insofar as the obtaining of credit is concerned.

I have nothing to add to the Answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture. Fisheries and Food to a Question by the hon. Member for Pembroke (Mr. Donnelly) on 3rd November.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he proposes to carry out his expressed intention of embodying in a Finance Bill an adjustment of the tax liability of former German public servants dismissed by the Nazis, in respect of pensions remitted to them in this country.

Next year, I hope.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that local authorities are in doubt whether the letter which he and the Minister of Housing and Local Government sent to them on 26th October last, concerning levels of capital expenditure up to 31st March, 1957, is, or is not, intended to convey that local government expenditure on roads should not exceed during that period the average expenditure for the period 1954–55. which period did not include any additional expenditure under the new road programme announced by the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation on 2nd February, 1955; and whether, in view of the fact that the road programme, as already announced, is to go ahead, he will take steps to clarify his request.

Under the road programme, capital expenditure falling on local authorities in respect of classified roads is expected to be about £5 million in 1956–57, and there is no intention that this should be cut. The total capital expenditure of all local authorities in 1954–55 was £543 million. I cannot believe that the local authorities concerned will be unable to find room for this particular item of capital expenditure within the level contemplated in the circular.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the bad effect on the country's economic prestige overseas of issuing monthly trade statistics which show an excess of real imports over real exports, he will add to these monthly statements an estimate of our invisible exports over the same period on account of the tourist trade, insurance, shipping, overseas dividends, and other such items.

I regret that this would not be practicable. As my hon. Friend knows, estimates of the balance of payments of the United Kingdom, which cover both visible and invisible items, are published half-yearly. I am glad to have this opportunity of pointing out once more that the excess of imports over total exports, as shown in the Trade Accounts, by no means corresponds either to the overall current balance of payments or even to the balance of visible trade transactions as calculated on the basis used for Balance of Payments Estimates.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what experience Mr. Harmer and Sir Gordon Munro had of the oil industry when they were appointed Government directors of the British Petroleum Company; and how much time they devote to the work of the British Petroleum Company.

The answer to the first part of the Question is "None"; and to the second part, that the Government directors give to the company's work all the time required, on the same basis as other directors.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been called to the fact that the company responsible for operating the Palace Theatre, Bath, has reached the decision that it cannot be re-opened as a theatre within the foreseeable future and that this decision is based in part on the fact that the continuation of Entertainment Tax must have the effect of still further depressing theatre business throughout the country; and whether he will make a full and early review of this situation with a view to remedial action in his next Budget.

I have seen reports of the closing of this theatre; as regards the second part of the Question, I shall, of course, be ready to review the incidence of this duty in the preparation of the next Budget, in the light of the general economic circumstances of the time.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will issue a White Paper on the importance and implications of our invisible exports and our position as the banking centre of the sterling area.

At the present time I do not think I could usefully add in this way to the information already available—for example, in the White Papers issued twice yearly on the Balance of Payments, in the yearly Economic Surveys, and in the Bank of England's annual report.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money was received by the Treasury by way of Purchase Tax on wireless sets for the first nine months of 1955.

Approximately £6¾ million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money was received by the Treasury by way of Purchase Tax on television sets for the first nine months of 1955.

Approximately £21 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made since 1952 with the resumption of the payment by all Government Departments for telephone and telegraph services.

Arrangements have been made to extend cash accounting to all Exchequer Government Departments as from the beginning of the next financial year. I am taking the opportunity of asking all Departments to continue to observe the utmost economy in making demands on these services.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps he proposes to take to enable local authorities to pay adequate compensation for house properties acquired under compulsory purchase orders.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement I made yesterday on the Second Reading of the Housing Subsidies Bill.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps he will take, and what new safeguards he will impose, as the programme of slum-clearance increases in scope, to prevent the wholesale destruction of houses which might be reconditioned by expenditure less than the cost of erecting new houses.

Orders for the clearance or compulsory purchase of areas of unfit houses require my confirmation, which is given only where I am satisfied that demolition is the best course. I think this provides an adequate safeguard.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps he is taking to encourage local authorities to provide houses for Regular Service men soon after discharge; and if he will make a statement.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 8th November to my hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Remnant).

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when the Morpeth Borough Council can have a decision on their application for permission to extend the sewage works.

I have asked the council to submit revised and less expensive proposals. When I receive these, I shall give my decision as quickly as I can.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is aware that development of more than one important site near St. Paul's Cathedral is at a standstill due to delay in dealing with town planning applications and appeals; that this is hindering the rebuilding of the City of London and causing individual hardship; and what steps he proposes to take to remedy this position.

I believe that it is of first importance to try and create a worthy setting for St. Paul's Cathedral. I appreciate that this involves holding up certain site development proposals. I regret this delay and will do all I can to make it as short as possible.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will recommend the appointment of a Royal Commission to deal with the future structure of local government.

No.

asked the Minister of Labour what would be the approximate number involved if a further 12 months deferment from National Service were allowed to all those who are unable, through backwardness, to complete all stages of their examinations for professional qualifications in the time allowed.

I regret that the information asked for by my hon. Friend is not available; but I would like to assure him that a generous margin is already allowed for those who need more than the usual period to prepare for examinations for professional qualifications.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will make a statement on the safeguarding of workers using radio-active substances; and what further special regulations he intends to make.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer given to the hon. Member for Leek (Mr. Harold Davies) on 24th February, 1955, and to the Answer given to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Dr. Stross) on 1st November, 1955.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of disabled persons employed by Remploy on 1st January, 1st April, 1st June and 1st October, respectively.

The numbers of severely disabled persons employed in Remploy factories at the nearest available dates were: 4th January, 6,540; 29th March, 6,370; 24th May, 6,249; 11th October, 6,026.

asked the Minister of Labour the numbers of vacancies on the books of the employment exchanges in each region at the latest available date.

The following table gives the information desired:

asked the Minister of Labour the number of medical inspectors of factories in October, 1951; the present numbers; and what plans he has to increase these numbers.

Thirteen in October, 1951, and the same number now. Two more will shortly be joining the Department from the recent open competition. It is hoped to recruit a further three.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that the present high prices of school meals operate harshly; and if he will take steps to reduce them.

No. The arrangements for free meals and meals at reduced prices which operate in all areas ensure that no children are deprived of meals because of financial hardship; since the fall in demand after the increase of prices in 1953, there has been a steady recovery over the country generally in the numbers taking meals.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of local authorities invited to submit slum clearance schemes; and how many have made returns to date.

Under the Housing (Repairs and Rents) (Scotland) Act, 1954, all Scottish local authorities are required to submit proposals for dealing with unfit houses for my approval, and at 17th November 174 authorities had done so.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many deaths from vaccination were recorded in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, and 1954.

Two deaths were registered as due to the effects of vaccination in each of the years 1950, 1951 and 1954. There were none in the other years.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many deaths from smallpox were recorded in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, and 1954; and what were the ages of the victims.

The only deaths in the periods were six in 1950. The ages of the victims were 10 months, 17 years, 18 years, 20 years, 20 years and 29 years.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of dysentery were notified to the Health Department in each of the first three quarters of 1955; and what were the comparable figures for Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen, respectively.

The following is the information:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of the dysentery cases notified in each year from 1950 to 1954, inclusive, were children under five years of age; how many were children at school; and how many were adults.

The following is the information:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many outbreaks of dysentery in each of the years 1950 to 1954, inclusive, have been directly traceable to contaminated food; and how many to other sources.

The vast majority of cases of dysentery occur not in the form of outbreaks but by sporadic infection from case to case. My Department has, however, knowledge of thirty-four incidents between 1950 and 1954 that might be classed as outbreaks, of which only four were traced directly to contaminated food. These accounted for 361 of the 29,912 cases of dysentery notified in the period.

asked the Minister of Works if, having decided to thin out the trees in The Mall, he will now consider Birdcage Walk as well.

The arrangement of the double row of trees in Birdcage Walk makes treatment more difficult than in The Mall. I propose to postpone a decision about Birdcage Walk until we have seen the effect of the thinning of trees in The Mall.

asked the Minister of Works what proportion of the payments for uranium procured from sterling area countries, either directly or through the medium of the Combined Development Agency, is made in sterling, and what proportion in dollars.

All the uranium procured for use to the United Kingdom from sterling area countries is paid for in sterling area currencies.

asked the Minister of Works what action the Government have taken to advertise abroad in Europe as well as in Asia the scale of our achievements with atomic power stations; what help we are prepared to give countries in this field; and what offer we have yet made similar to that of the United States of America, whereby we are prepared to offer fuels at a reduced rate or on a rental basis to potential buyers of atomic power stations.

Considerable publicity for Britain's atomic energy achievements is being given in all parts of the world by C.O.I. and U.K.A.E.A. publications, by exhibitions and in other ways. A number of formal and informal collaboration agreements have been made with Commonwealth and other countries, and the United Kingdom is one of the sponsors of the proposed international Atomic Energy Agency.No country has yet made specific offers of fuel for power stations. The United Kingdom has offered a limited amount of fuel for projects to be sponsored by the proposed international agency, and arrangements for the supply of fuel for research reactors are included in a number of agreements which the United Kingdom has concluded with other countries.

asked the Minister of Works whether he will erect in Parliament Square a monument to commemorate the abolition of slavery.

As I announced on 15th November, I am seeking the approval of Parliament to the re-erection of the Buxton Memorial Fountain in the Victoria Tower Gardens. I have told the Anti-Slavery Society that, if my proposal is approved, I am prepared in addition to place an inscription in Parliament Square to mark the spot where the Fountain stood.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what progress has been made by the Fuel Research Station in testing the concentrated gases caused by motor vehicles in London streets; and if he will make a statement.

During the last twelve months the Fuel Research Station has measured the concentrations of carbon monoxide in the air caused by the exhaust gases of motor vehicles at a number of sites in London. The average concentrations ranged from less than one part of carbon monoxide per million parts of air in the centre of Hyde Park to 27 parts per million above the pavement in Oxford Circus at times of heavy traffic. These concentrations of carbon monoxide are well below the levels which would constitute a danger to health. The investigation of other pollutants in exhaust fumes is being continued.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he is aware that war widows of Army officers are obliged to draw their pensions and child allowances through a bank while other widows draw their pensions through the Post Office; that this imposes expenses for bank charges and other inconveniences on such war widows; and if he will now take steps to enable such war widows to receive their pensions through the Post Office.

The general arrangement whereby the Paymaster General pays the pensions of war widows of Army officers by means of vouchers which are negotiable in the same way as ordinary cheques has existed for a long time and is, I understand, convenient to the great majority of these widows. If the hon. and learned Member has in mind any individual case of a widow to whom the present arrangements are causing hardship, I should be happy to take up the question of making some other arrangement in her case.

asked the Postmaster-General what proportion of telephone subscribers in the United Kingdom and Scotland, respectively, require service chiefly on grounds of physical disability; and whether he will consider allowing special concession rates to limbless ex-Service men.

The information asked for in the first part of the Question is not available. Although I have every sympathy for limbless ex-Service men, they cannot be exempted from paying for their telephone service.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the quantities of coal imported into the United Kingdom during 1952, 1953, 1954, and the estimated quantity for 1955; the countries from which it was purchased; and the average cost, insurance and freight price in each case.

The following is the information:

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the quantities of coal exported from the United Kingdom in 1952, 1953, 1954, and the estimated quantity for 1955; the countries to which

asked the Minister of Defence if he is aware that certain countries, such as Italy and France, unlike other host nations, charge discriminatory duty on materials supplied under contracts awarded by host nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, to the benefit of their own manufacturers but to the detriment of the contributory host nations, of which Britain is one; and what representations he has made to ensure that such materials shall not be liable for duty as they are for joint defence.

The following is the information:

Contracts for Infrastructure work, financed in common by N.A.T.O. are placed by the Governments of the countries in which the work is to be carried out, and the conditions normally applicable to Government contracts in those countries apply. These conditions require compliance with local legislation, including that imposing import duties. Such duties cannot properly be described as discriminatory. If Her Majesty's Government were in a similar situation, the normal protective tariffs would apply to materials imported into this country by a foreign contractor carrying out a N.A.T.O. Infrastructure project.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has considered recent reports of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe of bumper grain harvests in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Roumania; and what steps he will take to see that maize and other grains are obtained from these countries rather than from dollar sources.

Yes. Traders in this country have been free since 1953 to buy Russian and Roumanian grain, and do so where it is offered on competitive terms.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made with the policy of selling agricultural land under the control of the Agricultural Land Commission.

The total area of agricultural land under the control of the Commission at 31st March, 1955, was about 228,000 acres. This has all been reviewed, and it is clear that much of this land must be retained in Government ownership either temporarily or permanently—in many instances because it was acquired for forestry purposes and will eventually be planted. Between 60,000 and 70,000 acres are, or shortly will be, available for sale and the necessary arrangements are in hand. Sales already completed or agreed total some 10,000 acres valued at over £400,000.