asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will circularise rural district councils, to whom planning powers are delegated, advising them to arrange consultations with the parish councils most closely concerned when considering sites for building development so that as much agreement as possible is reached before a development project is approved.

My right hon. Friend does not think that this is necessary.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government why there has been a delay of six months in authorising the acceptance by the Slough Borough Council of a tender for roads and sewers on the Cippenham Lane Housing Estate.

It is not correct to say that these tenders took six months to approve. The first tender submitted by the council was approved within five weeks; a revised tender was later substituted.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps he is taking, or proposes to take, to ensure that the Rent Restrictions Regulations, 1954, prescribing the new form of notice to be included in rent books, are being complied with; and if he is aware that many landlords refuse to insert the prescribed notice in rent books.

I am not aware of any widespread failure to comply with these Regulations.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will state the number of local authorities that have sent him letters or resolutions of support and opposition, respectively, to his proposed reduction and abolition of housing subsidies.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave today to the hon. Member for Shoreditch and Finsbury (Mr. Collins).

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will now make a further statement regarding the policy of the Government on the derating of agriculture and industry.

I have received numerous representations, both for and against the abolition of industrial derating, from hon. Members of this House; from local authorities; from organisations representing industry and commerce from trades unions, ratepayers associations and a large number of individuals. I have no further statement to make at present on this subject.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that the number of miners employed in the South Wales coalfield has fallen by nearly 3,000 in the last 12 months; and if he will state the number of colliery surface workers called to the Armed Forces under the Military Service Acts.

Yes. I am aware of the decline in the labour force in the South Wales coalfield. As regards the second part of the Question, I regret that statistics of the number of colliery surface workers called up under the National Service Acts are not available.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will cause an inquiry to be made into the effect of the Military Service Acts upon employment and production in the British coalfields.

No. The arrangements for deferment of call-up of men employed in the coalmining industry have been designed to assist in maintaining the labour force needed for underground work in particular and in my view are working satisfactorily.

asked the Minister of Labour the percentage of insured persons now unemployed in the counties of Caernarvon, Anglesey and Merioneth, respectively; and how these figures compare with those for June last.

At 14th November, the figures were 5·5 per cent. for Caernarvonshire, 8·4 per cent. for Anglesey

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will consider granting deferment of National Service to

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons registered as unemployed at the local exchanges of Caernarvon, Penygroes, Llanberis, Portmadoc, Criccieth and Pwllheli in the county of Caernarvon; and how these figures compare with those in each case for June last.

The following table gives the information desired so far as it is available:young men who desire to make farming their career and who have planned deliberately to work on different types of farms to gain greater experience.

Deferment of call-up is already granted to young men who show their desire to make a career in agriculture or horticulture by entering into an approved apprenticeship under a scheme administered by the Agricultural Apprenticeship Council. The scheme provides for as broad a syllabus of training as possible which may, if necessary, be undertaken on more than one holding. My right hon. and learned Friend is not prepared to allow training other than under the provisions of this scheme to qualify for consideration for deferment of call-up.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of persons in Scotland now suffering from poliomyelitis; how that number compares with each of the preceding five years; and what scientific progress is being made in Scotland towards preventing and curing this disease.

The number of cases in the active stages of the disease on 3rd December, 1955, was approximately 67. This compares with 55 at the corresponding period in 1954, 63 in 1953, 22 in 1952, 40 in 1951, and 48 in 1950. Scottish research into the prevention and treatment of the disease continues on the lines indicated in my reply to the hon. and learned Member on 23rd November, 1954. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Health and I are expecting to receive expert advice very shortly about the safety and efficiency of the poliomyelitis vaccines now being produced in Great Britain.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if his attention has been drawn to paragraphs 39 and 40 of the latest report of the White Fish Authority deploring the old age of the Aberdeen trawling fleet and discussing the legal difficulties in the way of carrying out their proposal to build and operate trawlers themselves arising out of the provisions of the Sea Fish Industry Act; and if he will take steps to secure to the Authority the fuller powers necessary to enable them to operate fishing vessels permanently.

I share the Authority's concern at the slow progress in modernising the Aberdeen trawler fleet. The Authority have not submitted to the Government any proposal that they should build and operate trawlers themselves. Such a proposal would involve difficulties quite apart from the absence of statutory powers. I am glad to report, however, that grants for seven new trawlers have recently been approved, making a total of thirteen for the port.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will increase the compensation payable to owner-occupiers and others who suffer financial hardship as a result of the compulsory acquisition of their homes for slum-clearance purposes.

I have noted this matter for consideration when new Scottish housing legislation is next being prepared.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps are being taken to remedy the shortage of consultants available for hospitals in the West Fife area

In view of the facilities available at Bridge of Earn and other hospitals within reach, the regional board does not consider that there is any general shortage of consultants in the West Fife area. They have, however, agreed in principle to the establishment of a second consultant post in surgery at the Dunfermline and West Fife Hospital, in place of a post on a lower grade.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware of the many recent problems which have arisen relating to the shortage and the migration of fish in and from Scottish waters; and if he will now give a firm date when the research ship of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, the "Sir William Hardy," which was built to investigate those and other problems, will be ready to undertake these tasks.

The state of both white fish and herring stocks in Scottish waters and the problems of conservation continually engage the attention of my Department's scientfic staff and research vessels. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research are not concerned with these matters but with the handling and preservation of fish after it is caught.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the progress which has been made with the X-ray campaigns against tuberculosis and the programme proposed for 1956.

During this year's community surveys by mass radiography, which have just concluded with a most successful survey in Motherwell and Wisham, more than 100,000 people have been examined. This compares with 67,000 examinations during community surveys in 1954. The total number of examinations by mass radiography in the first six months of 1955, covering routine work with contacts, in factories, etc., as well as community surveys, was 229,000 as compared with 360,000 in the whole of 1954.Seven community surveys are planned for 1956, to cover parts of Glasgow, Edinburgh, West Fife, Falkirk, Stirling County, Clydebank, and Hamilton, in the course of which it is expected that some 125,000 people will be examined. The other kinds of work done by mass radiography units will, of course, also continue.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many uneducable children there are in Scotland; and what residential accommodation is available for this type of child.

About 140 children are reported each year by education authorities, on reaching the age of five, as incapable of receiving education or training in a special school. There is no residential accommodation available for these children, apart from mental deficiency institutions for those who are certified under the Mental Deficiency Acts. In such institutions about 1,000 places are occupied by children of school age.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many hospital beds are available for the chronic sick; and whether he is aware of the shortage of hospital accommodation for bedridden people, as opposed to the elderly people, in the city of Aberdeen.

About 4,600 hospital beds are set aside for the aged and the chronic sick, the two categories not being distinguished in the statistics. It is sometimes difficult to make suitable arrangements for chronic sick in the younger age groups, but I am not aware of any special problem of this kind in Aberdeen, which is relatively well provided with hospital beds. If my hon. Friend has a particular case in mind, I should be glad to look into it.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in Scotland were injured or died as the result of accidents in their homes in each of the last two years, at convenient dates; and what percentage of these involved children.

One thousand one hundred and thirty-four people in Scotland died as a result of accidents in their homes in 1953, of whom 20·5 per cent. were children under fifteen years of age. One thousand one hundred and six died in 1954, of whom 19·5 per cent. were children. No figures of the number of injuries are available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what changes he proposes to make in the near future in the subsidies, grants and loans available to the fishing industry in Scotland; and when he proposes that they shall come into operation.

New rates for the white fish subsidy are set out in the draft Scheme laid before the House on 6th December which, if approved by Parliament, will come into force on 1st January. The White Fish Authority and the Herring Industry Board have proposed certain changes in the schemes for grants for new fishing boats and engines; some of these would require legislation and are being considered, but I am not in a position to make a statement.

asked the Minister of Works what warning system has been developed in this country to alert built-up areas of approaching radio-active clouds.

The amount of radioactivity in clouds as a result of test explosions is so small that no warning system in this country is necessary.

asked the Minister of Works what arrangements have been made for the erection of a memorial to the late Field Marshal Smuts.

The Memorial statue by Sir Jacob Epstein is to be placed on the North Side of Parliament Square. Work in the Square will start at once and the Memorial is expected to be ready for unveiling sometime in the spring.

asked the Secretary of State for War why it is a condition of the award of the Territorial Army efficiency medal that pre-war service in the Supplementary Reserve shall not count towards the award of the medal unless such service involved an annual training period.

Because this medal was introduced for volunteers in recogniton of sacrifice of leisure over a number of years in order to become an efficient soldier.

asked the Secretary of State for War the number of soldiers under the age of 20 years who have been killed or wounded in Cyprus during the past six months.

One has been killed. Eighteen have been wounded of whom one subsequently died from his injuries. Nine of the men concerned suffered only minor injury or shock.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will ensure that National Service men with less than six months' service are not sent to Cyprus during the present troubles.

No. Experience has shown that the present rules produce an efficient soldier capable of performing his duty in difficult conditions.

asked the Secretary of State for War what precautions were taken to prevent accidents when a practice raid was made on Fenham Barracks, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, on 19th November, by men of the 45th Airborne Workshops, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Territorial Army, Coventry.

Orders were given that no arms or ammunition should be carried by the men taking part in the raid and that they were not to act illegally in any way. The civil police were informed.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will make a statement about the complications which arose during the second operation on Signalman Palliser.

During this operation which took place at the Connaught Hospital on 5th July a dangerous haemorrhage occurred and immediate measures had to be taken to stop the bleeding. During these a small suture needle broke which could not be found and removed at the time without endangering the life of the patient. I am glad to say that Signalman Palliser has since made a very satisfactory recovery.The civilian consultant in thoracic surgery and the consulting surgeon to the Army have carefully considered whether the fragment of the needle should be removed or left in the tissues and at present advise against removal as the fragment is causing no harm and is most unlikely to give trouble in the future. Signalman Palliser is remaining in hospital for the time being and before he leaves a final decision will be made about the fragment of needle.I very much regret this accident. Unfortunately such things occasionally happen in surgery in spite of every precaution.

asked the Secretary of State for War in view of his discussions with the Territorial Forces Association, what will be the future role of the 16th Airborne Division, Territorial Army; and what effect this will have on its establishment and training.

As he has already told the House, my right hon. Friend intends to make a statement on the future of the Reserve Army in the near future and it would be inappropriate for me to anticipate this by commenting on the new role of individual units and formations.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that whereas there is no quota restriction on the import of West German pottery into the United Kingdom, British exports of pottery to West Germany are subject to a licence of £85,000; and what steps he will take to negotiate reciprocity in this matter.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Dr. Stross) on 6th December.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the decision to license the import of synthetic rubber from the United States of America.

As far as the balance of payments permits, the Government's policy is to allow our manufacturers a free choice of materials. Synthetic rubber has technical advantages over natural rubber for certain uses; at present it is also considerably cheaper. It is important that the United Kingdom rubber industry, which makes a big contribution to exports, should not be at a disadvantage, either technically or on price grounds, with their competitors on the Continent, who have in the past been allowed readier access to dollar supplies than United Kingdom manufacturers, or with those in North America where there is of course complete freedom of competition between natural and synthetic rubber.The Government have accordingly decided to authorise the import in 1956 of 70,000 tons of synthetic rubber of which 50,000 tons is in the form of GR-S, the main general purpose type which is competitive with natural rubber. This amount represents the estimated requirements of United Kingdom manufacturers for 1956.I am naturally aware of the importance of rubber to the Malayan economy and to the sterling area's balance of payments. But United Kingdom consumption of rubber in relation to total world production is comparatively small. Even if we felt justified (which for the reasons I have explained above, we do not) in denying United Kingdom manufacturers any access to supplies of synthetic rubber, it would have at most a marginal effect on the market for natural rubber which reflects the supply and demand position in the world as a whole. This is especially true at the present time when it seems that world demand for rubber cannot be met without a considerable increase in consumption of synthetic rubber here or elsewhere. It makes no difference to the amount of natural rubber sold where this increase in consumption of synthetic takes place. It might however make a serious difference to the exports of the British rubber manufacturers if they were denied access to imported synthetic rubber whilst their competitors used it freely.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will take steps to control questionnaires issued by the Monopolies Commission to trade associations in view of the many objections made by those associations to tendentious and derogatory phrases in those questionnaires.

No. No objections of the kind referred to have been made to my right hon. Friend, nor, I understand, to the Commission.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if, in view of the closing down of a large part of the major local industry, he will schedule Broxburn and district in West Lothian as a Development Area.

The civil parish of Uphall, which includes Broxburn, is part of the Scottish Development Area.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will take steps to widen the scope of the Monopolies Commission so as to enable them to inquire into trade union restrictive practices which are slowing down the tempo of British industry as well as restrictive practices on the part of trade associations which restrict production.

No. Restrictive practices by organised employees raise different problems from those raised by the restrictive practices of suppliers of goods to deal with which the Monopolies Commission was set up.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will make a statement on the arrangements he has made for the importation of canned salmon from Japan.

Applications for import licences have now been invited in respect of the first instalment of about two-thirds of the total quota of £4·72 million c.i.f. established by the arrangements concluded with Japan in October. The closing date for applications is the 22nd December and licences will be issued shortly thereafter. It is hoped that it will be possible to issue licences for the second instalment in March or early April, 1956.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why, at a time of potato shortage and rising prices in this country, he has altered the regulations, Notice to Importers No. 758, so as to prevent cheaper potatoes reaching the people of the United Kingdom.

I have in fact done the opposite. As regards the reasons for the amendment to the open general licence announced in Notice to Importers No. 758, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Acton (Mr. Sparks) on 17th November by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The hon. Member may not be aware that imports of main crop potatoes are at present being allowed under open individual licences and I am sending him a copy of Notice to Importers No. 763 which explains the position.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much additional sterling has had to be paid on the United States and Canadian loans, both interest and capital repayments, because of the devaluation of sterling in 1949 from 4·03 to 2·80 dollars to the £ and what will be the estimated total additional cost when the loans are completely repaid.

The service of these loans is repaid in dollars. The sterling cost to the Exchequer of the dollar payments made since September, 1949, would have been approximately £114 million less if the dollars had been purchased at the rate of exchange prevailing in 1946. The corresponding figure for the period from September, 1949, to complete repayment would on the same assumptions be approximately £1,040 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether Her Majesty's Government will pay the interest as well as the capital due on the United States and Canadian Lines of Credit and Lend-Lease Settlement with the United States of America at the end of this year.

The fifth annual payment due on these United Kingdom debts to the United States and Canada, amounting to 176 million dollars, falls due on 31st December of this year. Her Majesty's Government have decided that, as in previous years, these payments shall be made in full on the due date.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why he has issued a message to all local authorities suggesting that their capital expenditure in 1956–57 should not exceed that of 1954–55.

I would refer the hon. Member to my statement to the House on 26th October.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether as an interim measure pending his promised examination of the problems arising for local authorities under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts and Section 4 of the Housing Act, 1949, because of the change of policy in the obtaining of credit by local authorities, he will permit local authorities to obtain from the Public Works Loan Board such sums as they may require for making advances under the above Acts.

I would refer the hon. Member to my Budget statement on 26th October when I said that no authority would be denied the right of access to the Public Works Loan Board. But I see no reason why the Board should not ask any authority, whatever the purpose of its borrowing, about its ability to satisfy its requirements from the market.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that his advice to the banks on restriction of credit facilities has resulted in an agreement by the banks not to accept a transfer of an account from one bank to another; and, since this is a restrictive practice, if he will introduce legislation to require banks to accept an account where they are satisfied with the credit of their prospective customer.

I have seen references to such an agreement in the Press. The answer to the second part of the Question is in the negative.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the amount of heroin exported from this country in the last convenient twelvemonths period; and what were the names of the receiving countries.

Exports of heroin licensed by me under the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1951, in the twelve months ended 30th September last, amounted to 75·129 ounces. The following is a list of the countries of destination and the amounts licensed to each:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why no legislation has been brought forward on the Report of the Royal Commission on Betting.

The Government's legislative programme has been too heavy to allow consideration of the introduction of legislation on this subject.

asked the Minister of Supply if he is satisfied that every possible step is being taken to eliminate waste and extravagance in the development of new aircraft and guided missiles which, because of its nature, must be on a cost-plus basis; and, in view of the expenditure of public money in this direction, if he will set up a special committee to investigate the matter.

We pay constant attention to the points mentioned by my hon. Friend and are always seeking to improve our methods. I will bring the suggestion in the second part of his Question to my right hon. Friend's attention as soon as he returns to this country.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation how many people in Scotland were injured or died as the result of accidents on the roads in each of the last two years, at convenient dates; and what percentage of these involved children.

In the year ended 30th September, 1955, 581 persons were killed and 19,765 injured on the roads in Scotland. Of these, children aged five to fourteen years suffered 15¼ per cent. of the deaths and 18¼ per cent. of the injuries. Corresponding figures for the year ended 30th September, 1954, were 554; 18,062; 14¼ per cent. and 18¾ per cent. Separate figures of casualties to children under five years of age are not available.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware of a railway accident in which two steam trains collided near Chingford, Essex; and if he will make a statement.

At 5.48 p.m. on 1st December, the 5.8 p.m. passenger train from Liverpool Street to Chingford collided head-on in fog with the 5.45 p.m. passenger train from Chingford to Liverpool Street just outside Chingford terminal station. The driver of the outgoing train had missed the starting signal which was at danger. He had realised his mistake almost at once and stopped the train. The other train was slowing up for the terminal stop. There was no derailment, but the engine and leading coach of each train were damaged.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation how much of the sum of £213,000, quoted in Command Paper No. 9591 as being public information expenses on behalf of his Department, has been incurred as grant to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

£72,000.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what applications he has under consideration from the British Overseas Airways Corporation in respect of authority to purchase and operate British aircraft for the North Atlantic Service.

None. My hon. Friend will of course be aware that British Overseas Airways Corporation has a number of such aircraft already on order.

asked the Minister of Defence at what distance an atomic bomb explosion similar to the ones exploded at Hiroshima and Nagasaki can be detected with the aid of barometers, seismographs and geiger counters in use in this country.

It would not be in the public interest to disclose any details of our methods of detection or of the apparatus which we use.

asked the Minister of Health what percentage of hospital beds is occupied by patients suffering from mental illness.

About 36 per cent. for mental illness. Including mental deficiency, the figure would be about 42 per cent.

asked the Minister of Health how many extra mental nurses are required to bring the mental nursing service to a level of numbers considered adequate to cope with optimum staffing requirements of mental hospitals.

The number has been estimated by the hospital authorities at about 10,000, for mental and mental deficiency hospitals. New and up-to-date estimates are now being obtained.

asked the Minister of Health to what extent mental hospitals recruit mental assistants direct as such or to what extent prospective mental assistants are obliged to join as student nurses and then become mental assistants after failing to qualify as mental nurses.

I have advised the hospital authorities to recruit mental nursing assistants directly, and to exercise careful selection in the recruitment of student nurses, but I have no precise information as to the extent to which these measures are being taken.

asked the Minister of Health what percentage of student nurses at mental hospitals has failed to qualify as mental nurses; what percentage has become mental assistants; and what percentage has left the service in the last period for which figures are conveniently available.

The rate of wastage of student mental nurses was estimated, in an investigation covering the years 1948 to 1953, to be about 60 per cent. I have no information to show how many student nurses became nursing assistants and how many left the hospital service.

asked the Minister of Health the average lapse of time between claim and award of increases of remuneration of mental nurses since the Nurses and Midwives Whitley Council was established; and how this lapse of time compares with awards made in respect of claims by other councils in other services.

The number of increases since the Whitley Council's original salaries came into effect in 1949 is too small for an average to have any significance. In one case the lapse of time between the date of the claim and the operative date of the increase was three months; in another, four. Intervals of this length are quite common in salary negotiations. In the third case, where the claim related to mental nurses only, there was an interval of seventeen months before the award of increases by the arbitration court. This is quite exceptional, both the negotiations and the arbitration proceedings being unusually protracted.

asked the Minister of Health the present composition of the Mental Nurses Standing Committee of the Staff Side of the Nurses and Midwives Whitley Council; what organisation each member represents; and which members have had service as mental nurses and which have professional connections with mental nursing.

I am informed that the present composition is as follows:

asked the Minister of Health whether he is prepared himself to set up, under Section 66 of the National Health Service Act, separate and new functional councils of the Whitley Councils for the Health Service, Great Britain.

No. This could only be done by agreement on the Whitley Councils themselves.

asked the Minister of Health, as representing the Lord President of the Council, why more monkeys are needed by the Medical Research Council's institution; and why the Director of the Laboratory Animals Bureau flew to India to speed up the traffic of monkeys, in view of the fact that more monkeys have arrived at London Airport this year than in 1954, and large numbers have been arriving every month.

I understand that the great majority of the monkeys which arrive at London Airport are for transhipment to other countries. Of the number actually imported into this country only a small proportion is used by the Medical Research Council, which requires monkeys mainly for safety tests on poliomyelitis vaccines. Most of the monkeys imported are used by the commercial firms engaged on the production of poliomyelitis vaccines. The object of the visit to India of the Director of the Laboratory Animals Bureau was not to speed up the traffic of monkeys but to investigate the conditions under which monkeys are obtained and exported to this country and to do everything possible to improve existing arrangements.