asked the Minister of Health whether he will circularise local authorities drawing their attention to the importance of not curtailing in the financial year 1956–57 any expansion they contemplate in the provision for ineducable children.

No, but my right hon. Friend is sure authorities will wish to do what is possible for these children within the limits imposed by the general financial situation.

asked the Minister of Health if he will consult the Medical Advisory Committee on the question of suitable and equally effective drugs to replace heroin; and if he will then circularise the medical profession with the opinion that is expressed.

I do not consider that it is necessary further to consult the Standing Medical Advisory Committee. The various forms of alternative treatment are known and have been discussed in the medical Press.

asked the Minister of Health what reply he proposes to make to the further representations made to him by the British Medical Association on 5th December in relation to the ban on the use of heroin.

I assume the hon. Member refers to the statement issued to Members of Parliament and to the Press by the public relations officer of the British Medical Association. If so, I would refer the hon. Member to the various statements made by my right hon. and gallant Friend the Home Secretary.

asked the Minister of Health what treatment will be available under the National Health Service after 31st December, 1955, for patients in the terminal stages of painful illness for whom at present heroin is prescribed and who are declared by their doctors to receive no relief from the recommended alternatives.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to her Question on 12th December.

asked the Minister of Health how many vacancies there are for district nursing staff in Worcestershire; and if he will state the areas in which these vacancies exist.

My right hon. Friend is informed that the number of vacancies is eleven, of which two are temporarily filled by relief nurses. The following is the list of areas concerned:

• Blackheath (Halesowen).
• Catshill (temporarily filled).
• Evesham.
• Halesowen (2).
• Hanbury.
• Hallow (temporarily filled).
• Inkberrow.
• Oldbury.
• Redditch.
• Wythall.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will take steps to set up, under the National Health Service, laboratories for the manufacture of dangerous drugs for distribution to medical practitioners.

No. I see no reason for such a step.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the increased rent charge for unfurnished accommodation from 1st April, 1955, for midwives and nurses was not notified by the local employing authority until November, 1955, when a debt for over £15 had been retrospectively incurred; and whether he will take steps to ensure that such increases are in future notified in advance.

The date of operation of the negotiated agreement is a matter entirely for the Whitley Council. Its detailed application to individual cases is one for the employing local authorities.

asked the Minister of Health, in view of the rising cost of dental equipment and commodities since the inception of the National Health Service Act and the reduction which has since taken place in the scale of fees to dentists, if he will encourage the setting up by dentists of their own co-operative dental depots in order to reduce costs of distribution of dental supplies.

This is primarily a matter for the dental profession.

asked the Minister of Health how many farms are managed by the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board; what recent profits these have made; to what use these profits are put; and what is his policy in regard to the future of these farms.

Twenty-one are managed by hospital management committees in this area, showing a total net profit in 1954–55 of £32,965, which was offset against the hospitals' expenditure. My policy with regard to hospital farming is set out in a memorandum which I sent to hospital authorities on 15th March, 1954, a copy of which I am sending to my hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Minister of Health what representations he has received from the Dudley Road Hospital Management Committee regarding the shortage of cooks in the Birmingham Eye, Skin and St. Chad's Hospitals; and what action he proposes to take to remedy the position that has arisen.

The committee have represented to me that higher rates of pay for cooks are required to overcome recruitment difficulties. This is a matter in the first place for the Whitley Council to whose attention I have brought it. In the meantime, I have suggested that some assistance might be afforded to these hospitals from other hospitals in the group.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that districts with steel and metal works have an exceptionally high rate of factory accidents, and that Middlesbrough had the highest proportion of workers killed in factory accidents last year of any town in Great Britain; and what steps are proposed to extend hospital casualty divisions on Tees-side.

I am aware that Middlesbrough needs special facilities for the treatment of accidents, and I hope that building work will begin next year on a new accident department at the Middlesbrough General Hospital.

asked the Minister of Health the approximate total value of hospital building in the country at the present time.

The total estimated value of hospital capital building projects now in progress, or to be started in the current financial year, including projects financed from non-Exchequer funds so far as information about these is available, is about £31·5 million.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the lack of adequate storage space and the urgent need for accommodation for patients' clothes at St. George's Hospital, Morpeth; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. This is due to shortage of space generally in the hospital. In the two recently opened villas and in the admission unit now being planned sufficient space for patients' clothes and personal belongings is provided.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs when it is expected that the judicial inquiry into the murder of Mr. Goodman, a British seaman, by a Spanish prison guard will be completed.

The court-martial at Santander which on 18th November tried the sentry who killed Mr. Goodman referred its findings to a higher authority. Since then the matter has been before the Supreme Council of Military Justice in Madrid, which has ordered a further investigation and court-martial to take place in Madrid.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware of the inconvenience caused to British residents in Spain by the absence of a Spanish vice-consul at Gibraltar; and if he will make representations to the Spanish Government with a view to their re-opening the Consulate.

The absence of a Spanish Consulate causes inconvenience to residents and tourists in Gibraltar who wish to visit Spain but not to British residents in Spain. Her Majesty's Ambassador in Madrid recently raised this question with the Spanish authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what decision was made in Western European Union regarding the size and nature of a naval contribution to be made to the forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation by the German Federal Republic.

It would be contrary to practice to reveal details of the forces listed in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Annual Review, The Council of the Western European Union, at its meeting in Paris on 14th December, endorsed the size and nature of the German naval contribution as conforming to the provisions of the Paris Agreements.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the approach by the West German Government to purchase three research reactors from Her Majesty's Government.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1) the nature of the arrangements which have been concluded to supply reactors to Western Germany;(2) what discussions have taken place, and with what results, in regard to supply of fissionable material by Great Britain to Western Germany;(3) what revision of treaty arrangements are in hand following the agreement by which Great Britain is to supply certain reactors to Western Germany.

No specific commitment was entered into by either side during the visit of the Federal German Minister for Atomic Energy. He discussed with members of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority the administrative problems involved in establishing and operating a civil atomic energy project. In the course of these talks, it was made clear to the Minister that when the German authorities were in a position to make firm requests for assistance in the development of atomic energy for peaceful purposes, the Atomic Energy Authority would consider these sympathetically subject to the availability of resources.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps he now proposes to take to bring about the proper representation of China in the United Nations, in view of the use of the veto by the Chinese Nationalist representative in the Security Council in such a way as to thwart the expressed intentions of a substantial majority of the Members of the United Nations.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what new initiative he proposes to take at the United Nations to secure that China is in future represented on the Security Council and in the General Assembly and other United Nations organs by representatives duly accredited by the Chinese Government recognised by Her Majesty the Queen.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware of the part played by the delegate from Formosa in the Security Council in obstructing the admission of new members to the United Nations; and whether he will now propose the withdrawal of recognition as a member of the United Nations of General Chiang Kai-Shek's Government and the admission to the United Nations of the Government of China recognised as such by Her Majesty's Government.

This year's session of the General Assembly of the United Nations is about to end and the problem of Chinese representation will not therefore arise until next session.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps he is now taking to secure the admission of Japan to the United Nations.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how the United Kingdom delegate to the United Nations General Assembly voted over the admission of Japan to the United Nations; and if he will make a statement.

The United Kingdom delegate voted throughout in favour of Japan. Sir Pierson Dixon has now proposed that the Security Council should take note that Japan is fully qualified for membership of the United Nations, and expressed the hope that Japan will soon be admitted to the United Nations. A resolution in these terms will be considered by the Security Council on 21st December.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what instructions he issued to our delegates at the United Nations on the question of admission of other nations to the United Nations.

The United Kingdom delegation to the United Nations has throughout the current session of the General Assembly supported the Canadian Government's efforts to break the deadlock which prevented any new admissions to the United Nations for five years.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many countries have given specific figures of the contribution they would make to the Special United Nations Fund for Economic Development in response to the inquiries of the United Nations rapporteur.

One.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what measure of internationally supervised disarmament will permit him to give support to the creation of the Special United Nations Fund for Economic Development.

I cannot forecast what measure of disarmament will be required before sufficient resources are available to make it practicable to set up the Fund. This can only be decided in relation to the prevailing economic circumstances.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many old-age pensioners have been discovered by his Department during the past four years to have been earning more than statutory limit while drawing the full rate of pension; how many have been excused the offence; how many have been requested to refund the excess; and how many have been prosecuted.

No regular statistics are kept in this detail and the information could not be obtained without a disproportionate amount of work.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will take steps to define more clearly his powers relating to the making of special provision for dependants of seamen lost at sea; and, in view of their present inadequacy, if he will take steps to seek an extension of those powers.

The special arrangements to which I referred in my reply to the hon. Member for Louth (Mr. Osborne) on 7th November and which I understand the hon. and learned Member has in mind are administrative. They ensure close cooperation between all concerned and their general aim is to attend to the immediate needs of those in want and to speed the settlement of claims to benefit. I am not aware that they are inadequate in any respect.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he is aware that the raising of National Assistance by more than six per cent., will reduce the comparative value of the amount received by retired pensioners; and, under these changed conditions, when he intends to reconsider the need to raise National Insurance retired pension rates.

No. I cannot accept that a change in the National Assistance scales must be followed by a review of the rates of retirement pensions which, I would remind the hon. Member, depend on the payment of insurance contributions.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether the report on widows' pensions, at present under preparation by the National Advisory Committee, will be available before the Recess.

No, but I understand that consideration of the terms of the Report is well advanced.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what revisions have been made in the pensions of the limbless veterans of the 1914–18 War since 1919; and what is the difference between the pensions paid to these pensioners of the 1914–18 War and those with similar disabilities arising from the 1939–45 War.

These pensioners have benefited from the increase in the basic rates of war disablement pensions in 1946, 1952 and this year. Over 4,000 of them received increases in 1947 as a result of the revision of assessments of disable- ment following the recommendations of an expert committee, and many have qualified for one or more of the various supplements to war pensions introduced since the last war; in addition, many have had their pensions raised because their war disablement has grown worse or they have incurred a further disability connected with it. Amputations are assessed in the same way for pensioners of both wars, except that in two types of cases the expert Committee recommended decreases which were not applied to the pensioners of the 1914–18 War.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he is prepared to consider raising the pensions of the limbless veterans of the 1914–18 War.

I am unable to add anything to the reply given by the Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the hon. Members for Fife, West (Mr. Hamilton) and Sunderland, North (Mr. Willey) on the 31s Ocober.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance why the number of non-industrial civil servants in his Department rose from 36,979 on 1st July to 37,306 on 1st October, 1955.

The increase was due to the temporary engagement of staff for the renewal of tokens for milk and other welfare foods for children under agency arrangements on behalf of the Health Departments.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the number of recipients of National Assistance in Cardiff who have been directed during the past year by his Department to seek second-hand clothing from the Women's Voluntary Service.

This is a matter for the National Assistance Board who inform me that an applicant is put in touch with this voluntary organisation only with his consent and after any exceptional need which might justify a grant under the Board's own powers has been considered. No record is maintained of the cases in which such action is taken.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether a reciprocal agreement on social security has yet been concluded with New Zealand.

I am glad to say that a reciprocal agreement has now been concluded. It is being signed tomorrow in Wellington and will come into operation on 1st April, 1956. Broadly speaking the agreement will enable persons coming from New Zealand to count residence there towards the satisfaction of the conditions for retirement pension, widows' benefits, and sickness and unemployment benefits in this country; persons in New Zealand who have been resident in this country will in a similar way be able to count their residence here towards the satisfaction of the conditions for the benefits there.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power why those employees of the Central Electricity Authority who were formerly employed by the Midland Electricity Corporation are not allowed to join the new superannuation scheme.

The new superannuation scheme is designed to cover manual workers for whom no provision had previously been made. Former employees of the Midland Electricity Corporation are not eligible because they are already covered by arrangements which existed before nationalisation.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he will investigate the position of pensioners in the gas industry who retired before the vesting date, in order to ascertain whether something can be done to compensate them for the inadequacy of their pensions under current conditions.

I am informed that the Gas Council is now considering this matter and that they hope to submit proposals for my approval in due course.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he will issue a general direction to the Central Electricity Authority and area gas boards to prevent them from pursuing their declared policy of discontinuing the hire of cookers and other domestic appliances to consumers.

The Boards have not proposed to withdraw apparatus now on hire but have agreed to limit new hirings.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what report he has received under Regulation 21 (c) of the Electricity Supply Regulations, 1937, on the break-down of electric power in Newcastle on Wednesday, 14th December; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what report he has received under Regulation 21 (c) of the Electricity Supply Regulations, 1937, about the breakdown at the Stella power station, Dunston on Tyne, on 14th December, which caused interruption of work and services estimated to amount to more than £1,000,000.

Preliminary reports so far received show that this interruption of supply was caused by an explosion at 8.30 a.m. on 14th December in the switching gear at Stella South substation which is part of the Central Electricity Authority's "grid" transmission system. This affected switch gear at other points of the system and also the circuits leading from the Dunston power station, and interrupted the supply to the North Eastern Electricity Board's distribution system covering Northumberland and North Durham. Supplies were partially restored by noon and fully by 6.30 p.m. on the same day. It is provisionally estimated that some 300,000 kilowatts of power were lost. The cause of the explosion is still being investigated.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power under what conditions civil servants in his Department and members of the National Coal Board are permitted to write articles for newspapers.

Departmental approval is required before any article written by a civil servant about the work of my Department can be published, but no such conditions apply to the National Coal Board.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he is aware that coal merchants refuse to supply patent fuels in less than five hundredweight lots, and that this is inconvenient to people who cannot stock so much, or who find it difficult to pay for this amount; and whether he will introduce legislation to compel coal merchants to make these fuels available for sale in single hundred-weight lots.

There is no case for legislation. I understand that one or two firms in the London area have found it necessary owing to shortage of labour to refuse or limit orders for less than 5 cwt. of solid fuels. Small quantities can, however, be got from the trolley service while facilities are available for deferred payments for larger quantities.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power how many new registrations have been made with coal merchants in Bournemouth during the last three years; and by how much the allocation of coal to that area has been increased during the same period.

Over the last three years there has been a net decrease of 1,692 in the number of registrations in Bournemouth and the coal allocations to Bournemouth depots have increased by 260 tons.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power for which sites he has granted permission for opencast mining in and around Barnsley, including the Cawthorne area.

Forty-four sites are now under requisition, of which 8 are being worked and 36 are being restored.Following are the particulars—OPENCAST SITES UNDER REQUISITION IN THE BARNSLEY AND CAWTHORNE AREAS

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what estimate was supplied to him of the average cost per ton of coal to be produced from the Cawthorne opencast site when the application for mining there was granted; and how this compared with the national average.

The estimated direct production cost in 1951 was 32s. a ton compared with a national average of 34s.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power to what extent opencast mining is to continue in the future.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Normanton (Mr. A. Roberts) on 5th April, 1954.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what have been the effects, so far, of the National coal economy campaign; and whether he will arrange that it should be continued after this winter.

There has been a remarkable resurgence of effort throughout industry to seek ways and means of economising further in the use of coal. Since the launching of the Campaign on 1st November the National Industrial Fuel Efficiency Service has received some thousands of new applications from businesses of all kinds for technical advice and assistance, and the Regional Boards for Industry are now making personal approaches to the managements of nearly 20,000 firms. Each month more firms are turning from coal to oil and inland fuel oil consumption has already risen by 21 per cent. this year. All this confirms the evidence I received during my recent visits to the industrial areas that industry is making determined efforts to save at least 2,000,000 tons of coal this winter.But further substantial economies can be achieved in addition to the immediate target and, as every ton of coal saved will reduce the need for coal imports, I have no doubt that the campaign for industrial coal economy must be sustained beyond the present winter as part of our national fuel policy for the future.

asked the Minister of Supply if he will authorise work to begin now for designs on purely commercial aircraft to meet the needs of the era of supersonic speeds.

It is too early for me to make any statement on this subject.

asked the Minister of Supply what proposals he has for the development of a civil jet aircraft to be flying in 1965.

As I informed my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Macclesfield (Air Commodore Harvey) on 14th November, I am in close touch with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation and with the British Overseas Airways Corporation about the Corporation's aircraft requirements in the generation after the Comet IV and the present Britannia series.

asked the Minister of Supply if he is aware of the distress caused to Mrs. Grace Crompton on receiving notice by letter from him on 30th November to vacate No. 74 Police Quarters, Harrow Manorway, Abbey Wood, a few days before Christmas; and whether, in view of the fact that her husband died in March within two years of retirement on pension after 18 years in the War Department Constabulary and 25 years in the Royal Hampshire Regiment, he will cancel the notice; and what steps were taken to assist Mrs. Crompton and her daughter to obtain suitable alternative accommodation.

Yes. I am aware of the special circumstances of this case and I am withdrawing the notice to quit until I have received a further report from my housing manager. After receiving this report my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary will seek an opportunity of discussing the matter with the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Supply if he will make a statement on his recent talks in the United States of America concerning the more efficient use of scientific manpower.

In the course of my visit to Washington I discussed in general terms the possibility of even closer coordination of research and development activities in the defence field. I reached no specific conclusions but I have arranged for the Ministry of Supply representatives in Washington to re-examine in greater detail with the United States Department of Defence certain possibilities to ensure that we are making the most efficient use of our scientific manpower in the defence field.

asked the Minister of Supply what consultations he had with the Bristol Aeroplane Company before allowing them to conclude the recent agreement with the Italian Fiat Company; to what extent he was made aware that both the production of Bristol turbojet engines under licence and wide technical collaboration were proposed; and, in view of the extensive communist influence in the Fiat factories, why he gave permission to the Bristol Aeroplane Company to grant this licence.

Her Majesty's Government were fully consulted by the Bristol Aeroplane Company before agreeing to these arrangements to help this important firm of aircraft manufacturers in a friendly and allied country. Where classified information is to be released Her Majesty's Government have received from the Italian Government a satisfactory undertaking about detailed security safeguards.

asked the Minister of Supply whether he is aware of a price ring operating at auction sales sponsored by his Department of scrap military equipment in this country; and what action he is taking.

I have no evidence that price rings are operating at the Ministry's auction sales, but steps, which I prefer not to publicise, are taken to guard against the possibility.

asked the Minister of Supply what assurances his Department requires concerning the bona fides of dealers in surplus military equipment.

The commercial and financial standing of buyers of surplus military equipment is investigated, except where goods are sold by public auction. Warlike stores and munitions are not ordinarily sold in this manner.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the amount of direct subsidy paid in respect of home-grown sugar beet in the years 1945 to 1955.

No direct subsidy is paid on home-grown sugar beet. My Department refunds losses incurred by the British Sugar Corporation as a result of its obligation to pay the price fixed for sugar beet at the Annual Review and receives the benefit of any profits in years when the Corporation makes a trading surplus. The net assistance required during the financial years 1944–45 to 1954–55 amounted to £21½ million.Following is a table showing payments and receipts in each of these years:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he proposes to take to prevent the spread of fowl pest from the premises of poultry dealers and slaughterers who, in some cases, have been responsible for the dissemination of infection over a large part of the country.

With the co-operation of the local authorities and others concerned, my Department has already been able to deal satisfactorily with some of the worst centres of infection. Action on these lines is continuing, and I am considering urgently whether further powers are needed; if they are I shall take them.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware of the concern of farmers in Wear-dale, County Durham, at the increasing menace of hungry foxes raiding their farms; and what steps he is taking to assist farmers combat this problem.

I am aware that farmers in Weardale are apprehensive. The county pests staff, with the co-operation of the Forestry Commission, are organising a drive against foxes in the area.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, with a view to obtaining greater stability in the bacon trade of this country, he will arrange to consult representatives of the British Bacon industry with regard to his future arrangements for releasing imported bacon for home consumption.

Supplies of imported bacon are normally released as they are received. But our contracts allow the market situation in the United Kingdom to influence the flow of supplies. In the fixing of first-hand prices for them, my Department is advised each week by a panel on which the British bacon curing industry is represented.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farmers in Cumberland have been dispossessed for bad farming since the passing of the Agriculture Act, 1947; and how many are under warning notice at the present time.

One has been dispossessed and two are now under supervision.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the outcome of his discussions with the National Farmers' Union and the Fat-stock Marketing Corporation on the immediate problem of maintaining a steadier level of prices for quality bacon pigs.

I have told the National Farmers' Unions that my officials are ready to discuss with them the future form of the guarantee arrangements for pigs (apart from the level of the guaranteed price) as soon as they wish. No discussions have, as yet, taken place.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give details of the supplies of bacon, both home produced and imported, released on the market in each of the past six months and up to date in December, and the changes in wholesale bacon prices in the period.

Following are the figures:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in view of the shortage of home-grown potatoes this year, which led to a rise in potato prices, what steps he is taking to ensure that there will be no shortage of homegrown potatoes next year.

An abnormally dry summer has resulted in a reduced crop of potatoes. I have no reason to anticipate a shortage of home-grown potatoes next year given normal weather conditions.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to what extent in quantity and value the purchase of surplus cheese from the United States of America has been authorised; and whether payment is being made in dollars.

There is a quota for £1·5 million for imports of natural cheese from North America for the year ending 30th June, 1956; this covers imports of cheese from U.S.A. as well as Canada and represents about 6,000 tons of cheese. So far almost all purchases under this quota have been of Canadian origin. Payment will be made in dollars.