asked the Minister of Defence what is the number of British Service men killed or wounded in Cyprus during the past twelve months.

In the twelve months ending yesterday, fifteen British Service men have been killed and eighty-eight wounded as a result of terrorist activities in Cyprus. In addition one soldier has been missing since 19th December last.

asked the Minister of Defence if he will, in view of the shortage of science teachers and the recent arrangement for granting indefinite deferment from National Service to suitably qualified students as teachers of science, arrange for the discharge of the fully qualified science teachers now doing their National Service.

No. I am not satisfied that the situation justifies such a procedure, which would be likely to have repercussions on many men with special qualifications who are performing their National Service.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware that loads of great dimensions and abnormal tonnage are being transported long distances on British roads, involving dislocation of traffic and damage to road surfaces and services; and what action he now proposes to take in the matter.

Such loads are already subject to a considerable degree of control. Proposals for further measures of control were circulated on 26th November for consideration by representative organisations. When I have received all their comments and examined them I propose to consider what more should be done.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what action he has taken since he was sent on 7th August anonymous but detailed allegations, which he undertook to investigate, that the drivers of vehicles owned by a large brewery company are working illegally long hours; and why his inquiries have taken so long.

Inquiries into this case, which have been long and complicated, resulted in the issue by the Licensing Authority for Goods Vehicles for the Metropolitan Traffic Area of 54 summonses against the operator concerned, 27 of which related to the employment of drivers without the minimum statutory period for rest and 27 for failing to cause drivers to keep current records. Convictions were recorded in all instances and fines totalling £65 with 15 guineas costs were imposed.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will give an assurance that in future ceremonies at London Airport representation of the local Press will be given adequate facilities.

My right hon. Friend will certainly keep the interests of the local Press in mind.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (1) on what date and at what hour the engine running tests were completed which were taking place at London Airport between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. on 3rd December to 16th December, 1955, inclusive, and 15th, 17th and 18th January, 1956.(2) on what date and at what hour was the first service flight of each aircraft whose engine or engines were run for testing at London Airport between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. on 3rd December to 16th December, 1955, inclusive, and 15th, 17th, 18th and 20th January, 1956.

Following is the information:

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on how many occasions Her Majesty's Government have notified the Egyptian Government of the intention of British ships to proceed to the Israeli port of Elath; and how many British ships have been stopped by the Egyptians.

The Answer to the first part of the Question is "None." As regards the second part, to the best of my knowledge no British ships making for Elath have been stopped by the Egyptians.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to what countries receiving monetary aid from Great Britain have contra accounts been recently presented for damage done to British property during riots.

Her Majesty's Government recently presented claims for compensation to the Greek Government and, as my right hon. Friend informed the hon. and gallant Member for Brixton (Lieut.-Colonel Lipton) on 30th January, Her Majesty's Ambassador at Amman has reserved our right to claim compensation from the Government of Jordan.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in the forthcoming referendum on the future constitutional position of Malta, Her Majesty's Government will accept a bare majority as satisfying the conditions contained in paragraph 80 of the Round-Table Conference Report referring to the clear and unmistakable wishes of the Maltese people.

I cannot at this stage add to the answer which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave in the House on 24th January in reply to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Mr. Teeling) that the House will no doubt weigh carefully all the relevant factors when it comes to debate the Report after the referendum.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to the disturbances which have taken place at public meetings in Malta recently; and whether he will give an assurance that there will be freedom for all to express their views on the forthcoming referendum on the future status of this island.

The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes." On the second part, it is of the first importance that there should be freedom for all to express their views. As the House knows, the conduct of the referendum is a matter for the Maltese Government. The Maltese Prime Minister has deplored acts of rowdyism at meetings of political opponents in Malta, and there have been a number of prosecutions and convictions in the Maltese courts.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the purpose of the Mombasa Phasing Committee; and what persons constitute its membership.

The Committee decides from month to month the total volume of cargo to be shipped to Mombasa in order that the cargo arriving does not exceed the effective capacity of the port and railway services. It consists of representatives of the shipping companies engaged in the East African trade and representatives of the port authorities and the stevedoring companies operating in the port. Representatives of the Kenya and Uganda Governments also attend.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the subject of the Somali case at the United Nations; and what action Her Majesty's Government will take following his recent discussion with the Somali deputation leaders.

No proposal was put before the General Assembly to inscribe an item relating to the Somali petition on its agenda. The matter was not therefore discussed.With regard to the second part of the Question, I would refer the right hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Brigg (Mr. E. L. Mallalieu) on 25th January.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many Mau Mau prisoners it is proposed to transfer from Manda Island, near Lamu, and elsewhere to islands in Lake Victoria; to what extent these islands are still infested with tsetse fly; and what estimate he has made of the danger to both prisoners and their guards horn sleeping sickness.

It is not yet known how many prisoners will be transferred to islands in Lake Victoria. At present two islands are used to accommodate prisoners. On Saiyusi island tsetse fly has been eradicated. On Mageta island tsetse is being rapidly reduced by bush clearing and as there is no infection there to be transmitted by the fly the medical authorities expect no trouble from the disease.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the reference to seven years' employment in commerce, industry or agriculture, contained in subsection iii, Appendix Va ii of the Kenya Government Sessional Paper 39 of 1955–56 includes self-employment.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what posts in the Government service in Kenya carry a salary of £120 and £240, respectively; and how many Africans hold such posts.

I am asking the Governor for this information and I will send it to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many Africans in Kenya own property to the value of £500 and £700, respectively.

I will ask the Governor whether this information is available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the disturbances in Sierra Leone.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Wakefield on 25th January. Since then I have had reports of further disturbances in the Kambia and Port Loko Districts, in which five people have died. I hope to be able to announce shortly the composition and terms of reference of the Commission of Inquiry which will investigate these regrettable events.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the estimated expenditure on the royal visit to Nigeria.

The cost to United Kingdom voted funds is likely to be about £36,500. The expenditure approved by the Legislatures or Finance Committees of the Federal and Regional Governments in Nigeria totals £700,000, of which a considerable part is normal development expenditure brought forward because of the visit. Some of the expenditure will later be adjusted to other votes as material recovered from camps, stands, etc. becomes available for use on other purposes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if the Gold Coast Government has yet decided the terms of reference and the composition of the committee to inquire into the activities of the Gold Coast Cocoa Purchasing Company.

I would invite my hon. Friend's attention to my reply on 25th January to my hon. Friend the Member for Wavertree (Mr. Tilney).

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the situation in the Gold Coast following the publication of the Report on Regional Autonomy by Sir Frederick Bourne.

I am informed by the Governor that Dr. Nkrumah is continuing his efforts to bring all parties to a round-table conference. I am sure that the House will share my hope that a discussion of the real differences that exist will take place.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make a statement about the length and cause of the strike of city omnibus workers in Singapore.

The strike of workers employed by the Singapore Traction Company in pursuance of a wage claim began on 27th September, 1955, and still continues. A Court of Inquiry has been set up by the Minister for Labour and Welfare under the Singapore Industrial Courts Ordinance.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what assurances have been given to the business community in Hong Kong regarding the future of trade with China.

When my right hon. Friend was in Hong Kong last year he gave an assurance that we fully recognised the extraordinary difficulties which strategic controls on trade with China placed on Hong Kong and that the scope of the controls would be kept constantly under review.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many members of the oversea Civil Service have been appointed to the post of Permanent Under-Secretary of State in his Department, in the last quarter of a century.

Of the five Permanent Under-Secretaries who have served since 1930 two had previously held senior office overseas.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what arrangements are being made for the welfare of colonial students in Scotland, other than those from Nigeria and the Gold Coast.

The British Council continue to be responsible for the reception, accommodation and welfare of all Colonial students in Scotland, as elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Most of the work hitherto done by the Area Office of the Colonial Office Students Department has been taken over by the Students Units of the oversea Governments. That office has, therefore, been closed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state the outcome of the official talks held recently between the Trades Union Congress and Her Majesty's Government over Cyprus.

My right hon. Friend met a delegation from the Trades Union Congress on 9th November and exchanged views on the political situation in Cyprus. They also discussed details of the application of the Detention of Persons Law in Cyprus.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the fact that Archbishop Makarios, as British subject, is guilty of continuous incitement to sedition, he will order the Governor of Cyprus to deport him from the island.

I have nothing to add to my reply to the Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr (Sir T. Moore) on 30th November.

asked the Postmaster-General what further discussions have taken place between the Government, the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Independent Television Authority about the ban on political broadcasting.

None.

asked the Postmaster-General what are the terms which licence holders on channels in Band III have agreed to accept for removal to other channels.

Every user of private mobile radio services is informed at the time his licence is issued that his frequencies may have to be changed. These users will be given a reasonable period of notice when they are required to move from Band III. The Postmaster-General has the legal power under the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1949, to modify or withdraw any licence.

asked the Postmaster-General (1) if any wavelengths are now available in Band III for allocation in any part of the country to either the British Broadcasting Corporation or the Independent Television Authority;(2) what progress has been made in making all the channels in Band III available for television transmission.

Two channels in Band III are at present in use for television and a third will become available about the middle of this year. Plans have been prepared to free two further channels and we are pursuing the problem of releasing the remaining three.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will now announce the date when the British Broadcasting Corporation will be allowed to erect transmitters for its second television coverage.

asked the Postmaster-General if he has yet considered an application from the British Broadcasting Corporation for the allocation of a wavelength to enable the British Broadcasting Corporation to start its second television programme.

The B.B.C. has applied for authority to proceed with a second programme. The matter is still under consideration.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will bring forward from 1962 to 1958 the date when it is proposed to make the Rubery Telephone Exchange, Birmingham, automatic, in view of the extensive housebuilding programme in the area and of the delays already suffered by subscribers.

The present exchange is big enough to meet requirements for several years. I cannot undertake to advance the provision of the automatic exchange there, at the expense of delaying a more urgent scheme.

asked the Postmaster-General what plans he is considering for installing machines for giving change in telephone call-boxes.

None. Difficulties of space, maintenance and security, and the increase in costs which would be involved, stand in the way of the provision of facilities for giving change in telephone call boxes.

asked the Minister of Supply what project he has, under the sponsorship of his Department, for an aeroplane to provide a non-stop high speed service across the Atlantic; and how soon he expects it to be available.

The long-range Britannia. It will be at least as fast as any other aircraft capable of regular non-stop service between London and New York when it comes into operation, which I expect will be during 1957.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the prices paid by his Department for Danish bacon.

The current contract price for Danish bacon is related to the price realised in Great Britain, with a minimum of 240s. per cwt. (c. & f. U.K. port).

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a further statement on meat standards for sausages.

The review which my right hon. Friend has asked the Food Standards Committee to make is still in progress.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give consideration to giving a bonus for the head or tail of rabbits, such as is done for grey squirrels' tails with the object of encouraging the extermination of these pests.

Occupiers of land in rabbit clearance areas, which now cover well over half the country, are under a legal obligation to destroy wild rabbits on their land. I doubt whether a Government sponsored scheme on the lines suggested would be helpful in the present circumstances.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the cost, to date, of the large-scale advertisements advertising Rabbit Clearance Orders, which his Department has inserted, or caused to be inserted, in the Press throughout Britain.

The cost of advertising Rabbit Clearance Orders in newspapers in England and Wales up to 30th November, 1955—the latest date for which figures are available—was £5,693. I am informed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Scotland, that the corresponding expenditure in Scotland was £1,015.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when work will be started on the development of the Elephant and Castle area in the Borough of Southwark.

I understand that the London County Council hopes to begin work in the autumn.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware of the shortage of steel being delivered to the shipbuilding industry; and what action he proposes to take to remedy this situation.

Yes. My noble Friend and I have met representatives of the industry and discussed the problem fully with them. My noble Friend is in touch with the President of the Board of Trade and investigations are proceeding as rapidly as possible.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what steps are being taken to bring about a settlement of the industrial dispute at the Naval Base at Singapore; how far the normal negotiating machinery has been used; and why arbitration has not been resorted to.

The strike was called by the Naval Base Labour Union in protest against the removal of two families from Admiralty accommodation in the base. The heads of these families had ceased to be eligible for residence there when they left the employ of the Admiralty in October, 1955. Deferments were given in November and December pending consideration of representations by the union. In the end the union agreed that final notice should be given on 2nd January to expire on 16th January, 1956. On that day the families refused to quit and so were evicted. After eviction had commenced a letter was received from the union asking for still further deferment but producing no new information.The matter had therefore been fully discussed with the Naval Base Labour Union and agreement with them had been reached on the issue in dispute, which was not a suitable one for reference to arbitration. I am glad to say that the strike has now been called off and that the men will return to work tomorrow morning.

asked the Minister of Education his estimate, based upon present trends, of the size of the school population in each of the next ten years.

The latest figures are set out on page 7 of my Annual Report for 1954. Revised estimates are now being prepared on the basis of the later information now available.

asked the Minister of Works what steps are being taken by his Department to popularise the study of practical archaeology.

I have been asked to reply. My Department is arranging a course which will give teachers experience of field-work at Verulamium; my officers are helping to simplify the arrangements for free visits by parties of schoolchildren to ancient monuments and historical buildings; and financial help is given to organisations concerned with adult education, whose courses include some in archaeology and local history.

asked the Minister of Health what effect he estimates that the explosion at one of the Glaxo laboratories, Slough, on 25th January, will have upon the production of the new vaccine against poliomyelitis.

None.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if, in the allocation of moneys received from the Government of Japan to compensate British prisoners of war, he will include Merchant Navy personnel who were prisoners in the same camps as members of Her Majesty's Forces, subjected to the same conditions and who were treated by the Japanese in exactly the same way as Service prisoners.

I am afraid I have no power to make payments of moneys received under Article 16 of the Peace Treaty in the way suggested by the hon. Member. The position is governed by the Peace Treaty, which expressly confines the distribution of this money to members of the Armed Forces. Members of the Merchant Navy have, however, received their share of the Japanese assets realised in the United Kingdom under Article 14 of the Treaty, to which this restriction did not apply

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance to what age a self-employed and an employed man retiring at 70 years of age would need to live in order to recover the amount forgone in pension and paid in contributions during the five years from 65 to 70.

The Answer is subject to wide variations, depending on whether the man is single or married, the age of his wife, the existence of other dependants, and the amount of unemployment or sickness benefit drawn during the five years. In the case of single men it could range, in extreme cases, from six years and three months to sixteen years in the case of a self-employed man, and from five years and eight months to fifteen and a half years in the case of an employed man. No calculation is possible in respect of married men, since in their case the increments they earn are normally transferred after their deaths to the retirement pensions payable to their widows.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he has yet made a decision about the quota of British films to be shown by exhibitors during the year beginning 1st October, 1956.

Yes. After consulting the Cinematograph Films Council I have decided not to make any Order this year to amend the Cinematograph Films (Quotas) Amendment Order, 1950, but to leave the prescribed quotas at 30 per cent. for first-feature films and 25 per cent. for the supporting programme, for the exhibitors' quota year beginning 1st October, 1956.

asked the Secretary of State for War the total number of Victoria Crosses gained by the Army since the inception of the decoration, specifying the regiments or corps concerned and the numbers relative to each.

Eight hundred and sixty-four. The details are contained in the January edition of "Soldier" magazine, a copy of which I have placed in the Library of the House. I have also placed there a copy of the War Office publication "Lists of Recipients of the Victoria Cross" which contains more detailed information.

asked the Secretary of State for War the total annual cost of Kneller Hall, the Army School of Music.

About £40,000 excluding the pay and allowances of students.

asked the Minister of Works the total number of building trade operatives, skilled and unskilled, respectively, employed on building in 1938, 1945, 1950, and 1955; and the approximate numbers which were engaged on housing.

Exactly comparable figures cannot be provided owing to changes in the bases on which labour statistics have been collected. The available figures for the four years are given below, together with the estimated proportion of skilled workers and of men employed on new housebuilding.