asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance why research students at Sheffield University have been required to pay insurance contributions as self-employed persons.

I am having inquires made into the position at Sheffield and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as they are completed.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many claims for special hardship allowance under the Industrial Injuries Act were received from disabled miners in 1954; and how many of these claims were allowed.

I regret that statistics of total claims received are not kept, but during the twelve months ended 31st October, 1954—the latest date up to which information is available—about 17,500 awards of special hardship allowance were made to colliery workers.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many persons, at the last convenient date, were in receipt of the special hardship allowance under the Industrial Injuries Act; and how many of these were miners.

It is estimated that of the 66,000 special hardship allowances in payment at 31st October, 1954, about half related to colliery workers.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many persons, at the last convenient date, were in receipt of the unemployability supplement under the Industrial Injuries Act; and how many of these were miners.

At 31st October, 1954, just over 100 unemployability supplements were in payment as increases of industrial disablement benefit; and about 300 supplements were also in payment to persons entitled to weekly payments under the Workmen's Compensation Acts. Further analyses by occupation of the beneficiary are not available.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how much National Assistance has been paid out to strikers, directly or indirectly, in the Cammell Laird shipyard during the present dispute.

Up to the close of business on 6th February, about £340 had been paid in National Assistance grants for dependants of men involved in this dispute. Nothing had been paid for the needs of the men themselves.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to state the exact figure, computed by his experts, of the damage done by rabbits to British agriculture, not including forestry, to the most recent convenient date; on what acreages he bases this figure; and how far it is based upon sample tests from limited acreages only.

No exact figure of rabbit damage can be computed. In their report of March, 1954, the Myxomatosis Advisory Committee estimated the loss or potential loss caused by the depredations of the rabbit to agriculture and forestry before myxomatosis at some £45 million to £60 million per annum. The basis of this estimate is set out in the Report.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the cost of recent bulldozing operations by pest officers on Danbury and Lingwood Commons, Essex; how many rabbits were killed; and what complaints he has received from the Danbury Parish Council and other persons about these operations.

A survey by the county pests staff showed that a breeding stock of wild rabbits remained on Danbury and Lingwood Commons which were a potential danger to neighbouring farm land. The cost of bulldozing rides through the dense scrub was £30 15s. 0d. The rabbit burrows thus exposed are being gassed and the rabbits living above ground will be driven to the open rides and shot. The work was carried out with the consent of the local committee of the National Trust, the occupiers. Representations were received from the Danbury Preservation Committee, the Danbury Parish Council and its Chairman.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the cost of the various rabbit clearance demonstrations now being staged in various counties by the pest officers and agricultural executive committees; and what has been the cost in the county of West Sussex to date.

Rabbit clearance demonstrations have been staged in recent months in Essex, Staffordshire and Bedfordshire as part of the normal duties of the county pests staff at a total cost to the Ministry of about £50. No demonstration has been staged in West Sussex.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the new duties undertaken by his Department, which at present require the employment of 17,000 civil servants, compared with 2,600 in April, 1939; and if he will give the increased number employed under each category and the reduction he expects to make in the coming year.

The new duties undertaken by my Department since 1939 can be summarised as follows:

asked the Minister of Health to give the date when the proposals were first received for the present extensions to Holymoor Hospital, Birmingham; the date when the proposals were finally approved; and details of the points of dispute between the regional board and his Department on the planning of the extensions, together with the length of time involved over each major point of dispute.

Sketch plans were first submitted in July, 1954. The only substantial point of difference between the regional board and my Department was on the siting of the buildings; this was settled by December, 1954. After all the other usual work had been done, in the Board's offices and my Department, final approval was given in January, 1956.

asked the Minister of Health to issue a White Paper on the present staffing position in mental hospitals and deficiency institutions and outlining the action being taken to remedy the present situation.

No.

asked the Minister of Health what major plans for the building of new, or the addition to existing, mental hospitals and deficiency institutions have been approved out of central and out of regional funds, respectively, during the last three years; and what further such schemes are under consideration.

The following is a list of schemes costing over £100,000 that

asked the Minister of Health to state the amount of money lost in the last financial year by regional hospital boards and hospital management committees on running farms and gardens.

None. Over the country as a whole, income from farms and

asked the Minister of Health when the extension of the Royal Northern Hospital will be completed; and the number of additional beds to be provided.

This scheme is still in a very early stage, and I am not yet able to give this information.

asked the Minister of Health the number of maternity beds in the area of the North-West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board at January, 1955, and January, 1956.

1,755 on 1st January, 1955, and 1,721 on 1st January, 1956.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that a large number of spastics in the country are unable to obtain the help and instruction they need; that the number is increasing; that many are treated as mental deficients who are capable of responding to proper treatment and guidance; and what steps are being taken to assist financially and otherwise in the training of qualified teachers and helpers for the training and relief of spastics.

No. The full range of services and staff under the National Health Service, Education and National Assistance Acts is available to spastics as to other sufferers. There is no evidence that the number of spastics is increasing. The danger that some children may be wrongly certified as mentally defective is recognised and guarded against. Special arrangements for training teachers and helpers for spastics as a separate group are not, in my right lion. Friend's view, required.

asked the Minister of Health why National Health Service patients who elect to have treatment in private nursing homes are debarred from the benefits of free domiciliary consultation with specialists, but may still receive all drugs, etc., free; and, in view of the administrative difficulties which this causes, if he will take steps to allow both, or alternatively, forbid the issue of prescriptions on form E.C.10 to patients in nursing homes.

The National Health Service Act, 1946, does not provide for the service of specialists to be made available in nursing homes; there should, however, be no administrative difficulties over the prescribing of drugs for nursing home patients who are receiving treatment from general practitioners under the National Health Service.

asked the Minister of Health what provision exists in his regulations to compel relatives to return hearing aids, false limbs, invalid chairs, etc., after the death of the patient to whom they were issued.

None.

asked the Minister of Health what intimations have gone from his Department to medical officers of health in regard to the new polio vaccine in addition to the circular dated 19th January, 1956.

Technical notes on the vaccine have been made available to medical officers of health of local health authorities and are reported in the current issues of the medical Press.

asked the Minister of Health to state the information collected on the state of children's teeth at Watford and the control area; how many dentists or other persons examined the teeth in those areas; the ages of the children examined in each; the provisions made to ensure the same standards being used throughout the investigation; what period the investigation covered; how long the investigators will wait after fluoridation starts at Watford to check the state of the teeth of children drinking fluoridated water and of children in the control area; and what classes of children will come into the subsequent investigation.

Three dentists examined about 1,700 children between three and fourteen years of age selected at random from children born and brought up in Watford and in the control area. To ensure uniformity of examinations and assessment, each dentist took a course of instruction at the Post-Graduate Institute of Dental Surgery. The investigation took about two months. It is proposed to hold an annual examination of children in the two areas, in the same age groups, selected in the same way, and conducted as far as possible by the same examiners.

asked the Minister of Health, as representing the Lord President of the Council, if his attention has been drawn to recent indications of the deleterious effect of noise, especially of aircraft noise, on human health, efficiency and relaxation; and how soon he expects to be able to announce the results of the deliberations of the committee which is examining this problem.

I am aware of recent concern about this subject but I am not sure which committee my hon. and gallant Friend has in mind. Research on the general problem of the effects of noise is being sponsored by the Medical Research Council, and results are published in the appropriate scientific journals.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when work will begin on the Dunbar by-pass; and when he estimates that it will be completed.

The East Lothian County Council, as my right hon. Friend's agent authority for this trunk road, are preparing the necessary contract details for the proposed improvement, but I cannot say yet when the work will be put in hand.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will make arrangements whereby in connection with all new road works and improvements on trunk roads notices will be exhibited indicating the estimated date by which the works and improvements will be completed.

I will consider this suggestion in suitable cases.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the average period of time between an application to take a driving test and the actual test in the City of Lincoln.

Approximately seven weeks.

asked the Secretary of State for War why 9,000 paint brushes, 19,000 punches and 1,450 screwdrivers were sold under his direction at Bicester on 8th February.

These were all accessories for the Polsten machine gun which is obsolete. They were found to be unsuitable for other Army purposes for various reasons; for example, the brushes were of an unusual pattern with specially stiff bristles and would have been an unsatisfactory substitute for standard types. Whilst items such as these may be of limited civilian use, it is our policy, because of the storage problems involved, not to retain them merely in the hope that they may be useful at some time in the future.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many references have been made to the Monopolies Commission by hospital management committees, regional hospital boards and boards of governors of teaching hospitals regarding alleged monopolistic practices of tenderers for hospital supplies.

References to the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission are made under the Act of 1948 by the President of the Board of Trade.If the hon. Member has in mind representations or evidence my right hon. Friend understands that a number of these bodies are giving evidence to the Commission in connection with the inquiry into common prices and agreed tendering.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to make a statement on the application for removal of import duty on basic slag reported in his Department's journal for 7th September, 1953.

Her Majesty's Government have now concluded that a case has not been made out for the removal of import duty on this material.

asked the Minister of Works if, in order to set an example to the building industry, he will follow the practice of other countries which experience sudden or long cold spells and place water pipes inside all new buildings for which he is responsible instead of exposing them on exterior walls so that they freeze up and often burst in cold weather.

It is already the general practice of my Department in all new buildings to place the water supply pipes on internal walls. Where this is not possible the water pipes are placed on the inside of external walls on distance brackets and suitably insulated.

asked the Minister of Education to publish the text of letters he has received from associations of local authorities concerning the Teachers Superannuation Bill.

My Department has received a number of such letters. It is for the associations concerned to give them whatever publicity they think fit.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what recommendations he has made to local authorities regarding the exclusion of certain pensions and allowances from the assessment of a tenant's weekly earnings for the purposes of calculating his ability to pay unsubsidised rents; and what record is kept of local authorities that do not exclude for such assessments Government pensions granted to members of Her Majesty's Forces on account of wounds or disability attributable to service in the Forces.

I am considering giving some guidance to local authorities on this and other related matters. Local authorities are solely responsible for fixing the rents of their houses, and they do not normally inform me of their practice in this regard.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government (1) what decision has been reached between all the authorities concerned as to the extent of open space which must be permanently retained around St. Paul's Cathedral; and what distance it is generally from the outer wall;(2) what agreement has been reached as to the height beyond which no building may be erected within some fixed and agreed distance from St. Paul's Cathedral.

No decisions have yet been come to on these matters.

asked the Minister of Defence when the White Papers on Defence and Service Pay will be published.

It is hoped that the Statement on Defence, 1956, will be available on Friday next, 17th February, and that the White Paper on Service Pay will follow on Monday, 20th February.

asked the Postmaster-General to bring monthly publications within the scope of the newspaper registration regulations and so permit them to be sent by post at the same rates as newspapers and weekly publications.

No.