asked the Minister of Works when he is proposing to de-requisition Montagu Mansions, Baker Street, W.1, which his Department have had on lease since 1943, to help ease the housing situation in St. Marylebone.

As the property is held on lease no question of derequisition arises. The existing lease expires in 1960 and I hope it will not be necessary to renew it.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what coal measures were found, before the nationalisation of the coal industry, by Robert Addie and Sons and by United Collieries Limited, when they bored the area of Newhouse, Lanarkshire, details of which are in the possession of the Geological Survey Office. Edinburgh.

Robert Addie and Sons had borings made in the Newhouse area in a very small untouched area of coal measures, surrounded by old workings. I understand that three coal seams were found and proved to be workable but they were exhausted by 1954.United Collieries had borings made through the upper part of the productive coal measures (in which the thicker coals had long been worked out) in order to prove any untouched workable seams in a lower part of these measures. I understand that only one thin seam was found to be an economic mining proposition; this was worked until 1950.

asked the Secretary of State for War for what purposes he occupies premises in Dean Stanley Street, S.W.1; and what is the rent.

These premises are occupied by part of the London District, by the Engineer Stores Establishment, which estimates requirements of Engineer stores, and by the Forces Entertainment Service. The rent was agreed with the owners, and it would not be proper for me to disclose it.

asked the Secretary of State for War on what date 23168284 Private E. Stonehouse was discharged; what money was given to him before leaving Portsmouth Barracks to meet commitments on returning to civilian life; on what date was further money sent to him; how much was this further amount; and how much is still due to him.

He was discharged on 13th March following terminal leave which began on 10th February. The last payment he received from his unit was 14s. 0d. on 8th February and on 3rd March the final payment of £12 13s. 5d. was sent to him.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many civilians, of all categories, are employed at the Central Ammunition Depôt, Longtown; and what was the total cost of their wages and salaries in the last financial year.

1,315 and £475,000.

asked the President of the Board of Trade his plans for extending trade between Scotland and Canada in the immediate future, and in which phases of trade and industry, respectively.

I would refer to the reply which I gave to the hon. and learned Member on 6th March in answer to a similar Question regarding trade with the United States.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what reports he has received about reduction in production in industries situated in Lancashire and Cheshire producing durable consumer goods.

Reports on the labour situation in the area suggest that there has been some falling off in production of some durable consumer goods, including gas and electric fires, washing machines, radio components, motor and cycle ancillaries and furniture.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what negotiations with foreign countries, other than Denmark, there have been with regard to the proposal to apply a 10 per cent. ad valorem duty on imports of foreign bacon and pork; and if he will make a statement.

There have been no such negotiations with other foreign countries.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that a taxpayer with an invalid wife receives a tax allowance of £100 for a daughter, but that when the daughter leaves school and has to remain at home as housekeeper, the allowance is reduced to £40 at the same time as such services as home helps are withdrawn; and what prospect he holds out of taking steps to remedy this anomaly.

The Royal Commission on Taxation in its Second Report recommended that the allowance of £40 should be withdrawn but that a special tax allowance should be granted for persons who are totally disabled. I am considering this and many other suggestions by the Commission, but I cannot anticipate my Budget Statement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the value of lands and other property tranferred by the Treasury to the National Trust in each of the last Production, Lancashire and Cheshire six years.

The properties mentioned in the Answer which I gave to the hon. Gentleman on 6th March were accepted in satisfaction of death duties to the extent of £379,820 18s.Following are particulars of the amount of death duties satisfied by land and other property which was transferred to the National Trust or the National Trust for Scotland in each of the financial years from 1949–50:

Property transferred during financial year	Amount of Duties satisfied
	£	s.
1949–50	44,582	18
1950–51	9,500	0
1951–52	231,840	0
1952–53	57,095	0
1953–54	26,000	0
1954–55	2,500	0
1955–56 (to date)	8,303	0

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will now take the necessary steps to bring proposed private issues of under £50,000 within the purview of the Capital Issues Committee.

An Order has been made today reducing the limit of exemption from the Capital Issues Control from £50,000 to £10,000. The Order will come into operation tomorrow. Copies of it are available in the Vote Office today.

asked the Chancel-of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his recent discussions with the West German Minister for Economic Affairs.

My colleagues and I were very glad of this opportunity of meeting Dr. Erhard. We discussed the matters which were to be considered at the subsequent meeting of the O.E.E.C. Council of Ministers; we compared notes on the economic problems affecting our two countries and the free world as a whole; and we expressed our firm intention to maintain the closest possible cooperation between our two Governments in working towards our common objective of a freer system of world trade and payments. I have no doubt that it was of very great value to have this frank and friendly exchange of views and that it will prove to have been a most fruitful visit.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware of the inconvenience being caused in Bristol owing to the shortage of shillings for gas and electric meters; and if he will take immediate steps to remedy this position.

The practice of the Royal Mint is to supply coins in the quantities and denominations asked for by the banks. I am aware that from time to time, especially in cold spells, local shortages of shillings occur. Applications from the banks for coins are met by the Royal Mint as quickly as possible.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what currencies was foreign exchange granted to the British Broadcasting Corporation for the purpose of paying for printing the Radio Times abroad.

I understand that in recent weeks the Radio Times has been printed in Europe. No special payments arrangements were necessary because such printed matter is on open general licence from Europe.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury what steps are now being taken to make London Airport a free port for the purposes of transit cargo.

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to my reply to a Question by the hon. Member for Blackpool, South (Sir R. Robinson) on 28th February, which appeared in col. 109 of the OFFICIAL REPORT for that day.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will ensure that Government Departments which are refused new tenancies under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act, 1954, do not take account of periods of occupation under emergency powers in making their claim for compensation.

Yes. The entitlement to compensation depends on the length of the period of previous occupation by the tenant, but it is the Government's intention that Departments should claim compensation only insofar as they are entitled to it by virtue of occupation under tenancies.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is satisfied that the purchase by financial institutions of freehold properties and the subsequent leasing of such properties to the vendors is in accordance with his present policy of credit restriction; and if he will make a statement.

I think that transactions of the nature described tend to weaken the effectiveness of present restrictions on credit for capital expenditures and therefore may work against the general objectives which I outlined in the House of Commons on 17th February. It would certainly be helpful if, in present circumstances, financial institutions would examine with special care any facilities which appear to be connected with such deals.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when he expects to introduce his Bill to relax rent control.

I would refer the hon. Member in the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lonsdale (Sir I. Fraser) on 9th March.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will consult the British Productivity Council as to the best methods of improving relations in industry.

No. Although good relations in industry certainly have a bearing on problems of productivity the two subjects give rise to different considerations. The National Joint Advisory Council on which both sides of industry are represented is the appropriate body to consult on the former subject and I am already doing this.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) what efforts are being made to find employment for those people who have been made redundant at Thorn Electrical Industries Limited, Spennymoor;(2) how many men and women are out of work as a result of the redundancy which has occurred at Thorn Electrical Industries Limited, Spennymoor.

Out of the 84 men and 226 women who have become redundant since the new year, 19 men and 65 women were still registered as unemployed at the end of last week. Efforts are being made to find them other employment and the prospects are considered reasonably good.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed in the radio industry at the latest convenient date.

The latest available figures are those for 13th February which I gave in reply to the hon. Member's question on 6th March.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many Africans in Kenya, tribe by tribe, he estimates would qualify as electors, under the Coutts proposals as having five years' service in the armed forces of the Crown; five years' service in the police; five years' service in the tribal police; five years' service in the prison service; or seven years' continuous service with the Government, local government or the High Commission.

It is estimated that the number of Africans in the uniformed services in Kenya likely to qualify as electors under the Coutts proposals by virtue of five years' service is:

Army	82,300
Police	4,800
Prisons	1,035
Tribal Police	700

It is impossible, without considerable research, either to break down these figures on a tribal basis or to produce a worth while estimate of the number of Africans likely to be qualified to vote by having served for seven years with the Kenya Government, local government or the East Africa High Commission.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many Africans in Kenya, year by year, male and female, have completed intermediate school or a prescribed equivalent between 1945 and 1955.

The approximate number of Africans in Kenya who have completed intermediate school or a prescribed equivalent is as follows:

Year	Female	Male	Unclassified by Sex	Total
1945	61	751	277	1,089
1946	61	872	133	1,066
1947	98	1,072	179	1,349
1948	97	1,283	58	1,438
1949	129	1,191	214	1,534
1950	222	1,596	199	2,017
1951	215	1,666	140	2,021
1952	475	3,112	326	3,913
1953	555	3,988	221	4,764
1954	812	5,509	505	6,826
1955	1,188	7,328	218	8,734
TOTAL				34,751

Numbers under the heading "Unclassified by sex" represent the issue of teachers' certificates and cannot be broken down under male and female headings. The majority are, however, male.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what proposals he has now made for constitutional change in Mauritius.

In a dispatch to the Governor I have informed him of the conclusions reached by Her Majesty's Government as a result of their consideration of the matter over the past year.2. The principal changes proposed are:

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when he proposes to commence the widening of the bridge at Carfin, Lanarkshire.

The highway authority responsible for any widening scheme for this bridge is the Lanarkshire County Council. I understand it does not appear very high on their list of road improvements in the County.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (1) what representations he has received from the Convention of Royal Burghs to the effect that the erection and maintenance of all stopping place signs, queue barriers erected in connection therewith, and shelters for omnibus passengers should be made the responsibility of the omnibus operators concerned;(2) whether he will introduce legislation at an early date making the erection and maintenance of all stopping place signs, queue barriers erected in connection therewith, and shelters for omnibus passengers the responsibility of the omnibus operators concerned.

Both my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Scotland and my predecessor, received representations on these matters from the Convention of Royal Burghs but we do not agree that this responsibility should be placed upon operators.The Answer to the second Question, therefore, is No.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what progress has been made with the Lang-bank Improvement Scheme, for which authorisation was given on 31st March, 1955; and whether it is now possible to give an estimate as to when the work will be completed.

Entry is now available on all the land required and the British Transport Commission, which is acting as my agents for the construction of the bridge under the railway, will be ready to invite tenders at the end of April.Work must progress in phase with deliveries of the steel required and owing to difficulties in this connection a start is not likely for some time and completion cannot be expected before 1958.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware of the difficulties experienced by drivers of vehicles on the Langley-Datchet Road, Buckinghamshire, in crossing the Bath Road in peak hours and on Sundays owing to the constant stream of traffic along it; and what plans exist for improving the flow of traffic at this junction.

Yes. Refuges have already been provided and traffic lights will be installed during the financial year 1956–57.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what reply he has given to requests made to him as co-chairman of the Geneva Conference for a resummoning of the Conference in order to ensure the execution of the Geneva Agreements, particularly in regard to the holding of free elections throughout Viet Nam in July of this year.

My right hon. Friend has replied to the Soviet Government's proposal by suggesting that the situation in Viet Nam should be discussed by Her Majesty's Government and the Soviet Government. This discussion might conveniently take place during the visit to be paid to this country next month by members of the Soviet Government.

asked the Postmaster-General the quotas for telephone kiosks, with the allocation of quotas of expenditure, which are to be provided in rural areas in each of the counties in Wales for the 12 months beginning on 1st April, 1956.

The information is as follows:

—	Expenditure	Estimated number of kiosks
	£
Anglesey	1,000	4
Brecknock	2,420	7
Cardigan	2,160	6
Carmarthen	4,300	7
Caernarvon	1,000	4
Denbigh	1,400	7
Flint	940	5
Glamorgan	1,800	10
Merioneth	2,280	7
Montgomery	2,200	5
Pembroke	2,000	7
Radnor	2,250	6

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of apples, pears, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, peas, broad, French, or dwarf beans, carrots, and potatoes, respectively, were home-produced in 1938 and 1955; from which countries the balance was imported; and what percentage of the total was from each country.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 5th March, 1956; Vol. 549, c. 1704] supplied the following information:

asked the Secretary of State for Air why his Department is authorising for publication, with reference to the Official Secrets Acts, the manuscript of a book published under the title of "The Hidden Catch," imposed as a condition the inclusion of a statement which, to the knowledge of his Department, was untrue and constituted a libel on the person referred to in that statement.

The publisher referred the manuscript of the book to the Air Ministry. We advised that certain parts of the text contained classified information. The publisher accordingly had the book revised, eliminating passages to which there was objection on security grounds, and in the course of this revision introduced the statement to which my hon. Friend presumably refers. There was no objection to the revised text on security grounds, and it was with this aspect alone that the Air Ministry was concerned.