asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many women only pay the industrial injuries contribution.

About 2,200,000.

asked the Minister of of Supply what steps are being taken to protect property and rural amenities in the area of the proposed test range for rockets at Spadeadam Waste.

There will be very little risk to the few buildings in the vicinity of the range, and that of minor damage only in the worst case. The only effect on amenities will be from the noise of the tests which will not, however, last for more than a comparatively few minutes a day. It will be necessary to divert any public footpaths which cross the range.

asked the Minister of Health (1) what further advice has now been given to him by the Central Health Services Council on the desirability of an official educational campaign on the dangers of lung cancer from heavy smoking;(2) what further advice he has now received from his advisory committees about the desirability of an official publicity campaign on the dangers of lung cancer from excessive smoking.

My Standing Medical Advisory Committee and the Central Health Services Council have again considered this. I am advised that appropriate action should be taken to inform the public about what is known of the connection between smoking and cancer of the lung and of the risks involved in heavy smoking. I shall now consider what action would be appropriate.

asked the Minister of Health what action he proposes to take on the recommendation in paragraph 639 of the Report of the Guillebaud Committee that the organisation of the maternity services under the National Health Service should be reviewed.

I am proposing to set up a Committee with the following terms of reference:

"To review the present organisation of the maternity services in England and Wales, to consider what should be their content and to make recommendations."

asked the Minister of Health if he will arrange for a first-aid chart, suitable for agriculture, to be provided, free of charge, to farmers under the National Health Service.

No. I do not consider this an appropriate function of the National Health Service.

asked the minister of Health the number of school children who have been inoculated with polio vaccine up to the nearest available date.

None: vaccination will not start until May.

asked the Minister of Health, as representing the Lord President of the Council, the present rate of annual expenditure on research by the Government into the causes and treatment of pneumoconiosis; what staff is employed on this work; and in what parts of the country it is being carried out.

Current annual expenditure by the Medical Research Council on pneumoconiosis research is about £77,000. The Council's Pneumoconiosis Research Unit, employing sixty-eight staff, is situated at Llandough Hospital, near Cardiff, South Wales, and the Council also supports research, involving six staff, at establishments in Cardiff and London. The Ministry of Fuel and Power's Safety in Mines Research Establishment spends about £75,000 a year on pneumoconiosis research, involving forty-eight staff working in Sheffield.

asked the Minister of Labour to give an index of average earnings of adult male persons employed in industry in each year from 1948 to 1955, taking 1948 as 100 in each case.

The information available relates to manual workers only. The following is the reply:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to give an index of output per head for adult male persons employed in industry in each year from 1948 to 1955, taking 1948 as 100 in each case.

No separate estimate can be made of the output of adult male persons. The index of industrial production, divided by an index of the total number of persons employed in the industries concerned, gives the following index of output per person employed:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how far, in view of the cuts imposed on other public capital expenditure, the development of Gatwick Airport is being postponed.

I have nothing to add to the Answer which my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Dorking (Sir G. Touche) on 14th March.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the National Institute of Agricultural Botany is among the research institutes to which the provisions of the Agricultural Research Bill will apply.

No. The main purpose of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany, to the value of whose work I am glad to pay tribute, is to test new varieties of crops and seeds and not to conduct research. Responsibility for making grants to the Institute will therefore remain with my Department and will not be transferred to the Agricultural Research Council on 1st April next.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what local authorities, in each of the last five convenient years, submitted improvement proposals under Section 15 of the Housing Act, 1949; in respect of how many dwellings the proposals were approved; and what was the Exchequer contribution made.

The information asked for is not readily available for separate years: but since the passing of the 1949 Act, 235 authorities in England and Wales have submitted improvement proposals which have been accepted for grant. The number of dwellings involved is 4,397, and the annual Exchequer liability at present amounts to £79,023.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is satisfied that the plumbing in Airey prefabricated concrete houses, which are recommended by his Department to local authorities, conform in all respects with the provisions of model water bye-laws and the housing manuals and their technical appendices; whether he is aware of their vulnerability to frost damage; and whether he he will make a statement.

The drawings, specifications and bills of quantities for the Airey house provide for precautions against frost; but whether these are fully adequate is one of the matters I am investigating.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the effect of the changing interest rate, applicable to loans from the Public Works Loan Fund. on the cost of housing for the cities with a population of approximately 270,000. and the effect on rents and owner-occupiers' weekly costs for 1950, 1954, and the latest date: and what was the effect of the new valuation for the same cities.

I have been asked to reply. I am afraid that statistics in the form requested are not readily available. But for each £100 of capital cost of a house the increase in the rate of interest in the period mentioned from 3 per cent. to 5¼ per cent. has increased the annual expense in loan charges from £3 12s. 1d. to £5 9s. 11d. These costs are not related to the assessments for rating.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what greater powers of autonomy have been granted to the Welsh Office in Cardiff recently; and what services are now responsible direct to his Department in London.

The information is contained in Circular No. 75/55 which was issued to all Welsh local authorities on 29th December. I am sending the hon Member a copy.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he has yet received the proposals of the Gas Council upon the position of pensioners in the gas industry.

The Gas Council has submitted to me its outline proposals for supplementing certain pensions. I have indicated my agreement in principle and expect to receive the formal schemes for my detailed approval shortly.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power to give an estimate, based on table 19 of his Department's Statistical Digest, of the amount of coal lost as a result of stoppages for each of the years 1947 to 1955, inclusive.

The information for 1947 to 1954 is given in the Digest. That for 1955 is as follows: