asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he is aware that estimates for the widening of the Binham-Cockthorpe road, bridging of the ford at Binham, and construction of a cycle track-cum-footpath along the fringe of Langham Airfield, Norfolk, as an alternative for the closed Langham-Cockthorpe road, were sent to him by the Norfolk County Council on 17th February, 1955, with a request for authorisation of the work; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. But the provision of an alternative road could only be settled under an Order providing for the permanent closing of the Langham-Cockthorpe road made under Section 15 of the Requisitioned Land and War Works Act, 1945. My right hon. Friend cannot make such an Order at present as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Air is not yet able to state his final requirements.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when he anticipates it will be possible to commence work on the replacement of the Angel Road bridge on the North Circular Road, A406, Edmonton and what estimate he has made as to how long the work will take to carry out.

Preparatory work is in hand on this scheme, but I cannot say at present when the constructional work, which will take some two and a half years to complete, can be started.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he is aware of the bottleneck on the only road between England and South Wales at Usk Bridge, Newport that there was a queue of cars for about three miles on one road during the Easter weekend; that there is a queue of about a mile almost every day at peak periods on all main roads; and what action he is taking to provide an alternative route and relieve this congestion.

I am well aware of the traffic conditions in Newport and am considering, in conjunction with the county borough council, the best means of improving them.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will give an indication of the progress being made on the Stratford Road, Shirley, scheme, and when the work is likely to be finished.

A contract for the scheme has been let. Work is now beginning on the site and is expected to take about eighteen months to complete.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what has been the result of the tests made by his Department of those types of sports cars fitted with inadequate silencers or without silencers; if he is now satisfied that the Regulations are being complied with; and if he will make a statement.

Tests of two types of sports cars carried out by this Department show that if these cars are fitted with competition silencers intended for that purpose only or with silencers modified by the owners they could emit excessive noise unless driven with care. A great responsibility must therefore rest on the car owner. No cars without silencers are produced in this country.Enforcement of the existing Regulations prohibiting the emission of excessive noise by motor vehicles on a road is a matter for the police.I am glad to acknowledge the full co-operation which this Ministry has received from the two manufacturers concerned in the carrying out of these tests.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what landing, handling, and parking charges were paid during a recent visit by a Soviet jet aircraft to London Airport; what additional guards were provided; at what cost; and to whom.

The aircraft concerned paid two visits to London Airport, the first from 22nd to 27th March, and the second from 5th to 7th April. On each occasion the Soviet jet aircraft was treated as a diplomatic aircraft and under the Regulations was therefore exempt from landing and parking charges. Handling was limited to provision of steps for which no charge was made.The only special guard provided (apart from those employed by the Soviet authorities themselves) consisted of a member of the Ministry Constabulary who, as on previous occasions when visiting aircraft have seemed likely to attract special interest, was detailed to patrol in the vicinity of the aircraft throughout its stay. No additional cost was incurred by this arrangement.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will now announce the date, and the details, when motor vehicles will be allowed to park on certain roads without lights outside the London area.

I expect to make these Regulations within the next month. They have been delayed because of difficulties arising from the need to prescribe signs to indicate roads where vehicles may park unlit. The arrangements will be similar to those now in force in the London area except that parking of vehicles without lights will be permitted only on roads in respect of which the chief officer of police concerned has given his consent.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will issue a statement showing the total number of accidents and deaths to pedestrians according to the classes of vehicles involved, in comparison with the total number of these classes of vehicles on the road; and if he will issue separate tables showing these accidents and deaths classified according to the ages of the pedestrians involved.

I am afraid that separate tables of pedestrian casualties classified according to ages and showing the types of vehicle involved are not available, but the Road Research Laboratory have agreed to compile them from the accident reports. I will write to the hon. Member when I receive the tables.The Answer to the first part of the Question is as follows:

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation to what extent, under his regulations, persons are allowed to pass their driving tests on clutchless cars; and whether, in view of the fact that a person passing a test on a clutchless car is not necessarily qualified to drive a normal car, and that there are only a limited number of clutchless cars available in this country, he will, in the interests of road safety, revise the conditions applying to these driving tests.

Persons who wish to obtain a Group A driving licence are permitted to take the driving test on a clutchless car. I do not at present contemplate any change in these arrangements, but I am keeping the matter under review.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to the broadcast in Swahili on 15th March by the Kenya Government's Department of Information attacking the leaders of the Kenya Federation of Labour; and whether, in view of the fact that the future of the Federation is now sub judice, he will take steps to stop such attacks through official agencies.

This unfortunate broadcast unhappily escaped the responsible scrutiny usually given to scripts of a controversial or political nature. The Kenya Government do not endorse the views expressed in the broadcast and have apologised to the Kenya Federation of Labour.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if a decision has yet been reached regarding the conditions under which Africans will be enfranchised in Kenya.

A Bill implementing the Kenya Government's policy in regard to African elections as set out in Sessional Paper No. 39 of 1955–56 was debated in the Legislative Council on 24th February and was passed without amendment. The necessary administrative arrangements for holding African elections before March, 1957, are now being made.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the United Tanganyika Party has yet been registered under the Societies Ordinance of the territory.

Yes, on 27th March.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why Africans in Northern Rhodesia, with the assistance of the Agricultural Department, are not growing the more valuable flue-cured tobacco as opposed to Burley tobacco.

I have nothing to add to the reply given to the hon. Member for Rugby (Mr. J. Johnson) on 30th March, 1955.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how much money has been paid into the Northern Rhodesia Farming Improvement Fund in the last three years; how much has been spent in each year on improvements for African farming; and why such a large balance as £278,837 has not been spent in view of the urgent need for increased production.

The amounts paid in during the last three financial years have been £24,462, £122,430 and £168,365.The expenditure in those years was £107,875, £118,741 and £86,571. The sum of £278,837, which represents the accumulated funds at 31st May, 1955, includes the value of farm buildings, equipment and stocks held by the fund, and an uncommitted balance of £148,553. It is necessary to hold in reserve a sum roughly equal to the estimated expenditure for the following year because the revenue of the Fund fluctuates considerably from year to year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will now make a statement regarding the date on which the declaration will be made recognising the independence of the Gold Coast.

I have nothing to add to my reply on the 29th February to the hon. and learned Member for Aberdeen, North (Mr. Hector Hughes).

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what assistance has been given in the provision of wireless sets to populations in the Colonial Territories; and if such assistance can be extended in view of the difficulties which the electronic industry is experiencing in this country.

The Colonial Office maintains close contact with British manufacturers, individually and collectively, and in particular has frequently drawn attention to the need for cheap battery-operated sets designed for hard use in tropical conditions. Many colonial Governments encourage the import of such sets by remission of duty. In certain instances there are preferential rates. In addition some 5,000 community receivers have been purchased for use in the Colonial Territories, though in general listening to individual sets is preferred. There is now a growing demand for more expensive sets. I feel sure that with intensified efforts British manufacturers will find good opportunities in this expanding market, in which they are already well represented.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty if he is aware that the Aberdeen-built research ship "Sir William Hardy" is the first British trawler to be electrically propelled; and what steps are being taken to apply this technique to other fishing trawlers.

Yes. Although the use of this method of propulsion is a matter for the trawler owners themselves, the technical assistance of the Admiralty is always available to the shipbuilding and marine engineering industry, should they require it. There are other orders in hand in British yards for diesel-electric trawlers.

asked the Postmaster-General what has been the amount expended in the County of Norfolk for the provision of telephone kiosks in rural areas in each of the last ten years.

This information is not available, but for the last two financial years the figures are £3,162 and £3,435. The estimated figure for the present financial year is £3,505.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what kinds of silencers are fitted to Royal Air Force aeroplanes which fly over towns and cities in Britain.

I cannot add to the reply I gave the hon. and learned Member on 14th March.

asked the Secretary of State for Air why he has invited quotations for trooping movements from a foreign airline company and not from the British Overseas Airways Corporation.

I know of no such invitation.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what provision is made to enable wives of Service men to ventilate grievances and make suggestions at an effective level concerning living accommodation as these aspects of Service life are generally of greater concern to the women than to their husbands.

We are trying the experiment of appointing officers as "families agents" at a number of stations. Their duties include consideration of suggestions and complaints of this kind, whether by airmen or their wives. If the experiment is a success, we shall consider extending it.

asked the Secretary of State for Air the latest estimated strength of the Soviet air force in bombers and fighter aircraft.

The number of first line aircraft of all types in the Soviet air forces is estimated to be about 20,000. It would not be in the public interest to give the estimated numbers by types.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what Colonies have no double taxation agreement with the United Kingdom.

Of the Colonial Territories which have a system of direct taxation, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Malta, St. Helena and Tonga have no double taxation agreements with the United Kingdom.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware of the excessive hours of work employed in the construction of the atomic energy plant at Dounreay; and if his medical advisers are satisfied that men on this heavy construction work can go on indefinitely working 68 hours per week without injury to health.

My advisers have no evidence that the hours worked at this site are harmful to health.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Report as to Proceedings of the Scottish Land Court for the year ended 31st December, 1954, was not published until 27th March, 1956; and the reason for this delay.

I am informed that the completion of the Report of the Scottish Land Court for 1954 was delayed by other urgent work.

asked the Secretary of State for War what control he exercises over amenities, service and prices in the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes' stores, and over the distribution of profits made by that organisation

The control exercised by the Service Ministers has not changed recently, and for details I would refer the hon. Member to a reply given by my predecessor the right hon. Member for Easington (Mr. Shinwell) on 17th November. 1949. Briefly, no direct Ministerial control is exercised over the day to day business of N.A.A.F.I., but any proposal substantially affecting the well-being of Service men is discussed with the Service Departments. Where N.A.A.F.I. receive free goods or services from Service votes the scale of such contributions is controlled by the Department concerned. As to profits, the rates of rebates and discounts are fixed with the agreement of the Service Ministers, as are the amounts to be distributed annually from any surplus.

asked the Secretary of State for War if, in view of the fact that the body of Police-Sergeant Gerald Rooney, who was killed by terrorists in Cyprus on 21st March, was flown to Belfast at the expense of Her Majesty's Government in Great Britain, he will consider applying the same concession to the body of any Service man killed in that area.

I am advised by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies that this was at the expense of the Cyprus Government and not Her Majesty's Government.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what estimates have been made of the overall capital cost per megawatt installed of work and plant for the generation of electricity by underground gasification of coal, and of the cost per unit so generated.

The only cost estimates that can be made at this stage are based on small-scale experimental systems of which the largest produced gas sufficient to generate 300 KW continuously for some months, and while these estimates encourage the hope that underground gasification could be exploited economically, they are based on a number of assumptions the validity of which it has not yet been possible to test.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the wheat deficiency payment for the period from 1st December, 1955, to 29th February, 1956, amounted to; and whether it has yet been paid.

The ascertained average price for about 12·6 million cwt. of mill-able wheat dispatched on delivery during the third accounting period (1st December, 1955, to 29th February, 1956) of the 1955–56 cereal year is 23s. 7·1d. per cwt. The standard price for the period is 30s. 11d. per cwt. and the deficiency payment will, therefore, be 7s. 3·9d. per cwt. (£7 6s. 6d. per ton). In addition, approximately 50,00 cwt. of wheat brought up to millable standard after sale will be included in the payment.Except for a few certificates which are under query the total payment of £4·6 million to about 36,000 growers will be completed by the end of April.

asked the Minister of Health how many doctors and dentists at present engaged in the National Health Service will be eligible for pensions on retirement in 1958, on the tenth anniversary of the scheme.

This information is being collated in respect of general medical and dental practitioners and part-time specialists for the current valuation of the National Health Service Superannuation Scheme, and I will let the hon. Member have it as soon as it is complete. I regret that similar information for doctors and dentists employed full-time in hospitals is not readily available as their superannuation records are not kept separate from those of other full-time hospital staff.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the number of doctors registered as in receipt of unemployment benefit as at the end of each quarter year during 1953 and 1954.

I am informed by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service that this information is not available.