asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the respective quantities of household coal and industrial coal in the hands of distributors on 10th March; and the quantities in stock at pits and in transit on the same date.

Total distributed stocks amounted to 13·8 million tons of which 673,000 tons were merchants' stocks of house coal. Undistributed stocks at pits and opencast sites amounted to 2 million tons and there were 2 to 4 million tons in transit.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what organised suggestion scheme is in operation in his Department; how many suggestions are received from employees through that organisation annually; how many are adopted; what awards are made for such suggestions; and what he estimates to be the savings made by the adoption of employees' suggestions.

asked the Minister of Supply what organised suggestion scheme is in operation in his Department; how many suggestions are received from employees through that organisation annually; how many are adopted; what awards are made for such suggestions; and what he estimates to be the savings

Staff suggestions in my right hon. Friend's Department are considered by a Standing Committee of the Departmental Whitley Council; in recent years there have been about eight suggestions a year and awards varying from 10s. to £2 have been made in the cases adopted. A contribution has undoubtedly been made towards greater efficiency, but it is not possible to estimate the savings that have resulted.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he is now able to make a statement about the salaries of Her Majesty's Mines Inspectorate.

Yes. I am glad to be able to announce substantial increases in the salaries of the general class of the Inspectorate. The salary scale of the basic grade of Inspector of Mines will be £1,800–£2,000 in place of £1,245–£1,445 Increases for the higher grades will include one from £2,750 to £3,750 for the Chief Inspector.A further competition to fill existing vacancies will be announced shortly. The new salary scales, which will take effect from 1st April, 1956, are as follows:made by the adoption of employees' suggestions.

Schemes for encouraging suggestions from employees have been operating in my Department for many years. The number of suggestions received and the number of awards made average about 2,000 and 1,000 a year respectively. Awards may take the form of cash payments or of commendation and notation in the officer's record of service.

asked the Minister of Supply if he will make a statement regarding the number of 30-h.p. lorries, the running mileages of which are under 1,000, and which are only three months old, which are being disposed of at £60 per vehicle, and details of which have been sent to him.

I assume that the newspaper advertisement which the hon. Member sent me refers to Army Fordson trucks recently sold by auction. These have also been the subject of Press reports, but in both cases the statements made do not accord with the facts.Three hundred and forty-two of these vehicles, which were no longer needed by the Services, were sold. They were at least ten years old and were a specialised type, of war-time manufacture, with a 6-ft. square open body. They weigh 3½ tons, the petrol consumption is about ten miles to the gallon, and the tax would be £35 a year. Certain spare parts also are difficult to obtain.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now announce his decision about the recommendations of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Slaughterhouses.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Norfolk, Central (Sir F. Medlicott) and to the hon. Member for Erith and Crayford (Mr. Dodds) on 12th April.

asked the Minister of Health what number of workers have resigned from the National Blood Transfusion Service in South Wales since 1st January, 1956; and whether he will make a statement.

Twenty-three.The necessary removal of the Blood Transfusion Unit to Rhydlafar has involved the staff in additional travelling time and expenses, but no difficulty in filling vacancies has been met to date; my right hon. Friend is continuing to watch the position.

asked the Minister of Health what foreign countries have now made reciprocal agreements with this country under which British nationals may obtain hospital or medical treatment when overseas.

The details are as follows:1.

asked the Minister of Health, as representing the Lord President of the Council, if he will make a statement on the advances of science to date towards assessing the danger to people in Britain and elsewhere caused by the testing of megaton weapons.

I would ask the hon. and learned Member to await the White Paper which is being prepared by a committee of the Medical Research Council on the medical aspects of nuclear radiation.

asked the Attorney General whether he will consult the Home Secretary for the purposes of prosecuting those bookmakers who are continuously breaking the law in carrying on cash and postal betting by means of newspaper advertisements, details of which are in the hands of the Home Secretary.

I am aware of the facts which were brought to the notice of my right hon. and gallant Friend. I do not propose to take any action in the matter.

asked the hon. Member for Woolwich, West, as Chairman of the Kitchen Committee, what price was paid for the pork pies sold at 9d. each in the Members' Tea Room; the reason for increasing these to 1s. each; and why these are now discontinued from sale in the Members' Tea Room.

It is not the practice of the Kitchen Committee to disclose prices paid for commodities. According to information given to me, pork pies have never been sold at a shilling each. The reason they have been discontinued is, that when on sale, the demand in all departments did not reach two dozen per week.

asked the hon. Member for Woolwich, West, as Chairman of the Kitchen Committee, the reasons for increasing the price of a cup of tea in the Members' and public tea rooms by 33⅓ per cent., and the price of a cup of coffee by 20 per cent., at a time when the retail prices of these commodities have been falling.

A revision of the prices of cups of tea and coffee has been made to help to meet the increase in wages for the current year, which will amount to over £4,000.

asked the hon. Member for Woolwich, West, as Chairman of the Kitchen Committee, the percentage increase in the cost of meals in the Members' Dining Room, Tea Room, and Cafeteria since October, 1951.

As the hon. Member was informed in reply to his Question on 30th November, 1953, no figures of prices charged are available for 1951.Some comparisons can be made between 1952 or 1953 and 1956 which are as follows:

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the total numbers of persons receiving National Assistance immediately before 23rd January, 1956; and what the numbers are at present.

On 20th December, 1955, the latest date before 23rd January, 1956, for which the information is available, and on 27th March, 1956, the numbers of regular weekly National Assistance allowances were respectively 1,612,000 and 1,642,000.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance why he is employing a consultant physician to inquire into the case of Mr. John George Brotchie, Seaforth Highlanders, whose continuous ill-health and ultimate death have already been certified by an eminent surgeon, who had himself treated the patient, to be due to the sufferings which this man endured in German mines while a wounded prisoner of war.

Because of the conflict of medical opinion as to the part played by Mr. Brotchie's service in the 1914 war in causing his death, I felt that the fairest way of resolving the matter was to obtain the opinion of an independent medical expert nominated by the President of the Royal College of Surgeons.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many claims for sickness benefit were rejected in the last complete year on the ground that good cause had not been shown for delay in making the claim.

The annual figure asked for is not available, but it has been estimated on a sample basis that the proportion of new spells of incapacity, for any part of which sickness benefit was disallowed on the ground that good cause had not been shown for delay in making the claim, was 0·9 per cent.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether his attention has been drawn to the cases of S. A. Tonks and Wilfred Took, in which claims for sickness benefit have been rejected on a ruling as to the establishment of good cause for a delayed claim; and whether he will ask the National Insurance Advisory Committee to report on the possibility of giving greater discretion to local insurance officers and tribunals on this point, in view of the rigidity of the case law which has now been built up.

Yes. I am aware of the hon. Member's correspondence regarding these two cases, and of the decisions given on them by the independent statutory authorities. In reply to the second part of the Question, I do not think that a further reference to the Advisory Committee on this subject would be justified in present circumstances.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will appoint a committee to consider how far the present Industrial Injuries Act fully guards the workman against industrial injuries, and to consider and report upon the administrative machinery employed by him when deciding to appeal against a decision.

While I am always ready to consider any aspect of the working of the Industrial Injuries Scheme which the hon. Member may feel requires it, I do not think that there is any case at present for a general inquiry.So far as the adjudicating machinery in respect of industrial injuries is concerned, that is within the terms of reference of the Committee on Administrative Tribunals and Inquiries at present sitting under the chairmanship of Sir Oliver Franks.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what steps he has taken to ensure that all doctors in coal mining areas receive copies of his Department's publication, entitled "Pneumoconiosis: Procedure for Claiming Benefit", and are conversant with its contents.

My regional offices with the help of the local county and county borough executive councils try to ensure that copies of this booklet are sent to all doctors in coal mining areas, but any doctor can obtain a copy by writing to my Department.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance to what extent doctors who serve on pneumoconiosis medical boards are also serving on medical appeal tribunals.

None of the doctors who serve on pneumoconiosis medical boards is a member of a medical appeal tribunal under the Industrial injuries Act.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the number of cases examined by the Silicosis Board at the clinic, 63, Bridge Street, Manchester, since 10th March, 1952; the number of claims allowed and the number disallowed; and the number found to be totally incapacitated and the number partially incapacitated.

This information is not immediately available but I will send it to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the number of cases examined by the Manchester Pneumoconiosis Medical Panel, which were found to be suffering from emphysema.

In 1954, which is the latest date for which I have figures, there were forty-eight cases in which the Manchester Pneumoconiosis Medical Panel did not diagnose pneumoconiosis but noted that the claimant was suffering from emphysema.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he has completed his inquiries into the insurance position of research students; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. I have been fully into this question, and I have come to the conclusion that research students holding post-graduate awards made for training in research methods or for studying under supervision for such higher degrees as Ph.D. should normally be treated as in full-time education, and excepted, if they so wish, from the payment of contributions. I have made formal decisions under the Act in one or two cases, which will be published and will constitute precedents for future guidance.It will of course be appreciated that a student who so elects deprives himself of advantages under the National Insurance scheme.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will amend Section 8 of the War Pensions (Administrative Provisions) Act, 1919, in order to allow widows of soldiers disabled in the 1914 war the same right of appeal as the widows of men disabled in the 1939–45 war.

I am afraid that it would not be practicable, at this very late stage, to extend the categories of 1914–18 war widows in whose cases there is a right of appeal to the tribunal. For these reasons I feel bound to follow the view adopted by my predecessor in 1947 when the new system was introduced for 1939–45 war cases.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the number of widows of Regular officers of Her Majesty's Armed Forces, below and over the age of forty years, respectively, who are in receipt of attributable pensions from his Department.

I am afraid that my records do not enable me to give separate figures in respect of Regular officers but the figures for widows of all officers are 2,305 under age 40 and 12,179 over age 40.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what number

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the total shipments made during the period 1st January to 31st March, 1956, from Cardiff and Barry docks to other United Kingdom ports and the comparable figures for 1955 and 1954, respectively.

The numbers of vessels which left Cardiff and Barry carrying coal during the period 21st March to 7th April, 1956, inclusive, were as follows:

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the total shipments made during the period 1st January to 31st March, 1956, from the Tyne, Humber, Wear and Mersey ports, respectively, to other United Kingdom ports and the comparable figures for each of the years 1954 and 1955.

The following table, compiled from figures supplied by the port authorities concerned, shows the total tonnage of cargo shipped from Tyne, Humber, Wear and Mersey ports to other United Kingdom ports during the period 1st January to 31st March in each of the years 1954–1956:

The following table, compiled from figures supplied by the British Transport Commission, shows the total tonnage of cargo shipped from Cardiff and Barry to other United Kingdom ports during the period 1st January to 31st March in each of the years 1954–1956:

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation why the traffic lights at the Lambeth end of Lambeth Bridge, S.E.1, are to be replaced by a roundabout, in view of the congestion which occurs in peak hours at the roundabout at the Westminster end of the bridge.

These traffic lights are being replaced by a roundabout in order to ease traffic flow and reduce congestion. Although the roundabout at the Westminster end of the bridge does run to capacity at peak periods, I do not think that there is serious congestion of traffic there.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what progress has been made with the scheme for a passenger service to the London Airport by railway from London.

The British Transport Commission has appointed a firm of consulting engineers to carry out a survey.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he is aware that employees of the British Overseas Airways Corporation who are called up for fourteen days' National Service training each year are not paid their wages; and if he will give a general direction to the Corporation to do so.

I am aware that British Overseas Airways Corporation does not supplement the Service pay of employees attending annual training camps as part of their National Service obligations; but I regard this as a matter for settlement through the established machinery of the industry.

asked the Minister of Labour the nature of the dispute reported to him at the Everwear Candlewick Factory, Brynmawr; how many employees are on strike; and whether he will make a statement on the progress his officers are making with both sides to the dispute.

This dispute first arose in connection with the operation of a bonus scheme and now involves the question of trade union recognition. The number of employees on strike at the company's Brynmawr factory is approximately 270, and in addition 123 employees at the Blaenavon factory have taken sympathetic strike action. So far no mutually acceptable basis for a settlement of the dispute has been found, but my conciliation officer in Wales is keeping in close touch with both parties.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what action he proposes to take to ensure improved supplies of steel to British shipyards.

As I indicated in answer to Questions by the hon. Members for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, East (Mr. Blenkinsop) and Sunderland, North (Mr. Willey) on 15th February, exports of steel plate have been curtailed in the interest of users of plate. I am glad to say there is likely to be some increase in home production during the year and the Iron and Steel Board is also now reviewing with steel makers the provision of further capacity for plate production. Discussions between my noble Friend and my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade are continuing.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty how many orders for new ships have been placed with British yards in the first quarter of 1956; and of what tonnage.

Orders for sixty-four merchant ships of about 325,000 gross tons were licensed for construction in United Kingdom shipyards in the first quarter of 1956.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty how many orders for new ships have been placed with yards in the North-East in the first quarter of 1956; and of what tonnage.

Orders for twenty merchant ships of about 146,000 gross tons were licensed for construction in shipyards on the North-East Coast in the first quarter of 1956.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what reply has been given to the request of the Tanganyika African National Union that the Legislative Council should be dissolved and an election held on the ground that the principle of the Constitution which provided for independent representation of the different communities through nominated members has been destroyed by the formation of a political party among these members.

In reply to the Union the Tanganyika Government have pointed out that political developments of this nature cannot by themselves justify departures from the path of orderly constitutional advance.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to make a statement of the various international disputes outstanding between Great Britain and foreign nations relating to the fishing industry, indicating what steps are now being taken to resolve them.

The only outstanding fisheries dispute with a foreign State is that with Iceland. As the hon. and learned Member knows, an attempt is being made to settle this dispute under the auspices of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will take action to mitigate the hardships caused by the new valuation of properties; and if he will make a statement indicating what steps he proposes to take to redeem the pledge given to the House on 6th December, 1954.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Crosby (Mr. Page) on 15th March and to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Hove (Mr. Marlowe) and the hon. Member for Willesden, West (Mr. Viant) on 10th April, of which I am sending him copies.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement about the present position of the talks between the British, United States and Soviet Governments on the possible regulation, limitation, and banning of nuclear weapon tests.

There are no talks on this question taking place at the moment between the British, United States and Soviet Governments. There are, however, discussions going on between representatives of these three Governments and of the French and Canadian Governments in the United Nations Disarmament Sub-Committee. The present position in these discussions is that three sets of proposals have been tabled. The first was the Anglo-French plan: this provides for limitation and eventual prohibition, under control, of tests of all nuclear weapons, as part of a comprehensive disarmament plan. The second was the Soviet plan, which makes no proposals for nuclear disarmament but suggests that it might be desirable to prohibit tests of thermo-nuclear weapons in advance of a general agreement. The Soviet paper contains no suggestion for the control of such a prohibition. The third is a United States working paper which provides for limitation of nuclear weapon tests, under control, as part of an agreement for partial disarmament.These sets of proposals remain under consideration in the Disarmament Sub-Committee, and no agreement has so far been reached on any aspect of the disarmament problem.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the statement made by a member of a board of management at a recent Scottish conference to the effect that patients in certain hospitals had their rations reduced because of financial limitations, was made with his authority; and if he will make a statement.

I have ascertained that the speaker did not intend to convey that reductions had actually taken place for this reason and I am assured that in the hospitals to which he referred there have in fact been no such reductions. As was made clear by an officer of my Department attending the conference, I could not endorse any decision by a hospital authority to effect such reductions on this account, and I am confident that the financial arrangements of the hospital service do not oblige any authority to act in this way.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the estimated cost to the revenue of occupational pension schemes in each financial year since the war.

As I informed the right hon. Member on 29th March, Statistics of occupational pension schemes are incomplete and I regret, therefore, I cannot provide yearly estimates of their cost for the period in question.