asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were given emergency accommodation, other than for arrested persons, in police stations in the Metropolitan Police area during 1955; and the instructions issued in respect of this need, particularly arising from evictions.

Fifty-seven persons, other than persons under arrest, were accommodated overnight in police stations in the Metropolitan Police district during 1955. Metropolitan Police General Orders make it clear that the care of the homeless is primarily a matter for the local authorities, and it is only in very exceptional cases that police accommodation is made available for this purpose on humanitarian grounds.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has in respect of the number of delinquents in remand homes or approved schools or whose cases are pending consideration by justices who had previously been in the care of institutions, were boarded-out or who had been living in homes known by probation officers to be undesirable.

I regret that the information requested is not available.

asked the Minister of Education the net gain in each of the years 1950 to 1955 in the recruitment of teachers in England and Wales.

The net increase in the number of teachers in maintained primary and secondary schools (other than special schools) was, during the calendar year:

asked the Minister of Education the number of children who passed from primary to secondary schools in each of the years 1950 to 1955 inclusive; and his estimates of the number of children who will pass from primary to secondary schools in each of the years 1956 to 1960 inclusive.

Following is the Answer:

asked the Minister of Education what steps he has taken to increase the numbers of grammar and high school places so as to ensure that there is no reduction in the ratio of such places to total secondary places during the years when an increasing number of children will be passing into secondary schools.

I have asked authorities to see that grammar and secondary technical school places should in general be available for from 15 per cent. to 25 per cent. of a secondary school age group. Approved building programmes therefore include a large number of such places.

asked the Minister of Education what advice he has given to the local education authorities for those areas in which the National Association of Schoolmasters has instructed its members not to collect school dinner money.

The following letter was sent to each of the local education authorities concerned on 24th March.24

asked the Minister of Education whether he has considered the statement of the objections of parents of children at Burrage Road School, S.E.18, to the closing of the school as a primary school; and whether he will receive a deputation.

The local education authority has submitted to my right hon. Friend proposals to close the existing junior and infant school and to establish in part of the premises a school for infants only. Public notice will be given forthwith and objections may be made within a period of two months.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why his Department is offering 329 tons of calcined carbonate of potash to the public as surplus stock when much of it was only taken into stock between March and July 1955; and for what purpose it was purchased.

This material is being offered for sale in accordance with the policy, announced in the Defence White Paper, of running down to some extent the strategic holdings of industrial raw materials. As carbonate of potash will not keep indefinitely, the strategic stock has to be turned over. Thus the material now offered for sale was bought in the normal course of turnover operations in 1954 and 1955 to replace material sold to avoid deterioration. It it not the practice to reveal the purpose for which strategic stocks were acquired.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will invite a delegation of experts from the Soviet Treasury to visit this country for consultation and discussion on economic and financial matters of common concern.

No. I do not think that this would be the best way to deal with these matters.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to make a statement concerning the popular version of the White Paper, "The Economic Implications of Full Employment".

The demand for this booklet has been particularly good, and as a result Her Majesty's Stationery Office has arranged for 470,000 copies to be printed so far. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking those in industry who responded to my appeal and have ordered copies, and also the newspapers and broadcasting organisations for their support in presenting to the nation the facts of our economic situation.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has concluded his consultations with interested bodies upon the Mid-Wales Investigation Report; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is now able to announce his decisions arising from the Mid-Wales Investigation Report; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will, in consultation with the Secretary of State for the Home Department, issue a White Paper on the decisions of Her Majesty's Government arising from the Mid-Wales Investigation Report, Command Paper No. 9631.

We have this week received the comments of the Council for Wales and Monmouthshire on the Report, and we shall now consider the Report in the light of the views expressed by all interested bodies.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware that stocks of potatoes are allowed by the importers and merchants to accumulate at the Bristol City docks, whilst there is a shortage in the city; and what action he proposes to take to control this position.

My right hon. Friend has made careful inquiries into this matter and is satisfied that stocks of imported potatoes at Bristol docks are being cleared normally. My information is that the potato supply position in the City of Bristol is the same as in other urban centres: there are at present sufficient potatoes to meet demand, and he sees no reason to take any action in the matter.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will now give further information about his decision on the recommendations of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Slaughterhouses.

My right hon. Friend has nothing at present to add to the reply he gave on 12th April to my hon. Friend the Member for Norfolk, Central (Sir F. Medlicott) and to the hon. Member for Erith and Crayford (Mr. Dodds).

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to what extent agricultural production costs, excluding labour, have increased during the past eight years; and whether he will make an investigation into the profits made by industries which supply agriculture.

The estimated cost increases per unit over the last eight years include: feeding stuffs 123 per cent; fuel and oil 62 per cent; transport 58 per cent.; machinery repairs 56 per cent.; fertilisers (excluding subsidy) 42 per cent.; and seed 18 per cent. The big increase in feeding stuffs prices reflects among other things the elimination of substantial subsidies.As to the second part of the Question, the Monopolies Commission is there to make such investigations in its field as seem to my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade to be justified and the hon. Member will be aware that the fertiliser industry is to be examined by the Commission. My right hon. Friend does not consider that any useful purpose would be served by setting up an additional investigation.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware that 32,000 farm workers left the industry last year; that the terms of the Agricultural Price Review have resulted in a lack of confidence amongst farmers; and if he will, therefore, now make an announcement regarding a long-term plan for agriculture.

My right hon. Friend is aware that the number of farm workers has fallen. Last December there were about 23,000 fewer regulars in England and Wales than a year earlier, and on the day of the return—owing to seasonal factors—there were also over 9,000 fewer casuals at work. In spite of this the estimated net output in 1955–56 has recovered to the level of 1953–54, which does not indicate lack of confidence. The Government's objectives in agricultural policy and the methods by which they should be achieved have been clearly stated in the White Paper on the Annual Review and Determination of Guarantees, 1956, and in previous White Papers following Annual Reviews.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many fat cattle passed through Norwich Market in the first three months of 1956; the numbers for the same months in 1955; and the average price per live hundredweight for the first three months of 1956 and 1955, respectively.

2,291 fat cattle were certified under the Fatstock Guarantee Scheme at Norwich auction sales during January-March, 1956, compared with 3,761 in January-March, 1955. The average prices per live cwt. of these sales were 128s. 3d. and 161s. 4d. respectively.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, in drawing up the detailed arrangements for Government contributions towards the cost of inspecting meat at slaughterhouses, he will satisfy himself that, in each case, there is adequate veterinary supervision of such meat inspection on the lines recently recommended by a departmental committee.

The arrangements will certainly have regard to the adequacy of meat inspection by local authorities seeking a Government contribution; but my right hon. Friend has no power to insist on supervision by veterinary officers.

asked the Minister of Labour the estimated shortage of labour reported to him on the south-west region of British Railways; the cause of it; and what steps are being taken to provide the necessary labour to bring it up to its normal complement.

On 4th April there were over a thousand vacancies for railway employment outstanding in the South Western Region of my Ministry. The shortage of labour in this region is considerable. My local officers are giving British Railways every possible help towards meeting their labour requirements, and British Railways have themselves last month launched a nation-wide publicity campaign to recruit staff.

asked the Minister of Labour the numbers, for each week since 8th March, of men employed in iron foundries in the Falkirk-Bonnybridge area who have been working short time.

The approximate number of men affected by short-time working are:

asked the Minister of Labour the number of applications for registration as conscientious objectors heard by tribunals from 1950 to 1955 and the results of the applications.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the approximate total number of parking meters it is proposed shall be installed in London thoroughfares; and the approximate cost of providing these and also their supervision.

No estimate of this kind is possible in advance of the survey at present being carried out of streets in the central London area. In any event the initiative rests in the first place with the local authorities.

asked the Attorney-General if he is aware that people who have lived for half a century in houses built by their parents are being ejected by ground landlords at the termination of the leases or charged an excessive rent in order to continue the tenancy; and if he will introduce legislation to protect these people.

No. Occupying tenants of residential property held on

The following are the figures:ground leases at low rents are already protected by the provisions of Part I of the Landlord and Tenant Act, 1954. The tenant cannot be ejected when the lease expires except on one of the grounds specified in the Act, and the rent and other terms on which he is able to remain in occupation are, in default of agreement with the landlord, determined by the county court.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many African members there are on the Maize Control Board, the Cotton Marketing Board and the Tobacco Board, respectively, in Northern Rhodesia.

, pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 8th March, 1956; Vol. 549, c. 227] supplied the following information:

There is no Cotton Board in Northern Rhodesia, and the Tobacco Board is now the responsibility of the Federal Government.

The Maize Control Board consists, as prescribed by law, of a chairman and up to five other persons appointed by the Governor; no African has been appointed but the interests of the African producers are looked after by the Director of Agriculture who is chairman.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if the schemes for re-establishing Kikuyu from the Kikuyu land unit on the Rift Valley farms in Kenya allow the worker to refuse to work for a particular employer; and what notice to stop such employment is required.

Kikuyu permitted to return to farms in the Rift Valley are allocated to responsible employers selected by a committee representative of Government Departments (including the Labour Department) and the farming community. They may, if dissatisfied apply to the labour officer to be sent to another employer. They are employed on the usual monthly contract, which is terminable by either party at the end of any month, without notice.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware that between 40 and 60 elephants are being killed each month by poachers in the Tsavo National Park of Kenya; and whether he will take immediate measures to increase the number of rangers in the park and increase the limit of the statutory sentences which can be imposed upon those caught in this traffic.

My right hon. Friend is aware of the damage done by poachers in Tsavo National Park. The Governor of Kenya is considering what steps could be taken to strengthen the Game Department. In addition, a committee has been set up to consider the formulation of a long-term game preservation policy, the staffing of the Game Department and the need to strengthen the Game Laws.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether tenders have now been received for the new berth at Berbera Harbour; whether these have been accepted; when work will begin; and the estimated cost of the project.

Tenders have not yet been invited, but drafts have been prepared and will be sent to the Somaliland Government for their approval this week. It is hoped that work will begin in about four months' time if weather conditions are suitable. £205,000 has been earmarked for the development of the port from colonial development and welfare funds; this should cover a jetty and, if tenders are sufficiently low, a slipway and a wider jetty head.

asked the Minister of Health the medical authorities, outside his Department, whom he consulted before launching the scheme for the vaccination of small children against poliomyelitis.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Erith and Crayford (Mr. Dodds) on 27th February.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of graduate scientists and engineers employed in the Post Office.

The numbers are 73 and 375 respectively. In addition 741 engineers and scientists are either corporate or graduate members of recognised professional institutions.