asked the Postmaster-General if, in view of the new methods which are being used to encourage savings and as a lead to the trustee saving banks and joint stock banks, he will now reintroduce home safes for savings.

:No, Sir, for I believe that the object of the home safe system is now better served by the National Savings stamps scheme.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in Twickenham, for instance, there is a waiting list of several months, if not years, for home safes from the trustee savings banks? Would it not be a good thing to reintroduce this eminently practical means of saving through the Post Office?

I think not, Sir. Apart from the cost, I think that, broadly speaking, the money-box has tended to yield place to the National Savings stamp.

Can the Postmaster-General explain to us so that we can understand it what is the sense, on the one hand, of trying to encourage people to save and, on the other hand, setting up an Independent Television Authority which tells us to spend?

The original Question referred to the hon. Gentleman's money box.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the representations made to him by the Edmonton Borough Council and the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, he will reconsider his decision to close the sub-post office at 88 Fore Street.

I propose to re-examine in consultation with the local authorities. the whole question of the provision of post offices in this area. I will let the hon. Member know the outcome in due course.

asked the Postmaster-General what economies he intends to introduce into the Post Office to help to meet the extra £20 million a year now needed to run this service.

As I have already informed the House, it is proposed to absorb as much as possible of the increased cost by greater efficiency and economy, and I hope to effect internal changes which will make possible some staff savings. It is too early to say what contributions the various parts of the service will make.

Is the Postmaster-General aware that it is five weeks since he made his original statement, and he certainly has not answered the Question as to what economies he intends to make? Is he aware that there will be great uncertainty in the Post Office about the whole matter, and that it is imperative that he should make up his mind as quickly as possible? May I ask if it is at all possible to make any further economy cuts in the service without affecting the benefit that the country gets from the Post Office service as a whole?

I realise the point which the hon. Gentleman makes that it is desirable to make an announcement as soon as possible, but I am in consultation with the staff associations concerned, and I think that it would be unwise to say anything until those consultations are completed.

Will the right hon. Gentleman look particularly at the use of motor transport when he is effecting this review?

I am looking in many directions for savings.

asked the Postmaster-General what reduction there has been in the number of people using the telegraph service since he made increased charges on the same; and what effect he estimates this will have on Post Office income during the present financial year, if the same rate of reduction of users continues.

Forty per cent. reduction in the number of inland telegrams. Income in the current year is estimated to be 10 per cent. higher than before the increase in charges.

What is the policy of the Government about this service? Is it Government policy to disband the telegraph service altogether? Was it the main purpose of the increased charges to persuade people not to use this service but to use the telephone instead?

The policy of the Government was to reduce the loss on the service. The hon. Gentleman may be interested to know that a survey is now being conducted, through the Social Survey organisation, to get to know more accurately the public wishes and needs in this matter.

asked the Postmaster-General under what circumstances telegrams are sent by post.

Where delivery by first post is assured, cheap-rate overnight telegrams are sent part of the way by post as a matter of course. Full-rate telegrams are only transferred to the postal service when they arrive outside the normal hours of telegraph delivery, when disposal by telephone is not possible and when no delay is likely to be involved.

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that reply. Will he, first make it known at all offices what is the latest time that telegrams can be delivered? Secondly, does he not think that the time has now come for the setting up of a working party to review the whole of the telegraph service with a view to the possibility of its curtailment now that letters can be delivered to all the leading towns in Britain in one day?

As to the first point, I think that the hours of delivery are generally known, but I will look into that matter. On the second point, the hon Gentleman will recall the Answer which I have just given to the hon. Member for Durham (Mr. Grey) about the form of investigation into the telegraph service which is now beginning.

asked the Postmaster-General what amount has been paid by the Independent Television Authority to the General Post Office for transmissions of television programmes since its inception.

Twenty-one thousand and eighty pounds.

Can the right hon. Gentleman now assure the House that the I.T.A. is paying precisely the same rates as the B.B.C. in view of the somewhat ugly rumours that are prevalent?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Postmaster-General when the new Crown Post Office in Brixton will be opened.

About March, 1957, on present plans.

Could not this date have been brought forward? Why was there this long delay between the signing of the lease and the starting of the work? Many months have elapsed between the two.

I wrote to the hon. and gallant Gentleman in December last and gave him this date. There has been no change in the situation. If he wishes to explore the details, I shall be happy to discuss them with him.

asked the Postmaster-General why it is not possible to install a telephone for Mr. M. Stuart, Manor Farm Cottage, Bilbrooke, Codsall, Staffordshire, before May, 1959.

Because of an insufficiency of cable and exchange equipment.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there was a connection already in the house? Are we to take three years as being the normal waiting period for that area?

In the case that the hon. Gentleman has in mind it is cable capacity that is missing. The only possible hope of meeting the request of the individual subscriber is if someone in the area will agree to share. We are looking for such a person—so far without success.

asked the Postmaster-General what consultations he had with the Seisdon Rural District Council concerning its building programme before planning his programme for the area covered by the Codsall Telephone Exchange.

Both the Seisdon Rural District Council and the Wolverhampton Corporation were consulted in 1954 about building development in this area, and our plans take account of the information they gave us.

Has the Postmaster-General seen a statement in the Press by the housing director of the Seisdon Council that no consultation has taken place, and is this lack of planning the responsibility of the local authority or of his Department?

I have not seen the statement in question. If the hon. Gentleman will send it to me, I will study it.

asked the Postmaste-General what profit was made in 1954–55 on the telephone trunk network.

About £14½million on trunk calls.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman think that the night telephone service is bearing an unfair share of the burden of the increased revenue which his Department is seeking, in view of the tremendous profit that it has made from the trunk network?

As I told the hon. Gentleman last week, it is not easy to disentangle the accounts of this part of the telephone service, but if it bears its full share of overhead charges and wages it has been running at a loss of rather more than £2 million.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will take steps to expedite the provision of a new permanent telephone exchange for the Brierley Hill, Staffordshire, area in order to lessen the two and a half years wait indicated in his letter to the Brierley Hill Urban District Council, especially having regard to his inability to bridge the gap by providing a mobile exchange.

A start has been made on the building for the new exchange, but I cannot promise that it can be completed and the equipment installed in less than two and a half years. As the hon. Member knows, new cables also are required in the area before the majority of the waiting applicants can be served and, in view of other pressing demands on our resources, it will be from two to three years before these can be laid.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman on this Question what I asked him in relation to my previous Question? Is three years the normal waiting period in my constituency for people who want a telephone, and is he aware that Brierley Hill is an expanding industrial area and the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Trade are very concerned about the inadequacy of the telephone facilities?

When it happens, as it does in some areas, that what is needed is a new telephone exchange and an extensive laying of new cables—a really formidable task—then it is of the order of two-and a-half to three years before the position can be properly met.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what measures are being taken to reduce the noise made by jet aircraft; and what steps are being taken by way of the stationing of such aircraft away from the vicinity of built-up areas or otherwise to protect members of the public from the inconvenience and annoyance of such noise, especially at night.

Much research into the problem of jet engine noise is being carried out under the auspices of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Supply.

Is my hon. Friend aware that much alarm and annoyance is caused to residents close to air stations, sited near built-up areas, and will he take measures to see that as little annoyance as possible is caused, particularly by station heat-ups?

If my hon. Friend will give me details of what he has in mind at the station concerned, I shall be very glad to look into them.

What is the normal minimum height at which aeroplanes of this type are expected to fly in the ordinary course of events? Is it some 2,000 feet, as it used to be, and, if it is, surely now that jet engines make so much more noise the height should be raised?

The question' has to do with airfields close to built-up areas. When landing on an airfield, an aeroplane has to go from whatever height it has been down to zero feet.

asked the Secretary of State for Air when he will make a statement on the York aircraft which crashed in Malta last February, killing 44 members of the Royal Air Force.

It will not be possible to make a statement until the report of the public inquiry is available.

What have the Government been doing about this? It is many months since this accident. Have the Government any influence whatsoever over the Maltese Government? Why has there been this delay? Has there not been yet another fatal York accident since then? Have the Government sat back and done nothing?

I cannot accept that there has been undue delay. There is a difference between a Service court of inquiry and a civil court of inquiry. So far as the civil court is concerned, the technical investigation is done before the inquiry sits, as opposed to a Service court of inquiry, which does not wait for such an investigation. This investigation takes time, and as far as this is concerned Malta is no different from this country. Wherever a public inquiry is set up it always takes longer.

Since the investigation has taken so long, while accepting what the hon. Gentleman has said, may I ask whether he will ask the Maltese Government to speed up this inquiry?

It has already been decided that the inquiry will start o 28th May, as the hon. Gentleman was told on 2nd May.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what changes have been made recently in the responsibility, organisation, and direction of the Directorate of Air Intelligence.

None, Sir.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what he estimates will be the cost of training a pilot up to the time he joins a V-bomber operational squadron.

About £55,000.

In view of the enormous cost, cannot the Under-Secretary tell us what review the Secretary of State has made since the Air Estimates debate of the ratio of pilots to aircraft, because is it not a fact that there is a grave danger that we are producing far too many pilots at a very great cost?

That is very carefully watched, but the reason for the increase in the last two years—the hon. Gentleman asks specifically about V-bomber pilots—is, of course, that they not only go through their initial training but then have further training with a Canberra operational conversion unit, and after two or three years' service with a Canberra squadron go on to the V-bomber operational conversion unit, which increases the cost very considerably.

That emphasises my point that there should be a greater reassessment of the number of pilots who are required for this aircraft.

That is being very carefully looked into.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when it is proposed to commence work on the by-pass relieving the crowded condition of Eton High Street.

I have received no application from the responsible highway authorities for a grant towards the cost of such a scheme; but in any case it would be costly and I can see no prospect of including it in the earlier years of the road programme.

I am very appreciative of what the Ministry has done about crossings and lighting in that street, but is it not the case that the Ministry promised that as soon as the Eton and Windsor Councils and the Buckinghamshire and Berkshire Councils came to an agreement, it would give early attention to the construction of this relief road?

I think that one of the difficulties is that the agreement is yet by no means firm. I believe that the line is not clearly established and is not yet agreed with my own Department.

Will the right hon. Gentleman look into this matter again, because I think he will find that there is now absolute agreement between all the authorities concerned?

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the present position with regard to the Ross Spur motor road and the Hereford inner relief road together with a new bridge over the Wye.

The present position with regard to the Ross Spur is that the agent authorities are preparing the necessary contract details and we have given instructions for the process of acquiring land to start. In the case of the Hereford inner relief road and the new bridge over the River Wye, the Hereford City Council, which is the agent authority, is preparing the details required before my right hon. Friend can publish a draft Order under Section 1 (2) of the Trunk Roads Act establishing the line of this new trunk road.

Can my hon. Friend say whether the claims for compensation on behalf of those who may be adversely affected by the route selected have yet been sent in and adjudicated upon?

I am not sure. The necessary details which are required in connection with alterations to public highways are nearly complete, and the requisite Orders under Section 3 will be published within the next few months.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware of the increasing traffic problem presented by the use of Rochester Way by newsprint lorries; and what progress is being made with the plans for an alternative route to relieve this pressure.

I am aware that Rochester Way carries heavy commercial traffic of all kinds, including newsprint lorries, and we hope eventually to provide a second carriageway there. There should then be no need for an alternative route.

Is the Joint Parliamentary Secretary aware that all these paper mills are served by an excellent rail system, and that if more newsprint went by rail it would considerably help the traffic flow and also contribute to safety on the roads? Will he look into that?

I always welcome the transfer of bulky traffic of that kind from the roads to the railways.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will consider widening A4 alongside London Airport so as to make it a six-track road to reduce congestion and increase safety.

The whole problem of the provision of adequate road approaches to London Airport and of relieving congestion on the Bath Road in the vicinity of the Airport is under urgent examination, but I have not yet decided what improvements it will be possible to carry out.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this road alongside the airport is becoming extremely crowded with buses, coaches, lorries and airport traffic, and that there are also cars wandering along with people watching the aeroplanes? As there is the grass alongside the road, would it not be better to make this a six-track road?

There are three possibilities. There is the question of a new railway into London Airport; there is the question of a mono-rail service between London and the airport; and there is the question of either improving the Bath Road or building a section of the new motor road which would link up with the Cromwell Road Extension. I am not yet in a position to decide which of those is the best, and which, therefore, should have top priority.

Would the Minister bear in mind that the local authorities in this area, despite the rejection of their proposals by the Minister previously, still feel that this road should be widened? Will he further bear in mind that it is quite useless to spend thousands of pounds to get aircraft to fly a little faster if the time is wasted on the road approaching the airport?

I absolutely agree with that statement; we must get better access to London Airport. I am not saying that we may not have to widen the Bath Road, but there may be a better alternative, and that is what I am now studying

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will construct an under-pass for north-south traffic under Hyde Park Corner so as to ease congestion of traffic leaving and entering Hyde Park.

The London County Council, as the highway improvement authority, will be responsible for carrying out any scheme which may be agreed at Hyde Park Corner. No final decision has yet been reached on the layout best suited to this site.

Would my right hon. Friend bear in mind this suggestion which I have made? Is he aware that many Continental towns now are making a practice of using these under-passes? Might it not be a very sensible thing to have one from Hyde Park down to Grosvenor Place?

I do not disagree with that, but I ought to say. in fairness, that because there has been a delay on the planning side in deciding what ought to be done here, I am spending a good deal of money elsewhere in London— at Notting Hill Gate and other places.

Is the right hon. Gentleman not aware that there exists in the archives of his Ministry a scheme for the general reorganisation of the traffic facilities at Hyde Park Corner? Is he not aware that this is one of the most disgraceful pieces of traffic muddle anywhere in London—it is utterly chaotic—and ought he not to authorise the London County Council to proceed with what is an urgently necessary traffic improvement?

I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman. with his great knowledge, is aware that the future of something called the Decimus Burton Screen—the archway giving entrance to Hyde Park itself—is by no means certain. The fact is that that scheme which rests in the pigeon holes of my Ministry is no use until we get agreement on all these problems.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when it is intended to begin the construction of the Slough and Maidenhead bypass, draft schemes of which have now been published.

I cannot say at present when constructional work will begin on these schemes.

Would the hon. Gentleman agree that, whilst the Slough safety experiment has been of very great value to the whole country, nevertheless the main lesson to be learned is that safety can only come if we have relief roads for these crowded high streets in towns?

We do attach importance to both these by-passes. Unfortunately, it is not possible, for financial reasons, to permit the beginning of both the Slough and the Maidenhead by-passes. Owing to the difficult traffic conditions in Maidenhead, we are giving precedence to the Maidenhead by-pass and, as has been publicly stated, the road programme provides for the commitment of this by-pass in the first three years of the programme

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (1) if he has yet considered letters and reports from the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South, dated 7th, 14th, and 27th April, dealing with the Trent Vale red danger area; on what date his representative saw the road; and when a reply is to be sent;

The hon. Member will now have received replies to each of his letters, giving the reasons why I cannot support the 15 m. p. h. speed limit and other proposals for the control of traffic on this trunk road. My representative inspected the road with the town clerk, the city engineer and the chief constable on 1st May, and I will consider carefully further suggestions for improving safety on this road which I expect to receive shortly.

Whilst appreciating the co-operation between the Ministry and the city council, may I ask the Minister whether he will give instructions that it shall continue until the maximum satisfaction has been derived?

I know that this is a very dangerous piece of road. I think I shall get these recommendations quickly, and I certainly shall not delay in looking at them.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the number of accidents on the main road between Hanford and the end of the red area Trent Vale, through the City of Stoke-on-Trent, for the year before it was made a red area and last year.

The main road between Rookery Lane and Flash Lane, Trent Vale was designated a "Red Area" on 1st July, 1952. In the year ended 30th June, 1952, on this stretch of road twelve accidents were reported of which five involved personal injury resulting in three deaths and three slight injuries. Last year, twenty-nine accidents were reported, of which eight involved personal injury resulting in one death and two serious and five slight injuries.

Between now and the time when the Minister's policy has been applied 100 per cent., will the Parliamentary Secretary ask his representatives in the area to see that there is the maximum co-operation between all interests, in order to minimise the dangers on this road?

We shall try to co-operate as much as possible. Unfortunately, we are of the opinion that this red area scheme ought to be brought to an end. This was the recommendation of the Stoke-on-Trent Accident Prevention Council, and it was supported by the local highways committee; but unfortunately these recommendations were not acceptable to the council. I hope that perhaps on further reflection the council may find that they are so.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what decision has been reached regarding the use of the Eton-Windsor bridge and when it is to be applied.

Notice of the Berkshire County Council's application to my right hon. Friend for confirmation of its Order restricting the use of the bridge to vehicles of not more than 12 tons in weight was advertised this month. The closing date for objections to the Order is 19th May. My right hon Friend must consider any objections received before deciding whether to confirm the Council's Order.

May I ask two questions? Was it not several months ago that the surveyors made the report that it would be dangerous to the bridge to allow the passage of lorries of great weight, and in view of the well-known character of the bridge, ought not urgent steps to be taken for its safety? Secondly, if the lorries are not to cross the bridge and have to go via Datchet and Maidenhead, is not the construction of a relief road made still more urgent?

There was some delay between the inspection of the bridge and the advertising of the Order, but the last day for the receipt of objections is not until the 19th of this month. The matter will then be dealt with by my right hon. Friend very expeditiously. I entirely agree that it is desirable to provide an alternative to this dangerous bridge.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will now make a statement with regard to flashing indicators on motor vehicles.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the reason for the delay in making an announcement with regard to the future of flashing indicators on motor vehicles.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware that under the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations, 1955, the colours are not sufficiently standardised for flashing direction indicators; and whether, in view of the ensuing confusion to road traffic, he will take steps to remedy this.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he is now able to state his policy about flashing lights on motor vehicles.

Yes, Sir. After careful consideration of the Report of the Road Research Laboratory, I have reached the conclusion that all three types of direction indicator now permitted should continue to be legal in this country both to meet the needs of different kinds of vehicles and also as an aid to the export trade.

I feel sure that this announcement will not be received with pleasure by our people generally, because of the confusion which is caused by these lights. As to the export market, would my right hon. Friend not agree that it is surprising how few of these flashing lights one sees in countries overseas?

I do not agree with my hon. Friend regarding the export trade. As I think he knows, in North America, in particular, these flashing indicators are essential, and I really cannot put upon the motor industry, with its great export task, the job of pressing two different kinds of bodies for two different kinds of markets.

Has my right hon. Friend any evidence of accidents caused by these flashing lights which do not actually switch themselves off after a short interval? It seems to me that they should be made to neutralise themselves.

That is rather a separate point, and I will certainly have a look at it. Of course, the new Regulations will only affect cars constructed after the end of 1958.

I understand from the Minister that one of the main reasons for his decision is to avoid damage to the export trade in cars; but in view of the fact that many people, including myself, think that these lights are dangerous, and that the Road Research Laboratory has been investigating the matter for about two years, will the right hon. Gentleman circulate at the same time the views of the Road Research Laboratory on the danger aspect of the flashing lights?

The right hon. Gentleman will find that the fairly full report that is being circulated does contain a summary of the findings of the Road Research Laboratory. If, when he has had time to look at the Report, he would like any further information or would like me to circulate anything further, I should only be too pleased to do so.

Has my right hon. Friend sufficiently taken into account the fact that whilst these lights are already irritating and, in the opinion of many people, dangerous they will become much more dangerous still if they are ten times more numerous?

No, they will become much less dangerous. I think all the experts are agreed at least on this, that the dangerous light is the flashing indicator when it is combined with a stop light, and perhaps with a rear light as well. I think it is the view of the experts that that is where the danger and the risk occur, and the Regulations which I propose to make will completely avoid that confusion. What one should do about cars which are already fitted is rather a different question, but the important thing at the moment is to tell the motor car industry what kind of conditions it will have to comply with in the future.

When the Minister circulates his proposals to the interested organisations, will he remember on this occasion that the trade unions whose membership includes thousands of public service vehicle drivers are also interested organisations and ensure that they are not left out of this consultation?

indicated assent.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the number of graduate scientists employed by his Department, other than on civil aviation and road construction.

No graduate scientist is employed in the scientific officer class in any part of my Ministry covered by the Question. There may well be some officers employed in the administrative, executive and technical classes who have science degrees, but I do not know how many.

Would the Minister not agree that with his very wide responsibility for every form of transport he would be helped by some form of operational research, and that for this purpose it would be of great advantage to have some scientific advice?

I will certainly look at that.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation how many accidents involving standing vehicles without lights have been reported in the Metropolitan police area since the introduction of the Road Vehicles Lighting (Standing Vehicles) (Exemption) (London) Regulations, on 21st September, 1955 and whether he will make a statement on the working of these Regulations.

Between 22nd September, 1955, and 31st March, 1956, in the Metropolitan Police area there were 133 personal injury accidents involving unlighted standing vehicles of classes within the scope of the Regulations. In addition, 22 such accidents were reported in which vehicles of other classes were involved, making a total of 155. Figures are not available in respect of accidents in which damage was caused only to property. During the same period in the same area the total number of casualties during the hours of darkness was 11,754 arising from approximately 9,500 accidents.

While welcoming that reply and the small number of accidents which have taken place, and while appreciating that these Regulations have brought car parking at night into some form of order, may I ask the Minister if he does not consider that the distance of 25 yards from a street lamp within which cars are permitted to park without lights is too great for safety, particularly in roads where the street lighting is very poor?

That is an important point and the Road Safety Committee of my Ministry is looking into it. These Regulations have really not been working quite long enough for us to form a definite view about it, but, if the view is taken that the present distance is dangerous, there is no reason why it should not be altered.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware that the risk of accidents would be greatly reduced if motorists would switch on sidelights, when driving, and cyclists would switch on their lights, well before lighting-up time, and if motorists would make greater use of dipped headlights when driving in all but the most brightly-lit streets; and if he will recommend them to take such action by means of the Highway Code or such other methods as are available to his Department.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware of the uncertainty and difference of opinion among motorists as to whether it is better to switch headlights on or off in areas of moderate visibility; and if he will have statistics and some guidance published to indicate which of these practices tends more towards lessening the rate of accidents.

Under certain conditions it is certainly safer for motorists and cyclists to switch on their lights before the law requires this to be done. Local toad safety committees have this point in mind and in their propaganda urge drivers and riders to light up early where necessary.

"After dark, do not rely on side lights: in built-up areas unless the street lighting is good "

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in Germany, for example, people are not allowed to use parking lights for driving, and have to switch on the headlights after dark?

Would the Minister bear in mind that this problem of headlights is one of the greatest dangers, and that certain standardisation of practice—or, better still, of headlight types— would be a very great contribution to road safety?

I certainly agree about headlight types. That, of course, is something which has been shown up very much at the Hendon Vehicle Testing Station. Whether the practice should or should not be to use headlights is a very difficult problem, but I think that more people should use them on minor or unlighted roads.

Regardless of lighting-up time, would the Minister not agree that it would be a good thing if there were a standard practice when, so to speak, dipping lights, that the order should be to dip the offside headlight to the left and put the nearside headlight out, leaving the sidelights on? What people usually do is to put out the offside headlight and blind one with the nearside headlight.

I agree; but the right hon. Gentleman knows also that most modern cars are fitted with double-dipping headlights, so that it is rather difficult to arrange.

Would it not be better if lighting-up time during the summer months were advanced to half an hour after sunset instead of being an hour, as it is at the moment?

I am looking into that matter now.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if, in view of the danger to other motorists caused by the width of lorries, especially when driving at night, he will introduce regulations to enforce the practice, which has proved successful in the United States of America, whereby all large vehicles are compelled, at night, to carry amber lights at the extremities, both in the front and rear, and also at the height of the vehicle, so as to indicate its overall dimensions to other motorists on the roads.

Lorries, like most other vehicles, must carry two white front lights not more than twelve inches from the outer edges of the vehicle, and two red reflectors not more than sixteen inches from the outer edges, and from 1st October next two red rear lights not more than thirty inches from the outer edges.

Would my right hon. Friend bear in mind that, although these lorries are invariably extremely well driven, they do at night constitute one of the real hazards of driving for other motorists? Would he continue to watch the possible need for some still further indication of their width and overall dimensions?

I certainly will, but I hope two red rear lights will be a contribution.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will have discussions with the British Transport Commission with a view to giving similar increases to the pensions of ex-wages grade employees, as have been given to railway super annuitants.

No, Sir. The scheme of pension supplements recently introduced by the British Transport Commission applies only to pensioners who are not entitled to National Insurance pensions or similar benefits. All or almost all of the pensioned wages grades receive National Insurance benefits in addition to their pensions from the Commission, and for this reason will not qualify for supplements under the scheme.

Does the Minister not appreciate that, while no one would cavil at an increase for super annuitants in times of stress and rising prices, this kind of thing perpetuates an old-school-tie attitude between former salaried grades, who are super annuitants, and ex-wages grades, who get a maximum of only about 7s.? This ill-feeling between wage and salary grades on the railways which is being perpetuated is likely to retard recruitment.

That is not quite the case. If the hon. Member will look into the matter carefully, he will see that the astonishing position was occurring in which ex-salaried grades were worse off because of the improvement in the National Insurance pension compared with the very small pension which they originally received. This is a matter of elementary justice for the people concerned.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation for the latest convenient twelve-month period, the percentage of applicants for driving tests who satisfied examiners at their first test, and the percentage of applicants who failed on two or more occasions.

We do not keep comprehensive records showing the number of driving test candidates who pass at the first or second attempt, or subsequently. A sample check taken in 1954, however, indicated that 55 per cent. of candidates passed at their first attempt.

Is the Minister satisfied that standards of inspection between different inspectors and different areas are as uniform as they could be? To remove misapprehension, will he make the fact more widely known that more than one person out of every two passes the test at the first attempt?

It is obviously impossible to be absolutely certain that the standards of a very large number of examiners are entirely the same. We have, however, an arrangement by which the work of the different examiners is supervised, and we hope in that way to ensure that there is a fairly uniform standard all over the country. As to the fact that more than half the candidates pass at the first attempt, I hope that the Question that the hon. Member has put to me will have the effect of giving publicity to it.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation which local authorities in the metropolitan area he is consulting about the proposed 40 mile-an-hour speed limit.

I have written to the sixty-one local authorities in which are situated the lengths of the road which the Committee recommended should be considered for a 40 miles per hour speed limit. I am also proposing to draw the attention of the other local authorities in the London traffic area to the Report.

Would the right hon. Gentleman give an undertaking that if any of the local authorities concerned strongly object to an increase to a 40 miles an hour speed limit he will abandon this crackpot idea?

To begin with, it is not a crackpot idea. It will result in raising many speed limits from 30 to 40 miles an hour, which will be of great advantage to motorists. As always in the London traffic area, these things will be carried out only after careful consideration and with the co-operation of the local authorities.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when the Annual Report and Accounts of the British Transport Commission for 1955 will be available to hon. Members.

About the end of June.

Not until next month? Does not the Minister see that this delay inconveniences hon. Members? Why is it that the British Transport Commission takes so much longer than the other public corporations to bring out its Annual Report? Does he not realise that, in view of his intervention in the affairs of the Commission, it is more than ever important that Parliament should be fully informed in detail?

The answer to the hon. Gentleman is that the Commission got out its Report rather earlier than usual and that the printing strike delayed its printing.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will now state the action he proposes to take to encourage staggering the time of arriving and leaving work in London in order to relieve congestion at peak hours.

Soon after my reply to the hon. Member on 7th March I discussed this question, as forecast in that reply, with Mr. Fitzgerald, the Chairman of the London Transport Users' Consultative Committee and of the sub-committee which has been concerned with staggering. Some useful suggestions arising out of that discussion, for which I am largely indebted to Mr. Fitzgerald, have since, been receiving careful consideration in detail, and I hope to make an announcement as soon as this consideration has been completed.

While thanking the Minister for that reply, may I ask whether he expects that action will be taken soon, as the matter has been under consideration a very long time and should be acted upon as speedily as possible?

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this matter, because it is a most important problem for the London travelling public, and I hope before long that we shall have some new suggestions to bring forward.