asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give details of the representations which he has received recently from Mr. Cyril Lord and others interested in the depression in the Lancashire cotton industry; and whether he will make a statement.

I do not think that the House would wish me to take up its time by giving details of documents which, as I understand, every Member has received. I would, however, point out to the House that imports of Japanese cloth are strictly limited by quota and that almost all of this Japanese cloth must be re-exported after processing.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what export licence applications have recently been received in respect of Land Rovers for export to China; what is the number of vehicles involved; and whether the licences are to be granted.

I would not consider it fair to the traders concerned to publish information of this kind in relation to particular cases.

asked the President of the Board of Trade on what grounds it was recently decided to increase the price of scrap iron and steel.

The controlled price of pig iron was increased by 32s. 6d. per ton in December, 1955, and 15s. per ton in May, 1956. The recent increase in the price of scrap iron and steel preserves the price relationship between these two raw materials.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the Government's decision, announced in the Defence White Paper, to run down the strategic holdings of industrial raw materials will apply to natural rubber.

I do not intend to reduce the stockpile of natural rubber at this time.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will publish in HANSARD a table showing the number of declared bankrupts for 1955.

2,163.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the increase in total wages compared with total salaries in percentage since 1938 compared with 1955.

Between 1938 and 1954 total wages increased by 221 per cent. and total salaries by 240 per cent., as stated in "National Income and Expenditure, 1955". Figures for 1955 are not yet available, but the increase in total wages and salaries between 1954 and 1955 was 8½ per cent. Exact figures of the numbers of wage earners and salary earners, respectively, are not available, but there is reason to think that the number of salary earners has increased since 1938 significantly more than the number of wage earners. No account of taxation is taken in these figures.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury when the honourable Member for Burnley may expect an answer to the letter sent on 23rd April concerning the payment of post-war credits to Mrs. Brierley; and why payment is being delayed.

The credit was paid on 1st June and a reply has now been sent to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if, in his review of the Rent Acts he will take into account the evidence of hardship caused to families who are not protected by the present Rent Acts when the tenant of a rented house dies and the landlord claims possession of the house for the purposes of selling the house with vacant possession; and if he will make a statement.

No aspect or effect of the Rent Acts is excluded from my review.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will give the number of private houses or sites for private houses sold by new town development corporations, specifying the number for each new town.

The following is the reply:

New Town	Houses Sold	Housing Sites Sold
Aycliffe	1	8
Basildon	—	2
Bracknell	11	12
Corby	13	2
Crawley	18	98 acres for 1,156 houses
Cwmbran	12	43
Harlow	4	I acres for 98 houses
Hatfield	38	28
Hemel Hempstead	5	14
Peterlee	—	—
Stevenage	—	6
Welwyn Garden City	126	163
The above figures cover the period from the setting-up of each development corporation until 31st December, 1955, the latest date for which information is available.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he is aware that the shortage of rentable housing accommodation is increasingly preventing changes of occupation; and what action he proposes to take to deal with this matter.

The best method of dealing with this problem is to maintain a high rate of house building. On this our record is well known.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what methods are being used to reduce the pollution of the River Tame, and also of the River Trent at Burton-upon-Trent.

The pollution of the River Tame can be reduced only by extending and improving the existing sewerage and sewage disposal works in the densely populated industrial area through which the river runs. Certain large schemes for this purpose are now in progress and others are planned: I am sending particulars of these to my hon. Friend. The steps taken to reduce pollution in the Tame will also improve the River Trent at Burton-upon-Trent.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a statement showing those administrative counties and county boroughs which it is expected will receive Exchequer equalisation grants in respect of the current financial year, and the amount of such grants expressed in terms of rate poundage which it is at present estimated they will receive with a comparison in each case in terms of poundage of the amount received last year.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the Answer I gave today to my hon. Friend the Member for Walton (Mr. K. Thompson).

asked the Minister of Labour his present plans for the number and scope of Remploy factories in Scotland and for extension of the classes of persons to be eligible for employment in them.

As my right hon. Friend told the hon. Member for Lanarkshire, North (Miss Herbison) on 6th March last, he cannot in present conditions hold out hope of further factories being provided. On the second half of the Question, Remploy factories are intended to provide employment for registered disabled persons who, under Section 15 of the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act, can be described as severely disabled, and no extension of eligibility is proposed.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he can now specify the measures which Her Majesty's Government are taking to ease the process of transfer for the individual worker who may be affected by automation or by the Government's economic policy.

The Government's most important assistance to a worker who becomes redundant is to help him to find fresh employment, if possible without any intervening period of unemployment. If employers will cooperate in giving as long notice as possible and in providing facilities for their workers to register in advance the services of the Employment Exchanges can be used to the best advantage. With the current level of employment we do not in my view face any large scale geographical re-distribution of labour but there must be from time to time a considerable change of jobs and some of these changes may involve transfer to other districts.I have powers under the Employment and Training Act of 1948 to facilitate the transfer of workers to other districts and to provide training. Facilities for advance of fares are available in all parts of the country and workers transferring from areas where prospects of employment are poor are eligible for free fares and in appropriate cases for lodging allowances. A statement giving details of the facilities at present available is given below. These together with the assistance which employers themselves offer have, I believe up to now met the need. I am keeping the adequacy of all these arrangements under review.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of professional, clerical, and shop workers employed in each of the new towns, stating what proportion these categories are of the total employed population.

I regret that precise information is not available. I am, however, having the available statistics extracted and will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Labour how many persons living in the new town estates of Basildon are registered as unemployed.

Persons living in the new town estates of Basildon register, when unemployed, at Pitsea Employment Exchange. At 14th May, 1956, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 157 persons registered as unemployed at Pitsea, of whom about 40 lived in Basildon.

asked the Minister of Labour how many of the men and women registered at the Hayes Employment Exchange have been without work for more than 14 days; how many for 30 days; and how many for a longer period.

The following table gives the full analysis that is available for 14th May, 1956:

NUMBERS OF PERSONS REGISTERED AS WHOLLY UNEMPLOYED AT THE HAYES EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT OFFICE AT 14TH MAY, 1956.
Duration of Unemployment	Males	Females	Total
2 weeks or less	33	16	49
Over 2 weeks and up to 8 weeks	19	8	27
Over 8 weeks	17	5	22
Total	69	29	98
In addition, 36 men were registered as temporarily stopped at 14th May.

asked the Minister of Labour the numbers of categories of pottery workers who are subject under his regulations to periodic medical examinations.

The Pottery (Health and Welfare) Special Regulations, 1950, require the monthly examination of all workers in the following processes:

(i) The making or mixing of frits or glazes containing lead or of colours.

(ii) The preparation or weighing out of flow material.

(iii) Colour blowing, or the wiping off of colour after that process.

(iv) Ground laying or colour dusting, or the wiping off of colour after either of those processes.

(v) Colour grinding.

(vi) Lithographic transfer making.

(vii) Any other process in which any material, other than glaze, which contains more than five per cent. of its dry weight of soluble lead compound is used or handled in a dry state or in the form of spray or in suspension in liquid other than oil or similar medium.

Exact figures of workers in these processes are not available, 13,683 such workers (8,026 men and 5,657 women), were examined in 1955. Young persons under 18 are prohibited by the Regulations from being employed in the processes named.

asked the Minister of Labour, in view of the difficulties for small firms in providing all-round training for trade or professional apprentices, what encouragement he is giving to group apprenticeship schemes.

I welcome the introduction of properly organised group apprenticeship schemes, and the services of my Department are available to firms who wish to have advice in their preparation. The whole question of the adequacy of apprenticeship arrangements in industry is at present under review by a sub-committee of the National Joint Advisory Council under my chairmanship.

asked the Minister of Labour what proportion of farmworkers becoming liable for National Service are currently granted deferment; and what consequent administrative economies in his Department has been effected.

The best estimate I can give of the number of agricultural workers becoming liable for National Service each year is 18,000. In 1955 9,348 first applications for deferment were granted for varying periods during the year. In addition about 1,100 were rejected on medical grounds. As my hon. Friend is aware, the scope of eligibility for deferment was extended towards the end of 1955, but I cannot yet say what effect this will have on the figures in a full year. I am considering what economies can be effected in administration, but the extension of the deferment field has not lessened the work.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the present position in relation to call-up for National Service of the employees of agricultural contractors engaged in food production.

Such men, if born before 1st January, 1933, may have their call-up suspended on the same basis as agricultural workers generally. The position of employees of agricultural contractors born after that date has been under review since the extension of the scope of agricultural deferment in October last, and after consultation with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, I have now decided to bring them into line with other agricultural workers.

asked the Minister of Labour the extra amount per annum paid to employees whose wages and emoluments are raised automatically with the increase in the index figure of the cost of living for years 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, and to date.

The estimated weekly amount of increase, under automatic sliding scales based on the Index of Retail Prices, in rates of wages of manual workers at the end of each of the years mentioned, compared with the wage rate at the end of the previous year was

	£
1952	649,000
1953	466,200
1954	291,100
1955	300,100

and was £265,700 at the end of the period January to April, 1956.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland which local authorities in Scotland have made anti-litter byelaws; and what was the total number of convictions for litter offences in Scotland in each of the last three years.

I am sending my hon. Friend a list of the 10 counties, five special districts and 18 burghs in which such byelaws are in force. In addition many local authorities have included anti-litter provisions in byelaws for particular places, such as public parks. Statistics of convictions for litter offences are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what specialised units for the treatment of mental patients have been established within the various regional hospital boards in Scotland apart from the South Eastern Regional Hospital Board.

As these matters are rather detailed I am sending a letter to the hon. Member with the particulars for which he asks and an explanation of the position.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the estimated acreage of bracken-infested, derelict woodland for which his Department thinks the best use is forestry; and how many private owners are involved.

The total area of felled and derelict woodlands in Scotland is estimated to be 340,000 acres, covering some 3,000 estates. Unenclosed scrub, mainly used for grazing, is omitted from this figure. It is not possible to say how much of this area is bracken-infested: but save in exceptional circumstances all felled and derelict woodlands, whether bracken-infested or not, are suitable for forestry and the Government are anxious that as much as possible should be re-planted.

asked the Minister of Works if he will make more of the grounds of Osborne House available to the general public.

The Osborne Estate Acts lay down that the grounds of Osborne House shall be used for the benefit of Officers of the Crown. The present arrangements, which give the public access to the Royal Apartments and Swiss Cottage, seem to be a reasonable compromise between the interests of the public and those of the patients.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will take steps to correct the anomaly in pay between women cleaners and cooks which arises from the fact that cleaners are classified as industrial and cooks as domestic.

Normally cooks receive about 10s. a week more than cleaners. I understand, however, that my hon. Friend has in mind a particular case. I am looking into this and will write to him when I have completed my inquiries.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will introduce legislation to ensure that, wherever practicable, operators of omnibus services are compelled to display time-tables at their omnibus stops.

No. This is a matter better left to the discretion of operators.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, in view of the official announcement on 9th March, 1955, that some £12½ million was likely to be spent on road improvement schemes on trunk and classified roads in the financial year ended March, 1955, and that only £6,992,000 is reported as having been so spent in the Road Fund Report for 1954–55, how the difference is accounted for.

The figures quoted are not comparable. The figure of £12½ million given in reply to a Question on 9th March, 1955, was an estimate of the expenditure to be incurred during 1954–55 on improvements where work was expected to start during that year. It covered, in addition to major improvements and new construction, the anticipated expenditure on minor improvements which in the Report (following the subheads in the Estimates) are included under the heading of maintenance and minor improvement. The figure of £6,992,000 which my hon. Friend has derived from the Report excludes expenditure on minor improvements but, on the other hand, it includes expenditure incurred during 1954–55 on major improvements and new construction started before as well as in that year.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will give an assurance that the East Retford by-pass scheme will be completed in respect of both carriageways by the end of the current financial year.

It is expected that both carriageways on the West Drayton Diversion, which forms the first part of the East Retford by-pass scheme, will be open to traffic by the end of the current financial year.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will give details of the proposals for one-way working at Oxford Circus.

Several variants are under consideration and the authorities concerned have not yet reached a definite conclusion. I shall also wish to consult the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee before I come to a final decision.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, confining the answer to cases where one of the ships involved was 5,000 tons gross or over, how many accidents in fog have taken place in the last two years in the English Channel and North Sea; how this figure compares with that for the two years immediately preceding the war; in how many of these accidents one of the ships involved carried radar; in how many cases excessive speed was suspected; how many British ships were involved; and how many masters' certificates were dealt with.

For the two years ended 31st May, 1956, 16 such collisions were reported, in which 19 British ships were involved. In 11 of the 16 radar was carried in one ship or both ships. Excessive speed may have been a factor in two cases. No master's certificate was dealt with. These figures do not include collisions in which only foreign ships were involved. I regret that comparable figures are not available for the years before the war.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will consider the setting up of joint operations rooms from which the movements of civil and military aircraft in or near civil airline corridors can be plotted and controlled.

Aircraft on airways are already plotted and controlled under joint civil and military control arrangements. Service officers work together with their civil counterparts in the three joint Air Traffic Control centres. The large number of flights in the vicinity of, but not actually on, airways naturally cannot be kept under such close control, but, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Air announced on 14th May, the problem of reducing the chances of accidents near airways is at present being reviewed.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he will introduce legislation to nationalise all oil companies registered in the United Kingdom.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to bring about an early meeting of the Coordinating Committee of the Paris Consultative Group.

Since the Coordinating Committee is in continuous session no special action by Her Majesty's Government is called for.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the amount of levies charged by the Potato Marketing Board to potato growers on the 1955 crop.

The Potato Marketing Board, by prescription made under the Potato Marketing Scheme, required for the 1955 crop a contribution of £1 an acre from registered producers.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what percentage of nursing orderlies in the medical branch of the Royal Air Force is formed by airwomen of the Women's Royal Air Force.

About 8 per cent.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies which Governments will be responsible for the cost of the new welfare arrangements to handle the immigrants from the Caribbean to Britain; and what proportion of the total cost will be paid by the British taxpayer.

The cost of the new British Caribbean Welfare Service for migrants to the United Kingdom will be met from funds contributed by the Governments of the British Caribbean territories concerned, i.e. Antigua, Barbados, British Guiana. British Honduras, Dominica, Grenada. Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Trinidad.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what visits were made by his inspectors to the premises of the Rainbow Firework Company Limited, Finchampstead, Berkshire, during 1954 and 1955; what recommendations were made; and what steps were taken to ensure that these recommendations and safety regulations under the Explosives Act, 1875, were complied with.

This factory was inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectors of Explosives once in 1954 and twice in 1955. On each occasion, a number of recommendations were made on points of detail relating to safety precautions, and the premises were specially inspected to ascertain whether the recommendations made on the previous visit were being complied with.