asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what contribution is being made from the funds of the Colonial Development Corporation to the cost of the Kariba Hydro-Electric Scheme.

The Colonial Development Corporation has been authorised to lend £15 million towards the cost of the first stage of the project.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware of the disquiet of the Tanganyika and Kenya wild life societies at the proposals made in the Tanganyika Government's White Paper on the Serengeti National Park; that this disquiet is felt also by public opinion, both inside and outside the territories, which fears that the proposals can only lead to the eventual destruction of game in that area; and whether he will arrange that further consideration be given to this matter by the Tanganyika Government before any final decision is reached.

I know that some people are unhappy about these proposals, and I am glad to inform my hon. Friend that the Government of Tanganyika have recently decided, on advice from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Tanganyika National Parks, to set up an impartial Committee to consider the representations that have been made regarding the Government White Paper on the future of the Serengeti National Park.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make available in the Vote Office copies of the pamphlet "Why we are in Cyprus", which is being distributed to British troops stationed there.

Yes. Copies are now available in the Vote Office.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it has yet been decided to appoint a full-time specialist anesthetist to the Connaught Hospital, Freetown.

A decision on this matter will be taken later this year when the Estimates of expenditure for 1957 are prepared for submission to the Legislative Council. Meanwhile, I can repeat the assurance given to my hon. Friend on 25th April that the existing arrangements for the administration of anxsthesia at the hospital are adequate.

asked the Minister of Defence if he will now publish the Regular recruiting figures for the three Services during May.

The figures are as follows. For purposes of comparison I also give the figures for May, 1955.

—			May, 1955	May, 1956
Navy	…	…	958	642
Army	…	…	2,783	3,308
R.A.F.	…	…	1,566	1,947
			5,307	5,897

asked the Minister of Education how many men and women students, respectively, were attending teachers' training colleges in England and Wales on 1st June, 1954, 1st June, 1955, and 1st June, 1956.

I have no figures for 1st June, but the following table shows the approximate numbers taking courses of initial training at training colleges in each of the last three academic years:

Academic year		Men	Women	Total
1953–4	…	5,450	18,850	24,300
1954–5	…	5,600	19,300	24,900
1955–6	…	5,750	19,850	25,600

asked the Minister of Education the average educational standards of men and women, respectively, who were accepted as students at teachers' training colleges in England and Wales during the past six months; and what variation there has been in the average standards of such men and women students, respectively, accepted during the past twelve months.

I do not know to what extent successful applicants have had qualifications above the minimum. Since there are more applicants this year than last, especially women, for about the same number of places, standards have probably risen.

asked the Minister of Education the total expenditure on education made by his Department in each of the years from 1951, taking the £1 as being worth 20s. in spending value in 1951 and making allowance for depreciation of its spending value for each of the years since that date.

Total net expenditure by the Ministry of Education to the nearest £million has been as follows:

1951–52	…	…	£197
1952–53	…	…	£214
1953–54	…	…	£227
1954–55	…	…	£249
1955–56 (provisional)	…	…	£276

There is no index suitably constructed to measure changes in the prices of the goods and services used in education; I cannot therefore adjust these figures to allow for changes in their purchasing power.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in cases where complaints against doctors in the National Health Service have been upheld, a record, in permanent form, is preserved; and how far such records are published, or otherwise available to the public.

The documents are retained in the Department's files. Reports of the National Health Service Tribunal are issued to the Press and it is open to executive councils to make public the facts of any case coming before their medical service committees, but the name of the doctor involved is given only where the Tribunal has directed removal from the medical list of executive councils.

asked the Minister of Health how many complaints against doctors in the National Health Service have been received by executive councils since 1948; how many have been found without prima facie cause of complaint; how many appeals against this decision have been lodged; and with what results.

The Answer to the first part of the Question is approximately 2,800. Separate records of cases found to disclose no prima facie grounds of complaint have not been maintained, but they form a very small part of the total.

asked the Minister of Health how many complaints against doctors in the National Health Service have been discussed by the medical service committees; and with what results.

2,508 cases involving doctors had been concluded in 7¾ years ended 31st March, 1956. Of these, in seven cases the doctor's name was removed from the medical lists of executive councils: in 355 cases sums of money were withheld from the doctor's remuneration: in 81 cases other action was taken, such as the reimbursement of expenses incurred by patients: in 301 cases the doctor's attention was drawn to a breach of his terms of service: in 1,764 cases no action was considered necessary.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what progress has been made in payment of compensation to ex-Japanese war prisoners; if he is aware that a number of ex-prisoners are still awaiting information; and if he will make a statement.

I would refer the hon. Member to the replies given to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Norwood (Sir J. Smyth) on 15th June and to the hon. Member for Ardwick (Mr. L. M. Lever) on 25th June.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has yet received the Report of the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission on the Supply of certain Industrial and Medical Gases.

Yes. I received this Report on 22nd June. It will be laid before Parliament in due course in accordance with the provisions of Section 9 of the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices (Inquiry and Control) Act, 1948.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what progress has been made in his consideration of British Overseas Airways Corporation's future aircraft requirements.

I received on 22nd June certain recommendations from the B.O.A.C. Board on this matter which I am considering. In the meantime B.O.A.C. has decided to send a technical mission to the United States. Many of B.O.A.C.'s competitors are already placing orders for large American jet aircraft and, as is only prudent, the Corporation considers that it should at this stage find out all it can about these machines.

asked the Secretary of State for War what were the circumstances in which 19 British soldiers died and 18 were badly injured in a forest fire in the Troodos range in Cyprus on Sunday, 17th June; what steps were taken to ensure that the fact that casualties had occurred was not announced without stating that the next of kin had been informed in order to allay the anxieties of all those with relatives serving in Cyprus; and whether he will make a statement.

I am not yet able to give more details about this fire than are contained in my Written Answer of 25th June to the hon and learned Member for Aberdeen, North (Mr. Hector Hughes).It is our object, whenever possible, to inform next of kin of casualties before the news of an accident appears in the Press. It is, however, frequently impracticable in a serious major incident such as the fire in Cyprus to withhold information until all the casualties have been identified and next of kin informed. In such cases it is our practice to issue a short factual statement giving the number of casualties so that the magnitude of the incident is accurately known. When the forest fire in Cyprus occurred, newspaper correspondents immediately reported it and in order to ensure accuracy the following official statement was issued on 18th June:

asked the Secretary of State for War when he expects to receive the Report of the Hull Committee.

Towards the end of the year.

asked the Secretary of State for War when he will complete his inquiries into the medical history of former Trooper P. J. Donovan.

I completed my inquiries and wrote to the hon. Member on 29th May.