asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is now in a position to make a statement about the Forth road crossing.

I regret that I am unable to add at present to the reply which I gave on 19th June to the hon. and gallant Member for Perth and East Perthshire (Sir A. Gomme-Duncan).

When does my right hon. Friend expect to have another meeting with the Forth Bridge Board, because that is the next step, is it not?

The present step, apart from the next step, is the discussions which are at present continuing with the authorities concerned.

Is the right hon. Gentleman, in the meantime, pending his final decision, taking steps to see that the necessary preliminaries are continued with the roads, etc., on the approach to the bridge?

All these matters are at present under close examination.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will issue a circular to regional hospital boards directing them to allow nurses to draw holiday pay in advance.

Hospital authorities have discretion to make reasonable advances of pay to nurses going on annual leave. I do not think it would be appropriate for me to issue a directive on a matter of this kind.

Would not my right hon. Friend agree that members of the nursing profession need and deserve holiday pay in advance probably more than the members of any other profession? If he agrees, would he then encourage hospital boards to grant holiday pay to nurses before their holidays?

Hospital authorities have discretion. They have been well aware of the position since 1951, when they were so informed.

Might it not help hospital boards to do what the hon. Gentleman is asking if the Secretary of State were to send out a circular? Teachers have their holiday pay in advance, and have had for a long time.

One must leave some discretion to the authorities. It is not that I am opposed to the hon. Lady's suggestion.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland why, in view of the magnitude of the problem, he approved slum clearance proposals by Caithness County Council for the three years to 31st December, 1958, at the lowest demolition rate and lowest new building rate of all 33 Scottish counties.

The council proposes to build 120 houses for rehousing purposes for the three years in question, representing an increase from 33 to 40 houses a year in its average rate of building since the war. The county is remote; building is normally on scattered sites; and there are demands on the local building resources for other urgent purposes. In all the circumstances, the proposals were approved as being not unreasonable.

Will my right hon. Friend take another very serious look at this matter, because his Answer just will not do? Does he realise that it means that at least half of the people who live in these dilapidated houses are never likely to get a decent home in their lifetime? Does he also realise that the Burgh of Wick and the Burgh of Thurso are subject to the same difficulties about labour but are managing to tackle the problem within two or three years, instead of the 40 or 50 years suggested by the Question?

I was dealing with Caithness County and not with the burghs, where the work is not so remote or difficult. The houses built by Caithness County compare favourably so far with the work done by other remote authorities. If it is shown that more can be undertaken, I expect the council will do so.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, as next spring's milk is now in course of preparation in the cow, he will give an assurance that there will be no reduction in the standard quantity of milk, in the next Price Review, which is to be produced in Scotland.

This is a matter which must be left to the next Annual Review, when all relevant factors can be considered.

Is my right hon. Friend not aware that there are discussions on long-term assurances now going on between the Government and the farmers' representatives? Is this one of the subjects which will be discussed? Can an announcement be made before next spring, because then it will be too late?

I am afraid it is too early at this stage to say what progress may be made with these discussions, but I will certainly bear the point in mind.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the present situation regard- ing rabbit extermination in Scotland; and what new measures he has under consideration to prevent their increasing again.

All areas of Scotland have been affected by myxomatosis. Nearly two-thirds of the total land area has been designated as rabbit clearance areas. It is too early to assess the results of the campaign so far. At the present the survivors of myxomatosis are undoubtedly multiplying rapidly in some places. I am not considering any new measures, but it is clear that an intensified application of the present measures will be needed once the crops are harvested and natural cover dies back. Meantime efforts to eliminate rabbits should not be abated.

Has my right hon. Friend heard of the suggestion made by the farmers' representatives in Scotland that a myxomatosis bank should be kept by the Government and used to re-spread the disease in order to keep rabbits down? Even if that would mean introducing legislation, will my right hon. Friend consider it?

I have indeed heard of the suggestion, but I must point out to my hon. and gallant Friend that the Advisory Committee on Myxomatosis has advised against it.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he re-tests all bulls each year for tuberculosis before they are lent to crofting townships which are 100 per cent. tubercular tested.

Yes, Sir. All such bulls are tested before being sent out.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in a 100 per cent. T.T. crofting county, when the test took place, last autumn, the only animal to go down in the test was the Government bull?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what decision he has reached as a result of his consideration of methods of implementing the recommendation of the Police Arbitration Tribunal given on 31st May, 1956, that the award of 14th December, 1955, should be retrospective to 8th September, 1955.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to similar Questions by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department on 5th July.

Has the Secretary of State no answer to give for himself on this question? Is he aware that his attitude and that of his right hon. and gallant Friend is regarded as most reprehensible throughout the whole country? Is he also aware that if there is need for legislation before the police can have justice, all of us on this side of the House would be most willing to expedite that legislation?

In this respect I am in the same position as the Home Secretary and, therefore, my Answer is the same. Consideration is being given to how we should deal with future awards. As I think hon. Members know, legislation would be necessary, and we are well advanced in the present Session.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is now in a position to make an announcement with regard to land drainage in Scotland.

Discussions with those concerned are still continuing, but I regret that I am not yet in a position to make a statement on this matter.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that it would be a good plan to get on with this matter of land drainage without delay?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will have a fresh inquiry made as to the estimated cost and best route of a road, suitable for light modern transport, linking the Linn of Dee with the Spey Valley.

An inquiry into this proposal would be a matter for the local authorities concerned and in present circumstances I do not think I would be justified in asking them to undertake it.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there is a rapidly changing climate of opinion on this question? Is he further aware that the old proposed routes which were surveyed are not now the best and cheapest, having regard to modern methods of road construction? Before my right hon. Friend finally decides against having this survey made, will he please read the fourth leader in The Times today?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, as a contribution to achieving stability in prices, he will circularise local authorities advising them to implement a rent-freeze policy for the next 12 months.

I sent local authorities a circular on 30th June containing information which I hope will help them when reviewing the rents of their houses, but it is for the local authorities themselves to decide what rents should be charged. I would not feel justified in issuing another circular on the lines suggested by the hon. Member.

Even the right hon. Gentleman would scarcely claim that his circular advocates anything like a rent freeze. Would he not agree that it is not more economically unsound to freeze rents than to freeze the price of goods obtained through the nationalised industries? How can the Government expect wage restraint simply by freezing those prices whilst at the same time the right hon. Gentleman is doing all he can to put up rents?

We discussed this subject this morning in the Scottish Grand Committee. In the figures I can supply to the hon. Member, rent has lagged behind other earnings.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland why the initial announcement on the major change in policy concerning council house rents was not made in the House of Commons; and whether he will give an assurance that future statements of changes in Governmental policy, in so far as they affect Scotland, will be made initially in the House of Commons.

I indicated in the statement which I made in the House on 27th October last that the level of council house rents is low and could without hardship be raised if the available housing subsidies were pooled. The circular which I recently issued to local authorities does not involve any change in this view. It contains information which may be useful to authorities in reviewing and fixing the rents, statutory responsibility for which rests on the authorities themselves. I can certainly assure the hon. Member that statements of important changes in Government policy will continue to be made in Parliament.

Would the right hon. Gentleman not agree that the circular which he has issued to local authorities is much more than a recommendation? Will he indicate when he announced in this House the recent decision to increase the price of school meals, and the proposal to get on with the Forth road bridge, and when he made similar announcements which are causing considerable concern in the country, and about which Members of Parliament are the last people consulted or informed?

I do not think that this Question deals with school meals, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated that in the House. I made a statement on 27th October last year in relation to the announcement about which the hon. Member has questioned me.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when Lanark County Council will be given loan sanction approval to its scheme for a garage for the scavenging district of Shotts.

I propose to reconsider the county council's application for loan sanction in September in the light of the restrictions on local government expenditure.

Surely the Minister should reconsider this matter before September. Is he not aware that it is not only in that district but in many places in Lanarkshire that the men doing this most important and useful job feel that they ought to have better facilities and, indeed, that they have none at the present time?

I am not denying the desirability of the project at all. I am merely suggesting that it is not immediately essential. At the county council's request, a meeting is being held this month to discuss the question of garage accommodation in the county generally.

Would the Minister not consider putting some restrictions on building by private people because, wherever we look, public building is being restricted by the Government and all sorts of other building is going on?

I am afraid that I cannot add, in answer to a question, to what I have said about it.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the present state of the discussions and negotiations about the proposals to amend the law relating to mental illness and mental deficiency in Scotland, as outlined in Command Paper No. 9623.

So far I have received observations from only two bodies. I think that most of the bodies interested will require some time yet in order to give full consideration to these proposals.

Will the Secretary of State, when he gives further consideration to the proposals, bear in mind that there are very serious misgivings, particularly about the proposals for recommended patients, and will he give the house an opportunity, before presenting any legislation on this matter, to discuss and consider the proposals?

I will bear in mind what the hon. Gentleman has said.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what changes have been made in the salary scales of the permanent secretaries at the Scottish Office; and how many are affected.

In accordance with the recommendations of the Royal Commission, which have been applied to the Civil Service from 1st July, the new rate of pay of the Permanent Under-Secretary of State is £6,000 per annum, and that of the Secretaries of my four Departments £4,200 per annum.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman if, in addition to these salaries, his officials have travelling allowances and allowances for living in London?

They certainly have the normal travelling allowance, but I should like to give a further answer on any other point later.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is now in a position to state what changes will be made in the Scottish subsidies for housing under general needs.

I hope to make a statement on this subject before the Recess.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say what tentative figure was arrived at in regard to the reduction of the subsidy for general needs when he was discussing this question with the local authorities?

No tentative figure was arrived at. As I said this morning, in the Scottish Grand Committee, I made certain suggestions to the local authorities which they are now considering.

If the local authorities have any comments to make when they do consider the suggestions, will any attention be paid to those comments, or will the suggestions made by the Secretary of State be carried through, irrespective of what the local authorities say?

I should not ask for comments if I did not want to hear them.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the annual cost to the National Health Service of the treatment of accidents in the home.

I regret that this information is not available.

Is it not rather a dreadful reply, as accidents in the home are the greatest factor in our hospital service, that the figure is never available? When are we to get these accidents made notifiable?

The fact is that a person injured at home may be treated by his family doctor or as an out-patient or an in-patient in a hospital, and it would be very difficult to separate these from all the other cases.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this is exactly the same reply that was given before road accidents were made notifiable?

No, the number of accidents is, I think, known. I thought that the hon. Lady was asking about the cost to the National Health Service.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of deaths from accidents in the home in the four cities of Scotland and recent available annual figures.

The most recent available information relates to 1955. I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT figures for the four cities for that year and for each of the two preceding years.

Can my right hon. Friend say how he gets these figures? Are they collected by the Inter-Departmental Committee which has been sitting for a long time, because these accidents are not notifiable?

I believe that they come from the local authorities or the hospitals, but I do not know. I will find out.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board is not providing supplies of electricity to meet the demands of ordinary consumers in a number of agricultural areas in Caithness and Sutherland, and that the Board has given the Government's directive to cut capital expenditure on distribution by £300,000 in the current year as its reason for failing in its statutory duty; and what action he proposes to take in the matter.

I am informed by the Board that already over 90 per cent. of the potential consumers in Caithness and Sutherland have been connected, including 278 in 1956 up to the end of May. The supply of electricity in any particular area is a matter for the Board and must be governed by its financial position as well as by the Government's request to reduce capital expenditure.

Is the Secretary of State aware that the Hydro-Electric Board is now asking exorbitant capital charges for taking electricity to these remote areas? Surely that is not a correct interpretation of the 1943 Act.

I would remind my hon. Friend that the Board, by statute, is required to balance its budget. The charges are entirely a matter for the Board.

Is it not also a fact that one of the statutory obligations of the Board is to bring electric light and power to the ordinary people, including those in the remote areas? Is it not within my right hon. Friend's knowledge that the moment that the credit squeeze occurred all distribution to those areas stopped, and will he take steps to see that the Act of Parliament passed by the House is carried out?

I think that it is very creditable that over 90 per cent. of the potential consumers have been connected.

Is the Secretary of State aware that there are some complaints that he has not carried out the promise made in the Crofters Act to give, to crofters who are anxious to put in electricity, Government assistance in order to meet the obstacle of capital charges?

I was not aware of that. As I have said, the Board is responsible for balancing its budget and it must, of course, make charges accordingly.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that herring fishing from Wick by local craft has come to an end during the years of Herring Industry Board control; if he is satisfied with the situation, having regard to the fact that Wick was formerly one of the largest herring ports in Europe; and what action he is taking in the matter.

I am aware that, for several years, the Wick fishermen have apparently preferred to catch other kinds of fish. I cannot accept the suggestion that the responsibility for this rests with the Herring Industry Board. The Board seeks by any practicable means to encourage herring fishing from Wick as elsewhere. Its first oil and meal factory was built at Wick, and last year the Board hired a drifter to explore the Hoy grounds.

Is it possible that the Secretary of State is satisfied that, within the 18 years' existence of this Board which was formed to rehabilitate the herring industry, this industry has been brought to a complete end in my constituency, where it was once the greatest in Scotland?

As I have indicated, the fishermen have decided that they would do better in other ways, just as has happened in my own constituency, and I cannot order them to fish for herring.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will set up a committee to inquire into the causes of the reecnt heavy losses sustained by early potato growers and to make proposals for a long term policy for Scottish early potato growers.

No, Sir. The Potato Marketing Board has already met officials about the marketing of new potatoes, and a further meeting with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with whom I have a joint interest in these matters, is to be held as soon as possible.

Does the Secretary of State not realise that this is the second year in succession in which there have been very heavy losses incurred by the early potato growers, that the late potato growers are also affected, and that the farmers of Ayrshire are as disgusted with him as are the fishermen of Caithness?

That is very regrettable.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that substantial differences exist between the grants to Scottish and English university students whose family and financial circumstances are otherwise identical; that these differences are to the disadvantage of the Scottish students; the justification for these differences to the disadvantage of Scottish students; and if he will now take steps to improve the grants to Scottish students so as to rectify this and give them equality of opportunity with English students.

I am aware of the differences to which the hon. and learned Member refers, but I am satisfied that the awards made by Scottish education authorities are sufficient to fulfil their statutory purpose of enabling students to take advantage, without financial hardship to themselves or their parents, of any educational facilities available to them.

Is it not unfair that these disparities should exist? Is it not a fact that representatives of both Aberdeen and Edinburgh Universities asked the reason, and that each of them was given a different reason? Will not the Secretary of State take courage, and see that equality of treatment is meted out to the students in both countries?

These disparities have existed between England and Scotland over the years. These rates are periodically reviewed and will be reviewed again.

What about the particular position of Scottish law students?

I would ask my noble Friend to be good enough to put a separate Question to me on that subject.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will set up a cost investigation court in the Scottish Education Department to check on undue expense in achieving elegance in school building as in the earliest plans for Kirktonholme School, East Kilbride, and on extravagance of design as with the £550 mural at Duncanrigg Secondary School, also in the new town.

I am satisfied that the existing system of control of cost of school building makes additional machinery such as my hon. Friend suggests unnecessary.

In thanking my right hon. Friend for that reply, may I ask whether he is aware of what went on at Duncanrigg School, where about £550 was spent on a fantastic mural? Is he aware of the delay elsewhere, and is he satisfied that education is not being sacrificed to the aesthetic whims of a whole lot of officials.

A simple and effective check upon costs is achieved by the permitted maximum per sq. ft. Within that maximum, education authorities have freedom to plan or design whatever they may think to be the best.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the estimated saving expected from the proposed increases in the prices of school meals.

The annual saving expected in expenditure on school meals is £230,000.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Report of the Royal Commission on the Taxation of Profits and Income, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and all informed opinion contends that the people most in need of help today are those with families of small children? How does the right hon. Gentleman reconcile that with the policy of increasing the price of school meals?

It is precisely the policy which was followed by the Government of the party of the hon. Member before the present Government, that is, to charge the price of the food.

asked the Minister of Works to what use it is intended to put the office accommodation at Sighthill, Edinburgh, when it is vacated by the Ministry of Pensions Central Pensions Branch.

I think the hon. Member is referring to Saughton and not Sighthill. Any space which may be vacated will be made available to Departments now housed elsewhere in Edinburgh in accommodation which is either unsatisfactory or is held on short tenancy.

Will the right hon. Gentleman get in touch with the other Departments quickly to tell them that there is this space available, because we are anxious that some other Government work shall come to Edinburgh in place of the Government work that is leaving?

The other Government Departments are well aware of that.

asked the Minister of Works why a Government Department continues to occupy one of the largest hotel buildings in London, namely, the Victoria Hotel; and if he will make arrangements for the staff now using this building to be transferred to more suitable premises on the outskirts of London and for this building to be restored to its proper function as a hotel.

The Victoria Hotel, now known as Northumberland House, forms an essential part of the War Office's headquarters in the Whitehall area. It has been Government property since 1950, when the owners sold the freehold to the Government. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War is of opinion that it would not be practicable to have the staffs located on the outskirts of London.

Bearing in mind the great shortage of hotel accommodation in central London, would my right hon. Friend give an assurance that, broadly speaking, at least every effort will be made to prevent that kind of accommodation from being used for Government Departments?

Broadly speaking.

asked the Minister of Works if he will adopt the recommendation made in the Report of the Ancient Monuments Board for 1955 that, in order to accelerate the publication of reports of excavations sponsored by him, a fee should be paid, not only for the actual work of excavation, but also for the preparation of the report of such excavation.

In fact, the present fees paid to supervisors are intended to provide in one instalment for the writing of the report, as well as for the actual supervision of excavations. But I share the anxiety of the Ancient Monuments Board for England to ensure the early preparation of reports on excavations sponsored by my Department, and I am considering what further improvements can be made.

Is the Minister repudiating the Report of his Board, which said quite categorically that the archaeological excavation is incomplete until the report is published, that the Minister's present practice does not enable reports to be published and that research workers and others interested are thereby hampered? Will he not reconsider the matter in the light of the Report of this Board?

I said in my answer that I shared the anxiety of the Ancient Monuments Board for England, and that I am looking into the whole question again.

It is not enough to share the anxiety of the Ancient Monuments Board. What we want from the Minister is an assurance that he is prepared to revise the present method of paying excavators on the lines suggested by the Board.

To share the anxieties of the Board is something, but I also said that I am looking into the whole matter again.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, if he is now in a position to make a statement on the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research research into the most suitable method of testing textiles for flammability.

Two methods of testing textiles for flammability are at present being studied by a committee of the Textile Institute, co-operating with the British Standards Institute and the Joint Fire Research Organisation.

The latter is also carrying out a survey in connection with this investigation, which involves collecting statistics and examining samples of clothing involved in burning accidents, and it will not be possible to lay down standards until this survey has been completed.

Is the Minister aware of the great concern of the general public to have this research brought to a satisfactory conclusion as soon as possible? Will he do his utmost to inform those involved in the research of the great need for getting on as quickly as possible?

Certainly.

asked the Secretary of State for War (1) at what time of day, on seven out of their 15 days' reserve training, three National Service men started the work of making cardboard barrows for an officers' mess cocktail party at Kempston;

(2) what representations he has now received from ex-National Service men Hodgson and Quy and from hon. Members regarding the making of cardboard barrows for an officers' mess cocktail party at Kempston Camp; and if he will make a statement.

Two of the men referred to were clerks who were employed in the office of Headquarters, Army Emergency Reserve during their part-time training. They attended normal parades in the morning and afternoon and carried out the documentation of reservists who were carrying out their annual training at the camp. This work is spasmodic and did not occupy all their time.

In the intervals, during the five working days from Thursday of the first week of camp to Wednesday of the second these men made these barrows. I cannot give a detailed timetable as they were not under continuous supervision. The third soldier, a painter, who reported for training a week later than the others did part-time work on them from Monday to Wednesday only.

I have received no direct representation from the soldier who wrote the articles in the Manchester newspaper which brought the attention of several hon. Members to the case. I have received a letter of complaint from the other soldier.

Is the Minister aware that these men state that they started making the barrows at 8 a.m. daily? As in the House, at Question Time last month, the Minister stated that the work was done in their leisure time, thereby creating the impression that it was done outside Service hours, does he not think that he should tell the House that he unintentionally misled it? Is he aware that the men agreed to do this work only because, apart from making cardboard chess sets and using them, they had no other work to do?

No, Sir, what happened was as I stated. These men did this work in their spare time. I will admit—and I said this before—that these men were not as fully employed as they should have been. Part of the reason was that in two cases their camps had been transferred, at their own request, from the proper date, which meant their going to a different unit, to which they did not belong. It is also of interest that none of these men complained at the time that he had not enough to do. Had they complained, they might have been given extra duties.

Would not the Secretary of State agree that this is only another instance of the progressive difficulty of finding useful purposes for the part-time Reserve when called up, and is it not another case of the growing inappropriateness of the whole National Service system at the moment?

We have 26,000 A.E.R. men being trained, and this is the first complaint which has been aired in the House of Commons on this A.E.R. training. A very large number of men now do this training only once, after which they have finished. Furthermore, there has had to be reorganisation because of the one-year instead of the three-year system.

Ought not the right hon. Gentleman to regard this matter rather more seriously than he does? What is the purpose of this 15-days' Reserve training if men are to be occupied in such tasks? Would he give the House an assurance that he will make an inquiry into the matter in order to ensure that men's time is being properly used——

That would be a change.

—for the purpose for which the Reserve is intended?

I take this matter extremely seriously. I have made a great many inquiries into it and have gone as far as to say to the commanders-in-chief that if they consider that part-time training is a waste of time for men, because of various reasons of organisation on a short-term basis, it should be cancelled. I would point out, however, that in all this part-time training—and this is especially true of the A.E.R.—there must be National Service men doing part-time training who have to look after the administration of the camps. Somebody has to do these hewer-of-wood and drawer-of-water tasks.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many British officers there are in Jordan at the present time; and whether they are directly under the orders of the Jordan Government.

In addition to officers with British units, 12 British Army officers are at present serving with the Arab Legion. These 12 are under the orders of senior Jordanian officers but remain subject to the Army Act.

In view of the uncertain political conditions in Jordan, of which we have unfortunately had evidence in recent weeks, is it any longer desirable that these officers should continue in the service of the Jordan Government?

Yes, Sir. These men are in an advisory and training capacity and, although it is not entirely my sphere of responsibility, I am sure that from the military point of view their presence is justified.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will make a statement about the Goodge Street Underground Station which was used as an assembly station for Her Majesty's troops until it was recently damaged by fire, indicating whether it has been repaired, the extent, nature and cost of the repairs and the purpose for which it is now being used.

It has not been repaired and is not being used.

In view of the grave dangers to which young soldiers were exposed recently in that place, will the Minister give an undertaking that it will never again be used to house troops?

I gave that undertaking to the hon. and learned Member about a month ago.

asked the Secretary of State for War what administrative arrangements exist for notifying men serving overseas of sudden changes in their domestic circumstances.

Relatives may send special telegrams at United Kingdom inland rates to a soldier wherever he is serving.

May I ask my right hon. Friend if the relatives know that fact, and how they get to know it? Secondly, may I ask him what happens if a message goes direct to the War Office containing information of this kind? What does the War Office do about it?

The answer to the first part of the supplementary question is that this information has been posted on all notice boards throughout the Army, but obviously we cannot write to all relatives. It is the only way in which we can inform people of a practice which has existed for a long time. I think that the second part of the supplementary question arises on the next Question.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will investigate the circumstances in which his Department failed to notify a National Service man of the sudden death of his father.

This information was immediately passed to the soldier's unit in Korea. Unfortunately the unit was in the process of being disbanded and the information did not reach Sapper Birch. I should like to take this opportunity of apologising for his not receiving it.

The relatives of Sapper Birch will be very grateful to my right hon. Friend for his expression of regret. Is my right hon. Friend aware, however, how much distress a matter like this can cause within the circle of the family, and how much damage is done to the reputation of the administrative side of the Army by repeated happenings of this kind?

Well, it is a very large Army. But I can assure my hon. Friend that this particular information was passed on for the sapper by us. It is normal for relatives themselves to inform men of this kind of thing, but if we are particularly asked we do so, and did so by the best means possible. I very much regret that the information did not reach him because of the disbandment.

In view of the fact that the Minister is often criticised for his sins of omission and commission, may I ask him to accept my appreciation of the speed with which last week he brought home a young man to see his father, who had been taken seriously ill?

asked the Secretary of State for War how many officers of the rank of brigadier and upwards there now are in the Army; and by how many the number will be reduced as a consequence of redeployment of our troops.

Five hundred and thirty-six. I cannot yet say what reduction will be achieved.

Does that figure include only officers on the Active List, or does it include also those who are retired or on the Reserve List? Is there not a tendency at present for the number of higher ranks to increase while the number in the Army generally is decreasing?

These are only those on the Active List. So far as senior officers are concerned, our object is to have the minimum necessary for the size of Army we maintain.

asked the Secretary of State for War the total number of troops in the four divisions in Germany; and to what this number will be reduced when those divisions have been revised in the light of modern fire power.

We do not give these particulars.

Can the Minister tell us whether anything has been done? If there has, there do not seem to be any visible signs of it. The numbers in the Army seem to stay up. Is the right hon. Gentleman taking any notice of the change in fire power?

The Army, as the right hon. Gentleman will no doubt recollect, is running down at the rate of 30,000 a year over a two-year period.

But will the Secretary of State take note that, although we are committed by the Paris Agreements to provide four divisions, we are also committed, as an alternative, to provide the equivalent in fighting power? In view of that, is it the intention of the Government to make the necessary adaptation?

It is not for me, I think, to discuss future policy in this matter. That rests on many considerations outside my Department. I can tell the right hon. Gentleman, however, that all the latest methods and considerations of modern warfare are being considered in this respect.

Then, as a result of this consideration, may we expect a considerable running down of the number of men in the division?

So far as that is concerned, I think that the right hon. Gentleman had better wait and see.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he can now state the result of the investigations into the circumstances which led to the loss of 28 lives by burning in the fires in Cyprus.

Not yet, Sir.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state his plans for encouraging the development of light industry in Aberdeen.

The Board of Trade will continue to bring the existence of sites, labour supply and other facilities at Aberdeen to the notice of suitable industry seeking new quarters; but its needs must be considered in relation to those of other places.

Does the Minister realise that in a place so far north as Aberdeen the ratio of freight charges to the value of the freight makes the provision of light industries particularly important, and would he take steps to see that such light industries are fostered there?

I will certainly bear that and all other relevant considerations in mind.