asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he has yet found a means of paying a guardian's allowance to the grandparents of the boy John Donohoe, who are solely responsible for his upbringing.

On 6th July a Commissioner's decision was given that the statutory condition for payment of a guardian's allowance to his grandparents in respect of this boy were not satisfied. I have therefore no power to pay it.The position disclosed by this case is not in my view satisfactory. I am, however, expecting shortly a report from the National Insurance Advisory Committee which may contain recommendations covering this subject, and I must await that report.In respect of this particular case it has been possible to arrange for some help for the grandparents from other sources, and further proposals have been made which, unfortunately, do not appear to have been acceptable to them. I have written to the hon. Member about these matters.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many grants for clothing have been given by the National Assistance Board's Accrington office during the last twelve months.

I am informed by the National Assistance Board that in the twelve months to the end of June, 1956, 115 grants were made by this office under the exceptional needs powers. The grants were mostly, but not entirely, for clothing.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance to direct the National Assistance Board to make special provision now to enable old-age pensioners to obtain an adequate supply of light and fuel before the coming winter.

The National Assistance Board is an independent statutory body and not subject to such directives. The normal weekly rates of assistance which Parliament has approved take into account provision for fuel and light, and the statutory Regulations empower the Board's officers to make additional provision for this purpose in appropriate circumstances.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many old-age pensioners in Ashington, and Morpeth, Northumberland, were receiving National Assistance at the nearest convenient date, compared with the corresponding dates in 1950 and 1955.

The National Assistance Board regrets that figures are not available for the towns of Ashington and Morpeth, which are part of a much larger area covered by an office at Ashington. In that area, 2,643 weekly national assistance allowances were being paid to retirement and non-contributory old-age pensioners at 26th June, 1956, compared with 2,659 at 28th June, 1955, some of the allowances providing for the requirements of a household with more than one pensioner. A comparable figure for 1950 cannot be given as there have been substantial changes in the area covered by the office.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the reason for the delay in payment of National Insurance benefit to men on short time at the Austin Motor works for the period between 10th March and 9th April; and whether he will expedite the matter since many men are in urgent need of this money now that they have been dismissed.

I understand from my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service that the only days in respect of which men on short time at Austin's are so far claiming benefit are 30th March and 3rd April. One test claim was made, and allowed by the Birmingham local tribunal on 27th June. Notice of similar claims by other men for the same days has been given by the unions, but their claims have not yet been received. When they are, they will be dealt with as quickly as possible.

asked the Minister of Health the estimated number of beds required in hospitals in Ilford and district; what steps he is taking to remedy this deficiency.

The Board has not yet completed its survey of the hospital needs of the area.

asked the Minister of Health how many hospital beds are provided under the National Health Service in Wiltshire; and how many of these are for the use of mental patients.

At 31st December last (the latest date for which figures are available) there were 5,256 staffed beds of which 2,698 were for mental and mental deficiency patients.

asked the Minister of Health if he will now amend the law to ensure that the toffee apples and iced lollies sold to children and the sticks used are prepared and sterilized under hygienic conditions.

No, Sir. I have no reason to think the existing law does not give adequate powers to secure safe preparation of these articles.

asked the Minister of Health if he will notify local authorities that he is prepared to approve byelaws requiring notification of accidents in the home which require medical treatment.

I have no power to do this.

asked the Minister of Health the number of children under five years of age who lost their lives in each year since 1950 as a result of burns, scalds and accidents, other than road accidents.

There were 1,171 such deaths in 1950, 1,208 in 1951, 1,093 in 1952, 945 in 1953 and 846 in 1954.

asked the Minister of Health the ages of the children at Watford and in the control area whose teeth have been examined in connection with the scheme to add fluorides to the water; whether the same children will be examined each year; and how many children, at each age, have had their teeth examined in connection with the scheme for fluoridation of water supplies in Watford and in the control area.

Representative samples of children from Watford and the control area, between 3 and 14 years of age, have been examined. Similar samples, but not necessarily the same children, will be examined at the same time each year. The samples consist of between 100 and 150 children at each year of age.

asked the Minister of Health how many cases of poliomyelitis there are in the Macclesfield area; and if he will make a statement.

Between 13th May and 16th July, there have been 20 notifications of poliomyelitis in Macclesfield borough (15 paralytic, 5 non-paralytic), 2 in Bollington urban district (both paralytic) and 3 in Macclesfield rural district (2 paralytic, 1 non-paralytic). Except in 5 cases, notifications have related to children of school age or under and the majority have related to children under 5 years of age. Appropriate steps are being taken with a view to limiting the spread of the disease.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what income in 1939 was equivalent in purchasing power to £2,300 today.

About £885. This estimate is based on the Consumer Price Index up to 1955 and the Index of Retail Prices thereafter.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a further statement regarding Re-commissioned Mills Limited.

Yes, Sir. Thirteen of the silos and one drying plant with bulk shed storage are now being used, or held available, for the Government's own purposes. After inviting competitive tenders, my right hon. Friend the Minister of Works has accepted tenders for leases of eight further silos and one drying plant.The following is the list of prospective tenants:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware of complaints by anglers about pollution of the river Witham; and what steps he is taking in the matter.

The Lincolnshire River Board, which is primarily responsible for initiating action to prevent pollution, has received no recent complaints from anglers about the condition of the River Witham. If the hon. Member will let me have particulars I will institute further inquiries.

asked the Attorney-General to what extent the staff of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are subject to the procedures agreed to by the Conference of Privy Councillors on Security.

The staff of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are civil servants and these procedures apply to all civil servants.

asked the Secretary of Slate for the Colonies how far the Regulations for the use of captured terrorists to assist the security forces in Kenya are applicable to those who surrender; and if their wish to serve in this manner must be stated before a magistrate before they can be detained in police custody for the thirty days laid down in the Regulations.

, pursuant to the reply of the Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs [OFFICIAL REPORT, 23rd April, 1956; Vol. 551, c. 119], supplied the following information:Captured and surrendered terrorists may volunteer to assist the Security Forces. Such efforts are most frequently made and accepted immediately after capture or surrender. A surrendered terrorist, who is normally held initially under Emergency Regulation 2 (6) and not Emergency Regulation 28, does not have to be brought before a magistrate unless and until the permitted period of police custody has expired without a detention order having been made, or unless, in an exceptional case, the Attorney-General has directed that he be prosecuted for offences not covered by the surrender immunity.

asked the Postmaster-General whether Appendix XIV of the Annual Report of the British Broadcasting Corporation, 1954–55, Command Paper No. 9533, from which it is apparent that a large area of west Somerset is expected to receive satisfactory reception from North Hessary Tor very high frequency station, still accords with the policy of his Department in relation to reception in west Somerset.

Appendix XIV, which shows an overlap between the estimated areas to be served by the Wenvoe and North Hessary Tor V.H.F. stations is correct. But it is expected that the bulk of west Somerset listeners will obtain better reception from Wenvoe than from North Hessary Tor. This is made clear in Appendix XVII of the Report, which describes the main areas covered by each station.

asked the Postmaster-General (1) at what precise date it is anticipated that complete service will be achieved in the case of the Wenvoe very high frequency station;(2) in view of the opinion of his Department that Wenvoe very high frequency station will not be in full operation until later in the summer, why the coverage of areas other than South Wales and Monmouthshire by the Wenvoe very high frequency station is behind schedule, having regard to the forecast contained in Appendix XVII of the Annual Report of the British Broadcasting Corporation, 1954–55, Command Paper No. 9533, to the effect that complete service would be achieved by the spring of 1956.

At present no more precise date can be given than late summer, as stated in the reply given to my hon. Friend on 4th July. The date given in the B.B.C. Report was that estimated by the Corporation at the time of publication: there have since been delays in delivery of essential equipment.

asked the Postmaster-General what regulations govern the sale of postage stamps at places other than post offices and sub-post offices; and whether the number of such places is increasing or decreasing.

The sale of postage stamps is governed by the Stamp Duties Management Act, 1891. Permission to sell stamps at places other than a post office is normally given where there is a demand and where the nearest place from which they can be bought is 150 yards or more away. No central record is kept of the number of such places.

asked the Postmaster-General how many residents in the Borough of Swindon have had telephones installed during each of the past five years; what is now the total number of subscribers; and how many residents are still awaiting the installation of a telephone.

Figures for the past five years are not now available, but in years ended 30th June, 1955, and 1956, the numbers of residence lines installed were 291 and 249. The total number of subscribers' lines connected to Swindon exchange is 3,421, and the number of residents awaiting the installation of a telephone is 76.

asked the Postmaster-General how many public telephone booths are available for use within the boundaries of the Borough of Swindon; and what plans he has to provide booths in the new housing estates.

Fifty-one. There are already two kiosks on the new housing estates, and we hope to instal five more during the next few months. These should meet present needs, and further provision will be made as the estates grow.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to state the number of automatic looms in the Lancashire cotton industry; and the percentage they represent of the total number of looms in the industry.

It is estimated that there are about 42,000 fully automatic looms, about 14 per cent. of those installed, weaving cotton, rayon and mixture fabrics in the Lancashire area.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to give figures, in continuation of those figures given by him on 13th July, 1953, showing deliveries to the cotton industry of home-produced machinery for spinning and allied processes and for weaving, respectively, to the latest available date.

The figures are as follows:

Year	For spinning and preparatory processes and subsequent processes preparatory to weaving	For weaving
	£ million	£ million
1952	6·3	2·7
1953	5·0	2·4
1954	5·4	2·8
1955	6·1	2·4

asked the President of the Board of Trade to state for each trading year, up to the latest date, the final realised figures for turnover and net payments to and from the Exchequer of British Overseas Cotton Limited.

British Overseas Cottons Limited went into voluntary liquidation in 1953. Figures for turnover and net payments to and from the Exchequer for each trading year to the 31st July, 1952, were given in reply to the right hon. Gentleman's Question on 14th July, 1953. During the period 1st August, 1952, to 4th August, 1953, at which date the company ceased trading, the turnover was £64,783 and a net payment of £10,308 was received from the Exchequer.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to state for 1938, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, and 1955, respectively, the quantities of raw cotton, and the percentage of the total imported from each principal colonial supplying area, from the United States of America,

IMPORTS OF RAW COTTON INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM
		1938	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955
From all sources (centals of 100 lb.)	…	12,067,830	10,110,174	5,947,422	7,474,303	8,336,837	6,641,457
of which:		percentage of total	percentage of total	percentage of total	percentage of total	percentage of total	percentage of total
Nigeria	…	0·8	3·0	7·3	5·3	6·8	11·4
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland	…	0·3	0·2	0·6	0·7	0·5	0·1
Uganda	…	0·7	4·6	6·2	2·7	2·7	0·6
Tanganyika	…	0·4	0·5	1·6	2·4	0·4	0·6
Aden	…	—	0·3	0·6	0·5	1·1	1·2
India	…	13·8	0·8	0·6	1·0	0·9	3·8
Pakistan	…		4·6	5·5	8·1	4·3	4·3
Sudan	…	7·0	16·5	13·5	13·6	9·1	11·2
Soviet Union	…	0·1	—	—	0·2	3·0	7·2
Egypt	…	21·4	13·7	4·9	9·0	9·0	4·3
U.S.A.	…	36·8	21·8	36·7	25·8	30·8	27·5

asked the President of the Board of Trade to give the final figures showing the operation of the Cotton Spinning Re-equipment Subsidy Act, 1948, in terms of the number of groups, the number of mills, the percentage of the mule equivalent spindles represented by them, the total cost of modernisation, and the total subsidy paid.

Subsidy payments were made to 26 groups in respect of re-equipment affecting 146 mills and 12 million mule equivalent spindles. These spindles represented 30 per cent. of the mule equivalent spindles installed in the industry as a whole at the 15th August, 1945. The total cost of modernisation on which subsidy was claimed was £11,900,000 and the total subsidy paid £2,800,000.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to make a statement on the operation of the arrangements under which United States cotton is supplied against shipments of cotton piece goods to Pakistan and to any other areas covered by this or similar schemes.

Following are the figures:

Under the Agreement made with Pakistan in April, 1955, cotton textiles to a value of some 5 million dollars have been supplied to Pakistan by the United Kingdom. United States raw cotton to a total of about 4·3 million dollars has been contracted for in payment for these textiles, and the balance has to be bought by 15th September.Similar agreements for the supply of cotton textiles to Burma and Indonesia, as well as some additional textiles to Pakistan, have recently been concluded. Payment will again be taken in United States raw cotton of equivalent value.The administrative arrangements for the original Pakistan deal were dealt with in a notice in the Board of Trade Journal of 7th May, 1955, and those for the additional Pakistan business in a memorandum circulated to the trade. I am sending the right hon. Gentleman copies of both these documents. I am satisfied that these arrangements afford the cotton textile industry an opportunity of export business which would not otherwise be available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to state the quantity and value of United States raw cotton supplied to this country in each recent year, either for sterling or under any other special arrangement, which obviates the need for payment in dollars.

The United States Government have provided aid to the United Kingdom under the Mutual Security Acts in the form of reimbursement of the dollar cost of part of the United Kingdom's imports of United States raw cotton to the following extent:

	U.S. Dollars
1952	1,232,928
1953	17,578,048
1954	14,534,821
1955	9,435,572
1956 (to date)	2,075,951

During the past year, the United States Government have also, as part of a grant of aid to Pakistan, made United States raw cotton available to the United Kingdom in payment for cotton yarn and textiles supplied to Pakistan under the United Kingdom/Pakistan Agreement of 29th April, 1955. The value of United States cotton which has so far been contracted for under these arrangements is approximately 4·3 million dollars, of which about 690,000 dollars has been shipped.Figures of the quantities of cotton represented by the above values could not be obtained without a disproportionate expenditure of time and labour.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will arrange for steps to be taken to make the halt sign more readily visible to motorists at the junction of the military road with the A.69 road at Greenhead, Northumberland.

Both the county surveyor and the chief constable consider that the present sign is quite satisfactory, and that backing boards would not secure a greater measure of obedience. The conditions at this junction tempt motorists to disregard the sign deliberately and, instead of stopping, to enter the main road from the military road at some speed, so as to help them up the hill ahead.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when work on the fly-over linking the West Cromwell Road extension with the Great West Road in Chiswick is expected to be started; how much this will cost; and when it is anticipated the work will be finished.

Work on the fly-over is planned to start early in 1957, and to be completed in the late summer of 1959. The estimated cost is about £700,000.