asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce legislation to enable manual workers to be paid by cheque instead of cash as is now required by statute.

The Minister of Labour and I have been considering this matter. It is a complex one and we have not yet reached a definite conclusion.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that Ministers of the Crown and hon. Members are not covered by any form of insurance when travelling in aircraft of Transport Command on Parliamentary and public business ; and if he will make a statement.

I understand that insurance in such circumstances is a matter for Ministers or the hon. Members and indeed for any other passengers, to arrange privately.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the reason for the present wide differentiation between the duties charged on wine imported in cask and bottle, respectively ; and whether, in view of the fact that certain wines must be bottled at a certain age wherever they are lying and that much of the wine imported in cask is liable to be bottled and consumed before it has reached maturity, he will review the present arrangements with a view to restoring the pre-war ratio between the import duties on wines in cask and bottle, respectively.

This differentiation was introduced in 1888 as a means of raising the duty on wines imported in bottle (which were regarded as in general the better quality and more expensive kinds) without making any increase for the rest. For light wines the differential was raised to its present amount in 1949 when, although it was felt that the Exchequer would not afford an all-round reduction of the wine duties, a special reduction was made for light wines imported in cask. I shall be examining the structure of the wine duties in the course of my review of taxation before the next Budget.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the internal purchasing value of the £ sterling based on the Interim Index of Retail Prices in September, 1956, 1955, 1954, 1953, and 1952, taking the value in October, 1951, at 20 shillings.

Taking the internal purchasing power of the £ as 20s. in October, 1951, the corresponding figures for the dates referred to in the Question are as follows :

	s.	d.
September, 1952	18	10
September, 1953	18	5
September, 1954	18	0
September, 1955	17	2
September, 1956	16	5

This estimate is based on the Interim Index of Retail Prices for the first four dates, and on the new Retail Price Index (which was introduced in January, 1956), for the last.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury the annual sums collected in the past five years, being estate or death duties on woodlands.

I regret that separate figures for Estate Duty collected in respect of woodlands are not available, nor could they be extracted without disproportionate expenditure of time and labour.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will direct the attention of development corporations and local authorities to the desirability of charging no more than economic rents for shops, having regard to the fact that high rents necessarily mean that higher prices are charged to consumers ; and if he will discourage the leasing of land to development companies whose activities, as an unnecessary intermediary, can only result in raising shop rents to the disadvantage of consumers.

Development corporations, like local authorities, normally let shops for the best rent they can get and my right hon. Friend sees no objection to this practice. Nor does he see any reason for restricting the market in land by excluding development companies.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress has been made in arrangements to supply teaching hospitals in Scotland with necessary scientific aids comparable with or in advance of the most advanced practice elsewhere.

Within the limits of the finance available the hospital authorities concerned are steadily improving the facilities for treating patients and providing the new equipment which scientific progress has made possible. I do what I can to encourage and assist them, and if the right hon. Gentleman has any deficiency in mind perhaps he will bring it to my attention.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that, under his regulations, local fire brigades are forbidden to assist in pumping out flood water from private or public premises unless loss of life is threatened ; and whether he will now review these regulations.

I have made no regulations to the effect indicated. The use of a brigade for purposes other than fire-fighting is a matter for the fire authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the present state of his discussions on the Forth road crossing.

Progress has been made in the discussions between local authority and Departmental officials, but I regret that I am not yet able to make a statement.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, whether he has yet given consideration to the view of the Advisory Council to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research that it will be necessary to revise the Department's grants to research associations to take account of price rises ; and what instructions he has given in this connection.

The five-year plan for the expansion of the Department's activities from 1954 to 1959 provides for a financial review in the event of major variations in prices. A review has now taken place and, subject of course to annual Votes, additional resources will be made available up to March, 1959 ; for grants for research associations and other purposes.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what additional funds he proposes to make available to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in order to obviate the necessity, referred to in Command Paper No. 9690, of reducing other scientific grants in order to maintain the number of awards to post-graduate students.

As the Department's receipts for repayment services will be greater than had previously been estimated, it will be possible to maintain both the number of awards to postgraduate students and other scientific grants in 1956–57.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what has been the financial contribution, up to date, by Her Majesty's Government towards the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Geneva ; and whether he will make a statement about the progress of that establishment and its future programme.

The European Organisation for Nuclear Research was set up under a convention of July, 1953. The United Kingdom contribution to the programme is at present, 23·84 per cent., in accordance with the provisions of the Financial Protocol annexed to the convention. Her Majesty's Government have accordingly contributed £1,161,000 in the period from October, 1954, when the Organisation came into being, up to the end of September, 1956. A grant of £172,000 had previously been made to the interim organisation. Progress in building the laboratory and its machines is going according to schedule, and details of the programme and activities of the Organisation are contained in the published First Annual Report, a copy of which is in the Library. The total cost of the laboratory during the construction period, and including the cost of research work and maintenance, is now provisionally expected to be not less than £18 million, as against the original estimate of £10 million.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the Army pay and allowances for the soldier, about whom particulars have been given to him, who was called up on 17th August and discharged on 4th September, have yet been paid ; and if he is aware that the delay in payment has caused an application for National Assistance to be made.

This soldier received the balance of pay for his period of service on 12th September and a further payment for his terminal leave on 19th September. I was not aware that he had applied for National Assistance on discharge until I received the hon. Member's letter of 8th September. I should like to take this opportunity of expressing my regret for the financial worry caused by the delay.

asked the Secretary of State for War what disciplinary action has been taken against Major Boyt of the Royal Artillery in relation to a letter written by Major Boyt to a Mrs. X, which letter was mentioned at the court martial in Singapore of 23200837 Sergeant Chitty.

This officer has been called upon to resign his commission.

asked the Secretary of State for War to take measures to speedup the payment of National Service grants to reservists called-up for the Suez crisis.

This has already been done.

asked the Secretary of State for War to take measures to increase the total amount of National Service grants to reservists called up for the Suez crisis, so that their liabilities for hire purchase, insurance and house mortgages, etc., can be properly met.

These grants are a supplement designed to enable reservists to meet inescapable commitments such as those to which the hon. Member refers, and the evidence available to me indicates that they are adequate for this purpose.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many reservists called up under the Suez Emergency Regulations have been granted seven days' leave following the announcement of 5th October ; what are the plans for the immediate future in this respect ; and what compensatory factors have been introduced or are contemplated for those reservists who are stationed too far away to be granted seven days' leave at their homes.

About 90 per cent. of recalled reservists who are stationed in this country and Germany have already been granted this leave. The balance will be sent home on leave as soon as possible. They are men who for personal reasons asked for their leave to be deferred, or specialists or others whose leave has to be spread over a period so as not to impair our state of readiness. I am considering what can be done for reservists in the Middle East.

asked the Secretary of State for War why reservists stationed in Britain, who have been inoculated and issued with kit, are not allowed to remain at home for a longer period than the seven days stipulated in the announcement of 5th October.

We cannot grant extended leave to all recalled reservists and maintain the state of operational readiness which is still necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for War to publish the Report of the committee presided over by Lieut.-General Sir Richard Hull to inquire into economies in Army establishments.

No. For reasons of security this Report is unsuitable for publication.

asked the Secretary of State for War what expenditure he has incurred on military preparations in connection with the Suez Canal dispute ; and what he estimates is now the current weekly expenditure.

The extra cost up to 30th September was about £7½ million. The extra weekly cost is at present about £1 million.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what action he has taken to make known the results of inquiries into the flame-proofing of textiles for children's clothes.

I am not sure what inquiries my hon. and gallant Friend has in mind. The British Standards Institution committee on flammability of clothing textiles will, I understand, be obtaining information about the various flame-proofing processes, and expects to be issuing a report in due course.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to take steps to assist in providing, in future, an exhibition of British manufactures at the Zagreb Fair more worthy of this country's industrial prestige.

The decision whether to exhibit or not at any trade fair is a matter of commercial judgment and is therefore best left to the firms engaged in trade with the area concerned.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to make a statement about the visit to Canada of the Minister of State.

I made a short tour of Western Canada last month. During my time there, I had discussions with industrial leaders and members of the Provincial Governments in British Columbia and Alberta. I also saw something of the tremendous industrial expansion taking place in those Provinces and of the United Kingdom's share in it. In particular, I attended the opening ceremony for the submarine power cable between Vancouver and Vancouver Island, which has been supplied and laid by a United Kingdom firm. I took every opportunity to point to the technical achievements of British industry since the war and to encourage Canadians to find out what we have to offer.I was impressed by the keen interest in Western Canada in buying British goods and have returned more convinced than ever of the opportunities that exist in that market for our exports and of the importance of personal visits to it by the leading men in manufacturing firms who export there or can export there.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what recent representations he has received from shirt manufacturers regarding the large increase in the imports of shirts from Hong Kong ; and what steps he proposes to take to deal with the matter.

I have carefully considered the memorandum recently prepared by the Shirt, Collar and Tie Manufacturers' Federation about this matter, of which several hon. Members had sent me copies. I appreciate the difficulties which some shirt manufacturers are facing because of these imports.It has long been part of our traditional policy to allow imports of these goods from Colonial Territories free of duty.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to state the production of cotton yarn, in pounds, of rayon and of all other man-made fibres, in the United Kingdom for each year from 1951 to 1955, inclusive.

Production of cotton yarn and man-made fibres was as follows :

—	Cotton Yarn		Man-made Fibres*
	Single (including waste yarn)	Doubled
	Million lb.	Million lb.	Million lb.
1951	967·7	273·8	384·0
1952	673·2	188·5	283·0
1953	792·0†	198·8†	419·3
1954	841·5	217·8	447·6
1955	747·3	200·4	471·8
* Figures for 1955 include all man-made fibres in commercial production. The figures for the earlier years are not available on a comparable basis and they relate to rayon and nylon only.
† 53 weeks.

I regret that statistics of production of rayon and all other man-made fibres separately are not available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to state the quantity of raw cotton, the dollar value, and the proportion represented of total United States cotton imports into this country, which has come into the United Kingdom in each of the years 1953 to 1955, against payment in sterling, or under barter or any other special arrangements which exclude the payment by this country of dollars.

United Kingdom imports of United States raw cotton in 1953–55 not paid for in dollars consisted of those supplies for which reimbursement was obtained from the United States Government under the Mutual Security Acts, together with a small quantity (129,775 dollars) in 1955 received in payment for textiles exported to Pakistan under the United Kingdom/Pakistan Agreement of 29th April, 1955. The value in dollars of these supplies and the approximate proportions by value which they bore to total United Kingdom imports of United States raw cotton in 1953–55 were as follows :

—	U.S. Dollars	Percentage
1953	17,578,048	25
1954	14,534,821	15
1955	9,565,347	14

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 President of the Board of Trade what percentage of total imports of raw cotton came from the Commonwealth, excluding the Sudan, and from the Sudan, respectively, in each of the years 1951 to 1955, inclusive.

The percentages are as follows :

IMPORTS OF RAW COTTON INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM
Percentage of imports from all sources
—	From the Commonwealth excluding the Sudan	From the Sudan
Year 1951	14·4	16·4
year 1952	23·1	13·5
year 1953	21·3	13·6
year 1954	17·6	9·1
year 1955	22·6	11·2

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware of the colour bar imposed by alien Servicemen on British subjects in East Anglia, and, in view of the fact that this is an unpardonable affront to the Government and people of our country, if he will make representations to have this colour bar removed.

No. Inquiries have produced no evidence that United States Servicemen in East Anglia have organised any colour bar against British subjects. I do not therefore propose to make any representations to the United States authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what reciprocal arrangements have been made with the French Government arising out of the presence of French troops in Cyprus.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the resentment caused in Cyprus by the landing of French troops, he will withdraw permission for their presence there.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will instruct the British delegation to the United Nations to support the motion on the agenda in the name of the Government of India raising the issue of racial discrimination within the South African Union as a threat to peace and a denial of the principles of the Declaration of Human Rights.

It is not the practice of Her Majesty's Government to state what instructions are being sent to the United Kingdom Delegation to the United Nations.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he will make a statement on the crash of the Avro Vulcan bomber at London Airport.

I regret that I am not yet in a position to make a statement.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what steps he proposes to take in view of the loss of purchasing power of retirement pensions since the date of the last increase of pensions.

My right hon. Friend has no proposals to bring forward on this subject at present.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he will make a statement on the inquiry regarding the supply of electricity to Holy Island.

In consultation with his right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local Government my right hon. Friend is at present considering the report of the inquiry.

asked the Minister of Education how many teachers have been called up as reservists in the past three months ; and how many have been subsequently released.

Forty-seven teachers called up as reservists have come to the notice of my right hon. Friends the Minister and Secretary of State for Scotland, and nineteen of these have been released.

asked the Minister of Education if he is aware that students of Durham University and King's College, in particular, have to wait an undue length of time before receiving their local authority payments ; and if he will look into this matter with a view to speeding up the payments, thus ameliorating the hardships suffered.

If my hon. Friend will give me further details, I will look into the matter.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, with reference to Appendix I of Command Paper No. 9537, how many schools there are in each category ; how many children there are in these schools ; how many schools there are in each category without science teachers ; and how many unfilled posts there are in each category for teachers of science and mathematics.

I have sent the hon. Member such information as is available.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as

FULL-TIME STUDFNTS TAKING A COURSE FOR A FIRST DEGREE IN SCIENCE OR TECHNOLOGY IN INSTITUTION IN RECEIPT OF TREASURY GRANT
(Great Britain)
Academic year		1st year	2nd year	3rd year	4th year	5th year plus	Total
Pure Science
1938–39	…	1,883	1,812	1,803	396	3	5,897
1947–48	…	3,508	4,081	3,349	1,045	27	12,010
1951–52	…	3,487	4,444	4,525	1,449	11	13,916
1952–53	…	3,639	4,363	4,322	1,353	6	13,683
1953–54	…	4,288	4,306	4,134	755	2	13,485
Technology
1938–39	…	1,391	944	1,193	276	32	3,836
1947–48	…	2,211	2,606	1,981	659	74	7,531
1951–52	…	1,775	2,300	2,213	1,149	153	7,590
1952–53	…	1,937	2,362	2,077	967	161	7,504
1953–54	…	2,284	2,240	2,031	758	126	7,439

I regret that I am unable to break the figures down into separate subjects and I have no corresponding information regarding diploma students of the numbers actually taking the degree and diploma examinations in the years concerned.I should also make it clear that the figures in Appendix II of Command Paper No. 9537 include London University degrees obtained by students of institutions not in receipt of Treasury recurrent grants, and London University external degrees.

asked the Minister of Education the latest figure for the overall shortage of teachers in Staffordshire.

The local education authority tells me that about 350 of the teaching posts which it wishes to fill are still vacant. Although this is serious, I

I have been asked to reply.The information available is given in the following table.am pleased that by its efforts the authority has achieved a better position than that indicated in my reply of 12th July last, when the comparable figure was about 450.

asked the Attorney-General what action he proposes to take upon the Report of the Committee on Land Charges, Command Paper No. 9825.

I cannot yet say what action the Government will take upon this Report, which is still receiving consideration.

asked the Attorney-General whether, while retaining the existing Land Charges Register for charges already registered there against persons' names, he will initiate legislation providing for all such charges which arise in future to be registered in the respective local land charges registers against the affected property, if it is unregistered land, and for all registrable charges, whether local or otherwise, which affect registered land, to be registered against the title to that land at Her Majesty's Land Registry.

This proposal would not improve the present system of registration. Where the title to land is not registered, it would continue in any event to be necessary for purchasers to search against names in the central Land Charges Register because such matters as bankruptcy petitions and receiving orders cannot be registered against land unless it is known what land the debtor has. Moreover, if local land charges affecting registered land had to be registered against the title, much additional work would be entailed in the many cases where a charge extends to both registered and unregistered land.

asked the Attorney-General if he will initiate legislation to oblige local authorities to register as local land charges all their resolutions or proposals affecting the use or value of land or buildings within their respective areas.

No. The Stainton Committee on Local Land Charges advised that many matters of this kind were unsuitable for registration and should continue to be elicited from local authorities by question and answer. I am aware that the Committee recommended that certain matters, such as a resolution to make a compulsory purchase order, should be registrable as local land charges, but I cannot hold out any prospect of legislation on this subject at present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will issue a more modern type of badge to the licensed taxi-drivers in the Metropolitan area in place of the large and unsightly metal plate which they are at present compelled to wear.

I admit that the present design of badge has some disadvantages, but I do not think these are sufficient to justify the cost of introducing a new type.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many convicts and warders are now stationed on Mageta Island and how many detainees and warders on Saiyusi Island ; and whether a medical officer is now stationed at either of these islands.

There are no convicts on Mageta Island. There are 1,984 detainees and 317 staff on Mageta Island and 644 detainees and 101 prison staff on Saiyusi Island. No medical officer can be made available to be resident at either camp, but both camps are visited weekly by an assistant surgeon, fortnightly by the District Medical Officer of Health, and monthly by the Provincial Medical Officer. Trained African dressers are employed in the hospital on each island.

asked the Minister of Supply the prices paid to manufacturers for the Centurion and Conqueror tanks.

It is contrary to Departmental practice and the public interest to disclose contract prices.

asked the Minister of Health, in view of the fact that all but a very few of the millions of uninoculated children in England and Wales escaped infection this year, what evidence his Department has for claiming that the inoculated owe their freedom to inoculation.

I assume that the Question refers to poliomyelitis vaccination. Trials with Salk vaccine in other countries gave good reason for believing that the British Salk type vaccine would confer some protection, but a statistical assessment of the value of the British vaccine is being undertaken by the Medical Research Council and any results will not be known for some months.