asked the Postmaster-General whether, before fixing standards of efficiency for colour television, steps will be taken to ensure that these will be such as to suit international requirements so that insular specifications will not again exclude us from the export market of the future.

Together with other problems, the international aspect of colour television is now being examined by the Television Advisory Committee. Full weight will be given to the issue raised by the right hon. Gentleman.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will list road schemes for which he is responsible and the total cost of each of which would be more than £10,000, where land has already been acquired or could be quickly acquired, in England.

I give below a list of those schemes on trunk roads in England for which all the land has been acquired, but on which work has not yet started. In addition, there are many other schemes for which some land has been acquired or on which negotiations for land acquisition are proceeding. In those cases I cannot say how long it may take to complete the necessary acquisition.

asked the Minister of Defence if he will publish in HANSARD details of the arms and munitions supplied to Egypt since 1951; and on what date the last shipment was sent.

No. It would be contrary to the normal practice to disclose details of exports of military equipment. On 30th July my hon. Friend the Prime Minister informed the House that all exports of war material to Egypt had been stopped.

asked the Minister of Defence on what dates British Forces began concentrating in Cyprus and elsewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean for action against Egypt; and whether he will give these details regarding the 16th Parachute Brigade, the Royal Marine Commandos and the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet including the carriers H.M.S. "Eagle", H.M.S. "Albion", and H.M.S. "Bulwark".

The H.Q. and three battalions of the 16th Parachute Brigade Group, the H.Q. and two Commandos of the 3rd Commando Brigade and the carrier "Eagle" were already in the Mediterranean when Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal at the end of July. As part of the precautionary measures which the Government then decided to take, the remaining units of the Parachute and Commando Brigades were sent from the United Kingdom. The Parachute units began to leave this country on 5th August and the Commando unit left on 23rd August. At the same time reinforcements were sent to the Mediterranean Fleet: H.M.S. "Bulwark" left the United Kingdom on 6th August and H.M.S. "Albion" on 15th September.

asked the Minister of Defence whether he will give an estimate of the total number of casualties incurred among the people and residents of Egypt, during the recent armed conflict in that country.

The most recent estimate we have for Egyptian civilian and military casualties in Port Said is that 100 have been killed and 540 wounded. I have no information about casualties in other parts of Egypt.

asked the Minister of Defence his approximate estimate of the cost of damage to buildings, airfields and all other types of property, bombed, destroyed or damaged, in any way in Egypt during Britain's armed conflict with that country.

It is not possible to assess the damage to property.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what proposals have been made by Her Majesty's Government to the United Nations for setting up a permanent international police force; and what objections to these proposals have been made to that organisation.

Her Majesty's Government took a leading part in the efforts between 1946 and 1948 to give effect to Article 43 of the United Nations Charter, which calls on members to provide armed forces to the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security. The Military Staff Committee which was set up for this purpose reported on 2nd July, 1948, that it had reached a deadlock on general principles. The Security Council was unable to resolve this deadlock and discussions thus came to an end. In 1950 Her Majesty's Government co-sponsored the "Uniting for Peace" resolution which was intended to fill the gap left by the Security Council's inability to agree on the provision of armed forces, and which set up the Collective Measures Committee. In 1954 we supported the continuance on a stand-by basis of this Committee. Objections to the provision of armed forces to the Security Council came, in the main, from the Soviet Government, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government, were essentially political in character. As regards the recent proposal to set up an international force on the Arab-Israel borders, I have nothing to add to the reply which I gave on 12th November to the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Mr. Swingler).

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what instructions have been given to the British representative at the United Nations organisation in regard to future British participation in United Nations organisation activities.

I have nothing to add to the reply which I gave to the honourable Member for Meriden (Mr. Moss) on 12th November.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will place before the United Nations a suitably worded resolution pledging Her Majesty's Government to the payment of any reparations which the United Nations may award to Egypt, as Britain's share of making good the damage caused to Egyptian property during the recent armed conflict against Egypt.

No. The hon. Member is evidently under some misapprehension as to the functions of the United Nations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the outcome of his talks with Mr. Heah Joo Seang, President of the Straits-Chinese British Association, who visited Britain recently to plead for his fellow citizens in Penang who wish to retain their British status of Queen's Chinese.

Mr. Heah Joo Seang presented a petition from the Straits-Chinese British Association on the status of inhabitants of the Settlements in an independent Malaya, which he asked me to submit to the Queen. This I have done. He also informed me of the views of the Association. I told him that I would bear these views in mind when the time came to consider the recommendations of the Constitutional Commission.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in view of the public concern and implications of the Grivas diary, both in Cyprus and abroad, if he will arrange for a photostat copy of the original and translation, with notes, to be placed in the Library of the House of Commons for the convenience of Members.

If it is the wish or general desire of the House, I am ready to arrange for photostat copies of the originals of this published material, and of certain further material, to be placed in the Library, as soon as they can be made. The rest of the material must remain unpublished for the time being for security reasons.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has now considered the revised constitutional proposals in the White Paper published by the Gold Coast Government; and to what extent there is now an opportunity of reaching an agreement between the parties in the Gold Coast.

The revised constitutional proposals published on 8th November are to be debated in the Legislative Assembly. Until that debate has taken place, I do not think that it would be right for me to comment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many Africans have been registered as electors in the different tribes, respectively, in Kenya.

I am asking the Governor for this information and will circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what were the numbers of Europeans and Asians who voted in each constituency in the recent elections for the Legislative Council of Kenya; and how many votes were given in each case for the successful candidate.

The information requested is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what Colonial Protectorate or other Governments, under the supervision of his Department, which accept immigrant labour, insist on screening for tuberculosis either at port of exit or entry or both.

While medical examination of immigrant labour in accordance with the relevant I.L.O. Conventions is the rule, I am not aware that any Government insists on immigrant labour being screened for tuberculosis.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will expedite inquiries as to the safety of Mr. Ozzard-Low and other officials of the Suez base contractors.

I can assure my hon. Friend that we are already doing everything we can to get news quickly. The Swiss authorities inform us that these officials are interned, and as soon as arrangements can be made a Swiss representative will visit them. Mrs. Ozzard-Low and other relatives have already been told of this. Further information will be passed on to relatives as it is received.

asked the Minister of Supply what is the division in numbers between officers and other ranks of the 5,320 officers and men seconded from the three Services to his Department.

1,214 officers and 4,106 men.

asked the Minister of Education if he will give, for the latest available date, the number of new school places provided since 1945, with separate figures for primary and secondary places, and for permanent building and temporary, for example, hut, accommodation.

Up to the end of last month about 1,730,000 new places had been brought into use, of which 1,020,000 were primary places and 710,000 secondary places. About 200,000 of the secondary places, including 170,000 in H.O.R.S.A. huts, are known not to be of permanent construction.

asked the Minister of Education whether, in the case of the young boy about whom details have been sent to him by the hon. Member for Lichfield and Tamworth, he is satisfied that notification to the parents of the decision of the Staffordshire County Council Education Committee to transfer the boy to the charge of the local health authority in accordance with Section 57 (3) of the Education Act, 1944, was legally notified to the satisfaction of his Department; and whether he will arrange for the boy to be brought back under the care of the education committee pending a reexamination of the case and the scrutiny of medical evidence.

I am writing to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Education what conflict of medical evidence, as between the doctor appointed by his Department and doctors consulted by the parents, existed in the case of the young boy about whom details have been sent by the hon. Member for Lichfield and Tamworth, and who the Staffordshire County Council Education Committee states is ineducable.

I am writing to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Education whether the legislation proposed by Her Majesty's Government to enable the functions of the Imperial Institute to be transferred to another building will be introduced in the current Session.

The Government still hope that it will be possible to introduce this legislation during the present Session.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power in view of the damage to the amenities of mining valleys caused by the existing system of spoil disposal, if he will give a general direction to the National Coal Board to give immediate consideration to the discontinuance of the system and the removal of present coal-tips.

This is a matter to be dealt with under Town and Country Planning legislation and not by a general direction from me. The National Coal Board, for its part, is anxious to mitigate the effects of waste disposal on amenities.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power how much he has paid to the National Coal Board during each of the last five years under the provisions of Section 11 of the Coal-Mining (Subsidence) Act, 1950, in respect of mining subsidence.

Payments to the National Coal Board during each of the last five financial years in respect of mining subsidence were as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to implement the assurances given by Her Majesty's Government that asylum will be offered in the United Kingdom to 2,500 Hungarian refugees.

A team of imigration and medical officers has gone to Austria in order that the Hungarian refugees who wish to come to this country may receive there the necessary clearances that will enable them on arrival here to go at once to the temporary accommodation that is being arranged to receive them; and a representative of the British Council for Aid to Refugees has also gone to Austria in order that arrangements for clearance, transport and reception may as far as possible be co-ordinated. An inter-Departmental Working Party has been set up to assist the Council in their work of reception and re-settlement.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is aware that an increasing proportion of the land in and around the county of London available for industrial development is being purchased by large building contractors who will only sell to purchasers prepared to give them exclusively a contract for the proposed buildings; and whether he will call in all applications for industrial development in this area, and refuse planning permission where such conditions are imposed.

The private aquisition of industrial land and the terms and conditions of its disposal are not relevant to any planning issues within my jurisdiction, and I cannot take these matters into account in deciding whether to call in applications for planning permission or in giving decisions on applications.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what was the total cost of the administration of National Assistance during the latest year for which figures are available; how many applications for assistance were made during this period; and, of these, how many were granted and how many refused.

For the financial year 1955–56 the total cost of administration of the National Assistance Board was £6,750,000. In addition to work on National Assistance, this also covered the other work of the Board, for particulars of which I would refer the hon. Member to their Annual Report. Of new applications made during the year in question 1,528,000 were granted, and 275,000 refused or withdrawn.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance in how many cases an application was made for refund of the 1s. charge for medicine during the last year for which information is available; and in how many of these the application was granted and in how many refused.

Information is not available precisely in this form, but I can inform the hon. Member that during the financial year 1955–56 refunds were made representing about 9½ million 1s. charges. Refunds are made in normal course to persons receiving National Assistance and to war pensioners requiring medicine for their accepted disablement; of applications from persons outside these classes about 380 were refused.