asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the size of the labour force on agriculture in each of the

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what advice and help he is giving to local authorities in order that they may play their part in the accommodation of Hungarian refugees.

I am glad to say that voluntary effort seems likely to be fully able to deal with this tragic problem; but I am sure that local authorities will readily consider any requests for assistance which the voluntary bodies may make and which it is within their power to meet.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many dwelling-houses in the city of Dundee at present controlled by the Rent Acts have a rateable value exceeding £40.

I am informed that about 600 houses in Dundee of rateable values over £40 are at present subject to controlled tenancies under the Rent Acts.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many last six years; and how many school children were employed in potato gathering in each of those years.

The following are the figures:dwelling-houses in the city of Dundee at present controlled by the Rent Acts have a rateable value of £40 or less.

I am informed that about 30,000 houses in Dundee of rateable values up to £40 are subject to controlled tenancies under the Rent Acts.

asked the Minister of Works what progress has been made in improving the appearance of the deep shelters in the Clapham area; and if he will make a statement.

Work has been done at the Avenue entrance at Clapham South, as a trial scheme for the other shelters.The air "trunking" has been removed and the height of the ventilation shaft reduced from 30 ft. to 12 ft. The fences have been taken away and the grass of the common will be extended up to the buildings. I am now considering whether the general appearance of the shelter will be improved by colour wash.

asked the Secretary of State for War how the reward is divided among units and individuals when a Cypriot terrorist with a reward on his capture falls into Army hands.

Such rewards are not paid to members of the Security Forces, whether soldiers or civil police.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will make a further statement on the release of Army reservists.

asked the Secretary of State for War when he now proposes to discharge Army reservists.

I would refer my hon. Friend and the hon. Member to my statement on this subject which I made in the House today.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many of the British casualties in Port Said were wounded by bullets and munitions manufactured in Great Britain; and how many of these British casualties sustained injuries received from the British Lee Enfield rifles subsequently captured from the Egyptians.

This information is not available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when it is intended to implement the recommendations of the Hodgson Committee Report on Weights and Measures.

As soon as Parliamentary time permits.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will appoint a departmental committee to consider the cases of hardship which have arisen as a result of increase in interest rates on mortgages which have been granted by building societies in periods when interest rates were lower, with a view to legislation to control these interest rates.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware of the difficulty of keeping and checking the log books of users of dieselengined motor vehicles; that this difficulty can be overcome by converting the yearly amount of duty collected in respect of each such vehicle into an additional licence fee on each such vehicle; and if he will take action to enable this to be done.

I am aware that there has been some criticism of the existing procedure on this point and I will bear in mind the hon. and learned Gentleman's suggestion.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the amount of dollars he has made available, or proposes to allocate, for the purchase of oil from dollar markets.

I cannot add to what I said in the debate on the Address.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is the average increase of rent which will be permitted under the Rent Bill on tenanted and controlled houses remaining under control in the Metropolitan Police district, in other parts of England and Wales and in England and Wales as a whole and over how many houses in each case is that average reckoned.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will publish a list showing the number of dwelling-houses, distinguishing between those in London and those elsewhere in England and Wales, of a gross rateable value exceeding £10 but not exceeding £15, exceeding £15 but not exceeding £20, and so on at £5 stages up to £40 in London and £30 elsewhere in England and Wales; and if in such lists he will set against each group the average rent of dwelling-houses in that group.

I would refer the hon. and learned Gentleman and my hon. Friend to the White Paper on Statistical Information about rent control (Cmnd. 17).

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what were the average rents of three-bedroom houses on council and non-council tenancies in the Metropolitan police district and the City of London and elsewhere in England and Wales on the latest convenient date.

My information relating to non-council tenancies, a summary of which was published in Cmnd. 17, does not distinguish between dwellings of different sizes. For council tenancies I have returns made by the great majority of local authorities in England and Wales. These show average weekly net rents of three-bedroom dwellings in housing revenue accounts on 31st March, 1956, as follows: 21s. 4d. for the London County Council; 22s. 6d. for metropolitan borough councils; 14s. 1½d. for county borough councils; 16s. 8d. for non-county borough councils; 15s. 7d. for urban district councils; and 16s. 5d. for rural district councils.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many times the rate of interest on loans under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act has been increased since 1951; what were the rates in 1951 and 1956; and what steps are being taken to encourage people to purchase their own homes by giving them better facilities.

The rate of interest is fixed by statute as ¼ per cent. in excess of the rate for advances from the Local Loans Fund. I would therefore refer the hon. Member to Table II in the answer given by my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. Member for West Ham, North (Mr. Lewis) on 15th November. All the evidence of advances made by building societies and local authorities shows that the demand for house purchase is continuing at a high rate.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will make a further statement on his proposal to increase rents, in view of the Government's policy of keeping prices and the cost of living steady.

I would ask the hon. Member to await the statements that will be made in the debate on the Second Reading of the Bill.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what guidance he is giving to local authorities about the rapid dispersal of the population should this country be attacked, in view of the international tension now prevailing.

It was stated in the Defence White Paper issued last February that the Government proposed to discuss their proposals on evacuation policy with representatives of the local authorities. Those discussions are in progress.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what reparations he proposes to offer to the Egyptian Government for the damage inflicted upon Egyptian lives and property during the recent military operations by the Anglo-French forces.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will make available to the Egyptian Government a grant of £50,000 to enable them to overcome the effects of the bombing and armed conflict carried out by this country.

No such step is under consideration by Her Majesty's Government.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will make a statement on the Englishmen awaiting trial by the Egyptian courts.

I have nothing to add to the reply which I gave on 5th November to the hon. and gallant Member for Arundel and Shoreham (Captain Kerby).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions have been obtained in the last five years under the Fabrics (Misdescription) Act, 1913.

None in England and Wales during the years 1951–1955.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received a Report of the Panel set up by the Council for Wales and Monmouthshire on the Mid-Wales Spas; and whether he will publish this as a White Paper as well as the conclusions of the Government on its recommendations.

This Report is included in the Council's Third Memorandum on its activities which will be published as a White Paper. The recommendations of the Panel are the concern of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health, to whom I have already sent a copy.

asked the Minister of Supply the total value of existing contracts placed by his Department with Decca Radar Limited.

It is not the practice to disclose the value of contracts placed with a firm.

asked the Minister of Supply if he is aware that Decca Radar Limited, Maiden Way, is in breach of the Fair Wage Clause in Government contracts by reason of its failure to implement the decision of the Industrial Disputes Tribunal Award, Number 840, dated 14th May, 1956, and that notice of an official dispute has been served by the Clerical and Administrative Workers Union which has authorised its members to withdraw their labour on Monday, 19th November; what action he proposes to take in respect of existing contracts placed by his Department with this firm, and in respect of any future contracts: and if he will make a statement.

I am making inquiries and will communicate with the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will publish in HANSARD a table of figures showing the number of dock workers unemployed at each of the docks in Britain at the latest convenient stated date; and what percentage these represent of those normally employed at each of the docks.

The following figures show for the week ending 10th November, 1956, the average daily surplus labour and the percentage which this represents of the workers' register:

asked the Minister of Health if he will arrange that, after 1st December, refunds of prescription charges can, if required, be made separately from the payment of National Assistance grants of disability pensions.

The Postmaster-General and the Minister of Labour and National Service are making arrangements under which from the 1st December next, such refunds will be made, on request, on any day and not necessarily the day on which the allowance is paid.

asked the Postmaster-General why Falkirk is a black spot so far as telephone supply is concerned; and what special steps, beyond the normal programme, he is taking to bring Falkirk level with the rest of the country.

In telephone supply Falkirk does lag behind other areas at present. But this will be changed shortly when additional exchange equipment, now being installed, is brought into service. This will enable about half the outstanding applications to be met. New cables are also to be provided, and the majority of the remaining applicants will be given service within the next twelve months.

asked the Minister of Defence what terminal leave will be granted to recalled reservists and retained Regular Service men when they are released.

Recalled reservists will be granted a minimum of seven days leave. Those who were overseas and did not therefore benefit from the grant of leave during their service will receive an additional seven days. Reservists retained after release has started will be granted an additional day for every completed week of service after that date.Retained Regular Service men will receive their normal entitlement of twenty-eight days terminal leave with an additional seven days if they have been retained for at least one month. Those retained for over four months will receive an additional day for each completed week of service in excess of that period.

asked the Minister of Defence the estimated total cost of the recent military intervention in Egypt.

As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated in the debate on the Address on 12th November, the estimated additional expenditure upon military arrangements during the current financial year is between £35 million and £50 million.

asked the Minister of Defence why the original D-Day in the Egyptian campaign, timed to commence at dawn on Tuesday, 6th November, was advanced; and why paratroops were dropped on Monday, 5th November.

The landing of the Commando Brigade at Port Said took place on 6th November as planned. Paratroops were dropped twenty-four hours beforehand in order to minimise destruction of property and life. Their brilliant success enabled us to dispense with preliminary bombardment, which would inevitably have inflicted heavy casualties and damage.