asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why a letter, posted in London on 25th July to Archbishop Makarios, was not delivered to him until 13th October; and how long it will be before he receives copies of the OFFICIAL REPORT of the Cyprus debate on 14th September, which were posted to him on publication.

If I have correctly identified it from the information given in the first part of the Question, the letter was addressed to the Archbishop in Seychelles, whence it was sent to Cyprus for examination and returned without delay to Seychelles for delivery. Mails between Seychelles and the mainland travel by infrequent ship, and the average period of transit for each stage of the letter's journey was nearly three weeks.As regards the second part of the Question, the copies of the OFFICIAL REPORT to which it refers were delivered to the Archbishop on 13th December.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Special Commissioners of Income Tax upheld an appeal by a football supporters club against tax assessments on a football pool run by the club; and how far this decision will be followed by the Inland Revenue in other similar cases.

Yes. The football pool in this case was organised on the basis that a specified percentage of the sum received from each competitor would be paid as a gift to the football club. The Special Commissioners have held that this donation element formed no part of the receipts to be taken into account in computing for Income Tax purposes the profits of the trade of promoting the pool. This decision will be accepted by the Inland Revenue as governing all cases where a football pool or small lottery is run by a supporters clubs or other society on the basis that a stated percentage or fraction of the cost of each ticket or chance will be given to a club or body established and conducted wholly or mainly for one or more of the purposes specified in subsection (1) of Section 1 of the Small Lotteries and Gaming Act, 1956.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the figures showing the sterling reserves built up by China to date.

I regret that I cannot reveal the balances of individual countries.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if a date has now been agreed when the clearance of the Suez Canal will continue.

Clearance by Anglo-French naval units continues in the zone under their control. No date has yet been agreed for the commencement of clearance in the remaining sectors of the Canal.

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the supplementary allowance for a Carlisle taxi; and how that compares with the allowance for a London taxi of the same horsepower.

Following representations that the present differentiation between the allowances for London and Provincial taxi-cabs is unfair to the latter, I have obtained further information which confirms that the mileage done by provincial taxi-cabs is generally less than that done by London ones but justifies an increase in the maximum provincial allowance to 100 gallons a month. The comparable London maximum allowance will be 125 gallons a month.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why no acknowledgment has yet been sent to the petition from certain residents of Hove relating to obstruction by parked vehicles which was received in his Department by registered post on 8th November last.

I regret that, through an oversight, an acknowledgment was not sent. A letter of apology has been sent to the petitioners.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to inaccuracies in the figures quoted as the legal maximum for candidates' expenses in Northern Ireland constituencies in column 7 on pages 83–85 of the Return of the expenses of each candidate in the General Election of May, 1955; and whether he will, accordingly, take steps to amend the Return.

Yes. A mistake was made in compiling the return by including in the legal maximum for a candidate's expenses in a Northern Ireland constituency the basic amount of £450 which only applies to Great Britain constituencies. Consequently the figures given in column 7 of the return for Northern Ireland constituencies are in each case £450 above the correct amount. I wish to express to the House and to hon. Members for Northern Ireland constituencies in particular my deep regret that this unfortunate mistake should have been made. An address for an amendment of the return will be moved as soon as possible.

asked the Prime Minister if he will arrange for the appropriate committee to consider the award of a campaign medal for the Port Said landings and associated operations.

I have been asked to reply. This will be considered in the ordinary course by the standing committee concerned with such matters.

asked the Minister of Supply if he will postpone the sales of motor vehicles at Ruddington, Nottingham, until the difficult petrol situation is eased, as these vehicles are collected from many parts of the country and dispersed after each sale in a similar manner.

No; but movements are being kept to a minimum.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what percentage of the Great Britain total of industrial building under construction was being carried out in Scotland in 1955.

The area of industrial building under construction in Scotland in 1955 was approximately 7 per cent. of that under construction in the whole of Great Britain.