asked the President of the Board of Trade the total estimated expenditure involved in the approvals given in 1956 for the provision of new Government-financed factories or extensions under the Distribution of Industry Act in the North-Eastern Development Area and the corresponding figure for 1955.

£213,000 and £846,000 respectively.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the extent of deposits of tin, tungsten, lead, zinc, and other nonferrous metallic ores in Britain; and how far are they being worked.

The extent of these deposits is not precisely known. There are at present two tin mines and about a dozen lead and zinc workings in operation in this country. They produce about 1,000 tons of tin, 6,000 tons of lead and 3,000 tons of zinc a year.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the aggregate area of new factory space completed in Great Britain during each calendar year since 1950, expressed correct to the nearest one million square feet.

The figures for 1951–55 in millions of square feet are 34, 29, 31, 39 and 41 respectively. The figure for 1956 will probably exceed 41 million square feet but is not yet available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the value of property belonging to the British Government or British citizens and which has been confiscated by the Egyptian Government will be deducted from sterling balances payable to Egypt.

The Government have reserved the right to claim compensation for losses or damage caused by Egyptian action against British assets. It is not yet possible to make a further statement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount of Egypt's outstanding sterling balances; and if he will withhold any further releases until British claims on Egypt have been paid in full.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given today to the hon. Member for Accrington (Mr. H. Hynd).

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the estimated additional cost, per annum, to the nation of the present 5½ per cent. Bank Rate since it was raised from 4 per cent.; and what would be the estimated saving if it were reduced to 4 per cent.

It would not be feasible to make a calculation on the basis suggested by my hon. Friend.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the repeated demands in financial circles for a lower Bank Rate, if he will make a statement on his future policy regarding the Bank Rate.

The then Chancellor informed my hon. Friend on 5th June last that monetary policy remains flexible and Bank Rate will be varied as circumstances require.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the receipts from entertainments tax on cinemas in each of the three quarters of the present financial year; and what were the corresponding figures for the previous financial year.

The following are the figures:

asked the Secretary to the Treasury the yield from entertainment tax on the living theatre during the current financial year up to 31st December, 1956.

Receipts of Entertainments Duty from admissions to theatres and music halls during the period April to December, 1956, inclusive, were approximately £1,460,000.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that many workers in Dagenham, now on short time or redundant, are having difficulties in meeting mortgage payments on houses and on hire-purchase repayments; and what action he proposes to take to remedy their difficulties.

My right hon. Friend is aware that there has been short-time working and some redundancy at Dagenham, but he does not think that any specific action is needed to relieve those making payments of the kind mentioned in this Question.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, in view of the need to conserve fuel, he will take immediate action to encourage greater efficiency in the home by removing, or substantially reducing, the Purchase Tax on cooking utensils.

No. I do not think that any fuel savings which might result would justify the loss of revenue.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the value of British-held Suez Canal Company shares before Colonel Nasser unlawfully seized the Company's property; and what action is proposed with a view to recompensing the shareholders.

The market value of Her Majesty's Government's holding on 25th July, 1956, was about £29 million. I have no information about other British-owned shares. Compensation for the Company, and thus for the shareholders is, in the Government's view an important aspect of a final settlement of the Suez Canal problem and the Security Council's Resolution of 13th October, 1956, for which the United Kingdom voted, envisages a settlement by arbitration in case of dispute between the Suez Canal Company and the Egyptian Government.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury the ratio of new issues of debenture stock to preference shares or stock, excluding participating preference for the years 1952 to 1955 and 1936 to 1939.

No figures are available in official records, but figures published in the Midland Bank Review in February, 1956, show that the ratio of new issues by companies (other than railway, gas and water undertakings) of loan stock to preference capital (including participating preference capital) in 1952 to 1955 was 4·3 to 1, and in 1933 to 1938 was 1·7 to 1. No figures are available which exclude participating preference capital, or for the years 1936 to 1939.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the effect of increased petrol costs on farm prices.

It is estimated that, as a result of the recent increase in petrol prices, farmers' costs in respect of road vehicles, tractors, etc., would rise by about £7½ million in a full year. This additional cost will be considered at the forthcoming Annual Review along with all other relevant factors.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will arrange, subject to suitable safeguards, for approved grain storage buildings which must be started soon in order to be ready for next harvest, to rank for inclusion in the proposed farm improvement schemes.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware that capital expenditure particularly for buildings housing grain storage plants is at a standstill because of projected legislation; and whether he will make arrangements for specified types of building, commenced after 1st January, 1957, to be eligible for grants under the projected capital grants scheme.

I regret that I cannot at present add to the reply given to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Horncastle (Cdr. Maitland) on 20th December last, but my right hon. Friend hopes to make a statement shortly.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware of the request by Faroese shipowners for parity in fish landings in British ports with British and Icelandic ships and of the threat that if such parity be not granted the Faroese Parliament will be asked to impose restrictions on British ships in Faroese waters by increasing harbour charges and withdrawing permission to repair fishing tackle; and what steps he is taking to resolve these differences.

This request concerns the order of berthing and discharge, the arrangements for which are made by the interests concerned at the fishing ports. We have been glad to note that the President of the British Trawlers' Federation has publicly expressed the industry's readiness to discuss matters with representatives of the Faroese fishing industry.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, in view of the continuing public anxiety about the treatment of live cattle shipped from this country for slaughter on the Continent, he will now arrange or an inquiry to establish the facts; and if he will consider the desirability of requiring that these butchers' cattle should be slaughtered here and the carcass meat exported.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is continuing to watch the export of live cattle to the Continent; whether he is aware that public anxiety over this matter has not abated in spite of efforts to enforce the regulations; and why it is necessary for these live cattle to be exported for slaughter rather than their dead carcases.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware of the public anxiety at the conditions under which old dairy cattle are exported, live, to the Continent; and whether he is satisfied that the accommodation and treatment of these animals on the voyage is satisfactory judged by reasonable humane standards.

My right hon. Friend is at present considering the advisability of an inquiry such as my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Mr. Hurd) suggests into the export of live cattle for slaughter on the Continent. The desirability of requiring slaughter before export is clearly one that would have to be investigated in any such inquiry. In the meantime, my right hon. Friend is proposing to consult the interests concerned about the feasibility of strengthening the present transit regulations.

asked the Minister of Labour how many people have been dismissed from the motor car industry throughout the country during the last six months of 1956; and how many of these have been given employment in other industries.

During the last six months of 1956, firms in the motor vehicle and accessories industries reported to my Department that 21,000 workers would become redundant. While information is not available as to how many have obtained employment in other industries, the number of workers in these industries registered as wholly unemployed increased during this period by only 1,200.

asked the Minister of Labour what steps have been taken to find alternative employment for those workers, now redundant in Dagenham, in the motor car industry.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave to him on Tuesday last.

asked the Minister of Labour by how much the retail price index for food has increased since the increase in the price of petrol.

The index figures are calculated at monthly intervals and the latest available figures relate to 11th December. At that date the figure for the food group of the retail prices index showed a slight fall compared with a month earlier.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed registered in the radio industry at the latest convenient date.

At 10th December, 1956, the total numbers registered as unemployed were 1,028 in the wireless apparatus and gramophones industry and 312 in the wireless valves an electric lamps industry.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the full list of the previous convictions of Thomas Antonio Pirelli Ross, sentenced to seven years' imprisonment at Winchester Assizes for the manslaughter of Waclaw Kiergar, a Polish patient at Park Prewett Mental Hospital, Basingstoke.

No. The information in my possession about any previous convictions which a prisoner may have is confidential and it would be contrary to long-standing practice to disclose it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has now taken to relieve hardship and distress among the British civilians evacuated from Egypt.

Refugees are helped to join relatives or friends here, or are accommodated in hostels provided by the Government if they have nowhere else to go. The Government have made a grant of £100,000 to the Anglo-Egyptian Aid Society to enable it to give prompt relief to those in need, and the Society has already helped some hundreds of refugees by making them temporary allowances. All possible efforts are being made by the Ministry of Labour to find jobs for these British subjects, and several voluntary organisations are helping the Government Departments concerned to deal with the refugees' problems and to facilitate their integration into the community.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what extra cost has been incurred by his Department as a result of having to allocate petrol coupons for goods vehicles and omnibuses.

About £31,000, up to date.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware that many bakers in towns and cities will be unable to deliver bread to their customers when their basic petrol allocation has been used; and if he will take steps to increase the allocation.

The basic ration should cover a good part of the normal mileage of small vehicles used on bread deliveries in urban areas. Any small baker whose livelihood may be threatened by lack of petrol may appeal to the district transport officer and, if necessary, to the regional transport commissioner on grounds of hardship.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether his attention has been drawn to the report, issued as a result of the formal investigation under Section 466 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, into the loss of the trawler "Northern Crown," which discloses that the skipper of the trawler had appeared at an inquiry held in October, 1956, by a reinsurance association and, as a result, had been prohibited from sailing as a skipper for eighteen months, or a mate for twelve months, and to the comments of the court which conducted the formal investigation that it seemed unfortunate that any one in the position of the skipper should have to stand trial twice for the same offence, and whether he will make a statement.

I understand that it is the practice of the fishing insurance associations to hold private inquiries into all casualties to fishing vessels which are insured with them. The purpose of such inquiries is to decide whether a man shall continue to be employed in the fishing vessels concerned. They have no power, nor do they purport, to cancel or suspend a skipper's certificate. This can be done only by a Court of Formal Investigation set up under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what reply he has sent to the renewed official request of the International Committee of the Red Cross to be allowed to inspect detention camps in Kenya.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave yesterday to the hon. and learned Member for West Ham, South (Mr. Elwyn Jones).

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps are being taken by the Inter-University Council to recruit teachers for the dependent countries; and what proposals for secondment schemes have been considered.

I would refer the hon. Member to Cmd. 9515 (June, 1955). This contained a Report to Parliament by the Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas on its work, which includes recruitment.As the Council is fully autonomous the second part of the Question should be addressed to its Chairman or Secretary.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Power if he is aware that as Australian tourists are unable to take home cars purchased in the United Kingdom unless they have been used for eighteen months they alone of overseas visitors will be penalised by petrol rationing; and whether he will arrange for more lenient treatment for these Commonwealth visitors.

All overseas visitors are entitled to the same special allowances of petrol and I regret that it is not practicable to differentiate between them by reference to varieties of legal arrangement in their countries of origin.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Power what advice he has to give to the organisers of agricultural shows, gymkhanas, and fetes in rural constituencies, in view of the shortage of petrol; and to what extent he now estimates that the petrol situation will have eased by the summer, so as to allow such shows to be held.

It is too soon for any reliable forecast to be made of the supply position beyond the present rationing period and I regret that I am not yet able to give any guidance to organisers of agricultural shows.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Power what progress has been made in producing smokeless fuels; and the prospects for the immediate future in this respect.

Supplies of smokeless fuels are sufficient in total to meet demand at the present time and are likely to remain so in the immediate future.