asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and, Food what examination his experts have given to the many new features and ideas found in the new Faroese trawler "Skalaberg" built in Germany to the order of P/F Kjolbro which called at Aberdeen last month; and if he will cause a report of these new features and ideas to be made available for the benefit of the British trawling industry.

An inspection of this foreign trawler which was kindly per-milted when this vessel called at Grimsby has not revealed any special features about which British fishing and trawler building interests are not already informed.

asked the Minister of Defence why men of the Merchant Navy who were prisoners of war of the Japanese in Osaka Camp, Number 1, have, in the disbursement of the third and final compensation gratuity, been paid £25 less than Army prisoners of war in the same camp, although they experienced exactly the same conditions and treatment.

I have been asked to reply.As my right hon. Friend the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance informed the hon. Member in reply to his Question on 1st February, 1956, the position is governed by the Peace Treaty. While the men concerned have received the same share as members of the Armed Forces of Japanese assets realised in the United Kingdom under Article 14 of the Treaty, the Treaty confines the distribution of money received under Article 16 to members of the Armed Forces.

asked the Minister of Defence the number of Regular recruits enlisted in the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force during the period 1st January to 31st December, 1956, together with the comparable figures for 1954 and 1955.

I have been asked to reply.The Answer is as follows:

asked the Minister of Defence the number of man-years recruited by the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, separate figures being given for each Service, in 1956, excluding boys and short-service engagements; and if he will give separate figures to show, respectively, when no allowance is made for National Service and when National Service is excluded.

I have been asked to reply.The Answer is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what programmes in the British Broadcasting Corporation's overseas and European services have been discontinued or curtailed since 1950.

The net programme hours of services which have been curtailed or discontinued since 1950 are are shown in the following table of weekly programme hours of total output as at 1st July, 1950, and 1st July, 1956, respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many British Broadcasting Corporation programmes of the Latin-American service were rebroadcast in South and Central America in 1949 and in 1956.

I am informed that in 1949 183 stations rebroadcast the British Broadcasting Corporation's Latin American service for a total time of 340 hours a week. In 1956 the service was rebroadcast regularly by 11 stations for a total of 23 hours a week.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what contribution Her Majesty's Government have made towards the relief of distress in Hungary since the House adjourned for the Christmas Recess.

On 25th January Her Majesty's Government made a gift to the British Red Cross Society of 3,600 tons of canned milk valued at £90,000. These supplies are urgently needed for the feeding programme which the International Red Cross Committee are operating in Hungary.This gift brings the total contributions by Her Majesty's Government for relief in Hungary and assistance to Hungarian refugees abroad to approximately £263,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the representatives of Italy and the German Federal Republic voted in favour of applying the Resolution, taken by the Brussels Treaty Council in December, 1950, to the newly-created organisation of Western European Union, when the matter came before the Council of Western European Union for decision.

The Brussels Treaty Organisation Resolution of 20th December, 1950, was not endorsed as such by Italy and the Federal Republic of Germany. The structure of Western European Union was however laid down in the London and Paris Agreements of 1954 to which those two Governments were parties.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will instruct his representative to the Council of Western European Union to impress upon the Council that it is the collective responsibility of that body and not the responsibility of individual nations within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to ensure that the obligations of Article 5 of the Brussels Treaty are fulfilled, seeing that it goes further in guaranteeing automatic assistance against aggression than the provisions of Article 5 of the Atlantic Treaty.

No. It is not the collective responsibility of the Western European Union Council but of the Governments who have chosen to use the machinery of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation for the fulfilment of their mutual defence obligations.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education for how long the recently negotiated Burnham award is binding; whether this period is written into the agreement; and whether he will state the relevant section of the agreement in full.

The current Burnham Reports contain no recommendation by the Committee about the period for which the scales embodied in them should remain in operation. My noble Friend's predecessor, in his letters to the Committee notifying it of his intention to approve the scales under Section 89 of the Education Act, 1944, said that this would be on the assumption that, unless there was some major change in circumstances, they would continue in force for the normal three-year period. These letters are published with the Burnham Reports.

asked the Minister of Health what provision is made for patients in mental institutions to obtain legal advice when a request is made to have such advice.

A patient who requests legal advice may seek this through his relations or friends or may be allowed to communicate directly for the purpose.

asked the Minister of Health when a certified patient makes the necessary progress warranting a discharge from a mental institution what assistance is given to such a patient being without friends or relatives or the financial resources to provide a home to take up a normal way of life again; or whether such patients are retained in a mental institution.

Patients who have recovered from their mental illness cannot legally be detained in hospital. When discharged they cease to be the responsibility of the hospital management committee, but help in resuming normal life in the community is given by social workers of the hospital or of the local health authority. Financial help, if necessary, would be given by the National Assistance Board; any question of residential accommodation is for the local authority under Part III of the National Assistance Act.

asked the Minister of Health how many patients were employed on work connected with the running of Cane Hill Mental Hospital during 1956; the main types of work in which the services of patients were engaged; what remuneration was paid for their services; and what system was in operation for obtaining the signatures of patients for money received in this way.

On average, 460 female and 484 male patients were occupied during 1956 in the wards, grounds, workshops, stores, bakehouse, laundry kitchen, needleroom and offices. Occupation is a valuable part of treatment and patients are therefore encouraged to undertake it when able to do so. Remuneration, as such, is not paid, but varying rewards in cash or kind are given as an incentive to effort. Patients are not required to give receipts for these rewards, which were given to a total value of £9,915 11 s. 9d. in 1956.

asked the Minister of Health how many patients were employed in the laundry of the Cane Hill Mental Hospital during 1956; how much was paid for their services; the rates of pay- ment; and the procedure followed for obtaining the signatures of the patients for the money they received.

During 1956 an average of 59 patients daily were occupied in the laundry at Cane Hill Hospital, and rewards were given in cash and in kind to a total value of £795 1s. 10d. Female patients in the laundry received a maximum cash reward of 6s. 0d. per week and male patients received a weekly allowance of two ounces of tobacco. Patients were not required to give receipts for these rewards.

asked the Minister of Health the maximum and minimum rates of pay to certified and voluntary patients undertaking work in mental institutions in which they are housed; when the scales were introduced; and what consideration has been given to increasing the scales.

Hospitals were authorised in 1951 to pay to patients in mental and mental deficiency hospitals rewards for work which is done as part of their treatment. No maximum or minimum rates have been laid down.

asked the Minister of Health how much pocket money from public sources was paid to Mrs. Harriett Thornton during the period she was certified under the Lunacy Act from 1st April, 1953, and 26th October, 1956; and whether this was in accordance with the policy of paying at the rate of 5s. per week.

As she had resources of her own, Mrs. Thornton did not receive any payments of pocket money from public funds during the period of certification.

asked the Minister of Health how long Mrs. Harriett Thornton worked in the laundry at the Cane Hill Mental Hospital; the nature of her duties; how much weekly she received for her services; what procedure was followed in making payments for this work; and in what way Mrs. Thornton's signature was obtained as a receipt.

Mrs. Thornton helped with folding in the laundry at Cane Hill Hospital during the period from November, 1954, to March, 1956, except when absent on leave; she received a weekly cash reward at the rate of 5s. until July, 1955, after which the weekly rate was increased to 6s. These payments were made by the Laundry Superintendent or his deputy, and Mrs. Thornton was not required to give any receipts.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will state, for the last convenient year, how many children under the age of 12 years were found guilty of offences in the county of London and in the rest of England and Wales, respectively; and how they were dealt with.

I am sorry I cannot give precisely that information; but I hope the following statistics, which are for 1955, will be of assistance:

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is aware of the delay experienced by the Lincoln Co-operative Society in obtaining a decision on the future of their premises at Silver Street, Lincoln; and the present position.

I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the decision letter which has today been issued.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is aware that Figure 54 of the Housing Manual of 1949 shows a kitchen in which the sink and cooker are on opposite walls, an arrangement which greatly increases the risk of scalding accidents, which are one of the main causes of death and injury to young children; and whether, before issuing a new manual, he will take the advice of an expert on home safety.

I agree that this arrangement is better avoided, and the right hon. Member will find that it has been discarded in all plans for new dwellings published by my Department during the last four years. I am fully aware of the importance of design on safety in the home, and my Department is represented on the Standing Inter-Departmental Committee on Accidents in the Home.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many persons in the Ashington area of the National Health Service have applied for and received reimbursement of prescriptions on medical item charges since the beginning of the charge to the nearest convenient date.

The National Assistance Board regret that this information is not available.

asked the Postmaster-General how many television licences have been issued in Brentford and Chiswick up to the latest convenient date; and how this total compares with the corresponding figures for 1956 and 1955.

No separate record is kept of television licences issued in Brentford and Chiswick, and I regret the information is therefore not available.

asked the Postmaster-General how many applications for telephones in Brentford and Chiswick were still outstanding at the latest convenient date; how many of these will be met during the year 1957; and when it is expected that the majority of the existing applications will be disposed of.

Two hundred and twenty applications were outstanding at the end of December, 1956; in addition, there were 165 in course of being met or under inquiry. There is a steady new demand, and I expect that about 750 telephones will be provided this year. Two-thirds of the applications at present outstanding are held up because new cables are needed, and these cannot unfortunately be provided until next year.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will now instruct the Treasury Solicitor to prepare a deed to release from use the length of water main leading to Stratton Factory, Swindon, which runs through the estate belonging to the Building and Public Works Construction Company Limited, and to grant a substituted easement in respect of the new main taken through No. 116, Wheeler Avenue in order that the company may now sign contracts with purchasers of houses on its estate; and why this matter has still not been settled after over eighteen months of negotiation.

The Treasury Solicitor has been so instructed. I am looking into the cause of delay and will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many cases of disordered action of the heart occurred in the Army during the First and Second World Wars, respectively.

I regret figures are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for War why his Department does not pay road tax prices for diesel oil for Army equipment which does not use the highway; when the practice was discontinued; and what has been the amount refunded by the Excise over the period involved.

Diesel oil used in static machinery and in equipment not designed for running on the highway is not subject to full duty, and in this respect the Army is in exactly the same position as other users. Duty has not been paid in the past on diesel oil used for these purposes, and the rest of the Question does not therefore apply.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what amounts have been spent by the United Kingdom Government on financing emigration or land settlement schemes in Southern Rhodesia under the Empire Settlement Act from 1952–1957 for each year, respectively.

The only expenditure under the Empire Settlement Acts incurred by the United Kingdom Government on migration schemes in Southern Rhodesia in 1952–1957 has been in respect of the Rhodesia Fairbridge Memorial College. The United Kingdom Government contribute towards the cost of the passages of migrant children and their escorts from the United Kingdom and the maintenance of the children at the College. During the years 1952–1957 expenditure has been as follows: