asked the President of the Board of Trade what immediate steps he proposes to take to foster industrial development in Glenrothes, Fife-shire, in view of the prospect of coal production in the immediate future from the neighbouring new colliery at Rothes.

The Board of Trade will continue to draw Glenrothes to the attention of suitable industries.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is now in a position to announce a date when he expects to publish the report of the committee of inquiry into matters affecting the Gordon Hotels Limited.

I have now received the report and am arranging for publication.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of his staff who have not received an increase in their wages and salaries since the date when the salaries of Members of Parliament were last increased.

None.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total increase in salaries provided for in the Supplementary Civil Estimates for the year 1956–57;

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will give an assessment of the number of transfers, by way of sale, of houses in England and Wales, and Scotland, respectively, since 1939.

Complete figures since 1939 are not available. Total number of transactions involving the sale of interests in land (including houses) 1945–1956 was about 7 million for England and Wales, and 500,000 for Scotland. Separate figures for houses are not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to state the total number and amount of loans applied for by local authorities from the Public Works Loan Board in each of the last six years, with the total of loans not sanctioned by the Board.

The table below shows for the financial years 1951–52 to 1955–56 and for the nine months to 31st December, 1956, the number and total amount of applications for advances from the Public Works Loan Board and the number and total amount of these applications which were not sanctioned by the Board.what proportionate increase this represents; and the total net increase or decrease in the numbers of staff during the year.

Wages and salaries £54½ million. 44 per cent. of Civil Supplementary Estimates. Increase of 593 non-industrial civil servants.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is now the Government's policy with regard to the salaries of civil servants, in view of the rise in the cost of living.

The Government have accepted that the primary principle in fixing the pay of civil servants shall be fair comparison with the current remuneration of staff outside the Civil Service employed on broadly comparable work. This accords with the recent recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service (1953–55).

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will introduce the necessary legislation to ensure that the Prime Minister, Ministers of the Crown, junior Ministers, and other Members of Her Majesty's Government have to meet the cost of postage, telephones, travel, secretarial, living-away-from-home expenses, and all other expenses wholly and necessarily incurred whilst carrying out their duties to the State, from their Ministerial salaries, and thus put these Ministers on the same basis of payment as Members of Parliament.

No.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many local authorities have, to date, made representations to him deprecating the raising of interest rates on moneys borrowed by local authorities for housing purposes and the reduction of the amount of subsidy paid in respect of houses built by local authorities for letting to persons other than those living in unfit dwellings.

142 out of 1,468 local authorities.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how far it is still the policy of his Department that 300,000 houses should be built each year; and whether he will give an estimate of the number that will be built during 1957.

It is the Government's policy that a high level of housebuilding should be maintained. Many agencies are concerned in this. I cannot estimate the number which, together, they will complete during 1957.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he is aware that owners of houses scheduled for future demolition by local authorities under the Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954, Section 1, suffer an immediate loss in the value of their property but do not receive any compensation under the Slum Clearance Compensation Act, 1956, until action is taken by the local authority, which may be several years ahead; and if he will take steps by legislation or otherwise to ensure that such owners do not suffer an injustice if they have to sell their properties in the intervening period.

The Slum Clearance (Compensation) Act, 1956, already allows an owner-occupier entitled to the benefit of the Act to let his house, while retaining his right to compensation at the higher rate. If, however, he needs to realise the compensation at once, he can ask the local authority either to buy the house, or to put a closing or demolition order on it ahead of its timetable. I do not think that there is a case for amending legislation.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will state the amounts of loans made to local authorities over the last six years for advances under the Small Dwellings Act and for improvement grants, respectively, together with the amounts applied for but not sanctioned.

Amounts borrowed by local authorities for advances under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts and similar provisions in the Housing Acts were as follows:

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is being done to rehouse the families at present living in the former Royal Air Force huts at Doddington Road, Lincoln.

I understand that the two local authorities concerned expect to rehouse all the families within the next two years.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if, taking into account the current level of rentals of houses in new towns, together with the rates of interest payable on loans to development corporations, he will take steps to have the present level of new town housing subsidies re-examined.

The housing subsidies and additional grants payable in respect of houses built by new town development corporations were increased from £29 8s. 0d. to £32 a year by the Housing Subsidies Act, 1956. I do not think there is a case for further increase. The interest rate on advances to development corporations was reduced by ¼per cent. as from 16th February.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps he is taking in connection with the protests of the local residents against the working and proposed extension of the sand and gravel quarry situated in the green belt at the junction of Hooker Lane and Slade Lane, Over Alderley, details of which have been forwarded to him.

This is in the first instance a matter for the Cheshire County Council as local planning authority. I understand that a planning application with regard to this land is at present before it.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will make a statement on the steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to curtail extravagance in local government expenditure.

Responsibility for local expenditure lies on the local authority; and the proposals for financial reform which I outlined to the House on 12th February are designed to increase the sense of local responsibility. If my hon. Friend has any further suggestions to make, I will gladly consider them.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is now his Civil Defence advisers' estimate of the number of people who may have to be evacuated in the event of war; and the areas to which they are to be evacuated.

The proposal which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and I have under discussion with the local authority associations involves planning for the evacuation of the priority classes totalling some 12 million persons. I am not at present in a position to give any further details.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government, in view of his expression of regret in refusing permission to the Dolphin Development and Management Company Limited to build a new town on land at Allhallows-on-Sea and of the fact that such refusal removes one of the possible means of helping towards the decentralisation of London industry and population, if he will consider sympathetically a modified proposal involving the use of a substantially less acreage of agricultural land.

Any such proposal would be for the Kent County Council as local planning authority to consider on its merits in the first instance.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government the number of his staff who have not received an increase in their wages and salaries since the date when the salaries of Members of Parliament were last increased.

None.

asked the Prime Minister if he will now introduce legislation to limit the number of foreign persons who, because of the Act of 1705, are able to claim British nationality as a result of being descended from the Electress Sophia.

The effect of the recent judgment on the Act of 1705 is under consideration, but I have no statement to make at present.

asked the Prime Minister what arrangements he has made for his adviser on public relations to accompany him to Bermuda.

My adviser on public relations will accompany me to Bermuda. The composition of the remainder of the delegation will be announced in due course.

asked the Minister of Labour why Mr. J. Topham, 17, Gloucester Street, Brighton, who was shot in Cuba, is not to be given a training course until his case has been settled in Cuba; and what steps he is taking to find him employment.

My hon. Friend appears to be under a misapprehension. After completing a course of industrial rehabilitation Mr. Topham was recommended for training as an instrument mechanic, and my Department is trying to arrange a course of such training for him.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will resume publication of the former Index of Retail Prices so that accurate comparisons can be made of price movements in previous years.

I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the publication of an index figure linking the present series with the earlier Interim Index of Retail Prices in order to continue comparison with the level of prices in June, 1947. I am not prepared to alter the decision I announced on 2nd August last to the effect that an official index figure on this basis would not be published after the end of 1956, but anyone who wishes to link the two series of figures can readily do so by the simple process described in successive issues of the Ministry of Labour Gazette throughout 1956.

asked the Minister of Labour how many Hungarian refugees have now taken employment in the agriculture industry.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone (Sir A. Bossom) on 5th February last.

asked the Minister of Labour how many foreign workers are now engaged in the agriculture industry.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Minister of Labour the separate numbers of men, women, boys and girls registered as unemployed al the Borough Employment Exchange at the count in February, and the number on the disablement register at the same time, whether included or excluded from the total of registered unemployed.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland to make a statement on the prospect of industrial development in the new town of Glenrothes.

Light industries already established in Glenrothes provide employment for some 3,000 people, and there are plans for expansion. The Milk Marketing Board has recently arranged to build a small factory for the manufacture of milk products, and negotiations for the introduction of other new industry are in progress.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland why the redevelopment of Gorbals will require twenty years to complete.

The Gorbals redevelopment scheme is one of a number of similar projects which the Corporation of Glasgow proposes to put in hand in various congested districts throughout the city in the next few years. I understand that its estimate of twenty years for the completion of the Gorbals project takes account of its prospective commitments on these other schemes which will be going on at the same time.

The following table gives the information desired:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many houses and tenancies in Scotland will be liable to rent increases under the Rent Bill; the amounts of such increases individually and in total; the number in each category of rent increase; and how many will be liable to decontrol.

There are about 640,000 let controlled houses in Scotland of rateable values up to £40, but it is impossible to say how many of these will satisfy the qualifying conditions for rent increases under the Bill. I have no means of estimating the amounts of these increases or the number in each category of rent increase, but the maximum weekly increases will be 3s. 10d. for the "1956 Act increase", 7s. 8d. for the revised repairs increase, and 1s. 6d. in respect of the raising of the present amount of the repairs increase from two-fifths to one-half of the 1954 recoverable rent. It is estimated that about 60,000 let controlled houses in Scotland will be subject to decontrol under Clause 9 (1) of the Bill.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the rateable value of Lanarkshire County Council in 1938 as compared with 1955–56; and what is the gross annual value of industry over the same period in the area of the Lanarkshire County Council.

The total gross annual and rateable valuation of the landward area of the County of Lanark for the years in question, and the corresponding figures for industrial and freight transport subjects, were as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the proposed new road between Invergarry and Cluanie Inn (North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board—Constructional Scheme No. 23c) will be completed before the present road is flooded.

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the final line and form of the proposed new road between Invergarry and Cluanie Inn (North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board —Constructional Scheme No. 23c) has been decided; and whether it will be double width.

The road will run from Daingean Bridge in Glengarry to Bun Loyne in Glenmoriston and will be built to provide two traffic lanes with a carriageway width of 18 ft. Details of its final line and form have yet to be decided.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of deaths from accidents in the home in Scotland in 1954, 1955, and 1956; and the number of deaths from accidents on the road during this same period.

The number of deaths registered in Scotland from accidents in the home was 1,106 in 1954, 1,120 in 1955, and 1,006 in 1956. The number of deaths from road accidents was 563 in 1954, 636 in 1955, and 586 in 1956.

asked the Secretary of State for War why he needs 537 officers of the rank of brigadier or above on the active list of the Army.

To fill appointments for which these ranks are considered appropriate under existing conditions. They constitute 1·6 per cent. of the total officer strength of the Army.

asked the Secretary of State for War (1) what steps he took to check with British firms of undertakers his figure of £110 for an oak coffin and metal lining in the case of the body of Private G. Elvins; how many firms were asked to quote for the work of repatriating this soldier's body; whether he accepted the quotation of a British firm; and whether he accepted the lowest quotation;(2) why, when listing the costs of repatriating the body of 23178973 Private G. Elvins, he quoted £75 for an oak coffin and £35 for a metal lining when the cost of these items in this country would not be more than a total of £35.

These estimates were given by a reputable British private firm of undertakers in Gibraltar. Time did not permit of the calling for tenders. In the circumstances we could only pass them on to the parents of Private Elvins. This is the first occasion on which the body of a soldier has been brought home from Gibraltar, and we therefore had no standards of comparison. Costs in this country are in any case unlikely to be a reliable guide to fair prices abroad.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will state the average number of Regular recruits per annum the Army expects to receive in the future, apart from those enlisting on engagements of three years with the Colours and four years with the Reserve, and for 22-year engagements in which the soldier is committed to periods of three-years Colour service; and the average number of years it is anticipated such recruits will serve.

Any Answer must depend on a number of assumptions which are at present under discussion and I cannot expand on my Answer to a similar Question by the hon. Gentleman on 19th February.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many officers in the Army of the equivalent rank of major-general or above were, on 1st January, 1957, employed in the War Office; what is the nature of their occupations; and what is the total cost per week in salaries and allowances of these officers.

Forty-one, whose pay and allowances amount to about £167,000 a year. Five are members of the Army Council and the rest are directors or inspectors.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to state for the period of twelve months to the most recent convenient date for which figures are available the number of male and female prisoners committed to one of Her Majesty's Prisons to serve sentences of less than six months' imprisonment.

During 1955, 13,244 men and 1,499 women sentenced to serve up to and including five months' imprisonment were received into prison.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to state the number of grants made, and to whom, for the conduct of research into the causes of delinquency and the treatment of offenders under Section 77 (3) of the Criminal Justice Act, 1948, for each year since the Act came into force.

A total amount of £10,934 has been paid by the Home Office under Section 77 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1948, to assist research on the causes of delinquency and the treatment of offenders, and a further sum of £1,000 is at present awaiting payment. The list of payments is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to make a grant under the provisions of Section 77 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1948, for a sociological and statistical inquiry into the percentages and causes of recidivism.

The Home Office has already supported several research studies of the type in question and I intend to continue to encourage and support research, both by the Home Office and through universities and similar institutions, so far as the available resources permit.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to arrange for a home safety exhibition in the House of Commons.

I am glad to be able to say that arrangements are in hand.

asked the Minister of Supply at what date the city of Coventry Fire Brigade reported to him that any fire in the factory at present used by Jaguars might spread with alarming rapidity owing to the nature of the roof-lining; and what action was taken on that report.

I have ascertained that on 26th November, 1956, the Coventry Fire Brigade made a comprehensive report to the Jaguar Car Company on the question of fire risks and precautions. The report was not referred to the Ministry of Supply and there was no reason why it should have been.

asked the Minister of Supply how many thousands of square feet of soft-board were used by his Department to line the roof of the factory at present used by Jaguars at Coventry; and whether his Department were aware that this soft-board was highly inflammable.

Five hundred and thirteen thousand square feet of fibre insulating board were used when the factory was built in 1938–39. This material is not in itself highly inflammable, but was one of the factors that contributed to the spread of a fire started elsewhere.

asked the Secretary of State for Air when he expects to reach a decision with regard to the application for a compassionate discharge made by Aircraftman 5031697, the details of whose application have been sent to him by the hon. Member for Cardiff, West.

I hope to be able to write to the hon. Member within the next few days.

asked the Secretary of State for Air which operational units of Fighter Command work a five-day week.

None. Key units, including radar stations, are established to work a seven-day week. Other formations including individual fighter squadrons work a 5½-day week, but not all of them stand down at weekends.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance when the last increase was made in the educational grant payable to Army widows under Royal Warrant.

The maximum rate of education allowance for each child was last increased in 1944 to £80 a year. The means limits were last increased in 1953. The usual child's allowance, increased last year to 21s. 6d. a week, is payable in addition.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many persons charged with family desertion and whose families have been a liability on the National Assistance Board have been traced by the Board during 1956; and what action has been taken in respect of them.

The National Assistance Board informs my right hon. Friend that records are not kept to distinguish the particular kinds of cases stated. I would, however, refer the hon. Member to the Board's Annual Report for 1955 (pages 12–17) which gives a full account of action taken to secure compliance with the provisions of the National Assistance Act relating to liability to maintain.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many persons resident in the Borough of Swindon are now in receipt of the old-age pension; and how many of these are also being helped by the National Assistance Board.

Statistics of retirement pensioners are not available for local government areas. My right hon. Friend is informed by the National Assistance Board that, in an area served by the Board's Swindon area office which extends considerably beyond the Borough of Swindon, there were on 18th December last 531 persons receiving non-contributory old-age pensions; 293 weekly Assistance grants were being made to supplement such pensions; and 2,127 weekly Assistance grants were being made to supplement retirement pensions. Some of the Assistance grants provided for the household of more than one pensioner.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many colonial subjects adhere to the Christian faith; and how many religious systems are to be found throughout the Colonies.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether, in view of the importance of placing the facts about the United Kingdom economy before influential people in other countries, he will arrange with the Departments concerned for factual information on the subject to be available to hon. Members when they are travelling overseas.

I regret that the information is not readily available. If the hon. Lady has any specific inquiry which she wishes to make on this subject I shall be very willing to look into it.

asked the Minister of Defence if he will publish a table showing the annual net recruitment of volunteers for engagements of longer periods than three years in each of the last five years; and how many such volunteers are now serving in the Armed Forces.

The figures are as follows:

Yes. A pocket booklet entitled "Fifty Facts about Britain's Economy", prepared by the Central Office of Information for the overseas Departments, has been circulated to all British information posts abroad. A copy has been placed in the Library, and I will be very glad to send one to any hon. Member who is interested. The Board of Trade and the Federation of British Industries will gladly make copies available on request to businessmen travelling abroad.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education what steps he will take to expand the supply of technical teachers who have received some professional training as teachers either through teachers' training colleges or through short-term courses.

My noble Friend is awaiting the report of the Committee set up last year under the chairmanship of Dr. Willis Jackson which is considering the whole question of the supply and training of technical teachers. The report is expected to be ready in the near future.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education if the water-borne sanitation planned for Shareshill Primary School, near Cannock, Staffordshire, is intended to be part of a general scheme connecting Shareshill with the main sewerage system, or if a separate plan is intended for the school.

It is intended to be part of the general scheme.