asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the total revenue to date derived from the extra 1s. a gallon emergency tax put on petrol when the Suez crisis began.

About £25 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that, since there have been developments in the building industry, the traditional method of making grants to universities for new buildings or important additions to old ones now no longer gets the maximum of building for the money expended, or gets the building completed in the minimum time; and if he will arrange for this to be investigated technically and modified to suit present day conditions.

If my hon. Friend is referring to the practice of inviting tenders for large building contracts instead of adopting a form of negotiated contract with a contractor selected otherwise than by competitive tender, it would not be possible to deal with the relative merits of these systems within the limits of a Parliamentary reply. My hon. Friend will appreciate that the question which he raises applies to contracts for all buildings financed wholly or partly from public funds, and not only to those for university buildings.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that a single person with a salary of £2,000 per annum in 1956–57 had a net income after tax of £1,698 per annum compared with £1,623 per annum in 1937–38, and that similarly, married persons with children in this income group were in 1956–57 anything from £100 to £200 per annum better off, after taxation, than in 1937–38; and whether, in his Budget, he will ensure that this group of taxpayers do not receive tax concession before those in the lower income group.

No. The hon. Member is apparently quoting figures from the table I gave in reply to his Question on 14th March, 1957, about the net incomes of junior Ministers. I would draw his attention to the footnote to that table in which it is pointed out that the figures for the net income after tax in 1956–57 allow for the £500 of Parliamentary salary which may be drawn in addition to the salary as a Minister. The small increases in net income which he mentions, therefore, correspond to an increase of £500 in gross income and the final part of the Question accordingly does not arise.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will extend his policy of direct personal negotiation with the doctors over their pay disagreement with the Government to cover negotiations with dissatisfied civil servants and other State employees over their wage awards and with old-age pensioners regarding their pension awards; and whether, in particular, he will agree to meet forthwith representatives of the Old-Age Pensioners' Association to negotiate an increase in their pension award.

I have been asked to reply.My right hon. Friend is not engaged in personal salary negotiation with the doctors. The rest of the Question does not therefore arise.

asked the Prime Minister from what bodies the Royal Commission on Doctors' Remuneration will be accepting evidence.

I have been asked to reply.That is a matter for the Commission.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state the number of Government subsidies given to each branch of the agricultural industry since 1939 up to the latest convenient date, setting out the nature, date, and value in money of each.

I regret that in the time available it has not been possible to obtain all the information for which the hon. Member asks. I will write to the hon. and learned Member as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements his Department's Research Establishment at Tony, Aberdeen, is making with a private firm, and which firm, to develop commercially and sell de-hydrated food according to processes evolved by that research establishment.

I would refer the hon. and learned Gentleman to the reply given to him on 11th March. My Department's responsibilities in this matter are limited to advice and demonstration of the processes developed at Aberdeen.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has had from the Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee as to the effect on the Cornish pilchard industry of the licence granted for the import into this country of £30,000 worth of Japanese canned pilchards.

The Committee has represented that the import of Japanese canned pilchards could have most serious effects on the Cornish pilchard industry. In reply, the Committee has been informed that the quota of £30,000 for the year ending 30th September, 1957, is very small in relation to the current level of supplies from all sources, that careful consideration was given to the possible effect on the home industry and that the granting of a quota was a part of the recent trade arrangements with Japan.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware of the increasing use by certain sausage manufacturers in this country of emulsifying and grinding machinery which make pulverised bones, feet, ears, rinds and offal to such a fine paste that it is impossible to identify the origin; and, in view of the fact that Section 5 of the Meat Products No. 3 Order 1925 No. 2257 stipulates that sausage must not contain brains, feet, frys, gut, including chitterlings, manifolds, paunches, udders and other items, what steps he proposes to take to safeguard the interests of sausage consumers in these new circumstances.

My right hon. Friend has no information about the extent to which such machinery is used. He is advised, however, that the presence of bones and prohibited offals in sausages should still be detected by analysis and he is satisfied that the food and drugs authorities responsible for enforcement have powers adequate to ensure that the consumer is protected.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in its study of agricultural support measures.

An expert working party on agricultural support measures appointed by the Eighth Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organisation in November, 1955, met in Rome in December, 1956. Its report is being considered during the present Session of the Organisation's Committee on Commodity Problems.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the consumption of eggs for 1954, 1955 and 1956, respectively; and what steps he has taken to encourage the consumption of eggs.

It is estimated that the consumption of shell eggs was just over four per head per week in each of the three years to which the hon. Member refers. As regards the second part of the Question, my right hon. Friend feels confident that the attractive prices at which eggs have been on sale in recent months, combined with the publicity which has been given to this fact by the Press and the B.B.C., will encourage increased consumption of eggs.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a statement on the question of a world food reserve.

This complex question is now under discussion in the Commodity Problems Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organisation and will be considered also by the Economic and Social Council next July.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will state his present plans to reduce unemployment in the City of Aberdeen.

My local officers are doing all that they can by submitting unemployed workers to vacancies notified to employment exchanges. Preliminary March figures show a decline of nearly 400 in the numbers unemployed during the past month.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of workers under 21 years of age employed on night work, at the nearest convenient date; and if he will take steps to amend the Factory Act to prohibit this practice.

I regret that this information is not available. It is not proposed to extent the restrictions already imposed by the Factories Act on employment at night.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will publish a table showing the average weekly earnings of adult male workers in manufacturing industries during the last pay week for which the figures are known and for the same week in the previous five years; how average weekly earnings have increased as a percentage, counting the first figure shown as 100 in comparison with the percentage rise in the cost of living since the same date; and what rise there has been in the cost of living on the same basis since the latest date shown in the table.

The following is the reply:

Date	Average weekly earnings of adult male workers in the manufacturing industries			Index of Retail prices with prices in October, 1951=100
	s.	d.	Index
October, 1951	172	1	100	100
October, 1952	184	9	107	107
October, 1953	196	7	114	109
October, 1954	212	3	123	112
October, 1955	231	1	134	118
October, 1956	245	7	143	122
February,1957	—		—	124

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that the current regulations governing the deferment of students entering farm institutes is depriving the institutes of students and the community of young trained agricultural men; and whether he will review and amend the procedure.

I am aware that there are some vacant places at farm institutes and my right hon. Friend has been considering, in consultation with his right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, some extension of the present deferment arrangements for farm institute students. I will inform the hon. Member in due course of the result of these consultations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children were abandoned by their parents and taken into care by local authorities during 1955; in how many of these cases proceedings were taken against the parents; and in how many a conviction was obtained.

The number of children abandoned, lost or deserted and received into the care of local authorities in the twelve months ending 31st March, 1956, was 3,024. I regret that the information requested in the second and third parts of the Question is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what detailed evidence was submitted to him to support the claim of the National Union of Retail Confectioners that 15 per cent. of the confectionery trade is done after 7 p.m.; and what estimate he has made as to how many of the 230,000 retail outlets for confectionery now remain open after 7 p.m., and would be compelled to close if the Shops Bill as at present drafted became law.

From all the representations I have received, I am satisfied that a substantial amount of trade in sugar confectionery is done after 7 p.m., and that undue hardship would be caused if the Bill were not amended to allow it to continue.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the report of the inquiry into conditions at Walton Prison, Liverpool, is ready for publication.

I have received the report but, as my predecessor informed the hon. Member in his letter of 18th December last, its publication must be deferred so long as any disciplinary charges which may be brought are sub judice.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his future policy in regard to the Special Constabulary.

The strength of the Metropolitan Special Constabulary has steadily declined in recent years and the Commissioner of Police recently appointed a Committee with the following terms of reference:

" To examine the organisation, administration, training and employment in peace and war of the Metropolitan Special Constabulary and to make recommendations affecting improvements and economy in the light of experience and present-day conditions."

The Committee has not yet reported, and I have no statement to make at present. I should, however, like to take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation of the valuable services rendered by Special Constables throughout the country.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education whether, in view of the fact that a number of schools have the impression, following the proposed action by local education authorities based on his Department's Survey of Art Schools in 1952–54, that they are under notice of closure, he will give the name of the one school of art which he has stated to be under such notice.

The Willesden School of Art.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education how many schools of art he proposes closing wholly, and how many partially, during the next three years.

My noble Friend is continuing his review of full-time art courses. He cannot yet say what decisions will be taken on them by the local education authorities concerned or to what extent, if at all, the review will lead to the complete closure of art schools.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education if he will give an estimate of the saving resulting from the application of a means test to winners of post-graduate research scholarships at universities.

The holders of State studentships for post-graduate awards in Arts subjects and of comparable awards from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research will not be subject to a parental means test. I cannot estimate the sum involved in taking account of the student's own resources, but it is likely to be small.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education if, in view of the closing of five new schools in Lincolnshire because of the danger to the children from falling ceilings, he will revise the specification for new school buildings.

The specification of forms of construction and of finishes for new school buildings is within the discretion of local education authorities. My noble Friend will consider what guidance he should give to them when further investigations have been made into this matter.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education if his attention has been drawn to dangerous weaknesses in certain ceilings of at least six new schools in Lincolnshire; to what he attributes these defects; what action he has taken; and whether other schools in other parts of the country are similarly affected.

My noble Friend's attention has been drawn to the failure of a few ceiling panels in five Lincolnshire schools. The cause is not yet clear, but may lie in the means by which the panels are suspended from the floor beams. The local education authorities responsible are taking steps to reinforce the suspension. One other similar case had previously been reported.

asked the Paymaster-General (1) what consideration has been given to the case put forward by the deputation of commercial travellers which he met on 7th March; and with what result;(2) whether, in view of the hardship being experienced by commercial travellers as the result of the limited petrol allowances, he can yet make a statement following his review of the situation.

Commercial travellers will get the increased basic ration which I announced last Monday and will also benefit from the improved supplementary allowances which will be mainly for those who, like commercial travellers, are particularly dependent on motoring for their livelihood.

asked the Secretary of State for War when the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield, can expect a reply to his letter of 4th March requesting a meeting with him and his officials in order to present evidence of profiteering in the repatriation of the body of Private Elvins, of Birmingham.

I replied to the hon. Member on 19th March.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will publish the list of books and authors which have been declared to be seditious in Nyasaland.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 19th December, 1956; Vol. 562, c. 179], supplied the following information:

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many Europeans have settled in Nyasaland from the institution of federation until the latest convenient date.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 21st December, 1956; Vol. 562, c. 234–5] supplied the following additional information:The Nyasaland Government have no record of the number of Europeans who have settled in the Protectorate since federation. Movement between the three territories of the Federation is unrestricted save in those cases where action is taken to prohibit the entry of specified persons into a territory or to remove them from such territory. The number is, however, believed to be very small indeed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the fact that the continued responsibility of the Colonial Office in Nyasaland is creating uncertainty about the future of the country and thereby causing both public and private enterprise to withhold capital for industrial development, as underlined recently by the shelving of plans to set up a wood-pulp and paper industry, he will consider transferring full responsibilities for the Protectorate to the Federal Government before further economic, social, and political damage is done.

No. I reject the premise contained in the preamble to this Question. There are many projects of industrial and other development which are being successfully carried out in Nyasaland under both public and private auspices, and it would be entirely wrong to draw pessimistic conclusion, from the fact that one project should have been shelved.I have great faith in the future of Nyasaland as part of the Federation, and in this connection I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the statement made in this House on 6th February, 1957.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what British decorations were awarded to Greek Cypriot British subjects for services during the last war; and how many of these have since been returned.

The following is the answer:

Civil
O.B.E.	…	…	…	7
I.S.O.	…	…	…	1
M.B.E.	…	…	…	6
Military
M.B.E.	…	…	…	1
B.E.M.	…	…	…	3
M.M.	…	…	…	7
D.C.M.	…	…	…	1

One D.C.M. was returned in 1948.Several thousand Greek Cypriots who served in the Cyprus Regiment were awarded campaign medals.Seventy-four ex-Service men have returned their war medals.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will list the number of parents, widows, children and other dependants left by members of

£ MILLIONS
Class of contributor			Estimated yield of that part of the National Insurance contribution attributable to retirement pension
			1960–61		1965–66		1970–71		1980–81
Employees	…	…	137	312	140	318	142	322	140	319
Employers	…	…	152		155		157		156
Self-employed persons	…	…	19		19		19		19
Non-employed persons	…	…	4		4		4		4
			Estimated Total retirement pension expenditure
				538		608		687		808

I am obtaining this information and will send it to the hon. Member as soon as I receive it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what French military equipment is still in Cyprus; for what purpose it is there; and when it will be removed.

Full details of the equipment are not available. It was brought to Cyprus for the use of the French forces stationed there temporarily during the emergency situation created by the hostilities between Israel and Egypt. It is being gradually removed, but the quantities involved are substantial, and I cannot state how long its removal will take.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what he estimates, assuming that present rates of contribution and benefit remain unchanged, will be the total contribution payable, in respect of retirement pension only, in each of the years 1960, 1965, 1970, and 1980, by employees, employers, self-employed persons, and non-employed persons, respectively.

The estimated amounts are given in the following table:

asked the Minister of Health the annual cost of the hospital service under the National Health Service from its inception up to the latest date

EXPENDITURE OF HOSPITAL AUTHORITIES (ENGLAND AND WALES)
	2	3	4	5
Year	On Revenue Account	On Capital Account	Cost of professional and nursing services as a percentage of column 2 (See Note (1))	Estimated cost of administration as a percentage of total expenditure (See Note (2))
	£m.	£m.	Per cent.	Per cent.
1948–49 (part year)	122·7	5·3	40·8*	4·4
1949–50	189·3	8·7	46·2*	4·3
1950–51	207·4	8·8	46·5	4·5
1951–52	224·8	9·7	44·8	4·8
1952–53	244·7	9·1	44·3	4·8
1953–54	257·4	8·8	44·0	4·8
1954–55	268·7	11·3	45·1	4·7
1955–56	293·1	11·5	44·6	4·7
* Partly estimated.

NOTES:(1) The cost of professional and nursing services has been taken to be the remuneration of medical, nursing, professional and technical staff and the cost of drugs, dressings and medical and surgical appliances and equipment. Part of the general overhead expenses also relates to medical care, but this cannot be separately estimated.(2) The figures for administration are based on the estimated administration expenditure of hospital authorities, including administration expenditure incurred at hospitals, but excluding operational expenses such as the salaries of medical records clerks.

pursuant to the Answer which he circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT, in reply to the Question by Mr. HALE (cols. 369 and 370, 24th January, 1957), states that the Answer as given contained an error in that columns 6 and 7 were mistakenly reversed. They should have read:

The following is the information:

Denomination	Grants payable by local authorities in respect of special agreement schools	That part of the cost of (3) met by local education authorities
(1)	(6)	(7)
	(£ million)	(£ million)
Church of England	0·4	0·5
Roman Catholic	3·5	1·6
Others	—	0·1