asked the Minister of Health why it is not possible for him to give to hon. Members the cost of hospital treatment arising out of accidents in the home during past years and to date.

Important as the subject is, I do not think the value of the information would be such as to justify putting hospital authorities to the considerable labour and expense of trying to extract it from their records.

asked the Minister of Health by how much he estimates that the increase in tax and price, respectively, of petrol has increased the weekly costs of the average country doctor, more particularly those in hilly counties; and whether he will reimburse the doctors for the estimated extra cost involved.

I regret that data is not yet available to enable such estimates to be made. When the information comes to hand any increase in total practice expenses of general practitioners, including expenditure on petrol, will be met by an equivalent increase in the amount of money paid by the Exchequer into the Central Pool from which their remuneration is provided.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that old-age pensioners and many persons in fixed income groups who suffer from chronic ailments and who are needing more than one item of medicine, and not receiving National Assistance, were seriously affected by the increased charges for National Health prescriptions, and that the number of prescriptions has declined by over 30 per cent. to the detriment of these chronic sick; and what steps he will take to alleviate this hardship.

I cannot accept the figure quoted by the hon. Member and I have no evidence that persons are being deprived of necessary medicines. The National Assistance Board will refund charges to any person whether or not he is in receipt of National Assistance, who can show that in paying them he will suffer hardship by the Board's standards.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to ensure that opticians employed full-time by hospital boards do not also engage in private practice.

There is no evidence before me that special action is required. If the hon. Member has such evidence I shall be glad to consider it.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what contribution the United Kingdom has made, or is to make, to the United Nations Emergency Force; and in what currency.

The General Assembly of the United Nations has authorised the Secretary-General to accept commitments in respect of the United Nations Emergency Force up to $16·5 million for the period ending 31st December, 1957.The sum of £140,000, to be paid towards the United Kingdom share of this amount, was voted in the Supplementary Estimates in February. The currency in which this part of our contribution will be paid, and the arrangements for payment of the remainder of the United Kingdom contribution, are at present under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will now consider the abolition of the embargo on British-China trade, or reduce it to the level of the Soviet embargo.

I have nothing to add to the reply given by my right hon. and learned Friend to the right hon. Member for Battersea, North (Mr. Jay) on 28th of January.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware of the renewal of anti-British activities by Spain; and what action he proposes to take.

I am not aware of anything which can be described in the terms of the hon. Member's Question. The second part of the Question does not therefore arise.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what new restrictions have been imposed on the validity of visas for entry into Spain from Gibraltar.

An arrangement was made recently with the Spanish Government under which visas were reciprocally made valid for any number of entries in a period of one year. Recently holders of British passports containing the new type of visa were in some cases not allowed to enter Spain at La Linea. Representations were made to the Spanish Government who have just replied to the following effect: the new visa will be valid for three entries and exits per quarter at the Gibraltar frontier and for an unlimited number of entries and exits at all other frontiers.I hope that this will prevent the recurrence of the unfortunate incidents which have occurred at the Gibraltar frontier.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will instruct his representative at the United Nations to propose that the Secretary-General during his visit to the Middle East should urge President Nasser to cease the mass expulsions of Jews from Egyptian territory.

No. Mr. Hammarskjöld's visit to the Middle East is already taking place and is mainly concerned with the questions of the Suez Canal and Gaza and Aqaba. But I am sure that he has in mind those principles of the United Nations and of the Declaration of Human Rights that have been so sadly ignored by Egypt.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what were the average tax-free rental allowances granted during 1956 to members of the Foreign Service serving in Paris of the ranks of third secretary, second secretary, first secretary, counsellor and minister, for married and unmarried staff, respectively.

The average rent allowances in issue during 1956, expressed in £ sterling per annum, were as follows:

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many persons he estimates will be entitled to non-contributory pensions in 1960, 1965, 1970, and 1980, in each year; and how many approximately will be men, single women, widows, and married women, respectively.

There are no means of estimating with any precision the number of persons in future years who will not be entitled to a National Insurance retirement pension but will be able to satisfy the statutory conditions for a non-contributory old-age pension. On a very tentative estimate, the number of noncontributory pensions, which had fallen to about 257,000 by the end of 1956, may fall to about 175,000 in 1960, about 80,000 in 1965, about 40,000 in 1970 and only a few in 1980. Any further detail would be sheer speculation

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what would be the cost of abolishing the retirement condition for male and female old-age pensioners, respectively, in each of the years 1957–58 and 1960–61.

The net extra cost to the Fund is estimated to be, in the first year mentioned, £66 million in respect of men and wives qualifying on their husbands' insurance, and £14 million in respect of women who qualify on their own insurance; in 1960–61 the estimated cost is £62 million and £13 million respectively.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether the recently-announced award of an ageing allowance to war pensioners with a disability of 40 per cent. and over applies to personnel of the Mercantile Marine and to civilian war disabled, including civil defence personnel.

Yes, so far as all the schemes for which my right hon. Friend is responsible are concerned, including those covering merchant seamen and civilians.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the number of persons drawing National Assistance at the Dumbarton area office; and how many receive an additional grant, exclusive of rent.

My right hon. Friend is informed by the National Assistance Board that on 26th February, 1957, 2,394 weekly National Assistance grants were current in the area served by the Board's Dumbarton office. The Board regrets that as information about discretionary additions contained in such allowances is extracted centrally on a sample basis, the numbers of such additions cannot be given for particular localities.

asked the Paymaster-General if he will take the necessary steps to enable ex-municipal employees of undertakings, now merged in the Central Electricity Authority, to obtain pension increases with effect from the same date as others on pensions from the same Authority.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the replies given to my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Dame Irene Ward) on 4th March and to the hon. Member for Cleveland (Mr. Palmer) on 18th March.

asked the Paymaster-General (1) if he is aware that the present price of oil fuel for fishing trawlers is too high, and puts British trawlers at a disadvantage as compared with foreign trawlers; and what steps he proposes to regulate and reduce the price of fuel oil for these purposes;(2) if he will make a statement on the present price of oil as fuel for fishing trawlers; and what steps he is taking to prevent any increase in the price of oil for those purposes.

No. Increases in the prices of bunker fuels for fishing vessels at British ports since the start of the emergency have not exceeded those applying to similar oils for inland use. I am not aware that these increases have been out of line with those in foreign ports.

asked the Paymaster-General whether, in view of the removal of restriction on the use of diesel oil for road transport, he will also end all restriction on the use of petrol by public service vehicles and vehicles used for road haulage.

No. As my right hon. Friend the Paymaster-General said last Monday, supplies of petrol, although increasing, are still likely to remain short of normal demand and it is therefore not possible to abolish petrol rationing at once, but the improved supplies will be taken into account in dealing with applications in respect of passenger and goods vehicles requiring petrol.

asked the Paymaster-General why the regional petroleum officer at Kew has so far ignored the application for supplementary petrol coupons, submitted on 26th February by Mr. W. J. Muggridge, Hove; and whether he will expedite action in view of the fact that Mr. Muggridge is a taxi-driver dependent for his living upon receiving these coupons.

I am writing to my hon. and learned Friend about this case.

asked the Paymaster-General the total estimated cost of administering the restrictions on oil consumption and petrol rationing; and if he will give an estimate of how much it would be reduced if rationing ended with the termination of the first ration period on 16th April next.

The total cost will depend on the duration of restrictions but expenditure by the Ministry of Power is at present running at a rate of about £20,000 a week. Expenses at a reducing rate will necessarily continue for a short period after the end of rationing whenever that may be.

asked the Paymaster-General how much saving he expects to achieve in the consumption of petrol during the fourth months of the rationing period beginning 17 April, on the assumption that the maximum permissible is taken up, over actual consumption during the same period in the previous year; and what percentage this saving would be estimated of total oil consumption for all purposes.

About 10 per cent. and 3 per cent. respectively, but these figures take no account of the normal growth in demand from year to year.

asked the Paymaster-General what precise steps are taken by the consultative councils of the gas and electricity boards to make known to consumers of gas and electricity that their machinery is available to consider grievances; and whether he will give a general direction to area boards to enclose at least once a year with the consumers' gas or electricity bills a short note setting out the facilities offered to consumers by these councils.

Consultative councils exercise a wide discretion in this matter, making use from time to time of the local Press, posters, leaflets, notes to consumers enclosed with bills, and other forms of publicity; and my noble Friend does not think it would be appropriate for him to prescribe any one method for all councils.

asked the Paymaster-General if the North Western Gas Board has yet submitted to the Minister an amendment of its superannuation scheme, which would permit inter alia an increase of pensions similar to those approved in the 1956 Act, in the cases of Mr. Allen and Mr. Hughes; on what date these proposals reached the Minister; and if he will now make a statement indicating when his formal approval will be given.

No. But my noble Friend understands that the North Western Gas Board intends that Mr. Allen and Mr. Hughes should receive the appropriate increases as soon as the amended scheme has been formally submitted and approved.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many improvement schemes under the Hill Farming Act and Livestock Rearing Act have been approved in the County of Cumberland; what is the estimated total cost; and how much has so far been claimed.

At 28th February, 1957, 600 schemes under the Hill Farming and Livestock Rearing Acts, 1946–56, had been approved in the County of Cumberland at an estimated total cost of £1,779,000, and of this sum, grant amounting to £320,238 had been paid.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the present approximate annual cost of the grants given by his Department to assist the heavy horse breeding societies of this country; whether he is aware that the announcement in his circular of 8th February that these grants are to be withdrawn for the current year constitutes a setback to the heavy horse breeding societies many of whom are already committed to their programmes for 1957 and to the hiring of the necessary stallions; and whether in these circumstances he will reconsider his decision.

The grants to heavy horse societies in England and Wales amounted to £1,238 in 1955 and £986 in 1956.My right hon. Friend's decision to withdraw these grants was taken because circumstances had changed so much since they were introduced many years ago. He realises that their withdrawal may cause some setback to the societies but I am afraid that he cannot alter his decision.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will give the particulars of the agriculture and food subsidies in 1956–57 amounting to £317,000,000.

The following are the estimated agricultural and food subsidies in 1956–57 for which provision has been made in the Civil Estimates Class VIII 2, 3, 5, 12 and 13 and in the Votes of the Health and Education Departments.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he is aware of the increase in foaming in the lower reaches of the River Trent at Gainsborough, caused by the increasing use of synthetic detergents; and what action he proposes to take to prevent a further increase.

I am advised by the Trent River Board that so far as it is aware there has been no material increase recently in foaming in the lower reaches of the river.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what measures are intended to protect the public from the radiation hazards arising from the manufacturing processes of ionising radiations and radioactive substances in civilian industry.

Existing powers have so far proved effective in protecting the public from hazards arising from the discharge of radioactive waste; but, in view of the prospects of an increasing use of radioactive substances, the advisory committee appointed under the Radioactive Substances Act, 1948, has set up an expert panel to consider whether additional measures of control are likely to become necessary.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations in what respects the recommendations of the Drogheda Report concerning information services in Canada have been implemented.

These recommendations have been implemented in full. Regional Information Offices have been opened at Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and also at Quebec. Reference libraries have been started at each of these offices and are being built up progressively.

asked the Secretary of State for Air by what date the Vulcan and the Victor bomber are expected to enter squadron service.

We expect that the first operational Vulcan squadron will begin to form in the summer and the first Victor squadron around the end of the year.

asked the Minister of Labour what steps he is taking to find alternative employment for the roadmen employed by the Merionethshire County Council who have been declared redundant.

Only 14 of the 38 men discharged have registered at employment exchanges and everything possible is being done to help them to find other work. I understand that a road contract will be started shortly which should provide some further opportunities for employment.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he is now able to announce the successor to Her Majesty's Senior Medical Inspector of Factories.

The present Senior Medical Inspector of Factories will be succeeded on 1st September next by Dr. Sibyl Homer, a Deputy Senior Medical Inspector.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what fresh steps he is taking to increase the proportion of recoverable paper which is salvaged for useful purposes.

We favour the salvage of as much waste paper as can be collected and used economically. The Waste Paper Recovery Association representing the users, is co-operating with local authorities and waste paper merchants to this end. My right hon. Friend does not, however, consider that Government measures to stimulate the salvage of waste paper are either necessary or appropriate.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty how many civilian employees will become redundant in consequence of the disbandment of the Boom Defence Unit at Sheerness.

This boom defence depot will, by 1961, be reduced to a mooring and salvage depot and no precise figures of the numbers who will be required by then can be given at this stage.Of approximately 100 employees at present engaged some established men may be transferred elsewhere; others will have left through normal wastage and the balance of redundant men, if any, will be discharged.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what inquiries have been made, in view of the United Kingdom contribution to the cost of the Kariba dam, into the disaster resulting from the flooding of the coffer dam; and what report he has received, particularly in respect of Northern Rhodesian families, as a result of such inquiries.

I have asked the Governor of Northern Rhodesia to report on the effect of the Zambesi floods within Northern Rhodesia, and when I receive his reply will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make a further statement on the punishment of members of the security forces in Cyprus for ill-treating Cypriot civilians.

I have the following correction to make to the information given in a written reply to the hon. Member on 21st February. The order made in the first case was binding over for one year in the sum of £10, and not £10 fine or one year's imprisonment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a further statement on the numbers of Greek and Turkish Cypriots killed in Cyprus, including members of the security forces and civilians.

The figures in the reply given on 22nd February to the hon. Member's previous Question on this subject inadvertently omitted police casualties. The complete figures, including those for the period before July, 1956, are as follows:

asked the Minister of Supply if he will make a statement on the future of the aircraft industry and the policy of his Department in relation to the industry.

Pending the completion of the defence review, which is now being undertaken, I am unable to say what its full implications for the aircraft industry may be, but some reduction in military orders is inevitable. It is vital to the continued prosperity of the industry that this reduction should be offset to the maximum possible extent by increased civil and export work, and that the industry should shape itself to that end. In particular some consolidation of resources is desirable and I accept in principle the recent recommendations of the Select Committee on Estimates that in placing contracts with the industry I should have regard to this need. It is my intention to keep in close touch with the industry in what must clearly be a difficult period of re-adjustment.

asked the Minister of Supply the total amount of Government expenditure since 1945 on research and development in or for the aircraft industry.

From April, 1945, to March, 1957, Ministry of Supply expenditure on research and development in or for the aircraft industry, including expenditure in Government Establishments, has amounted to some £600 million.

asked the Minister of Supply if he will make a statement on the future of the Royal Ordnance factories throughout the country.

The number of the Royal Ordnance Factories and their strengths must be related to the requirements of the Services and such military work as can be undertaken for other friendly Governments. Pending the reshaping of the defence forces which is now taking place I cannot say what capacity in the way of Royal Ordnance factories will eventually be needed. though clearly some contraction is inevitable.The Royal Ordnance Factories none the less will remain a vital part of our defence and it will be my aim to preserve them as a live organisation of high quality. To this end I shall regard the factories as a preferred source for the production of the sorts of munitions they are equipped to produce. Sometimes, however, the urgency or size of an order may make it necessary for me to employ other suppliers as well and there may be cases in which it would be only prudent to preserve or create an alternative source of supply.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation how many road accidents have been reported on the West Cromwell Road extension in the Borough of Brentford and Chiswick since 1st October, 1956; and how many of them resulted in injury to pedestrians.

Seven accidents involving personal injury were reported to the police during the period 1st October, 1956, to 20th March, 1957. In two of these accidents a pedestrian was injured.

asked the Minister of Works whether he is aware of the promise given to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1947 that to concentrate his dispersed staff a new Colonial Office would be erected on the old Westminster Hospital site, conditional on his releasing the premises in Downing Street; what terms still govern the occupancy of the Church House in Great Smith Street; how far the work on the new site has gone; what work is at present proceeding; whether, and when, it is proposed to proceed with the original proposals for a Colonial Office on this site; and, in view of the political developments in many dependent territories, what modifications of the plan are contemplated.

Yes. The lease of Church House is due to expire in 1974, but it could be determined by the lessors in 1960 or 1967. A sub-basement only has been constructed on the site and the only works going on at present are temporary measures to allow the site to be used as a public car-park.When the economic situation improves the original proposals will be reviewed in the light of the situation at the time.