asked the Minister of Health, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what progress the General Dental Council made at its meeting on 27th March in revising its draft regulations made under the Dentists Act, 1956.

I understand the General Dental Council has agreed to revise its draft regulations to meet the views of Parliament and we await details.

asked the Minister of Health how payments are made for vaccinations and inoculations carried out under the National Health Service regulations.

Vaccination or inoculation carried out by general practitioners in the National Health Service is covered by their remuneration from capitation fees, etc. In addition they receive 5s. from the local health authority for each record submitted. Medical practitioners employed full time by local health authorities receive no special fee; those employed part time are paid on a sessional basis.

asked the Minister of Health the total amount paid for vaccine lympth as supplied to vaccinators and for the vaccines used in immunisation against diphtheria, whooping-cough, and tetanus and for B.C.G. inoculations; and what is the total amount paid since the operation of the National Health Service Act, 1948, for recording vaccinations and inoculations and for fees for clinic doctors who conduct sessions for these operations.

The total amount paid by my Department for vaccine lymph from July, 1948, to March, 1956, was £183,748; the corresponding figures for material for inoculation against diphtheria and for B.C.G. vaccine were, respectively £170,215 and £13,473. Vaccines for immunisation against whooping-cough or tetanus are not supplied centrally. The cost of vaccines purchased directly by local health authorities or dispensed by chemists on the prescription of general medical practitioners, and the figure asked for in the latter part of the question, are not separately known.

asked the Minister of Health whether medical officers who send returns of infectious diseases to the Registrar-General inform the Registrar whether cases notified as smallpox are variola minor or variola major as they do his Department.

No.

asked the Minister of Health how many girls took up the nursing profession in the most recent year for which figures are available; how many gave up before their training was completed; the chief cause notified to him for their discontinuance; and what steps are being taken to prevent this loss to the nursing profession.

In 1956 approximately 20,000 girls began training for admission to the Register of Nurses or the Roll of Assistant Nurses. In the same year, approximately 8,000 withdrew. The chief known reasons for withdrawal were unsuitability and marriage. Hospital authorities endeavour to limit wastage by improving methods of selection and by making training conditions as attractive as possible.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the total number of mental hospitals in England and Wales; how many of these have no locked wards; how many have less than four locked wards; if he will give the names of the hospitals in the last two categories; and what system of inspection exists to ensure that wards listed as open wards are not, in fact, kept locked by the staff in charge.

There are 174 designated mental hospitals in England and Wales. The detailed information which my hon. Friend has asked for will entail special inquiries and I will write to him when they have been completed.

asked the Minister of Health, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what estimate has been made of the bone content of radioactive strontium at which an appreciable increase in bone cancer in the general population is to be expected.

I am advised that, in the light of present knowledge, the best estimate that can be made is that the incidence of bone cancer in the general population is likely to be inappreciable if the level of strontium 90 in human bone is below 100 units. Observations in this country show that the present level is on the average less than one unit.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will now propose talks between Her Majesty's Government and the Polish Government with a view to granting a loan to Poland.

No. Discussions have been taking place between Polish representatives and British firms concerning the financing of commercial transactions through normal trade and banking channels.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to what extent the Government regards Egyptian fedayeen commando raids into Israeli territory as constituting acts of aggression across the frontiers and armistice lines of Israel; and whether he will propose appropriate joint actions to our fellow signatories of the 1950 Tripartite Declaration, France and the United States of America, to put an end to such acts of aggression starting in the Gaza zone.

As the hon. Member will know, the United Nations has so far arrived at no satisfactory definition of an act of aggression. Article 2 (4) of the United Nations Charter is however an indication of how aggression might be recognised. On this basis Her Majesty's Government are not disposed to regard border raids as acts of aggression. They are, however, violation of the armistice agreements and it is certainly our purpose to ensure, so far as we can, that they do not take place. As my hon. Friend told the hon. Members for Gloucestershire, West (Mr. Philips Price) and Leicester, North-West (Mr. Janner) on 18th March, one of the chief tasks of the United Nations Emergency Force is to assist in maintaining peaceful conditions. The prevention of raids certainly comes within that task.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will make a statement on the six-point proposals recently put forward by the Government of Egypt dealing with the Suez Canal.

I would ask the right hon. and learned Member to await the debate we are to have today.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will state the terms under which British ships will pass through the Suez Canal.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what advice he is giving as to the payment of dues to British shipowners desirous of using the Suez Canal.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what fresh advice has been given to British ships over the use of the Suez Canal and the payment of dues.

I have nothing to add, at present, to the reply given to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Grimond) on 27th March.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will propose to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation that no nuclear should be supplied by any member to the armed forces of the German Federal Republic.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent discussions in the Western European Union regarding German participation in the manufacture of nuclear weapons.

No. No such discussions have taken place.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the conclusions reached at the South-East Asia Treaty Organisation Conference at Canberra.

The third meeting of the Council of the South-East Asia Treaty Organisation was held in Canberra from 11th to 13th March. My right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, who represented the United Kingdom, has reported that this was a successful meeting and was conducted in an atmosphere of great cordiality. As regards its conclusions, I am arranging for copies of the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting to be placed in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what decision has been taken, along with the United States of America or other interested countries, for the construction of new pipelines for the supply of oil from the Middle East.

None. It is for the oil companies concerned and not for Governments to take decisions concerning the construction of new pipelines. My hon. Friend, will be aware that the international oil companies, at a meeting held recently in London, considered the transport of Middle East oil by pipeline, to set up a number of committees to make detailed studies of this subject.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what conclusions have been reached in the negotiations which have taken place with the Government of the Sudan regarding the redemption of Egyptian currency in the Sudan.

This question is still under discussion and I am not yet in a position to make a statement.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what representations he has made to the United Nations organisation that the armed commandos trained by Egypt, the fedayeen, shall be 'prevented from returning to their centres in Gaza; and what steps the United Nations organisation has taken to comply with these proposals.

I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply which my hon. Friend gave to him and to the hon. Member for Gloucestershire, West (Mr. Philips Price) on 18th March.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will state details of the British proposals put to the United Nations Disarmament Sub-Committee.

Not yet.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Aairs if he still requires at the current meetings of the United Nations Disarmament Sub-Committee that any agreed reduction of manpower shall be conditional upon the solution of outstanding political problems.

No. While it is the view of Her Majesty's Government that comprehensive disarmament must be conditional upon the solution of outstanding political problems, we believe it may be possible to reach agreement, prior to the settlement of such problems, on a partial disarmament plan involving some reduction of manpower and armaments.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs when an interim report on the present proceedings of the United Nations Sub-Committee on Disarmament is likely to be made; and what progress has been made by the Sub-Committee.

Under its terms of reference, the Disarmament Sub-Committee meets in private and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on its proceedings while the Session is in progress.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will make a statement on the result of the negotiations between the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Egyptian Government on the free passage of all vessels through the Suez Canal.

Not yet.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what action he now proposes to take to ensure the compliance with the Security Council resolution of 13th October concerning the Suez Canal, in order to safeguard the free passage through the canal of ships of all flags, including those trading with, or under the flag of, Israel.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will now request the United Nations organisation to call upon Egypt to comply with the Security Council's demand that she should allow Israeli shipping to pass through the Suez Canal.

The debate we are to have today will no doubt cover these points and I would ask the hon. Members to await it.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in the recent discussions with the Spanish Government, the opportunity was taken to obtain an easing of the Spain-Gibraltar restrictions; and with what results.

If the hon. Member is referring to the representations made to the Spanish Government about visa difficulties at the Gibraltar frontier, these were confined to that particular issue. I described their outcome in my reply on 25th March. The position about the other restrictions remains as stated in my right hon. and learned Friend's reply to the hon. Member and the hon. Member for Erith and Crayford (Mr. Dodds) on 27th February.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware that the new type of visa which is only valid for three entries per quarter at La Linea discriminates against British subjects resident in Gibraltar compared with British subjects in this country who may enter for an unlimited number of times at all other frontiers; and what further action he will take regarding this discrimination.

There is no discrimination against British subjects by reason of residence. There is discrimination against the Spanish frontier with Gibraltar as against other Spanish frontiers. The Spanish Government have explained this discrimination by asserting that La Linea is not equipped for dealing with the normal entry and exit of travellers and that the approved frontier post for this area is at Algeciras.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what recent proposals he has received from the Soviet Government concerning the banning of nuclear tests by the big Powers, as a temporary measure, pending the negotiation of a generally acceptable agreement; the nature of his reply to this proposal; and whether he will make a statement.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will accept in principle the Soviet Government's official offer to Her Majesty's Government, announced on 26th March, to suspend hydrogen bomb tests, provided the British and United States Governments do likewise, and will propose immediate negotiations to conclude a partial agreement to this effect as a preliminary to a comprehensive disarmament agreement.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what official communication he has received from the Soviet Government concerning their latest proposals in respect of limiting atomic and hydrogen bomb tests and the production of nuclear weapons.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what recent proposals he has received from the Soviet Government for the banning of hydrogen bomb tests.

The Soviet Government have recently proposed that there should be a temporary suspension of tests for a fixed period. There will no doubt be occasion for Her Majesty's Government to comment on the proposals in the Disarmament Sub-Committee. As hon. Members know, meetings of this Committee are in private and I cannot give details. The Soviet proposals do not, however, appear to offer any real advance on the previous Soviet position. Her Majesty's Government are not prepared to agree to the suspension or abolition of tests except under proper safeguards and effective international control as part of a general disarmament agreement.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what recent discussion he has had with the Secretary of State of the United States Government on the lifting or amendment of the strategic ban on trade with China at Bermuda or otherwise; and whether he will make a statement.

I hope to deal with this in the course of today's debate.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will give further details of the policy of Her Majesty's Government with regard to the development of European unity within the Atlantic Community.

It is the constant policy of Her Majesty's Government to promote such unity in all possible ways through North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, and other organs of Western co-operation. This is a steadily continuing process.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs when he expects the conciliation discussions in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on the international aspects of the Cyprus problem to begin; and what will be the terms of reference.

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies made clear in his statement on 20th March, Her Majesty's Government have accepted in principle the offer by the Secretary-General of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation of his good offices in conciliation. The Turkish Government have also accepted in principle. The Greek Government's response has hitherto been negative. When all three parties have accepted in principle, it may be expected that the Secretary-General of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation will seek their views on procedure. The second part of the Question does not therefore arise at present.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what was the purpose of the recent State visit to Portugal; and what was the cost.

The purpose of Her Majesty's State Visit to Portugal, which was made in response to an invitation from the President of the Portuguese Republic, was to return the State Visit which the President paid to this country in 1955 and to demonstrate and reaffirm the cordiality of the relations existing between this country and Portugal and the enduring quality of the ancient alliance between them.Deails of the costs falling on the Votes for which I am responsible are not yet available, but these are not likely to be heavy.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by what lawful authority the Government have rejected in advance any claim for compensation from persons who knowingly enter those parts of the high seas, designated as danger areas, during the period of the British nuclear weapon tests.

Her Majesty's Government have not rejected any such claims in advance. They have, on the contrary, said that any claims received for damage or loss said to have been incurred in connection with these tests, will be carefully examined, and that the attitude of Her Majesty's Government will depend on the facts of each particular case. This applies whatever the circumstances out of which the claim arises.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance, in view of the decision to close the local Pensions and National Insurance office at Portree, Isle of Skye, what arrangements will be made so that his officials can continue to answer inquiries on the spot and provide local contacts for the residents of the island.

District officers of the local authority in Portree, Dunvegan and Broadford already act as agents for my Department and the National Assistance Board in the Isle of Skye. These officers will answer inquiries and provide local contacts for the residents of the island.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what representations he has received from local authorities or other local bodies about the decision to close down the local Pensions and National Insurance office in Portree, Isle of Skye; and what answers he has given.

No representations have been received from local authorities. The Skye Council of Social Service was informed last October that a district officer of the local authority in Portree already acted as agent for my Department and for the National Assistance Board and would continue to provide local contacts for the residents of Portree. A reply in similar terms was sent a short time ago to the Portree Shopkeepers' Association. The Inverness-shire Local Advisory Committee was consulted and agreed to these local arrangements, and to the office work being transferred to our local office at Inverness.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he is aware that on retirement at 70 years of age, Mr. George T. Millgate, Pension No. 43566674, was held to have made only 225 contributions since the age of 65; that this number was progressively admitted to be 248 contributions and, being two below the necessary 250 contributions, was held to deprive Mr. and Mrs. Millgate of 2s. 6d. per week in pension entitlement; and, in view of Mr. Millgate's contributions over 30 years and the fact that since the age of 65 he has been credited with 12 contributions for sickness, in addition to the 248 contributions paid, why the maximum retirement pension is not to be paid to him.

This gentleman is entitled to nine of the ten increments to retirement pension which can be earned by a man between the ages of 65 and 70. On reaching 70 he had 247 contributions paid since age 65, and one further contribution which was due was paid in arrear by a former employer. It is the normal practice to confirm to a pensioner the number of his contributions which is sufficient to qualify him for the increments to which he is entitled, in this case 225. Credits recorded during sickness do not for obvious reasons count for increments. The pension awarded to Mr. Millgate is therefore correctly assessed.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he is aware that an able-bodied man was summoned recently in a North London court for failing to contribute to the support of his nine young children that are costing the London County Council about £3,000 a year, and who, being unemployed in spite of conditions of full employment, was drawing £3 16s. 6d. a week National Assistance; and if he will amend his regulations so as to stop immediately the payment of all social benefits to such people from public funds, and set up a committee to investigate all abuses of the social services with the view to putting an end to them.

My right hon. Friend has seen a report of this case. He is not of course responsible for expenditure by the London County Council. So far as National Assistance is concerned, he has no reason to believe that there has been any abuse in a case which has some tragic features, and in which in view of the fact both that it concerns the private life of an individual and is still before the courts, he would prefer not to go into detail. If my hon. Friend would care to discuss it with me, I am at his disposal. But I can say now that it presents no features which would justify the action suggested in the last two parts of the Question.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many retirement pensioners in the Borough of Grimsby were drawing supplementary National Assistance at the latest convenient date.

The National Assistance Board regrets that this information is not available as the County Borough of Grimsby is served by offices which also serve an extensive area outside it.

asked the Paymaster-General what has been the total cost of administering the restrictions on oil consumption and petrol rationing to date.

The cost to the Ministry of Power is about £400,000, including about £250.000 payable to other Departments.

asked the Paymaster-General whether, now that the Suez Canal has been cleared, he will make an announcement on the Government's plan to end petrol rationing.

asked the Paymaster-General whether, in view of the opening of the Suez Canal, he is yet in a position to give an approximate date for the ending of petrol rationing.

No. As my right hon. Friend the Paymaster-General said on 20th February, the end of petrol rationing depends on the assurance of an adequate and regular flow of supplies

asked the Paymaster-General what success has been achieved in efforts to produce a smokeless fuel from Kent coal.

Some Kent coals are naturally smokeless but, mainly owing to their friable nature, only a small proportion is suitable for the domestic market. The National Coal Board has taken through the research stage a process to convert the fines into a smokeless fuel suitable for open grates and are now preparing to test this process in an experimental plant.

asked the Paymaster-General if he will take steps to create machinery whereby, whenever there are similar increases of pensions at a future date analogous to the increases under the Pensions Increase Act, 1956, ex-employees of municipal undertakings now merged in the Central Electricity Authority will be able to obtain their increases without any delay such as has recently occurred.

No. I cannot accept the implication in my hon. Friend's Question that any undue delay occurred in the recent case, bearing in mind the various consultations required.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware that at the meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, at which Great Britain was represented, concerning the international organisation on oceanographic information, held in Gottenburg, Sweden, last January, it was resolved to focus world attention on the dangers resulting from the contamination of the world's fisheries by the discharge into the sea of radioactive matter; and if he will specify what steps the British Government is taking against these dangers.

I assume that the hon. and learned Member refers to a meeting sponsored by U.N.E.S.C.O. at Gothenburg last January at which the subjects for consideration included methods of measuring the mixing of different layers of contaminated waters in the ocean but not radiation hazards themselves. A United Nations Scientific Committee on which H.M. Government are represented is making a survey of radiation hazards.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why he has made provision of working capital of £150,000 to Government-owned cold stores for 1957–58.

The working capital is required to cover disbursements made in advance of receipt of revenue.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware that the use of aircraft for the location of fish shoals if combined with a navigating system for communicating between aircraft and ship can save fuel, time, labour and depreciation in fishing vessels; and if he will make a statement on the trials which are now taking place between his department and the fishing industry for the purpose of reaching decisions on the use of these modern devices.

It is too early to predict what economic advantages there may be in the use of aircraft to locate fish shoals. My right hon. Friend is not aware of any experimental work in this field apart from that I have referred to in the reply I gave to the hon. and learned Member on 28th March.

asked the Minister of Supply what saving in the use of scientific and technical manpower he expects as a result of the agreement with the United States Government for the supply of guided missiles.

No estimate can be made at this stage.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what control he exercises over the making of loud noises by industrial undertakings and public institutions in the form of hooters and sirens; and what limitation he imposes upon such nuisances.

In certain circumstances I can revoke a licence given by a local authority under the Steam Whistles Act, 1872, but most powers given by statute on this subject are in the hands of local authorities.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent provision he has made for increasing the strength of the Government information organisation directly under his personal control.

Two officers with information experience have recently been added to my staff.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) if he will give details of the Africans who are members of committees of co-operative societies in Uganda and not employees, who have received official assistance to attend courses on co-operative subjects in Kenya or the United Kingdom, in 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, and 1956;(2) if he will give details of the Africans who were employed, or who have subsequently become employed, by the Department of Co-operative Development in Uganda who have attended courses on co-operative subjects in Kenya or the United Kingdom in the years 1952 to 1956 with official assistance.

I have asked the Governor for the information requested in these two Questions and will circulate it, when received, in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) what proposals have been made by the Government of British Guiana for drainage, irrigation and bush clearance in the interior of the Colony; and what proposals have been made for settlement schemes;(2) the number of tarred and other usable roads, in the interior of British Guiana; the number of railway tracks in that Colony; and what plans have been made for the general development of communications.

I am asking the Governor for the information requested in these two Questions and will write to the hon. Member when I have his reply.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many persons are now detained in custody in Cyprus without trial.

1,176.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education (1) if he will state the figures of expenditure contained in paragraph 1 of his Department's Memorandum on the education Estimates in terms of a pound of constant value; and if he will include comparable expenditure in the last prewar year;(2) if he will compare estimated expenditure for 1957–58 on primary and secondary schools only with expenditure in the years used in paragraph 1 of his Department's Memorandum, and with the last pre-war year, in terms of a pound of constant value.

Since there is no index suitably constructed to measure changes in the prices of the goods and services used in education, I cannot give the figures in terms of a pound of constant value. The Ministry's net expenditure in 1938–39 was £50,626,000. The following table shows the expenditure of local education authorities on primary and secondary schools in the selected years.

		£000
1938–39	…	65,358
1944–45	…	72,290
1946–47	…	105,583
1948–49	…	131,301
1950–51	…	145,744
1952–53	…	188,976
1954–55	…	220,832
1955–56	…	239,282
1956–57(estimate)	…	291,217*
1957–58(estimate)	…	328,000*
* Including employers' contributions under the Teachers (Superannuation) Acts which were not included in these figures in earlier years.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what representations have been made to him about the Aerial Advertising Bill.

Representations have reached me from about half a dozen hon. Members mostly on behalf of a particular firm which undertakes sky-shouting. I have also had representations from the London Chamber of Commerce who, with one other correspondent, whilst wishing to see freedom for other forms of aerial advertising do not wish to defend sky-shouting.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what representations have been made to his Department by any chief constable or other police authority or any road safety organisation about aerial advertising.

Representations against sky-shouting have on different occasions been received from the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, the Chief Constable, Southampton, and the Standing Joint Committee of the Royal Automobile Club, the Automobile Association and the Royal Scottish Automobile Club.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation how many road accidents have been wholly or partly caused by aerial advertising as defined by Clause 1 of the Aerial Advertising Bill.

No statistics on this subject are available.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what are his proposals for a speed limit on the West Cromwell Road extension in Brent-ford and Chiswick when work on this project has been completed.

I have advertised a proposal to impose a speed limit of 40 m.p.h. on the completed portions of this road in place of the existing limit of 30 m.p.h. The London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee is at present examining a scheme for the introduction of a 40 m.p.h. speed limit on suitable lengths of road in the London Traffic Area, and this is one of them. I hope to have the Committee's advice on the scheme as a whole before long.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what signs are provided on the West Cromwell Road extension in Brentford and Chiswick to indicate to motorists that there is a speed limit; whether he is satisfied that these are sufficiently noticeable; and whether, in view of the attention paid to this stretch of road by mobile police patrols, he will consider placing additional warning signs at conspicuous points.

The existence of a 30 m.p.h. speed limit on this road is indicated by the presence of street lighting. This is the normal method of indicating such speed limits, and I do not think that any further signs are necessary.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the fall in the value of the £ sterling, from one year to another, since 1914, taking the index of 100 for that year.

The table below sets out the estimated changes in the purchasing power of the £ sterling for the years since 1914, taking the index as 100 in 1914.

1914	…	…	…	…	100
1915	…	…	…	…	81
1916	…	…	…	…	68
1917	…	…	…	…	57
1918	…	…	…	…	49
1919	…	…	…	…	47
1920	…	…	…	…	40
1921	…	…	…	…	44
1922	…	…	…	…	55
1923	…	…	…	…	57
1924	…	…	…	…	57
1925	…	…	…	…	57
1926	…	…	…	…	58
1927	…	…	…	…	60
1928	…	…	…	…	60
1929	…	…	…	…	61
1930	…	…	…	…	63
1931	…	…	…	…	68
1932	…	…	…	…	69
1933	…	…	…	…	71
1934	…	…	…	…	71
1935	…	…	…	…	70
1936	…	…	…	…	68
1937	…	…	…	…	65
1938	…	…	…	…	64
1946	…	…	…	…	35
1947	…	…	…	…	33
1948	…	…	…	…	30
1949	…	…	…	…	30
1950	…	…	…	…	29
1951	…	…	…	…	27
1952	…	…	…	…	25
1953	…	…	…	…	25
1954	…	…	…	…	24
1955	…	…	…	…	23
1956	…	…	…	…	22

The calculation is based on changes in the cost of living index between 1914 and 1938 and changes in the consumer price index since then.Figures are not available on a comparable basis for the years 1939 to 1945.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is now in a position to state the Government's proposals to meet the situation created by the judgment in the case of Baddeley and Others v. Commissioners of Inland Revenue.

The examination of this question is now well advanced, but I regret that the conclusions cannot yet be announced.