asked the Secretary of State for War why 23360437 Private B. Clow, Royal Army Service Corps, is retained in the Army, in view of the fact that he is physically unfit for active service, and that his compassionate discharge has been recommended by his commanding officer.

Private Clow's medical category permits him to serve in any overseas theatre in the trade of storekeeper, for which he is being trained. His release on compassionate grounds has not been authorised because I have seen no evidence that circumstances have changed since the soldier was called up at the beginning of this year after the most careful and lengthy examination of his case.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he has concluded his review of the procedure involved in repatriation of the bodies of Service men who die overseas; and if he will now make a statement on changes which will standardise and possibly reduce the costs to relatives.

It remains the policy that the bodies of Service men, who die overseas, should not be brought home at public expense, but that relatives may make arrangements for repatriation at their own expense, if they so wish. As a result of representations by the hon. Member in connection with a recent case, I am writing to the hon. Member about these.

asked the Secretary of State for War the average length of time during which a sergeant on Regular engagement serves in that paid rank; and how long the average corporal on Regular engagement serves in that rank.

The time spent in paid ranks varies considerably between the different corps of the Army, and even within those corps where separate trade promotion rolls are maintained. The average periods requested by my hon. Friend are not therefore readily available in the War Office and could not be worked out without disproportionate effort.

asked the Secretary of State for War when the barracks at Episkopi are to be completed; and how many troops they are designed to accommodate.

Apart from some ancillary buildings, accommodation for about 2,000 Service men is expected to be completed at Episkopi by January, 1958.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what action he proposes to take upon his inspectors' report upon the affairs of Gordon Hotels Limited.

None.

asked the Prime Minister if all the nuclear tests due to take place on Christmas Island are to be of the clean bomb type and therefore not adding any more strontium 90 to that already existing in the atmosphere.

Our tests will not make more than a negligible addition to strontium 90 in the atmosphere; but I am not prepared to disclose the nature of the weapons we shall test.

asked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the transfer to him of the functions formerly exercised by the Lord President of the Council in relation to atomic energy matters.

An Order in Council has been made transferring to me the functions formerly exercised by the Lord President of the Council in relation to atomic energy. My right hon. Friend the Paymaster-General will assist me in the discharge of these functions.Questions should be addressed to me and will be answered either by me or by my right hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Works when hot water will be restored in the washing rooms of the House.

The supply of hot water has now been restored.

asked the Minister of Works how he intends to fill the office accommodation in Wareham Road, Dorchester, Dorsetshire, shortly to be partially vacated by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The decision to reduce the number of Ministry of Agriculture staff at Dorchester has only recently been made. I am considering what use to make of the vacated accommodation but have not yet reached a conclusion.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of Her Majesty's Government's insistence on the six points approved by the United Nations on 13th October for the future operation of the Suez Canal, he is prepared to accept an agreement which does not allow free passage through the Suez Canal for Israeli shipping.

No agreement would be acceptable to Her Majesty's Government which did not provide for freedom of transit for all ships without discrimination, in accordance with the 1888 Convention and the six principles of the Security Council Resolution of 13th October, 1956.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what arrangements or commitments have been made by his Department for future trooping operations by the Britannia aircraft now on order for Her Majesty's Government.

We have not yet entered into any commitments for the operation of these aircraft.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what future use is to be made of the Mid-Ocean Club, Bermuda, for official Government purposes.

There are no plans at present to make requests for future use of the club for official Government purposes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies when the conference of colonial officials on the problems raised by the plan for a European Free Trade Area will take place; and if the proceedings will be made available to the public.

The meeting was held from 27th March to 2nd April. The talks, which were between officials, were exploratory and intended to assist colonial Governments to a full appreciation of all the problems involved and to help Her Majesty's Government to assess the particular problems of individual territories. In these circumstances it would not be appropriate to publish the proceedings.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when new Ordnance Survey maps for Skegness will be made, since the maps now in existence of this rapidly growing town are so out of date as to be almost useless.

I have written, in reply to a letter from my hon. Friend, to explain why new maps of Skegness may not be available before 1964.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education what building programme is envisaged for extra school accommodation at Baddeley Green, near Stoke-on-Trent, in the constituency of Leek.

The junior department of a one form entry primary school at Baddeley Green has been included in the Staffordshire local education authority's approved building programme for the period from October, 1957, to March, 1958.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education what overcrowding there is of children in the infants' and primary stages at the Baddeley Green Schools, near Stoke-on-Trent, in the constituency of Leek.

At present there are 226 infants and 249 junior pupils in eleven classes, of which two share one large room and two others are in temporary accommodation. Twenty more infants are expected after Easter. The Staffordshire local education authority hopes to obtain the use of a further temporary room to relieve the overcrowding until the new school is built.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations on what basis the selection of students is made by the College Council of the University College of the Federation of Rhodesia; and to what extent it is proposed to increase the proportion of African and Asian to European students.

These are not matters for which Her Majesty's Government are responsible. The selection of students is a matter for the College Council, which is governed by the Charter of the College. In these, and in other matters, the College is autonomous.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations the number of Africans in Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland, respectively, who are employed in the higher grades of the Civil Service in their respective territories; and what opportunity they have for training and promotion to administrative posts.

There are 11 Africans in the Senior Service of Basutoland, 2 in the Senior Service of Bechuanaland and 2 in the Senior Service of Swaziland. Of these, one in each territory is an administrative officer and the others occupy posts of equivalent rank in other branches of the Government Service.African members of the Senior Services have the same opportunities as their European colleagues for training and promotion.

asked the Minister of Health, in view of the fact that the weekly amount per patient in mental hospitals spent upon food now equals 20s., whether additional moneys have been made available to other hospitals in order to reach this figure; how far hospitals are expected to spend more upon food by economising in other directions; and if he is satisfied that 20s. is now sufficient to provide an adequate and varied diet.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply of 11th March to the hon. Member for Woolwich, East (Mr. Mayhew). The additional money will enable considerable improvements to be made in the diet at mental and mental deficiency hospitals, but it is too early for me to assess the results, or to confirm the figure of 20s. suggested by the hon. Member. The last part of the Question does not therefore arise. No money has been made available specifically for improving the diet at other hospitals, but hospital boards are each given money for the development of their services, which, together with any savings brought about by increased efficiency, can at their discretion be used for this purpose.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the total number of mental defectives detained in institutions at the latest convenient date; and whether he will state the categories of defective, as defined by Section 1 of the Mental Deficiency Act, 1927, into which these fall.

The information is as follows:

—	At 31stDecember
	1954	1955
Mental defectives in the care of all hospitals and institutions	59,781	60,457
On licence (included above)	4,884	6,336
Grade of defect of patients in the care of hospitals vested in the Minister of Health (including Rampton and Moss Side):
All persons	58,119	58,799
Idiots	4,511	*
Imbeciles	23,308	*
Feeble-minded	30,215	*
Moral defectives	85	*
* Not yet available for 1955.

NOTE: Information about grade of defect is available only for those patients in the care of hospitals vested in me (including Rampton and Moss Side).

asked the Minister of Labour why, in view of his medical history, 23469546 Barry Cook, of 2, Council House, Highthorpe, Southrey, Lincolnshire. was accepted into the Army Grade I.

The National Service medical board found no sign of any condition which precluded Mr. Cook from being placed in Grade I. They were informed of his medical history but miniature X-ray examination revealed no abnormality. Mr. Cook did not appeal against the medical grading.

asked the Minister of Labour what effect changes in retail food prices have had on the cost of living over the past year and to what extent the removal of food subsidies has affected the cost of living idex.

Between February, 1956, and February, 1957 (the latest date for which figures are available), changes in food prices were responsible for a rise of about 1⅓ points in the Index of Retail Prices, of which about I point was accounted for by the removal of the remaining subsidy on bread and the reduction of the subsidy on milk.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will give revised figures showing the aggregate number of working days lost in 1956 through stoppages due to industrial disputes; and how many days were so lost during the first three months of 1957.

The final total of days lost through industrial disputes in 1956 is not yet available but is likely to be almost identical with the provisional figure of 2,083,000 days already published. Figures of days lost in January and February, 1957, have already been published but the total for March is not yet available. Both of the totals asked for will be given in the May issue of the Ministry of Labour Gazette.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT figures showing, for single persons and married persons with two children, respectively, the change in the real burden of taxation between 1938–39 and 1956–57, respectively, showing actual liabilities in 1938–39, the 1956–57 equivalent liabilities, the actual liabilities in 1956–57, and the tax liabilities as a percentage of income in a manner comparable with Tables A and C of pages 81 and 83 of Command Paper No. 9105.

Tables comparable with those on pages 81 and 83 of Cmd. 9105 are given below. In these tables the "Equivalent post-war income" and "Post-war equivalent liabilities" have been calculated by multiplying the 1938–39 figures by 2·65, the rise shown by the Consumer Price Index. Tables on this basis, however, do not in my opinion give a fair view of the changes in the real burden of taxation since they fail

SINGLE PERSONS
Income		1938–39 Tax rates						1956–57 Tax rates				Tax liabilities as a percentage of income
Prewar income	Equivalent post-war income	Actual liabilities			Post-war equivalent liabilities			Actual liabilities			Increase in relation to 1938–39	1938–39	1956–57
£	£	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.	per cent.	per cent.	per cent.
100	265	—			—			8	4	0	—	—	3·1
125	331	—			—			20	7	10	—	—	6·2
150	398	1	13	4	4	8	4	32	15	4	642	1·1	8·2
175	464	3	6	8	8	16	8	46	1	0	421	1·9	9·9
200	530	5	0	0	13	5	0	63	7	6	378	2·5	12·0
225	596	6	13	4	17	13	4	80	14	0	357	3·0	13·5
250	663	8	6	8	22	1	8	99	13	2	351	3·3	15·0
275	729	10	0	0	26	10	0	121	9	6	358	3·6	16·7
300	795	12	12	6	33	9	1	143	5	10	328	4·2	18·0
325	861	18	2	6	40	8	7	165	2	2	244	5·6	19·2
350	928	23	12	6	62	12	1	187	5	1	199	6·8	20·2
375	994	29	2	6	77	3	7	209	1	5	171	7·8	21·0
400	1,060	34	12	6	91	15	1	230	17	9	152	8·6	21·8
425	1,126	40	2	6	106	6	7	252	14	1	138	9·4	22·4
450	1,193	45	12	6	120	18	1	274	17	0	127	10·1	23·0
475	1,259	51	2	6	135	9	7	296	13	4	119	10·8	23·6
500	1,325	56	12	6	150	1	1	318	9	8	112	11·3	24·0
625	1,656	84	2	6	222	18	7	427	18	0	92	13·5	25·8
750	1,988	111	12	6	295	16	1	537	12	10	82	14·9	27·0
875	2,319	139	2	6	368	13	7	706	14	6	92	15·9	30·5
1,000	2,650	166	12	6	441	11	1	884	5	0	100	16·7	33·4
1,250	3,313	221	12	6	587	6	1	1,264	11	0	115	17·7	38·2
1,500	3,975	276	12	6	733	1	1	1,661	15	0	127	18·4	41·8
1,750	4,638	345	7	6	915	4	10	2,091	9	0	129	19·7	45·1
2,000	5,300	414	2	6	1,097	8	7	2,536	15	0	131	20·7	47·9
2,250	5,963	498	10	0	1,321	0	6	3,000	17	0	127	22·2	50·3
2,500	6,625	582	17	6	1,544	12	4	3,495	10	0	126	23·3	52·8
5,000	13,250	1,607	17	6	4,260	17	4	8,951	15	0	110	32·2	67·6

asked the Minister of Supply if he will name those manufacturers who refused to produce the Champ British-type jeep for the Army because of the radical departures from normal commercial practice in which they would otherwise have become involved.

Certain firms declined to tender for the production of the Champ British-type jeep because the work could not be accommodated with their other defence and export business, but four well-known firms did tender. It would be contrary to practice to disclose names.

s asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state for each local authority in Scotland the percentage of young people between the ages of 15 and 18 years attending full-time courses of education, day release courses of education and evening courses of education.

:s It is not possible to give figures for each local authority's area, because many students attend educational institutions outside the areas to which they belong. For Scotland as a whole in January, 1956, the latest date for which information is available, the figures were 17 per cent. in full-time courses, 7 per cent. in part-time day-release courses, and 22 per cent. in other part-time (mainly evening) courses.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether, after the opening of the Pelham Bridge, Lincoln, next year, Pelham Street and High Street will fulfil the conditions necessary to be reclassified as Class 1 and Class 2 roads, respectively.

In my view the future traffic flow after Pelham Bridge has been completed is likely to justify the reclassification of Pelham Street as Class I and High Street as Class II.