asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in view of the value of the dehydrated food produced by Torry Experimental Food Station, Aberdeen, and of the fact that it was used for refugees in connection with the recent Hungarian crisis, that no stocks are kept in reserve for other national crises and that the factory is not designed or equipped to go into production and storage for other national crises, if he will now seek powers to design the requisite equipment and storage of this valuable food for other national crises such as those arising from floods, storms or war at home and abroad.

No.

asked the Minis ter of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by what percentages the imports of meat from New Zealand and the Argentine have increased since 1950.

Between 1950 and 1956 imports of meat from New Zealand decreased by 1 per cent., while those from Argentina increased by 30 per cent.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much labour productivity in agriculture, in terms of net output from the land, has increased over the last twenty years, compared with the labour productivity of urban industry generally.

Official estimates of changes in labour productivity are not available for as long a period as twenty years. Over the past eight years, however, industrial output per man is estimated to have increased on average by about 3 per cent, annually. There are no strictly comparable figures available for agriculture, but I am satisfied that the increase in the productivity of agricultural manpower has been at least as fast.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consultations he is having with the farmers' unions about the proposed imports of bacon and ham from Yugoslavia under the new trade agreement with that country.

Bacon imports from Yugoslavia are already allowed under open individual licence and these arrangements are not affected by the new agreement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the proportion of home-grown barley and other home-grown materials used in the manufacture of compound feedingstuffs in 1956; and how this compares with the proportion before the war.

It is estimated that the proportion of home-grown barley and other home-grown grains and materials used in the manufacture of compound feedingstuffs in Great Britain in 1956 was about 24 per cent. No precise information is available about the pre-war proportion, but it is believed to have been much lower.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is yet in a position to make a statement about future policy in regard to fowl pest.

Yes. After consulting the main poultry producers' organisations, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and I have decided to end the restrictions under which live poultry other than day-old chicks and hatching eggs may not be moved into certain scheduled areas in England and Wales from any other part of Great Britain. The necessary Order will be made and brought into force as soon as possible. We shall, in future, impose "standstill" restrictions promptly in the neighbourhood of outbreaks where that appears necessary to prevent the spread or disease. The ban on movements into Scotland from other parts of Great Britain will remain, and there is no intention of changing the slaughter policy for infected and contact birds.

asked the Minister of Labour what stage has been reached in the negotiations on the claim by the Electrical Power Engineers Association for higher salaries.

I have appointed a Board of Arbitration under the Industrial Courts Act, 1919, to deal with the claim. The Board will meet on 17th April.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will instruct his attachés at Her Majesty's embassies and ministries abroad to submit to him returns showing whether, in the countries to which they are accredited, strike ballots are to be held by law, whether such legislation is strictly enforced, and whether it is required that the ballot shall be conducted by a returning officer independent of the union concerned; and if he will publish in HANSARD the collated results of such returns.

I have a good deal of information on this and I am arranging to call for the full information asked for. I will communicate the results to my hon. and gallant Friend in due course.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, as in previous years, he will suspend the call-up of agricultural workers during the harvest period.

Yes. After consultation with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, I have arranged for the call-up of agricultural workers to be suspended for a period of fourteen weeks during this year's harvest time. The dates will vary according to the needs of the different areas and will be determined later in the light of the position in each area.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in view of the fact that many British birds are protected by law and no such protection is given to any British mammal, he will take the necessary steps to introduce a close season for deer with the proviso that, in the event of crop damage, special shooting permits could be given by the local magistrates.

I assume that my hon. Friend is referring to the hunting of deer on Exmoor. I understand that a close season is already observed by the Staghounds.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education whether he is aware of the increasing development of smoking among English secondary and grammar school children; and what action he will take to bring to the notice of such children the dangers to which the early habit of smoking gives rise.

My Department's handbook on Health Education contains advice both for teachers and for parents, and it must really be left to their good sense to decide how they can best explain the position to children.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the percentage increase or decrease in productivity in British manufacturing industry between October, 1955, and October, 1956.

Comparisons based on short periods of time are not significant, but for the whole year 1956 output in manufacturing industry was 1·2 per cent, less than in 1955 and there was a slight rise in the numbers employed, so that output per man-year decreased by about 2 per cent.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will now state when the Register of Restrictive Trading Agreements will be open to public inspection.

At 2 p.m. on 15th April.

asked the Prime Minister when the Government's proposals for the reform of the House of Lords are to be announced.

Later, during the present Session.

asked the Prime Minister (1) whether he will give an undertaking, before making a final decision on raising the embargo on British trade with China, to consult representatives of prominent industrialists and traders of Chinese origin in Hong Kong and Singapore;(2) whether he will give an undertaking, before making a final decision on raising the embargo on British trade with China, to consult the member States of the Commonwealth, including those which have not officially recognised the Government of Communist China.

A common policy for all Commonwealth Governments is not feasible because some of them do not maintain strategic controls on their trade with China. Those which do maintain such controls are, and will remain, aware of the United Kingdom's practice and policy on this question. Full account will be taken of industrial and trading interests in Hong Kong and Singapore before a decision is reached.

asked the Prime Minister to what extent the Government have assumed the obligation under paragraph 5 of the Final Communiqué of the Bagdad Pact Council of November, 1955, to use British military forces against any popular rising in a country signatory to the Bagdad Pact that is alleged by the ruler of that country to constitute Communist subversion.

As my right hon. and learned Friend said in reply to a similar Question by the hon. Gentleman on the 11th February, there is no provision in the communiqué to which he refers for armed intervention to deal with subversion. The hon. Member's Question does not therefore arise.

asked the Minister of Health, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what progress has been made by the United Nations Scientific Committee, on which Her Majesty's Government are represented, in their survey of radiation hazards; and if he will state in particular the conclusions reached to date in regard to contamination of ocean waters and fish.

The Committee is at present in session. I understand that it is considering the contamination of ocean waters and fish by the deposition of radioactive wastes, but I do not know when its conclusions on this subject will be available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the number of Africans and Europeans, respectively, employed in the mining industry in Tanganyika; what opportunities there are for the training of Africans in skilled mining and administrative work in the gold, lead and diamond mining industries; and what are the rates of pay of European and African unskilled and skilled workers, respectively.

The numbers of Africans and Euorpeans, respectively, employed in the mining industry in Tanganyika are, according to the latest available statistics, 16,402 and 612. On the second and third parts of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to the replies my hon. Friend and I gave to Questions by the right hon. Member for Dearne Valley (Mr. Paling) on the 13th March, 1957, and 19th December, 1956.

asked the Secretary of State for the colonies what reply has been sent by the Government of Tanganyika to the request of the Tanganyika African National Union to publish a newspaper.

No such request has been received by the Government of Tanganyika.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the number of Africans who have been and are employed in Government service in Uganda and Tanganyika, respectively, for each year from 1948 to 1957, inclusive.

The numbers of Africans in Government service, excluding casual labour and temporary unestablished staff, are as follow:

Uganda
1948	…	…	…	…	7,300
1949	…	…	…	…	7,800
1950	…	…	…	…	10,200
1951	…	…	…	…	10,800
1952	…	…	…	…	10,800
1953	…	…	…	…	11,900
1954–55	…	…	…	…	13,100
1955–56	…	…	…	…	14,600
1956–57	…	…	…	…	16,400

Tanganyika
1948	…	…	…	9,114
1949	…	…	…	9,957
1950	…	…	…	11,357
1951	…	…	…	12,381
1952	…	…	…	13,719
1953	…	…	…	16,373
1954	…	…	…	18,479
1955	…	…	…	19,106
1956	…	…	…	22,880
31st March. 1957	…	…	…	23,090

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what would be the estimated net saving to the National Insurance Scheme and the Exchequer, respectively, of raising, with effect from 1st January, 1960, the age at which retirement pension may be drawn by women to 65, for dependent wives including dependent wives under 65, widows and women insured in their own right, respectively, in the years 1960, 1965, 1970 and 1980; and also how many wives aged 65 and over, by five year age groups, would be receiving a pension by virtue of their husband's insurance in each of the years 1960, 1965, 1970, and 1980.

A detailed reply to the hon. Member's Question would require very elaborate calculations and assumptions. It is, however, estimated very broadly that, if the minimum pension age for women were raised to 65 and dependency increases for wives of retirement pensioners limited as indicated in his Question, the net saving on benefit expenditure from the National Insurance Fund would reach rather more than £60 million a year in the last of the years referred to in the Question.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the value of work on new construction and major improvements on roads organised year by year from 1953–54 to 1956–57 and the estimate for 1957–58.

The value of new construction and major improvement works carried out on all public roads in Scotland from 1953–54 to 1955–56 was as follows:

				£
1953–54	…	…	…	968,000
1954–55	…	…	…	1,081,000
1955–56	…	…	…	1,936,000

Further details are given in table 18 of the Digest of Scottish Statistics for April, 1957.I estimate that comparable figures for the following two years may be:

				£
1956–57	…	…	…	2,478,000
1957–58	…	…	…	5,275,000

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what were the results of the recent meeting held by his Department to discuss the apportionment of dock charges in South Wales.

There was a full exchange of views. The Industrial Association of Wales and Monmouthshire asked that shipowners should assume responsibility for certain of the port charges at South Wales ports. The British Liner Committee undertook to inform the shipping lines concerned of the views expressed by the Association, but made it clear that they could not commit the lines to any course of action and that the Association would themselves have to pursue the matter directly with the shipping conferences and lines concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will explain the part which the British Legion are playing in looking after relatives at the coming unveiling of the Dunkirk War Memorial.

I am glad to say that the British Legion have been able to make excellent arrangements for a pilgrimage to the unveiling ceremony at Dunkirk on 29th June. About 1,500 relatives are expected to take advantage of these arrangements at a very low cost. I am sure the House will join with me in expressing our pleasure at the action which the British Legion are undertaking.