asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many countries have in the last five years ignored the decisions of the United Nations, in addition to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics over the Hungarian situation and Egypt over Israel; and what proposals he will lay before the United Nations for the enforcement of compliance with United Nations decisions.

There have been no decisions by the Security Council during the last five years which have been ignored by any countries to whom they have been specifically directed, apart from the Israel question mentioned by my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make an interim statement of progress made at the meetings of the Disarmament Sub-Committee.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given today to the right hon. and learned Member for Rowley Regis and Tipton (Mr. A. Henderson), and to the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what enforced movements of Africans have taken place from Mount Mategere in Tanganyika; how many have been moved; for what reasons; and under what conditions of resettlement and compensation.

One hundred and forty-six people were directed to cease cultivating in certain areas in the Matogoro Hills in the Songea District of Tanganyika in June, 1950. This action was necessary in order to preserve vital water sources in the area which were being threatened by erosion following over-cultivation. No Africans were permanently resident in the area and the question of resettlement did not arise. Agreed compensation was, however, paid in certain cases.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies on what basis certain constituencies will be selected in Tanganyika for the forthcoming elections to the Legislative Council.

This matter is still under consideration and I have not yet received the Governor's recommendations.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what progress has been made with regard to building a deep-water harbour in Cyprus.

The Cyprus Government announced last November its decision to proceed with a major extension of Famagusta Harbour which will more than double its present capacity. Detailed plans and specifications are being prepared in order that tenders may be invited. Work on new access roads to the extension of the port area will be starting next week.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what are the next steps he proposes to take to implement the Radcliffe Report on the future Constitution of Cyprus.

I cannot at this stage add to what I said on 19th December and 28th March.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state the names of those films which have been declared unsuitable for African audiences by the Northern Rhodesia African Film Censoring Board since 1st January, 1957, to the latest convenient date; how many of these were proscribed after they had been advertised for showing at the multiracial cinema in Lusaka owned by Mr. V. Mistry; what was the longest notice given of this proscription for films already advertised and what was the shortest notice; and if he will make a statement on the Film Censoring Board, its origins, composition, and methods of work.

These matters are regulated by the laws of Northern Rhodesia. I have consulted the Governor and shall circulate the information in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what arrangements exist for the provision of the needs of unemployed persons in Northern Rhodesia by regulations or other means.

I am consulting the Governor and will write to the hon. Member when I have his reply.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why Mr. Matthew R. Mwendapole of Northern Rhodesia was refused a passport to join the delegation visiting North and South America on behalf of democratic socialist youth organisations in Western Europa, and Africa.

I am informed by the Governor that Mr. Mwendapole has, in fact, made no application for a passport.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he has now received a report on the effect of the Zambesi floods within Northern Rhodesia and on Africans from Northern Rhodesia.

Yes, and I wrote to the hon. Member on 1st April. I have now received a further report from the Governor which indicates that, in addition to the fifteen deaths in the Senanga District of the Barotse Protectorate, unfortunately six people were drowned when a rescue canoe overturned in the Mongu District. I have asked the Governor to convey my deep sympathy to the Paramount Chief. In Mongu and Sesheke districts flooding has upset the harvest. However, good winter crops are expected as a result of the heavy silt deposits from the early and high floods. The power station near Livingstone, which was closed down, resumed output on 26th March.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies on what basis decisions are reached in the dependent territories for the compilation of prescribed lists of seditious publications; and to what extent consultation with the United Kingdom Government takes place before such lists are finally agreed.

Decisions to ban a publication in a Colonial Territory in the public interest rest entirely with the Government of the territory in the light of local circumstances.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state the names of those territories where prescribed lists of seditious publications have been promulgated; and if he will circulate those lists in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

I am consulting Colonial Governments and will communicate with the hon. Member when their replies have been received.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how much British and United States capital, respectively, has been invested in each of the British Territories and Protectorates in Africa.

The detailed figures for which the hon. Member asks are not available, but total capital flowing into the British Colonial Territories in West and East Africa plus Aden during the years 1954–56 is estimated to have been about £150 million. Almost the whole of this is estimated to have come from the United Kingdom. The proportion coming from United States sources was small.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state the value of exports from the Colonial Territories to the six countries of the European Common Market Treaty for the latest convenient year; and what proportion these exports were of total colonial exports.

The value of exports from the Colonial Territories to the six countries of the European Economic Community in 1955 was approximately £170 million, and represented some 13 per cent. of total colonial exports. These figures do not include Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, whose trade is covered by the Federal returns; nor the Gold Coast (now Ghana).

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will give an estimate of the likely effect on imports from the Colonial Territories into the six European Common Market countries of the duties already fixed by those countries on various commodities.

The preferential position afforded to the overseas territories associated with the Common Market may cause some contraction (or loss of potential expansion) in the market for certain products of the Colonial Territories. The extent of such contraction will depend on a number of factors. which cannot be precisely estimated at present, including the stimulus to production in the associated overseas territories afforded by the new preference, and in the long run the possible expansion of demand in Europe.I am, however, circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT below a note of new duties as so far fixed, the present duties and the pattern of trade in respect of some of the commodities mainly affected.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) on what grounds action is being taken in Uganda against the former members of the Equatoria Corps; and where the offences were committed in respect of which they arc being charged;(2) whether the former members of the Equatoria Corps who are being rounded up in Uganda in co·operation with the Sudanese Security Force are to be tried in Uganda or in the Sudan.

About twenty people, some of whom may have been former members of the Sudan Defence Force, were detained for questioning by the Uganda authorities following an incident within the Protectorate on 26th March when five members of a party of Sudanese officials and chiefs returning from a meeting with Protectorate officials were killed in ambush north of Madi Opei. None of those detained was arrested and all have been relased. The search for those responsible for the ambush is continuing, and any persons arrested in Uganda will be dealt with in accordance with Protectorate Law.Investigation into this incident has led to the arrest, pending possible extradition proceedings. of two former members of the Sudan Defence Force suspected of complicity in an armed attack in the Sudan last September in which there were fatal casualties.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why Mr. Paulo Muwanga of Uganda was refused a passport to join the delegation visiting North and South America on behalf of democratic socialist youth organisations in Western Europe and Africa.

All Governors have complete discretion to withhold passports or visas without stating their reasons for doing so.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if advisers from the United Kingdom to assist in the encouragement and development of the trades union movement in Uganda have been appointed; what is the number of advisers who are now engaged in this capacity; and what their trade union experience has been.

It is the policy of the Uganda Government to encourage the development of trade unions, and this forms part of the duties of the Labour Commissioner and Staff of the Labour Department at present numbering thirty-six in all. None of the officers at present serving in the Labour Department has had experience as a trade union official, but one with several years experience as a trade union official in this country will shortly take up his appointment, in replacement of a senior official who has such experience and who, after eight years in the Labour Department, has been transferred on promotion to another Department to deal with personnel matters.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make a statement about the attempted mass escape of Mau Mau convicts in the Nairobi area on 9th April.

On the afternoon of 9th April, when a party of seventy-one Mau Mau convicts escorted by a sergeant and sixteen warders was returning to Langata Prison from a quarry about a mile distant, there was a mass escape involving twenty convicts. The warders attempted to prevent the escape and fired four shots, but these had no effect and all twenty convicts disappeared into thick bush. A number of warders pursued the escaping convicts while the rest escorted the remaining fifty-one convicts to the prison under close guard. Pursuit parties organised by the officer-in-charge of the prison succeeded in recapturing six convicts immediately. Since then seven more have been recaptured.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the number of European members of the Police Reserve who have been seconded to the administration in the Central Province in Kenya; and what is the number of those seconded who are at present concerned with the land consolidation schemes.

I am asking the Governor and will circulate the details in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what will be the total cost of the completion of the airport at Nairobi; and if the airport will be used exclusively for civilian purposes.

It is now estimated that the new airport which is under construction at Embakasi near Nairobi will cost £2,433,000. It will be primarily a civil airport, but will be available for use by the R.A.F. if required.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies in how many Government hospitals and clinics in Kenya charges are made for out-patient treatment; what proportion this is of the total; and what effect the introduction of charges has had on attendances.

Out-patient charges are made at thirty-five hospitals and clinics out of a total of fifty-four. In the first month after the introduction of fees there has been, on average, a fall of about half in out-patient attendances, but in-patient admissions have risen at most of these centres.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the proposed Constitution for Singapore.

I am glad to say that agreement was reached on a new Constitution which will confer full internal self-government on Singapore while leaving defence and external affairs in the hands of Her Majesty's Government. Details of the constitutional settlement are contained in the Report of the Conference, which is being published today as a Command Paper.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the issues which remain in dispute following the negotiations on the proposed Constitution for Singapore.

Agreement was reached on all the permament provisions of the new Constitution, but the Singapore Delegation regretted that Her Majesty's Government were unable to agree that the affairs of Singapore should be transferred to the Commonwealth Relations Office. They were also unable to support the temporary condition on which I insisted that the effect that persons known to have been engaged in subversive activities should not be eligible for election to the first Legislative Assembly of the new State of Singapore.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in view of the fact that the official or the nominated members of the Legislature of British Guiana will not introduce a motion to propose membership of the Caribbean Federation, what facilities will be provided for elected members to do so.

There will be nothing to prevent elected members from introducing such a motion, but I would invite the hon. Member's attention to the final paragraph of the reply which I gave to him on 13th March.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in view of the fact that wireless telegraphy is a reserved matter in the Malta Constitution why it has not been possible since last Wednesday to communicate by this means from Malta; and what is the procedure if the internal telephone and telegraph system of Malta is controlled by the Maltese Government and the latter refuses as last week to allow this system to be linked with wireless telegraphy to the United Kingdom.

Because the Maltese Government were dissatisfied with the radio telephone service they instructed the Maltese Post Office on 10th April not to connect any further calls until the service was improved. After tests the service was restored on 15th April. There has been no interruption in the cable or wireless telegraph services to or from Malta.As regards the second part of the Question, I am advised that the maintenance of telecommunications services is a reserved matter. The question of a procedure does not therefore arise.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what advice he has given to Her Majesty on the petition submitted recently from Sierra Leone about the forthcoming elections.

I am still considering this petition and have not yet tendered advice to Her Majesty upon it. The position remains as in my reply to the hon. Member for Bilston (Mr. R. Edwards) on 10th April.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies for what reasons Mr. Malcolm de Chazal has been superannuated from the Civil Service in Mauritius.

Mr. de Chazal was called on under the relevant Mauritius pensions legislation to retire at the age of 55 because his services were no longer required.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what representations he has received from the Bar Council of Jamaica for the ending of the practice whereby forty-three serving police officers and many retired police officers have been appointed as justices of the peace; and what action he proposes to take about the matter.

None. On the second part of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to the replies given to his Questions of 23rd January and 13th March, to which I have nothing to add at present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what mineral operating licences have been granted in Nyasaland, and on what terms; whether the New Consolidated Goldfields have a licence to exploit uranium, niobium, etc. and to whom royalties will become payable.

I have asked the Governor to supply the details requested. and will write to the right hon. Member when I have received it.

asked the Prime Minister to what extent, under the arrangements recently made for the pooling of British and United States intelligence material, United States security agents will be given access to data regarding British citizens.

No such arrangements were made at Bermuda.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty which of Her Majesty's ships are to visit Welsh ports this summer; and if he will give short descriptions and the numbers of their respective crews.

The programme of visits by Her Majesty's ships to ports in the United Kingdom this year is now under consideration. I will let my hon. Friend have the details he asks for as soon as they are available.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty why building operations have been stopped on the Headquarters, Sussex Division, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Hove.

A good many works items are being held up as a result of the current reviews of defence policy and expenditure, pending consequential decision being taken on the future of a number of shore establishments. It would be premature as yet to draw any conclusions from the slowing down or stopping of work on various Naval building sites.

asked the Postmaster-General to what extent the staff dealing with Premium Bonds at Lytham St. Annes has been reduced in the last three months; what are the reasons for such reductions; and to which other Government Departments these persons have been transferred.

The expected decline in work after the early months has for the time being reduced the staff required for the Bonds by 329. Of these, 294 have been retained in Post Office employment but are engaged in other work for the Post Office Savings Department or for the Ministries of Pensions and National Insurance, Power and Health and the Board of Customs and Excise. The remainder have left the service.

asked the Postmaster-General why he intends to close the sub-post office at 153, Highgate Road. N.W.5; if he is aware that its closing will greatly inconvenience old-age pensioners and others who live in the neighbourhood; and if he will either reconsider his decision or open another sub-post office in the immediate vicinity.

The sub-office was closed on the 11th April because the sub-postmaster resigned. A new office will be opened as soon as a candidate with suitable premises can be found.

asked the Postmaster-General what additional ventilation, or other means to reduce the temperature in the ship's laundry of H.M.T.S. "Monarch," will be provided before the vessel sails on her voyage to the tropics.

Working conditions in the laundry were substantially improved in 1954 by the installation of modern equipment and by additional ventilation. "Monarch" has since worked in tropical waters and there has been nothing to suggest that conditions in the laundry during the forthcoming work in the Pacific, mainly in sub-tropical waters, will be unreasonable. I will, however. see what can be done by way of further improvement at the refit later this year.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what recent investigations have been made into unidentified flying objects; what photographs have been taken; and what reports have been made on this subject.

Reports are continually being received, and we investigate them wherever the details are sufficient. Most of the objects turn out to be ballons or meteors. One photograph recently received some publicity, but was faked.

asked the Secretary of State for Air how many officers have applied for early release since 1st January, 1957.

Seventy-eight of all branches. A further 248 have applied for release to the civil airlines, under a scheme which has operated from time to time at their request and subject to the requirements of the R.A.F. Only trained pilots within their last three years of service are eligible to apply.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what improvements in the rural transport system he has been able to effect since he made his statement on 24th April, 1956; and whether he will make a further statement.

British Railways have introduced a number of new diesel services, and many more are planned. In addition, the British Transport Commission are ordering 22 light weight diesel rail buses, for delivery in 1957 and 1958, for experimental use in rural areas in the Eastern, London Midland, Scottish and Western Regions. During recent months bus services generally have, of course, been slightly affected by rationing, but since the beginning of this month bus operators have been receiving normal supplies of motor fuel. I hope that the book "Village Bus" which we published last autumn will help rural communities to solve their transport problems.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what arrangements have been made to terminate the various temporary fare increases permitted to transport undertakings in London and in the provinces to enable them to meet the temporary additional duty on petrol and oil and if he will make a statement.

The power to charge the temporary fare increases permitted by the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties (Temporary Increase) Act, 1956, ceases fourteen days after 9th April when the additional 1s. duty on oil was removed. An extension of this period can only be allowed for special reasons by the Traffic Commissioners or, in the case of the London Transport Executive, by the Transport Tribunal.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether an official invitation has now been received from the Belgian Government for Her Majesty's Government to take part in an international conference to consider the 1955 draft Convention relating to the limitation of liability of sea-going vessels and what is the date of such conference.

Her Majesty's Embassy in Brussels has been officially informed by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Belgian Govern- ment intend to organise a conference in October of this year. The formal invitations have, however, not yet been issued.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will take steps to agree an official English translation of the various enactments referred to in Section 6 of the Administration of Justice Act, 1956, with the Rhine Navigation Authority at Strasbourg, and make such translation available so that British shipowners and their advisers may be in a position to ascertain to what extent their right to justice in the courts of the United Kingdom has been restricted since 1st January, 1957.

The authentic languages of the Rhine Convention are French and German, and an English translation which would rank equally with them would require the agreement of all the signatory Powers. It does not seem to me worthwhile to try to achieve this agreement, particularly since, so far as I am aware, no practical difficulties have arisen.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what is the position concerning a start on construction of road schemes with dual-carriageways costing over £100,000, listed officially by him on 30th May, 1956, given in Civil Estimates 1957–58 for commencement in 1956–

The eight schemes referred to have been authorised. Work has started on Page Street to Mill Hill, Middlesex (widening), Alconbury Hill to Woolpack Cross Roads, Huntingdonshire (widening) and on East Retford By-pass (Elkesley to Five Lanes End). The remaining five schemes have been delayed for procedural reasons, but they are being pressed forward urgently.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when he expects to be able to publish the report of the expert working party on safety measures at railway level crossings.

The report was published this morning and copies are now available in the Vote Office.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations whether he will make a statement on his talks with the Prime Minister of the Central African Federation.

The talks are still in progress. A statement will not be possible until they are finished.

asked the Secretary of State (1) whether he will give an assurance that when expanding the number of technical units required under the new defence organisation, he will convert for the purpose infantry battalions which may no longer be needed in their traditional role before creating new units of any technical arm;(2) whether he will give an assurance that where it may be necessary, under the new defence organisation, to disband the Regular or Territorial battalions of a county infantry regiment, the name and county affiliation will be maintained by the conversion of such battalions into technical units, so ensuring that their valuable traditions as well as their honoured names are continued.

The changes to be made have not yet been decided; but I shall bear in mind the points made by my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the sackage of flour used in bread production in the most recent month for which figures are available and for the corresponding month in the years 1956, 1955, 1954, 1950 and 1946; what was the flour sackage used in confectionery production during these months; and similarly the sackage used in biscuit production.

My right hon. Friend regrets that the information for which the hon. Member asks is not availables.

asked the Prime Minister if he will place a copy of the report in the Library of the committee set up by the Minister of Agriculture in the spring of 1935, to study the problem of food production in time of war which reported in April. 1936.

I have been asked to reply. It is not the practice to place in the Library copies of such reports.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he now proposes taking to bring the law relating to salmon and freshwater fishing in England and Wales into line with present conditions and requirements.

After considering representations which have been made to him, my right hon. Friend has concluded that it would be appropriate to survey the existing salmon and freshwater fisheries legislation, and he has therefore decided to set up a Committee with these terms of reference:

" To review the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Acts, 1923–35, and their operation, taking into account the provisions of the River Boards Act, 1948: and to make recommendations."

He has invited the Hon. B. L. Bathurst, Q.C., to act as Chairman of the Committee, and I am glad to inform the House that he has accepted. The membership of the Committee will he announced as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will give an estimate of the effect on the costs of the fishing industry of the recent reduction in the prices of bunker Oils.

It is estimated that the reductions in the prices of bunker fuel oil and marine diesel oil which came into effect on 9th and 10th April would, in a full year, reduce the costs of the distant water fishing fleet and of the near and middle water fleet by about £570,000 and £90,000 respectively. These reductions offset more than one-third of the increases which took place in January.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give some guidance on the possibility of organising a mutual insurance scheme to insure hop-growers against loss through damage by hail or other exceptional weather conditions.

It would be a matter for the industry itself to organise a scheme of this kind, and my right hon. Friend understands that the Hops Marketing Board is considering its possibilities.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether any inspectors have yet been appointed in Kent under the Agriculture (Safety Health and Welfare Provisions) Act of 1956, to visit farmers for the purpose of advising on the type of first-aid equipment on farms.

Inspectors are in course of being appointed for work under the Act and Regulations, and one will be posted to Kent as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Defence whether, in view of Archbishop Makarios's known opposition to plans envisaging the retention of a British base in Cyprus, he will take an early opportunity of discussing this issue with the Archbishop during his impending visit to the Middle East.

Our defence requirements are a matter for the Government to decide on their own responsibility.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education how many men teachers are employed in all types of schools in England and Wales.

On 1st February. 1957, 97,700 men full-time teachers were employed in all types of schools maintained by local education authorities in England and Wales.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will introduce legislation to enable him to enforce the holding of a ballot by a registered trade union before declaring a strike in those cases where such unions ignore the clauses in their constitutions calling for the holding of such ballots.

No, it is for the union members to see that the union observes its own rules. The effect of the suggested legislation would probably be to discourage the voluntary adoption of a ballot provision in union rules.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will state, to the latest convenient date, in respect of each metropolitan borough council, the total number of separate dwellings held on requisition, the number of families accommodated therein, the number of invitations issued to owners to accept licensees as statutory tenants under Section 4 of the Requisitioned Houses and Housing (Amendment) Act, 1955, and the number of owners who have accepted invitations under that Section.

The latest information available—at 31st March, 1957—is set out in the following table. The figures are subject to correction.

REQUISITIONED HOUSES AND HOUSING (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1955
Metropolitan Borough Council	Number of separate* dwellings held on requisition	Invitations under Section 4 to accept licensees as statutory tenants
		Issued to owners	Accepted by owners
Battersea	1,012	2,170	1,121
Bermondsey	122	164	86
Bethnal Green	312	418	219
Camberwell	2,909	2,968	1,361
Chelsea	1,150	1,239	46
Deptford	1,066	1,732	670
Finsbury	425	369	192
Fulham	1,039	683	244
Greenwich	1,054	1,477	419
Hackney	2,246	2,312	833
Hammersmith	897	1,456	553
Hampstead	1,056	790	142
Holborn	625	569	220
Islington	1,243	1,765	660
Kensington	859	1,023	258
Lambeth	2,216	2,811	836
Lewisham	1,754	2,826	902
Paddington	1,673	578	35
Poplar	744	716	248
St. Marylebone	706	337	116
St. Pancras	893	1,083	370
Shoreditch	449	676	320
Southwark	364	969	686
Stepney	1,123	916	791
Stoke Newington	702	899	239
Wandsworth	2,582	4,107	1,543
Westminster	1,211	1,219	94
Woolwich	465	602	146
	30,897	36,794	13,350
* The number of vacant dwelling-3 is not known.

asked the Paymaster-General whether he will arrange for a large-scale model of a nuclear power station, of the Bradwell or Berkeley type, to be displayed within the Palace of Westminster.

Yes. The Central Electricity Authority's large-scale model will be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall from Tuesday, 30th April until Friday, 10th May, inclusive.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he proposes to issue to Scottish local health authorities his promised circular on the prevention of home accidents.

I am issuing to the local health authorities today a circular which draws attention to various ways in which they can help in the prevention of accidents in the home, and which invites the authorities to foster the establishment of local home safety committees in their areas.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state the average sum collected in taxes, for the last five years, from the profits of mutual trading among members of allotment and garden associations who are registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average cost to the Exchequer of answering each Parliamentary Question during the past twelve months.

I regret that the calculation would involve an undue expenditure of time and money.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how much of the employed person's National Insurance contribution is not referable to unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, and maternity benefit.

In addition to 5d. under the Industrial Injuries Act, an employed man contributes 6s. 4d. a week under the National Insurance Act. Of this 6s. 4d., is. 11·7d. is referable to unemployment benefit, sickness benefit and maternity benefit, leaving a balance of 4s. 4·3d. which includes 8½d. towards the National Health Service. For Income Tax purposes, the part of the contribution relating to the first-mentioned group of benefits is not allowable as a deduction from income, whereas the balance of the contribution is so allowable. In this connection, I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving me an opportunity of correcting what I said on a point of tax law during the debate on 19th March at Col. 329–330 of the OFFICIAL REPORT. I then said, after taking the full advice available to me. that the existing Health Service element in the National Insurance contribution was in that part of the contribution which is not allowable as a deduction for tax purposes. I have now ascertained that this is not so.It is, however, the intention, for the reasons given in the debate both by the right hon. Gentleman and myself, that the contribution to be imposed on the insured person under forthcoming legislation should not be deductible for tax purposes, and I am authorised by my right hon. Friends the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Minister of Health to say that the National Health Service Contributions Bill will deal in this way with the new Health Service contribution (which will subsume the National Health Service element in the present National Insurance contribution).I would like to add that I very much regret that I gave the House what turns out to be a wrong view of the present law.