asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that, taking the internal purchasing value of the sterling as 20s. in October, 1951, it had declined to 18s. 5d. by March, 1953, and 17s. 8d. by March, 1955; and what was the comparable figure for March, 1957.

The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes". The answer to the second part is 16s. 2d. These calculations are based on the Index of Retail Prices.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will give an assurance that the poster summarising the Budget in simple visual terms for distribution to factories etc., will be on a factual basis and not of a party political propaganda nature.

Yes. The poster will be on the lines adopted in 1950, and followed every year since.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in his poster summarising the Budget in simple visual terms for circulation to factories, etc., he will arrange for this to show specimens of the reduction in taxes for those in receipt of incomes of £10,000, £5,000, £1,000, and £400 per annum, respectively, and the percentage of people who have benefited in each of these income groups.

No. The purpose of the poster is to show the main sources of revenue and the main heads of expenditure proposed for the financial year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will now take steps to refund post-war credits to persons under the ages of 60 and 65 years, respectively, who have left this country to live permanently abroad, after they have been away for five years.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the gross national product has been taken by Government expenditure in the financial years 1946–47 to 1956–57, inclusive; and what is the estimate for 1957–58.

Expenditure by the Central Government, as a percentage of the gross national product, in each of the calendar years 1946 to 1956, was as follows:—

1946	45·7
1947	35·8
1948	32·2
1949	32·5
1950	30·4
1951	31·9
1952	31·6
1953	30·6
1954	28·2
1955	27·4
1956	27·7

In this reply Central Government expenditure includes both current and capital expenditure on goods and services and all subsidies, grants, interest payments and other transfers, including those made to local authorities and the National Insurance Funds. Expenditure by the National Insurance Funds is excluded. The figures are defined as in "Preliminary Estimates of National Income and Expenditure 1951–56" (Cmd. 123).I regret that similar information is not available for financial years.An exact estimate of the percentage for 1957 is not possible, but I would expect the downward trend to continue.

Walker asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the number of Surtax payers represented by those earning between £2,000 and £4,000 per annum and by those receiving between £4,000 and £10,000 per annum, respectively.

The estimated numbers of surtax payers with earned incomes between £2,000 and £4,000 and between £4,000 and £10,000 are 192,000 and 42,000, respectively.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the cost in a full year of extending earned income relief at two-ninths to incomes between £2,000 and £4,000 per annum; and the cost of extending earned income relief at one-ninth to incomes between £4,000 and £10,000 per annum.

£20 million and £4½ million, respectively.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the approximate cost in a full year of raising the tax allowance for a dependent relative from £60 to £80; and what the cost of these allowances will be this year.

The cost of increasing the dependent relative allowance from £60 to £80 would be about £7 million in a full year. The cost of the present allowance of £60 is about £25 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will allow the payment of a licence fee on a television set to be paid either half-yearly or quarterly.

I have been asked to reply.Payment half-yearly or quarterly would put up the costs of the licence system. This would mean that licence holders would have to pay more and I could not justify the change.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will state the aggregate amount of Government grant payable to rural district councils under the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Acts, 1944 to 1955, in respect of schemes approved between 1st April, 1950, and the latest convenient date.

Undertakings to pay grants amounting, in capital value, to just over £31 million have been given for schemes approved in the period 1st April, 1950, to 31st March, 1957.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is the present position regarding the demolition of the Gaiety Theatre in the Strand; and if he will call in the planning inquiry so that steps may be taken to ensure its replacement by a building worthy of the site.

Planning permission for the design of the new office building to be erected on this site was given by the London County Council in December last. I cannot therefore call the application in for decision by myself.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the number of registered vehicle builders on the Tyneside who were recorded as unemployed on 30th March. 1957; how this figure compares with the registration of March, 1956; and what is the number of these craftsmen who were registered as working short time on the above dates.

The unemployment count is taken only on a Monday about the middle of each month. On 15th April, 1957, there were 122 persons registered as wholly unemployed and two temporarily stopped in the vehicles industries at employment exchanges on Tyneside, compared with seventy-four wholly unemployed and none temporarily stopped at 16th April, 1956. The numbers of craftsmen included in these figures are not available.

asked the Minister of Labour to state the membership and financial resources of all independent United Kingdom trades unions, indicating at the same time their affiliations.

Details of the membership and finances of registered trade unions are available from the Registry of Friendly Societies, and summaries of this information are published in the annual reports of the Chief Registrar. I cannot disclose information in my possession regarding the memberships and finances of unregistered trade unions without their permission. As regards affiliations, I hope to publish shortly a revised edition of a Directory of Employers' Associations, Trade Unions and Joint Organisations in the United Kingdom, which will show which trade unions are affiliated to federations of trade unions or to the Trades Union Congress.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing the average weekly earnings of adult male workers in manufacturing industries in October, 1948, and in October of subsequent years beside columns showing the rise in weekly earnings based on 100 in October, 1948, and similar figures for productivity based on output per man year.

The following table gives the figures. For an explanation of the productivity figures, I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the information I gave in Answer to his Question on 12th April.

Year*	Average weekly earnings of adult male workers in manufacturing industries			Productivity(Output per man-year)
	s.	d.	Index
1948	143	4	100	100
1949	148	1	103	105
1950	156	8	109	111
1951	172	1	120	113
1952	184	9	129	109
1953	196	7	137	115
1954	212	3	148	121
1955	231	1	161	125
1956	245	7	171	123
* The indices of productivity relate to the year as a whole. The figures of earnings relate to October of each year.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will quote the numbers of persons signing the unemployment registers at the Falmouth and Redruth employment exchanges, respectively, during each of the last five weeks.

Figures are available only at monthly intervals. At 15th April, 1957, there were 1,543 registered as unemployed at Falmouth Employment Exchange and 515 at Redruth Employment Exchange. The corresponding figures for 11th March, 1957, were 436 and 418, respectively.

asked the Minister of Works whether he will take steps to acquire for the nation the two paintings by Frank Beresford of the Churchill Arch and the "Demolition of the Blitzed House of Commons".

I will consider this proposal in consultation with Mr. Speaker and the Advisory Committee on Works of Art in the House of Commons.

asked the Minister of Works whether he will make a statement regarding tenders for Government and other building contracts.

My predecessor announced in a reply to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for South Angus (Captain Duncan) on 15th May, 1956, that my Department was to carry out an experiment in inviting tenders on a fixed price basis, that is to say without the inclusion of cost variation clauses for labour and materials, for selected projects of values not exceeding £100,000. This experiment has been successful, and I have discussed the matter with representatives of the building and civil engineering industries.The Government have now decided that in future all Government Departments shall invite tenders on a fixed price basis for all works of building and civil engineering, irrespective of size, provided that they have been thoroughly planned in advance and that the estimated contract period is not more than two years. Local authorities and the nationalised industries will be invited by those of my right hon. Friends concerned to adopt a similar policy. The Government hope that these steps will be a real contribution to the stabilisation of costs and prices.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what were the findings of the two representatives of his Department, who recently visited Formosa, as to the possibility of increasing trade with Formosa; and what he proposes to do in this matter.

Two representatives of the Export Credits Guarantee Department recently paid a short visit to Formosa as part of an extended tour of South East Asian and Far Eastern markets. Their object was to obtain information required to determine on what terms the Department should offer guarantees to United Kingdom exporters, but any information relevant to the possibilities of increasing trade with that part of the world which their report may contain will, of course, be carefully studied and made available to the interests concerned.

asked the Minister of Defence what sums have been distributed to Service charities per day's performance by the different tattoos for which the Services are responsible over the last three years.

The Services are not responsible for organising tattoos or for the distribution of the proceeds. I regret, therefore, that I cannot provide this information.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing how many holders of State scholarships awarded on the results of the General Certificate of Education and those made in supplementation of open university scholarships, respectively, entered on first degree courses in 1956–57 in classics, English, history, modern languages, mathematics, medicine, pure science and technology.

The numbers of scholarships awarded on the General Certificate of Education, and in supplementation of open university scholarships taken up in 1956–57, to students taking the first degree courses named in the Question, are as follows:

—	G.C.E. Award	Supplemental Award	Totals
Classics	105	148	253
English	120	78	198
History	124	187	311
Modern Languages	250	156	406
Mathematics	181	111	292
Medicine	117	90	207
Pure Science	525	271	796
Technology	185	93	278

asked the Postmaster-General which channel in Band Three he proposes to allocate to the Independent Television Authority for the proposed Isle of Wight station.

The matter is still under consideration.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what the cost would be of increasing the present retirement pension by £1 for all retired persons except wives receiving benefits on husbands' insurance; what increase in the present National Insurance contribution would be actuarially justified in these circumstances; and if he will state his estimate of the total additional annual cost in 1960, 1970 and 1980, and the part of this cost attributable to women under 65.

I regret that the information required to answer the question fully is not available. It is, however, estimated that the cost of increasing retirement pensions by £1 a week for all retired persons except wives receiving benefit on their husbands' insurance would be about £200 million a year at present, rising to nearly £325 million in 1979–80. Of these sums the part attributable to women under 65 years of age would be about £25 million in each case.