asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what services his Department receives from the Admiralty Compass Observatory at Ditton Park.

The Observatory advises and assists my Department in all matters affecting marine compasses.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the number of certificates which have been, respectively, cancelled or suspended by the courts of formal investigation held under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, during the year 1956; and, in the cases of suspension, the period of such suspension.

During the year 1956 two certificates were cancelled and 14 suspended by courts of formal investigation held under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894. Three were suspended for a period of eighteen months, six for twelve months, one for eight months, three for six months and one for three months. In the last mentioned case there was a successful appeal to the High Court.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, in view of the revised plan for the extension of the Eastern Avenue through the Borough of Leyton, when a decision on this can be expected.

The survey required to fix the position of the junction with the Lea Valley Road has been completed and a more detailed examination of the proposed junctions at either end of the Eastern Avenue extension scheme is now being made so as to determine the form of the draft Statutory Orders which will be required. I cannot yet say when these will be published.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he has now given his authority for the provision of a bus shelter on the Great North Road at Byram-cum-Sutton, about which the hon. Member for Goole first wrote to him on 4th April.

My right hon. Friend has written to the hon. Member about this. I hope that an acceptable site for this bus shelter may be found, but the difficulty at present is that the site proposed by the parish council would affect the safety of traffic.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will ensure that all work on opening up or repairing important thoroughfares for which he is responsible is carried on continuously for the full 24 hours, to avoid some of the congestion now caused when any action is taken which disturbs road surfaces and consequently causes an obstruction in the thoroughfare.

On trunk roads for which I am the highway authority, it is not generally practicable to carry on road works continuously for the full 24 hours, but in exceptional circumstances where it is necessary to reduce the effect on traffic to the minimum, day and night working may be adopted. I have no power to require continuous 24-hour working by contractors employed by statutory undertakers or by other highway authorities on their roads.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware that during the past few months a selected group of Members of Parliament have visited Germany and France, and are due to visit Belgium, Holland and other countries to examine the situation of traffic on the roads in these countries; and whether he will take the necessary action to arrange such visits under the auspices of his Department.

The Answer to the first part of this Question is, "Yes."As to the second part, while it is no doubt useful for hon. Members to examine road conditions in other countries there are no precedents for this to be done at Government expense.

asked the Minister of Defence (1) what discussions he had with the authorities in Gibraltar on the future role of the Colony for defence purposes;(2) what effect his economy proposals will have on the garrison and dockyard strength of Gibraltar.

During my recent visit to Gibraltar, I discussed these matters with the Governor and the heads of Services. I am not yet ready to make a statement.

asked the Minister of Defence if a suitable site has been found in the vicinity of Nairobi for the southern headquarters of the Middle East command.

The future organisation of the Middle East Command is still under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why most of the 1955 income tax revenue due to the Chief Inland Revenue Officer of the Seychelles remained unpaid until 1956; and on what date the Governor-in-Council decided to remit the surcharge for late payment.

I assume the Question refers to the income tax due by the Chief Inland Revenue Officer. By an oversight in the Seychelles Treasury, the monthly deductions for income tax were not made from his salary while he was on overseas leave. On his return to Seychelles in February, 1956, he at once paid over the balance of tax, having noticed the error himself. He then drew the attention of Government to the surcharge technically due, but the Governor-in-Council remitted it in accordance with the provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance on 26th October on the grounds that no fault lay with him for the late payment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many demobilised Seychelles pioneers are now unemployed; and what steps are being taken to ensure employment for them.

I have asked the Governor for the information required in the first part of the Question, and will write to the hon. Member when I have his reply. The Seychelles Government is continually investigating possible sources of additional employment for all Seychellois. Among the more promising are land settlement schemes and the manning of Royal Fleet Auxiliaries with Seychellois crews. An expert is going to Seychelles early next year to produce an economic survey and I hope that among other things this may produce suggestions for further opportunities for useful employment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies in which Colonies charges are now made to Africans far medical attention in Government units; the charge in each case; what is the yield in revenue; and what has been the effect on attendances, since their introduction.

I am consulting Governments and will circulate the information in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the estimated number of Africans who are landless and unemployed in the African Reserves in Kenya.

There are now about 14,000 landless families in the Kikuyu Reserve, of whom all but a few have employment or are engaged on relief work and land resettlement schemes.No accurate figures are available for the other African areas, but there is nothing to suggest serious unemployment there.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware that the European Elected Members of the Legislative Council in Kenya have now said they are prepared to discuss with African Members the matter of increased representation; and whether he will now consider the convening of a round table conference of Asians, Africans and Europeans to discuss future constitutional changes in Kenya before the Lyttelton Plan comes to an end in 1960.

The European Elected Members have stated that they have always been and still are prepared to enter into discussions with other groups on constitutional matters, and the Kenya Government have throughout made it clear that they are ready to do everything possible to facilitate such discussions if all the groups concerned are prepared to embark on them without prior condition.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement regarding the restrictions placed upon African political meetings in Kenya, with particular reference to the conditions attending the meeting held by Mr. Tom Mboya, M.L.C., at the Desai Memorial Hall, Nairobi, on Friday, 24th May.

A statement was recently issued by the Kenya Government on African political meetings; this statement has my right hon. Friend's full support. The conditions attached to the permit for Mr. Mboya's meeting were in accordance with the policy announced in the statement.The statement referred to above was issued by the Kenya Government, on 22nd May, and was as follows:Recently, as part of a process of gradual relaxation of restrictions. African political meetings have been freely allowed. There have, however, now been indications at some African political meetings of attempts to undermine the Government's authority; inflammatory speeches have been made which if unchecked might lead to a return to violence. The Government have therefore decided that it is necessary to return to a stricter control.2. This decision has been taken by the Government with the greatest reluctance but the situation is now such that firm action is required. At a recent meeting attempts were made to discredit both the Lyttelton Plan and land consolidation, which is a basic agrarian reform. What is more, the deliberate misstatement was made that it was the Lyttelton Plan which had brought land consolidation to Kenya.On the following day a number of Africans from an area in which land consolidation had been proceeding satisfactorily refused without reason to go on a farm planning course connected with land consolidation. Previously the men concerned had specially asked to be allowed to attend the course and places had been reserved for them, although there were more applications than could be accepted. These tactics are reminiscent of the methods employed by the leaders of the Mau Mau movement before the declaration of the Emergency deliberately to obstruct agrarian reform in order to gain their disruptive political ends.3. At the same meeting the police force and the Army were derided, the King's African Rifles being referred to as "an Army of slaves", and the African police officers present at the meeting being reviled as prisoners of the Europeans". The phrase "the war will never end" was repeated a number of times.4. A newspaper report of a speech including reference to a spilling of blood in Kenya and an implication of praise for the Mau Mau found its way into the Athi River detention camp. This is one of the key centres of the Government's rehabilitation system where a bold new experiment is taking place. This camp has a successful record in the rehabilitation of Mau Mau, including a large number of hard core detainees from Mageta Island. Rehabilitation work at Athi River had been proceeding very well, so much so, that recently of 638 ex-Mageta Island detainees who were undergoing rehabilitation treatment, all but nine had responded most encouragingly, had confessed to their association with the Mau Mau, and were co-operating with the rehabilitation staff.Three days after the newspaper report referred to reached the camp 57 detainees retracted the confessions they had previously made, although in the previous four months the average of retracted confessions at Athi River had been only one per week. This was a serious setback to the rehabilitation process.5. Although the Government are reluctant to restrict the political activities of Africans, and especially of Members of the Legislative Council, it cannot allow to continue unchecked attempts to undermine the loyalty of African Government servants, particularly members of the security forces, and it cannot permit the creation of a situation from which violence may arise.6. Certain checks will therefore be imposed on African political meetings. While it is hoped that these restrictions will be of a temporary nature only, the Government wish to make it clear that they are resolved and prepared to deal promptly and firmly with any sign of incitement to undermine or defy authority or to threaten security.7. The law relating to the issue of licences for, and conduct of. African political meetings will be strictly enforced. It will be made a condition of any licence issued in future for such meetings that if the authorities so decide the proceedings will he recorded on tape recorders in order that there may be an incontestable record of what is said.8. The responsibility for the proper conduct of such meeting should rest on the principal participant, and accordingly where an African Member of the Legislative Council wishes to organise a political meeting or to be present or to speak at such a meeting a licence for the meeting will be issued only in that Member's name. The issuing authority will decide in its discretion in each case whether the guest speakers from outside a constituency may be allowed to speak at an African political meeting in that constituency.9. Collections of money cannot be made at public meetings without prior authority. Permission for collections will not ordinarily be withheld where the purpose of the collection is lawful but such permission must be obtained before a collection is made.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many Africans have been rendered landless during the implementation of the Land Consolidation Scheme in Kenya; what proportion of this number are being employed on consolidated farms; and what are their wages and working hours.

None. Land consolidation involves only the amalgamation into economic farming units of scattered strips of land in which individual Africans have rights. No rights are extinguished or weakened by the process on the contrary, it will be possible to strengthen them by issuing secure titles for consolidated land units. The rest of the Question does not therefore arise.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what decorations were awarded to the Fiji forces who served in Malaya; and if he will publish the message sent by the Secretary of State congratulating the Fijians and place a copy in the Library of the House of Commons.

The decorations awarded were as follows:

D.S.O.	…	…	…	1
O.B.E.	…	…	…	1
M.C.	…	…	…	4
B.E.M	…	…	…	2
D.C.M.	…	…	…	2
M.M.	…	…	…	10

In addition, there were 31 Mentions in Dispatches.Following is the text of the message of thanks which my right hon. Friend sent on behalf of Her Majesty's Government:

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view, of the fact that it is intended that the Federation of Malaya should become independent with a new constitution on 31st August this year, he will give an assurance that this House will have an adequate opportunity to consider and debate any proposals bearing on the constitutional and other changes that may be considered desirable before these are brought into force.

Yes.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies his present estimate of the Malay, Chinese, and Indian-speaking sections of the population of the Federation of Malaya; and to what extent these three sections, respectively, are represented in the present Legislative Assembly.

Malays number about 3,100,000, Chinese about 2,500,000 and Indians about 800,000. The Legislative Council has 98 members, of whom 51 are Malays, 27 Chinese and 7 Indians.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the plans of the Government of the Federation of Malaya for opening up new land for rubber holdings; and what assistance will be given until the new trees come into production.

Land use in the Federation of Malaya is the responsibility of the State and Settlement Governments, and decisions to allow new land to be put under rubber rests with them. Loans for approved new planting can be obtained from the Federal Land Development Authority and in certain circumstances grants for new planting, as opposed to replanting, can be given under the Federal Government's Rubber Replanting Scheme. A scheme is also being considered for granting financial assistance to groups of smallholders who combine together to open substantial blocks of new land to rubber cultivation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what efforts have been made to explore the possibilities of oil in Malta; what future plans there are for further prospecting; and to whom it is proposed to grant concessions.

I am informed by the Maltese Government, within whose competence the matter falls, that the B.P. Exploration Company Ltd. has been exploring for oil in Malta under an oil exploration licence granted in July, 1954, which has since expired. The company applied for an oil prospecting licence but no agreement was reached. I am also informed by the Maltese Government that other companies are interested but I do not have details.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if agreement has yet been reached with the representatives of the Singapore Government on the subversives clause of the proposed constitution which prevents those on the Government list suspected of being subversive from being elected to the first Legislative Assembly; how many men now holding public positions in the Colony will be disqualified under this clause from standing as candidates; and if he will make a statement.

No. As to the second part of the Question, the clause referred to will not be operative until the time of elections to the first Legislative Assembly of the new State of Singapore. No date has been fixed for these elections and I cannot forecast what the position will be then.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many people are now detained, or otherwise being punished, in Singapore under the Public Security Ordinance; how many have their movements restricted; and if he will take steps to have such cases and appeals heard as quickly as possible.

Fifty-six are detained and 84 have their movements restricted. Appeals against detention and restriction of movement orders are being heard as quickly as possible.

asked the Postmaster-General what was the nature of the surplus engineering and other stores sold in the last financial year; how, and where, the invitation of tenders was advertised; how many tenders were received; and what was the loss on sale.

The stores in question consist of worn out and obsolete telecommunication apparatus which is broken up and sold as scrap; old wire and cable; second hand motor vehicles and parts; and such items as scrap iron, waste paper and canvas.Apart from small quantities disposed of locally, sales are arranged centrally by inviting competitive tenders from firms known to be interested in the types of material available. Last year, 11,260 such invitations were issued and 5,160 tenders were received. In special cases, tenders are invited by advertisements in the Press.Generally speaking, the stores sold had been written down, through depreciation, to scrap value so that there is no question of loss.

asked the Postmaster-General why the estimate for 1957–58 for the Public Record Office provided for an increase from £250 to £4,000.

The increased estimate is due to the extension to Public Record Office premises of the Post Office inter-Departmental dispatch service.

asked the Postmaster-General why the estimates for 1957–58 for the Post Office service to the Tate Gallery is more than double the amount for 1956–57.

The increased estimate is due partly to provision for more postings, but mainly to an initial stocking-up of Official Paid stationery.

asked the Postmaster-General how many persons in the Borough of Barry have been waiting for domestic and business telephones for more than one year since the date of their first application; and when he expects to meet all applications now outstanding.

Forty-nine applications have been outstanding for more than 12 months. Five of these are for business telephones. New cables will be laid during the present financial year and I hope that the majority of the present applications will be met within the next twelve months.

asked the Postmaster-General what extensions have recently been made to the air parcel service.

It is the general policy of the Post Office to extend the air parcels service as widely as possible. The service already covers most places abroad and was extended during the last financial year to:

• Brunei.
• Cayman Islands.
• Cook Islands.
• French Somali Coast.
• Guatemala.
• Iceland.
• Jamaica.
• U.S.S.R.
• Nicaragua.
• Poland.
• Portuguese East Africa.
• Samoa (U.S. Territory).
• Seychelles.
• Tonga (Friendly Is.).
• Tortola.
• Wake Island.

In addition, the service has been extended as from 1st April to:

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education whether, in regard to children of officers and men in the Armed Forces, he will institute a system whereby suitable record cards of children moving from school to school, by reason of the orders given to their parents on posting, will be made prompty available to the head teacher of the school to which the parent will on posting be legally obliged to send his child, in order that the new schooling may be a suitable continuation and as effective as possible.

Most local education authorities already arrange that when a pupil moves from one school to another, information of the kind my hon. Friend has in mind shall be made available to his new school. My noble Friend is glad that the particular importance of this in connection with the children of officers and men in the Armed Forces will be brought to the attention of authorities by this Question and Answer.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education how many child guidance units are provided by local authorities; and in how many of these the medical psychiatrists are appointed and paid by the regional hospital boards.

In December, 1956, 220 child guidance clinics were provided by local education authorities. The services of a psychiatrist were made available by regional hospital boards or teaching hospitals for 167 of these clinics.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he will make a statement regarding steel supplies to the shipbuilding industry.

As stated in my reply to a Question by the hon. Member on 20th March, it is not possible to forecast what quantities of steel the steel makers may supply to shipyards during this year. Reported deliveries during the first three months of the year show, however, an increase in supplies over the corresponding period of the three preceding years.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to what extent he was consulted by the Potato Marketing Board before the Board made their Prescriptive Resolution, No. 1, 1957, which empowers the Board to levy registered potato growers £1 per acre for every acre of potatoes grown in 1957; what total revenue this levy is estimated to produce; and what expenditure is estimated as necessary to operate the Board during 1957.

The Potato Marketing Board is not required by the Potato Marketing Scheme to consult my right hon. Friend about levies on registered potato growers, and he has not been consulted. The total revenue from the levy depends on the acreage, which is not yet known.It is for the Board to estimate the expenditure necessary for carrying out whatever activities it thinks desirable, within the provisions of the Scheme.

asked the Minister of Health how many nursing and midwifery staff there were in the National Health Service in 1949, and in the latest convenient year.

In England and Wales there were in 1949 about 137,000 whole-time and 27,000 part-time; in 1956 about 160,000 whole-time and 41,000 part-time.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will again consider the case of Mrs. Gwen McCarthy, 64, Hobson Street, Macclesfield, and others placed in a similar position, in any review that takes place on pensions to improve their lot.

A full review of the conditions for widows' benefits under the National Insurance Scheme, which led to the changes made by the Family Allowances and National Insurance Act, 1956, was completed by the National Insurance Advisory Committee only last year. I have written to my hon. and gallant Friend about the personal case to which he refers.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the trade talks with the New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister.

Our trade talks with Mr. Holyoake, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture in New Zealand, ended yesterday. In these talks we examined together the whole field of trade relations between the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Mr. Holyoake and his delegation were chiefly concerned to safeguard the position of New Zealand exports of primary produce in our market, and we agreed to make certain changes in the Ottawa Agreement to this end.I have placed in the Library of the House copies of the Joint Communiqué which Mr. Holyoake and I have issued. The text of the Agreement is reproduced below and will be printed as a Command Paper and laid before Parliament as soon as possible.