asked the Minister of Labour if he will publish in HANSARD a detailed list of Wages Council Awards and other wage awards which have been made or recommended since the Government's appeal for wage restraint; how many of these were dependent upon his approval before implementation; how many such approvals he has given and declined; the total number of workers and staff affected; and the estimated annual increase in the national wage and salary charges which will result from the wage increases approved.

The details given below refer to proposals of five Wages Councils and to eight awards issued by statutory arbitration bodies since the same date. Arbitration awards are, of course, entirely independent of my approval; I have no power to reject or amend wages regulation proposals which become binding on the employers concerned when I have made an Order to give effect to them. This I have done in respect of four of the proposals referred to; the other is receiving my consideration.

asked the Minister of Labour what proposals he has for a review of the composition of the management side of Whitley Councils, and other negotiating bodies, which function in industries in which the Government are the employer.

I have no proposals in mind. The responsibility for the composition of Whitley Councils or other negotiating bodies in Government Departments rests with the Ministers concerned.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will outline the procedure to be followed by trade unions whose applications for wage increases have been agreed in the negotiating machinery of their industry or profession, and vetoed by a Minister of the Crown.

As the hon. Member knows, the question of approval by a Minister of the Crown arises in very few cases. The procedure to be followed by a trade union in such cases will no doubt depend on the particular circumstances and will be a matter for the consideration of the trade union concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the proclamation by Persia of the administrative annexation of Bahrain.

The Iranian Government are understood to have been preparing for some time a Bill amending the administrative divisions of Iran. One of the divisions comprised the Ports and Islands of the Persian Gulf. This latter title has apparently been amended to include by name the islands of Bahrain.This is the latest of a succession of attempts over the last one hundred and fifty years to pursue the Iranian claim to Bahrain, a claim which in Her Majesty's Government's view is unfounded. The Iranian Government have been so informed on numerous occasions and can be in no doubt of Her Majesty's Government's views in this matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what action has been taken, or what proposals have been made by the representative of Her Majesty's Government at the United Nations General Assembly, in seeking to ensure the effective continuance of the United Nations Emergency Force.

The United Kingdom has already contributed $1,288,650 for 1957. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations announced on 20th November, Her Majesty's Government have decided to make an additional special contribution of one million dollars. We will also contribute towards any remaining 1957 costs and to the 1958 costs in the same proportion as our payment to the United Nations Budget.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will raise the question of the Arab refugees in the General Assembly of the United Nations with a view to achieving a permanent and acceptable settlement.

As the House has been informed on previous occasions, we shall play our part as members of the United Nations in seeking a solution of the Palestine problem on a basis of justice; and a settlement of the refugees is an essential condition of a final settlement.On the point of procedure, I have nothing to add for the moment to what I said to the right hon. Member for Derby, South (Mr. P. Noel-Baker) in the course of the debate on 8th November.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what action he has proposed to the United Nations in view of Egypt's refusal to allow free passage to certain ships.

So far as I am aware, Egypt has not since April refused passage to any ships, though I understand that, since my hon. and gallant Friend put down his Question, one vesel has been detained in Port Said for technical reasons. We do not yet know whether it will be allowed to proceed.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what proportion of all naval research, development and production work was carried out in Royal Ordnance factories in the years 1954, 1955 and 1956, respectively.

The Royal Ordnance factories are essentially large production establishments. For this reason they have not been used to any extent for naval research and development.Figures of naval production carried out in the Royal Ordnance factories during 1954, 1955, and 1956, are not readily available. It would, however, have been something like 5 per cent. of the total naval programme of research, development and production in those three years.As the hon. Member will be aware, only a very small proportion of this total programme is of a kind which the Royal Ordnance factories could undertake.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty the total number of industrial and non-industrial civilian employees borne on the Navy Vote at the beginning of the present financial year; and what is his forecast of the amount by which these totals will be reduced after the present defence economies have been completed.

Approximately 181,400 civilians, including Police and Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel, were in Admiralty employment on 1st April, 1957. Considerable reductions will certainly be made over the next few years but my hon. and gallant Friend will appreciate that it is too early to forecast what the figure will be when the Navy is established on an all-Regular basis in 1962.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many married men in the Army remain unprovided with accommodation where they can live with their families; and what progress has been made with the provision of married quarters during the last 12 months.

About 62,000 families are entitled to and require married quarters, of whom some 14,000 are at present without them.During the last twelve months, 876 new quarters have been provided.

asked the Secretary of State for War what were the circumstances in which Rifleman John Patrick Thomas Moore, of B. Company, 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade, lost his life while doing National Service in Malaya; and why his next of kin have not been given full details.

Rifleman Moore was fatally wounded on 20th of October while on operations against terrorists in Malaya. He was one of a party forcing its way through dense undergrowth when a gun carried by another soldier was fired accidentally.I should like to express my sympathy with Rifleman Moore's mother in her bereavement.A telegram was sent to her on the same day, followed by letters of sympathy from the battalion and company commanders and the records office.The cause of death was told briefly and it was explained that full details would inevitably be delayed until investigations had been made.The report of a board of inquiry was received in London on 20th November and a full account of the accident was sent to the next of kin on the 22nd.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware of the unsatisfactory position which can arise when a person employed by his Department as a civilian is also, in another capacity, under military discipline; and whether, on reconsidering the case, of which details were sent to him, in which a civilian was dismissed from employment with a Territorial Association following malpractices as a Territorial, he will revise his policy with regard to the employment of civilians under a dual code of discipline.

Members of the Territorial Army who are employed by Territorial Associations as civilians are in exactly the same legal position as all other members of the Territorial Army.They are subject to the Army Act while on military duty and to civil jurisdiction while employed as civilians.I do not therefore regard the position as unsatisfactory.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether, with reference to paragraph 12 of Command Paper No. 231, which deals with the selection of those to be retired prematurely from the Armed Forces, his Department has yet determined the extent of the redundancy in the Army; and whether, within the categories affected, Army officers with less than five years to serve in their present rank are to be allowed to apply to be retired with the compensation offered under the scheme outlined in the Command Paper.

The forecast extent of redundancy has, with minor exceptions, been made known to the Army.Officers and other ranks in the categories affected have been invited to apply for premature retirement if they so desire.This includes officers with less than five years to serve.

asked the Postmaster-General if parcel post between the United Kingdom and the Chinese People's Republic has now been arranged.

Yes. As announced at the time, parcel post service from this country to the Chinese People's Republic by surface transport was introduced on 12th August. The traffic appears to be moving satisfactorily.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the cost of living again rose last month, due in part to the increased postal and telephone charges; and what further action he proposes to take to reduce these charges, and thus assist the Government in their declared policy of reducing the cost of living.

As my right hon. Friend anticipated last July, the increased charges have inevitably had some small effect on the retail price index. The second part of the Question is answered, so far as is at present possible, in the recent White Paper.

asked the Postmaster-General whether the increased charges for postal and telephone services imposed during the summer in anticipation of increases in wages covered the two claims which he has now rejected.

I assume that the right hon. Gentleman is referring to the claims of the Post Office Engineering Union and the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters. The first has not been rejected; offers have been made for most grades, but for certain grades no offers are being made until fact-finding reports are available. In fixing the increased charges announced last July it was assumed that offers would be made in respect of the current claim by the engineers but not the current claim by the sub-postmasters.

asked the Postmaster-General if, in view of the Government's policy on wages, he proposes to cancel that portion of the recently increased charges which was to meet anticipated increases in wages.

No.

asked the Postmaster-General (1) what communications he has had with the Newcastle-on-Tyne Housing Committee concerning the need for a post office on the Longbenton Estate;(2) in view of the fact that post offices are being established in Newcastle which are not attached to shops, and that a post office near to the house of the hon. Member for Wallsend has been separated from a shop and is now doing only post office business, if he will construct a building on the Longbenton Estate for exclusive use as a post office.

The Head Postmaster of Newcastle-on-Tyne has been in frequent communication with officials of the Corporation on this matter over the last four years.The post offices to which the hon. Member refers are in premises provided by the sub-postmasters. I should not be justified in building a Crown office on the Longbenton Estate; the provision of such an office would not in any event mean that a post office would be provided any sooner.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will install a telephone booth in or near to Albert Road, North Woolwich.

There is already in Albert Road both a telephone kiosk and a post office with a public telephone, and there are other public telephones in the vicinity. These facilities should I think be adequate.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether Bomber Command is in a state of readiness to compare with that of units of the Strategic Air Command based in the United Kingdom.

The state of readiness of Bomber Command like that of Strategic Air Command is being steadily raised. The two forces co-operate closely and are working towards similar standards.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he is yet in a position to sanction the beginning of the preliminary work necessary for the establishment of the Tyne Tunnel.

No.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what proposals he has for the modification of the present system of road markings in this country.

After studying the experiments with new road markings on the Portsmouth and Folkestone—Dover Roads, I have come to the conclusion that the best system for this country will be to employ three types of longitudinal marking: short dotted lines with long gaps between the dots, to indicate traffic lanes; longer broken lines with short gaps between the lines, to warn of a hazard ahead; and double lines where a prohibition on crossing from one side or the other is necessary. The present single continuous line will eventually disappear.It is my intention to introduce a strict prohibition on crossing or straddling the continuous line, where the double marking is used, but it would not be practicable to do this until the new system has become familiar throughout the country.The new system will be consistent with the practice of other European countries.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will give his approval to the proposed extension of the 30 miles-per-hour speed limit on that section of the A.21 road which runs through the parish of Hildenborough.

We are informing the Kent County Council that my right hon. Friend consents to its order imposing the 30 miles-per-hour speed limit on this stretch of road. Our consent is given subject to review when we consider 40 miles-per-hour speed limits outside the London Traffic Area.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when he is proposing to build a fly-over bridge at the intersection of Hendon Way and the North Circular Road, in view of the large volume of traffic that both these roads carry and in view of the ease with which such a fly-over could be constructed because of the North Circular Road being in a hollow.

I agree that a fly-over is needed at this junction, but I cannot yet say when it will be included in our programme.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will initiate legislation making compulsory the holding of a public inquiry before the closing down of any branch railway line.

No.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will give a general direction to the British Transport Commission to implement the Gowers Report and provide for the safety and welfare of the railway workers along the lines indicated in the Report.

No. The British Transport Commission is already making considerable progress in the improvement of working conditions on the railways. A direction would not help them to do more.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware that the defects in the carriage of perishable commodities by train, notably fish, from Aberdeen to London, which on 3rd July last were being rectified by fitting 200 fish vans with roller bearings, have still not been rectified, and that for the 10 months ended 31st October, 1957, the number of fish vans which have had to be removed in transit is greater than in the corresponding period of 1956; and what steps he is taking to remedy the loss thus caused to the industry and consumers by fitting the fish vans with roller bearings and otherwise to ensure the regular and prompt delivery of fish from Aberdeen to London.

I understand from the British Transport Commission that it now has a good supply of the new wheel sets and by the end of this month will be converting the fish vans to which I referred in my Answer of 3rd July at the rate of 30 a week. The converted vans will go back into service immediately they have been dealt with and delays arising from hot axle boxes should be progressively eliminated.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will include in the Highway Code some officially recognised signal for drivers indicating that it is dangerous to overtake.

No. The signals authorised by the Highway Code for use by drivers are all intended to indicate their own intentions. Responsibility for overtaking must always rest on the overtaking driver.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the number of driving and traffic examiners engaged full-time on enforcement of Part I of the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933, and Section 19 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930; how many vacancies remain unfilled; up to what strength it is proposed to bring the establishment; and how many officers would then be engaged full-time on enforcement work.

The number of driving and traffic examiners at present employed full-time on enforcement of the Road Traffic Acts is 99, of whom 96 are permanently so employed. There are four vacancies in the authorised establishment of permanent enforcement staff. When the establishment is up to full strength, there will be 100 examiners permanently employed on enforcement, plus as many others as can from time to time be released from driving test duties.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the number of prosecutions for offences under Section 19 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, and Section 16 of the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933, respectively, for

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will take action to alleviate the delay at Portsmouth and Ryde Pier, to which passengers to the Isle of Wight are subject during the summer months, by urging the general public to make greater use of the Southampton route, as suggested at a conference held in Ryde on 15th November, 1957, and attended by representatives of the Isle of Wight County Council, businessmen's and hoteliers' associations, the British Transport Commission, Red Funnel Steamers and other transport users.

This is a matter for the transport operators to consider with the interests concerned. I am informed by the British Transport Commission that it is prepared to consider sympathetically what it for its part can do to provide additional rail services to feed the Southampton—Cowes route.

The following is the information:

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what net profit or loss has resulted from the maintenance and operation of Croydon Airport during each of the years 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1956, respectively.

The net cost to the Exchequer of the maintenance and operation of Croydon Airport, including its technical services but excluding capital charges has been as follows:

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will make a statement about the actions and votes by representatives of Her Majesty's Government at the International Conference in Belgium in October, 1957, with particular reference to the limitation of liability by ship owners for loss of life and personal injury and to the use of life-saving apparatus.

The subjects discussed at the tenth session of the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law in Brussels which ended on 10th October last, were three draft Conventions on the limitation of shipowners' liability, on liability in respect of passengers, and on stowaways. The use of life-saving apparatus was not discussed.The United Kingdom delegation supported the principles contained in the Convention on the Limitation of Shipowners' Liability and voted for the acceptance of the Convention by the Conference. This Convention deals with liability both in respect of loss of life and personal injury and in respect of loss of, or damage to, property.The United Kingdom Delegation were unable to support the Convention on Stowaways.The draft Convention on Liability in respect of Passengers was revised by the Conference and will be circulated to Governments for further study.

asked the Minister of Defence whether he is now able to make his promised announcement of the improvements in pay and conditions of service which Her Majesty's Government are prepared to introduce to stimulate Regular recruiting for the Services.

asked the Minister of Defence whether he is now in a position to state what are the extra inducements to attract additional men to the Army which he has in mind.

I shall be making an announcement about some of these questions very shortly.

asked the Minister of Defence whether he will now give the terms of any agreement made in the talks with the Government of the United States of America affecting the setting up of rocket bases in Great Britain.

Apart from the offer made by the United States Government at the Bermuda Conference to provide rockets for deployment in Britain, no formal agreement has yet been reached on this subject.

asked the Minister of Defence whether he will now give instructions that when a member of Her Majesty's forces serving abroad is killed in an accident the body will be brought to the United Kingdom for burial at public expense should the next of kin desire it.

It is a practice of long standing that members of the forces who die overseas are buried where they die, save in very exceptional circumstances. In my view, this practice is sound and should be maintained.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations whether he will make a statement about the plan for settling British ex-Service men in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

Her Majesty's Government have no plan for settling British ex-Service men in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. If my hon. Friend is referring to the possible plans of the Federal Government, I understand that they are exploring the possibility of settling some retired officers in the Federation but have not yet reached any firm conclusions.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what loans, gifts, and other economic aids have been received by the United Kingdom from abroad since July, 1945, in date order, with amounts; from what countries; and which are repayable, and when.

The following table gives the required information:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in HANSARD a table of figures showing the yearly increase or fall in production since 1948, taking 1948 as 100, in the gas,

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the estimated amount currently paid by private industry in taxation; which social services cost a similar amount; and how much would the tax on 20 cigarettes and a pint of beer have to be increased, respectively, to produce the same amount.

The total amount of United Kingdom tax payable in respect of the 1956 profits of companies, including tax on their distributions to shareholders, is estimated at about £1,400 million. This amount of tax is approximately equal to central Government current expenditure in 1956 on education, health, national insurance, national assistance, war service and non-contributory pensions, family allowances and milk and welfare foods.As regards the last part of the Question, I cannot make estimates of the effect on the Revenue of such hypothetical increases in duty.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that the advertising abroad for funds by hire-purchase finance corporations contravenes

The following is the Answer:his credit-squeeze policy; what changes in the present Control of Borrowing Order he now proposes to stop this undesirable action; and if he will make a further statement following his fresh investigations into this matter.

It is not clear to me that borrowing from abroad by hire-purchase finance companies is necessarily undesirable.

asked the Minister of Education what education authorities in Wales have been informed, following Circular 331, that their building programmes for primary and secondary schools for rural reorganisation are to be postponed; and what is the capital expenditure involved.

Four local education authorities (Breconshire, Carmarthenshire. Denbighshire and Merioneth) have each been required to postpone the building of one school needed for rural reorganisation. The estimated capital cost of these four projects is about £384,000.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is satisfied that infant vaccination is safe and has no deleterious effect on the health of infants vaccinated; and if he will make a statement.

I am satisfied that infant vaccination against smallpox is to be recommended as a protective measure and only very rarely involves any deleterious effect on health. Importation of smallpox into this country from other countries where the disease is endemic is an ever present danger. Vaccination is the only known method of positive personal protection.

asked the Minister of Works what action he proposes to take to prevail upon the employers in the electrical contracting industry to accept the proposals put forward by the Chairman of the Training Council for the Electrical Contracting Industry; and whether he will, pending an agreement between both sides in this industry on the introduction of a new scheme, maintain his control and direction over the secretarial and registration work connected with the Apprenticeship and Training Council for the Electrical Contracting Industry.

I invited the President of the Employers' Association to come to see me and asked him to persuade his Association and members to accept the proposals of the Chairman of the Apprenticeship and Training Council, Sir George Gater, and find the necessary finance. He explained to me that his members do not think registration necessary or useful. I was glad to learn that there will be no alteration in their support of training arrangements in the industry and particularly of indentured apprenticeship. I am continuing to provide secretarial services to the Council until arrangements have been completed for the future administration of the Council's Further Education Fund. I am not prepared, however, to continue the registration work beyond 30th November, 1957, the date fixed for its termination.