asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty if he is aware that a notice was issued to the Royal Naval establishments at Malta, on 22nd January, stating that the Admiralty would not continue to condone interruptions of dockyard work; if he has now received a resolution from the workers' union stating that they consider the notice to be intimidation of them and a direct attempt to undermine the authority of the union and its rights to take any legitimate action on measures of importance which may arise; and what reply he has given.

The purpose of the statement to which the hon. Member refers was, firstly, to allay the anxiety of the civilian employees in Malta Dockyard about their future and, secondly, to clarify the Admiralty's position should further interruptions of work occur. No intimidation was intended and the value of a full understanding between management and employees was emphasised.My noble Friend has seen the resolution passed by the General Workers' Union but cannot see what justification the union has to interpret the statement in the way they have done.Following is the text of the statement:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will permit supplies of crystal violet vaccine to be made available to farmers to combat swine fever.

Crystal violet vaccine is suitable for use only in skilled hands and for this reason the supplies produced at my Department's veterinary laboratories are sold only to veterinary surgeons. I do not control the distribution of the small quantities of crystal violet vaccine imported under licence.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the percentages of child mortality in Uganda for the years 1955 to 1957, respectively; and to what extent it has been established that malnutrition is a major cause of death among young children.

Statistics of child mortality, except for non-Africans, are not available for Uganda. Death registration is in operation in the whole of the Protectorate, except Karamoja, but it is known to be far from complete and to vary considerably from one district to another. Since the results can be highly misleading, they are not published.A great deal of work is being done in Uganda to assess the rôle of under-nutrition in child mortality, but, though it is one important factor, it is not yet possible to state with any precision its importance relative to other factors, such as hygiene.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why, on his recent visit to Tanganyika, he declined to meet representatives of the Tanganyika African National Union.

I did not decline to meet representatives of the Tanganyika African National Union and in fact met its President, Mr. Nyerere, while I was in Dar-es-Salaam. I would have been happy to have received other representatives of the union with him, but owing to an unfortunate misunderstanding he came alone.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware of the need in Nigeria to retain in the federal and regional public services British expatriate officials until sufficient Nigerian civil servants shall have been adequately trained to replace them, and that the present rate of pensions and lump sum payments are inducing such expatriate officials to retire prematurely leaving gaps in the Nigerian public service; and what steps he proposes to take to maintain the Nigerian Civil Service at its full strength and efficiency.

I dealt with this matter in considerable detail in the debate on the Overseas Services Bill last week.

asked the Minister of Education (1) how many schools other than grammar schools are housed in unsatisfactory pemises and are awaiting transfer to new premises;(2) what grammar schools are currently housed in out-of-date premises and are awaiting the building of new premises.

I regret that no lists are compiled of schools for which local education authorities would like to provide new buildings because they consider that the existing premises are unsatisfactory or out-of-date.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give particulars of the intake and total numbers of university students in the current session; and how the position compares with the previous year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to what extent the import of fruit to this country from the United States of America has been affected by the provisions of United States Public Law 480.

An agreement has been reached between Her Majesty's Government and the United States Government upon a transaction under Public Law 480 for the import of fresh and canned deciduous and citrus fruit to a value of $7·95 million, to be paid for in sterling. The sterling will be used partly for market research and partly for military housing for the United States Air Force. An exchange of notes recording the agreement will be published later.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is aware that Derwent Street and

These particulars are set out in the following tables:Severn Street in the City of Lincoln are, in the opinion of the city council, in such a condition as to constitute a danger to life and limb and that the Medical Officer of Health for Lincoln has stated that it would be in the interests of public health to have the streets made up; and why, in the circumstances, he has refused to give loan consent for the work to be done.

My right hon. Friend is aware that these streets are not in good condition. But in present circumstances he has to ask local authorities to limit the total expenditure on private street works as on other local government services, and there are many streets in the country in worse condition than these.

asked the Postmaster-General why overnight telegrams from London to Epsom are transmitted by road.

Such telegrams are sent to Epsom by teleprinter up to 7 p.m., when the local telegraph office closes. Overnight telegrams for Epsom, handed in after 7 p.m., are first sent to the West London Telegraph Office and thence to Mount Pleasant to connect with postal dispatches for first post delivery next morning. If for any reason connection with the postal dispatch is not possible, overnight telegrams are held at the West London Telegraph Office, and sent by teleprinter when the Epsom Telegraph Office opens.

asked the Postmaster-General in what circumstances it is not possible for overnight telegrams from London to Epsom to be received by Epsom; what record of the receipt of telegrams is made at Epsom; what confirmation of receipt is given when a telegram is dispatched by teleprinter network; and why, when telegrams are not received and notification has been given of sending the telegrams, the telegrams are not subsequently delivered together with an explanation.

No such circumstances should, of course, arise. Unfortunately, despite our best endeavours, failures do occur, as is indicated by my reply of 29th January to my hon. Friend, and my recent letter to him about an overnight telegram unfortunately lost during transmission. In the particular case, further explanation to the intended recipient, so long after the event, hardly seemed appropriate.Under standard procedure a record is kept at Epsom of all overnight telegrams received by teleprinter, acknowledgment of receipt being automatically transmitted back to the sending operator. A record of overnight telegrams sent to Epsom by road is maintained at Mount Pleasant, the dispatching point.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give the number of string, or string-type, woollen gloves imported from Hong Kong during each month of 1957.

String, or string-type gloves are not separately distinguished in the United Kingdom trade returns, but imports of gloves, including knitted, etc., gloves and mittens, other than those of fabric or leather from Hong Kong were:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of murders known to the police in Scotland for the months of October, November and December, 1957.

Three cases of murder were made known to the police in Scotland in October, none in November and three in December.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many hutted camps are still in civilian occupation in Scotland and in Lanarkshire, respectively; and what is the number of persons living in such camps in Scotland and Lanarkshire, respectively.

Nineteen camps occupied by 254 families are in civil use in Scotland, including one occupied by 39 families in Lanarkshire.

asked the Minister of Health what quantity of ungraded milk is produced in the Morpeth rural area of the County of Northumberland; and to what extent recent cases of glandular tuberculosis were due to infected milk; and what action has been taken.

I am informed by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that the quantity of undesignated milk sold by retail in Morpeth Rural District is estimated at less than 50 gallons a day. My inquiries about the other parts of the Question are not yet complete. I will write to the hon. Member about them as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Health the numbers of fee-paying private beds and public beds, respectively, in England and Wales and in the region of the Birmingham Hospital Board, respectively, to the latest convenient date, as compared with 31st December, 1952.

The information is as follows: