asked the Minister of Supply what he estimates will be the effect on British industry of the agreement reached at the recent meeting of the North Atlantic Council to achieve closer co-operation on military research, development, and production within the framework of the Western European Union.

I do not foresee any immediate effect on British industry as a result of the recent agreement, but the agreement should eventually lead to a more economical use of industrial resources for defence research, development and production in all the participating countries.

asked the Minister of Supply whether production orders have yet been placed for anti-tank weapons; and if he will make a statement on the position.

A limited number of anti-tank guided weapons of an interim type have been ordered for evaluation and troop trials. Work is proceeding on the development of a more advanced anti-tank guided weapon. Production of conventional anti-tank weapons has, of course, been proceeding for a long time.

asked the Minister of Supply what new steps he proposes to take to enforce the non-smoking rule in all the works under his control, so as to avoid a repetition of the accident recently disclosed by his Department when the cigarrette ash of an aircraft worker fell on the polytetrafluorethylene on which he was working and killed him instantly; and if he will make a statement.

None. No accident of the kind to which my hon. Friend refers has occurred at any of my establishments. "No smoking" rules which are needed for safety reasons in such establishments are already rigorously enforced, and breaches of them are subject to strict disciplinary action.

asked the Minister of Supply if he is aware of the unrest at Fazakerley Ordnance Factory, Liverpool, owing to the Government's proposal to reduce the staff; and, in view of the increase in unemployment which this proposal will involve, if he will reconsider the matter so as to ensure that skilled and unskilled workers are not discharged from this factory.

No. I am not at present proposing to reduce staff at Fazakerley.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the unsatisfactory arrangements for sewage disposal at Winwick Hospital, Lancashire; that the Mersey River Board and the regional hospital board are desirous of connecting with the Sankey Valley main sewer, and that this important development is held up by lack of capital; and whether he will take steps to ensure the transfer at an early date.

I am aware of the need for this scheme, and am informed that the Regional Hospital Board hopes to be able to start it in 1959–60.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the difference between the amount now agreed to be paid in compensation to the Suez Canal shareholders and that which was proposed at the time the canal was nationalised; what further steps he is taking, and will take, to bring the claims of the canal pilots and other workers who suffered loss to the notice of the Egyptian Government; and what action he proposes to take in support of these claims.

The hon. Member for West Ham, North (Mr. Lewis) has today asked a Question relating to the first part of this Question, to which my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has made a full written Answer. I would ask the hon. Member to await this reply.As regards the claims of pilots and other employees of the Canal Company, I have nothing to add to the reply my hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member on 2nd July of last year.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what agreement has been made between his Department and the promoters of the proposed Apple and Pear Publicity Scheme in connection with the costs of the forthcoming court action to decide if such a scheme comes within the scope of the Marketing Acts.

No definite proposal for any such agreement has been put to me, but if it were, I am afraid I should have to say that it would not be appropriate for me to assist financially an action that seeks to challenge the legal advice which I have been given.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will, by means of a leaflet or other forms of publicity, give farmers a clear explanation of the Government's aims with regard to Clause 2 of the Agriculture Bill, so that they may know exactly what is intended.

This Clause still awaits consideration by Standing Committee A, but I will bear my hon. Friend's suggestion in mind.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give consideration to reducing from £100 to £50 the minimum figure of cost for farm improvement scheme grant purposes.

No. But I would like it to be generally known that the £100 limit applies only to the cost covered by one application, which may include a number of individual improvements.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will indicate the amount of money spent by each of the county councils in Wales upon schemes on unclassified and unadopted roads under the Agriculture (Improvement of Roads) Act, 1955, and the amount of grants made for the financial year ended 31st March, 1958.

Complete figures of expenditure by county councils under the Agriculture (Improvement of Roads) Act, 1955, in the financial year ended 31st March, 1958, are not yet available. The work approved for grant and the grant paid during the year are shown in the following table:

AGRICULTURE (IMPROVEMENT OF ROADS) ACT, 1955
PROGRAMMES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH, 1958
County Council		Estimated cost of schemes approved		Grant Paid
		Unclassified	Unadopted
		£	£	£
Anglesey	…	Not eligible
Brecon	…	19,706	1,763	—
Caernarvon	…	21,597	436	4,345*
Cardigan	…	22,956	—	—
Carmarthen	…	10,963	6,295	—
Denbigh	…	14,966	11,903	—
Flint	…	—	10,552	—
Glamorgan	…	—	15,811	—
Merioneth	…	23,318	—	4,639
Monmouth	…	8,297	—	—
Montgomery	…	10,094	—	—
Pembroke	…	7,323	1,522	4,703*
Radnor	…	20,546	—	5,561
		£159,766	£48,282	£19,248
*Grant paid on unclassified roads only.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, having regard to the recommendations in connection with the use of bacterial rodenticides by the Working Party on Toxic Chemicals in Agriculture (Residues in Food), he will make a statement.

I have now been informed by the company that has been using this method in recent years that, as a result of tests it has been carrying out with other preparations, it has discontinued the use of bacterial rodenticides in the United Kingdom as from 1st May and will not resume their use without my approval.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many foreign visitors to Great Britain received National Assistance during 1957 on the grounds that, although they had registered for work which, however, they knew they could not accept because they held no British work permit, they claimed to be without means of support; and what was the total sum paid out.

One, who, however, had worked without a permit. The cost was £13 16s. 0d.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many widowed mothers are now drawing allowances; how many have deductions made on account of earnings; and what is the total amount of such allowances and the total of such deductions.

There are about 140,000 widowed mothers drawing allowances of whom about 25,000 have deductions made on account of earnings. The total cost of allowances is now about £25 million a year. The total amount deducted under the earnings rule is a little less than £2 million a year.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether, in view of the continuing unsatisfactory working of the earnings rule for widowed mothers, in particular, he will now invite his National Advisory Committee to reconsider this whole question.

The earnings rules for benefits were fully reviewed by the National Insurance Advisory Committee only two years ago and I should not feel justified in asking them to review the matter again at this stage.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he has yet investigated the case of H. R. Kennedy's reduction in Service pension and abolition of hardship allowance, which were appealed against 16 weeks ago and about which no decision has yet been made; and whether he will hasten a decision on this matter.

I find that Mr. Kennedy's pension was reduced from the 30 per cent. to the 20 per cent. rate in January, 1957, because a medical board found that the condition of his disability had improved. His appeal to the independent Pensions Appeal Tribunal against the reduced assessment was adjourned, at the request of his adviser in November, 1957, to enable him to appeal on entitlement. I understand from the Pensions Appeal Tribunal Office that the entitlement appeal is listed for hearing on 9th June and that when this appeal is decided the outstanding assessment appeal will be re-listed. An allowance for lowered standard of occupation awarded to Mr. Kennedy was recently cancelled but this matter is being looked into further in the light of his further representations.

asked the Paymaster-General what precautions are taken to minimise the sulphuric acid content of smoke emitted by the Marchwood power station; and if he is satisfied that the smoke is harmless to human beings and to property.

Special precautions including the use of neutralising substances are taken in operating the furnaces at this station to minimise the acid content of the flue gases and local measurements of acid concentration do not reveal any significant increase since the station began operation. As to the effects of the smoke, I understand that there have been some cases in which near-by property has suffered minor corrosion, mainly of paintwork. There is no evidence of harm to human beings.

asked the Paymaster-General whether, in view of the fact that many people on small fixed incomes, especially retired pensioners, purchase domestic fuel in small weekly quantities, he will amend his regulations to ensure that such consumers get the same protection as those who buy fuel in quantities of more than two cwt.

All retail deliveries of coal and coke are subject to price control but the use of delivery notes specifying grade and price for quantities of two cwt. or less is not always practicable and if made obligatory would in any case slow up deliveries and increase costs.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what progress has been made with double-tracking the Barking by-pass between West Ham and Barking; and when it is expected it will be completed.

Work is proceeding according to schedule and is expected to be complete by July, 1959.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he is aware of the traffic blocks on the section of the Great West Road between the roundabouts at Harefield Road and at Oxford Road, Denham; and if he will now state when this is to be double-tracked.

I am aware of the traffic conditions on A.40 between Denham Circus and Uxbridge Circus, to which I assume the hon. Member refers. I am considering when I can include the dualling of this stretch of road in my programme, but I cannot yet give a date.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what progress has been made with the reconstruction of Barking Station; and when it is expected to be completed.

The British Transport Commission informs me that the construction of the flyovers and re-arrangement of the running lines art Barking Station are between one-third and one-half completed and are due to be finished by the end of 1959. The British Transport Commission and Barking Corporation are now jointly considering a scheme for the reconstruction of the station buildings. The reconstruction work would take about two years to complete once it was under way.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide information as to the estimated yield during the last financial year from Purchase Tax in respect of articles chargeable at 5 per cent., 10 per cent., 15 per cent., 30 per cent., 50 per cent., 60 per cent., and 90 per cent., respectively; and what he estimates will be the yield from Purchase Tax during the current financial year on articles chargeable respectively at 60 per cent., 30 per cent., 15 per cent., and 5 per cent.

The figures are as follows:

ESTIMATED YIELDS FROM PURCHASE TAX IN 1957–58 AND 1958–59
Rate of tax per cent.			Estimated yield
			1957–58	1958–59
			£ million
90	…	…	29	—
60	…	…	236	209
50	…	…	3	—
30	…	…	130	178
15	…	…	40	45
10	…	…	4	—
5	…	…	52	58
Total		…	494	490

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what factors he attributes the fact that revenue from Purchase Tax will drop only from £494 million in 1957–58 to £490 million in 1958–59, notwithstanding the substantial Budget concessions in Purchase Tax, costing £41 million in a full year.

As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in his Budget statement, a moderate increase in consumer spending is to be expected this year. The consequent increase in the yield from the Purchase Tax will, it is estimated, nearly offset the cost of the concessions which is put at £30 million for this financial year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the gross receipts from Purchase Tax on commercial vehicle chassis for each of the last five years; and an estimate of the net benefit during this period to the Exchequer, after allowing for the countervailing charge to the Inland Revenue in respect of initial allowances and depreciation for that part of the cost of commercial vehicles which is attributable to Purchase Tax.

The following is the Answer:

Year		Purchase Tax Received	Shortfall of Inland Revenue Taxes	Difference
		£ million	£ million	£ million
1953–54	…	9·1	—	9·1
1954–55	…	10·2	1·0	9·2
1955–56	…	12·7*	1·8	10·9
1956–57	…	13·1	2·7	10·4
1957–58	…	14·2	3·3	10·9
* The rate of tax was increased from 25 per cent. to 30 per cent. from 27th October, 1955.

The first column shows the receipt of Purchase Tax on commercial vehicles in each of the five years. The second column shows the estimated amounts by which the receipts of direct taxes were less in each of those years on account of capital allowances attributable to the Purchase Tax paid in the period on commercial vehicles.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Government and local government pensioners who are not eligible for National Insurance pensions, are drawing pensions below National Assistance levels.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount of post-war credits outstanding at the latest convenient date; and how this compares with the amount that was outstanding at the end of the war.

£446 million now compared with £765 million originally created.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the shareholding of the British Government, whether he will make a statement on the agreement arrived at with the Egyptian Government on matters pertaining to compensation arising from the nationalisation of the Suez Canal; and to what extent this agreement is financially better or worse than the one proposed by the Egyptians, prior to the Suez war.

The main features of the Agreement between the Company and the Government of Egypt are that the Company retains its assets and liabilities outside Egypt while Egypt retains the assets and liabilities in that country. In addition, the Egyptian Government pays the equivalent of £E28·3 million in French francs and sterling calculated by reference to the International Monetary Fund parity between the Egyptian pound and the United States dollar in compensation to the Company. Of this £E5·3 million, which presents the equivalent of dues paid to the Company after 26th July, 1956, is already in the Company's possession. The balance will be paid in six equal annual instalments starting 1st January, 1959. The payment of the instalments may be advanced if Her Majesty's Government permit a specific release from Egypt's No. 2 Account for this purpose, or in the event of the release of the whole of the No. 2 Account. In all the circumstances Her Majesty's Government regard this Agreement as reasonably satisfactory. The Nationalisation Decree of 1956 left many details unsettled, but the present agreement appears to secure a more advantageous financial settlement to the Company. In particular the Company retains its profitable assets outside Egypt and payment is guaranteed in transferable currencies. I have no doubt that the Company will in due course explain in more detail the precise financial consequences.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what quantities of trees were sold recently to the Bar-skimming Estate Limited, Mauchline, by the Forestry Commission; and what were the retail prices agreed for the various species by the nursery trade.

It is not the practice to supply details of individual transactions carried out by the Forestry Commission. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the current list of agreed maximum retail prices for forest tree plants which is followed by the Forestry Commission.

asked the Minister of Defence how many widows of officers, and of what ranks, who were over 60 years of age on 5th July, 1948, are receiving pensions.

The number of pensions paid by the Services to officers' widows who were over 60 on 5th July, 1948, is as follows:by the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance, whose records are not kept in a form which enables the Question to be answered.