asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the value and volume of grapes, strawberries and potatoes imported into the United Kingdom from Malta during 1957; and the prospects of increasing these imports.

A total of 3,824 tons of potatoes were imported, valued at £93,002; 4 cwt. of grapes were imported, valued at £26. There was no import of strawberries. As to the future, I am informed that special efforts are being made to make the Maltese potato more suitable for the United Kingdom market; it is also possible that a small export trade to this country in very early strawberries may develop and that the growing of grapes may become more competitive.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what number of dogs was placed in quarantine on entering the country, in the last convenient period of twelve months; and how many were found to be suffering from rabies during quarantine.

The number of dogs placed in quarantine in the twelve months ended 31st March, 1958, was 1,989. None of them developed rabies.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how the Horticultural Marketing Advisory Council will be financed.

Expenditure on work in the field of horticultural marketing on which the Horticultural Marketing Advisory Council will advise my right hon. Friend will continue to be borne on the Vote of the Ministry. The incidental expenses of members will also be borne on the Ministry's Vote in the same way as those of other Departmental advisory bodies.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if his Department has now completed its examination of the difficulties connected with the marketing and distribution of vegetables; and if he will make a statement.

My hon. Friend will be aware that in answer to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury (Mr. L. Thomas) on 1st May, my right hon. Friend made a statement about the Horticultural Marketing Council recommended by the Runciman Committee and announced his intention to set up forthwith a Horticultural Marketing Advisory Council. Other aspects of the Committee's Report are still under consideration.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is now in a position to make a statement regarding grey seals on the Farne Islands.

In consultation with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Scotland, I have been giving very careful consideration to the threefold recommendation made by the Nature Conservancy in its last Annual Report.The first was that scientific study should be continued and this is a matter for the Nature Conservancy. The second, that a programme of experimental work should be carried out into the protection of salmon nets against the seals, is a matter which my right hon. Friend and I are actively pursuing in association with the fishermen.The third recommendation was that an annual cull should be carried out as an experimental and interim measure to limit further increases in the grey seal population. My right hon. Friend and I feel that it is essential to explore the possibilities of this method of control, and I have decided to arrange for a limited measure of culling to be carried out this autumn under the supervision of my Department's veterinary staff to test its practicability. The necessary Order under the Grey Seals Protection Act, 1932, varying the statutory close season for grey seals on the Farne Islands will be introduced as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will now take steps to ensure that in future, when applications are made for pensions by the widows of deceased disabled or partly disabled war pensioners, the benefit of any doubt shall be given to the applicant widows in all cases; and if he will make a statement.

It is a fundamental principle of the administration of the War Pensions Scheme that the benefit of any reasonable doubt is always given to the applicant for pension.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the current weekly rate of payment of National Assistance allowances; and how this compares with twelve months and two years ago, respectively.

The National Assistance Board informs me that information about the average amount of weekly assistance grants, to which it is assumed the hon. Member is referring, is available only from sample inquiries and therefore only for the dates of such inquiries. The figures available for dates during the past two years are 24s. 4d. at 7th November, 1956, 25s. 8d. at 5th November, 1957, and 26s. at 18th March, 1958.

asked the Minister of Supply whether he will now make a full statement on the accident to the missile launched by the Royal Aircraft Establishment. Aberporth, on Wednesday, 30th April.

Yes. The rocket was an unguided one fired out to sea on a set trajectory. No fundamental defect has been found to account for its departure from course. In an unguided rocket of this sort it has not in the past been considered necessary to fit a breakup device. I have given instructions that such a device is to be fitted in future to unguided as well as to guided rounds and I am satisfied that that will eliminate as far as is humanly possible the risk of a similar occurrence.

asked the Minister of Supply (1) to what extent he is considering encouraging the development of a polymorph aircraft other than that at present under consideration by the Vickers-Armstrong Aircraft Company;(2) if he is aware of United States interest in the development of the Swallow polymorph aircraft at present being designed by a British aircraft company; and to what extent his Department is to take an active and financial interest in its development.

asked the Minister of Supply if he will make a statement on the future of Dr. Barnes Wallis's variable geometry aeroplane.

asked the Minister of Supply to what extent the research carried out at Weybridge on the design of the aircraft of so-called variable geometry is financed by his Department; what is the amount so far expended; and what is the future research programme for this project.

asked the Minister of Supply (1) what financial assistance was given, in what years, to aid the development of Dr. Barnes Wallis's aircraft, the Vickers Swallow;(2) the present stage of development of the new aircraft, the Vickers Swallow.

Research into the many problems involved in this concept had been proceeding over a period of ten years before Government financial support was withdrawn early last year, the reason being that, following the changes in defence policy announced in the Defence White Paper, no immediate military application could be foreseen. Up to then my Department had contributed about 80 per cent. of the cost and the company the remainder. Since Government support was withdrawn the company has continued the project at its own expense. My Department has kept in close touch with the company's work and has been considering the possibility of other practicable applications.The Americans are considering whether or not to include a project incorporating these principles in their Mutual Aid Programme. No decision has yet been reached.

asked the Minister of Supply how many of those now employed at the Royal Ordnance Factory, at Poole, will be taken over by the firm acquiring the factory; how many of the others will be transferred to different Ministry of Supply work; what arrangements have been made to offer alternative work to the remainder; and what is to happen to the present equipment in the factory.

I am not yet in a position to say how many of the work-people at this factory will be offered and will accept employment by the firm taking the factory over. All surplus established employees will be offered the opportunity of transfer to other Government employment. An office of the Ministry of Labour and National Service has already been set up in the factory to provide redundant unestablished employees with early advice and help in getting other work. Some of the present equipment will be moved to other factories. The rest will be sold.

asked the Minister of Supply what proposals are at present under consideration for the use of that part of the Royal Ordnance Factory at Thorp Arch not required by the Prison Commissioners.

I have nothing to add to the information which has already been given to my hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Minister of Supply how soon he hopes to receive the report of the inter-departmental committee on export credits for aircraft manufacturers.

This is a complex matter and I cannot forecast when the report will be made.

asked the Minister of Supply if he will publish a White Paper giving his proposals for the reorganisation of the aircraft industry, as outlined at his Press conference on 13th May.

No.

asked the Minister of Supply the criterion of achievement by which he proposes to determine the financial contribution made to the aircraft industry for civil aeronautical research.

The continued development, production and sale of successful aircraft.

asked the Minister of Health the numbers of notifications of poliomyelitis in London in 1955, 1956, and 1957.

The numbers were 961, 279, 325 respectively. The 1957 figure is provisional.

asked the Minister of Health what numbers of instances of poliomyelitis in Norfolk were notified during the years 1953 to 1957, inclusive.

The numbers were 45, 51, 71, 13 and 58 respectively, the last figure being provisional. All figures include non-paralytic as well as paralytic cases.

asked the Minister of Health how many senior officers of his Department were born in Wales; what steps he will take to increase the recruitment of persons for senior grades, with particular knowledge of Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Information is not readily available for the Ministry as a whole, but 21 out of 27 senior staff in the Welsh Board of Health were born in Wales. Recruitment is in the hands of the Civil Service Commissioners who maintain a close liaison with the universities, including those in Wales.

asked the Minister of Health when the hon. Member for Cardiff, West, may expect a reply to his letter concerning invalid car repairs for Mr. John Todd, 25A, Court Road, Cardiff.

I have written to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that many aged people living alone are sometimes found to be days without food or assistance because of ill health; and if he will take steps to establish a health visitors service for aged people on similar lines to the existing health service for young people.

I am aware that cases of aged people living alone being found in distress are occasionally reported. The health visiting service provided by local health authorities is already available to visit and advise old people. For routine visits to ensure that no case is overlooked the appropriate course is, however, the development of voluntary visiting in a field for which it is specially suited rather than the diversion from more specialised work of fully trained staff whose numbers are limited.

asked the Minister of Health what steps are contemplated to advance the process of devolution of the work of his Department in Wales; what progress has been achieved during the last twelve months; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend's functions in Wales are, with a few exceptions, already exercised through the Welsh Board of Health. I do not think that there is any significant scope for further devolution.

asked the Minister of Health (1) if any decision has yet been arrived at by the Nurses and Midwives Council on the 88-hour fortnight being accepted as the working hours for nurses employed in the hospital service;(2) whether, when the reduced hours come into operation, mental nurses will be paid for overtime worked in excess of 88 hours per fortnight;(3) whether, when reduced hours come into operation, part-time nurses will have their rates of pay based on one-eleventh of the basic full-time rates of pay as against the one-twelfth for each session of four hours as operates at present.

The Whitley Council has recommended that an 88-hour fortnight should be brought into national operation for nurses as soon as conditions permit having regard to the availability of staff and subject always to the requirements of the service. My right hon. and learned Friend and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland have accepted this recommendation and will shortly be advising hospital authorities accordingly. The recommendation does not affect the rules governing the salaries of part-time nurses and the payment for excess hours worked by mental nurses.

asked the Minister of Health when he hopes to be able to authorise the commencement of the Welsh Teaching Hospital; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend is not in a position at present to make a statement. The date of commencement of building must depend on the completion of detailed architectural plans, which will take some two to three years yet and on the availability of finance then.

asked the Secretary of State for War, in view of the fact that the band of the Welsh Guards is due to perform in contravention of Queen's Regulations, at a function organised by the Junior Carlton Club for the purpose of obtaining money for the Conservative Party, if he will make a statement.

This engagement was cancelled. I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer given on 15th May to the hon. Member for Dudley (Mr. Wigg).

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty (1) the cost of converting the Fairmile type motor launches for use as inshore minesweepers; and how many were converted;(2) to what extent the Fairmile type minesweeping motor launches are to be retained in reserve, in view of their omission from the Explanatory Statement to this year's Navy Estimates.

Fifteen Fairmile type motor launches were converted for use

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why he gave permission to a Russian photographic unit to take a film of the working model of Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly at the Brussels World Fair; what other nations have been granted the same facility; and whether he will grant similar permission to Euratom.

All exhibits in the United Kingdom Government Pavilion at the Brussels Exhibition may be photographed or filmed with the permission of the Director of the Pavilion who, in this matter, is concerned only to avoid inconvenience and annoyance to other visitors. Permission to film the model as inshore minesweepers as a means of bridging the gap until vessels of new construction were available. The conversion cost was approximately £76,000 per vessel. Now that the minesweeper new construction programme has practically been completed, there is no longer a requirement to keep these war-time constructed craft and none is being retained in reserve.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty the number of battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, fleet mine-sweepers, and motor gun- or torpedo-boats that have been completed and disposed of during the years 1956 and 1957.

The following is the Answer:of Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly was accordingly given to the Soviet Film Unit. No such requests from other foreign film units have been received, but I have no reason to think that similar facilities would not be granted.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a further statement on the situation in the Aden Protectorate.

Since my right hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Eton and Slough (Mr. Brockway) on 8th May, security forces have continued to patrol the Jebel Jihaf area to the north and north-West of Dhala. On two occasions, they have exchanged fire with small parties of armed dissidents whom they had come upon and there were casualties. Elsewhere in the frontier area only minor incidents have occurred.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he will circulate in HANSARD a statement giving the latest recruiting figures for the Royal Air Force and the Women's Royal Air Force.

The figures are as follows:

asked the Paymaster-General if he will define the main grades of coal.

"Large" coal is coal which will not pass through a screen with round holes generally 2 in. in diameter, though they may vary in different screens."Small" coal is coal generally with a top size of ½ in. although this can vary in different places up to 1½ in.; it includes everything down to dust."Graded" or "Sized" coals lie between the other two categories. That is to say, generally speaking, they range from ½ in. to 2 in. There are however variations in both the lower and upper limits, the former in some cases being as low as ⅛ in. and the latter as high as 2¼ in. Doubles, singles, beans, peas and grains come within the category of "graded".

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what arrangements have been made to assist the Sultan of Muscat and Oman in the strengthening of the defences of the Sultanate, especially by means of seconding British Regular officers.

Her Majesty's Government have arranged to second six officers of the Regular Army to assist in the reorganisation of the Sultan's forces and propose to give some financial assistance for which Parliamentary approval will be sought by way of a Supplementary Estimate in due course. In the meantime expenditure will be met by advances from the Civil Contingencies Fund.

asked the Prime Minister to what extent new discoveries in the field of thermonuclear research for peaceful purposes have recently enabled Her Majesty's Government to re-assess the possibilities of the introduction of harnessed thermonuclear power; when he expects the modified Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly to be ready for further experimentation; and to what extent Her Majesty's Government have ordered a speed up of the building of Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly II.

There has been no recent reassessment of the possibilities of thermonuclear power production. The project enjoys the highest priority, but it is still in the research stage, and many years of research and development may be needed before it provides a useful source of power.I am informed by the Atomic Energy Authority that the work with the modified Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly is likely to restart towards the end of the summer, and that experimental work is continuing while it is dismantled.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can yet publish the 1957 quarterly figures for capital expenditure by the shipping industry.

The figures will be published later in the year.It is provisionally estimated that the capital expenditure of the shipping industry in the four quarters of 1957 was £22 million, £35 million, £40 million and £53 million respectively. These amounts represent changes in expenditure over the corresponding quarters of 1956 of -25 per cent., +28 per cent., +90 per cent., and +60 per cent. respectively, and an increase of 36 per cent. during 1957 as a whole compared with 1956.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation how many road accidents are known to have been due to defective vehicles over 10 years of age, expressed as a percentage of the total number of road accidents, in each of the years 1955, 1956 and 1957, respectively; and what were the numbers of persons killed and injured, respectively, as a result of such defective vehicles in each of these years.

I regret that this information is not available.In 1957, however, 5,005 accidents involving death or injury to road users were recorded as being wholly or partly attributable to defects in vehicles. There is strong reason to believe that vehicle defects are a factor in, and contribute to a much greater number of accidents.A sample test undertaken at the Government testing station at Hendon in 1956 showed that of vehicles voluntarily submitted for examination 34 per cent. of those 10 years or more old and 17 per cent. of newer vehicles had serious defects in their braking or steering mechanisms and that when lighting defects likely to cause accidents were taken into account these figures increased to 43 per cent. and 20 per cent. respectively.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will give an estimate of the reduction in road accidents when a "Halt" sign or a "Slow" sign is placed at a road intersection; and whether the one sign or the other has been found to be the more effective in bringing about such a reduction.

"Before and after" studies were made by the Road Research Laboratory in 1954 of accidents at thirty road junctions where "Halt" or "Slow" signs had been erected. It was found that injury accidents fell on the average by 80 per cent. and 75 per cent. respectively when "Halt" and "Slow" signs were erected. The Road Research Laboratory reported that neither of these figures was very precise and that no significance should be attached to the difference between them.