asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what guidance he has given to the British Egg Marketing Board on the export of eggs in the coming spring, with or without Government subsidy.

The British Egg Marketing Board is well aware of the existing statutory restrictions on exports of subsidised eggs to specified countries and no additional guidance has been given to it about exports during the coming spring.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the origin of the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease which necessitated the closing of Stanley abattoir, Liverpool, has yet been established and if he will state the numbers of outbreaks in 1956 and 1957 which his Department attributes to South American meat, infection brought from the Continent by birds and other means, and to unknown causes, respectively.

The Ministry's veterinary officers consider that infection was probably carried from outbreaks in Denbighshire to the Liverpool abattoir. In 1956, seventeen primary outbreaks were attributed to South American meat and eleven to the spread of infection from the Continent of Europe, and in four cases the origin was obscure. The comparable figures for 1957 are twenty-three, seventeen and three respectively.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware of the anxiety among farmers due to the outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease arising from imports of Argentine beef and if he will direct this imported beef away from farming, and thoroughly investigate this situation to enable a remedy to be provided.

I am aware of the anxiety to which my hon. Friend draws attention but I am satisfied that the comprehensive arrangements in operation in the Argentine substantially reduce the risk of the virus of foot-and-mouth disease reaching this country in consignments of carcase meat. I am hopeful that further progress in this direction will be found possible. The problem is under constant study both here and in the Argentine.I have no power to interfere in the distribution of meat.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give consideration to the particular problem arising out of applications for grant-aided electricity generators on farms which were unlikely to receive main supplies for several years, so that these schemes could be approved without undue delay.

I am now prepared to consider applications for grant-aiding permanently fixed electricity generators under the Farm Improvement Scheme in cases where there is slight prospect of connection to a mains supply at reasonable cost in the foreseeable future.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in view of the assurance of the National Farmers' Union and the Potato Marketing Board of adequate stocks of home-grown potatoes for many months ahead, if he will now reconsider the decision to permit the importation of potatoes.

Nothing has yet happened to modify the Government's view that imported potatoes are needed this season to supplement the home crop and to achieve reasonable stability of prices. But the supply position is being kept under review and discussions will be held from time to time with the producers' and trade organisations concerned. I expect the first of these discussions to take place about the end of the month.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware of the anxiety among farmers that his Department's consideration of farm improvement schemes from specialised producers tends to weigh unfairly against small farmers who are in the greatest need of assistance; and if he will give an assurance that care will be taken to give each application equal consideration.

Each proposal under the Farm Improvement Scheme has to satisfy all the tests prescribed in Section 12 of the Agriculture Act, 1957. Among other things, these tests require that the land which a proposed improvement is intended to benefit is, or after improvement will be, capable of yielding a sufficient livelihood to a reasonably skilled occupier, and also that a prudent landlord would be willing to make the improvement himself or to pay compensation to a tenant for making it. It is these requirements which proposals for small specialist holdings most commonly fail to meet. Each proposal receives careful consideration.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he anticipates being able to make an interim statement on the work of the Committee which is inquiring into the fishing industry.

The Committee is occupied with the collection of evidence which it will then need to consider and I do not expect to have any further information to give the House for a considerable time.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many acres have already been covered, and how many Kikuyu families absorbed, by the Mwea irrigation scheme in Kenya; and what are the long-term targets for this scheme.

By 31st December 1,200 acres had been levelled and 845 of these were ready for flooding, 2,700 men, women and children were permanently engaged on the scheme. On present plans by 1959 1,000 families should be resettled on 5,000 acres, and by 1962 these figures should be doubled. A further 20,000 acres accommodating 4,000 more families should thereafter be available for irrigation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many Kikuyu per month have been entering Nairobi illegally to seek work during the past six months; and how many are being repatriated per month to their country districts.

During the second half of 1957 an average of 1,130 Kikuyu were detected each month entering Nairobi illegally; how many were seeking work cannot be accurately determined. An average of 689 were repatriated each month to their home districts, 11,000 Kiambu Kikuyu have already been found employment in Nairobi, but systematic efforts to provide settled employment for these people will be frustrated if they produce a wandering problem with which the authorities are given insufficient power to deal.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is now able to make a statement upon the findings of the Trustram Eve Boundary Commission for Mauritius.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will give the names of the members of the Ministerial Committee which recently examined the whole body of the laws of Mauritius; and on what date he anticipates that legislation to modernise Ministerial procedure and Governmental responsibilities will be placed before the Legislative Council.

The Ministerial Committee was composed of the three Ministers without Portfolio, Dr. Celestin, Mr. Rault and Mr. Vaghjee.The Executive Council (Transfer of Powers and Duties) Ordinance, which was specifically designed to effect the changes in procedure recommended by the Ministerial Committee, was passed by the Mauritius Legislative Council on 6th December, 1957, and was brought into effect by proclamation on 1st January, 1958.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what plans he has prepared to extend the operation of the principles of democratic government in Colonial Territories in 1958.

My right hon. Friend cannot do more, in reply to such a general question, than reaffirm the policy, on which all parties in this House are agreed, of promoting in each territory the progressive development of self-governing and democratic institutions according to local conditions and circumstances obtaining from time to time.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will appoint a committee to investigate and report upon the operation of the rule that the Government of a Crown Colony, Protectorate or Trusteeship Territory should not take any part in party politics.

No. I regard it as important that the political impartiality of the public services in overseas territories should be beyond dispute. I have no evidence to suggest that local rules, which are based on local circumstances having regard to practice in this country, require investigation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware that in Colonial territories in which the Colonial Government is progressing towards self-government, such progress is often hampered and Government actions and intentions falsified by reason of the restrictions placed upon officials against giving political advice; and whether he will consider the relaxation of such restrictions.

I am not aware of any such difficulties; it is of course part of the normal duties of administrative, information and other officers to explain government policies to the general public.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware of the almost total absence in East Africa of radio publicity and radio explanation of Colonial Government actions and intentions; and whether he will take steps to counteract the widespread subversive radio propaganda such as that of The Voice of Free Africa.

My hon. Friend has been misinformed. In all four British East African Territories the closest co-operation is maintained between the broadcasting services and Government Information Departments. These broadcasting services have been built up with financial and technical help from this country, and I consider that help of this kind provides the best direct answer to subversive radio propaganda.In addition the B.B.C. transmits in Swahili to East Afica for fifteen minutes twice a week. This will be expanded to thirty minutes a day under plans already approved.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies on what grounds Mr. Basil Davidson, the author and journalist, has been refused a visitor's permit to enter the British East African territories in order to pursue historical studies.

This is a matter within the discretion of the East African Governments, and I have told them that I see no reason to intervene in their decisions.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what success the Desert Locust Committee has had in the destruction of the swarms of desert locusts invading 1,000 square miles of Somaliland and north-east Kenya.

Very extensive ground control operations were carried out against 1,000 square miles of locusts, as they bred, by teams of the East Africa High Commission Desert Locust Survey and of the Governments of Ethiopia and Somalia. As a result of these operations the young swarms which formed are thought to total only several hundred square miles; had there been no control measures, the progeny swarms might have totalled several thousand square miles. The limited number of young swarms are now at the extreme north-eastern tip of Kenya and neighbouring parts of Ethiopia and Somalia, where they are being watched by aircraft. Although reconnaissance is still in progress and all areas have not yet been covered in detail, it seems that any further invasion of Kenya and Tanganyika may be on a limited scale and that any damage which may occur will be restricted.Her Majesty's Government much appreciate the close co-operation which the East Africa High Commission have received at all levels from the Governments of Ethiopia and Somalia.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the number of African district council schools in the Northern Province of Nyasaland on 1st January, 1958; and how many of these were originally mission schools.

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

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to make lesbian practices illegal.

No. I see no reason to think that there are sufficient grounds to justify such action.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British refugees from Egypt had been fully resettled in this country at 31st December, 1957; and how many still awaited complete resettlement at that date.

About 2,100 refugees were given full assistance by the Board to resettle here; in addition, 1,200 persons were helped to emigrate. About 3,000 persons are still being assisted by the Board.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) to what extent the fire services of the southern counties have been trained and equipped to deal with fires emanating from the crash of a Royal Air Force bomber carrying a hydrogen bomb;(2) what plans have been made to evacuate the population from the vicinity of a crashed Royal Air Force bomber carrying a hydrogen bomb; to what extent members of Civil Defence have been trained to decontaminate an area poisoned by plutonium oxide; and what plans have been worked out to cope with such an emergency.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Lincoln (Mr. de Freitas).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the annual averages of receptions in prison of civil process prisoners for the years 1941–45, 1946–50 and for 1953–57, respectively.

The annual average number of receptions of civil prisoners in the years 1941–45 was 3,452. The average for 1946–50 was 4,642 and for 1953–56 6,157. I regret that the figures for 1957 are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state for the 12 months to the most recent convenient date and for the preceding 12 months' period the daily average prison population of adult male and female prisoners.

In 1955 the daily average adult prison population was 16,943 men and 739 women. In 1956 it was 16,634 men and 668 women. The figures for 1957 have not yet been analysed, but the daily average adult population for that year is provisionally estimated at 17,580 men and 650 women.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the anxieties expressed in the Report of the Council of the Central After-Care Association for the year 1956 that the police function which the society had to perform in order to give effect to the provisions of Section 29 of the Prison Act, 1952, was prejudicing the relationship of the society to the discharged prisoner, he will alter this procedure.

I have invited the Advisory Council on the Treatment of Offenders to consider this matter and to let me have its views on it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many boys discharged from Borstal institutions during the years 1956 and 1957, respectively, had no homes to go to on release; and what steps are being taken by his Department to deal with this problem.

In 1956, 185 Borstal boys were homeless on discharge, and a further 89 had no parental home and had to be placed with relatives. In 1957 these figures were 203 and 74. Responsibility for helping Borstal boys on discharge rests with the Borstal section of the Central After-Care Association, whose representatives interview all boys shortly after reception in a training institution. Homeless boys are referred to specialist officers who seek suitable lodgings for them if no home can be found with relatives.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department by how much the pension of a police officer who joined the force in 1948 and serves for 25 years will be abated when he qualifies for a National Insurance retirement pension; and upon what principle this decision was reached.

An officer who joined the police service on or after 5th July, 1948, and retires after completing twenty-five years' service will be liable to a reduction of 16s. 3d. a week in his police pension when he reaches the age of 65. He will throughout his police service have benefited by a reduction of 1s. 2d. a week in his police pension contributions in respect of this liability. These arrangements are based on the decision of successive Governments to avoid duplication of benefits under public service pension schemes and the National Insurance scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will move to appoint a Select Committee to consider what changes in the law, if any, are desirable, in view of the increasing number of children now born as a result of artificial insemination.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to clarify the legal position arising from artificial insemination by donor.

I would refer the hon. Members to the Answer given earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, North (Mr. Llewellyn).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he will permit the Hungarian stowaways to remain in this country;(2) whether he will release the Hungarian, Mr. Farkas, so that he can be with his children and his wife during her confinement.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer that I gave the hon. Member for Rossendale (Mr. Anthony Greenwood) on 21st January.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will arrange that every household in the United Kingdom shall receive a copy of the pamphlet, entitled "The Hydrogen Bomb," prepared by the Home Office and the Central Office of Information, so that knowledge about the effects of a nuclear explosion will become more widespread.

This booklet is on sale at a cost of 9d. and 90,000 copies have already been sold. Its existence has been widely publicised and I do not think that any one should have difficulty in obtaining it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the average number of prisoners committed to prison by county courts for the years 1946 to 1950, for the year 1956 and for the most recent period of 12 months for which figures are available.

The average number of persons received annually into prison on committal by county courts during the period 1946–1950 was 319. In 1956 there were 1,463 such persons. I regret that more recent figures are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will show, in tabular form for each year from 1952 to 1956 inclusive, how many of the subordinate grades of the prison service applied to take the staff course for promotion to assistant governor; how many passed the qualifying examination; how many were successful before the selection board and took the staff course; and how many were finally appointed as assistant governors.

The information is as follows.Each course is denoted by the year in which it dispersed; the applications for it may have been made in the previous year.

Course ended		Applied	Passed written qualifying examination	Accepted for course	Promoted to Assistant Governor, Class II
1952	…	18	12	4	3
1953	…	32	16	6	3
1954	…	31	16	5	1
1955	…	42	17	7	3
1955*	…	88	25	7	3
1956	…	27	10	5	3
1956*	…	54	20	5	3
* An additional short staff course was introduced for older officers in 1955.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations whether adequate measures have been co-ordinated with Her Majesty's Governments in Australia and New Zealand to resist any infringement of United Kingdom, Australian, or New Zealand sovereignty in their respective Antarctic territories.

Constant consultation takes place between Her Majesty's Governments in the United Kingdom and in Australia and New Zealand on this and other matters of common concern over the whole field of their and our Antarctic interests. The Government are satisfied that these measures of co-ordination are satisfactory.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what consultations have taken place with the Government of Ghana and Canadian and United Kingdom aluminium producers in connection with financing the Volta River hydro-electric scheme for processing bauxite into aluminium; to what extent it is anticipated that dollar finance is being sought from the United States of America; what effect a disproportionate amount of dollar finance for this scheme might have on the future gold and dollar reserves of the sterling area; and whether he will make a statement.

I would refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 28th November in which I said that the United Kingdom Government must await the outcome of the discussions between the Ghana Government and the aluminium companies. No doubt the Government of Ghana will be communicating with us in due course on this matter.The Finance Minister of Ghana informed us during his recent visit that he had had talks in the United States and Canada with regard to possible sources of finance. I have no reason to believe that a measure of dollar finance could be other than helpful in this project. No doubt a large proportion of the aluminium produced would save or indeed perhaps earn dollars for the sterling area.

asked the Minister of Education his current estimates of the size of the primary school population in each of the next five years; and what alterations are being made in school building plans to accord with changes in the birth rate.

Estimates published last year were as follows:—

Number of juniors and infants in maintained schools
January, 1959	…	4,205,000
January, 1960	…	4,099,000
January, 1961	…	4,044,000
January, 1962	…	4,052,000
January, 1963	…	4,068,000

Provisional figures for births in 1957 suggest that the estimate for 1963 will need to be increased by about 30,000. These estimates do not at present make necessary any change in building plans.

asked the Minister of Education if he will publish the results of the survey of art teaching requirements recently carried out at his request; and if he will make a statement regarding the future of existing art schools.

Reviews in 1955 and 1956 resulted in proposals by my Department for adjusting the organisation of full-time art courses more closely to current demand. The numbers of schools running courses leading to the Intermediate Certificate in Art and Crafts and the National Diploma in Design have been reduced from 164 and 139 respectively to 135 and 107. Action arising out of these reviews is now very largely complete.

asked the Minister of Education how many of the originally blacklisted schools are still in use; and how many of these are in the Stalybridge and Hyde constituency, and in Cheshire, respectively.

549; one; and five.

asked the Minister of Education whether, in view of the shortage of teachers, he will introduce legislation to repeal subsection (2) of Section 6 of the Teachers (Superannuation) Act, 1925, which reduces or cancels superannuation payments for any quarter in which a retired teacher would earn out of public funds, including the pension, more than he was drawing as salary before retirement.

No. It is a principle of Civil Service and other public service pension schemes that the income of a pensioner re-employed under the same employer should not be greater than his salary before retirement, and it would be wrong to treat retired teachers differently.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that flick knives have been used recently in cases of murder and serious criminal injury; and whether he will take steps to discourage traders from selling these dangerous weapons particularly to young people.

We have asked traders to sell these knives only to customers known to have some legitimate use for them. It is difficult to see what further action the Board of Trade can take.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the percentage drop in the price of non-inflammable belting, as supplied to the nationalised industries and in particular the National Coal Board, since the abolition of price-fixing arrangements originally instituted by the Asociation of British Rubber and Plastic Belting Manufacturers.

I have no information of this kind, which relates to prices for this material in individual contracts.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the average percentage monthly rise or fall in the price of manufactured goods since April last year; and how these figures compare with the percentage rise or fall in the price of raw materials over the same period.

The index of wholesale prices of manufactured goods other than foodstuffs and fuels was 2 per cent. higher in December than in April, 1957. During this period the price index of basic materials (other than fuels and foodstuffs) used by manufacturing industry fell by 10 per cent., while the price of fuel used rose 6 per cent.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether he is aware that at the present fate, eyelash curlers are still subject to Purchase Tax at 90 per cent. whereas eyebrow combs are only chargeable at 30 per cent. and artificial eyelashes are free of tax altogether; whether special attention may be given to these anomalies at an early date; and what has been the amount of revenue received in each of the past three years in respect of Purchase Tax on eyelash curlers and eyebrow combs;(2) whether he is aware that, under present conditions relating to Purchase Tax, whereas tooth brushes are free of tax altogether, toothpaste and toothpaste racks are liable to tax at 30 per cent. and toothbrush holders and denture bowls and boxes are subject to tax at 90 per cent.; whether provision may now be made that all apparatus concerned with dental hygiene should be reduced to a low rate of tax or freed of tax altogether; and what is the present annual yield of the Purchase Tax in respect of these items.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which my right hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth (Mr. P. Thorneycroft) gave him on 17th December.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that only those baby baskets and hampers which are lidded and which have casters or legs to stand upon the floor, enjoy the beneficial rate of Purchase Tax at five per cent., whereas all other baby hampers and baskets are subject to tax at 30 per cent.; what types of baby hampers and baskets are at present liable to the higher duty; and what has been the yield during each of the past three years on the two categories of baby baskets and hampers.

Those which have lids and also casters or legs are accepted as being furniture. The rest are charged at 15 per cent., not 30 per cent. On the last part of his Question I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which my right hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth (Mr. P. Thorneycroft) gave him on 17th December.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware of the successful competition of Japan and Germany with the British shipbuilding and ship repairing industries, and that the success of foreign nations in these spheres is due largely to high British taxation, and that this has a prejudicial effect on other related British industries and increases the danger of large-scale unemployment in Great Britain; and what measures he is considering for the purpose of avoiding these national dangers.

There are reasonable prospects for a growth of output from British yards: and I do not regard the shipyards as specially handicapped by the general level of our taxation.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will arrange that a representative of producers should participate as an adviser, within the United Kingdom Government delegation, under the arrangements contemplated for the proposed European agreement on agriculture.

To settle the United Kingdom delegation, or its character, before there is an agreement would be premature.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will now make a further statement on the progress of the discussions concerning Great Britain's participation in a European Free Trade Area, with particular reference to the position of agriculture.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the Answer which I gave on 21st January to the hon. Member for Sunderland, North (Mr. Willey).

asked the Minister of Defence the latest scientific information at the disposal of Her Majesty's Government's expert advisers on the subject of making hydrogen bomb explosions undetectable beyond a range of 1,000 miles.

It remains the view of Her Majesty's Government, based on the best available scientific advice, that a deliberate attempt to carry out such an explosion in such a way as to avoid detection might well be successful.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland to what extent his Department has contributed to research into avoidance and cure of common colds; and what progress has been made.

Research into the common cold is conducted by the Common Cold Research Unit of the Medical Research Council, and no separate grants have been made from funds for which I am responsible.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many sewage disposal schemes have been completed in the Western Isles since 1945; how many applications for grant assistance with such schemes he has received from the local authorities concerned; and how many he has approved or rejected.

Three sewerage schemes have been completed in the Western Isles since 1945. Applications for grant assistance under the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Acts were received in respect of two schemes and both were approved.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the total sum paid by the executive councils in Scotland in respect of general practitioner services to men and women on leave from the Armed Forces during the year 1st April, 1956, to 31st March, 1957.

I regret that this information is not separately available.

asked the Secretary of State for Air the cost of constructing the proposed missile bases in the north-east of Scotland, the number to be built, the area they will cover, and the clearance that must be provided for dispersing missiles.

As was stated by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence in reply to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen, South (Lady Tweedsmuir) on 21st January, no decisions about the location of these bases have yet been taken.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what steps he is taking to improve the delivery of steel to shipyards in correct sequence.

The complexity of shipbuilding specifications makes it far from easy to eradicate

—	Numbers and Percentage Re-engaged		Numbers and Percentage Re-engaged
	1956	1956	1957	1957
		per cent.		per cent.
Seaman
C.P.O.	1	100	1	33
P.O.	99	60	70	43
Leading and below	45	21	42	26
Sailmaker
C.P.O.	—		—
P.O.	1	50	2	67
Leading and below	—	—	—	—
Regulating
C.P.O.	—	—	—	—
P.O.	2	33	8	67
Leading and below	1	33	7	70
Telegraphist
C.P.O.	—		—
P.O.	15	29	24	26
Leading and below	4	8	7	10
Signals
C.P.O.	—	—	—	—
P.O.	14	35	19	36
Leading and below	6	13	4	10
Engine Room Artificer
Chief	6	26	7	58
1st, 2nd and 3rdClass	46	40	48	54
4th Class and below	—	—	—	—
Mechanician
Chief	1	100	—	—
1stClass	7	54	8	67
2ndClass and below	1	100	—	—

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty the number of ratings, categorised according to rank and branch, whose first 12-year engagement was completed in 1957, who re-engaged to complete time for pension, together with the percentage of those eligible to do so; and the corresponding figures for 1956.

The numbers and percentages of ratings who completed 12 years service during the first 9 months of 1957, and those who completed 12 years service during 1956, who have re-engaged to complete time for pension are shown in the following table.In addition to those ratings who re-engaged by 30th September, 1957, a further 67 were eligible to do so, but reports on their decisions are still awaited.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty the total sum paid to civilian medical practitioners for treatment provided for naval personnel when on leave, for the year 1st April, 1955, to 31st March, 1956.

A total of £3,050 was paid directly to civilian medical practitioners for treatment of naval personnel in 1955–56. This was almost entirely in respect of treatment given during leave, but may include a few isolated payments, which cannot be separately identified, for emergency treatment given to officers and men on duty. This is apart from treatment given under the National Health Service.

asked the Minister of Health how many practitioners are on the medical list of the Sunderland Executive Council.

There are now 89 general medical practitioners on this list.

asked the Minister of Health the total sum paid by the executive councils in England and Wales in respect of general practitioner services to men and women on leave from the Armed Forces during the year 1st April, 1956, to 31st March, 1957.

I regret that this information is not separately available.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is yet in a position to give approval to the construction of a new Nurses' Home at Belmont Hospital.

I hope to give approval shortly.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will now consider taking steps to bring to the notice of local authorities in England and Wales, Resolution 140, passed by the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe on 28th October, 1957, which encourages municipalities to further the idea of European unity by taking certain practical steps.

This Resolution advocates that municipalities should give the name "Europe" to a square, street or public building at a ceremony to be commemorated by a plaque. I am sure that this suggestion will come to the notice of local authorities without it being necessary for me to draw their attention to it.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is now ready to announce the names of the members and the terms of reference of the Committee to advise him on the rating of charities.

I have appointed Sir Fred Pritchard, M.B.E. (Chairman), Mr. L. Farrer-Brown, Sir Edward Ritson, K.B.E., C.B., Mr. G. D. Squibb, Q.C. and Professor R. C. Tress to be a Committee with the following terms of reference:

"To review the present treatment for rating of hereditaments in England and Wales occupied for purposes of a charitable nature or for other similar purposes (other than hereditaments to which Section 7 of the Rating and Valuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1955, applies); to consider in particular the provisions of Section 8 of the Act of 1955 and of the Scientific Societies Act, 1843: and to advise on the proper treatment for rating of the hereditaments within these terms of reference."

I should like to express my gratitude to these gentlemen for their willingness to serve.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what consideration he has given to constructing a monorail link between Central London and London Airport; and if he will make a statement.

I am studying means of improving communications by road and rail between London Airport and Central London, including monorail systems and in this connection my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Secretary, recently inspected the Alweg demonstration length of monorail near Cologne. I hope to make a statement after I have considered reports now being prepared by the technical experts.