Asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of tomatoes consumed in this country in 1953 and 1958, respectively, were home-produced and imported.

Of the estimated United Kingdom supplies of tomatoes in the calendar years 1953 and 1958 the proportions of home produce and imports are as follows:

—	1953	1958
	Per cent.	Per cent.
U. K. Crops	40	36
Imports from the Channel Islands and Commonwealth	21	20
Dutiable Imports	39	44
Dutch	6	11
Others	33	33

The figures for May/October, the period when home supplies are on the market in significant quantities, are as follows:—

—	May/Oct. 1953	May/Oct. 1958
	Per cent.	Per cent.
U.K. Crops	56	50
Imports from the Channel Islands and Commonwealth	28	27
Dutiable Imports	16	23
Dutch	8	15
Others	8	8

As my hon. Friend is no doubt aware we had a poor crop of tomatoes last year owing to the bad weather.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food his estimate of the increased costs of production to the tomato producers in this country between 1953 and 1958, and the comparable increased costs of production in each of the principal countries of Europe which compete in the British market with British tomato producers.

I regret that it is not possible from the statistical information available to give an accurate assessment of increases in costs of tomato production on a comparable basis here and abroad.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware that only four of the 23 members of the Upper Witham Drainage Board are citizens of Lincoln, and that the ratepayers of Lincoln provide approximately 60 per cent. of the money spent by the Board; and what changes he will make to ensure fairer representation on the Board and an increase in the Central Government contribution so as to help the Board tackle the urgent task of improving the drainage at Hykeham, Oxpasture and Bassingham.

I understand that the facts as stated are correct. With regard to changes in representation as my hon. Friend explained in the debate on the Adjournment on 28th January, 1959, the initiative in this matter lies with the river board. The Exchequer contribution towards expenditure on improvements by internal drainage authorities is a uniform 50 per cent. throughout the country, and I regret that I am unable to make an exception in this case.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why he has authorised the building of an office block at the Artificial Insemination Centre, Shin-field; and the proposed cost of this building.

No extension of the office accommodation at the Ministry's artificial insemination centre at Shinfield has been authorised recently and I have none under consideration. Minor extensions of the laboratory and operational accommodation are at present being undertaken at an estimated cost of about £2,100.

asked the Minister of Education if he will circularise the London County Council and other senior local educational authorities recommending them to have groups of about 50 of the best reproductions of the world's most famous pictures substantially framed and having attached to each one an expert explanation in simple language as to why it is a great work of art, and to have these circulated periodically around the major schools under their control and passed from one school to another at regular intervals.

Many local education authorities circulate among their schools both reproductions of well-known pictures and selected original works. I welcome this, and I do not think that any special guidance from me is necessary.

asked the Minister of Education how much in capital sums has been approved for science laboratories in the grammar schools of Bath during the past ten years; and what proposals at what cost are awaiting his approval.

Two laboratories costing about £15,000 have been approved and six more costing about £40,000 are awaiting approval.

asked the Minister of Education whether he is now in a position to make a statement about the Report of the Committee on Public Libraries in England and Wales.

The Report is being published today. I should like to take this opportunity of thanking the Committee, and in particular the Chairman, Sir Sydney Roberts, for the valuable work it has done. Before reaching any decision on the Committee's recommendations, I shall be asking the interested parties for their views.

asked the Minister of Health when the manufacture of the Spitz-Holter hydrocephalic valve will commence, under licence, in Great Britain; how many are to be produced annually and at what approximate cost per valve; and if, when British production begins, he will take steps to reimburse the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children for the valves which the hospital has purchased to date, from the United States of America, from its own resources.

I cannot yet say how soon production will commence; it is intended to produce all the National Health Service requirements in the United Kingdom, amounting to perhaps between 800 and 1,000 annually; it is not at present possible to estimate the cost per valve. In the meantime, hospitals requiring these valves will continue to purchase them direct from the manufacturers with the funds at their disposal, and I see no reason for refunding the expenditure involved.

asked the Minister of Health what action he proposes to take to bring to the attention of all authorities concerned with the treatment of mental illness, and also to the notice of the general public, in an effort to secure a more enlightened approach to the problem, the success achieved by the Mental Health Service in the Worthing district.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Leicester, North-West (Mr. Janner) on 9th February. I think that the progress of this experiment is fairly well known to those concerned.

asked the Minister of Health, in view of the importance of general practitioners in certifying the individual with the consequent loss of liberty for lengthy periods together with the handicaps that follow from the stigma of certification, what consideration is being given to improving the present facilities for post-graduate training in respect to mental illness and mental deficiency.

The universities and medical schools organise postgraduate refresher courses, for which my Department pays fees and certain expenses of attendance, to enable general medical practitioners working in the Health Service to keep themselves informed of the latest developments in professional knowledge. Particular subjects such as mental health are included in these courses according to the current need for their inclusion, the facilities available and the likely demand. In addition to such courses, general practitioners receive many opportunities, in their daily work as family doctors, to gain a wide experience of mental health, and with the growing emphasis on community care, these will increase.

asked the Minister of Health (1) why the new extension to St. Helen Hospital, Barnsley, has been so long delayed; and when he now estimates that this extension will be completed and ready for service;(2) what priority has been granted to the new St. Helen Hospital Extension; what money has already been spent on this project; and when the building is due to begin.

This scheme was selected in December, 1956, with a view to the completion of planning during the present financial year. The time taken has been due to the size of the scheme (estimated to cost about £2 million), and to the need for deciding what existing buildings should be kept, for making site tests, and for determining what precise new accommodation should be provided. £1,150 has so far been spent, but I am not yet able to say when building will begin.

asked the Minister of Health if he will list the number of people waiting for operations, giving the separate figures for each type of operation, at the Barnsley Becket and St. Helen Hospitals.

The information at 5th February is as follows:

Type of operation		Number on waiting list
Becket Hospital
Ophthalmic	…	129
Ear, Nose and Throat	…	323
General Surgical	…	572
Orthopaedic	…	255
Dental	…	34
St. Helen Hospital
Gynaecological	…	375
Tonsils and Adenoids	…	209
Paediatric Surgery	…	14
Orthopaedics (children)	…	30

asked the Minister of Health the names of the principal mental hospitals in which there are detained those who were shown to have been wrongfully certified by the High Court decision in the Kathleen Rutty case, but cannot be released because they are unfit for discharge or have nowhere suitable to go; and if he will give the number detained in each.

The judicial orders on which the patients referred to are detained are valid until overruled by a court of law, and although there is some similarity between the circumstances in which these mentally defective persons were dealt with under the Mental Deficiency Act, 1913, and those in the Rutty case, it cannot be assumed that a court would find the order invalid in any particular case. The details of distribution asked for could not be given without a disproportionate expenditure of time and labour.

asked the Minister of Health what moneys have been annually allocated to the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board since 1948; and what moneys for each respective year have been left unspent.

The information is as follows:

asked the Minister of Health what moneys have been allocated to the Barnsley Hospital Management Committee in each successive year since 1948; and what moneys for each respective year were left unspent.

The information is as follows:

BARNSLEY HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Period ended		Allocation (on Revenue Account)	Left Unspent
		£	£
31st March, 1949	…	162,506	Overspent
31st March, 1950	…	303,057	21,188
31st March, 1951	…	325,914	25,465
31st March, 1952	…	352,970	5,705
31st March, 1953	…	377,580	27,838
31st March, 1954	…	384,362	19,187
31st March, 1955	…	379,746	168
31st March, 1956	…	422,330	Overspent
31st March, 1957	…	468,221	1,817
31st March, 1958	…	504,163	3,437

NOTES:1. Provision was made in 1949–50 and 1950–51 for the opening of Lundwood Hospital for chronic sick patients but, in fact, the opening did not take place until 1951–52.2. The closure of Mount Vernon Hospital, Barnsley, for nine months in 1952–53 contributed to the underspending in that year.3. The underspending in 1953–54 was partly due to closed wards.

asked the Minister of Health, as representing the Lord President of the Council, if he is aware of the concern arising from the inadequate provision for research into mental illness; and, in view of the seriousness of the situation revealed by the survey carried out by the General Register Office and the Royal College of General Practitioners, if he will make a statement giving details of what action it is proposed to take commensurate with the size and importance of the problem.

The Medical Research Council are at present engaged on a full-scale review of policy in relation to mental health research, and I think that the completion of this review should be awaited before any statement along the lines suggested can be considered.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of outbreaks of fire in vessels berthed in Mersey Docks and Harbour Board docks during the years 1957–58, respectively; how many outbreaks of fire on vessels at sea were brought to these docks for action by local authority fire services on Merseyside; and if he is satisfied that the arrangements and liaison between ship owners, dock authorities, and local authorities are adequate to the requirements of the fire services.

I am informed that in 1957 the Liverpool, Bootle and Birkenhead fire brigades attended 57 outbreaks of fire in vessels berthed in Mersey Docks and Harbour Board docks, and that in 1958 they attended 36 such outbreaks. Of these, two fires in 1958 were on vessels which had caught fire at sea. I am advised that the arrangements for liaison with the shipowners and dock authorities are good.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what special steps he is now taking to recruit more probation officers.

I have recently advertised vacancies in the London Probation Service for qualified and experienced social case-workers. I have also advertised a special training course with a view to appointments in the Greater London Area. Meanwhile, recruitment to training for appointment in any part of the country, including London, is proceeding continuously.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what application he has received under Section 52 of the Requisitioned Land and War Works Act, 1945, for financial assistance towards the clearance of Government war works upon part of Leatherhead golf course; and whether he is now in a position to announce his decision.

The Government works referred to were constructed after the end of the war, and I have been advised that Section 52 of the Requisitioned Land and War Works Act, 1945, does not strictly apply to them. I am however satisfied that the removal of these works is in the public interest, and my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer and I consider that the making of an extra-statutory payment in this case is justified. I am so informing the golf club; and special provision for this payment will be made in my Department's Estimate.

asked the Postmaster-General the number of people on the waiting-list for telephones in Wednesbury, Darlaston and Willenhall, respectively, and the number in these areas, respectively, who have shared lines.

The figures are as follows:

—	Number of applications on waiting list	Number of applications under enquiry or in course of being met	Number of shared lines
Wednesbury	15	39	132
Darlaston	29	2	72
Willenhall	25	35	68

276 telephones were connected in these three places in the past 12 months.

asked the Paymaster-General what research is going on under the aegis of his Department in connection with the decontamination of coal gas by reducing the carbon monoxide content and thus providing an additional safeguard against loss of life from gas poisoning.

The gas industry is working on the development of catalytic processes to reduce the carbon monoxide content of existing town gas; and on new processes of gasification which will produce town gas with little or no carbon monoxide.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what studies of the incidence and effects of noise in factories, workshops and other industrial establishments have been made by research institutions for which he is responsible, or to which he has authorised the making of grants; and where the findings of such research have been published.

The National Physical Laboratory of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research undertakes surveys of noise for industry and advises on appropriate treatments to reduce noise inside and outside offices, factories, etc., caused by machinery and equipment employed in the factory. The National Physical Laboratory also carries out fundamental investigations on the "subjective loudness" of different types of noises. The Building Research Station is conducting a number of surveys related to factory design, construction and use, and the effect of factory noise on neighbouring areas. Several of the research associations, supported by grants from the D.S.I.R., are also actively interested in noise abatement, although research work is, in most cases, at an early stage. These studies are in addition to those of the Medical Research Council—for instance, on the effect on hearing of exposure to various kinds of industrial noise. Papers have been and will continue to be published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office and in the technical Press and a representative list will be sent to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, in view of the fact that recently there have been delays and difficulties at Turnhouse Airport owing to staff shortage, what steps he proposes to remedy this.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave to the right hon. Member for East Stirlingshire (Mr. Woodburn) on 11th February.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what are his intentions with regard to the future of Turnhouse Airport; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Air has proposed that as Turnhouse now mainly serves civil air transport purposes, my Department should assume responsibility for the aerodrome. This proposal is now being urgently examined, but if it is accepted it would be at least six months before the necessary staff could be provided by my Department.