asked the Paymaster-General, in view of the difficulties being experienced by coal merchants in obtaining adequate supplies of house coal, if he will give a general direction to the National Coal Board to advance the date on which it intends to deration coal supplied to merchants at the pit-head, in order to release for domestic consumption the supplies available.

No. There is no such rationing. When house coal supplies were decontrolled last July, the National Coal Board agreed with the distributive trade to continue until April this year their current contracts, based on the allocations already existing. The Board, however, arranged to supply additional quantities to any merchant requiring them, though not always in the quality of his first choice.

asked the Paymaster-General (1) what steps Her Majesty's Government are prepared to take to encourage development of improved low temperature carbonisation processes for the production of oil and smokeless fuel from surplus coal stocks;(2) what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to promote development of improved low temperature carbonisation processes, other than those aimed at the exclusive production of gas, for economic consumption of surplus coal stocks.

The preference on indigenous oils offers a substantial measure of assistance to the production of oil from coal. As my noble Friend has already announced he has asked his Scientific Advisory Council to investigate the possibilities of increasing research and development in all practicable processes for the production of oil, gas and chemicals from coal.

asked the Minister of Supply whether he will include in the specification for goods made of flax ordered by him for the defence Services a condition that they should be made of Scottish spun flax.

No. Such a condition would be inappropriate in a specification and unfair to other parts of the United Kingdom where flax is spun.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will include in the specifications for towelling, union sheeting, and similar articles ordered by his Department or regional hospital boards a condition that they must be made of Scottish spun flax.

No. I do not think this would be an appropriate condition to include in a specification.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has yet decided to accede to the request of the Prison Officers' Association for an inter-departmental inquiry into the particular conditions of the State institutions.

I presume that the hon. Member is referring to the Association's suggestion that responsibility for the institutions should rest with the Home Secretary, and to their request that an inter-departmental committee should be set up to define the functions of the State institutions and to lay down principles for their control and administration. The Association has been informed that I do not consider it necessary to set up an inter-departmental committee for this purpose.

asked the Minister of Health what percentage of the population in England and Wales are not on doctors' lists and do not use the free practitioner service and by how mach this percentage has increased or diminished during recent years.

Exact information is not available but it has been estimated that this percentage is of the order of 3 per cent. I have no reason to think that it has changed much over recent years.

asked the President of the Board of Trade, in view of the large sum which Her Majesty's Government have announced that they will spend on representation at the British Trade Fair in Lisbon in May, 1959, what steps he is taking to have Scottish trade and industry represented there and which Scottish industries will be represented.

This Fair is being organised by the Federation of British Industries and is open for any goods manufactured anywhere in the United Kingdom. It is for individual firms to decide whether to participate. The list of exhibitors is not yet complete but I understand that 22 Scottish firms representing 10 industries have already decided to take part in the Fair.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing the tonnage and values of chilled beef imported from Australia and New Zealand in each of the years 1933 to 1938 and 1946 to 1958.

I would refer my hon. Friend to Volume II of the appropriate issues of the "Annual Statement of Trade of the United Kingdom with Commonwealth Countries and Foreign Countries" wherein the figures for the periods up to 1956 are given.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to what extent the grants to local authorities now to be revised under Section 5 of the Distribution of Industry Act, 1945, are to be made available for adapting existing buildings, whether for industrial use or for commercial use as hotels or offices, as well as site preparation for industry; and how far these grants are also to be available for improving social amenities such as tourist attractions.

The Board of Trade's powers under this Section are limited to grants towards the cost of work on derelict land to enable this to be brought into use or to improve the amenities of the neighbourhood. They do not cover work of the kind instanced.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will call for a report on the suitability for light industry of the following sites or buildings at Douglas, Lanarkshire, namely, Sliddery, Cotton Houses, Douglas West Miners' Welfare Hall, Douglas West School, and Douglas Castle Colliery Baths.

Yes. One of my officers is visiting Douglas today.

asked the Minister of Defence the constitution and responsibilities of the Defence Administration Committee.

The membership of the Committee comprises the Permanent Secretaries of the Service Departments and Ministry of Supply, under the Chairmanship of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence. Service members of the Board of Admiralty and the Army and Air Councils attend when matters affecting their responsibilities are being considered.Its functions are to consider methods for improving efficiency and for securing economies by closer co-ordination between the Services in the field of administration and supply, and to arrange as necessary for the detailed investigation of specific issues.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what applications for assistance have been made to the British High Commissioner in Canada by citizens of the United Kingdom who have been employed by Avro Aviation Company, Georgetown, upon a two-year contract and whose contracts have been terminated at a week's notice owing to the cancellation of aircraft orders.

None.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what representations he has received about the charges levied by the Southend Waterworks Company; and what replies he has sent.

My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations on this matter from hon. Members, and from local authorities and consumers. The reply, shortly, has been that the charges levied are within the maxima prescribed by the Southend (Water Charges) Order, 1957, and my right hon. Friend has no power to interfere. That Order was made by my right hon. Friend after full con- sideration of all the representations made at a public local inquiry. It is true that the company made a statement of its intentions about charges in February. 1957, but it was subsequently obliged to impose higher charges. This was because the estimates, on which that statement was based, proved to be wrong.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will indicate the amount of work which has been authorised for each of the eligible county councils in Wales for unclassified and unadopted roads, separately, for the year 1959–60, under the Agriculture (Improvement of Roads) Act, 1955.

No fresh work for the year 1959–60 has yet been authorised under the Act but my Ministry is in consultation with highway authorities with a view to the approval of programmes of new work to the following amounts in eligible counties in Wales and Monmouthshire:

County			Estimated cost of work to be authorised
			£
Brecon	…	…	25,000
Caernarvon	…	…	19,000
Cardigan	…	…	34,000
Carmarthen	…	…	24,000
Denbigh	…	…	34,000
Flint	…	…	15,000
Glamorgan	…	…	17,000
Merioneth	…	…	28,000
Monmouth	…	…	28,000
Montgomery	…	…	34,000
Pembroke	…	…	15,000
Radnor	…	…	32,000
			£305,000

These amounts provide for schemes to be carried out by the county councils and by certain other highway authorities in the counties mentioned. At this stage I cannot indicate what the division of work will be between unclassified and unadopted roads.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what applications by subordinate authorities, such as local authorities and public utility undertakings, have been received from the less developed Commonwealth countries to have direct access to the London market for the purpose of raising loans, since the Montreal Conference; what was the total amount involved; and what proportion of these, amounting to what total, have been approved.

None.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications for loans or credits under the Export Guarantees Acts, 1949 and 1957, have been received from Governments or institutions in Commonwealth countries by Her Majesty's Government since the Montreal Conference; their total value; how many have been refused or are still under consideration; and their total value, respectively.

A loan of £28½ million to the Government of India and a loan of £10 million to the Government of Pakistan have been agreed since the Montreal Conference. It would not be in accordance with normal practice for me to disclose details of negotiations for any further loans which may be under consideration.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many requests for Government-to-Government loans have been received by Her Majesty's Government since the Montreal Conference; their total value; how many have been refused or are still under consideration; and their total value, respectively.

Negotiations for the following Government-to-Government loans have been completed since the Montreal Conference:

(i) a loan of £28½ million to the Government of India;

(ii) a loan of £10 million to the Government of Pakistan;

(iii) a loan of £3 million to the Government of Yugoslavia;

(iv) a loan of £5 million to the Government of the Sudan;

(v) as part of a joint O.E.E.C. operation, a loan of £3½ million to Turkey.

The total value of these loans is £50 million.It would not be in accordance with normal practice for me to disclose details of negotiations for any further loans which may be under consideration or which might have been refused.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further resources have been made available to the Colonial Development Finance Corporation since the Montreal Conference; and what further provision is intended.

The Commonwealth Development Finance Company is a private company and any arrangements for increasing its resources are matters for the board of the company. The hon. Member may, however, have seen in the Press a recent announcement that the company, foreseeing increased demands for development capital by Commonwealth countries, has invited a number of large British industrial and commercial companies to become shareholders. They will be in addition to the 91 concerns in private industry and commerce and finance who are already shareholders. The Bank of England, while remaining a minority shareholder, is ready to take up further shares. The hon. Member will recollect that, in the report of the Montreal Conference, it was stated that the Bank of England was ready to consider the provision of further resources to the company.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) the number of male workers in Coventry unemployed for six months or more, for each quarter respectively, commencing with the figures announced in December, 1956, and terminating with those announced in December, 1958;(2) the number of female workers in Coventry unemployed for six months or more, for each quarter respectively, commencing with the figures announced in December, 1956, and terminating with those announced in December, 1958.

The following table gives the information desired:

NUMBERS OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS WHO HAD BEEN ON THE REGISTERS OF THE COVENTRY EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT OFFICE FOR OVER SIX MONTHS AT THE UNDERMENTIONED DATES
Date		Males	Females
10th December, 1956	…	144	23
11th March, 1957	…	319	45
17th June, 1957	…	307	46
16th September, 1957	…	251	39
9th December, 1957	…	216	37
17th March, 1958	…	227	51
16th June, 1958	…	244	63
15th September, 1958	…	332	86
8th December, 1958	…	421	103

asked the Minister of Labour the total number of men and women unemployed in the County of Middlesex for the last week in January in 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1959.

The following table gives the information desired:

NUMBERS OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS ON THE REGISTERS OF EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT OFFICES IN MIDDLESEX AT THE UNDERMENTIONED DATES*
Date	Males	Females	Total
16th January, 1956	3,367	1,646	5,013
14th January, 1957	5,941	2,785	8,726
13th January, 1958	5,463	2,244	7,707
12th January, 1959	7,635	2,833	10,468
* Figures are available only for a date about the middle of each month.

asked the Minister of Labour the numbers registered as unemployed in the counties of Wales, including Monmouth, respectively, and the percentage of the insured population of each county which this represents.

The following table gives the information desired:

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons registered as unemployed in each of his Department's local offices in the county of Caernarvon.

The following table gives the information desired:

NUMBERS OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS ON THE REGISTERS OF EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT OFFICES IN THE COUNTY OF CAERNARVON AT 9TH FEBRUARY, 1959
Employment exchange (including youth employment office where appropriate)		Number registered as unemployed
Bangor	…	416
Bethesda	…	206
Caernarvon	…	877
Conway	…	160
Llandudno	…	335
Penmaenmawr	…	126
Penygroes	…	306
Portmadoc	…	167
Pwllheli	…	728
Total, Caernarvonshire	…	3,321

asked the Minister of Labour the percentage of unemployment in the Borough of Woolwich for the most recent convenient date; and the number of workers in the Borough of Woolwich who were temporarily or wholly unemployed on the latest convenient date for each year from 1951 to 1959, respectively, and the number of vacancies unfilled on those dates.

NUMBERS OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS ON THE REGISTERS OF THE WOOLWICH EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT OFFICE AND THE NUMBERS OF NOTIFIED VACANCIES REMAINING UNFILLED AT THOSE OFFICES
—				Numbers registered as unemployed			Notified Vacancies remaining unfilled
				Wholly Unemployed	Temporarily Stopped	Total
February, 1951	…	…	…	486	3	489	844
February, 1952	…	…	…	567	6	573	862
February, 1953	…	…	…	722	12	734	416
February, 1954	…	…	…	741	20	761	444
February, 1955	…	…	…	426	—	426	649
February, 1956	…	…	…	375	22	397	654
February, 1957	…	…	…	590	—	590	300
February, 1958	…	…	…	696	22	718	255
February, 1959	…	…	…	1,045	10	1,055	199
It is not possible to compute a percentage rate of unemployment for Woolwich. Owing to the travel-to-work problem, a percentage rate can be computed only for the Greater London area as a whole. On 9th February, 1959, this was 1·5.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of convictions for drunkenness in the Metro

				Metropolitan Police District		City of London
				1958	Variation from 1957	1958	Variation from 1957
Convictions	…	…	…	26,224	Decrease of 4·8 per cent.	149	Decrease of 18·6 per cent.

asked the Minister of Works when the public buildings in Whitehall were last steam or water cleaned; and whether he will refer the matter of such cleaning to the Fine Arts Committee.

Although some small sections of the public buildings in Whitehall have been cleaned experimentally in the past, such treatment has never been given to these buildings as a whole.

The following table gives the information desired:politan Police District and in the City of London, respectively, during the calendar year 1958; and what was the percentage variation from the comparable figures for 1957.

The information is as follows:The purpose of cleaning could be to preserve the structure or to improve the appearance. So far as the former is concerned, I am advised that any slight deterioration of the material is insufficient to justify the large expenditure which would be required. As regards the latter, opinions would certainly differ as to whether the cleaning had resulted in an improvement. The appearance of Whitehall would be greatly changed and many people would regret the loss of the existing patina on stone and brick.