asked the Minister of Education to what extent he proposes in future to authorise the Victoria and Albert Museum to offer more than 50 per cent. of the cost of a work of art to a provincial gallery or museum that applies for assistance.

I am not proposing to go above 50 per cent.

asked the Minister of Education approximately how many pupils in secondary modern schools in the administrative county of Essex remain at school for a term and a year, respectively, after they are entitled to leave.

I cannot say how many stayed on for only one term but last year about 1,370 stayed on for a year or more.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the level of unemployment in the Stornoway area is around 39 per cent.; with what firms or other employing organisations he has consulted recently with a view to promoting development and employment; and what other special measures he is taking to meet the situation.

Yes. Stornoway is on the list of places eligible for assistance under the Distribution of Industry (Industrial Finance) Act, 1958. So far, five firm applications have been received, of which three have been approved by the Development Areas (Treasury Advisory) Committee, and the remaining two are under consideration.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many of the 820 replies to his letter sent last February to 50,000 managing directors about trade facilities, which were received by the Board of Trade and by the Development Areas Treasury Advisory Committee, respectively, were from firms desiring to set up factories in Aberdeen or the Highlands; and what steps he has taken or intends to take to promote the desires of those firms to set up factories in Aberdeen or the Highlands.

It is not possible without disproportionate effort to state how many of the replies received relate to the Highlands and Aberdeen.

asked the President of the Board of Trade, as a result of the recent mineral survey of Weardale, County Durham, how such information is made available to likely industrialists.

At a symposium held last year a paper was read by Professor Dunham on this subject. A number of mining companies were represented at the meeting and the paper and a record of the discussion will be published later this year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that, in spite of various public statements to the contrary, many people still think that since the passing of the Cheques Act, 1957, it is no longer necessary to give duly stamped receipts, even when requested to do so; and if he will make a further statement explaining the position.

Yes. The legal position is exactly the same as it was before the Cheques Act was passed. A receipt for a payment of £2 or more must be stamped (unless it comes under one of the special exemptions in the Stamp Act). A person who gives an unstamped receipt for such a payment, or refuses to give a stamped receipt for it when required to do so by the payer is liable to a fine of £10.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans the Government have in mind for the creation of a Free Trade Area between those member-countries of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation which do not belong to the European Economic Community.

I would refer my hon. Friend to what I said in the debate on 12th February.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will investigate the complaints of violence by special police in Nyasaland against American journalists, details of which have been sent to him by the hon. Member for Dundee, East.

The Governor has called for a report on the alleged incidents involving American Press correspondents. Since 7th March, Press correspondents have been allowed to move anywhere in the Protectorate on the understanding that they cannot expect personal protection by the security forces.In the event of an impending operation, however, authorised officers and military and police officers can require them to leave the area of intended operations and, if they refuse to leave, they could be arrested and removed.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will consult the Minister of Defence with a view to the return of all property suitable for afforestation in the Norfolk battle area, in view of the small use now being made of such land.

I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War that the battle training area is still used and is still required for live battle training.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, as representing the Lord President of the Council, when the Committee of the Privy Council responsible for the Nature Conservancy last met; how often they have met in the last seven years; and when they next expect to meet again.

As in the case of other Privy Council Committees, consultation is informal, and rulings are given through my noble Friend as Chairman of the Committee after such consultation wherever necessary. No occasion calling for a formal meeting of the Committee as such has occurred since the establishment of the Conservancy in 1949.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, as representing the Lord President of the Council, if he is aware that the Nature Conservancy are not acting within their terms of reference in preserving and encouraging the coypu, a South American mammal, to colonise the Fens and Broads; and what action he proposes to take to prevent the Nature Conservancy continuing these activities.

The coypu was already well established at Hickling Broad and the Bure Marshes, when the Nature Conservancy delcared these two areas as Nature Reserves last year. Until more is known about this animal as the result of scientific research the Conservancy are taking no active steps to encourage or discourage it.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations if he will request the Canadian Government to supply him with up-to-date information concerning unemployment among the citizens of the United Kingdom formerly on contract with the Avro Aviation Company in Canada; and if he will make a statement.

I understand that the Canadian authorities are doing what they can to help discharged employees who are still legally United Kingdom citizens to find fresh employment in the same way as they are helping Canadian citizens in the same position. They are eligible for Canadian social security schemes, including unemployment insurance benefits, un-employment assistance and certain family allowances subject to certain residential qualifications.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations how many officers of diplomatic status are employed in the United Kingdom High Commission in Accra; and how the number compares with those employed in the embassies of other great Powers.

Eleven. The equivalent figures for the diplomatic missions of all other Governments currently represented in Accra are as follows:

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that poliomyelitis vaccine due to be used in the West Riding of Yorkshire has recently been stored in a local butcher's refrigerator owing to a breakdown in the health department's refrigeration plant; to what extent supervision was continuously maintained during its storage period; and if he will issue instructions to curtail the farming out of poliomyelitis or other vaccines in this way.

I understand that this occurred last summer as a temporary expedient and that the responsible officer satisfied himself as to the conditions under which the vaccine would be kept. I should not regard as appropriate instructions which would curb such commendable initiative as was shown on that occasion.

asked the Minister of Health if he will take steps to ensure that, in the event of a local health department's refrigeration plant breaking down, vaccines shall be transferred to neighbouring health departments or hospitals, where they may be adequately and competently preserved.

No, this is a matter for the local health authorities, and I am satisfied that if faced with such a situation they would take any steps which are necessary to safeguard the vaccines.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will now take action, in the light of the Anglo-Soviet Prime Ministers' Communiqué, to promote an Anglo-Soviet film exchange plan.

The Prime Ministers' Communiqué says that the two Governments agreed to invite the film interests in their respective countries to consider the purchase from each other of films on a commercial basis and on an increasing scale. The question of an exchange plan as an alternative to commercial arrangements would be a matter for the British film industry.

asked the Minister of Defence when a start will be made on reducing British forces in Cyprus.

We are starting at once to reduce the forces in Cyprus. Advance parties of the 25th Field Regiment Royal Artillery, the 1st Battalion Suffolk Regiment, the 1st Green Jackets, and the 188 Radar Battery Royal Artillery have already left. The units themselves will follow during April and May. The 43rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery, 40 Royal Marine Commando, the 1st Battalion Durham Light Infantry, and the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards will leave Cyprus during June and July. Certain elements of the Royal Air Force are also being withdrawn.

asked the Minister of Works what was the number of baths imported into this country during 1957 and 1958; which countries, giving separate figures for each, they came from; to what extent these were subsidised by the country of origin; and

asked the Minister of Labour if he will give the numbers of men, women, boys and girls, registered

Figures of imports of baths are given in the table below. I have no information about subsidies. The number imported is some 2 per cent. of United Kingdom production and I cannot think the effect on the home market has been significant.as unemployed in the city of Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire, respectively, in February, 1954, and the comparable figures for each year since.

The following table gives the information desired:

asked the Minister of Labour if he will state these numbers unemployed on the last possible date within the city of Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire, respectively, in mining, pottery, engineering and the other main industries.

The following table gives the information desired:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that in Her Majesty's prisons there are educated prisoners capable of doing useful technical and literary work, but whose powers are wasted by being confined to unsuitable physical work; and to what extent such prisoners are tested, and in what manner, with a view to placing them in productive work suitable to their powers, with a view to enabling them to continue such work when they leave prison.

It is not possible for a prisoner such as the hon. and learned Member has in mind to be employed in prison on the kind of work for which he is equipped by his education and would wish to follow after his release. His daily work must lie within the range of industrial training provided by the prison in which he serves his sentence, or within a limited range of clerical work. There is ample scope for such men to follow their special interests and increase their knowledge and skill in their leisure time.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what are his present instructions to highway authorities with regard to the distance to be left between the white marks in intermittent white lines on highways.

Lines indicating traffic lanes at present normally consist of markings 3ft long separated by gaps of 15 ft. At the discretion of the highway authority this gap may be increased to 10 yards on roads where the average speed of traffic is high. The "warning" or "hazard" line consists of markings each 15 ft. long, separated by 9ft. gaps (12 ft. and 6 ft. respectively in urban areas).I intend shortly to authorise revised white line markings in which the gap in the traffic lane marking will he increased to 8 yards. Trial lengths of this marking have already been laid down on trunk roads in association with double white line markings. On the Preston By-Pass gaps of 20 yards are being tried experimentally.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he is aware that, on Saturday 28th February, following the Rugby International between England and France, several thousand cars where held up in a traffic jam which took more than 2½ hours to clear; what proposals he has received from the authorities concerned for the improvement of roads in the neighbourhood of Twickenham and Kingston; and when it is hoped that those improvements for the execution of which he is responsible will have been completed.

The police estimate that 20,000 cars were brought to this match, and they naturally caused congestion over a wide area. There are no trunk roads in the immediate neighbourhood, and I am not responsible for the improvement of other roads. I have made a grant of £155,000 towards the cost of reconstructing the London Road Bridge at Twickenham, and the Middlesex County Council expect to carry it out by the end of 1960.Local highway authorities have made applications to me for grants in the normal way towards other improvement schemes in this area, but these are designed to cater for the ordinary traffic of the district, and I could not consider giving special priority to any proposals purely for the sake of isolated events of this kind.