asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty (1) which of Her Majesty's ships will visit Bangor, County Down, during the summer season of 1959; and whether he will state the dates of such visits and the type of ship;(2) which of Her Majesty's ships will visit Donaghadee, County Down, during the summer season of 1959; and whether he will state the dates of such visits and the type of ship.

Subject to operational requirements it is hoped that the destroyer "Contest" will be available to visit Bangor, County Down, between 18th and 19th July. So far, no visit to Donaghadee is planned, but this port will be borne in mind for a visit by one of H.M. ships if an opportunity occurs.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will indicate the total mileage of forestry roads which have been improved or constructed under the Agriculture (Improvements of Roads) Act, 1955, in Wales, to date; and the amount of grants allowed.

No road schemes have been carried out solely for forestry purposes under the Agriculture (Improvement of Roads) Act, 1955. The Act applies to any improvement of roads situated in, or affording access to, livestock rearing areas. Forestry may benefit incidentally.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by what percentages the price guarantees for milk, eggs, pigs, cereals and other particular produce have so far been reduced within the terms of Section 2 of the Agriculture Act, 1957.

The Government gave effect at the 1957 Annual Review to the assurances for which provision was subsequently made in section 2 of the Agriculture Act, 1957. The following are the percentages by which guaranteed prices were reduced at the 1957 and the 1958 Annual Reviews.

—		Annual Review, 1957	Annual Review, 1958
Milk	…	(price increased by 0·7 per cent.)	2·6
Hen Eggs	…	3·5	3·2
Duck Eggs	…	3·5	2·9
Fat Pigs	…	(price unchanged)	3·9
Wheat	…	3·9	1·7
Rye	…	4·0	(price unchanged)

No reductions have been made, during the period in question, in the guaranteed prices for the other commodities to which the Act applies, i.e. fat cattle, fat sheep, wool, barley, oats, potatoes and sugar beet.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how far colonial regulations and the terms of his appointment required that Mr. Dyke Campbell Hill was entitled to be specifically informed, either verbally or in writing and by 30th October, 1953, when his original contract of probation ended, that he would be serving on extended probation after that date.

One of the terms of Mr. Hill's appointment was as follows:

"The probationary period is three years from the date of arrival in Malaya. On the completion of this period an officer is eligible, provided that he has passed the examinations prescribed by local regulations, and subject to the approval of the Secretary of State, for confirmation in his appointment."

This makes it clear that Mr. Hill was expected to serve on probation for a minimum period of three years and that at the expiration of that period he would continue to serve on probation until he was confirmed or his appointment was terminated as the case might be. There was no need for Mr. Hill to be specifically informed that he continued to serve on probation at the end of the three-year period and there is nothing in colonial regulations that required him to be so informed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many applications have been made since the introduction of the most recent regulation

—			Number of Applications	Number granted unconditionally	Number granted subject to conditions	Number refused
By Europeans	…	…	73	10	63	Nil
By Asians	…	…	88	17	71	Nil
By Africans	…	…	1,130	202	848	80

These figures exclude, so far as possible, meetings which were not political in character. I regret that the information relating to earlier periods is not available.

asked the Minister of Education what would be the grant normally

Income after deduction of allowances			Oxford and Cambridge	London			Other Universities
			College or lodgings	College	Lodgings	Home	College	Lodgings	Home
£1,000	…	…	£248+Fees	£203+Fees	£193+Fees	£115+Fees	£178+Fees	£163+Fees	£105+Fees
£1,500	…	…	£178+Fees	£133+Fees	£123+Fees	£45+Fees	£108+Fees	£93+Fees	£35+Fees
£2,000	…	…	£108+Fees	£63+Fees	£53+Fees	Fees above £25	£38+Fees	£23+Fees	Fees above £35
£2,500	…	…	£38+	Fees above £7	Fees above £17	Fees above £95	Fees above £32	Fees above £47	Fees above £105
NOTES:
(a) The allowances which may be deducted from the parent's gross income before the student's grant is assessed are for any other dependent children and their educational expenses, interest on loans, superannuation contributions and similar items. The first column of the table assumes that already included in these allowances is one for a child attending a school where fees are not paid.
(b) State Scholars whose grant (including fees) is worth less than £50 receive an honorarium of that amount instead.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 9th December, 1958; Vol. 597, c. 36], supplied the following information:The information requested, relating to the period 1st January to 31st December, 1958, is set out in the following table:received by a university student in residence whose parents had one other child at school and whose parents' income after relevant allowances was £1,000, £1,500, £2,000, and £2,500 per annum, respectively.

The following tables gives this information for a State scholar:

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what further advice, in view of student strikes and demonstrations in Vienna, he is offering to British organisations and individuals invited to the Seventh Youth Festival due to be held there in July.

The organisers of these Festivals call them representative gatherings promoting peace and friendship. In fact they are tightly controlled by Communists and are designed solely to advance the aims of the Soviet Government. I therefore repeat the advice given by my right hon. and learned Friend on 25th July last year, that reputable organisations should have nothing to do with the Festival, that even the dispatch of an observer is liable to be misrepresented, and that individuals who may choose to attend the Festival should make it clear that they represent themselves only. Many young people evidently have already no illusions about Communist control of these festivals. From the vast demonstration which took place in Vienna on 7th March, it appears that Austrian students themselves are well aware that the forthcoming Festival is designed to serve Soviet aims.

asked the Paymaster-General whether he is yet in a position to report the outcome of the negotiations with Richard Thomas and Baldwins Limited for the construction of the new strip mill near Newport, Monmouthshire.

Yes. Agreement in principle has now been reached with Richard Thomas and Baldwins Ltd., under which the Minister of Power will lend up to a maximum of £60 million towards the construction of an integrated steel works, including a semi-continuous hot strip mill, on a site near Newport (Monmouthshire).This project, which is estimated to cost approximately £100 million, is the most important element in an extensive programme of new construction and modernisation for which the company has now secured the consent of the Iron and Steel Board and the approval of the Iron and Steel Holding and Realisation Agency, its present owner. The balance of the programme, involving works at Ebbw Vale and Redbourn (Lincolnshire) will be financed by the company with assistance from the Agency under their normal arrangements.It is hoped that construction work on the Newport project can begin this summer. The plant should come into operation during 1963. It should have a significant output in 1964 and reach full production in 1965 or 1966. Its capacity will then be about 1,000,000 tons of ingot steel per annum.It is intended that, when complete, the Newport plant should produce at least 600,000 tons of finished strip mill products and that, to the extent necessary, it should also meet any deficiency in steel requirements at Ebbw Vale. At Redbourn, whose steel will no longer have to be sent to Ebbw Vale, it is proposed to construct a continuous billet mill to process the plant's output.The Newport mill will be capable of conversion to fully continuous operations if increased capacity should be required in the future.Heads of Agreement between Her Majesty's Government and Richard Thomas and Baldwins Ltd. are as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give details of the numbers employed on the trading estates in the North-East at the end of February for every year since the war.

Figures of employment in factories administered by North Eastern Trading Estates Ltd. at February are not available for all these years.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he is taking to ensure Hull trade and industry being represented at the British Trade Fair in Lisbon in May, 1959, in view of the large sum which Her Majesty's Government is to spend on this fair; and which Hull industries are to be represented.

The Federation of British Industries is responsible for the organisation of this Fair. It has sought participation in it by companies in all parts of the United Kingdom. I understand that two firms from Hull are exhibiting, one showing machine tools and the other contractors plant.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how much hard and soft wood was exported from Great Britain in each of the last five years.

Hardwood and softwood are not separately distinguished in the export returns, nor are exports from Great Britain, but total exports of wood from the United Kingdom are published in the Trade and Navigation Accounts.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how much hard and soft wood was imported between the two wars and since the last war, into Great Britain.

Between 1919 and 1939 some 664 million cubic feet of hardwood and roughly 40 million standards of softwood, including sleepers, were imported into the United Kingdom. Comparable figures for the years 1946 to 1958 were approximately 513 million cubic feet and 19 million standards, respectively.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, in view of the need for providing more off-street parking facilities in urban areas, not only to relieve traffic congestion, but also to improve the appearance of the streets, what consideration is being given to the economic possibilities of erecting car parks or multi-storey garages over railway tracks, possibly in conjunction with office accommodation as well.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to his Question on 4th February on this subject. The primary responsibility for considering suitable sites for off-street parking facilities rests with the local authorities concerned. I welcome any idea which looks as if it might help to solve the difficult problem of road congestion in our cities and towns.

asked the Secretary of State for War why men of the 16th Independent Parachute Brigade were used in connection with a television advertisement for tipped cigarettes; and if he will now issue instructions that officers and men in uniform shall not be filmed for the purpose of advertising tobacco products.

At the time this film was made it was our custom to give facilities if requested to do so, provided that they did not interfere with normal duties. The practice lapsed about a year ago and I do not expect to resume it.