asked the Minister of Defence what consideration the Defence Research Policy Committee has given to the effect of the resignations of scientific research workers as a result of the uncertainty of Government policy.

I have been asked to reply.It would be contrary to practice to state what particular matters Government committees discuss.

asked the Minister of Defence what arrangements exist for consultation between Commonwealth Defence Ministers; how many such consultations have already taken place; and when further consultations are contemplated.

asked the Minister of Defence what study the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation defence ministers

I have been asked to reply.There is no formal machinery, but informal consultation goes on regularly by means of correspondence and visits.

asked the Minister of Defence if he will state the major courses, both separate Service and inter-Service, attended by officers of the equivalent of field rank and above; what are the numbers of officers at any one time on these courses, both instructing and being instructed; and whether he is satisfied that there is no overlapping.

I have been asked to reply.I am satisfied that there is no overlapping. The following is a table of figures and other data:have caused to be made of the military consequences of plans for disengagement in Europe; to what extent they have themselves considered the consequences; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.The proceedings of N.A.T.O. are confidential, and I have no statement to make.

asked the Minister of Labour, in view of the redundancy among the workmen employed producing the Britannia aircraft at Bristol, what steps are being taken to increase the use of this machine and to provide new industries in the area to absorb the men who become unemployed; and if he will take steps to use for this purpose the large factory recently vacated by the Bristol Commercial Vehicles.

Orders for a particular aircraft depend on the requirements of the Services and civilian operators and on the manufacturer's success in obtaining civil orders. The employment prospects are reasonably good for the aircraft workers whom the firm has announced as liable to be made redundant. As regards the provision of new industries and the use of vacant factories, these are matters for my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade.

asked the Minister of Labour what record he has of the number of children in Ilkeston, Heanor. Ripley and Alfreton who left school at the end of last term who were unable to obtain employment.

On 1st April one boy who left school at Christmas and who had failed to secure employment was known to the Ilkeston Youth Employment Office, including its sub-office at Heanor. On the same date, two boys, one of whom was disabled, were similarly known to the Alfreton office, including its sub-office at Ripley. No girl who left school at Christmas is known to have failed to secure employment by 1st April.

asked the Minister of Labour what percentage of the total population was registered as employed in each of the last five years.

I assume that the information desired is the percentage that the number of persons aged 15 and over in employment (including H.M. Forces and Women's Services, but excluding the unemployed) represents of the total population aged 15 and over. The following table gives the figures on this basis for the years 1954 to 1958. Since the percentages for females are very different from those for males they are shown separately in the table.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what developments have taken place in the carriage of oil cargoes in flexible vessels; and what steps are being taken at the same time to provide the necessary safety precautions for men when using gas for inflating and deflating these vessels.

I understand that one or two prototype vessels of the type that has for some months been under trial in Southampton Water are now undertaking short commercial voyages from an oil refinery in that area. Further study is being given to the safety precautions which are necessary.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will list in the OFFICIAL REPORT the 90 miles of new trunk roads completed since 1954 and the 180 miles to be finished within the next two years.

The mileages are as follows:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to issue details of his grants scheme to enable better marketing conditions to prevail in horticultural products.

I am at present consulting the representatives of the horticul- tural industry on the main items of expenditure which will rank for grant aid under this Scheme. I am also discussing with them the best definitions of "horticultural products" and "a horticultural producer", which will determine whether any particular grower is eligible for assistance under the Scheme or not. My hon. Friend will, I am sure, appreciate that these are rather complicated matters, because there are so many different kinds and patterns of production and marketing in the horticultural industry. But I hope to be in a position to make a further announcement on the scope and conditions of the Scheme this summer.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will estimate the value of British installations and equipment surrendered to Iraq upon the evacuation of the Royal Air Force staging post at Habbaniyah, following Iraq's renunciation of the Bagdad Pact.

No installations or equipment have been surrendered to Iraq as a result of the withdrawal of the Royal Air Force from Habbaniyah. Arrangements are being made with the Iraqi Government for the removal of equipment needed by the R.A.F. and for the local disposal of other assets.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what arrangements were made in Northern Rhodesia for the preservation of wild animals endangered by the flooding of the Kariba dam.

pursuant to his hon. Friend's Written reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 3rd March, 1959, Vol. 601, c.24], supplied the following information:The Governor has reported the results of a survey undertaken by the Department of Game and Tsetse Control of Northern Rhodesia.It is estimated that as the water in the lake rises some 635 islands will be formed, and it is likely that game will be marooned on a majority of these. All but 150 of the islands will eventually become totally submerged, and many of the permanent islands will be too small to support the animals which may be left on them.An immediate problem is presented by 56 islands now submerging and a further 89 which are likely to be submerged by May of this year. Thereafter, another 195 islands are expected to become submerged by May, 1960, and a further 135 by August, 1961.The islands are spread over an extensive area and they will need to be surveyed individually to ascertain the extent to which they hold game.The Northern Rhodesian Game Department propose to put in force two game rangers and two European assistants, six game guards and fifteen labourers, equipped with four boats, game nets and "Cap-chur" rescue guns. It is intended to use aircraft to undertake reconnaissance flights. To assist in the immediate problem the game staff training camp is being held at Kariba and one day in three will be spent on rescue work with two boats which are available. Help has also been offered by the Game Preservation and Hunting Association of Northern Rhodesia.Two-thirds of the islands to be dealt with lie between Kariba and the Kotakota hills some 60 miles upstream, and the stretch includes most of the islands which will submerge before May, 1959. The first camp site has, therefore, been chosen 8 miles from Kariba. Owing to the length of the lake a second main camp will be required half-way to Chipepo, a third near Chipepo and a fourth in the Sinagongwe area.The policy will be to drive to the mainland the larger animals such as elephants and buffalo, although the numbers of these found to be remaining on the islands is not expected to be many. The smaller species which it is possible to rescue will be transported to the mainland by boat. Animals which are classed as vermin, such as monkeys, baboons and bush pigs, and which it has been policy to destroy in the areas of the north bank in the interests of crop protection, will be shot.The reconnaissance already carried out has confirmed that the quantity of game on the north bank is very much less than on the Southern Rhodesia islands.It would be difficult at this stage to predict the degree of success which will be achieved. There may be unforeseen difficulties and on the other hand improved methods have already been evolved in actual operations. The rescue operations are a formidable and hazardous task which will have to continue through this year and next and probably into 1961. The position will become clearer after some months of actual experience.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many Africans from Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland have been detained by the Southern Rhodesian Government following the recent ban on the African National Congresses.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what inquiries he has made about the arrests in Southern Rhodesia of British protected persons, from Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, not being also citizens of the Federation.

, pursuant to his hon. Friend's reply[OFFICIAL REPORT, 5th March, 1959; Vol. 601, c. 619], and to his own reply[OFFICIAL REPORT, 12th March, 1959; Vol. 601, c. 1456], supplied the following further information:Since my pursuant reply to the hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan) on 11th March, the Governor of Nyasaland has also informed me that facilities are available to the dependants of Nyasaland Africans detained by the Southern Rhodesian Government to be returned to their traditional homes. They will be cared for by the Government's social development authorities and monthly allowances will be paid on the basis of individual need.I am further informed by the Governor of Northern Rhodesia that District Commissioners will ensure that assistance is made available to the families repatriated to that territory who require it.My right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations informs me that he has heard from the Government of Southern Rhodesia that relatives and next of kin who are residing in Southern Rhodesia in all cases know of the whereabouts of the detainees and can obtain a permit to visit them once a week. Allowances are being paid by the Southern Rhodesia Government to the dependants.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the relatives of all detainees and prisoners in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland have been notified of their present whereabouts.

pursuant to his reply[OFFICIAL REPORT 19th March, 1959; Vol. 602, c. 60], supplied the following further information:The detainees have the right to send and to receive letters and, in many cases, therefore, will themselves have made known to their relatives how they can communicate with them. The Governments of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland have also taken certain steps.In Nyasaland broadcast announcements have been made over the radio and in the vernacular Press informing relatives of the addresses through which they can communicate with the detainees and the information is being repeated in the Information Department's free news-sheets which have a very wide distribution. Postcards ready printed with the advice are being distributed to all detention centres for despatch to relatives. In addition, by the end of March the Government Welfare Organisation had made personal contact with 130 of the families.In regard to persons of Northern Rhodesian origin detained in Southern Rhodesia, I am informed that many of these have lived in Southern Rhodesia for many years with their families and have largely severed their personal connections with Northern Rhodesia. But all available particulars are being notified to the Native Authorities in Northern Rhodesia with advice about how letters should be addressed to the detainees.My right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations informed me that he has heard from the Government of Southern Rhodesia that, in fact, all the detainees from Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland who were detained under the Southern Rhodesia Emergency Regulations have families living in Southern Rhodesia and that these all know the whereabouts of the detainees.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will give further details of the manner in which the Commission of Inquiry into the Nyasaland disturbances will be set up.

I would invite the attention of my hon. Friend to the statement which was issued on 3rd April, the text of which is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the financial structure of the Colonial Development Corporation.

Yes. As hon. Members are aware, the Government have been considering whether the financial basis on which the Colonial Development Corporation is required to operate is the one best suited to present circumstances; and the Corporation itself has for some time been pressing for changes in regard to particular features of its capital structure.Preliminary studies have shown that the problems involved in relating the normal requirements of Government finance to the circumstances of the Corporation are complex. The Government feel that it would be of great assistance to have before it an independent report embodying wide business, financial and accounting experience. They have therefore decided, with the full agreement of the Colonial Development Corporation, to set up a small committee of inquiry with the following terms of reference:

asked the Paymaster-General over what period of years he expects the run-down in opencast coal production to take place; what will be the level of opencast production when the rundown is completed; and what number of workers now engaged in opencast coal production are likely to be made redundant.

The future level of opencast coal production is being determined as part of a review of long-term coal requirements and production possibilities which the National Coal Board is now carrying out. Until that review is complete I cannot add to the statement made on 26th March in reply to my noble Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Viscount Lambton).

asked the Postmaster-General how many subscribers on the Dartford Telephone Exchange gave up the service in each of the last five years.

The figures are given below. They cover withdrawal of service for all reasons, including the removal of the telephone to other premises.

asked the Postmaster-General how many subscribers in England and Wales gave up their telephone service in each of the last five years.

The figures are given below. They cover withdrawal of service for all reasons, including the removal of the telephone to other premises.

asked the Postmaster-General what progress is being made with his proposal that the public should use codes in order to facilitate the mechanisation of letter sorting.

Good progress is being made. A survey of public opinion aimed at finding out how far people would be prepared to use postal codes is now well advanced. First indications are that the response will be favourable. The Applied Psychology Research Unit of the Medical Research Council at Cambridge is helping us to find the best kind of code. Meantime, we are pressing on with the design of machinery for coding and automatic sorting of letters.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the increased flow of imports envisaged by the European Free Trade Area proposals and the increased industrial development in many parts of the Commonwealth, and of the desirability that consumers should know the origin of the goods they buy, he will ensure that this information is readily available by introducing legislation to amend the Merchandise Marks Act, 1926, so as to provide that all imported manufactured goods shall bear an indication of origin unless specifically exempted and that where such an indication has to be applied the precise country of origin should be stated and the present option of marking "Empire" or "Foreign", as the case may be, withdrawn.

We are a great trading nation and I do not think that it is in our interest to complicate the business of international trade by insisting upon the detailed marking of imported goods.