asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he is now able to give the names of the seven trustees of the new trust to be set up for the benefit of former Japanese prisoners of war and civilian internees, and their dependent relatives.

Yes. I am glad to say that my hon. and gallant Friend the hon. Baronet who sits for Norwood (Sir J. Smyth) the hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Peart) and Sir Thomas Yates, the General Secretary of the National Union of Seamen, have accepted nomination by me, and Lieutenant General A. E. Percival, Air Vice-Marshal Sir Paul Maltby, Brigadier P. J. D. Toosey and Mr. R. Kandler have been nominated by the Federation of Far Eastern Prisoners of War Clubs and Associations. The legal formalities for establishing the trust are well advanced and I hope that it will be able to start operations in the near future.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many widows are in receipt of a 10s. weekly pension; and how many children of these mothers have been disqualified from uplifting the orphan allowances normally paid to the widow who receives 50s. weekly.

The number of widows who, though not qualified for widow's benefit under the present National Insurance Scheme, nevertheless had 10s. widows' pensions in respect of their husbands' insurance before 1948, is about 109,000.In the second part of her Question the hon. Lady is under a misapprehension, since a widow with young children would be on widowed mother's allowance at the rate of 70s. a week or more.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many widows of 50 years of age and upwards are disqualified from receiving any pension because of insufficient stamp contributions of their deceased husbands.

I am afraid the information the hon. Lady asks for is not obtainable.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what percentage of the cases in receipt of National Assistance in the age groups 70–75, 76–85, 86–95 and over 95 years receive their entitlement in whole and directly by cash.

The National Assistance Board informs me that records are not maintained which would enable the information asked for to be given, but that it is most unusual for Assistance to a person over 70 to be granted otherwise than in money.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the administrative and clerical cost of the National Assistance Board per £1 of Assistance granted.

The sum shown in the Board's Estimate for 1958–59 for administration—which, however, covers a number of other duties besides the grant of National Assistance—expressed as a proportion of the sum shown for Assistance grants, is about Is. 4d. per £1.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance from what individuals, public authorities or other bodies he has received representations during the last four years, asking that outworker weavers in the Harris tweed industry be brought within unemployment insurance.

The only representations of which I have a record are those of the hon. Member himself.

asked the Paymaster-General if he will give a general direction to the Gas Council and the Central Electricity Authority, respectively, to cease spending money on advertising their respective supply services, since both have a monopoly, and neither can increase its turnover without decreasing that of the other.

No.

asked the Minister of Health if he now has anything further to report on the registration of chiropodists and other medical auxiliaries.

I am considering the draft scheme for statutory registration

asked the Minister of Health how many civilian hospital beds there were in 1946, 1951, and 1958, respectively.

The number of available staffed beds in National Health Service hospitals in England and Wales was about 462,000 at the end of 1951 and 477,000 at the end of 1958. I regret that information for 1946 is not available but the figure at the end of 1949 was 448,000.

asked the Minister of Labour how many former employees of the Suez contractors are without work; how many have been found suitable employment; and whether he will make a statement.

Separate statistics of former employees of the Suez contractors were not maintained. Up to the 31st July, 1958—when separate statistics ceased to be kept—1,190 British subject from Egypt who had registered for employment had been found work and 174 were then unemployed.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give an account of the work done by the United Kingdom Treasury and Supply Delegation in the United States of America.

The functions of the United Kingdom Treasury and Supply Delegation in the United States of America cover questions of financial and economic policy, the oversight of matters affecting the staff of missions in North America, staff payments on behalf of all Departments except the Foreign Office and Service Departments, and certain payments for supplies. The head of the delegation is Economic Minister at the British Embassy in Washington, and certain members of the delegation also act as representatives of Her Majesty's Government in the international financial organisations whose headquarters are in Washington, namely the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the number of per- sons with incomes above the Income Tax exemption limit who are not liable to payment of Income Tax; the number of taxpayers in the income groups below £,500,£500–£700, £700–£1,000, £1,000–£2,000, £2,000–£3,000, £3,000 and over, respectively; whether he will give the estimated total income tax relief given to the taxpayers in each income group; and what will be the average annual reduction per taxpayer in each of these groups as a result of the Budget.

Two million four hundred thousand people with incomes above the effective exemption limit of £180 a year are not liable to Income Tax. The remaining figures are set out in the following table:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of offences known to the police of robbery with violence, armed robbery, and robbery in company with others for the first nine months of 1958 compared with the first nine months of 1948.

I regret that the figures are not available in precisely this form, but the number of offences under Section 23 (1) of the Larceny Act, 1916–robbery with violence and robbery or attempted robbery while armed or in company with others—known to the police in England and Wales in 1958 was 1,402 and in 1948 978. The figure for 1958 is provisional.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) the total number of crimes of violence known to the police for the first nine months of 1958 compared with the first nine months of 1948;

The number of indictable offences of violence against the person known to the police in England and Wales in the first nine months of 1958 was 8,955, of which 6,819 were offences of malicious wounding. The figures for the whole year were 12,137 and 9,174 respectively. These are provisional figures. For 1948 it is possible only to give the figures for the whole year. They were 5,183 and 3,547 respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to receive the final report of the Advisory Council on the Treatment of Young Offenders on the Prison Commissioners' proposals in the custodial treatment of young offenders.

The Prison Commissioners' proposals are at present under consideration by a sub-committee of the Council. I hope to receive the full Council's report upon them during the summer.

asked the Minister of Supply whether he has now received the report of the research study group investigating the economics of supersonic air liners; and when he will make public its recommendations.

I have recently received the Report of the Supersonic Transport Aircraft Committee, which was set up in November, 1956, to initiate and monitor a programme of research designed to pave the way for a possible supersonic transport aircraft. It recommends that a stage has now been reached when detailed design work should be undertaken by industry on two first generation supersonic aircraft:

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether, in view of the importance to Great Britain's aircraft industry of obtaining full order books, he will ensure that favourable consideration is given to applications by independent airlines for substantial reductions of air fares, thus allowing British manufacturers to provide the extra aircraft needed, to the benefit of the aircraft industry as a whole.

The Air Transport Advisory Council is at present considering applications by independent airlines for services at low fares, and I shall make my decisions on them when I have the Council's advice.

asked the Minister of Works why, in view of the condemnation by the Linstead Committee of the proposal to house the Government Chemist's department in Cornwall House, his staffs are still spending much time and labour on plans for carrying out this conversion.

Discussions about the future accommodation of the Government Chemist's department are still going on and a final decision has yet to be taken.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what prospect there is of decreasing the likelihood of skidding as a result of the research carried out on rubber by the Road Research Laboratory and by Dr. Tabor, of Cambridge.

This recent research on the elastic properties of rubber offers the prospect of tyres with greater resistance to skidding on wet roads; but certain practical difficulties will have to be overcome before such tyres will have a performance in other ways satisfactory enough for general use. A number of tyre manufacturers in this country and abroad are understood to be trying to solve the problem; and it is not possible to forecast how quickly a solution will be found.