Written Answers To Questions
Friday, 17th April, 1959
Royal Air Force
Malcolm Clubs (Future)
asked the Secretary of State for Air what further development there has been about the future of the Malcolm Clubs.
A settlement has been reached between Malcolm Clubs and the Air Ministry providing for the payment to Malcolm Clubs during the current financial year of an additional grant in aid of £15,000. Parliamentary authority for this payment will be sought by means of a supplementary Estimate. Malcolm Clubs have asked that this sum should be used to reduce their debt to the Department. They have also paid to the Department a further £15,000 for the same purpose. The debt has thus been reduced by £30,000.The settlement includes the withdrawal by Malcolm Clubs of all counter-claims against the Air Ministry; agreement on the arrangements for future payments which may be made, subject to Parliamentary authority, in support of the clubs' activities in Germany; and agreement in principle on certain changes in the financial and accounting arrangements between the Air Ministry and the clubs.Malcolm Clubs have informed me that a trust fund has been established and that a public appeal for funds is being made. The Air Council welcome this and wishes the appeal every success so that the clubs may continue their good work for the Royal Air Force.In view of these developments the Air Council considers that there is no longer any question of the clubs being required to close at the end of 1959.
Nyasaland
Arrested Persons (Teachers And Graduates)
asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many school teachers and how many African graduates have been arrested in Nyasaland under the state of emergency.
pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL RFPORT, 14th April, 1959: Vol. 603, c. 63], has supplied the following information:Thirty-one teachers have been arrested of whom 11 have since been released. Twelve graduates are held under detention orders.
Overseas Civil Service (Retirement Rule)
asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the policy which led to the introduction of the 45 Rule in the Overseas Civil Service whereby officers over 45 years of age are to be compulsorily retired by certain colonial Governments without any reason being assigned and under which officers may then elect to retire voluntarily after reaching the age of 45.
The 45 year rule was first introduced by the Governments of the West African territories in 1947 following representations by the local service associations, European and African, that officers should be allowed to retire after reaching the age of 45. The rule was introduced to meet these representations and also to enable Governments to call upon officers to retire after reaching the age of 45 in cases where it was felt that retirement was desirable in the public interest. The rule was subsequently introduced for the same reasons by the Governments of certain other territories.
asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) how many officers have been compulsorily retired by colonial Governments under the 45 Rule during the last five years; and in how many of these instances have officers concerned received any previous warning, either verbally or in writing, that their retirement was contemplated;(2) on how many occasions during the last five years officers have been invited to retire voluntarily and informed that if they do not do so they would be compulsorily retired under the 45 Rule; in how many of these instances were the officers concerned formally warned, either verbally or in writing, that this action was contemplated, so that they might have an opportunity of making good their alleged shortcomings, and how long were the officers concerned given to decide whether they wished to retire voluntarily or to be retired compulsorily.
The information required for these two Questions is not available and I am reluctant to ask the Governments concerned to undertake the considerable research that would be required to provide it. If, however, the hon. Member is interested in any particular case or in any particular territory I will, of course, make the necessary inquiries.
| — | 1st January, 1945 to 31st December, 1951 | 1st January, 1952 to 31st December, 1958 | |||||
| New school's | … | … | Started | … | … | 27 | 46 |
| Completed | … | … | 17 | 52 | |||
| New school places | … | … | Started | … | … | 9,370 | 17,970 |
| Completed | … | … | 6,330 | 19,150 | |||
| Note: New places provided by minor works and huts built specially for the raising of the school-leaving age are omitted, since comparative figures are not available. | |||||||
Employment
Reading, Newbury And Hungerford
asked the Minister of Labour the latest numbers of people registered as unemployed and of vacant jobs in the Reading, Newbury and
| NUMBERS OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS ON THE REGISTERS OF THE READING, NEWBURY AND HUNGERFORD EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES AND READING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT OFFICE AT THE UNDERMENTIONED DATES AND THE NUMBER OF VACANCIES NOTIFIED TO THOSE OFFICES AND REMAINING UNFILLED | |||||||||
| — | Numbers registered as unemployed | Numbers included in the previous columns, who had been continuously unemployed for over three months | Notified vacancies remaining unfilled | ||||||
| Males | Females | Males | Females | Males | Females | ||||
| Reading (including Youth Employment Office): | |||||||||
| March, 1958 | … | … | … | 737 | 259 | 229 | 42 | 370 | 439 |
| March, 1959 | … | … | … | 636 | 326 | 275 | 58 | 479 | 380 |
| Newbury: | |||||||||
| March, 1958 | … | … | … | 81 | 37 | 20 | 4 | 145 | 93 |
| March, 1959 | … | … | … | 114 | 56 | 36 | 9 | 86 | 44 |
| Hungerford: | |||||||||
| March, 1958 | … | … | … | 32 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 77 | 15 |
| March, 1959 | … | … | … | 45 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 70 | 7 |
Education
Bristol
asked the Minister of Education (1) the number of school places provided in Bristol during the years 1945 to 1951 and 1952 to 1958;(2) the number of new schools completed in Bristol during the years 1945 to 1951 and 1952 to 1958.
The information is as follows:Hungerford districts compared with a year ago; and how many persons have remained unemployed for three months or longer.
The table below gives the information desired:
Trade And Commerce
New Factories And Extensions
asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state in tabular form the total factory building projects and numbers employed since 1945 in each Board of Trade Regional area
| NEW FACTORIES AND EXTENSIONS (OVER 5,000 SQUARE FEET), IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY, COMPLETED BETWEEN 1ST JANUARY, 1945, AND 30TH JUNE, 1958(*) | |||||||
| Number of Projects | Area ('000 sq. ft.) | Estimated additional employment(†) | |||||
| Males | Females | Total | |||||
| Standard Region | |||||||
| Northern | … | … | 1,104 | 35,246 | 59,012 | 37,503 | 96,515 |
| East and West Ridings | … | 1,835 | 29,991 | 30,549 | 17,626 | 48,175 | |
| North Midland | … | … | 1,456 | 28,231 | 29,829 | 18,814 | 48,643 |
| Eastern | … | … | 1,340 | 30,814 | 35,605 | 17,083 | 52,688 |
| London and South Eastern | … | 2,572 | 48,975 | 45,497 | 26,421 | 71,918 | |
| Southern | … | … | 886 | 19,286 | 19,359 | 10,887 | 30,246 |
| South Western | … | … | 824 | 15,704 | 22,097 | 13,318 | 35,415 |
| Wales | … | … | 838 | 31,812 | 53,003 | 28,405 | 81,408 |
| Midland | … | … | 2,713 | 51,951 | 51,012 | 30,621 | 81,633 |
| North Western | … | … | 2,472 | 56,232 | 73,807 | 40,452 | 114,259 |
| Scotland | … | … | 1,562 | 38,540 | 59,886 | 36.213 | 96,099 |
| Individual areas | |||||||
| London Metropolitan area(‡) | … | 1,907 | 33,638 | 27,494 | 15,314 | 42,808 | |
| Glasgow | … | … | 337 | 7,363 | 9,618 | 5,186 | 14,804 |
| Edinburgh | … | … | 123 | 2,071 | 1,998 | 1,017 | 3,015 |
| Cardiff | … | … | 138 | 2,960 | 5,720 | 2,520 | 8,240 |
| Gloucester | … | … | 43 | 1,280 | 1,728 | 336 | 2,064 |
| Liverpool | … | … | 206 | 4,092 | 7,924 | 5,207 | 13,131 |
| Manchester | … | … | 100 | 1,939 | 1,781 | 422 | 2,203 |
| Salford | … | … | 62 | 1,826 | 507 | 657 | 1,164 |
| Oldham | … | … | 18 | 184 | 275 | 238 | 513 |
| Preston | … | … | 33 | 544 | 741 | 321 | 1,062 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | … | … | 277 | 4,724 | 5,425 | 5,412 | 10,837 |
| * Information on buildings completed in later periods is not yet fully available. | |||||||
| † Estimates made by the firms concerned at the time of making application to the Board of Trade for location approval. | |||||||
| ‡ This area comprises the Counties of London and Middlesex and parts of the Counties of Essex, Kent, Surrey and Hertfordshire. | |||||||
Lancashire Cotton Industry
asked the President of the Board of Trade on what date he received from the Cotton Board proposals for the reorganisation of the industry; to what extent these proposals provide for compensation for workers made redundant; and whether the Government have decided what Treasury funds will be made available for approved schemes of re-equipment and redundancy.
I have nothing to add to the Answer I gave yesterday to the hon. Member for Salford, East (Mr. Frank Allaun).
and the same figures for London, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Gloucester, Liverpool, Manchester, Salford, Oldham, Preston and Stoke-on-Trent.
I have no responsibility for industrial building in Belfast.Following is the reply on the other areas specified:
Dutch Flower Bulbs (Quota)
asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in setting up his advisory committee, drawn from different branches of the trade, to deal with applications for additional Dutch bulb quota, he will give an assurance that a representative, or representatives, of the Flower Bulb Users' Association will be included.
Yes.
Board Of Trade Offices (Staff)
asked the President of the Board of Trade how many of his staff are engaged in the Board of Trade Regions of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Lancashire, respectively; and what proportion these figures bear to the population for each stated region.
The Board of Trade Office for Scotland has 65 staff, the Office for Wales 41 and the North Western Regional Office (in Manchester), 57. The proportion of staff to population is:
| Scotland | 1 in 80,000 |
| Wales | 1 in 64,000 |
| North West Region* | 1 in 114,000 |
| * Cheshire, Lancashire and the High Peak District of Derbyshire. | |