asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the amount of the subsidies on cereals, eggs,

Commodity			1951–52	1952–53	1953–54	1954–55	1955–56	1956–57	1957–58	1958–59 (Estimated)
			£million	£million	£million	£million	£million	£million	£million	£million
A. Subsidy payments in implementation of Agricultural Price Guarantees:
Cereals:
Wheat and rye		…	—	—	—	16·9	25·2	15·8	22·2	19·7
barley	…	…	—	—	—	9·0	10·7	8·8	17·1	23·1
Oats and mixed corn			—	—	—	0·1	—	1·4	11·9	9·8
Home produced eggs		…	—	—	—	22·8	19·3	40·3	46·7	33·8
Fatstock:
Cattle	…	…	—	—	—	3·5	0·4	36·1	34·1	12·5
Sheep	…	…	—	—	—	7·5	5·2	8·4	11·7	11·7
pigs	…	…	—	—	—	45·6	46·7	30·2	36·8	21·1
Milk (excluding school and welfare milk)		…	—	—	—	36·9	34·5	21·3	12·9	10·1
Wool	…	…	—	—	—	—	—	0·2	1·5	6·4
Potatoes	…	…	—	—	—	—	0·7	1·2	8·3	6·9
			—	—	—	142·3	142·7	163·7	203·2	155·1
B. Food subsidies incurred in trading by Ministry of Food in respect of home agricultural produce:
Cereals (including imported animal feedingstuffs)	…	…	32·9	23·5	30·9	10·9	—	—	—	—
Eggs	…	…	25·0	23·2	18·2	—	—	—	—	—
Meat other than pork			31·8	20·6	24·2	11·7	—	—	—	—
Pigs	…	…	44·1	38·1	50·3	13·0	—	—	—	—
Milk	…	…	52·2	36·3	46·0	—	—	—	—	—
Potatoes	…	…	4·7	7·8	7·5	10·9	—	—	—	—
			190·7	149·5	177·1	46·5	—	—	—	—

NOTES:—(1) For the years from 1951–52 to 1954–55 the subsidies are extracted from the Ministry of Food trading accounts and include administrative overhead expenses. Thereafter the subsidies represent actual cash expenditure in each year except for the inclusion of small trading losses on eggs and potatoes in implementation of the agricultural price guarantees.(2) The food subsidies in B relate mainly to losses incurred by the Ministry of Food in buying from producers at guaranteed prices and selling on to reach consumers at controlled retail prices.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the amount of the fertilisers subsidy and the lime subsidy for each of the financial years from 1951 to 1959. milk, potatoes, wool, fatstock and pigs, respectively, for each of the years 195152, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, and 1958–59.

The following table gives the information requested:

The following are the amounts of the subsidies on fertilisers and lime in the United Kingdom for the periods stated borne on agricultural Votes.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if his attention has been drawn to the doubts expressed by some of the Lincolnshire representatives on the Potato Marketing Board about efficiency of the new system of support for this year's crop; what proposals he has for meeting their objections; and whether he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend is generally aware of the concern expressed by some growers about the effect of the new potato guarantee arrangements which were set out in the White Paper on the Price Review. But these arrangements were exhaustively discussed with the farmers' unions and the Potato Marketing Board; and my right hon. Friend is sure the right course is to give the new arrangements a fair trial and judge them by the results over a reasonable period.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the Potato Marketing Board for financial support.

We have had lengthy confidential discussions with the Board about these matters. My right hon. Friend has assured the Board that immediately it is clear that a deficiency payment will be due over the year as a whole, an advance payment will be made.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware that the Tomato and Cucumber Marketing Board has not conducted the poll on revocation in accordance with the Scheme approved by Parliament; and if he will appoint individual persons to hold an inquiry thereon and publish the report.

I have no evidence that the poll has not been conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Scheme.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the number of slaughterhouses at present in use.

According to information provided by local authorities, the number of public and licensed slaughterhouses in England and Wales on 31st March, 1959 was 4,247. No precise information is available as to the number actually in use at that date.

asked the Attorney-General if he is satisfied that the Office of the Court of Criminal Appeal has sufficient junior staff; and if he will make a statement.

My noble Friend the Lord Chancellor has this matter under consideration.

asked the Minister of Defence how it is proposed to deal with the pensions of retired members of the Services and their widows, to correspond with the increase for civil pensioners contained in the Pensions (increase) Bill.

The existing Prerogative Instruments will be amended to give retired members of the Services and their widows terms corresponding with those of the new Pensions (Increase) Bill. Pensions under each of the Service pensions codes will he increased (if the pensioner is 60 or over, or otherwise qualified) by the same percentage as would apply to a civil pension beginning at the date at which the code in question took effect.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter of 19th March from the honourable Member for Swindon, about the availability of Customs and Excise Notices Nos. 77, 77B and 78.

I have made inquiries, but I am afraid I have been unable to trace any record of the receipt of the letter to which the hon. Member refers.If he cares to write to me again I will endeavour to give him a prompt reply.

asked the Prime Minister (1) if he is aware that, under the Letters Patent issued originally in the reign of King James II, the Admiralty is not subject to the same degree of Treasury control as is exercised over all other Departments, and that the position with regard to the exact line of demarcation between expenditure which has to be referred to the Treasury and that which is left to Admiralty discretion is vague and unsatisfactory; and what steps he is taking to bring all Admiralty expenditure under the direct control of the Treasury;(2) whether the Treasury were specifically consulted, and gave their approval to the final expenditure of some £20 million on the modernisation programme of H.M.S. "Eagle", expenditure more than double the original esti- mate of under £10 million, or whether the modernisation of this carrier was carried out under the traditional discretionary powers, not subject to strict Treasury control, vested in the Admiralty by the Letters Patent issued originally to them in the reign of King James II.

I have been asked to reply.I am aware that under their Letters Patent the Admiralty has a responsibility to maintain the Fleet in an efficient and up-to-date fighting condition. This duty has hitherto been taken in practice, as absolving the Admiralty from obtaining specific Treasury sanction for a wide range of expenditure on upkeep of ships. The whole matter was examined by the Select Committee on Estimates and reported on in their Sixth Report, Session 1957–58, on Treasury Control of Expenditure. The same Report dealt with the particular case of the modernisation of H.M.S. "Victorious", to which I assume the second Question refers. Prior Treasury sanction for this modernisation was not obtained; but the matter was subsequently discussed by the Ministers concerned, and the Treasury were kept informed of the progress of the modernisation and the reasons for successive increases in cost. The Select Committee recommended that major modernisations should require Treasury sanction. This and other questions of Treasury control arising out of the Report are being discussed between the Treasury and the Admiralty, and decisions on the future extent of Treasury control will be made in due course.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated yield from Estate Duties would be in the current financial year if the rates levied were at the pre-1949 and pre-1946 levels, respectively.

About £150 million and £125 million respectively compared with the Budget estimate for 1959–60 for death duties of £195 million. But in making this comparison it should be remembered that legacy and succession duty which were repealed in 1949 were then yielding, about £23 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will give particulars of the £63,300,000 withdrawn by the Iron and Steel Holding and Realisation Agency from the Iron and Steel Realisation Account during the year ending on the 31st March, 1958.

Withdrawals by the Iron and Steel Holding and Realisation Agency from the Iron and Steel Realisation Account are made as and when other funds becoming available to the Agency are insufficient to meet its outgoings. The sum of £63,300,000 withdrawn by the Agency from the Realisation Account during the year ending on 31st March, 1958, was for a variety of purposes covering payments for calls on prior charge securities held by the Agency in the Steel Company of Wales Limited and Colvilles Ltd., payments under a loan scheme to the Steel Company of Wales Limited, loan payments to subsidiary companies, repayments of loans from subsidiary companies and to meet revenue payments of the Agency.Full details of the Agency's receipts and payments during their financial year, ending 30th September, are given in their Annual Reports.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much it would cost to abolish the aggregation of the incomes of husbands and wives for Surtax purposes, and treat the two incomes separately.

About £41 million in a full year, on the assumption that the separation applied only to earned income. There is no information on which to estimate the effect of aggregation of investment income.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many working wives are paying Surtax on the whole of their incomes; and what yield in taxation this produces.

Taking the wife's earned income as the top slice of the joint income Surtax is chargeable on the whole of the wife's earnings in about 90,000 cases. The Surtax payable on the wife's earned income on the same assumption is about £4 million. There is no information on which to estimate the effect of aggregation of investment income.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much it would cost to abolish the aggregation of the incomes of husbands and wives for Income Tax purposes, and treat the Two incomes separately.

To abolish the aggregation of the incomes of husband and wife for Income Tax purposes and to treat the two incomes separately each with a single person's allowance might produce an increase in revenue of the order of £80 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is satisfied that 31 years of age is not unduly low as the upper limit for acceptance of psychologists by the Civil Service Commission; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. As a general rule it is desirable that a psychologist starting on a career in the Civil Service should be relatively young; an upper age limit is also important in securing a reasonable age structure. But there might be special circumstances which could justify raising it.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why emergency service does not count in the reckoning of age for applicants for posts as psychologists in the Civil Service Commission.

To allow emergency service in Her Majesty's Forces, or other forms of war-time public service, to be deducted from a candidate's age would have virtually the same effect as raising the upper age limit by several years. The concession has therefore been confined to membership of the Regular Forces, or of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the additional subscription to the International Monetary Fund will be paid.

This payment will be made before the end of this month. It amounts to about £58 million in gold and £174 million to be held in the form of interest-free notes. These sums will be returned if for any reason sufficient members of the Fund do not accept their increased quotas and the scheme fails to come into effect. Her Majesty's Government is making this payment now, which is in accordance with the authority given under the International Bank and Monetary Fund Act, 1959. in order to emphasise the importance it attaches to prompt implementation of the proposals, set out in Cmnd. 652, to increase the resources of the International Monetary Fund.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will consider, in the interests of both the police and the public, referring the existing, rules on the admissibility of confessions and the means by which they are obtained to the Criminal Law Revision Committee.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave on 4th December last to the hon. and learned Member for Brigg (Mr. E. L. Mallalieu).

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how far he has been able to make arrangements to alleviate the hardship caused to British residents in Egypt who are unable to transfer into sterling sums owned in that country.

Provision is made in Article V of the Financial Agreement with Egypt signed on 28th February, 1959, for certain transfer facilities. Her Majesty's Government will do everything possible to help the British subjects concerned to take advantage of those provisions, and of other facilities under Egyptian exchange control regulations.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any arms ordered by the Batista Government of Cuba in the United Kingdom still remain to be delivered.

Yes. Five of the Sea Fury aircraft which had been sold to the Batista Government but which had not yet been despatched by 15th December are now being released in response to representations from the present Government of Cuba.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he has considered the sewerage scheme for Ashley submitted by the Newcastle-under-Lyme Rural District Council; and if he will give his approval.

The Council has been asked to advertise its proposals, and it will be necessary for an engineering inspector to investigate the scheme locally before I can decide whether to approve it.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, if he will publish in Hansard a list of the municipal authorities which have been authorised, either by local legislation or by the consent of his Department, to invest their superannuation fund moneys in equity shares.

The county councils of London, Buckingham, Essex, Surrey and Kent and the county borough councils of Manchester, East Ham, Coventry, Rochdale and Wallasey have been granted powers by local Acts (subject to certain conditions) to invest a proportion of their superannuation fund moneys in equity shares; and similar powers are proposed in Bills at present before Parliament promoted by the county councils of Gloucester and Glamorgan, the common council of the City of London and the county borough councils of Portsmouth, Halifax and Bootle.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the Departmental instructions to which the Chairman of the Appeal Tribunal in the case of Albert Edward Taylor, case list number 14/6 heard on the 14th April, 1959, referred.

I am making inquiries and will write to my hon. and learned Friend.

asked the Prime Minister the financial cost to this country of the State visit of The Shah of Persia.

The cost to Her Majesty's Government was approximately £11,000.

asked the Prime Minister to what extent the increased rate of radioactive fall-out is due not to wrong estimation of the residence time of radioactive dust in the stratosphere but to this stratospheric reservoir of strontium 90 being greater than the military scientists estimated; and if he will make a statement.

I would refer the hon. Member to paragraph 7 of my statement of 28th April, which gives the most likely explanation for the increased rate of fall-out.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, in view of the fact that a reason for the making of parking places Orders under the Road Traffic Act, 1956, is to improve traffic flow, why, in his advice to local authorities regarding the making of such Orders, he has not recommended to local authorities that metered parking bays should be available to all classes of vehicles, including goods vehicles, as in the Mayfair experiment.

We have told local authorities, who have powers to promote parking schemes and whom we know to be considering them, that it is desirable to make reasonable provision for commercial vehicles as well as for other classes of motor traffic.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the result of the investigation carried out by the Joint Fire Research Organisation of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research into certain aspects of a recent fire in a Glasgow tramcar.

The results of the Joint Fire Research Organisation's investigation will be included in the Report of the inspecting officer who is conducting the formal inquiry into the fire. It would be wrong to disclose the results of the Joint Fire Research Organisation's investigation in isolation. The inspecting officer's report is not yet complete but will be published in due course.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what charge has been made against Caithness County Council for recovery of part of the costs of the Waters Inquiry; on what date it was made; and what sum this represents expressed in terms of the existing rate product of the county.

I have written to my hon. Friend explaining the position.