asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, if he is aware that devices have been invented in the United States of America for removing the harmful ingredients of motor-vehicle exhausts before they are given out into the atmosphere; and what are the prospects of such devices, or similar ones, being brought into use on an economic basis in this country in order to reduce atmospheric pollution.

Yes, the Warren Spring Laboratory of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, has carried out road tests on one such catalytic device which reduced the pollution from petrol engine fumes effectively. The Warren Spring Laboratory proposes to carry out further researches on devices suitable for diesel-engine vehicles. At this stage of the research work it is not possible to assess the future prospects of this method of reducing atmospheric pollution.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many people, men and women, respectively, were employed in the factories in Sunderland administered by the North Eastern Trading Estates, Limited, on the latest available date.

At February, 1959, 2,367 males and 2,782 females, in total 5,149, were employed in these factories.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many people, men and women, respectively, were employed in the factories administered by the North Eastern Trading Estates, Limited on the latest available date.

At February, 1959, 21,726 males and 28,488 females, in total 50,214, were employed in these factories.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether there has now been a meeting of the committee to consider how the additional hardship quota of imported bulbs should be allocated; what amount was available for this purpose; what was the approximate demand for it from bulb users in Great Britain; and what principles have been decided upon to allocate it amongst would-be consumers.

The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes"; to the second part, £130,000; to the third part, £690,000.The following is an explanation of the principles on which hardship allocations were made:The Board of Trade will deal with applications for allocations of imported Dutch bulbs on grounds of hardship as follows:

	New Allocations
Those who have not previously imported	£100*
Those with an existing allocation of £160 or less	£200*
Those with an existing allocation of more than £160 but not more than £800.	125 per cent. of existing allocation*
Those with an existing allocation of more than £800 but less than £1,000	£1,000*
* or such lesser amount as has been requested.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that since the Cinematograph Films Act, 1957, was passed, the cost of cinema management is substantially higher; and whether he will now consider raising the exemption figure.

I do not question the factor to which my hon. Friend draws attention. However, an increase in the exemption figure must result in a smaller sum being available for film producers from the levy unless exhibitors whose receipts were above the exemption limit paid more. In the circumstances I think the exemption limit should stay where it is.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what subjects he discussed with the Russian Government during his recent visit to that country; and what industrial and trade advantages he expects to flow from it for the benefit of Great Britain, in general and of Scotland, in particular.

I would refer the hon. and learned Member to the Answer I gave today to the hon. Member for South Ayrshire (Mr. Emrys Hughes) and the hon. Member for Salford, East (Mr. Frank Allaun).

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been drawn to the comments of learned judges in regard to the obscurity of Section 25 (3) of the Income Tax Act, 1952, and of Rule 7 of the Ninth Schedule to the same Act; and whether he will introduce amending legislation during the passage of the Finance Bill now in Committee of the whole House, having regard to the recommendations of the Royal Commission on assessment of penalties and allowances for expenses.

I am aware that there has been judicial comment on the provisions to which my hon. Friend refers, but I think it would be premature to give my views on matters which may be the subject of debate in the near future.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why the accounts of the Iron and Steel Realisation Account for the year ending on the 31st March, 1958, were not presented to Parliament before May, 1959.

In accordance with Section 22 (9) of the Iron and Steel Act, 1953, responsibility for presenting this account to Parliament rests with the Comptroller and Auditor General and not with my right hon. Friend.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will now consider framing regulations to make possible the repayment of post-war credits to all persons who are totally disabled through accident or disease.

I shall bear my hon. Friend's suggestion in mind when it becomes possible to extend the classes qualifying for repayment of post-war credits.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs why he refused to agree to a byelaw of Northampton Corporation authorising the opening of the cattle market on Tuesdays.

My right hon. Friend refused to confirm the byelaws as submitted because they were not precise about the days on which markets might be held. They provided for markets to be held on any weekday throughout the year, except days of solemn fast or public thanksgiving or such other days as the Council might from time to time resolve.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, in view of the fact that Commander Fryer's official report on float tests in connection with the disposal of Tyne sewage by a trunk sewer to Ceuta Point shows the danger of it being subsequently deposited on the beaches, what alternative methods of sewage disposal are under consideration.

In the first place it is for the local authorities on Tyneside to put proposals to my right hon. Friend. The problems there are still under examination by a technical committee of the Tyneside authorities and, as I said in my reply on 24th March last, my right hon. Friend must await this Committee's findings before he can consider this matter further.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, in view of the action of the Danish Government in stopping the use of rainwater for drinking and cooking in the island of Saltholm because of the danger of strontium 90, what action is being taken by Her Majesty's Government to safeguard the people in those areas of the United Kingdom not yet provided with a piped water supply.

The situation is being watched carefully, but in this country I see no cause for emergency measures such as the Danish Government is reported to have taken on the island mentioned.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what further steps he proposes to take to encourage local authorities to save valuable materials from household and trade refuse instead of dumping them in the ground.

I believe that local authorities realise the desirability of recovering salvage where this can be done economically, and do not need further encouragement from my right hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he can yet make a statement of policy on residential caravans.

At my request Sir Arton Wilson is investigating the problems of residential caravans. I hope to receive his report in July. I will give the report immediate consideration, and frame my future policy for tackling these problems in the light of it.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what action he is taking on the proposals submitted to him last December for an increase in travelling and subsistence allowances for county councillors.

My right hon. Friend is considering various suggestions made by the local authority associations for the revision of these allowances.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why Josiah Mwangi Kariuki was arrested on 20th February, 1959; what charges are being brought against him; and where he is detained in Kenya.

Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, who had previously been detained under the Emergency Regulations, was released on 9th December, 1958.The Governor subsequently decided, that for the purpose of maintaining public order his return to detention was necessary, and he was arrested and detained on 20th February.No charges are being brought against Kariuki, who is at present held at Kandongu Detention Camp.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is yet able to state when the state of emergency will be lifted in Kenya.

I would refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Eton and Slough (Mr. Brockway) on 28th April, to which I have nothing to add.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether a decision has yet been arrived at by the Government of Kenya regarding the continued restriction of residence of Achieng Oneku, Mbiyu Koinange and 16 other political prisoners at Marsabit, Northern Frontier District, Kenya; what work they are now allowed to do; and for what payment.

The restrictions on the residence and movement of Achieng Oneko, John Mbiyu Koinange and the other former detainees now at Marsabit will be removed when the Governor is satisfied that they are no longer necessary for the purpose of maintaining public order.The Kenya Government are exploring the possibility of finding suitable paid employment for those who want it, but this is likely to prove very difficult.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will now consider, in conjunction with the Governor of Kenya, the removal of the existing restrictions imposed on African political organisations and meetings consistent with public security and non-racial political development.

It is the Kenya Government's policy to allow members of all communities as much freedom to hold political meetings as is consistent with the maintenance of public order, and the restrictions, which are imposed on all, are dictated solely on these grounds.The Governor is at present reviewing certain aspects of the restrictive system.My right hon. Friend and the Governor have reviewed the restrictions on the formation of country-wide African political organisations, but have decided that these cannot be relaxed at the present time.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will remove the limitations on the movement of Kikuyus, and thereby enable unemployed and landless Africans to find employment beyond the areas in which they are now restricted.

It is the Kenya Government's policy to relax the restrictions on the movement of Kikuyu, Embu and Meru as the security situation permits.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps are being taken in working out the present land policy in Kenya to prevent the exposure of Africans in their land units to speculators who seek to acquire the land and thereby increase the number of landless Africans.

Divisional and Provincial Boards, consisting mainly of local Africans, will have full powers to control all transfers of interest in the native lands and to prevent undesirable speculation; in exercising these powers they will be subject to the general or special directions of the Governor.Full details of the system are set out in the Land Control (Native Lands) Bill, now before Legislative Council; I will place a copy of this in its final form in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the names of the members of the tribunal which is to consider the conduct of the Commandant and Deputy-Commandant of Hola Camp, Kenya.

In accordance with Colonial Regulations the officers in question have been informed of the nature of the disciplinary charges against them, and have been given until today to state in writing any grounds upon which they rely to exculpate themselves.The appointment of a committee to inquire into the charges will arise if the officers fail to exculpate themselves to the satisfaction of the governor.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make a further statement on Uganda.

Since my Answer in the House on 5th May, the Uganda Government's hopes that public opinion and good sense would prevail to bring about an end to the intimidation and violence arising from the Uganda National Movement's boycott of non-African trade have not been fulfilled, even although firm action has been taken by the Protectorate Government and some fifty prosecutions have been launched for either intimidation or violence. One of the movement's leaders is already serving an eighteen months' prison sentence for threatening arson. Serious acts of personal violence against individuals not in sympathy with the boycott have occurred, and several frican farmers have had their coffee trees and other crops slashed and destroyed because their owners were said to have bought goods at non-African shops. There have been increasing indications that African witnesses were too afraid to give evidence of incidents in the Protectorate courts for fear of reprisals.A recent serious development has been the throwing out of work, as a direct result of the boycott, of some 2,000 African workers in Kampala. This has led to serious clashes between the unemployed, who had banded together, and the supporters of the Uganda National Movement.The security situation had so deteriorated by the middle of May that the Governor, with the agreement of Her Majesty's Government, declared the whole of Buganda Province a disturbed area under the Police Ordinance. This gave the police power to control movement of individuals and vehicles, the carrying of arms and if need be, to impose curfews. The Governor also declared the Uganda National Movement an illegal organisation dangerous to the good government of the Protectorate. This rendered its managers and leaders liable to prosecution if they continued its activities.A few days later a fresh organisation was formed called this time the Uganda Freedom Movement with substantially the same executive committee and the same declared aims and objectives. It was likewise proscribed and its leaders, the very next day, proclaimed the formation of yet a third organisation called the Uganda Freedom Convention. This body claimed to have different and purely political objectives, but it soon became clear that it intended to continue the aim of the now proscribed Uganda National Movement and to extend and make more effective the trade boycott. It was also clear that its leaders were determined to frustrate Government's attempt to restore law and order.The Governor decided that the time had come when they should be rendered ineffective and their adverse influence removed. On Saturday, 30th May, therefore, six of the ringleaders were arrested under the provisions of the Uganda Deportation Ordinance and under the terms of that enactment will shortly be brought before a Judge of the High Court to determine the facts and any questions of law involved, and recommend to the Governor whether they should be deported to some other part of the Protectorate. If the activities of other leaders of the movement continue to menace law and order similar action will be taken against them.Since these latest measures were taken last Saturday there has been some decline in acts of intimidation and violence and the situation in Buganda is generally quiet, but the Governor reports that it is too early yet to say whether the trouble will now come to an end. It is significant, however, that many Baganda and the entire non-Baganda African population working in Buganda have severely condemned the acts of intimidation and violence which have been carried out under the cloak of so-called political activity of the Uganda National Movement. It is my earnest hope that the Kabaka's Government will now exert its full influence in co-operating with the Protectorate Government to bring the present unfortunate situation to an end.I ought, perhaps, to make it quite clear that this movement, backed as it is by some Baganda interests which have derived profit from the boycott, and the troubles associated with it are confined solely to the Buganda Province of Uganda and that despite initial efforts to extend its influence beyond Buganda the movement has been entirely rejected by public opinion outside Buganda.Turning to Buganda constitutional matters, I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Library of my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister of State's reply to a letter from His Highness the Kabaka to Her Majesty The Queen forwarding a memorandum from the Buganda Lukiko requesting that talks should be held in London under the chairmanship of the Secretary of State, and possibly with Her Majesty's representative in Uganda, the Governor, being present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what progress has been made in the building of the sewerage pipe line to the new hospital block at Lusaka; and what have been the reasons for the delay.

Construction has not yet started. It is expected to cost £320,000 and would be, at present at least, a wholly uneconomic proposition for the Lusaka Municipal Council which has the primary responsibility.The Council is negotiating with the Territorial and Federal Governments with a view to obtaining financial assistance.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps have been taken to install a Dectra navigational chain in Cyprus with a view to aiding aerial navigation.

No steps have been taken to install Dectra equipment in Cyprus.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why Mr. Garfield Todd was recently refused permission to hold a public meeting in Limbe.

The Governor considers that, in the present security situation, the holding of all public meetings is undesirable.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies which members of the Executive Council in Zanzibar have been appointed as Ministers under the new Constitution; and whether these are nominated or elected members of the Legislative Council.

Three of the five representative Members of Executive Council are now exercising certain defined responsibilities covering groups of Departments, and a fourth representative Member has been given special responsibility in relation to affairs in Pemba. Three of these members are elected Members of the Legislative Council.The Members concerned are:

asked the Attorney-General what progress has been made in the implementing of land registration under the Land Registration Act; what compulsory areas have already been declared; which are likely to be declared in the near future; and if he will make a statement.

Approximately a quarter of all conveyancing transactions in England and Wales are now registered in Her Majesty's Land Registry.Registration of title is compulsory on sale in the administrative Counties of London, Middlesex, Surrey and (except in the parts nearest to London) Kent, and in the County Boroughs of Eastbourne, Hastings, Croydon, the City of Oxford, Oldham, Leicester and the City of Canterbury. Elsewhere large areas of land are being registered voluntarily.The compulsory area will be extended to the rest of Kent in 1961. It is also hoped to extend it to Manchester and Salford in the course of next year in response to resolutions passed by their City Councils. Resolutions requesting inclusion in the compulsory area have also been passed by the Councils of the administrative County of Bedford and of the County Boroughs of Huddersfield and Blackburn.It is intended to extend the compulsory area further as fast as the availability of up-to-date Ordnance Survey maps and the recruitment and training of staff permits.

asked the Minister of Health, in view of Lord Boyd Orr's Report on the possible effect on children of the decline in the intake of welfare foods, whether the consumption of welfare foods in Tynemouth and Whitley Bay shows an upward or a downward trend.

The consumption of welfare foods in Tynemouth and Whitley Bay shows a downward trend except for welfare orange juice, the uptake of which has increased slightly in relation to those entitled to the benefit. These trends are broadly in line with those for England and Wales as a whole.

asked the Minister of Health how many deaths have occurred in the last two years of children suffering from blood cancer, bone cancer and Hodgkin's disease; to what extent these figures represent an increase in the yearly average; what is the relation between thes illnesses and nuclear radiation.

The latest available figures for children under 15 (England and Wales) are as follows:

—	1956	1957
Leukaemia and aleukaemia	345	316
Malignant neoplasm of bone	47	29
Hodgkin's Disease	21	22

The death rate recorded for the two years shows no significant departure from the trends of previous years.For information about the relation between various forms of illness and ionizing radiation I would refer the right hon. Member to the Report of the Medical Research Council's Committee on the Hazards to Man of Nuclear and Allied Radiations (Cmd. 9780) and to the more recent Report of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation and the Medical Research Council's comments thereon (Cmnd. 508).

asked the Minister of Health what representations he has

——				Waiting list at 31st December		Waiting list per 100,000 population
				1957	1958	1957	1958
Salford County Borough	…	…	…	936	1,076	572	658
England and Wales	…	…	…	439,768	442,519	975	981

I have received a report from the Chairman of the Health Panel of the Advertising Inquiry Committee. The questions it raises about habit-forming drugs are questions which are being considered by the Interdepartmental Committee on Drug Addiction, and I will see that the report is brought to their notice.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the confusion caused by the various recommendations being made by official and unofficial bodies with regard to the advertising of pharmaceutical products, he will state the membership and terms of reference of the Advertising Inquiry Committee which has recently submitted recommendations to him on this subject.

The Advertising Inquiry Committee is not an official body set up by me and I have not sought any report from it. Although, as I said in reply to the hon. Member for Swindon (Mr. F. Noel-Baker) I have received a report from the Chairman of the Health Panel of this Committee, I have no information about the Committee's membership or terms of reference.

asked the Minister of Health the numbers on the waiting lists at Salford hospitals at the most recent available date, with the figures for twelve months ago; and how these coin-pare with the national average, or with other cities of similar size.

Following are the figures:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the total amount paid in grants and subsidies to agriculture from October, 1951, to the present date.

Grants and subsidies paid to agriculture in the United Kingdom for the financial years 1951–52 to 1958–59 inclusive totalled approximately £1,270 million. Figures are available only for complete financial years. The food subsidies borne by the former Ministry of Food prior to 1954–55 have been excluded.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the annual cost of the National Agriculture Advisory Service.

It is estimated that in the current financial year the total cost of the National Agricultural Advisory Service will amount to approximately £2,800,000. This includes the net expenditure, capital and current, on the Ministry's experimental centres and demonstration stations.

asked the Postmaster-General the size of the waiting list for telephones in each telephone area in Great Britain and Northern Ireland at 31st March, 1959; what proportion this bore in each case to the total number of subscribers in each area; and by what date, in each area respectively, he expects to reach the position in which requests for connection of a telephone can be put in hand immediately such requests are received.

Following is a statement of the number of applications held up pending the provision of additional cables or telephone equipment. In addition to the figures given in the table, there are some 80,000 applications in course of being met.With regard to the second part of the Question, I have nothing to add to the Answer given to the right hon. Member's Question of 17th December last.

Telephone Area	Waiting List (31st March, 1959)	Waiting list as a percentage of total number of subscribers
Aberdeen	246	0·4
Bedford	962	2·2
Belfast	1,349	1·9
Birmingham	3,764	2·9
Blackburn	847	1·4
Bournemouth	27	Nil
Bradford	442	0·6
Brighton	561	0·5
Bristol	195	0·2
Cambridge	406	0·7
Canterbury	134	0·2
Cardiff	1,849	2·8
Chester	887	1·9
Colchester	241	0·6
Coventry	2,010	3·6
Dundee	49	0·1
Edinburgh	137	0·1
Exeter	5	Nil
Glasgow	2,244	1·4
Gloucester	365	0·9
Guildford	1,015	1·9
Lancaster	285	0·7
Leeds	608	0·7
Leicester	724	1·1
Lincoln	971	2·0
Liverpool	485	0·3
London/Centre	Nil	Nil
London/City	Nil	Nil
London/East	3,473	2·3
London/North	2,923	1·7
London/North West	1,118	0·6
London/South East	2,525	1·2
London/South West	4,504	1·9
London/West	4,043	2·1
Manchester	3,858	2·0
Middlesbrough	670	1·4
Newcastle-on-Tyne	1,091	1·1
Norwich	63	0·2
Nottingham	951	1·1
Oxford	2,054	3·9
Peterborough	63	0·2
Plymouth	42	0·1
Portsmouth	906	1·8
Preston	1,196	1·8
Reading	1,579	2·6
Scotland West	1,617	1·9
Sheffield	827	1·2
Shrewsbury	473	1·1
Southampton	151	0·3
Southend-on-Sea	1,088	2·2
Stoke-on-Trent	27	0·1
Swansea	912	2·5
Taunton	Nil	Nil
Tunbridge Wells	429	0·7
West Midland	2,574	3·6
York	297	0·6

asked the Postmaster-General how many applications for the installation of private telephones have been met in the Parliamentary Division of Mid-Ulster during the twelve months period ended 31st December, 1958.

Sixty-three. This year it is hoped to install about eighty.

asked the Postmaster-General how many applications for the installation of private telephones in the Parliamentary Division of Mid-Ulster were still outstanding on 1st January, 1959.

Twenty-nine. In addition twenty-one were under inquiry or in course of being met.

asked the Minister of Education if he is aware of the shortage of teachers in the Don Valley Divisional Executive area, that at two secondary schools in the area there are likely to be 24 unfilled vacancies out of the complete staff of 37 in September, and that there is such a shortage of teachers at other schools in the area that switching from one school to another is out of the question; and what his Department is doing to help this education division to staff their schools.

I am aware of the difficulties in this area, but I should expect a number of the vacancies mentioned in the Question to be filled by

Area		1956		1957		1958
		Number of Cases	Rate per 10,000 population	Number of Cases	Rate per 10,000 population	Number of Cases	Rate per 10,000 population
East Kilbride	…	4	2·2	1	0·4	13	4·9
Hamilton	…	Nil	—	2	0·5	4	1·0
Glasgow	…	55	0·5	28	0·26	127	1·2
Paisley	…	Nil	—	11	1·1	6	0·6
Lanark Burgh	…	1	1·2	3	3·7	Nil	—
Lanark County	…	29	0·9	15	0·5	49	1·5

asked the Paymaster-General what applications he has received for approval of changes in the pensions benefits of ex-municipal gas employees, to enable them to obtain pensions benefits similar to those contained in the Pensions (Increase) Bill; and what decision he has made.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the ratio of the incidence of poliomyelitis to the numbers of population in East Kilbride, Hamilton, Glasgow, Paisley, and Lanark, respectively.

The number of confirmed cases of poliomyelitis and the rate per 10,000 of the population in East Kilbride, Hamilton, Glasgow, Paisley, the Burgh of Lanark and the County of Lanark for each of the three years 1956 to 1958 is given in the following table.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will confer more extensive powers upon local authorities to enable them to limit the number of mobile shops in built-up areas without curtailing their availability in country districts.

No request for such powers has came to me from any local authority source; and I can hold out no hope of legislation for the purpose my hon. Friend has in mind.

asked the Prime Minister the estimated reservoir of strontium 90 in the stratosphere.

In a recent statement by the General Advisory Committee to the United States Atomic Energy Commission it was estimated that the stratosphere contains about 50 lb. of strontium 90. I am advised that an estimate of this order is not inconsistent with the evidence; but, as I explained in my statement of 28th April, accurate estimation is extremely difficult.