asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware of the expense and other difficulties of applying the recent inventions for stern-fishing and freezing at sea to the smaller types of fishing trawlers; and if he will indicate what steps he is taking and what financial assistance is available to make these recent inventions available for the smaller types of trawlers.

While there may be difficulties in adapting to the smaller types of trawler these inventions which have so far been developed only for larger vessels, the White Fish Authority is ready to consider applications for grant and loan in respect of near- and middle-water vessels incorporating these features if they are otherwise eligible for assistance.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he intends to take to deal with the increase in the number of grey squirrels since the ending of the bonus scheme for grey squirrel tails.

I am aware that there is some increase in the number of grey squirrels, due to a good breeding season. The publicity campaign of the Forestry Commission continues and demonstrations of the latest techniques in trapping are being given. A film on squirrel control has now been completed and it will be shown on all suitable occasions. An additional officer has recently been assigned by the Forestry Commission to the study of the problem.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state the number and value of Irish cattle imported into Great Britain from the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, respectively, during each of the last 10 years.

There are no official figures of imports of cattle into Great Britain, but information available to my Ministry gives approximate figures which I am circulating below in the OFFICIAL REPORT. NO information is available as to the value of these cattle but the total value of imports of cattle from the Irish Republic into the United Kingdom in 1958 was about £37½ million.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the Second World Fishing Boat Congress, recently held in Rome; and what steps he is taking to encourage the implementation of its recommendations by British fishing fleets.

This Congress was a meeting of technical experts arranged by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations to exchange views and discuss progress in the design and utilisation of fishing vessels. No actual recommendations were made by the meeting.A short report has been circulated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, and I will place a copy of it in the Library.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what acreage of land has been taken over for opencast mining during the past eight years; how much has been restored for agricultural use; how much is now being used for opencast mining; and how much is under cultivation at present but under notice for future opencast operation.

I have been asked to reply. Between 1st January, 1951 and 31st December, 1958, 50,000 acres of land were requisitioned for opencast coal mining. During the same period 48,000 acres were restored to agricultural use. On 31st December last, 36,000 acres were being used for opencast coal mining; the area under cultivation but under notice for future opencast operations was negligible.

asked the Paymaster-General how many men were employed in the Central East Area of the Scottish Division of the National Coal Board in January, 1947; and how many are now employed.

13,900 at 1st January, 1947, and 11,500 at 2nd May, 1959.

asked the Minister of Health if he is yet able to state what action he proposes to take to implement the recommendations of the Cranbrook Report on maternity services.

I cannot yet add to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Truro (Mr. G. Wilson) on 4th May as the consultations to which I referred are still in progress.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will consider importing additional quantities of polio myelitis vaccine to enable him to extend the offer of vaccination at once to persons over the age of 26 years.

At present our efforts are directed to the early vaccination of as high a proportion as possible of the existing priority classes, and available supplies of suitable vaccine, British and Salk, are being used for this. I will, however, continue to keep the scope of the programme under review in the light of all the circumstances.

asked the Minister of Health what research has been carried out by his Department in recent years on the prevention and cure of migraine; and what steps he has taken to ensure pro vision of the best possible treatment for migraine sufferers under the National Health Service.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the Adjournment debate on 4th June.

asked the Minister of Health whether the supply of anti- poliomyelitis vaccine to the Stockton-on- Tees area is now adequate to meet the demand.

Distribution of vaccine to Stockton-on-Tees is within the arrangements made by Durham County Council. I am not aware of any shortage of vaccine in the County.

asked the Minister of Health what is the total number of recognised training places available for student chiropodists; what plans he has for increasing training facilities; and what is the total estimated number of chiropodists needed to provide an adequate service throughout the country.

235 in England and Wales. These greatly exceed the number of students and there is, therefore, no present need to increase them. I think it would be unwise to attempt a precise estimate of the number of chiropodists required until there has been more experience of the need for treatment.

asked the Minister of Health when he expects to receive the report of the Royal Commission on doctors' and dentists' pay.

I have nothing to add to my reply to the hon. Member for St. Pancras, North (Mr. K. Robinson) on 27th April but the hon. Lady may have observed a Press notice put out by the Royal Commission on 4th June to the effect that they have concluded their hearing of evidence in public.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has now received the proposals of the Manchester Regional Hospital Board for the new Manchester Hospital; and whether he will give an assurance that he will not sanction the erection of a hospital providing for fewer beds than that which was originally agreed.

My right hon. and learned Friend has received the proposals. With regard to the second part of the Question, these proposals, which he is studying, are based on a re-assessment of need and consequently the assurance asked for would not be appropriate.

asked the Minister of Health how the waiting time for patients to have their eyes tested at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary compares with the average time at other hospitals; and when it is expected that the new outpatients' department will be completed.

The waiting time for an appointment at this ophthalmic clinic for non-urgent cases is from 3 to 20 weeks, compared with 2 to 15 weeks at other Welsh hospitals. Extensions to the ophthalmic out-patient department are expected to be completed towards the end of the year.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will give up-to-date figures of the numbers employed, and the number of vacancies, in the general and specialised branches of the Factory Inspectorate.

On 3rd June, 1959, the number of inspectors employed in the General Inspectorate was 341. One was awaiting appointment and there were 20 vacancies, taking into account a net increase of four posts very recently authorised.In the Specialist Branches, 70 were employed. There were four vacancies in the Engineering Branch, nine in the Chemical Branch, one in the Electrical Branch and two in the Medical Inspectorate. An open competition is being held this month with a view to filling the vacancies in the Engineering and Chemical Branches, and one additional medical inspector will shortly take up duty.

asked the Minister of Labour how many former employees at the Southfield Colliery have been found jobs by his Department; how many of these jobs were outside the coal industry; and how many applicants he expects for jobs outside the industry from workers at the Blairmuckhill and Branchal colliery.

86 former employees at the Southfield Colliery have registered at neighbouring employment exchanges. Since 29th May, 16 of these have resumed coalmining, two have retired and two have taken work outside coalmining. I regret that it is not possible to give the information asked for in the last part of the Question, as this depends on the degree of success which the National Coal Board have in providing alternative employment within the industry for these redundant workers.

asked the Minister of Labour what were the numbers of disabled persons registered for employment at his Department's employment exchanges in Section one and Section two, respectively, at the latest convenient date.

The number of unemployed disabled persons registered at employment exchanges on 19th May was 57,850, of whom 53,665 were in Section one and 4,185 in Section two.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the figure of un employed at Weston-Super-Mare at the last convenient date; what proportion this is of the working population; and how this figure compares with the corresponding date in 1958.

485 or 2·6 per cent, at 11th May, 1959, compared with 506 or 2·8 per cent, at 12th May, 1958.

asked the Minister of Labour how many group apprenticeship schemes were functioning at the latest convenient date; and how this figure compares with that of 12 months ago.

According to my information 18. A year ago there were about 11.

asked the Minister of Labour by what method the £75,000 required from industry to match the Government grant of £75,000 for apprentice training is to be raised.

Subject to the general oversight of the Industrial Training Council, it will be for each individual organisation receiving a share of the grant-in-aid to decide how its matching contribution is to be raised.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many widows and other persons received no money when they made application for post-war credits because of arrears of Income Tax.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the total number of works of art so far surrendered to the Treasury in lieu of death duties under the 1956 Finance Act, the total value of the items in question, where they are now on exhibition, and, for each of the financial years since the passing of the Act, the number of estates so involved.

Ten works have been accepted, at a total value of £1,145,000, and have been transferred to the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum and British Museum for exhibition. Two estates have been involved in these transfers, one in the financial year 1956–57 and the other in 1957–58 and 1958–59.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will state the total number of public service vehicles at the latest available date; how many were petrol and diesel-engined, respectively; and what is the percentage of each category to the total.

The number of public service vehicles licensed in the September quarter, 1958, was 75, 173, of which 12,074 were petrol-engined and 63,099 diesel-engined, or 16 and 84 per cent, respectively.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he has considered the recent resolution of the British Council of Churches, a copy of which has been sent to him, which, among other things, urges Her Majesty's Government to appoint a Royal Commission to recommend how the level of road accident casualties can be substantially reduced, and to examine the inter-relationship between road safety, transport policy and town planning; and what reply he has made.

We have considered the resolution of the British Council of Churches to which the hon. Member refers, and we have written to the Council agreeing that the road accident situation needs for its solution the utmost co-operation from all road users. Her Majesty's Government, with the cooperation of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and more than 1,100 local authorities, are already taking effective action both to impress upon road users their responsibilities for safety on the roads, and by a number of measures to reduce the circumstances in which accidents occur.We will give further consideration to the question whether the promotion of road safety would be forwarded by the appointment of a Royal Commission to investigate the whole subject, but we are not prepared to come to a decision on this matter at the present time.

asked the Minister of Defence what agreement has been come to with the German Federal Republic on the joint production of a medium-weight tank.

Discussions are proceeding on operational characteristics, and prototypes of the tanks now being developed in each country will be tested by the other. I hope that we shall in due course reach an agreement which will permit joint development and production of a new medium tank, but it is too early at present to make any firm forecast.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there will be an interim report about salaries by the Departmental Committee on Probation.

The Committee have newly embarked on their review of the probation service, and I do not think it would be right to ask them to make a report about salaries before they have concluded their examination of the many relevant matters embraced in their terms of reference.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is now in a position to state what action he proposes to take on the applications submitted to him for the imposition of an anti-dumping duty on imports of new potatoes from Greece.

Yes. Her Majesty's Government have decided that a case has been made out for action under the Customs Duties (Dumping and Subsidies) Act in respect of new potatoes imported from Greece. They have accordingly asked the Greek Government to undertake to limit their shipments of new potatoes this season to a

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will state the procedure for bringing to the notice of serving personnel, other than commissioned officers, their rights to register for service votes.

Each year an Air Ministry Order is issued and an information leaflet is displayed on unit notice boards. Commanding officers are required to check that all who are eligible to vote

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the amount and value of slate and, specifically, roofing slate, imported in 1938, 1951, and 1958, respectively; and what were the countries of origin.

The information is as follows:have been given an opportunity to register. Those posted abroad are reminded of the need to appoint a proxy.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT, as at the latest convenient date, the number and percentage of serving personnel, other than commissioned officers, who have made a declaration with a view to registration as service voters.

I would refer the right hon. Member to the replies given to the hon. Member for Stockton-on-Tees (Mr. Chetwynd) on 18th March by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State. The returns do not show figures for airmen separately.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will require local authorities to give due notice and consult with the farmers affected before they issue approval for a wayleave for water or sewage pipes.

The undertakers and authorities responsible for laying water mains and sewers are already required by law to give due notice. I do not think there is a case for amending the law.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what progress has been made over the giving of formal approval to the Whitfield sewerage scheme and to the Guston sewerage scheme, both in the Dover Rural District.

The Dover Rural District Council were told on 9th June that their sewerage schemes for Whitfield and Guston were approved and that they could invite tenders for the work.