asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has yet appointed a livestock officer and assistant livestock officer for Wales; and whether either or both are Welsh speaking.

There is no post of assistant livestock officer for Wales. Advisory work in livestock husbandry in Wales is entrusted to two grade I N.A.A.S. officers, one of whom has been in post for four years. The senior officer died early in February last and before the end of that month an officer was selected by normal promotion procedure to fill the vacancy. Unfortunately, owing to sickness this officer has not yet taken up duties in Wales. Neither he nor his colleague is Welsh speaking.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many horses and ponies were imported into the United Kingdom from Eire and Northern Ireland during the year 1958.

I can only give my hon. and gallant Friend figures collected by my Department in the course of the administration of the Diseases of Animals Act and of Orders made under it. These figures do not include animals entering Great Britain by air.During 1958, 1,493 horses (including donkeys and ponies) from Northern Ireland and 5,029 from the Republic of Ireland were landed at approved sea ports in Great Britain. A considerable proportion of these were horses for breeding, racing or exhibition, either returning to Great Britain or entering Great Britain temporarily.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will give a list of the local authorities who have taken action under Sections 11 and 24 of the Clean Air Act, 1956; and if he will also list those authorities against whose decisions under Section 10 of that Act appeals have been made to him.

One hundred and sixty-seven local authorities in England and Wales have so far decided to establish smoke control areas under Section 11 of the Clean Air Act, 1956. Lists of the authorities who had submitted orders under this Section by the end of 1958 are given in the Annual Reports of the Department for 1957 and 1958. Five hundred and fifty-four local authorities in England and Wales have so far taken action under Section 24 of the Act. An appeal under Section 10 has been made to me against the decision of one authority (Bucklow Rural District Council).If the hon. Gentleman requires information about a particular local authority I am willing to provide it.

asked the Minister of Education what grant aid has been given to each of the national voluntary youth organisations under the Social and Physical Training Grant Regulations, 1939, Article 1(B) and (C) in each of the years 1951–52, 1952–53, 1958–59 and 1959–60, in respect of their operations in Wales, including also the figures for young farmers' clubs.

For details of grants to the Girl Guides Training Centre and the Welsh League of Youth I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer which I gave on 1st May to the hon. Member for Bermondsey (Mr. Mellish). I do not apportion the remaining grants mentioned in that Answer, and allocations from them in respect of work in Wales are made by the national voluntary youth organisations themselves after considering their interests in the Principality.

asked the Minister of Education the numbers of men and women teachers, respectively, who are employed in the local education authorities of Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Birmingham, Coventry, Smethwick, Wolverhampton, and Dudley, giving figures separately, for primary and secondary schools.

asked the Minister of Labour to what extent he estimates that there will be difficulty in placing in employment graduates leaving universities at the end of the summer term.

I do not expect that there will be any particular difficulty. The placing facilities of my Department's Technical and Scientific, and Professional and Executive Registers are available to graduates, but most of them find employment by other means, for example through the University Appointments Board.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) what statistics he has as to the average length of efficient life of men and women holding directorships in commerce and industry or of persons holding similar executive positions;(2) due to the improvements in methods of living, hygiene and medical science, how much longer the average working life of the average operative or mechanic is today than it was a quarter of a century ago;(3) what statistics he has as to the average length of efficient working life enjoyed by workers, by foremen and by employers at the present time in contrast to what it was at the beginning of the century;

In February, 1959, the number of teachers employed by each of these authorities was as follows:(4) the average length of capable working life now in relation to what it was in 1929; and by how many years it has increased.

Computations of the expectation of working life have been made for the years 1931 and 1955 only. The computations show that for males in the working population at age 15 in Great Britain the expectation of working life was 46·6 years in 1931 and 48·4 years in 1955. These figures relate to the whole working population, and separate computations have not been made for the various categories referred to in the questions. No figures on this basis are available for any year for females. Neither I nor my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister of Health has separate information about the average length of capable working life.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if, in order to lessen traffic congestion at the junction of Harrow Road with the North Circular Road, he will consider the possibility of extending either Abbey Road or Waxlow Road, N.W.10, until it meets the North Circular Road, provided such a diversion would not destroy the amenities of local housing estates.

I understand that the Middlesex County Council, which is the highway authority, has preliminary proposals for extending Abbey Road to the North Circular Road under consideration.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (1) whether he will now reconsider his recent decision to defer construction of the Midlands section of the London—Yorkshire motorway in view of the public concern as expressed in the latest representations forwarded to him by the hon. Member for Shipley;(2) whether he will take immediate steps to ensure the construction of the London—Yorkshire motorway as between the Midlands and the Leeds and Bradford area, so that useful progress can be made in this national motorway pending the completion of the Midlands section.

There seems to be some misconception as to the powers available to my Ministry in this matter. I can, of course, only proceed in a constitutional fashion. I can, therefore, make no decision about construction of these sections of the motorway until a line has been established in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Special Roads Act, 1949.All the various competing proposals for the Leicestershire section of the motorway are under urgent consideration. As to the Sheffield—Leeds section, the county surveyor is preparing recommendations. The general line is already safeguarded in the County Development Plan.