asked the Minister of Education to what extent the use of plastic ware in feeding school children has received his approval.

The use of plastic ware in the school meals service does not require my right hon. Friend's approval. Equipment needed for this service is purchased direct by local education authorities.

Will the hon. Gentleman agree that the whole purpose of feeding school children, through his Department, is not only to provide them with food for their sustenance but also to see that they eat it in the best possible surroundings? If this be accepted by him and his right hon. Friend, will he agree that it is a very poor substitution for delectable pottery to offer plastic ware to children?

I think that the local education authorities ought to be free to decide for themselves whether they buy earthenware plates or plastic ones, but I can tell the hon. Gentleman that, nowadays, authorities are generally buying earthenware plates rather than plastic plates, although plastic beakers or tumblers of toughened glass are generally preferred for the practical reason that they are less easily broken than earthenware ones.

asked the Minister of Education what advice he has given to local education authorities about the granting of part-time day release to their employees.

None, Sir. The record of local government in this sphere compares favourably with that of other occupations.

Does the hon. Gentleman realise that there are local education authorities which do not give part-time release to laboratory technicians who wish to take technical qualifications, and does he not think this very undesirable?

I will certainly look into that. In local government as a whole, 52 per cent. of boys and 48 per cent. of girls under 18 were given day release in 1957–58, which is not too bad a percentage.

asked the Minister of Education if he is aware of the difficulties in the exchange of teachers between universities and colleges of technology arising out of their differing schemes of superannuation; and whether he will consult with the authorities responsible for the Federated Superannuation System for Universities, with a view to making the two schemes transferable.

The possibility of transfer between the two superannuation systems has been exhaustively considered and found to be impracticable. There are, however, arrangements for integrating service under the two schemes and I believe these are not as widely understood as they might be. I am looking into this matter and will let the hon. Member know my views very soon.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that, in order to fill the vacancies arising in the colleges of advanced technology and the regional technical colleges, it will be absolutely necessary for the senior vacancies to go to the universities, but that at the present time the difference between the two schemes is causing many suitable university applicants to turn down jobs as principals and heads of departments in colleges of technology? Does the Parliamentary Secretary accept that this arises out of the very substantial life insurance component of the F.S.S.U. scheme after a man has been in employment in a post for about ten years?

It is a most important matter. Transfer has been found to be impracticable mainly because the pensions under the F.S.S.U. scheme, which are based on an insurance policy, are different in extent and kind from those under public service superannuation schemes. The arrangements for integration are rather complicated, and I will try to explain them by letter to the hon. Member. I shall, of course, bear this point in mind.

asked the Minister of Education whether he is aware that a number of secondary schools in Gloucestershire urgently needing extensions and improvements have been struck off the list of schools prepared by the Gloucestershire County Council for inclusion in the next two years' improvement schemes by his Department; and whether he will state the reason.

The building programme which has been approved for the Gloucestershire local education authority for each of the next two years is more than twice as large as that for 1959–60, and about three-quarters of it is for the improvement or replacement of secondary schools. However, the authority submitted so many projects that it was not possible to find room for all of them.

Will the Minister give an assurance that when the next list is submitted those schools which have been left out in this way will have a chance of coming on the list and being approved?

I can certainly give the assurance that they will have the chance. I think that many of the authority's proposals which have not been included in 1960–62 will find a place in the later years of the five-year programme. I assure the hon. Gentleman of that, but I think that Gloucestershire has not done too badly as a proportion of the whole.

The hon. Gentleman says that there will be a chance. What are the odds?

I would not like to estimate the precise odds, but if the right hon. Gentleman will look at the rest of my answer to the supplementary question he will, I think, find that I was being reasonably encouraging.

asked the Minister of Education whether he will make a statement about the place of Latin in school curricula.

This is a matter for the schools and for individual pupils and their parents. The number of candidates taking Latin in examinations has, in fact, increased considerably in recent years.

I am obliged to my hon. Friend for that Answer. Last week, his right hon. Friend said that he would be unable to express a personal opinion. May I ask my hon. Friend whether he would express the official or Ministerial opinion? Is he aware that there are many thousands of hours being devoted to the study of the subject which many people believe are precious hours wasted? [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Will he consider using his good offices with those who have authority in these matters to see that this gross waste of time can be avoided?

Clearly, I must walk warily in this matter. There is no doubt that very many pupils in our schools today can gain great profit from the study of Latin, and Latin is still a very valuable basis for the pursuit of many of the important learned professions. What I will add is that some people doubt, and they are quite entitled to doubt, whether Latin has, perhaps, quite unique qualities as an educational subject in comparison with some other subjects. Beyond that, I would rather not go.

In view of what the Minister has just said—while I admit that Latin has a place in modern education—does he think that there is any justification for the special prestige which Latin enjoys as a result of the attitude of the older universities? Is not that something on which the Ministry ought to have an opinion?

I think that the conservatism of the older universities with regard to their entrance requirements is something which this House should consider seriously because it has very great advantages—[Interruption.]—as well as being, in some ways, open to criticism.

Look at the results here.

I will merely add this in answer to the hon. Gentleman—it is a point he often raises—that there are many subjects which can be taught from a more liberal or a less liberal point of view. There is no reason whatever why Latin should not be a subject of real educational value, through careful attention to its literary value as well as to the language as actually used by those who spoke it.

asked the Minister of Education in view of recent discussions, what further arrangements he now proposes to implement in order to meet the needs and desires of Free Church families and representatives in areas where the only available school belongs to the Church of England, or whether such arrangements are left entirely to negotiations between Anglican and Free Church bodies.

After discussion with my right hon. Friend, representatives of the Free Churches and of the Church of England are examining how they can work even more closely together over religious education generally and in particular over the problem of single school areas. My right hon. Friend will keep in touch with them and give them any help he can.

Has any different proposal been made for the representation of Free Church interests on local management committees?

I would ask the hon. Gentleman to look at the speech which my right hon. Friend made yesterday in the debate, which covered this whole subject very fully.

asked the Minister of Education if he will state the number of Commonwealth, colonial and foreign students, respectively, now attending technical and other colleges for which the Essex County Council is responsible; and, approximately, what proportion of all students those categories represent.

Two hundred and twenty-eight, or 9 per cent. of all full-time students in technical colleges in Essex come from overseas. Eighty-nine are from the independent countries of the Commonwealth, 65 from Colonial Territories, and 74 from other countries.

asked the Minister of Education if he will state approximately the number of boys now receiving education in public schools recognised by the Headmasters' Conference whose fees are being paid out of public funds or for whom the public schools have granted scholarships or have given special financial assistance.

I regret that this information is not available, and I am writing to the hon. Member.

Will the Minister agree that it is of great public interest to know to what extent proletarian juveniles have infiltrated into these privileged schools?

I suggest that the hon. Gentleman should wait until he receives my letter and then, perhaps, he may care to get in touch with me. There are difficulties in obtaining this information in the form in which he asks for it.

When the hon. Gentleman gives the information, will the special financial assistance include those pupils of direct grant schools whose fees are reduced because of the direct grant?

The hon. Lady has shown by her question exactly how difficult it is to tabulate this information precisely because it has so many ramifications.

asked the Minister of Education whether, following the survey carried out by the local education committee, his attention has been drawn to the number of faulty and defective bicycles ridden by school children in the county borough of Tynemouth; what plans he has, in the interests of road safety and to assist the prevention of accidents to children, to overcome this danger; and to what extent he has discussed this problem with the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.

Yes, Sir. Tynemouth Local Education Authority has taken steps to see that defects disclosed by the survey are remedied. My right hon. Friend will continue to encourage authorities and schools to take part in the national scheme for the training and testing of child cyclists in which emphasis is laid on the importance of making cycles roadworthy. My Department is in constant touch with the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation on matters affecting the road safety of school children.

Can my hon. Friend give us any information about whether local authorities in general carry out an inspection? Have there not been many posters encouraging parents to have a look at their children's cycles in view of the very high number of faulty cycles disclosed by the Tynemouth Borough's investigation?

I am told that, apart from police checks, Tynemouth teachers supervise children's cycles periodically and talk to the children about defects in their cycles. The authority has recently distributed free to its schools a number of copies of the Highway Code, and I am also told that road safety instruction is given in Tynemouth schools. I am paying a visit to my hon. Friend's constituency soon and I will make further inquiries then.

asked the Minister of Education what action he is taking to improve the school dental service.

The main difficulty is the shortage of dentists. This is part of the wider problem of the supply of dentists which was reported on by the McNair Committee and is at present the subject of consultations between the Ministry of Health and the other Departments concerned.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that half the school population of 7 million children have not had their teeth examined at all in the last year for which figures are available? Two out of three of those who were examined needed dental treatment. Does not this mean that about 2 million children ought to have dental treatment but are not getting it? Is not this a serious state of affairs?

I quite agree with the hon. Gentleman. My right hon. Friend is satisfied that local education authorities as a whole are doing their best to attract more dentists into the school dental service and to make the best use of those who are already employed. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we are not complacent in the least about this matter.

asked the Minister of Education on what estimate of the proportion of 15 year-olds staying on at school the current school building programme is based.

The programme is designed to make possible the improvement of secondary education as described in the recent White Paper, including the utmost encouragement of courses extending beyond the school leaving age. As regards the number of pupils likely to take advantage of these courses, I have nothing to add to the information already given to the hon. Member.

Has the Ministry, in considering the school building projects to be approved for the next two years, taken into account the substantial rise in the last few years in the proportion of 15-year-old children staying on at school?

Yes. The point is that in approving the school building programme we have to take into account such a large number of factors. The size of the building programme is not simply related to the proportion of pupils staying on at school. It includes projects for new schools and improvements and extensions to existing schools, which are needed not only to encourage staying on but also to provide for new housing areas, to relieve overcrowding, to carry out reorganisation, to improve science facilities and to replace obsolete accommodation. All these factors have to be taken into account and it is not realistic to try to isolate one of these factors.

Surely this must have been one factor. In making its plans, the Ministry must have made an estimate of how large this factor would be. What was the estimate?

It is certainly one factor, but I cannot give a precise figure because it would not be realistic. We simply cannot form precise estimates. All that we can do is to note with considerable satisfaction the growing number of children beyond the school-leaving age staying on at secondary schools of all kinds.

That was not an answer.

asked the Minister of Education what proposals he has under consideration for enlarging the school building programme and extending existing secondary schools in Newcastle-under-Lyme, in view of the overcrowding problem and the comparatively high proportion of 15-year-olds staying on at school.

My right hon. Friend has authorised two major projects for starting in 1960–61 and two in 1961–62. During the same period the authority hopes to extend three secondary schools.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the Newcastle-under-Lyme Education Committee put in for six urgently needed secondary school projects in the next two years? The Committee would not apply for more than it urgently needed in taking into account the large proportion of children staying on at school after 15. The Ministry has granted two out of six. Does the hon. Gentleman regard this as fair?

During 1960–62 the value of major building projects approved will be as much as during the previous three years. I do not think that Newcastle-under-Lyme has done too badly.

Is not the Parliamentary Secretary aware that there has been an increase in the number of secondary school children? Does not the Ministry take this into account as well as the fact that in Newcastle-under-Lyme 37 per cent. of children aged 15 are staying on beyond the statutory age? Were these factors taken into account?

Certainly they were. That is why the value of major projects to be carried out in 1960–61 will be very much larger than any scheme of projects which has been carried out in Newcastle-under-Lyme in any previous year.

Very unsatisfactory.

asked the Minister of Education to what extent the secondary school building programme and staffing plan have recently been revised, in the light of information that a rising proportion of 15-year-olds are staying on at school.

The increasing proportion of 15-year-olds staying on at school was one of many factors that my right hon. Friend took into account in reaching his recent decision to provide 4,000 additional training college places. No change is contemplated in the size of the school building programmes for 1960–61 and 1961–62 which were settled last December.

Does not the Parliamentary Secretary think that local education committees know well how many secondary school places they will require as well as how many additional teachers they will require as the bulge develops with an increasing proportion of children of 15 years of age staying on at school? How can the hon. Gentleman justify the Ministry receiving a list of projects and cutting it by two-thirds and saying that this is fair?

I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman thinks that easily the biggest programme of building projects in his constituency is unsatisfactory news, but it is always an extremely difficult task to allocate the total building programme among 146 local education authorities. We do this as fairly as we can. We are going all out for what I think the whole country regards as a worth-while scheme of £300 million on major building projects for the five years 1960–65. On present form, I do not think that the hon. Gentleman can say that his constituency has had an unfair share.

asked the Minister of Education how far the Physical Training and Recreation Act, 1937, is being implemented; and what facilities have been provided under this Act in recent years.

Under this Act, as amended in 1944, my Department makes annual grants to certain national voluntary bodies concerned to promote physical training and recreation. Grants are also made towards the capital cost of premises and equipment provided by local voluntary bodies. I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of the grants paid since 1952.

I thank the Minister for that information, but is it not the fact that when one reviews the national progress in recent years one finds that the one black spot that has developed is in recreational and sporting facilities—particularly swimming baths? Is it not time that the Act was brought from the deeper recesses of the Ministry and given the prominence it deserves? Will the Government do something about it?

I think that when the hon. Gentleman looks at the figures for 1958–59, which are very substantially higher than those of the payments made in previous years, he will see that the progress is encouraging.

asked the Minister of Education if he will state the overall sum requested by local education authorities in England and Wales in each of the educational building programme years 1960–61 and 1961–62, and the amount of money allowed to them by him for these projects for each of the programme years specified.

£117 million for 1960–61 and £97 million for 1961–62, compared with £55 million and about £60 million as given in paragraph 22 of the recent White Paper.

Is not the Parliamentary Secretary aware from representations which he has received from different local education authorities that there is profound disappointment with the building programme for the next two years?

I do not believe that that is true of the whole country. If, as I sincerely hope, we complete these programmes in the time allocated to them, an enormous number of children will benefit. It is no good starting work on too many schools and then finding that the building programme gets hopelessly cut of phase.

asked the Minister of Education if he will state the total amount of money requested by local education authorities in England and Wales for their minor projects under the educational building programme, and the amount which has been allowed to them.

The total allocation to local education authorities for minor works for the current year is about £16 million. As explained in Circular 342, authorities were not on this occasion asked to put in formal requests, but informal consultation suggests that they would have liked to be free to undertake work costing rather more than £20 million.

In view of the policy outlined in the Government's White Paper "Secondary Education for All", will not the Parliamentary Secretary agree that local authorities are deeply disturbed that this new policy for building schools has fallen lamentably below that?

We are talking about minor works. I would add that a further £2 million has been allocated for non-local authority education purposes, that is to say, for aided and special agreement schools and corresponding special schools. It is no good having too big a figure for minor works for any one year because that would impose a great strain on county architects and all those responsible for planning. It is much better to strike a slightly more modest figure and complete the work in time.

It does not appear from the last four Answers that local authorities are enjoying the measure of freedom which they were led to suppose they would enjoy when the Local Government Act was introduced, does it?

I think that the hon. Gentleman is well aware that there was never any doubt when the Local Government Bill was going through this House that control of investment and of the educational building programme was to be maintained by the central Government. Neither my right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local Government nor myself in any way misled the House about this, and therefore I do not think that the hon. Gentleman has a fair point.

So the Conservative Party believes in controls?

Successive Governments since the war have always had to maintain a measure of control over the total size of the public sector, but, as the right hon. Gentleman knows very well, the size of investment in the public sector today in real terms is substantially bigger than ever before in our national history.

asked the Minister of Education what answer he is giving to protests from the Cornwall Education Committee to his cuts in their proposals for new schools to be built in 1960–61 and 1961–62, respectively.

My right hon. Friend has received no such protest.

Is the Minister aware that he will be receiving a protest, which will probably include the question of why the committee's request to build 12 schools in the coming two years has been cut to seven? Will he take into account the high unemployment rate in Cornwall and restore the cuts?

I will certainly consider very carefully any protest that I may receive and will pass it on to my right hon. Friend, but that is all that I can say at the present time.

asked the Minister of Education why he cut out of the school building proposals of the Cornwall Education Committee for 1960–61 and 1961–62 a new infants' school for Falmouth and another for Camborne.

Because these projects were less urgently needed than the seven projects which my right hon. Friend has approved in the authority's large programmes for 1960–61 and 1961–62.

Will the Parliamentary Secretary bear in mind that in my constituency only three new primary schools have been built in the last 45 years; that one was to replace a school burnt out in the First World War and the second to replace a school bombed out and destroyed in the Second World War? Surely he can appreciate the great need there is for these new primary schools in my constituency.

I can well remember an extremely happy afternoon that I spent in Cornwall, when I opened no fewer than 10 secondary schools at one single ceremony. I can tell the hon. Gentleman that, of course, we will consider any representations made, but when he looks at the size of the programme approved for Cornwall in 1961–62 I do not think that he should feel discouraged. The figure for 1960–61 is £436,000 and, for 1961–62, £376,000.

asked the Minister of Education whether he is aware of the alarm aroused, both among local education authorities and teachers, by his intervention in the proceedings of the Burnham Committee; and whether, in view of the importance of recruitment to the teaching profession, he will make a further statement calculated to dispel this alarm.

No, Sir.

In view of the public letter from the national secretary of the National Union of Teachers, is it not rather surprising that the Parliamentary Secretary is not aware of the alarm? Will he deal with a further point? He will have seen the suggestion in the columns of The Times Educational Supplement that the Minister's intervention was a put-up job between himself and members of the Burnham Committee at the expense of the people whom they are supposed to represent. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Can the hon. Gentleman at least give an assurance that that suggestion is false?

I am well aware that my right hon. Friend's statement to the Committee has been subject to severe criticism in some quarters, but it seems to me that criticisms on grounds of principle are here quite unfounded. My right hon. Friend has not sought to interfere with the Committee's discretion to make any recommendations it thinks fit, but since my right hon. Friend is ultimately responsible for approving or rejecting the Committee's recommendations, surely it is only sensible that he should give it, in good time, his view on points of major public importance.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that the local authorities and the teaching profession are outraged by the fact that the Minister has not only named the sum that he is prepared to grant for salary increases but has actually interfered with the very details of the salary structure, for which the Burnham Committee is responsible?

I would ask the hon. Gentleman to look at my previous reply, because it is surely only sensible that my right hon. Friend should give his views in good time on a matter of public importance, particularly when one considers the time of the year. To take up the original Question, I think that there would really be cause for alarm if it were suggested that it was not part of my right hon. Friend's function as Minister to concern himself with this very important matter.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the very wide interest there is outside the House in this question, and in view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I will raise the matter on the first possible opportunity.

asked the Minister of Education whether he will institute an inquiry into the methods of allocation of children to different types of secondary school.

No, Sir.

Has the Parliamentary Secretary noticed recent events in Devizes, from which it appears that influence and social position seem to have almost as much weight as intellectual attainment in deciding the allocation of the children to schools? Is that a matter worthy of his right hon. Friend's attention?

I will certainly look into the matter to which the hon. Gentleman refers, although I would rather not state a view without carefully reviewing the evidence. In answer to the original Question, I may say that we have discussed the matter very exhaustively on numerous occasions in this House, and I do not think that an inquiry of the kind suggested would serve a useful purpose.

asked the Minister of Education whether, in view of the fact that some local authorities operate agreements between the parents or guardians of children attending secondary schools after having reached the statutory school-leaving age by which provision is made for the payment by such parents or guardians of an agreed sum in the event of the pupil ceasing to attend such schools before the date fixed by such agreements without the consent of the authority concerned, he will consider issuing a circular with a view to achieving uniformity of practice in this matter throughout the country.

No, Sir. My right hon. Friend does not think it necessary for him to issue such a circular.

Since the educational authorities obtained, or failed to obtain, authority for these agreements—it was all done in a somewhat haphazard manner—would my hon. Friend at least try to ensure that those local authorities that do have agreements administer them consistently as between one and another?

I will certainly bear that in mind. I am sure that my right hon. Friend does not wish to encourage the general adoption of school-life agreements, but at the same time he does not think that he would be justified in interfering with those authorities that already make use of such agreements. I do agree, however, that too much variety of procedure here is a danger and I will certainly look at it.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the progress of the Fleck Committee, now inquiring into the fishing industry, indicating what its interim proposals are; and when he expects its final Report.

The Committee has now received written and oral evidence from most of the interests concerned but it is not yet possible to say when it will be able to report. The Committee has not made any interim proposals.

Though it may not be possible for the Committee to make an interim Report, does the Minister realise that the issues before the Committee are of the utmost importance to the fishing industry, the members of which are anxiously awaiting the Report, so as to know what the Government's programme will be?

I entirely agree with the hon. and learned Gentleman that the issues before the Committee are of the utmost importance to the fishing industry, but I would say that where such important matters are being considered it is not in the public interest that the work of the Committee should be cut short.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in the light of the falling pig population, as shown by the recent censuses taken by his Department, what forecast he has made of the numbers of pigs to be marketed in Great Britain during the next nine months; and how this compares with actual marketings during the same months of 1958–59.

The total number of home-killed pigs marketed in Great Britain in the nine months July, 1958, to March, 1959, reached the exceptionally high figure of 7,573,000—considerably more than in the corresponding period of the previous three years. In view of the recent decline in the size of the breeding herd from the record level reached in May, 1958, some reduction in marketings is in prospect over the next nine months. It is difficult to forecast what the reduction will be, but it may well be in the neighbourhood of one-eighth.

That is a disappointing reply. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware of the concern that has been caused by the statement made in authoritative Danish quarters that the British Government have decided to withdraw the 10 per cent. protective tariff on bacon? Will he, therefore, take an opportunity of denying this statement?

My right hon. Friend the Paymaster-General has already made it quite clear that the Anglo-Danish talks are entirely exploratory, and will be resumed next week. On the more general point, I told the hon. Member—I think, last week—that I see no reason why the curing industry should not get a fair share of the pigs available, and I would remind him that last year's high figures were achieved at a very high cost in subsidy and imported feedingstuffs.

Although the Danish talks may still be at the exploratory stage, will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that there is considerable anxiety amongst the bacon curers and pig producers lest concessions to the Danes may make the position of the British pig industry more serious than it is at the moment?

Naturally, I have listened with attention to what my right hon. Friend has said but, as I have just said, the talks are exploratory, though all these matters are being borne in mind during the talks.

Will the Minister at any rate give an undertaking that no such statement will be made unless there has been full consultation with the British industries?

As the hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well, the talks being exploratory there is no possible opportunity for me to make any such statement as he asks for.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the Cornwall Branch of the National Farmers' Union about the pig industry in Cornwall.

I have had no direct representations from this branch of the National Farmers' Union, but I have this morning received a copy of a letter they have written to my hon. Friend the Member for Cornwall, North (Sir H. Roper). I shall consider their views carefully and reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

Is the Minister aware that fluctuations in the policy of his Department in recent years have caused great concern both to farmers and bacon curers in Cornwall, particularly to bacon factories in my constituency? Will he also take into account that there is a very high rate of unemployment in the county already which is also causing concern?

I cannot accept the implications of what the hon. Member has said. The figures up to the end of June this year show that more bacon has been produced in the first six months of the year than in the corresponding periods in the last two years. I do not think the hon. Member's question is a fair one.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that not only are the talks causing great concern to farmers in Cornwall and elsewhere but that, according to newspaper reports today, equal anxiety is being felt by the Danish agricultural interests?

I do not think that that arises on this Question.

Ridiculous. It is in the letter.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the percentage of the production capacity of the British bacon curing industry at present being used for bacon production.

The most reliable figures show that the production of bacon factories in Great Britain during the months of April and May this year was 67 per cent. of the highest output ever attained; and for the first three weeks of June, it was 64 per cent.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the industry regards his figure as most misleading, that in fact in 1954 the bacon curing industry was encouraged to expand its capacity, and that, therefore, the Government have some responsibility towards this industry which is now, according to his own figures, working to only about 40 per cent. of capacity? Will he also bear this in mind during the discussions with the Danish Government?

I have tried to give the House the most reliable figures I can. It is practically impossible to assess what is the potential capacity of these factories, for the basis of the estimate varies. It may be slaughtering capacity, cooling capacity or tank capacity. I have tried to give the House the most reliable figures available to me.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the Swindon area regarding the critical position of the British bacon caring industry; and what reply he has made.

I have the letter and enclosure which the hon. Member has sent me and he should now have had my reply. I propose to discuss tomorrow, with the British Curers' Federation, the representations which they have made to me on behalf of their industry.

Is the Minister aware of the very great anxiety among people in and around Swindon, who are exceedingly proud of the Wiltshire bacon curing industry and who feel very strongly on this matter? Will he look at this aspect of the problem very carefully?

I am sure that the members of the Federation will make this very clear in the talks tomorrow.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why, in view of his refusal to increase the grant to the Arts Council for the current year, except for special provision for opera, he has now told that Council that there will be no increase for the next two years, in spite of the inadequacy of the present grant available for the support of the theatre and the rising costs of production.

The Arts Council were told in January, 1958, that its grant would remain at the level fixed for 1958–59 (£1·1 million) in the following two years. This was done to stabilise the Exchequer grant and to indicate, in accordance with the known wishes of bodies operating in the Arts field, the level of assistance they could expect from the Government over a period of years. The level of the Arts Council grant has been changed this year only to the extent necessary to put the financial assistance to Covent Garden on a new basis.

Is the Financial Secretary aware of the needs of the theatre, where production costs have gone up just as much as in opera and are just as great as in opera, and that the £70,000 given last year to the theatre is wholly inadequate? Will he, therefore, consider that in the present year there should be no standstill, as appears to be arranged at the moment, which prevents any additional grant being given to the theatre in the next two years, since the theatre's case is as strong as opera's?

The allocation of the grant among particular bodies is, of course, a matter for the Arts Council, but my right hon. Friend did increase the grant by over 10 per cent. to bring it up to the figure of £1·1 million, and that supervened on an increase in the previous year of over 10 per cent.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the present purchasing value of the annuity of £75 provided for holders of the Victoria Cross, as compared with what it was when fixed by the Royal Warrant in 1950.

About £55.

Will the hon. Gentleman bring that to the notice of his colleagues who, we understood yesterday, were reconsidering the whole basis of this grant?

I am sure that that information will be available to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.

Would the hon. Gentleman be good enough to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to consult the Secretary for War with a view to promoting some amendment of the Royal Warrant so as to ensure that those who apply for the £75 annuity and who have a reasonable claim should have that claim met?

I should explain to the right hon. Gentleman that questions regarding this annuity should be addressed to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, who is here and will undoubtedly have heard the right hon. Gentleman's supplementary question.

Questions have been addressed to the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for War and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. What we are concerned about is some amendment of the Royal Warrant. Can there be some co-ordination on the Treasury Bench to ensure that those people who have undoubtedly been responsible for some acts of gallantry should not be left in dire poverty?

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said in answer to a Question on Tuesday that he would look into the whole question.

Would my hon. Friend kindly draw from the cheers from both sides of the House the correct conclusion that this House wishes action in this matter? Can we have an assurance that action from some Government Department or the whole Treasury Bench will be taken?

I should have thought that my hon. Friend would have been satisfied by what my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said on Tuesday.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many appeals have been made to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue over allowances against taxable profit of company expenditure on political campaigns.

The Commissioners of Inland Revenue are not the appellate authority on questions of this nature.

Then will the Financial Secretary now tell the House whether or not this expenditure is being allowed? Since this concerns not individual concerns but a general principle of tax law, is it not deliberately flouting the House of Commons to refuse it this information?

I have already explained on a number of occasions that expenditure of a political nature is prima facie not allowable and that in any case of doubt Her Majesty's inspectors of taxes challenge the expenditure and leave the taxpayer to make the case on appeal.

I wonder whether the hon. and learned Gentleman could now or at some other time say whether the amount spent on this purpose and exempted has been increasing recently?

I think I must ask the right hon. Gentleman to put that question down.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will make a further statement on the membership of the committee to consider the question of the protection of the consuming public.

There is one more acceptance to be received and I hope to announce the full membership next week.

Is the President of the Board of Trade aware that this is encouraging news? Can we now assume that the committee will be called and will meet before the Summer Recess?

I think it is Mr. Molony's wish to have a meeting before the end of this month.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many Dakota aircraft have been sold to Russia since he removed them from the strategic list published last October.

None, Sir.

Is the right hon. Gentleman surprised at that? Did he notice that last weekend the TU 114 flew from Moscow to New York in 11 hours, a distance of nearly 5,000 miles? Does he still expect to sell Dakotas to Russia? Will he not try to get out of this Cocom agreement, which is putting him into America's hip pocket, and begin to think of the interests of this country?

I do not follow the hon. Gentleman.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received regarding the importation of Belgian moquette fabrics; and whether he will make a statement.

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) what reply his Department sent to the Furnishing Fabric Manufacturers' Association Limited concerning the importation of Belgian moquette fabrics;

Concern has been expressed at the effect of the import of Belgian moquettes on the home industry in Keighley and elsewhere. An application for increased import duties on moquette fabrics is under preliminary examination in the Board of Trade. The applicants have been asked for additional information to enable the matter to be considered further.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that these representations to the Board of Trade have been going on for a long time and that it is not really very satisfactory that this has reached only this stage at present? Is he further aware that existing legislation appears to be singularly ineffective? When will teeth be put into it to protect the home market from unfair competition?

I do not agree that legislation is ineffective. It has been effective in several cases, but we must have the information. I can assure my hon. Friend that if the industry concerned gives us information on which to make a judgment we shall not delay.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what further steps he is taking to assist in increasing the export of British films as a result of his recent meeting with the British Film Producers Association.

I had a most useful discussion with the film producers and am considering if I can help them on certain problems to which they drew special attention.

While I appreciate that there are foreign curency difficulties with certain countries and restrictive practices in the case of others, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he realises that, with the almost inevitable fall in home sales, it is necessary, if we are to keep production in a reasonably healthy state, that we should do something to increase our export of film products?

I have that in mind We are making a special approach to the German Government and we are also considering whether something can be done in Argentina.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the proposed development of the Kafue Flats in Northern Rhodesia.

As my hon. Friend informed the hon. Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe (Mr. J. Hynd) on 14th April, 1959, the pilot scheme is still in its earliest experimental stage. The future development of the area cannot be decided before a fair assessment of the results of the pilot scheme is available.

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that this is a most exciting prospect of economic development in the Protectorate and that most of the capital resources required are available within the Protectorate itself? Will he consider in the development of the scheme the importance of co-operative farms and set up a public corporation to assist these developments?

I will look at those various points. It is an interesting scheme indeed, and we should be grateful to the Rhodesia Selection Trust which, through a subsidiary company, is financing the pilot scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many African graduates were resident in Nyasaland at the time of the declaration of the state of emergency; how many of them have been arrested; and how many are still in detention.

Twenty-two, twelve and eleven, respectively.

In view of the fact that such a large proportion of the educated leadership of the African community has been arrested, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he will give an assurance that as soon as the Devlin Commission's report is published he will either formulate charges against those who are still in detention or release them to go back into the service of their fellow-Africans?

I will do all I can to help to restore conditions of normality as soon as possible. I regret that those who have had these special opportunities have not yet realised that the best way to help their country is to co-operate with the Nyasaland Government which shares so many of their aspirations.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that it is comments just of that kind which alienate African opinion? Is it not somewhat improper that before the Devlin Commission has even reported, the right hon. Gentleman should utter expressions of opinion of that kind?

Certainly not. I do not think that there was anything improper in the reply. If answers are to be given to Questions, the question may arise whether the Questions should be asked and not whether answers should be given.

In view of the nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I will raise the matter at the earliest opportunity.