asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty the total tonnage launched in United Kingdom shipyards in the first half of 1959: how this compares with 1958; and whether he will give similar figures for the North-East coast.

Approximately 605,000 gross tons as compared with 585,000 gross tons for the first half of 1958. Of this tonnage, 285,000 gross tons were launched from North-East coast shipyards as compared with 260,000 during the first half of 1958.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what volume of new shipping orders has been placed with British yards during the first half of 1959; how this compares with 1958; and what tonnage has been cancelled during this period.

Approximately 95,000 gross tons as compared with 130,000 gross tons for the first half of 1958. Licences cancelled totalled 125,000 gross tons as compared with 202,000 gross tons in the first half of 1958.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty how many employees have been declared redundant in the Burntisland shipyard in the last two years; and what is the total labour force there now as compared with that of May, 1957, and May, 1958.

Information about the number of workpeople employed by an individual private firm is confidential.I understand, however, that the majority of redundant shipyard workers in the area have been absorbed in other work and that the unemployment in the area among these trades has fallen from 2·7 per cent. on 9th March this year to 1·3 per cent. at 15th June.

asked the Secretary of State for War what British forces are at present engaged in military operations in Malaya.

The broad deployment of the Army overseas is set out in my Memorandum on the Army Estimates. For reasons of security, I cannot give more details.

asked the Postmaster-General why there is no provision for a V.H.F. satellite station in Sheffield in the British Broadcasting Corporation's plans for such stations.

The B.B.C. tells me that it cannot meet all needs in the first stage of its plans. It will consider the need for a V.H.F. sound station in Sheffield in due course.

asked the Postmaster-General how many television licences were issued in the West Riding of Yorkshire in January, 1959, and how many in January, 1958.

I regret that the information asked for is not available. Separate records are not maintained of the numbers of television licences issued in the West Riding since Post Office administration areas do not conform to local authority boundaries.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware that boy entrants at Cosford Royal Air Force Camp, near Wolverhampton, are forced to do unnecessary parades, duties, fatigues, and fagging for non-commissioned officers; and if he will make inquiries into the allegations.

My inquiries indicate that neither the number of parades nor the station duties allocated to boy entrants are excessive. Fagging is forbidden and in order to prevent it senior and junior entries are now accommodated separately. I am however continuing to watch the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Air how many protests he has received against the proposal to operate high-speed Royal Air Force jet aircraft from West Mailing Aerodrome; and if he has reached a final decision on the matter.

Twenty-three. The decision to continue to operate jet fighters from the airfield was taken last year.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what estimate he has made of the price he is likely to obtain from the sale of Errol aerodrome.

If the former owners of the land do not wish to acquire it, the aerodrome is likely to be sold by auction. It would not be in the public interest for me to disclose in advance the price we hope to get.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the net cost to his Department of maintaining Errol aerodrome during each of the past five years.

Maintenance has been confined to essential repairs to those buildings which we have been able to let, with the result that current revenue has exceeded current expenditure. Starting with the year 1954–55, this excess has been about £2,900, £2,700, £1,700, £1,700 and £800 respectively. These figures exclude capital charges.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will accept the corroborative evidence, in regard to the low flying of aircraft over Willesden, of the hon. Member for Keighley (Mr. C. R. Hobson), who is a resident in the borough; if he is aware that residents were roused from their sleep at 6.20 a.m. on 2nd July as a result of low-flying aircraft; and what means he has at his disposal which will reveal the low flying of aircraft and identify the offender on receipt of the necessary complaints.

I will gladly investigate any further information the hon. Member for Keighley (Mr. C. R. Hobson) can provide. In general I must rely on evidence laid before me by the public, and in this case I have nothing to enable me to identify the aircraft in question. I share the concern of the hon. Members opposite and I will arange for spot checks to see whether aircraft are in fact flying over this area at below the normal flight path.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether a decision has yet been taken to set up a new licensing authority for air transport, to which powers now exercised by him, and subject to Parliamentary scrutiny, would be transferred.

I am considering with my colleagues what changes would be appropriate in the present arrangements for licensing air transport services and maintenance organisations. The creation of a central licensing authority would, of course, involve legislation.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, in view of the fact that there will be about 12,500,000 road vehicles registered in the United Kingdom by 1969, on what estimated figure of such vehicles he is basing his plans for the provision of better roads.

Volume of traffic and its concentration are more significant factors than total number of vehicles registered. With this in mind the present basis of estimating traffic growth is under review. The standards at present employed are likely to be sufficient for some years to come.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what advice he is giving to urban and county highway authorities with regard to the appointment of traffic engineers in order to secure better traffic movement and greater safety in their areas.

A memorandum on the importance of developing up-to-date traffic engineering techniques is about to be circulated by my Ministry to the associations representing county, municipal and urban authorities. I hope that this will stimulate interest in traffic engineering and will lead to the increased employment of trained traffic engineers on the staffs of highway authorities.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will have traffic lanes marked on the north side of Buckingham Palace Road, S.W.I, just west of the junction with Buckingham Gate, so that traffic waiting to enter Birdcage Walk or Buckingham Gate does not inadvertently block traffic turning left when the green arrow apears.

This is a matter for the Westminster City Council, as highway authority; I am bringing my hon. Friend's suggestion to the Council's notice.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he has now appointed the chairman and members of the committee which is to inquire into the problems of rural transport.

No, but I shall announce the names of the chairman and members as soon as I learn whether the persons whom I hope will serve on the committee are prepared to do so.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when he expects to receive from the British Stan- dards Institution its conclusions about safety belts for motorists; and, in view of the deaths and injuries that would be prevented by the use of such belts, if he will ask the Institution to treat its consideration of this matter as urgent.

I am informed that the British Standards Institution is making good progress in the work of formulating a British standard. I am sure the Institution is aware of the importance of doing this as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation why, in view of the fact that all applicants for driving licences have to complete their application form giving the information as to which authority holds the applicant's certificate for passing the road driving test, it is not possible to state how many of the 7,745,448 applicants in the year ended 1958 had passed the test; and whether he will take the necessary action to make this information available in the future.

To obtain this information would require the examination of about seven and three-quarter million forms; in many cases further research by local taxation authorities on individual cases would still be necessary and even so full accuracy would not be possible.I do not think the expenditure of time and labour would be justified.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will now state when he intends to introduce regulations for the inspection of road vehicles as provided for in the Road Traffic Act, 1956.

I shall be circulating draft Regulations in a few days. When I have considered any comments which may be received I shall be in a position to announce the date on which the scheme will come into operation.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what progress has been made towards official registration of motoring schools and drawing up standards for driving instructors; and if he will make a statement.

Discussions have taken place between officers of our Department and representatives of the Royal Automobile Club, the Motor Schools Association and the British School of Motoring, to explore the possibility of establishing a uniform standard of professional driving tuition. I am not at the moment in a position to say what the outcome will be.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation the number of road accidents and casualties for the period 1st January to 30th June of this year; and what were the comparative figures for the same period in 1958.

There were 92,347 road accidents resulting in 116,495 casualties between 1st January and 31st May, 1959, compared with 85,498 accidents and 106,056 casualties in the same period in 1958. Figures for June of this year are not yet available.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when he now expects the report on certain aspects of a recent fire in a Glasgow tramcar.

The report is shortly to be sent for printing and will be published as soon as circumstances allow.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when he received the Report on the reappraisal of the railway modernisation programme from the British Transport Commission; and when it will be made available to Members.

I received the Report on 24th June. It is now being examined by my Department. It will be published as a White Paper as soon as circumstances make it possible.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will make a statement on the results flowing from the Irish and British Traffic Conference, at which the Government were officially represented, for each of the last ten years, indicating how they affect the relations between the companies which are and which are not owned by the British Transport Commission and the trade between Great Britain and Ireland.

The Irish and British Traffic Conference comprises representatives of the shipping companies operating the sea services and of the respective railway undertakings. It has no Government representative and I have no knowledge of its deliberations.

asked the Minister of Defence the cost to public funds of production and distribution of the communication made to Foreign Service attachés about an impending decision on Government weapons policy.

About half-a-crown.

asked the Minister of Labour the increase in the numbers in civil employment in England and Wales and Scotland, respectively, during the period commencing October, 1951, till the latest available date; and what increase would be needed in Scotland to give Scotland her population share in the increase in Great Britain during the same period.

Statistics of employees are available for Scotland for the end of May only of each year. Owing to a change in the method of estimating the figures that was made in 1955 it is not possible to make an exact comparison between 1951 and 1958, but the figures show that there was an increase of over 900,000 in the numbers of employees in employment in England and Wales, whereas the total for Scotland showed little change. The total number of employees in Scotland in 1951 was approximately 10 per cent. of the total for Great Britain, and on this basis its share of the increase would have been about 90,000.

asked the Minister of Labour the unemployment figures for the main cotton areas of Lancashire for six months and three months ago, and for the most recent convenient date, respectively.

The table below gives the information desired:

NUMBERS OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS ON THE REGISTERS OF EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT OFFICES IN THE UNDER-MENTIONED AREAS IN DECEMBER, 1958, AND MARCH AND JUNE, 1959.
Area	8th December, 1958	9th March, 1959	15th June, 1959
Accrington	733	1,072	845
Ashton-under-Lyne	1,537	1,154	641
Atherton	343	325	252
Blackburn	2,302	2,048	1,686
Bolton	2,372	2,802	1,714
Burnley	1,730	1,989	1,135
Bury	829	614	481
Chorley	925	766	347
Colne	477	358	160
Darwen	396	535	384
Oldham (including Failsworth)	7,414	4,827	2,708
Farnworth	504	821	505
Great Harwood	503	265	210
Haslingden	151	118	63
Heywood	434	382	343
Leigh	630	1,124	761
Littleborough	705	770	110
Manchester (including Stretford)	9,816	10,149	8,239
Middleton	707	618	407
Nelson	674	858	307
Padiham	272	190	98
Preston	2,040	1,959	1,349
Radcliffe	331	273	189
Ramsbottom	124	89	45
Rawtenstall	209	182	79
Rochdale	2,617	1,621	1,008
Salford (including Eccles and Pendlebury)	2,729	2,543	2,294
Shaw	1,089	846	112
Walkden	208	230	216
Wigan	2,105	1,961	1,298

asked the Minister of Labour what steps he will now take to end the caulkers' strike at Barrow-in-Furness, where men of the same union are quarrelling over a demarcation dispute which threatens to bring the whole shipyard to a standstill.

I understand that the men returned to work on 6th July and that the dispute which caused the strike is now being discussed between the union and the employer.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is satisfied with the present position of technical staff in university laboratories: what representations have been made in relation to their pay and conditions; and what reply has been sent.

The remuneration and conditions of service of university technical staffs are negotiated by the universities themselves with the staff organisations concerned. I understand that representations have been made for an increase in remuneration and are at present under consideration by the universities.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he has noted the statement, made by the Chairman of the Trades Union Congress, that Government printing might well have to stop; and whether, in view of this contradiction of the unqualified assurance given to him by all the trade unions in the present printing dispute that production in Her Majesty's Stationery Office printing works will not be interfered with in any way, he will now state what steps he is taking, in view of the growing probability of Government printing being interfered with and an emergency arising.

The undertaking given by the trade unions still stands and there has been no interference with production in Her Majesty's Stationery Office printing works.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will consider the issuing of licences to non-pedigree polled bulls, in cases where the milk and butterfat records are up to the standard of the breed pedigree.

A dairy bull licence can already be granted for a non-pedigree bull of a polled breed, which is otherwise eligible, if authentic milk and butterfat records of the appropriate female relatives of the bull are available and are of the required standard.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will advise the manufacturers of chemical soil sterilisers to give more explicit instructions as to the application of their products, in view of the damage to young tomato plants recently caused by the use of such a steriliser.

Reports of such damage have been made following the recent introduction of various formulations of chemical soil fumigants based on sodium methyldithiocarbamate. The commercial interests concerned and my own scientific and technical staff are investigating the conditions under which damage occurs to plants subsequently set out in treated soil. It is hoped that the revised instructions which will result from these investigations will greatly reduce the difficulties presented by the use of this chemical.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to expedite work on schemes for road improvement in livestock rearing areas.

I am arranging to give the highway authorities concerned earlier notice on a long-term basis of the work that may be grant-aided under the Agriculture (Improvement of Roads) Act. 1955. I am consulting these authorities with a view to approving provisionally a long-term programme, the intention being to inform each highway authority by 30th November of the firm allocation for the following financial year. Subject to there being no unforeseen financial or economic difficulties, I hope that all the money available to me under the Act will be taken up by approved schemes before the end of December, 1962, the last date for approval of schemes under the Act.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the current expenditure upon the Co-operative Department of the Administration in Tanganyika; and what staff it now employs.

Actual details of expenditure for the Tanganyika financial year 1958–59 are not yet available but the total figure is expected to be about £103,500. The staff at present comprises 26 co-operative officers—including senior appointments—and an inspectorate of 98. There are 5 vacancies for co-operative officers and 16 in the inspectorate.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what request the Government of Tanganyika have made for technical assistance in economic, social and educational spheres to the specialised agencies of the United Nations, as recommended in the Report on Educational Conditions in Non-Self-Governing Territories, CA/AC-35/L307, presented to the 10th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Report referred to was prepared by the Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories which is concerned with the affairs of those non-self-governing territories which are not Trust Territories. Neither the Report, nor the resolution referred to in paragraph 74 of it, which the hon. Member may have in mind, concern Trust Territories such as Tanganyika.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of prosecutions against users of premises for immoral purposes undertaken by the Metropolitan Police in each of the last five years.

Prosecutions in the Metropolitan Police District against users of premises for immoral purposes are normally undertaken by the local authority on evidence supplied by the police. In the last five years the number of such prosecutions for offences against Sections 33–36 of the Sexual Offences Act, 1956, were as follows:

—				Proceedings	Convictions
1954	…	…	…	89	80
1955	…	…	…	63	63
1956	…	…	…	57	55
1957	…	…	…	53	50
1958	…	…	…	58	56

In addition, in two cases in 1957 and twelve in 1958 proceedings for permitting premises to be used for habitual prostitution were taken by the police against men who were also being prosecuted for living on immoral earnings.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what complaints he has received and what complaints have been received by the Alkali Inspectorate with regard to the emission of nitrous fumes and other gases in Huddersfield and district and also the emission of colour dust causing purple rain; and what steps are being taken to protect the inhabitants of Huddersfield and district from the harmful consequences caused thereby.

The District Alkali Inspector has from time to time received complaints about the emission of nitrous fumes and other gases from processes in this area registered under the Alkali Act. The Alkali Inspectorate is doing everything in its power to keep these emissions to a minimum and with appreciable success. No complaints have been received about the emission of colour dust. I understand that there has been such an emission but it seems to have been an accidental escape from a process not registered under the Act, and it is, therefore, for the local authority to consider any necessary action.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance when he proposes to make the Regulations contemplated by Section 1 of the Family Allowances and National Insurance Act, 1959, enabling family allowances claims to be determined by insurance officers, local tribunals and the National Insurance Commissioner.

The Regulations to which my hon. Friend refers have been laid before Parliament today, and will come into operation on Monday next, 13th July.