asked the Minister of Health what advice is being given to regional hospital boards or teaching hospitals as to the proportion of single-bedded rooms which would be provided in new hospital buildings or extensions.

No general advice has been issued. Individual proposals are examined by my Department and advice is given where necessary according to the different kinds of ward proposed and the various medical and other requirements.

asked the Minister of Health what appeal he has received against the decision of the Medical Practices Committee in the case of the practice vacancy at Angmering-on-Sea, Sussex, the result of which decision is to the detriment of both Dr. A. L. Bussey and Dr. F. Cryer and not in the interests of the practice area in question as a whole; and what action he is taking in the matter.

I have received an appeal by Dr. Bussey, against the admission of Dr. Cryer to practise in the Health Service at East Preston, near Angmering. I am arranging for this appeal to be heard and shall come to a decision in the light of the report.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action has been taken on the application made to him by the Worthing Refugee Committee to admit a Ukrainian refugee family, including a tubercular father, from Brunswick camp.

Further inquiries are being made in this case and I will let the hon. and learned Member know the outcome.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what legislation the Government propose to introduce on the discharge of radioactive waste; and if he will make a statement.

The Government have accepted recommendations by an expert committee that the discharge of radioactive wastes should be under Government control. It is proposed that the temporary control which now applies to discharges of radioactive waste from establishments of the Atomic Energy Authority, and which will by the Nuclear Installations (Licensing and Insurance) Act, 1959, apply to certain other types of nuclear installations, should be made permanent. It is also proposed that other discharges should require an authorisation from the appropriate Minister, and that a system of registration of users of radioactive substances should be introduced.The Departments concerned are discussing with the interested bodies the means of implementing these proposals. I hope to make a more detailed statement later.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the total value of tobacco leaf imports from the United States of America for 1958, and the total value of tobacco leaf imports from Commonwealth countries for the same year.

Imports of unmanufactured tobacco into the United Kingdom from the United States of America were valued at £47,111,108 in 1958. The total value from Commonwealth countries was £35,360,730.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that the present dumping of strawberry pulp in this country is having a detrimental effect on the prices of home strawberry growers; and what steps he is taking to remedy this state of affairs.

The Board of Trade has not received an application for the imposition of an anti-dumping duty on imports of strawberry pulp and is not therefore considering any action under the Customs Duties (Dumping and Subsidies) Act.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will consider setting up appropriate Departmental machinery to watch the market and initiate the invocation of anti-dumping legislation when there is evidence of dumping or subsidisation of any kind of horticultural produce.

No. It is for those who consider they are being injured by imports which may be dumped to apply to the Board of Trade for an anti-dumping duty.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the fact that the present ratio of timber consumed in this country is approximately 14 per cent. home as against 86 per cent. imported, and that the Government have over recent years given encouragement to the Forestry Commission and private woodland owners to increase their planting of timber, he will give an assurance that it will be made clear in any discussions with countries concerned with the outer Free Trade Area that Her Majesty's Government regards it as essential to build up an efficient timber growing and using industry in this country, and wishes to become increasingly less dependent on imports from abroad over future decades.

I have been asked to reply.I can reaffirm that Her Majesty's Government recognise the importance of maintaining an efficient timber growing and using industry in Great Britain. They are keeping this in mind in their discussions on the possibility of establishing a Free Trade Area of the Seven countries.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the proportions last year of each of the main foods consumed in this country which were home produced, from Commonwealth sources and foreign sources compared with 1951, 1945, and 1938.

The following table shows, for 1945, 1951, 1958 and for the years immediately before the war, the percentages of the main foods consumed in the United Kingdom that were home produced and imported from Commonwealth and foreign sources:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) when he proposes to allow the spraying of bracken with herbicides as a method qualifying for aid under the Eradication of Bracken Scheme;(2) what action he is taking to ascertain the total number of acres sprayed with herbicides for the eradication of bracken by farmers and landowners this July and August; and how he proposes to evaluate the effectiveness of these sprays;(3) as representing the Lord President of the Council, what special action the Agricultural Research Council have taken to keep a particular watch on work and development being done for the eradication of bracken by chemical spraying.

As no control is exercised by me over the chemical spraying of bracken by farmers and landowners, it would not be practicable to ascertain the acreage sprayed.Research on chemical methods of bracken control is being actively persued at a number of centres in the United Kingdom, and an officer has recently been appointed to the staff of the Agricultural Research Council's Unit of Experimental Agronomy whose duty it is to keep in touch with the various bodies concerned and to assist in co-ordinating their efforts. I intend, in consultation with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Scotland, to evaluate the effectiveness of this method of bracken eradication in the light of the results obtained from experiments being carried out. The question of allowing the spraying of bracken with herbicides as a method qualifying for aid under the Eradication of Bracken Scheme will be considered thereafter.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much money has been spent in the last two years by the Government to set up the Pig Industry Development Authority.

None, apart from the administrative expenditure inherent in the preparation and implementation of the legislation to set up the Pig Industry Development Authority.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been paid out as subsidies to the pig industry in the last two years; and whether he will state the subsidies paid to the industry in the County of Stafford.

The subsidies paid to the pig industry in the United Kingdom were approximately £36·8 million in 1957–58 and £21·1 million in 1958–59. I regret that it is impossible to state how much was paid to the pig industry in the county of Stafford.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when the Report of the British Transport Commission on its re-appraisal of the modernisation plan for the railways will be published.

The British Transport Commission's Report on its Reappraisal of the Plan for the Modernisation and Re-equipment of British Railways will be laid before Parliament and published on 23rd July.