asked the Secretary of State for Air whether a decision has yet been taken about No. 3603 (City of Edinburgh) Fighter Control Unit.

Three new units to be known as Maritime Headquarters Units are shortly to be formed in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. They will provide backing for the R.A.F. component of the joint Naval/Air Maritime Headquarters at Northwood, Pitreavie near Edinburgh, and Plymouth. Each new unit will be associated with one of these headquarters.No. 3603 (City of Edinburgh) Fighter Control Unit is no longer required in its present rôle and will be formally disbanded. I hope, however, that many of its members will transfer to No. 2 M.H.Q. unit.The new units will be controlled by Coastal Command. Their main tasks will be communications between headquarters in this country and in other N.A.T.O. countries, controlling maritime aircraft and looking after communications equipment. The work is interesting and I hope that the new units will be successful in attracting the volunteers they need.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to letters from the hon. Member for Stirling and Falkirk Burghs about the financial affairs of constituents, what were the circumstances in which a letter dated 23rd March, 1959, was mislaid and not replied to until 19th June, 1959, a letter dated 18th June, 1959, was mislaid and not replied to until 27th October, 1959, and a letter dated 22nd June, 1959, which he passed to another Minister for reply was not sent to the other Department until 25th August, 1959; and what steps he has taken to make sure that such circumstances do not arise again.

I have written to the hon. Member explaining the circumstances, which I deeply regret, and the steps which have been taken to prevent their recurrence. I shall seek an opportunity of apologising personally to the hon. Gentleman.

asked the Minister of Health what was the number of mentally defective children in the northern region who were waiting for hospital accommodation in 1950, and for each year to date.

Information for 1950 is not available. For the subsequent years I understand that the numbers are as follows (they relate to children under 16 years of age at 31st December):

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the number of persons who were on the waiting list for hospital beds in the northern region in 1950 and for each year to date.

I understand that the numbers of names on the waiting lists were as follows:—

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the number of persons waiting for hospital beds in the northern region for periods of three months, six months, nine months and 12 months, respectfully.

Information in the precise form requested is not available, but I understand that on 31st May, 1959, 9,787 names had been on the waiting list for up to two months, 4,248 between two and four months, 6,665 between four and twelve months, and 5,277 for twelve months and over.

asked the Minister of Health what special arangements he is making this year for vaccination against influenza.

I do not at present think that any special arrangements are necessary. The decision whether or not vaccination is desirable in an individual case must rest with the medical practitioner. But from the information and expert advice that are available to me there is at present no evidence to suggest that there will be a major epidemic of influenza in this country during the coming winter. Moreover, it is not possible to identify in advance the particular strain of influenza virus that would cause such an epidemic if one should occur. Present circumstances are thus quite different from what they were in the autumn of 1957.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the number of murders known to the police for each month of 1959 for which figures are available.

The numbers of murders recorded as known to the police for each month of 1959 for which figures are available are as follows:—

asked the President of the Board of Trade what percentages of the spinning spindles, doubling spindles and looms which qualify for compensation payments under the Cotton Industry Act, 1959, were already stopped prior to 23rd April, 1959.

The following table shows the percentages of machinery in place at 24th April, 1959, which (a) was stopped at that date and (b) has been submitted for scrapping:—

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give the quantities and values of tellurium and indium, respectively, imported into the United Kingdom in 1958 and during the first nine months of 1959, together with the chief countries of origin.

I regret that the information is not available as tellurium and indium are not separately distinguished in the Statistical Classification for Imported Goods.

asked the Minister of Transport when he expects to be able to announce a starting date for the Tonbridge by-pass.

The Kent County Council are the highway authority for this by-pass. Possible lines for it are under consideration, but more work is required before decisions can be taken about starting construction.

asked the Minister of Transport if he is aware that British ships under construction in British yards in the second quarter of 1959 showed a decline of 215,000 tons from the previous quarter, that the tonnage commenced in the second quarter of 1959 was the lowest for any quarter since World War II, and that this slump is increasing and threatens Great Britain with serious unemployment in the shipbuilding, ship repairing and associated industries; and if he will formulate the Government's plan to avert this contingency.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave on 4th November to the Questions asked on this same subject by the hon. Members for Sunderland, South (Mr. P. Williams), Jarrow (Mr. Fernyhough), and Govan (Mr. Rankin).