asked the Minister of Education when he expects to intro duce legislation to amend the law relating to public libraries; and if he will make a statement on the Report of the Roberts Committee.

I am considering the Report and the comments received on it and will make a statement as soon as I can.

asked the Minister of Education what representations he has received from teachers' organisations regarding the operation of the Burnham Committee; and if he will make a statement on the future of the Burnham Committee as at present constituted.

Certain representations about the composition as distinct from the operation of the Committee were made to my predecessor. I shall need time to consider all the issues involved in this very complex question.

asked the Minister of Education if he has yet received the report of the Anderson Committee; and if he will make a statement.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe (Mr. John Hall) on 5th November.

asked the Minister of Education if he will now state how far it is proposed to increase the grants for the establishment of community centres.

I have nothing to add to the Answer which I gave the hon. Member on 10th November.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether in the next Price Review, he will introduce a separate price guarantee for bacon pigs, based on his Department's gradings at the bacon factories.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the Answer I gave at Question Time today to my hon. Friends the Members for Essex, South-East (Mr. Braine) and Billericay (Mr. Gardner).

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures he intends to take to ensure that his Department's grading standards for tomatoes, apples and pears are made obligatory to the point of sales.

My Ministry recommends grades for these products, but a compulsory grading scheme can only be introduced on the initiative of producers under the provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Act, 1958. The Horticultural Marketing Council will, no doubt, consider the whole field of grade standards and the ways in which their use should be promoted.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the average weekly earnings of regular adult male farm workers in England and Wales for the year ended March, 1959, the value of payments in kind included in those earnings, and the percentage of earnings represented by those payments in kind.

The estimated average weekly earnings of regular whole-time adult male agricultural workers in England and Wales were £9 14s. Id. during the year ended 31st March, 1959. This figure includes 6s. l0d. per week, or 3½ per cent. of the total, in the form of payments in kind.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consultations he has had with the British Port Wholesale Fish Merchants and the Aberdeen Fish Curers' and Merchants' Association, Limited, on the subject of imports of frozen fish from Norway.

These organisations have been informed by my Ministry of the Government's policy in connection with the negotiations for a European Free Trade Association.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the yield of Estate Duty if the existing rates per cent. were applied on the slab system to the present capital value brackets instead of on the current progressive method.

About two-thirds of the present yield.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make a statement about the note issue.

asked the President of the Board of Trade What sums of money he has so far forwarded to the Cotton Board authorised by Parliament under the Cotton Industry Act, 1959.

Nothing so far, but I understand that the Cotton Board will be submitting its first claim before the end of the month.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he is taking to attract further indus

The Treasury has given its approval, under Section 1 of the Currency and Bank Notes Act, 1954, to a proposal by the Bank of England to issue bank notes for £10. I understand that the Bank of England is today announcing plans for an entirely new series of bank notes which will include this denomination.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a table of figures showing the amount of annual reduction in Income Tax and Surtax paid in the year 1958–59, as compared with 1951–52, for a married man with two children in the following wage and salary scales: £400 per annum, £500 per annum, £1,000 per annum, £2,000 per annum, £5,000 per annum, and £10,000 per annum.

Yes.try to Dorset, in view of increasing unemployment there caused by decreased defence expenditure and the difficulties of existing industries.

No special steps are being taken to attract industry to Dorset, where I am glad to say the level of unemployment is no higher than the national average.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to what extent it is proposed, under the Outer Seven trade agreement, to reduce or abolish the duties on imported cod liver oil and fish oils, now standing at one shilling per gallon and 10 per cent. ad valorem; and over what period.

My right hon. Friends the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the President of the Board of Trade are at present in Stockholm where negotiations for the establishment of the European Free Trade Association are still proceeding. Full details of the Convention will be laid before the House as soon as possible after it has been signed.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he has considered the evidence, sent to him by the hon. Member for Cannock, that monopoly pressures in the cable industry threaten to stifle fair competition and to expose the public to unduly high prices; and what steps he proposes to take to investigate the matter.

My right hon. Friend has considered the information provided by the hon. Member. I am aware that there is at present keen competition in the electric cable industry, that prices have fallen and, indeed, that some manufacturers complain that prices are below cost. We are watching the position. We certainly have no ground for assuming that manufacturers are likely to charge unduly high prices in future. We have power to refer these matters to the Monopolies Commission, but do not think it would help to do that now.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will make a statement on his discussions on 13th November with the National Production Advisory Council on Industry on the state of the British machine tool industry.

There was no discussion on the state of the British machine tool industry at the meeting of the National Production Advisory Council on Industry on 13th November. Further consideration of this matter was deferred until the next meeting of the Council.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many com plaints he has received from pensioners and others who cannot buy milk in half-pint bottles; and if he will introduce legislation to amend the Weights and Measures Acts in such a way as to make it mandatory that milk shall always be available in half-pint bottles if required.

My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has traced eight letters on this subject from hon. Members and one from the public in the past two years. I realise that some people have difficulty in obtaining half pint bottles of milk, but I do not consider that dairymen should be required by weights and measures legislation to supply these.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the rate of discharge, in each particular age group, from approved schools; and how such rate of discharge compares with the rate of admission over the last two years.

The following is the answer:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table showing how many children there are at present in approved schools, classified according to the ages at which they were sentenced; and if he will state the maximum and minimum sentences being served.

I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing the number of boys and girls at present in approved schools, classified according to age on admission. The period of detention in an approved school is laid down in Section 71 of the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, and is not subject to the discretion of the court. The standard period is three years but there are variations according to age at the time of committal. A boy or girl may be released on licence before the expiry of the period.

asked the Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations why, and by what authority, when responsibility for payment of the retired pay awarded by the Army Council in 1934 to Mr. H. R. Sandford, a former officer of the British Army, was transferred from the War Office to the India Office, the payment was sanctioned of a compassionate allowance of an equivalent amount in lieu of the retired pay; and to what extent the payment of the retired pay of all officers of the Royal Engineers who, through length of service in India, have qualified for the addition of an Indian element to their retired pay, is being administered by the Commonwealth Relations Office.

The payment of a compassionate allowance to Mr. Sandford was authorised by the Secretary of State for India in Council in accordance with the normal procedure in force at the time. Up to 31st January, 1945, the whole amount of the pension of a Royal Engineer Officer who had qualified for the addition of an Indian element was payable to the officer by the Government of India. In the case of those retiring after that date, the portion of the pension admissible under British rules was paid to the officer from British Army funds and the Indian element was paid separately from Indian funds. This arrangement had no retrospective effect.Up to 31st March, 1955, first the India Office and later the Commonwealth Relations Office acted as agents for the Government of India in disbursing the pensions for which Indian revenues were liable. These pensions were then transferred to the administration of the United Kingdom Government in accordance with the Pensions (India, Pakistan and Burma) Act, 1955.

asked the Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations which delegates attended the Commonwealth Education Conference held at Oxford recently from the self-governing territories, other than those from the United Kingdom.

The following is a list of delegates from the independent countries of the Commonwealth, other than the United Kingdom, and from the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland who attended the Commonwealth Education Conference in Oxford in July this year.

asked the Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations to what extent the exhibition sponsored in connection with Commonwealth Weeks includes information on co-operative societies; and how much of the 4,000 square feet used for this exhibition is used for this purpose.

The material contained in the Exhibition does not include any specific information on co-operative societies.

asked the Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations what instructions he has given regarding the grant of political asylum in Basutoland or Bechuanaland to persons who have been banished from the Cape Province by the Government of the Union of South Africa.

All questions relating to entry into and residence in the High Commission Territories are already governed by appropriate proclamations issued by the High Commissioner for Basutoland, the Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland for the purpose of safeguarding the interests of the peoples of each of the three Territories.

asked the Minister of Health what reply he has received from the Lindsey County Council to his letter regarding the conversion of the Eastfield Road School, Louth, into a mental health occupational centre; and, in view of his promise last July to look into this matter, if he will now make a statement.

I realise the economy which might be achieved by adapting this school as a training centre, and I have told the county council that I am prepared to agree to this. The present centre, however, is too small and is inadequately housed, and I have therefore asked the council to consider whether, if the school is not likely to become available for several years, extensive improvements in the present accommodation can be made or a purpose-built centre provided instead.

asked the Minister of Health if he will introduce legislation to enable local authorities to exercise the same control over the killing and dressing of poultry as is exercised over the slaughter of animals and the inspection of meat.

Local authority officers have powers under the Food and Drugs Act, 1955, to examine poultry carcases for fitness for human consumption and to enforce the Food Hygiene Regulations, 1955, in relation to the condition of the premises and equipment used and the handling of the carcases. If my hon. Friend has evidence which suggests that any further powers are necessary, I shall be glad if he will let me have details.

asked the Postmaster-General (1) if he will make inquiries into the reasons for the bad television reception in the area of Bridgend, Newburn, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and publish a statement of his proposals for remedying this problem;(2) if he will make representations to the Central Electricity Generating Board regarding the erection of pylons, overhead lines, and high-voltage switching devices, which have been installed in the area of Bridgend, Newburn, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and which are causing interference with television reception to all who are residents therein;(3) if he is aware that many television licence-holders residing in Bridgend, Newburn, Newcastle-on-Tyne, are unable to receive television broadcasts; what action he will take to compensate them for the expense incurred in purchasing licences which are of no value to them; and when he expects that television reception will be fully restored in this area.

The district is screened by high ground from the B.B.C. and I.T.A. transmitters serving the Newcastle area. This means that the received signal is weak and particularly liable to interference from overhead power lines and associated equipment. The Central Electricity Generating Board has been asked to help and it has recently completed arrangements which have greatly improved the conditions. This and the use of high multi-element aerials, which are always necessary in areas where the television signals are weakened by the lie of the land, should give satisfactory reception.I cannot undertake to refund licence fees because of interference to reception.

asked the Postmaster-General what special circumstances cause the Reading telephone area to have more than double the national average percentage of total subscribers on the waiting list; what proportion of the requests for connection in that area are put in hand as soon as they are received; and what steps he is taking to reduce the waiting list.

The figures reflect the high demand for telephones in an area bordering on London, where there is rapid industrial and residential development. Extensive additions to plant have been and are being made, and nearly 6,500 telephones have been fitted in the past 12 months. The waiting list percentage has been reduced from 3 per cent. to 2·6 per cent. in the same period. Further progress depends of course on the level of demand and the resources available. The connection of just over 80 per cent. of the applications is put in hand immediately on receipt.

asked the Minister of Aviation when he expects to publish the Report of the inquiry into the collision near Anzio of a British European Airways Viscount and an Italian fighter on 22nd October, 1958.

I am arranging for a translation of the Report of the Italian Authorities on this accident to be published on the 25th November, 1959.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many refugees from Haiti have reached the Bahamas during the last twelve months; how many of these have been returned to Haiti; how many have been detained; and how many have been granted asylum.

None. From time to time illegal immigrants seeking manual labour have been smuggled into the Colony and these are deported when traced; but no person seeking political asylum has been refused admittance.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he

There have been 21 such appointments since 1955. They were:is satisfied that adequate arrangements have been made in all the Metropolitan boroughs to ensure that no families become trespassers when requisitioning powers cease on 31st March, 1960; and if he will make a statement.

I am watching very carefully the progress of derequisitioning in all parts of the country. Nearly all housing authorities who have not already finished the job are well on the way to doing so by the end of next March. If there are a few Metropolitan borough councils who are not confident of ending requisitioning by then, they should immediately redouble their efforts. Meanwhile I would repeat what authorities were told as long ago as April, 1957, that the Exchequer grants provided for by Sections 10 and 11 of the Act of 1955 will only be paid towards expenditure to which a council properly committed themselves before 31st March. 1960.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will now publish the correspondence he has received from the Welsh Tourist Board supporting the application for planning permission to adapt a public house in Capel Curig for use as a club; and whether he will make a statement.

At the local inquiry held by my Inspector into the planning appeal, a telegram of support from the Secretary of the Welsh Tourist and Holidays Board was presented by the appellant. I have not myself received any communication from the Board about this case.

asked the Minister of Transport what developments have recently been approved for Hull Docks; what is the estimated cost; and what is the estimated number who, as a result, should be employed this winter.

The British Transport Commission has recently announced that it has authorised a scheme for improvements at King George Dock, Hull, which is estimated to cost about £4¾ million. The improvements include the extension of three quays and the provision of additional transit sheds, cranes, grain elevators and silo accommodation. The direct effect on employment this winter is likely to be limited to design staffs and will be quite small.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will now announce his decisions on the tenders submitted for the purchase of Cairnryan Port.

I am glad to say that my right hon. Friend has today accepted a tender for the sale of Cairnryan Port from a firm which expects to employ a considerable number of local people.