asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs when the Report of Government Action in Wales up to 31st December, 1959, will be published.

As near as practicable to St. David's Day.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware that some local authorities are making it a condition of advances for house purchase that the property be insured with a nominated company; and how many schemes containing such conditions he has approved.

The Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts require that where advances are made the house shall be kept insured against fire to the satisfaction of the local authority, and my right hon. Friend has no power of control. Conditions made under Section 43 Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1958, however, are subject to his approval. No such condition has been approved recently.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will increase his help to local authorities who are responsible for dealing with pollution of beaches by sewage.

I have no grounds for thinking that such authorities need special financial help for carrying out their sewerage responsibilities.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what is the reason for the distinction made in the Town and Country Planning General Development Order, 1950, between railways and other statutory undertakers with regard to the height of developments permitted to them; and whether he will amend the Order so as to prevent the British Transport Commission from building structures 150 feet high in residential areas without going through the machinery necessary to obtain planning permission.

The distinction enables the British Transport Commission to erect certain minor but essential kinds of development such as signal gantries. My right hon. Friend has recently received an undertaking from the Commission that it will consult local planning authorities before embarking on development which would adversely affect local amenities.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware that restrictions on development for residential purposes in green belt areas can be circumvented by an application to erect a dwelling house for use in connection with the establishment and maintenance of a smallholding, with no guarantee that the smallholding will be developed after the house has been erected, or, if it is developed, that it will be retained with the house as a smallholding; and what action he will take to prevent such practices.

I am aware of this problem. In cases of this kind the local planning authority are entitled to refuse permission if they think that the proposed house is not needed for purposes of agriculture, or that the need for the house is not such as to outweigh the objections to building in a green belt. I have upheld a number of such refusals on appeal.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs which local authorities in the new towns have received grants under Section II of the New Towns Act, 1946; what were the total amounts of such grants; and what were the purposes for which they were paid.

Section 11 of the New Towns Act, 1946, authorises contributions by development corporations towards expenditure incurred or to be incurred by local authorities or statutory undertakers in the performance in relation to the new town, of any of their statutory functions. But as a measure of the extent of which corporations furnish financial assistance to local authorities and statutory undertakers, a list of cash contributions under Section 11 is misleading. For example, where a local authority is responsible for sewerage, any financial assistance to it from the development corporation would take the form of contributions under Section 11; but where the corporation has assumed responsibility for sewerage, as in most cases they have, it incurs the expenditure under its general powers. Also, in constructing main roads, corporations incur under their general powers expenditure which might otherwise fall on the highway authority. Some corporations have also provided financial help by undertaking specific works, or by providing land at less than cost, in lieu of making a money contribution.Both county council and district council in all the new town areas have benefited from contributions under Section 11, but no contributions in cash or specific works in lieu had been made up to 31st March, 1959, to the local authorities at Bracknell, Cwmbran or Peterlee.Up to that date the total Section 11 contributions to local authorities and expenditure on specific works in lieu, ascertained from the published accounts, were:

asked the Prime Minister what reply he has sent to the Presbytery of Dunfermline and Kinross concerning their resolution forwarded to him expressing anxiety about current economic developments in Scotland generally, and in Fife in particular.

I have been asked to reply.The letter and the resolutions from the Presbytery of Dunfermline and Kinross were acknowledged on behalf of my right hon. Friend on 30th January.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in order to emphasise that the areas to be retained in Cyprus are for military purposes only, he will arrange for the next stage of the negotiations in Cyprus to be undertaken by the Service Departments rather than by the Foreign Office or Colonial Office.

I have been asked to reply.I have nothing to add to the answer which my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary gave to the hon. Member when he asked this same question on 1st February.

asked the Prime Minister what consideration is now being given to extending the terms of reference of the Monckton Commission, in view of the statement of policy made by the Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia on 29th January concerning the possible withdrawal of Southern Rhodesia from the Federation.

I have been asked to reply.We do not propose to alter the terms of reference of the Monckton Commission.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will place in the Library a copy of the report on racial discrimination submitted by a select committee to the Northern Rhodesia Legislative Council.

I have asked the Governor to let me have copies of the report and, when they are received, I will place one in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what percentage of the working population of St. Helena are now unemployed.

Figures are only available in respect of able-bodied men between 18 and 60 years of age. Of these some six per cent. are registered for unemployment relief work.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what further reports he has received in the last 6 months in respect of suspected slave-dealing in any present British colonial or protected territory; and what action has been taken in the matter.

None: the second part of the Question therefore does not arise.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what proposals he has in mind for agricultural development in Nyasaland, following the comments of the recent economic survey.

A plan for agricultural development in Nyasaland is now being drawn up by the Nyasaland Government in consultation with my advisers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies where Mr. Clement C. Mtawali, former managing secretary of the Kilupula Rice Growers' Co-operative Union in Nyasaland, is restricted; and for what reasons.

Mr. Mtawali is restricted to the Mlowe area of the Rumpi District for reasons of public security.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he accepts the recommendations of the Wild Committee that Uganda should have elections to the National Assembly on the basis of universal adult suffrage; and when they will be implemented.

The recommendations of the Constitutional Committee on the next constitutional step to be taken in Uganda have been considered. The Governor will, I hope, be giving an indication to Her Majesty's Government's views on some of the Committee's recommendations in his address from the Chair to the Legislative Council, which meets on 22nd February and which will debate the Committee's Report.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the situation in which police fired on a crowd demonstrating against tax assessments in Mbale in Uganda.

A crowd of 2,000 had assaulted the County and Sub-County Chiefs and an Assistant District Commissioner at Bulangira (16 miles west of Mbale). The two Chiefs had to go to hospital and the Assistant District Commissioner sustained slight injuries. When a Protectorate police party arrived it was attacked. I greatly regret that in these and associated disturbances 15 people lost their lives.The Acting Governor had appointed a commission of inquiry to report on these events and to make recommendations on the origins of and any other factors having a bearing on the disturbances and the steps taken to deal with them.The Commission will consist of Mr. Justice K. G. Bennett of the Uganda High Court (Chairman) and Mr. A. J. Loveridge, C.M.G., O.B.E., formerly of the Gold Coast administration.

asked the Minister of Works if he will consider adding more microphones to the Table of the House of Commons, or some other method of improving the aids to hearing, as back bench Members are finding it increasingly difficult to follow speeches and Questions from the Front Benches.

There is no reason to suppose that the system is not adequate if given the chance.

asked the Minister of Works the cost to his Department of transporting coal and coke from Plymouth, or other source of supply, to Dartmoor Prison during the year ended 31st December, 1959.

The contracts for coal and coke for Dartmoor Prison are made at delivered prices and transport costs are not listed separately. The estimated cost for the year in question was £1,170.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland, in view of the importance of promoting the change in the Aberdeen fishing fleet from coal to oil and diesel engines, what improvements in subsidies and interest rates he has in view directed to this end.

The White Fish Authority has approved applications for 74 new diesel trawlers for Aberdeen which suggests that the grants and loans available are providing substantial en- couragement for modernisation of the trawler fleet at that port. The rates of interest charged by the Authority compare favourably with the rates at which the industry could borrow from other sources and reflect the rates at which the Government itself can borrow.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many communications he has received, and from whom they have come, protesting against the action of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board in placing an electric pylon in, and a high-voltage electric line across, the grounds of the Camphill-Rudolf Steiner Schools for children needing special care, at Bieldside, Aberdeen; if he is aware that this pylon exposes the children there to grave risk, and that an alternative site could easily be found for the pylon as the school is in open country; what replies he has sent to those communications; and what action he will take to protect the children and the school from this danger.

I received letters from 39 hon. Members, including the hon. and learned Member, and from several other sources about this matter. The replies sent were similar to those I sent the hon. and learned Member. The Board have taken the further measures which I recommended to them to supplement the normal safety devices and, in my opinion, these should remove any reasonable anxiety for the safety of the children. Court action is still pending and I am not in a position to comment further at this stage.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the amounts of grant made to each of the direct grant schools in Scotland, the number of primary pupils and the number of secondary pupils on the roll of each of these schools, and the number of staff in the primary and secondary departments, respectively, at each school, in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Since the answer contains a large number of figures, I have circulated it in the OFFICIAL REPORT and

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a further statement on the provision of a new hospital in central West Fife.

I understand that the board of management is sending to the regional board recommendations for additional general hospital provision in the area. As regards maternity beds, I explained the position in reply to the hon. Member on 17th November last, since when the regional board has had meetings with local interested parties.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland why the secondary department of Moray House Demonstration School is being closed; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the future of Moray House School, Edinburgh.

The Governors of Moray House College of Education have asked me to approve a proposal to discontinue the secondary department of the College Demonstration School, in order to make accommodation available for the further expected increase in the numbers of College students entering training. The Governors propose that no more pupils would be enrolled in the first year of the secondary department next session but pupils already in the secondary department would be allowed to complete their courses. The primary department of the school would not be affected. I am at present considering the proposal.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many psychiatrists, educational psychologists, and psychiatric social workers, respectively, are employed on a full-time and on a part-time basis by local authorities in Scotland.

Consultant psychiatric services, like other specialist services, are provided by the hospital authorities. All local authorities have medical officers engaged on mental health work: some are employed whole-time on this work, but most have other health duties. Local authorities also employ 91 educational psychologists and five psychiatric social workers full-time, and one psychiatric social worker part-time.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how much has been offered in marginal agricultural production grants to farmers in Sutherland for 1959–60; how this compares with the total sums paid in the previous two years; and how many applications for grants have been rejected for land which is indisputably marginal.

Grants totalling £10,600 are to be offered in Sutherland for the 1960 cropping season compared with £18,800 for 1958 and £12,600 for 1959. No indisputably marginal farms have been refused grant.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the future of the youth services in Scotland.

I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South Angus (Sir J. Duncan) on 5th February.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is satisfied that there are grounds for the continued detention of Hugh Patrick Bain in the State Institution for Defectives, Carstairs, Lanarkshire; and if he will make a statement.

The General Board of Control reviewed the question of Mr. Bain's continued detention as recently as 3rd February when they visited the institution. The Board is satisfied that it would be most unwise at present to discharge him or release him on licence.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to introduce legislation fixing a retiral age for sheriffs-substitute.

The Sheriffs-Substitute Association has made proposals for revision of the sheriffs' entitlement to pension, including the introduction of a retiring age. I am considering these proposals.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he proposes to bring up to date the pensions scheme for sheriffs-substitute in Scotland, as requested by their association in April, 1959.

I have not yet completed my consideration of the Association's proposals.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a comprehensive statement on the loss of farm stock, particularly sheep, and damage to property, particularly telephone and electricity communications, in the recent snow storm in Angus and Perthshire.

As a result of the snow storm in Angus and Perthshire on 19th January one or two cases of abnormal losses of sheep have been reported (exact figures are not known), but according to such information as I have losses of farm stock have not been general. As in other affected areas, communications were severely dislocated for a short time, but all main roads and railways were, as a result of the energetic measures taken, re-opened to traffic by 21st January.Fifteen telephone exchanges, including eight in Angus and seven in Perthshire, were temporarily isolated, about 1,400 faults were reported, and there was some interruption of electricity supplies due to damage to overhead lines. Fortunately, there was no loss of life: cases of personal injury were confined to one person injured in a road accident and one suffering from exposure; and no serious damage to property occurred.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when it is expected that tenants in temporary prefabricated houses in Edinburgh will be rehoused in permanent houses.

I understand that Edinburgh Corporation is considering a general scheme to remove all its temporary houses and to rehouse the tenants in permanent houses. As almost 4,000 houses are involved, such a scheme would take a considerable time to carry through, having regard to other housing needs that the corporation must meet.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that the replacement of the two pontoon bridges at Aberdeen Harbour is urgently necessary to maintain the trade, industry, and employment of Aberdeen at its highest level; what representations, of what nature, and from whom, he has received about this problem; and what steps he plans to take in the matter.

The Scottish Home Department was represented at a meeting between the Ministry of Transport and the Aberdeen Harbour Commissioners on 5th November last at which it was suggested that a working party should be set up by local interests to examine the situation arising from the condition of the two old pontoon docks. I understand that this working party has now been formed and I think we must await the outcome of its consideration of the problem.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what specific encouragement is being given to industrialists to site new industries in Cardiff.

The Board of Trade is prepared to see more industry located in the Cardiff area and its officers take every opportunity to bring the advantages of the area to the attention of suitable industrialists. Over 1,000 jobs should accrue in Cardiff during the next year or so as a result of projects which are in hand or in prospect.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that, as a result of tests conducted by the Consumer Advisory Council, 15 out of 22 makes of radiant oil heaters were found to be liable to cause fires in a strong draught; and whether he will ask these manufacturers of oil heaters to draw attention to this danger in their instruction cards and publicity.

I have been asked to reply.I am sure that each manufacturer concerned will consider what action in respect of his product might be appropriate, but I think it better to await the results of the investigation currently being conducted by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research before considering intervention.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when he authorised the new arrangements under which the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society charges a royalty of 1s. per work per disc or tape copy of musical records imported into the United Kingdom; whether he is aware that this involves a fee of 12s. a disc containing 12 copyright tunes; and whether, in view of the substantial import duty already imposed on gramophone records imported into this country and the desirability of avoiding retaliatory measures which may damage the export of British gramophone records and tape recordings, he will investigate this matter with a view to remedial action.

No question of my authorisation arises. This appears to be a case of copyright owners laying down the conditions under which they are prepared to license the importation of records of musical works in which they own copyright. These rights they enjoy by virtue of the Copyright Act, 1956. I have not been consulted and have, in any case, no power to intervene.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is yet able to announce which places he expects to include in the first list of development districts which will be eligible for assistance under the terms of the Local Employment Bill when that measure becomes law.

Yes. Assuming that the Bill passes through its remaining Parliamentary stages without serious delays, the places which we expect to be Development Districts at first are:

asked the President of the Board of Trade what stage has now been reached in the negotiations with the Government of the United States of America for the purpose of raising the quota of woollen textiles imported into the United States of America from the United Kingdom.

The United States Government have obtained the consent of the Contracting Parties of the G.A.T.T. to renegotiate the tariff quota arrangements and are now conducting the necessary domestic preliminary inquiries. These include investigations by the Tariff Commission and the Committee for Reciprocity Information, which started on 1st December and have not yet been completed.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what new arrangements he proposes for making known in the United States of America the opportunities that the United Kingdom offers to American businessmen desiring to set up works in the United Kingdom.

Hitherto the official sources of information available in the United States about opportunities for setting up manufacturing enterprises in the United Kingdom have been the Commercial Section of the Embassy and Consular posts throughout the United States. In addition some Regional Development Associations maintain a permanent representative in New York and bodies concerned with the industrial prosperity of particular parts of the country send across special missions from time to time to stimulate interest.With the easing of restrictions on now investment of this kind during the past eighteen months, I have decided that the time is ripe to take additional steps to draw attention to what the United Kingdom has to offer in this field. An industrial development office is being established in New York for this purpose. A senior official of the Board of Trade will take charge of the office and is expected to arrive in New York on the 19th February. The Government of Northern Ireland has also decided to expand its activities in this field and will be appointing staff to the office for this purpose. The whole office will work as an integrated unit on behalf of the United Kingdom as a whole under the general direction of H.M. Consul-General in New York and of H.M. Minister Commercial in Washington.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that Note 7 of Notice No. 78 relating to goods chargeable with Purchase Tax declares that the sale of a taxable article in parts does not affect its liability and that tax cannot be avoided by such a method; and whether, in view of his recent decision that the Fairthorpe Zeta sports car if supplied in separate parts to be made up by the purchaser, is not liable to Purchase Tax, he will review and modify the terms of the Note in question.

The particular case mentioned involved considerations beyond those dealt with in Note 7. That Note is of general application and remains valid.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that, although a gymnasium coconut mat is chargeable as floor covering at the Purchase Tax rate of 12½ per cent. under Group 9, it is also chargeable at the rate of 25 per cent. under Group 20 as a sports requisite, and that the latter rate accordingly applies; and whether, in view of the desirability of encouraging gymnasium activities, he will rule in the near future that the same rate of tax shall be applied to gymnasium mats as to other floor coverings.

No. The law requires that where goods are chargeable at more than one rate, tax is to be chargeable at the higher or highest of those rates.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that customers inquiring about the price of ladders 11 or 12 feet long, are frequently advised to have a 12 feet ladder, since it is several shillings cheaper than an 11 feet ladder, owing to the fact that ladders up to 11 feet are held to be objects for domestic use and therefore subject to Purchase Tax at the rate of 12½ per cent.; and when he proposes to dispose of this anomaly.

If we are to avoid taxing all industrial ladders we must draw a line somewhere, and I have no evidence that there is any better point than 12 feet at which to draw it.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will reduce the 33⅓ per cent. Purchase Tax on pipe band kilts and uniforms and accessories.

The hon. Member is misinformed. There is no 33⅓ per cent. rate of Purchase Tax. The rate applicable to kilts and uniforms is 5 per cent.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements are being made to ensure that, contemporaneously with the provision of additional accommodation for the training of dental students, there will be sufficient numbers of dental teachers to give the necessary instruction to the students in question.

I am aware that there may be difficulty in recruiting sufficient numbers of dental teachers. The University Grants Committee have this in mind and they will be consulting the universities with a view to making arrangements to meet the situation by the time the additional accommodation is ready.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what sum was paid in cinema tax for the 9 months ending 31st December, 1959.

£5,575,914.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in view of the recent evidence, of which details have been sent to him by the hon. Member for Bristol, Central, of the danger that wind blowing from the Sahara Desert will carry radioactive sand from the French bomb test in the direction of Malta, if he will make the necessary representations and take steps to prevent this danger spreading to British territories.

No. In his speech to the Political Committee of the United Nations General Assembly on 4th November, 1959, Monsieur Jules Moch said: "The experts agree in stating that, to all intents and purposes, there is no wind towards the South, West or North which could carry anything 1,000 kms. from the Saharan site. The sands from Africa which sometimes are found in Southern Europe do not come from the area chosen, but from the African deserts far away from it." Malta is 1,750 kms. (1,090 miles) from the site of the French test.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what are the rules governing the wearing by British subjects of Italian decorations for bravery in the 1914–18 war.

The rules applicable to this matter are contained in a notice published in the London Gazette on 21st June. 1940, announcing the withdrawal of all permission previously granted for the wearing by British subjects of Italian decorations and medals.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty why no reference is made in the official history of the war at sea, by Captain Roskill, to the loss of H.M.S. "Peterel" in her action against overwhelming Japanese forces at Shanghai on 7th December, 1941.

The purpose of the official histories is to provide a broad survey of events during the war; and it would be outside their scope to give details of every operation. An appendix to the last volume of "The War at Sea" will, however, contain a list of all major warships lost.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give further details concerning the estimates of the agricultural subsidies for the United Kingdom to amplify the information contained in the Supplementary Estimates dated 2nd February, 1960, with comparable figures for the preceding year.

Following are particulars of the latest estimates of the cost of agricultural support in the financial

asked the Postmaster-General when he expects the necessary telephone apparatus to be installed to allow automatic dialling in Batley and in Morley.

I expect the Morley exchange to become automatic in 1963 and Batley in 1965.

asked the Postmaster-General what is his estimate of the date when television in colour will be broadcast from Holme Moss station.

I cannot say when colour television is likely to be introduced. The technical problems are still being considered by the Television Advisory Committee.

asked the Minister of Transport what is the cost of work at present in progress at the intersection of A.4 and the Devizes to Swindon road; what is the purpose of this work; whether it is part of a larger project; and why traffic signals are not installed at this intersection.

A roundabout is being constructed at a cost of £30,000 in order to make this junction safer by eliminating a dangerous left-hand stagger on the Class I road. This improvement is being carried out at the same time as a widening of the road westward from the junction at a cost of a further £57,000. Traffic lights would be unsuitable at this intersection because of the volume and speed of trunk road traffic.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that two of a pack of hounds in full cry after a fox were killed by a car on the motorway M.1; and what action he proposes to take to prevent a repetition of such occurrence, in view of the danger to motorists.

I have seen reports of this incident. The responsibility for preventing animals from getting on to the motorway rests primarily upon the persons in charge of them, although the fence provided by my Department is proof against ordinary livestock. I do not consider that any further action on my part is called for on the strength of this isolated occurrence.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many soldiers of the Royal Malta Artillery have been court-martialled for taking part, in civilian clothes, in a demonstration organised by the Maltese Labour Party on 8th December last; and what sentences were imposed upon them.

Three. One of them, who was also convicted of leaving his military duty without permission, was sentenced to 84 days' imprisonment and discharge from the Army. The second was sentenced to 112 days' detention and reduction to the ranks; and the third was severely reprimanded. These sentences are subject to confirmation

asked the Minister of Aviation what are his plans for introducing regulations to enforce all persons operating from private flying clubs to insure against third party risks.

Under the Civil Aviation Act, 1949, all aircraft owners are legally liable to pay compensation for material loss or damage caused by aircraft to persons and property on the surface. It is my understanding that persons operating from private flying clubs in fact insure against such risks, but the position is now being studied.

asked the Minister of Aviation if he will have the 30-minute free car park opposite the main passenger building at London Airport Central marked out in spaces for each car, so as to prevent waste of space by uneven parking.

Yes, as soon as the permanent layout of the area can be decided.