asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the support price for suitable ware potatoes of the 1959 crop, and also the average price realised for ware potatoes, grown in Scotland during 1959, which have been marketed between 27th September, 1959, and the present date.

The guaranteed price for eligible potatoes of the 1959 crop in the United Kingdom is £12 14s. per ton. It is provisionally estimated that the average price realised by Scottish growers for the period 27th September, 1959, to 30th January, 1960, is about £10 2s. per ton.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many boys and girls, respectively, left school at the most recent leaving date.

The returns from education authorities showing the number of pupils finally leaving school between 16th September, 1959, and 15th January, 1960, are not yet available, but I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as I receive them. I understand that over 9,000 boys and over 8,000 girls were expected to leave in that period.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what sum he is spend- ing on research into the cause of migraine; if he will state where specific treatment for this disease can be obtained under the National Health Service in Scotland; and what assessment is being made of treatment results.

No application has been made to me or to the Advisory Committee on Medical Research for a grant towards research of this kind. Specific treatment is available at hospitals in various parts of the country, and doctors providing that treatment are constantly assessing its results.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is satisfied that his economic advisory staff have sufficient resources to study the reports and prospectuses of expanding companies and are in a position to invite such companies to visit development areas, with a view to their establishing branch factories; and if he will make a statement.

Applications for industrial development certificates are our main source of early information about expansion proposals, and my Department is in touch with industry in many other ways. From time to time the Parliamentary Secretary and I have discussions with chairmen of large organisations, and the Board of Trade regional controllers endeavour to keep in close touch with industrialists in their areas. In these ways it is a day-to-day function of the Board of Trade to persuade such companies to expand in development districts.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he proposes to take to assist the National Coal Board to recover its former export markets.

The National Coal Board and private coal exporters are well aware of the Board of Trade services available to exporters and that I am always ready to do whatever I can to help them. I shall continue where appropriate to urge other Governments to treat our coal exports fairly.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what arrangements have been made with Messrs. Ford's for an expansion of this firm's activities on Merseyside and elsewhere.

I am still discussing with the Ford Motor Company the terms of Government financial assistance for its Merseyside project, but I informed the company that Her Majesty's Government could not reserve Merseyside for one particular firm. The company has asked for and received the necessary industrial development certificates.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give particulars of the 300 or 400 new jobs which are stated to be already in prospect in Accrington.

The estimate of 300 or 400 jobs for the Accrington area is based on confidential information provided by the firms concerned. Two of these (one of them from outside the area) have taken over vacant textile mills. Another is proposing to extend existing premises and others have been granted D.A.T.A.C. assistance. New factory building is involved in two cases.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what are the means of officially advertising the availability of sites for industry in the north east: and what advice he has given to local authorities with regard to correlating the availability of sites to industrialists who are planning factory extensions.

My Department draws the attention of firms seeking factory space to the facilities of the area, and the county authorities and the North Eastern Trading Estates Limited freely advertise the availability of industrial sites. The closest co-operation exists between my Department and the local authorities to ensure that adequate and suitable sites are available for future industrial needs.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the places contained in the Tyneside South-West area which have not been included in the first list of areas to receive assistance under the local employment areas.

Tyneside South-West District includes the Ministry of Labour Employment Exchanges of Blaydon, Felling, Gateshead and Prudhoe. None of these has been listed.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the value of exports of the British film industry in 1959.

Information is collected annually by the Board of Trade on the overseas earnings of British films remitted to the United Kingdom. Figures for 1959 are not yet available, but it is hoped to publish them shortly. I will send the hon. Member a copy of the figures when they are published.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what purposes he continues to impose 25 per cent. Purchase Tax on a large range of electrically operated domestic equipment designed to save labour in the home, whilst freeing from Purchase Tax a large range of inefficient and out of date analogous domestic equipment; what is the present annual revenue obtained from such tax; and by what date he anticipates it will be possible to do without this particular source of revenue.

In answer to the first part of this Question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given him on 18th February, 1960; in answer to the second part, to the reply given him on 17th December, 1957; and in answer to the third part, I must once again say that I cannot anticipate my Budget decisions.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the fact that it is now compulsory to fit guards to all electric fires, arrangements will be made to free from Purchase Tax that element of cost in any electric fire which is attributed to the provision of such guards.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that garden rollers and lawn mowers are charged Purchase Tax at 25 per cent., whilst only half that rate is charged on a large range of less essential garden equipment such as arches, awnings, umbrellas and pergolas; and whether, in view of the desirability of facilitating essential gardening operations, he will now reduce the high rate of Purchase Tax on garden mowers and rollers, or abolish it altogether and bring such equipment into line, for Purchase Tax purposes, with other garden tools which are free of Purchase Tax.

Once again I must remind my hon. Friend that I cannot anticipate Budget decisions.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the estimated revenue in 1958, or in the latest convenient period, derived from motor fuel tax and vehicle duties, respectively, in respect of the 66,000 public road passenger vehicles with over eight seats licensed in 1958; and if he will give similar figures for the 339,000 vehicles over one-and-a-half tons but not over three tons, and the 155,000 vehicles over three tons, respectively, which we licensed in 1958 under A contracts and B licences, respectively.

As regards motor fuel tax, the estimated revenue from public road passenger vehicles in 1959 was about £30 million. I regret that no information is available for the particular classes of goods vehicles mentioned in the second part of the Question.As regards vehicle excise licence duty, the estimated revenue must necessarily be based on the numbers of vehicles licensed as at a certain date. The number of public road passenger vehicles licensed on 31st March, 1959, was 73,268 and the estimated revenue for a 12-month period £3 million. As to goods vehicles, the following are the figures as

at 31st December, 1959, and the estimated revenue for a 12-month period:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total amount of premium bonds sold and the amount withdrawn at the latest convenient date.

Up to the end of February 1960, sales totalled £288 million and withdrawals £36 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the total amounts of loans made to local authorities by the Public Loans Board, for the years 1957, 1958 and 1959, respectively.

£120,814,008, £116,469,465 and £43,853,020 for the financial years ending 31st March, 1957, 1958 and 1959, respectively.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury why the Board of Inland Revenue has decided to transfer the Rating Valuation Office for the south eastern region from Ashford to Dover.

The Rating Valuation Office at Ashford was merged with the Dover Office on 26th February, in the interests of economy and efficiency. Members of the public will not be inconvenienced, since the work is largely carried on by correspondence and, where necessary, the valuers concerned will arrange to meet them in their own locality.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the total estimated above-the-line Government expenditure, including estimates and Consolidated Fund expenditure, as put forward in successive Budget statements at the beginning of each financial year from 1952–53 to the present financial year, the total of Supplementary Estimates for each year, including 1959–60, to date, and the final out-turn of expenditure, on a comparable basis, for each year up to and including 1958–59.

The information requested is contained in the following

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what extent the Organisation and Methods Department of the Treasury is responsible for suggesting economies in the expenditure on the Army, Navy and Air forces, respectively.

The Service Departments each have their own Organisation and Methods Divisions and Work Study units. The help given by the Treasury Division consists mainly of advising the three Departments from time to time on specific problems of organisation, method and procedure, or on office mechanisation and equipment. The main Treasury responsibility for controlling Services' expenditure rests with the Treasury Supply and Establishment Divisions who, where appropriate, avail themselves of the advice of the Treasury Organisation and Methods Division.

asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer in which Scottish universities there is a department of rheumatology.

While none of the Scottish universities has a department of rheumatology, work on this subject is done at the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and St. Andrew's.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury when the evidence taken by the Radcliffe Committee on the working of the monetary system is to be published.

On Tuesday, 15th March.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will make a detailed statement concerning the representations which should be made to him by owners of requisitioned houses who have cause for the exclusion of their houses from any order which he may contemplate making under the Requisitioned Houses Bill when it becomes law.

I am prepared to consider representations where the owner of a requisitioned house thinks that inclusion of the property in an order under the Bill would cause him serious hardship.Representations should be made as soon as possible. In making them, the owner should explain the nature of the hardship which might be suffered, and the circumstances giving rise to it. If he wants the requisitioned house for his own occupation, he should give details of the tenure of his present accommodation and the reasons why he needs to obtain vacant possession of his requisitioned house on 1st April next. If serious hardship is claimed on financial grounds, this should be supported with details of any commitment or liability which the owner may have undertaken on the assumption that his property would be derequisitioned by 31st March. In all cases information should be provided showing the owner's legal interest in the requisitioned property and the date when that interest was acquired. A copy of the owner's representations to me should be sent simultaneously to the local authority in possession of his property.The purpose of the Bill is to prevent licensees in a limited number of cases from becoming trespassers on 1st April. In considering an owner's application for the exclusion of his property from an order, I shall weigh his claims against the ability of the local authority to re-house the occupants of the house in the time remaining before 31st March.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the composition of the advisory committees established under Section 8 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, 1949, in respect of each of the existing national parks; and if he will indicate in each case any special qualification of individual members to represent particular interests, whether of those for whom the parks are intended to provide amenities or those dependent upon the land within the parks for their livelihood.

Advisory committees have been set up in three national parks. Their composition is given below. The members nominated by me were recommended to me by the National Parks Commission on account of their interest in the objects of national parks and their knowledge of the park in question, not because of any qualification to represent particular interests. As to the other members, their selection and qualifications are entirely the responsibility of the county councils concerned.SNOWDONIA PARK JOINT ADVISORY COMMITTEEMembers appointed by the County Councils on the nomination of the Minister of Housing and Local Government:

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what progress is being made by the Local Government Commission for England; and whether he will make a statement.

I understand that the Commission yesterday sent their first draft proposals to the local authorities and other bodies concerned. These cover three separate review areas, namely the West Midlands special review area (Birmingham and the Black Country), the East Midlands and the West Midlands.

asked the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on the recent Report of the Committee on Conflicts of Jurisdiction Affecting Children, Command Paper No. 842, with particular reference to the policy of the present Government regarding the recommendations of that committee.

The Government welcome this Report, but it raises several difficult questions which will need careful examination before any decision on legislation can be reached.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the amount per ton and the percentage of price of the fertiliser subsidies on the fertilisers listed in appendix 3 of the Report of the Monopolies Commission on the Supply of Chemical Fertilisers.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state the number of full-time agricultural workers employed on agricultural holdings in England and Wales at the end of each year from 1955 to 1959.

The information is as follows:

I am assuming that the hon. Member wishes to have the figures for 1959–60, which are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how much of the promised contribution of £200,000 by the Government to the World Refugee Year Fund has so far been contributed; when the full amount is expected to be paid; and, in view of the contributions made by individuals, if he is yet able to say whether the Government will increase the amount promised.

I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the replies I gave on 26th January to the hon. Member for Wednesbury (Mr. Stonehouse) and on 22nd February to the hon. Member for Erith and Crayford (Mr. Dodds). We propose to pay a further £50,000 of our pledged contribution to the United Kingdom Committee for World Refugee Year later this month, and the balance of £100,000 in April.

asked the Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations if he will make a statement about the conversations of the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations in the Central African Federation.

My noble Friend met the Prime Ministers of the Federation and of Southern Rhodesia together with their Ministerial colleagues. Details of the conversations are, of course, confidential. My noble Friend was anxious to hear at first hand the views of the Federal and Southern Rhodesian Cabinets on how they see the future shape of events in the Federation in this important period leading up to the Federal Review Conference. His discussions were most valuable for this purpose.

asked the Secretary of State for Air when he expects to complete the sale of the hangars at the ex-flying boat base at Wig Bay, Stranraer.

We hope to sell the hangars by public auction towards the end of April or early in May.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why the subjects and departments formerly dealt with by the Kenya Minister for African Affairs have now become the responsibility of the Chief Secretary of Kenya.

The Kenya Government announced in May, 1959, their intention ultimately to transfer responsibility for the Provincial Administration to the Chief Secretary, who is the senior Minister and Head of the Kenya Civil Service. The retirement in February of the Minister for African Affairs gave a suitable opportunity for this transfer to be carried out.

asked the Minister of Health, as representing the Minister for Science, what official reports, including reports from African territories for which Her Majesty's Government are responsible, he has received with regard to the creation of radioactive fall-out following the recent French atomic test in the Sahara Desert.

The only official observations available to Her Majesty's Government from stations outside the United Kingdom come from those set up in Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Gambia. Samples at those stations show that the highest level of radioactivity measured in the fall-out was such that the dose to the general population including children would be much less than that admissible each year according to the recommendations of the International Commission of Radiological Protection.

asked the Minister of Labour how many boys and girls, respectively, who left schools in Scotland at the most recent leaving date, are still without work.

602 boys and 226 girls who left schools in Scotland in December last were still unemployed on 15th February. This represents 4·8 per cent. of the total number of young persons known to have left schools in Scotland in December, 1959.

asked the Minister of Labour how much was paid in unemployment benefit in the years 1958 and 1959 in the Hartlepools.

Payments of unemployment benefit to persons registered at the Hartlepools and West Hartlepools Employment Exchanges in 1958 totalled £146,577. The amount paid in 1959 was £219,846. Owing to the incidence of statistical dates, the figures for 1958 include 13 days in December, 1957.

asked the Postmaster-General when he will provide a telephone at the London office of Messrs. Hills Haulage (Swindon) Ltd.

In about a week's time.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will make a statement as regards the maximum limit on earnings for the purpose of eligibility for war pensions unemployability supplement.

Yes. After reviewing the matter in the light of present conditions, Her Majesty's Government propose to increase this limit from £52 a year to £104. The change will become effective in two or three months' time, when the necessary amendments have been made to the War Pensions Instruments.

asked the Minister of Transport how many people are now waiting to take driving tests at the Dartford Testing Centre; how this compares with a year ago; and how long is the waiting time now as compared with a year ago.

At the present time there are about 1,500 people waiting to be tested at the Dartford centre as compared with about 1,100 a year ago. People currently applying for driving tests are being offered appointments 12 weeks ahead. This compares with a waiting period of 8 weeks at the same date last year.

asked the Minister of Transport what is the proportion of cars registered over 10 years ago to the total of all cars registered in 1959; and what is the accident rate in these two groups, given as a percentage of the whole.

No information is available about the proportion of cars licensed in 1959 which were first registered over 10 years earlier, but it is known that 23·7 per cent. of all cars licensed in 1959 and 30·1 per cent. of those licensed in 1958 were registered before 1st January, 1947. The comparative accident rates in 1959 are not available, but analyses made by the Road Research Laboratory show that the number of cars which were involved in fatal and serious accidents in 1958 was 5·9 per 1,000 for cars registered before 1947 and 7·9 per 1,000 for cars registered later. To interpret these figures some knowledge of the distances travelled by old and new vehicles is required. Unfortunately this is not available.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will give support to the building of an experimental nuclear ship in Great Britain as a research project as advocated by the United Kingdom Chamber of Shipping.

As the House knows, I have already invited tenders for two types of nuclear reactor with propelling machinery for installation in a large tanker. The question of an order for the building of such a tanker will be further considered when the tenders have been received. Account will be taken at that stage not only of what the tenders disclose, but of the progress made with other types of reactor which show promise for application to shipping. Meanwhile, I shall discuss with shipowners the suggestion that they might form a consortium to own and arrange for the operation of the tanker.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will give, for the three months following the opening of M.1, the number of casualties, killed, seriously injured, and slightly injured, on M.1 and on the com- parable length of A.5, respectively; and if he will give similar figures for the same length of A.5 for a comparable period before M.1 was open to traffic.

The following table shows casualties reported by the police in

asked the Minister of Works if he will make a statement on the future of the Committee appointed in 1955 to advise on works of art in the House of Commons.

With the agreement of Mr. Speaker, I have re-appointed the Committee. My hon. Friend the Member for Farnham (Sir G. Nicholson) has agreed to continue as Chairman, and the hon. Members for Cambridge (Sir H. Kerr), Deptford (Sir L. Plummer) and Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Dr. Stross) have consented to serve again. The hon. Members for Ealing, South (Mr. Batsford), Tonbridge (Mr. Hornby) and Harrogate (Mr. Ramsden) have joined the Committee to fill vacancies resulting from the dissolution of the last Parliament.

asked the Minister of Works what are his plans for an exit approximately 100 yards to the west of the Victoria Gate in Hyde Park to facilitate the flow of traffic in that badly congested area.

As my hon. Friend was informed by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport on 10th February, the recent widening of the Victoria Gate has helped the traffic flow considerably. I have no plans for another traffic exit in this area.