asked the Postmaster-General what consideration he has given to the many problems connected with television and sound broadcasting which will call for decisions before the expiry of the British Broadcasting Corporation licence and the Television Act; and if he will make a statement.

I am giving these problems a great deal of consideration; but I cannot usefully make a statement now.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will institute an inter-departmental inquiry into the congestion of the short-wave general shipping frequency and facilities for radio communication between ship, shore and aircraft in emergency in the Straits of Dover, and on the south-east coast.

I assume that my hon. Friend is referring to the frequency of 2182 kilocycles a second, which, as well as being a general calling fequency, is internationally allocated for the transmission by radiotelephone of distress and urgency messages. The arrangements for maritime distress communications are kept under review both by my Department and by that of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport, and I do not know of any circumstances which call for a special inquiry.

asked the Secretary of State for Air why men who have completed their term of Regular and Reserve service are required indefinitely to keep their complete uniform and kit; and, in view of the deterioration and encumbrance this involves, and the fact that in time the uniforms no longer fit the men and are disposed of or are used for odd jobs, whether he will arrange that either they can be disposed of legally by the ex-Service men or returned to the Royal Air Force.

Airmen who have completed their Regular and Reserve service do not have to keep their kit.

asked the Secretary of State for Air how many airmen of the Royal Air Force Ceremonial Unit have served with that unit less than one year, over one year and less than two years, over two years and less than three years, and over three years, respectively.

The information is as follows:

asked the Minister of Transport if, in the interests of road safety, he will reconsider the suggestion of the Barry Road Safety Committee that he should institute a free distribution of the revised Highway Code on a national scale.

At 6d. a copy, the revised Highway Code is well worth buying. Free distribution on a national scale would cost some £300,000, and I do not believe that the return to be gained from a free distribution would justify expenditure of this magnitude.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will state the number of people who have been injured on the new Manor Way by-pass road, Cardiff; what representations he has received from local authorities; and whether he will make a statement.

From 6th October, 1959, when the Whitchurch By-pass was opened as a through traffic route, to 31st January, 1960, there were 15 reported accidents, which resulted in one fatality and injuries to twelve persons. The Whitchurch Parish Council has made a number of suggestions to us in regard to speed limits, traffic signals and a pedestrian crossing on this length of road. We will consider the imposition of a 40 m.p.h. speed limit on the by-pass if and when Parliament approve the use of that limit on appropriate lengths of road throughout the country. If the by-pass proves suitable for a 40 m.p.h. limit, we will also consider the question of providing traffic lights at the junction with Pantmawr Road.

asked the Minister of Transport what consideration he has given to the introduction of a traffic rule by which vehicles will give way to those on their right at traffic roundabouts.

The problem of priorities at roundabouts or other road junctions has been considered a number of times in recent years. On each occasion it has not appeared that there were grounds for adopting a rule on the subject. A fresh approach is now being made through the appointment of a subcommittee of the Departmental Committee on Road Safety to examine available information about alternative systems and to make recommendations concerning the question of selecting one or more for experimental operation in this country.

asked the Minister of Transport what is the precise nature of the long-term study group which he has now announced is to be set up to probe into the future traffic problems of our cities; in what way this differs from the long-term planning section of his Department which was stated by his predecessor, on 20th February, 1957, to be concentrating on trunk road requirements but also reviewing urban problems including urban motorways; what has been the number of staff employed in his Department on long-term study work in each of the past three years; and to what extent it is proposed to expand its personnel and activity in the near future.

Detailed arrangements have not been completed, but the long-term study group I envisage will range more widely both in scope and in time than the planning section within my Department. As to the last part of the Question, the number of Headquarters staff employed in the planning section in each of the last three years was 10, 13, and 15, respectively.

asked the Minister of Defence (1) in what way the estimated 27 divisions in the German Democratic Republic vary from an equivalent number of British divisions; and whether the number of men and machines is larger or smaller in the German divisions than those of British divisions;(2) why he is not prepared to state on what basis he estimates that the German Democratic Republic has 27 line divisions.

I should like to make it clear that although I have stated previously that I estimate that 27 divisions are in East Germany, these are not all German divisions. In fact, 20 are Soviet divisions. I am not prepared to discuss the basis for my estimates or to go into details of these divisions in Germany because I do not consider that it is in the public interest to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will propose at the United Nations the creation of a permanent international force.

I would refer the hon. Member to what my right hon. and learned Friend said on 17th September at the last General Assembly. I am sending him a copy of that speech.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in whose custody the records of the activities of German military and security forces in Lvov in 1941 are now held.

I am making inquiries about this and will write to the hon. Lady as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government have taken to implement and ratify the Convention of Western European Union, to enable the Agency for the Control of Armaments to carry out its work effectively, signed on 14th December, 1957; how many member-Governments have ratified the Convention so far; and what steps he intends to take to get the Convention into operation, in view of the increasing importance of the control of armaments in Western Europe.

As I told the hon. Gentleman last night, as soon as the Western European Union (Immunities and Privileges) Order, 1959, which the House then approved, has been made, Her Majesty's Government intend to ratify the Convention. No other member State of the Western European Union has yet ratified it, but all the members are frequently reminded of the need to do so.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what review he has conducted during the last three months of the effects of the 50 per cent. and 25 per cent. rates of Purchase Tax upon British export trade.

At this time of year my right hon. Friend reviews all aspects of taxation.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that books which open up in the form of toys and have no independent use as books, as well as children's books which are so designed as to permit children to tear out, either wholly or partly, more than half the sheets therein, including covers, are subject to Purchase Tax at 25 per cent., whereas children's rag books are not subject to such tax; and whether arrangements will be made to exempt all children's books from purchase tax in the same way as books suitable for adults.

Ordinary books, whether suitable for children or adults, are already tax free. Tax is chargeable on articles which, though described as books, are in fact toys; this is reasonable since all other toys are taxable.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why babies' plain teething rings consisting solely of a shaped piece of bone, plastic or rubber, are not chargeable to 25 per cent. Purchase Tax under Group 20 whereas babies' teething beads, which can alternatively be used by the child as a rattle, are subject to such tax; and what would be the effect on the revenue of extending to all babies' teething equipment the same Purchase Tax treatment as is given to plain teething rings.

For the reason given by my hon. Friend in the Question—that teething beads have an alternative use as a rattle. The tax yield from teething rattles is not separately recorded.

asked the Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations whether he will make a statement about the development of mineral rights in the Bamangwato reserve in Bechuanaland.

A mineral concession has been granted by the Bamangwato Tribe to a Bechuanaland Protectorate Company in the Rhodesian Selection Trust Group called "Bamangwato Concessions Ltd.". This concession, which has been approved by my noble Friend, gives the new company exclusive rights to prospect and explore for all minerals, except diamonds, oil and substances such as soil and stone, in the Bamangwato Reserve for a period of up to ten years.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state, for each local authority in Scotland, how much in the £ sterling they levied as rates during the last financial year under Section 132 of the Local Government Act, 1948.

I regret that this information is not readily available.