asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs the number of council houses he expects local authorities to build during 1960.

It is too soon to make a reliable estimate, but at 31st March public authorities had 119,000 houses under construction, which was 12,000 more than a year before.

Does the right hon. Gentleman remember taking part in a party political broadcast on 30th April in which he urged councils to speed up the building of flats, flatlets and bungalows and said that in a good many places we needed more council houses? Can he explain how it is that he is not getting this co-operation from the local authorities? Can the right hon. Gentleman tell the House why it should be that since he became Minister of Housing and Local Government the number of council houses built has been going down year by year? Is he satisfied to see the figures dwindling when millions of people are still living in these uncivilised conditions to which they are condemned?

I am getting co-operation from the vast majority of local authorities, with the exception of a few. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman failed to hear me say that there are 12,000 more houses under construction now than a year ago.

Can my right hon. Friend also give any estimate of the number of private houses being built in the current year?

That is a different question.

Has the right hon. Gentleman noticed that the number of council houses started in the first quarter of this year is about 9,000 less than the number started in the first quarter of last year and that the number of all houses started in the first quarter of this year is some 3,000 less than for the corresponding quarter of last year? Does he regard these figures as satisfactory?

I did note those figures. I note that this year well over 300,000 houses are likely to be built in Great Britain, and I think that a very similar number will be completed next year.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs on what date he adopted the policy of restricting local authority housing programmes for 1960 to approximately the same level as in 1959.

I have taken no decision to restrict the programmes of individual local authorities to the same level as last year. My general aim is to agree programmes that are reasonable in the circumstances of the authority concerned.

Can the right hon. Gentleman explain why the Kirkby-in-Ashfield Urban District Council received a letter last December from his Department saying that

"Consideration has recently been given to the housing programme for 1960 and it has now been decided that this should be roughly the same as in 1959"?

"No official circular is being issued on this occasion"

I have just made a public statement of my policy and stated it to Parliament. The local authority which the hon. Member mentions has had approved by me a programme for 1960 more than 50 per cent. higher that it had in 1959.

May I take the opportunity of thanking the right hon. Gentleman for the action of his Department in increasing my local authority's housing allocation on the day after I put this Question down?

It was not related to the Question. It was related to some additional information which became available, which indicated that the local authority could manage a larger programme.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that what it adds up to is this: that a letter was sent to my hon. Friend's local authority of a character which indicated that it was the Ministry's general policy not to allow more building to be started this year than last; that that was the policy which he adopted, while being coy about putting it in a public circular, in December; that in February he said to me, in the course of debate, that the building of council houses was on the upgrade, although he knew that he had taken action to see that it should not be; that the figures for this year show that the starts of council houses are in fact on the downgrade compared with last year; and, finally, that he made this concession to my hon. Friend's local authority, out of line with the general policy which he has indicated, immediately after a Question was put down? Does he think that that does not show a certain lack of candour in the matter?

What the hon. Member said is a travesty of the facts. I have stated my policy. I have stated that I have taken no decision to restrict the programmes of local authorities to the same level as last year. What I have done with regard to the local authority which has been mentioned proves the truth of that.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he is aware that many local authorities are being forced by the removal of the general housing subsidy to confine their new houses to accommodating slum-clearance tenants; and if he will therefore restore the general housing subsidy so that overcrowded families and young married couples may have a chance of acquiring a house.

I do not accept the suggestion that many local authorities cannot build houses for general needs without subsidy. Most authorities should be able to let new houses at rents the tenants can afford, provided, of course, that they charge reasonable rents for their existing houses. Those authorities who would be faced with unreasonably high rents and rates as a result of further building can apply for the special discretionary subsidy.

Is the Minister aware that, as a result of his policy, thousands of families who have been for sixteen years on the housing lists, however overcrowded and desperate their situation, have no chance at all, and that some of these families even have to board out one or more of their children at night with neighbours? Since most of these people cannot afford to buy a house, what does the Minister advise them to do?

I entirely agree that there are still very serious housing conditions in a number of the big cities. What I regret is that some of these big cities continue to subsidise tenants who do not need the subsidy, thereby retaining them in council houses which ought to become available for people on the waiting lists.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that this situation could be relaxed and alleviated if he were to modify the formula for building council houses for special need? Will the 'Minister look at it again, because, as my hon. Friend says, the situation is extremely serious in many parts of the country?

There is no formula for councils building houses for special needs. There are subsidy arrangements, and there is a discretionary subsidy for those which have to charge excessively high rents and excessively high rates. It is up to the local authorities, in my view, to use the subsidies wisely, and not to pay them out to people who do not need them.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many of the 80,000 houses provided with a bath, hot-water system and other improvements in 1959 were owner-occupiers' or council houses and how many private landlords' houses; and approximately haw many years it will take to provide a bath for every family if this rate is maintained.

I regret that information in the form asked for in the first part of the Question is not available for grant-aided improvements approved before 1st January, 1960. As to the second part, I can make no estimate, as the position is changing all the time. In the first quarter of this year, the rate at which applications for improvement grants were approved shows an increase to over 110,000 a year.

Do not the Ministry's own figures show that only one half of 1 per cent. of private landlords have taken advantage of these improvement grants? Do not these figures show that most private landlords have failed, and, on the basis of last year's figures, will it not take more than forty years before every family in our country has a bath and an inside toilet, and, what is even worse, last year's rate is not likely to be maintained, since this resulted from the new grants which the Government have made?

As I said, the rate is going up all the time, and this year's rate is considerably higher than last year's. In fact, we know that in the first few months of 1960, one-third, or I should say 30 per cent., of all the privately-owned dwellings that were approved for improvement grant purposes were owned by private landlords and not owner-occupied. That is encouraging, so far as it goes.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what further proposals he has to encourage landlords to take advantage of the improvement grants.

Helped by the House Purchase and Housing Act, 1959, the rate at which improvements are being undertaken with the aid of grant is now more than three times what it was a year ago. I want to see the rate go on increasing, and for this purpose I am taking steps by publicity to get the grant schemes more and more widely known.

Does that mean that the publicity will be through the local authorities, or in what form is the Minister likely to use this publicity? As my hon. Friend the Member for Salford, East (Mr. Frank Allaun) has pointed out, if we go on only three times better than last year, it will take a good many years before all the people of this country have baths and inside lavatories, when we could save houses which might otherwise become slums.

I agree with the hon. Lady that this is very important. The rate is improving, and the publicity arrangements include a new film which we have made and which is available for showing. They also include demonstrations of improved houses, and displays at agricultural shows, so as to interest people in the country, as well as at the larger annual exhibitions. Every further opportunity for publicity that I can get I shall take.

Could the right hon. Gentleman arrange for this film to be shown on television, so that some millions of people could thereby see it, and encourage the landlords to take some action?

A shorter film has been shown on television.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, in view of the excessive rise in rents demanded by some landlords of decontrolled working-class property of over £40 rateable value, if he will introduce legislation to empower local authorities or himself to appoint officers who on request would indicate what would be a fair rent for such dwellings.

No, Sir.

Could not the right hon. Gentleman look at this matter more sympathetically? Does he not appreciate that there are a number of working-class tenants who are now expected to pay £4 or £4 10s. a week because of the lack of any rent ceiling for property of over £40 in rateable value? Would not this be a helpful way of indicating what would be a fair rent for the benefit of both the tenant and the landlord?

In the first place, there is not a great deal of property over £40 in rateable value which one would describe as working-class property. In the second place, rent control has done an infinite amount of damage to the proper maintenance of houses and the provision of houses to let, and I am not prepared to reintroduce control where it has ended.

Is the Minister aware that we are getting complaints of this kind of thing from all over the country, as well as from my hon. Friend's constituency? I have had several complaints from Kew and from several parts of the country that landlords, armed with the power given to them by the Rent Act, are demanding exorbitant rents and even leaving their property unoccupied, realising that before long somebody will be driven by desperation to pay the exorbitant rents that are being demanded? Does the right hon. Gentleman think he can stand by and let this situation go on unchanged?

This is very largely a London problem, and there is no doubt that the demand for property in London is very high, but if, in fact, the owners of these properties find that they cannot let them and they are standing empty, my belief is that they will ask for lower rents.

Is not the Minister aware that in London, where the problem is at its worst, a scandalous victimisation of tenants is going on, and that poor people are being held to blackmail in present circumstances?

It was to prevent that that we passed the Landlord and Tenant (Temporary Provisions) Act.

Is the Minister aware that, as an alternative to legislation, I have proposed that there should be a representative of the council in a purely advisory capacity to indicate what would be a fair rent? How does the Minister's argument apply to that proposal?

The hon. Gentleman's suggestion would need some kind of enforcement, and enforcement would restore control. It is control which, as I have indicated, has done so much damage.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he is aware that an applicant for a house in Basildon new town has had his application shelved by the Development Corporation through being unemployed as a result of an industrial dispute at the firm of Bonallack; and what instructions he has issued to development corporations regarding their action in such cases.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware that the Basildon Development Corporation has refused houses to six employees of Bonallack, Body Makers, to whom they had been allocated, because the persons concerned are involved in a wage dispute; and what instructions he has issued to development corporations regarding their action in such cases.

The Development Corporation has not refused houses to any employees of this firm.

Is it not a fact that one of the applicants was advised by the Corporation that he would be housed on 6th June and that last week he was advised that, unless he could satisfy the Corporation that he was in employment last Friday, he would not be allocated a house? Does not this resemble a point of strike-breaking, approved by his Department?

No, it does not. The procedure is that the development corporation of a new town, in order to satisfy itself that the essential feature of a new town—namely, the twinning of housing and local employment—is effective, inquires two weeks before a house is available whether the man concerned is employed. It does not inquire why a man is not employed. The man's position in this case is safeguarded.

Is the hon. Member aware that in order to obtain houses men have to have jobs in the new town? They put themselves down for a house and obtain a job there, and take lodgings in the new town to fill the job until the house is available. They put themselves on the housing list. There is then a trade dispute and they are thrown out of work. The result is that people who were about to get a house do not get it because, technically, they are not employed by the firm. This means that six people are in the position of having pressure put on them to go back to work or to give up all chance of getting a house.

The hon. Member is not correct. A man is employed for this purpose of a new town inquiry until he either is dismissed or quits the job. An industrial dispute is not relevant. Since this strike began the Corporation has supplied houses to nine employees of this firm.

The vital point is that all those persons were in fact employed by Bonallack's and that Bonallack's have taken the course of sending these men their cards with a view to forcing them back to work in order to get houses. Had this happened last December we could have had a position in which forty employees were being forced to go without houses because of this principle.

No one is being denied a house because he has taken part in an industrial dispute. If he is dismissed or quits, then surely the new town corporation is entitled to inquire whether there is a prospect in the near future of his having employment in the new town.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what statistics he has to show that under-occupation of residential property in London has been reduced following the Rent Act, 1957.

I have no statistics, but the census due to be taken next April will show what the position then is.

Does not the Minister recall that one of his principal arguments in favour of the Rent Act was that it would help to ensure the full use of under-occupied premises and in that way make a substantial contribution towards meeting housing needs? Has not experience shown—and the next census will confirm it—that there are no under-occupied premises in many areas of London, including my own, so that this argument has proved to be a fraud and a sham, and that many thousands of people are being condemned to live in sub-human conditions in London for many years to come?

I think all hon. Members who represent London constituencies may know of cases where under-occupation has ceased in the last two or three years. I put it to the House that the findings of the census will be extremely important for all assessments of housing policy.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs the present condition of Ston Easton Park. Somerset; and whether the future of this house of architectural interest has been safeguarded.

The house is deteriorating but still capable of restoration. It is protected by a building preservation order, and efforts to find a use for it are continuing.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will consider issuing a circular to local authorities stressing the importance of not requiring or inducing technical officers in their employ to give expert evidence at public inquiries, other than in accordance with their professional opinion.

I do not think that it would be right for me to interfere in this way in the relations between local authorities and their officers.

Does not my right hon. Friend agree that it is very undesirable for local authorities to expect their officers to give evidence in such cases, because an officer is put in the position of either offending his employer or, perhaps, having to mislead the court as to what he really thinks? Is my right hon. Friend aware that there is considerable anxiety about this, as was shown in the long correspondence recently published in The Times?

I do not think that there is as much practical difficulty about this as that correspondence would indicate. Of course, the officer is not just in the position of an expert witness; he is also the confidential adviser of the council. What I do agree is that he should not be required to disclose what advice he has given to the authority which he serves.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, in view of his rejection of the appeal of Mr. Ancrum Evans against the decision of the London County Council that, although he has permission to use three designated rooms in his residence, 8 and 9 Eccleston Square, for office purposes, he should not be allowed to transfer the permission to other rooms of an equivalent floor-space in the same inter-communicating building, whether he will state the policy of the Government with regard to the right of planning authorities to control the right of an individual to allocate rooms for professional purposes in his own house in the way that suits him best.

My right hon. Friend does not accept that this proposal involved only an equivalent exchange of floor space. The London County Council, whose power to control changes in the use of buildings derives from the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947, has stated in the development plan for the County of London that only in very special circumstances will permission be given for residential accommodation to be changed to some other use; and this policy has my right hon. Friend's full support.

Why should not an owner-occupier be allowed to use any rooms he pleases in his own house for the purposes of his own profession? Ought not such a case to be covered by the Use Classes Order?

There is ample space for professional and business users in London. This area is zoned residential.

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I shall raise the matter on the Motion for the Adjournment.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will make a statement on the threatened demolition of three houses in Carlton Gardens, of 1 Baker Street, and of several houses adjoining it in Portman Square; and if he is satisfied that the existing machinery provides him with powers sufficient to ensure the preservation of buildings of architectural or historic interest.

My right hon. Friend is advised that none of these houses are now of such architectural interest that it would be right to insist on their preservation.

While that may be so, could the hon. Gentleman at least say what is to be put in place of the houses in Carlton Gardens? Will the scale and elevation be appropriate to the surroundings?

Yes, there is power in the L.C.C., and, in the case of Carlton Gardens, there will be a reference to the Royal Fine Art Commission to approve the replacement building before it can be erected.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what further research has been undertaken on the problem of gas liquor being processed by sewerage works.

Research continues: a new large pilot plant is about to start work on the subject.

Does the hon. Gentleman know how long this research is likely to take, because in Stoke-on-Trent this is becoming a very real problem, and it will mean that the whole sewerage works may be put out of action by the amount of gas liquor which we have to turn into it?

I realise that this is locally a serious problem, but the hon. Lady must accept that it is a very difficult problem to solve. I will write to her, if I may, giving her the technical details.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how much grant aid his Department made available during 1959 to local authorities for schemes of industrial land reclamation such as removing or planting up colliery spoil heaps and rehabilitating derelict industrial land.

Grant amounting to £1,838 was approved for this purpose under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, 1949. The Board of Trade approved grants totaling £103,423 under Section 5 of the Distribution of Industry Act, 1945, towards reclamation works in development areas.

Does not the Parliamentary Secretary agree that this is pitiful? Is not this a very big problem which needs thoroughly looking at and the provision of a good deal of public money and drive from his Ministry?

It is open to local authorities in National Parks or areas of outstanding beauty to make proposals. Those were the proposals for which help was given.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many local authorities have applied for assistance for schemes to rehabilitate industrial sites following the passing of the Local Employment Act; and how many of these schemes have been approved by him.

Nine local authorities in England and Wales have made inquiries about grant under the Act, but no formal applications have yet been made, and no approvals given.

Is not this a further example of pitiful legislation and a pitiful attitude on the part of the Government? Parts of the country such as the north of England have large areas of industrial dereliction left by absentee Tory industrialists in the past, and the Government now turn round to the local authorities and say, "It is your job to clear it up" and offer £5,000 or £6,000 to them in the process of doing it. Is it not time that the Government got to grips with this problem?

The hon. Member should have a word with local authorities in the areas concerned. Under the Act they are free to inquire about their proposals. A memorandum telling them about the financial arrangements is under preparation.

What steps do the Minister and his Department intend to take to acquaint local authorities of the facilities which exist under the Act?

The Act has just been published and the evidence of nine local authorities' proposals or inquiries surely shows that they are aware of these facilities.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what are the main facilities available to local authorities outside the development districts for the acquisition or rehabilitation of derelict, neglected or unsightly land; whether the is satisfied that these facilities are adequate; and what assistance is available from the Exchequer for these purposes.

Powers for local authorities to acquire land, including derelict land, and to develop it for particular purposes are contained in numerous Statutes. Where other powers are not available, Section 89 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, 1949, enables local planning authorities to plant trees and carry out works to restore derelict land, and to acquire land compulsorily for these purposes. Outside development districts, Exchequer assistance may be given where the land is in a National Park or area of outstanding natural beauty. My right hon. Friend is satisfied that these powers are adequate.

Is the Minister aware that there is not much land on Merseyside which is in a National Park? Is he further aware that on planning grounds it is highly desirable that developed sites should be used by industries rather than virgin land, and that everything should be done to make them attractive? Is he aware that derelict buildings constitute a source of and incitement to wilful damage and pilfering and are a great menace from the point of view of delinquency. Bearing all these points in mind, will the hon. Gentleman press for action to be taken?

Local authorities in development districts already have these powers. The hon. Gentleman probably knows that an expensive site subsidy can sometimes be claimed if derelict land is used for housing purposes.

As a matter of interest, has my hon. Friend any figures to show what use local authorities have made of these powers?

I gave some answers earlier this afternoon which apply partly to that, but it is really another question which perhaps my hon. Friend will put down.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs on what date he approved the provision of piped water to the villages of Deopham and Hack-ford in Norfolk.

My right hon. Friend approved the scheme for supplying these villages with piped water and authorised the local authority to seek tenders for the work on 26th February.

Is my hon. Friend aware that now, at the end of May, the Fore-hoe and Henstead Rural District Council has not even advertised for tenders? Does not he agree that the authority is handling this matter in a very leisurely fashion? I appreciate the many preoccupations of local authorities, but does not my hon. Friend agree that they really must get a move on in these matters once he has given permission for them to go ahead?

I understand that contract documents are not yet ready, but I am sure that the local authority will get them ready as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether it is still the policy of Her Majesty's Government, as declared in the White Paper on Local Government Finance, Command Paper No. 209, 1957, to reduce the proportion of grants to rates, in local government expenditure, below that of 6 to 5.

What the White Paper said was that it is most important to reduce the dependence of local government on Exchequer grants if it can possibly be done. That must be true; but the context was the Government's decision to make some small reduction in the grants following the increased product of rates due to re-rating of industry to 50 per cent.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that he has not quoted the White Paper quite correctly? It mentions a proportion of 6 to 5 and then says that it is most important to reduce this dependence of local authorities on Government Exchequer grants. In that context "this dependence" means, presumably, the dependence to the extent of a 6 to 5 proportion. I am asking the Minister whether it is the policy of the Government to reduce that proportion?

No, Sir. The hon. Member is reading rather too much into this. Paragraphs 26 to 29 of the White Paper must be read together. There was at that time a proposal to increase the degree of rating of industry and it afforded an opportunity to diminish the dependence of local authorities on Exchequer grants. Surely it is desirable that, as far as possible, local authorities should raise their own revenue.

May we get it clear that this paragraph 26 does not mean what it says? Will the Minister answer this question categorically? Is it the policy of the Government to reduce the proportion of grants to rates below that of 6 to 5 calculated at the time of the White Paper?

The White Paper means exactly what it says. There is nothing sacred about the proportion of 6 to 5. If the hon. Member is insinuating that the Exchequer is likely to do less than its share in support of local revenues, he is wrong.

rose—

Order. The discussion is getting rather wide for Question Time. We must get on.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what recent representations have been made to him by local authorities in coastal areas with regard to the sharing of financial responsibility for the cost of sea defences; and what replies he has made.

My right hon. Friend has received representations from a number of local authorities that the full cost of sea defence works should be borne by the Exchequer. They have been informed that he sees no reason for changing the arrangements whereby local authorities in the coastal areas are responsible for work under the Coast Protection Act, 1949, but are assisted, where appropriate, by Exchequer grants.

Is my hon. Friend aware that, while the Government give most generous assistance towards new works, no assistance is given in respect of maintenance and that, as a result of the new works carried out in recent years, the cost of maintenance has risen largely? In view of the fact that representations have been made by very important local authorities throughout the country, would my hon. Friend undertake—I do not expect an answer now—to look into this matter particularly with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to see whether a new deal for coast protection authorities and river boards might be effected?

Authorities whose rate resources in relation to population are low already get help towards maintenance costs from the rate deficiency grant.

Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that the burden falls heavily on individual householders as well?

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the recommendation contained in Annex II, paragraph III 6 (b) in the report of the Nigeria Constitutional Conference, 1957, to the effect that lump sum compensation should be computed with reference to an officer's final pensionable emoluments, is still operative.

In undertaking a review of pensionable salaries last year the Nigerian Governments attached a condition that the review should not affect pensionable emoluments for the purpose of the lump sum compensation schemes. Since without this condition no review would have been held, my predecessor accepted it as a variation of the arrangements made with the Nigerian Governments at the 1957 Constitutional Conference.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that the comparatively low level of salaries in the last three years has been accepted by overseas civil servants in the belief that they would be compensated by the lump sum compensation? Does not this call in doubt the value of all agreements with emerging territories to the detriment of the morale of civil servants, and why has not this been announced before?

With respect, I think that my hon. Friend goes too far. The dilemma which obviously faced my predecessor was that unless he agreed to this variation of the 1957 Agreement there would have been no review, there would have been no more compensation paid and the officers would not have received the increase in pensionable salary which they now have. Bearing that in mind, and looking back on it. I am sure that his decision was in their interests.

Will my right hon. Friend tell me whether the "dilemma" is not really the Treasury?

Not at all. The Government of Nigeria in this instance were more than reluctant, they did not intend to have a review of this sort unless it did not apply to the category to which the Question of my hon. Friend is directed. Therefore, if my predecessor had not accepted this decision there would have been no salary review.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what progress has been made in implementing the proposals for land development in Kenya outlined in the Report of the Kenya Constitutional Conference, Command Paper 960; and what representations have been made to him by the Kenya National Farmers' Union on the subject.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what consideration he has given to the views expressed by the Kenya National Farmers' Union under the heading "Defence of Kenya's Economy"; and if he will now make a statement about the proposal to set up a land trust fund.

The President and Vice-President of the Kenya National Farmers' Union put their views to my noble Friend and myself in March and April. I was able to discuss these views subsequently with the Kenya Minister of Agriculture who is working out the detailed proposals for a land development and resettlement scheme. As hon. Members may have heard, it was announced recently in the Kenya Legislative Council that if a suitable scheme could be prepared which would attract international finance at the rate of at least £1·5 million a year, Her Majesty's Government have undertaken to provide, up to March, 1964, Exchequer loans of £3·15 million for land purchase.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that, since the Lancaster House Conference, time has been running out very fast? Does not he recognise that there is a growing lack of confidence among Europeans in Kenya, especially among those anxious to work with Africans in the development of the country? Is he seized of the importance of an early decision in this matter in order to restore—I emphasise the word—confidence in Kenya?

Yes, and I should have thought that the announcement of the money provided by Her Majesty's Government, which is quite separate from the undertaking to underwrite given at the Lancaster House Conference, on the one side, and the action of the Kenya Minister of Agriculture in working out this pilot scheme—which I much 'welcome—on the other, show that in both countries we understand it.

Is my right hon. Friend aware of the opinion which is very widely held that not only the political stability and confidence but also the whole economic progress of Kenya depends to a large extent on detailed decisions about this question?

I agree with my hon. Friend, but I suggest that we must keep the two things absolutely distinct. I hope—there are hopeful signs that it will be so—that the World Bank will join in schemes of development and resettlement. But we must face the fact that were these schemes to be basically compensation schemes, we could not hope to attract international finance to them.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in view of the recent lawlessness in Kenya, whether he is satisfied that there has been no revival of Mau Mau activities including oath taking; and if he will make a statement.

The Kenya Government are watching closely for any signs of a revival of the Mau Mau organisation, and are investigating recent reports of oath-taking. But, although there has been some increase in lawlessness there is so far no evidence to show that any lawless act or crime has been specifically committed in furtherance of Mau Mau.

Will my right hon. Friend assure the House, and assure Kenya, that no official endorsement or encouragement will be given to any political organisation which whitewashes Jomo Kenyatta and therefore the bestialities of Mau Mau?

The attitude of Her Majesty's Government was made absolutely clear in this House in my last statement and by the Governor of Kenya in his statement on 9th May.

Will the Colonial Secretary consult with the Governor to see what is to be done about the growing unemployment in Nairobi and in the Colony generally? is not it likely that men who are unemployed are much more liable to give way to violent practices than those who have a steady and a regular job?

There are later Questions on the Order Paper on that point. Certainly unemployment in Nairobi is a disturbing factor and one which I know is very much in the mind of the Kenya Government.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what scale of diets is allowed at the Manyani Special Detention Camp; and whether detainees can apply for transfer to another scale.

The new diet scales for detainees which were introduced on 19th January are set out in the Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 5 of 1960, copies of which are in the Library of the House. The diets are based on maize meal but detainees may apply for issues of rice, wheat and millet flour instead. Detainees are assigned to diet scales according to whether they are doing heavy work, ordinary work or no work at all.

Would the Colonial Secretary not agree that, in view of the fact that most of these detainees have been imprisoned without trial for six or seven years, that they are kept in prison although the state of emergency has been brought to an end, and that they are not allowed to initiate appeals for their release, it is a matter of great importance that they should be subject to good treatment? Has he assured himself that that is the case and that, on the question of diets, the applications for transfer to the higher scales have been genuinely considered?

Detainees are much better off and on higher scales than the prisoners. A memo was sent to me on 11th January from people in this camp and the scales were raised to these new scales on 19th January. On the question of transfer, I am informed that, although it is possible to transfer, in fact few applications have been made to do so.

Can the right hon. Gentleman tell the House of any precedents, at any time in the whole history of the British Commonwealth of Nations or any part of it, where any Government of any party in the British Commonwealth of Nations have claimed and exercised the right to keep in prison for years people against whom no charge has been made, who have never been tried and who have never been convicted at a time when there is no state of emergency in the territory?

There has never been anything comparable to the evil of Mau Mau.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he can now announce when Mr. Jomo Kenyatta, Mr. Achieng Oneko and other political detainees will be released.

With regard to Kenyatta, I have nothing to add to my reply to mfr hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice (Mr. Wall) on 5th May. Achieng Oneko's case will be reviewed by the Appeals Tribunal next month. Other cases are, as I stated in my reply to the hon. Member on 14th April, regularly reviewed.

Is the Minister aware that Mr. Oneko was acquitted of all charges brought against him of being an organiser of Mau Mau, but that notwithstanding this he has been kept in prison for seven years? Will the right hon. Gentleman personally intervene to make certain that this man is released? With regard to the political detainees in Nyasaland, will they be released before the Constitutional Conference takes place?

I am not sure if the last part of that supplementary question is immediately relevant to the Question on the Order Paper, and I should like it tabled as a special Question. It is true that Mr. Oneko was acquitted on the charge of having a hand in the management of Mau Mau, but, as I am sure the hon. Member knows, those who tried the case said that they had no doubt that he was sympathetic to the Mau Mau cause. This case is being reviewed next month, which, after all, starts tomorrow, today being 31st May. I hope that it will be only a few days before I can let the hon. Member know the result of this review.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement about the recent formation in Kenya of an organisation known as "Walinzi" or "Mutangiri"

As C.I.D. investigations into this organisation are still continuing, I would prefer not to make a statement at present.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the present minimum wage for adult African workers in Nairobi; what proportion of African workers receive less than 180 shillings per month; and if it was with his authority that the Labour Commissioner in Nairobi recently stated that the adult African worker with a family needs a minimum standard of at least 180 shillings per month.

The present minimum adult monthly wage in Nairobi, including housing allowance, is 119½ shillings. The proportion of workers receiving less than 180 shillings a month is not known, but the average monthly wage of all Africans in Nairobi in 1959 was, including housing allowance, 204 shillings.

Does not this report of the situation reveal the seriousness of the roots of economic discontent in Nairobi? Is it not now quite clear from these revelations, even before receiving the Government's final report, that the majority of African workers in Nairobi receive a wage which is totally inadequate to maintain themselves and their families, and that there is a considerable proportion of them who cannot achieve this standard because they are unemployed? Therefore, should not urgent measures be taken by the Government to improve this position?

There is a very big difference between the minimum wage and the average monthly wage, as the figures which I have given show, but I do not want to under-estimate the seriousness of this problem. I entirely agree with the hon. Member. I think that this is a most important matter and it is one to which the Kenya Government are giving very high priority indeed.

What does the Colonial Secretary mean by saying that eventually they hope to reach this standard? Are there active plans now which the Government propose to implement so that there can be a target date for reaching a standard of this sort? If not, cannot the Colonial Secretary invite the Colonial Development Corporation and other bodies to go to Kenya with a view to setting in hand an emergency programme to raise the standards there?

I think that there is more to it than that. Questions of raising minimum standards must obviously be related to the economic circumstances of the country. Otherwise, conceivably the matter might be made much worse. There is heavy unemployment in Nairobi. What I meant about the Kenya Government comes out more clearly on the next Question. There are two stages in which they are planning this advance, which is examined every six months by the Council of Ministers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if his attention has been drawn to the recent evidence sent to him by the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme, showing that two-thirds of the African workers in Nairobi are undernourished and inadequately clothed, and that the wages of one-third are so low that they are unable to maintain their families in the city; and what consideration is being given by the Kenya Government to this.

I have seen the newspaper report which the hon. Member sent me, but I have not seen the detailed survey on which it seems to be based. The Kenya Government's immediate aim is to raise the minimum adult wage to a level where it can support a man and his wife, as a first step towards the goal of a level where it can support a family with two children.

Is it not clear that the report of Mrs. Marian Forrester, of the Christian Council of Kenya, has revealed a very grave situation to which the Colonial Office does not seem to be sizing up at all? Is it not ridiculously complacent to say that they are working towards the provision some time in the future of subsistence for the African workers whilst hon. Members opposite are complaining about lawlessness and violence? No wonder there is lawlessness and violence. [Interruption.] Is it not the Government's responsibility to produce a plan which shows that the African workers will be given full employment and a satisfactory wage?

I do not think that the hon. Member is accurate in saying that I have shown in my answers any complacency. My very first reply to him underlined the seriousness of the situation. When there is heavy unemployment in Nairobi, to try to deal at once with the problem of lifting up the minimum wage to the sort of levels the hon. Member is suggesting would not help. People inevitably would do with fewer workers and unemployment would be increased. It is far better that this matter be kept under review by the Council of Ministers and that they move to these levels.

Will not my right hon. Friend agree that, whilst naturally accepting that African wages should be raised to a reasonable level as soon as possible, there is a great danger of creating a magnet in Nairobi to draw in labour from the land, and that the other half of the problem is to see that there is a proper programme of land consolidation and settlement?

I agree with what has been said. Nairobi has been acting unquestionably as a magnet lately, and that has been in part the cause of the trouble. There have been signs that that position has eased, and for the last month or so there has been something of a return from the towns and a reversal of the flow which was so obvious only a short while ago.

Whether or not the Colonial Secretary is complacent, the House has a right to be satisfied that he and the Kenya Government have plans for dealing with this situation. Will he undertake to publish what economic or social proposals the Kenya Government have for meeting—not eventually, but within a measurable period of time the need for providing these people with the basic necessities of life?

I have given the two different aims of the Kenya Government. If the hon. Member would like any detailed examination of them, perhaps he will table a Question to me for the first Tuesday after the Whitsun Recess when I will be first for Questions and I will give him as full information as I can.

This is a very serious matter with which we can hardly deal by question and answer. What is now coming out shows that there is a very important and serious situation to deal with. I therefore ask the Colonial Secretary if he will publish a statement of the detailed plans of the Kenya Government rather than that we should have an exchange at Question Time.

I will certainly consider how that can be done. I should have thought that as these questions have been asked in the House it would be better that answers were given in the House. If the hon. Member wants to find another method, I will be glad to consider that.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what arrangements have been made for the operation of the airport of Tiko after 1st October, 1960.

After Nigerian independence the Southern Cameroons Government will operate Tiko Airport with staff lent by the Government of the Federation of Nigeria on a reimbursement basis.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what structural changes have taken place in the docks at Valetta; and why the replanning work has been stopped.

No major structural changes have taken place, although essential preliminary works are under way. The replanning work has not been stopped.

Is the Minister aware that twelve months ago we were promised that work would start on the docks immediately, but apparently nothing has been done, except the making of roads? That was stopped suddenly one month ago. Will the Minister tell us why the road making was stopped? Is he aware that the men have been told that Baileys are encountering some difficulties? If they are, can he tell us what the difficulties are, if they are with the Government?

That supplementary question goes a long way wider than the Question on the Order Paper. I should like to look into the question of roads. Much other work has been going on, but I should like to look at that particular point. From the very beginning of this agreement Baileys have suggested that there should be a wider agreement and a variation of the original plan. Discussions on that matter are still under way.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the lifting of passport arrangements between Spain and Gibraltar.

Passports are still generally required for travel between Spain and Gibraltar, but a visa abolition agreement between Spain and the United Kingdom was signed in Madrid on 13th May, and will come into force on 15th June. This agreement extends to a number of dependent territories including Gibraltar.

I have made many criticisms of Spain's attitude to Gibraltar in the past. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this change of policy, which includes Gibraltar, is greatly welcomed by Gibraltarians, not so much for the benefits which it will bring, but because it is the first friendly gesture for years and there is a hope that, having started, there will be more to follow?

While acknowledging this very beneficial relaxation of restrictions, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman to look into the question from time to time of further relaxations, as the position vis-à-vis Gibraltar and Spain is not yet back to what it was before the visit of Her Majesty the Queen to Gibraltar a few years ago?

This is a very welcome improvement indeed. It will make a great difference to those who live in that area and wish to travel backwards and forwards.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will give a report on the progress being made with the development plan in the Seychelles.

In general a reasonable rate of progress is being maintained in carrying out the projects listed in "A Plan for Seychelles" and a considerable number of schemes are under way. There are, however, some important aspects of the programme, such as the improvement of overseas communications, the establishment of a technical secondary school and the improvement of water supplies, on which it has not been possible to make as early a start as the Seychelles Government would have wished.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the last matter he mentioned, namely, improvement of the water supplies, is perhaps one of the most important affecting this small but very pleasurable Colony? If the health and vitality of the Colony is to be improved, something must be done immediately to improve the water supply.

Yes, I quite agree. The water supply is one of the most important points. The difficulty here in the end is the allocation of money. This is quite an expensive scheme and already a substantial Colonial Development and Welfare contribution has been made to it.

Will the Secretary of State put in the OFFICIAL REPORT a list of the development activities which have been undertaken within the last eighteen months?

Copies of "A Plan for Seychelles" are in the Library. I could circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a progress report on the work done, if that is what the hon. Member means.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps are taken to publicise the activities and existence of the Resettlement Bureau of his Department.

The existence of the Overseas Service Resettlement Bureau as a valuable source of manpower has, as stated by my predecessor in the House on 11th November, 1958, been brought to the notice of a number of leading industrialists, and articles have appeared in business journals. The Bureau has also been brought to the attention of the regional councils of the Federation of British Industries, the Associated British Chambers of Commerce, and the regional offices of the Ministry of Labour.

Does not my right hon. Friend think that further efforts should be made to publicise the activities of the Bureau? Is he aware that there is a feeling among many ex-colonial servants that adequate arrangements are not made for their resettlement and that their future employers do not know of the existence of the Bureau?

Yes. I think that we could do more, and I am trying to see how we can do more now. This is an extremely valuable Resettlement Bureau, and I agree that its activities should be more widely known.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what complaints he has received regarding the electoral register for the Northern Cameroons based on the experiences of the last plebiscite in this area.

None, Sir.

Is the Secretary of State aware that very great discontent was expressed in the Northern Cameroons following the last plebiscite, firstly because thousands of Africans were not included in the register because they could not produce tax receipts and, secondly, because not one African woman was included in the register, although half of the population are not Moslems.

The hon. Member's Question asked me what complaints I had received. The Answer to that Question is "None". On the point he has raised, there is to be a new registration this year and women will be included in the plebiscite on the basis of universal suffrage. Therefore, both points raised by the hon. Member are met.