asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Commission on the Civil Service in East Africa announced on the 24th May will include in its inquiry civil servants who are not members of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service, and also locally recruited civil servants.

Yes, with the exception that in Tanganyika at the request of the Government of that Territory the Commission will confine its inquiries to conditions of service of expatriate officers only.

asked the Minister of Education, as representing the Minister for Science, if he will make a statement on the recent visit to Aberdeen of the Minister for Science, indicating his present plans for the continuance and development of scientific work in Aberdeen, with particular reference to the Greyhope Road factory, the Torry Research Station, and the Rowett Research Institute.

My noble Friend took the occasion of his visit to Aberdeen to see the work of a number of research institutes but plans for the future of these establishments are primarily the province of the Research Councils. Both the Torry Research Station and the Rowett Research Institute have considerably extended their programmes in recent years and this expansion will continue as the need arises. My noble Friend also visited the Marine Laboratory which is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Scotland, but he did not visit the Greyhope Road factory. This is, as the hon. and learned Gentleman will be aware, the concern of my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, who answered Questions in the House in this connection on 12th May.

asked the Minister of Health if any arrangements are to be made to keep the remuneration of doctors employed by public health authorities under constant review, now that a review body has been proposed by the Pilkington Commission for all other doctors.

The remuneration of medical staffs employed by local authorities falls to be settled between the representatives of the employing authorities and the staffs, through the appropriate negotiating machinery, which is Committee C of the National Health Service Medical Whitley Council. Any suggestion that these arrangements need to be modified would be a matter for the representatives of the staffs to take up with the representatives of the authorities.

asked the Minister of Health if he will review the arrangements for domiciliary visits by consultants; and if he will remove the present inequity between whole-time and part-time consultants by making the first eight consultations of whole-time consultants qualify for separate fees.

The terms of service referred to were agreed through Committee B of the Medical Whitley Council. I see no reason for proposing an alteration in this agreement which was reached after considering all the circumstances and in which no change is recommended by the Royal Commission on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instructions are given to members of the Metropolitan Police as to the circumstances under which they may remove a motor vehicle without its driver's or owner's consent.

The circumstances in which the police are empowered to remove vehicles from the roads are laid down in the Removal of Vehicles (England and Wales) Regulations, 1957.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instructions are given to members of the Metropolitan Police as to what constitutes obstruction by a motor vehicle.

The question of what constitutes an obstruction is one of law, and falls to be determined by the courts. The Commissioner of Police is responsible for enforcing the law and the instructions he issues, in this as in other operational matters, are confidential.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the minimum rank and length of service of the officers of the Metropolitan Police who decide that a motor car should be removed without its owner's or driver's consent.

I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that no officer below the rank of sergeant, who would normally have at least five years' service, is authorised to order the removal of a vehicle from the streets without the consent of the owner or driver.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are taken by the Metropolitan Police to prevent another motor car parking in the space left by a motor car which has been removed by police officers without its owner's or driver's consent, from a kerb-side position on which there is no indicated restriction of parking.

Only by constant supervision, which is not generally practicable, can the police prevent another vehicle from occupying the space left by a vehicle which has been removed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when police officers of the Metropolitan Police commenced to remove motor cars without their owners' or drivers' consent in substantial numbers.

When the Removal of Vehicles (England and Wales) Regulations, 1957, came into force on 1st May, 1957.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the monthly totals of motor cars removed by the Metropolitan Police without their owners' or drivers' consent for the year ended 31st May, 1960.

The totals for the thirteen periods of four weeks beginning on 1st June, 1959, and ending on 29th May, 1960, were as follows:

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will make a statement on the omnibus accident on the Kirkstone Pass, Westmorland, in which two persons were killed and 60 injured.

I take this opportunity first to express my deepest sympathy with the relatives of the two passengers who were killed and with those who were injured in this accident.According to the reports which I have received, two vehicles were involved—a 1951 Bedford coach, followed by a 1950 Commer coach. At the beginning of the run down the Pass, the two vehicles were fairly well apart, but about half way down, the Bedford, as it was turning a left-hand bend, was struck on the offside rear corner by the Commer vehicle, and, as a result, was forced off course, ran into a low stone wall, went right off the road, turned over and finished on its roof. The upper part of the vehicle was crushed down almost to the level of the seat backs. The Commer vehicle was thrown across the road and turned over on its side. The two people who were killed were in the Bedford. Inquiries are still proceeding.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that over the Easter weekend this year the number of people killed in road accidents in Lincolnshire was more than twice the number killed in any of the previous ten Easter weekends, and the number of people injured was more than the number injured in any of the previous ten Easter weekends; and what plans he has to reduce the number of road accidents.

As the hon. Member will know from the reply I gave him on 5th May, I am well aware of the figures to which he refers. While I deplore the increase in the number of fatalities, three of the six deaths resulting from road accidents in Lincolnshire during the Easter weekend this year occurred in a single accident.As regards the second part of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave to a similar Question by the hon. Member for Bristol, South-East (Mr. Benn) on 9th March.

asked the Minister of Transport what will be the effect upon the railway modernisation programme of the decision to maintain Government capital expenditure during the coming year at existing levels; and whether it is still intended to complete the electrification of the Euston main line by 1964.

The programme of expenditure on investment in the public sector for 1961–62 is now being reviewed, and it is not yet possible to forecast how different parts of the programme, such as railway investment, may be affected.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that, taking the internal purchasing value of the £ sterling as 20s. in October, 1951, it had declined to 18s. 3d. in May, 1954, and to 16s. 1d. in May, 1957; and what was the comparable figure for May, 1960.

Yes, on the basis of the index of retail prices. The comparable figure for May, 1960, is 15s. 3d.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much additional revenue has accrued to him by taxation on excess rents, since the introduction of the Rent Act.

This information is not available.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance when he will be ready to let the hon. Member for Swindon know the outcome of his inquiries about Trooper P. J. Donovan.

I wrote to the hon. Member on 28th June.