asked the Minister of Aviation how much has been spent on the development of each of the following missiles, namely, Thunderbird, Bloodhound, Firestreak, Blue Steel, Sea Cat, Sea Slug, Blue Water, and Black Knight; when these weapons will be ready; and what has been spent on development and purchase of the aircraft Victor, Vulcan, TSR2, NA39, Lightning, Javelin, Scimitar, and Sea Vixen, respectively.

It would not be in the public interest to give so much information on the progress of our weapon development programme.

asked the Minister of Aviation if he is aware that London is the only capital city in the world with no airport for private light aeroplanes, that London's proximity to the continent of Europe encourages tourist trade for light aeroplanes, and that this inadequacy frustrates such traffic and deprives the United Kingdom of foreign currency and trade; and if he will take immediate steps during this summer holiday season to rectify this inadequacy.

There are a number of aerodromes available for private aircraft in the vicinity of London. These include, within a 25 miles radius, Denham, Leavesden, Elstree, Panshanger, Stapleford Tawney, Biggin Hill, Fair-oaks and Gatwick.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the amount of compensation, due under Section 36 of the National Health Service Act, 1946, which has not yet been paid to doctors; and how much is being paid to them annually by way of interest at 2¾ per cent.

The amount outstanding on 30th June, 1960, was £35,740,000 and gross interest paid during the year ended on 31st March, 1960, was £1,040,000.

asked the Minister of Health what percentage of the population he estimates have their medical treatment outside the provisions of the National Health Service; and what recent evidence he has which shows a decline in private practice.

Exact information is not available but it has been estimated that the percentage of persons not on the lists of doctors taking part in the National Health Service is in the order of 3 per cent. I have no factual evidence bearing on the last part of the Question.

asked the Minister of Health what funds are available at present to the Group Practice Loans Committee; and if he will investigate the circumstances in which an application for a loan from a group practice at Chasetown, near Lichfield, Staffordshire, was turned down by that committee.

The funds available to the Group Practice Loans Committee for 1960/61 are approximately £150,000. All of this has already been lent or promised and the Committee has decided not to consider further loans for the time being. I understand that the group practice at Chasetown has been informed of this decision.

asked the Minister of Health when the constituent of the hon. Member for Lichfield and Tamworth, details of whose case have been sent to him, will be provided with facilities for domiciliary occupational therapy at Burntwood, Staffordshire.

The Staffordshire County Council who are responsible for services for handicapped persons inform me that an officer has now visited the person concerned with a view to arranging for him to engage in a suitable form of occupational activity in his home.

asked the Minister of Health what is the total number of maternity beds estimated to be required in the Swindon area.

One hundred and three on the basis of the present population of the area served by the Swindon and District Hospital Management Committee.

asked the Minister of Health what is the number of midwives available in the Borough of Brentford and Chiswick; and how that figure compares with the one for 1955.

I understand that, for domiciliary midwifery, the Borough of Brentford and Chiswick shares with neighbouring areas the services of 7 trained midwives, compared with 5 in 1955; and that at the Chiswick Maternity Hospital 20 full-time trained midwives and 1 part-time midwife are employed, compared with the same number of full-time and 5 part-time midwives employed in 1955.

asked the Minister of Health what are the present arrangements regarding the prices of proprietary drugs following the end of the trial period of the Voluntary Price Regulation Scheme on 16th June last.

I have arranged with the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry for a temporary extension of the Scheme until 16th December next to allow further time for the review which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and I are making of the experience gained during the trial period before arrangements for the future are settled.

asked the Minister of Labour how the percentage of turns worked by dockers in Cardiff during 1959 compared with the national average.

I am informed by the National Dock Labour Board that the percentage of turns worked in Cardiff during 1959 was 65 per cent. compared with the national average of 75 per cent.

asked the Minister of Labour how the average weekly earnings of daily dock workers in Cardiff in 1959 compared with the national average.

I am informed by the National Dock Labour Board that the average weekly gross earnings of registered daily workers in Cardiff in 1959 was £13 0s. 7d. compared with a national average of £,14 12s. 5d.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a statement on the use of synthetic oestrogens and antibiotics as additions to animal feedingstuffs; and what action he is taking.

The Agricultural Research Council is at present reviewing the dangers to human or animal health of feeding synthetic oestrogens and antibiotics to livestock. I propose to await the result of these reviews before considering what further action I should take in these matters.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware of the difficulties experienced by rural district councils with low rateable incomes in undertaking meat inspection; and what action he proposes to take to assist them in carrying out their duties.

I realise that this is taking a long time but a great deal of work is being done and I hope before too long to be able to announce further progress towards achieving 100 per cent. meat inspection, which both sides of the House want.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in view of the ending on 12th August next of the three-month period during which British trawler owners agreed to keep their trawlers outside the 12-mile limit to enable Her Majesty's Government to reach a satisfactory agreement with Iceland, and of the danger of strike action by British fishing interests failing the achievement of such an agreement, what he has done, and now plans to do, to resolve those problems within the period stated.

As the hon. and learned Member is aware, my right hon. Friend is in close touch with the Icelandic Government about the question of reaching a settlement of the dispute, but he is not yet in a position to make any statement.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total amount of public money paid out during the cereal year 1959–60 in wheat deficiency payments in England and Wales, the number of farmers in receipt of the said payments, and the acreage of wheat grown in the said year, in each country, respectively.

England				Scotland			Wales
Cumberland	…	…	7	Inverness	…	17	Denbigh	…	…	3
Lancashire	…	…	6	Ross and Cromarty		15
				Nairn	…	1	Merioneth	…	…	2
Northumberland	…	…	7	Aberdeen	…	3	Montgomery	…	…	1
Durham	…	…	1				Cardigan	…	…	3
Yorkshire	…	…	2	Kincardine	…	3	Pembroke	…	…	1
Lincolnshire	…	…	7	Angus	…	10	Carmarthen	…	…	4
Norfolk	…	…	23	Perth	…	12	Brecon	…	…	5
Suffolk	…	…	1	Argyll	…	35	Glamorgan	…	…	10
Essex	…	…	1	Stirling	…	1	Monmouth	…	…	2
Bucks	…	…	1	Peebles	…	1
				Berwick	…	2	Total	…	…	31
Northants	…	…	7	Rosburgh	…	3
Staffs	…	…	1	Dumfries	…	4
Notts	…	…	2	Kirkcudbright	…	6
Salop	…	…	1	Ayr	…	1
Gloucester	…	…	1	Wigtown	…	2
Devon	…	…	1
Somerset	…	…	2	Total	…	116
Wilts	…	…	1
Hampshire	…	…	5
Kent	…	…	1
Total	…	…	78

Most of the vacant properties in England and Wales have been empty for less than six months and are either expected to be occupied shortly by Commission employees or are being improved to facilitate reletting.

Following are the figures.

Cereal Year 1959–60 (July—June)
		Total Deficiency on wheat payments	Number of Growers	Acreage
		£'000*	('000)	('000)
England	…	20,100	71	1,825
Wales	…	120	2	17
* These payments relate to the 5th Accounting Period of the 1958–59 cereal year and the first, second, third and fourth periods of the 1959–60 cereal year. They are made on the quantities sold and despatched by growers in these periods.
N.B.—All the figures in the above table are subject to final adjustments

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many vacant houses were owned by the Forestry Commission at the latest convenient date; and where they are located.

On 15th June, 1960, 225 of the 5,000 properties managed by the Commission in Great Britain were vacant. The locations of these properties, by counties, are given below:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many houses are to be built for the housing of forestry workers and officers during the current financial year; where they are located; and how many are to be provided by housing authorities.

The Forestry Commission plans to start building 60 houses for foresters or forest workers in Great Britain in the current financial year. The

England					Scotland			Wales
Cumberland	…	…	…	1	Inverness	…	1	Denbigh	…	…	5
Derbyshire	…	…	…	1	Aberdeen	…	1	Caernarvon	…	…	1
Salop	…	…	…	2	Perth	…	1	Merioneth	…	…	4
Lincolnshire	…	…	…	1	Argyll	…	8	Montgomery	…	…	3
Kent	…	…	…	1	Stirling	…	2	Cardigan	…	…	4
Surrey	…	…	…	4	Dumfries	…	1	Carmarthen	…	…	3
Sussex	…	…	…	1	Kirkcudbrightshire	…	1	Brecon	…	…	2
Hampshire	…	…	…	1				Glamorgan	…	…	4
Gloucester	…	…	…	1				Monmouth	…	…	3
Devon	…	…	…	2
Cornwall	…	…	…	1
Total	…	…	…	16	Total	…	15	Total	…	…	29

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will break down the figures of net decreases in agricultural area of England and Wales so as to bring up to date the table given in reply to the Question by the hon. Member for Newbury (Sir A. Hurd) on 4th May, 1959.

NET DECREASES IN THE AGRICULTURAL AREA OF ENGLAND AND WALES
Year		Building and General Constructional Development	Sports Grounds	Miscellaneous*	Total
		Acres	Acres	Acres	Acres
War Years:
1939/40–1941/42	…	41,000	+26,600	387,400	401,800
1942/43–1944/45	…	50,100	+ 400	221,600	271,300
Total	…	91,100	+27,000	609,000	673,100
Average per year	…	15,200	+ 4,500	101,500	112,200
Post-war Years
1945/46–1947/48	…	108,100	26,000	+ 149,300	+ 15,200
1948/49–1950/51	…	84,300	24,700	+ 39,800	69,200
1951/52–1953/54	…	98,500	10,100	+ 17,100	91,500
1954/55–1956/57	…	106,900	9,200	+ 10,000	106,100
1957/58	…	27,800	2,500	+ 5,200	25,100
1958/59	…	34,300	2,400	+ 1,600	35,100
Total	…	459,900	74,900	+223,000 (a)	311,800
Average per year	…	32,800	5,400	+ 15,900	22,300
* The expression "miscellaneous" used in Cmd. 6378 (Report of the Committee on Land Utilisation in Rural Areas) refers mainly to certain Government Departments, Service and Civil, but excluding the Forestry Commission.
Plus figures indicate net recoveries.
(a) In the post-war period (1945/46–1958/59) the information derived from the agricultural returns recorded increases of 387,500 acres as being recovered from Government Departments, and decreases of 164,500 acres as being transferred to Government Departments.

The table given below includes the figures for 1958–59, the latest year available. The estimates exclude land which has been converted to allotments, woodlands and forestry development. Over the twenty years to 1958–59, the area of land transferred to these latter uses totalled 419,000 acres.

asked the Minister of Power (1) if he will set out in the OFFICIAL REPORT the amount of compensation paid to date to former coal owners in each district of the United Kingdom in accordance with the Nationalisation Act, 1946:(2) if he will state the amount of compensation on valuation for each district payable to the former coal owners, and the amount of interest payments paid to the former coal owners to date.

The National Coal Board has paid to the Exchequer £83,819,087 interest on compensation for transferred assets—excluding Coal Commission Stock. The compensation payable and paid to the former owners is as follows:

A Valuation District		Amount Apportioned to nearest thousand
		£
1. Northumberland	…	16,745,000
2. Durham	…	39,504,000
3. Cumberland	…	1,117,000
4. Lancashire and Cheshire	…	13,253,000
5. North Wales	…	2,366,000
6. Yorkshire	…	63,383,000
7. North Derbyshire	…	21,420,000
8. South Derbyshire	…	3,886,000
9. Nottinghamshire	…	27,310,000
10. Leicestershire	…	4,609,000
11. Shropshire	…	772,000
12. Cannock Chase	…	7,269,000
13. North Staffordshire	…	8,007,000
14. South Staffordshire	…	1,090,000
15. Warwickshire	…	9,851,000
16. Bristol	…	29,000
17. Forest of Dean	…	919,000
18. Somerset	…	841,000
19. Kent	…	1,783,000
20. South Wales	…	34,011,000
21. Scotland	…	33,832,000
		£291,997,000

The above figures include £164,660,000 in respect of coal industry value; the apportionment of this latter sum between districts was given in S.O. 1949 No. 176, as amended by Section 2 of the Coal Industry Act, 1951.

asked the Minister of Power if he will make a statement setting out in detail the cost to the National Coal Board of the new respon- sibilities borne by the Board and the new services undertaken by it, which were not borne by the industry prior to nationalisation.

The National Coal Board has a general statutory obligation to operate in the national interest. In consequence it has undertaken a number of responsibilities such as providing all the coal required in the public interest, including importing coal at heavy cost when necessary, and building up abnormal stocks of coal and coke to avoid redundancy and unemployment. The Board's predecessors were not required by Statute to undertake these responsibilities. Additional responsibilities have been placed on the Board by legislation affecting subsidence damage, social Welfare and working conditions in the mines. The Board's Accounts show the cost of these and similar activities, but it would be highly speculative to estimate how these costs compare with practice before nationalisation, or with what would have been the present practice if the industry had not been nationalized

asked the Minister of Power what percentage of the total inland fuel consumption was met by coal, and by oil, in 1957, 1958 and 1959, respectively.

The Answer is 84 and 15, 80 and 19, and 76 and 23, respectively.

asked the Minister of Power how many foreign oil companies are marketing their oil and motor spirits in the United Kingdom; in which countries these companies are registered: and what reciprocal trade agreements exist with the countries of origin.

Most of this trade is done by British and Anglo-Dutch concerns and by the United Kingdom subsidiaries of five other international oil groups. These groups are based on countries where British-owned companies enjoy the same freedom to trade as others.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what study Her Majesty's Government are making of Britain's water supplies; what estimate has been made of the consumption per head which will be needed; and how much will actually be available in the form of piped supplies to rural areas and farms in the next twenty years.

This matter is under continuous review. Two reports by a Sub-Committee of the Central Advisory Water Committee on the growing demand for water have been published. In addition, since 1946 surveys have been made of the water supplies of the whole of England and Wales by Engineering Inspectors of my Department. These surveys make suggestions for the development of resources to meet future demands. They are now being supplemented by hydrological surveys of the water resources of certain river basins. The first of these, that for the Great Ouse, has just been published. In assessing future needs, allowance has been made not only for rising consumption per head for domestic use, but also for the rapidly expanding demand for water by industry and agriculture. Water supply schemes in rural areas are designed to keep piped supplies in step with demand.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what proposals the Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield New Town Development Corporation have for the future use of land at Redhall farm, Hatfield, which was designated in the development plan as playing fields.

It is still intended to use this land as playing fields, although I understand there is a possibility that garages may be built on a very small part of it.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many firms or local authorities have been prosecuted for river pollution in each of the past five years.

This information is not available. River Boards need my right hon. Friend's consent before prosecuting under Section 2 of the Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Act, 1951, in respect of trade effluent or of sewage effluent of a local authority, but he does not know how far the consents given are followed by prosecutions.One such consent was given in 1955, none in 1956, four in 1957, two in 1958 and one in 1959.River Boards do not have to inform my right hon. Friend when they proceed under various other powers.

asked the Postmaster-General if he is satisfied with the use being made of the overnight telegram service; and if he will take steps to advertise this service more widely.

This service is uneconomic, but it is designed only to meet a limited demand. I do not feel that it is necessary to advertise the service.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state for January to May, inclusive, April to May inclusive, and May, the percentage by which exports to the United States of America in 1960 exceeded the figures for 1959, and the corresponding figures for exports from the United States of America; and if he will state for each of those periods, in £ million sterling, the difference between exports, free on board, and the cost, insurance, and freight values of imports for trade between the two countries

The following are the figures required.

U.K. Trade with the U.S.A.
	Percent. change 1960 over 1959
	Jan.—May	April—May	May
U.K. exports f.o.b.	+ 9·2	-4·6	+ 7·4
U.K. imports c.i.f.	+58·4	+73·9	+94·8

		Difference between exports f.o.b. and imports c.i.f.
		(£ million)
Jan.—May, 1959	…	14·7
Jan.—May, 1960	…	-49·3
April—May, 1959	…	17·7
April—May, 1960	…	-23–6
May, 1959	…	8·8
May, 1960	…	-12·1
A negative sign indicates an excess of imports over exports.

asked the Minister of Transport what roundabouts under construction and proposed for trunk roads will be capable of conversion to grade separated junctions

The following roundabouts now under construction on all-purpose trunk roads have been expressly designed with a view to eventual conversion to grade-separation:

• A.30 Staines By-pass—Egham roundabout, (enlargement). Wraysbury Road roundabout.
• A.1 Junction with South Mimms By-pass.
• Stevenage By-pass—junction with A.1. at North end.

At many roundabouts which have not been designed in this way future conversion to grade-separation is not precluded and could be carried out eventually where justified. As regards our future proposals I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to his Question on 22nd June.

asked the Minister of Works if he will state an approximate date when the repairs to St. Stephen's Hall, in the Palace of Westminster, will be completed.

About the beginning of October

asked the Minister of Works if he will provide horse-jumping facilities in Hyde Park for the use of members of the public

Yes. I am hoping, with the support of interested persons and organisations to provide a horse-jumping enclosure in Hyde Park on a disused section of Rotten Row. The jumps would be available to all members of the public, at an appropriate charge, and I hope it will be possible to have them ready for use before the end of the year.