asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies for what reason the railway administration in East Africa applied the agreement on wage claims and conditions of service to Tanganyika railway workers only and not to Kenya and Uganda; and if he will make a statement.

After prolonged negotiations between the East African Railways and Harbours Administration and the three territorial railway unions, agreement was first reached with the Tanganyika Union on 30th April. A settlement on a similar basis has since been reached with the Uganda and Kenya Unions and is effective from 9th May.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the discussions on the future of the Fiji sugar industry presided over by the Governor.

The discussions presided over by the Governor have been devoted to the harvesting of the 1960 cane crop and have not been concerned with the future of the sugar industry in Fiji. Negotiations between the Colonial Sugar Refining Company and the Cane Growers on the 1960 crop were resumed on the 12th July. They met again yesterday (20th July) and negotiations are still in progress.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in view of the fact that the fraud squad of the City of London Police is subordinate to the fraud squad of the Metropolitan Police. what general instructions he has given with regard to the operations of the City of London fraud squad.

The hon. Gentleman's facts are not correct. A company fraud branch is maintained jointly by the Metropolitan and City of London forces and consists of officers drawn from each force. My right hon. Friend does not give instructions on operational matters to this or any other branch of the police.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will arrange for the collection of statistics in future relating to the prosecution of private homosexual acts involving consenting adults.

No. This would necessitate asking the police to complete a special return for all offences in the categories in question and my right hon. Friend does not think that the limited information so obtained would be of such value that he would be justified in adding this to the burden of work which already falls on the police.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that, since the passing of the Street Offences Act, 1959, women and young girls are being increasingly solicited in the streets for the purposes of prostitution; and if he will consider amending Section (1) of the Street Offences Act so that men who solicit for prostitution may be prosecuted under this Section.

My information is that there is no evidence in the Metropolitan Police District of women and girls being increasingly solicited in the streets by men. My right hon. Friend does not contemplate any amendment of the Street Offences Act such as my hon. Friend suggests.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of immigrants into the United Kingdom from the West Indies for the six months ended 30th June, 1960, as compared with the similar period for the previous year.

The estimated net inward movement is 19,500, as compared with 5,400 in the corresponding period last year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions during the past 12 months there have been a police guard on St. Pancras Town Hall; what was the largest number of police involved at any one time; and what has been the cost to public funds.

On 28 occasions additional police have been employed near St. Pancras Town Hall. The largest number employed at any one time was 173. The additional expenditure involved was small; it is not possible to give the exact amount.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Holloway Prison will cease to be a women's prison; and what arrangements are being made for the future accommodation of those women who would formerly have served their sentences at Holloway.

A site at Thorn-wood in Essex has been proposed for a new women's prison and a public inquiry into this was held recently. Until a suitable site for the new prison has been decided on, cannot say how long it will be before Holloway will be closed as a women's prison.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, during the course of his forthcoming review of the situation of approved schools, he will consider amending the law with regard to approved schools in order to give the Secretary of State powers of appointment, dismissal and approval of managers, and to abolish local committees of approved schools so as to ensure responsibility of committees to local authorities.

I am reviewing the whole position, but as at present advised I attach importance to the voluntary principle.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions have taken place between the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and the Metropolitan borough councils with regard to traffic wardens taking over responsibility for the supervision of parking meters.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Merton and Morden (Mr. Atkins) on 15th July.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements he has in mind for the publication of a Prison Service Journal.

The first number of the Journal, which will be published twice a year, will appear on 25th July. It will be on sale both to members of the Prison Service and to the general public, and will provide a medium for the discussion of new developments in penal methods and other matters of interest to all those concerned with the treatment of offenders. I am arranging for copies of the Journal to be placed in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will instruct the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to observe the speed of motor vehicles, including public transport, in Whitehall and on Millbank, especially after dark, and to take any necessary steps to enforce the law.

Enforcement of the law is the responsibility of the Commissioner and must be left to him. He informs me that appropriate action is taken when offences come to notice.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to receive the report of the Departmental Committee on Artificial Insemination.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and I have received the Committee's report. which is being published today.

asked the Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations how many South African nationals are employed in Government service in Swaziland.

The latest information available, which relates to April this year, is that 435 South African citizens, including 137 Africans, were employed in the Government Service in Swaziland.

asked the Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations what consultations took place with representative Nigerians before the decision to appoint the new United Kingdom High Commissioner was taken.

In accordance with the usual practice followed between independent members of the Commonwealth where the Queen is the Head of State, the Prime Minister of the Federation of Nigeria was informed in advance of the proposed appointment of my right hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton (Mr. Head) as first High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in the Federation.

asked the Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations what will be the composition of the official delegation visiting Southern Rhodesia in September for constitutional discussions; whom they will meet; and to what extent the delegation will be empowered to enter into commitments with the Southern Rhodesian Government.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State to the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Mr. G. M. Thomson) on 14th July.

asked the Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations which political parties, in addition to the United National Independence Party, the Malawi Congress Party, the National Democratic Party, and the Central Africa Party, will be represented at the conference to consider the future of Northern and Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland to be held in 1961.

I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the Federal Constitutional Review Conference. The delegations will be chosen by the respective Governments. The delegations from the United Kingdom, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland have not yet been chosen. I cannot answer for the Governments of the Federation and Southern Rhodesia, but I am not aware that they have chosen delegations either.

asked the Minister of Education what progress has been made in his consultations with the Minister of Labour on compulsory release for young employees wishing to take day training.

With the agreement of my right hon. Friend, I have invited representatives of both sides of industry and of the local education authorities to discuss with me in the autumn the suggestion that boys and girls under 18 should have the right to claim day release for purposes of further education.

asked the Minister of Education if he will arrange for that number of the 2,000 men who have applied for training college places, have satisfactory qualifications but are unlikely to be accepted owing to the shortage of places, to be offered temporary posts in schools next September, given part-time tuition by the area training organisations and to be admitted to training colleges early in 1961 so that they can qualify for their teacher's certificate as if they had begun their courses in September, 1960.

I do not see how, given the training places available at any one time, the hon. Member's suggestion would work. More men will be admitted to training this coming September than ever before, and most of the unsuccessful applicants would not be likely to be suitable for courses of less than the normal length.

asked the Minister of Education how many comprehensive schools are now in existence in England and Wales; how many pupils receive their education in these schools; and what assessment he has made of their General Certificate of Education results.

In January, 1960, 128,834 pupils were on the registers of 130 comprehensive schools. It is too early to make a sound assessment of their G.C.E. results.

asked the Minister of Education if he will make a statement on the illness which affected 100 children at Cambridge Street School, Newcastle upon Tyne, on Wednesday, 6th July, after eating school dinners.

One hundred and eighty children and 11 adults were taken ill after eating the school dinner. Seventy-six pupils and teachers were admitted to hospital. Some left the same day and all were discharged by the following Saturday. Bacteriological tests of samples of all food served were undertaken. At first these showed negative results, but later a small number of staphylococci were isolated and investigation is continuing, but laboratory tests are not likely to be completed for another ten days. Examination of the kitchen staff and premises has shown no immediate cause for the outbreak. I am looking further with the Authority into the arrangements in the kitchen.

asked the Minister of Education to what extent the recent Government announcement that capital expenditure in the public sector would be restricted next year to this year's level will affect the building programme as far as schools are concerned in general; and whether it will have any particular effect in Durham.

The hon. Member need have no cause for anxiety since the major school building programme in England and Wales will not be affected. There may be a small reduction in minor works in 1961–62 which I expect to be made up in 1962–63.

asked the Minister of Education if he is aware that when an ear, nose and throat consultant recommends a commercial type hearing aid for a child because a National Health Service one is inadequate for its special needs, the cost has to be defrayed by the local authority; and if he will take steps to make this a charge upon the National Health Service.

I am aware that many local education authorities provide commercial type hearing aids through the School Health Service. The Association of Education Committees have made representations about this which we are now considering. Any question of charges borne by the National Health Service is a matter for my right hon and learned Friend the Minister of Health.

asked the Minister of Education why, in view of the Crowther Committee's recommendation to raise the school leaving age to 16 in the earlier part of the period 1966–69, he proposes to taper off the teacher training programme so that the last 2,500 additional teachers cannot he in the schools until the autumn of 1969.

The building of the final 8,000 new training college places over three years will help to spread the general investment load and will not significantly delay the elimination of oversize classes which is our first priority.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why, in distributing the questionnaire in connection with his fact-finding inquiry into resale price maintenance, he has not made clear in the covering letter that the object of this inquiry is to enable him to decide whether or not to introduce legislation to prevent or curtail resale price maintenance as at present permitted under the Restrictive Trade Practices Act; and whether he will now issue an explanatory note explaining the reason for the questionnaire.

As my right hon. Friend indicated to my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, South (Mr. W. Clark) on 17th March, the object of the inquiry is to elicit the facts about resale price maintenance, and the foreword to the questionnaire reflects this. The question of whether or not to introduce fresh legislation will arise only when the facts have been studied. In these circumstances, my right hon. Friend sees no need for any additional note.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the import of Belgian potatoes into Leith at a price equivalent to £36 per acre to the growers; and whether, in view of this low price, he will impose an antidumping duty.

My right hon. Friend understands that some potatoes have been imported from Belgium into Leith, but the Board of Trade have not received an application for the imposition of an anti-dumping duty on these imports, nor has any information been received which suggests that dumping is taking place.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why the staff of the Forestry Commission has increased in each of the last three years.

During the three forest years which ended on 30th September, 1959, the non-industrial staff of the Forestry Commission increased from 2,571 to 2,649. Virtually all the additional staff were Foresters. They were required primarily to deal with an expansion of 15 per cent. in the land under plantations.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will give the number of fatalities and injuries in road accidents on the three-lane length of the Great North Road north of Stamford for the latest convenient period; and how the accident rate compares with the country as a whole.

From January to May, 1960, seven persons were seriously injured and six slightly injured. There were no fatalities. Since no traffic figures are available for this length of road, no fair comparison of accident rates can be made.

asked the Minister of Transport what reply he has given to the letter, dated 24th April, from the Inland Waterways Protection Society in which they forwarded details of the schemes for a Leeds to London canal route, with supporting schemes for the re-instatement of the Dearne and Dove Canal and the Chesterfield Canal.

The Inland Waterways Protection Society sent me on 25th April, 1960, at the same time as their submission to the Inland Waterways Redevelopment Advisory Committee, plans for a London—Leeds canal route. The Society's letter was acknowledged with thanks on 28th April.

asked the Minister of Transport what evidence has been submitted by his Department in connection with the current examination by the British Standards Institution of the issue of a British Standard for safety belts in motor vehicles; and if he will make a statement.

My Department was represented on the Committee of the British Standards Institution which has been examining this question. They collaborated at all stages in the preparation of the Standard. I understand that the British Standard was issued today and that the British Standards Institution will test to this Standard belts submitted to them. It sets out characteristics of strength and design for the types of belts now available. The British Standards Institution hope to continue their examination of this subject with the objective of improving both the design of belts and the tests to which they are submitted.I have arranged an exhibition of safety belts for inspection by hon. Members in the House on Wednesday and Thursday, the 27th and 28th July.

asked the Secretary of State for Air at how many Royal Air Force stations in Lincolnshire he is prepared to employ private contractors in conditions which allow them to make a profit out of feeding officers and airmen.

We employ a private catering contractor at R.A.F., Swinderby. We have at present no plans to do the same elsewhere in Lincolnshire, though I see no reason to exclude the possibility.

asked the Minister of Aviation whether all the air operators whose applications for X and Y licences were advertised, or referred to, in official public announcements on 1st July, 1960, had satisfied his Department as to their operational suitability to carry fare-paying passengers.

Before any such licences are granted all operators will have to obtain the necessary operational clearance.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he is yet in a position to make the Order to bring into effect the system of graduated contributions under the National Insurance Act, 1959; and from what date it is intended that it should operate.

Yes. The main regulations required to operate the system of graduated contributions and pensions have now been made, and I have today laid an Order the effect of which is that graduated contributions will start to be paid from 6th April, 1961.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the terms of the bulk purchase agreement for the purchase of telephone equipment from members of the consortium of suppliers of such equipment.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 20th July, 1960; Vol. 627, c. 472], circulated the following:MEMORANDUM COVERING THE TERMS OF THE POST OFFICE BULK PURCHASE AGREEMENTS1. The Post Office undertakes for the period of the agreement—usually five years—to place all its orders for the particular products with the group of contractors who are party to the agreement. Certain reservations are in the terms of the agreements which are set out later.2. The contractors nominate one of their members to undertake each individual order, and confirm the required delivery date. Generally, the Post Office accepts the nomination made.3. Patents held by the contractors are pooled.4. All the contractors receive the same price rates for the goods supplied or services rendered.5. Basic prices are fixed for the term of the agreement subject to adjustment in respect of variations in rates of wages and the cost of materials. These basic prices are fixed as the result of cost investigation at various contractors' works selected by the Post Office.6. The Post Office reserves the right to manufacture apparatus in its own factories.7. The Post Office reserves the right to contract with anybody for the manufacture and supply of apparatus which embodies some new principle or method of working and is intended to be used for experimental purposes. Apparatus so supplied for experimental purposes may be used for the public service.8. The Post Office reserves the right to enter into a contract with anybody for manufacture and supply if this in the opinion of the Postmaster-General would advance the interests of the country's export trade.9. The Post Office reserves the right to place a given percentage (usually about 10 per cent. annual average) of its orders with non-signatories to the agreement.

asked the Minister of Power at what annual rates the production and consumption of coal are now running.

Allowing for seasonal factors, the average rate of production in the first half of 1960 is estimated at 196 million tons a year and consumption, including exports, at 199 million tons a year.

asked the Minister of Power what is now the total amount of coal stocked in this country; and what was the tonnage in January, 1960.

The figures are as follows: