asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that, compared with pre-war, the volume of world trade has increased fourfold while the volume of national currencies required for financing world trade has increased by only 50 per cent.; and whether he will now propose to the Governing Body of the International Monetary Fund, first, that borrowing arrangements should extend to a first tranche of 40 per cent. of the basic quota, and, secondly, that quotas of national currency deposited with the fund should be regarded as ranking equal with gold for the calculation of national reserves of foreign exchange.

While I cannot accept the right hon. Gentleman's figures, I am aware that the average ratio of reserves to imports is lower now than it was in 1938. With regard to the second part of the Question, I would remind the right hon. Member that International Monetary Fund quotas were increased by 50 per cent. in 1959 and this had the effect of increasing the automatic drawing rights of members. In any case, members are not limited to the gold tranche but may borrow from the Fund on certain conditions up to the limit of their drawing rights. As regards the last part of the Question, it is for individual member countries to decide how to classify their own reserves.

These suggestions were put forward in the debate on the Radcliffe Committee last year. Does not the right hon. and learned Gentleman feel that with the problem that one year it is the French franc, another year sterling and the next year the dollar, there is a danger of exchange crises and even unemployment crises being exported from one country to another? Would he not welcome a further increase in the amount of liquidity in world trade?

I think that the point is not so much the amount of liquidity but whether the right use is made of the resources available. I am very conscious of the problem of imbalance to which the right hon. Gentleman has referred, and which, I think, is very dangerous.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the total cost to the Exchequer of the interest charged on the National Debt for the financial years 1950–51, 1954–55, 1959–60, and for the present financial year to date.

As the Answer contains a number of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Yes, Sir, we are not surprised. But would the right hon. and learned Gentleman confirm or not the figures in last week's Exchequer returns showing that in this financial year to date the total amount of interest charged on the National Debt has exceeded that in the period last year up to the same date by some £40 million, and is this not a very prodigal increase in the charge levied on the taxpayer?

Of course, it is costly to have high interest rates, but the point is that failure to have them might be very much more costly.

But is it not a fact that in the last Budget we were told that the great disinflationary fact was the increase in the Tobacco Duty, Which was going to yield £40 million in a full year, and has not the whole of that amount already gone in interest on the National Debt?

That is an over-simplification. The point is that if one does not take this kind of difficult action at times one may cause much greater cost to the economy as a whole.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the recession in the motor car industry, he will consider the relaxation of hire-purchase restrictions and a lowering of the Purchase Tax on cars.

I have nothing to add to the replies given on 17th November by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade relating to hire-purchase restrictions and by my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury relating to Purchase Tax on motor vehicles.

Will not the Chancellor agree that the easing of the restrictions on hire-purchase might well tend to stimulate the home market for motor cars and thereby make a contribution to this very difficult situation?

I understand that there is to be a debate on these matters later this afternoon.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many local authorities with populations below 10,000 received advances on the market in their own name and on their own credit in 1959–60.

I regret that this information is not available.

Is tit not a fact that very few of the smaller authorities can, in fact, borrow on the open market? Is that not the reason why out of £45 million advanced by the Public Works Loan Board last year only £2 million was not for the smaller authorities? Does not that show that there is inequality between the larger and the smaller authorities, and will not my right hon. Friend do something about it?

I am told that these smaller authorities can borrow on no worse terms than the larger authorities. My hon. Friend is quite right in his reference to the number of loans made last year, but they do not show that there is any difficulty about the smaller authorities getting money.

If the smaller authorities can borrow just as easily as the right hon. and learned Gentleman says, how does he explain the figures given by the hon. Member for Dorset, West (Mr. Wingfield Digby) which show, in fact, that they are not doing so?

The reason is because it is much more convenient to them to use the Public Works Loan Board.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the cost of maintaining British troops in Western Germany in 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1960 to date; what was the corresponding German contribution covering the same periods; and what steps he is taking to reduce the British costs.

As the Answer to the first two parts of the Question involves a number of figures, I will with permission circulate them in the OFFICIAL REPORT. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence and I are taking all practicable measures to keep these costs as low as possible in the circumstances.

Will the Chancellor give the House an assurance that, if the Americans succeed in getting the German Government to pay for the American troops in Germany, the German Government should pay for the British troops there and the British taxpayers be relieved of the bill?

I could not find anything to quarrel with in that statement, as a general proposition. We are examining the whole question of the imbalance of payments, to which I referred recently, and I think that some form of sharing of defence costs is a matter which should be discussed.

Has the right hon. and learned Gentleman seen the figures which the Financial Secretary gave ten days ago in respect of the net overseas military expenditure of the Government? In view of the very serious increase in those figures, will he treat this matter as one of urgency and report to the House when he has something to tell us?

I agree that one important factor in our balance of payments is the question of overseas military expenditure. I also agree that another disturbing matter is the imbalance of payments, and the way in which Western Germany is accumulating these large reserves and not pushing any Deutschmarks into the world economy. That is one matter which is relevant, and involved in that problem is the cost of the troops in Germany.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his recent talks with Mr. Robert Anderson, the United States Secretary of the Treasury, and Mr. Douglas Dillon, United States Secretary of State for Economic Affairs.

I have nothing to add to my reply to the hon. Member for South Ayrshire (Mr. Emrys Hughes) on 29th November.

Is the Chancellor aware that the American Treasury has always claimed that economic aid has been given, and will continue to be given, without any political or economic strings attached? Has his attention been drawn to the statement in The Times today, to the effect that the American Treasury is now issuing American aid on condition that it is not spent in Great Britain? Was that point discussed? If not, why not? What is the right hon. and learned Gentleman's reaction to it?

I am not aware of either of the propositions contained in the hon. Member's supplementary question.

I will write to the Minister about it and show him.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the investigation of Civil Service Scientific Salary Scales by the Pay Research Unit was initiated; and when he expects the report to be received.

The Pay Research Unit began work on the survey of the scientific classes at the beginning of this year; the report should be available by the end of the year or early in 1961.

I welcome this news, but would the Chancellor impress upon the Treasury the need for urgency? There is an acute shortage of scientists in the Civil Service. The Civil Service Commission is having great difficulty in recruitment. In the case of the assistant scientist grade an interim award was made in 1957, conditional upon an investigation by the Pay Research Unit, so that there has been a delay of four years.

I certainly agree that we want this report as soon as possible. It has been a fairly complicated task but, as I indicated, we hope to get the answer before long.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been lent to Western Germany by the United Kingdom Government since 1945; and how much has been repaid.

Economic assistance in kind furnished to West Germany by Her Majesty's Government in the early post-war years amounted to £201·8 million. It was agreed in 1953 that the Federal Government should repay £150 million of this sum over twenty years in full and final settlement. So far £82·5 million has been repaid.

If the German Government still owe us £120 million—[HON. MEMBERS: "No."]—I am sorry—£70 million, might not if be beneficial if this debt were repaid rather quicker? Has the Chancellor thought of approaching the German Government on this matter?

In fact, the next three payments have already been deposited in London.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what communications he has received from the American Ford Company since his decision to sanction its purchase of the British Ford Company.

I have had a letter from the Ford Motor Company stating that it is its intention to maintain close consultation with local authorities on the various types of local problems which may arise for those authorities out of the industrial plans of the Ford Companies. This arose out of a discussion with its representative, following upon a meeting which I had with the Mayor of Dagenham.

Is not that dodging the issue? Apart from the unpatriotic decision to sell a valuable national asset, is the Chancellor aware that the United States Government are not favourably disposed to this deal? In these circumstances, is it right to make things more difficult for the new President, of whom many of us have high hopes? Why not scrap the whole thing, in the interests of Anglo-American relations?

As to the hon. Member's suggestion that I have been dodging the Question, I would point out that I answered the Question precisely. He asked what communications I had received, and I stated the only communication I had received. He has raised another matter, which I expected to deal with in answer to another Question, but I can say that I have been in touch with Mr. Anderson, the American Secretary of the Treasury about this matter and, with his agreement, I am able to state that the United States Treasury has no intention of intervening in this transaction.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will give an assurance that his permission for the sale of the Ford Motor Company will remain contingent upon the full payment being made in dollars.

The Ford offer to the shareholders has been made in sterling, but it is an exchange control requirement that external sterling must be used for payment. External sterling can only be acquired by the sale across the official exchange of an acceptable currency, such as dollars. There is of course nothing to prevent the purchaser from using any external sterling balances which he already has at his disposal.

While welcoming that assurance, may I ask the Chancellor to confirm that in previous transactions of this kind dollars have always been paid and that there has been no question of drawing on overseas balances?

I could not do that without notice.

To put it beyond doubt, may we take the Chancellor's Answer as meaning that there can be no question of Fords borrowing money in this country or using Treasury bills or other investments they have in this country? Are we to understand that Fords would be free to use Deutschmarks for obtaining external sterling as well as by the sale of dollars?

They can do it in an acceptable currency and the acceptable currencies are gold, Deutschmarks, dollars or some of the other Western European currencies. Regarding the question of whether they are going to use balances, they would be able to use any sums they were about to transmit by way of dividends to the United States. My impression is that in fact this will be paid for by the purchase of sterling with dollars.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what rate of interest he instructs the Service Departments to pay on claims for compensation for compulsory purchase or dilapidations which are held up pending a settlement.

When Departments enter on land before compensation for compulsory permanent acquisition has been paid, interest is added for the period before settlement at the rate of 6½ per cent. at present. In the quite different circumstances of a Department restoring possession of requisitioned land to an owner, compensation may be paid for the cost of making good any damage to the land and if settlement is delayed interest is added at the rate of 2 per cent.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is now in a position to make a statement on the proposed National Theatre.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how long the site on the South Bank has been available for the proposed National Theatre; and when he is to meet the representative body to discuss the new building.

A site on the South Bank has been available since 1945. A deputation is coming to see me later this week. In other respects I have nothing to add to the reply given to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Dr. Stross) by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary on 17th November.

When the deputation visits the right hon. and learned Member, will he bear in mind the fact that April, 1964, is a very significant date, and that it is hoped that the National Theatre will be opened in that month, preferably on 23rd April? Since the right hon and learned Gentleman and his friends will then be looking for something to place to the credit of the Government, will he expedite the building of the National Theatre so that its completion will coincide with 1964?

I am aware of the significance of the date to which the hon. Member has referred.

Is the Chancellor aware that this site has been kept sterilised for this purpose for many years now? Is it not very unfair to ask the London County Council to hold on to it indefinitely? In his discussions will the Chancellor see that a decision is made forthwith?

I certainly think that it is time for a decision one way or the other to be made in this matter.

Before my right hon. and learned Friend receives a deputation, will he bear in mind the fact that there appears to be no appreciable shortage of theatre accommodation in London and that, by arrangement, one of the existing theatres could very well be designated as the National Theatre?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, pending the Government's decision about the future of Richard Thomas and Baldwins, he will give a guarantee that he will forbid the purchase of any of the shares in the firm by foreign financial interests.

Until the shares are saleable on the Stock Exchange the question of their purchase by foreign financial interests cannot arise.

In view of the fact that the Chancellor has been prepared to accept a situation in which large chunks of British industries have been sold off, cannot he give an absolute guarantee that this will not happen in the case of the publicly-owned part of the steel industry?

That is a hypothetical question. If the hon. Member is suggesting that while the shares remain in Government ownership there is any question of their being sold, I can reassure him on that point.

May I ask the right hon. and learned Gentleman a question which is not hypothetical? Is he aware that the only reason why a foreign or a British investor could become interested in these shares is that this is an exceedingly well run and profitable firm? In these circumstances, does he realise that it would be legalised robbery to allow any foreign investors to take any part of it?

I could not disagree more with the hon. Lady. In my view, investment in other countries is very important and should be encouraged. By that I mean investment both by us in other countries and by other countries here.

Is the Chancellor saying that he is contemplating in any circumstances that part of this industry should be sold off to foreign interests?

That is why I said the question is hypothetical. We intend to denationalise the industry. Then the shares will be saleable on the Stock Exchange and the question might arise. As the hon. Member knows, at present there is no means whereby we can prevent private people from making transactions to acquire shares on the Stock Exchange. The Treasury comes in under exchange control regulations, in the case of a transaction of the kind we had in relation to Fords recently. The situation the hon. Gentleman is referring to is a hypothetical one, which I should deal with when the time came to deal with it.

On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I know that you are anxious, as always, to proceed with Questions, but I would draw your attention to the practice which seems to have grown up recently of hon. Members asking a kind of double supplementary question.

Order. I hope that it will be convenient for the hon. Member to raise his point of order after Questions.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, with a view to maintaining good labour relations, he will refrain from denationalising Richard Thomas and Baldwins.

No, Sir.

Can the right hon. and learned Gentleman give one good reason why the denationalisation of this highly successful publicly-owned industry should be proceeded with? Is he aware that in the recent by-election in Ebbw Vale an overwhelming number of people who work in the industry voted against this piece of "legalised robbery," as my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock (Miss Lee) called it?

I do not think that there is one good reason why the industry should ever have been nationalised. We have fought three elections on these matters and we intend to carry out our decision. I do not accept, as the hon Gentleman suggested, that the workers in the concern are not in favour. But even were it so, I do not think that is the test, and I am certain that the hon. Member would not accept it were things the other way round.

Since the Chancellor has said that, as long as it is in public hands it cannot be sold out to the Americans, but that if it were in private hands we could not stop it, is not that one good reason why it should remain in public control? Secondly, while disagreeing with my hon. Friends about the use of the words "legalised robbery", may I ask whether the right hon. and learned Gentleman is aware that if he sells this concern on the same humiliating terms as Staveleys and Llanelly, the robbery will not be legalised under Section 18 of the denationalisation Act: it will be "illegal" robbery?

I do not accept what the right hon. Gentleman said about the transaction, because the price was reasonable and fair value was obtained. I think the trouble comes from the original act of sin which was the nationalisation of the industry.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, in view of the large variety of bank notes in circulation in the country, he will consult with the banks, and other appropriate interests, with a view to having a uniform bank note currency operating in the United Kingdom.

No, Sir. I see no reason for interference with the existing arrangements. This was, also, the view of the Radcliffe Committee.

Is the Chancellor aware that to have twenty-seven different types of bank notes circulating in Scotland and in England is at the least anomalous if not ludicrous? Does not he agree that it would be in the interests of all to work for the standardisation of these bank notes in both Scotland and England with a view to reducing the variety of those at present in circulation?

I do not think that uniformity is always an unmixed blessing. A certain variety is not necessarily a bad thing.

Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that the variety of types of bank notes circulating in Scotland is a very important contributory factor to the relative infrequency of bank robberies in Scotland compared with England? In the interests of the safety of bank staffs and others, will my right hon. and learned Friend take no steps to alter the ancient rights of Scottish banks?

That point had not occurred to me and I am grateful to my hon. Friend for drawing my attention to it.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will now include sufferers from multiple sclerosis in the categories of those eligible for post-war credits, in view of the short span of life left to many of them.

I will bear my hon. Friend's proposals in mind but I am bound to say that there would be serious practical difficulties in doing as she suggests.

I thank my right hon. and learned Friend for that reply. Will he continue to bear in mind that it is now, and not at some time in the future, that these unfortunate people need their post-war credits?

I have very much sympathy with the point of view of my hon. Friend. The difficulty is that of singling out sufferers from one particular disease. That is the trouble.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in the interests of economy in public expenditure, he will take steps to ensure that everyone in receipt of grant or subsidy of any kind shall include such grant or subsidy on his annual Income Tax return.

No, Sir.

Can the right hon. and learned Gentleman give any good reason why this should not be the policy of the Government? For instance, is he aware that people in receipt of Family Allowances have always to return those allowances on their Income Tax returns? There is a serious and disturbed feeling among the members of the farming community at the charge that farmers get £250 million a year without any means test and that some of them who get a part of this could well do without it. Is the Chancellor aware that if they returned this money on their Income Tax returns that charge would be invalid?

I am not certain what is the suggestion of the hon. Member. Is it that such sums should be put on the Income Tax form with the intention that they should be taxed? If so, we are getting into a much wider argument than may be dealt with by question and answer.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will conduct an overhaul of Customs procedure, particularly in relation to goods transported by air, in order to relieve exporters of the difficulties which arise from delays.

The Customs procedures are kept under review. I am not aware of any general difficulties, but if my hon. Friend has any particular suggestions to make I shall be very pleased to consider them.

I am obliged to my right hon. and learned Friend. Would he consider issuing a directive to those concerned that it is their duty to keep goods on the move with the minimum of delay and restriction? Would he bear in mind that irksome restrictions and delays will do a great deal to diminish the fun that is sometimes associated with exports?

I agree with my hon. Friend's proposition and I think that the Customs authorities would, too. It would be helpful if any cases of unnecessary delay could be brought to my attention.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the extent to which British assets in the United Kingdom have been acquired by foreign interests in the last ten years, and Her Majesty's Government's general policy for maintaining effective powers to pursue full employment and economic expansion in the United Kingdom.

Overseas private investment of a long-term nature in the United Kingdom since 1st January, 1952, is estimated at approximately £500 million. As regards the second part of the Question, overseas investment in British industry should improve the prospects of economic expansion and full employment in this country.

That is not an answer to the Question. Will the Chancellor now say what proportion of the assets of the economy of the United Kingdom are held by people abroad, and to what extent there is a loss of power to control employment in this country, and what criteria the Treasury will apply to future applications which affect the power to maintain full employment in the United Kingdom?

I have given the hon. Member the figure of overseas private investment in this country since 1952 and it is a very minute proportion.

Would not my right hon. and learned Friend agree that as far as the £500 million of foreign money invested in this country in the last eight years is concerned, more than three times greater a sum of British funds has been invested in the Commonwealth and foreign countries in a comparable period?

My hon. Friend is quite right.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware of the plans of the London County Council to celebrate, in 1964, the birth of William Shakespeare, 400 years earlier, and that these celebrations will include not only the City of London but the Commonwealth also; and if he will provide assistance to the London County Council, in view of the importance of this international occasion.

I am aware of proposals for a Commonwealth Arts Festival in 1964 for which suggestions of rate and tax contribution have been mooted. I am not in a position to make any statement.

Is the Chancellor aware that the plans in mind include building an art gallery, a national theatre and a conference hall, that the total cost to be borne will be less than £5 million, and that this would make the South Bank one of the great cultural centres of the world? If the Chancellor cares about such things, and we all hope he does, will he take action when he is approached to see that such plans may be brought to a fruitful end?

I am certainly aware of the 1964 Festival and I have no doubt that very soon I shall be approached about the matter. Up to now I have had no specific approach with regard to it, but I will consider any suggestions put to me.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether Her Majesty's Government will make a grant to the trustees of the British Museum to enable them to contribute £25,000 to the Board of Trustees of the Palestine Museum, Jerusalem, in connection with the acquisition and preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, subject to certain of the scrolls being loaned to the British Museum for exhibition to the British public.

No, Sir. It would not be appropriate for such a contribution to be borne on the Vote of the British Museum. If it were decided that Her Majesty's Government should participate in an arrangement to enable the Palestine Archaeological Museum to acquire Scrolls, on condition that certain of them would be loaned to the British Museum, payment would be made through the British Academy. As my right hon. and learned Friend's predecessor said on 26th July, the attitude of Her Majesty's Government in this matter will depend upon the willingness of other countries concerned to co-operate financially and otherwise.

Will the hon. Gentleman bear in mind that, apart from their intrinsic value, these Scrolls are of the greatest importance to Western countries? Is it not highly desirable that Her Majesty's Government should be associated with the task of assisting the Jordanian Government to acquire any which can be acquired so that they can be examined and dealt with by international scholars of repute? In view of the urgency of the matter, will he consider Her Majesty's Government making an unconditional offer?

I do not think that I can go beyond the Answer which the former Chancellor gave at the end of July. The point is that we are prepared to make a special grant from the British Academy provided certain other countries, Sweden, France and the United States, come in with us and the Jordanian authorities agree to grant reasonable facilities for the periodical loan of these Scrolls to the participating countries. I think that a reasonable approach. I agree with the hon. Member that there is great public interest in this subject.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury why some Departments continue the practice of omitting the telephone number from their letterheads; if he is aware of the inconvenience this causes; and if he will make a statement.

So far as I am aware, Departments include their telephone numbers on their letter paper, except that used by Ministers and very senior officials. If the hon. Member knows of cases where the omission of a telephone number causes inconvenience, I suggest he brings them to the attention of the Ministers concerned.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what new industry or extension has come, within the past ten years, into the north-west Durham constituency, which is in a development area and is now scheduled under the Local Employment Act.

In the period from 1st January, 1950, to the end of October, 1960, sixteen new industrial buildings and extensions, with a total of 166,000 sq. ft. of additional floor space, were completed in the area covered by the hon. Member's constituency, providing a total of 715 jobs. Two schemes at present under construction and five schemes which have been approved but on which building has not yet been started are expected to provide a further 259 jobs.

I am wondering if I represent that constituency. Is the Minister aware that, in the intervening period, three reasonably-sized coal mines have closed and the personnel in others have been reduced by 50 per cent., that two coking by-product plants have closed and two or three limestone quarries have closed and that the lead mines, from which the feldspar has been extracted, have closed and the only factories in the constituency are those which bear the name Hugh Dalton? Can the Minister give some idea when something is to be done for this constituency?

We are doing our best, and I can tell the hon. Member that in the next four years 580 jobs are in sight. This includes extensions as well as the new companies to which I have referred in my Answer.

Write to Alfred Robens.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he has taken to carry out the recommendations of the Mitchell Committee on the machine tool industry, particularly in regard to standardisation, trials of electronically-controlled machine tools in Government establishments, and the siting of machine tool factories in development areas.

The recommendations are all being actively examined by the machine tool industry and the several Government Departments concerned.

Can the hon. Gentleman say whether the Government propose to take action to modernise this backward industry apart from subsidising the research association?

As I have said, this is primarily a matter for the industry itself and the report was made to the Machine Tool Advisory Council. Appropriate action in conjunction with Government Departments and other bodies such as the British Standards Institution is being taken.

is it not a fact that this Report, interesting as it is, is largely a commentary on the Report by Professor Melman, but that we have not yet had the Melman Report published? Will the hon. Gentleman take this matter back and see if he cannot now publish that Report in some form, particularly as Professor Melman has gone on record as saying that the Mitchell Report has not dealt with this matter?

I shall certainly ask my right hon. Friend to consider what the right hon. Member has said about the possibility of publishing some form, perhaps an abridged form, of the Report.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he proposes to take to assist the motorcar industry to increase its export of cars to the under-developed countries of Africa and Asia.

The export services of the Department are always fully available to the motor-car industry in its efforts to expand its exports to all markets including the under-developed countries of Africa and Asia.

Would the right hon. Gentleman agree that these underdeveloped areas of Asia and Africa constitute a very large potential market for our motor-car industry? Is not this a problem of taking steps to work out same positive means of helping the greater export of our motor cars to these areas?

Yes. We are doing quite well in both Africa and Asia, but their ability to absorb British motor cars depends on the rate at which their standard of living rises.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the estimated annual loss suffered by his Department in respect of business names registration and company registration, respectively.

On business names registration it is estimated that in the last financial year there was a deficit of £19,000 and on companies registration there was a surplus of some £64,000.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the future of Alfred Graham, Limited, Industrial Estate, Spennymoor, having regard to the fact that the area is a development district under the Local Employment Act, 1960.

This firm is the tenant of the Industrial Estates Management Corporation at Spennymoor. It is for the firm itself, not the Board of Trade, to make statements about its future plans.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware of the concern felt in Spennymoor about this factory? It must be appreciated that Spennymoor itself is a development district and this factory came there a little less than twelve months ago. Key workers were allowed thirteen houses by the local authority, for which the authority got no subsidy whatever. Will the hon. Gentleman make a statement to the effect that he would deprecate any movement of this factory because, if it is allowed to be moved, that would make a complete mockery of the Local Employment Act, 1960?

I know of no suggestion that this firm is moving from Spennymoor.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that cotton goods exports for October had fallen from 31 million lb. in 1959 to 25 million lb. or square yards in 1960, whereas imports of grey cloth had increased from 43 million to 49 million square yards, and for the first 10 months of this year had risen from 363 million to 490 million square yards; and, in view of the fact that the Lancashire cotton industry received a grant last year of £30 million in order to assist it to increase exports, what action he is taking to ensure the best use of this money.

The purpose of the Government assistance to the cotton industry was to help to make the industry compact, efficient and fully competitive in export markets. Since the equipment of the industry is in its early stages, the full effects of the Government's assistance are not yet apparent, though there has already been a marked improvement in efficiency.

Are there no new measures that Her Majesty's Government can take to get from the Lancashire cotton industry a real return to the taxpayer for the subsidy which was given? The only way we want that return is by exports. Can the hon. Gentleman do anything about it?

My right hon. Friend is meeting the Cotton Board and will consider what further steps can be taken to improve the export position.

Could I assist the Parliamentary Secretary and his right hon. Friend by asking if the Parliamentary Secretary is aware that the £30 million granted out of taxpayers' money to re-equip and modernise the textile industry has been largely dissipated by repayments of surplus capital to previous shareholders, and that it has not gone where it was intended that it should go? Is he aware that, while we all welcome the temporary improvement in the cotton industry's record in recent months, we are by no means certain that any permanent contribution has been made to the re-equipment and modernisation of the textile industry in the ultimate sense?

I appreciate the attempts of the hon. Member to assist me, but in fact the £30 million was provided for a period of over five years and so far only £8·5 million has been spent.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of cinemas which have been closed in each of the last five years; and what proportion the total forms of the number of cinemas in operation five years ago.

The numbers for the years 1955 to 1959 are 93, 224, 216, 263 and 489 respectively. The total of 1,285 represents some 28 per cent. of the number of cinemas open at the 31st December, 1954. Forty-three new cinemas opened and 149 cinemas reopened in these five years, giving a net reduction overall of 24 per cent.

While welcoming the fact that there has been some improvement in the cinema trade recently, may I ask if the Parliamentary Secretary is aware that these closures have obviously tended to confirm monopolistic tendencies in the proprietorship of the cinema trade of the country? What inquiries is the Board of Trade making into the monopolistic tendencies which are so much stronger?

That is an entirely different question. We have the industry very closely under review the entire time.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what facilities were provided by his Department to the David Brown Coporation to assist them to obtain orders from Russia worth £500,000 for their electronically-controlled gear-cutting machines.

During the negotiations leading to the conclusion of this very satisfactory contract the Corporation sought and received advice from my Department and from the Commercial Department of the British Embassy in Moscow.

Is the Minister aware that the research work on which the control mechanism is based was carried out by the National Engineering Laboratory in East Kilbride, and can he say what royalties the Government will receive on the sale of these machines?

I will look into that, but I should point out that that has no reference to the main Question.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if, in the interests of consumer protection, he will introduce legislation to ensure that all dangerous toys imported from abroad are fitted with safety devices.

My right hon. Friend is considering with his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action to take on the recommendation bearing on this matter made in the interim Report of the Committee.

While I thank the Minister for that reply, may I ask whether he is aware of the death of Carole Ann Wilkinson, of Harrogate, only four years old, who was killed by a plastic dart from a plastic blowpipe quite recently? Will he and his right hon. Friend the Home Secretary kindly speed up legislation to protect the youngsters of the United Kingdom?

Yes, Sir. I was aware of that, and I am sure that the whole House sympathises with that case. It would obviously be extremely difficult to guard against all the various hazards that could arise from toys of various kinds, but we are at the moment considering the recommendation of the Committee which has put in its interim Report to my right hon. Friend.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what requests he has received from the Institute of Directors regarding the setting up in Moscow of an office to assist British businessmen seeking trade with Russia; and what steps he will take to facilitate such a development.

My right hon. Friend has not received any such request. He will, however, neglect no opportunity of reminding the Soviet authorities of Her Majesty's Government's view that the establishment by industry of an office or offices of this kind could make a substantial contribution to the development of trade between the two countries. The Commercial Counsellor is of course giving all the help he can to visiting business men.

Is the Minister aware that even the Institute of Directors occasionally has a good idea and that this seems to be a particularly useful one which resulted from a visit which it paid to the Soviet Union recently? Will the right hon. Gentleman do everything he can to encourage the setting up of such a service?

Yes, it is a good idea. We thought of it before the Institute of Directors and raised it in Moscow during the negotiation of the Anglo-Russian Trade Agreement in the summer of 1959.

While we congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his initiative, may I ask whether he is aware that we put this to Mr. Mikoyan in 1947?

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will introduce legislation to ensure stricter control of hire-purchase companies.

No, Sir.

Has the hon. Gentleman heard of the proposed nation-wide credit-rating directory organised by a number of the leading hire-purchase organisations? Would not he agree that, with all this snooping and private exchange of information and other dubious practices of hire-purchase salesmanship, the time has come to clip the wings of these highly undesirable organisations?

There is a Question down later on the Order Paper with regard to that matter.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will introduce legislation to give him wider powers to prevent misrepresentation and false advertising of the qualities, constituents, and performance of consumer goods, on the lines of Clause 25 of the Weights and Measures Bill, which is designed to give him power to prevent misrepresentation of measure and weight of goods.

My right hon. Friend will consider this matter in the light of any advice that he may receive from the Committee on Consumer Protection, when it presents its final report.

In view of the fact that the Government waited nine years to carry out the recommendations of the Hodgson Committee which covered only one side of this business, are we to take it that when the Molony Committee reports, its recommendations will not be put into effect for an equal period of time? Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that most of this quality protection can be covered by simple Amendments to the Merchandise Marks Act without waiting for any advice?

Since there is a Committee, I think that it would be well to wait for its advice, and that it is not worth while to assume too rashly that it will take a very long time before that advice is implemented.