asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the high percentage of unemployed female workers in St. Helens, Lancashire, and what prospects there are, under the Local Employment Act, for the provision of jobs for this pool of available labour.

My right hon. Friend is aware of the reply the Minister of Labour gave the hon. Member yesterday. There are currently about 725 female workers in St. Helens registered as unemployed. The rate is 4·3 per cent. as compared with 1,036 or 5·8 per cent. at the same time last year. There are about 600 new jobs for females in prospect. The current percentage of unemployment in St. Helens, male and female, is 2·6 per cent. and my right hon. Friend does not consider that St. Helens qualifies at present to be listed for financial assistance under the Local Employment Act.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he is taking to encourage manufacturers to increase their exports to France.

My right hon. Friend is arranging in a number of ways to encourage manufacturers to take advantage of the increased opportunities in France created by the removal of import restrictions and lowering of tariffs. Articles are appearing in the Board of Trade Journal and the trade Press and discussions with groups of business men will be held at regional centres. The facilities offered by the Department for participation in trade fairs in France are being publicised. My right hon. Friend has consulted the representatives of British industry and commerce about this and is confident that he can rely on the support of the new Export Council for Europe.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will undertake a comprehensive inquiry into the interest rates of hire-purchase agreements, and the extent to which the provisions of hire-purchase Acts and regulations are observed in retail advertising and in customers' agreements.

The Board of Trade keeps a constant watch on the work of the various Acts and regulations affecting hire purchase, and my right hon. Friend sees no need for a specal inquiry.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the case of Miss E. Holdcroft, of Stoke-on-Trent, the buyer of a knitting machine on hire purchase, about which the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North, has written to him.

My right hon. Friend is advised that this is a civil matter about which Miss Holdcroft may wish to consult a solicitor.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why he will not invite representatives of the Trade Department of the German Democratic Republic to visit this country to sign a trade agreement.

As Her Majesty's Government do not recognise the so-called German Democratic Republic, they can have no dealings with it.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that, notwithstanding the fact that the Federal Government of Germany does not recognise the German Democratic Republic, the Federal Government assists West German business men in carrying on trade with East Germany, including assistance in attending the Leipzig Fair and exhibiting thereat; whether, in view of this, he will assist British business men to exhibit at Leipzig in the spring; and whether he will arrange for an official from his Department to attend in either an official or observer capacity.

My right hon. Friend is informed that the Federal German Government is not assisting West German firms to exhibit at the Leipzig Spring Fair. The second part of the Question does not therefore arise, but as the hon. Member is aware the Federation of British Industries assists British firms by co-ordinating the exhibits in the British pavilion. The answer to the last part of the Question is "No."

asked the President of the Board of Trade when he now expects to receive the Report of the Committee, set up last March, to consider the extension of the summer holiday season.

My right hon. Friend hopes to receive the interim Report of this Committee very shortly.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what representations have been made to him to permit the import of Russian mineral oils into this country in return for the purchases of oil pipeline and pumping equipment.

My right hon. Friend has received one application for a licence to import Russian oil in exchange for exports of steel pipe. He has received no representations about the import of Russian oil in exchange for pumping equipment.

asked the Minister of Works when a representative of his Department, other than an architect, will visit the office of Her Britannic Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Peking.

An officer responsible for furniture is due to visit within the next few weeks.

asked the Minister of Works why statistics relating to the amount of tonnage of quarrying materials such as limestone and chalk, clay and shale, gypsum, sand and gravel, granite, etc., respectively, extracted from freehold properties on the one hand and from leasehold on the other, are not collected by his Department; and if he will take steps to collect them.

It is the policy of Her Majesty's Government to limit, so far as possible, the number and content of returns required from industry. For this reason the information collected about these materials is not divided in the way suggested.

asked the Minister of Works on what grounds he declined to make a building preservation order on the Moor Hall Chapel, Harefield, in view of the fact that funds for its complete restoration had been promised and that it was described by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments as especially worthy of preservation.

Although the building was derelict and dangerous, the Uxbridge Borough Council deferred demolition for over a year while attempts were made to raise money for full restoration. I understand that the sum subscribed fell well short of this.My right hon. Friend did not intervene because this building, though undoubtedly of considerable local interest, was not in his view of the outstanding national importance necessary to justify the exercise of his compulsory powers and expenditure from the Ministry's Vote.

asked the Minister of Works when his officers last made a comprehensive survey of back-stage conditions at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; and what was the nature of their report.

The Department made a general survey of the Opera House in September and October. A number of items of maintenance will be recommended for attention by the Opera House next year.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many operatives were employed by local authorities and other public bodies on building and construction work in 1951, compared with the 183,000 at present so employed; and what figure, as a percentage, the number has fallen since 1951.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the Answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe (Mr. John Hall) on 9th November.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will designate Letchworth as a new town under the New Towns Act, 1946.

I can designate a new town only where I propose to develop a new town, and there is no question of starting to develop a new town at Letchworth.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will withhold his sanction from local authorities seeking to use powers of compulsory purchase to acquire properties for subsequent resale to private developers without benefit to the original owners.

I could not give a general undertaking of this character. Owners whose property is compulsorily purchased now are of course, under the Town and Country Planning Act, 1959, entitled to compensation at the market value of it at the date of notice to treat.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many visits have been made to the cement works in Kent by alkali inspectors since 1st January, 1960, up to the latest convenient date; how many of the visits were made between the hours of 6 p.m. and 8 a.m.; and how many were made between 12 midnight and 8 a.m.

Sixty-two up to 2nd December; no visits were made between the hours of 6 p.m. and 8 a.m.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware that it takes five months in the County of London to arrange planning appeals; and whether he will appoint more inspectors in order to reduce this period.

Yes; and I am doing so. But the hon. Member will realise that recruitment and training of people for this highly specialised work cannot be done very quickly.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs the nature of his reply to the communication of 21st September, 1960, from the Brandon and Byshottles Urban District Council about slum clearance areas.

My reply indicated that at present no statutory powers are available to enable the council to deal with the difficulty it mentioned. The Public Health Bill which the Government have introduced in another place will provide the necessary power, if Parliament passes it.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs (1) if he is aware that the proposed rent increases at Cwmbran New Town is the fourth in four years; and what steps he now proposes to take to direct the Cwmbran Development Corporation to stabilise rents and prevent further hardship to the tenants;(2) if, in view of the short-time working now taking place in the area, he will give a general direction to the Cwmbran Development Corporation not to increase the rents of tenants in Cwmbran New Town.

Decisions on rents in any new town are a matter for the Development Corporation. Cwmbran Development Corporation has decided to raise the rents for all existing tenancies by 1s. per week from 2nd January next. This decision was taken after a review of all the relevant circumstances, and the Corporation has undertaken to give careful consideration to any cases of real hardship which are brought to its notice.In these circumstances I see no reason to intervene.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many Africans are at present attending Hodgson College, Lusaka; and what subjects they are studying.

185; they are studying brickwork and plastering, carpentry and joinery, plumbing and sheet-metalwork, painting, decorating and sign-writing, electrical installation work, motor vehicle mechanics' work, automobile electricians' work, tailoring and leatherwork.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in view of the plans announced by Rhodesia Railways and the copper mining companies for the advancement of Africans, whether he is satisfied that the facilities in Northern Rhodesia to enable Africans to train themselves in science and technology at secondary schools are adequate.

There is always room for improvement and the Northern Rhodesia Government are fully alive to the needs of the territory. The whole problem is under examination.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if Barotseland will be represented at the Northern Rhodesia Constitutional Conference.

No; it is my intention that the special position of Barotseland should be the subject of separate consultation with the Paramount Chief and his advisers; and no constitutional decisions affecting Barotseland will be taken until this has been done.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will give an indication of the likely pace of constitutional advance in Nyasaland, following the introduction of the new Constitution agreed at the conference last August.

The Report of the Nyasaland Conference makes it clear that all delegates recognised that it would be necessary to give the new Constitution a reasonable period of trial; and for my part I said that I should require to be satisfied that the necessary experience in working the Constitution had been gained before recommending a further advance. These matters therefore do not depend upon me alone but in far greater measure on those who will be taking responsibilities in the new Legislature and the new Executive. I hope indeed that they will show the necessary sense of responsibility, but am equally certain that if I attempted to fix any term of years I would not be assisting them in their task or in creating the stability which all delegates to the Lancaster House Conference recognised was the necessary prerequisite for further constitutional advance.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what consultations he is having with the University of London regarding its refusal to accord full recognition to the Scottish Certificate of Education as a qualification for matriculation.

No such consultations are taking place at present, as I am still considering the recommendations of the Advisory Council on Education in Scotland about the form of the Certificate beyond the Ordinary grade.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the results of his conversations with the local authority associations and the Scottish Board of the Institute of Housing regarding the issue of a circular recommending communal television aerials in new housing developments.

The local authority associations and other bodies which were consulted have supplied a great deal of useful information, on the basis of which a memorandum is being prepared for early issue to all housing authorities. I will send the hon. Member a copy when it is ready.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what percentage of babies was born in hospital in Fife during the years 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1959;(2) how many hospital maternity beds are still required in Fife to meet the recommendations of the Montgomery Report.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many hospital maternity beds are still required in Ayrshire to meet the recommendations of the Montgomery Report;(2) what percentage of babies was born in hospital in Ayrshire during the years 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1959.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what percentage of babies was born in hospital in Dunbartonshire during the years 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1959;(2) how many hospital maternity beds are still required in Dunbartonshire to meet the recommendations of the Montgomery Report.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what percentage

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what percentage of babies was born in hospital in Dundee during the years 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1959;(2) how many hospital maternity beds are still required in Dundee to meet the recommendations of the Montgomery Report.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what percentage of babies was born in hospital in the City of Glasgow during the years 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1959;(2) how many hospital maternity beds are still required in Glasgow to meet the recommendations of the Montgomery Report.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what percentage of babies was born in hospital in Aberdeen during the years, 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1959;(2) how many hospital maternity beds are still required in Aberdeen to meet the recommendations of the Montgomery Report.

The percentage of births in hospitals or nursing homes to mothers normally resident in these areas, and the numbers of additional ante-natal and maternity beds required to meet the full recommendations of the Montgomery Report, are as follows:births in three of the six areas is above the minimum of 70 per cent., recommended by the Montgomery Report. This is because lying-in beds are being used more intensively, and a lower proportion of total beds are being used for ante-natal care, than the Report envisaged.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from teachers consequent on the recent proposals for increased pay for the police; and what has been the nature of his reply.

I have received a letter from one Scottish teacher suggesting that teachers' salaries should be raised because of the increases for police constables. In reply I have said that any change in the salaries of teachers in Scotland falls to be considered in the first instance by the National Joint Council to deal with the Salaries of Teachers in Scotland.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the weekly reduction in the insurance contribution of an employed man if the £48 million tax relief in respect of insurance contributions were used for reducing employees contributions rather than reducing taxation to a selected number of contributors.

About 1s. 0d., but as I have explained to my hon. Friend such an alteration would be open to strong objection.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give figures to indicate the amount of United Kingdom private investment currently being made in the Common Market; and what increase or decrease this shows on previous years.

According to information at present available it is estimated that investment by United Kingdom firms in the Common Market countries amounted to £20 million in 1957, £35 million in 1958, £55 million in 1959 and about £25 million in the first half of 1960.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give figures to indicate the amount of private investment being made by Common Market countries in the United Kingdom; and what increase or decrease this shows on previous years.

According to information at present available it is estimated that private investment by Common Market countries in the United Kingdom amounted to £5 million in 1957, £55 million in 1958, £5 million in 1959, and about the same annual rate as in 1959 during the first half of 1960. The inflow in 1958 was nearly all due to one exceptional transaction.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has yet made arrangements to set up an inquiry into the Press, in accordance with the motion approved by the House of Commons on 2nd December.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answers which I gave on 8th December to Questions by the hon. Members for Devon, North (Mr. Thorpe) and Barking (Mr. Driberg).

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether, while he is awaiting the report of the Departmental Committee in Northern Ireland which was referred to in his recent talks with Lord Brookeborough, he will initiate immediate steps to help relieve the serious unemployment situation in Northern Ireland;(2) whether he will introduce legislation in the current session to provide substantial help from the United Kingdom to relieve the serious unemployment position in Northern Ireland.

I prefer to take into account the concrete proposals of the Government of Northern Ireland in deciding what further steps it may be possible for Her Majesty's Government to take in this matter.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has now received from the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland the concrete proposals designed to help to create further employment there.

I have met the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and heard his views and I am now awaiting concrete proposals.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to receive the report of the Departmental Committee which is working out new proposals to alleviate unemployment in Northern Ireland.

A Departmental Committee appointed by the Northern Ireland Government must report to that Government. As far as the United Kingdom Government is concerned every effort will continue to be made to assist the situation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the last three occasions on which a court, under Section 28 of the Criminal Law Act, 1826, ordered payment of compensation to those who had been active in the apprehension of offenders; and what was the amount so awarded in each case.

Any payments ordered by a court under this provision are made by the sheriff of the county, who later recovers the amount paid from the Treasury. The last three payments made by the Treasury were in respect of orders made in April, 1949, under which two men received £5 each; in February, 1959, under which two men received £10 each, and in January, 1959, under which one man received £5. All these orders were made by the Central Criminal Court.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases courts have, under Section 11 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1948, ordered offenders to pay damages for injury or compensation; and what has been the average amount so ordered.

Between 1st January, 1950, and 31st December, 1959, 34,642 orders were made under Section 11 (2) of the Criminal Justice Act, 1948, in connection with probation orders. I regret that I have no information about the amounts ordered to be paid in these cases, or about the number of cases in which such orders were made in conjunction with orders for absolute or conditional discharge.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what procedure is being adopted for examining the incidence of special diseases in various industries for the purpose of ascertaining whether they are more prevalent in them than is customary with a view to bringing them within the scope of industrial diseases regulations; how many of such diseases have been scheduled during the past five years; and in what particular industries they are found.

My Department keeps a close watch on developments, including those in industrial medicine, which have a bearing on the possibility of further diseases satisfying the conditions for prescription laid down in Section 55 (2) of the Industrial Injuries Act. It is an important part of the work of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council to examine such developments and report to me as it thinks fit. Within the last five years two new separate items have been added to the list of prescribed diseases and several additions to the list have been effected by extensions of existing items. The changes affect a wide variety of industries, including the chemical industry, agriculture and industries using radio-active materials.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what consultations prior to the next conference of Commonwealth Prime Ministers he will have with Commonwealth Governments on the subject of the continued membership of the Commonwealth by the Union of South Africa.

I shall, of course, be in touch with other Commonwealth Governments on matters likely to come before the Prime Ministers' Meeting, but any such consultations will be confidential.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will inquire into the possibility of providing mobile abattoirs for the purpose of slaughtering uninfected animals on farms with foot-and-mouth disease.

No salvage of carcases is permitted on infected farms. Since apparently healthy contacts may well be infected and so cause the disease to spread, they are destroyed in the same way as infected animals. The question of mobile abattoirs to dress the carcases does not therefore arise.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what tests have been established by his Department for the purpose of comparing the quality of eggs produced by battery methods and eggs produced by more natural means.

My Department has not established any tests for comparing the quality of eggs produced by battery methods and eggs produced by more natural means. But scientific tests elsewhere have not shown that battery methods produce any inferiority in egg quality where hens are properly fed.

asked the Minister of Labour what estimate he has made of the number of jobs lost in Scotland as a result of closures and contractions in industrial undertakings since 1st January, 1960, to the latest available date; and if he will make a statement.

I estimate that since 1st January, 1960, about 9,500 workers have been discharged as redundant but there has been a net increase in employment of about 16,000. Both figures relate to manufacturing industry in Scotland.

asked the Minister of Labour the present composition of the Industrial Training Council; how often it meets; and whether reports of its meeting will be made available to hon. Members.

The Council is made up as follows:

asked the Minister of Aviation if he proposes to use East Fortune Airfield as an alternative to Turnhouse Airport, Edinburgh, while the latter is closed during part of next summer.

Yes.

asked the Minister of Education (1) how many untrained graduates left the teaching profession during their first year as teachers, in the years 1958, 1959, and 1960, respectively;(2) how many graduates entered maintained schools without having had professional training in the school year 1959–60, and in the opening of the school year 1960–61.

Information is given in the table below related to the years ending 31st March, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961. Information related to school years is not readily available.

asked the Minister of Education the number of teachers in State schools, the number of trained teachers, the number of untrained graduates, and the number of untrained non-graduates, for the latest available date.

The table below gives the number of full-time teachers in maintained primary and secondary schools (including nursery schools but excluding special schools) in England and Wales on 31st March, 1959. Further details are given in Table 78 of "Education in 1959" (Cmd. 1088).

asked the Minister of Health what contractual rights of medical superintendents of hospitals previously designated as mental hospitals, who were in post on 1st November, are preserved under the terms of his Circular HM (60) 66, of 29th July, 1960.

All.

asked the Lord Privy Seal how many members of the Foreign Office have attended courses at the Combined Services Staff College.

Eight members of the Foreign Service have attended courses at the Joint Services Staff College, as students, since 1950. In addition, members of the Foreign Service have given lectures to each course at the College.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will circulate with the OFFICIAL REPORT his Department's diary of events connected with the publication of the Report of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research on the research and development requirements of the shipbuilding and marine engineering industries from the 4th February, 1960.

There was a series of meetings during this period between the Shipbuilding Conference, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and my Ministry, to discuss the draft report. At the last of these, on 1st December, the final text of the report was considered and its publication agreed.