asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will state the number of hours per week of broadcasting to Africa by the British Overseas Services of the British Broadcasting Corporation; and how this compares with the information available to the British Broadcasting Corporation's Monitoring Service of broadcasts by countries of the Communist bloc.

251½ hours a week by the B.B.C., compared with 95½ hours by the Soviet Union, 91 by China, 59½ by East Germany and a total of 87½ by other Communist bloc countries.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of last year's crop of potatoes is still in the ground; why they have not been taken in; what amount of subsidy was paid or is to be paid to the farmers

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many full-time agricultural workers were who planted them; and what steps are being taken to prevent a recurrence of this waste in the future.

It is estimated that about 8 per cent. of the 1960 main crop acreage in England and Wales was still unharvested on 1st February. This is due to the disastrous weather conditions which neither the growers nor the Government can control. No subsidy is payable on potatoes which are not harvested.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many applications have been received, at the most recent date, for grants in each of the counties in Wales under the Horticulture Act, 1960; and how many have been allowed.

The following table gives details of the applications received from horticultural production businesses in Wales and Monmouthshire up to 31st December, 1960. At that date no applications had been received from horticultural producers' marketing businesses which are also eligible for grants under the Act.employed on agricultural holdings in England and Wales at the end of 1959 and 1960, respectively.

They were estimated to number 410,500 and 385,900 respectively.

asked the Minister of Health how many applications for release during 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1960, respectively, have been made by, or on behalf of, the 1,842 patients who have been detained in Calderstones Hospital, Lancashire, for ten years or more; and in how many oases these applications have been granted.

The number of patients now detained in Calderstones Hospital who have been detained there or elsewhere for over ten years is 738, not 1,842. They would not be so detained if applications for their release had been granted. I regret that the number of such applications cannot be ascertained without undue research.

asked the Minister of Health what proposals he has for building a hospital on the site of the former Warburg Barracks, Aldershot; and if he will state its size and the likely date of commencement of work thereon.

The regional hospital board has proposed a district general hospital of 400 to 500 beds on this site, but I cannot yet announce approval of major schemes for commencement after 1964–65.

asked the Minister of Health when he expects to make a statement on the inquiry into the waiting lists for hospital beds in the northern region.

The inquiry is expected to take about two years.

asked the Minister of Health what plans he has for improving the facilities for geriatric work at Glanely Hospital, Cardiff; and whether he will make a statement.

A scheme for the adaptation of a further geriatric ward of 28 beds with ancillary accommodation is nearly completed. A consultant geriatrician appointed to the Cardiff Hospital Management Committee took up duty in December, and the Board will no doubt have proposals to make for further improvement of geriatric services in the area.

asked the Minister of Health what representations he has received from the South Wales and Monmouthshire branch of the Rural District Councils Association concerning the need to improve plastic surgery facilities in South Wales; and what reply he has sent.

My right hon. Friend cannot trace any such representations from this body.

asked the Minister of Health (1) what increased payments he estimates will be made by old-age pensioners as a result of increasing the charge on each prescription by 1s.;(2) how much he estimates it now costs old-age pensioners per head per year to pay prescription charges.

I have no means of ascertaining how many prescriptions are dispensed for old-age pensioners.

asked the Minister of Health what is the number of midwives needed adequately to staff all parts of the country; and which areas are understaffed at the moment.

On the basis of deficiencies notified by hospital authorities, the shortage in the hospital service is about 700. Deficiencies in the domiciliary service notified by local health authorities total about 400. Understaffing occurs in many though not all areas, but follows no significant pattern.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will state, in table form for each £100 of basic pension from £100 per annum to £1,200 per annum, how the former Somaliland Protectorate has increased pensions to ex-civil servants; and how these increases compare with those given by the Pensions Increase Act, 1959, to civil servants in the United Kingdom.

The Pensions (Increase) Act, 1959, awarded percentage increases which varied according to the retirement date of the pensioner. I take it that my hon. Friend has in mind the total increase payable to United Kingdom pensioners under each of the post-war pensions increase Acts, including that of 1959, and the total increase awarded to pensioners of the former Somaliland Government over the same period of time. In the appended table, all the Somaliland increases fall below those for the United Kingdom.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what amounts have been pledged for 1961 to voluntary funds of the United Nations by Her Majesty's Government

The following is the Answer:

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware of the high rate of unemployment in the Houghton-le-Spring area; and what are his plans for reducing this unemployment.

Yes. Everything possible is being done to find work for those unemployed and to stimulate industrial development in the area.

asked the Minister of Labour what is his estimate of the number of office workers and of the number of clerical workers, respectively, employed in the United Kingdom.

3¾ million and 3 million respectively. Clerical workers are defined as in the Offices Act, 1960.

asked the Minister of Transport what proportion of goods came into Great Britain in foreign ships during the years 1930, 1950, and 1960.

I regret that the information is not available. In 1936, 32 per cent. by value of our imports were carried in foreign ships. In 1949, the last year for which such information is available, the percentage was 24. Statistics of shipping entering United Kingdom ports with cargo suggest that foreign vessels now carry a higher percentage of imports than in 1949.

asked the Minister of Transport how many university graduates are employed in the shipbuilding industry.

I regret that this information is not available but I would refer my hon. Friend to Table A of Appendix V of the White Paper on Scientific and Engineering Manpower in Great Britain, 1959, which showed that there were 558 qualified scientists and engineers, including graduates, in the shipbuilding and ship-repairing industries in Great Britain at the beginning of 1959. No later information is available.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science what progress is being made with the Government's proposals to further meat research.

The main proposals are still under consideration, but arrangements have been made for the establishment of a small laboratory in association with an abattoir near Cambridge, at which the work done at the Low Temperature Research Station and elsewhere can be continued and expanded.

asked the Minister of Aviation how many air accidents occurred in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

In the years 1958, 1959 and 1960 there were respectively 149, 125 and 141 notifiable accidents involving British registered civil aircraft or British-owned gliders.

asked the Minister of Education if he will consider sending a circular to all education committees asking them favourably to consider police lectures in their schools, particularly to young girls warning them of the dangers of enticement by strangers.

This important but delicate matter is best entrusted primarily to parents.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the recent standstill strike of prisoners at Pentonville jail.

At the end of afternoon exercise on Monday, 6th February, some 400 prisoners from B wing, Pentonville prison, stood still for about five minutes before returning to the wing. The rest of the prison was unaffected but as a precautionary measure all prisoners were sent to their cells instead of being sent back to the workshops. The reasons for the demonstration are not known.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has yet received a report from the Working Party set up in 1959, in consultation with local authority associations, to collect information and to assess the hazards of storing propane and other inflammable substances; and if he will make a statement.

No, but a good deal of information has been collected and this is now being examined.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if, in view of the urgent need for slum clearance and re-development in this area of Newcastle-under-Lyme, he will now grant loan sanction to the Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council for the Thistleberry scheme.

A decision will be given at the earliest possible moment. I am writing to the hon. Member to explain why it has not yet been possible to do so.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will give a list of the research projects at present being conducted at the Post Office Research Station, Dollis Hill, Willesden, particularly identifying any work being done in connection with a telecommunications satellite, fundamental research in connection therewith or equipment likely to be used therein.

The research work at Dollis Hill covers the whole range of telecommunication and postal services, and it is not possible to give a full list of current projects. They include, however, improvement of telephone instruments, development of electronic telephone exchanges, and development of inland cable, microwave radio-relay and long distance wave-guide systems, and submarine repeatered cable systems. Research is also being undertaken on the lives of thermionic valves and their components, and the basic properties of materials, including semi-conductors.The research effort is directed to meeting the increased demand for rapid, accurate, and reliable communications at reduced cost. Much of the work on conventional communications will be of great value in the development of satellite communications. More specifically, the research work on satellites includes highly sensitive receivers, large steerable aerial systems, and special transmitting and receiving techniques. Certain aspects are also being studied jointly with the Royal Aircraft and Royal Radar establishments of the Ministry of Aviation

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will arrange an urgent meeting with local authorities and representatives of the Board of Trade and Ministry of Labour to discuss employment problems arising from his proposal to run down the Central Ordnance Depot, Didcot.

I do not expect the decision to close the Central Ordnance Depot, Didcot, in 1964 to give rise to any employment problems in the near future. My Department is in touch with the Ministry of Labour and the Board of Trade and will, I assure my hon. Friend, act in consultation with them and the local authorities on any re-employment problems that may eventually arise.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury what savings resulted from his request to Members, dated 24th October 1960, to consider dispensing with bound volumes of HANSARD if they were able to do so.

Sixty Members have agreed to cancel their requests for the supply of bound volumes of HANSARD. The annual saving will be about £1,200.Bound volumes of HANSARD are intended for a Member's own use and can only be sent addressed personally to him.