asked the Lord Privy Seal what action is being taken by Her Majesty's Government to bring up to the level of pensions under the United Kingdom Pensions (Increase) Act, 1959, the pensions of former colonial civil servants in British Somaliland.

Her Majesty's Ambassador at Mogadishu has made an approach to the Government of the Somali Republic about pension increases for former colonial servants of the British Somaliland Government. The Government of the Somali Republic have not so far come to a decision.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what action is being taken by Her Majesty's Government to bring up to the level of pensions under the United Kingdom Pensions (Increase) Act, 1959, the pensions of former colonial civil servants in the Sudan.

Her Majesty's Government have made a number of representations to the Sudan Government about increases in the pensions of former British members of the Sudan Civil Service. I regret to say that the Sudan Government informed us in September that they had concluded that they were unable to pay any further increases.

asked the Lord Privy Seal in how many countries of the Six and of the Seven, respectively, there are agricultural attaches of Her Majesty's Government; and to what extent they are concerned with the political as well as the technical problems of agriculture.

There is an agricultural attaché resident in Copenhagen, who is also accredited to The Hague. Agricultural attaches deal mainly with technical agricultural problems. They are under instructions to be guided by the head of mission at the post or posts to which they are accredited on any part of their work which has a political significance.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware of redundancy and short-time working in the furnishing industry which is causing hardship; if he will give the percentage of unemployment and short-time working there; and what are the prospects of improvement.

The number of workers last employed in the furniture and upholstery industries who registered as wholly unemployed on 16th January was 1,933, representing 1·8 per cent. of the total number of employees; in addition, 3,515 or 3·3 per cent. registered as temporarily stopped. In the week ended 31st December, 1960, the latest date for which figures are available, the number on short time was 6,314, about 6 per cent. of those employed. Some of those on short time are also counted in the unemployment figures as temporarily stopped. There should be a seasonal improvement during the next few months.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty what cases have occurred of discriminatory treatment, during their visits ashore, of men from Her Majesty's ships making courtesy calls at foreign or Commonwealth ports.

No reports of discriminatory treatment have been received in the Admiralty. We believe this is because we have taken steps to avoid such incidents

asked the Secretary of State for War how many major exercises, involving the use of one or more brigade groups, were held by the British Army of the Rhine during 1960; in how many of these nuclear weapons were assumed to be used; and how many were based on the assumption that only conventional weapons were available.

There were four exercises of this size in 1960. All of them assumed the use of both conventional and nuclear weapons.

asked the Secretary of State for War what is the amount of War Department land at Weybourne, Norfolk, needed for a defence project; and what he proposes to do with the land not so needed, and the 36 houses which have not been lived in for two years.

Eight acres. I propose to sell the surplus land and the houses to the former owners if they wish, subject to certain restrictions necessary for the defence project over part of the land.

asked the Secretary of State for War on what assumption as to recruitment, length of service, and wastage he has based the estimate contained in Command Paper No. 1288 of a Regular Army strength of 166,200 on 1st April, 1962.

The basis of the figure quoted far 1st April, 1962, is the actual strength of regulars including officers, men and boys on 30th September, 1960. The rates of prolongation of service and of wastage have been assumed to continue as in the previous twelve months. 9 per cent. has been added to last year's rate of recruitment to take account of the increased emphasis on recruiting and of the greater number of young men reaching military age during 1961–62.

Jones asked the Secretary of State for War what facilities are available to the public to enable them to attend courts-martial held in military establishments; and, for that purpose, what system of notification has been adopted to inform members of the public that a court-martial is sitting at a particular place at a particular time.

Military trials are normally held in open court; they may be attended by the Press and the public within the limits of available accommodation. Every military establishment at which a court-martial is convened compiles a weekly list of forthcoming trials, which is posted in a recognised place accessible to the public.

asked the Secretary of State for War why W/406039 Private Patricia Worsley, 4th Independent Company, General Headquarters, Far East Land Forces, Singapore, was not available in this country on 18th February, 1961, in order to enable her to marry 23547907 Corporal Francis Bonnici, 22 Rudyard Road. Knotty Ash. Liverpool, when all arrangements had been made, £70 in cash had been requested and sent, and all the necessary documents completed, details of which have been sent to him.

I have caused immediate inquiries to be made into this case, and I shall write to the hon. Lady as soon as possible. Meanwhile Private Worsley is being sent home forthwith.

asked the Secretary of State for War if it is proposed to transfer the unit of the Parachute Regiment now stationed at the Wood Lane Depot, London, W.12; and if it is his intention to surrender the lease or ownership of the site.

The redeployment of units in the London area following the reorganisation of the Territorial Army is still being worked out. It may be necessary to move one of the units now occupying the T.A. Centre at the White City, but it is unlikely that the property will be given up. I will get in touch with the hon. Gentleman as soon as a firm decision is made.

asked the Minister of Transport on what grounds the commencement of the Tyne tunnel has again been delayed; and if he will give an assurance that no instructions to this effect have been issued by his Department.

The settling of the draft contract documents has necessarily taken some little time but this has now been completed, and the Joint Committee are proceeding with their arrangements for the invitation of tenders. As regards the last part of the Question, I can, of course, give the hon. Lady the assurance she seeks.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will state the total cost of new road schemes and schemes of major road development put forward by highway authorities in England and Wales in the years 1955 to 1960 inclusive; and what proportion of these programmes he has authorised to proceed.

The total cost of the classified road schemes for these years put forward by highway authorities in 1955 was about £222 million. There have since that time been some adjustments to the programme, but I have so far made grants on schemes costing about 70 per cent. of that total.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of representations made to him by the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington about the difficulties and dangers to his constituents in crossing the Bath Road in the vicinity of Cranford Cross, he will reconsider his decision not to provide pedestrian facilities.

No. The central reservation now in course of construction should greatly assist pedestrians by enabling them to cross in two stages. In the longer term, the construction of the Chiswick-Langley Motorway should bring relief.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he will make a statement on the future use of the Usworth airfield.

This airfield is surplus to Air Ministry requirements and we shall be disposing of it.

asked the Minister of Defence whether it is intended to maintain reserve forces to garrison the the bases in Cyprus and at Aden.

No.

asked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to complaints about postal services in the Lichfield area, embodied also in correspondence sent to him by the hon. Member for Lichfield and Tam-worth; and if he will cause inquiries to be made.

Yes, and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as my inquiries are complete.

asked the Postmaster-General what individuals and categories of people are given priority in the supply of home telephones; and whether he will make a statement.

Where there is a shortage of exchange equipment or lines, removing subscribers normally take precedence over newcomers. Priority is also given to telephones needed in the national or local interest, e.g., Members of Parliament, doctors, nurses and Ministers of Religion, sick or disabled people and those dependent on a home telephone for their livelihood. It is not practicable to cover all the circumstances which arise where shortages exist, and discretion is therefore left to the Telephone Managers subject to general guidance to ensure that the resources of the Post Office are used in the public interest. In the case of 85 per cent. of telephone orders the question of priority does not arise because they can be provided without much delay. My aim is to increase this figure to 100 per cent.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, having regard to the increase of Profits Tax from 10 per cent. to 121 per cent. in the last Budget, and taking into account changed trading conditions in the current financial year, what total yield of Profits Tax he now expects this year; and how much increased yield in cash, and what per-centum increase in yield compared with the year 1959–60 he expects.

No separate Budget estimate was made for Profits Tax. The estimate of the yield of Profits Tax, Excess Profits Tax and Excess Profits Levy taken together was £256 million, which is about 2 per cent. below the outturn of those taxes for 1959–60. It is not the practice to revise Budget Estimates during the course of the current year.

asked the Minister of Health if he will break down the cost of the pharmaceutical services paid for by the National Health Service in the year ended 31st March, 1959, to the nearest £10,000, under the following heads: dispensing fees and payments to chemists, allowance to chemists for containers, chemists' overheads and profits, purchase tax, wholesalers' margins, appliances and dressings, payments to dispensing doctors, standard drugs, and ethical proprietary drugs.

The available information for England and Wales is as follows: