asked the Minister of Health whether, following the working party report to the Public Health Laboratory Service and Central Pathological Committee about tuberculosis infection in diagnostic laboratories, he will hold an official inquiry into the environmental precautions now existing in diagnostic medical laboratories.

No.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will make it compulsory for all staff in the National Health Service exposed to the special risk of contracting tuberculosis to be given a tuberculin test and chest X-ray every year.

No. They should be tuberculin-tested and X-rayed on entry and offered annual X-ray; but annual tuberculin-testing is unnecessary.

asked the Minister of Health how many of the National Health Service prescriptions during 1960 cost less than 2s. each.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Minister of Health what consideration he has given to the recommendation made to him by the British Epilepsy Association that some form of comprehensive charge should be devised to cover multiple prescriptions in certain long disabling conditions.

I have written to the Association about its suggestion and am sending my noble Friend a copy of my letter.

asked the Minister of Health what provision is made, in the terms of service governing a dispensing doctor in the National Health Service, to make it obligatory for such doctors to collect 2s. for each item of prescription dispensed to their patients.

The collection of charges by practitioners who supply drugs and appliances is a condition of their payment for this service.

asked the Minister of Health if he will publish a table of figures showing the number of deaths from leukœmia in each of the last ten years and, separately, the number of cases in which leukœmia was mentioned as a secondary cause of death.

Following are the figures:

LEUKAEMIA AND ALEUKAEMIA. DEATHS AND DEATH RATES PER 1,000,000 LIVING. ENGLAND AND WALES, 1950–1959
		Males		Females
		Number of deaths	Rate per1,000,000 living	Number of deaths	Rate per 1,000,000 living
1950	…	994	47	838	37
1951	…	984	47	943	41
1952	…	1,102	52	941	41
1953	…	1,116	53	1,005	44
1954	…	1,14	54	1,018	44
1955	…	1,223	57	1,001	43
1956	…	1,229	57	1,086	47
1957	…	1,301	60	1,093	47
1958	…	1,301	60	1,085	46
1959	…	1,315	60	1,219	52

Figures showing the secondary causes of death Ire not ordinarily produced, but in a special analysis of all deaths registered in the period April—June, 1955, 508 deaths were assigned to leukaemia and there were a further 25 deaths which were not assigned to leukaemia but in which leukaemia was mentioned on the death certificate.

asked the Minister of Health what consideration he has given to the representations made to him by the Confederation of Health Service Employees concerning pay and conditions for psychiatric nurses, and the representation of psychiatric nurses on the Whitley Council; and whether he will reconstitute the Whitley Councils to secure a separate council for psychiatric nurses.

The pay and conditions of service of psychiatric nurses are negotiated by the Nurses and Midwives Whitley Council on which the Confederation of Health Service Employees is represented. The setting up of a separate Council for psychiatric nurses would require amendments of the constitution of the Whitley Councils for the Health Services, and would be a matter for the Councils themselves.

asked the Minister of Health (1) in view of the fact that severe bronchitis is seldom found in people who have never smoked, whether he will now take further action to discourage people from smoking;(2) whether, in view of the growth in advertising by tobacco manufacturers, with the consequent danger to health from increased smoking, he will introduce legislation to control all advertising which might result in danger to the health of the population;(3) in view of the fact that a high proportion of tobacco sales already goes to the teenage population, that the advertisements of tobacco manufacturers are directed in large measure to this section of the community, and that during the next two years there will be a proportionately higher number of potential smokers owing to the high birthrate at the end of the war, what special steps he proposes taking to warn people, especially young girls and boys, of the danger to health from smoking.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Brixton (Mr. Lipton) and others on 19th December, 1960.

asked the Minister of Health when the provision of a chiropody service is to be resumed in Swindon under the National Health Service; and whether he will consider this as a matter of urgency as the service has been closed since the end of October, 1960.

I understand that the service was resumed on 1st March.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state the number of patients over 50 years of age, and the number over 60 years of age, respectively, accommodated in the same ward at Warlingham Park Mental Hospital on 1st November, 1960, as the 14-year-old girl, details of whom have been sent to him by the hon. Member for Erith and Crayford; and on what date the ward ceased to be a locked ward.

Five between 50 and 60 and 3 over 60. There has been no locked ward in this hospital for over six years. This ward ceased to be locked in November, 1954.

asked the Minister of Health when the operating theatre recently closed at Farnborough Hospital, Kent, will be in use again; and if he will make a statement upon the reasons for its closure and the steps being taken to remedy them.

This theatre is now in partial use, and 17 sessions a week, compared with the normal 21 are being held in this and the twin theatre. Closure was due to lack of trained theatre nurses, which the hospital management committee is using every effort to make good.

asked the Minister of Health how many full-time work-study specialists are employed by the regional hospital boards; what their total salaries amount to; and how much money they are estimated to have saved the National Health Service since they were appointed.

Thirty-six, whose total annual salaries are £43,240. Twenty-seven of these have been appointed in the last six months, and it is too early to assess results.

asked the Minister of Health what were the totals in terms of whole-time equivalent of non-medical staff employed by regional hospital boards and hospital management corn- mittees, respectively, in the years 1949 and 1959.

Non-medical staff employed by regional hospital boards and hospital management committees in terms of whole-time equivalents were:

——	1949	1959
Regional hospital boards	2,440	5,260
Hospital management committees	334,334	415,016

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what recent representations he has received with regard to the failure of his Department to make payments of benefits in certain cases where these were statutorily payable.

None of which I am aware.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance in how many cases pneumoconiosis medical panels have examined persons in life and failed to diagnose pneumoconiosis, whereas subsequent post-mortem examinations have revealed the presence of the disease.

I realise that cases of the kind indicated do occasionally arise, as indeed do cases in which the circumstances are reversed. Though precise statistics are lacking I am, however, satisfied that such cases are very rare.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance with reference to the figures for North Staffordshire contained in the Digest of Pneumoconiosis Statistics, 1959, what factors are responsible for the relatively high figures; whether he is satisfied with the system of assessment, in view of the fact that after re-examination in only one case was the amount increased; how many persons have continued employment in approved dust conditions; how many have been found other employment; how many are unemployed: in how many cases National Assistance is being sought; and what is the total number of dependants in such cases.

I am not clear which particular figures the hon. Member has in mind. But, as my predecessor explained to him, it is not possible to assess the relative weight of the various factors, including those which influence men in presenting themselves for examination, which affect these statistics. As far as assessments of disablement are concerned, my right hon. Friend is satisfied that the present practice of the Pneumoconiosis Medical Panels accords with the statutory requirements, and the hon. Member is under a misapprehension as to the number of cases where assessments have been increased. I regret that the information about the number of pneumoconiotics who are in receipt of National Assistance is not available. The remaining matters are for my right hon. Friends the Ministers of Labour and Power.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he is aware that a non-employed widow without children who receives 10s. a week under the pre-1948 National Contribution Scheme must now pay weekly National Insurance contributions leaving her with only 2s. 5d.; and if he will now consider paying a widow's pension to widows under 50 years of age.

Widows receiving the 10s. pension as a reserved right from the former contributory pensions scheme are liable to pay National Insurance contributions in the same way as widows in similar circumstances who receive no pension. On the second part of my hon. Friend's Question, I think the selective basis for widow's pension introduced by the National Insurance Act 1946, under which of course women widowed under 50 do receive pension if they have young children, is sensible.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will give the number of applicants for National Assistance on the latest possible date, the number of the applicants' dependants and the number of their children, the numbers drawing retirement pension, sickness benefit or unemployment benefit, and the number receiving supplementation while on National Insurance benefit.

At 31st January last, the total number of weekly National Assistance grants was 1,877,000. The other information asked for is not yet available for a date later than December last, when the total number of weekly grants was 1,857,000. It is estimated that these provided for 379,000 wives, 6,000 other dependants aged over 16 and 436,000 children aged under 16. The numbers, included in the total, which were payable to persons receiving retirement pension, sickness benefit and unemployment benefit were respectively 1,075,000, 136,000 and 43,000, and the total number payable to recipients of these and other National Insurance benefits was 1,322,000.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) if he will ask Her Majesty's factory inspector to conduct an urgent investigation into why a large number of people suffer from pneumoconiosis in the pottery industry: and if he will consider what action should be taken to reduce this number;(2) if he will make a statement on what action has been taken on the official survey conducted into the industrial conditions in the City of Stoke-on-Trent and in the pottery industry; and what further action is to be taken.

Inquiry into the dusty conditions responsible for pneumoconiosis was a principal purpose of the recent survey. A committee comprising both sides of the industry and the factory inspectorate was charged with following up the survey. In an interim report, it has made recommendations about dust control appliances which have been circulated to every pottery firm in the country. The Committee is continuing its work and I am satisfied that this is the most effective way of making progress. I am glad to say that the number of newly diagnosed cases of pneumoconiosis in the industry is declining.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the level of unemployment in North Cornwall for the months of September, October, November and December, 1960, and for January, 1961; and what were the comparable figures for 1959–60.

NUMBER OF PERSONS REGISTERED AS UNEMPLOYED AT EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES AT BODMIN. BUDE, CAMELFORD, LAUNCESTON, NEWQUAY AND WADEBRIDGE
Date				Number	Date			Number
12th September, 1960	…	…	…	333	14th September, 1959	…	…	441
10thOctober,1960	…	…	…	625	12th October, 1959	…	…	748
14th November. 1960	…	…	…	804	16th November, 1959	…	…	910
12th December, 1960	…	…	…	781	7thDecember, 1959	…	…	922
16th January, 1961	…	…	…	837	11th January, 1960	…	…	924

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the amount of money paid during 1960–61 under the Hill Cow Subsidy Scheme in the County of Cornwall; and how many applications for the subsidy were received.

:£61,104 has been paid out to date for the Hill Cow Subsidy for 1960 in Cornwall. Two hundred and seventy-two applications were received. of these five were rejected and two are still under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what material has been made available for display during Commonwealth week through his Department or through other official organisations, to encourage and inform teachers and students who are interested in teaching in Commonwealth territories overseas.

The Commonwealth Exhibition, which is now touring the United Kingdom as the focal point of the Commonwealth Weeks Programme, is designed to tell people in Britain about the Commonwealth.The many inquiries received at the Exhibition alone show that it has succeeded in stimulating interest in the Commonwealth and many of these inquiries have been from teachers interested in teaching in Commonwealth countries overseas. They are always answered as fully and completely as possible.

The following table gives the information required:In addition, the many displays, lectures, films and other supporting activities which have been provided by Commonwealth Missions in the United Kingdom, by voluntary societies and by local organisations, have stimulated much public interest in the Commonwealth including that of teachers.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs to whom he has paid £250,000 as compensation for refusal of planning permission, as stated in Class V, Vote 1, of the Supplementary Estimate for 1960–61; and what site is involved.

A claim by the Lower Thames Land Development and Construction Co. Ltd., for £243,838 has arisen out of the refusal of planning permission by the local planning authority in October, 1958, for the development of an industrial estate on 251 acres of land at Renwick Road, Barking, Essex. Interests other than those of the claimant company are affected, and the period during which they could object to the proposed settlement expired yesterday. The claim will now be paid.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will state the reasons for the delay of some four months in convening the public inquiry into the Butlin holiday camp project at Minehead; and whether, to avoid prolonging the period of uncertainty, he will advance the date of the inquiry to one earlier than 9th May.

The application for planning permission for the holiday camp was referred to me by the Somerset County Council on 30th December. On 18th January I notified the authority that I would decide the application my- self. Owing to the heavy commitments of my inspectors I cannot advance the date to one earlier than 9th May unless some cancellation should occur.

asked the Minister of Education if he will now publish an analysis, based on the 10 per cent. sample taken by his Department, of the 1960 General Certificate of Education results of secondary modern pupils, giving details of numbers of subjects taken and passes gained.

At the end of the month an analysis will be available based on the full returns. This will give a much better picture than the 10 per cent. sample and I will gladly furnish this to the hon. Member if he will put down a further question.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the annual cost to the Revenue of allowing all corpora- tions and businesses of every kind to charge against profits for Income Tax and Profits Tax purposes the cost of audit fees; and what would be the cost to the Revenue in a full year of allowing persons and individuals to charge against assessments to Income Tax and Surtax an amount for accountancy fees when proven, in a maximum of one per- centum of gross income, taking into account economy in Inland Revenue labour when settling accountant-certified tax papers for persons and individuals.

No figures are avail-able to answer either part of the Question.

asked the Minister of Power to what extent the higher coal and electricity prices recently announced will enable these industries to finance capital expenditure programmes to a greater extent than before from their own internal resources, and thus diminish commensurately the amount of Treasury moneys for that purpose within the provisions of the Finance Act, 1960.

I must ask my hon. Friend to await publication of the White Paper on Government expenditure "Below-the-line", which will contain information about the level of internal resources available to finance the capital programmes of the industries in 1960–61 and 1961–62 compared with previous years.

asked the Minister of Power what report he has received under Regulation 21 (c) of the Electricity Supply Regulations, 1937, on the two breakdowns of electric power in Newcastle on 23rd February; and if he will make a statement.

Under Regulation 21 (c), the North Eastern Electricity Board notified my right hon. Friend of a failure of supply in the Longbenton area between 4.39 p.m. on 22nd February and 2.30 a.m. on 23rd February caused by damage to one of the Board's feeders during street excavations by an outside contractor. A further breakdown occurred in the same area at 8.19 p.m. on 23rd February of which notification was not required under Regulation 21 (c) as it lasted for less than two hours: this failure was caused by a cable fault which might have been related to the original failure. The Board is taking steps to strengthen the distribution system in the area.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many teachers over 65 years of age are still employed in the profession; and what percentage this is of the total.

Eight hundred and fifty-three, or 23 per cent., of the certificated teacher employed in Scottish public and grant-aided schools in October, 1960, were over 65.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide a table showing separately, for each of the last five years at any convenient date, the numbers of graduate and non-graduate teachers, indicating separate figures for men and women, who have left the profession and the industries or employment in which they are now engaged.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in order to attract more graduates to the teaching profession, he will now accept the Advisory Council's recommendation that graduates and others training for the special certificate receive training awards comparable with those given by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

No, but as I announced on 19th December, 1960, the rate of maintenance allowance for students at colleges of education will be improved, and a radically revised scale of parental contributions will be introduced, next October.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in accordance with the Teachers Superannuation Act, 1956, Section 30 (2), he has caused an actuarial inquiry for the period ending 31st March, 1956; and when the Actuary's report will be laid before both Houses of Parliament in accordance with Section 30 (6) of the same Act.

Such an inquiry has been held. I have not yet received the report of the Government Actuary.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications he has received for entry to the police force as a result of the recently announced salary increase; and how many have been accepted.

Applications for entry into the police service are made to the chief constable of the force concerned and figures concerning them are not available centrally. I am however asking chief constables for information about the applications that they have received recently and I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will announce an increase of salary for teachers, similar to that recently granted to the police, in an effort to attract more qualified graduates to the profession.

The National Joint Council to deal with the salaries of teachers in Scotland is at present considering a claim for a salary increase which has been submitted by the teachers' representatives on the Council. Before changing the Salaries Regulations I am required by Statute to have regard to the recommendations of the Council and I cannot make any announcement until I have had an opportunity of considering them.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce legislation to empower local authorities and education committees to set aside waste ground for the training of vehicle drivers.

No. Section 156 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1947, as read with Section 75 of the Road Traffic Act, 1960, confers the necessary powers.