asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what representations he has received from the Paramount Chief, or other members of the ruling house of Barotseland, about his constitutional proposals for Northern Rhodesia; what was the nature of these representations: and what reply he has given.

None. I expect to discuss these proposals with the Paramount Chief during his visit to the United Kingdom next month.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many convictions took place in Northern Rhodesia in 1960 of officials and members of Mr. Kenneth Kaunda's party; and how many persons were convicted for assault, for conspiracy, for riot, for sedition, for personal violence, for damage to property, and for contempt of court, respectively.

There were 403 convictions of persons known to be members of the United National Independence Party. Of these, 40 were for assault, 31 for conspiracy, 19 for riot, 10 for sedition, 45 for proposing violence, 1 for violence, 13 for damage to property and 13 for contempt of court.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what financial assistance has been given to Southern Rhodesia during the past five years: and for what purposes.

The only financial assistance for the exclusive use of Southern Rhodesia in the last five years has been a loan from the International Bank of £2 million for African farming. In addition Southern Rhodesia has shared in the benefit derived from financial assistance given to the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

asked the Minister of Health how many Mauritian doctors are practising in this country; and how many Mauritian medical students there are in United Kingdom medical schools.

I regret that the information asked for in the first part of the Question is not available. With regard to the second part I am informed that there were forty-nine such students in the academic year 1959–60.

asked the Minister of Health what is the ratio of patients to consultants, patients to junior house medical officers and patients to senior house medical officers in the following regions, South Western, North-West Metropolitan, North-East Metropolitan, South-West Metropolitan, South-East Metropolitan, Wessex, East Anglia and Oxford; and if he will give similar figures for consultants, junior house medical officers and senior house medical officers per 100,000 of the population.

Following are the figures for 1959:

asked the Minister of Labour what were the numbers of employees in the steel-making industry of Lanarkshire at mid-1957, 1958, 1959, and 1960, showing separately, men, boys under 18 years of age, and women and girls.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 13th March, 1961; Vol 636, c. 85–6], supplied the following statement:Figures for mid-1960 will not be ready for a few weeks and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as they are available. Figures for 1957, 1958 and 1959 are given in the following tables:

asked the Postmaster-General what changes he proposes in the membership of the Pilkington Committee on Broadcasting.

I have received resignations from Mr. J. Megaw, following his appointment as High Court Judge; from Sir Jock Campbell, on health grounds; and from Mr. Peter Hall, due to unexpectedly heavy commitments. After consultation with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, I have invited Professor F. H. Newark, Professor of Jurisprudence at Queen's University, Belfast, to become a member of the Committee, and I am glad to say that he has accepted.

asked the Postmaster-General what further steps he proposes to take to foster mutual understanding between telephone staffs and telephone customers.

I am always glad to provide opportunities for the public to visit telephone exchanges and to have the opportunity of meeting the telephone staff and seeing the conditions in which they work. This year I intend to arrange a special Telephone Week commencing on Monday, 10th April. During this week many exchanges will be "At Home" to the public who will be able to discuss telephone problems. Display units and leaflets will be provided and facilities will be demonstrated. Hon. Members will be invited to attend their local exchanges if they so wish.

asked the Minister of Transport (1) what study he has made of the decisions made by the railway concerns in the United States of America, France, and Federal Germany regarding the motive power to be used on their railways, and of their operating experience, in the course of his study of what systems to sanction for use on British railways;(2) what study he has made, in the course of considering what motive power systems to sanction for British Railways, of operating experience on British Railways to date; what information he has received from the British Transport Commission regarding results obtained or estimated from diesel-electric and electric locomotives hauling the same total weights of trains during the same number of hours per annum, at the same speeds in miles per hour, of the amounts spent on maintenance on each type, and of the estimated performance of each type of engine after ten years' use; and if he will publish this information in tabular form;(3) what study he has made of the performance of trains on the electrified lines between Manchester and Liverpool and Crewe compared with that of diesel electric engines, and of their relative maintenance costs and estimated performance after several years' operation, to help him come to a decision regarding the system most suitable for British Railways; and if he will publish the information that he has obtained about operating experience on these lines:(4) if, when considering the forms of motive power to sanction for British Railways, he will ascertain and set out in tabular form, respectively, for diesel-electric engines and electric engines of the same power, the weights, capital costs, annual operating costs and maintenance costs on the basis of the same total weight of trains per annum in each instance.

The technical evaluation of experience gained in operating railway equipment is a matter for the British Transport Commission, and not for my Department. In considering major proposals for investment in railway modernisation, however, I take account as necessary of all information supplied to me by the Commission which is relevant to the financial results it hopes to achieve.

asked the Minister of Transport what report has been made to him by the Traffic Commissioners of the action they have taken to relieve congestion and improve services in the area of Trafford Park, Manchester.

None. I am informed that no approach has been made to the Traffic Commissioners as to bus services in the Trafford Park area.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much it would cost the Exchequer if unestablished service of civil servants were to reckon in full instead of half for pension purposes.

If the extension of full reckoning were confined to future retirements and to future instalments of pension in respect of past retirements, it is estimated that the annual cost to the public in 1961–62 would be about £7 million, rising to about £8 million in the ensuing 10 years and then slowly declining until it finally disappeared sometime in the first quarter of the next century.