asked the Secretary to the Treasury what is the estimated cost to the Treasury of tax relief for 1961–62 in respect of the employer's contribution to the National Insurance Fund, exclusive of the National Health Service.

If employers who carry on a trade or business were prohibited from deducting their National Insurance contributions in respect of their employees as an ordinary business expense for tax purposes, and if other employers were denied relief on their contributions, the extra yield of Income Tax would be £170 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether he is satisfied that under the authorised programme for Scottish university expansion, sufficient attention has been paid to the fact that hitherto the existence of large first-year classes, sometimes of more than 300 students, has made universities like Edinburgh and Glasgow more economical to run than English universities of comparable size; if he is aware that any future changes in the staff-student ratio will involve these universities in a more than proportionate increase in expenditure per student; and if he will make a statement;(2) whether he is satisfied that in estimating the needs of Scottish universities, sufficient attention has been given to the need for technical assistance, for example, in the form of increased laboratory personnel and equipment, which will set free more time for teaching and research in the science faculties; and if he will make a statement.

These are matters which will fall to be considered in connection with the settlement of the total of Exchequer grants to be made available to the universities for recurrent purposes, for the quinquennium 1962–67, on which I shall be advised by the University Grants Committee towards the end of this year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether the programme he has authorised for university expansion includes provision to enable the University of Edinburgh to double the size of its science faculty, as originally proposed, by 1968;(2) whether he is satisfied that the authorised programme of expansion for the University of Edinburgh includes provisions to enable it to meet its requirements in respect of halls of residence, and the expansion of its dental college; and if he will make a statement.

I informed the House on 25th January that I had authorised substantially increased capital programmes for the universities totalling not less than £25 million in each of the four years, 1962–64. Allocation of the grants between the universities is the responsibility of the University Grants Committee. While all projects put forward by universities cannot be achieved within even these increased programmes, this large addition to the resources of the universities should be of material help to them in their immediate practical task of accommodating the increased numbers of students who will be coming forward in the second half of this decade.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the number of police prosecutions outstanding against motorists for parking offences in London areas covered by traffic wardens.

In the areas of London in which the fixed penalty system has been introduced, 35,827 fixed penalty tickets were issued between 19th September, 1960, and 16th April, 1961. Of these cases, 1,231 are awaiting hearing before magistrates' courts, 886 are awaiting application for summons, and in 4,029 the police are pursuing enquiries. In the remainder, the fixed penalty has been paid, or the case has been dealt with by a court, or the Commissioner of Police has decided to take no further action.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware of resignations of traffic wardens in the London area; if he will give the numbers of such resignations; and if he will make a statement.

Of the 149 traffic wardens who have been appointed by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis since July, 1960, 38 have resigned. One of these has since rejoined.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been brought in the past ten years under Section 28 of the Town Police Clauses Act, 1847.

I regret that this information is not available, since the many offences created by this Section are recorded in the Criminal Statistics under different headings, often combined with offences under other Sections of the Act or under other Acts.

asked the Prime Minister if the speech of the Secretary of State for the Home Department in Madrid on the relations of Spain with the West represents the policy of Her Majesty's Government.

asked the Prime Minister what steps are being taken by the appropriate Government Departments to assist the full incorporation of Spain in the western world.

I have nothing to add to the answer which I gave to Questions on 30th May.

asked the Prime Minister whether he proposes to suggest the holding of a Commonwealth Conference before any decisive step is taken by Her Majesty's Government concerning the Common Market.

asked the Prime Minister if he will state in detail the nature of the communications which he has received from the independent member Realms of the British Commonwealth, indicating the expressed views of each, in relation to proposals that Great Britain should join the Common Market; whether he intends to propose a Commonwealth conference to discuss this matter; and what relevant steps he has taken and proposes to take to ascertain Commonwealth opinion in so far as it affects United Kingdom policy.

We have received expressions of the views of Commonwealth Governments both in direct messages and in the course of various meetings. These are by custom treated as confidential. We have made it clear, both in this House and to the other Commonwealth Governments, that we will have full consultation with them before deciding what course to follow in relation to the European Economic Community. The suggestion of a Commonwealth Conference is of course one of the possible ways in which this consultation might be carried out, but it is not necessarily the best adapted to the varying problems affecting each Commonwealth country.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will intervene to stop land at South Killingholme from being withdrawn from agriculture for industrial purposes.

No. The local planning authority have fully considered the representations made by the agricultural interests and various alternative sites have been examined but found unsuitable so that the authority have now decided that they must grant planning permission for the industrial use of this land.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which are the five British breeds which were granted the greatest number of beef bull licences in England and Wales over the five years between 1st January, 1956, and 31st December, 1960.

Two types of licence are granted for beef bulls: the "beef" licence, which is only available for bulls whose pedigrees are accepted for registration with an approved Breed Society; and the "general" licence, which is available for unregistered bulls. The five British breeds for which the greatest number of licences of these two types were issued in England and Wales over five years ending 31st March, 1961, are as follows:

—	Licences		Total
	"Beef"	"General"
Hereford	10,904	1,758	12,662
Aberdeen Angus	4,705	548	5,253
Galloway	1,078	1,036	2,114
Lincoln	1,642	137	1,779
Devon	1,121	231	1,352

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consideration he has given to the recommendations made by the Jennings Committee in their Report on the Common Lands in England and Wales, issued in July, 1958; and which of the recommendations he proposes to adopt.

I am not yet able to add to my reply to the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Mr. Boyden) on 24th April last.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to what extent the present freedom to import bacon from Denmark is dependent on the extent to which Danish agriculture in general remains unsubsidised by the Danish Government; what steps are taken by him to obtain satisfactory assurances from that Government on this point; and whether any changes in this respect have taken place subsequent to the cessation of the recent Danish farmers' strike.

Most Governments assist their agricultural producers in one way or another. This is in the first place a domestic matter, but so far as imports into this country are concerned, the absence of restrictions stems from our general trade policy and international obligations. There is, of course, provision for statutory action against dumped or subsidised imports from any country in certain circumstances under the Customs Duties (Dumping and Subsidies) Act, 1957.As for the third part of the Question, I understand that the Danish Government have in mind certain proposals to assist their agricultural producers but that they have not yet come into effect. In these circumstances, I do not consider it appropriate to seek special assurances from the Danish Government.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has at the present time about outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Western European countries; and whether he proposes to take safeguards with regard to the importation of meat and bacon from Europe into this country.

My Department receives regular information about outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Europe. I will send my hon. and gallant Friend a statement. The importation of meat (including bacon) from Europe is controlled by regulations made under the Diseases of Animals Act, 1950. The statutory safeguards range from a total ban on imports to conditional entry according to the circumstances of the particular country.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what are the future plans for civilian employment at the Royal Air Force station, Swinderby.

We plan to close the flying training school at the beginning of 1962. Building will then be necessary to fit the station for a new task. This will take at least a year during which there will be work for about 60 of the 133 civilians now in our direct employment at Swinderby. When the new unit moves in we expect to employ at least as many civilians as we do at present.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what grants and loans have been made by the Exchequer or by Government agencies to the Central African Federal and Southern Rhodesian Governments, respectively, in each year since 1953.

As regards grants and loans to the Federal Government of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to a Question by the hon. Member for Greenock (Dr. Mabon) on 13th April. The £15 million loan for the Kariba Dam project made in 1955 by the Colonial Development Corporation has so far been disbursed as follows:—

	£
1956	750,000
1957	1,300,000
1958	900,000
1961	6,300,000

No Exchequer grants or loans have been made to the Government of Southern Rhodesia, but the Colonial Development Corporation made them a loan of £1 million in 1956–57 for African housing.

asked the Lord Privy Seal to what extent non-Commonwealth members of the sterling area have been consulted, and informed, about future United Kingdom relations with the European Economic Community.

In so far as the interests of non-Commonwealth members of the sterling area are affected, this will not be primarily because they are members of the sterling area. No informatory or consultative discussions with them have so far been found necessary, except in the case of the Irish Republic, which is in a rather special position.

asked the Minister of Education if, to enable Members to form a balanced judgment on university scholarships, he will procure from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and publish, figures showing the number of open scholarships awarded in each of the last 10 years, the number of such scholarships prematurely terminated, the numbers of such scholars who gained first, second, and third class honours degrees, respectively, and the numbers who failed to pass their final examinations.

No. I have nothing to add to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member on 17th February. As the hon. Member knows, I am not responsible for Oxford and Cambridge Colleges.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether the National Insurance Advisory Committee has completed its examination of the question of pension increments for wives and widows.

Yes. I have received this Report, and will lay it before Parliament next Monday.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is yet able to announce his proposed home leave scheme for married men who are serving abroad without their wives.

Yes. Details of this scheme are now settled. It applies to all overseas stations except North-West Europe for which a scheme already exists. Broadly speaking, all married Servicemen on an overseas tour of not less than two years will be permitted to take leave in this country at public expense if they are to be unaccompanied by their wives for a minimum of 21 months.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in order to encourage holiday caravanning in the Highlands, he will exercise his power to relax in that area certain of the requirements of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act.

As contemplated when the Bill was before the House, and after consulting the county councils concerned, I have made an Order extending the statutory exemptions from control in this area. This Order, published today, provides that in the counties of Argyll, Caithness, Inverness, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland, Orkney and Zetland, on any holding of two acres or more, up to three caravans at any one time may be accommodated without a site licence and without planning permission during the period 1st April to 30th September in any year.