asked the Minister of Defence what are his proposals for preventing the use of tactical nuclear weapons in an emergency situation in Berlin developing into a nuclear world war.

I do not propose to discuss hypothetical contingencies of this sort or to disclose information that might be of value to a potential enemy.

asked the Minister of Transport why no representative of the divisional road engineer's office attended a meeting called by the Town Clerk of Tamworth on 30th May to discuss difficulties arising out of earlier failures of consultation in the matter of the railway bridge at Upper Gungate, Tamworth; and whether he is satisfied that the proposed width of the bridge is sufficient in the light of present and future traffic trends.

The meeting was arranged at fairly short notice, and although the Tamworth Borough Council was told that it would not be possible for a representative of the divisional road engineer to attend on 30th May it decided nevertheless to hold the meeting on that date.We are satisfied that Gungate Bridge is wide enough for present and foreseeable traffic. In due course it will be relieved by the Tamworth Bypass.

asked the Minister of Transport if he is aware of the grave public concern about the accident rate at and near to Hartlebury on the A.449 road; and what action he proposes to take.

asked the Minister of Transport what progress he has made in his plans to alleviate the high accident rate on the A.449 through Hartlebury, Worcestershire, and to provide extensions of dual carriageways.

We have asked the police to let us have a detailed report on the accidents that have occurred recently on A.449 between Kidderminster and Worcester. We intend, as funds permit, to convert the whole of this road to dual carriageways, including a bypass of Hartlebury, and the report will help us to determine, in the light of the accident record, which sections of the road should be improved first.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the success of the new one-way street arrangements for Tottenham Court Road and Gower Street, he will introduce further one-way systems in other parts of London where conditions are suitable.

I am discussing with the local authorities plans for one-way working in three areas namely Fulham Road—Kings Road; the Southampton Row area; and Victoria Park Road, Hackney. Five other schemes are in an advanced state of preparation, namely Baker Street—Gloucester Place; Oxford Street—Wigmore Street; Earls Court Road—Warwick Road; Grays Inn Road—Farringdon Road; and Sussex Gardens—Praed Street.

asked the Minister of Transport what protective measures for pedestrians he proposes to introduce in Elmers End Road, Beckenham.

A site in this road will be included in an experiment which we hope to conduct this year using a new type of crossing at which a special traffic light signal controlled by a push button can be operated by pedestrians.

asked the Minister of Transport what approximate road mileage is now provided with central road reflectors; to what extent this device has not yet been adopted where it is needed; what is the average cost per mile of these reflectors; and what is their average life.

We do not keep separate records of the mileage of road fitted with reflecting studs but a rough estimate indicates that at least two-thirds of the trunk and Class I roads which would benefit from having such studs are already equipped with them. The average cost per mile of providing and laying the studs is £125. The estimated life of the metal part of the studs is about twenty years and of the rubber part about four and a half years.

asked the Minister of Transport what stage has now been reached in consideration of short- and long-term plans for main road development and reconstruction affecting the borough of Leyton, including the Eastern Avenue extension, particularly in view of the increasing flow of traffic into and through the borough.

We propose to reconstruct as soon as possible the Green Man Junction. This will require an Order under the Highways Act, 1959, and our engineers are discussing with the borough engineer the preparation of the necessary plans.The Eastern Avenue extension proposal will take longer to implement because of the extensive rehousing necessary. We have carefully considered the various proposals advanced at the Public Inquiry and we hope to announce a decision in a few weeks' time.We have also invited the borough to submit for consideration major classified works costing nearly £100,000 in the current financial year, and £240,000 in 1962–63.Longer term plans affecting Leyton include the motorway to replace A.11, the Docks Relief Road, and the extension of the North Circular Road to A.13. These have all been included in the Essex Development Plan.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the doubling of road traffic in the Fareham area between 1938 and 1954 and the further increase since 1954, he will consider urgently the suggestion put to his Department by the hon. Member for Gosport and Fareham late in 1960, that the new south coast trunk road be routed south of Fareham and close to Gosport.

As my hon. Friend knows, a traffic survey was taken last August which will enable this proposal to be evaluated. I understand that the results have now been analysed by the county council and will soon reach me.

asked the Minister of Transport if his attention has been drawn to the report of the Commissioner of Wrecks, on the disaster in the Severn, recently made at Bristol in which he emphasised the need for greater facilities of communication between ship and shore; and what steps are being taken to prevent further disasters of this character and to improve conditions in many estuaries and along the coast in view of the dangers arising out of the increasing traffic in inflammable cargoes.

I have received the report of the Wreck Commissioner who, at my request, held a formal investigation at Bristol into this casualty. My Department will discuss the recommendations of the court with the responsible authorities.My Department is in continuous consultation with shipowners and seafarers about the safety of navigation round our coasts, as well as with the general lighthouse authorities and harbour authorities.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will make a further statement on his examination of the proposals of the Chamber of Shipping regarding British shipping policy.

I have nothing to add to the Answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. P. Williams) on 7th June.

asked the Minister of Transport what study he made of the average numbers of passengers carried weekly in the "Queen Mary" and "Queen Elizabeth" between the months of November and May when considering the desirability of financial assistance to the Cunard Company.

All aspects of year-round operation of the express passenger service were considered by the Chandos Committee and by the Government.

asked the Minister of Minister of Transport whether, in order to end the uncertainty caused to firms which have tendered, he can now announce his decision on the subject of a nuclear-propelled merchant ship.

I cannot yet add to the Answers I gave hon. Members on this subject on 7th June.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will now state the estimated date of completion of the Euston-Crewe main line electrification.

The British Transport Commission estimates that the electrification of this line will be completed by the end of 1966.

asked the Minister of Transport what was the number of persons over 60 years of age killed and injured in road accidents in 1960; what was the number of children under 14 years of age who were killed and injured; and what percentage these figures are of the total number of casualties for that year.

During 1960, 12,075 persons aged 60 years and over and 12,604 children aged 14 years and under were killed and seriously injured in road accidents in Great Britain. These figures represent 13 per cent. and 14 per cent. respectively of all those killed and seriously injured in 1960.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, under his regulations, garages authorised to carry out vehicle testing can use trade plates on a vehicle undergoing the statutory test.

Whether trade plates can legitimately be used on a vehicle undergoing the test is not certain. But nothing in the statutory provisions governing the vehicle testing scheme gives rise to the need for the use of trade plates by an authorised examiner.

asked the Minister of Transport which local authority associations and bus operators in Scotland he has consulted about the Jack Report; and when he expects to have their views.

An invitation to submit views on the Report was sent to the following bodies in Scotland:

• Association of County Councils in Scotland.
• Convention of Royal Burghs in Scotland.
• District Councils Association for Scotland.
• Scottish Counties of Cities Association.
• Scottish Road Passenger Transport Association.

asked the Postmaster-General, whether he will now give an assurance that British television will at some time change from 405 lines to 625 lines.

My right hon. Friend regrets that he cannot give an assurance at this juncture. As my hon. Friend is aware, the Television Advisory Committee favoured the 625 line system for the long-term development of television in this country on technical grounds. The views of the Pilkington Committee on the technical as well as on the non-technical factors are not yet available.

asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware that a member of the Independent Television Authority had his name associated with an application for a recent programme contract; and what action he proposes to take under Section 1 (7) of the Television Act, 1954.

We understand that the right hon. Gentleman has in mind the I.T.A. programme contract for its Welsh stations. We confirm categorically that Mr. Alban Davies, whom my right hon. Friend appointed to the I.T.A. to make the interests of Wales and Monmouthshire his special care, has no financial or other association with any of the applicant groups for that contract, nor has he ever had any such interest. We make this statement with the full knowledge and concurrence of Mr. Alban Davies.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he has reached a decision regarding the possible introduction of a Giro system in the Post Office.

Not yet.

asked the Minister of Labour what wage and salary increases have been demanded and granted, respectively, since 1st January 1961; how many workers are involved; what is the annual cost; and what knowledge he has of pending wage demands.

I regret that all the information requested is not available.Increases in wage rates for manual workers since 1st January, including those which will be operative from some future date, are estimated to affect about 6¾ million wage earners and to increase the weekly wage bill by about £3¼ millions. Information about salary increases is not available. The more important wage claims under consideration are for post office engineers, railway and printing workers. A number of Wages Councils have published proposals for increases. Details of the changes are published month by month in the Ministry of Labour Gazette.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the number of unemployed over 50 years of age registered at the employment exchanges at the latest convenient date; and what percentage this forms of the total number of unemployed.

An age analysis of wholly unemployed persons registered at employment exchanges is made in June and December each year. On 12th December last, the number of wholly unemployed aged 50 and over was 111,743. This represented 35·3 per cent. of the total number wholly unemployed at that date. The figures for the June count will be available by the end of the month, and I will send them to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty whether he will issue a directive that all possible Service transport vehicles be kept off trunk roads at week-end and on Bank Holidays during the summer months in order to relieve traffic congestion.

Establishments are being reminded that movements of R.N. vehicles at week-ends and Bank Holidays during the summer months should be kept, in the public interest, to the minimum practicable.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if he will state the amount in money of the contract, and when the building will be commenced of the new research ship for the National Institute of Oceanography which he has ordered to be built by Messrs. Hall, Russell & Co. Limited, of Aberdeen; whether she will be nuclear-propelled; what are the scientific details of her modern oceanographic equipment; and whether the nuclear-propulsion and oceanographic equipment will all be of British production.

The new research ship, including equipment supplied by the National Institute of Oceano- graphy, will cost about £800,000, and building will commence in five months' time. Propulsion will be by diesel electric machinery, and all the propulsion machinery and oceanographic equipment will be of British production with the exception of two hydro-cranes, which are being purchased from the United States.Details of the oceanographic equipment to be fitted in the new research ship for the National Institute of Oceanography are as follows:

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty, in view of the fact that, apart from Lieutenant John Gordon, R.M., M. (E) 1 Ridgley, C.D., and A/B Hobbs, T., constituents of the hon. Member for Arundel and Shoreham, who wish to leave Her Majesty's Service forthwith, there are many hundreds of other people who, for one reason or another, would like to be released from the Service, if he will make a statement on the reasons for the widespread unpopularity of service in the Royal Navy today.

My noble Friend and I entirely reject the assertion in the last part of this Question. In any profession there will always be some who, for many reasons, may want to shorten their contract of service and make a change. But the popularity of the Naval Service is borne out not only by the general satisfactory state of recruitment, but by the very high percentage of men who apply to re-engage; re-engagement after 12 years' service is now at the rate of 65 per cent., the highest it has been for 25 years.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty why the good-will visits by ships of the Royal Navy to South Korea have been cancelled.

I have nothing to add to the reply my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave to the right hon. Member for Belper (Mr. G. Brown) on 1st June.

asked the Secretary of State for Air how many Argosy transport aircraft will come into service with the transport force this year.

We expect to receive at least the five forecast in the diagram attached to my Air Estimates memorandum.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what further additions of carrying capacity to the transport force he expects in 1962.

We expect to take delivery of the five Comet 4s which are on order and also of a substantial number of Argosies and helicopters.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he will issue a directive that all possible Service transport vehicles be kept off trunk roads at week-ends and on Bank Holidays during the summer months in order to relieve traffic congestion.

Yes. I have given instructions that Royal Air Force vehicles are to use major roads as little as possible at week-ends and Bank Holidays during the summer months.

asked the Secretary of State for Air why National Service personnel at the Royal Air Force Station, Finningley, have been ordered to surrender T63 Dress which had been individually tailored for them.

For economy reasons the T63 worsted uniform, which gives good wear for over three years, is not a general issue to National Service airmen who get a less costly serge uniform. To achieve uniformity on special occasions, a central stock of ready-to-wear T63 uniforms is held for issue on temporary loan to National Service men. Only minor alterations are made to these uniforms to ensure a reasonable fit and they are withdrawn afterwards. That is what happened at Royal Air Force, Finningley.

asked the Secretary of State for Air why mobile shops operated by local firms have been refused a permit to operate in the British base areas in Cyprus; and whether he will reconsider this decision.

Several local traders already operate mobile shops in the military cantonments in the Sovereign Base Areas. Applications for new trading licences are considered on their merits, taking into account what shops already exist and whether additional facilities are required. A local trader who recently applied to operate two mobile shops had one application granted and the other one refused. The latter application is being re-examined.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what plans are being made to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary in 1962 of the formation of the Royal Flying Corps.

I am considering this matter.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many widows of Regular officers are in receipt of National Assistance.

I regret that, as statistics are not kept of the occupations of the late husbands of widows applying for Assistance, the information for which my hon. and gallant Friend asks is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the physical consequences of a nuclear attack on the United Kingdom.

As the consequences of a nuclear attack would depend on many variable factors, our home defence plans have to provide for a variety of possible situations. These matters are kept under constant review.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the ease of obtaining revolvers and other firearms and the increasing use made of them by criminals, he will take steps to arrange an amnesty for the surrender of firearms by a given date, and to provide heavier penalties for those convicted of their illegal possession thereafter.

While the information in my possession does not altogether bear out the premises of my hon. Friend's Question, I am considering, in consultation with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether any useful purpose would be served by a new appeal to the public to surrender unnecessary or unauthorised firearms.I am not satisfied that the maximum penalties for the unlawful possession of firearms call for revision at the present time.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will arrange for an inquiry into the procedure for dealing with cases involving sexual assaults on young girls, with special regard to the examination of the child witnesses.

The subject is among those considered by the Ingleby Committee, which, in paragraphs 260–262 of its Report, recommended certain modifications of the provisions at present in force for safeguarding the welfare of the child. The Committee's Report is at present under consideration.

asked the Minister of Aviation if he is satisfied with the progress made on Red Top; and if he will make a statement.

Yes, but I do not propose to make a further statement.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what evidence he has received of the dumping of Russian and French barley at uneconomically low prices in recent weeks; and what action he is taking to safeguard the interests of British growers and taxpayers in this respect.

I am giving urgent consideration to this problem in the light of available information and of the interests of the taxpayer. I shall also be prepared to consider any application made on behalf of the British growers.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what revised estimate he has made of the cost of the subsidy to barley growers in 1961–62 if the price of feeding barley settles at £16 a ton due to the continued unloading in the United Kingdom of Russian and French barley at an uneconomically low price; and to what extent he estimates the extra barley subsidy would be offset by a saving in feeding costs for livestock producers with consequent effect on the pig and egg subsidies.

If the average price realised for all home-grown barley from the 1961 crop falls to £16 per ton, the total subsidy on the crop would rise to about £48 million compared with the latest forecast of £35½ million for the 1960 crop.I cannot give any reliable estimate of the extent to which a higher barley subsidy would be offset by Exchequer savings through the operation of the feed formula for pigs and poultry because there are so many uncertain factors involved. But assuming that the price charged for barley or barley meal in the standard feed rations were also reduced by £3 10s. per ton and that the prices of all other constituents were unchanged, the subsidy saving on pigs and eggs might be of the order of £6 million per annum.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will issue a directive that all possible Service transport vehicles should be kept off trunk roads at week-ends and on Bank Holidays during the summer months in order to relieve traffic congestion.

Instructions to this effect were issued in March.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science if he is aware that, in over 700 examinations of strontium 90 in human bone, only three were of children between the ages of one and five years, when new bone is most rapidly laid down, living in the West areas most highly contaminated by strontium 90; if he will arrange that the Atomic Energy Authority should take a larger proportion of its specimens from such children; and if he will make a statement.

The mortality in this country in the age group of 1–5 years is extremely low and this limits the collection of bone samples from such children in any area, which in any case depends on the co-operation of the bereaved parents. The importance of the samples obtained from this age group is fully recognised and every effort is made to collect as many, and in as many areas as possible.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science whether at any official research unit a study is being made of the incidence, past and present, of cancer and leukaemia in wet areas in Great Britain in which the strontium 90 levels are already known to be higher than in other areas.

Yes. The Medical Research Council's Clinical Effects of Radiation Research Unit, in conjunction with the Council's Statistical Research Unit, are at present undertaking a detailed study of the geographical distribution of leukaemia and bone tumours in Great Britain for the period 1945–60. No consistent relationship between the amounts of rainfall and the occurrence of these conditions has yet been demonstrated but, in the course of this study, an examination for any such relationship will be undertaken.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science if he is aware that figures of strontium 90 in milk from some wet areas in the United Kingdom indicate that some strontium 90 levels in human bone are already above the 33·5 micro-micro-curies per gramme of calcium, given by the Medical Research Council as the warning level at which a re-assessment of the situation would be required; whether such a re-assessment is taking place; and if he will make a statement.

The Medical Research Council, in its Second Report on The Hazards to Man of Nuclear and Allied Radiations, considered the hypothetical case of the highest possible level which might have been reached in a wet hill area where the dietary contamination was highest. It concluded that it was unlikely that the level in the new bone of any individual could have exceeded 20 micro-micro-curies of strontium 90 per gramme of calcium in 1959. Since the assumptions made in this calculation were extremely pessimistic, the Report commented that it was not surprising that this level was twice as high as the highest value then observed, namely 9·5 micro-micro-curies of strontium 90 per gramme of calcium.I am not aware of any evidence indicating that the level of strontium 90 in the bones of any individual in this country has reached 33·5 micro-micro-curies per gramme of calcium. Moreover, the maximum permissible level of strontium 90 in bone for any individual member of the population was given as 200 micro-micro-curies per gramme of calcium by the Medical Research Council in its second Report on The Hazards to Man of Nuclear and Allied Radiations (Cmnd. 1225, 1960).The circumstances in which the Medical Research Council recommended that immediate consideration would be required were those in which bone levels in a population group were found to be rising continuously and to have reached 33·5 micro-micro-curies of strontium 90 per gramme of calcium. In the absence of further nuclear testing it is considered unlikely that such a situation will arise. Nevertheless, the levels of strontium 90 deposited in this country on the ground, in foodstuffs, and in human bones are the subject of an extensive and continuing monitoring programme, and the significance of the levels observed is kept under close and continuous review by the Medical Research Council

asked the Minister of Works when he will announce plans for the improvement of the car-park site in Abingdon Street.

A scheme has been sketched out and is being examined for laying this site out as an open space, with an underground garage beneath. I hope I shall be able to make an announcement about it before very long.