asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, if, in view of Her Majesty's Government's curtailment of national and local expenditure, he will make a statement about the proposed improvement scheme to alleviate flooding in Nottingham from the River Leen.

The Trent River Board have not yet submitted full details of the proposed works to my Department. I will take account of this and other proposed schemes when considering capital investment allocations, but the question of priorities within their allocation is a matter for the individual river board to decide.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the cost so far, during the current fatstock year, of the fatstock subsidies: whether he will sub-divide this amount into the cost far pigs, cattle and sheep, respectively; and how these amounts compare with the same period for the previous year.

The cost of the fatstock subsidies in the United Kingdom from 1st April to the last Friday in July this year and during the corresponding period of last year was as follows:—

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has yet reached a conclusion on the future of the Sea Fisheries Committees.

Yes. I have accepted the view expressed in the Fleck Committee's Report that these Committees should continue to exercise their present responsibilities.

asked the Prime Minister what proposals will be made to this House for a gift from the House of Commons to the House of Representatives of Cyprus, to commemorate the attainment by that country of her independence on 16th August, 1960.

Her Majesty's Government propose that Mr. Speaker should offer a gift on behalf of this House to the Cyprus House of Representatives in commemoration of the attainment of independence by the Republic of Cyprus and with our best wishes for the future prosperity of her Legislature and people.

asked the Prime Minister what proposals will be made to this House for a gift from the House of Commons to the Parliament of Sierra Leone, to commemorate the achievement of that country's independence on 27th April, 1961.

Her Majesty's Government propose that Mr. Speaker should, on behalf of this House, present a mace to the House of Representatives of Sierra Leone in commemoration of the attainment of independence by Sierra Leone and with our best wishes for the future prosperity of her Legislature and people.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why an urgent special letter written on 14th July to the hon. Member for Leeds, West, from a prisoner in Her Majesty's Prison, Canterbury, was not posted from the prison until 27th July; why it was improperly addressed; and whether he will cause inquiries to be made into the posting and the subject matter of the letter, which alleged delay in providing necessary medical aid to an injured man.

The letter was stopped in accordance with normal practice because the prisoner had not complied with the rules about prisoners' correspondence with hon. Members. The address on the letter was that given by the prisoner. I am writing to the hon. Member about the substance of the prisoner's complaint, which I am satisfied is unfounded.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what statistics relating to the deterrent effects of the punishments at present available to the courts in respect of crimes of violence were presented by his Department to the Advisory Council on the Treatment of Offenders; and if he will publish these in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

A great deal of statistical information was made available to the Advisory Council and it would not be practicable to publish it in the OFFICIAL REPORT. A summary of the information provided is contained in the various appendices to the Advisory Council's Report on Corporal Punishment and is discussed in Part IV of the Report.As the Advisory Council pointed out, statistical evidence about the effect of different forms of punishment is of limited value. Statistics show only offences known to the police and persons found guilty of offences and it is impossible to discover how many were deterred from committing offences by fear of a particular penalty or for any other reason.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what percentage convictions for crimes of violence of all kinds have increased since the Criminal Justice Act, 1948.

Two hundred and seven per cent.

asked the Postmaster-General if, in view of the fact that many blind persons who are telephone subscribers are much more dependent on the telephone than other subscribers and may be unable to afford to have a telephone in future owing to the additional rental charges, he will re-examine the practicability of introducing special terms for the benefit of subscribers or would-be subscribers who are registered as blind persons.

I have re-examined this matter and I am sorry to say that it is not practicable to apply differential telephone charges to particular groups of people.

asked the Postmaster-General what guidance he is now giving to local authorities regarding the licensing of new relay undertakings, pending the Report of the Pilkington Committee and the possibility of changes in the basic structure of the broadcasting services.

I am responsible for licensing relay undertakings. I am continuing to licence in the usual way any applicant whose equipment satisfies the technical conditions, and who has obtained the necessary wayleave consents from the local authority.

asked the Postmaster-General why it is not possible to obtain £1 Premium Bonds in the Leicestershire post offices of Bitteswell, Ashby Parva, and Dunton Bassett.

Premium Bonds are normally obtainable at Dunton Bassett, but my right hon. Friend is sorry that on a recent occasion the office was temporarily out of stock of the £1 denomination. Bitteswell and Ashby Parva are small offices where circumstances have not so far been held to justify introduction of Premium Bond business. The position is being reviewed and I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

asked the Postmaster-General (1) what is the estimated revenue to be derived from each of the increases of charges announced by him on 24th July last;(2) what is the estimated amount of the contribution expected to be made towards the further sum of £25 million required in a full year by each of the increases of charges announced by him on 24th July last.

The estimated yield of the tariff changes this year and next is as follows:

asked the Postmaster-General if he will make a statement detailing the increases of costs in Post Office services which have necessitated the increased charges announced by him on 24th July last, showing the amount of each increase of costs, and the date from which it began to operate.

The following are the principal increases in costs which have been incurred in the last twelve months:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the amount of private investment from the United Kingdom in the year 1959–60 in each of the territories, or in each of the regions, listed in the Annex to Command Paper No. 974, Assistance from the United Kingdom for Overseas Development.

Private investment by the United Kingdom during the calendar year 1959 in all the territories listed in the Annex to Cmnd. 974 amounted to £168 million. Of this total, £108 million was in the sterling area, and £60 million in the non-sterling area. Geographical detail for private investment similar to that shown in the Annex to Cmnd. 974 for Government Assistance is not at present available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the gross amount of private investment from the United Kingdom in countries outside the sterling area during each of the years 1958–59 and 1959–60.

For the calendar years 1958 and 1959 private investment by the United Kingdom in countries outside the sterling area is estimated at £139 million and £163 million respectively. These figures are shown in Table 3 of Cmnd. 1329.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the gross amount of private investment from the United Kingdom for each of the years 1958–59 and 1959–60 in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, respectively.

The information, so far as it is available, is as follows:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps have been taken to accept certain of the chattels at Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran, in settlement of Estate Duty; and if he will make a statement.

Brodick Castle was accepted by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue in 1959 in part satisfaction of Estate Duty payable on the death of the Dowager Duchess of Montrose. The castle and 650 acres of the surrounding parkland were transferred to the National Trust for Scotland.The executors also offered to the Inland Revenue in part satisfaction of the duty outstanding many of the works of art and pieces of furniture in the castle. These have now been accepted at a cost to the National Land Fund of £36,240. The furniture and works of art have been transferred—or in some cases loaned—to the National Trust for Scotland for display in the Castle.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that the number of people employed in distribution, finance, professional and miscellaneous groups has increased from 6,576,000 in 1949 to 8,299,000 in 1960; since this is a primary cause of the relatively slow growth of industrial production and a cause of high prices, if he will establish a committee to investigate and report how far this is retarding the United Kingdom's exports; and if he will make a statement.

Between the end of 1949 and the end of 1960 the numbers employed in the distributive trades and the financial, professional, scientific and miscellaneous services in Great Britain rose from 6,693,000 to 8,299,000. Of the total increase of 1,606,000, 740,000 results from a change in statistical definition. The true increase, using 1949 definitions for comparability, is therefore 866,000.The bulk of the increase was in the number employed in the distributive trades, but it did no more than offset the fall in numbers employed during the war. At the end of 1960 a smaller proportion of the total working population was employed in the distributive trades than in 1938. The rise in the numbers employed in the other groups mentioned reflects both the desire of the consumer to spend a larger part of his growing income on services rather than on goods, and a greater use by industry of these services in our modern complex economy. There is evidence that productivity in the service trades has increased very substantially in recent years.The proportion of the working population engaged in manufacturing industry is, on comparable definitions, higher now than it was before the war.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if his attention has been drawn to the conduct of a firm holding defence contracts, whose name is known to him, which is endeavouring to entice workers away from an export firm by writing to individual employees and offering higher wages to change their employment; and what action he is taking in the matter, in view of the Government's responsibilities in connection with firms undertaking public contracts.

I am looking into this matter and will write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he has yet received the Report of the Pippard Committee on the condition of the tidal Thames.

Yes. I have just received this Report, and I am arranging for it to be published as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what steps are being taken by the Basutoland administration to train local civil servants; and whether arrangements are being made for them to understudy senior ex-patriate civil servants.

The Basutoland Administration has recently approved a comprehensive plan for the training of civil servants in all Departments. This plan will be implemented by a training committee composed of individuals experienced in this field drawn from all walks of public life in Basutoland. Administration of the plan will be in the hands of a training officer for whom provision has been made from colonial development and welfare funds. Meanwhile twenty officers are in, or are about to depart for, training overseas in such fields as law, local government, medicine, public health, nursing, agriculture, engineering, prisons and police. The training scheme provides, also, where appropriate, for understudy posts.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what steps are being taken by the Basutoland administration to implement the modernisation of the system of land tenure.

Alteration of the system of land tenure in Basutoland is a matter in which the initiative lies with the Basuto themselves. A Private Member's Motion to the effect that the land tenure system should be revised has been accepted by the Basutoland National Council. The Administration will give all the assistance they can to the Basuto in making changes, but as a first step it is thought that a fresh study of the problem will be required, and the best way of undertaking this is now being examined.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations whether it is the intention of the United Kingdom Government to make a gift to the Government of the Republic of Cyprus to commemorate the attainment by that country of her independence on 16th August, 1960.

Yes. We propose making a presentation of a silver table centrepiece which could be used on formal State occasions.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations whether he will consider raising the salaries of officers working in the High Commission Territories, in view of the fact that officers in the Colonial Service employed on comparable work have higher salaries.

Uniformity of salaries between all Colonial Territories is not practicable, but the remuneration of officers working in the High Commission Territories is periodically reviewed, and substantial increases in salaries were given as recently as 1959.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the exemption of children from school to assist in the potato harvest will cease after this year's harvest.

As intimated by my hon. Friend the Joint Under-Secretary of State for Scotland during the debate on the Committee stage of the Expiring Laws Continuance Bill on 16th November, 1960, it is the Government's intention this year to ask the House to renew the Education (Exemptions) (Scotland) Act, 1947, to cover the 1962 potato harvest. No exemptions will be granted after 1962.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will appoint a small committee to inquire into the pay and conditions of physiotherapists.

Pay and conditions of service in the National Health Service, which I assume the hon. Member has in mind, are within the competence of the appropriate Whitley Council, and I see no need for additional machinery.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the estimated annual expenditure from Exchequer funds over the next five years on which he is basing his five-year plan for new road construction; and if he will make a statement.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave on Wednesday, 2nd August, to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Kelvingrove (Mr. Lilley).

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will increase the allowances for university students living in lodgings to £265 and far students living at home to £207, thereby bringing them into parity with English awards.

It has not been found possible entirely to eliminate disparities in maintenance allowances aver the whole of Great Britain until the completion of the full-scale review of students' expenditure at present being undertaken by the Standing Advisory Committee on Grants to Students. It is hoped that as a result of this review equality of treatment over the whole of Great Britain will be secured by the introduction of new rates in October, 1962. While the arrangement for session 1961–62 is thus purely an interim one, the allowances payable during that session represent an improvement over the present rates and most Scottish students will also benefit substantially under the new scale of parental contributions.

asked the Minister of Education what further plans for the expansion of colleges of advanced technology are now being authorised to extend the total of approved places beyond 14,000.

This matter is still under consideration.

asked the Minister of Education what teachers' salaries were in 1951; what they are today; what they will be if his present proposals are accepted; and, after allowing for the increase in the cost of living, to what extent he estimates they will be financially better or worse off.

It is difficult to make an exact comparison of teachers' salaries in 1951 with present salaries since the present scheme of allowances for posts of special responsibility was not introduced until 1956. The cases in the table below may however be taken as examples of movements in salaries. It is for the Burnham Committee to put

asked the Minister of Education whether he will consider the provision of more boarding schools for children who are both blind and deaf.

My right hon. Friend will certainly consider further provision if the need for it is shown. The present provision appears adequate.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the national average of

Exact figures are not available. I am considering whether reliable estimates can be calculated and I will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in his letter to the Trades Union Congress about the conduct of trade union elections, he referred to the possibility of drawing up model rules for the constitution and conduct of industrial association, whether of employees or employed.

I wrote to the Trades Union Congress about the general problem of the conduct of trade union elections saying that in my view the most satisfactory solution would be for the unions to take effective action to prevent breaches of their election rules and inviting their views.I added that if there were difficulties which make this impracticable I would like to discuss with the T.U.C. ways and means by which the Government could help.

asked the Minister of Transport when he intends to approve the grant for the work of constructing an additional footpath to the bridge over the railway at Beaconsfield which has been agreed upon, subject to grant, by the British Transport Commission and the Buckinghamshire County Council.

The county council was informed in June that grant had been approved. I understand that work will be started towards the end of the year.

asked the Minister of Transport how many road accidents which involved death or serious injury occurred in 1960.

During 1960 there were 77,771 road accidents in Great Britain which involved death or serious injury.

asked the Minister of Transport why advance distance markers of motorway pattern have been installed on Colnbrook by-pass, trunk road A.4; why the markers on the offside of the road have the bars sloping in the wrong direction and not in accordance with continental practice as specified in Note 2 to diagram 130 of the Traffic Signs (Amendment) Regulations, 1960; and whether he will take remedial action in this matter.

These signs were put up without my authority by contractors in conjunction with temporary traffic signals necessitated by work on the Slough by-pass. I gave instructions on 2nd August for the signs to be removed.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a United Kingdom subject, who had not been convicted of any crime, escaped from his Congolese captors, swam a lake, and surrendered voluntarily to a Malayan regiment, who subsequently handed him back to the Congolese; and what representations he has made in this matter.

My hon. Friend doubtless refers to Mr. Derek Gauden, about whom I can add little to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Wembley, South (Mr. Russell) on 2nd August. It is not yet apparent what Mr. Gauden's intentions were in visiting the Congo. I understand that the United Nations handed him over to the Kivu Province authorities on the grounds that they had no reasonable excuse to withhold him. Her Majesty's Embassy are continuing to press for his release.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what representations were made to the Government of Brazil, during the negotiations which have led to £2,500,000 being made available to that Government, about repayment of bonds of public utility companies, such as Port of Para, taken over by the Government of Brazil.

The question of United Kingdom claims which arose in connection with public undertakings taken over by the Brazilian Government was raised with the Brazilian delegation in the course of the recent negotiations which resulted in the granting of a loan of £2·5 million by Her Majesty's Government to the Brazilian Government, and it is expected that discussions on these claims will be opened in Rio de Janeiro shortly. As regards the Port of Para, since a substantial part of the bonds is held in France, the claim in respect of these bonds is being pursued by the French Bondholders' Association.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what information he has received from the mission sent by Her Majesty's Government to Northern Angola regarding the extent to which arms of British origin are being used by Portuguese forces.

The two Service Attaches who wee members of this Mission paid several visits to Portuguese military units during their tour but saw no evidence of arms of British origin in use by the Portuguese Army.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what representations he has made to the Spanish Government regarding their persecution of British citizens as members of the Protestant community in Spain.

No case of the kind to which my hon. and learned Friend refers has been brought to my notice. Representations have been made in the case of British-owned chapels and Her Majesty's Ambassador at Madrid has been in touch with the Spanish authorities about the position of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Spain.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what was the result of the visit of the delegation of Ministers from Mauritius last autumn to British Honduras, British Guiana and Brazil, to explore the possibilities of emigration of Mauritians to those territories; and if he will make a statement.

The delegation from Mauritius concluded that in the case of British Guiana it would be many years before the development of the territory's resources reached the stage when a pilot or mass scheme for the absorption of immigrants from Mauritius could be considered. As regards British Honduras and Brazil the delegation found that the only form of migration which might be considered was that of the peasant farmer and his family and that the cost of establishing such a family on forty acres of land in either country would be between £2,500 and £3,500 excluding the cost of passages. This cost was regarded as prohibitive.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what economic assistance is being provided for Fiji during the current financial year.

In the current financial year Her Majesty's Government have undertaken to make available grants of £1,771,948. An Exchequer loan of £½ million has been approved and will be issued as required.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what arrangements he is making with regard to African representation on the municipal council of Lusaka in Northern Rhodesia.

The Northern Rhodesian Government is at present preparing legislation to enlarge the Constitutions of local authorities and to provide for the representation of Africans on municipal councils and management hoards. In the case of the City Council of Lusaka, where councillors are almost all elected, African councillors will almost certainly be elected but the method of election and members have not yet been decided. The principle that Africans should be directly represented on municipal councils is accepted by the Northern Rhodesia Government.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what reports he has received from Nyasaland regarding the burning of houses, cattle, kraals, and grain stores, in the Central Province last week; to what extent there was delay by the police in investigating these incidents; what are the preliminary results of the investigations; and what steps are being taken to prevent further acts of violence and intimidation in view of the elections on 15th August.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Chigwell (Mr. Biggs-Davison) on 3rd August. There was no delay by the police in investigating these incidents, the first of which were reported to the nearest police post twenty-five miles away early on 27th July. A detachment of police were assembled under the inspector-in-charge and, early the same afternoon, were making investigations on the spot. As I made clear to the hon. Member for Chigwell the Governor, who is in the best position to judge, sees no justification for postponing the elections either locally or generally.