asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science what are the targets for the output of qualified scientists and engineers for the years 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965.

The output of qualified scientists and engineers

ESTIMATED NUMBER OF STUDENTS WHO QUALIFY BY VIRTUE OF UNIVERSITY DEGREES, DIP. TECH., OR ADMISSION TO PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTIONS ON THE ASSUMPTIONS MADE IN CMND. 1490
Number
Academic Year		Total qualified			Universities(1)			Technical Colleges, etc.(2)
			Total	Science	Technology	Total	Science	Technology	Total	Science	Technology
Estimates
1961–62	…	17,080	7,110	9,970	9,080	5,910	3,170	8,000	1,200	6,800
1962–63	…	18,420	7,820	10,600	9,920	6,520	3,400	8,500	1,300	7,200
1963–64	…	19,590	8,330	11,260	10,690	6,930	3,760	8,900	1,400	7,500
1964–65	…	20,280	8,660	11,620	10,980	7,260	3,720	9,300	1,400	7,900
1965–66	…	21,590	9,420	12,170	11,790	7,820	3,970	9,800	1,600	8,200
(1) Includes graduates coming to Great Britain with Northern Ireland degrees. Full-time students only.
(2) Diplomas in Technology and all other qualifications not obtained by whole-time study a Universities.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science what progress is being made with research into the prevention and cure of the common cold.

Following the successful isolation and growth of certain common cold viruses by the Common Cold Research Unit, which is supported by the Medical Research Council and the Ministry of Health, the possibility of producing a vaccine is being investigated and trials are planned on the therapeutic value of the antiviral agent interferon.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science what official, or officially supported, research is being conducted, in association with industry, into the uses for pulverised fly ash produced by coal-fired power stations.

The Building Research Station of the Department of between 1961 and 1965 is almost entirely determined by the present capacity of institutions providing higher education in these fields. Estimates of output have been made in the recent report on the Long-term Demand for Scientific Manpower (Cmnd. 1490, Table 14) and I will, with permission, circulate the relevant figures with the official report.Following is the information:Scientific and Industrial Research is investigating the manufacture from pulverised fuel ash of a lightweight aggregate for concrete. This work is supported financially by the Central Electricity Generating Board and the results are being used by industry.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science what information he has about the long-term effects on drinking water of underground nuclear tests.

No underground nuclear tests have been carried out by the United Kingdom, and I have no information that drinking water has been affected by such tests carried out elsewhere.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science what reports he has received of research into the concentration of Strontium 90 in specific organs of the human body.

Significant amounts of Strontium 90 are deposited only in the bones of the human body. The results of measurements of strontium in human bone, and of other research, are published at intervals by the Atomic Energy Research Establishment and the Medical Research Council.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what is his estimate of the number of new houses and flats completed for occupation in the current year.

On the information now available I expect about 270,000 dwellings to be completed in England and Wales this year, 297,000 in Great Britain.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he has made a recent survey of the housing problem in Wales; and whether he will make a statement on future development of local authority housing schemes in Wales.

Regular meetings are held between my Welsh Office and local authorities in Wales to discuss housing problems. Discussions will shortly take place between local authorities and the Welsh Office about the 1962 programme, which will take account of special needs including slum clearance and housing for old people.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will give the number and names of the local authorities who have not yet made improvement grants for housing purposes.

According to their returns only three local authorities have not yet made either a standard grant or a discretionary grant since the powers were introduced in 1949. Sixty-four local authorities in all have not made a discretionary grant and 23 have made no standard grants. With permission, I shall circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a list of these authorities.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will take steps to increase grants to local authorities to enable them to expand their council house building programmes; and whether he will make a statement.

No. The recent Housing Act already provides more financial assistance for those authorities in most need of it.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what information or estimates he has that show approximately the increase in accommodation to let in the London and Greater London areas during the past three years, other than municipally owned houses; what are the average rents for small houses thus made available; and to what extent in those areas efforts have been successful to secure the transference to smaller accommodation of municipal tenants who no longer need the full accommodation they had.

There are no statistics that would enable me to give the information sought. As regards the last part of the Question, many authorities in greater London are tackling under-occupation by building more small dwellings and by facilitating exchanges.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will introduce legislation to give local authorities in Middlesex power to provide accommodation for the homeless.

Local authorities already possess adequate powers to deal with this problem.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs (1) in view of the inability of local authorities to deal satisfactorily with the hardship that modern conditions are causing to Romanies with the closing down of many of their long-established camping sites, if he will consider setting up an inter-departmental committee for the purpose of obtaining reliable information about the extent of the problem in England and Wales and then formulating a national policy in respect of living quarters, education and employment;(2) what action he is taking to minimise the hardship and suffering that will result from the eviction of gypsies and other travellers from north west Kent, details of which have been sent to him by the honourable Member for Erith and Crayford; and what action will be taken to ensure that water and sanitation will be available for these people.

I would refer the hon. Member to the statement I made in the course of the very full debate we had on this subject on 1st December.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs when he expects to receive the first report of the Boundary Commission dealing with the reorganisation of county boundaries in North Lincolnshire.

It is too soon to say.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he is aware that, despite technical improvements installed in Guest Keens Iron and Steel Works, Splott, Cardiff, the grit and dust nuisance to the residents continues unabated; and what action the Alkali Inspectorate proposes to take.

The major technical improvements now being made at the works will not be completed until spring 1962. Improvements in local conditions will therefore, be relatively minor until then. The Alkali Inspectorate are maintaining the closest liaison with the company.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, since his proposals for dealing with the immediate problem of Birmingham's overspill do not include the development of Swynnerton, if he will now consult the local authorities concerned and the President of the Board of Trade about the development of the site of the former Royal Ordnance factory for the expansion of employment and housing in North Staffordshire.

I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Member on 28th November.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what research has been undertaken by or on behalf of the Alkali Inspectorate into the measures necessary to prevent the emission of obnoxious fumes from electricity power stations.

The obnoxious element in the fumes consists of sulphur oxides, the elimination of which is impracticable in the present state of knowledge. The Chief Alkali Inspector is at present concentrating on disposal of waste gases at high level. He is also closely associated with current research into ammonia scrubbing and dry processes for sulphur removal.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is satisfied that the provisions of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act, 1960, are adequate to fulfil the intentions of Parliament on this subject: and if he will make a statement.

It is too soon to form any firm opinion about the operation of this Act, which came into force as recently as 1st June.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, in view of his responsibility for ensuring maximum access for the public to places of natural beauty in the Lake District National Park, if he will state the programme of the Manchester Corporation for the building of purification works for the water drawn from Thirlmere and also from other sources; what is the estimated cost; how much of the amount will be paid by the Government; and what is the estimated date of completion.

The corporation intend to build purification works for each of their major sources of supply. The timing is in the first place for the corporation to decide and my right hon. Friend cannot say when the programme will be completed. The estimated cost of works now under construction is £2 million. Works for Thirlmere might cost roughly the same amount. There will be no Exchequer grant.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what plans have been made for the permanent settlement of the former inhabitants of Tristan da Cunha; and if he will make a statement.

I have, as yet, nothing to add to my right hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member on 9th November.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has studied the request received last May from the study group appointed by the Kenya Minister of Agriculture for the Joan of an agricultural economist to advise on the agricultural situation in Kenya; and what reply he made to that request.

The request was not quite in these terms.The study group, which had in fact been appointed by the previous Minister of Agriculture, had discussions with me in Kenya in May. The scheme they put forward would have involved Her Majesty's Government in underwriting, in one way or another, all the land in the Scheduled Areas; and they asked for a mission of economic experts to be sent from the United Kingdom to recommend a workable scheme on this general basis. I had to make clear that Her Majesty's Government could not entertain a scheme of this kind, and that we could not therefore agree to the request for a mission.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies when he proposes to lay the appropriate Amendment to the Kenya (Constitution) Order in Council, enabling Jomo Kenyatta to stand for the Legislative Council of Kenya.

The Kenya (Constitution) (Amendment No. 2) Order in Council, 1961, removing the provision disqualifying anyone who has served a prison sentence exceeding two years from standing for election to the Legislative Council, was laid on 1st December.

asked the Minister of Works if he is aware that, on 27th August at 1 p.m., at a licensed cafeteria in Richmond Park, for which he is responsible, the Very Reverend H. C. L. Heywood took a cheese-roll, half an egg sandwich, and half another sandwich, and ordered a bottle of beer, and was then advised that, in order to obtain the beer, he must have a meal and that a meal must consist of or include one complete sandwich, uniformly filled; what instructions have been given by his department to the catering concessionaire which could have led to this misinterpretation of the law; and what action he is taking to prevent a repetition of such action.

The caterer has not been able to identify the incident mentioned by the hon. Member, after the interval of more than three months. This cafeteria is licensed for the sale of alcoholic drinks only if food to the value of Is. is purchased at the same time. As the licence is granted to the caterer, not to me, I do not issue any specific instructions as to the application of the licensing requirements. The cafeteria staff have clear instructions from the caterer.

asked the Minister of Works what are the proposed plans for restricting the use of the roads in Regent's Park to vehicles visiting properties therein

I have no such plans.

asked the Postmaster-General if, in order to assist British exporters, he will now raise the limits on the size of parcels sent abroad.

Any material increase in our present limits of size and weight presents practical problems, some of which are not capable of easy solution. My right hon. Friend should very much like to meet my hon. Friend's request but he is not yet in a position to make a statement. He will do so as soon as possible.

asked the Postmaster-General, in view of the fact that the charges for electoral registration postages have hitherto been free, that charges are now to be made for the use of the official paid frank on all forms sent through the post in connection with electoral registration, and that this will add the sum of £3,800 to the estimated expenditure for the current and subsequent years for the city of Bristol, why these new charges are to be introduced; and if he will make a statement.

Since the severance of its finances from the Exchequer under the Post Office Act, 1961, the Post Office has required payment for all the services it renders to Government Departments and other public authorities. This is in accordance with the policy outlined in the White Paper on "The Status of the Post Office" (Cmnd. 989).

asked the Postmaster-General if he will consider the possibility of providing postmen and postwomen with motor-propelled cycles or mopeds for use in outlying rural and hilly districts.

Yes: we are having experiments made with the use of mopeds for postal work, including delivery in rural districts.

asked the Postmaster-General if, in view of the difficulty that many old-age pensioners experience in finding in one payment the £4 for their television licence, he will consider making arrangements for those pensioners, who so desire, to have 5s. per week deducted from their pension over a continuous period of 16 weeks.

I think that existing savings facilities generally meet the needs of people who wish to set aside small sums at regular intervals in order to pay for licences. I will, however, discuss the implications of the hon. Member's suggestion with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will state the size of the waiting list for telephones in the Bridgnorth Exchange telephone area at the end of March and the end of September in the years 1959, 1960 and 1961; what proportion these figures bore to the total number of subscribers; and what progress is being made in the matter.

The following are the figures:

—	March		September
	Number waiting	Percentage of total subscribers	Number waiting	Percentage of total subscribers
1959	31	4·1	13	1·7
1960	25	3·2	22	2·7
1961	49	6·0	61	7·2

I hope to meet more than half the present applications during the next few months, but I do not expect to be able to meet the remainder until about the end of 1963 when extensive new cabling should be completed. I shall improve on this date if I can. During the three years in question 250 new telephones have been installed in Bridgnorth.

asked the Postmaster-General when he expects the automatic dialling telephone service to be provided throughout the area of Whitchurch, Glamorgan; and if he will make a statement.

About 80 per cent, of the subscribers in the Whitchurch area now have automatic telephone service and I expect the remainder to have it by April, 1962, and all Whitchurch subscribers to have S.T.D. about 18 months later.

asked the Postmaster-General what steps he took between March, 1959, and September, 1961, to reduce the waiting list for telephones in the Oxford telephone area.

I have continued to provide new cables, exchange buildings, and equipment within the limits of the resources available to me, and have installed nearly 15,000 new lines during the period in question.

asked the Postmaster-General what increase in revenue there has been in the Welsh telephone exchange areas equipped with subscriber trunk dialling equipment, following the introduction of the system.

In the six months following the introduction of STD in the Wrexham, Swansea (Main), Morriston and Sketty telephone exchange areas, revenue from all calls, local and trunk however handled was on average 7 per cent, higher than in the six months before STD. Figures are not yet available for the Haverford West, Pembroke and Pembroke Dock telephone exchange areas.

asked the Postmaster-General, in how many telephone areas in Wales the automatic dialling telephone service will be provided during the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

I expect to provide automatic dialling in 13 telephone exchange areas in Wales and Monmouth during the next 12 months. STD is being provided at the outset in one of these areas, and will be introduced at 12 other exchanges in Wales and Monmouth during the year. I shall improve on this programme if I can.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what films are at present being made by the Central Office of Information for distribution to schools and other educational establishments and organisations, showing the interior of the Palace of Westminster and the workings of Parliamentary institutions.

None.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware of the growing anxiety in the universities about the inadequacy of the funds available for research; and what steps he is taking to remedy this.

I am aware of the importance attached to research in the universities. Their requirements for this purpose will be taken into account by the University Grants Committee in their recommendations for recurrent grant to the universities which they will shortly be making to me. I would also draw the hon. Member's attention to the estimated figures for grants to universities by the Research Councils given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for Science on 28th November last which show substantial increases.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing the internal purchasing power of the £ sterling as 20s. in 1914, and then the value for each year since, such value to be expressed in shillings and pence.

Yes. The table below sets out the estimated changes in the internal purchasing power of the £ sterling since 1914. The calculation is based on the cost-of-living index between 1914 and 1938 and the consumer price index since then. Figures are not available on a comparable basis for the years 1939 to 1945.

	s.	d.
1914	20	0
1915	16	3
1916	13	8
1917	11	4
1918	9	10
1919	9	4
1920	8	0
1921	8	10
1922	10	11
1923	11	6
1924	11	5
1925	11	4
1926	11	8
1927	11	11
1928	12	1
1929	12	2
1930	12	8
1931	13	7
1932	13	11
1933	14	3
1934	14	2
1935	14	0
1936	13	7
1937	13	0
1938	12	10
1946	7	7
1947	7	1
1948	6	7
1949	6	5
1950	6	3
1251	5	9
1952	5	5
1953	5	4
1954	5	3
1955	5	1
1956	4	10
1957	4	8
1958	4	7
1959	4	7
1960	4	6

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is prepared to make a grant to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research in response to their request for Government support.

Yes. Subject to the approval of Estimates by Parliament, it has been decided to make a grant-in-aid of £5,000 a year towards the general purposes of the National Institute and to support certain pieces of research being undertaken by the Institute into problems of growth in the British economy. The aggregate cost of this research" is £19,000 a year, and it is expected that the work will continue for three years.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what amount of Purchase Tax was raised in respect of the Formula One Grand Prix cars in the financial year 1960–61; and what amount he anticipates raising from this source in the current financial year.

The amount of Purchase Tax paid on motor racing cars is not separately available. Arrangements have existed for refunding purchase tax paid on certain types of racing cars and the amount refunded in respect of Formula One Grand Prix cars in the financial year 1960–61 was £48,006. Provision has been made in the Board of

ASSISTANCE UNDER THE LOCAL EMPLOYMENT ACT
Section 2	Number	Area sq. ft.	Estimated Cost	Estimated employment
			£
Factories and extensions approved	26	413,000	1,180,000	2,470
Sections 3 and 4		Offers of assistance		Estimated employment
	Number of applications	Number	Amount £
Loans and grants	49	14	433,000	2,350

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state in respect of development districts in the counties of Northumberland, Durham and the North Riding of Yorkshire since the operation of the Local Employment Act, 1960, to the nearest convenient date, the number of factories provided for rent or sale, giving the area cost and estimated employment, the number of building grants giving the amount, the average grant in relation to the estimated cost and the estimated employment, the number of applications for loans and grants giving how many approved, the amount offered and the estimated employment, the figure of capital outlay per job created by the assistance given under this Act, and the number of industrial development certificates applied for and granted, giving the area and estimated additional employment.

I am not prepared to give this information in respect of smaller areas than those in Appendix 2 of the First Annual Report on the Local Employment Act, since to do so might reveal the nature of the assistance offered to individual firms. For the 12 months ended 31st March, 1961, the aggregate figures for the development districts in the North-East, which comprises Northumberland, Durham and the North Riding of Yorshire, are as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Trade, in view of the fact that some 60 independent countries are not contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, if he will state the disadvantages these countries suffer in their trade with the United Kingdom compared with foreign countries which are contracting parties to the treaty.

It is not the practice of this country to distinguish between foreign countries in matters of trade simply by reason of their membership or non-membership of the G.A.T.T.

asked the Lord Privy Seal to what extent the European Economic Community made it a condition of the negotiations concerning United Kingdom entry to the Common Market that Her Majesty's Government should take steps to limit immigration from the Commonwealth.

Not at all.

asked the Minister of Aviation to what extent the policy of Her Majesty's Government in regard to the development of the aircraft industry now depends on United Kingdom entry into the Common Market.

As my right hon. Friend indicated during the debate on Civil Aviation on 23rd November, he is strongly in favour of collaboration with other countries in aviation, but this should not be limited to the Common Market countries. The Government's policy towards the aircraft industry is therefore not dependent upon our entry into the Common Market.

asked the Minister of Aviation what oral or written evidence was given to the Toothill Committee by his Department; and if he will make it available to Members of Parliament.

My Department was not asked to give evidence.

asked the Minister of Health why the new salary agreement recently negotiated on behalf of medical laboratory technicians has been rejected.

It has not been rejected.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will move to appoint a Select Committee to consider the present arrangements for civil defence and what improvements are required.

No.

asked the Prime Minister if he will now announce the composition of the review body to be set up on the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration.

I have nothing to add to the reply given on 20th November to the hon. Member for Leicester, North-West (Sir B. Janner) by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, and Fisheries and Food whether the Research Study Group on Toxic Chemicals in Agriculture and Food Storage have now presented their report; and what action he proposes to take.

The Report of the Research Study Group on Toxic Chemicals in Agriculture and Food Storage has been published today and copies placed in the Library. This Group of scientists has made a thorough survey of the considerable amount of research now going on into the use of toxic chemicals in agriculture and food storage, with particular reference to protecting human beings, farm animals, bees and the different forms of wild life against possible hazards.The conclusions of the Report are that protective measures now in force are generally successful, but it affirms and spells out the need for more fundamental and applied research into various problems arising in this field. The Government accepts the conclusions and intends to implement the Group's recommendations to the full extent of the additional resources which can be made available.The Government is indebted to Professor Sanders and his colleagues for their helpful Report.

asked the Minister of Education, in view of the importance of technical education in the deliberations of the forthcoming Commonwealth Education Conference, why the delegates from the United Kingdom do not include a representative of industry.

The delegation includes the Principal of a technical college and the Chief Inspector for Further Education (Industry and Commerce) in my Department, in addition to the educational adviser and his deputy in the Department of Technical Co-operation. They are accustomed to work closely with industry and have experience of the needs of developing countries.

asked the Minister of Education whether, in view of the fact that they are directly concerned in the majority of items of the agenda, he will increase the number of teachers on the United Kingdom delegation to the forthcoming Commonwealth Education Conference from one to three.

No. There are many different interests involved and we have had to keep the delegation as small as possible in the interests of economy.

asked the Minister of Education to what extent there is uniformity in the grants made by different education authorities for boarding school expenses of children whose parents are not in the United Kingdom; and if he will give the figures of such grants made by the Lindsey County Council and Blackpool Corporation.

111 out of 146 local education authorities are following broadly the recommendations of the Working Party on Assistance with the Cost of Boarding Education (published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in 1960), and at least nine of the other authorities are reviewing their arrangements. Blackpool are using the scales recommended by the Working Party. Lines. Lindsey are about to change their scale for one closer to the Working Party's. Details of the Lindsey scale are being sent to the hon. Member, together with a copy of the report of the Working Party.

asked the Minister of Labour how many and which local education committees have already provided courses of training for shop stewards and trade union officers; and what further steps he contemplates to encourage the establishment of these courses by the education committees.

This information is not available. Institutions of further education and bodies concerned with adult education arrange courses for shop stewards and trade union officers where there is local support. In consultation with my right hon. Friends the Minister of Education and the Secretary of State for Scotland I am proposing to discuss with both sides of industry what more might be done. I have already had discussions with the motor industry, with encouraging results. If the right hon. Member has any suggestions, I should be glad if he would get in touch with me.

asked the Minister of Power to what extent he encourages scientific research in the coal mining industry.

The industry's general research and development programme is considered by me, with the help of my Advisory Council on Research and Development. I have told the National Coal Board that I am pleased to see the emphasis given in its programme to work directed to increasing productivity in coal mining.

	Rents						Total rate poundage
	1945–46			1960			1945–46			1960–61
Lanarkshire	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.
Landward Area	9	11	10	21	12	10		17	11*	1	8	3¼*
Large Burghs
Airdrie	10	6	9	15	2	7		18	11	1	8	0
Coatbridge	13	1	10	23	9	10		18	10	1	8	0
Hamilton	9	3	1	20	6	7		18	7	1	6	0
Motherwell and Wishaw	15	1	0	22	9	7		13	7	1	4	6
Rutherglen	13	4	8	18	4	4		15	11	1	9	4
Small Burghs
Biggar	11	18	0	28	0	4		14	2	1	0	0
Lanark	14	16	4	32	10	0		13	8	1	0	9
*Average rate.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the recommendations of the Advisory Council on Education in Scotland for the introduction of

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland to what extent each local authority in Lanarkshire has raised rents since 1945; what these increases represent as a percentage of 1945 rents; and what was the average rate imposed in 1945–46 and in 1960–61, respectively.

Exactly comparable figures for rents in 1945 and at the present time are not available, but the following table compares average net rent income per house, exclusive of owners' rates, in the financial year 1945–46 with average standard (i.e., un-rebated) rents at November, 1960 (the latest date for which information is available).an advanced grade of the Scottish certificate of education and for the setting up of a Scottish examination board.

The consultations which I have had show that Scottish educational opinion generally is in favour of the Advisory Council's recommendations, and I have decided to accept them both in principle. I am now engaging in detailed consultations on the constitution of an examination board with a membership drawn from the educational interests concerned. Preliminary work is also in hand for the introduction of an advanced grade of the Scottish certificate of education with a view to publication of the necessary syllabuses by the end of 1962 and the holding of the first examination as soon thereafter as the necessary courses can be introduced in the schools. The setting up of a widely representative examination board will have the benefit of giving the teaching profession, the universities and other institutions direct responsibility for the conduct of the examination in future. The introduction of an advanced grade should also be of real advantage to education in Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the cost of keeping Mrs. Pat Arrowsmith in Greenock Prison.

It is not possible to calculate separately the cost of keeping an individual prisoner, but on the basis of the average cost per week quoted in the Reply that I gave the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central (Mr. Oswald) on 1st December, the cost would be about £66.

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation whether he is giving consideration to the arrangements for assisting the Governments of overseas territories in the matter of training facilities for their civil services.

Yes. I have appointed a Committee with the following terms of reference:

"To advise the Secretary for Technical Cooperation, after such consultation with educational institutions and other organisations as the Committee may think necessary, (a) on the training facilities in the field of public administration and related subjects provided in the United Kingdom for Government servants and other public employees nominated by the Governments of overseas countries, and (b) on the arrangements for assistance from the United Kingdom in building up local training facilities in this field in response to requests received from the Governments of overseas countries; and to report on the suitability and adequacy of the arrangements made for these purposes in relation to the present and foreseeable future demand."

I am glad to say that Lord Bridges has agreed to take the chair.The membership of the Committee is as follows:

asked the Minister of Transport if he approved the proposals in the British Transport Commission Bill for closing canals to navigation; and what advice he received from the Inland Waterways Redevelopment Committee in respect thereof.

I have approved the inclusion in the Bill of all these proposals. In the case of eleven of the stretches of waterway in question, immediate closure to navigation was recommended by the Committee as part of redevelopment proposals put forward by British Waterways and endorsed by the Committee. These eleven cases are:

1. Ashton Canal (Stockport Branch).

2. River Calder (a length of 7¾ miles).

3. Chesterfield Canal (a length of 20 miles).

4. Cromford Canal (the length of ½ mile still open to navigation).

5. Grand Union Canal (City Road Basin) (with the exception of a channel 30 feet wide).

6. Grand Union Canal (Buckingham Arm).

7. Grand Western Canal.

8. Huddersfield Narrow and Broad Canals (a length of ¾ mile).

9. Monmouthshire & Brecon Canals (two lengths, totalling six miles).

10. Swansea Canal.

11. Trent and Mersey Canal (Burslem Arm).

I the case of four other stretches of waterway the Committee did not recommend immediate closure to navigation. These four cases are:—1.