asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware of the risks to the public of fires in premises, such as those used by bingo clubs, the owners of which cannot be required to comply with the recommendations of the fire service authority; and what action he proposes to take to remedy the situation.

I have received representations about this and am considering, in conjunction with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent the existing law may require amendment.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will introduce legislation to ensure that an industrial development certificate or some similar certificate shall be required for any proposal for new office building in areas of high employment; and if he will make a statement.

There are many practical difficulties; but I will bear the suggestion in mind.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many local councils having ordered and accepted delivery of turnstiles for public conveniences have refused to erect them, in view of Her Majesty's Government's recent statement; and if he will take power to compensate the councils concerned.

I regret that this information is not available. Two councils are known to have decided to put new turnstiles temporarily into store; there may be others of whom I do not know. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs when he will announce his decision as to the Worcestershire County Council's green belt proposals.

There is still a good deal of consideration to be given to the large number of objections raised in connection with the proposals, and it will be sometime before I am in a position to reach a decision or propose formal modifications covering the areas as a whole.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if, in view of current developments, he is satisfied that the information on which he based his estimate of the amount of land available for building in the Home Counties is up to date; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. The estimate I gave related to the Home Counties as a whole. There are many places where an abundance of land has been allocated for building purposes. In other places this is not so. I am considering what might be done about this both in the short and the long term and I am arranging for discussions with the planning authorities concerned.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will state the number of vacancies at present existing in the local government service; and if he is satisfied that the present salary structure of the service is adequate to recruit and retain properly qualified personnel.

I have no responsibility for these matters.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware that under the Rating and Valuation Act, 1961, the Commissioners of Inland Revenue have considerably reduced the assessments chargeable to power generating stations, with consequent loss of revenue to local authorities in whose areas those stations are situated; and if he is yet ready to put forward proposals to compensate those local authorities so affected.

Although the rateable values of some generating stations have fallen since 1959, the total rateable value of all the stations together has steadily increased. There is to be a general review of the electricity rating provisions of the Local Government Act, 1958, which produce these results, after the new valuation lists come into force in 1963. Meanwhile those local authorities qualifying for rate-deficiency grant get automatic compensation for any fall in rate resources.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what is the acreage of bombed sites still undeveloped in the City of London and Greater London.

There is no figure for Greater London but for the City of London the acreage of bombed sites still undeveloped is about 40 acres.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will state the estimated cost of the proposed aqueduct, pumping station and treatment works intended to be built by Manchester Corporation in connection with the extraction of water from Ullswater, together with the amount of water expected to be extracted on the days, amounting approximately to 280, in the year when the lake level is above the 475·75 ordnance datum without the building of a weir.

My right hon. Friend has no information beyond that contained in the Corporation's published statement, of which my hon. Friend has a copy, and in the Bill which the Corporation have just laid.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what are his proposals for the setting up of a Lakes and Lune Water Board; and what is the date on which he expects the proposed water board to start functioning.

The effect of an order made on 8th December is to set up a Lakes and Lune Water Board on 1st February next and transfer the existing local authority undertakings to the Board on 1st April next.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what estimate he has made of the increase in the number of households over the next 10 years in England and Wales.

About one million.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will now publish his decisions arising out of the inspectors' report on the public local inquiry held to consider the revision of the London County Council Development Plan.

There is formal machinery yet to run but I hope that it will be possible to publish provisional conclusions early next year. There will be an opportunity for objections and possibly another inquiry before final decisions can be given.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, in view of the prespective abolition of approximately 60 local authorities in the Greater London area, what action he proposes to take to allay the anxiety of the staff of all local authorities in the area; and if he will give an assurance that Her Majesty's Government will ensure that there will be opportunities for reasonably comparable employment or adequate compensation.

No doubt the staff required by the new authorities to be created in Greater London will be recruited very largely from persons already serving in local government in that area. I recognise, however, that there will be considerable disturbance and difficult adjustments for some staff, although the reorganisation will also create new opportunities for service. The Government are studying the whole question. The legislation which will be introduced to give effect to the changes in organisation will certainly contain provision for compensation in respect of loss of employment or reduction in pay arising from the changes.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs when he expects to be in a position to make a statement about the future of the site of the former Royal Ordnance factory at Swynnerton.

I do not expect to make any statement. I have already explained that the Government's proposals for dealing with the immediate proposals of Birmingham's overspill do not include the development of Swynnerton.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs (1) if he will state the owner of the houses in Barclay Street, Sandford Hill, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, into which the Ministry's inspector conducted an inquiry; in what year the houses were built; on what date the houses were condemned; how many people live in each house; how many sleep in one room; and why he has not taken earlier action to save people from living in these houses which allow rain to fall in every room, and in which the cellars are full of water and vermin;(2) why an inquiry was held into the condemned houses in Barclay Street, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent; on what date they were condemned; what was the date of the inquiry, and the date of the report; when action will be taken; what is the inspector's opinion on the state of the houses; and what assistance he is giving to the local authority to assist them in rehousing the tenants.

The Stoke-on-Trent City Council submitted a compulsory purchase order on five houses in Barclay Street on 1st May, 1961. Objection was made to the order and an inquiry was therefore held on 22nd August. The inspector found the houses to be unfit and the order was confirmed on 13th November.My information does not cover all the points raised by the lion. Member, but I am sending him a copy of the inspector's report. It is not for me but for the City Council to determine the order in which families should be rehoused from unfit properties. Any houses built for this purpose will attract the usual subsidy.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if, in view of the shortage of suitable housing land and the urgent need to rehouse clearance tenants near their former homes, he will reconsider his Department's decision on Newcastle-under-Lyme Council's application to buy land in Second Avenue, Porthill.

No.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what information he has about the number of London boroughs in which a differential rents scheme is in operation; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of houses made available to homeless families by means of such schemes.

Sixteen of the Metropolitan borough councils have differential rent schemes of one kind or another. As to the second part of the Question, although it is impossible to make such an estimate, the accommodation released could be appreciable.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will introduce legislation to give special assistance to those local authorities who desire to ease the housing shortage by taking steps to minimise under-occupation of subsidised council houses.

I hope local authorities, by the introduction of differential rent schemes and by exchange schemes, will help to reduce under-occupation of subsidised council houses.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will speed up the procedure for compulsory purchase under the Housing Acts in cases where eviction is threatened.

Compulsory purchase orders made where the Council considers that the landlord is demanding an exhorbitant rent are dealt with as quickly as possible. But often I am asked to suspend action while the parties negotiate.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will state the number of compulsory purchase orders made under the Housing Acts and submitted to him during the past twelve months by Metropolitan borough councils, the number of these orders he authorised, and the average time which elapsed between the making of an order and its authorisation.

Eighty-nine in the twelve months ending 30th November, 1961. So far 37 of these have been confirmed and 15 withdrawn or rejected. The average time between submission and decision has been four months.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will state the latest figures of applications for houses in Peterlee; and what financial assistance he is now giving to the Easington Rural District Council to build the houses needed to meet the requirements of the waiting list.

At 31st October, 1961, the number on the Development Corporation's waiting list was 1,353. Though I cannot be sure what financial help the Easington Rural District Council are likely to receive under the new subsidy arrangements until the figures of their 1960–61 housing revenue account become available, I think it is probable that they will qualify for a basic amount of £24.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware that there is a large number of applicants registered for housing accommodation in Leicester, and that the programme for building has been reduced from that of previous periods; and what steps he proposes to take to enable more houses to be built for letting at rentals appropriate to the needs there.

While the programme for 1962 which the Council has put to me for approval is smaller than those for preceding years, it has a substantial number of houses under construction or in tenders approved but not started. Completions in 1962 should therefore be maintained at much the same level as in recent years.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether, in view of the Government's wage pause policy, he will introduce legislation to prohibit rent increases.

No.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what consultations he had with the National Federation of Housing Societies with regard to an extension of their activities before giving them financial assistance under the Housing Acts, 1957 and 1961, in order to promote co-operative housing.

My Department have been and will continue to be in close and regular consultation with the Federation.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware that the walls of many ancient churches in Malta are defaced by crudely printed posters bearing political slogans of a character likely to provoke breaches of the peace and to damage the tourist trade by causing offence to some visitors from the United Kingdom and other countries; and if, in view of the artistic importance of these buildings and the economic importance of the tourist trade, he will extend to ecclesiastical property the application of the ordinance which forbids the display of political posters, or by other means seek to put an end to this practice; or, alternatively, in view of the inequitable operation of this ordinance, if he will cause it to be cancelled and permit the free display of posters by all parties.

Under the terms of the Malta Aesthetic Buildings Ordinance posters can be displayed on buildings used for religious purposes. I do not propose to seek to alter these rights which the Church has enjoyed for many years. It is customary at election time for the Governor to relax the restrictions on the display of posters on other buildings and I am informed that this will be done over the period of the forthcoming elections.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies on what ground detention without trial has been reintroduced in Kenya.

Detention without trial has not been reintroduced in Kenya.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what quantities of dried milk and similar dairy products have been made available from the United Kingdom in recent months for distribution for famine relief in Kenya and East Africa.

I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friends the Members for Lowestoft (Mr. Prior) and Tiverton (Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop) on 23rd November.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is his policy about the future of Somalis in northern Kenya.

The Somalis in Kenya have been invited to make their views known at the Constitutional Conference on Kenya beginning in London on 14th February when they will be considered.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what measure of constitutional reform is now proposed for St. Helena; and if he will make a statement.

My predecessor's offer to replace the present nominated Advisory Council with one consisting of half elected and half nominated or official members still stands and will be introduced if I can be assured that these proposals are generally acceptable.

asked the Minister of Works for what reason he has refused the request of Mr. R. A. R. Drake, acting on behalf of his clients, Messrs. Holbrook (Oxted) Ltd. of Beadles Lane, Oxted, for permission to lay a main drain through his department's land at Ivy Mill Lane, Godstone, in view of the fact that this would save a considerable sum of money and cause no inconvenience.

Permission to lay a rising main was refused because it was considered that this would adversely affect the Ministry's site. I am, however, looking into the matter to see whether I can suggest a solution which would safeguard the Ministry's position and help the applicant at the same time.

asked the Minister of Works (1) if he will arrange for the National Gallery site, formerly Hamptons, Pall Mall East, to be used as a car-park, pending the building of the National Gallery extension;(2) if he will consider the possibility of drawing a rent from the National Gallery site, formerly Hamptons, Pall Mall East, by means of letting it as a car-park, pending the building of the National Gallery extension.

I am now considering the various offers for a short-term lease of the site which were received in response to my advertisement. Those most attractive financially are for its use as a car park.

asked the Minister of Works whether he will state, for a convenient date in each of the last two years, the number of persons employed in the building industry; how many were employed in new house building; how many were employed in repair and maintenance; and how many were employed in commercial building.

About 1,104,000 operatives were employed by the construction industries in October, 1960, and about 1,121,000 in October, 1961. Of these about 291,000 were employed on new house building in both years. On repair and maintenance about 349,000 were employed in 1960 and 339,000 in 1961. Separate figures are not available for commercial building.

asked the Postmaster-General what estimate he has made of the additional financial resources needed to bring the Oxford telephone area waiting list into line with the average waiting list for England.

I am sorry it is not possible to give an estimate in the form asked for by my hon. Friend because the new exchanges and cable schemes that are needed will provide for future development as well as existing needs, and because the Oxford and national waiting lists are both likely to change in the time it will take to complete these new works.During the last five years the net increase in telephones in the Oxford area has been about 24 per cent. compared with about 18 per cent. in England. I shall, however, continue to give special attention to the Oxford area while the waiting list there remains so high.

asked the Postmaster-General how many applications for telephones are outstanding in the area of Whitchurch, Glamorgan; what was the number outstanding a year ago; and what is the average waiting-time.

On 30th September, 1961, 59 applications were held up because of shortage of lines or equipment, and 108 were under inquiry or in course of being met. A year ago the figures were 106 and 210 respectively. The average waiting time when plant and equipment are available is about six weeks. The figures I have given cover Whitchurch and Rhiwbina.

asked the Postmaster-General (1) how many applications for telephones are outstanding at Rhiwbina, Glamorgan; what was the number outstanding a year ago; and what is the average waiting-time;(2) how many applications for telephones are outstanding at Peterston-super-Ely, Pendoylan, Bonuilston and St. Nicholas, respectively, all in the county of Glamorgan; and what is the average waiting-time in each area;(3) how many applications for telephones are outstanding at Rhoose, Glamorgan; what was the number of outstanding a year ago; and what is the average waiting-time;(4) how many applications for telephones are outstanding at Wenvoe, Glamorgan; what was the figure outstanding a year ago; and what is the average waiting-time;(5) how many applications for telephones are outstanding at Sully, Glamorgan; what was the number a year ago; and what is the average waiting-time;(6) how many applications for telephones are outstanding at Radyr, Glamorgan; what was the figure outstanding a year ago; and what is the average waiting-time;

asked the Postmaster-General how many applications for telephones are outstanding in the borough of Barry; what was the number a year ago; and what is the average waiting-time.

On 30th September, 1961, 60 applications were held up because of shortage of lines or equipment, and 70 were under inquiry or in course of being met. A year ago the figures were 118 and 45 respectively. The average waiting time when plant and equipment are available is about six weeks.

asked the Postmaster-General how many applications for telephones are outstanding in Wales; what was the number outstanding a year ago; and what is the average waiting-time.

On 30th September, 1961, 2,543 applications were held up because of shortage of lines or equipment, and 4,954 were under inquiry or in course of being met. A year ago the figures were 2,519 and 5,962 respectively. The average waiting time when plant and equipment are available is about six weeks. The figures I have quoted are for Wales and the Border Counties.

The figures are as follows:

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the uncertainties created by the possible mechanisation of the Savings Certificate Division, he will postpone a decision on dispersal until such time as the effects in employment and organisation have been fully worked out.

My right hon. Friend does not think that the possible mechanisation of certain processes at present under examination affords any reason for postponing a decision on dispersal. There will be ample time to take any consequences into account in planning the main move, which cannot take place before 1965.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will permit both the British Broadcasting Corporation and other leading programme contractors to put out experimental television colour transmissions, with a view to assisting the Pilkington Committee to arrive at a more authoritative conclusion on this matter.

I am sure the Pilkington Committee has taken a great deal of evidence about colour television from a number of sources. So far as tests are concerned, the B.B.C. has been making experimental colour television transmissions for some years; a new series of tests on 405 lines in Band I started in October. There will be B.B.C. tests of colour on 625 lines in Band V next year on lines to be agreed with the Technical Sub-Committee of the Television Advisory Committee. The I.T.A. are also proposing to radiate similar test transmissions.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the cost to public funds of the visit of the Prime Minister to Glasgow on 3rd November.

No cost fell on public funds for this visit except for the normal arrangements made for the conduct of official business. In this case these cost £56 7s. 9d.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will arrange for a free distribution of the Board of Inland Revenue leaflet No. 99(N), which deals with claims for relief from taxation under Schedule A, to all owner-occupiers who are at present liable to such taxation.

Wide publicity is being given to the leaflet. It will be referred to in such documents as the notes that are issued with Income Tax return forms and P.A.Y.E. coding notices, so that its existence will become generally known in this way. The leaflet is also available in tax offices, free of charge, to anyone asking for it. Everyone wishing to read it can, therefore, obtain a copy. I am not convinced of the desirability of going further than this, having regard to the cost in money and staff of a wider distribution.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will permit hon. Members who address letters to local authorities on public business to use franked envelopes.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will extend the use of officially-franked envelopes to hon. Members in corresponding with the official correspondents of local authorities.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will now allow hon. Members to use official franked envelopes in dealing with correspondence with local authorities within their area.

No. The extension of the existing concession would entail additional expenditure by the Exchequer which I could not accept.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT figures showing the internal purchasing power of the £ sterling as 20s. in 1951, and the value for each subsequent year in terms of shillings and pence.

Yes. The following is the information:

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many men and women, respectively, were employed in Government-financed factories in Sunderland on the latest available date.

At August, 1961, 2,444 males and 3,389 females were employed in these factories.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what action has been taken regarding the ten projects in Sunderland for which he stated in June assistance under the Local Employment Act had been approved and the further seven projects which were then under consideration.

Of the ten projects for which assistance had been offered in June, two are now in operation, six are under construction and the other two are in abeyance. Of the seven applications then under consideration, assistance has been offered in two cases, four are still under consideration and one has been withdrawn.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has for the industrial development of the site on the west side of Old Perth Road, Cowdenbeath.

None; but I should be prepared to consider favourably any application for assistance under the terms of the Local Employment Act, from an industrialist who is prepared to set up on this site.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he will propose that those countries which have defaulted in their contributions to the United Nations Organisation should be charged interest thereon.

I fear that a proposal to this purpose would not command sufficient votes in the General Assembly to be adopted.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether, in his efforts to secure negotiations to reduce tension between East and West, he will give an assurance that Her Majesty's Government will not support the use of force as a means of securing the reunification of Germany or the recovery of the territories lost by Germany in the East.

If I thought that it would help to reduce tension I would be very ready to give such an assurance. But I do not think that anybody suspects Her Majesty's Government of harbouring violent intentions.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure that, in accordance with the views expressed in the Plowden Committee Report on the Control of Public Expenditure, farm grants and subsidies in England and Wales are allocated where they are most needed.

These grants and subsidies are reviewed each year, and are designed to meet the needs of agriculture and of the economy as a whole by encouraging the industry to improve its capacity to produce as efficiently and economically as possible.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will consider making notification compulsory in connection with the Notification of Pesticides Scheme and the Agricultural Chemicals Approval Scheme.

The Government accepts the view of the Research Study Group on Toxic Chemicals in Agriculture and Food Storage which confirms that the arrangements made between Government and industry have been generally successful in ensuring the safe use of pesticides. These arrangements, which are kept under constant review, are based on the principle of voluntary cooperation. The Government wishes to keep to this sort of arrangement when it is working satisfactorily in both schemes. At the moment, therefore, I have no plans for making notification compulsory.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will recommend the appointment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the status, pay and qualifications of teachers.

I do not consider that this would be appropriate. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Education is now engaged in consultations with the local authority and teachers' associations on possible ways in which the procedures for negotiating salaries of teachers in England and Wales might be improved. My right hon. Friend the the Secretary of State for Scotland hopes to have similar discussions with the National Joint Council.

asked the Minister of Education what is the cost, other than for tuition, of maintaining the

asked the Minister of Health if he will indicate the demand for and supply of transistor hearing aids, over a recent period, at the Manchester Hearing Aid Clinic, and for a similar period for the rest of the country; and what plans he has to overcome the backlog of priority cases and to step up the supply for new cases.

Sample figures show that the average fee to parents to cover the cost of board and lodging ranges from £170 to £180 a year. This fee is reduced or remitted in cases of hardship and no fee is charged if the pupil cannot otherwise be suitably educated.

asked the Minister of Education how many places were offered to children taking the 11-plus examination in the years 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1961 in the areas of Leek, Kidsgrove, Biddulph, and Cheadle; and how many children sat for the examination in those years.

The following provisional figures have been sent me by the Staffordshire Local Education Authority.

During the three months ended 30th November, 1961, 1,782 including replacements, were supplied by the Manchester Hearing Aid Clinic and 40,285 elsewhere. The number issued to Centres each month is proportionate to the number of patients known to use Medresco valve aids.The new aids are being produced at the rate of 200,000 a year and any outstanding priority cases should soon be disposed of. The whole programme should be complete about the middle of 1963.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that several cases have arisen where a hospital has agreed to accept a patient suffering from mental disorder on a hospital order made under Section 60 of the Mental Health Act, and on admission it was found that a further order restricting discharge under Section 65 had been made by the court; and if he will arrange for hospitals to be informed, when they are asked in advance to accept such a patient, that a Section 65 order is in contemplation, and to be authorised to refuse admission when a patient arrives under such an order without prior notice.

The decision whether to make a hospital order, with or without an order restricting discharge, rests entirely with the court, whose conclusion cannot be known when a hospital is asked to accept a patient in the event of such order or orders being made.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the approximate number of policemen employed each day in the Metropolitan Police area on motor car parking duties.

It is part of the normal work of all officers on beat and traffic patrol duty to enforce the law relating to obstruction and waiting in restricted streets.

asked the Minister of Labour what were both the actual and the estimated normal seasonal changes of unemployment in the northern region for the period of October to November, 1961; and if he will state these figures for the manufacturing industries, shipbuilding and ship repair, construction, transport and communications, distribution, catering and hotels and all other services and industries.

For all industries, the increases were 3,742 and about 1,700 respectively. The actual increases for the industries stated were: manufacturing industry 1,066; shipbuilding and ship repair 502; construction 841; transport and communications 323; distribution 159; catering and hotels 137; all other services and industries 1,216. Regional estimates of normal seasonal changes in unemployment have not been made for separate industries or groups of industries. The figures given relate to wholly unemployed workers, excluding school-leavers.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the number of houses required in Scotland to provide adequate housing standards for persons who neither tenant nor own a house and others in need of rehousing, respectively; and when he expects to achieve these targets.

No recent estimates under these heads have been constructed. I do not think that a time can ever arrive when no new houses will be needed.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he received the communication from the Scottish region of the Association of Scientific Workers, forwarded by the hon. Member for Dunfermline Burghs, about the implementation of the new salary agreement covering medical laboratory technicians; and whether he will make a statement.

In common with other right hon. and hon. Members for Scottish constituencies, I received this circular letter on 30th November. I understand that agreement was reached recently on new salaries for all grades of medical laboratory technicians in the National Health Service, but the date for implementation is still to be fixed.

asked the Minister of Transport if he is aware of the dissatisfaction expressed at a recent meeting of the Pontypridd Urban District Council at not being kept informed upon broad details of important future road developments on the Cardiff-Merthyr Road lying within its area, and that information supplied by his Department to a brewery company upon the road improvement scheme was not communicated to the council; and if he will keep the local council informed of progress being made on the scheme.

Yes. I regret that, through inadvertence, some information was given by telephone to a brewery company before it had been conveyed to the urban district council. I have now written to the council and will continue to keep them informed of progress.

asked the Minister of Transport what progress is being made towards the solution of the town centre traffic problem in Pontypridd through which the A.470 trunk road runs; and if he will make a statement.

I have told the local highway authority that I am prepared to consider making a grant towards the Town Centre Improvement Scheme in 1962–63. The improvement of A.470 at Pontypridd is a separate matter. It is part of the plan for the comprehensive improvement of the Taff Vale road. Consultants are preparing a revised scheme, but I cannot say when I shall be able to authorise this very expensive project.