asked the Minister of Education how many additional places will be made available in Welsh teacher training colleges in September next.

I expect these colleges to have about 3,200 students next September, an increase of about 750 on the present number.

asked the Minister of Education which Welsh local education authorities have been notified of a change in the suggested quota of teachers allowed by his Department for the forthcoming year; and what those changes are in each case.

I have had to refuse two applications, but a small adjustment for a third authority is being considered.

asked the Minister of Education when he will approve the scheme for the new building for Bounds Green secondary modern school, which was submitted to him last July.

I hope soon to give a decision upon this replacement project.

asked the Minister of Education to what extent the education service in Metropolitan Surrey will be affected by the proposals for the reorganisation of London government.

It is proposed that the parts of Surrey included in the Royal Commission's terms of reference should be administered by the future London Boroughs. My hon. Friend will no doubt be aware that we are to debate this subject next week.

asked the Minister of Education what is the number of schools in the North Devon parliamentary constituency still without electricity and water-borne sanitation; and what proposals he has for making these services speedily available.

One school is without water-borne sanitation. This will be provided this year. Four schools are without electricity because this has not yet been brought to their respective neighbourhoods. I understand that two of them are likely to have a supply in 1963–64 and a third a little later.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will ensure that the White Fish Authority can provide loans for the purchase of second-hand fishing vessels.

Yes. The arrangements covering the making of loans for vessels and engines are being revised so as to permit the White Fish Authority to provide, in suitable cases, loans to inshore fishermen to purchase second-hand vessels. This should be completed before long.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much he collects in Purchase Tax on enamelled holloware; and if, in view of the difficulties through which the industry is passing, he will relieve it of this impost.

Traders are not required to make separate returns of Purchase Tax paid on individual types of articles and the information requested is therefore not available. As to the second part of the Question, the hon. Member will not expect me to anticipate Budget decisions.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the total of wages and salaries in the fourth quarter of the year 1961 was greater or less than in the third quarter; and what was the difference.

I regret that an estimate of the total wages and salaries paid in the fourth quarter of 1961 is not yet available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the approximate yearly cost of making an all-round 5 per cent. increase in the pensions now paid to retired public servants in this country, including those who were employed by local authorities, and other public bodies as well as by the central Government; and if he will give separate details for each category.

About £10 million for the public services within the scope of the Pensions (Increase) Acts and the Armed Forces, divided as follows:—

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what special steps have been taken to encourage an increase in the number of university places for mathematicians and to bring about an increase in the number of students studying this subject in the next academic year.

During the five years 1956–57 to 1960–61 the total number of honours degrees obtained in mathematics increased by about 50 per cent. I am aware, and so are the universities, of the importance of further increasing the numbers of graduates in this subject.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instructions have been issued by the Metropolitan Police authorities as to the evidence of doctors called in by the police in cases of driving under the influence of drink.

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has issued instructions that a doctor called in by the Metropolitan police to examine a person suspected of driving under the influence of drink is to be asked for an opinion as to the person's general health and his fitness to be detained and not as to his fitness to drive.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are being made for the Home Office Research Unit to be represented at the conference which is being organised by the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, to review current criminological research in the United Kingdom.

I understand that the Institute plan to hold such a conference in the course of next year and that representatives of my Department will be invited to attend.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what modifications he has made to his annual statistics on crime and misdemeanours to take into account the number of new offences which have been created by Parliament in the last 12 months.

Several changes, to take account of new legislation, have been made in the sub-classifications of offences, but these are not shown separately in the volumes of Criminal Statistics presented to Parliament annually. The only change that will be apparent in the annual volumes is the substitution of the offence of aiding and abetting suicide, under Section 2 (1) of the Suicide Act, 1961, for the former offence of attempted suicide.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide a school crossing patrol in order to ensure the safety of children attending Chadwell School, Ilford, who have to cross the main road; and what has been done so far to this end.

I am informed by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that a school crossing patrol to supervise the crossing place in High Street, Chadwell Heath. for children of the Chadwell Junior Mixed and Infants' School was appointed on 12th December, 1961, and is still employed at the crossing.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will now advise Her Majesty to grant free pardons in the cases of all motorists

asked the Minister of Labour what was the estimated total number of Commonwealth immigrants unemployed in the United Kingdom at the February, 1962, count, as compared with the corresponding date of 1961; and what percentage it is of the total unemployment.

For Great Britan the number in February, 1962, was 31,678 compared with 14,281 in February, 1961. These figures represented 7·4 per cent. and 3·9 per cent., respectively of the total adult unemployed on the nearest available date.

asked the Minister of Labour how many boys and girls, respectively, who left school at the end of the summer term in the Gateshead employment area had not been placed in employment by Christmas, 1961: what

No.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the number of Commonwealth immigrants unemployed in the London and south-eastern and the Midland areas, respectively, at the February, 1962 count, as compared with the corresponding date in 1961; and what percentages they are of the total unemployment in the said areas.

The following is the information:was the number of boys and girls leaving school at Christmas, 1961; and what is the number of those who are currently registered as unemployed.

Two boys and one girl who left school in the County Borough of Gateshead at the end of the summer term, 1961, had not found employment by mid-December but have since done so; of 297 boys and 265 girls known to have left school at Christmas, 60 boys and four girls were unemployed on 13th February, 1962.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will state the number of persons, male and female, and persons under 18 years of age, male and female, registered as unemployed at the latest convenient date in the Gateshead employment area, together with the percentage rate of unemployment for the total, and percentage rates for male and female.

On 15th January, 1962, there were 2,201 males registered as unemployed at the Gateshead, Blaydon and Felling Employment Exchanges, of whom 252 were under 18 years of age. The corresponding figures for females were 368 and 79. The total represented a rate of 3·6 per cent. and the male and female rates were 4·4 and 1·7 per cent., respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps he is taking to ensure a representative basis for the municipal councils of Blantyre; Limbe, Zomba Lilangive and Salima in Nyasaland.

There is general agreement in Nyasaland on the desirability of reconstituting municipal councils on a non-racial elected basis and discussions to that end are proceeding between the appropriate Ministry and the existing Councils.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will take steps to ensure the safety of children attending Chad-well School, Ilford, who have to cross the main road, with special reference to the provision of safety railings in the north and south of the road, and an officially controlled button operated traffic light crossing or a footbridge or subway; and what progress is being made in each respect.

A school crossing patrol operates at this site. This is a very good way of getting school children safely across a main road. I understand that the Ilford Borough Council, which is the highway authority, is considering erecting guard rails in order to restrict crossing to the point covered by the school crossing patrol, both along the whole frontage of the school site and also on the other side of the road. It would be for the council, as highway authority, to make proposals for the provision of pedestrian-operated traffic signals or for a footbridge or subway. I have received no such proposals so far. I have recently suggested that the council reviews the siting of pedestrian crossings in the road concerned.

asked the Minister of Transport what has been the total amount of Government assistance from the Exchequer to British Railways since their nationalisation in 1947 to the present date; and what were their total losses over the same period.

The revenue deficit of British Railways for the years 1948 to 1961, inclusive, amounts to about £700 million. Some £75 million of this has been met out of surpluses from other activities of the British Transport Commission. Exchequer assistance towards revenue deficits of the Commission comprises £302 million loans in respect of the years 1956 to 1959 and about £230 million grants paid to date in respect of the years 1960 and 1961.

asked the Secretary of State for War what plans he has to retain National Service men in the Royal Army Pay Corps after the expiry of their original term of National Service; and how many of these men will be released

The National Service officers and other ranks of the Royal Army Pay Carps who are serving in B.A.O.R. on or after 1st April next must expect to be retained. I have already sent preliminary warnings to those who would have been due for release in April. Later in the year it may also be necessary to retain some of those now serving elsewhere. I regret that I cannot state the number of National Service men of the Royal Army Pay Corps who will be released on expiry of the original term of their National Service. The number will be reviewed from month to month in order to keep it as small as possible.