asked the Secertary of State for the Colonies whether he will give an assurance that Her Majesty's Government will not relinquish any responsibility for the Falkland Islands, in view of recent claims made by the Argentine Government.

I confirm that Her Majesty's Government has no such intention.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will call for a report on the circumstances under which the official United Kingdom trade mission which recently visited Antigua refused to meet the Antigua Employers' Federation, which is a member of the West Indies Employers' Consultative Committee, is affiliated to the Overseas Employers' Federation and is the most representative organisation of employers on the island.

No. This mission was composed of a group of industrialists representing the Western Hemisphere Exports Council, though it had Government support. They decided at the outset of a crowded tour to exclude formal meetings with associations of bath employers and employees because of the limited amount of time available to them. They were at pains, however, to have private discussions with members of such associations and, of course, wherever they went, they had formal meetings with bodies such as Chambers of Commerce which were directly concerned with the objects of their mission.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware that the Government of Antigua has threatened to pass special legislation affecting an individual hotel proprietor and to order his expulsion unless he improved his attitude to the Government, to the Antigua Trades and Labour Union, and accepted trade union demands; and if he will state the appropriate procedure for the settlement of trade disputes in Antigua under the Trade Disputes Arbitration and Enquiry Act.

I am arranging, for my hon. Friend's convenience, to place a copy of the Act in the Library. The procedure followed in this case does not differ substantially from that set out in the Act. I am concerned about the particular dispute and I am making further inquiries.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will invite a representative of the General Workers Union of Malta to serve on the committee of inquiry which has recently been set up to deal with the position of Bailey, (Malta) Ltd.

No committee of enquiry has been set up. What I have done is to exercise my power under the agreement between Her Majesty's Government and the company to appoint a person to examine the books of the company and investigate its affairs.

asked the Postmaster-General how long the sub-post office in Market Street, Huddersfield, was closed before work on alterations began; what was the reason for the delay; and when this office will be reopened.

Work on the renovation of this office began on the 2nd April. The office had been closed for seven weeks. Two weeks had been allowed for clearance of Post Office stocks and equipment. But the first tenders for the work proved unacceptable, and fresh tenders had to be sought. My right hon. Friend expects that the office will be reopened in August next, and meantime the staff at the nearby High Street Office has been strengthened.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will state, to the last convenient date, the number of applicants on the waiting list for telephones in the city of Aberdeen; and how this number compares with the similar number for each of the last 10 years.

Nearly 1,400 telephones were installed in Aberdeen last year. The following are the figures:

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will undertake not to introduce legislation to disrupt the housing services of the London County Council.

The Government's proposals for the future administration of the housing service throughout Greater London are set out in the White Paper Cmnd. 1562.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what was the response of Her Majesty's Government to the request of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for the immediate supply of 15,000 tents as a first measure to organise the orderly return of the Algerian refugees now in Morocco and Tunisia.

In response to the United Nations High Commissioner's recent appeal, Her Majesty's Government propose, subject to Parliamentary approval, to purchase through the agency of the British Red Cross Society some 500 family-size tents, which are urgently needed in the repatriation operation, at a cost of approximately eight thousand five hundred pounds. Parliament will in due course be asked to vote that amount by means of a Supplementary Estimate. In the meantime an advance will be obtained from the Civil Contingencies Fund.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that, at 31st March, 1951, the county borough of West Ham was paying £143,000 in interest on borrowed money and that, at 31st March, 1962, this had risen to £784,000; and, as this was due in part to the doubling of interest rates, whether he will, now that the Bank Rate has been reduced, take the necessary steps to reduce the interest rates charged by the Public Works Loan Board and thus assist the county borough of West Ham and other municipal authorities.

The rates of interest charged by the Public Works Loan Board are kept in line with those ruling on the market for local authority borrowing. If the market rates fall, following the recent reductions in Bank Rate, the rates charged by the P.W.L.B. will be reduced also.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the yield from the tariff on each type of fruit imported into the United Kingdom last year; and how it compares with the previous year.

The yield from the tariff on the principal types of fruit (both fresh and dried) imported into the United

asked the Prime Minister how many explosions in the Christmas Island nuclear tests have been monitored what is the estimate of megaton size in each case; what will be the total megatonnage in this test series; and when it will conclude.

If the hon. Member has in mind the monitoring of tests for fallout, I would refer him to the answers which I have given to Questions on this subject. For the rest, the House will understand that in these matters we work closely with the United States Government and we are taking advantage of the opportunity of improving our knowledge of monitoring techniques. As regards the scale of the tests, I have already told the House that the total explosive power of the American test series will be only a small proportion of that of the Soviet test series. President Kennedy has said that the United States series will be concluded within two or three months of its inception, which was on 25th April. I cannot, however, enter into details of the programme.

asked the Prime Minister to what extent the second report of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation will include estimates of the number of new cases of bone cancer, leukemia, and genetic damage likely to be caused by the Soviet tests of 1961 and the current Anglo-American tests; and if he will publish in HANSARD, in language as non-technical as possible, a summary of this information.

As I told the hon. Member on 10th April, we are awaiting the second report of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. I cannot anticipate the contents of the report.

asked the Minister of Education (1) if he will state the numbers of students receiving grants from public funds which have been prematurely terminated at universities other than Cambridge and Oxford, and the proportion of the numbers of such students for each of the past five years;(2) if he will state the numbers of students receiving grants from public funds which have been prematurely terminated at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, and their proportion

asked the Minister of Health what would be the total cost per annum of satisfying in full the present pay claims of nurses and of members of the professions auxiliary to medicine.

An estimated £57 million in Great Britain.

asked the Minister of Health what new steps are being taken to encourage recruitment in the nursing and midwifery professions; and whether he will make a statement.

No new steps; the numbers in post continue to rise.

The information, so far as it is available, is given in the following table. It is not possible to identify local education authority awards that were tenable at Cambridge and Oxford.

asked the Minister of Health (1) how many nursing vacancies there were in the hospital service at the end of 1961;(2) how many midwifery vacancies there were in the service at the end of 1961.

I regret no figures are available.

asked the Minister of Health what sums were expended by each regional hospital board during 1961 on research directed by the board concerned; what percentage this formed of each board's expenditure; and from what sources the cost of the research was defrayed.

Identifiable expenditure in the financial year 1960–61 on the minor clinical research which Regional Hospital Boards may undertake is shown below. £61,000 was met from Exchequer funds and the rest from the non-Exchequer funds of the hospital authorities. This excludes research conducted and financed by the Medical Research Council, and research done in the course of treating patients.

asked the Minister of Health what is the salary scale of a male district nurse; and how many vacancies existed in the profession at the end of 1961.

£578 to £788 per annum, if district trained; £551 to £761 per annum, if not. There were three such vacancies notified to the Ministry of Labour.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Central African Office) what steps he is taking to prevent anti-British films such as To-day, series No. 46, being shown in Northern Rhodesia.

Film censorship is a matter for the Film Censorship Board of Northern Rhodesia appointed by the Governor. I am consulting the Governor about this particular film and will write to my hon. Friend when I receive his reply.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hospital orders were made, in the last 12 months' period for which figures are available, in respect of offenders diagnosed as suffering from psychopathic disorder, and in how many of these cases orders restricting discharge were made; and how many prisoners suffering from psychopathic disorder were transferred to hospital under Section 72 of the Mental Health Act. 1959, during the same period.

During 1961, the last twelve months' period for which complete figures are available, 125 hospital orders were made under Section 60 of the Mental Health Act, 1959, in respect of offenders suffering from psychopathic disorder, 44 of whom were reported to be suffering also from mental illness or subnormality. In 34 cases, further orders restricting discharge were made under Section 65 of the Act. During the same period, 11 persons suffering from psychopathic disorder were transferred to hospital from prison under Section 72 of the Act; in addition, two persons suffering from psychopathic disorder were transferred from borstal institutions and 11 from approved schools under that Section.

asked the Minister of Labour what reply he has sent to the letter from the Northumberland Joint Committee for Workshops for the Blind, concerning the contract prices offer by the War Department.

I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the reply.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) what is the present policy of his Department regarding the training of disabled and blind persons in workshop trades;(2) what steps he has taken to introduce new trades for disabled and blind persons, specifying the trades and the centres where they are to be taught.

I take it that the hon. Member is referring to blind and other disabled persons employed in sheltered workshops. The trades in which these workshops are engaged are a matter for the workshop management, subject to my approval. A wide variety of work is provided, though in workshops for the blind the trades followed are chiefly traditional hand-crafts. A working party has been set up to consider the problems of the workshops for the blind, including the kinds of work which they should undertake in the future, and I am expecting its report later this year. It is the policy of my Department that disabled persons requiring sheltered employment should receive any necessary training in the workshop where they are to be employed.

asked the Minister of Labour what representations have been made to him from local authorities regarding approval for the construction of sheltered workshops for the disabled; what assistance and guidance he is giving in this matter; and how many local authorities have developed such projects with his approval.

A number of local authorities have under consideration plans for the construction or extension of sheltered workshops for the disabled. I am prepared to assist such projects with advice and by means of capital grants where necessary. I have recently increased the maximum annual grant payable to local authorities in respect of the running costs of such workshops. There are now 27 workshops for the blind provided directly by local authorities, of which 16 also admit severely disabled sighted persons; 40 workshops for the blind are provided by voluntary bodies acting as agents for local authorities, of which 14 also admit severely disabled sighted persons; seven workshops for severely disabled sighted persons are provided directly by local authorities, and seven such workshops provided by voluntary bodies act as agents for local authorities.

asked the Minister of Labour how many disabled persons in Barnsley and district have made it known to his Department that they are in need of specialised training and employment; and what steps he is taking to help them.

During the past twelve months nineteen disabled persons in the Barnsley area have applied for training for ordinary employment and six for admission to a sheltered workshop. Of the applicants for training for ordinary employment, fifteen have been accepted, one has been rejected and three are under consideration. Of the applicants for sheltered employment two (including one blind person) have been accepted and four (including three blind persons) rejected.

asked the Minister of Labour why it is not possible for disabled and blind persons in the Barnsley area, who are in need of special training for blind trades, to attend the Leeds training centre.

Work in the trades for which training is provided at the Leeds Workshop for the Blind is not available in the Barnsley area nor is it likely to be in the future. As the hon. Member knows, plans have been approved for a new and larger workshop to replace the existing one at Barnsley, which is full.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the total number of disabled persons at present in need of employment; and how many of them have received training.

On 16th April 52,497 registered disabled persons were unemployed; a special inquiry carried out in August, 1961, showed that about 5,300 out of some 44,800 registered disabled persons then unemployed had received training for a skilled trade at some time. About 83 per cent. of the registered disabled persons covered by the Survey were considered unsuitable for any form of training either because of inadequate educational qualifications, inability to meet the required standard of physical or mental fitness or because their qualifications were unsatisfactory in other ways.

asked the Minister of Labour what trades for disabled and blind persons are at present taught in the Leeds and Sheffield workshops; to what extent a change to new trades is planned for these workshops; and whether it is then visualised that disabled and blind persons from Barnsley area in need of trade training will be accepted.

The Leeds and Sheffield Workshops for the Blind provide employment, and training preparatory to such employment, mainly in basket-making, brush-making, mat-making, machine knitting, and, at Leeds, wire-work. I am not aware of any plans to introduce new trades at present and, therefore, the last part of the Question does not arise.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he has now taken a decision on the proposed Eastern Avenue extension.

Yes. I have decided to accept my Inspector's recommendation that the Order fixing the line of this road should be made. I am very conscious that the rehousing problem to be solved before the road can be built is particularly difficult because of the shortage of building land in the borough and the fact that the local authority although very willing are unable to help. Re-housing must be spread over a long period and occupiers of affected property who are able to re-accommodate themselves must be encouraged to do so as soon as they conveniently can. I am accordingly now prepared, as an exceptional measure so far in advance of road works, to consider purchasing on full compulsory acquisition terms, that is to say with allowance for disturbance if appropriate, any properties due to be demolished which can be obtained with vacant possession.

asked the Minister of Works how many cubic feet of new office accommodation and of new hospital accommodation, respectively, were provided in England and Wales in each of the past five years.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Minister of Works why central heating equipment of a type now obsolescent is being installed at No. 10 Downing Street.

No. 10 Downing Street will be heated by column radiators. This system, which was chosen by the architect in consultation with my engineers, is economical to run and not obsolescent for a building of this nature.