asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty why the halfyearly Navy List due to be issued in January is not yet available.

The printing and publishing of the next edition of the Navy List are not yet complete. This edition is based on information correct to a date in January and it is normally issued in the late spring. It is expected to be available next week.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty why the current Statement of Estimated Income and Expenditure of Greenwich Hospital, Command Paper No. 223, does not include a statement of the total value of the investments and properties and details of the salaries and wages of the staffs of the Royal Hospital School, Holbrook, Suffolk, as in previous years.

It has never been the practice to include a valuation of investments and properties in the Greenwich Hospital Statement of Income and Expenditure, although the nominal value of individual holdings was shown until 1941. The valuation of investments is, however, included in the published accounts of Greenwich Hospital which cover capital as well as revenue transactions. Command Paper 129 of 1961.In the interests of simplification and economy and with the concurrence of the Comptroller and Auditor-General, details of salaries and wages of staff at the Royal Hospital School have been omitted from the Estimates since 1956.

asked the Minister of Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the troopship fleet.

Yes. I have now decided that there is no need on strategic grounds to retain the two remaining troopships. Discussions are being opened with the owners about the possibility of terminating prematurely the charters of these ships.

asked the Minister of Health how many people have died through smallpox during the last twelve months; how many have been vaccinated against this disease during the same period; and how many have died from the effects of vaccination in the same period.

There were 24 deaths in the twelve months to 30th April, excluding deaths of persons infected before entering the realm. The number of vaccinations is not known. Vaccination was mentioned in the statement of cause of 17 deaths registered in the same period.

asked the Minister of Health what would be the estimated yield from a further 1s. in the weekly National Health Insurance contributions.

If the weekly National Health Service contribution were increased by 1s., the additional yield would be about £50 million a year for Great Britain.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he proposes to make available the final form of the instructions to immigration officers as regards their duties under the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1962.

A White Paper containing the revised instructions is being published today.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that the housing costs for Index families, as shown in the Family Expenditure Survey, 1961, have gone down by comparison with 1960 at a time when the Retail Price Index shows that housing costs have risen; how this discrepancy arises; and if he will cease to use the figure of housing costs in the Survey for calculating the Index weights.

The published figures show that housing costs for "Index" households, for the year ended June, 1961, were very slightly lower (less than ½d. per week in the average) than for the year ended December, 1960. The decrease was due to sampling variations, and particularly to the inclusion in the year ended June, 1961, of a larger proportion of owner-occupiers whose costs on average are lower than those of other types of household. The Cost of Living Advisory Committee (Cmnd. 1657) recently recommended the use of information from the Survey as a basis for revision of the weighting pattern of the Index of Retail Prices, but considered that three years' results should be combined for this purpose in order to reduce the impact of sampling variations from year to year.

asked the Minister of Labour with reference to the details on housing expenditure in 1960 published in the March issue of the Ministry of Labour Gazette, page 89, if he will publish similar details in respect of the 1961 Family Expenditure Survey and for the surveys of 1957, 1958 and 1959.

Information about expenditure on housing costs by "Index" households in 1961 will be published as soon as it is available. Comparable figures for the years 1957–1959 are not readily available.

asked the Minister of Labour, with reference to the 1960 Family Budget Survey, how many of the 3,121 Index families were subletting; and what was the average rent received in respect of sublet rooms.

Of the 1,128 "Index" households living in their own dwellings, 86 recorded rent received from subletting part of their dwellings, including garages attached to the dwelling. The average weekly rent received by these 86 households was 35s. 7d. Similar information regarding rent received by other households is not readily available.

asked the Minister of Labour, with reference to the 1960 Family Budget Survey, if he is aware that 138, or over 4 per cent., of Index families are stated to be living rent-free and that this is a higher proportion than those living in furnished lettings; in what circumstances these people live rent-free; and if he will give a list of their occupations.

Yes. Nearly all these families were living in rent-free accommodation by virtue of the occupations of the heads of the households which were as follows:—

asked the Minister of Labour, with reference to the Family Expenditure Survey, 1959, page 20, Table 4, why the average weekly expenditure of households with a gross weekly income of £3 is shown as £5 3s. 7½d., the average expenditure of households with a weekly income of £6–£8 is shown as £8 16s. 11d., plus about 12s. in supplementary payments, and households with incomes between £3–£6 and those with incomes between £8–£10 also show an average expenditure greater than income.

The results of the 1959 Survey show current income even though some households, whose members are temporarily unemployed or sick, showed higher expenditure patterns which related to their normal incomes instead of to their lower temporarily reduced circumstances. Some households are known to be drawing on savings to meet expenditure.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science if he will publish a tabular statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT showing the results obtained to date by the Clean Air Act, giving figures for the three years before the Act was passed, and for the latest three years, of all forms of air pollution, together with the same figures for the two best counties, for Staffordshire and Lancashire, respectively, and for Stoke-on-Trent, Salford, Bolton, Stretford, Manchester, Eccles and Warrington.

I have been asked to reply.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state, giving the mileage in respect of each, those motorways or lengths of motorway for which no line has yet been proposed, a

The position at 30th April on the motorway proposals included in my trunk road plans from mid-1962 to mid-1967 is as follows:—

asked the Minister of Transport if he will state, giving the mileage in respect of each, those motorways or lengths of motorway for which no line had yet been proposed, a draft scheme had been published, a scheme had been made, and tenders had been invited, respectively, as at 30th April.

asked the Minister of Transport, if he will name, giving the mileage in respect of each, those motorways or lengths of motorway for which no line had yet been proposed, a draft scheme had been made, tenders had been invited, a contract had been placed, which were under construction, and which were in use, respectively, on 30th April.

The following is the information requested:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the annual amount of superannuation benefits paid to retired civil servants under the Super annuation Acts, excluding those under the 1949 Acts, in respect of each of the financial years 1945 to 1961 and in respect of he financial year 1938–39; and what was the total amount of salaries and wages of those raking for title to those benefits in respect of each of the above financial years.

The amounts of superannuation benefits paid to or in respect of persons retiring from, dying in or otherwise leaving the Civil Service were:

asked the President of the Board of Trade when the next trade talks with Poland will commence; and what steps he is taking before this to consult agricultural and manufacturing interests in this country who may be adversely affected by excessive imports or dumping of Polish agricultural and other food products.

The next trade talks with Poland will begin in London on 14th May. Where appropriate, consultations have been held with the interests concerned about imports from Poland and also about opportunities for increased United Kingdom exports to Poland.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the amount of money expended under the Local Employment Act during each year since its inception in the city of Dundee; how many new jobs have already been provided as a result of this expenditure; how many will eventually be provided; and over what period they will become available.

I regret that I cannot give this information year by year, since to do so would reveal confidential information about individual concerns. In total, however, the Board of Trade have offered assistance of over £500,000 to projects estimated to provide about 470 jobs. About 30 of these have already arisen. The remainder will arise as the various projects are completed, but all are likely to be provided by the end of next year.

asked the Secretary of State for War what steps he is taking to ensure that in future he does not find himself in breach of a formal legal agreement entered into with a member of the public, as he is at present with Mrs. Olive Cuthbert of Southwick, Sussex; and what action he is taking to give Mrs. Cuthbert immediate vacant possession of her cottage, in accordance with the proper and formal notice received from her to terminate the letting agreement on 4th May.

It has not been possible to give Mrs. Cuthbert vacant possession of her cottage on the due date because the present occupant has refused to leave it. As my hon. Friend explained in his letter of 3rd May, proceedings are being taken in the courts for an eviction order, and on the terms of that order will depend the date on which the cottage can be vacated. I much regret the inconvenience caused to Mrs. Cuthbert and will of course give full consideration to her claim for consequential damages if she wishes to make one.