asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many country councils in England and Wales have not yet published definitive maps; and what action he is now taking to accelerate progress.

Thirty-five county councils in England and Wales have not yet published maps defining the rights of way over the whole of their areas, but nine of these have published definitive maps for parts. My right hon. Friend wants to see these maps completed as soon as possible, but the process is inevitably a long one.

Is there anything the Joint Parliamentary Secretary or the Minister can do to speed up the authorities which have not already published definitive maps? It is now 13 years since legislation was passed and this period of uncertainty gives rise to all sorts of problems and bad relationships which these definitive maps would help to ease.

As the hon. Gentleman knows, my right hon. Friend has powers to give directions, but that would probably slow the progress up because of the amount of legal proceedings that would be generated. We are trying to hurry this work up and are doing all we can.

Further to that reply, will the hon. Gentleman consider circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT a list of county councils which have published definitive maps so that we can chase up those which have not done their stuff?

I will arrange for a list to be circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT setting out the position.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what action he is taking on a letter from Rishton Urban District Council about atmospheric pollution from Whitebirk Electricity Generating Station.

The district alkali inspector has explained to the council that no practicable means exist here for reducing the mistiness of the chimney gases or for preventing their down-draught under certain atmospheric conditions. The Central Electricity Generating Board has offered to try in future to reduce the load on the station under those conditions. This should help considerably.

As the Joint Parliamentary Secretary will be aware from his files, this is a long-standing complaint extending over some ten years. Since certain technical solutions have been suggested—and, I understand, accepted, apart from the financial difficulties involved—and as the local council was so incensed about this that it has refused to apply the Smoke Abatement Act in the area while the atmosphere is being polluted by the power station, will the Minister give instructions for this matter to receive special attention?

The difficulty is that this is a very old complaint and there are really no economic solutions that would solve the problem entirely. I think the action which the board is going to take now will help, and I understand that during the summer extra equipment will be fitted to the dust-collectors and that that should improve their performance.

What about a higher chimney?

That is one solution which would be really uneconomic in the circumstances.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, in view of the proposed closure by British Railways of railways in Mid-Wales and the consequent effect on the livelihood of at least 300 families in Montgomeryshire, if he will now take steps to bring alternative means of employment and alternative means of transport into the area.

These closures cannot take place until my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport has decided what action he will take on the recommendation from the Transport Users' Consultative Committee for Wales and Monmouthshire. Any other action would be premature at this stage.

Does not the Minister consider that action, to be effective, must be taken before the affected families leave the area; otherwise, the trend to depopulation in the area is accentuated?

The Transport Users' Consultative Committee, which published its report on 28th May, included a number of detailed recommendations to my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport, who is now considering these before reaching a decision.

On a point of order. Can you assist me, Mr. Speaker. This Question has been passed by the Table and presumably, therefore, is in order. It is a Question addressed to the Minister of Housing and Local Government on the affairs of two Departments over which he has no executive authority.

Would it suit the hon. Member if we investigated this at some other time and not in the middle of Questions? I will instruct myself on it and find out what it is all about so as not to take up time now.

Is my right hon. Friend aware whether this is part of the Liberal promise, namely, that they can balance the accounts of British Railways, and keep all the railway lines open, wherever they are?

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what steps he is taking to implement the policy of Her Majesty's Government to build up existing towns in Mid-Wales in order to assist in attracting suitable industries there.

The Government are assisting the building of Mid-Wales towns by offering financial help to any suitable incoming industry; and since 1959 there have been six successful applicants.

Does the Minister consider that, in order to afford guidance in future to those authorities and bodies concerned with attracting industries to Mid-Wales towns, he should now disclose the precise reasons for refusing to approve the proposed Government factory for the Antler organisation at Welshpool, and, if so, when can we expect these detailed reasons to be given?

I am not prepared to give these detailed reasons, but may I say that this was a proposal for a Government grant of £350,000 for a scheme that would have employed 350 men in an area not suffering the depopulation which is to be found in so many other parts of Mid-Wales.

Is it not abundantly clear by now that, after a century of depopulation in Mid-Wales, the only hope is the policy advocated by the Labour Party, namely, the proper and planned distribution of industry?

The solution of the problem of depopulation in Mid-Wales lies in the attraction of a number of small industries properly distributed throughout Mid-Wales. I am fully alive to this problem of depopulation, and I am doing my utmost in that direction. As the hon. Gentleman knows, an economic survey of the general problems of Mid-Wales is now proceeding.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware of the concern of residents at Llywelyn Road, Cwmbran, at the revised proposal now before him of the Cwmbran Development Corporation to demolish their houses to make room for car parking; whether any inspection of the interior of these houses was carried out before the proposal was made; and whether he will direct that sites consisting of slum areas should be used for car parking or more multi-storey car parks built to avoid the necessity for demolishing sound houses.

I know of the residents' concern. The corporation has not yet asked to inspect the interior of these houses but it has explained to the owners that demolition may be necessary in seven to ten years' time if adequate car parking space is to be provided in the town centre. Cleared slum areas would be too far away. Multi-storey car parks may ultimately be needed, but they are very costly.

While appreciating the cost involved in multi-storey car parks, will the Minister see that he is informed as to the condition of these houses, which have a long life available to them, which are in excellent condition and well tended? Will he make no quick decision in view of the feeling that is abroad in the area that these houses to be demolished for a car park are in such jeopardy because of the lack of intelligent planning in regard to the town centre on the part of the Cwmbran Development Corporation? Will he also note that the development corporation unfortunately seems to be intent on pulling down more houses than it is putting up?

There will be no need or question of any early decision by me, but I think the hon. Member does less than justice to the development corporation, which is faced with the need for the comprehensive redevelopment of the commercial centre. The car parking problem is but part of it. The corporation is willing now to buy by agreement any houses that are offered to it, and, indeed, it is looking forward to a proper redevelopment in the centre of Cwmbran. It seems to me that it has acted properly in what it has intimated it might have to do.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he has been consulted about the proposed burning down of Coldharbour, a farmhouse of some architectural interest near Ampthill, belonging to the Bedford Estates, on 14th July.

The local planning authority has consulted my right hon. Friend about a notice it has received of intention to demolish the building, which is no longer required for agricultural purposes. It is arranging to inspect it and will let him have a report. It has power to submit a preservation order.

Is not the proposal to burn down this building in this way one of the more vulgar of the publicity stunts of the Duke of Bedford?

I understand from Press reports that this mock-Nero saturnalia, as it has been called, is not now to take place. Now action remains to be taken, if necessary, by the county council in the first instance.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what representations he has received regarding the use by Her Majesty's forces of areas of Dartmoor National Park outside those areas reserved to them.

My right hon. Friend has received none for about a year.

Will the Parliamentary Secretary request his right hon. Friend to consult his right hon. Friend at the War Office about a memorandum which has been submitted by the Standing Committee on National Parks and other national and local bodies about the use by troops of areas of Dartmoor outside those reserved to the troops? Will he also ask to see the Western Morning News of 25th May, so that he can look at the photographs showing the churning up of areas outside those reserved to the military?

We are well aware of the concern about this matter and have had a copy of the memorandum to which the hon. Member refers, which deals with the position of Dartmoor generally and not about the matter raised in the hon. Member's Question about the use by the forces of various areas of Dartmoor outside those reserved to them.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will authorise the building of a limited number of aged people's dwellings in Category D villages in the Bishop Auckland constituency.

My right hon. Friend will' consider on its merits any proposal for development in these villages which requires his authorisation. He has now before him five appeals by the Bishop Auckland Urban District Council relating to the erection of 44 dwellings for old people in five villages in their area. A public local inquiry will be held and he will give his decision after he has received and studied the inspector's report.

Will the Minister consider this matter sympathetically when he gets the report? Is he aware that many of these old people who want new bungalows and who have lived in these old industrial villages for a long time will be heartbroken if they have to move away to Bishop Auckland?

I am sure that my right hon. Friend will consider all the evidence that is put forward.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will inquire into the new use now proposed to be made by Brentwood Urban District Council of land purchased by them from the War Department for building to meet the council's housing need.

The hon. Member has been good enough to write to me about this. The council obtained permission for the development of this land for residential purposes. I know of no proposal to change that use.

Is not the Minister aware that when the negotiations to acquire this land were going on the council's own housing need was stressed, and that what is now proposed is to sell a good part of the land to private developers so that the council's own housing list will not be affected to anything like the extent that was represented at the time the land was acquired?

This land was acquired by the local authority at the district valuer's price. It is an area of 31 acres. It is proposed to develop half of it for council houses and half of it for private houses. The whole scheme, which is being prepared by a distinguished architect, in-includes shops, community centres and the like. It seems to me to be an admirable and sensible scheme, and I am glad that the council has adapted it.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the criticism of the Brentwood Urban District Council which is implicit in the hon. Gentleman's Question does not bear careful examination? Is he aware that of the 400 houses that the council proposes to build or has built on this land 200 will be council houses, and that the profit which the council will get from the sale of the leasehold to private developers will go directly into the housing account and so enable the council to benefit the quality of the council houses, the rents of them and the people who live in them?

I expect the council to act as a responsible body and to have regard to the housing needs of the people of the area and not merely one section of them.

But will the Minister consider this point, because his first answer to me suggested that he had not seized himself of it? The use which the council is now proposing to make of the land is very different from that which was represented to the War Office and the county planning authority when the land was acquired. This is the point of principle involved. Will the Minister look into that?

The council, in acquiring it, needed this land to serve the housing needs of the people of the area. It regards the housing needs as including not only council house development but making possible the development of houses for owner-occupation.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will relax the conditions under which improvement grants are made for the introduction of baits, hot water and inside toilets.

While I recognise that the present statutory requirement of five standard amenities as a condition of grant may give rise to difficulties in some cases, I do not think it would be in the general interest to consider relaxation of the requirement at the present time.

Will the Minister reconsider, at least, the condition that the bath must be in a separate bathroom? While that is naturally desirable, is he aware that there are many houses in good condition in which this requirement alone is preventing the introduction of a bath, and where public money would not be ill spent?

I am not unsympathetic to the hon. Gentleman's point of view, which, if I recall rightly, he expressed in Committee last year. My present attitude is that public money should be concentrated on those cases where the full improvement can be achieved, but I recognise that there is something in the hon. Gentleman's point and I will consider what he says.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there are one or two marginal points which he might look into, particularly the size of the windows in some rural areas, which are below the regulation size but in keep- ing with the area and not necessarily unhealthy? In regard to this sort of thing, would it not be helpful if he had another look at the regulations?

The replacement of windows is not one of the improvements covered by the standard grant.

It is.

I have no doubt that my hon. Friend has a point in mind.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he has studied the letter sent to him by the hon. Member for West Ham, North, regarding the concern felt by the residents in the Chapman Road and Chadd Street areas of Plaistow at the delay on the part of his Department in granting the compulsory purchase order and clearance order requested by the West Ham County Borough Council; and whether he will make a statement.

Yes, Sir, and my hon. Friend has written to the hon. Member. My decision on the Chadd Street Compulsory Purchase Order was issued last Friday. The Chapman Road Clearance Order raises unusual questions, which I hope to resolve very soon.

I thank the Minister and his Parliamentary Secretary for the letter and for the fact that since the Question was put down the Chadd Street order has been confirmed. Is he aware that the Chapman Road area is the most important one and that in it a number of my constituents are living in the most appalling conditions? Their landlords will not carry out any repairs because they do not know what will happen to the property. This has been going on for a very long time. Will the Minister do his utmost to expedite this order?

Yes, I will. There are some technical difficulties here. The method of the clearance order has been used for the purposes of comprehensive redevelopment. Those technical difficulties are holding matters up, but I will do my utmost to expedite the decision.

Can the Minister say how long this matter has been under consideration? I believe that the residents concerned happen to be constituents of mine.

My hon. and learned Friend should know his constituency better. They are constituents of mine.

Whatever the constituency is, the dates are just the same. The inspector's final report for the Chadd Street scheme came to me at the end of April; for the other scheme, in March.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will now publish a summary of the four reports submitted to him on leasehold problems in Wales; and whether he is now able to make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy in the matter.

I have now received reports from the Law Society, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Chartered Auctioneers and Estate Agents Institute and the Incorporaed Society of Auctioneers and Landed Property Agents on their experience of the working of the leasehold system in England and Wales. I will publish a summary of the reports as soon as it has been agreed by the bodies concerned.

I thank the Minister for that reply. I do not want in any way to exaggerate the promise held out, but is he aware that there is a ray of hope in what he says for people who are being held to ransom by ground landlords? Is he further aware that if his statement means that he is now considering granting an automatic right to leasholders to renew their leases at a fair price, this news will be received with considerable satisfaction but that we do exepct a fair price?

I had better content myself with saying that I am engaged on this re-examination of the problems in relation to the renewal of ground leases of residential property on the basis of market value.

Since, as my right hon. Friend says, some people may have the wrong impression of what is a reasonable price, in his re-examination of the matter will he also take account of the fact that many people are in difficulties because they are not even given an opportunity of renewing their leases or of buying the freehold, and that that is another matter of serious concern for them?

That is certainly a point which will come into my re-examination.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that great expectations have been aroused in South Wales by his forthcoming attitude in this matter? Does he see any prospect of legislation in the near future?

I had better confine myself today to an announcement of the reexamination and await its outcome.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what further steps he is taking to encourage property owners to buy or build more houses for rental.

As the hon. Member knows, I am encouraging housing associations, with the help of capital advanced by the Exchequer, to show that houses can be built to let at rents which people are willing to pay. I believe that this scheme will be successful, and I hope that it will help to bring private developers back into this field.

Is it not rather late in the day—five years after the Rent Act was supposed to solve the problem—to talk about the availability of property to let? Is it sufficient for the noble Lord the other Parliamentary Secretary to attend the annual binge of the Association of Land and Property Owners in London the other day and urge it to build more houses for rental? When will the Government wake up to the fact that the Rent Act of 1957 was the biggest failure in eleven years of Conservative rule and that it has caused more misery and hardship than anything else the Conservatives have ever done?

I plainly recognise that there is a great need for building to let. One thing that has stood in the way of this is the Opposition's threat to reimpose rent control. I regard this loans scheme as a useful scheme to secure a return to building to let. There are already signs of great interest. Upwards of 20 building projects are in preparation, and the first loan has already been made.

But is it not significant that five years after the passing of an Act which we were repeatedly told would solve the problem the Minister has to say that he is at the beginning of what he hopes will be a hopeful scheme? Does not that mean that the idea that the Rent Act will solve this problem must be written off once and for all?

The hon. Member can ill conceal his disappointment that this effort at building to let is to be strengthened by the provisions of the Housing Act. The responsibility for making sure that discouragement exists to building to let belongs for the most part to the party opposite.

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he is now prepared to restore the assistance previously given to house purchasers wishing to buy the older type of house

When the Government's House Purchase Scheme was suspended last year as part of the measures to reduce the burden of public expenditure some £92 million of the £100 million authorised by Parliament had already been used up. To re-start the scheme would therefore require fresh legislation and I can hold our no prospect of this at present.

Will my right hon. Friend accept my view that that is a disappointing Answer? Is it not a fact that it is more difficult for a man at the occupational level to buy his own house today than it was pre-war and that we must do something to change that situation?

I can understand my hon. Friend's disappointment. On the other hand, it is well to bear in mind that lending by local authorities for this and other purposes has greatly increased. Last year the figure stood at £99 million compared with £66 million the year before.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what machinery exists for ensuring that money spent by the universities on their building programmes is expended in the most economic manner possible.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the Report of the Public Accounts Committee for 1960–61 paragraphs 14 to 23, which set out the machinery in question.

Is my hon. Friend satisfied that a combination of architects, academic authorities and perhaps the Treasury and the Ministry of Works is satisfactory for the purpose of ensuring the most economic use of these resources?

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to this matter. Techniques in building economy are always developing, not only in university building, but over the whole range of building, such as schools, hospitals and housing. There is always room for progress, but a good deal has already been done, as my hon. Friend will find if he looks at this Report.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what machinery he has in mind to deal, in accordance with his policy on incomes, with the cases where undertakings have been given that special arrangements will be made to cover their circumstances such as the nurses, the university teachers and the probation officers.

I believe that the existing machinery will be adequate to deal with these cases.

First, is my right hon. and learned Friend aware of what the Home Secretary said in the House foreshadowing special machinery? Why cannot the House know what that special machinery is? Secondly, may I have an assurance that by Thursday at least there will be a statement on what happened in another place yesterday with regard to probation officers and on whether the nurses and university teachers will have the same benefits as were outlined by the noble Lord, Lord Dundee, in another place yesterday? Could the discrepancy between the House of Commons and another place please be straightened out in a statement so that the House of Commons knows exactly where these people stand?

If my hon. Friend will read the HANSARD report of the discussion in another place yesterday, she will not find herself under any uncertainty as to the position. With regard to her first supplementary question, I have no comment to make.

Does not the Chancellor of the Exchequer realise that the statement made last week on the pay of these groups and the statement in another place yesterday led people to believe that there was some intention on the Government's part to remedy the gross injustice being done to these groups? Has not the right hon. and learned Gentleman anything further to say? If not, the Government's reputation for double-talk will become even greater than it is at present.

To deal first with what was said in another place yesterday, since this was a statement of Govern- ment policy, I think I am entitled to quote what was said. My noble Friend the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs stated:

"My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced in the House of Commons on May 10 that the Government were in no doubt that the Probation Service ought to receive a substantial increase of pay at the appropriate time, and he has made it clear that the Government are ready to examine the wider claims of the Service at the beginning of next year. The problem is to find a way of revaluing particular and deserving services without departing from the general policy of linking wage increases to increases of productivity."— [OFFICIAL REPORT, House of Lords, 4th June, 1962; Vol. 241, c. 457.]

Does that mean that the Government are ready to implement the Morison Report and to give the probation officers the recommended increase?

I have nothing to add to what my noble Friend said on this point. This is a matter for consideration at the appropriate time, but we recognise that this is a special case. Exactly the same applies to the nurses. We have accepted the fact that there should be a reexamination of the pay structure of the profession, and my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health has, with the management side, set in process means for considering that matter.

Does my right hon. and learned Friend honestly think it fair to talk in these generalities about what will happen at the beginning of the year? Is he aware that what he said about the management committee and the staff side is not quite accurate, because there are certain outstanding points to be decided by the staff side with the management committee before the revaluation starts? Will he kindly say Whether he will make a statement about how the machinery will operate in order to meet the revaluation to which the Home Secretary referred, as my right hon. and learned Friend is not backing up what the Home Secretary said?

With regard to the nurses, it would be wrong for me to make any statement (If tth4. mart that my hon. Friend requites. The proper machinery is in process of reconsidering the pay structure of the nursing professions. That process has been initiated, and I hope that progress will be made in it. I gather that there are to be discussions. There is the prospect of an early meeting. It would be wrong for me to interfere in this process.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the rises in the cost of coal, gas, electricity and fares have contributed to the increase in the Cost of Living Index in the last twelve months.

Rather over half a point, of which the rises in the cost of coal and coke have contributed just under one-tenth of a point; gas just over one-twentieth of a point, electricity just over one-tenth of a point and fares three-tenths of a point.

Is it not a fact that part of the increase in the price has been due to the need to meet capital requirements? Is it fair that people in the lower income groups should have to contribute to those capital requirements? Would it not be possible, especially in the case of the electricity industry, for the industry to go to the market for its capital rather than raise capital out of the lower income groups?

My hon. Friend is raising a very wide matter which was dealt with in the White Paper, Cmnd. 1337, dealing with the financial and economic obligations of the nationalised industries. That is a wide matter for debate and is not appropriate for question and answer.

Will my right hon. and learned Friend recall what the Economic Secretary said last week on the subject of fares, and will he draw the attention of the Minister of Transport to the serious effect which fare increases have on the travelling population?

I listened to my hon. Friend's excellent speech on this matter.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is now prepared to grant permission to the trustee savings banks to have a cheque-book system.

It is not yet possible to announce a final decision.

Does not the hon. Gentleman realise that he is taking too long on this issue? Is he not aware that in the very near future more wages and salaries will be paid directly into the banks and that cheque books will become a major necessity for workers in this country? When will the Government do something about this? Is the delay because some of the big banks object to cheque books being held by depositors in the trustee savings banks?

I have some sympathy with the hon. Gentleman in this matter, which I have considered. Since the end of April, 1960, the initiative has lain with the Treasury for less than two months. I hope that there will be a meeting with the joint stock banks in the very near future. Their co-operation would be essential to the success of a trustee savings bank cheque service. I agree with what the hon. Gentleman says and hope that there will be rapid progress in this matter.

When the Chancellor of the Exchequer is considering this scheme, will he also speed up consideration of the much better and wider scheme of the Giro system in the Post Office?

I thought that the hon. Gentleman might raise that point. I have nothing to add to what my right hon. Friend the Postmaster-General said in answer to the hon. Gentleman on 27th March.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimated increase in the hydrocarbon oil revenue will result from the closure of the Scottish shale oil industry.

About £½ million a year.

Does the hon. Gentleman think that the financial gain more than offsets the social disadvantages arising from the consequent closure of the shale oil mining industry together with the resultant closures of the coal mines associated with that industry? Does not he consider the social consequences of his action much more important than the financial advantages which he might derive?

As the hon. Gentleman knows, this is not purely a revenue matter. The eventual withdrawal of the duty preference in 1964 will be dictated by our international obligations under the E.F.T.A. Convention. We have debated this matter on many occasions during the passage of the Finance Bill, and I think that the House can fairly feel that it has taken a decision on it.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the total amount granted for the development of universities and for university education for the quinquennial period ending 1961–62, and the amount by which that sum has been effectively reduced as a result of the devaluation of the £ sterling.

The total requested in the first part of the Question is £307 million. It is not practicable to perform the calculation requested in the second part of the Question because the total is made up of yearly amounts on a rising programme and includes supplementary grants for increased salaries and other costs during the five-year period.

Does the Financial Secretary say that universities cannot take into account erosion of the amount which would be granted at the beginning of the quinquennium? Is he aware that even his own university has lost £300,000 in value in the last quinquennium due to the erosion of the grant? How does the hon. Gentleman and the Government expect us to have the best universities in the world if we allow the grant to be eroded at the present rate?

The figure of £307 million which I mentioned is the total of all grants made available for current and capital expenditure during the past quinquennium. In the next quinquennium, without taking account of any allowance for rising costs or changes on review of salaries, grants for current expenditure alone will be as much as £329 million. Those are striking figures. My right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has made it quite clear on a number of occasions that any increase attributable to improvements in academic salaries will be met by additional grant. The Government have also undertaken that further increases in building costs will be sympathetically considered.

Is the hon. Gentleman saying that he is quite satisfied with the amount of money made available and the number of places in the universities? Is he aware that in California, for instance, 50 per cent. of students of the relevant age group will be able to go to university before 1965? Cannot we have more money for our universities to provide more places?

With great respect, we have debated this question already and we cannot debate it again at Question Time. I was not so much expressing satisfaction or dissatisfaction as reminding the House of figures which I think are striking and which seem to have been neglected in public debate on this matter.

Whatever the figures, is it not the case that young men and women whose ability and talents command places are to be denied the opportunity because of insufficient finance?

As long as the relevant age group is rising we hope that a constant proportion will get to the university. After that, a larger proportion will get in, and I do not think that that is a record to be ashamed of.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what sums of money were spent in the period 1945–51, and since 1951, on the restoration and repair of York Terrace West, York Gate West, Clarence Terrace and Sussex Place, Regent's Park.

Most of this work has been done by lessees and information on their expenditure is not available to the Crown Estate Commissioners.

Is it not wasteful first to spend a lot of money on restoring these buildings and then to demolish them?

The work was necessary so that they could be used as they have been used in the last seventeen years for the purposes which the hon. Member knows. On the question of the proposal to demolish them, the Crown Estate Commissioners are about to make a statement and I think that we had better await it before making further comment.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many companies enlarged their establishments, and how many new factories were commenced, in Northumberland, excluding the city of Newcastle, during the two years 1960 and 1961; and what additional employment resulted, both male and female.

In 1960 and 1961 in the parts of Northumberland outside the area covered by the Newcastle, Elswick and Walker Employment Exchange areas 12 extensions were completed; the number of new factories begun was seven; two sets of premises were turned to industrial use, and five firms were allocated space in Government factories. The employment expected from these developments is 850 males and 776 females.

It is very pleasing to hear that something is being done, but is the hon. Gentleman aware that there is a good deal of anxiety in Northumberland and that it is hoped that the Board of Trade will proceed with more determination to improve the situation?

I note what the hon. Member says. We have added two areas to the list of development districts in Northumberland.

Does the hon. Gentleman realise that the figures he has given do not compensate for the actual jobs lost in the area during this given period of time? Will he do something to see that even more industrial development takes place in the area? Is he aware that with the closing down of mines, and the like, far more personnel are being lost to industry than the figures indicate?

We are aware of the problem and are concentrating on the worst areas.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many vacant sites for factories there are in Northumberland county; and what information he has as to the companies which are making inquiries, with a view to using these sites where very good transport facilities exist.

The main industrial sites in the county of Northumberland are described in a booklet produced by the county council; I am arranging for a copy of this booklet to be sent to the hon. Member. Close and regular contact about these sites and the facilities available is maintained with the county planning authorities by the Board of Trade regional officials, who have brought them to the attention of a number of firms making inquiries about locations for expansion. I could not give the hon. Member information about individual firms' inquiries without disclosing information given to the Board in confidence.

I am glad to hear that something is being done. But may I ask whether the Minister has attempted to explain what a splendid part of the country this is and how there are facilities by sea, splendid towns, and a great background of country? Will he try to do a little better for Northumberland?

I am visiting Northumberland at the end of this week.

I beg to give notice that on Wednesday, 4th July, I shall call attention to the incomes policy, and move a Resolution.

I beg to give notice that on Wednesday, 4th July, I shall call attention to the need for new industrial development in County Durham, and move a Resolution.

I beg to give notice that on Wednesday, 4th July, I shall call attention to the problem of industrial noise in residential areas, and move a Resolution.