asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty which administrative, executive and technical officers of his Department with salaries of £1,500–£2,000 per annum, have taken up posts with industrial firms within two years of leaving the Civil Service over the past 10 years, in cases requiring the approval of his Department; and what were the firms they joined.

Over the last 10 years, there have been no administrative, executive or technical officers of the Admiralty earning between £1,500 and £2,000 per annum who have been granted permission to accept posts in industry.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty how many official members of the Board of the Admiralty have, within the past 10 years, left its service and, within two years, joined industrial firms or commercial enterprises; what were their ranks; and which companies they joined.

Of the civil servants and naval officers who have held appointments as members of the Board of Admiralty within the past 10 years the following, in cases requiring approval, have joined industrial firms or commercial enterprises within two years of their retirement:—

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty how many officers of Her Majesty's Forces have been seconded to his Department over the past 10 years; how many of those, who, under his regulations, were required to notify him, have on resignation or retirement, joined industrial or commercial enterprises; and to what extent restraint is exercised upon those officers upon leaving his service.

Excluding those officers who held appointments as members of the Board of Admiralty in the past 10 years, 24 naval officers serving at the Admiralty Headquarters later took up appointments with industrial or commercial enterprises.Each case is considered in relation to any contractual relationships there may have been between the firm and the Admiralty. Permission would be refused if the officer concerned had been in a position to influence the award of contracts to the firm.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies to what extent his authorisation of the adoption of rands and cents as the currency of the Bechuanaland Protectorate was influenced by the economic and financial position of the territory in relation to the Republic of South Africa; to what extent he took into account the connection of the territory with the Rhodesian Federation; and why he authorised the adoption of this currency.

The decision to change the Bechuanaland Protectorate's currency to rands and cents was primarily determined by the territory's special fiancial and economic relations with the Republic of South Africa. The position of the territory in relation to the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was only of marginal significance in this matter.

asked the Minister of Defence which administrative executive and technical officers of his Department, with salaries of £1,500–£2,000 per annum have taken up posts with industrial firms within two years of leaving the Civil Service over the past 10 years, in cases requiring the approval of his Department; and what were the firms they joined.

None.

asked the Minister of Education if he will give particulars of allocations made to various local authorities in respect of the Youth Service building programme for 1963–64, stating how the allocation for each local authority is divided between entirely new projects and existing Youth Service buildings.

The allocations are not yet complete. As soon as they are I will write to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Education whether he will make a statement on the qualifications of those students who were admitted to teacher training colleges in the latest available year; and, in particular, how many of the students admitted had two or more A level passes in the General Certificate of Education.

Of students entering three-year courses of general training in 1961–62 about 37 per cent. of the men and 39 per cent. of the women had two or more passes at "A" level—compared with about 35 per cent. of both men and women in 1960–61—and a further 25 per cent. had one pass at "A" level.

asked the Minister of Education whether he will take steps to ensure that Heathrow School, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, will not be demolished until alternative premises are available for all the children now attending it.

I understand that if possible the Middlesex authority will keep in use the present school buildings until the new school is ready. But if before this time the road works produced intolerable conditions in the school the authority would have to make some temporary arrangement to accommodate the children.

asked the Minister of Education what is the total amount per annum of deductions from State scholar- ships resulting from the application of the means test; and what is the cost of making the assessments.

The parental contributions in respect of State Scholars for the current academic year amount to approximately £927,000. An apportionment of the salaries of staff engaged on the assessment of these awards might be £15,000, but not all the work of assessment is concerned with the parental contribution.

asked the Minister of Health which administrative, executive and technical officers of his Department with salaries of £1,500–£2,000 per annum have taken up posts with industrial firms within two years of leaving the Civil Service over the past 10 years, in cases requiring the approval of his Department; and what were the firms they joined.

There have been no such cases.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that Mr. J. M. Reimunto stowed away on a Bristol ship and escaped in New York, but was recaptured, that the shipowner is liable to a fine of £350 for permitting unlawful landing, and has to pay for an armed guard while in part; and, in view of the fact that this man is on his way back to this country, if he will take steps to ascertain his country of origin or grant him a permit to land in this country.

This man was granted leave to land when the ship arrived at Swansea.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) how many persons of all ages were on the books of the Morpeth, Northumberland, Employment Exchange on 1st December, 1960, 1961, and 1962;(2) how many persons of all ages were on the books of the Ashington, Northumberland, Employment Exchange on 1st December, 1960, 1961, and 1962.

In mid-December, 1960, and 1961, the figures were 159 and 150 respectively for Morpeth and 268 and 302 for Ashington. I will send the hon. Member the figures for 10th December, 1962, as soon as they become available.

asked the Minister of Power which administrative, executive and technical officers of his Department with salaries of £1,500–£2,000 per annum have taken up posts with industrial firms within two years of leaving the Civil Service over the past 10 years, in cases requiring the approval of his Department; and what were the firms they joined.

I have no record of any such case.

asked the Minister of Power by what percentage it is estimated that the average charges for electricity could be reduced if no part of the future capital investment, provided for in the White Paper, Command Paper No. 1849, for the years 1962–63 and 1963–64 were to be financed out of current surpluses.

About 7 per cent.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works which administrative, executive and technical officers of his Department, with salaries of £1,500–£2,000 per annum, have taken up posts with industrial firms within two years of leaving the Civil Service over the past 10 years, in cases requiring the approval of his Department; and What were the firms they joined.

None.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a list of the administrative, executive and technical officers of his Department with salaries of more than £2,000 per annum who on resigning or retiring over the past 10 years have taken up posts with industrial firms, signifying which of these have done so within two years of leaving the Civil Service in cases requiring the approval of his Department, and also naming the firms they joined.

During the past 10 years approval to take up appointments with industrial firms has been given to Treasury officers, by grades, as follows—one Permanent Secretary, one Joint Permanent Secretary, three Second Secretaries, one Economic Adviser, one Head of the Information Division, two Assistant Secretaries and four Principals.The firms and undertakings concerned were as follows:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer which administrative, executive and technical officers of his Department with salaries of £1,500£2,000 per annum have taken up posts with industrial firms within two years of leaving the Civil Service over the past 10 years, in cases requiring the approval of his Department; and what were the firms they joined.

There is no record of any such case in the Treasury within the past 10 years.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state the composition of the new Standing Committee on the Recording of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings, announced on 3rd July, 1962.

The members of the new Standing Committee on Recording of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings, of which I am Chairman, are the Chairmen of the three Royal Commissions on Ancient and Historical Monuments and representatives of the British Academy and of all the Government Departments concerned.