asked the Postmaster-General if he will state the principal contractors to the Post Office for clothing, paper, electronic and building requirements and the location of such contracts in the past three years.

As the Answer contains a long list of names, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

That is all very well, but can the hon. Lady say whether any contracts of this nature have been placed in the North-East or diverted there? Is she aware that for several months we have been pleading with the Government to divert such contracts to the areas of high unemployment? What are they going to do about it? Will she notify Lord Hailsham, who is now charged with dealing with unemployment in the North-East, that this would be a means of dealing with the situation immediately?

I think that much of this information will be in the OFFICIAL REPORT. I can assure the right hon. Gentleman of our concern in this matter, and I remind him that we are moving the Savings Bank to Durham, which is an earnest of our intention to do what we can for the North-East.

Does the hon. Lady realise that I want to carry the matter a little further north than it has been carried by my right hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Mr. Shinwell)? Is she aware that there are factories and workers in Aberdeen able and willing to execute these orders with celerity and efficiency? Will she see that some of these orders go to Aberdeen, or at least north of the Border and not all south of the Border, as Lord Hailsham is apparently directing his attention to south of the Border, entirely neglecting the north of Scotland? It is utterly unfair.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he now intends to introduce a giro system to be operated by the Post Office.

I am afraid that I cannot at present add to the answer I gave to the hon. Gentleman on 27th March last.

As this matter has now been under active consideration by

That is another question. I wish to take this opportunity to apologise to the right hon. Member for Easington. I should have said that the Savings Certificate Division was moving and not the Savings Bank.

The position is that the Government are not yet convinced of the need for a Post Office giro in the long term. Certain developments are taking place over a very wide field, as the hon. Member knows, and we shall continue to examine the public need for a giro in the Post Office.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there is a growing feeling amongst the staff associations and other people outside that the banking interests are getting on very quickly with this matter? Why, therefore, are we allowing them to have an unfair advantage over the Post Office, which would be the ideal agency for this type of system?

It is true that joint stock banks have made some progress in this. One of the Government's considerations is that it might not be wise to duplicate systems.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I shall raise this matter on the Adjournment at the earliest opportunity.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will give an assurance that, following his decision to transfer the Savings Certificate Division from Holloway to Dunham, none of the staff now engaged in London will be compulsorily transferred to Durham or will be subject to dismissal if they cannot agree to be transferred.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will give an assurance that there will be no compulsory transfer of staff to Durham from the Savings Certificate Division in London, and that staff not agreeing to be transferred will not be dismissed.

Many posts will be filled by local recruitment at Durham, but a nucleus of experienced staff must move with the work. My right hon. Friend cannot go as far as the hon. Members suggest, but I can assure them that every effort will be made to meet this need with volunteers and to fill vacancies in other Government establishments in the London area from those who remain.

I appreciate the desirability of transferring this Department to Durham, but does not the hon. Lady agree that, in view of the unemployment situation in the North-East, it cannot be sensible to transfer a number of people from London to the North-East against their will? Can she not say that there will not be any dismissals of existing London staff who find themselves unable, or who find it inconvenient, to go to the North-East?

Only a very small number, a nucleus of about 300 of the staff, must go in order to maintain the efficiency of the Department. The transfer is to go on over a period of three or four years, but in order to maintain efficiency and train local people we must have a nucleus of trained people. However, to judge from the volunteers coming forward at the moment, I think I can assure the hon. Gentleman that it will be a very small number who may have to go against their wishes.

Can the hon. Lady say what percentage of the total number of staff is this nucleus of 300 or 400 to which she has referred? Can she not at least give an undertaking that there will not be any avoidable hardship, especially in cases where houses have been bought on mortgage, or where the education of children has reached a critical stage? Can she give an assurance that those factors will be taken into account?

The number of staff involved is more than 2,000, and I can assure the hon. Gentleman that every step will be taken to avoid hardship of any kind.

asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware of the inadequacy of the Post Office facilities in Rainham, Kent; and if he will provide a Crown building there.

Since my hon. Friend last wrote to my right hon. Friend about this matter, Post Office facilities in Rainham have been substantially improved; and we do not think they are now inadequate. My right hon. Friend is sorry that he would not be justified at present in providing a Crown Post Office there.

Will my hon. Friend keep this matter under serious and constant consideration? Is she aware that the facilities are inadequate and that the population of the area is increasing quite quickly, so that even if the position is marginal at the moment my right hon. Friend will soon have to reconsider it? I hope that he will do so satisfactorily.

We will certainly watch the position, but I repeat that services at the moment for the district are quite adequate.

asked the Postmaster-General what investigation he has made into the circumstances under which 300 tons of Christmas mail for Northern Ireland was mislaid by British Railways for several days at Heysham Harbour; and what were the results of his investigation.

I am glad to be able to assure my hon. Friend that 300 tons of Christmas mail for Northern Ireland were not mislaid for several days at Heysham Harbour. Unfortunately some mail which should have been delivered before Christmas Day was held up en route and was not delivered until 27th December. Inquiries have failed to establish the precise cause of this delay, but my hon. Friend can be sure that we and the railways will do everything possible to avoid similar delays next Christmas.

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Is she aware that this sort of delay is typical of the parcel post to Northern Ireland throughout the year and causes considerable difficulty to our light industries in Northern Ireland?

I can promise my hon. Friend that we are looking at this matter very carefully and that we have not been satisfied with the efficiency of the service to Northern Ireland and that we are having discussions with the railways to see how we can improve it.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will consider employing some other organisation to carry parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, in view of the standard of service given by British Railways.

My right hon. Friend agrees that the standard of service is not all that it should be and we are working closely with the railways to bring about an improvement. A number of changes have recently been made and others are pending. I am sure this offers the best prospect of obtaining what we all want, namely, a better service than we have at present.

Does not my hon. Friend agree that the container services now operating by road and special ferry give a far quicker service to Northern Ireland than do British Railways? Will she seriously consider giving the parcel post contract to them in the near future?

At this point I can only assure my hon. Friend that we are looking at the matter. However, I agree with him that some type of container service may hold out the best hope of an efficient service.

asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware that two postmen in uniform were refused drinks in the lounge bar of the Lord Elgin public house, Maida Vale, London, and told that they would be served only in the public bar; and if, in order to safeguard postal workers from similar treatment in future, he will at the next Brewster Sessions oppose the renewal of the licence granted for these premises.

I have seen Press reports of this incident, and if the reports are accurate, as they appear to be, I can only say that I deplore what occurred. I have, however, received no representations from the men or their trade union. I do not think it would be right for me to act on the hon. Gentleman's suggestion.

While thanking the right hon. Gentleman very much for the first part of his Reply, may I ask whether he does not consider that he has a moral responsibility to the postal workers and the honourable uniform that they wear on his behalf and on our behalf, and should he not therefore take the matter a little further and at least make some direct inquiries?

I think that I have at least some small moral responsibility in a matter of this kind. As I say, I deplore it, but I should have hoped that the hon. Gentleman's Question and my Answer would have had some effect. I do not think that we ought to use the sledge hammer.

Is not the nation indebted to postmen, policemen, roadmen, dustmen and so on, for the work they have put in during this rather chilly weather?

Yes, indeed, and I am sure that that sentiment is felt on both sides of the House.

asked the Post-master-General if, in connection with his proposals for legislation, he will list all newspaper holdings in commercial television companies and all newspaper directors who are also directors of commercial television companies.

The information requested in the first part of the hon. Gentleman's Question was published in paragraph 623 of the Report of the Committee on Broadcasting. The I.T.A. tell me that the position as shown there is virtually unchanged. The information in regard to Directors is very detailed and I am, therefore, publishing it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

I thank the Postmaster-General for his reply. In view of the widespread anxiety about three Press proprietors owning three out of every

indicated dissent.

What's your line?

I do not know about other hon. Members, but I can hardly hear myself speak.

Order. I would be grateful if hon. Members making running commentaries during Question Time would recognise what it would mean to the House as a whole if everybody behaved in that way.

We would all get knighted.

As I was saying when I was so rudely interrupted by the hon. Member for Kidderminster (Sir G. Nabarro), is it not a real threat to democracy if these newspaper owners are permitted to have any interest at all in television, which is the most influential of all the media? Why does the T.V. Bill ignore the Shawcross and Pilkington proposals, even about dominant control of television interests?

I should have thought that that was a matter which could be appropriately debated on the Second Reading of the Bill.

asked the Postmaster-General what reduction has been made in the last year in the waiting list for telephones in the Chigwell urban district and Epping and Ongar rural district of Essex.

During 1962 the waiting list in these areas has been reduced by 16 to 100. In that year, 1,903 telephones were installed.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that what he has done and what he will do—I hope—to reduce this waiting list will be widely welcomed in my constituency?

We are putting new exchange and other equipment in my hon. Friend's constituency all the time.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he can

I estimate the increase in the number during the present financial year will be 310,000, an increase of 3·6 per cent. It is still my hope that we shall achieve an average increase of 5 per cent. over the next five years.

Can the right hon. Gentleman explain why we are lagging behind that 5 per cent. when most other countries are exceeding the 5 per cent. which the right hon. Gentleman gave as his original project?

If the hon. Member would care to refresh his memory, I think he would find that the 5 per cent. increase to which I referred was an average over a period of five years. The percentage happens to be lower this year because, as we explained in the 1962 White Paper, the development of the trunk system and mechanisation have claimed a larger proportion of our financial resources.

asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware that the Arthur Murray School of Dancing is using the telephone system indiscriminately to call individuals telling them that they have been awarded a free dancing lesson, and that, as a consequence, a number of individuals have been pressed into signing contracts for large sums of money when they have attended the school; and whether he will bring to an end this practice.

I am advised that such a use of the telephone does not constitute an offence under the Post Office Act or a breach of the Telephone Regulations: in my view, it would not be appropriate for me to attempt to impose any restriction. As my hon. Friend will realise, the latter part of the Question is not within my province.

Does not my right hon. Friend think it rather unfortunate that when newspapers try to clean up their own advertising side and refuse this advertising his Department should facilitate this importuning of the public?

That is a matter of opinion, but the fact of the matter is that I have no legal powers whatever to interfere in a matter of this sort.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will state the additional manufacturing cost of a white telephone as compared with a black telephone and the additional cost charged to the subscriber.

There is no difference in the manufacturing cost of black and white telephones. The additional charge to the subscriber is thirty shillings, plus the standard charge of thirty shillings if a special visit is necessary to change the instrument. This provides both a brake on the premature scrapping of existing instruments and a useful profit.

Does my right hon. Friend really think that he can justify a differential charge of £3 for a white as against a black instrument when manufacturing costs are the same? Is not this a frightfully bad example to private enterprise?

I am not sure that I can justify it, and I will gladly look at it again.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that not only does the subscriber have to pay £3 more, but that when he gets a white instrument it is not half as efficient as a black one?

asked the Postmaster General how it is intended to charge for telephone calls on the new Commonwealth cable.

No change is proposed in the present charges to subscribers in this country for telephone calls to Commonwealth countries.

May I take it that this welcome Reply means that there will be a uniform charge between the different capitals of the Commonwealth, whether a call is by cable or by radiotelephone?

I do not think that that necessarily follows, but I can say to my hon. Friend that, generally speaking, the cost of calls from the United Kingdom to Commonwealth countries is at present, and will remain, on the whole lower than the cost of calls in the opposite direction.

asked the Postmaster General what additional revenue has accrued from local calls on subscriber trunk dialling exchanges as a result of the time limit on such calls.

None, Sir.

Why does the right hon. Gentleman persist in disguising the fact that with timed local calls on S.T.D. exchanges subscribers must inevitably pay more for their calls? If the right hon. Gentleman is charging 2d. for a three-minute call and the subscriber makes a four-minute call, he has to pay 4d., which is more than he pays on a non-S.T.D. exchange.

I hate to contradict the hon. Gentleman, but the fact of the matter is that the average cost of a local call before S.T.D. was 2.85d., whereas with S.T.D. it is 2.80d.

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation what progress has been made in implementing the recommendation of the Porritt Working Party that his Department should prepare a code for terms of medical appointments overseas.

I accept the recommendation in the Report and my Department is preparing a code.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say when it will be ready? Surely this is a simple administrative measure? The Ministry of Education has already prepared a similar code for education. Can the right hon. Gentleman give a date when it will be ready and say what steps will be taken to make it well publicised?

This is quite a simple operation, but I am anxious to publish the decisions from the whole of the Porritt Report together. This has required considerable discussions which are now nearly complete, and I hope to make a statement in a few weeks.

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation what funds he has made available, and what steps he has taken, to enable senior medical visitors to Commonwealth countries to spend short periods in teaching duties on the lines recommended by the Porritt Working Party on Medical Aid to the Developing Countries.

Money is already available for this purpose, although the sum is not specified. This and other recommendations of the Porritt Working Party have been taken into account in formulating my Department's estimates for 1963–64. I am bringing the Report of the Working Party to the notice of overseas Governments.

I appreciate the right hon. Gentleman's statement about the Porritt Report, but can he be more explicit about this particular item? Surely the Working Party laid particular stress on this? Can the right hon. Gentleman give some approximate idea of how much will be available?

That would be difficult, because it depends on the requests made by overseas Governments. No new machinery is necessary, but, regarding these recommendations, I have stated that they were taken into account when framing the estimates for 1963–64. Perhaps I could take this opportunity of thanking Sir Arthur Porritt and his Working Party for this Report.

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation what arrangements he has now made for training Africans from Northern Rhodesia in administration.

My Department regularly arranges training in administration in this country for Africans from Northern Rhodesia at the request of the Northern Rhodesia Government. Consultations are in progress about meeting the new needs in the future. I am sending the hon. Member particulars of the range of training now being provided here.

In view of the probability that Northern Rhodesia will be achieving independence under an African Government within the next year or two, will the right hon. Gentleman press on with this matter, because there is at the present time a very serious shortage of Africans trained in administration in the territory?

Yes, Sir, but my responsibilities are to provide the facilities and meet the requests of the Northern Rhodesia Government. If they request more training facilities here, or assistance in Northern Rhodesia, I shall do my best to meet them.

Can the right hon. Gentleman state whether he is using to the full the courses in administration previously established by the Colonial Office, such as that at the Co-operative College at Stanford Hall for training people in co-operative administration?

That is a rather separate question, and I need notice of it, but generally speaking, if we get requests for them or similar courses, we do use them.

Has the right hon. Gentleman had any requests from Southern Rhodesia, and has he been able to meet them?

I need notice of that question.

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation what sums have been pledged by Her Majesty's Government to the United Nations Expanded Technical Assistance Programme and to the Special Fund for 1963; and what were the comparable figures for 1962.

Subject to Parliamentary approval Her Majesty's Government have pledged contributions for 1963 to these programmes of the sterling equivalent of $6·25 million to the Special Fund, and $3·75 million to the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance. The comparable figures for 1962 were $5 million and $3 million, respectively.

Is it not disappointing that, although the Technical Assistance Board aimed at an overall sum of 150 million dollars this year, the total pledged is only 116 million dollars? Does it not mean that a number of countries, including ourselves, have failed to live up to the United Nations resolution with regard to the Development Decade? Can the Government, together with other Governments, have another look at this to try to get a higher target pledged for this year?

I do not consider that this is disappointing. This is a 25 per cent. increase on the sum provided for the current year. I believe that it is giving encouragement to other members concerned, and we are also meeting the increased demand for bilateral technical assistance. This being the case, a 25 per cent. increase over the current year seems to me to be a fairly reasonable contribution.

While appreciating that this is a 25 per cent. increase, in view of the fact that this is the year when the Freedom from Hunger Campaign will be going on, do not the Government consider that they ought now to be extra generous and give an example to other nations?

I had regard to that when making the 25 per cent. increase, and, as I said, we have also been requested to make increases in other forms of technical assistance, which I hope to carry out.

As my right hon. Friend has given the figure of our contribution in dollars, may I presume that in fact our contribution will be made in sterling and that expenditure resulting from our contribution will be made in the sterling area?

That is rather a complicated point, but one receives back a considerable contribution in respect of the Commonwealth. Nevertheless, we regard our contribution to the United Nations Fund as being a good one for multilateral technical assistance.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs (1) what action he is taking following the refusal of the Llandudno local authority to remove the turnstiles from its public conveniences;

(2) what action he intends to take to secure the removal of the turnstile from the public convenience on the south foreshore at Scarborough following the trapping of a six-year-old girl in it on 2nd December.

My right hon. Friend is now considering the position of all the authorities who have so far declined to remove their turnstiles.

Is the hon. Member aware that it is time that we stopped treating this matter as a joke? Examples are increasingly coming to my attention of physical danger to elderly persons and to young children, as outlined by the incident at Scarborough. In view of the fact that the Minister promised that if local authorities did not remove turnstiles voluntarily he would adopt compulsory measures, when is he going to report to the House on the compulsory action that he intends to take?

I can assure the hon. Lady that we do not treat this matter as a joke, but I would also point out that even since I replied to her on 13lh November some progress has been made, in that the number of turnstiles removed or to be removed has risen to 458, which is 68 per cent. of the total—a rise of 8 per cent. My right hon. Friend certainly does not withdraw from the undertaking that he gave, and neither do I. At the same time, I am sure the hon. Lady will appreciate that the priority for Parliamentary time in respect of this matter cannot be very high at this date.

Can the Minister reply to the second half of my supplementary question and tell us when he is going to make a statement to the House following the consideration which he has said that he is going to give to the matter?

I cannot commit myself to a date, but I can say that it will be very soon—within a month.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what are the numbers of local government and Parliamentary electors, respectively, in the proposed Greater London area.

I understand that the number of local government electors on the 1962 register is 5,596,133 and the number of Parliamentary electors 5,578,351.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what steps he is taking to ease the additional burden which will be placed upon tenants of houses, when the provisions of the Rating and Valuation Act come into force, whose rents have increased owing to the decontrol introduced by recent Rent Acts

I presume that the hon. Member is referring to the revaluation. I see no reason to think that this will place any additional burden on tenants of decontrolled houses generally.

Is the Minister really saying that in his view the revaluation will not affect the amount of rates that any tenants have to pay? If he is not, is he aware that, owing to the vast number of people who have been affected by the Rent Acts, and whose rents have been exorbitantly increased, in all probability considerable hardship will be caused to them? What will he do in the event of such a situation arising?

I did not say that. Revaluation will affect tenants in various ways, depending on the relative movement of the value of their property in relation to other property, domestic and of all sorts. But the hon. Member was asking about decontrolled 'tenants. The rental values which are taken for the purpose of calculating rateable value are in terms of a free market and take no account of the restraint on those rents by a control order.

But is not the right hon. Gentleman aware that his answer does not carry the matter any further for those who will have to pay more in the way of rates in consequence of revaluation and who have already been charged excessive rentals owing to the fact that the Government have introduced Rent Acts which have removed controls? What will the right hon. Gentleman do about it if people are affected in that way?

The question is about rates, and the fact that tenancies have been decontrolled will make no difference.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what are the latest figures of homeless persons in Essex; and what special measures have been taken recently by the county and other authorities.

I am informed that the Answer to the first part of the Question is 399 persons or 94 families. The Essex County Council has closed an unsatisfactory hostel for 10 families at Leytonstone, opened a new unit for 25 families at Colchester and appointed two additional family case workers. The county borough councils of East and West Ham have also provided additional accommodation. More new houses are under construction in the county than at this time a year ago.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what has been the annual amount in actual and real terms of public investment in housing in each year since 1951; and what percentage of the country's gross national product these represent.

As the answer involves a table of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what proposals he has for announcing the allocations of local authority housing programmes for more than a year in advance.

It is a matter for the local authorities in the first place to submit their proposals to me. In the areas with the most serious slum clear-

Is the Minister aware that when we see the figures they will undoubtedly tell us that we are making no bigger effort in housing than we were ten years ago, and that in local authority housing we are making a much reduced effort? In view of the great urgency of this matter at the moment—the great need for housing, and the fact that many other European countries are making a bigger investment in housing; Western Germany built 575,000 houses in 1961—how can the Minister justify his failure to increase and expand the housing programme?

The figures for which the hon. Member has asked reflect a large increase in the gross national product and a large increase in spending on construction of other sorts than dwellings. But I cordially agree that we need to build more dwellings, and the Government's proposals will be made shortly.

Is the Minister aware that in all areas it would greatly assist local authority planning if this were done—in facilitating tendering and making possible larger contracts and the continuity of work? This would make a contribution towards reducing costs. Will not the Minister consider this matter again?

I cannot believe that local authorities would welcome dictation from me as to the number of houses they should build. The initiative is the other way round; they tell me what they wish to build, and I am encouraging them at the moment to make longer programmes in that regard.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what reply he has sent to the communication of the council of the county borough of Sunderland calling for requisite measures at an early date, to fix interest rates at a substantially lower level, so as to reduce rents.

I have told the Council that the Government do not accept that housing loans should be made available at less than the prevailing rate of in barest. I have also said that, provided subsidies go to those in need, it should be possible to continue building without having to charge rents in excess of what tenants can reasonably be expected to pay.

Is the Minister aware that the burden of interest rates has increased by £1 million since 1951 and that this is a very heavy burden upon Sunderland? In view of the present increasing unemployment in Sunderland, will he discuss this problem with Lord Hailsham and see whether it is possible to arrange for the provision of more favourable interest rates for those authorities, such as Sunderland, which are facing difficulties?

I do not think that the rate of interest is the difficulty here. The average rent in Sunderland is 23s. 8d. a week, and even in the conditions prevailing in that part of the country that does not seem to me to be a crippling level of rent.

Will the Minister keep an open mind on this matter? Is he aware that some Federal aid for housing in the United States takes the form of favourable rates of interest? There is nothing administratively impossible about this, and it would be a great help to many local authorities.

I do not think that I have ever said that it would be administratively impossible, but I have said that the subsidy, the differential rent scheme and the rent rebate scheme should be the principal instruments by which the poorer people are enabled to have decent housing.

Will the Minister at any rate try to appear to be a little less doctrinaire and tell the House that he is willing to discuss this matter with Lord Hailsham?

I am willing to discuss the question of Sunderland rents with Lord Hailsham, but I do not want to mislead the House and give the impression that there is any special interest rate for housing in the wind.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what study is being undertaken of the progress made in factory-built houses in the United States of America, having regard to the fact that one in six of houses erected there are made of manufactured components.

My Department keeps in touch with progress in this field in the United States of America, as in other countries. The methods of construction used for most factory-built houses there are similar to those used in this country for caravans and mobile homes. The evidence we have indicates that these methods are more expensive than traditional methods in this country. One of our main objectives is to develop house building systems which are competitive in cost with traditional, while achieving the benefits of industrialisation.

Will my right hon. Friend agree that when factory-built houses are constructed on a large scale, as in America, experience shows that they are much cheaper and are erected more quickly than traditional houses? Is it not also the case that the public in America has a wider choice of architect-designed houses than is possible with traditional houses? Might not that experience be valuable in this country?

I agree with all that my hon. Friend has said, but America is rich in land and we axe not. Very much of America's housing development is at a far lower density than we could afford, and many of these houses, if packed close together, would develop a high fire risk which we could not tolerate.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the hon. Member for West Ham, North, can expect to receive the details of the answers to his Question on prices and costs; and when this is likely to be published in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Today.

Why was it that before Christmas, in answer to a Question, I was given a promise that the figures would be published? Why has it taken until now for the figures to be given in HANSARD? Why could they not have been given earlier?

My right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary gave the undertaking that the necessary figures would be published, and they are being published today. What has happened is, I think, perfectly reasonable. The hon. Gentleman's Question appeared on the Order Paper on Saturday, 15th December. This left only three working days to provide an Answer which, as he will see, contains more than 50 figures covering more than 15 separate topics.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in considering the desirability of starting new industries in areas of unemployment, he regards as areas needing such industries those wherein comparatively little unemployment is shown in the returns because the inhabitants are in work in other areas, often distant from their homes, to which they have to go to find work owing to the absence of employment near their homes.

In determining what is the proper distribution of industry my right hon. Friend takes into account all relevant considerations including the local pattern of travel to work.

With regard to Barton-on-Humber in my constituency, will the hon. Gentleman say whether he has taken into account the fact that a very high proportion of the working population has to make a very difficult journey to obtain work over a dozen miles away at Scunthorpe, and that the people involved would far rather work at home if they could? Is he aware that in Scunthorpe there is a high rate of employment but that it is almost entirely concentrated on heavy industry, and that it is extremely desirable that there should be some form of light industry for the employment of woman? Have these things been taken into account in regard to the places which I have mentioned?

I can assure the hon. and learned Member that these matters are taken into account and are very much in the mind of myself and of my right hon. Friend.

When the hon. Gentleman says that all relevant factors are taken into account, is he saying to the House that the Board of Trade takes into account the condition of the population, the official figures of the totally unemployed, all married women who do not appear in those figures, all those who, for long periods, work only part-time, and also the drift of the population from a district because employment cannot be found there? If all these factors are taken into consideration, can the hon. Gentleman explain why northeast Lancashire has not been scheduled under the Local Employment Act?

If the hon. Gentleman cares to put a direct Question about north-east Lancashire, I shall answer it. Regarding the earlier part of his supplementary question, these factors are taken into consideration, but the relevant weighting given to them will vary from one case to the next. Under the Local Employment Act, my Department is particularly concerned with actual unemployment and not unemployment which is largely notional because people have moved to other parts of the country.

When he says that all these matters are taken into account, is the hon. Gentleman aware that his right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has written to the Joint Committee in north-east Lancashire stating that they are not taken into account and that this district is not scheduled under the Act for that reason?

I am unable in a general answer to comment on specific cases. If the hon. Member cares to put down a Question about north-east Lancashire, I shall answer it.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what action he has taken in consultation with other Departments to secure the placing of Government contracts in the Tees-side area, in view of the high level of unemployment there.

The contract preference schemes, operated by the Government Purchasing Departments, are available only to firms in the development districts. As the Tees-side area is not one of those, firms there cannot benefit from them.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the unemployment figure in the area is higher than in some of the development districts? For this reason, could not it receive special consideration?

I can assure the right hon. Member that I am acutely aware of that point. It is being given active consideration.