asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider taking steps to grant tax relief to parents who assist the State by paying for their children's education.

I have noted my hon. Friend's suggestion.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is now in a position to make a statement of the Government's discussions with the other members of the consortium of powers providing economic aid for India; and when he expects to be able to make a statement.

I have nothing to add to the Answer I gave to the hon. Member on 20th December.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much pension and terminal grant are received by a senior executive officer in the Civil Service who is retired today on reaching the age of 60 years after maximum service.

On the assumption that the civil servant had elected to pay his contributions to widow's pension by reduction of his lump sum, the figures are: pension £971, lump sum £1,941.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much pension is received by a 55-year-old widow of a senior executive officer in the Civil Service who retired after maximum service in 1958 and died on 3rd November, 1958; and how much it would be if her husband had retired this year and died today.

Assuming no children and retirement from a London post after 40 years' service, the figures are £266 per annum and £324 per annum respectively.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many administrative or equivalent grade man years were spent in producing the 1954 Input Output Tables for the United Kingdom; how many men are now working on the regular compilation of such statistics; what steps are being taken by the Treasury and other Government Departments to use such statistics systematically in economic forecasting; and what support is being given to such work outside Her Majesty's Government.

About one man year. As computers are now used it is not possible to give at present comparable figures in respect of present work. This is used in connection with economic forecasting. The answer to the last Dart of the Question is, None.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the fact that personal savings for 1962 were £2,300 millions against £320 millions in 1952, and since the rate of interest has little effect on the amount saved, it he will now reduce the Bank Rate to 3 per cent.; and if, failing voluntary agreement, he will consider taking powers to adjust the rates at which building societies fix their loans.

The hon. Member is, I am sure, aware of the reasons behind the convention which inhibits me from speculating publicly about future movements of Bank Rate. As to taking powers to fix building societies' lending rates, the answer is, No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans for the development of the economy have been prepared by the National Economic Development Council; and when they will be published.

The end-year report prepared by the National Economic Development Office is now before the Council, who are meeting today to begin consideration of it. The question of publication is of course a matter for the Council itself.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what will be the total annual cost of his recent Purchase Tax concessions.

On motor cars, between £50 and £60 million a year: on the other goods, about £30 million a year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give a breakdown of the various forms of the £2,300 million personal savings for 1962, in column form, as compared with the £320 million saved in 1952.

I would refer my hon. Friend to Table 25 of the annual Blue Book "International Income and Expenditure 1962", which gives this information for each year from 1951–1961 inclusive. Comparable figures for 1962 are not yet available but will be published later in the year.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the delays by building societies in reducing their rates of interest to borrowers, he will consider the establishment of a State-financed body from which house purchasers could borrow at rates of interest determined by the Treasury.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recommendations the University Grants Committee have made to him for the distribution between the various grades of staff of the funds to be made available for a 10 per cent. increase in expenditure on university teachers' salaries from 1st April, 1963.

After discussion with the Vice-Chancellors' Committee and with representatives of the Association of University Teachers, the University Grants Committee have made the following recommendations, which the Government have accepted:

asked the Minister of Power, in view of the uncertainty disclosed in the report on the Hapton Valley disaster, as to the cause of the explosion in which 19 men lost their lives, what further steps have been taken to evaluate the extent to which water-tamping reduces the risk of methane ignition; and if he will publish statistics regarding methane ignition during shot-firing with and without water-tamping since 1959.

Experience of its use has not led either the Chief Inspector of Mines to advise my right hon. Friend, or the Board to advise their Divisions, that it should be used in preference to other methods of stemming. There is no suggestion in the Hapton Valley report that, even if the ignition was caused by the use of explosives, it was due to the type of stemming used. Shot-firing statistics do not cover methods of stemming.

asked the Minister of Power if he is aware that considerable inconvenience was caused to people living near the Essex coast by electricity supply cuts on Christmas Eve, 1962, and on the morning of Christmas Day; and if he will issue a general direction to the electricity boards that more care should be taken to avoid such cuts at times and seasons at which they cause maximum domestic hardship.

There were five failures which together affected 770 consumers. The failures were due to very heavy demands in severe weather and I am very sorry for the inconvenience they caused. I do not think a direction to the boards would be useful, because I am satisfied they are already doing all they can to strengthen their networks to meet expected increases in demand.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations having regard to the interdependence of Commonwealth migration and economic development overseas, what liaison exists between the Overseas Migration Board and the Commonwealth Economic Consultative Council.

None. It would be inappropriate to have a direct link between the Overseas Migration Board which advises me on matters relating to migration from this country, and the Commonwealth Economic Consultative Council which is representative of Commonwealth Governments.

asked the Minister of Education which proposals applicable to Wales of the Public Libraries Working Party Report he proposes to accept; and whether he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend is considering the recommendations applicable to Wales in the Report on "Standards of Public Library Service" which was one of the two reports published just before Christmas. My right hon. Friend has asked the Regional Committees to let him have, by the 1st April, if possible, their views on the recommendations in the Report on "Inter-Library Co-operation" about the re-organisation of regional areas in England and Wales.

asked the Minister of Education if he will initiate an official survey of sixth-form applications for university and other higher education places in 1962, to determine the number and proportion of candidates who were unsuccessful, the standards required for entry, and the likely effect of the results in 1962 on the competition for places in 1963.

No. I doubt whether such a retrospective survey on a comprehensive basis would be practicable. Information on the number of applications and their outcome is already available in respect of teacher training colleges. As regards the universities a sample survey has been made by the Association of University Teachers in respect of applications in 1962, and from 1963 onwards information should become available through the Central Clearing House set up by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors. In addition, the Committee on Higher Education, in consultation with my Department and the Scottish Education Department, is engaged in compiling estimates of future demand for full-time higher education.

asked the Minister of Education whether he will make a statement on the teaching of modern languages in primary schools.

As my right hon. Friend told the hon. Member for West Lothian (Mr. Dalyell) on 6th December last, he is considering the possibility of organising, jointly with the Nuffield Foundation, a pilot scheme designed to extend the experiments in foreign language teaching already being conducted in a number of primary schools. He hopes to make a further announcement shortly.

asked the Minister of Education what steps he is taking to make good the present deficiencies in the school dental service.

As the hon. Member will be aware, the Estimates Committee have recently published their report on the dental services, and my right hon. Friend is studying carefully its recommendations for improving the efficiency of the school dental service.

asked the Minister of Education why he has not announced the major school building programme for 1964–65 for which he asked for the proposals of local authorities by 30th June, 1962; and whether he is aware that further delay will mean late starts where the difficulties are experienced, and that the delay is already a matter of concern to local authorities in areas of high unemployment which are trying to accelerate their building programmes in line with Government policy for these areas.

The final size of the school building programme for 1964–65 will depend on the review of public investment as a whole, which has not yet been completed. But my right hon. Friend is fully aware of the need to give authorities as much notice as possible and he hopes to announce a programme very shortly.

asked the Minister of Education if, in view of the statement of the Royal Society contained in the Report of the Advisory Council on Scientific Policy, Command Paper No. 1920, that the biology curriculum needs investigating, he will take steps to investigate the changes needed in the teaching of biology in schools and training colleges.

Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools and the Curriculum Study Group in my Department will take note of these recommendations both generally and in the particular context of the studies of school science and mathematics teaching sponsored by the Nuffield Foundation. Her Majesty's Inspectors, together with the Secondary School Examinations Council, are also associated with the work of a committee recently set up, under the joint auspices of the Royal Society and the Institute of Biology, to review education in biology.

asked the President or the Board of Trade how many persons, men and women, respectively, were employed in Government-financed factories in Sunderland on the latest available date.

At November, 1962, 3,459 males and 3,978 females, in total 7,437 persons, were employed in these factories.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has received the Thirteenth Annual Report and Statement of Accounts of the National Research Development Corporation.

Yes. As required by Sections 4 (5) and 10 (5) of the Development of Inventions Act, 1948, I have arranged for these documents to be laid before the House. It will be seen from them that, following discussions with my Department, the Corporation has decided to modify its amortisation procedures by extending the period for writing off development and patenting expenditure.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if, in view of the present situation in the furniture industry, he will amend the hire purchase regulations to allow the industry to revert to its traditional practice of add-to agreements, which will have the advantage of helping the industry without reducing tax revenue.

Yes. I propose to lay before the House as soon as possible an Order which would permit this.

asked the Lord Privy Seal whether he will place in the Library of the House of Commons the report by Dr. H. B. Krohn, head of the Economic Division of the Common Market.

An article by Dr. Krohn appeared in the November issue of a German agricultural journal. I understand that this was based on material prepared for the European Commission by Dr. Krohn, a member of its Directorate-General of Agriculture. The Commission has taken no final decision on publication of a report. I have, however, placed a copy of Dr. Krohn's article in the Library of the House.

asked the Lord Privy Seal what changes will be made in British commitments to foreign Powers in order to ensure that in future British strategic nuclear forces will be used for the international defence of the Western Alliance, as laid down in the Joint Communiqué issued after the Bahamas meetings.

The only change involved is the acceptance of a new commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. This involves the contribution of V-Bombers and, in due course, Polaris submarines to a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation nuclear force which will be targetted in accordance with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation plans. The British contribution will, except where Her Majesty's Government may decide that supreme national interests are at stake, be used for the purposes of international defence of the Western Alliance in all circumstances.

asked the Minister of Aviation what financial contribution Her Majesty's Government intend to make in 1963 and subsequent years to further the British contribution to the production of a supersonic airliner in co-operation with France; and whether the manufacturers concerned have now been given all the information they require to be able to proceed with the necessary research and other work without delay.

Her Majesty's Government's expenditure on this project in 1963, is likely to be between £4 million and £5 million. It is too early yet to give figures for subsequent years. The answer to the second part of the Question is "Yes".

asked the Minister of Health whether the full powers granted under the Commonwealth Immigration Act, 1962, are being exercised in relation to the examination of immigrants suspected of tuberculosis; and whether he will make a statement.

Yes, except that radiological examination is not used at the port.

asked the Prime Minister whether in view of the latest indication by General de Gaulle of his policy on Great Britain's rôle in the world and his opposition to the entry of Great Britain into the European Economic Community, he will now abandon the idea and concentrate on the promotion of trade with the Commonwealth and other countries.

The next session of the Conference at Brussels will begin on 28th January with all seven Governments represented. I cannot predict the course of events thereafter.

asked the Prime Minister whether he intends to appoint a Cabinet Minister to deal with the unemployment situation in Lancashire.

I assume that the hon. Member is drawing on the analogy of the special responsibilities which I have asked my noble Friend the Lord President of the Council to undertake in regard to the North-East.There are special problems in the North-East which are not comparable with the situation in Lancashire.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the arrangements under which he receives independent advice from the industry on the Government programme of research and experiment in agriculture and horticulture.

It is most important that the Government should get informed, independent advice and criticism not only on their research and experimental programmes, but also on how the resulting discoveries are made available to the industry.For many years the Agricultural Improvement Council for England and Wales has carried out this task most ably, and I wish to pay tribute to all the members of the Council and its committees and sub-committees for the valuable service they have rendered. I now want to make some structural changes.First, I wish those who advise me to be, and to be seen to be, completely independent of the Department. The Chairman will therefore cease to be an official and the members will be mainly members of the industry and independent scientists.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs when he expects to receive the first progress report on the national survey of air pollution being undertaken by the Department for Scientific and Industrial Research.

I understand from my noble Friend the Minister for Science that the results of a preliminary study of the first full year's working of the national survey of air pollution will be presented in November this year to the Standing Conference of local authorities and other bodies co-operating with the Department for Scientific and Industrial Research.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state the purpose, nature and result of his recent three weeks' tour in the Caribbean area; and what agreements were entered into as a result of that tour.

I would refer the hon. Member to the replies which I gave to Questions by my hon. Friends the Member for Ilford, North (Mr. Iremonger) on 22nd January and the Member for Dorset, North (Sir Richard Glyn) on 23rd January.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the net number of immigrants admitted from the Commonwealth to the United Kingdom in 1962; from which countries they mainly came; and what were the comparable figures for the three previous years.

Since 1st July, 1962, when Part I of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act came into effect, comprehensive statistics for all persons subject to immigration control under the Act have been maintained. Those for the period 1st July-31st December, 1962, are as follows: