asked the Secretary of State for War if he will ensure that consultations take place between the military and British Railways in Norfolk, in order that Danish troops who are soon to train in the Stanford battle area, Norfolk, are not subjected to danger from trains, as were British Servicemen during recent paratroop exercises in this area.

The Danish troops are not parachutists and so the danger to which the hon. Gentleman refers should pot arise.

asked the Secretary of State for War what are the units of the reserve in the United Kingdom; and what are the normal peace-time strengths of these units; and what are their present strengths.

It would not be in the public interest or in accordance with our practice to disclose this information.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty what response there has been to the recently announced schemes to extend service for pension in the Royal Navy.

We have recently introduced schemes whereby serving ratings can apply to extend their service to a total of 32 years pensionable service (the "sixth five"), and ratings who have left the Navy within the last three years can, like serving ratings, apply to reengage to complete 27 years' pensionable service (the "fifth five"). The response has been encouraging.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty when he intends to order a support ship for Polaris submarines; and whether he will undertake that a new ship will be laid down and no conversion attempted.

No requirement for a special support ship for R.N. Polaris submarines is at present foreseen. While it is always possible that such a requirement might arise, one cannot now foretell how it would be met most efficiently and economically.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty what was the total value of Admiralty contracts placed with Messrs. Baileys (Malta) Ltd. in 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962.

The information is not available in the form requested by the hon. Member but the approximate value of work carried out for the Admiralty was

asked the Secretary of State for. Scotland what consideration he is giving to the need to provide a laundry service for incontinent old people, where this would enable them to avoid entering hospital.

Local health authorities are providing for this problem either by special facilities, where the need is great, or by the domestic help service.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he intends to take to remedy the shortage of hospital facilities in Fife for handicapped children.

A new 420-bed mental deficiency hospital is to be built at Fod, near Dunfermline. It will contain some 180 beds for mentally handicapped children.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the evidence given to the Mackenzie Committee on electricity generation in Scotland, particularly that given by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electricity Board and the South of Scotland Electricity Board on the question of a possible merger of the two boards.

I am informed that no written evidence on the subject of amalgamation was submitted by either Board. The Committee decided that the hearing of oral evidence would be in private and that such evidence should not be published; the witnesses who appeared before the Committee were so informed, and thus there can be no question of publishing that evidence now.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if there is a model of the Forth Road Bridge and its approach roads available for inspection by the public.

I understand that a model, which was on exhibition in the Royal Scottish Museum for some time, is being brought up to date to conform with the latest plans for the bridge and the associated road works. The revised model will be on view in the Museum about the middle of February.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether all the rural development surveys for the integration of forestry and agriculture have now been completed; what proposals he has for this purpose; and if he will make a statement.

All the surveys have now been completed and the Forestry Commission guided by these continue to acquire land for planting within the areas concerned. Forestry policy as a whole is at present being reviewed by the Working Party of officials whose appointment was announced by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, on 1st August, 1962.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what compensation funds are available for citizens injured or inconvenienced as a result of assisting the police in their duties.

Under the Police (Scotland) Act, 1956, a police authority may pay rewards to civilians who have substantially contributed to the fulfilment of the functions of the police force. I understand also that a number of police authorities have recently taken out insurance policies to provide compensation where persons are killed or injured when assisting the police.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to complete payment of Hill Cow Subsidy due for the last financial year and what is the reason for delay.

Payments for the Scheme year ended 3rd December, 1962, should be virtually completed in the next two or three weeks. Up to 31st January, some 12,000 applications out of a total of about 13.000 had been cleared for payment. In general payments have been made rather more quickly this year than last year.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average rent of a local authority house at the latest available date; and what is the increase over the figure for May, 1962.

The recent Rent Return (Cmnd. 1923) gives the average standard rent of permanent local authority houses at 28th November, 1962, as £31 16s. 3d. (12s. 3d. per week) before allowing for rebates and surcharges. The May return covering about 90 per cent. of the houses showed an average rent of £30 13s. 2d. (11 s. 10d. per week).

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what protests he has received, and from what authorities, about the inadequacy of the financial aid available to those authorities invited to undertake additional public work under Circular 33/1962.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what further financial assistance he will give to local authorities who are prepared to undertake necessary and urgent public works including the infilling of disused canals.

Four local authorities (Glasgow Corporation, Ayr County Council, Stevenston Town Council and Kilmarnock District Council) have asked whether additional financial assistance will be given towards the cost of work done in response to the circular. It has been explained that the circular invites local authorities to go ahead with works they themselves are anxious to undertake, where these can be put in hand now for early completion, and that grants will be payable in accordance with established arrangements for particular services.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what response he has had from the Scottish local authorities whom he invited in Circular 33/1962 to consider undertaking additional public work.

The amount of work to be done in response to the circular depends on the decision of the local authorities concerned. It is too early to assess the outcome since authorities have until the end of March to start projects. Thereafter I will ask the authorities concerned for a progress report.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has for increasing the rate of slum clearance.

The rate of house building on which the rate of slum clearance mainly depends, can perhaps best be increased by authorities co-operating to make the maximum use of new building techniques. My right hon. Friend is sending proposals for this purpose to the local authorities and other bodies concerned this week.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware of the continuing poor response of employers to the need for day release of trainees; and what immediate steps he intends to take to improve the situation.

The number of day release students increased by 11 per cent. Last year, and I hope that it will increase still further as a result of such measures as the strengthening of contacts between industry and the colleges, the opening of new and improved buildings and the proposals made in the White Paper on Industrial Training.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware of the acute shortage of maternity staff in the Greenock area; and what steps he proposes to take to remedy this situation.

There is, in general, no acute shortage of midwifery staff in Greenock.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many fully staffed maternity beds were available in National Health Service hospitals in Scotland in 1959, 1960, 1961, and 1962, respectively.

The figures for 30th September in each of these years were 2,992, 2,960, 2,966 and 3,171.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many deaths from bronchitis occurred in Glasgow in January 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963, respectively.

The numbers of these deaths registered were 107, 128, 167 and 132, respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to publish the report of his Standing Medical Advisory Committee on certain aspects' of bronchitis.

We hope this will be about the end of this month.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how much has been spent under Section 7 of the Local Employment Act in each year since April, 1960; and how many applications for such assistance have been accepted, and how many refused, in each year.

The following is the information:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the approximate dates by which the projects in the first five years of the major works programme of the Hospital Plan for Scotland are expected to be completed.

The table gives the approximate completion dates for those major projects which are in progress or are likely to have gone out to tender by the end of this year. It is too soon to attempt to forecast the completion dates of projects which will not go to tender for at least another year.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the expenditure per thousand of population on mental health facilities and services by local authorities.

During 1961–62 Scottish local health authorities spent £45 per 1963 1,000 population on their mental health services. They have estimated that this figure will rise to £66 in the current year and substantially thereafter.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will give the tonnage of merchant shipping being built abroad for registration in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, at the latest available date.

At 31st December, 1962, according to figures published by Lloyd's Register of Shipping about 432,000 gross tons of merchant shipping were under construction abroad for registration in the United Kingdom. Of this about 268,000 tons were for companies resident in the United Kingdom and 164,000 tons for companies resident outside the United Kingdom, for example in Bermuda or the Bahamas, who intend to register their vessels in the United Kingdom.In 1962 companies resident in the United Kingdom ordered abroad about 36,000 tons.

asked the Minister of Transport, what was the tonnage of merchant shipping under construction and preparing in United Kingdom shipyards at the latest available date; and what was the corresponding figure for the previous year.

At the 31st December, 1962, merchant shipbuilding orders on hand for vessels of 100 gross tons and over amounted to 2,104 thousand gross tons. Of this, 1,316 thousand gross tons were under construction. The corresponding figures at the 31st December, 1961, were 2,597 thousand gross tons of orders on hand and 1,310 thousand gross tons under construction.

asked the Minister of Transport to what extent the recent United States anti-trust laws regulating international commerce handicap the mercantile trade of the United Kingdom; why Her Majesty's Government has advised shipping companies to refuse to produce freight documents to the United States Federal Maritime Commission; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. I assume the hon. Member refers to the United States Shipping Act. The following is a statement:

Her Majesty's Government have been concerned about the way in which the United States Shipping Act, 1916 has been applied to international commerce for some time, particularly since the Act was amended in 1961. The Act is part of the body of American anti-trust legislation designed to investigate, to control and to modify business combinations and contracts. The Act seeks to cover arrangements made in any part of the world and by nationals of other countries, if such arrangements appear, in the United States' view, to affect even remotely the interests of their commerce.

The Shipping Act confers powers of regulation upon the Federal Maritime Commission which penetrate into the minutiae of commercial shipping management it covers among other things freight rates, contracts between shipowners and merchants, and between shipowners and the providers of ancillary services. In order to see that the Act is observed, the United States authorities have frequently required foreign shipping companies to file with them commercial information located outside the United States and referring to matters outside their substantive jurisdiction.

When this has happened, Her Majesty's Government have required British companies not to produce the documents requested, because among other things demands of this kind lead to conflicts of jurisdiction, they inhibit the efficient operation of commercial shipping and they put the shipowners to unproductive expense through paper work and the costs of legal representation in the United States. This is by no means a negligible item.

There is one particular respect in which it now looks as if an improvement may take place in this matter of production of documents. Her Majesty's Government together with nine other European Governments made representations to the United States in May 1962 about a particular regulation proposed by the United States Federal Maritime Commission because, among other things, it would have required shipping conferences to give the Commission access to documents and information obtained by neutral bodies appointed within conferences to investigate complaints of malpractice, irrespective of the location and subject matter of the documents. Her Majesty's Government therefore welcomes reports of a recent decision by the Commission to withdraw this regulation.

asked the Minister of Transport what progress has been made so far in the construction of the Heads of the Valleys road; and when it is now expected to complete all phases of the scheme.

A three-mile length of the road south of Abergavenny was opened in August, 1962. Work on the remainder of Stage I has been halted by the current severe weather. It will be pressed forward as quickly as conditions permit but it is difficult now to say precisely when it will be completed. Work has also been temporarily held up on Stage II, from Dowlais Top to Hirwaun. The contract completion date for this section is December, 1964. I hope that work on Stage III from Brynmawr to Dowlais Top will start this summer. The probable completion date is the summer of 1966.

asked the Minister of Transport if, in view of the representations made to him over a long period of time by Durham County Council, Chester-le-Street Rural District Council, Birtley Parish Council and Durham County Police Authority, for a 30 miles per hour speed limit to be imposed on the stretch of road between Newtown, Birtley and Chester-le-Street, he will reverse his previous decision to impose a 40 miles per hour speed limit on part of the road, and authorise a 30 miles per hour speed limit restriction on the full length of road between Chester-le-Street and the north end of Birtley.

This is a classified road for which Durham County Council is the traffic authority. It is one of about 300 lengths of road affected by a draft speed limit order which the Durham County Council is considering. The council has not yet given public notice of its intention to apply for my right hon. Friend's consent to make the Order.

asked the Minister of Transport when he expects to have ready for publication a detailed plan of the line now proposed for the M.4 motorway through Berkshire, which landowners and farmers likely to be affected can consult; and if, meanwhile, copies of the half-inch scale plan deposited with the Berkshire County Council may be made available at offices of the rural district councils.

The detailed plan will not be available until the surveys which my right hon. Friend has just authorised are completed. Then we will publish a draft scheme. We hope to do this towards the end of the year. As the map sent to the Berkshire County Council shows the route in general outline only, and as this may be altered as the result of the surveys, I think it would be better for those concerned to wait until the detailed plan is available.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware of the nuisances which obtain on the verges of the Great South-West Road immediately adjoining London (Heathrow) Airport, caused by persons stopping to watch the aircraft and parking their cars and other vehicles on the verges, and also by refreshment vans which are now established there; what consideration he has given to representations from the Middlesex County Council and the London (Heathrow) Airport Standing Consultative Committee about these nuisances; and whether he will take steps to put an end to them.

My right hon. Friend has considered the representations made to him. He intends to designate this stretch of road a clearway as soon as the necessary bus draw-ins are constructed. He will at the same time prohibit the selling of goods from vehicles standing on the verges of the road. I hope this will eliminate the greater part of the nuisance.

asked the Minister of Transport why he has rejected the proposal for an early start to be made on the construction of the South Lancashire motorway to help provide employment in the Merseyside area; and if he will make a statement.

I rejected it because it was a completely impracticable proposal, which was published by the Liverpool Daily Post on the basis of an interview with the County Surveyor of Lancashire. No detailed survey of the line of the proposed road has yet been carried out: there has been no soil survey: no work has been done on the engineering design, including the design of the many bridges involved and no land has been acquired. I am not prepared to authorise a start to be made on a major and costly road project of this kind without adequate planning, proper professional engineering preparation and proper contractual arrangements.There are two further important reasons why I could not agree to this proposal. Parliament has laid down in the Highways Act, 1959, procedures which must be followed before I can build a new trunk road, including a motorway. These procedures are designed to protect the interests of individuals, local authorities and statutory undertakers, and it would not be right to ride roughshod over these interests.Then there is the question of priorities for road schemes generally. Under the existing highway programme, Lancashire is already doing very well. Even if more funds were made available for highways it would be wrong to allow Lancashire—just because they say they could start quickly—to jump the queue with a project that is not of the same urgency as other motorway projects elsewhere which are already under preparation.I have discussed the proposal with a deputation from the Lancashire County Council, including the County Surveyor, and they now all agree with my view that there is no practical way of completing the engineering preparation and the statutory procedures in less than three or four years.I am sorry that so many people in Merseyside should have had their hopes raised falsely by these misleading stories.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that the French Minister of Public Works officially stated on 15th January that the report of the experts on the Channel link should be completed and submitted to the two Ministers of Transport in the course of the first quarter of 1963; and what procedure he intends to follow after he has himself received it.

My right hon. Friend is aware of the statement by the French Minister of Public Works and shares his hope that the report by officials will be submitted before the end of March. As to the procedure to be followed when the official study is complete, and as to the eventual decisions, I can add nothing at this stage to the replies given to the hon. Member for Brigg and my hon. Friend the Member for Brighton (Pavilion) on 23rd January except that very full consultation will be required.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will state the rate of unemployment for each of the exchange areas in the counties of Monmouth and Glamorgan at the latest convenient date.

Following is the information required:

asked the Minister of Labour what were the unemployment figures in Brighton on every 1st January and 1st July since 1957; and what percentage of employable people they represented at each date.

Figures are available only for the day of the month on which the count of people registering as unemployed is made. Following is the information:

asked the Minister of Labour how many juveniles and disabled workers, respectively, were registered at the Abertillery Employment Exchange in the years 1950 and 1960, respectively; and how many were so registered at the most recent date.

At Abertillery Youth Employment Office, 34 young persons were registered in January, 1950; 134 in January, 1960, and 208 in January, 1963. The numbers of registered disabled persons unemployed were 195 in October, 1950 (the only month for which figures are available in that year); 66 in January, 1960; and 78 in January, 1963.

asked the Minister of Labour how many craftsmen and labourers, respectively, were temporarily unemployed in Scotland and the United Kingdom, respectively, at the most recent convenient date; and what is his estimate of the number of them who were so unemployed as a result of the bad weather.

At 14th January, 1963, the number of men temporarily stopped was 15,239 in Scotland and 171,217 in the United Kingdom. No occupational breakdown is available. These figures were 10,488 and 138,025, respectively, greater than those for 10th December, 1962, and it is estimated that the increase was almost entirely due to the weather.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the total amount paid out by way of unemployment benefit in the county of Montgomery in the years 1960, 1961 and 1962, respectively.

It is not possible to give the information for any period before March, 1961. The total amount paid out in the last nine months of that year was £15,835 and the figure for the 12 months of 1962 was £44,083.

asked the Minister of Labour how many employment exchanges in the London area were notified during January by local authorities that they were seeking labour to clean streets of snow and ice; what was the average rate of pay offered; and to what degree they were able to satisfy the demand by notifying unemployed men.

During January, 35 of the 64 employment exchanges in the Greater London area were notified by 55 local authorities of demands for labour for snow clearance. The average rate of pay was about 5s. per hour and the exchanges were able to meet all the demands made on them from the unemployed registers.

asked the Minister of Defence how many retired officers of the three Armed Services, including the Indian armed services, received no terminal grant because they retired before 1st September, 1950; and how many of them have commuted part of their retired pay.

There are about 27,000 retired officers of the three Armed Services, including the Indian armed services, who received no terminal grant, and of these some 9,000 have commuted part of their retired pay.

asked the Minister of Defence whether it would be possible to obtain Polaris missiles from the United States of America under the Nassau Agreement before the construction of British nuclear submarines had been completed, if it were thought desirable to mount these missiles on surface warships.

The Nassau Agreement did not specifically cover the use of Polaris missiles on surface warships. This possibility has been considered but surface vessels have a number of disadvantages compared with submarines, notably their greater vulnerability.

asked the Minister of Defence what is the Government's policy on the recruitment of married personnel.

In the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, no distinction is made between married and unmarried candidates for recruitment. In the Army, some preference is given to the unmarried man.

asked the Minister of Aviation what research and development of multi-jet vertical take-off and landing aircraft is taking place for use in all roles by the Royal Navy.

We have no plans for the development of a multi-jet V.T.O.L. aircraft for use in any naval roles. However, the S.C.1 research aircraft are continuing to do valuable work in investigations into the problems associated with control systems, including preliminary studies of blind landing, for V.T.O.L. aircraft.

asked the Minister of Aviation at what date it is proposed to begin work on building the new airport at Abbotsinch.

As the hon. Member will be aware, I am at present considering, with the help of representatives of the Scottish local authorities, the best arrangements for the future control of Scottish aerodromes. Meanwhile design work on the new civil airport at Abbots-inch is going ahead and I hope that building work will start before the end of this year.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many fishing vessels are now being built under the grants and loans scheme; and how many are being built in foreign yards.

Forty-seven vessels are now being built in British yards. No applications have been made for vessels to be built abroad.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the total cost to public funds of his personal staff and official advisers during the Brussels negotiations from their inception until their collapse on 29th January, 1963, including travelling, living expenses in Brussels, secretarial cost and other disbursements.

The estimated cost is £33,000. This includes the salaries, travelling and subsistence expenses for staff engaged full-time in Brussels in connection with the negotiations (including the Deputy Leader of the Delegation who came from this Department) and the travelling and subsistence expenses of other staff engaged part-time in assisting the Delegation in Brussels. It would not be practicable without a special study, which would occupy much time and labour, to assess the cost of the work performed within this Department in this country.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he will make a statement on the morale of Bomber Command in the light of the change in Government policy on nuclear defence.

The morale of Bomber Command, like the morale of the Royal Air Force as a whole, remains at its usual high level. Leaders and crews are aware that today and in the future they will have a vital part to play in the defence of the country.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what has been the total cost to public funds of his personal staff and official advisers during the Brussels negotiations from their inception until their collapse on 29th January, 1963, including living expenses in Brussels, travelling, secretarial costs and other disbursements.

The estimated cost for the Colonial Office is about £12,000. This includes the salaries of staff engaged on full-time duties in connection with the negotiations, and the travelling and subsistence expenses of all Colonial Office staff who took part in them. It would not be practicable to estimate the proportion of salaries attributable to the negotiations in respect of officers concerned with them part-time.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will consider obtaining and publishing information about the size of the various grades in the hospital service and the number of overseas doctors working temporarily in them as recommended by the Report of the Joint Working Party on the Medical Staffing Structure of the Service; if he will give consideration to the form and the intervals at which this information might appear; and if he will also consider whether it should be published in such form as will enable the figures from year to year to be compared with each other.

This information is given in my Department's Annual Reports, except that overseas doctors in the senior grades are not shown separately; and not all those in the junior grades are temporary.

asked the Minister of Health how many people in the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board area are waiting for heart operations; what is the average waiting time; and to what extent he is satisfied that there are sufficient facilities, machines and specialised medical staff to cope with the demand.

181; waiting-time varies according to urgency and type of operation; expansion of the facilities is planned.

asked the Minister of Health how many people in the country are awaiting heart operations.

This information is not recorded centrally.

asked the Minister of Health why throughout the country people requiring heart operations are subject to long waiting periods; and if he will make a statement.

Where waiting periods are long, this usually is because the more complex types of operation have only recently been developed.

asked the Minister of Health what offer he made to indemnify out of public funds such water undertakings as may be taken to court on the grounds that they have infringed the law by adulterating the public water supply with fluoride.

I am sending my hon. and gallant Friend a copy of a circular I sent to local health authorities on 14th December last.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Report of the Committee on Decimal Coinage will be published.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Report of Lord Halsbury's Committee will be available; and when it will be published.

The Committee expect to finish taking evidence this month. It is difficult to estimate the time required for the preparation and printing of the Report; but I hope that it will be available before the Summer Recess.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what extent the termination of the Common Market negotiations will alter or delay Government policy regarding decimalisation of the currency.

I cannot anticipate the report of the Halsbury Committee. But since the establishment of the Committee bore no direct relation to our application to join the Common Market it seems unlikely that the termination of the negotiations will affect the issues involved over decimalisation to any appreciable extent.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs in view of the growth of unemployment in the valleys of South Wales, if he will request local authorities in the valleys to put forward schemes for the improvement of basic amenities which would rank for grants under the Local Employment Act, 1960.

Local authorities in England and Wales were urged in Circular No. 30/60 issued from my Ministry in April, 1960, to take advantage of the provisions of Section 5 of the Local Employment Act, 1960, which enable grant to be paid towards the cost of acquiring derelict, neglected or unsightly land in development districts, and towards the cost of works necessary for bringing such land into use, or for improving amenities. Since the circular was issued I have made it known in answers to several Questions that I would most certainly welcome more applications for grant under this section.Schemes for such basic services as water supply and sewerage put forward under Section 7 of the Act have been found to give rise to more difficulty than those concerning derelict land; and while I am prepared to adopt as helpful an attitude as possible to any such applications I do not think that the circumstances justify any general request to local authorities to put forward schemes of this character.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will take steps to create a fund for the purpose of meeting additional expenditure incurred by consumers wishing for normal amenities in a national parks area, where the National Parks Committee desire to preserve national beauty.

No. My right hon. Friend does not think that would be appropriate.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs when he expects the report of the Water Charges Sub-Committee which he set up under the Central Advisory Water Board to be available.

The report was adopted by the Central Advisory Water Committee on 1st February and will be published in about six weeks' time.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give particulars of the date and content of the agreement to which he referred on 26th June, 1962, concerning additional employment to be provided by John Heathcoat & Co. Ltd. in Cornwall; and what progress has been made in implementing the agreement.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Devon, North (Mr. Thorpe) on 5th February.

asked the First Secretary of State whether he discussed with Sir Roy Welensky during his recent visit to the Federation the allegations of broken pledges made by the Federal Prime Minister to the Federal Assembly on 19th December, 1962; and if he will make a statement.

As I undertook in the House on 20th December, I took the opportunity of my visit to discuss with the other Governments concerned the position resulting from the allegations made by the Federal Prime Minister. Her Majesty's Government are now considering the matter further.

asked the First Secretary of State (1) what was the maximum output of electricity in Nyasaland at the latest convenient date; and to what extent he expects the output to increase after Nyasaland has seceded from the Federation;(2) what effects he expects the secession of Nyasaland from the Central African Federation will have on the postal services of the protectorate.

Until the detailed arrangements for Nyasaland's withdrawal from the Federation have been worked out, it is not possible to estimate its effects on the various services in Nyasaland which are at present the responsibility of the Federal Government.