asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent safety regulations covering oil heaters are now adequate; and what further changes will be made.

The Oil Heaters Regulations, 1962, made under the Consumer Protection Act, 1961, are based on the current British Standard for such heaters, which aims at a high standard of safety. I understand that the Standard is under review, and if it should he found practicable to improve it, I will consider whether the Regulations should be amended.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs haw many paid appointments to posts outside the Civil Service he has within his patronage; what is the nature of each appointment; and what salary is payable in each case.

Following is the information requested:

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs in view of the shortage of smokeless fuel, what advice he is giving to local authorities regarding the possible breach of smokeless zone regulations by householders compelled to use other types of fuel causing smoke.

Authorities which raise the matter are being advised to consider refraining from prosecution where distribution difficulties due to the cold weather make it temporarily impossible for people to get solid smokeless fuel. Authorities can apply to my right hon. Friend for the suspension of smoke control orders if they think this necessary.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will now issue a further White Paper, as a document to complement Cmnd. 1892, to deal with training for those engaged in retail distribution.

No. The proposals in the White Paper are applicable to retail distribution as to all other industries.

asked the Minister of Labour what action he has taken concerning training for those engaged in retail distribution in each of the past five years to a convenient date; and if he will make a statement.

My officers are in regular touch with organisations concerned with the improvement of training in retail distribution. I personally took part last year in the inauguration of a new apprenticeship scheme for the retail stationery trade.

asked the Minister of Transport what new considerations since 20th December led him to review his previous decision about building nuclear ships in British yards.

Research progressed to the point where it became clear that it would be possible to decide before the end of this year whether a prototype nuclear ship should he built. In these circumstances the Government decided that the time had come to have discussions with the shipping and shipbuilding industries about the arrangements for such a ship.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will speed up his proposed examination of the most suitable nuclear marine reactor for the building of the first British nuclear ship.

The research programme is proceeding with all possible speed. We expect it will be possible to decide before the end of this year which reactor system should be installed in a prototype nuclear ship, if one is built.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if, in view of recent changes in policy in regard to nuclear-powered merchant ships, he will now give further consideration to building nuclear surface ships for the Royal Navy.

The Admiralty has at present no plans for building a nuclear-powered surface vessel, but is keeping in close touch with the latest developments and applying the knowledge gained from them to studies of possible future warships. There has in fact been no change in my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport's policy which should give us cause to change our plans, but merely a logical step forward in the continuing policy of developing surface nuclear propulsion as an economic proposition.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the value of British exports of machinery for the preparation and sterilisation of food and drink to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in 1960, 1961 and 1962, respectively; and what proportion of total United Kingdom exports of this type of equipment was shipped to those countries in each of the three years.

The following is the information:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the budgetary expenditure on the social services, separately, for each of the next 10 years, on the assumption that present governmental policies and rates remain unchanged.

Forward estimates of the cost of National Insurance (including the Exchequer contribution) are contained in the report by the Government Actuary accompanying the National Insurance Bill now before the House (Cmnd. 1935).Estimates of public expenditure on the other social services, of which budgetary expenditure is in some cases only a part, are made in order to provide a perspective for Government decisions. The need for this was brought out in the report of the Plowden Committee on the control of public expenditure (Cmnd. 1432), which also accepted that it would be difficult for the Government to publish the results. The Government nevertheless realise the public interest in its long-term surveys of expenditure, and will review the question of publication in relation to this summer's revision of the forecasts.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many students who married during their stay at university were unable to complete their courses for financial reasons in each of the last three academic years.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the total exports and re-exports for the last five years separately; and what similar information he has had through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for West Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United States of America.

These figures are available, on an f.o.b. basis, for the United Kingdom from the appropriate December issues of the Trade and Navigation Accounts, for West, Germany, Italy, France, Norway, Sweden and the United States of America from the annual issues

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the gross national product and total production for the last five years separately; and what information he has been given through the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development of similar figures for West Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United States of America.

The following table gives figures for the gross national product at factor cost for each year from 1957–61 inclusive. Figures for 1962 are not yet available. The figures for the United Kingdom differ slightly from those published in the National Income Blue Book, as they have been adjusted to the basis used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in order to make them comparable with those for other countries.of Foreign Trade Analytical Abstracts, Series B, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and for Japan from the annual issues of Foreign Trade Analytical Abstracts, Series A, published by the same organisation. These publications are available in the House of Commons Library.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, at current rates of taxation, what estimated additional revenue would accrue to the Exchequer if the gross national product increased by 1 per cent., 2 per cent., 3 per cent., 4 per cent., and 5 per cent., respectively.

It is impossible to give any precise answer to this question as the additional revenue would depend on the way in which the increased gross national product was distributed on the one hand between different forms of consumers' expenditure, Government expenditure, investment and exports, and, on the other hand, between wages and salaries and profits. As a very rough indication, however, assuming that recent patterns of expenditure and income remained unchanged, each additional 1 per cent. of gross national product at current prices might yield an increase in Central Government revenue from tax of the order of £70 million.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what assistance Her Majesty's Government are giving to North Borneo in view of the severe damage to crops and houses caused by the recent floods.

Her Majesty's Government, as a token of British sympathy, is contributing M$100,000 towards relief funds being organised in the Colony. An advance will be made from the Civil Contingencies Fund, pending the submission of the necessary Supplementary Estimate.

asked the Minister of Power what amount of laid down stocks of household coal and coke exist in each area; and how long he expects them to last.

Distributed stocks of house coal are estimated to have been 740,000 tons on 2nd February, or about one week's sales. Stocks are proportionately rather higher in the regions outside the main coalfield areas, but precise figures for particular regions are not available. Coke stocks at gas works totalled 1·3 million tons or over four weeks' sales, on 2nd February. There were substantial stocks of "Sunbrite" hard coke available at coke ovens.

asked the Minister of Power whether he will reconsider, on amenity grounds, the making of an underwater crossing of the Menai Straits by the planned 400 kv. line from Wylfa in Anglesey to Connah's Quay instead of an overhead line.

No. I considered this very carefully but, for the reasons given in the inspectors' report, I decided that I should not be justified in asking the Generating Board to face the extra cost and the technical risk to supplies of putting a cable under the water.

asked the Minister of Health when he will state the maximum number of flats which will be available for married doctors at any one time in the two blocks adjacent to the 51 single flats in the rebuilt St. Thomas's Hospital.

As lettings proceed after the blocks are built.