asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, how many civil servants are employed in office duties in his Department now, compared with 10 years ago.

The number employed in the service classes mainly engaged on office duties in the Ministry of Food and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries on 1st January, 1953, was 29,687; on 1st January this year the figure for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was 8,606.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, how much has been spent on capital improvements to offices in his Department in the last 10 years, with a view to saving manpower and increasing efficiency.

The estimated capital investment and hire charge on our computers and other machine aids, during the period 1st January, 1953, to 31st December, 1962, is £1,035,000: the estimated cost of capital improvements to buildings housing these machines is £35,000.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what special consideration is given to schemes of improvement proposed by river boards serving areas scheduled as development districts under the Local Employment Act, 1960.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state his policy towards the grant-aiding of drainage improvement schemes.

I am anxious to help river boards in carrying out their work and I can grant-aid the cost of a scheme for the improvement of existing works or construction of new works where I am satisfied that the scheme is sound from an engineering point of view and that the cost is reasonable in relation to the benefits to be obtained from the scheme.The capital investment allocation for land drainage and flood prevention is being increased by £½ million in 1963–64, which will enable some increase in the scale of work to be made and so have an effect on the level of employment in particular areas. My Department is giving special attention to all proposals from river boards in areas of high or persistent unemployment.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much manpower and money has been saved by the closing of his Department's office in Dorchester and the transfer of the work to Taunton.

The Dorchester office has not been closed. On the savings achieved by the transfer of work to Taunton in 1957, I have nothing to add to the Answer given to my hon. Friend by my predecessor on 2nd November. 1959.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many pests officers are in the employment of his Department; and what is the total of their salaries.

At the present time there are 228 pest officers at our regional and divisional offices whose salaries total £261,791 a year.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the estimated value of the gross output of the agricultural and horticultural holdings of Cornwall.

Produce sold in markets throughout the country is not identified to counties of origin and I regret therefore that no such estimate is possible.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what is the total number of rabbit clearance societies in England and Wales;(2) what percentage of the rural acreage of England and Wales is covered by rabbit clearance societies.

There are 723 rabbit clearance societies covering approximately 43 per cent. of the agricultural land and woodland in England and Wales.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many improvement schemes have been submitted to his Department by the Gwynedd River Board during the past year; how many have been approved; how many have been rejected; and what was the cost in each category.

Five schemes were submitted totalling £94,567, two of which were approved at a total of £17,918 and three rejected at a total of £76,649.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total amount of grant made towards expenditure incurred by river boards in England and Wales last year; what is the amount approved for this year; and if he will give comparable figures relating to the Gwynedd River Board.

Grants to river boards in the last financial year (1961–62) amounted to £3,409,302. The latest estimate for the current financial year (1962–63) is £4 million.Grants to the Gwynedd River Board were £55,000 last year. There is no approved figure for each year but so far this year grants to the Board amount to almost £60,000.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that immigrants have contributed largely to the current rise in venereal disease; what representations he has received from the City of Oxford on this subject; and if he will make a statement.

Yes; none; I would refer to Chapter IIA of the last Report of the Ministry's Chief Medical Officer.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that doctors' surgeries and their equipment are paid for out of the fee pad to the doctors and that this is inadequate to provide satisfactory surgeries and waiting rooms; and if he will take steps to provide a more adequate allowance for this purpose or make the provision for them a separate charge on the National Health Service.

The present arrangements for reimbursement of practice expenses are agreed with the profession and my right hon. Friend sees no reason for altering them.

asked the Minister of Health what arrangements are being made to supply Hiedelberg arms and artificial limbs to deformed children at an early age so that they can get used to wearing them before going to school.

These are supplied at the Nuffield Orthopedic Centre now and will also be supplied at Roehampton and a centre in the North as soon as the necessary components are available.

asked the Minister of Health if he will make arrangements for the supply of artificial limbs to young children at limb-fitting centres where facilities are available, in order to prevent the need for mothers to be away from home for approximately six weeks with their children at Roehampton limb-fitting centre.

Yes. Artificial limbs are usually supplied at the nearest centre and special training in the use of arms is given at six centres as well as at certain special units.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the embarrassment and physical discomfort caused to elderly people supplied with out-of-date types of aural aids; and what action he is taking to remedy this.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply of 11th February.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state how many valve type aural aids were issued in the years 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962.

One hundred and fifty-three thousand and six, 143,835, 76,622 and 49,000 (estimated).

asked the Minister of Health what shortages of domestic staff exist at each of the Nottingham hospitals; and how these shortages compare with the situation in April, 1962.

The regional hospital board is not aware of any significant shortages now or in April, 1962.

asked the Minister of Health what factors have made him reject the advice of the Leeds Regional Hospital Board that a general hospital for the Wharfe and Aire Valleys, north of Leeds, should be built at Men-stone in Wharfedale.

I have not done so. The board has suggested that a new hospital in Wharfedale may be needed in 10 or 15 years' time. A decision on this cannot yet be taken.

asked the Minister of Health if he is now in a position to offer guidance to hospital authorities about contract services for catering and ward cleaning.

I have decided not to issue general guidance.

asked the Minister of Health if he will give details of the facilities which are now planned for the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board's area, to help it cope with the demand for heart operations.

An additional heart-lung machine will be installed shortly. Further provision is under consideration.

asked the Minister of Health why 181 people are still awaiting heart operations in the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board's area; and at what rate this figure is likely to be reduced.

I cannot add to my replies to the hon. Member's Questions on 6th February.

asked the Minister of Health if he will require each regional hospital board to specify its waiting list of heart operations, so that hon. Members can be informed of the national figure.

No. Waiting lists are kept under specialities.

asked the Minister of Health if he will conduct an inquiry into the effects of the recent restrictions he has applied to the hospital services and to their expenditure; and to what extent these restrictions have affected the nursing service as a whole and nursing recruitment in the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board's area in particular.

No. The latest available total figure (September 1962) for hospital nursing staff is the highest recorded. The Sheffield Regional Hospital Board recruited over 1,000 additional nursing staff in the year ended on 30th September, 1962.

asked the Minister of Health what is the present waiting list of people wishing to enter Barnsley hospitals for treatment and operations; how this figure compares with the waiting list of 12 months ago; and what further steps he intends taking to reduce the waiting list until the new hospital is built.

1,960 at 31st December last compared with 1,963 a year before. The hospital authority will seek the use of further theatre capacity and beds for reducing waiting lists.

asked the Minister of Health if he will state separately the revenue from charges for Section 4 and Section 5 beds in 1961–62; and what are the most recent corresponding estimates for 1962–63.

Following are the figures:

Revenue from charges for	1961–62 (Actual)	1962–63 (Estimated)
	£	£
1. Section 4 beds	364,000	364,000
2. Section 5 beds	4,137,000	4,470,000

asked the Minister of Health how many schizophrenics are in occupation of hospital beds; and what proportion this represents of the total hospital bed allocation for mental illness.

Information is not collected in this form, but in 1960, the latest year for which complete figures are available, 23,726 patients were admitted to mental hospital beds in England and Wales with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, representing 21 per cent. of total admissions to those beds.

asked the Minister of Labour how many applications for employment vouchers he has received under the Commonwealth Immigrants Act; how many he has approved; how many he has rejected; and how many still await consideration.

Up to 8th February, 1963, 65,147 applications had been received and 29,786 vouchers issued. 815 applications had been rejected, and 1,238 applicants did not require a voucher. The remaining applicants, apart from those whose applications are currently being examined, are on the waiting list or in process of being issued with a voucher.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the total amount paid out in unemployment benefit in Gateshead for the months of January, 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963, respectively.

The amounts paid out in unemployment benefit in Gateshead in the month of January, 1962, and January, 1963, were £16,615 and £33,863 respectively. Precise figures for earlier periods are not available but it is estimated that the amounts for January, 1960, and January, 1961, were £19,750 and £11,100 respectively.

asked the Minister of Labour (1) what was the number of unemployed persons in the Failsworth area of Lancashire on the latest available date; what was the corresponding figure for the previous year; and what factors have caused the increase;(2) what was the number of unemployed persons in the Bradford and Newton Heath districts of Manchester on the latest available date; what was the corresponding figure for the previous year; and what factors have caused the increase;(3) what was the number of unemployed persons in the Openshaw district of Manchester on the latest available date; what was the corresponding figure for the previous year; and what factors have caused the increase.

Following is the information available:

UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE OPENSHAW, NEWTON HEATH AND FAILSWORTH EMPLOYEMNT EXCHANGE AREAS
——		12th February 1962	11th February 1963
Openshaw*	…	704	1,426
Newton Heath	…	303	1,041
Failsworth	…	415	305
* Includes Bradford, for which separate figures are not available.

The main increases in unemployment were in construction, engineering and distribution in Openshaw, and in construction and distribution in Newton Heath. In construction there was a considerable increase in the numbers temporarily stopped. Unemployment in Failsworth fell over the same period.

asked the Minister of Labour what has been the result of his further inquiries into the recent unofficial power station stoppage; and what steps he now proposes to take to ensure that public services are maintained in such circumstances in future.

As I said in my reply of 24th January to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Lewes (Sir T. Beamish), I have invited representatives of the unions concerned to meet my officials and it is, in my view, desirable for this meeting to take place before deciding on further action.

asked the Minister of Transport if he is aware of the difficulty of ex-Service men, who have lost one or more limbs, in finding parking places for the cars which are essential for them to get to their places of employment, and of the fact that the badges issued by some authorities only give traffic wardens discretionary powers; and if he will seek power to ensure that car discs for free parking are issued to all disabled men throughout the country.

When I take account of the needs of other road users, I am forced to the conclusion that it would not be practical to give all disabled drivers statutory freedom to park anywhere without restriction. But I recognise their special difficulties. Because of them, I authorise local authorities operating parking meter schemes to grant exemption to severely disabled drivers from meter charges and time-limits in their zones. Moreover, the police everywhere exercise discretion as much as they can in favour of disabled drivers displaying discs issued by local authorities under the scheme sponsored by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health.

asked the Minister of Defence what sum of money has been spent on military research and development by Her Majesty's Government during the financial year 1962–63.

It is not possible at this stage in the financial year to give an answer in terms of actual expenditure such as that which I gave the right hon. Member on 23rd January in respect of 1961–62; but the Estimates for 1962–63 indicate some increase in expenditure compared with the previous year.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how long an unemployed person claiming benefit can refuse to apply for work on the grounds that the work offered is not comparable with the nature of his or her previous occupation.

No statutory period is laid down. It is for the independent adjudicating authorities to decide what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the individual case.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will arrange to have included in the Monthly Statistics of Unemployment, published in the Ministry of Labour Gazette, figures showing the number of vacancies notified to unemployed persons, and the number of unemployed claiming benefit who have refused to apply for such vacancies on the grounds that the work offered, although in their own locality, is not comparable in nature with that of their previous occupation.

I am informed by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour that these figures are not available. The task of collecting them would complicate the work of his local offices and I do not think I should be justified in asking my right hon. Friend to undertake it.

asked the Minister of Education how many children of school age are both deaf and mentally ill; and what special provision is made for their education.

The first part of the Question is primarily a matter for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health. Among deaf children at school, there are some with varying degrees of maladjustment which cannot be precisely defined. The Royal National Institute for the Deaf assisted by grants from my Department proposes to provide a boarding special school for 25 deaf and partially hearing pupils who are maladjusted.

asked the Minister of Education how many of the 430 training college students who entered specialist science courses in 1962–63 are taking courses in rural science.

Forty-seven. There are also some 50 students who hold degrees or diplomas in agriculture, horticulture or dairy work taking one-year courses of professional training at three selected colleges.

asked the Minister of Education whether he will make a statement on the development of Thornhill Secondary School, Sunderland.

I have recently approved the establishment of a school at Thornhill for 1,320 pupils. The project is included in the current school building programme and I understand that plans are well advanced but the authority has yet to acquire a site.

asked the Minister of Education what progress is being made with the expansion of the College of Art, Sunderland.

I was able to inform the Sunderland local authority last week that its project for the extension of the College of Art could be included in the 1964–65 building programme.

asked the Minister of Education when work will proceed on the second phase of the Monkwearmouth Comprehensive School, Sunderland.

I cannot say when it will be possible to include this project in a school building programme.

asked the Minister of Education whether he will make a statement on the extension of the West Park College of Further Education, Sunderland.

An extension to the West Park College of Further Education to provide a workshop block was agreed for inclusion in the building programme for 1963–64; a proposal for a further extension consisting of additional classrooms, workshop and communal facilities has been included in the 1964–65 building programme. Progress with these projects has been delayed because of difficulties in obtaining an alternative site for the West Park Secondary School for Girls which will be displaced by the extension to the College of Further Education, but I have recently approved the establishment of a school at Thornhill which will include the replacement of the West Park Secondary School.

asked the Secretary of State for Air how many accidents to nuclear weapons have taken place in each year since 1946 in this country; on what dates; and which of them were in the Broken Arrow category of a major accident.

There has been no accident to nuclear weapons in this country involving any public risk.

asked the Postmaster-General what plans he has for improving radio reception in Northern Ireland, and in the west and north Tyrone areas in particular.

I am glad to say that the B.B.C. hopes to open its V.H.F. sound station at Enniskillen later this year: this should bring the V.H.F. sound services to nearly all County Tyrone. The B.B.C. also hopes to open its low-power V.H.F. sound stations at Lame and Newry next year.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state separately the revenue from charges for Section 4 and Section 5 hospital beds in 1961–62; and what are the most recent corresponding estimates for 1962–63.

The information is as follows:

Income received from		1961–62 (Actual)	1962–63 (Estimated)
		£	£
Section 4 beds	…	250,892	250,000
Section 5 beds	…	270,336	300,000

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science what is the total amount being spent on research into the cause of schizophrenia by the Medical Research Council.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave him on 12th February.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science what research is being conducted under Government auspices into the causes of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is one of the chief interests of three of the Medical Research Council's research units and of one of its research groups. Two of these units are working on the biochemistry and chemical pathology of acute schizophrenia and the third on the social rehabilitation of chronic cases. The newly-established research group is comparing the clinical and pathological features of "functional" mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, with "organic" illnesses, such as senile dementia. The Council has also awarded research grants for work on the biochemical aspects of the illness and on the disturbance of thought and speech which occurs as one of its manifestations.

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation what action Her Majesty's Government propose to take on Recommendation 345, relating to a European agency for the employment of volunteers in the sphere of technical co-operation, which was adopted by the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe on 15th January last.

At its meeting on 15th January, the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe recommended to the Committee of Ministers that an ad hoc Committee be set up to examine a detailed survey to be prepared by the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe in co-operation with the Secretary-General of O.E.C.D. This survey is to cover the various aspects of setting up a proposed European Inter-governmental Agency for facilitating liaison between countries and organisations requiring volunteers and those bodies recruiting them.It will be apparent that there are several procedural stages to be gone through before the proposed Agency could be established, but Her Majesty's Government are not convinced of the need for yet another agency to be established in this field.

asked the Secretary of State for War what exercises were carried out by units of the British Army during 1962; how many troops took part; to what extent there was simulated use of nuclear weapons; and what was the result.

Exercises were carried out by every unit in the British Army in 1962. Amongst these there were eight Brigade Group exercises in which the use of nuclear weapons was assumed. The result was to familiarise commanders and troops with the offensive and defensive tactics best suited to the use of their weapons and to give them experience of the operational and logistic problems with which they might be faced in war.

asked the Secretary of State for War what types of nuclear weapons members of the Army are trained to use.

Corporal, Honest John or the 8 in. howitzer.