asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty what is the reason for the cutting of the grant to the National Institute of Oceanography from £715,000 in 1962–63 to £360,000 in 1963–64.

The grant of £715,000 to the National Institute of Oceanography for 1962–63 included £450,000 for the final payment of the cost of building the new oceanographical survey ship, R.R.S. "Discovery". The grant made for the activities of the Institute has, in fact, been increased from £265,000 in 1962–63 to £360,000 in 1963–64.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty how many civilian patients were treated in Royal Naval hospitals in the last year for which figures are available; and what was the average cost.

2,584 civilian patients were treated in the Royal Naval Hospitals in the United Kingdom, namely at Plymouth and Haslar during 1962, at an estimated extra cost to the hospitals of £19,380.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty why the sum of money allocated for educational and vocational training is being cut by £4,200, in view of the importance of this training.

The reduction does not involve any curtailment of the facilities available as shown on page 58 of the Navy Estimates. It reflects actual expenditure during the current year.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty how a decrease of £1,160,000 is to be effected in 1963–64 Estimates under the heading of "Miscellaneous Effective Services"; and what items are included in this category.

Full details of the expenditure covered by the Miscellaneous Effective Services Vote (Navy Vote 9) are given on pages 26, 27 and 28 of the Navy Estimates 1963–64. As explained in the footnote on page 28, and on page 39 of the Memorandum to accompany Navy Estimates 1963–64, the main reason for the decrease in this Vote is that accommodation charges for married quarters are credited to it in 1963–64 for the first time. Additionally, substantial savings will be made in the cost of external naval training and travelling expenses.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty, in view of the fact that the Royal Navy is 3 per cent. short of recruits, if he will consider increasing the number of Women's Royal Naval Service for shore service.

It is already our policy to employ W.R.N.S. personnel in lieu of R.N. ratings in suitable billets. The scope for further change is limited, but my hon. Friend's suggestion will be borne in mind.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty what additional number of employees at Rosyth Dockyard will be required under his plans for expanding facilities at the dockyard.

On the present plans, the total number employed at Rosyth, exclusive to those on Works projects which in future will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Building and Works, is likely to increase by about 400 over the current level. It is however too early to be precise about the timing of any of these increases.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether the Air Council has now completed its review of the sen- tence of eight months' imprisonment passed on the two Royal Air Force technicians accused of trying to form a group of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; and what decision has now been reached about the sentence.

The Air Council has reviewed the sentences and reduced them to 4 months' detention.

asked the Minister of Education how many primary and secondary schools there are in Bournemouth today; how many children now attend at each school; what is the permissible maximum; what is the foreseeable demand over the next five years; and what new schools are now being built.

The 32 primary and 14 secondary schools maintained by the Bournemouth local education authority have 8,991 and 7,701 pupils, respectively. Corresponding estimates for 1968 are 9,900 and 6,350. I do not lay down maximum numbers of pupils but the capacity of the primary and secondary schools can reasonably be estimated at 9,250 and 7,630 places respectively. No new schools are under construction but one primary school is in the building programme for 1962–63.

asked the Minister of Education what increases of full-time staff employed by the responsible bodies for adult education he proposes to finance in the 1963–64 session.

I hope that the funds at my disposal will enable me to approve about 12 additional full-time appointments.

asked the Minister of Education what increase of fees for part-time tutors employed by the responsible bodies for adult education he proposes to finance in the 1963–64 Session.

The normal range of the fees which would be acceptable for grant purposes is being improved from £4-£7 to £5-£10 for part-time tutors employed by the University Extra-Mural Departments, and from £2-£4 to £3-£6 for those employed by the Workers' Education Association. These improvements have been recommended by the Universities Council for Adult Education and the W.E.A. respectively.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the depreciation allowance of 15 per cent. on all industrial buildings, when he proposes making similar arrangements for retail premises which at present have no depreciation allowance.

I cannot anticipate my right hon. Friend's Budgetary Statement.

asked the Minister of Defence what steps he has taken to implement Recommendation No. 85 of Western European Union with regard to the standardisation of armaments.

All practicable steps, as illustrated in my speech to the Western European Union Assembly on 4th December, 1962, a copy of which I am sending to the hon. Member and which is available in the Library.We do not, however, foresee in the immediate future the establishment of a European armament production pool.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what schemes for the clearance of derelict sites have been agreed on within the City of Stoke-on-Trent; which are being worked on at present; and if he will give corresponding information for North Staffordshire.

The authorities concerned with these areas have informed me that the following schemes for clearing derelict sites have been started or agreed in principle. In some cases work is being carried out by the National Coal Board.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs (1) what financial incentive he is offering to the City of Stoke-on-Trent and to North Staffordshire in order to expedite the clearance of derelict sites;(2) if he will ask all local authorities within a six-miles radius of the City of Stoke-on-Trent to carry out a survey of derelict sites and submit schemes for clearance to be carried out within a given time or have a survey made by his department where that is required; what rate of grant is made for each site cleared; and upon what basis such grants are determined.

Local planning authorities were asked in Circular No. 9/55 to survey derelict land in their areas and to indicate in their reviews of development plans the total amount of such land and the acreages which they expected to reclaim during the first five years of the plan's operation and during the remaining period of the plan. Reviews of the development plans for Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire are being prepared, and in these circumstances there is no need for a special survey. The initiative for carrying out clearance schemes is a matter for the local authorities.With regard to Exchequer assistance, expenditure on schemes of reclamation is taken into account where this is appropriate in fixing the national total of general grants. It will also attract rate deficiency grant where this is paid to the authority concerned. There is no specific grant for site clearance in these areas with the exception of grant that may be payable under the provisions of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, 1949, for schemes undertaken in that part of North Staffordshire falling within the Peak District National Park.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will name the local authorities in whose areas temporary dwellings represent more than 5 per cent. of the total housing stock available to the local authority, giving in each case the number of dwellings, and the number of temporary dwellings.

According to the latest statistics published by the Institute of Municipal Treasurers and Accountants (which cover 1106 of the 1469 housing authorities in England and Wales) there are 206 local authorities in whose area temporary dwellings represent more than 5 per cent. of the total housing stock available to the local authority. Details are given in the Institute's Housing Statistics 1961–62, a copy of which is available in the Library.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will set out in tabular form the numbers now registered as unemployed at employment exchanges within a 50 miles radius of London, a 50 miles radius of Manchester, within the whole North-East Region, and within the whole of Scotland and Wales, respectively.

The following is the information required:

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware of the effect of growing unemployment in the City of Stoke-on-Trent and in North Staffordshire; and if he will treat as a matter of urgency new schemes for the clearance of derelict sites to be operated and carried out under the Local Employment Act.

I am aware that unemployment in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire has risen in recent months. Much of it is due directly or indirectly to adverse weather conditons: it is still lower than in many other places. Since Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire are not development districts under the Local Employment Act, 1960, the powers provided by the Act in relation to the clearance of derelict sites cannot be exercised there.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works how much new office building for Government Departments has been provided in London in each of the last 10 years; and what are the comparable figures for Scotland.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works if he will state the number of bookings for Trafalgar Square for the month of May and the names of the successful applicants.

Two applications have been granted: for the Westminster Morris Men on 11th May and the Phoenix Club on 18th May. Two other applications are being considered.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he accepts

The following is the information required, except that for London figures are not available for the years before 1956:the recommendation of the Pre-Apprenticeship Courses Committee regarding the establishment of courses consisting of one year of pre-apprenticeship followed by one year of full-time first year of apprenticeship training; and what steps he is taking to implement it;(2) if he will list the local education authority areas in which there is at present no pre-apprenticeship training; and what steps he is taking to reduce this number;(3) if, in view of the fact that the percentage of entrants into the building trade who had previously had a pre-apprenticeship course dropped from 20 per cent. in 1957–58 to 11 per cent. in 1960–61, he will state the comparable percentage for 1961–62; and what action he is taking to increase this proportion;(4) if he is aware that the number of boys entering pre-apprenticeship courses in agriculture has dropped from 74 in 1956–57 to 62 in 1960–61; if he will state the figure for 1961–62; and what action he is taking to increase enrolments;(5) if he is aware that the number of boys enrolled for pre-apprenticeship courses in building has dropped from 537 in 1956–57 to 405 in 1960–61; if he will state the figure for 1961–62; and what action he is taking to increase enrolments;(6) if he is aware that in the Aberdeen Trades College, the Dundee Trades College, the W. M. Ramsay Technical Institute in Edinburgh, the Burnbank School of Engineering, the Coatbridge Technical College and the Kilmarnock Technical College the number of boys on pre-apprenticeship courses in engineering dropped between 1956–57 and 1960–61; if he will state the figures for 1961–62; and what action he is taking to increase enrolments;(7) what proportion of entrants into the engineering trade had a pre-apprenticeship training in 1959–60, 1960–61, and 1961–62, respectively; and what action he is taking to increase this percentage.

The following figures for session 1961–62 represent a substantial increase in the number of enrolments in pre-apprenticeship courses in the subjects referred to, by comparison with the previous year:

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation what technical assistance he proposes to make available for the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology at Kumasi.

As part of the United Kingdom's technical assistance arrangements under the Special Commonwealth African Assistance Plan the British Government are making a gift of £100,000 worth of technical equipment of British manufacture to this university, which is Ghana's highest institute for technological education. The gift, which has been warmly welcomed by President Nkrumah, will be used to develop the University's Civil Engineering Faculty in which 27 British scientists and teachers are employed. The equipment, which will be delivered over a period of three years, will, it is expected, consist of research apparatus and machinery for the laboratories of Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics, Concrete Technology, Geology, and Aerodynamics, as well as equipment for chemical and bacteriological analysis.