asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a further statement on the security position in Singapore.

There was a disturbance in Singapore on 22nd April which resulted in the arrest of seven Barisan Sosialis assemblymen on serious charges. One of these, a pregnant woman, was immediately released. Apart from this, the situation continues generally quiet.A report on this disturbance was considered on 26th April by the Singapore Internal Security Council, which is composed of representatives of the Governments of Singapore, Malaya and Britain. All members of the Council agreed that prompt preventive action should be taken against anyone who might attempt to instigate or engage in violent or unlawful action.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement about subversive activities and attacks on British troops in Sarawak.

A small but well-organised Chinese Communist group in Sarawak has begun to train its young members secretly in the use of weapons. The members of this Communist group represent only a small minority of the Chinese community, which in turn is only 31 per cent. of the population.My right hon. Friend the Minister for Defence, in his reply to the hon. Member for Leeds, East (Mr. Healey) on 24th April, gave information about a gun collection operation which the Sarawak Government have started and in which British Forces are assisting. These British troops have also been used to strengthen security measures in the border area.In an incident near the border 5 Marines and 1 Police Constable were attacked on the night of the 22nd/23rd April. One Marine was slightly wounded, and when fire was returned the attackers withdrew towards the border. A minor incident also took place at Tebedu Police Station on the night of 28th/29th April when a few shots were exchanged without any casualties occurring. These are the only incidents in which British troops have been involved.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement about the sending of British troops to the Sarawak-Indonesian border.

I would refer the right hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Sorensen) earlier today.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the approximate number of Spanish subjects who daily enter Gibraltar for the purpose of employment; how many British persons respectively reside and live there, other than Servicemen; and what constitutional changes are being considered in respect of the Government of Gibraltar.

Approximately 10,000 Spaniards have permits from the Spanish Government to cross the frontier into Gibraltar daily. Excluding Servicemen but including their families, there were resident in Gibraltar at the time of the last census in October, 1961, 4,809 British subjects not classified as Gibraltarians and 17,985 Gibraltarians. No constitutional changes are at present under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement about the memorandum handed to him by the leader of the Swazi Democratic Party.

The memorandum from the Swazi Decocratic Party contained their views on certain resolutions of the Swazi National Council passed on 22nd April. These resolutions embodied the Swazi National Council's views on the Provisional Conclusions prepared by Her Majesty's Government. The resolutions and the Swazi Democratic Party's memorandum are being studied in connection with the new Swaziland constitution.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the progress of negotiations for the establishment of an East Caribbean Federation and the visit of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State to Barbados.

Now that the Reports of the Civil Service Commission and the Fiscal Commission have been received and the Economic Survey is in the hands of Government, my right hon. Friend has invited the eight Governments concerned to a conference in London starting on Monday, 24th June. Meanwhile, I shall be visiting Barbados from 23rd May for about a week for preliminary discussions with the Regional Council of Ministers.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works if he will give details of the £135,000 estimated expenditure for maintenance, furniture, fuel, light, etc., in Royal Palaces, as shown in the Civil Estimates, Class IX, Vote 8.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works when it will be possible to demolish the wartime extension to Admiralty House and return the site to St. James's Park.

I regret that we could not justify the considerable cost of demolishing the war-time extension to the Admiralty and of providing the accommodation needed in replacement.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works if he will give a detailed breakdown of the £612,000, being current expenditure on goods and services in 1962–63, as shown in the Civil Estimates on Royal Palaces, Class IX, Vote 8, National Accounts Classification.

The details are as follows:

The figure of £135,000 is the estimated cost of the salaries and office accommodation of those non-industrial staff employed by my Ministry on this service, whose salaries, etc., appear on Class IX, Vote 1.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works if he will give details of the expenditure of £33,000 in 1962–63, as shown in the Civil Estimates, Class IX, Vote 8A, on works and services for the Sovereign at various Royal Palaces.

This sum was provided as a Grant-in-aid for works and services for the Sovereign at such Royal residences as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, and was made available to the Sovereign for these purposes.

asked the Postmaster-General how many of the 28,000 vans owned by his Department which have no heating system will have one before next winter.

About 3,000.

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation why no compensation was paid to employees of the Nigerian Railway Corporation who retired voluntarily and who had previously been officers of the Colonial Service.

Officers employed by the Government of the Federation of Nigeria who elected to transfer to the Nigerian Railway Corporation thereby ceased to be members of the Nigerian Federal Public Service or members of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service. Prior to Nigerian Independence, the Secretary of State for the Colonies had no special responsibility for the conditions of service of employees of this Corporation, and the question whether any special retirement benefits should be provided for them following independence was entirely a matter for the Corporation and the Federal Government.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science what periodic review he makes of the effects on health of methods of processing foods, tobacco and other materials.

The relationships between health and various aspects of food processing are kept under review by several committees for which my right hon. Friends the Ministers of Health and of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State for Scotland have the main responsibility.Basic research on toxicology, including the effects of additives and other substances in food, is carried out by the British Industrial Biological Research Association, which is grant-aided by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and by units of the Medical Research Council. The possible effects of additives or contaminants in tobacco have been taken into account by the M.R.C. in their studies of the connection between smoking and lung cancer.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science if he will produce a detailed report of the work of his Department since his appointment, with particular relation to Scotland.

My noble Friend is responsible for the Atomic Energy Authority, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Medical Research Council, the Agricultural Research Council, and the Nature Conservancy, all of which issue Annual Reports containing all appropriate references to Scotland. The Advisory Council on Scientific Policy, which reports to my noble Friend, also publishes, annually, a report on the matters which it has considered. In these circumstances my noble Friend does not consider that a separate report from his Office is required.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science how much Her Majesty's Government has contributed towards the cost of the two new telescopes now under construction at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire.

The contribution being made by Her Majesty's Government, through grants from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, is £301,000 for the 125 ft. elliptical radio telescope and £25,450 for the 50 ft. finder telescope.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science how much was spent on medical research in this country in 1959, 1960, 1961, and 1962, respectively; and how much was contributed by Her Majesty's Government.

It is not possible to provide an estimate of total expenditure on medical research. Expenditure by the Government in the financial years 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62 and 1962–63 is estimated at about £10½ million, £12½ million, £14½ million, and £15½ million, respectively. These figures include the estimated expenditure of the Health Departments, the Medical Research Council, the General Register Office, and the Air Ministry, together with the approximate amount which is estimated to be devoted to medical research out of the general grants made to the universities on the advice of the University Grants Committee.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs where the line will be drawn across the River Humber above which the water will be considered to be fresh river water and liable for charges for extraction, and below which it will be considered to be salt sea water and not liable to charges.

The extent to which, if the Water Resources Bill is passed, charges will be payable on the abstraction of water from the Humber will depend on the form in which the Bill becomes law and on the way in which its provisions fall to be administered. It should not be assumed that the issue will turn on whether the water is fresh or salt.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he is satisfied with the long-term proposals of the city of Leeds in relation to providing water for the growing needs of its area of supply; and if he will require the Leeds Corporation to conserve more of its water which is still being permitted to run to waste.

The corporation hopes to have two new sources available in 1965 and 1966. These should improve the present situation, but my right hon. Friend is not satisfied that they will wholly meet the needs of the area in the long term. He is assured that none of the present supplies is running to waste.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will require Leeds Corporation to inform him weekly of the daily consumption of water in the Leeds area of supply, the rainfall figures in its catchment area, the amount of water stored in each reservoir, the amount of water which is being permitted to run to waste, and the amount of water it has conveyed each day to Swinsty reservoir through the conduit from Leighton and Ilkton reservoirs and the river intakes in the Burn and Laver valleys.

My right hon. Friend has asked for a fortnightly return of daily water consumption, of rainfall, and of the amount in each reservoir. There is no needs to ask for the information more frequently or to ask for additional information. He is assured that there is no water running to waste.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he has asked the Central Advisory Water Board to investigate the problem of public access to gathering grounds so as to permit the greatest measure of access consistent with the prevention of pollution; and when a report on this matter is likely to be completed.

This question was the subject of a report by a Sub-Committee of the Central Advisory Water Committee in 1948. At a recent meeting the Committee agreed that it should be further examined and work is likely to begin later in the year. I cannot at this stage say when a report is likely to be completed.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will state the areas, rateable values and incomes of each of the present 32 river boards; and what will be the areas, rateable values and expected incomes from each of the 26 new river authorities now to be established.

I am circulating below a table showing the latest available information about acreage, rateable values

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will state the rateable value of each of the 28 metropolitan boroughs and the City of London before the revaluation and also after it; what is the total sum raised by the London County Council in rates for the year 1962–63; and what is the sum expected to be raised in 1963–64 under the new valuations.

For the answer to the first part of the Question, I would refer my hon. Friend to Appendix 1 of the White Paper on Distribution of Rateable Values between different classes of property in England and Wales (Cmnd. 1982) which was presented on 1st April, 1963. As regards the second part of the Question, it is estimated that the total sum raised by the London County Council in rates for the year 1962–63 was about £61·6 million. The sum expected to be raised for 1963–64 is about £69·3 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why, whilst increasing the Income Tax allowance on National Insurance contributions for employees, he did not make a corresponding concession to the self-employed contributors; and what steps he is taking to correct this anomaly.

As my hon. and gallant Friend will see from Clause 12(8) and Schedule 3 to the Finance Bill, my right hon. Friend proposes to increase from 1963–64 the Income Tax allowance for all classes of National Insurance contributors, including the self-employed.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he gave permission for the transfer outside the sterling area of money raised by the Lord Mayor's Hungarian Relief Fund; what were the assurances he required as to the use to which the money would be put; and if he is now satisfied that the money has in fact been applied in accordance with the declared aims of the Fund.

I regret that detailed records of Exchange Control applications in 1956 and 1957 are no longer available. It is the practice to allow bona fide charitable organisations to transfer funds abroad against a satisfactory declaration that they will be put to a genuine charitable use, and the House was assured at the time that Exchange Control restrictions would not be allowed to prevent help being given to the Hungarian people. No subsequent investigation is made of the use to which such funds are put.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the structural part of a dry dock is eligible for consideration for a building grant under Section 3 of the Local Employment Act, 1960.

My right hon. Friend has been advised that there is some doubt whether legally a dry dock is eligible for consideration for a building grant. He intends to introduce an amendment to the Local Employment Bill in Committee in order to remove this doubt.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will publish the report of the inquiry by Board of Trade officials into resale price maintenance, received by him in October 1961.

No. In accordance with long-established practice, reports by officials to Ministers are confidential.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the average continuous period for which districts scheduled since 1960 under the Local Employment Act but since de-scheduled or placed on the stop-list have remained effectively development districts within the meaning of the Act.

The average period for which the districts in question have remained on the list before being stop-listed has been 14 months and, on average, a further 9 months have elapsed before districts have been removed from the list.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will take steps to set up a Transport Executive in Scotland to co-ordinate, integrate and develop Scottish transport services as a whole, including coastal shipping, to achieve the maximum service on the most economic basis.

No.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will extend the time limit set for Mr. Bell to decide whether he wishes to buy back his land on Scorton aerodrome.

No time limit has yet been set by my right hon. Friend for Mr. Bell's decision and the question of extending it does not, therefore, arise.

asked the First Secretary of State when the secession of Nyasaland from the Central African Federation is likely to be completed; and if he will publish a report on its effects upon the Nyasaland economy.

I am not in a position either to determine a date for the secession of Nyasaland, or to assess its precise effects upon the Nyasaland economy, until the Working Party has resolved all the complex problems involved.

asked the First Secretary of State what consideration has been given to the effect upon the Nyasaland economy of the withdrawal of the £5 million Federal subsidy; and whether Her Majesty's Government will make this payment in future.

Until the effects of Nyasaland's withdrawal from the Federation have been worked out in detail, it is not possible to judge to what extent and over what period the Nyasaland Government may need financial help in their own efforts to surmount the undoubtedly serious consequences of this step; and Her Majesty's Government naturally cannot commit themselves in advance.

asked the First Secretary of State who is responsible for administering the secession of Northern Rhodesia from the Central African Federation; and when this is likely to be completed.

It will be for Her Majesty's Government to bring about by legislative action any constitutional changes in Central Africa that may be decided. They have said, however, that, before changes are made further discussion is necessary with the Governments concerned. I cannot at present forecast when any particular change might be completed.

asked the First Secretary of State what consideration he has given to the setting up of a Central African Economic Council with representatives from the three territorial Governments and Her Majesty's Government, to maintain essential economic links when the political assembly is dissolved.

I have considered many suggestions for maintaining essential economic links between the Central African territories, but the need is to evolve through discussions an effective relationship which is acceptable to each of them.

asked the Minister of Health how many cases of paratyphoid have been diagnosed in England since the beginning of 1963; to what degree these cases have been linked; what were the sources of these cases; whether other outbreaks in previous years have been traced to similar sources; when they were so traced; and what action has been taken or is now proposed to prevent similar outbreaks in the future.

115 cases were notified in England and Wales up to 20th April; 55 of these occurred in three outbreaks associated with the use of Chinese egg products in bakeries. Other outbreaks were traced to similar sources in 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1961. Sampling of imported egg products has been in force since 1956. A satisfactory method of pasteurising whole egg in hulk has now been developed, and I am considering with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food steps to ensure that all whole egg in bulk is pasteurised before use.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide a table showing the number of students and teachers in the Faculty of Arts at Glasgow University for each of the years 1933–37 and 1958–62 inclusive.

Following is the information:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many outbreaks of paratyphoid have been diagnosed in Scotland since the beginning of 1963.

While there have been several sporadic cases, there has only been one outbreak. This accounted for most of the 164 notifications up to 20th April, 1963.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will make a statement on the recent action taken by troops at Catterick Camp to ventilate their grievances.

On 19th April, 1963, some soldiers of a Royal Army Service Corps company in Catterick indicated that they wished to make complaints and were reminded by the company sergeant major of the correct way of doing so. Later that day a few minor representations were made by normal methods to the officer commanding the company who dealt with them.