asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science, as representing the Lord President of the Council, if he will make a statement about the proposed seaport and airport for Tees-side, in relation to the future industrial development of the area.

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has already announced the decision to make a loan to the Tees Conservancy Commissioners for developments at Lackenby Dock. As to an airport for Tees-side, negotiations are at present in train which I hope will result in the Royal Air Force Station at Middleton St. George being available for some scheduled services by civil airlines.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science, as representing the Lord President of the Council, if he will visit the North-East in the near future; and if he will include North-West Durham in such a visit.

My noble Friend is visiting the North-East this week. Unfortunately, he will not be able to include North-West Durham in his itinerary, but he hopes to do so on a future occasion.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science, as representing the Lord President of the Council, if he has continued his consultations with those concerned regarding an electronics scheme for the North-East, about which the hon. Member for Gateshead, West, has written to him; and when a decision will be made.

My noble Friend is in correspondence with the firm which propounded the scheme referred to by the hon. Member, and also with my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Aviation, who is closely concerned with questions affecting the electronics industry.

asked the Minister of Aviation how much of the £21,163,000 provided in the 1963–64 Navy Estimates for the purchase of air stores will be spent in Scotland; and whether it is his policy to increase this Scottish proportion.

The estimates relate to future expenditure.I cannot say in advance where contracts will be placed, but the claims of Scottish factories will be given proper consideration.Firms in Scottish development districts, as in development districts elsewhere, enjoy special consideration.There is a scheme operated by all purchasing Departments under which firms in development districts which are not successful in a tendering are offered a portion of the order at the competitive price established by the tendering.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will increase the rates of National Assistance paid to blind persons, dated from the recent increases in the general scale and proportionate to the larger payments made to blind persons previously.

No. The recent proposals of the National Assistance Board were accepted by me and approved by the House. They provide for the blind to receive the same assistance increases as others and result in scale rates for blind persons which are nearly 40 per cent higher than for others.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what further consideration he has given to cases concerning the disparity between the pre-and post-accident earnings of injured workmen within the provisions of the Industrial Injuries Act and the inadequacy of the special hardship allowance to compensate the injured workman for the loss of earnings he has sustained.

Special hardship allowance is not designed to compensate for loss of earnings as such but to provide a measure of supplementation of a loss of faculty benefit in cases where the injury has necessitated a change of occupation. The maximum rate of the allowance will, under the terms of the recent Act, be increased from 39s. to 46s. a week from 27th May.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what is the estimated cost of paying old age pensions in full to those whose contributions at present entitle them to diminished benefit or no benefit; and what is the estimated saving in National Assistance payments which would be made thereby.

The immediate cost of paying retirement pensions, at the standard rates in the National Insurance Act, 1963, to those who have paid insufficient contributions or none would be of the order of £125 million a year. To do so might result in a saving of the order of £40 million a year in payments by the National Assistance Board.

asked the Minister of Health what representations he has received about the working of the Whitley Council agreement for psychiatric hospitals, printed in the Nurses and Midwives Council Circular No. 97; and what reply he has sent.

None for over a year.

asked the Minister of Health what studies have recently been carried out by his Standing Mental Health Advisory Committee into the adequacy of hospital facilities for the treatment of children who are mentally ill or severely maladjusted; what changes he is proposing; and if he will make a statement.

This study is still proceeding.

asked the Minister of Health why last minute alterations were made to the laboratory arrangements for the proposed Boston Hospital; and to what extent these alterations will hold up the commencement of building.

There were no such alterations.

asked the Minister of Health whether it has now been decided exactly which departments of the proposed new hospital at Boston are to be included in the first constructional phase.

No.

asked the Minister of Health what will be the effect of the salary award of the Industrial Court on the net income of nursing students, after they have paid increased charges for board and lodging.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer given to the hon. Member for Fife, West (Mr. W. Hamilton) and others on 6th May.

asked the Minister of Health what are the reasons for the proposed closure of the Limb Fitting Centre, New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton; and whether he will reconsider the closure decision in view of the inconvenience that will be caused to a large number of disabled ex-Service men.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mr. Baird) on 17th December last.

asked the Minister of Health how many admissions were made to hospitals, in each of the last two years for which figures are available, under Sections 25, 26 and 29, respectively, of the Mental Health Act, 1959.

Figures are at present available only for the period 1st November, 1960, to 31st December, 1961, and separate figures are not kept for Section25 and Section 29; during that period, there were 29,825 admissions under Section 25 or 29, and 2,692 under Section26 or the comparable procedure (under Section 41) for transfer from guardianship.

asked the Minister of Health what tests are made on imported liquid egg to ascertain that it is free of disease; and what have been the results of recent tests.

No liquid egg has been imported recently. As regards frozen whole egg in bulk, samples are taken at the ports for bacteriological examination. During the first quarter of this year, 89 tons were detained out of 3,050.

asked the Minister of Health how long it will take to complete the consultations concerning the pasteurisation of all frozen liquid egg in bulk imparted from China; and what will be done with the liquid frozen egg now in this country until the necessary precautions are taken.

I cannot yet say. Unless pasteurised, it will be held in store or recalled.

asked the Minister of Health how many shipments of Chinese frozen liquid eggs have arrived in England since October, 1962; at which ports these shipments arrived, and on which dates; which shipments have been associated with outbreaks of paratyphoid B, and in which areas; and what results were obtained from the sampling of the eggs in these shipments before their distribution to bakeries.

Eight shipments; London, 25th October 12th and 29th November, 4th, 12th and 28th December, 1962, 4th and 12th April, 1963; the third, fourth and fifth shipments; Sutton and Cheam and Carshalton, Cambridge and Yorks; out of 1082·5 tons, 150·25 were detained. Sampling results for the last shipment are not yet known.

asked the Minister of Health (1) how many homes and places for the elderly there are now in the West Riding of Yorkshire;(2) how many junior training centre places for the mentally subnormal there are now in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

I would refer the hon. Member to Command 1973.

asked the Minister of Health whether it was with his authority that a spokesman of his Department gave information to the journal Medical News for its issue of 3rd May, 1963; and if he will make a statement.

Yes; I have nothing to add to the last part of my reply to the hon. Member on 30th April.

asked the Minister of Health how many further cases of paratyphoid B have been reported to his Department in England and Wales since 30th April.

Twenty-six cases in the week ended 4th May.

asked the Minister of Labour what notifications he has received from the Railways Board regarding redundancies expected in railway employment during the next two years.

My right hon. Friend has been given details of the expected redundancies in the main railway workshops which will follow the concentration of available work. He has also received estimates of the reduction in posts in the twelve months ending September 1964 which would follow the full implementation of the report on the reshaping of British Railways.

asked the Minister of Labour what further action he is taking to alleviate the unemployment situation among school leavers and boys and girls under 18 years of age in the Gateshead and district employment exchange area.

Tyneside, including Gateshead, has recently been scheduled as a development district. I expect young people, along with older workers, to benefit from this and other measures which the Government have taken to increase employment opportunities. The Youth Employment Service will continue to do all it can to find suitable jobs for unemployed young people.

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will complain to, and ask for an apology from, the Greek Government for publishing in their official and Government controlled newspaper, Ethnikos Kiazx, a derogatory statement, details of which have been sent to him by the hon. Member for West Ham, North, regarding the moral standards of the people of Britain; and if he will make a statement.

No.

asked the Lord Privy Seal (1) if he will list the countries wherein Her Majesty's Government are represented by embassies and consulates, giving the numbers employed therein and specifying, respectively, British nationals and foreign employees; and how these figures compare with 10 years ago;(2) if he will list all organisations, other than embassies and consulates, abroad requiring the employment of Her Majesty's Government representatives, giving their official capacity and numbers; to what extent foreign employees are retained; and how this list compares with 10 years ago.

I give below the figures for which the hon. Gentleman has asked. I have given 1955 instead of 1953 as the year for comparison with 1963, because the reporting system before 1955 was such that to produce directly comparable figures would have involved lengthy and costly research. I have no reason to believe that the figures for 1953 would differ to any significant extent from those for 1955.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware that bacon imports are running in excess of the weekly figures justified by the annual quota, and these are contributing to the weakness in the bacon market and the consequential increase in the pig subsidy; if he will give an assurance that the total bacon quota for 1961–62 will not be exceeded; and if he will make a statement.

The only bacon imports subject to quota are those from Poland and Hungary. These quotas have remained virtually unchanged for several years and imports under them represent only about 8 per cent. of our total bacon supplies. My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade assures me that the level of imports from these two countries during the current quota year (1962–63) will not exceed the amounts provided for under the quota.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the result of his inquiries as to the effect on fish in the North Sea and other seas used by British fishermen of substances dropped into those seas in the course of nuclear tests, including a statement of the distances such substances travel from sea to sea.

My right hon. Friend is satisfied, from investigations carried out, that the effects from nuclear tests on the fish in these areas and on consumers have been quite insignificant. The movement of radioactivity in the sea has not been important in these areas.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many of the 358 trawlers approved for grants and loans in England. Wales and Scotland were the subject of tenders.

I take it that my hon. Friend is referring to competitive tenders. The White Fish Authority has not, in recent years, asked for competitive tenders. I can, therefore, provide no useful figures.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, if he is aware of the loss of trade suffered by the exporters of day-old chicks, and that this mark et could be expanded if there were greater co-operation with British European Airways and other airlines; and whether he will instruct the appropriate officers of his Department to discuss this matter with the cargo manager of British European Airways.

There is a considerable export of day-old chicks by air, and I am not aware of any general dissatisfaction with the services available. Should there be cause for complaint, this could best be made by the exporter himself or his trade association to the airline concerned.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the precepts levied by individual river and catchment boards in England and Wales for 1962–63 and 1963–64 in terms of a penny rate based upon the best estimates available to him; and if he will publish these figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

The following table, compiled from information supplied by river and catchment boards, sets out the precepts levied in 1962–63 and 1963–64 in terms of a penny rate.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the total amount of precepts levied by river and catchment boards in England and Wales for 1962–63 and 1963–64; what increase or decrease per cent. these figures represent on the figures of the immediately preceding year; and if he will publish these figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

The figures supplied by river and catchment boards show that the total amount of precepts levied for 1962–63 and 1963–64 and the percentage increase they represent on the preceding year are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland why a child from Scotland was flown to the Mayo Clinic in the United States of America for a hole-in-the-heart operation; what attempts were made within the National Health Service by the child's doctors to have the operation performed in this country; and if he will make a statement on the number of British people taken to the United States of America for medical and surgical treatment.

I understand that the visit was arranged privately and not by the doctors who were looking after the child. I am satisfied that she was being adequately treated under the National Health Service and that the operation would have been performed in Scotland at the time considered appropriate by the consultants concerned. I have no information on the number of British residents who go abroad for medical and surgical treatment.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, in view of the increase in drinking amongst young people, he will issue a new syllabus on health education to include more comprehensive teaching in the effect of alcoholic drinks, so that young people may be given the facts.

I shall certainly take account of this particular matter in further advice on health education generally which I expect to give shortly to education authorities.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he is aware that, according to proposals of the Local Government Boundaries Commission for the Tyneside area, seven urban districts had in 1961 an average population of 27,000 and an average rateable value of £299,000, and the Longbenton urban district had a population of 47,000 and a rateable value of £431,000; if, in view of the fact that the proposed New Killingworth estate will result in greater population and increased valuation in the near future, he will give special consideration to the Longbenton Council's representations about its reduction in power and in population, by transfers, to 15,800; and if he will receive a deputation on the matter.

I have not yet received the report and final proposals of the Local Government Commission for the Tyneside Special Review Area, though I expect to do so this summer. Local authorities will then have an opportunity to make representations to me and, if need be, I will arrange for a public local inquiry.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing, for the first nine months' operation of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, and as far as available, for the three preceding years, the number of Commonwealth citizens entering the United Kingdom to take up residence, the number departing to return home permanently, by territory of origin and in a form which can be compared with figures about vouchers issued by the Minister of Labour.

Below is a table giving the required information so far as it is available.In the table the figures for Commonwealth citizens entering the United Kingdom are divided between those admitted to take up residence (including voucher holders) and others. The table also shows the number of Common wealth citizens embarking, but no separate record is kept of different categories of passengers leaving the country, and regret therefore that I am not able to give a separate figure of immigrants

asked the Minister of Education what percentage of candidates taking the 11-plus examination in Surrey are offered grammar school

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the commencing capital liabilities of each of the boards and the holding company established by the Transport Act. 1962; places; and how this compares with the similar percentages taking the examination in Kent, Sussex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

:I have collected the information from local education authorities. It is as follows:and what amounts of the liabilities of the British Transport Commission at divesting date have been cancelled, firstly, with no further liability accruing to the Exchequer and, secondly, with liability remaining with the Exchequer as to principal and interest.

I have been asked to reply.The commencing capital debts of the new bodies set up by the Act cannot yet be precisely determined, but provisional figures of the respective debts, for which the undertakings will be liable through me to the Exchequer are £20 million for the Waterways Board, £85 million for the Docks Board, £162 million for the London Transport Board, £125 million for the Transport Holding Company, and for the Railways Board, £1,575 million of which about £675 million will initially be suspended debt under Section 40 of the Act, bearing neither interest nor repayment obligations unless I direct otherwise.On January 1st, 1963, the Treasury assumed liability for stock amounting to £1,443·5 million created and issued by the Commission under the Transport Act 1947, and debt to the Exchequer amounting some £487 million representing accumulated losses of the British Transport Commission was cancelled,

asked the Minister of Transport what advice he has circulated to highway authorities about the provision of sanitary facilities in lay-bys on trunk roads in order to provide for the needs of the general public.

None. Such provision is not within the powers of highway authorities, nor is it their responsibility, but that of the local public health authorities. I am sure that the latter are aware of the needs of the general public in this respect.

asked the Minister of Transport what reply he has made to the petition sent to him asking for greater safety on the Christchurch by-pass; and if he will make a statement.

The Christchurch Borough Council, as highway authority, is responsible for this road. In 1960, when it asked me to receive a deputation to discuss measures for reducing accidents on it, I suggested that its technical officers, together with those of the county council should meet mine to find an engineering solution. But the Borough Council preferred to wait until it had gained some experience of some new traffic signs which had just been installed. The meeting will, however, take place quite shortly. I will keep my hon. Friend informed of developments.