asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation whether he will now make a statement about university text-books being made available in Africa under the Government's low-priced books scheme.

I am glad to say that agreement has now been reached with representatives of the publishers of low-priced books that the University Textbook Series should be extended to Africa, beginning with West Africa.

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation what plans he has to supply British teachers under the Teachers for East Africa scheme in 1963-64.

The East African Governments have asked for 268 teachers under this scheme this year and Britain and the United States are hoping to supply about half each of this number.Our contribution falls into three categories. First, 50 graduates who will start with a year's training at Makerere and then teach for at least two years in local schools. Secondly, 35 newly-trained teachers who will go direct to East African schools in September. Thirdly, to make up our complement we need 49 experienced graduate teachers of whom we have at present recruited 12.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science what consideration has been given to establishing Government research projects in areas of high unemployment both to take advantage of the lower general level of rents in these areas and to establish pools of technical knowledge in areas where this is greatly required.

My noble Friend has for some years requested research councils to take this factor into consideration subject to overriding technical requirements.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, whether, in view of the accelerated programme of slum clearance, he will introduce legislation to advance the date after which owner occupiers receive no better compensation than landlords, particularly in view of the alteration in local authority plans, which makes it difficult to discover which properties are liable to action under the Housing Acts.

I am considering this compensation problem generally, but am not yet ready to make any statement.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware of the continuing difficulty of newly-married couples of limited financial means in obtaining housing accommodation from local councils or mortgages from building societies for house purchase; and whether he will now introduce the necessary legislation to assist these types of housing applicants.

I am considering these matters but I am not yet ready to make a statement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of British aid to under-developed countries was tied to the purchase of goods and services in the United Kingdom during 1962.

Twenty-six per cent. of our capital aid to under-developed countries in 1962 was tied, under Section 3 of the Export Guarantees Acts, to the purchase of goods in the United Kingdom.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the recent conference of Commonwealth Trade Ministers.

I would refer the hon. Member to the communiqué issued by the Commonwealth Trade Ministers on 14th May at the conclusion of the meeting of the Commonwealth Economic Consultative Council.

the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will now make a statement about constitutional progress in Swaziland.

I have had discussions with the Resident Commissioner in the light of resolutions passed by the Swazi National Council on 22nd April. Other interests in Swaziland are submitting their comments upon these resolutions. When I have received and considered these I will make a further statement.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what forms of preventive action the Singapore Internal Security Council has authorised to be taken against persons in Singapore who are suspected of attempting to instigate unlawful actions.

The statement by the Internal Security Council of 26th April to which I assume the hon. Member is referring did not imply the authorisation of any specific action.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will now make a statement on the measures to be taken to assist elderly British citizens in Kenya and other hardship and security risk cases who need help to return to this country; and how many in all are likely to be concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps he is now taking to assist Europeans in Kenya who are financially unable to support themselves or are elderly and live in areas where there is a high security risk.

I hope to make a statement before the recess. About 400 persons are concerned, but it is not likely that all of these will wish to return to Britain.

asked the Minister of Power, in view of his responsibilities for sanctioning the capital cost of building power stations, what information he has of the number of men needed to build an atomic power station compared with a conventional power station of comparable output, and of the number of men employed in the running of an atomic power station compared with a conventional power station of similar size and output.

The following table gives figures for four actual stations. They should not be taken as an accurate guide to the number of men who would be needed to build other stations as they can vary greatly with site conditions.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, consequent on the publication of the Vassall Report, and in view of the many representations made to him from all sections of the community, he will now order the release of the journalist Mr. Brendan Mulholland.

I regret that I can find no sufficient grounds to justify me in recommending the exercise of the Prerogative of Mercy to remit the remainder of Mr. Mulholland's sentence.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent his crime statistics indicate the number of unmarked motor vehicles which have been used in robberies in each of the last three years.

Information on these matters is not contained in the criminal statistics

asked the Minister of Aviation what is the estimated cost of development of the Hobart Radio Plan; and how long its complete development will take.

The production of cost and timing estimates equipments making up Hobart is one of the objects of the project studies referred to in the reply given to the hon. Member on 15th May.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty the average annual rate of wastage in the labour force in Her Majesty's dockyard, Chatham.

Wastage from the professional departments of Chatham Dockyard has recently been running at a level of about 800 a year, without allowing for promotions and transfers.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty to what extent, in settling the compensation for redundancy among dockyard workers, he takes into account the arrangements made in private and public industries.

Compensation for any redundancy among dockyard workers is governed by the terms of Superannuation Acts, which apply equally to all civil servants, non-industrial and industrial.

asked the Minister of Health the number of prescriptions dispensed and the average cost per prescription for each of the last 12 months for which figures are available.

The information is as follows:

asked the First Secretary of State how many qualified African lawyers, doctors, architects and accountants are in Nyasaland at present; to what extent assistance has been rendered in these professions by the Federal Government to date; and what recent estimate he has made of the exodus of professional people, including teachers, from Nyasaland.

The matters raised fall within the competence of the Federal and Nyasaland Government, but the following information is available to me.There are at present in Nyasaland four local Africans who are qualified doctors, and one lawyer. There are no architects or accountants.The Federal Government is constitutionally responsible for the health service, in which there is an establishment of 55 professional officers in Nyasaland.

asked the Minister of Labour how many people registered at Swansea Employment Exchanges are unemployed, giving separate totals of men and women, the number of young people under 18 unemployed, and the number of those that are school leavers.

On 13th May 1,874 men, 423 women, 106 boys and 42 girls were registered as unemployed. Of these 15 boys were school leavers.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will take powers to prevent the growing use of the telephone system by specialised sales organisations for selling direct to private telephone subscribers.

No.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works the average number of visitors to the London Zoo in Regent's Park at weekends between 1st May and 30th September; and what estimates are available to his Department of the number of motor vehicles entering Regent's Park at these times with the purpose of taking passengers to the Zoo.

Attendances at the Zoo are the responsibility of the Zoo authorities. I have no information about the number of motor vehicles entering Regent's Park for the purpose of taking passengers to the Zoo, because there are no means of distinguishing the destinations of traffic using the Outer Circle.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will consult the Lanarkshire Education Authority with a view to the appointment of principals of non-academic subjects in secondary schools; and if he will make a statement.

Subject to the provisions of the Schools (Scotland) Code, the appointment of principal teachers is a matter for each education authority. I understand that Lanarkshire education authority has principal teachers of subjects such as art, music, homecraft, physical education and technical and commercial subjects.

asked the Minister of Transport what further appointments he proposes to make to the Nationalised Transport Advisory Council set up under Section 55 of the Transport Act 1962; how many meetings the Council has held; and if the Beeching Report has been received by it.

I am still considering the question of further appointments to the Nationalised Transport Advisory Council in addition to those I announced in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Truro (Mr. G. Wilson) on 20th March.I would also refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Truro on 15th May. The Council's first meeting has now been fixed for 27th May. The report on the Reshaping of British Railways will, of course, be available to the Council.

asked the Minister of Transport the manner, places and phasing of advance public notices as required by Section 54 of the Transport Act in respect of plans for the discontinuance of railway passenger or goods services.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Arundel and Shoreham (Captain Kerby) on 7th May.

asked the Minister of Transport what are the terms of reference of the road studies of Mr. C. D. Buchanan; what was the date of his appointement; what advisory help was available to him; and when his report will be received.

I appointed Mr. C. D. Buchanan in October, 1960, to undertake a study of the developing problems of roads and traffic in urban areas and their influence on the urban environment. He is particularly concerned with the longterm demand for motor transport in towns, the nature and probable cost of the measures required to accommodate such transport and the time required to implement them, and the compatibility of these measures with other needs of towns such as reasonable compactness, economical use of land, and good environment.Mr. Buchanan has had the assistance of a staff of planners, architects and engineers, and the resources of the Ministry of Transport and of other Government Departments have been at his disposal. His work has been guided by a Steering Group under the chairmanship of Sir Geoffrey Crowther.As for Mr. Buchanan's Report I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Dartford (Mr. Sydney Irving) on 27th March, 1963.

asked the Secretary of State for War the general purpose of the Hobart Radio Plan; and how it will fit into the United Kingdom's general defence requirements.

I would refer the hon. Gentleman to paragraph 32 of the Memorandum accompanying Army Estimates 1963-64 published with the Statement on Defence 1963 (Cmnd 1936), which fully explains the purpose and rôle of Hobart.