asked the Minister of Education whether he will now make his further statement on the school building programme for 1964–65.

I am glad to be able to say that authorised starts have been increased from £55 million to £60 million. The additional projects will be announced shortly.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many permanent dwellings he now anticipates will be completed in England and Wales in 1963; and how many of these will be for families, old people, and single persons, respectively.

It is still too early to say whether the building industry will be able to make good all the production which was lost in the bad weather at the beginning of the year. There is, however, enough housing work in progress for something over 280,000 houses to be completed this year in England and Wales of which something over 30,00 would be one-bedroom dwellings suitable for old people or single persons. The figures available do not distinguish further between dwellings erected for families, old people and single persons.

asked the Postmaster-General whether it is his intention to, and to what extent he will allow, newspaper interests to be associated with the groups who will be granted pay television licences during his experimental period.

I do not think it would be right to impose restrictions on the participation of newspaper interests in pay television. The considerations which apply seem much the same as in independent television. Only one applicant includes Press interests—and only to a minority extent.

asked the Postmaster-General if, in demonstrating the full potential of pay television during the experimental period and especially in regard to the showing of sport at peak hours, this will be done to the exclusion of the peak-hour sports programme from the British Broadcasting Corporation and Independent Television Authority transmissions.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the local authorities who at present employ fully-trained children's officers; and what steps he is taking to encourage local authorities to appoint qualified persons.

The following local authorities employ children's officers who have qualifications in social work:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will bring up to date the tables appearing in Command Paper No. 1337 of April, 1961, entitled, The Financial and Economic Obligations of Nationalised Industries.

Yes. The tables are as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Trade when he proposes to suspend the import duty on butter, in accordance with the undertaking given to the Danish Government during the European Free Trade Association's meeting in Lisbon in May.

An Order has been laid before the House today, under the terms of which the duty will be removed on 10th July.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will give an assurance that, in his consideration of proposals to close lines under the Beeching Report, he will keep in mind that the existing railway services give facilities to ramblers and the general public for the enjoyment of the countryside, and the withdrawal of these services would curtail the enjoyment of moors, mountains and open spaces in many parts of the country.

I have already given assurances that, before I reach my decision, I shall in each case take all relevant factors into account.

asked the Minister of Transport if, in the national interest, he will give general directions to those boards which have been given the responsibilities of the former British Transport Commission to publish the figures of the total salaries and wages bill of the Commission as a whole and of British Railways separately in 1962, stating how much in each case has been charged to revenue account.

No. I have, however, asked the British Railways Board, as the undertaking responsible for the final report and accounts of the British Transport Commission, if they can provide the hon. Member with this information. I shall also bear this point in mind in deciding the particulars to be contained in the Board's own annual statements of accounts in future.

asked the Minister of Transport when the experimental phasing of the Albert Gate—Knightsbridge traffic signals is due to finish; if he is aware that at the present time pedestrians, including those with perambulators, have only 10 seconds in which to cross Knightsbridge; and if he will take immediate action to lengthen the pedestrian crossing phase in order to avoid the danger of accidents.

Pedestrians at present have up to 13 seconds to cross Knightsbridge, which is 40 feet wide. The Westminster City Council are installing"Cross Now" signals on the east side of the junction, and pedestrians will then have up to 14 seconds. If, as I hope, the carriageway can be widened between Albert Gate and Wilton Place to provide one extra lane westbound, it will be possible to give pedestrians a good deal more time. Till then, this could be done only at the expense of seriously worsening traffic congestion.

asked the Minister of Transport (1) in the three years prior to 31st May, 1963, how many grants of A licence tonnage have been made in the northern traffic area in excess of six tons to applicants on unopposed applications and opposed applications; how much additional tonnage Has been authorised under each of these two kinds of applications, respectively, in the above period; and how much tonnage was applied for in each case;(2) in the three years prior to 31st May, 1963, how many applications have been made in the northern traffic area for additions of A licence tonnage to duly authorised A licensed hauliers of under six tons per application; how many such applications have been dealt with without objection; how much total additional tonnage has been licensed as a result of these applications; and what was the total tonnage involved in these applications:(3) in the three years prior to 31st May, 1963, how many applications in the northern traffic area for addition of A licence tonnage to duly authorise hauliers of under six tons per application were the subject of objections; how much total additional tonnage has been licensed as a result of these opposed applications; and what was the total tonnage involved in these applications.

I regret that the information sought by the hon. Member is not readily available, and could only be obtained by going through all the individual applications. If he has any particular point in mind, perhaps he would let me know.

asked the Minister of Health when he expects to announced further measures to attract practitioners into designated areas with too few family doctors.

I have no statement to make on this at present.

asked the Minister of Health when he expects to receive a report of the further review of rural practice payments from his joint working party.

The new scheme came into operation on 1st July. It is to be reviewed after a reasonable interval.

asked the Minister of Health if he will introduce legislation enabling local authorities to impose penalties for infringement of the conditions of registration of private old people's homes.

No; this is for the courts.

asked the Minister of Health what representations he has received from the sub-committee of the Otolaryngologists British Medical Association Group, British Association of Otolaryngologists and the Society of Audiology Technicians concerning the qualification, recognition of professional status and future recruitment and training of audiology technicians.

I cannot trace any.

asked the Minister of Labour how many persons, male and female, and persons under 18 years of age, male and female, respectively, were registered as unemployed at the June, 1963, count in Gateshead employment area; what was the number of unfilled vacancies at the latest convenient date; what was the percentage rate of unemployment in that part of the Tyneside area, together with the percentage rate for male and female, respectively; and what were the comparable figures for 12 months earlier.

On 10th June there were 1,989 men, 216 boys, 344 women, and 33 girls unemployed, compared with 1,413 men, 96 boys, 296 women and 18 girls in June, 1962. On 5th June there were 234 unfilled vacancies compared with 304 a year earlier.As my hon. Friend explained on 22nd May in reply to a Question by the hon. Member, now that Gateshead is included in the Tyneside travel to work area the whole of which is listed as a development district unemployment percentages rates will be given only for the area as a whole. In June the total rate for the Tyneside area was 4·3 per cent., the rate for males 5·2 per cent., and that for females 2·6 per cent. In June, 1962, the corresponding figures were 3·2 per cent., and 3·7 per cent. and 2·4 per cent., respectively.

asked the Minister of Labour for what special categories of skill entry vouchers under the Commonwealth Immigrants Act are at present issued on demand.

Priority vouchers are issued to persons with university degrees or professional qualifications, including qualifications in teaching and nursing; draughtsmen and higher technicians; skilled craftsmen especially in engineering and building occupations; and experienced shorthand typists.

asked the Minister of Labour how many persons were registered as unemployed at employment exchanges in Falmouth and Camborne-Redruth, respectively, at each monthly count from and including March, 1963;and what percentages these were of the number of insured persons.

The following is the information required:

asked the Lord Privy Seal how many Russian nationals are now officially and unofficially attached to the Russian Embassy in London; how many British nationals are officially and unofficially attached to the British Embassy in Moscow; and what are their respective official positions.

There are 116 Soviet nationals attached to the Soviet Embassy in London. The official positions held are as follows:

asked the Lord Privy Seal upon what date Her Majesty's Government first learned that Mr. Philby had moved behind the Iron Curtain; upon what date Her Majesty's Government first learned that Mr. Philby was responsible for warning Messrs. Maclean and Burgess; and what details are known of any association between Mr. Philby and Mr. Blake, late of Her Majesty's Foreign Service and now serving a prison sentence for espionage.

As I informed the House on 1st July, there is, as yet, no certainty about Mr. Philby's whereabouts. It would not be appropriate for me to give details of either the exact time or place at which various items of information bearing on the case were received by Her Majesty's Government. I am not aware of any association between Mr. Philby and Mr. Blake.

asked the Minister of Power if he will give the figures for each of the last ten years of miners employed in tin mines in West Cornwall, including the Falmouth and Camborne constituency, showing underground workers separately.

I am writing to the hon. Member about this.