asked the Minister of Labour how many youths under 18 years of age in South Wales have been unemployed for three months or longer; and whether he will make a statement on the employment of youths in South Wales.

On 13th January, 164 youths and 223 girls in Glamorgan, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Monmouthshire had been registered as wholly unemployed for over 13 weeks. In this area total unemployment among young people has fallen by 53 per cent. since January, 1963, while vacancies have risen by 75 per cent. The Youth Employment Service will continue to do its best to help the unemployed young people to find suitable jobs.

asked the Minister of Labour what facilities are available in the area covered by the Easington parliamentary division to enable unemployed school leavers to undergo training; and what remuneration is provided for each person during the period of training.

Boys from Easington can travel to Tursdale G.T.C. where first-year apprenticeship classes are being held for boys not yet taken on by employers; they are paid the agreed wage for first-year apprentices in the engineering industry. There are 24 pre-employment courses at Easington Technical College. The local education authority operates a scheme through which maintenance allowances are payable to enable young people to attend these courses without hardship.

asked the Minister of Labour what are the total facilities available for the training of unemployed school leavers in the County of Durham.

Four first-year apprenticeship classes are being held at Tursdale Government Training Centre. A course for 50 unemployed boys is to be run by I.C.I. at Billingham with Government assistance. Nineteen pre-apprenticeship and a large number of pre-employment courses are available in technical colleges.

asked the Minister of Labour how many boys and girls under 18 years of age at the Gateshead Youth Employment Office have been unemployed for three months and over; and what percentage this represents of the total number.

On 13th January, 77 boys and girls. This was 40·5 of the total number of unemployed young people in Gateshead.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the ratio of wholly unemployed women of 18 years and over to unfilled vacancies for women in Scotland and the Midlands at the latest convenient date.

In December, 5 to 1 and 1 to 1 respectively.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the ratio of wholly unemployed to unfilled vacancies in Scotland and the Midlands at the latest convenient date.

In December, 8 to 1 and 1 to 1, respectively.

asked the Minister of Labour in how many cases young persons in the Doncaster and Don Valley areas were assisted financially under the Training Allowances Scheme during the past 12 months.

In the 12 months ended 31st December, 1963, two boys from Doncaster and one from the Don Valley area were helped to take up apprenticeships away from their homes through the Training Allowances Scheme.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the average number of wholly unemployed people, including those under 18 years of age, on Tees-side, including Billingham, Middlesbrough, Redcar, South Bank, Stockton and Thornaby, in each year from 1945 to 1963.

:I regret that the information is not readily available and would take a considerable time to produce. In an endeavour to assist I have had the figures prepared for the following years:

1945	2,147
1949	2,870
1962	7,349
1963	9,475

The figure for 1945, however, is not strictly comparable with later figures.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what reply he sent to the letter of the Aberdeen Trades Council, pointing out the hardship that the present earnings rule inflicts on old-age pensioners, particularly those in receipt of National Assistance; and if, having regard to the present cost of living, he will take steps to ameliorate that scale.

:The only letter from the Aberdeen Trades Council which the hon. and learned Member has sent me is about National Assistance payments to unemployed men, to which I have sent him a reply.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he is aware of the need for increased provision for homeless persons who are proved incapable of maintaining themselves; and if he will take steps to remedy the situation.

:My right hon. Friend is not aware that these provisions are inadequate, but if the hon. Gentleman has any particular point in mind, I will certainly examine it.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if will give the number of post-graduates who continue their studies on a Department of Scientific and Industrial Research scholarship and do not make a contribution under the National Insurance Fund.

I am told by my right hon. Friend the Lord President of the Council and Minister for Science that there were 4,036 D.S.I.R. post-graduate students at the beginning of the present university session. It is not known how many of them are paying National Insurance contributions. In general such students are not obliged to contribute to the National Insurance scheme, but they may do so if they want to.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to ensure that all mothers have haemoglobin tests, blood pressure measurements and adequate checks to find Rh blood types during pregnancy.

:Advice received from the Standing Maternity and Midwifery Advisory Committee on the importance of making these tests has been circulated widely within the National Health Service.

asked the Minister of Health what would be the cost of exempting all old-age pensioners from paying prescription charges; and if he will take this step.

:I regret that information for an estimate is not available. The answer to the second part of the Question is "No."

asked the Minister of Health if he will introduce legislation to amend the National Health Service Act, 1952, to authorise the remission of charges for optical, dental or other treatment for a patient who is unemployed at the time of treatment.

:No. Financial assistance with these charges is already available in cases of hardship.

asked the Minister of Health what advice he is giving to parents with children suffering from leukaemia about the treatment offered by M. Naessens.

I would refer the right hon. Gentleman to the Answer I gave on 16th January to the hon. Members for Birkenhead (Mr. Collick) and Glasgow, Shettleston (Sir M. Galpern).

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the practice whereby some dentists require a patient to have preliminary treatment done privately for a fee, before accepting the patient under the National Health Service; and what steps he will take to ensure that this does not occur.

asked the Minister of Health what is his policy with regard to the practice of some dentists who now require patients coming to them under the National Health Service to have preliminary treatment, such as scaling, done on a private fee basis before accepting them for major treatment under the scheme.

:I have been told that a very few dentists insist on carrying out some treatment privately before accepting patients under the National Health Service. I entirely accept that this is bad practice, but I know of no case where a patient who wished to have the treatment concerned under the National Health Service was unable to get it from another dentist.

asked the Minister of Health how many full-time and part-time consultants were employed in the National Health Service in 1948, 1953, 1958 and 1963, giving each category separately.

Following are the figures:

	Consultants
	Whole-time	Part-time (excluding honorary staff)
1949	1,310	2,239
1953	1,728	2,854
1958	1,822	3,384
1962	2,009	3,746
Notes.
1. Information is not available for 1948 and 1963. For 1949 and 1953 the figures include locumstaff occupying vacant posts.
2. The figures for part-time consultants are expressed in whole-time equivalents. The number of part-time consultants in 1962 was 5,050.

asked the Minister of Health how many full-time consultants transferred to maximum part-time in each of the past 12 years; and what types of reasons were given for such transfers.

I regret that the information is not available.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that American drug manufacturers are planning to expand their research work in Britain to avoid American regulations concerning clinical drug tests; and if he will reconsider the adequacy of the British safe guards in comparison with American standards.

I have seen a Press report to this effect but I do not think it calls for reconsideration of our safeguards.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that he granted an appeal to a Bristol doctor after a hearing on 30th September, 1963, but the decision was not made public until a few days ago; and what was the cause of the delay.

Decisions of this kind are not usually published until they have been reported to a meeting of the executive council. My right hon. Friend's decision was notified to the parties on 4th December; the first meeting of the council after this will be tomorrow.

asked the Minister of Health what action he is taking, apart from the issuing of posters, to discourage cigarette smoking, especially among young people.

Together with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister of Education I am giving constant support and encouragement to the health education campaign conducted by the local health and education authorities.

asked the Minister of Health if he will take action to prevent the supply to young children under the National Health scheme of spectacle frames which are coated by highly inflammable materials.

No. The risk to wearers of such frames is negligible.

asked the Minister of Health if he will make a statement on the outcome of his consideration of ways to increase the number of practising midwives.

My right hon. Friend has urged hospitals to improve the conditions of work of midwives and he is considering the most effective forms of additional publicity to encourage qualified midwives to return to midwifery.

asked the Minister of Health what arrangements are made within the National Health Service for regular domiciliary visits to be made by health visitors or other officials to old people living alone or unable to leave their homes.

Arrangements are made locally by the statutory and voluntary services.

asked the Minister of Health when he proposes to announce the arrangements for executive councils in the area of the Greater London Council.

When my right hon. Friend has had consultations with the interests concerned.

asked the Minister of Health when he expects to conclude his discussions with the medical profession on medical staffing; and how he proposes to publish his decision.

I am afraid that I cannot yet say.

asked the Minister of Health to what extent five-day wards have been established in hospitals for the care of patients undergoing minor operations; and to what extent they have proved an encouragement in the recruiting of part-time nursing staff.

:Only a few hospitals have so far experimented with such wards; and in some cases they have undoubtedly proved attractive to part-time staff.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that in rural areas small hospitals are essential for the proper care of the population and for the maintenance of the status of the general practitioner; and what steps he proposes to take to ensure that small hospitals remain available.

:I would refer my hon. Friend to paragraph 25 of the Hospital Plan for England and Wales which explains the future position of small hospitals.

asked the Minister of Health how many maternity beds in general practitioner maternity units and in consultant hospital units, respectively, are expected to be provided in each of the next 10 years.

:I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Minister of Health what is the present cost of providing a new maternity bed in a general practitioner unit and in a consultant hospital unit, respectively.

Excluding external works, about £3,400 and £4,800 respectively. The cost of consultant units includes that of operating threatres, ante-natal clinics and other facilities not normally provided in general practitioner units.

asked the Minister of Health if he will give the number of trained cytologists required in the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board area to ensure that the screening of every woman in the Board's area can take place at least once every five years.

Exact numbers cannot at this stage be calculated but training arrangements are in hand to permit of a countrywide service.

asked the Minister of Health if he will give the number of trained cytologists employed under the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board.

I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply on 9th December, 1963 to the hon. Member for Lincoln (Mr. Taverne).

asked the Minister of Health how many hospital farms still remain unsold; and what steps he is taking to ensure that the full market price is obtained when they are.

112. Farms surplus to requirements will be sold either by public auction or by private treaty at the district valuer's valuation based on current market values.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether (1) the premises comprising the sub-depôt at Honeybourne, Worcestershire, are still required for use by his Department;(2) if he will dispose of the premises comprising the former sub-depôt at Honeybourne to a purchaser who could use the buildings for light industry.

This sub-depôt is no longer required by the War Department. Part of the site is being transferred to the Home Office and the disposal of the remainder of the site, which was in use until the end of 1963, is under consideration. The civilian uses to which it may be put will be a matter primarily for the local planning authority, and we shall be approaching them about this in the near future.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he will exercise his powers to remit the sentence of Prisoner No. 11153 in Wandsworth Prison or grant him further parole in view of the family circumstances, to which his attention has been drawn by the right hon. Member for Reigate.

I have considered the circumstances sympathetically but I regret that this is not a case in which, on present information, I should feel justified in recommending remission of the remainder of the sentence. I am writing to my right hon. Friend on the question of parole.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will take action to prevent the sale of any type of portable domestic oil heater which creates a serious fire hazard when accidentally knocked over.

The Oil Heaters Regulations 1962 require that a heater shall have screw-holes, a hook and chain or other means to secure it so as to prevent overturning. I propose, in consultation with interested bodies, to amend these Regulations so as to bring them into line with the 1963 edition of the British Standard for domestic oil heaters. This also requires wick-feed heaters to comply with requirements about spillage and ignition of fuel on overturning, similar to those already prescribed for drip-feed heaters.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many young people are enrolled in the Agricultural Apprenticeship Scheme, county by county; and what percentage of each county's farmworkers these represent.

The information is as follows:

THE NUMBERS OF YOUNG PEOPLE ENROLLED IN THE AGRICULTURAL APPRENTICESHIP SCHEME FOR ENGLAND AND WALES AND THE PERCENTAGES THEIR NUMBERS REPRESENT OF THE COUNTIES' FARM WORKERS
County	Number of apprentices working on 31st October 1963	Number of apprentices expressed as percentage of
		Male and female regular whole-time workers at June 1963	Regular whole Time males under 18 years of age at June 1963
Anglesey	Nil	Nil	Nil
Bedfordshire	77	1·67	25·67
Berkshire	10	0·21	2·99
Brecon and Radnor	2	0·10	0·89
Buckingham	20	0·45	5·51
Caernarvon	Nil	Nil	Nil
Cambridge	60	1·43	28·17
Cardigan	Nil	Nil	Nil
Carmarthen	2	0·08	0·58
Chester	101	1·17	9·33
Cornwall	1	0·01	0·13
Cumberland	8	0·16	1·24
Denbighshire	1	0·04	0·33
Derbyshire	12	0·25	1·54
Devonshire	5	0·04	0·39
Dorset	22	0·35	4·66
Durham	11	0·24	1·45
Essex	18	0·12	2·19
Flintshire	Nil	Nil	Nil
Glamorgan	12	0·64	4·11
Gloucester	21	0·29	2·90
Hampshire	16	0·16	2·06
Herefordshire	4	0·07	0·87
Hertfordshire	11	0·18	3·04
Hunts, and Soke of
Peterborough	31	0·88	11·44
Isle of Ely	13	0·23	4·71
Isle of Wight	3	0·33	3·41
Kent	63	0·38	6·68
Lancashire	79	0·67	4·10
Leicestershire	21	0·45	3·98
Lincoln (Lindsay and Kesteven)	15	0·09	1·24
Lincoln (Holland)	1	0·01	0·26

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements he is making for the collection of stocks of fluorocetamide from farmers to prevent any risk of its use in sprays or rodent poison.

:I would advise farmers holding stocks of this chemical to return them to the supplier. In case of difficulty they should consult the local divisional office of the Ministry.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, what are now his proposals regarding making compulsory the vaccination of poultry against fowl pest.

:Compulsory vaccination is impracticable because there is no way of telling whether birds have been vaccinated or not.

asked the Minister of Education if he will state, for Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, and England and Wales, respectively, the latest figures of the proportion of children staying on at school beyond the statutory leaving age, and the percentages of oversize primary and secondary classes.

Following is the information:

MAINTAINED SCHOOLS (EXCLUDING NURSERY AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS)
January, 1963
	England and Wales	Staffordshire	Newcastle-under-Lyme
Oversize classes (as a percentage of all primary or secondary classes
Primary schools	15·1	20·8	10·6
Secondary schools	43·7	42·2	30·5
Pupils in school (as a percentage of 13 year olds, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 years earlier)
Boys
Aged 15	41·3	28·6	41·4
16	21·8	14·8	33·5
17	11·1	7·7	20·0
18	4·6	3·5	10·6
19 and Over	0·6	0·6	3·0
Girls
Aged 15	38·1	25·9	37·2
16	19·6	13·7	32·2
17	9·1	5·8	15·5
18	2·6	2·0	4·6
19 and Over	0·2	0·1	0·6
Boys and Girls
Aged 15	39·8	27·2	39·3
16	20·7	14·3	32·9
17	10·1	6·8	17·8
18	3·6	2·7	7·7
19 and Over	0·4	0·4	1·9

asked the Minister of Educationif he will state his policy with regard to infants and primary schools, and, in particular, what action he is taking to provide well built and fully equipped infant and primary schools and an adequate staff of qualified men and women.

Since the war a large part of the educational building programme has been devoted to the provision of new primary schools, including infant schools. About 1,700,000 new primary places have so far been taken into use and a further 230,000 are in course of construction or included in approved major programmes. The school building programme for 1965–68 announced last autumn will include a further large number of primary places. In this connection I would refer my hon. Friend to my Answer to the hon. Member for Huddersfield, East (Mr. J. P. W. Mallalieu) on 19th December last.My policy for staffing the primary schools is to ensure a maximum of not more than 40 pupils in a primary class and an average class size well below this level. In the last 10 years good progress has been made towards these objectives. Some deterioration is to be expected ever the next few years, especially in the infant schools, because of the greatly increased numbers of children reaching school age and the increasing loss of young women teachers on marriage. But the supply of new teachers will be substantially reinforced by the current expansion of the numbers in training colleges to 80,000 by 1970, with an emphasis on the training of primary school teachers. I am also urging the maximum use of part-timers and married-women returners.Last autumn the Central Advisory Council started work on a comprehensive investigation into all aspects of primary education.I shall continue to pursue with vigour my plans for producing a sufficient supply of teachers and buildings. Measures to this end do not depend on the outcome of the Central Advisory Council's deliberations, but these, when they are available in about three years' time, will be of the greatest significance in the further development of primary education.

asked the Minister of Education what is the new committee structure of the National Advisory Council on the Training and Supply of Teachers; when the Supply Working Party last reported to him; and if he will make a statement.

There is a single Main Committee consisting of rather over half the membership and embracing the same wide range of representation. This Committee is to meet frequently and is empowered to submit reports or recommendations directly to me, except on matters of the first importance on which it will report to a meeting of the full Council. The Main Committee has established a Standing Sub-Committee on Teachers for Further Education and may set up other sub-committees as it finds necessary.The Supply Working Party, one of the sub-committees set up by the former Council, last reported to that Council on 29th October, 1962.

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty whether, bearing in mind that the rail and steamer fare between London and Belfast is £3 16s. 5d. for a 13-hour journey and that by air the journey takes one hour and the cost is £5 14s. 0d. or on an off-peak flight £3 3s. 0d., he will either issue free leave warrants for travel by air or else credit the amount of the free leave warrant by rail and steamer against the sum which has to be paid personally by the Naval officer or rating who chooses to travel by air.

No. The inter-Service rules for free leave travel must be applied.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the installations and premises occupied by the Royal Navy, the Army, and the Royal Air Force in Dorset have now been revalued for rating purposes; and what contribution to Dorset rates will be made by these and other Crown properties during the current year, and in future years at the present level of rate poundage.

Yes, and during the current rating year contributions in lieu of rates totalling nearly £302,000 are being made to the rating authorities concerned. Alterations to contributions made in future years will depend on changes in occupations and the rate poundages levied by the rating authorities in the county.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what financial, economic and technical assistance the United Kingdom is providing to Arab States boycotting, or threatening to boycott, British firms; and to what extent this aid is linked to purchases of British goods and services.

In the current financial year, it is estimated that financial, economic and technical assistance to the value of approximately £9,966,000 is being provided to these countries. Of this amount about £3,920,000 is directly tied to the provision of British goods and services, and much of the remainder will also be spent in this country on goods and services.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement about the European Fisheries Conference.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement made today by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why the United Kingdom delegate on the Economic and Social Council on 2nd August, 1963, voted against a resolution proposed by Colombia, Czechoslovakia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America on the conversion to peaceful needs of the resources to be released by disarmament.

The United Kingdom vote against the Economic and Social Council Resolution 982 (XXXVI) of 2nd August, 1963, was intended to indicate our belief that, in the absence of substantial progress towards disarmament, the expense and effort of further studies on its economic and social consequences, for which the resolution called, were not justified. Her Majesty's Government were, however, impressed by the support the resolution received in the Economic and Social Council and by the views expressed subsequently by delegations at the United Nations General Assembly. Our Representative in the General Assembly therefore voted for Resolution 1931 (XVII) of 13th December, 1963, which, inter alia, endorsed the Economic and Social Council Resolution in question.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many times each of the five permanent members of the Security Council has exercised the right of veto accorded by Article 27(3) of the Charter of the United Nations; whether the proviso to that Article has ever been invoked, or could have been invoked, against any of the permanent members; and whether a permanent member loses its right of veto when it is successfully invoked.

The figures for the exercise of the right of veto in the Security Council are as follows:

China	1
France	4
Soviet Union	101
United Kingdom	3
United States	0

The proviso to Article 27(3) of the Charter of the United Nations has never been successfully invoked against any permanent member of the Security Council. It has been unsuccessfully invoked in four cases.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how much each rating authority in the Greater London area will receive in Exchequer grant under the provisions of the Rating (Interim Relief) Bill.

I cannot estimate how much any local authority will receive in total as a result of the Bill, because this will depend in part on the use which they make of their powers to remit rates on grounds of hardship.The attached table gives preliminary estimates of the amounts which will be payable under Clause 1 of the Bill to rating authorities in the Greater London area. The figures are based on 1961 data and subject to correction in the light of later information.

First estimates of Grants payable under Clause 1 of Rating (Interim Relief) Bill to rating authorities in Greater London Area.
County of London	£
City of London	645
Battersea	11,040
Bermondsey	3,850
Bethnal Green	5,435
Camberwell	13,455
Chelsea	10,610
Deptford	5,975
Finsbury	1,830
Fulham	16,630
Greenwich	6,940
Hackney	12,920
Hammersmith	9,205
Hampstead	9,310
Holborn	3,000
Islington	8,920
Kensington	5,530
Lambeth	14,605
Lewisham	27,275
Paddington	5,755
Poplar	1,655
St. Marylebone	20,270
St Pancras	11,060
Shoreditch	2,455
Southwark	5,305
Stepney	2,445
Stoke Newington	—
Wandsworth	54,630
Westminster	14,230
Woolwich	14,600
CountyBoroughs
Croydon	34,790
East Ham	11,705
West Ham	2,590

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will make a statement on the progress of the programme of hospital building in Scotland, up to the most recent convenient date.

In the six months from April, 1963, to September, 1963, inclusive, hospital works to the value of £2,035,000 were completed; these provided 460 new hospital beds. At the end of September schemes estimated to cost £15,332,000 were in progress, including 12 schemes costing over £250,000, of which the new Maternity Hospital, Yorkhill, the second extension to Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, and Phase 1 of a major extension to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary will each cost over £1 million and new hospitals at Dunoon and Fort William, a new outpatient department at the Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow, a major extension to a psychiatric hospital in Edinburgh, and an experimental ward unit with associated operating theatres at Falkirk, will each cost about £½ million.Further particulars are as follows:

Schemes costing over £30,000 completed during the six months ended 30th September, 1963
	Estimated Cost
	£
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary—Radio therapy unit	138,000
Maryfield Hospital, Dundee—Modular operating theatre	44,000
Royal Dundee Liff Hospital—General development scheme	547,000
Cameron Hospital, Windygates, Fife—Geriatric unit	150,000
Knightswood Hospital, Glasgow—Central sterile supply department	56,000
Coathill Hospital, Coatbridge—Centralisation of heating system	42,000
Bridge of Weir Sanatorium—Conversion for geriatrics	76,000
Greenock Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital—Extension	33,000
Ravenscraig Hospital, Greenock—Heating centralisation	50,000
Royal Scottish National Institution, Larbert—Extension, Phase 2	441,000
New Hospital, Portree, Isle of Skye	143,000
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary—Extension, Phase 1	2,015,000

asked the Minister of Transport how many road accidents occurred and how many casualties were caused in 1963 between the junction with the Parkway at Cranford, Middlesex,

PERSONAL INJURY, ROAD ACCIDENTS AND CASUALTIES
			Number of accidents	Casualties
				Killed	Seriously injured	Slightly injured	Total
1962	…	…	87	3	24	102	129
1963	…	…	125	1	23	148	172

asked the Minister of Transport how many road accidents occurred and how many casualties were caused in High Street, Feltham, in 1963; and what are the comparative figures for 1962.

The following are the figures:and the eastern end of the Colnbrook by-pass; and what are the comparative figures for 1962.

The following are the figures: