asked the Minister of Power if he will issue a general direction to all gas boards prohibiting the practice of general managers circularising employees in their Departments on behalf of provident associations, with a view to promoting the interests of private medicine.

No.

asked the Minister of Power to what extent total gas production is now based on processes deriving from oil.

In 1962–63 22 per cent. of town gas made and purchased by the gas industry was oil-based.

asked the Minister of Power how much has been invested by the gas industry in coal carbonisation plant since nationalisation; and what proportion of that investment has been written off as a result of the introduction of plant using other materials.

About £130 million on coal carbonising plant and £19 million on Lurgi plant. The amount written off as a result of the introduction of plant using other material is negligible.

asked the Minister of Power why he proposes to dissolve the regional advisory committees; and what alternative machinery he proposes to establish.

As explained in the White Paper on smokeless fuel it is desirable that local authorities should cooperate more closely with the fuel and power industries in drawing up their smoke control orders. The regional advisory committees are not being dismantled until more experience of the new system is available.

asked the Minister of Power whether, in view of the effect on the cost of iron ore and scrap resulting from the operations of the iron and Steel Federation's Industry Fund, he will take steps to secure the winding up of its scrap levy/pig iron remission arrangements.

No.

asked the Minister of Power what has been the result of the Iron and Steel Board's inquiries into the restrictive arrangements among iron and steel producers in relation to the export market.

The Iron and Steel Board advises me that it has found no reason to intervene in any such arrangements.

asked the Minister of Power whether he will give general directions, in the public interest, to the nationalised fuel industries to use to the full the benefits available to them under the Local Employment Acts.

No.

asked the Minister of Power if he is aware of the extent to which industrialists are taking manufacturing industry out of Scotland because fuel costs are higher than in the south; and what action he proposes to take to remedy this.

I am not aware that industrialists are taking manufacturing industry out of Scotland because of fuel costs.

asked the Minister of Power if he will state the total value and net balance of payments from direct exports of iron and steel products and from the sum of direct imports of raw materials for the iron and steel industry and direct imports of iron and steel products for 1937, 1938, and from 1952 to 1962, respectively.

The information is as follows:

asked the Minister of Power if he will state the total tonnages, values and average prices per ton for 1937 and 1938 and from 1952 to 1963 of United Kingdom exports of iron and steel products, showing separately plates, sheets, tinplate and tubes, and distinguishing in the last case those of large diameter.

As the answer is long and contains a great number of figures I will write to the hon. Member about it.

asked the Minister of Power if he will request the Iron and Steel Board to bring up to date and to state the productivity figures for the iron and steel industry shown in Table 47 of the Steel Board's Special Report of 1961, and to show the average annual increase in productivity which has taken place since the establishment of the Board.

The table brought up to date is as follows:

asked the Minister of Education what progress has been made by his Department in the use of teaching machines for educationally subnormal children.

Several local education authorities are interested in the use of these machines for remedial teaching, and one is experimenting in their use with educationally subnormal children; it is too early yet to assess the results.

asked the Minister of Education if he will encourage all local education authorities to seek the co-operation of the police and local councils in prohibiting street parking within a reasonable distance of school frontages.

No. Local education authorities can be relied on to make any approach necessary without encouragement from my right hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Education when he expects to receive a report or recommendation from the Central Advisory Council for Education on the question of age of transfer from the primary to the secondary level of education.

The terms of reference of the Council are to consider primary education in all its aspects and the transition to secondary education. I understand the Council hopes to submit a report covering the whole terms of reference in the summer of 1966.

asked the Minister of Education what plans he has for reviewing the present method of assessment of the quota for teachers.

My right hon. Friend is at present examining some suggested changes in the method of assessing local education authorities' teacher quotas which were put forward at the conference which he convened last October. Before announcing the quota arrangements for next year the Minister pro- poses to follow the usual process of discussion and consultation with those concerned.

asked the Minister of Education if he will take steps to ensure that married women teachers who are employed on a part-time basis, shall be allowed to contribute to the Teachers Superannuation Scheme instead of the Graduated Pension Scheme.

My right hon. Friend is anxious to encourage married women to return to teaching and to make part-time teachers an integral part of the teaching force. This particular proposal, however, which would require legislation, raises complex questions and the extent to which it would serve that end depends, among other things, on the numbers interested in superannuation who would be willing to pay extra contributions. He will be glad to consider any evidence put to him on these matters.

asked the Minister of Education if he is aware of the danger to children of glass doors; how many accidents to school children through the breaking of a glass panel door have been reported in the last 12 months; and whether he will issue regulations so that all panel doors in schools should be built with some safer material.

Yes. My right hon. Friend does not usually receive reports of accidents to school children and the recent High Court case is the only one which has come to his notice in the past 12 months.My right hon. Friend does not consider glass panel doors unsuitable for schools provided adequate safety standards are observed. He is drawing the attention of local education authorities to a new British Standards Institution Code of Practice which makes recommendations for glazing in buildings used predominantly by young people.

asked the Minister of Education what reports he has received showing the extent to which boxing is included in compulsory physical training in the schools for which he is responsible; and what guidance he has given to local education authorities on the right of pupils to refuse to participate in boxing.

Ministry of Education Pamphlet No. 13, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy, recommends that only pupils who wish to do so should box against each other. I am informed by H.M. Inspectors that common practice in the schools reflects this advice.

asked the Minister of Education if he has considered the Second Report of the Commonwealth Immigrants Advisory Council; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. My right hon. Friend welcomes this Report. He proposes to send copies of it to local education authorities with a Circular which will give his views and suggestions for following up some of the recommendations made.My right hon. Friend endorses the views of the Advisory Council on the importance of preventing schools from becoming immigrant schools. He agrees that this does not rule out the setting up of separate classes for immigrant children where this is the best way of teaching them English. He is particularly glad that the Report records the splendid work being done by teachers to cope with the problems of absorbing immigrant pupils into the schools.

asked the Minister of Education what is the approximate number of deaf and partially deaf children receiving primary and secondary education in the county of Essex; how many schools for this purpose exist in the county; and what consideration has been given to the proposal that children afflicted with deafness should receive education in association with normal schools.

108 infant and junior pupils and 53 senior pupils from the administrative county receive education in schools for the deaf and partially hearing in Essex and West Ham or in a unit for partially hearing children at an ordinary school at Rayleigh; the county and county borough each provide one special school for the purpose and there is an independent school for the deaf at Woodford. The Essex local education authority is considering the need for more units for the partially hearing at ordinary schools; after careful consideration it has rejected a proposal to establish a department for deaf children at an ordinary school.

asked the Minister of Education how many school leavers there will be in Sunderland and in the North-East at Easter this year.

It is estimated that at Easter the number of school leavers will be about 700 in Sunderland, and about 11,100 in the North-East as a whole.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will refuse to hand over the Theddlethorpe dunes, near Saltfleetby, to the Nature Conservancy for a national nature reserve until the Louth Rural District Council has been consulted on the matter; and, in view of the correspondence sent to him by the hon. Member for Louth, if he will make a statement.

Most of the Theddlethorpe dunes are now surplus to Air Ministry requirements. I understand that the Nature Conservancy would like to see the dunes and the adjacent outmarsh and foreshore maintained as a national nature reserve. But we have yet to establish whether there is any other Government requirement for the land; if there is not, my Department will in the normal way discuss its future use with the local planning authority as a prelude to its disposal.

asked the Secretary of State fat Air what action is being taken to ensure that all universities have a university air squadron.

The formation of University Air Squadrons depends upon a number of factors including finance. There are now 18 University Air Squadrons serving 19 Universities as the facilities at Durham will continue to be available to the University of Newcastle. Last year a new squadron was formed to serve the University of Wales but there are no current plans for additional squadrons.

Jones asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what agreement Her Majesty's Government have reached with the Government of Southern Rhodesia as to its status as a Colony.

I would refer the hon. and learned Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster (Mr. Berkeley) and to the right hon. Member for Middlesbrough, East (Mr. Bottomley) on 11th February.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations if he will now make a statement on the progress of the negotiations for an international peace-keeping force in Cyprus.

I would refer the right hon. Member to the replies which I gave to his Private Notice Question today.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, in view of the present difficulties being caused to the many thousands of electors who normally take their summer holidays during the period from June until September, he will not agree to introduce legislation to exclude those months from the period in which a general election may be held.

Circumstances could arise in which it would be in the public interest to hold an election during this period.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that, in the last few months of a Government's term of office, the political and economic uncertainties connected with the possible date of a General Election do much to harm the economy of the country; and whether he will introduce legislation to ensure that, subject to the maintenance of the present practice concerning the passing of a censure Motion on the Government, the date for the holding of a General Election is prescribed by Statute, such as is now the practice for elections to the Greater London Council and county and borough councils.

Even if my right hon. Friend accepted the hon. Member's premise, he does not think that the proposal is either acceptable or practicable.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons came to the United Kingdom from the Republic of Ireland, India, Pakistan and the West Indies, and how many from other parts of the Common. wealth in the years 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, and 1963, respectively; and how many of them, in each case, came to seek employment, or as students, or relatives of persons already resident in the United Kingdom, or visitors or for any other reason.

Since 1st July, 1962, when Part I of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1962, came into force, comprehensive statistics for all persons subject to immigration control under the Act have been maintained. Tables I and II give the relevant statistics for the periods 1st July, 1962, to 31st December, 1962, and 1st January, 1963, to 31st December, 1963, respectively. It is not possible to give comparable figures for previous years, as it was necessary up to 30th June, 1962, to rely upon estimates of the number of Commonwealth citizens passing through the ports, and information is not available about their reasons for coming. Table III gives such information as is available about the net immigration from the Commonwealth in the period 1st January, 1959, to 30th June, 1962.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Director of Public Prosecutions has now considered the report of the inquiry into the circumstances in which false evidence of the carrying of pieces of brick was given against demonstrators during the Greek royal visit; and what action is being taken.

I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that, on the application of the Director of Public Prosecutions, process has been granted against four police officers charging them with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development what inquiries have been made into the circumstances whereby the Livestock Group of Companies incurred deficiencies of £981,061; when those inquiries began; when they were concluded; and what were the findings of the inquiries.

Inspectors were appointed by the Board of Trade under Section 165(b) of the Companies Act, 1948, to investigate the affairs of this group of companies. The inspectors were appointed on the 25th May, 1962, and reported to the Board of Trade on the 3rd October, 1963. As a result police inquiries are now being made and these must be expected to take some time. I would prefer not to make any further statement at the present stage.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development at what stage applicants for the standard grants available under the Local Employment Acts are required to submit their applications.

Building grants must be applied for at an early stage and preferably before the work has begun.Grants for plant and machinery should also be applied for as early as possible and in any event before the plant or machinery is delivered. These grants were introduced last year and until their availability was generally known I have been prepared to consider applications even where delivery has already taken place. This concession is no longer appropriate, however, and I have therefore decided that after 29th February I shall no longer accept applications in respect of plant and machinery already delivered to the applicant.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development what action he proposes to take on the evidence submitted to him by the hon. Member for Chislehurst regarding magazine subscription salesmanship by alleged students, long-delayed delivery of magazines, refusal of refunds even when applied for within hours, arrival of journals other than the one ordered, overcharging for subscriptions, and in many cases non-arrival of any journal over waiting periods of six months to a year.

My right hon. Friend is investigating the evidence which my right hon. Friend sent him on 6th February.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development if he will state the intentions and policy of Her Majesty's Government regarding the United Nations World Conference on Trade and Development to be held at Geneva in March, 1964; who will represent Her Majesty's Government; what other organisations have been invited; and if Her Majesty's Government will take all possible steps at the conference to reach a successful agreement designed to increase world trade and the British percentage of world trade.

Her Majesty's Government will do their best to ensure that the Conference agrees on measures of benefit to developing countries and resulting in the expansion of world trade in which Britain would take a full share. I shall lead the United Kingdom Delegation at Ministerial level. At official level the leader will be Sir Patrick Reilly, until recently Deputy Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign Office. The United Nations specialised agencies and certain inter-governmental organisations will be invited to send observers to the Conference.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development whether he has reached agreement with the North-East Development Council on the terms of Government financial support for the Council's promotional work for the region; and whether he will make a statement.

Yes. I have agreed that subject to Parliamentary approval of the Board's vote, we shall make the Council a grant-in-aid up to a maximum of £40,000 in 1964–65, £30,000 in 1965–66 and £20,000 in 1966–67. The first £15,000 in 1964–65 will not be conditional on equivalent expenditure from the Council's other income but appropriate matching arrangements will apply to the rest of the grant. The grant-in-aid is intended to support the Council's publicity and public relations work for the development and growth of the region.

asked the Attorney-General if, in view of the public concern at the inconsistency of penalties awarded by lay magistrates, he will introduce legislation to provide for the attendance at special training courses of justices of the peace, and for the payment of reasonable expenses.

No. Training courses for justices are already provided under Section 17 of the Justices of the Peace Act, 1949. The present arrangements can be extended under the existing statutory provisions and this is a matter which is under consideration by my noble Friend the Lord Chancellor. As regards: he payment of expenses to justices, travelling and lodging allowances are already payable under Section 8 of the Justices of the Peace Act, 1949, and provision for subsistence allowance is made in the Administration of Justice Bill which is now before Parliament.

asked the Attorney General what is the average delay in the hearing of criminal cases in magistrates' and sessions courts in Bolton, Manchester and Preston.

The average time between committal and trial during the last three completed sessions of the Manchester Crown Court was 4·6 weeks. Information about the time taken at the Quarter Sessions held in Manchester, Bolton and Preston is being obtained and I will circulate it in the Official Report when it is received.Precise information about the time taken between the issue of process and the hearing in magistrates' courts in the area is not readily available and I do not consider that the work involved in obtaining it would be justified. It is estimated that the time taken at Manchester City Court is at present not more than 14 days, and in the 5 other courts in the area between 3 weeks (in minor cases) and 6 weeks (in more serious cases).

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will issue instructions to all Departments of Her Majesty's Government which enter into contracts with private firms that a condition of the contract shall be that no inquiries be made regarding the religion of applicants for employment.

No. It would not be appropriate to include such a condition in Government contracts.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many steel companies were handed back to private enterprise in 1961 to 1963; and how many were re-nationalised in that period.

In the period 1961–63 inclusive the Iron and Steel Holding and Realisation Agency disposed of its total holdings in six steel companies. In the same period the Agency also sold its remaining holdings in eight companies which had previously been denationalised. The answer to the last part of the Question is "None".

asked the Minister of Aviation, in view of the inadequate provision made for air travellers at the Air Terminal in Glengall Street, Belfast, if he will establish a terminal, run by his Department, to include the provision of a waiting room, adjacent to the bus departure point for the sole use of air travellers; and if he will advertise for a suitable licensee who would provide refreshments, newspapers, magazines and other goods.

No. It has not been the practice of my Department to provide town terminals to serve civil airports.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what reply has been received to the representations made by Her Majesty's Ambassador at Montevideo regarding flag discrimination by the Government of Uruguay.

Her Majesty's Ambassador is in constant touch with the Uruguayan authorities and informal discussions are continuing.

asked the Minister of Health what was the incidence of chronic bronchitis among workers in steel manufacture, in numbers and per thousand of the total work force, for each year since 1955, respectively; and what are the comparative figures for the working population as a whole.

Bronchitis is not a notifiable disease, and my right hon. Friend regrets the information is not available.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will state the terms of reference and membership of the new Training Council for the staff of training centres for the mentally subnormal.

The terms of reference of the new Council are to promote the provision of training for the staff—including hospital staff—of training centres for the mentally subnormal, and to approve courses of training. Its members, who have been appointed for a term of three years and will be eligible for re-appointment, are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has received the Report of the Committee, under the Chairmanship of Lord Kilbrandon, on Children and Young Persons.

Yes. I have received this Report and am arranging for it to be presented to Parliament and published, I hope at about Easter. I should like to take this opportunity of thanking Lord Kilbrandon and the other members of the Committee for the efforts they have put into their inquiry into this difficult field.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what arrangements have been made for Exchequer assistance to the Scottish Council, Development and Industry, for the promotion of publicity in respect of Central Scotland, as envisaged in paragraph 168 of the Central Scotland White Paper, Command Paper No. 2188.

Following informal discussions between officials of my Departments and of the Scottish Council, proposals have been put to the Council whereby, subject to Parliamentary approval, grants-in-aid of up to £3,000 during the current financial year, and up to £40,000, £30,000 and £20,000 respectively in the three years beginning 1964–65, will be available to the Council provided certain matching contributions can be math' from the Council's other income. The purpose of these grants will be to give substantial additional support to the Council in the task of promoting, through suitable publicity and public relations measures, the objectives of development and growth contained in the White Paper on. Central Scotland. These proposals will be given effect as soon as they are formally accepted by the Council, and agreement is reached on the administrative arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for War what arrangements regarding the cost of warrants for travel on leave by officers and other ranks of the Army he has made with British Railways; and whether there are similar arrangements with British European Airways and other air companies operating in the United Kingdom.

I have nothing to add to the full explanations which I and other Ministers have already given.