asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many supplementary courses were run by his Department last year for teachers of educationally sub-normal children.

Four supplementary and special advanced courses were provided in 1962–63 exclusively for teachers of educationally sub-normal children. There were also 13 courses in the teaching of handicapped pupils (other than the blind, deaf and partially hearing), all of which emphasised the teaching of the educationally sub-normal.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what instruction is given in schools to preserve rural beauties and to prevent the proliferation of litter.

On litter, in particular, I was glad to see the recent article in The Times showing that there are now nearly 2,000 Keep Britain Tidy School Committees. Many schools provide also courses in rural studies. It is one of the responsibilities of all schools to help the pupils acquire respect for social amenities.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what discussions have now taken place between the Government and the University Grants Committee on the factors which should determine the location of new universities.

The Government statement on the Robbins Report made it clear that, apart from the new university for Scotland, the Robbins proposals for new universities would be considered during the formulation of the 10-year programme by the University Grants Committee and the Government. With regard to location, it is for the University Grants Committee to advise the Government in the first place in the light of all relevant factors. The University Grants Committee and the Government Departments concerned are studying the regional planning considerations to be taken into account.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science to what extent grants in aid for school building during the past five years have included sums for the provision of swimming pools.

It is not possible to give this information, but since 1958 56 covered and heated swimming baths have been built at maintained schools in England and Wales as part of major projects and another 51 are under construction or approved.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, in view of the representations that have been made, if he will reconsider the decision announced in his circular of 24th February declining to grant-aid any additional appointments of full-time tutors or expansion of part-time work in extra-mural departments.

No. As my right hon. Friend told the hon. Member for Bradford, South (Mr. George Craddock) on 19th March, the Government do not feel justified in supporting further expansion in adult education this year over and above what was sanctioned in 1963–64 in view of their heavy and increasing commitments on other forms of education. It has, however, been agreed that the four long-term residential colleges should carry out their expansion plans over the next few years.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he will be in a position to announce the next schoolbuilding programme; and what items will be included for Newcastle-under-Lyme.

The school building programme for Staffordshire for two and a half years 1965 to 1968 was notified to the local education authority on 31st March. It includes for 1965–66 Westland Girls Secondary School in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what arrangements have been made for the support of work on the generation of electricity from hot gases at the International Research and Development Company's laboratory at Newcastle.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action he is taking to ensure that the development of a machine for boosting the output of nuclear power stations by the International Research and Development Company of Newcastle-upon-Tyne is proceeded with in this country; and what part has been played in this matter by the National Development Corporation.

A request for support of the magnetohydrodynamics project at the International Research and Development Company was received by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in January this year. The proposal is one of several in this field and is being assessed with the help of the Ministry of Power, the Central Electricity Generating Board, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and the National Research Development Corporation.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations have been made to him concerning financial assistance for the development of new techniques designed to produce cheaper electricity, and, in particular, for the project now being worked on at the Newcastle-on-Tyne laboratories of the International Research and Development Company.

I refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave today to the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, West (Dr. Bray) and my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Dame Irene Ward).

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received on the proposal to establish a World Health Organisation Research Centre; and what replies he has sent.

I refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave today to the hon. Member for Greenock (Dr. Dickson Mabon).

asked the Minister of Education what estimate he has made of the gross cost of discontinuing the parental means test for universities and comparable awards and of allowing for the simultaneous discontinuation of Income Tax allowances.

The answer to the first part of the Question is approximately £6,451,000 based on statistics for England and Wales for the academic year 1962–63. I am advised by the Board of Inland Revenue that the answer to the second part is about £4,500,000 on the assumption that the parent loses the Income Tax child allowance for the same number of tax years as academic years covered by the course.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what way he proposes to obtain from those who commit crimes of violence sufficient sums of money in order to recoup himself for the compensation he has paid out to the victim; and whether it will be his practice to take this action rather than to insist on the victim claiming damages from the offender.

I would refer my hon. Friend to paragraph 28 of the White Paper on Compensation for Victims of Crimes of Violence. My right hon. Friend is not insisting on the victim claiming damages from the offender.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons Mr. John Williams and his family, who had left South Africa because of their dislike of racial prejudice, were refused permission to enter this country; and by what authority this decision was taken.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the refusal of permission to enter this country to Mr. John Williams and his family, who arrived at Southampton from South Africa on Thursday 26th March.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will review the regulations under which Mr. John Williams and his family were refused permission to enter this country on 26th March, 1964, in order to ensure that criteria are established for the granting of exceptions in special cases.

On arrival at Southampton on 26th March with his wife and five sons, Mr. Williams claimed that the family were holiday visitors but later admitted that they had come to settle here permanently and that he and two of his sons wished to take employment. No member of the family held a Ministry of Labour work permit. Mr. Williams is too old to qualify for such a permit, and four of his sons are too young. No accommodation had been arranged and the funds at Mr. Williams' disposal would not have enabled him to maintain his family. In the circumstances the family were, in accordance with normal policy, refused leave to land. The control of immigration is, of course, sufficiently flexible to enable exceptions to be made where appropriate; but there were no special circumstances in the case of the Williams family to justify exceptional treatment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases during the last year permission to enter this country has been refused to South Africans arriving at Southampton.

In addition to Mr. John Williams and his family, four other South African nationals were refused leave to land at Southampton during the twelve months ended 31St March, 1964

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if Mr. and Mrs. John Williams and their family will now be permitted to enter this country.

Not on present information.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed in the Immigration Department of the Home Office at Southampton; and what are their Civil Service grades.

The complement of the Immigration Office at Southampton is one inspector of immigration, four chief immigration officers, 34 immigration officers, one clerical officer, one clerical assistant and one typist.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware of the advantages in controlling traffic, apprehending criminals and preventing crime if all London policemen were supplied with two-way intercommunicating closed-channel transistor radio receiving and transmitting sets; and whether he will take steps to investigate the installation of this system of dealing with crime.

Much study has been given to the possibilities of the use of personal two-way radio in the Metropolitan Police District. Sets of pocket size capable of meeting police needs satisfactorily in the conditions of the London area are not yet available, but I hope that the problems of producing such equipment will be solved before long.

asked the Minister of Power if he will require the Iron and Steel Board to have regard to the national interest by examining proposals for providing centralised facilities for importing and distributing iron ore in South Wales before they give permission for separate projects to proceed, and to furnish him with a report on the matter.

The National Ports Council has been asked for its advice on the proposals for providing ore importing facilities in South Wales. The Iron and Steel Board is helping the Council and the Government Departments concerned in the examination of these proposals. I am satisfied that full regard will be had to the national interest before any project is allowed to proceed.

asked the Minister of Power what decision he has taken following the meeting of the Advisory Council on Research and Development, regarding the provision of financial and technical assistance through Government agencies for research and development work on the magnetoplasmadynamic generation of electricity.

None. Such assistance is not the concern of my Advisory Council on Research and Development. With advice from the Council, I have however agreed to the general programme of research which includes work in this field by the Central Electricity Generating Board. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the U.K.A.E.A. are considering what fur-there research should be supported in this field.

asked the Minister of Power what progress is being made with coal concentration scheme within the greater London area; and whether he is aware of the concern of merchants at the slow development of this project.

As I told the hon. Member in reply to his Question, on 2nd December, 1963, these are matters for the National Coal Board, working with the trade and the railways. I am asking the Chairman of the Board to write to him about further progress. The answer to the second part is "No".

asked the Minister of Power what steps are being taken to ensure an adequate supply of coke as a smokeless fuel, in view of the policy of the Gas Board to use increasing quantities of methane gas, and in view of the anxiety of those consumers who have installed coke burning boilers; and whether he will make a statement.

Gas coke for domestic boilers is at present in good supply. As regards the longer term, steps are being taken as set out in Cmnd. 2231 of December 1963.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development if he will state the percentage of Board of Trade Advisory Committee grants, both in numerical and financial terms, applied for by firms in scheduled areas, which were paid in 1962 and 1963.

Offers of financial assistance (both loans and grants) under Section 4 of the Local Employment Act, 1960, were made in 55 per cent, of the cases considered by B.O.T.A.C. in each of the years 1962–63. The assistance offered amounted to £6·1 million in 1962 and £14·6 million in 1963. In those years applications for £2·5 million and £3;3 million were rejected. These are 41 per cent. and 23 per cent., respectively, of the amounts approved.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development what are the terms of the embargo upon the sale to countries of the eastern bloc of high capacity computers.

The terms of the embargo on the supply of computers to the Sino-Soviet bloc were published in the Board of Trade Journal on 28th September, 1962.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development why the import of plastic-topped, cork bottle-stoppers is allowed free of duty, whereas a 10 per cent. duty is imposed on the plastic tops if imported separately; and how many cork bottle-stoppers with rubber tops have been imported into the United Kingdom since 1st November, 1961.

The import duty on both plastic topped cork stoppers and on plastic tops was 10 per cent. until 1st November, 1961. The duty on the stoppers was removed from that date by the Import Duties (General) (No. 7) Order, 1961. The removal was the consequence of a tariff application from the Cork Trade Association, who had not appreciated that the tariff definition agreed with them of the types of cork stopper on which the duty would be removed included plastic topped cork stoppers. The Association have subsequently applied for the duty on such stoppers to be restored and an announcement of the result of this application is likely to be made this month. Imports of rubber-topped cork stoppers are not separately distinguished in the trade returns.

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation, how many members of his staff are engaged specifically in agricultural research and research on agricultural education; to what extent experimental schemes are being conducted; and what results are being obtained.

The Department of Technical Co-operation finances, or helps to finance, about 1,250 such workers in many parts of the world, including the United Kingdom. Of these 89 are paid direct from the Vote of my Department. Since they are variously employed on many differing aspects of research, I will write to the hon. Member describing the staff involved and some of their more important activities.

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation how many agricultural liaison officers have been appointed to British High Commission offices overseas, in accordance with recommendation XX of Command Paper No. 2286.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies if agreement was reached with the Kenya Government last month in Nairobi to conduct a further land purchase scheme to acquire farms from Europeans and settle more Africans on the land; and if he will ensure that there is no avoidable delay in announcing the terms in detail so that those European farmers who have doubts whether they will be able to carry on may know what the future will be.

The talks held last month in Nairobi included a general discussion of the Kenya Government's future land policy, and further discussions will take place shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies when he proposes to lay on the Table of the House an Order in Council related to electoral registration in British Guiana; and if he will give an assurance that this Order will not be brought into operation until the House has had an opportunity to debate it.

The British Guiana (Registration) Order was laid in draft before Parliament on the 13th February. After the elapse of the Statutory period the Order was made and came into operation on the 26th March.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will make a statement on the action of the Federal Maritime Commission of America in attempting to impose freight contract terms on British shipowners; and what steps he proposes to take to preserve British rights and to protect shipowners who continue to carry out the terms of their contracts with their customers.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave yesterday to the right hon. Member for Easington (Mr. Shinwell), and the hon. Members for Huddersfield, West (Mr. Wade) and Weston-super-Mare (Mr. Webster). As the hon. Member will know, I have undertaken to make a further statement as soon as I possibly can.

asked the Minister of Transport how much money was spent on roads in the Shrewsbury borough area and the Atcham rural district council area between July, 1945, and October, 1951; and what has been the expenditure since October, 1951.

The following is the information in respect of Shrewsbury borough:Between July, 1945, and October, 1951—£260,481;Since October, 1951—£1,860,202.These figures have been obtained from the Borough Council.I am unable to give the information for the Atcham rural district as records are not kept by the highway authority—the Salop County Council—in a form which distinguishes expenditure by rural districts.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the fact that surtax payers for 1962–63 dropped by 45 per cent. from 442,123 to 249,281, to what extent the staff of the Special Commissioner's Office has been reduced.

The number of staff was reduced by 208 as a result of the raising of the Surtax exemption limits.

asked the Secretary to the Treasury why he has not arranged for hon. Members the publication of an up-to-date list of Ministers with their proper designations.

It is the practice for a list of Her Majesty's Ministers with their proper designations to be published fortnightly in HANSARD. An up-to-date list, reflecting recent Ministerial changes, will appear in HANSARD on Monday next, 13th April.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for expanding the non-industrial staff at Rosyth Dockyard; and if he will make a statement.

It is planned to increase the total number of non-industrial staff at Her Majesty's Dockyard, Rosyth, by about 65 in the year ending 31st March, 1965. These are principally required for the improvement and strengthening of dockyard management under the reorganisation plans and for increasing the facilities for repair and testing of weapons systems.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what were the amounts spent in interest charges by the Rotherham Rural District Council in each of the years from 1950 to 1963.

The figures^* are as follows:

asked the Minister of Health if he will set out the precise terms of reference of the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration.

To advise the Prime Minister on the remuneration of doctors and dentists taking any part in the National Health Service.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many dwellings were built both by local authorities and private developers in the Shrewsbury borough area and Atcham rural district council area between July 1945 and October 1951; and how many have been built since October 1951.

The following are the figures:

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what were the amounts spent in interest charges by the Kiveton Park Rural District Council in each of the years from 1950 to 1963.

The figures^* are as follows:

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what were the amounts spent in interest charges by the Rawmarsh Urban District Council in each of the years from 1950 to 1963.

The figures^* are as follows:

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what were the amounts spent in interest charges by the urban district council of Maltby in each of the years from 1950 to 1963.

The figures^* are as follows:

asked the Minister of Labour how many of the 70,115 work vouchers issued under the Commonwealth Immigrants Act have been utilised up to 28th February, 1964, in each of the three categories; and how many had lapsed in each category.

Up to 29th February, 1964, 37,398 voucher holders had entered this country and 14,120 vouchers had been returned to my Ministry because their validity had expired or because the holders no longer required them. I regret that these figures cannot be given by categories.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish details showing the total value of the school building programme for which Departmental approval was recently sought by each local education authority, the actual amount approved, what this represented as a percentage of the amount of the original application, and the total school population of each local education authority.

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 16th March, 1964; Vol. 691, c. 137–8] circulates the following information: