asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies whether he will make a statement on the progress of discussions on the proposed federation of Barbados with seven other islands of the Caribbean group.

The Regional Council of Ministers met in Barbados from 15th to 18th April. The Council decided to meet again before agreeing to a date for a London Conference. The Ministers will inform the Chairman when they wish hint to convene this further meeting.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies what changes are proposed in United Kingdom representation in Tanganyika and Zanzibar as a result of the merger of the two territories into one sovereign state.

I am examining the position.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies what further action has now been taken to extend assistance to officers of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland suffering hardship as a result of the termination of their services.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply my hon. Friend gave today to the hon. Lady for Tyne-mouth (Dame Irene Ward).

asked the Secretary of State for the Commonwealth and the Colonies what was the cause of the recent police raid on Mr. Sydney Kitching's farm in Swaziland; and why thirty-five policemen took part.

After the issue of a warrant on the advice of the Attorney-General, police visited Mr. Kitching's house on his farm in search of stolen property. Only two policemen took part.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies if he will make a statement on the negotiations with the Government of the Maldive Islands.

I will make a statement shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies when he proposes to hold an independence conference for the Gambia.

I propose to hold a conference in London opening on 22nd July.

asked the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on the implications for Government employees of the recent decisions in the High Court in the cases of Dudfield v. Ministry of Works and Faithful v. Admiralty.

No. I do not think it would be appropriate for me in answer to a Question to attempt an expression of opinion on matters of law.

asked Chancellor of the, Exchequer if he will introduce legislation to enable Her Majesty's Government to recoup excessive profits made by firms dealing with Government Departments.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the amount of revenue he has received from Purchase Tax on blackcurrant juice in each of the last two financial years; and how much he anticipates he will receive during the current year.

Manufacturers are not required to make separate returns of the tax paid on particular products, and consequently no information is available about the yield of tax from blackcurrant juice drinks.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will take action to end the present practice whereby lawyers are able to claim the last year of their earnings tax-free or to extend this privilege to all tax-payers.

The treatment of barristers' fees for tax purposes is in accordance with the existing law and my right hon. Friend's Budget proposals did not include any proposal to amend the law in this matter.

asked Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will propose legislation to safeguard the working conditions of Government employees in view of the recent decisions of the High Court in the cases of Dudfield v. Ministry of Works and Faithful v. Admiralty.

No. These decisions do not appear to have affected the functioning of the Civil Service Whitley system nor the constitutional position of any of the parties to it.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will now publish an account of the short-term economic forecasting methods used by the Treasury.

I am in sympathy with the hon. Member's desire that the public should be more fully informed about the short-term economic forecasting methods employed by the Government and am considering how this can most conveniently be achieved.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will give a list of all commemorative stamps so far issued; and what profit has accrued from their sale.

It is not possible to estimate with any degree of reliability what profit we have made from philatelic sales of the 28 series of commemorative stamps issued since 1924, but it might be of the order of £3 million. The following is the list:

Special Postage Stamps
Description and date of issue		Denominations
		£	s.	d.
1.	British Empire Exhibition—April, 1924			1
				1½
2.	Postal Union Congress—May, 1929			½
				1
				1½
				2½
		1	0	0
3.	King George V Silver Jubilee—May, 1935			½
				1
				1½
				2½
4.	King George VI Coronation—May, 1937			1½
5.	Penny Post Centenary—May, 1940			½
				1
				1½
				2
				2½
				3
6.	Peace Issue—June, 1946			2½
				3
7.	King George VI Silver Wedding—April, 1948			2½
		1	0	0
8.	Channel Island Liberation—May, 1948			1
				2½
9.	Olympic Games—July, 1948			2½
				3
				6
			1	0
10.	UPU 75th Anniversary—October, 1949			2½
				3
				6
			1	0

Description and date of issue		Denominations
		£	S.	d.
11.	Festival of Britain—May, 1951			2½
				4
12.	Queen Elizabeth II Coronation—June, 1953			2½
				4
			1	3
			1	6
13.	World Scout Jubilee Jamboree—August, 1957			2½
				4
			1	3
14.	46th Conference of Inter-Parliamentary Union: September, 1957			4
15.	Sixth British Empire and Commonwealth Games—July, 1958			3
				6
			1	3
16.	Tercentenary of Art Establishing "General Letter Office"—July, 1960			3
			1	3
17.	First Anniversary of the Conference of European Postal and Telecommunications Administrations—September, 1960			6
			1	6
18.	Post Office Savings Bank Centenary—August, 1961			2½
				3
			1	6
19.	Conference of European Postal and Telecommunications Administrations, Torquay—September, 1961			2
				4
				4
				10
20.	Seventh Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference—September, 1961			6
			1	3
21.	National Productivity Year—November, 1962			2½
				3
			1	3
22.	Freedom from Hunger—March, 1963			2½
			1	3
23.	Paris Postal Conference—May, 1963			6
24.	National Nature Week—May, 1963			3
				4½
25.	Ninth International Lifeboat Conference—May, 1963			2½
				4
			1	6
26.	Red Cross Centenary Congress—August, 1963			3
			1	3
			1	6
27.	Commonwealth Pacific Cable—December, 1963		1	6
28.	Shakespeare Festival Stamps—April, 1964			3
				6
			1	3
			1	6
			2	6

asked the Postmaster-General to what extent radio links have now been installed in travelling post offices for use when high-value mails are being carried by rail.

I do not think it would be in the best interests of security for me to give information about travelling post office radio communications.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will arrange for a demonstration of the three colour television systems, N.T.S.C., S.E.C.A.M. and P.A.L. in the Palace of Westminster, in order that hon. Members may appreciate the choice of standards for public colour television.

The hon. Member may not be aware that at my request the B.B.C. arranged for hon. Members a special series of demonstrations of the three colour television systems at the beginning of last December.

asked the Postmaster-General how many public telephones and kiosks have been wilfully damaged in Belfast during each of the past five years; how many persons have been charged with these offences in each of the above years; and what are the age groups covered by the offenders.

The figures are:

	Wilful Damage	Persons Charged
1959	15	2
1960	37	2
1961	127	19
1962	207	16
1963	158	9

It is estimated that, in addition, there are some 200 cases a year when the glass of the kiosks is broken: some of these glass breakages are accidental. I am sorry that information about the age groups of offenders is not available from Post Office records.

asked the Postmaster-General what was the number of telephones installed in the area covered by the Worcester City Council, the Borough of Droitwich Council and the Droitwich Rural District Council between 1st January, 1952, and 31st December, 1963.

Precise figures are not now available, but my best estimate is about 7,000.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will reduce the charges for installing a telephone in the rural areas of the Parliamentary constituency of South Antrim; and if he will make a statement on his policy for the development of the telephone service in such areas.

I am sorry I cannot justify reduced charges for telephone service in the rural areas. Rural lines are usually longer and therefore more expensive than those in towns. I am anxious to develop the telephone system in all parts of the country, and this is, of course, one of the main objects of the development plans announced in the White Paper The Telephone Service in an Expanding Economy (Cmnd. 2211).

asked the Postmaster-General how long those applicants in Kirkintilloch and Cumbernauld have been waiting for telephone installations; and what steps he is taking to establish adequate plant and equipment in the areas to ensure an installation within three months of application.

Leaving aside orders under inquiry or being met, applications currently on the waiting list have been outstanding for the following periods of time:

	Kirkintilloch	Cumbernauld
Over one year	9	2
Between 6 and 12 months	6	9
Between 3 and 6 months	15	21
Under 3 months	19	20

asked the Postmaster-General what is the number of telephone subscribers who are on a shared line service in Clydebank, Bearsden, Milngavie, Kirkintilloch and Cumbernauld; and what steps he is taking to ensure that these subscribers receive a private line service.

The figures at 31st March 1964 were:

Clydebank	832
Bearsden	1,710
Milngavie	388
Kirkintilloch	808
Cumbernauld	256

As stated in the White Paper on

asked the Postmaster-General what was the number of applicants on the waiting list for telephone service in the areas of Ashington, Newbiggin by the Sea, Morpeth, and Lynemouth in the county of Northumberland at the latest convenient date.

The figures at the 31st March last were:

Ashington	38
Newbiggin by the Sea	6
Morpeth	20
Lynemouth	Nil

The numbers of applications under inquiry or in course of being met were 14, 2, 28 and 5, respectively.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs when he expects the plans for the new layout of the north side of Tower Hill to be carried out.

The development plan at present provides for an open space between Trinity Square and the Minories. I understand, however, that this may be affected by a realignment of Tower Hill at its junction with the Minories as part of the improvement of the northern road approach to Tower Bridge. This re-alignment is still under consideration by the London County Council and the City Corporation.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what is the average lime taken in approving a grant for the improvement of derelict land from the time the original application of the local authority.

Applications under Section 5 of the Local Employment Act, 1960, normally pass through three stages of approval. First, provisional approval is given to an outline application, so that the local authority can be sure that they will not be wasting their time in preparing a detailed scheme. This is followed by approval in principle to a detailed scheme based on a technical report, plans and estimates. Final approval is given on submission of a tender for the work to be done. On average the time taken to complete all three stages has been about 13 months, including the time taken by the local authority to prepare a detailed scheme and obtain tenders. This is too long and my right hon. Friend is taking steps to speed up the procedure so far as the Department are concerned.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many applications for the clearance of derelict sites have been received each year from local authorities in the North-East between 1960 and the last convenient date; how many of these applications were approved; how many were rejected; and what was the total grant made in each year.

The following table gives the information asked for in respect of applications made by local authorities in the North-East for grant under section 5 of the Local Employment Act 1960 for each financial year since 1st April, 1960:

Year	Number of applications	Rejected	Approved	Grant committed on tenders received
				£
1960–61	5	1	1	—
1961–62	9	2	3	—
1962–63	5	2	4	46
1963–64	5	19	40	231,896
Total	104*	24	48	231,942
* Thirty-two applications were still under consideration at the 31st March, 1964.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will now announce the location of the new towns in respect of the Manchester area.

I regret that I cannot do so yet.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many houses have been improved by the Ashington Urban District Council, Northumberland, and by the National Coal Board on grants from the local authority during the past five years.

My right hon. Friend does not have figures covering precisely the last five years. Between 1st January, 1960, and 31st March, 1964, 110 council houses were improved. In the same period, 892 other houses in the urban district were improved with the aid of grants, but I do not know how many of these were improved by the National Coal Board.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many new houses have been built each year in the urban district council of Ashington in Northumberland during the period 1951–64.

The numbers of houses completed in the urban district were as follows:

——	Local authority	Housing association	Private buliders	Total
1951	42	—	9	51
1952	67	—	5	72
1953	56	—	9	65
1954	98	—	3	101
1955	86	—	11	97
1956	66	—	3	69
1957	61	—	9	70
1958	75	—	13	88
1959	84	4	10	98
1960	95	12	7	114
1961	52	—	6	58
1962	68	—	5	73
1963	47	—	—	47
1964, first quarter	26	—	1	27
	923	16	91	1,030

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development whether he will now change the Empire content requirements for goods imported duty-free from Hong Kong.

No. We would not wish, nor have we power under the Import Duties Act, to adopt a policy of discriminating against Hong Kong by applying more stringent Commonwealth content requirements than are prescribed on imports from other countries in the Commonwealth preference area.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development what action is being taken by his Department to build an advance factory in the local government areas of Ashington and Morpeth in the county of Northumberland; what requests for such aid have been received; and what reply has been made.

None. Neither place is in a development district. I have received no requests.

asked the Minister of Transport what conclusions have so far been reached as a result of Her Majesty's Government's experimental studies regarding the action necessary to meet the transport needs of rural communities; and whether he will make a statement.

These studies will proceed as indicated in my right hon. Friend's reply of 11th March to my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Mr. Speir). We will inform the House when conclusions are reached.

asked the Minister of Transport when work will commence on the Morpeth bypass, in the county of Northumberland.

A draft Order under Section 9 of the Highways Act, 1959, to authorise alterations to roads which will be intersected by the bypass will be published within a few weeks. Following this it will be necessary to acquire the land needed and to complete the design work. It is not possible to predict precisely how long these processes will take, but I hope work will start within the next two years.

asked the Prime Minister who is responsible to the House for answering Questions in regard to Scottish law.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland will deal with legal Questions arising from Scottish business.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will give an assurance that he will appoint a Solicitor-General for Scotland within the next three months.

The appointment was announced yesterday.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the last occasion on which the General Chase signal was flown by the Royal Navy; from which Royal Navy ship it was flown; under whose command the ship was; and where the actual flags of the signal are preserved.

I regret that the information asked for in the first part of the Question is not readily available and could only be extracted from individual ship's logs and other naval documents after lengthy research.Even if, in such a search, the latest example of the use of this signal were discovered in a ship's log, it would not necessarily indicate that it was the last example of such a signal being flown, since it would be possible for such a signal to have been made without the fact being noted in the ship's log.On such a signal being flown, no one concerned would have anticipated that it would prove to be the last occasion that such a signal would be employed, and would therefore preserve for historical purposes the actual flags used to make the signal.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science where the Atomic Energy Authority propose to site the prototype fast breeder reactor to be commenced in 1965.

The Atomic Energy Authority has not yet made any proposal to the Government for a prototype fast reactor.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has received through the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding the number of fast breeder reactors at present operating in industrialised states; and if he will give comparative figures detailing the output of electricity from each at the latest convenient date.

Information on nuclear reactors, including fast breeder reactors, is contained in the Agency's Directory of Nuclear Reactors. Apart from the fast breeder research reactor at Dounreay, which to date has produced approximately 24 million kilowatt hours of electricity, there are three other such reactors in operation: the Experimental Breeder Reactor II and the Enrico-Fermi Reactor in the United States, and the SBR-5 reactor in the U.S.S.R. None of these has produced any electricity to date.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the estimated designed output and ratings of the proposed prototype fast breeder reactor.

The Government have not yet received the Atomic Energy Authority's proposals relating to a prototype fast reactor.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will state the total amount spent to date on nuclear installations, including auxiliary works and research facilities, at Dounreay, the amount of power transmitted to the grid, the value of radio isotopes produced during the past year, the number of scientific and other staff at present working on the site and the total salary and wage bill for the past year.

The total capital sum spent on all the Atomic Energy Authority's nuclear installations, auxiliary works and research facilities at Dounreay, but excluding hostels and housing, is £28½5 million up to 31st March, 1964. The amount of power exported to the National grid to the same date is about 24 million kilowatt hours. No commercial quantities of radio-isotopes have been made. The total number of employees is about 2,500 and the total salary and wage bill for the last year was £2,675,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what civil development contracts have so far been awarded by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, together with the cost, date of commencement and duration of each.

The following civil development contracts have been placed:

(1) With Staveley Industries Ltd. for a numerically controlled machine tool at a total cost of £336,000 for a period of four years beginning in June, 1962.

(2) With Dobbie McInnis (Electronics) Ltd. for an automatic cartographic equipment at a total cost of £57,000 for a period of eighteen months from March, 1963.

(3) Five contracts for research and development into advanced computer techniques placed with Mullards Ltd., The Plessey Co. (U.K.) Ltd., Standard Telephones and Cables and Elliott Bros. (London) Ltd. at a total cost of just over £300,000. Commencing dates are from September, 1963 to January 1964, for periods of up to two years.

(4) With Mirrlees National for a large diesel engine of advanced design at a

UNWEIGHTED STUDENT-STAFF RATIOS IN ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES
(EXCLUDING OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE*)
(Number of full-time students: full-time staff)
Faculty	1953–54	1954–55	1955–56	1956–57	1957–58	1958–59	1959–60	1960–61	1961–62	1962–63
Arts	7·2	6·9	7·1	7·6	8·0	8·2	8·3	8·3	8·4	8·4
Pure Science	6·6	6·4	6·4	6·7	7·0	7·2	6·9	6·9	6·9	6·8
Applied Science	7·8	8·3	8·3	8·7	8·8	9·1	8·4	8·2	8·1	7·8
* Oxford and Cambridge are excluded because total staff numbers (i.e. including staff with College as well as University appointments) are not available over the years.

I do not envisage any marked change in these ratios during the period of rapid expansion which lies immediately ahead.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, how many new schools have been opened by the Bristol Education Authority since 1957; and on how many building has started since then.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what was the overall student-staff ratio in the faculty of arts in English universities for each of the past 10 years; and what improvement is envisaged in the next quinquennium;(2) what was the overall student-staff ratio in the faculty of pure science in English universities for each of the past 10 years; and what improvement is envisaged in the next quinquennium;(3) what was the overall student-staff ratio in the faculty of applied science in English universities for each of the past 10 years; and what improvement is envisaged in the next quinquennium.

Overall student-staff ratios in the last ten years in these faculties in English universities (other than Oxford and Cambridge) have been as follows:

Since 1st January, 1957, 13 new primary and 12 new secondary schools have been opened, and one new secondary school has been housed in the re-modelled premises of a former primary school. Two further new secondary schools are currently under construction.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the cost per place in new Bristol secondary schools in 1957 and 1963.

No tenders for new secondary schools in Bristol were received during 1957 but in 1956 the average net cost per place was £251 compared with £306 in 1963.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the cost per place in new Bristol primary schools in 1957 and 1963.

In 1957 the average net cost per place was £130; no tenders were received for primary school projects in Bristol in 1963 but one was received in January 1964 at £189 per place.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why Her Majesty's Government, as a signatory of the Paris Agreement of October, 1954, has made representations to the German Federal Republic against their entering into negotiations with the German Democratic Republic for a rapprochement between the two German States on measures to ensure peaceful development; and if he will make a statement.

As the hon. Member will be aware, neither Her Majesty's Government nor the Government of the Federal German Republic recognise the so-called "German Democratic Republic". No question of governmental negotiations therefore arises; nor have any representations on this subject been made by Her Majesty's Government to the Federal German Government.

asked the Minister of Power if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table in the form of an index showing Scotland's output of crude steel from the years 1948 to 1963, taking 1948 at 100; and if he will also show for each of those years the percentage of United Kingdom crude steel production which was produced in Scotland.

The information is as follows:

Year	Index of crude steel output in Scotland (1948=100)	Crude steel output in Scotland as percentage of total output in United Kingdom
1948	100·0	15·2
1949	105·7	15·3
1950	107·6	14·9
1951	93·8	13·5
1952	94·6	13·0
1953	103·1	13·2
1954	99·0	12·1
1955	104·0	11·8
1956	111·8	12·2
1957	116·5	12·1
1958	93·9	10·8
1959	87·1	9·7
1960	119·8	11·1
1961	103·9	10·6
1962	84·1	9·2
1963	91·7	9·2

asked the Minister of Labour if he will state the unemployment figures in the Ashington and Morpeth centres at the latest available date, and the corresponding figures on the same date in each year from 1951 to 1963.

The following is the information:

Number registered as unemployed at Ashington and Morpeth Employment Exchanges
	Ashington	Morpeth
16th April, 1951	311	120
21st April, 1952	389	126
13th April, 1953	324	146
12th April, 1954	253	129
18th April, 1955	168	102
16th April, 1956	131	75
15th April, 1957	130	65
14th April, 1958	190	126
13th April, 1959	272	131
11th April, 1960	418	165
10th April, 1961	305	169
9th April, 1962	355	188
8th April, 1963	561	308
13th April, 1964	595	248

asked the Minister of Labour what steps are being taken to construct an industrial training centre in the area of South-East Northumberland.

A Government training centre is not being set up in South-East Northumberland. It is however possible to travel daily from most parts of the built-up area of South-East Northumberland to the Government training centre at Felling. This centre is being more than doubled in size.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what percentage disability is given to an ex-Serviceman of the 1914–18 war who has lost an arm, if the remaining stump is eight inches long, and if it is eight and one-eighth inches long, respectively.

In the absence of any special features, in both cases the assessment is 70 per cent. for an above elbow amputation stump and 60 per cent. for a below elbow amputation stump.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what percentage disability is given to the ex-Service man of the 1914–18 war who has lost a leg, if the remaining stump is five inches long, and if it is five and one-eighth inches long, respectively.

In the absence of any special features, the assessments are 80 per cent. and 70 per cent., respectively, for an above knee amputation stump, and 50 per cent. in both cases for a below knee amputation stump.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will initiate an inquiry into the special difficulties of wives with children who are deserted by their husbands; and whether he will introduce legislation to empower him to treat such mothers as though they were widowed mothers.

My right hon. Friend has no proposals to make. For National Assistance purposes the needs of a deserted wife with children are already assessed on the same scales as a widowed mother. For the reasons I gave in the debate on the Second Reading of the Family Allowances and National Insurance Bill on 22nd January, it would not be reasonable to make provision in the national insurance scheme for a man to insure against the possibility that he might desert his wife.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the average loan charge, the average interest rate and the average rent, all stated in weekly terms, for a council house in each year from 1951 to 1963 in Glasgow.

The following is the information:

——	Total loan charges per house per week		Total interest charges per house per week		Average weekly rent of council houses
	s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.
1951	10	7	7	4	9	3†
1952	11	7	8	2	*
1953	12	11	9	4	9	5†
1954	14	2	10	4	9	6†
1955	15	5	11	4	9	7†
1956	17	4	13	1	9	8†
1957	19	0	14	8	5	2
1958	19	11	15	8	5	2
1959	20	10	16	4	8	5
1960	21	6	16	10	8	5
1961	22	8	17	10	8	5
1962	24	2	19	2	12	2
1963	25	5	20	2	12	2
* No Return of Rents published in 1952.
† Not comparable with rents for 1957 and later years, because of reduction taking effect that year on abolition of owners' rates.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing the amounts spent in interest charges on housing by each of the counties of cities, the county councils, and the large burghs in 1951–52 and 1962–63;(2) how much was spent in interest charges by each county council, county of city, and large burgh in 1951–52 and 1962–63.

The figures are as follows:

——			Interest Charges in respect of
			Housing		All Services
			1951–52	1962–63 (or latest available year)	1951–52	1962–63 (or latest available year)
Counties			£	£	£	£
Aberdeen	…	…	88,664	308,005	118,525	540,482
Angus	…	…	12,569	79,202	23,161	290,594
Argyll	…	…	19,174	164,532*	28,408	289,990*
Ayr	…	…	207,959	1,064,924*	220,306	1,384,256*
Banff	…	…	7,924	39,045*	13,969	64,099*
Berwick	…	…	11,891	45,757	16,639	121,024
Bute	…	…	2,651	14,938*	5,596	32,489*
Caithness	…	…	14,604	57,732	18,393	196,200
Clackmannan	…	…	37,588	130,649	44,102	204,454
Dumfries	…	…	39,294	171,176	93,911	373,927
Dunbarton	…	…	103,521	406,846	129,965	782,706
East Lothian	…	…	43,351	127,331	53,203	198,853
Fife	…	…	264,934	800,158*	350,662	1,449,218*
Inverness	…	…	58,012	175,409	69,431	362,627
Kincardine	…	…	14,964	33,179	16,358	79,224
Kinross	…	…	3,618	8,176*	4,263	10,296*
Kirkcudbright	…	…	13,436	64,604	28,130	150,743
Lanark	…	…	421,320	1,890,537*	578,099	3,005,577*
Midlothian	…	…	92,556	485,023	107,352	712,000
Moray	…	…	13,336	50,020	15,214	68,973
Moray and Nairn	…	…	Not applicable		4,649	20,976*
Nairn	…	…	2,389	7,898*	3,116	12,488*
Orkney	…	…	71	233*	1,450	46,488*
Peebles	…	…	5,892	15,377	9,127	31,138
Perth	…	…	44,052	159,718	49,806	204,137
Perth and Kinross	…	…	Not applicable		13,208	97,813
Renfrew	…	…	80,287	250,319	137,757	680,903
Ross and Cromarty	…	…	26,665	75,923*	36,769	248,039*
Roxburgh	…	…	13,543	50,379	21,693	155,908
Selkirk	…	…	1,546	2,242	3,896	34,303
Stirling	…	…	182,350	927,403	209,221	1,265,175
Sutherland	…	…	15,387	48,699	18,741	118,110
West Lothian	…	…	50,077	439,987	65,250	573,735
Wigtown	…	…	10,537	69,162	13,699	139,420
Zetland	…	…	5,851	39,430	7,168	96,951
Cities
Aberdeen	…	…	205,274	1,010,105	364,669	1,536,581
Dundee	…	…	235,673	1,132,773	355,486	1,559,878
Edinburgh	…	…	394,809	2,000,810	633,149	3,336,964
Glasgow	…	…	1,349,449	6,220,232	2,166,380	8,950,485
Large Burghs
Airdrie	…	…	91,324	265,589*	103,030	294,190*
Arbroath	…	…	20,496	116,218	23,516	159,052
Ayr	…	…	46,291	301,065	55,414	336,429
Clydebank	…	…	152,790	336,153	163,188	370,915
Coatbridge	…	…	94,333	471,514	106,208	523,490
Dumbarton	…	…	36,488	173,426	46,876	212,693
Dumfries	…	…	55,611	262,407	73,885	325 170
Dunfermline	…	…	47,572	305,738	58,114	350,069
Falkirk	…	…	74,573	306,820	82,937	360,357
Greenock	…	…	91,697	424,215	115,712	539,360
Hamilton	…	…	75,597	307,515	84,100	345,544
Inverness	…	…	38,245	99,933	53,622	154,962
Kilmarnock	…	…	70,324	417,119*	87,905	489,290*
Kirkcaldy	…	…	72,868	441,840	90,002	546,459
Motherwell and Wishaw		…	112,795	616,107	143,580	699,604
Paisley	…	…	129,698	724,451	194,377	866,943
Perth	…	…	86,286	293,107	109,087	379,019
Port Glasgow	…	…	64,695	152,738	73,478	191,447
Rutherglen	…	…	39,215	165,129	41,466	174,530
Stirling	…	…	41,251	178,591	48,503	199,576
			* 1961–62

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how often each agricultural advisory committee of those enumerated in his report met in the last 12 months; which of them have now reported; which of these reports have been published; and what has been the outcome of their deliberations.

The Agricultural Advisory Council and the Agricultural Improvement Council each met once in 1963 as did the Grassland, Field Trials, Horticultural Crops and Animals Committees of the Improvement Council. The Council's Committee on Mastitis did not meet in 1963. The Sugar Beet Research and Education Committee (Scottish Sub-Committee) met twice and the Poultry, Licensing of Bulls and Livestock Records Bureau Advisory Committees each met once. The Potato Trials Advisory Committee met four times and the Winter Keep Consultative Panel met three times. Agricultural Marketing Act and the The Consumers' Committee under the Horticultural, Hill Farming, Artificial Insemination and Agricultural Statistics Advisory Committees did not meet last year, but members of this last Committee were consulted individually.Apart from the Scottish Standing Committee for the Calculation of the Residual Values of Fertilisers and Feedingstuffs which met once last year and whose 15th Annual Report was published on 24th September, 1963, and the Potato Trials Advisory Committee whose report on the year's work will be published shortly, none of these bodies is required to make formal reports. They are standing advisory committees and in carrying out my statutory responsibilities I take full account of the views they express on the matters which are referred to them or come within their terms of reference. An exception is the Committee of Investigation for Scotland under the Agricultural Marketing Act, 1958, which is required to meet only under particular circumstances specified in the Statute.