asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the amount of National Savings in each of the past five years.

Total National Savings outstanding increased by £390 million in 1959, by £338 million in 1960, £214 million in 1961, £238 million in 1962, and by £315 million in 1963. The total outstanding is now £8,149 million.Following are the totals outstanding at the end of each of those years:National Savings: Total outstanding at end of period:

				£ million
1959	…	…	…	6,829
1960	…	…	…	7,167
1961	…	…	…	7,380
1962	…	…	…	7,618
1963	…	…	…	7,933

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the increase proposed in Public Expenditure in 1963–64 and 1967–68, Command Paper No. 2235, will be spent in Scotland.

The information which would be necessary for making this prediction is not available.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will instruct Ministers in Departments which place contracts involving public money to invite competitive tenders from appropriate publicly-owned organisations in addition to private enterprise firms.

No such instructions are necessary. Unless there are over-riding considerations of policy, it is already the normal practice of contracting Departments to invite tenders from nationalised industries and other public bodies where they are in a position to supply the required goods or services.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in HANSARD a table of figures giving the percentage rise or fall in the costs of running each of the Departments of State since October, 1951, taking that date as 100.

No. For the reasons explained in my reply to the hon. Member on 23rd March, such comparisons would be expensive of time and effort, as well as misleading.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total cost of publishing the Robbins Report, Newsom Report, and Henniker Heaton Report, respectively.

The costs of printing and publishing these Reports were as follows:

	Cost £
Robbins Report (Higher Education)
Report	12,327
Appendix I	6,744
Appendix III	5,034
Appendix IV	3,304
(The remaining Appendices are not yet published).
Newsom Report (Half our Future)	10,633
Henniker Heaton Report (Day Release)	603

These figures take no account of receipts from sales of these publications.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make a statement on the country's economic situation with particular reference to the balance of payments problem; and what plans he has concerning an amendment of the Bank Rate before the autumn.

This subject is too large to be covered adequately in Question and Answer.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will introduce legislation to ensure a revenue return of 5 per cent. gross on all moneys contributed by public companies to political parties.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state for each financial year since 1951, the tax reliefs applicable to those persons who were in receipt of the national average wage in 1951 of £8 per week, £10 per week, £12 per week, £1,000 per annum, £2,000 per annum, £5,000 per annum, and £20,000 per annum, respectively; and on the basis that these incomes have increased by 5 per cent. per annum since 1951, what has been the saving in tax in each income group for each of the years mentioned.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reliefs and allowances set out in Tables 24 and 25 and page 94 of the latest report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue (Cmnd. 2283) and Table 24 of its predecessor (Cmnd. 1906). It is not possible to answer the Question more specifically, because a taxpayer's saving in tax depends on the personal reliefs and allowances due to him, as well as on his income level.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in HANSARD a list giving particulars of the names of private companies and individuals who have since October, 1951, received financial help, support, or subsidies in any form from the Treasury, and giving the amount of such assistance in each financial year; and what is the total amount of such moneys contributed to date by Her Majesty's Treasury.

This information could not be made available without a disproportionate amount of work. In any case it is not the practice to divulge individual payments under Acts such as the Local Employment Acts and the Cotton Industry Act. But I give below gross totals of Government assistance to private industry and agriculture from 1958–59 onwards:The figures are as follows:

				£m.
1958–59	…	…	…	262
1959–60	…	…	…	301
1960–61	…	…	…	358
1961–62	…	…	…	465
1962–63	…	…	…	380
1963–64	…	…	…	444
1964–65	…	…	…	437

An analysis of these totals between the main categories of expenditure is given in Table X of the Financial Secretary's memorandum on the Estimates.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware of the concern felt by housewives and those on small and fixed incomes at the continual rise in the cost of living and at the facts that prices have risen more during the last quarter than for the whole of 1963, that vegetable prices have risen by 5 per cent., and that egg, cheese, and milk prices have risen by nearly 4 per cent.; and whether he will arrange to speak on television to explain Her Majesty's Government's proposals regarding food prices.

As regards the price of foods, I have nothing to add to the reply which my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food gave the hon. Member yesterday. As regards prices generally, the Government is naturally concerned about the upward trend in the cost of living. But the solution cannot depend on the Government alone.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to receive the Report of the Committee appointed to inquire into matters affecting wages and salaries of Post Office workers; and whether he will give an undertaking that he will implement the findings of the Report.

The Postmaster-General and I received this Report on 17th June, and we accept its conclusions.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in view of the fact that since nationalisation the various State-owned industries have paid £2,462·8 million in interest charges, what estimate he has made of the total profit of the nationalised industries if no interest rates had been paid and if the same percentage interest rate as that received by depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank had been paid by way of interest.

When I replied to the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Eldon Griffiths) on 17th June I gave the financial results of the nationalised industries both before and after paying interest. I would prefer not to speculate on what the results would have been had some different rate of interest applied.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the fact that £2,462·8 million have been paid by way of interest by the nationalised industries since nationalisation, whether he will introduce legislation to limit the amount of interest which these industries can pay to the 2½ per cent. as paid to depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the revenue if, without any retrospective application, Section 38 of the Superannuation Act 1938 were amended by the omission of subsection (3) and by the insertion at the end of subsection (1) of the words, and section three of the Superannuation Act 1935 shall have effect as if the words as to one-half of the period thereof were omitted from subsection (1) of section three of the Superannuation Act 1935.

I presume the hon. Member is referring to Section 38 of the Superannuation Act, 1949.The immediate annual cost of reckoning unestablished civil service in full for the purpose of future retirements and future instalments of pensions now in payment would be £7½ million rising to £8½ million and not falling below £8 million for at least fifteen years. In addition, it would cost up to £24 million to increase lump sums already paid. The total cost, including £24 million for past lump sums, is estimated at about £300 million.

asked the Postmaster-General if, under Section 14(4) of the Licence and Agreement, he will instruct the British Broadcasting Corporation to refrain from further broadcasts of the film "The Second City", in view of the fact that it has caused considerable dismay to many Birmingham people.

No. I understand that the B.B.C. have indicated to the Lord Mayor of Birmingham that his representations will be taken into account if the question of net-working the film is considered.

asked the Postmaster-General to what extent interference from foreign broadcasting stations is affecting the reception of television programmes in this country; and if he will make a statement.

Television stations here and on the Continent have to use the same channels, and mutual interference occurs under certain meteorological conditions, especially during the summer and where viewers receive a weak signal. To avoid this happening altogether would mean separating much more widely broadcasting stations which use the same channel—and this in turn would mean depriving many people of television services. Reception will be improved for many viewers by the additional stations which both the B.B.C. and I.T.A are building.

asked the Postmaster-General why permission has been given to the Government of the Isle of Man to operate a broadcasting service; and to what extent permission for such a service, which will be heard on the mainland, represents a change in policy by Her Majesty's Government in relation to local broadcasting.

The Isle of Man is not a part of the United Kingdom. The Isle of Man Government's request to have its own sound broadcasting services has been agreed on condition that these broadcasts are not receivable on any regular basis outside the island. This does not represent any change in the policy on local sound broadcasting set out in my statement on 2nd June.

asked the Postmaster-General if all the Stage III stations to improve television reception in the West Country will be completed by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1964 as planned; and when there will be visible and audible television in the Bideford area.

The B.B.C. tell me that they hope to bring their television and V.H.F. sound station at Okehampton into service next month. However the siting of their Barnstaple station, which is intended to serve Bideford, has thrown up unexpected technical problems; and the Corporation regret that they will not now be able to open this station before next year.

asked the Postmaster-General what percentage of telephone kiosks in Belfast has shown earnings in excess of £500 per annum, between £250 and £500 per annum, and under £250 per annum, during each of the last five years for which figures are available.

In the last calendar year the percentages for Belfast Telephone Area were as follows:

Earnings	per cent.
In excess of £500 per annum	7
£250–£500 per annum	26
Under £250 per annum	67

(I regret that figures for previous years are not available.)

asked the Postmaster-General what progress has been made in carrying out the plan for the development of the telephone service outlined in the White Paper Command No. 2211.

A very encouraging start in carrying out the plan was made last year, the first of the five years covered by the plan. Telephones were supplied at a rate more than 30 per cent. higher than in the previous year, and the total number in use increased by half a million to nearly 9·5 million. The number of calls increased by 400 million to 5,700 million. By 31st March, 1964, subscriber trunk dialling had been made available to 43 per cent. of subscribers compared with 31 per cent. a year earlier. Only 530 manual exchanges serving 12 per cent. of subscribers remained to be converted to automatic working. I am confident that good progress will be maintained in implementing the plan.

asked the Postmaster-General on what basis he estimates that the introduction of subscriber trunk dialling has saved telephone subscribers £12 million per year; and to what extent revenue from telephone subscribers has fallen since the introduction of subscriber trunk dialling.

The estimated saving of £12 million represents the difference between the sums which subscribers on S.T.D. exchanges paid for dialled trunk and local calls in 1963–64 and what they would have paid for the same calls at the non-S.T.D. tariff.The lower costs per call to the subscriber has been more than offset by the rapid growth in the number of calls made and this, far from reducing revenue, has increased it.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will publish in HANSARD a list of the services provided to the public by his Department; and, taking October, 1951, as 100, what has been the percentage rise or fall in the charges made for each of these services to date.

A list of Post Office services would be voluminous and I would refer the hon. Member to the Post Office Guide, a copy of which I am passing to the hon. Gentleman. Taking 1951 charges as 100, current charges are 158 for postal services and 164 for telecommunications.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what action he proposes to take towards solving the housing problem in the Borough of Batley.

Officers of my North West Regional Office, which was set up to help the local authorities with the heaviest slum clearance problems, are in close touch with the council and are giving all the help they can towards increasing Batley's rate of house-building. Arrangements are also going forward for Batley to join a group with Bradford, Dewsbury, Wakefield and other neighbouring authorities so that by working together they can employ the latest building techniques and make the most effective use of the available building labour. I look forward to seeing something of what the council are doing when I visit Batley at the beginning of next month.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many slum houses were demolished in Manchester during the periods 1945 to 1951, 1951 to 1959, and 1959 to the latest convenient date; and how many houses or flats to accommodate families formerly living in slums were completed during the corresponding periods.

My right hon. Friend's records do not show how many of the Corporation's new or existing dwellings were built or used specifically for the rehousing of families from the slums, but since 1955 the greater part of the new housing has been for this purpose.Figures of slum clearance in individual local authority areas are available only from 1st January, 1955, when the slum clearance programme was resumed.Following are the figures:

—		Slums demolished or closed	Dwellings built
1.3.45 to 31.12.51	…		8,808
1.1.51 to 31.12.54	…		6,974
1.1.55 to 31.12.59	…	6,372	7,297
1.1.60 to 31.12.63	…	8,168	8,917

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many houses have been modernised with the aid of grants in the East Riding of Yorkshire since 1959.

Three thousand three hundred and fifty-eight houses in the administrative county were modernised with the aid of grant from the beginning of 1960 to the end of April, 1964. Annual figures for counties were not kept prior to 1960.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many houses for old people were built in the East Riding of Yorkshire in each year since the war.

My right hon. Friend regrets that the information is not available.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many council houses and private houses, respectively, were built in the East Riding of Yorkshire in each year since the war.

The figures for the administrative County of Yorkshire (East Riding) are as follows:

			For local authorities	For private owners
1945–46		…	116	328
1947	…	…	474	277
1948	…	…	1,265	170
1949	…	…	868	215
1950	…	…	747	190
1951	…	…	865	174
1952	…	…	839	274
1953	…	…	1,189	563
1954	…	…	746	643
1955	…	…	654	726
1956	…	…	328	752
1957	…	…	516	848
1958	…	…	143	748
1959	…	…	273	973
1960	…	…	234	1,167
1961	…	…	182	1,360
1962	…	…	410	1,582
1963	…	…	285	1,632
			10,134	12,622

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will publish in HANSARD a table showing the annual rise or fall in real terms in the commencement and completion of local authority houses, the costs and size, since October 1951, to date, taking that year as being 100; and whether he will also give the precentage rise or fall in each case.

My right hon. Friend cannot give details of average costs and sizes of local authority dwellings since October, 1951, without devoting a great deal of work to re-examination of the tenders submitted.Appended below is a table showing the annual figures for starts and completions of houses for local authorities and new towns in England and Wales, taking 1951 to be 100.

Year			Construction begun	Completed
1952	…	…	133	117
1953	…	…	136	143
1954	…	…	116	141
1955	…	…	96	115
1956	…	…	83	99
1957	…	…	79	97
1958	…	…	63	80
1959	…	…	80	70
1960	…	…	65	73
1961	…	…	65	66
1962	…	…	72	74
1963	…	…	85	69

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will publish in Hansard a table of figures giving the percentage increase or decrease in the price of a three-bedroom council house for each month since October, 1951, taking that month as equalling 100, and making such adjustments as may be necessary to compensate for any reduction in size over the years.

My right hon. Friend's information is of tender prices which, until firm price tendering was more widely adopted from 1957, onwards, could differ markedly from final costs. He cannot, however, present tender prices on a monthly basis, adjusted for size of dwelling, without re-examining most of the individual tenders for three-bedroomed houses submitted over the period. He does not consider the monthly movement in tender prices would be of sufficient significance to warrant such a labour. For the annual movement of tender prices over the same period I would refer the hon. Member to the answer my light hon. Friend gave him on 5th February.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what, taking October, 1951, as being 100, has been the percentage increase in council-house building for each month to date.

Quarterly and annual figures for house completions are published quarterly in the Housing Return and monthly figures are published in the Housing Summary. Both are Command Papers.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will recommend to all sewerage boards, about whose works there are public complaints, that they should install modern deodorising apparatus which is now available for such works.

The proper remedy is to remove the cause of offence, which is generally overloading of the works or some failure of the plant. Experience of the deodorising systems at present available suggests that their effect is localised and uncertain, and my right hon. Friend could not undertake to recommend their use as a matter of general policy.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what steps are being taken to restore and use the Guildhall, Column and Oddfellows Hall at Devonport.

My right hon. Friend understands that the Corporation of Plymouth are actively seeking a suitable use for the Guildhall. The Column is a commemorative monument. The Oddfellows Hall is still owned and occupied by that Order.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will initiate discussions between his Department, the Civic Trust and the local authorities in the Lea Valley to consider proposals for the comprehensive redevelopment of the area and the creation of 6,000 acres of open space, sailing facilities, and pleasure grounds.

I welcome the initiative of the local authorities who commissioned this study and of the Civic Trust which carried it out. I understand that the report will be published next month and will then be considered by the local authorities concerned. It will be for them, in the first instance, to decide what action should be taken on it.I shall then gladly consider whether there is any help I can properly give. But my noble friend will appreciate that I cannot at this stage comment on anything which may later come before me for decision.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will publish in HANSARD a table of figures giving the amounts of moneys borrowed by the Tottenham Borough Council from the Public Works Loans Board and other sources in each year since 1961 to date; at what interest rates these amounts were borrowed; and, on the basis of repayment spread over 60 years, what will be the cost of repayment to the council in clearing these debts.

Loans raised during 1961–62 amounted to £2,476,950, and in 1962–63 to £1,166,412. Information about the rates of interest at which these loans were raised is not available and I cannot therefore make the hypothetical calculation for which the hon. Member asks.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs when the report of the Local Government Commission for England on the York and North Midlands General Review Area will be published.

The Commission's report for this area will be published tomorrow. Copies will be available on that day in the Vote Office and copies of the large scale maps will be placed in the Library. I have sent copies of the report and proposals which have not at this stage been examined by the Government, to the local authorities and other bodies concerned, informing them that representations should be sent to me by the end of October. Local inquiries will be held during 1965 before decisions are taken.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether, taking 1951 as being equal to 100, he will publish in HANSARD a table of figures giving the percentage annual rise or fall to date in local authority rates.

Yes. The table below expresses the total rate income of local authorities in England and Wales in terms of a 1951 basis of 100. The figures are misleading; they do not mean that the average ratepayer has paid the increases shown. They make no allowance for the increase in population over this period. Nor do they allow for the decline in the purchasing power of money. As a proportion of gross national product rates rose from 2·8 per cent. in 1951 to 3·8 per cent. in 1963; the corresponding figure for 1938 was 4 per cent. Following is the table:

LOCAL AUTHORITY INCOME FROM RATES, OR FROM PAYMENTS IN LIEU OF RATES, ENGLAND AND WALES
Year		Index Number	Percentage Increase over preceding year
1951–52	…	100	—
1952–53	…	105·7	5·7
1953–54	…	118·3	11·9
1954–55	…	123·7	4·6
1955–56	…	126·9	2·5
1956–57	…	154·8	22·0
1957–58	…	166·5	7·6
1958–59	…	174·7	4·9
1959–60	…	195·8	12·0
1960–61	…	210·1	7·3
1961–62	…	225·4	7·3
1962–63	…	251·0*	11·3*
1963–64	…	276·4*	10·1*
* Estimated.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware of the danger to health where dustbins containing refuse are carried through food shops uncovered; and whether he will advise local authorities to examine the possibility of using self-sealing paper bags in place of dustbins similar to those in use by the Barking Borough Council, and thus obviate the danger to health.

The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes". But the owners of food shops and their servants have a duty under the Food Hygiene (General) Regulations to protect food from risk of contamination. My right hon. Friend and I are sure that local authorities are aware of this risk. In due course they should receive useful advice on refuse collection from the working party which my right hon. Friend has appointed.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies what further steps have been taken to find the telegram sent to him by Mr. Dom Mintoff on 6th May, delivery of which has been confirmed by Cable and Wireless, Malta, and the London post office.

Every effort was made to trace this telegram without success. However, Mr. Mintoff was good enough to send me a copy to which I have replied.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies if he is aware that the Swaziland National Council has at present no funds available for land purchases; and, in view of the importance of land settlement and agricultural development in the territory, if he will consider a special advance from Colonial Development and Welfare funds.

The answer to the first part of the Question is, yes. My reply to the hon. Member on 9th June indicated that the Swaziland Government are well aware of the importance of agricultural development in the territory, and have already formulated schemes for the use of all the Colonial Development and Welfare money which can be made available at present for this purpose.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies what reply has been made to Southern Rhodesia's offer to assist in Commonwealth defence.

These consultations are of course confidential.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies, in view of the constitutional changes in Tanganyika, whether Her Majesty's Government is continuing to make available aid previously promised to Tanganyika.

Yes. Payments will be made to the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar and a Supplementary Estimate will be presented in due course. In the meantime advances as necessary will be sought from the Civil Contingencies Fund.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies whether Her Majesty's Government will make a contribution to relieve distress caused by the recent storms in West Pakistan.

Violent storms ravaged Hyderabad Division in West Pakistan on 13th–14th June as a result of which at least 250 people were killed and large numbers were rendered homeless. There has also been extensive damage to houses and crops in the region. I am sure that the House will wish to join me in expressing our sincere sympathy to the people of West Pakistan.As an indication of our sympathy Her Majesty's Government have offered a token gift of £2,500 to be spent on relief items most urgently required.Parliament will be asked, in due course, to approve a Supplementary Estimate. In the meantime an advance has been made from the Civil Contingencies Fund.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies if he will make a statement on the future of Great Britain's relations with the Maldive Islands.

When I visited Male last September, the Maldivian Prime Minister expressed the desire that the Agreement of 1960 between his Government and the British Government should be revised, so as to enable the Maldive Islands to become a fully independent, sovereign State, on the understanding that the rights and facilities enjoyed at present by the British Government in Addu Atoll would be confirmed and that no military rights and facilities would be accorded in the Maldives to any other country.The British Government have informed the Government of the Maldive Islands that they are willing to revise the Agreement on the lines proposed. Detailed negotiations are now proceeding.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies what grants of money are paid to the Rulers of the South Arabian Protectorates; and what gifts of arms have been made to each of the Rulers over the last five years.

Rulers of States belonging to the Federation of South Arabia receive their stipends from their State budgets. Annual stipends are paid direct from British Government funds to the Rulers of other States in the Protectorate as follows:

		£
Qa'aiti Sultan	…	240
Kathiri Sultan	…	240
Mahra Sultan	…	240
Upper Aulaqi Sultan	…	180
Upper Yafai Sultan	…	120
Maflahi Sheikh	…	90
Alawi Sheikh	…	90

Over the last five years, about 710 rifles have been presented as gifts to the Rulers in accordance with long-standing custom.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will alter the appropriate regulations so as to cause the special Forces rate to apply to the wives of Service men serving overseas.

No. The concessionary postal rates for the Forces are intended to provide a cheap means of communication between the Service man and his family. If the Service man's wife is with her husband overseas there is no case for the concessionary rates being applied to mail sent by or addressed to his wife.The Service man's wife in the United Kingdom, whose husband is overseas, already enjoys a concession. She can use the Forces Air Letter at the cost of 3d., and can send ordinary letters of normal weight by air mail for 3d. within Europe and for 6d. elsewhere.The present concessions cost the taxpayer about £800,000 a year, and I do not think that we should be justified in adding to this sum by extending the concessions.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many Mauritians are serving with the Armed Forces of the Crown; in which Service they are; and what arrangements he has made to make available in Mauritius information and facilities to Mauritians wishing to join the British Forces.

There are no Mauritians in the Royal Navy. Fifty-eight are serving in the Royal Air Force. The numbers serving in the Army are not readily available. There is no Service garrison on Mauritius and no recruiting office. Applications and requests for information about enlistment in the Services are answered direct from the Ministry of Defence.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development what application Messrs Chrysler have made to the Export Credits Department for the sale to Indonesia of 1,000 Dodge trucks, to be manufactured at the Chrysler works at Kew, Surrey.

In present circumstances the Department are unable, for commercial and economic reasons, to cover new business with Indonesia on any substantial scale. It would be a breach of confidence and contrary to our commercial interests to reveal whether applications for cover have been made to the Export Credits Guarantee Department on behalf of particular firms for particular projects.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development, in view of the fact that pay-television companies will operate in competition with cinematograph exhibitors in the showing of feature films, if they will be obliged to pay the statutory levy for film production; and on what basis it will be assessed.

As the law stands the levy is computed by reference to payments for admission to entertainments at cinemas. It would not therefore apply to pay-television. I am however considering what steps, if any, may be needed in order to preserve fairness in the matter of levy contributions as between pay-television operators and cinema exhibitors.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development, in view of the fact that the unrestricted use of non-voting shares for take-over purposes can result in the disenfranchisement of large numbers of shareholders, if he will now introduce legislation to abolish non-voting shares for Stock Exchange companies or to restrict their use in large-scale financial transactions.

I am considering the position of non-voting shares and shall make a statement in due course.

asked the Minister of Aviation if he will break down the approximate figure of £900,000 spent on the new civil airport terminal at Aldergrove in County Antrim, stating the amount spent on land and from whom such land was purchased, the amount spent preparing the area surrounding the terminal building, and the amount spent on the terminal building.

In the development of Aldergrove Civil Airport, £4,167 was spent on purchasing land from Messrs. P. Murray & Co. Ltd. The cost of the terminal building amounted to about £500,000. About £400,000 was spent on the other facilities.

asked the Prime Minister if he will introduce legislation to ensure that the acceptance by Members of Parliament of honours awarded for political services shall be conditional upon an affirmative vote of the House of Commons.

No.

asked the Prime Minister what is the practice of Her Majesty's Government with regard to the length of notice to be given to Members when their Parliamentary Questions are to be transferred.

As much notice is given as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will now make a statement about the approval of the Charter for the proposed University of Strathclyde.

I am happy to inform the hon. Member that Her Majesty has this day been pleased to approve that a Charter should be granted to the new University of Strathclyde. I will place in the Library a copy of the Order in Council approving the grant of the Charter as soon as it is available.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will make a statement on the transfer of the academic staff of colleges of advanced technology to the grading and salary structure recommended by the National Incomes Commission.

Following discussions between my Department, the University Grants Committee, the colleges and their staffs as recommended by the National Incomes Commission, a Code to govern these transfers has been drawn up by agreement and put into operation.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what instructions have been sent to the United Kingdom representative at the United Nations about the continuation of the United Nations force in the Congo.

As far as I am aware, the Congolese Government have not asked for any extension of the United Nations mandate. In these circumstances, the question does not arise.The United Nations military operation in the Congo will come to an end at the end of this month. Any extension of the United Nations mandate would, I understand, require action both by the Security Council and by the General Assembly.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what assistance Her Majesty's Government intend to offer to victims of the recent earthquake in Japan.

The Government propose to donate £3,000 towards the relief of this grave disaster, which has cause such widespread damage and destruction in Northern Japan. Parliament will in due course be asked to vote that amount by means of a Supplementary Estimate. In the meantime an advance will be obtained from the Civil Contingencies Fund.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he is aware that a person in receipt of National Assistance which included an allowance in respect of rent has been given a grant, including removal expenses, from the Ministry of Labour under the Resettlement Transfer Scheme, and that this person left the house owing rent to the Scottish Special Housing Association which held a decree for his eviction; and whether, in cases of this nature, the National Assistance Board take action to recover the money which has been misappropriated.

The National Assistance Board has no power to recover assistance which has been correctly paid but not applied by the recipient for the purpose intended. I am writing to the hon. Member about the case he mentions.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what is the nature of the budgetary provision which has been made for an increase in retirement pensions and other National Insurance benefits.

The provision for increases was explained last December in the Command Paper, No. 2235, on Public Expenditure in 1963–64 and 1967–68.

asked the Minister of Power (1) if he will issue a general direction, in the public interest, to the gas and electricity boards to conduct a survey of caravan sites where gas and electricity is used to ascertain whether, and to what extent, the overcharging for power is taking place by landlords' own installations of private meters operating from their main meters;(2) if he will issue a general direction, in the public interest, to the gas and electricity boards to conduct surveys of cities where, in large flats and old property which has been converted into flats, landlords are overcharging for power by means of installing their own meters in rooms which are operating from main meters installed by them.

No. As resale prices for gas have been fixed it is possible for people to ascertain whether they are being charged correctly. In respect of electricity, I have nothing to add to my reply to the hon. Member for Dorset, South (Mr. Barnett) on 13th February.

asked the Minister of Power if he will refer to the Consumer Council the question of overcharging for gas and electricity by landlords in flats and caravans by using meters which are tampered with to give false readings, with a view to their considering ways and means of combating this exploitation.

The law requires that all gas meters must be certified as accurate. Electricity resale meters do not have to be so certified. The Consumer Council announced on 28th May that it is investigating the problem of fixing resale prices for electricity and I understand that it would like to be informed of cases involving apparently false or inaccurate readings on meters installed for resale.

asked the Minister of Power if he will issue a general direction, in the public interest, to the gas and electricity boards to refuse the piping and wiring of power into flats and caravans from their own authorised mains meter unless a similar approved meter is installed which will be designed to give correct readings for all power used.

No.

asked the Minister of Power what date has been fixed for the receipt of tenders for the various types of nuclear power stations on which the Government's future will be decided.

The Central Electricity Generating Board have asked for tenders to be sent by 1st February, 1965.

asked the Minister of Power how many nuclear power stations are planned for the production of the 5,000 megawatts envisaged in the Second Nuclear Power Programme, Command Paper No. 2335.

The Central Electricity Generating Board plan three stations and part of a fourth.

asked the Minister of Power what were the total amounts of money received by the National Coal Board from the sale of red shale in the North-East Division, Yorkshire, and in the country, respectively, in each of the financial years 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, and 1963–64.

I am asking the Chairman of the National Coal Board to write to the hon. Member about this.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if the Home Office report on the formation of regional crime squads will be applied to Scotland; when he hopes to have a regional crime squad operating in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

I shall consider the relevance to Scottish conditions of any proposals the Home Office Research and Planning Branch may make. Meanwhile Scottish chief constables are considering the desirability of extending the regional crime squad that already operates in the west of Scotland and of developing similar arrangements elsewhere.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what approximate starting and finishing dates he has now approved for the infilling of the Monk-land Canal at Coatbridge; and what will be the approximate cost of this project.

I understand that the Town Council hopes to make a start on the scheme during August and to complete it about a year later. The cost is expected to be about £335,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has for the development of research into the design and operation of hospitals.

I hope to begin building a Scottish Hospital Centre for this purpose in Edinburgh in August. This will be a joint enterprise between the Scottish hospital authorities and my Department, and the council of management for the centre will hold its first meeting on 3rd July. I hope the centre will be completed next year.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total shortage of school teachers in 1963; what was the shortage in primary, junior and senior secondary schools; what was the shortage in each subject taught in junior and senior secondary schools; what is the estimated shortage in 1964, 1965 and 1970; what steps he is taking to stimulate recruitment to the profession; and in what year it is estimated that schools will be fully staffed.

The number of teachers required to fill vacancies, reduce oversize classes, and replace uncertificated teachers and re-employed retired teachers over 70 years of age was estimated by education authorities and other school managers at 7th October, 1963, to be 3,482. Of these 1,363 were required in primary schools and 2,119 in secondary schools.The shortages of secondary teachers by subject were:

		Total
English	…	251
History and Geography	…	113
Economics	…	1
Classics	…	24
Gaelic	…	4
Modern Languages	…	103
Mathematics	…	320
Science	…	248
Art	…	188
Applied Science	…	7
Agriculture and Horticulture	…	16
Commercial Subjects	…	112
Homecraft	…	361
Music	…	313
Physical Education
Men	…	70
Women	…	114
Speech and Drama	…	32
Technical Subjects	…	88

The total shortage is expected to fall to about 3,000 in 1964 and 1965. The Robbins Committee on Higher Education estimated that by 1970 the shortage would fall to 300 if circumstances did not change. With the raising of the school leaving age the shortage is likely to be about 4,500 in 1970 and, on the Robbins Committee's forecasts, will not be eliminated until about 1976.Measures taken to encourage recruitment include regular visits of "recruiting teams" of serving teachers to the universities, the special recruitment scheme, the recent nationwide campaign to encourage married women to return to teaching, and substantial increases in the salaries of teachers.