asked the Minister of Labour what is the success rate in placing men in employment in Scotland after undergoing a course of retraining; and what are the figures for the retraining centre at Muircockhall, near Dunfermline.

In the past twelve months, 295 of the 342 men trained at Government training centres in Scotland were placed in the trades for which they were trained. At the Dunfermline Centre, 55 have been trained and 53 of them already placed.

Has the response of redundant miners, particularly in the Fife area, been any more encouraging than was shown by the figures the right hon. Gentleman gave a month ago when I last raised this matter?

The Muircockhall Training Centre in the Fife area which has a capacity of 76 now has 69 trainees, so that we are fairly well satisfied with the position there. I cannot, without notice, tell the hon. Gentleman the percentage of ex-miners in training.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the estimated net migration of insured workers from Wales in each calendar year from 1951 to 1963, inclusive.

As the answer consists of a table of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT. I regret that figures for the migration of employees were not produced prior to the year ended June, 1952.

I thought the right hon. Gentleman would give an average figure. Has he no policy for retaining these workers in Wales? Are there no proposals for that purpose? In the absence of his giving the figures, has he considered the estimated natural increase in the population of Wales over the next 25 years of 750,000? Have the Government no plans for that? Do the Government consider direction of industry as the aim of their policy?

The average figure works out at just under 4,000 a year over the whole period. It has actually been considerably less over the last year or two. The amount of employment in Wales has substantially improved, as the hon. Gentleman will be aware. Therefore, I think that the position generally is not unfavourable at present. Of course, we must go on attracting more industries to these areas, and some of the newer industries there have been very successful.

These 4,000 people represent a considerable loss to Wales. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that depopulation is rife in some parts of the country? Would he not consider some positive measures to arrest the decline in the population represented by the emigration of 4,000 people every year?

Yes, Sir. As I said, the average over the last two years has been only half that figure. It has, therefore, been substantially better. We must encourage the newer industries, which are already moving into the area.

asked the Minister of Labour how many registered disabled persons are unemployed in the Ministry of Labour employment exchanges at Aberdare and Mountain Ash.

On 15th June 1964, there were 118 registered disabled persons registered as unemployed at Aberdare Employment Exchange and 43 at Mountain Ash Employment Exchange.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that there is no Remploy factory in the whole of my constituency, although in the adjacent constituencies to mine there are Remploy factories? Will he convey this fact to his right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, who, in turn, perhaps could convey the fact to the Glamorgan County Council, which is in the course of setting up sheltered workshops?

The hon. Gentleman will appreciate that Remploy caters only for the severely disabled. I know that my right hon. Friend very much welcomes the initiative of the Glamorgan County Council. As to the hon. Member's suggestion about a quota, a proposal rather similar to this was considered by the Piercy Committee and rejected. I do not think it would be in the best interests of disabled people.

asked the Minister of Labour how many workpeople left the North-East in the years ended mid-1963 and mid-1964, respectively.

It is estimated that in the year ended mid-1963 the net migration of employees from the Northern Region was 12,000. Details for the year ended mid-1964 are not yet available. I regret that separate figures are not available for the North-East.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that these figures continued to show the same average for a number of years before 1962? Does not his reply make nonsense of the Government's claims, put forward in this House last Thursday by the Secretary of State for Industry and Trade?

No, it does not. The figures I gave were up to the middle of 1963. There has been progress since then, but the plans for the North-East had not yet had time to affect the figures.

How many workpeople came into the area?

The figure I gave was a net figure. During the year ending May 1963, a total of 45,000 people left the region but 33,000 entered it. There is thus considerable movement in and out.

Will the right hon. Gentleman note that most people who migrate from the North-East, Scotland or Wales inevitably tend to gravitate towards; the London area, causing very serious problems in housing, transport and other social services?

That is one reason why the Government have been producing regional plans, including that for the South-East.

When will later figures be available? According to previous information given to me, they are usually made up to mid-April. If that is so, why are they not available in this case?

I cannot tell the precise date on which they will be available. The figures I gave were for the middle of 1963, so that they were up to the end of June.

asked the Minister of Labour how many firms have ceased production in the North-East since April 1963 to the latest convenient date; and how many workpeople have lost their employment in consequence.

Other than National Coal Board establishments, the closures of 47 firms in the North-East affecting 3,796 workers have been notified to my local offices during the period.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this pattern has been continuing for many years? What efforts have he and the Secretary of State for Industry and Trade been making to get some parent firms into the North-East instead of offshoots, which close down quite quickly as soon as the first breath of ill wind comes?

The hon. Gentleman has a Question down to my right hon. Friend later this week and I will therefore leave my right hon. Friend to answer that point. It is relevant to point out now, however, that over the period referred to unemployment in the North-East has dropped by 27,487—from 5·4 per cent. to 3 per cent. This shows that, in spite of closures, a great deal has been done in the area.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that we in the North-East welcome new firms coming in, whether they be parents or offshoots? But to encourage them to stay, might it not be worth while for a more positive policy to be adopted of selling trading estate factories to sitting tenants so that they may feel they own property that is worth while?

I will draw that suggestion to the attention of my right hon. Friend, who is pressing ahead with more advance factories in the area. These are helping to attract new firms.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that a large number of new factories have started production at the same time as others have ceased? Is he further aware that a large number of existing firms have increased production in the North-East?

I can confirm that statement. The only reason that I have not spoken more fully on this subject is that there is a Question to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Industry and Trade, later this week.

asked the Minister of Labour what reply he has sent to the letter of the Council of British Sanitary Pottery Manufacturers about the typhoid epidemic in Aberdeen and the need for increased facilities for hand washing, &c.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Reply I gave on 6th July to the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Mr. Swingler). I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the reply sent to the Council of British Sanitary Pottery Manufacturers.

Will that letter be sympathetic to the appeal by the sanitary manufacturers? Does not he agree that this aspect of hygiene has become very important since the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act, 1963, was passed and that it is no use asking people to wash their hands after they have used the toilet unless provision to do so is adequate? Does the hon. Gentleman's reply to the manufacturers give some encouragement to them?

I think the answer is that in itself the Act marks a very significant step forward. On the other hand, where suitable and sufficient washing facilities are otherwise provided in a position conveniently accessible to employed persons, as is required by the Act, it would seem unreasonable to require by law the provision of additional facilities which the suggestion of the sanitary manufacturers would entail.

Does the hon. Gentleman realise that there is now no epidemic in that beautiful and healthy City of Aberdeen, which has full hygiene facilities of every kind, including hand washing?

I welcome what the hon. and learned Gentleman says, and I am sure the House does, too, but he will equally realise that it hardly arises from this Question.

Has the hon. Gentleman studied the work done at the Porton Biological Warfare Establishment on the problem of the contamination of hands? Is he aware that when hand-washing facilities are made available inside a room where there is a lavatory it is not very useful because contamination of the floors and walls, and particularly of the door, occurs every time there is flushing of the lavatory? That being the case, will the hon. Gentleman bear in mind that the right thing to do is to have hand-washing facilities outside the room?

That conflicts, to some extent, with the suggestions that have been put forward on other occasions, but I am very interested to have the benefit of the hon. Gentleman's technical advice.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will have consultations with the British Sanitary Pottery Manufacturers' Council concerning his regulations about the provision of wash basins in office and shop premises.

Our officers consulted the Council at every stage in the preparation of these regulations, which have now been made. They would be willing to receive further representations, but the points which the Council have made have been fully considered.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that the Members who represent North Staffordshire are agreed that steps should be taken to implement the universal provision of wash basins adjacent to lavatories? Will he take note of that fact and perhaps find a convenient opportunity to consult the British Sanitary Pottery Manufacturers Council on the possibilities of increasing production to enable this to be carried out universally?

The British Sanitary Pottery Manufacturers Council has been consulted, as I said. The scales that we have proposed were found to be acceptable to the great majority of the many organisations consulted, including employers' associations, trade unions and local authority associations. They would appear to be powerfully helped by the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Sir B. Stross), and with that support it will be seen that we have not done too badly.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will set up a departmental inquiry to study the difficulties of men over the age of 50 years, who find themselves unable to get worthwhile employment after being made redundant in business, professional or industrial life.

The difficulties experienced by older redundant workers are already well known. I am considering whether, in the light of the improved employment situation, there is anything further my Department can do to promote the employment of older workers.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that, even in the affluent society, this very human problem is far more prevalent than is probably realised? Now that we have labour shortages because of full employment in many areas, does not he think it an admirable opportunity for many firms to take old people? Will he do everything possible to encourage them to do so?

Yes. I welcome my hon. Friend's; suggestion, and I hope that this Question and Answer will get adequate publicity. I think there is more firms can do to make use of some older workers. My local offices always try to persuade manufacturers to abandon any maximum age limit they have chosen to impose, and I am sure that this is the right course to follow.

Has my right hon. Friend kept in touch with the War Department and other Service Departments, which have done a fine job in placing ex-Service men over the age of 50?

Yes. I kept in very close touch with the War Department at one time during my career. I assure my hon. Friend that we appreciate the very good work done by the Service Departments and will profit by it in every way we can.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is satisfied with the working of the Payment of Wages Act, 1960; and what evidence he has of an increase in the payment of wages by cheque or money orders, in view of the increasing incidence of theft of moneys for wages in transit.

I am not aware of any difficulty in connection with the operation of this Act. Up to the present, there does not appear to have been any widespread change in methods of wage payment.

Is my hon. Friend aware that wage thefts continue to increase? Is it not time for a measure of compulsion in certain areas to enforce the Payment of Wages Act, 1960, where necessary? Can we not give greater publicity to the benefits of the Act? How much money has been stolen in the last 12 months?

I naturally agree that the robberies are serious, and everyone is rightly concerned about them. Under the Act, the proposal for payment otherwise than in cash must come from the workers. This is an important safeguard, and I would not agree that we would be justified in departing from it. I cannot give my hon. and gallant Friend the robbery figures.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will publish in HANSARD a table of figures giving for each quarter in each calendar year since January, 1952, the percentage rise or fall in unemployment, wages, and the cost of living; and to what extent he estimates the increase in taxation and Government expenditure since 1952 has been responsible for the increase in the index of retail prices.

Changes in rates of Purchase Tax and in Customs and Excise duties are estimated to have raised the index of retail prices by about 3 per cent. since January, 1952. It is not possible to estimate the effect on the index of retail prices of changes in Government expenditure.

Do not the figures show that since 1952 retail prices have increased by 49 per cent., food by 56 per cent., taxes on fuel, spirits, tobacco and so on, including sweets, by 33 per cent., while the value of the £ has fallen to 13s. 4d. and our import prices and world prices have been dropping? Does the Minister subscribe to the remark made last week by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he said that the rise in food prices was due to Government policy in abolishing food subsidies, even though they faithfully promised that they would not do so?

Out of that interesting set of statistics there was one fact which the hon. Gentleman no doubt overlooked to mention. This was that during that period average earnings rose by 98 per cent. Therefore, every section of the community is better off, in spite of the figures which the hon. Gentleman has given.

Does not my right hon. Friend agree that my hon. namesake opposite has probably been so involved in going on a whistle-stop tour letting people in the country see how prosperous he is under the Conservatives that he has not been able to read up the facts?

I hope that the hon. Gentleman opposite will be able to continue to prosper under a Tory Government for many years to come.

rose—

Mr. Arthur Lewis, for the next Question.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will publish in HANSARD a table of figures giving the percentage rise or fall in unemployment for each quarter from January, 1952, taking that date as 100.

I am arranging for a table of figures to be published in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Knowing that I am only ever allowed to ask one supplementary question, may I ask whether the Minister is aware that during my tour, looking prosperous, I noticed people who were not so prosperous and who were unfortunately finding themselves unemployed, conveniently between elections, but able to get their jobs back just prior to elections? Can we have an assurance from the Minister that this is not just another Tory election gimmick?

It is a pity that the hon. Gentleman did not wait until he had studied the figures, for had he done so he would probably rather not have asked that supplementary question. When he studies the figures, he will see that there was a fall consistently, apart from the beginning of 1952–53, right through the period until the end of 1957—

Just right for the election.

The elections were in 1955 and 1959. The figures rose in 1958 and the rise went right through from 1959 until 1960 and fell thereafter. The figures have no relevance whatever to the claim made by the hon. Gentleman.

Would not the right hon. Gentleman readily agree that the rise was the outcome of Government policy? Although he now claims that unemployment is coming down, would he not admit that it is not coming down as much as Government policy put it up?

It is coming down very sharply. Over the whole period of Conservative Government full employment has been maintained in this country to a greater degree than in any other developed country.

asked the Minister of Labour how many building craftsmen and how many building labourers, respectively, are now out of work in the North-East.

On 15th June, 1964, 5,812 workers whose last employment was in the construction industry were registered as wholly unemployed at employment exchanges in the North-East. Of these, 887 were skilled craftsmen, 4,712 were labourers or in other occupations, 31 were women and 182 were young persons.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman find these figures very disturbing? Could it be that the pump-priming operation in the North-East has not been as satisfactory as the Government have held it out to be, or is there a shortage of bricks, or no retraining of labourers? What is the problem?

I am not and will not be satisfied until we get the figure lower, but it is little more than a half of what it was 12 months ago. The great bulk is among those classified as labourers, which is where the main difficulty now exists. As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, we are expanding retraining facilities under the Industrial Training Act and the new boards which I am setting up in connection with that Act.

Is my right hon. Friend aware of the very heavy programme of the building industry in the North-East? Is he aware that there are already shortages in some trades in the building industry in the area?

Yes, this is abundantly true. In view of that, I have every confidence that the position will continue to improve.

If the figure 12 months ago was double what it is now, and it is bad enough now, who was to blame then?

I was seeking not to apportion blame but to show how much better the position is now.

asked the Minister of Labour how many unemployed juveniles from the Bishop Auckland constituency are taking courses or have taken courses in the Government training centres in the North-East.

Three boys from the Bishop Auckland constituency are at present on the first year engineering apprenticeship course at Tursdale. Three others completed the same course there last year.

Does not the Parliamentary Secretary find these figures disturbing? What percentage of those six would be from the Barnard Castle Urban or Barnard Castle Rural District areas? Would the answer be none? Is it not a fact that there are no adequate training facilities for practically the whole of the constituency?

I would not find the figures disturbing, bearing in mind the purpose of the courses. As the hon. Gentleman knows, these are not the only training opportunities available in the area. In the Bishop Auckland Youth Employment Office area 64 boys obtained apprenticeships in industry in the first half of this year, and there were 189 during 1963. I think that that puts a somewhat different complexion on the problem.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will make a statement on the future employment position at Kenfig, Glamorgan, having regard to the fact that over 500 men have been given notice that the Distillers Company will cease to manufacture carbide there in two years' time; and what plans he has to find employment there for these men.

I understand that the Distillers Company's carbide factory is to close in two years time and that the employees, including a small number of women, will be discharged. The company has said that it will make every effort to find alternative employment for its redundant workers and the full facilities of our Department will be available to all who seek our help. I am not prepared to forecast the position in two years time.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware of the widespread anxiety in mid-Glamorgan not only about this closure but about suggestions of possible redundancies at the Steel Company of Wales? In view of this and the recent closure of the Prestcold plant and the fact that the birthrate in Port Talbot alone is running at 1,000 a year, will he consider as a matter of urgency with the Secretary of State for Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Power setting up a special inter-departmental committee to study the employment needs of the area?

I understand that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry and Trade is prepared to encourage suitable new developments employing women and young persons in this area. Furthermore, it is worth pointing out that Messrs. Steinberg recently announced their intention of establishing a clothing factory in the Pontypridd area to give employment to 400 workers. This is a valuable development.

Since when has his right hon. Friend been willing to give this special encouragement? Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the employment offered by Messrs. Steinberg is not suitable for any of the men employed at the Distillers' factory?

What matters is that my right hon. Friend is now prepared to give it. The hon. Gentleman will agree that employment prospects for men in the area are good, but that employment prospects for women and young persons have been less favourable. On the whole there should now be reasonable prospects for these people.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will instruct employment exchanges to discontinue recording the discriminatory requests of employers who are discriminating against employees on account of their religion, race, or colour; and if he will require them to expunge such references from their present records.

My local offices have to make a note of the stipulations made by employers when notifying their vacancies to us. Otherwise they would send men for jobs they had no chance of getting. They would also be unable to carry out their instructions to try to persuade employers to withdraw discriminatory conditions.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this is causing considerable anxiety and that it is extremely serious that a Government office should record the desires of a person who wants to discriminate against others? Does he not agree that no one should be asked his race or religion when seeking employment? What right has an official at an employment exchange to ask such a question? Will the right hon. Gentleman reconsider this matter, regarding it as anti-social and contrary to the interests of the country and the individual that anyone should be asked such a question?

I have given very careful thought to this matter. There is no question of discrimination by our officials. What we are always seeking to do is to bring pressure on the employers concerned to abandon any attempt at discrimination. In fact, I have recently tightened up the rules in this respect to the extent that where it is shown that continued resistance is due to prejudice, eventually and after due consideration, we are prepared to withdraw the facilities of the employment exchange.

I recognise the dilemma here, in that a coloured person would not wish to be sent to a firm which would send him back merely because he was coloured and it may be fairer that he knows, but instead of leaving it to his local officials to bring some pressure to bear, will the right hon. Gentleman, as the Minister responsible, issue a declaration deploring this conduct which is so contrary to our tolerance in Britain?

I deplore this conduct very strongly, and I say that publicly here at this Box. I have given great thought to this point, and recently I have introduced a new procedure whereby if local officials are unable to persuade a firm not to use this sort of discrimination they refer it to the regional office. The regional office can then use persuasion, and if that fails it refers the matter to Headquarters. Finally I or my Parliamentary Secretary take action to refuse to deal with any vacancies from that firm. This is a new procedure which I have introduced, and I hope that it will commend itself to the House.

Would not my right hon. Friend agree that, on occasion, when employers exercise some discrimination this is often due to the attitude of their own workers rather than any desire on their part? Would not it be helpful if the local trade unions co-operated in trying to break down this discrimination?

I think that it is right that this should be a joint operation, as it were, and I shall welcome the help of the trade unions in doing just that.

In reply to a supplementary question the Minister made a statement, which he has not made publicly before, which is of great importance. He said that if other efforts failed employers' needs would not be met through employment exchanges if they persisted in their discriminatory attitude. Will the Minister clarify that and make it clear that if, after persuasion, a firm insists on adopting a discriminatory attitude, for which there is no justification, that firm's needs will not be met through the employment exchange?

That is it. If it is without justification, we adhere rigidly to what I have just announced.

I appreciate the Minister's good intentions, but is there any reason at all why a person should be discriminated against on the grounds of religion or race? Will the Minister see to it that that question is not put? Why should the fact that a person is a Unitarian, or a Roman Catholic, or a Jew, be recorded on the official report so that an individual is insulted by employers' prejudices as soon as he goes there? What if the person answers "human race" in reply to the question about his race?

I assure the hon. Gentleman that we will not ask this question of anybody. I think that the point here is that we are wholly opposed to this discrimination. We think that it is thoroughly bad in every sense, and we do not condone it in any way.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is satisfied with the progress being made by the departmental studies of automation; and if he will make a statement.

The first Report by my Manpower Research Unit on the future pattern of employment in broad sectors of the economy will, amongst other factors, deal briefly with the effects of automation. It will be published towards the end of next month. Other studies of manpower in particular industries are expected to be published later in the year. The series of case studies of the effect of technological change on human relations which are being carried out by my Department on behalf of O.E.C.D. are also nearing completion.

Can my right hon. Friend give any indication of the likely effects of automation on employment over the next ten years, and does he think that some of the fears which are being expressed in some quarters about this advancement are a little over-done?

I was making a speech on this subject in Geneva only last night. It is of the greater importance that we should get this into the right perspective. The best indications that we can get are that, with the need for manpower at present, the degree of automation over the next five to ten years will be a help in meeting our requirements rather than in leading to widespread redundancy.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is satisfied that at the inception of the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act in August there will be sufficient appointments made for its enforcement; and if he will make a statement.

Local and fire authorities are aware of their responsibilities for enforcement and I am confident that they will take the necessary action to meet them. A letter sent to all local authorities has expressed my concern that there should be effective enforcement of the Act and has given general guidance on this subject. The recruitment of factory inspectors is dealt with in my Answer to Question No. 18.

I am very glad to have that assurance from the Minister. There have been some background noises about adequate arrangements not having been made, but I hope that what the Minister has said will be helpful. In view of the importance of this piece of legislation, will he be good enough to keep the matter under constant review for the time being?

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comment. I shall do that. Along with the hon. Gentleman, I accept the importance of this.

asked the Minister of Labour what plans he has to rectify the 10–12 per cent. under-establishment of the factory department; and what steps he has taken and is taking to ensure that there are sufficient factory inspectors available to enforce the requirements of the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act.

There is a continuing competition for the recruitment of factory inspectors and steps have been taken to improve both the publicity for it and liaison with the universities and technical colleges from which most of the candidates come. These measures have resulted in a net increase in the actual strength of the Inspectorate of 32 in the last 2½ years. That part of the work of enforcing the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act which falls on the Factory Inspectorate will be spread over the whole body of some four hundred inspectors and forty-two new posts were authorised some months ago to meet the additional load.

I am sure that the Minister is fully aware of the under-establishment of the factory department, and that is the main purpose of the Question, although of course on the more general question I hope that he feels that that is well in hand. May I ask whether, in view of the comprehensive nature of this business and the concern which he has expressed, he will be good enough to look at this from time to time to see that there is an adequate inspectorate?

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that there is a need to keep up our Factory Inspectorate. I have discussed this problem of recruitment with the Chief Inspector of Factories on a number of occasions, and I hope that we shall achieve our full establishment in the near future.

Is it not appalling that the Government, having had four years' notice of this additional need for factory inspectors for registering offices, should still find themselves short of factory inspectors? Can he say how many we are short of at the present time? Will he consider whether, in the interim period, during the initial part of the registration of offices and shops, it will be possible to use Ministry of Labour Grade 5 officers as aides to factory inspectors purely for the registration of offices and shops? This does not seem something for which it is necessary to train factory inspectors.

In reply to the hon. Gentleman's first question, the actual shortage over the whole field of the Factory Inspectorate is 48. We recruited 41 new inspectors in 1962, 43 last year, and I hope that we shall have a better picture by the end of this year. The hon. Gentleman will appreciate that in relation to this Act a large part of the inspection is the responsibility of local authorities and not of my Ministry.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will now review the decision of Her Majesty's Government not to make a donation to the Endowment Fund of the Institute of Labour Studies in Geneva, in view of the donations made by other countries since that decision was made; and if he will make a statement.

More than two-thirds of the income of the Institute comes from the Regular Budget of the International Labour Organisation and by this means, therefore, we already make a substantial contribution to it.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the latest report of the Institute shows that 43 other Governments now make a donation to the Endowment Fund, in addition to paying their assessed share of the regular budget? This includes not only relatively prosperous countries like France and West Germany, but many poor countries from Asia and Africa. In these circumstances, should not the British Government reconsider their attitude, bearing in mind that a number of the participants in this scheme are from the Commonwealth, including territories for which we still have a responsibility?

I have looked at this. It is true, as the hon. Gentleman says, that these other countries have contributed. On the other hand, neither the United States nor the Soviet Union have done so. We have felt that it was right to continue to contribute through the regular budget. It is not without relevance that our share of the regular budget of the International Labour Office is higher than our share of any other specialised agency. In other words, it is between 9 per cent. and 10 per cent., whereas it has been between 7 per cent. and 8 per cent. of the budget of the other United Nations agencies.

asked the Minister of Labour to what extent his regulations on washing facilities in offices and shops will ensure universal provision of wash basins adjacent to lavatories.

The Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act requires that both sanitary conveniences and washing facilities must be provided for employees at places conveniently accessible to them. As I told the hon. Member on 6th July, my right hon. Friend has no power to require wash basins to be placed adjacent to sanitary conveniences, but this will no doubt be the most usual arrangement.

Bearing in mind the lessons that should have been learned from epidemics and such things, does the Parliamentary Secretary realise that the time has come for the universal provision of wash basins adjacent to lavatories? Does not he agree that this ought to be done and, if he has not the power to do it, will not he take it and require it to be done? It would be quite a simple step.

I should like to make two points. First, I repeat that in the provision of washing facilities the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act marks a significant step forward. Secondly, I must ask the hon. Member to consult his hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Sir B. Stross), who has considerable technical knowledge of this matter.

asked the Minister of Labour how many boys and girls living in the Jarrow constituency will be leaving school at the end of July; and what are their prospects of finding employment.

Figures for the constituency itself are not available, but in the Jarrow Youth Employment Office area, between 1,000 and 1,400 boys and girls are expected to leave school this summer. I am hopeful that the majority of them will be able to obtain employment without undue difficulty.

I appreciate that no one has done more to find employment for the boys and girls concerned than the local youth employment officer, but does the hon. Member realise that there are 150 boys and girls still without a job in Jarrow and that over the last twelve months it has averaged about 200? Since the hon. Member is hopeful that the majority will obtain employment shortly, does he think he will be more successful in the next six months than he has been in the past six months?

Out of the 450 boys and girls who left school at Easter only five boys were still registered for first employment on 13th July. That shows a pretty considerable success in placing. As to the future possibilities, some of the boys in the number that he mentioned have only just left the technical college and have registered immediately. A local engineering firm will probably be taking about 50 boys. We have had about 20 boys' vacancies notified since the figures were published, and, on the whole, the position in respect of girls is reasonably good. We are therefore justified in saying that the prospects are reasonable.

How can the hon. Gentleman say that the figures are reasonably good when he compares what has obtained in my constituency over the last six months with what obtains in respect of national employment? In my constituency the rate of unemployment among boys and girls is considerably higher than the national average. We want to see our boys and girls given the same facilities as those which boys and girls in other parts of the country are enjoying.

I can only say that the position in the hon. Member's area has improved. I take note of what he says, but we must not forget the improvement. The prospects are very much better than they have been for some time.

asked the Minister of Labour when the Industrial Training Board for Engineering will make a firm decision about the levy which engineering firms will have to pay for training; and when it will report on the methods, length of time and success of present apprentice schemes.

I regret that I cannot yet add anything to the answer I gave on 13th July to the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Mr. Boyden).

In view of the fact that we do not yet know when these facilities for training will be available, does not the right hon. Gentleman think it is a crying shame that he should be unable to take advantage of all the facilities offered to him by Messrs. Baker Perkins to provide training facilities for the boys to whom I referred in my previous Question?

As the hon. Member knows, I looked carefully into the question to see whether there was some way in which I could do this. The main thing is that we have our Industrial Training Act on the Statute Book. We are going ahead with the boards, and I hope that it will not be long before the engineering board, which I set up only last week, will be able to get going in this matter.

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the speed with which the engineering training board and the other three boards have been set up, but will he urge them to be as quick as possible in making a decision on the levy so as to remove doubt in the minds of industrialists as to their responsibilities?

I am sure that they are actively aware of this. They are keen to make progress. Indeed, several have met before being formally constituted.

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that there is a danger that some firms are still waiting to see what the levy arrangements are and are delaying the training plans which they should be making, and that this may have an adverse effect on those leaving school in the summer? Will he confirm the need for boards to get on with this as quickly as possible? Does he agree that they could back-date their levy agreement arrangements to the date when the Act came into force, thereby taking into account apprentices and others taken on from this year's school-leavers?

These are matters which the boards themselves must determine. I am sure that they will take note of the point that the hon. Member has made. As for the general point, I would hope that firms will not back-pedal on their training arrangements. It may be that other firms who were going to introduce new arrangements have waited. I have urged them in constant speeches not to do this, because any new arrangements that they make can easily be dovetailed into the system. It will help rather than hinder them if they go ahead now.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that the Remploy Factory in Aberdeen is prevented from working to its full capacity as a result of shortage of staff; how many persons have been treated and rehabilitated there during each of the last 10 years; what has been the nature and duration of the incapacity of each person; and what was the nature of the work for which each has been trained.

The Remploy factory at Aberdeen has its full quota of supervisory staff, as distinct from severely disabled factory employees. The capacity in the factory cannot be filled at present because of shortage of orders for the factory's products. With regard to the second part of the Question, the purpose of Remploy factories is to provide permanent sheltered employment for severely disabled persons. It is not possible to give the medical history of the factory employees over the past 10 years.

Does the hon. Member realise that that is a very unsatisfactory Answer, and that the work done in the Aberdeen Remploy factory is a potential source of national wealth and productivity, quite apart from its humane aspect? To leave it under-staffed is to undermine our national wealth, to some extent. Will he reconsider his reply and see that the factory is adequately staffed to carry on its work to the fullest extent?

I cannot accept that the Answer that I have just given is wholly unsatisfactory. The total capacity for severely disabled people at this factory is 64, and there are 49 working there at present. It is, therefore, providing a considerable contribution. We have to face the fact that, if orders are short, we cannot continue to over-employ people when their products cannot be sold. Remploy must step up its effort to sell more, as I know it is doing.

asked the Minister of Labour what representations he has received from the trade union and employers' organisations on the effect of wage drift, brought on by bonus incentive schemes, guaranteed overtime working, etc., on national wage negotiation and its possible effect upon an incomes policy.

None, Sir.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the point was made in a recent Report of the National Incomes Commission that it was not just wage increases which caused difficulty in holding income increases across the board but that all sorts of other things—such as overtime, bonuses and so on—came into it and that both sides of industry were interested in this matter? Will my right hon. Friend draw this to the attention of the trade unions and employers and, if possible, discuss it with them?

I can assure my hon. Friend that this has been brought to the attention of both sides of industry and that it is a matter which the National Economic Development Council is itself concerned with in relation to the development of an incomes policy. These are matters of great concern with which we must press ahead on a basis of co-operation among employers, trade unions and the Government.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware, however, that on about 14 occasions the Government have interfered in freely negotiated agreements, including industrial agreements, and that on almost every occasion those agreements concerned people like nurses, hospital workers and teachers, none of whom work on an incentive basis, and all of whom are employed on the lower paid basic rates? If that is the Government's policy, namely, attacking the weakest first, will the Minister do something to prevent the Government taking the same attitude towards the postmen?

That is not a very helpful comment, it is wholly inaccurate in relation to the general attitude. It is only because the Government do not attack the weakest people that I am not replying more strongly to the hon. Member's remarks.

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will give the average overtime per operative worked in all manufacturing industries for the week ended 31st May, 1964, compared with the average for the years 1963, 1962, and 1961.

The average number of hours overtime worked per operative in all manufacturing industries for week ended 16th May, 1964, the only date in May for which information is available, was 2·6 hours, compared with annual averages of 23 hours, 2·2 hours and 2·3 hours for 1963, 1962 and 1961, respectively.

Are those figures not a clear indication of the way in which the basic working hours have gone down continuously in the last few years, during which time we have been in office?

It is perfectly true that the basic working hours have gone down, and I welcome the fact that this has been done through freely negotiated agreements.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the ratio of wholly-unemployed persons to notified unfilled vacancies in London and the South-East and in Scotland at the latest available date and the comparable date in 1961.

One hundred to 239 for the London and South Eastern Region and 100 to 25 for Scotland in June, 1964, compared with 100 to 265 and 100 to 36 respectively in June, 1961.

This means, of course, that the position, from the point of view of both the nation and Scotland, is worse than it was; that we are right back to where we were, even worse, than 1961, with 70,000 people unemployed in Scotland—[Interruption.]—and will the Minister say what he is going to do to remedy the position? What is today's complacent story?

We do not need to have complacent stories. We rely on the facts as they emerge, and unemployment in Scotland fell by 8,500 between May and June of this year. It is now 24,000 lower than it was a year ago. These are the facts that matter to the people of Scotland.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the ratio of wholly-unemployed boys under 18 years of age to notified unfilled vacancies for boys in Birmingham and Glasgow at the relevant dates in June, 1964.

At mid-June, for every 100 wholly unemployed boys there were 2,895 notified vacancies in Birmingham and 88 in Glasgow.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that these two cities are almost equal in population? Does he realise that the differentiation and distortion in job opportunity in Birmingham as compared with Glasgow has become traditional over the years, and will he give an explanation for this?

The hon. Gentleman is surely aware of the action which the Government have been taking in the last two years to try to rectify this position, and that the position is improving in Glasgow. I was talking about this with some of the local people in Glasgow a week or two ago. It is worth pointing out that of the boys who left school at Easter in Glasgow, only 11 were still registered for first employment in June.

asked the Minister of Labour what was the ratio of wholly-unemployed boys under 18 years of age to notified unfilled vacancies for boys in the Midlands and in Scotland at the relevant dates in June, 1964.

At mid-June, for every 100 wholly unemployed boys under 18 there were 2,122 unfilled vacancies in the Midlands and 111 in Scotland.

Does the right hon. Gentleman feel that this is a scandalous difference between these two areas? Does he not agree that instead of the difference narrowing it is widening between various parts of the country? Does he not appreciate that this is perhaps the best measure of all as to job opportunities in any part of the country, and would he not further agree that the Scottish people are rightly justified in feeling that their interests have been badly neglected by this Government?

That is not so. Naturally the position is different, for the reasons I gave in reply to earlier Questions, but the fact remains that the position in Scotland is improving materially at the moment. That is what matters.

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware of the inconvenience caused to many travellers by the recent trade dispute at London Airport; and if he will make a statement on the causes and the present position.

Yes, Sir. A strike involving employees of B.O.A.C., B.E.A., and the Shell Oil Company took place at London Airport on 10th July. It arose from a dispute over the arrangements for the parking of employees' cars. The strike caused serious delays and in the case of British European Airways, complete stoppage of their services.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that many members of the public, including constituents of mine, who spend an hour or two travelling each day to their work are disgusted by what they consider to be selfishness, pettiness and irresponsibility on the part of these strikers, merely because for a temporary period the space provided for their car park was withdrawn so that a multistorey car park could be built in its place? Is my right hon. Friend satisfied that the official channels for negotiation at London Airport between the trade unions and employers are satisfactory?

The matter was unsatisfactory, and it is significant that both sides on the National Joint Council have condemned what happened. This clearly shows that the unions and employers both wish to see the position improved. If there is anything I can do to help to improve relations and communications between the parties concerned at London Airport, I shall be happy to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the assembly of a force of United States B57 twin-jet bombers in the Philippines and the training of their crews for low-level bombing raids on North Vietnam rail junctions, bridgeheads, and roads, he will now bring United States policy in Vietnam to the attention of the Security Council as likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security.

No, Sir. I do not accept these assumptions, particularly as hon. Members will have seen that, on 23rd June, President Johnson reiterated that "the United States intends no rashness and seeks no wider war."

Is the right hon. Gentleman not aware that quite recently, since this Question was tabled, the Under-Secretary of State, Mr. McGeorge Bundy, in charge of Far Eastern affairs at the State Department, has made a public declaration saying that the United States did not exclude the idea of extending the war to North Vietnam? Will he, in the circumstances, make it quite clear that Her Majesty's Government will dissociate themselves from any such policy?

I cannot alter my original reply. We have no such official intimation and there has been no such official statement. Therefore, I cannot add to v/hat I have said.

Will my right hon. Friend take note of the hon. Gentleman's desire to embarrass our American ally, on whom the Leader of the Opposition would like to rely for our nuclear defence?

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the re-arming of Egypt by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, support for the Tripartite Agreement of 1950 between the United Kingdom, France, and the United States of America, remains the policy of Her Majesty's Government.

I have nothing to add to the answers which I gave to Questions by the right hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Rowley Regis and Tipton (Mr. A. Henderson) and the hon. Gentleman the Member for East Ham, North (Mr. Prentice) on 15th June.

Is my right hon. Friend satisfied that President Nasser, who loses no opportunity of telling the world that war with Israel is inevitable, knows what the consequences would be?

I think that the best thing would be to refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Bromley (Mr. H. Macmillan) on 14th May, 1963, in which we endorsed the American President's view of what the likely action would be in the event of trouble.

Would the right hon. Gentleman define rather more closely and less nebulously what is meant by Government support for Tripartite Agreement? What does that actually mean? Does it mean that both the State of Israel and the United Arab Republic States are informed that in the event of any attack being made by either party on each other, those who sponsored the Tripartite Agreement would intervene in order to bring the conflict to an early end?

Since the declaration of 1950 there have been several statements made, the most important of which was made by the former Prime Minister on 14th May of last year. That has since been reaffirmed by me in various statements; namely, that we regard the United Nations as being primarily responsible for the maintenance of peace in the area and that if any threat to peace were to arise we would immediately consult the United Nations and take whatever action we feel may be required.

Since my right hon. Friend regards the United Nations as primarily responsible, may I ask him whether the Security Council has taken cognisance of a situation in which the leader of one member State of the United Nations publicly proclaims on a number of occasions that war in inevitable with another member State of the United Nations? Should not Her Majesty's Government give attention to the question whether the Tripartite Declaration should either be reaffirmed or replaced by some other instrument, or some conciliation machinery?

We regard the United Nations primarily as the best conciliation machinery. As to the Declaration of 1950, as I say, various important declarations—the most important of which I have repeated to the House—have been made since that date. Those will govern the actions of Her Majesty's Government.

While we welcome the Government's determination to refer such an event, if it should happen, to the United Nations, can the Foreign Secretary tell us whether the Government regard the Tripartite Declaration as still being in force; and, if so, by what act it was re-established after the Suez war?

As I said in answer to Questions on 15th June in relation to this, we still regard this as valid.