asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what agreement has been reached with the Soviet Government on the exchange of information on agricultural scientific research; and whether he will make a statement.

I am afraid that I cannot yet add to the reply I gave the right hon. Member on 18th November.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what variation existed between the price of Channel Islands milk and other milk in 1954; and what variation now exists.

In 1954, the maximum price of Channel Islands milk—other than farm-bottled—was 1d. per pint higher than ordinary pasteurised milk; today it is 1½d. per pint higher.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, whether he will now decontrol the price of Channel Islands milk, and allow it to find its own level in the market.

No

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the cost of the recent cull of seals on the Farne Islands; to whom the payments were made; and what are the future plans of his Department in regard to the seals on the Fame Islands.

Final figures are not available but the estimated net cost, excluding salaries and travelling expenses of the Ministry officials, after taking into account the payments due from the firm which collected the carcases, is of the order of £1,200.The payments will be made to the B.E.A. for the hire of a helicopter and to a local boatman.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheres and Food what alternative preparation of equal effectiveness can be used by sheep farmers in place of the dieldrin preparation; and what is its cost and availability.

Several formulations to replace dieldrin in sheep dips are in various stages of trial and one is due to be marketed very soon. I have no information as to the price at which any of these formulations may be marketed.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many outbreaks of swine fever there have been, month by month, since January, 1964, up to the latest convenient date; and what has been the cost of the slaughter of pigs in implementing this policy.

:From January, 1964, until the end of November 367 outbreaks of swine fever were confirmed in Great Britain, as follows:

January	…	…	…	35
February	…	…	…	44
March	…	…	…	72
April	…	…	…	46
May	…	…	…	35
June	…	…	…	29
July	…	…	…	15
August	…	…	…	12
September	…	…	…	29
October	…	…	…	28
November	…	…	…	22

From the introduction of the eradication policy on 11th March, 1963, to the end of December, 1963, 1,153 outbreaks were confirmed.The amount of compensation for pigs slaughtered since the introduction of the eradication policy is approximately £4,885,000. Of this, £324,740 was paid in the 1962–63 financial year, £3,630,992 was paid in the 1963–64 financial year, and approximately £929,000 relates to the current financial year.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many claims for cereal deficiencies, ploughing grants, hill cow subsidies and calf subsidies have been refused by his Department since 1963 up to the latest convenient date, owing to non-receipt by his Department before the due closing date; what is the amount of subsidy consequently lost to the agricultural industry; and if he will make a statement regarding future policy.

Figures for the numbers of late claims rejected in 1964 are not yet available, but I will send them to the hon. Member as soon as they are ready.I can, however, give the numbers of late claims rejected in 1963, in relation to the total number of claims; these are:

—	Total claims received	Total late claims received	Late claims received
Cereals	140,000	350	183
Ploughing grants	103,000	731	454
Hills Cow subsidy	15,000	207	77

There is no closing date for the calf subsidy.Records of the amount of money the applicants would have received if they had fulfilled the conditions of the schemes are not kept, and could not be obtained without a disproportionate effort.I am reviewing the conditions governing acceptance of late claims, to satisfy myself that they are just and reasonable taking account of both the number of applicants whose claims are late and the overwhelming number of applicants who succeed in getting their claims in on time.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what is the position regarding payment of the British Government's ex-gratia contribution to the settlement of the question of the mineral royalties in Zambia, formerly owned by the British South Africa Company.

Provision for this payment will be sought formally in the winter Supplementary Estimates. Should it be necessary to make payment before these Estimates are approved recourse will be had to the Civil Contingencies Fund.

asked the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, in view of the importance of communications in development plans for the North-East region, what steps he has taken to ensure that adequate consultation takes place between his Department, local authorities and British Railways before closure proposals are submitted.

As my hon. Friend has already been told, the North-East Development Group meets British Railways regularly to discuss railway communications in the North-East. As my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport announced on 4th November, he has arranged for the Railways Board to give him particulars of passenger closure proposals before they are published, so that he may consider whether any particular case is clearly unacceptable at the outset. My Department will be fully consulted at this stage. In August, 1963, the local authorities, through their associations, were invited to inform the Minister of Transport, and any other Ministers affected, of their views on the non-hardship aspects of individual passenger closure proposals. On hardship matters, their representations are made to the Transport Users Consultative Committees.

asked the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs if he will state the functions and terms of appointment of each of the four Ministers of State in the Foreign Office and the cost to Her Majesty's Government arising from each of those appointments.

My noble Friend, Lord Caradon, who receives a salary of £3,750, is the permanent United Kingdom representative at the United Nations in New York. My noble Friend Lord Chalfont, who also receives a salary of £3,750, deals expressly with disarmament. My hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Mr. Padley) and I, who at present act without salary or payment, have general responsibilities within the Foreign Office. In as far as there are terms attached to our appointments, they are those which apply to all members of Her Majesty's Government.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring up to the end of the year 1963 the figures given in the principal tables of the Home Office report "Murder" published in 1961.

Nine of the main tables in this publication have been enlarged to cover murders known to the police up to the end of 1963 and are reproduced below, together with an explanatory note.

asked the Minister of Labour how many disabled people are registered for, but unable to find, employment in Swansea.

On 9th November the number of registered disabled persons registered as unemployed at the Swansea Employment Exchange and Youth Employment Bureau was 329.

asked the Minister of Labour what proportion of workers is employed in manufacturing, and what proportion in service trades, in Swansea; and how these figures compare with national figures.

The following table gives the position at mid-1963 the latest date for which figures are available.

Area	Manufacturing Industries	Service Industries
	Per cent.	Per cent.
Swansea Employment Exchanges	25·3	73·6
Great Britain	38·2	56·3

asked the Minister of Labour how many, and what proportion of Swansea school leavers obtained apprenticeships this year; and how these figures compared with the national proportion.

The figures for 1st January to 31st October 1964 are as follows:

asked the Minister of Penions and National Insurance on what assumptions regarding the number of people eligible for National Assistance and the amounts they will be paid her estimates of the total cost of increasing national assistance rates were based.

The estimate of the cost of the proposed increases in National Assistance rates given in the Explanatory Memorandum (Cmnd. 2522) published with the draft National Assistance (Determination of Need) Amendment Regulations, 1964, is, as stated in the memorandum, related to existing cases. As for assumptions about future numbers, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 8th December.

asked the Postmaster-General what progress has been made with the new post office at Blyth; and what are the prospects of its being put into use at an early date.

The new public counter is expected to be ready during February, 1965, and the sorting office about a month later. I am arranging for my hon. Friend to be kept informed of progress.An additional temporary office is being brought into use during Christmas.

asked the Minister of Transport what progress has so far been achieved in his consultations with the Mersey River Board and the Borough of Stockport to provide effective fencing along the Gorsey Bank stretch of the River Mersey at Stockport and thus give reasonable protection to the residents and particularly to school children.

I have not engaged in any such consultations, nor am I aware that I have any responsibility in this matter. I have, however, written to my hon. Friend.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the estimated cost to public funds involved in the holding of the General Election.

About £1,850,000.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the future development in the North-East, if he will place a retail sales branch of Her Majesty's Stationery Office in the region.

The present demand for official publications in the North-East would not justify the opening of a Government Bookshop there, but developments in the region will be kept under review by Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what calculation he has made of the reduction in the cost of the investment allowance and other capital allowances that will result from the arrangements for a corporation tax;(2) what calculation he has made of the loss of net income, if any, that will be suffered by charitable and similar organisations as a result of the introduction of a corporation tax on the profits of companies;(3) whether the capital gains tax will provide for the level of tax to be related to the period for which the assets are held before realisation;(4) whether, in order to avoid double taxation, in all cases where the overseas tax paid by a corporation exceeds the amount it is liable to pay in corporation tax, he will arrange for the excess to be offset in computing the tax liability of shareholders on dividends distributed, or otherwise.

I have nothing further to add to my Answer of 8th December.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he intends to publish a White Paper showing Her Majesty's Government's proposals for reconsidering the functions and boundaries of local authority areas.

These matters are being carefully considered, and in due course I hope to publish a White Paper.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what are Her Majesty's Government's proposals regarding the future functions of the Council for Wales.

I shall review the position of the Council in the light of the new economic planning machinery that is to be created. For the time being I have asked that the Council should continue the work it is already doing under its original terms of reference.