asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what measures he has taken to encourage local authorities to develop advisory and other social services to assist the owner-occupier.

As I develop my proposals for assisting house purchasers I shall also consider what further services of this nature may be needed in addition to those already in existence.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he has now accepted the previous Government's South-East Study as a basis for planning.

No.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what plans he has to provide adequate water supplies to meet the population expansion announced for Ipswich and neighbourhood.

The Ipswich Borough Council are considering further sources of supply and my right hon. Friend is in touch with them about this.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government in respect of how many properties within the area covered by Wareham and the rural area surrounding it assessments made by the valuation officer have been reversed on appeal.

The latest information my right hon. Friend has is that courts of the Dorset Local Valuation Panel have reduced the assessments of 20 properties in this area on consideration of appeals made by ratepayers.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps are being taken to prevent erosion on the coastline between Havergate Island and Landguard Point, Felixstowe.

The East Suffolk and Norfolk River Board, the Felixstowe Urban District Council and the Ministry of Defence have carried out a number of schemes and further substantial works are in hand. My right hon. Friend understands that there is at the present time only one place where erosion is giving rise to concern—at Felixstowe Ferry. Experimental shingle bank defences have failed and the River Board and the Urban District Council have put forward revised proposals which my right hon. Friend, and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, are now considering.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will make a statement about the Ilford Central Area Development Plan, explaining the planning procedures involved.

Proposals for redevelopment of Ilford's central area were contained in an amendment of the Essex Development Plan submitted to my right hon. Friend by the County Council on 11th March. A public local inquiry will be held into objections, after which he will decide whether the scheme should be approved or modified. The local planning authority responsible for these proposals after 1st April will be the Greater London Council.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will take steps to enable local authorities to require applicants for planning permission in residential areas, where the development in question is extensive or likely to affect the character of the neighbourhood, to put up notice and plans of their intentions on the proposed site.

No. Planning authorities have been asked to consider giving publicity themselves to applications affecting the whole of a neighbourhood.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what procedure is open to ratepayers who are not on the electoral register for a local authority to make an objection to that authority's audit.

Although the right to object is limited by statute to local government electors for the area, the district auditor will consider complaints from other interested persons.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is aware that inconvenience is being caused by delay in giving approval to the Redhill comprehensive development area plan; and when he expects to give his decision.

My right hon. Friend has sent Surrey County Council for publication a list of the modifications he proposes for this plan. Progress now depends mainly on whether there are objections to them.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if, in order to encourage local authorities to get rid of the menace of old abandoned cars, he will take steps to make a reasonable grant towards the cost of a suitable shearing and press plant.

No. There are various ways of dealing with the problem of old motor cars as local authorities were advised in Circular 8/65, of which I am sending my hon. Friend a copy. Local authorities need not all have plant of their own.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what response he has had from local authorities in providing centres for disposing of unwanted motor cars.

Circular 8/65, advising local authorities on methods of disposing of old motor cars was issued only on 11th February. It is too early to judge the results yet.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will take steps to encourage all county planning authorities to adopt the Oxfordshire scheme, whereby parish councils are automatically kept informed of all applications for planning permission affecting land in their parishes.

I am carefully watching the Oxfordshire scheme, but would be reluctant to encourage anything which would add to the time taken in settling applications.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is the total amount which has been spent from public funds as compensation for preserving the Metropolitan Green Belt to the latest convenient date.

This information is not available.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what he estimates will be the increase in the level of local rates in 1965–66 as compared with 1964–65; whether he is satisfied that this increase will not cause hardship; and what new action he is considering to reduce the reduce the burden on ratepayers.

I suggested recently that on average rates are rising annually by about 8d. or 10d. in the pound, and the indications are that next year's increases will average rather more than this. The Government's examination of local government finance and the rating system is being pushed ahead, but the conclusions cannot affect the rates in 1965–66.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the public inconvenience being caused in parts of South Lancashire, including the township of Hindley, by the unauthorised camping of large groups of itinerant traders and scrap dealers, other than gypsies, who occupy vacant sites without regard to public health or the rights of established residents; and what action he will take in consultation with the police and local authorities concerned in these areas.

I have not received any representations about itinerants in South Lancashire but I am well aware of the problems they cause in other parts of the country. It is for the local authorities to deal with these problems, but I hope they will let me know if they want any help or advice from my Department.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what progress has been made in compiling the statutory lists of buildings of special architectural or historic interest; and to what extent buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries are now included in these lists.

Statutory lists have been issued for 1,118 of the 1,474 local authority areas in England and Wales. At the current rate of progress it would take up to 5 years to complete the process. I am taking steps to hurry things up.Buildings erected between 1800 and 1914 are now being listed in large numbers, including the principal works of the important architects of the period and others of definite quality and character.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what proposals he has for the regrouping of water undertakings in Cornwall; and if he will make a statement.

I have proposed the formation of two water boards, and I have asked the water undertakers concerned to let me know by the end of March whether they are willing to promote orders under the Water Act 1945 to set up the boards.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps he is taking to ensure the preserva- tion of old houses and other buildings which are not individually of sufficient historic or architectural importance to warrant their statutory listing but which, together, form groups that enhance characteristically the beauty of towns and villages.

It is already the practice to list some groups of buildings where the groups rather than the individual buildings are of special architectural or historic interest. I am now considering whether this practice ought to be extended.I hope also to publish further guidance before long on the problems of defining and safeguarding larger historic areas which though not suitable for listing as a whole, nevertheless make an important contribution to the character of the town or village.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will make a statement on the arrangements for transferring pension rights from railway superannuation funds to the local government service.

The local authority associations, the railways boards and staff bodies have been consulted about draft rules under the Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1948, providing for the transfer of pension rights between various railway superannuation funds and local government superannuation schemes. Differences between the pension schemes have given rise to some difficulties but these have now been overcome. The draft rules are being revised in the light of the consultations and it is hoped to make them within the next two or three months. It is intended that they shall be retrospective to cover all persons who have transferred since the dates when railway superannuation funds became able to pay or receive transfer values.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when the public inquiry on the draft Manchester Water Order, 1965, can be expected to start.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what action he will take to expedite consideration and approval of the draft Manchester Water Order, 1965.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what action he proposes to take in assisting Manchester to implement the recommendations of the Jellicoe Report on North West Water Resources contained in the draft Manchester Water Order, 1965.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will make a statement outlining the Government's policy on those recommendations of the Jellicoe Report which refer to the anticipated deficit in water resources available to the county borough of Bury, Lancashire, and the Manchester water undertaking.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will make a statement indicating the Government's attitude to the recommendations of the Jellicoe Report, particularly those making reference to the anticipated deficit in water resources available to Stockport and the City of Manchester.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what action is being taken to meet the anticipated deficit of 50 million gallons a day in the water resources available to the City of Manchester and the 26 local authorities to whom, in this respect, the Manchester Water Authority has obligations.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will take steps to secure an adequate supply of water for the City of Manchester and surrounding areas, in view of the anticipated deficit in water supplies by 1970.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what action he is taking to remedy the anticipated deficit from 1970 onwards in water resources to 27 authorities in the North-West area.

The inquiry into objections to the draft Manchester Water Order is being arranged for the earliest convenient date, probably in early June. The Order will be considered as quickly as possible thereafter. These proposals have been put forward by Manchester to meet the expected water deficit referred to in the Jellicoe Report. My right hon. Friend cannot make any statement on the matter until the inquiry has been held and he has considered all the evidence.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will lift the restriction now imposed on local authority direct works departments; and if he will make a statement of his future intentions in this regard.

My right hon. Friend is reviewing the use of direct labour organisations, especially for new housing, and he is grateful to his hon. Friend for the suggestions he has sent to him in that connection.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps are taken to ensure that adequate supplies of water are available before planning consent is given for development.

It is for the local planning authority to satisfy themselves that an adequate supply of water will be available for the development proposed when they are considering the merits of the planning application.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when it is proposed to hold the public inquiry to hear the appeal of an oil company against refusal of planning permission to erect a refinery on Canvey Island.

The inquiry will open on Tuesday, 25th May.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will reconsider his decision to deprive the London boroughs of responsibility for planning decisions relating to university developments, in view of the handicap this will impose upon a borough such as Camden in exercising control of development throughout its area; and whether instead he will assign full responsibility as regards university developments to the boroughs subject to any directions the Greater London Council may give under section 24 (6) of the London Government Act 1963.

No. My right hon. Friend considers that proposals for the establishment or expansion of the activities of a university or one of its departments should be dealt with by the Greater London Council, because such a proposal is of importance not only to the borough concerned but Greater London as a whole.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what representations he has received from boroughs within the Greater London area regarding his decision to transfer some of their planning powers to the Greater London Council; and whether he will make a statement.

Under the London Government Act the London boroughs are planning authorities in their own right, but the Act provides for the making of regulations under which certain applications for planning permission have to be referred to the Greater London Council.There has been consultation with the Greater London Council and the boroughs in the preparation of these regulations and in general both sides are content that my right hon. Friend should settle any matters on which agreement has not been reached. One borough has made representations about a matter on which I am answering a Question today by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Hampstead (Mr. Brooke).

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will state for the years ended 31st March, 1964, and 31st December, 1964, respectively, in respect of development districts in the North-East, the number of applications for grants for the clearance of derelict land, the number approved, giving cost and acreage, the number rejected and the number under consideration.

In the year ending 31st March, 1964, 75 applications were made by local authorities under the provisions of the Local Employment Act, 1960. 40 applications covering 725 acres were approved at an estimated cost of £741,000, 19 were rejected and at the end of the year 32 were under consideration. Figures for the year ending 31st December, 1964, show that 37 applications were made: 29 applications covering 280 acres were approved at an estimated cost of £430,000, 22 were rejected and 8 were under consideration at the end of the year.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will list the planning authorities who have submitted to him and who have agreed with him, respectively, a policy town centre map in accordance with Planning Bulletin No. 1.

Town centre maps do not have to be submitted to or agreed with my right hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps he proposes to take to co-ordinate the planning and development of the Dedham Vale area.

This is primarily a matter for the East Suffolk and Essex County Councils as the local planning authorities. Both are very conscious of the character of the Vale and they are in touch with each other.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government why he declined to receive a deputation from the Dedham Vale Society or to receive a petition organised by that society and signed by some 15,000 persons.

I, on behalf of my right hon. Friend, received this deputation yesterday.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many reviews of development plans for counties and county boroughs were outstanding on 1st January, 1964; how many were submitted during 1964; how many were approved during 1964; how many remained outstanding on 31st December, 1964; and how many of these reviews were other than first reviews.

The information is as follows:

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is the average time taken to announce his decision on public inquiries into areas represented for clearance under the Housing Acts; whether he has received his inspector's report on the Sunderland Road (No. 2) Compulsory Purchase Order, Gateshead; and when he will announce his decision.

The average time from public local inquiry to the issue of a decision on slum clearance orders is 17 weeks for compulsory purchase orders and 12 weeks for clearance orders. The inspector's report on the Gateshead Sunderland Road (No. 2) Compulsory Purchase Order, 1964, has only just been received and the decision will be given as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether Her Majesty's Government intends to put into practice those recommendations of the Report of the Council on Tribunals on the Award of Costs at Statutory Inquiries, Command Paper No. 2471, which do not require legislation to give them effect, and to implement the recommendation contained in paragraph 21 of that Report, which suggests that the Council's recommendation as to payment of costs should be applied to inquiries which are outside the immediate scope of the Report; and when this action will be taken.

The Council's report included a number of detailed recommendations but the main one is that costs should normally be awarded to successful objectors in compulsory purchase and analogous cases. This the Government accept. The administrative arrangements for implementing this and certain other recommendations will be set out in a circular from my Department on which I shall consult local authority associations soon.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many local authorities to date have taken advantage of the facilities given to them in the Rating and Valuation Act, 1961, to allow rating rebates to scientific establishments in their areas; and whether he will give particulars.

Rating authorities are not required to inform my right hon. Friend of decisions about granting rate relief, and the information required is not therefore available.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he is yet in a position to give details of the Government's proposals with regard to the granting of lower interest rates for home ownership.

I have nothing to add at present to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Worcester (Mr. Peter Walker) and other hon. Members on 2nd February.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many houses in the Weymouth area are charged with mortgages granted by a local authority; what was the average sum outstanding in respect of them; and what interest charge was receivable by the local authority on 15th October and at the present time, respectively.

Mortgage loans have been made on 392 houses, the average sum outstanding being £1,715. The rate of interest charged for loans up to 25 years was 6⅜ per cent. on 15th October and is now 7¼ per cent.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government to what extent his new plans for London housing will encroach on the London green belt; and if he will make a statement.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will now state his intentions in respect of the London green belt; and what indication of his intentions in this respect he has made to local authorities in the Home Counties.

I have announced proposals which will allow over half London's overspill to be housed in planned schemes beyond the green belt. I have already said I must discuss provision for the rest with the local planning authorities. I am confident that it will be possible to provide for this and for a big increase in housebuilding within the Greater London area without any significant encroachment on the approved metropolitan green belt.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will reconsider his Department's instructions to local authorities which make it impossible for them to give an improvement grant where two cottages are proposed to be converted into one.

The conversion of two cottages into one is already allowed if they cannot be brought up to standard separately. My right hon. Friend is also willing to consider cases where cottages are too small for agricultural workers' families.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will take steps to amend Section 96 of the Housing Act, 1964, on improvement grants, so that the cost of a separate water supply to a house-owner qualifying for a standard grant would qualify for grant aid in the same way as the cost of providing these services does with the discretionary grant.

No amendment to the 1964 Act is needed. This cost can be allowed for standard grant if the existing water supply is inadequate for the facilities being provided.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will introduce legislation to lay down a compulsory standard rent rebate scheme to be used by local authorities in receipt of housing subsidies, so as to ensure that such subsidies are received only by those who need them, and that there is justice as between council tenants in different areas.

No.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what information he has received on the difficulties experienced by tenants in prosecuting landlords who contravene the provisions of the Eviction Act, 1964; and if he will take steps to increase the Act's effectiveness.

In an open letter, which has had wide publicity, I have suggested that any tenant in such circumstances should seek help at once from his local authority, if he has no solicitor of his own.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will state the number of housing units to be provided in the year 1965–66 by the use of traditional building methods and industrialised systems, respectively; and what will be the capital value in each case.

My right hon. Friend expects that over 370,000 new dwellings will be completed in England and Wales in 1965–66, and that some 30,000 of these, almost all of them in the public sector, will be built by industrialised methods. He is not at present in a position to give accurate details of their capital value.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will compile an approved list of industrialised building systems for the information of housing authorities; and if he will make a statement.

The National Building Agency are carrying out an evaluation of systems and will be ready to advise housing authorities on the systems most suited to their particular needs. I have no present intention of publishing an approved list.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will seek to set up tribunals locally, or some other machinery to which council tenants would be able to appeal when in dispute with their landlords, the local councils.

No.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will exclude from the provisions of his proposed legislation on rents Service men seeking to repossess their own houses.

I must ask the hon. and gallant Member to await the terms of the Government's Rent Bill which is to be published later today.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many local authorities have ceased to give 100 per cent. mortgages since the Government took office; and how many had already ceased to do so before that date.

The 1,200 local authorities which operate lending schemes send me quarterly returns of advances made, showing 100 per cent. advances separately, but these returns do not show how many have suspended lending entirely or have given up making 100 per cent. advances. Press reports and other sources indicate that 36 authorities have suspended lending schemes entirely, of which three are known to have resumed lending. No returns are made of the interest rates charged.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations if he will make a statement about the progress of the formation of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply of the 9th February in which I said that we were in communication with all Commonwealth Heads of Government about the recommendations in the confidential report by Senior Commonwealth officials. These consultations are proceeding satsifactorily but are not yet complete: 21 Governments are involved.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations to what extent other Commonwealth countries restrict and impose conditions upon immigration from the United Kingdom.

I am afraid it is impossible to generalise. There are very great variations in the restrictions and conditions imposed by the other 20 member countries of the Commonwealth on people from this country who want to take up employment overseas. There are Commonwealth countries who are anxious to attract large numbers of immigrants from this country and others again where the shortage of jobs available locally for their own people may prompt them to adopt restrictive policies of varying degree.

asked the Minister of Power if he will state the terms on which he has granted licences to the Caltex Group and American Overseas Petroleum Ltd. to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea.

asked the Minister of Power what are the terms of the licences granted to United States oil companies permitting them to drill for oil and gas in the British sovereign areas of the North Sea.

I have not issued any production licences to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea except in one case where I completed the formal procedure for a licence already offered and accepted before the election. The licences granted by my predecessor to California Oil Co. Ltd., and Texaco North Sea U.K. Ltd., and to other licensees, incorporate the model clauses prescribed in the Petroleum (Production) (Continental Shelf and Territorial Sea) Regulations, 1964, and the provisions for payments to the Minister published in the London Gazette on 15th May, 1964.

asked the Minister of Power what progress has been reported to him by companies prospecting for oil and gas in the North Sea.

asked the Minister of Power when, under the licences granted by him to persons or companies to drill for oil and gas under the North Sea, the licensees must periodically report to him the success or otherwise of their operations; what reports he has received; and if he will state their contents.

Each licensee is required to submit monthly and annual returns of the progress of his operations. Monthly returns have been received since September, 1964. These returns are confidential.

asked the Minister of Power if he will give a general direction, in the public interest, to the Central Electricity Generating Board, that they should not in the prevailing financial circumstances raise the charges they make for clinker.

No.

asked the Minister of Power (1) how much public money is invested in the privately-owned sector of the steel industry; and what amounts are invested in the various firms concerned;(2) what percentage public investment represents in the total investment in the steel industry.

The only outstanding advance of public funds to a privately owned steel company is £50 million to Colvilles Ltd., under Section 5 of the Iron and Steel Act, 1953. Because no reliable figure is available for total investment in the steel industry, it is not possible to calculate the percentage represented by public funds.

asked the Minister of Technology if the Vulcain type of reactor incorporating the spectral shift method of control is still considered suitable for installation in a seagoing ship; and to what extent this policy is in accordance with the current views of the technical advisory panel of the working group on marine reactor research.

If a prototype nuclear ship were authorised the choice of reactor would lie between the Vulcain and the Burnable Poison Pressurised Water Reactor.The Working Group on Marine Reactor Research, having reported in May, 1964, is no longer in being.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reply he has forwarded to the staff side of the National Whitley Council to their request to discuss with him the reckoning of unestablished service for superannuation purposes.

The request is under consideration.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimated breakdown of the £800 million adverse trade balance for 1964 between flight of capital, leads and lags in payment, food and raw material stockpiling, fall in investment earnings and the real change in normal trade imports and exports, respectively; and if he will make a statement.

I must ask the hon. Member to wait for the figures of the U.K. balance of payments in the year 1964, which will be published about the end of March.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has considered the communication sent to him by the hon. Member for Ladywood concerning the anomaly of Purchase Tax on sports trophy cups and bowls; and if he will deal with these articles similarly to sports plaques and shields, which are free of Purchase Tax.

My hon. Friend has drawn attention to an inconsistency in the Purchase Tax but I cannot at present indicate what course my right hon. Friend might take to deal with it.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has considered the communication sent to him by the hon. Member for Ladywood concerning the hardship caused to cripples, and elderly sufferers from arthritis and paralysis, resulting from the Purchase Tax on invalid aids, such as bath rails and seat aids; and if he will now remove the Purchase Tax from these articles.

As I have informed my hon. Friend in my reply to his letter, I am reviewing the question which he has raised.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will arrange for the crown piece in commemoration of Sir Winston Churchill to be struck in silver instead of cupro-nickel.

No. Since the Churchill crown will be a coin of the realm and issue for general circulation, I think it should be struck in the same alloy as our other silver coloured coins.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will give the Treasury receipts from Pool Betting Duty collected on greyhound totalisators for the months of November and December, 1964, and January and February, 1965, and similar figures for bookmakers' licence duty for the same months.

The following are the figures:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officers of his Department holding the qualification of the final examination of the Rating and Valuation Association and who would now be engaged on the working of rating valuation for his Department had the service remained with the local authorities, have been remustered into the clerical grades against their will; and whether, in view of the shortage of valuers, he will instruct the Valuation Office to employ these officers on rating valuation work once again, especially as many rating valuers have no qualifications.

Five. These officers were transferred from local authorities to the Valuation Office to assist rating valuers in their professional duties and on absorption into the clerical grades have continued to give surveying assistance.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reasons seventeen companies gave for their applications to move their residence outside the United Kingdom during the last five months; in which cases consent has been granted; and what is the expected loss to the revenue.

I cannot discuss the circumstances of particular cases. Consent has so far been given to thirteen of the seventeen companies which have applied since 15th October, 1964. The loss to the United Kingdom revenue in these cases is expected to be negligible.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount which is spent on expense accounts each year.

The latest information available is for expenses payments and benefits of all kinds (including entertainment, travel and subsistence) exceeding £50 made to directors and senior employees for the year 1962–63. Those allowed by Inland Revenue totalled £100 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much he estimates is lost each year to the Exchequer through tax evasion.

No estimate can be made.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how public houses, inns, and hotels are assessed for rating purposes under his regulations;(2) if public houses are assessed differently from shops for rating purposes under his regulations; and if he will explain the reason.

Public houses, inns, hotels and shops are assessed on the same basis, namely, their rental values. The rental values of public houses, inns and hotels where the liquor trade predominates are usually ascertained by reference to the amount of trade and those of shops by reference to rents actually paid for shops.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much British capital was invested in South Africa in 1962, 1963 and 1964; and how much of the total investment is represented by portfolio and by direct investment.

United Kingdom direct investment in South Africa (net of disinvestment and excluding oil and insurance in 1962 and oil in 1963) is estimated at £15 million in 1962 and £34 million in 1963. Market transactions in South African company securities amounted to a net United Kingdom disinvestment of £4 million in 1962 and £28 million in 1963. Figures for 1964 are not yet available.

asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware of the telephone vandalism which is causing concern to the police, health and fire service authorities of Liverpool and Merseyside; and whether he will take steps to remove the difficulties experienced by householders wishing to use the telephone to call upon the emergency services.

My right hon. Friend deplores these senseless acts of damage to telephone call offices in Liverpool and other cities which inconvenience the general public and could endanger lives in an emergency. We have already taken many steps to combat vandalism and are devising others. I cannot reveal specific details: but I must emphasise that this is as much a matter for local authorities, the police and individual members of the public as it is for the Post Office.

asked the Postmaster-General what are his plans for an indestructible telephone kiosk.

It is virtually impossible to make telephone equipment indestructible, and there are limits to the amount I should be justified in spending on strengthening the present equipment; but we have in hand a number of measures to combat willful damage. Meanwhile we are commissioning designs for a new telephone kiosk and the need to check vandalism will be a factor we shall take into full account.

asked the Postmaster General whether, in view of the concern felt by parents regarding certain television programmes for children, he will introduce legislation to enable him to ban all horrific films at the hours of children's viewing.

No. Programmes are the responsibility of the broadcasting authorities. They are conscious of the need to exercise care in the choice of children's programmes.

asked the Postmaster-General what requests he has received from local education authorities and educational organisations for information and publicity material concerning educational television programmes; and whether he will consult the Secretary of State for Education and Science about the matter.

None. Educational television programmes, like all other programmes, are the responsibility of the broadcasting authorities. It is to them, therefore, that local educational authorities and educational organisations would presumably address requests for information and publicity material.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will issue an instruction to the Independent Television Authority that they shall not send any announcement on an industrial matter, until they have checked that no dispute exists.

The Television Act requires the Independent Television Authority to see that no advertisement is broadcast which has any relation to any industrial dispute. The Authority tells me that a recent advertisement which infringed this provision was broadcast under the mistaken impression that its purpose, like that of other advertisements broadcast in the past, was to tell employees at short notice of a change in shift arrangements.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will make a statement on the additional machines for handling mail which were installed in sorting offices and new buildings during 1964–65.

Machines installed or still in course of installation include a prototype letter and packet segregator, some parcel sorting machines, and a wide range of conveyors and associated equip- ment, including conveyors for moving mails between sorting offices and nearby railway stations.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will give the amounts spent on new postal buildings for the years 1963–64 and 1964–65; and how these compare with the two previous years.

The amounts spent since 1961–62 are:

asked the Postmaster-General how many new post offices and sorting offices were started and completed during 1964–65.

Figures are available up to 1st March only. The numbers are:

asked the Postmaster-General by what amount the letter traffic and parcel traffic increased during 1964–65 over the corresponding period for the year 1963–64.

In the first three quarters of 1964–65 letter traffic was 4 per cent. up and parcel traffic 8 per cent. down as compared with the corresponding period in 1963–64.

asked the Postmaster-General what was the date of the completion of the King Edward Building, East Central District Office; what amount of postal traffic was handled in that office for the first 12 months; and what were the figures of traffic for the most recent period of 12 months.

King Edward Building was completed on 8th October, 1910. In 1911 the office handled about 920 million items of correspondence, or 17½ million a week: it is now handling about 1,150 million a year, or 22 million a week.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what progress has been made in the Government inquiries set on foot into abuses at public auctions; and whether he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend's consultations with interested organisations are still proceeding. Until they are complete, he will not be in a position to make a statement.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will take steps to limit the import of frozen blackcurrants from Eastern Europe.

Imports from Eastern Europe of frozen fruits, including blackcurrants, are restricted by quotas to a total of 2,025 tons a year.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many square feet of new factory space were built in each of the counties of Wales in the period 1951 to 1961.

The available figures are as follows:

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) what was the value of all imports of bacon and other pig meats from Denmark, in the 12 months to the latest available date;(2) what was the value of all imports, apart from bacon and other pig meats, from Denmark in the 12 months to the latest available date;(3) what was the value of all exports from the United Kingdom to Denmark, in the 12 months to the latest available date.

The following is the information:

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many applications for industrial development certificates were received by his Department in the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire in the final quarter of 1964; and how this figure compares with that for the first quarter of 1964.

In the first quarter of 1964 sixty-nine industrial development certificates were issued; in the fourth quarter seventy-four were issued and one refused.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will hasten his testing of lifejackets and other safety equipment in order to minimise the dislocation and delay caused to the manufacture and export of these appliances by British firms.

Many items of safety equipment already approved for use in British ships are not affected by the coming into force of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1960. In respect of these items no further testing is required. The testing of lifejackets and other equipment for which the Convention lays down new requirements is proceeding as rapidly as possible. In several cases approvals have already been issued, for example for certain inflatable life-rafts and pyrotechnics.

asked the Minister of Transport what proposals have been put to him by the Royal Borough of Chelsea to set apart parts of the highway to owners of property within the borough as parking areas and to deny parking facilities therein to nonresidents; and what is his policy towards such proposals.

No formal proposals have been put to me, but my Department has had discussions with the council about the general form a controlled parking scheme might take. I would not be opposed to a workable arrangement for giving residents preference over commuters in suitable places not needed for short-term parking.

asked the Minister of Health if he will advise the setting up of a Royal Commission to investigate the conditions of hospitals in the United Kingdom.

No. The conditions of hospitals are well know to the hospital authorities which are responsible under the Act for their control and management.

asked the Minister of Health by what numbers and percentage the present nursing staff in hospitals for mentally deficient patients falls short of the establishment desired by each regional hospital board; and what are the principal reasons for these deficiencies.

pursuant to his reply on 22nd March, 1965, col. 28, circulated the following information:—The assessment by Regional Hospital Boards of deficiencies of qualified and unqualified staff are:—

asked the Minister of Health how many letters were received and sent by the Dental Estimates Board to dental surgeons employed in the National Health Service last year; whether this was an increase or decrease on the previous year; and whether, under his regulations, dental surgeons may use On Her Majesty's Service envelopes for these communications.

I regret the information is not available. The answer to the last part of the Question is "No".

asked the Minister of Health if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the total number of dental surgeons employed in the National Health Service and their total remuneration in each year since its establishment; and what estimate he has of the total number of dental surgeons in practice in 1938 and their total remuneration.

The number of dentists employed in the hospital and general dental services is given in columns 2 and 3 of the table below; some of these dentists may be employed in both services. The remuneration of dentists for general dental services is given in column 4; that of dentists in the hospital service is not separately recorded.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the proportion of cucumbers consumed in this country which were imported, compared to those which were home grown, in the years 1960, 1962 and 1964.

I have no precise figures for the total consumption of cucumbers, which would include those produced on holdings of one acre or less, allotments and private gardens. The following table relating to the United Kingdom may however be helpful to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will re-examine the remoteness grant to Northern Ireland farming, with a view to increasing it.

We shall review the grant during the coming year, but naturally I cannot say what the outcome will be until we have looked at all the relevant factors.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farms he estimates could benefit from his extension of the Small Farmers Scheme in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, respectively.

The estimated numbers of farms are:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the average size of agricultural holdings in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, respectively.

The information is as follows:

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate has been made of the acreage of blackcurrants being grubbed up in the present winter; and what is the estimated total acreage of this crop in June 1964 and June 1965.

The total acreage of blackcurrants in England and Wales on 4th June, 1964, was 15,725. Estimates of the area grubbed in the present winter and of the acreage in June 1965 are being obtained; I will write to the hon. Member as soon as they are available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will take steps to encourage the formation of an apple and pear development council with statutory powers.

I am considering a suggestion by the National Farmers' Union that I should establish such a council under Section 1 of the Industrial Organisation and Development Act, 1947. I hope shortly to have discussions with the union regarding the suggested scope of such a council and the means of ascertaining what support would be given to its establishment by the industry.