asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Tongan Government have indicated their views as to whether the enlarged Admiralty jurisdiction, conferred upon the High Court of the United Kingdom by the Administration of Justice Act, 1956, should be incorporated in the legal system of Tonga; and what progress is being made to apply such enlarged jurisdiction to this territory.

The Government of Tonga have not been able to inform me of their wishes in this matter. I regret therefore that I am unable to add to the reply which was given to the hon. and learned Member on 1st December, 1964.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the present rôle of the Territorial Army; and if he is satisfied that it is adequately trained and equipped for the rôle it could be expected to play.

The present rôle of the Territorial Army is laid down in Cmnd. 1216 of 1960, "Reorganisation of the Territorial Army". The Territorial Army are also responsible for providing the Territorial Army Emergency Reserve the task of which is to reinforce the Regular Army at times of tension. The rôle of the Territorial Army is now being reviewed as part of the Defence Review and this review will cover the training and equipment required by the T.A. to perform its future tasks.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many men the Territorial Army is expected to provide before proclamation, and how many after proclamation; and whether the targets set have been reached or are likely to be in the near future.

On present plans about 7,800 and 123,000 respectively. Current strengths represent about 85 per cent. of these numbers which are not likely to be reached at any early date.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he is satisfied that the present state of the Territorial Army justifies employing from the active list 12 major-generals, 40 brigadiers and 80 lieutenant-colonels; what are their duties; and what is the total cost to public funds in this connection.

These officers command and administer the divisions, brigades and major units of the Territorial Army and in addition the major-generals have administrative and in some cases command responsibilities for Regular units. I am satisfied that on the basis of the present organisation of the Territorial Army these appointments are fully justified. Their cost is about £½ million a year.

asked the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs if, in view of the circular leaflet issued by British Road Services on 14th May notifying increases in rates to cover new pay awards, additional costs of fuel, licensing, and insurance contributions, he will refer this rise in prices to the National Board for Prices and Incomes.

Increases in rates, as recommended by the Road Haulage Association to its members, of which British Road Services are one, were referred at the beginning of this month to the National Board for Prices and Incomes for investigation.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will ask local authorities within a reasonable radius of Association Football grounds where World Cup competition games will be played in July, 1966, to arrange for public receptions to be held for visitors from all over the world.

The Football Association are in touch with the local authorities in the cities and towns where the World Cup games are to be played, on the subject of hospitality for overseas visitors. In my visits to the grounds, at some of which I met local authorities representatives, I stressed the importance which I attached to the making of satisfactory arrangements for the reception of such visitors. I am confident that the authorities in question will play their part, but I am grateful to my hon. Friend for calling public attention to the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements exist for a local authority to inform other authorities of the case of any foster parent who has proved unsatisfactory so that the person is not unwittingly engaged as a foster parent in another area.

None, but as required by Regulation 17 of the Boarding-Out of Children Regulations 1955 (S.I. 1955 No. 1377) local authorities make the most careful inquiries—including where necessary consultation with the authorities of other areas—about the reputation, character, and suitability of prospective foster-parents before boarding out a child.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent children in the care of local authorities, who would benefit from being boarded out with foster parents, are being looked after in institutions because of the shortage of child care officers.

The shortage of foster-parents in particular areas is due to a number of factors, and is not confined to areas where there is a particular shortage of child care officers. It is impossible to estimate the effect, if any, on the number of children in institutions of an increase in the number of these officers.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is the total number of council houses in Great Britain; how much subsidy they received last year; and what is the total number of privately owned houses in Great Britain.

My right hon. Friend estimates that 4·75 million houses are owned by local authorities and new town development corporations; 3·7 million are privately rented and 7·8 million are owner-occupied. Exchequer subsidies in 1964–65 totalled £91 million.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will now issue a circular to local authorities to encourage them to use their powers under the 1961 Act to acquire compulsorily premises vacant over six months, for the purpose of housing people on the housing waiting lists.

My right hon. Friend does not think a circular is necessary. A recent decision by the courts has drawn attention to the powers of local authorities to acquire compulsorily houses which have been vacant for an unreasonable time and he is sure that local authorities will be prepared to use these powers where their housing circumstances warrant it.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will make available additional subsidies under Section 3 (2) (d) of the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1958, as re-enacted in Section 3 (2) (a) of the Housing Act, 1961, for dwellings provided to meet the urgent needs of industry in order to assist the provision of dwellings for key workers suitable to be employed at Vickers' factory in Weymouth and similar factories in South Dorset.

My right hon. Friend is always prepared to consider applications under Section 3 (2) (a) of the 1961 Act on their merits. No applications from South Dorset have been received for several years.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will take steps to provide Exchequer special assistance, in addition to that already allowed in the fixing of the national general grants, so that urgently required schemes of land reclamation and clearance of derelict land can be carried out throughout North Staffordshire.

The question of providing special Exchequer assistance for the reclamation and clearance of derelict land is being considered in the context of the present review of local government finance.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government, what action was taken in the city of Stoke-on-Trent and by other local authorities in North Staffordshire including the National Coal Board on Circular No. 9/55; what progress is planned; and when the work will be completed.

Information about the local planning authorities' proposals for dealing with derelict land in these areas will not be available until the reviews of their development plans under Circular 9/55 are complete. Last year however local authorities were asked to make an annual survey of derelict land and replies received from North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent show a total of 3,624 acres in their areas. As regards the current programme of reclamation for this area I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to him of 20th May.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government, if he will send out a circular to local authorities and other Government Departments asking them to carry out during the next 12 months a cleaning, painting and brightening campaign, including the clearing of derelict land and the planting of trees, shrubs and turf on as large a scale as possible, and asking that special attention shall be given to areas within a reasonable radius of grounds where the World Cup Association Football games will be played in July 1966.

Local authorities and Government Departments are generally alive to their responsibilities in these matters. My right hon. Friend understands from his hon. Friend the Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science that the local authorities in areas where the World Cup football matches are to be played have shown themselves very willing to collaborate with the Football Association in making arrangements for the reception and entertainment of overseas visitors. As part of their co-operation they will no doubt do all they can to make their areas attractive. My right hon. Friend does not think that a circular to local authorities is called for.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what Government assistance will be available for the clearance of the derelict land on each side of the London to Manchester railway, between Barlaston and Kidsgrove in North Staffordshire, and its replacement with trees, shrubs and turf.

Expenditure by local authorities on the clearance of derelict land is one of the matters to be considered in connection with the present review of local government finance. At present such expenditure is taken into account where appropriate in fixing the national total of general grants. It also attracts rate deficiency grant in the particular local authority areas to which the question refers.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will give a list of the sites in England and Wales provided by local authorities for the caravans of gypsies and other travellers, together with the number permitted on each site.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I will have more comprehensive and up to date information about this following the result of the census in March. Perhaps my hon. Friend would wait till this is available.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what progress is being made in the matter of the discharge of sewage into the sea at Brighton; and if he will make a statement.

Representatives of the Brighton Intercepting and Outfall Sewers Board are visiting towns where sewage is treated before being discharged to sea. The Board's intention is to find out what method of treatment would be appropriate to their Portobello outfall and my right hon. Friend is urging them to reach an early decision on this.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he has yet completed his examination of the rating system; and when he will make a statement.

I have nothing to add to my reply to the Question by the hon. Member for Brentford and Chiswick (Mr. Dudley Smith) on 11th May.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what study he has made of the Report, particulars of which have been sent to him, by the Sussex Branch of the British Medical Association deploring the pollution by sewage of the beaches on the Sussex coast; if he is aware that this body is not satisfied by the Medical Research Council's Report published in 1959 that there is no health risk in bathing in polluted water; and what steps he will take to lessen the dangers from sewage pollution on this part of the coast.

I have studied the letter which the Sussex branch of the B.M.A. have sent to my hon. Friend. It contains no detailed evidence of beach pollution, but if the branch has such evidence and would care to send it to my right hon. Friend he will certainly study it. In the meantime he has no grounds for rejecting the report of 1959. On the other hand my right hon. Friend recognises the unpleasantness and loss of amenity which can arise from sewage pollution.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what arrangements are being made to encourage an effective British Industry display at the Breino Industrial Fair in Czechoslovakia this autumn; and whether he will make a statement.

There is every indication that British industry will be well represented this year at the Breino International Trade Fair. The Board of Trade are arranging for an official Trade Information Stand to be installed and staffed by members of the Commercial Department of the Embassy and the Board of Trade.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will give the number of unemployed in Blyth, Bedlington and Seaton Valley, in the various age groups classified by his Department, male and female, and the length of time unemployed in each case.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will list the numbers unemployed in Blyth, Bedlington and Seaton

The following is the information for the latest available date:Valley in 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965 at the latest available date.

The following table gives the information:

asked the Postmaster-General why a letter, whose cover has been sent to him, postmarked Ryde, 8.15 p.m., 19th May, was not delivered to the hon. Member for Gosport and Fareham at his address in London, S.W.1, until 10 a.m., 21st May; and if he is aware of the inconvenience caused by the taking of a second day between southern Hampshire and London.

The letter should have been delivered by second post on the 20th May and I am sorry this did not happen. The delay in delivery was due to shortage of staff in one of our London sorting centres. We are doing all we can to get additional staff and meanwhile to keep delays to a minimum.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware of the shortage of public telephone kiosks in the Colgrave area of Welwyn Garden City; and what proposals he has for increasing the number.

My right hon. Friend is not aware of any shortage of telephone kiosks in the Colgrove area of Welwyn Garden City. There are already four kiosks within half a mile, two of them about a quarter of a mile from Colgrove. Most of the people in the area have their own telephones, and provision of further public facilities would not be justified.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what will be the purchasing power of the current rates of retirement pensions for married couples and individuals in May 1966, on the basis of a monthly increase in the Cost of Living Index of 2 per cent., taking 15th October as the starting point.

I am not prepared to answer a hypothetical question based on a wholly unrealistic assumption.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what, in terms of real purchasing power, according to the Cost of Living Index, is the value of the present retirement pension for individuals and married couples, compared with when the new rates were first announced.

About £3 17s. 9d. for single persons and £6 6s. 3d. for married couples in April 1965, the latest date available, compared with £4 and £6 10s. Od., respectively, when the rates were announced in November 1964.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the annual cost of tax relief for blind persons provided for in Section 9 of the Finance Act, 1962; and what would be the additional cost of granting this relief from the day on which a person was registered as blind.

About £¼ million and minimal, respectively.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the loss to the revenue if the whole range of duties on beer, wines and spirits, both British and otherwise, and on tobacco, were not levied.

The estimated yield of the duties on tobacco and on alcoholic drinks in the current financial year is £1,670 million.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of abolishing the stamp duty now payable in respect of mortgage deeds on properties of less than £5,000 in value.

I regret that this estimate cannot be made.

asked the Minister of Transport, how many diesel railbuses are being stored, out of use, by British Railways; and what is the capital value of these diesel railbuses.

The Railways Board inform me that at present 11 diesel rail-buses are stored out of use. Their current book value is £115,000.