asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what functions in connection with aid for the developing countries have been transferred from his Department to the Ministry of Overseas Development; and what reductions have been made in the establishment of his Department as the result of such transfer.

Executive responsibility for relations with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations has been transferred to the Ministry of Overseas Development, although we continue to have prime responsibility for those activities of the Organisation which are of direct concern to the agricultural and fishing industries of the United Kingdom, and to our food and agricultural trade policy.As a result of this transfer, the establishment of this Department has been reduced by nine posts.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what results have been obtained from his proposals for encouraging the amalgamation of small farms; and what acreage he regards as a viable agricultural unit.

We are now completing our inquiries into the best way of encouraging the voluntary amalgamation of farms and will announce our proposals, including the size of farm to be eligible, as soon as they are ready.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what functions in connection with aid for the developing countries have been transferred from his Department to the Ministry of Overseas Development; and what reductions have been made in the establishment of his Department as the result of such transfer.

The functions are those relating to British financial aid to independent Commonwealth countries, including the size and nature of the programme for each country, and the terms and conditions and the management of capital aid, as well as the work previously performed by my Department in respect of the Commonwealth Development Corporation. In these matters the Commonwealth Relations Office and the Ministry of Overseas Development work in close consultation.As a result, the staff establishment of the Commonwealth Relations Office has been reduced by 23.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the mobile houses in the grounds of the British Military Hospital at Iserlohn, in Germany, are now occupied by British Service men's families.

None as yet, but it is anticipated that all 17 of them will be occupied by British Service men's families by the end of this month.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he proposes to establish a commission to integrate public schools into the State education system.

I am not yet in a position to make a statement.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what functions in connection with aid for the developing countries have been transferred from his Department to the Ministry of Overseas Development; and what reductions have been made in the establishment of his Department as the result of such transfer.

The previous functions of my Department in relation to U.N.E.S.C.O. and Commonwealth Educational Co-operation have been transferred to the Ministry of Overseas Development. Four administrative and eight executive and clerical staff were transferred with the work.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if, in view of the hardship caused to students by the fact that grants have only been raised by £20 a year, he will accept the proposals of the Standing Advisory Committee to increase these grants by £50.

I do not accept the implication in the first part of the Question and would refer the hon. Member to the statement on this matter which I made on 24th May and my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Dr. Wyndham Davies) on 3rd June to which I have nothing to add.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the progress made with the problem of linking public service pensions to an economic indicator.

I must ask my hon. Friend to await the outcome of the present review of public service pensions.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will state the estimated number of dwellings now expected to be completed in Great Britain this year as compared with 1964; and whether he will give the estimated proportions of these figures attributable to public and private housing.

On 2nd February I informed the hon. Member for Holland with Boston (Sir H. Butcher) that it is expected about 400,000 dwellings will be completed in Great Britain in 1965; 7,000 by housing associations, 160,000 by public authorities and 230,000 by private enterprise.My right hon. Friend has no present reason to substitute a revised forecast for this.Three hundred and seventy-four thousand dwellings were completed in 1964.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will state the estimated number of new dwellings now expected to be started in Great Britain by the end of this year as compared with 1964; and whether he will give the estimated proportions of these figures attributable to public and private housing.

426,000 houses were started in Great Britain in 1964. My right hon. Friend expects the number in 1965 to be much the same, with public authorities accounting for about 45 per cent. and private builders for the rest.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government (1) how many houses, flats and other residential sites and properties in Greater London have been taken into office, commercial and industrial use in the past five years;(2) how many houses and flats in Greater London in use for office of commercial purposes have been taken back into residential use in the past three years.

This in formation is not available and it would mean a great deal of work to get it.In the Greater London area it is the policy to permit a change of use from residential to another use only in very special circumstances.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will introduce legislation to require local authorities to provide him with information about their housing lists.

No. A housing waiting list is of limited value as an indicator of housing need. Where the waiting list is long, many families in urgent need of housing do not bother to register; lists are often out of date and sometimes they have been closed altogether.In a circular issued on 1st April my right hon. Friend asked authorities to make a fresh review of the housing needs of their areas and then to submit four year building programmes. Information submitted in this way will be of more value than the information to which my hon. Friend refers.

asked the Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs if he will refer to the National Board for Prices and Incomes the 2s. in the £ increase in electricity charges proposed by the London Electricity Board, in view of the London Electricity Consultative Council's statement deploring the increases and its decision to oppose them.

Yes. I have today referred this case to the National Board for Prices and Incomes.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development to what extent a Government loan to a developing country places a greater burden on the United Kingdom balance of payments than the same amount of private investment.

Both Government loans and private investment vary very greatly in the effect which they may have on the balance of payments, according to the terms and purposes of the loan and the type of investment. At the same time both may give significant help to exports.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if she has reached a decision on the prescription of farmer's lung as an industrial disease for the purposes of benefit under the industrial injuries scheme; and it she will make a statement.

Yes. I have recently received the further advice of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council on the wording of the occupational cover for farmer's lung. The Council considers that the cover which it originally recommended in its report on farmer's lung (Cmnd. 2403) should be defined with a greater degree of precision. I have accepted the Council's advice, and I have decided that farmer's lung should be prescribed in relation to: any occupation involving exposure to the dust of mouldy hay or other mouldy vegetable produce by reason of employment (a) in agriculture, horticulture or forestry; or (b) loading or unloading or handling in storage such hay or other vegetable produce; or (c) handling bagasse. Both the Council and I are satisfied that this cover is sufficiently comprehensive in the present state of knowledge about the disease.Regulations. (The National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Diseases) Amendment Regulations 1965), prescribing farmer's lung have been laid before the House today, and will come into operation on 21st June.

asked the Postmaster-General what are his plans for the future of the Gladstone Telephone Exchange.

S.T.D. will be provided by about the end of the year and new equipment for the Dollis Hill supplementary exchange will be opened at the same time; it will also have S.T.D.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works if he is satisfied that steel rolled sections to British Standard 968 are safe for use in multi-storey tower blocks both during the period of construction and after construction is completed; and if he will take steps to give publicity to his views on this subject.

I am advised that steel rolled sections complying with British Standard 968 are safe when used in a manner which complies with British Standard Code of Practice 449. This will be included as a deemed-to-satisfy provision in the new building regulations I shall shortly make. The adequacy of specifications is kept under constant review.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what has been the increase in the consumption of cement since 1945; and how far this has been met by home production.

Annual home consumption increased by 13·2 million tons since 1945; home production increased sufficiently to meet the whole of home consumption.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what effect the standstill on new office-building contracts imposed last November has had on the building industry in the Greater London area.

The standstill on office building has not yet had any significant effect on the building industry in London.

asked the President of the Board of Trade, what effect the standstill on office-building contracts imposed last November has had in the Greater London area.

It is too early to say.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the volume of shirts imported into the United Kingdom in 1964; and how this compares with estimates he has made for 1965.

2,900,000 dozen shirts were imported into the United Kingdom in 1964. I have made no estimate for 1965.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many shirts were imported into the United Kingdom from Portugal in 1964; what estimate he has made of the figure for 1965; and whether imports from Portuguese overseas territories are included in these figures.

230,000 dozen shirts were imported from Portugal in 1964. This figure excludes imports from Portuguese territories outside Europe. I have made no estimate for 1965.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the volume of shirts imported into the United Kingdom from Malaysia in 1964; how this compares with the previous year; and what estimate he has formed of the volume of imports from Malaysia for 1965.

336 dozen and 46,000 dozen shirts were imported from Malaysia in 1963 and 1964 respectively. I have made no estimate for 1965.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will make a statement on a global ceiling for the import of shirts from 1966 onwards.

It is our objective in the forthcoming discussions with developing countries to secure not only a total limit on our imports of cotton textiles from them, including made-up goods, but also a reasonable measure of categorization. I cannot yet say precisely what arrangements will apply to shirts.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what he estimates will be the effect on the fishing industry in Orkney and Shetland, compared with the rest of Scotland, of the recent rise in railway freight charges for fish.

I understand that as a consequence of the decisions of British Railways new arrangements for the distribution of fish to the various markets have been introduced in some places and are still under discussion in others. I cannot predict the outcome nor, if I could, would I have the detailed information required to make a meaningful estimate on the lines suggested by the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the number of university graduates who were recruited into the police forces of Scotland in 1950 and in each of the last five years.

None.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware of the disquiet at the repeated fatal accidents on the Gossington Berkeley Road stretch of the A.38; whether he will now cause passing lines to be painted on the road; and whether he will make a statement.

I learnt with regret about the fatal accident on A.38 near Berkeley Road on the 13th June. It has not yet been established that offset double white lines would be suitable for this section of the road, but I can assure the hon. Member that no practicable measures will be overlooked that would make for its greater safety.

asked the Minister of Transport what continental level crossing automatic control gear in current production is available for import by British railways; and what would be typical costs of such equipment including its simplest forms and of its installations.

Purchase of level crossing equipment is a matter for the Railways Board. I have no information on the types and costs of Continental gear in current production.

asked the Minister of of Transport what was the cost of the equipment and of its installation at the automatically controlled railway level crossing at Tivetshall in Norfolk.

I do not feel justified in asking the Railways Board to provide details of the costs of such minor works.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what sums now charged to the Territorial Army for accounting purposes are in respect of training areas, artillery ranges, buildings and installations which are shared with the Regular Army or with other branches of the service or with one of the cadet forces.

The attribution of Army expenditure to the Territorial Army cannot be precise in all respects. It excludes the cost of training areas and artillery ranges shared with the Regular Army. It includes expenditure on Territorial Army buildings and rifle ranges, but detailed research would be needed to find the sum spent in any given year on those which may also be used to some extent by the Regular Army, other Services or the cadet forces, and I do not think that this would be profitable.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what sum now charged to the Territorial Army for accounting purposes is in respect of Regular officers or other ranks seconded to or attached to the Territorial Army and who have duties outside the Territorial Army in respect of district organisations, cadet forces of all kinds or regular Army depôts.

Detailed research would be needed to prepare figures for any given year and I do not think that this would be profitable. In any event, the attribution of Army expenditure to the Territorial Army cannot be precise in all respects.