asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations whether he will give hon. Members an opportunity of seeing the first of the proposed displays of books on the Commonwealth which are being sent on loan to public libraries.

I have arranged with the authorities of the House for this first display to be in the Upper Waiting Hall from Monday morning, 12th July, until Friday evening, 16th July.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the total cost to public funds if the establishment at Overley Hill, which is valued at £500,000 and contains X-ray and special cold storage equipment, is abandoned and transferred to a shed at Woolwich.

The cost of re-providing the necessary facilities in suitably adapted buildings at Woolwich would be approximately £45,000 and there would in addition be costs, which it is impossible to estimate accurately at present, arising from the payment of transfer and other allowances to staff who were transferred. A book valuation of the buildings, plant, machinery and equipment at Overley Hill on 31st March last year was put at £240,384: it is estimated that the transfer of the establishment would result in savings in running costs of about £25,000 a year.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many married quarters are unoccupied at Weybourne in Norfolk; what is the average time during which each has remained unoccupied; what is the annual cost of their maintenance; what are the number and annual cost of the caretakers who supervise them; and what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government concerning their occupation, use or disposal.

None. All these quarters, except two which have been retained for use by and are at present occupied by civilian staff of the Royal Air Force, have been sold to the previous owners of the land.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the closure of village schools in Northamptonshire.

I am not aware of any special circumstances in Northamptonshire on which I need comment. All proposals to close schools require my approval under Section 13 of the Education Act 1944, and at the present time there are five proposals for the closure of village schools in Northamptonshire awaiting my decision.

asked the Minister of Health what improvements are proposed to be made in the pensions of retired practitioners as a result of his negotiations with the profession and the settlement of the pay structure.

The superannuation arrangements for general practitioners is one of the matters to be discussed with representatives of the profession during the present negotiations with the profession. As regards practitioners who have retired, I cannot add to the statement made by my hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 10th November, 1964 about public service pensioners.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will permit registrars in the Neath constituency to register births and deaths in any registration district, if the appropriate registrar is absent from the designated registry office.

The Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1953 requires births and deaths to be registered in the registers kept for the sub-district in which they occur. Information for the registration of a birth may be given to any registrar for transmission to the appropriate registrar.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what re-establishment centres, similar to those set up by the National Assistance Board, have been established or are intended to be established for prisoners about to be released to facilitate their return to normal life and to increase their prospects of finding employment on their release.

My right hon. and learned Friend's policy is to provide prisoners with work and industrial training which will fit them to obtain employment on release. Selected long term prisoners nearing the end of their sentences live in prison hostels and go out to work for outside employers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek powers to ensure that occasional licences for the sale of intoxicating liquor are not granted for such sales to take place in private houses.

My right hon. and learned Friend knows of no reason why the grant of occasional licences should not be left to the discretion of justices of the peace.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the report of the public inquiry relating to the activities of Detective-Sergeant Challoner has been completed; and when it is to be published.

I understand that the report is almost completed and I hope to receive it in the near future. As I announced on 7th December last, subject to any recommendation which Mr. James may make I intend to publish the report, and I shall arrange for publication as soon as possible after I have received it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total cost to Her Majesty's Government of the inquiry relating to the activities of Detective-Sergeant Challoner.

I regret that this information is not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time taken to reply to prisoners' petitions.

It is impossible to give an average. Most are answered within a month, but some require such extensive inquiry that they take longer.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will institute a full inquiry into the escape of four prisoners from Wandsworth Prison at 3.5 p.m. on 8th July, 1965; and if he will make a statement.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement that I made in the House this morning.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will now make a statement on his proposals for reform of the rating system.

The Government will announce their proposals as soon as they are ready.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will make arrangements for the testing of detergents containing linear alkyl sulphonate for possible toxic effects on fish.

No. Research has already been carried out by the Water Pollution Research Laboratory on the toxic effect of detergents on fish, and similar work has been done in the United States. While there is some evidence that the new softer detergents, containing linear alkyl sulphonate, are slightly more toxic to fish than the hard detergents which they are replacing, the use of the softer detergents is likely on the whole to benefit fish life because they decompose more readily and the concentration of detergent in rivers is therefore reduced.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what action is being taken to ensure that fixtures for fireguards are included in all new houses that are built.

My right hon. Friend's predecessors have on several occasions advised local authorities and new town development corporations to provide for every open fireplace in their new houses, fixed points for a fireguard in accordance with the appropriate British Standard specification.There are no powers at present under which this can be made obligatory for all new houses, but my right hon. Friend the Minister of Public Building and Works is bearing this in mind in framing his proposals for comprehensive building legislation.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will supply a classification of dwellings in Nottingham as follows, that is to say, owner-occupied; municipally owned and let where built by the council; municipally owned and let where acquired by the council; privately owned and rented out where built before 1880, giving separately the number controlled under the Rent Acts and decontrolled; privately owned and rented out where built between 1880 and 1939; and privately owned and rented out where built after 1939, giving separately the number controlled under the Rent Acts and decontrolled.

The most recent information on the number of owner-occupied dwellings in Nottingham is in the report of the 1961 Census which gives a figure of 24,325. "Housing Statistics, 1963–64", published by the Institute of Municipal Treasurers and Accountants shows a total of 34,425 municipally owned houses in Nottingham of which 33,728 were built by the city council and 697 were acquired.I regret that the other information requested in the question is not available.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is the average weekly rent of a council house in Lancashire; and how this compares with the average in the London area.

According to the statistics compiled by the Institute of Municipal Treasurers and Accountants the average weekly rent charged by authorities in Lancashire for a council dwelling in 1963–64 ranged from 14s. 6d. to 31s. 6d. and by authorities in London from 20s. 5d. to 47s. 4d.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is the average cost price of a three-bedroom council house in Lancashire; and how this compares with prices in the London area.

The average price of a three-bedroomed local authority dwelling in tenders approved in the first quarter of 1965 for Lancashire authorities was £2,548; the comparable figure for London authorities (excluding the London County Council) was £3,105.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what has been the percentage increase each year in the number of graduate volunteers serving overseas since the inception of the scheme in 1962–63; what is the anticipated percentage increase during the year 1965–66 over the present year; and what is the target percentage increase for the year 1966–67 over 1965–66.

The Information is as follows:

asked the Minister of Labour what are the average weekly earnings of male workers in the Heywood and Royton constituency area, or for Lancashire; and how these compare with the figures for the London area.

Figures of average earnings are not available for areas less than "regions". The average weekly earnings of adult male manual workers in manufacturing and other industries and services covered by the Ministry's half-yearly inquiries in the North-Western region were £17 11s. 4d. in October, 1964, the latest date for which information is available, compared with £19 0s. 1d. in London and South-Eastern region.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will publish monthly and annually full details of the rates of pay and hours of work of salaried workers as he does at present of manual workers.

Many salaried workers, particularly in manufacturing industries, are paid on an individual basis and not by fixed rates or scales. Statistics of the average earnings of salaried staff in a large number of industries are, however, published regularly in the "Ministry of Labour Gazette" and more fully in the quarterly publication Statistics on Incomes, Prices, Employment and Production".

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if, following her discussions with the Trades Union Congress, she will seek to hold an independent inquiry into the medical arrangements applied in the case of those who suffer from pneumoconiosis, into the increased danger of bronchitis and emphysema, and the implementation of the undertaking to consider the introduction of machinery for appeals against medical decisions on diagnosis in cases of claims made by those who suffer or have suffered from pneumoconiosis and byssinosis.

I have carefully considered the points put to me, but I do not think that an independent inquiry would assist me in discharging my responsibilities for the medical arrangements under the Industrial Injuries Acts. The question of the machinery for appeals is one on which I am in consultation with the Trades Union Congress.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if she will seek to arrange consultations with the Trades Union Congress, the National Union of Mineworkers, and representatives of the pottery workers and foundry workers, with a view to introducing measures to deal with pneumoconiosis, bronchitis and emphysema.

I am already aware of the views of the various organisations referred to by my hon. Friend through my consultation with the T.U.C., who have discussed these matters with me.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what representations she has received from the Stoke-on-Trent City Coroner. Mr. F. G. Hales, on his experience in dealing with men and women who have died through pneumoconiosis, directly or indirectly, cardiac failure accelerated by pneumoconiosis, and about those who have been denied insurance benefits, including widows; and what reply she has sent.

I have been unable to trace any such representations.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what representations she has received from Dr. P. Stock, City General Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent, on measures to provide relief and reduce the suffering of those people who have contracted pneumoconiosis or who suffer from bronchitis and emphysema, pending the preparation of a long-term policy.

I have been unable to trace any such representations.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if she will consult the Ministers of Health and Labour with a view to a joint symposium for the purpose of deciding a short-term and long-term policy applicable to those who suffer from pneumoconiosis, bronchitis and emphysema, such symposium to consist of eminent authorities and Her Majesty's factory inspectors.

I share my hon. Friend's concern about these diseases and I am giving the closest attention to the problems they raise for the schemes for which I am responsible but I do not think that a general meeting of the sort suggested would help to advance matters. No doubt my colleagues will also have noted my hon. Friend's views.

asked the Postmaster-General what plans he has approved for the erection of a television station with a thousand foot mast in or near Kettering; and whether he will make a statement.

My hon. Friend probably has in mind the proposals the B.B.C. have put to me for a UHF station, sited in the Kettering-Wellingborough area, to transmit B.B.C.-2 to most of Northamptonshire and Huntingdon. I am studying the proposals.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what was the total number of official cars available for use by Ministers on 30th June 1964 and on 30th June 1965, respectively.

The figures given in the reply by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the hon. Member for Leicester, South-East (Mr. Peel) on 10th May are correct for the dates mentioned in this Question.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works whether the decision to supply all official Government cars with safety belts is to be followed up with special instructions that full use should be made of these belts.

No.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that during the first three months of 1965 the value of British exports of footwear increased substantially compared with the first three months of 1964 but that there were reductions in the value of exports of industrial boots and double texture canvas footwear; and to what reason he attributes the decline.

I am pleased to note that exports of footwear during the first three months of 1965 were appreciably higher than in the corresponding period in 1964. The decline in exports of industrial boots and double texture canvas footwear reflects the decline in exports of rubber footwear generally which has been in evidence since 1963. It seems likely that this is due mainly to increased competition in overseas markets from low-cost producers in Asia and Eastern Europe.

asked the Minister of Transport when he proposes to authorise the building of the Batheaston by-pass on the A.4 which is included in the Somerset County Development Plan; and when he expects the by-pass to be completed.

I hope to include this by-pass in a future extension of the roads programme. I cannot say when a place will be found for it in competition with the many schemes more urgently needed elsewhere.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will state the results of the census of vehicles taken during 1965 relating to traffic on the A.4 through Batheaston.

Counts were taken at Batheaston in February and May as part of a national survey of trunk road traffic. As soon as the results have been analysed, they will be made available to interested parties.

asked the Minister of Transport what advice he gives to responsible authorities to improve safety measures and traffic control at road works.

Advice on these measures has been available to the responsible authorities for a number of years. It is contained in two traffic safety codes, one for motorways and one for other roads.Both codes are now being revised and will be incorporated in the new manual on road signs.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will issue a general direction to the Traffic Commissioners to refrain from making reference to action taken by omnibus company employees when granting increases in fares.

No.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the purchasing power in present-day values of the £ sterling on 1st January, 1932, 1935, and 1939.

The purchasing power in present-day values (May, 1965), of the £ sterling in the years 1932, 1935 and 1939 is approximately 5s. 7d., 5s. 6d. and 6s. 2d. These estimates are based on increments in the cost of living index up to 1938, the consumer price index from 1938 to 1964, and the index of retail prices between 1964 and May, 1965.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps are being taken to develop schemes for sabbatical and other similar exchanges between senior personnel in Government Departments and in industry.

Exchanges are arranged between the Civil Service and industry, and it is hoped to increase the number. Civil Servants also attend outside courses where they have opportunities for contact with representatives of industry.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the suspension of air services for domestic passengers between Bournemouth and Cardiff is causing inconvenience in South Wales and Monmouthshire, that this has arisen because of the failure of Her Majesty's Customs to agree a clearance formula with Cambrian Airways Limited, and that this failure is preventing seat availability for passengers from South Wales to Southampton and London; and what action he is taking to overcome these difficulties.

Incoming flights from overseas must be cleared by the Customs at the airport where they first arrive, before they may be joined by passengers on inland journeys, who, of course, are not subject to Customs control. This is not a new requirement. As regards outgoing flights, the Customs wrote to Cambrian Airways Limited on 25th May agreeing to clear international passengers at the beginning of flights, so that domestic passengers could also be carried, subject to reserving the right to ask for a further Customs examination of the international passengers at the last airport visited in this country if that should be considered necessary on any particular occasion.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether he will publish the amount of money expended by Richard Thomas and Baldwins on preparation of their scheme for importing iron ore by means of a jetty;(1) if he will publish the sum he has authorised or intends to authorise to be expended by Richard Thomas and Bald-wins in the preparation of an alternative scheme to the Bristol Channel jetty scheme for the import of iron ore.

No. This expenditure is a matter for the Board of Richard Thomas and Baldwins and does not require Government authorisation.