asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware of the work, carried out in difficult conditions, of the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Weybridge, at Fenton Manor Farm; and what steps he will take to publicise this work and the publication by the Laboratory of the Report, "Fluorosis in Cattle".

I appreciate the value of the work done by the Central Veterinary Laboratory at Fenton Manor Farm. The publication of their Report was announced by means of a Press notice and will help to form the basis of advice to farmers faced with fluorosis problems in their herds.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action is taken to apply the lessons learnt from the eight years' experimental studies made at the Fenton Manor Farm, Stoke-on-Trent.

The experience gained from the Ministry's work at Fenton Manor is available to any farmer or his veterinary surgeon through the Department's advisory services.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will seek to publicise among farmers and the National Farmers' Union the report entitled "Fluorosis in Cattle", based upon the experimental studies made at Fenton Manor Farm, and to advise them what further action should be taken.

We announced the publication of this Report by means of a Press notice. The National Farmers' Union has been kept fully informed of the developments and were provided with a copy of the Report. The results of the experimental work are known to members of the Ministry's advisory service who are prepared to assist farmers with fluorosis problems in their herds.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, if he will seek to arrange for deposit gauges, similar to those fixed on Fenton Manor Farm and on a farm in Essex, to be fixed on farms at Davyhulme, Barton and Astley Moss, Irlam, Cadishead and on other farms within a reasonable radius of Manchester, and to be fixed on farms in Cheshire, Carrington and Flixton.

No. In my view, the value of deposit gauges is limited because readings at Fenton Manor remained more or less constant throughout the term of the experiment whereas the fluorine content of herbage fell from an annual value of 106 p.p.m. to 39 p.p.m.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will seek to hold consultations with the Minister of Health and the Medical Officer of the city of Stoke-on-Trent on the report based upon experimental studies made at Fenton Manor Farm, Stoke-on-Trent, with a view to deciding what action should be taken as a result of those studies.

My right hon. Friend the Minister of Health has been consulted and measurements of the fluoride content of the atmosphere in Stoke-on-Trent indicate that there is no human hazard.

asked the Minister of Aviation, what progress he has made in divesting himself of the ownership of the land comprising the former civil airport at Nutts' Corner in County Antrim; and if he will make a statement.

Since I wrote on 15th October, 1965, to explain the position to the hon. Member, my Department has continued its efforts to trace the remainder of the 19 former owners of the land, and also the investigations into the cases of the former owners who have shown an interest in purchasing back the land.

asked the Minister of Aviation what steps he is taking to improve the surface of the passenger ramp at the civil airport at Aldergrove, County Antrim; and if he will make a statement.

As I informed the hon. Member in my letter of 6th December, the ramp is showing signs of wear after two years' heavy use and will be resurfaced with ribbed rubber in January when it is least used.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many months are required to transport Royal Air Force families' crated personal belongings from Germany to their homes in this country; and what steps are being taken to reduce delays in deliveries;(2) how many Royal Air Force families have crated personal belongings from Germany detained at Woolwich, or elsewhere; and whether belongings collected in September will be delivered before Christmas, so that children can wear their winter clothing;(3) what is the longest period for which Royal Air Force families' crated personal belongings have been detained at Woolwich, or elsewhere; whether the delay is due to lack of customs staff and facilities or of service transport, or both; and what steps are being taken to reduce the delays after the baggage arrives in this country.

Apart from crated personal baggage which has to be held at Woolwich while a claim is presented for duty, the average interval between dispatch from Germany and arrival at the home address in the United Kingdom has been between four and five weeks, including Customs clearance. The recent experimental introduction of R.A.F. pantechnicons, which now convey about one-third of R.A.F. baggage from units in Germany to Woolwich without unloading, and the routing of baggage direct from the R.A.F. sidings at Woolwich instead of through Plumstead railway station (except in inclement weather) has enabled the transit time to be reduced to three weeks or less. The baggage normally remains at Woolwich for one day if it does not require Customs examination, or for up to 10 days if it does, but is not found to be dutiable. Conveyance from Woolwich to the home address is by goods train and British Railways delivery transport.The baggage of some 75 families from Germany is currently held at Woolwich. About one-quarter of this is awaiting Customs clearance; the rest is awaiting payment of Customs duty.There was a delay by the Baggage Detachment in presenting to Customs the baggage referred to in my hon. and gallant Friend's second Question. It was, however, dispatched to the owner on 30th November, 1965. This is an isolated case and I very much regret the inconvenience caused to the family concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence at what hours Frank Bonney entered and left the Admiralty on each of the two occasions when he gained access thereto; for how long he was inside the Admiralty, on the roof of the Admiralty and on the roof of the Citadel, respectively, on each of the two occasions; and in what circumstances he was able to gain unauthorised access to the Admiralty at all.

I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to his previous Questions on 3rd December. The evidence indicates that Bonney, having obtained access to the roof of the Citadel by climbing a drainpipe at some time after 2 a.m., spent the rest of the night there. I have no reason to believe that he obtained access to the roof of the Old Admiralty Building itself. At some time after daybreak, that is 6.30 a.m. or so, he entered through a door on the Citadel roof which led into a works machinery room containing no classified information or equipment. It appears that some time later, between about 7.15 and 7.40 a.m., he opened from the inside an external door of the Old Admiralty Building by removing the locking bar which secured the door from being opened from the outside; he went out through this door, but returned almost immediately. He was apprehended shortly afterwards.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give an assurance that he will not exercise his powers so as to derogate from the provisions of Sections 7 and 9 of the Epping Forest Act, 1878 that the Forest should at all times be kept uninclosed and un-built on as an open space for the recreation and enjoyment of the public; and how often in the last five years his powers have begin exercised without the consent of the Corporation of the City of London as Conservators of Epping Forest.

There has been no occasion in the last five years when land in Epping Forest has been used by the Services in a way that interferes with existing public rights and I have no proposals to interfere with these rights in the future. Land has not been enclosed for the use of the Services and it has been used for training only by arrangement with the Superintendent of the Forest who acts on behalf of the Conservators.

asked the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, when he expects to appoint the members of the East Anglia and the South-East Economic Planning Councils.

I announced yesterday the setting up of the Economic Planning Council for the East Anglia region with the terms of reference set out in my announcement of 25th February, and hope to announce the membership of the South East Economic Planning Council shortly.The following have accepted my invitation to serve on the East Anglia Council.

asked the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, to what extent he intends to exempt individual manufacturers of goods listed in the Appendix to Command Paper No. 2808 from giving early warning of price increases in relatively minor cases.

As indicated in paragraph 6 of Command Paper 2808 I am anxious to ensure that the arrangements for "early warning" do not create an excessive burden of additional work in relation to the objectives of the system. With this in mind I would not necessarily regard it as essential for notifications of price increases to be made by manufacturers whose business (for example, as measured by turnover) is quite small in relation to that of the industry or trade concerned as a whole. I am not, however, in favour of exempting proposed price increases from these arrangements on the grounds that they fall below a certain percentage level. This might create the erroneous impression that a small price increase is necessarily free from objection. The considerations set out in Command Paper 2639 show clearly that this is not so.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps are being taken to establish minimum sanitary standards in schools and, especially, to eliminate outdoor toilets; and whether he will make a statement.

Minimum sanitary standards for new school buildings are prescribed by the Standards for Schools Premises Regulations 1959, a copy of which I am sending to my hon. Friend. Local education authorities are making progress as quickly as possible within the capital allocated for school building to to improve sanitary provision and to eliminate outdoor toilets in older schools, but in view of the need to provide for rising numbers of children in schools, this operation may take some time.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if, in view of the friction and waste of effort caused by rival unions in the teaching profession, he will take steps to unite them.

Inter-union arrangements are essentially a matter for the teachers themselves to settle.

asked the Minister of Health what representations he has received regarding his decision of 4th June, 1965, to postpone the scheme of the East Anglian Regional Hospital Board for the out-patient, accident and X-ray departments of the county hospital at Doddington; and when this work will be begun and completed.

The decision was made by the Regional Board because the scheme could not be contained within their capital allocation and their request for additional capital could not be met. The starting date depends on the outcome of the current review of the hospital plan.

asked the Minister of Health, whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT, in respect of each hospital building, extension or renewal project completed in the last three years, details of the total cost, number of beds provided and capital cost per bed, in each case identifying the hospital board concerned and specifying the extent to which the final cost differed from the originally estimated cost of the project.

No; in view of the very large number of such projects I would not be justified in publishing this information in the OFFICIAL REPORT, but if the hon. Member has any particular hospital building project in mind I will gladly let him have details.

asked the Minister of Health, whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of the average costs per out-patient attendance, per new out-patient, and per in-patient case treated in comparably classified hospitals so as to show, in respect of the last year for which figures are available, the extent to which such figures vary as between the different hospital boards in England and Wales.

I would refer the hon. Member to the recently published Part I of the Hospital Costing Returns for the year ended 31st March, 1965, a copy of which is in the Library.Comparative regional information about costs per in-patient case treated is contained in Appendix 3.Not all hospitals are asked to produce out-patient costs, but for those which operate the more detailed costing scheme, information about costs per out-patient attendance and per new out-patient are contained in Section C of the publication, together with regional averages for hospitals classified as acute and mainly acute.

asked the Minister of Health, what is the average number of persons for each dentist in Lincoln City; and how this compares with the national average.

The average number of persons in Lincoln City for each dentist providing general dental services there is 3,850. The national average at 31st December, 1964, was one dentist to 4,530.

asked the Minister of Health, if he will give an assurance that he will not exercise his powers so as to derogate from the provisions of Sections 7 and 9 of the Epping Forest Act, 1878 that the Forest should at all times be kept uninclosed and unbuilt on as an open space for the recreation and enjoyment of the public; and how often in the last five years his powers have been exercised without the consent of the Corporation of the City of London as Conservators of Epping Forest.

Yes: on no occasion.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for how long citizens of South Africa may apply for citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies by procedures available to Commonwealth citizens.

Under the South Africa Act, 1962, all such applications must be made not later than 31st December, 1965, unless before that date the applicant gives formal notice of intention to apply when qualified. Otherwise citizens of South Africa who desire citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies will have to fulfil the requirements for naturalisation.

asked the Minister of Labour, if he will state the estimated number of working days in the United Kingdom during 1963 and the number of days lost through stoppages of work due to industrial disputes during the same period.

It is estimated that there were about 5,500 million working days in the United Kingdom in 1963. The number of days lost in 1963 through stoppages of work due to industrial disputes was about 1,755,000.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development, whether there is any difference between the terms of service and payment offered for the post of surgeon at Montserrat Hospital for a United Kingdom-based applicant and a Jamaican-based applicant, respectively; and if she will make a statement.

A surgeon recruited from the United Kingdom and designated under the Overseas Service (Montserrat) Agreement, 1961 would receive inducement pay and the terms of service appropriate to expatriate officers. A surgeon recruited from Jamaica would enjoy the salary and terms of service appropriate to local officers. This is because it has been agreed with West Indian Governments that officers recruited in, originating from or resident in one of the West Indian islands should not be regarded as expatriate for the purpose of the Overseas Service Aid Scheme.

asked the Postmaster-General how many additional staff, male and female, respectively, will be engaged for the Christmas period in the Hull postal area; and how many will be taken from the unemployed.

About 920 additional temporary full-time staff and 270 part-time staff are required in the Hull postal area.Preference will be given to suitable unemployed candidates. So far the Employment Exchange have put forward 316 men and 56 women.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works who was the architect responsible for the rebuilding of 10, Downing Street and adjacent buildings.

For Nos. 10, 11 and 12, Downing Street, Mr. Raymond Erith, A.R.A., F.R.I.B.A.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works how much has been spent in repairs to the Palace of Westminster in the last 10 years; and how much the alterations and additions at present being carried out are estimated to cost.

During the 10 years to 31st March, 1965, the total expenditure on maintenance and repairs was about £1 million. The current alterations and additions in the Roof Space and in Star Chamber Court are estimated to cost about £850,000.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works how much the new barracks at Knightsbridge is now estimated to cost; and for what purpose it is required.

The order of cost at current prices is about £3 million; to accommodate the Household Cavalry, whose ceremonial duties require them to be stationed in Loudon.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works who will occupy the flats which are being provided in Admiralty House.

They are to be the official residences of the Secretary of State for defence and the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many representations he has received from local tourist associations in Scotland about the composition of the Scottish Tourist Board; and if he will make a statement.

I have received such representations from two local tourist associations.The Scottish Tourist Board is an independent non-statutory body whose constitution, like that of other companies limited by guarantee, is regulated by its Articles of Association. I consider that the Board, as recently reconstituted, should prove to be an effective executive body, representative of important interests directly concerned with the Scottish tourist industry.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when he will make an announcement about the appointment of the promised committee to facilitate the removal of obstacles to the adoption of the metric system of weights and measures; and what is the reason for the delay.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the totals of the amounts allocated for new roads and road widening in each of the crofter counties.

The Exchequer funds allocated for the construction and major improvement of public roads in the crofter counties in 1965–66 are as follows:

An announcement can be expected shortly. Time was needed for consideration of the composition and terms of reference of the committee, and for consultation with industrial organisations about membership.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will set up an inquiry, under Section 165 of the Companies Act, 1948, into the affairs of the British Printing Company, as the circumstances suggest that the management have been guilty of misconduct.

My right hon. Friend is watching the situation, but he is not satisfied that the Board of Trade would be justified in appointing an inspector under Section 165(b) of the Companies Act, 1948, to investigate the affairs of The British Printing Corporation Ltd.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what are the prospects of new jobs in the Ashington and Amble employment exchange areas for the next 12 months.

Although there are few jobs in prospect at present in the immediate area, there is considerable industrial development at Cramlington. I recently announced an advance factory for Ashington.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the annual value of exports of cars manufactured in the United Kingdom with maximum speeds of over 90 miles per hour and 100 miles per hour, respectively; and what proportion of total British car exports this constitutes.

This information is not available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give instructions to permit the free import of eggs when the standard egg retails at more than 3s. 6d. a dozen.

There are no quota restrictions on the importation of eggs in shell. The Board of Trade is always ready to consider applications from representative bodies in trade and industry for alterations in protective duties, but it would not be practicable to vary import duties according to changes in the retail prices of standard eggs.

asked the Minister of Transport what additional steps he is taking to publicise the meaning of the new Continental road signs, following the result of a recent survey; and if he will make a statement.

The signs are already being intensively publicised by my Department, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and other organisations through a wide variety of means. Public understanding of them will improve as more appear on the roads and are seen in their proper context.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the £ sterling has depreciated in value since 1st July, 1960.

Taking the purchasing power of the £ sterling as 20s. in July, 1960, its value in October, 1965, the latest date available, was 17s. 1d. This estimate is based on the change in the consumer price index between 1960 and 1964, with an adjustment based on the movement in the index of retail prices for the months at the beginning and end of the period.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list those airports in the United Kingdom which include duty-free shops on the premises; and if he will estimate the amount of trade in duty-free articles during the last convenient period of 12 months in such shops, respectively.

The airports which have duty-free shops are London (Heathrow), London (Gatwick), Manchester, Prestwick and Renfrew. The shops are run by commercial firms. It would not be proper for me to give information about the amount of their business.