asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, if he will include cream in the standard quantity for liquid milk.

Matters affecting the standard quantities for milk will be discussed at the Annual Review, the outcome of which I cannot anticipate.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the total amount made available each year since 1950 by the Navy Department to the shipbuilding and ship-repairing industries, either directly or indirectly or to individual firms in those industries, by means of grants or loans for capital development, research and development or in any other way; and what control has been and is exercised by his department over this public expenditure.

Apart from certain special facilities in connection with the particular needs of the minesweeper programme in the early 1950's and more recently the nuclear submarine programme, no assistance has been provided by the Navy Department by way of grants, loans or research and development to the shipbuilding and ship-repairing industries. On the other hand, the Navy Department has, during the past 15 years, spent a very considerable sum of money on new construction and repairs. The controls exercised over all this expenditure are those normally associated with the spending of public money.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he will establish the headquarters of the Reserve Army Recovery Company, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, in Corby or Kettering.

I regret I cannot give my hon. Friend the information he requires because the location of units has yet to be decided.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence where he proposes to locate the headquarters of the Suffolk battery of Royal Artillery of the new Army Volunteer Reserve; and what its complement will be.

The location of the battery has not yet been decided; its complement, including the Headquarters, is likely to be seven officers and 130 other ranks.

asked the First Secretary and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs whether he is aware of the increase in standing charges to domestic consumers by the London Electricity Board; and whether he will refer this increase to the National Board for Prices and Incomes.

This, along with other tariff increases by the London Electricity Board, was referred by my right hon. Friend to the National Board for Prices and Incomes on 18th June, and the Board's report is expected shortly.

asked the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs whether he will make a statement about the price of cement, in view of the ending of the shortage.

As I informed the House on 7th July, 1965, the Cement Industry at that time delayed its proposed price increase for a week in order to give me an opportunity of considering it. More than half of the increase then made arose from the need for abnormal imports of clinker and cement. The level and cost of imports would be taken into account by the Independent Cost Committee in its next review.This review has now been carried out by the Independent Cost Committee on whose advice the Cement Industry is now proposing, after detailed discussion with the Ministry of Public Building and Works and my Department, to reduce the price of cement by 3s. a ton in the New Year. This is made possible by the fact that while certain costs have increased, it is no longer necessary to continue abnormal imports. My right hon. Friend and I are satisfied from these discussions that the resulting level of profitability of home production will be in line with the decision of the Restrictive Practices Court.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he is satisfied that existing National Insurance concessions to students adequately serve the national interest in attracting increasing numbers of suitably qualified students into full-time courses of further education; and if he will make a statement.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Dearne Valley (Mr. Wainwright) on 29th July. I have been carefully into this matter and do not consider that the existing National Insurance arrangements reduce the numbers of students seeking to enter full-time further education.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish frequency distributions of the latest available figures for gross and net incomes before and after tax of taxpayers resident in the greater Portsmouth area, Southampton and Hampshire, respectively.

There are no figures available of frequency distributions of incomes before or after tax for individuals resident in the greater Portsmouth area or in Southampton. The latest figures available for ranges of income before tax for Hampshire relate to 1959–60 and were published in Table 136 of the 105th Report of the Board of Inland Revenue; the basis of the classification by counties in this table is the place of main assessment of each individual, generally the place of business or employment, and not the place of residence.No figures are available by counties for ranges of income after tax.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the total cost for management and service of the National Debt for the financial years 1963–64 and 1964–65, and the estimated cost for 1965–66.

The gross cost of management and service of the National Debt was £1,086·7 million and £1,107·9 million for the financial years 1963–64 and 1964–65 respectively. The Budget estimate for the financial year 1965–66 was £1,218 million. These figures are for the total cost of interest, management, expenses (mainly Premium Savings Bond Prize money) and Sinking Funds.

asked the Minister of Health, what steps are being taken to deal with the situation at King Hill Hostel, West Malling, Kent; and if he will make a statement.

Temporary accommodation for homeless persons is provided at this hostel by Kent County Council in discharge of their duty under the National Assistance Act; and I should make it clear that the manner in which that duty is carried out is primarily for the decision of the Council, subject always to my general guidance.In January last I first raised with the Council a number of matters in connection with conditions at the hostel and their arrangements for providing temporary accommodation, and particularly the possibility of providing smaller units in a number of towns in the county instead of this one centre; the desirability of closer co-operation with housing authorities to prevent eviction and to facilitate re-housing; the reasonableness of the rules excluding husbands from residence in the hostel and limiting residence for wives and children to a maximum of three months. These and associated matters have also been the subject of more recent communication with the Council. They have been reviewing their arrangements, and I am now informed that they have so far taken the following decisions. They propose to seek full co-operation of all housing authorities in the county for the purposes mentioned; and to consider whether as a complement to these arrangements the Council itself should provide additional premises in several localities and expand or improve existing measures on behalf of homeless families. They propose for the time being to retain the rule excluding men from living at the hostel, but will consider allowing weekend stay; and over Christmas the rule will be relaxed from 2 p.m. on Friday, 24th December to 9 a.m. on Tuesday, 28th December. They propose also to retain the general rule of a maximum residence of three months, but to authorise a group of Council members to keep the circumstances of each family under regular and systematic review and if necessary to extend the period of residence. This group of members will specifically review the question of taking legal action to enforce this rule in relation to those cases in which writs have been issued and to all future cases.The steps taken so far, though they should bring about a more satisfactory situation, do not fully implement the suggestions I made to the Council. They assure me, however, that their review of the arrangements is continuing and that they will inform me of further developments. I shall continue to keep in close touch with their progress.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what action he will take on the recommenda- tion of the Law Commission that the law relating to common law misdemeanours, including the crime of conspiracy, should be referred for examination to the Criminal Law Revision Committee.

I accept the Law Commission's recommendation and have asked the Criminal Law Revision Committee to consider the law relating to common law misdemeanours accordingly.

asked the Postmaster-General, on how many wavelengths broadcasts are transmitted from Shivering Sands Tower; for which wavelengths licences to broadcast have been granted and have not been granted; what action has been taken against any broadcaster operating on a wavelength for which no licence has been granted; and when it is intended to take such action.

I am informed that broadcasts are transmitted from Shivering Sands Tower on a wavelength of 290 metres. No licence for broadcasting from that Tower has been granted. Enquiries are being pursued. Meanwhile it is right that stations now broadcasting on unauthorised wavelengths should have time to consider their position in the light of the statement I made on 8th December.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works, if he is aware of the current delay in the delivery of plasterboard to local building authorities in Scotland; and what steps he is taking to improve the position.

Yes. The manufacturers of plasterboard have been introducing new capacity since the summer and this will considerably increase supplies, in Scotland as in the rest of Great Britain, in 1966.

asked the President of the Board of Trade, what assistance has been made available under the Distribution of Industry Acts, the Local Employment Acts and the Shipbuilding Credit Act each year since 1950, either directly or indirectly, with a view to helping the shipbuilding and ship-repairing industries; and what control is exercised by his Department over the spending of such public moneys.

The information requested is as follows:

ASSISTANCE OFFERED TO SHIPBUILDING AND SHIP-REPAIRING FIRMS UNDER THE DISTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRY ACTS
			1950–58	1958–59	1959–60
£'000	…	…	Nil	1,113	3,250

ASSISTANCE OFFERED TO SHIPBUILDING AND SHIP-REPAIRING FIRMS UNDER THE LOCAL EMPLOYMENT ACTS, 1960 AND 1963
	1960–61	1961–62	1962–63	1963–64	1964–65
£'000	135	Nil	1,294	1,542	2,707

This expenditure under the Distribution of Industry Acts was provided for in the Treasury Vote. Expenditure under the Local Employment Acts is provided for in the Board of Trade Vote: the Appropriation Account is audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General in the normal way.ASSISTANCE OFFERED TO SHIPOWNERS UNDER THE SHIPBUILDING CREDIT ACT, 1964Under this Act £75 million was made available as loans to British shipowners to finance the building of new ships in British shipyards.

Payments made so far are:
			1964–65	1965–66 (to date)
£'000	…	…	21,033	24,871

Loans, repayable over periods of up to 10 years were offered by the Minister of Transport who was advised by an independent Shipbuilding Credit Advisory Committee. Loans are paid to shipowners on the delivery of the respective vessels on the evidence of auditors' certificates indicating the moneys spent on them. In all cases the loans have been secured by first mortgages on the vessels. The Scheme was closed to further applications at the end of October, 1963. No direct payments are made to shipbuilders.

asked the Minister of Transport, whether he will give a general direction, in the public interest, to the Railways Board to appoint a study group to explore the possibility of introducing emergency services to isolated villages and towns during heavy falls of snow which make the roads impassable, on those railway lines where services have been withdrawn.

As I indicated in my answer to my hon. Friend on 6th December, the Board are well aware of all the relevant factors. I do not think it would serve any useful purpose either to direct or to request them to appoint a study group to examine this matter.

asked the Minister of Transport, whether, in view of his policy to dissuade commuters from taking cars into congested cities, he will give a general direction to the British Railways Board not to withdraw the daily reduced fares for travel before 9.30 a.m. in Northern areas.

No. Decisions about concessionary fares rest with the Railways Board.

asked the Minister of Transport how many historical transport relics exist for which the curator of historical relics was not responsible on 1st January, 1962.

The Railways Board inform me that this information is not readily available.

asked the Minister of Transport how many of the locomotives scheduled for preservation as historical relics prior to 1st January, 1965, are now to be disposed of.

None at present.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will give a general direction, in the public interest, to the Railways Board to submit to him an additional provision under the Historical Relics Scheme, 1963, to ensure that no sale or disposal of relics should take place without prior consultation with an appropriate authority competent to judge the historic value of these relics.

No.

asked the Minister of Transport what stage his Department has reached in its consultations with the principal driving schools with a view to the standardisation of methods and standards of driving instruction.

A manual giving guidance on driving techniques, which I hope will be of special value to learner drivers and their instructors, is in the early stages of preparation but the stage for consultations has not yet been reached.Meantime, my Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors has issued the first of a series of bulletins, which contains some useful advice on points of detail about driving techniques. Copies have gone to all approved driving instructors.

asked the Minister of Transport what benefits he expects to obtain as a result of the revised road programme.

The increase in the financial provision for the road programme to 1969–70, which I announced in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, North-West (Sir B. Janner) on 4th November, was made in order to take account of changes in road construction prices and land prices. As the National Plan makes plain, this rapidly rising road programme will provide for a great improvement in the traffic situation on a limited number of roads, both in and between towns, but will still not be enough to relieve the increasing degree of congestion on many of our roads.