asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to devise a new method of valuing and assessing properties for drainage rates following the abolition of Schedule A taxation.

I regret I have nothing to add to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Caithness and Sutherland (Mr. George Y. Mackie) on 25th January.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has completed his review of the rules about late claims for subsidy; and if he will make a statement.

As a result of a review covering all the schemes which have a time limit for the submission of claims, I have been able to make some limited modifications in the rules now applied to late claims. These modifications will permit some additional circumstances to be taken into account in the applicant's favour. I am satisfied that the changes go as far as possible towards making the rules reasonably fair to all applicants, bearing in mind that it is entirely the applicant's responsibility to get his claims in on time.The new rules will be applied to cases of failure to meet any future closing dates. It is not practicable to apply them retrospectively.

asked the Minister of Aviation what representations he has received from the Government-nominated directors of Short Brothers and Harland; whether he is aware of the widespread disquiet in that company; and whether he will make a definitive statement on its future as an aircraft producer.

I have had talks with the Chairman and one other Government-nominated director, and discussed with them the difficulties which the company is facing owing to the prospective fall in the workload of its aircraft division. I shall be making a statement about the future of Shorts when the House debates the report of the Plowden Committee.

asked the Minister of Health if he will review the regulations pertaining to the payment of examination fees for National Health Service personnel with a view to removing the differences of treatment shown by the document sent to him by the hon. Member for Willesden, West; and if he will make a statement.

Assistance with examination fees has been authorised for certain categories of hospital staff where special considerations apply and I am keeping the matter under review.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the desirable strength, in men and women, of the part-time auxiliary police forces, showing special constables and first police reservists separately; and what was the enrolled strength on 1st January, 1965, and 1st January, 1966, respectively.

The total establishment and enrolled strength of special constables were:

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government, what proposals he has for guaranteeing security of tenure to tenants living in caravans.

Measures to give security of tenure for caravan dwellers would be ineffective unless combined with control over rentals and other charges, and there are certain difficulties about this which my right hon. Friend is considering. He has no immediate proposals.

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if she will inquire into the refusal of both unemployment benefit and National Assistance to workers laid off at the Austin, Longbridge, factory of the British Motor Corporation, who applied at the Smethwick office of her Department on Friday, 21st January, 1966; and if she will make a statement.

I understand that workers laid off at Longbridge as a result of the gas shortage are covered by the guaranteed wage agreement in the engineering industry and are not therefore entitled to unemployment benefit. This has been explained to the few who have inquired at the Smethwick employment exchange and I have no evidence that there has been any misunderstanding or complaint.Two men from Longbridge who inquired at the Smethwick Office of the National Assistance Board were told that as they had received wages on the previous day it was unlikely that any assistance would be payable.It may however be that the hon. Member has in mind an occasion earlier this month when some workers at Longbridge were laid off as the result of a trade dispute at a neighbouring factory. The test claim for unemployment benefit on behalf of these workers has been decided in the claimant's favour and the benefit due will be paid on 28th January.

asked the Postmaster-General what proportion of all local calls made by private resident subscribers during the last 12 months was made in the full-rate period exceeding six minutes' duration, and in the cheap-rate period exceeding 12 minutes' duration, respectively; and if he will give the corresponding figures for all local calls made by business subscribers.

I am sorry the Post Office records do not give this information, and the special arrangements which would be necessary to obtain it would not, I think, be justified.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will take steps to introduce a reduction in the television licence fee for the benefit of deaf persons using television.

I have considered with great sympathy the possibility of introducing concessions of one kind or another for various groups, including the deaf. But I have been forced to conclude that it would be impracticable to do so without creating serious anomalies.

asked the Minister of Power if he is satisfied that supplies of anthracite and Phurnacite to consumers in East Suffolk are adequate and that the present marketing organisation of the industry is sufficient to meet local demands; and if he will make a statement.

This is a matter for the National Coal Board and the distributors, and I have asked the Chairman of the Board to write to the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Power why the Lowestoft district is not receiving its proper supply of anthracite grains and phurnacite; and what results have been achieved by the tripartite committee set up by him, representing the railways, the Coal Board and the distribution trades, to ensure that the output of these commodities is fairly distributed throughout the retail fuel distributive trade, in view of the fact that merchants' programmes are based on the original registration of individual consumers.

The supply of anthracite grains and Phurnacite is a matter for the National Coal Board and the distributors, and I have asked the Chairman of the Board to write to the hon. Member.I understand that the purpose of the tripartite committees which have been set up by British Railways, the National Coal Board and the distributors, is to consider plans for the more economical handling of solid fuel at a smaller number of depots.

asked the Minister of Power whether he will publish figures showing the output of the South Wales coalfields for each of the last five years.

The figures are published in the Digest of Welsh Statistics (Table 40 of the 1964 edition).

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a detailed statement on the progress of the Scottish Economic Planning Council, set up by him, who are considering the forthcoming White Paper on the Scottish Economy; and if he will take steps to obviate the undue emphasis on the South-West and Midlands of Scotland and the neglect of eastern Scotland, thereby increasing the drift of skilled workers to the South-West and Midlands of Scotland and to England.

The White Paper on the Scottish Economy published on 26th January gives a detailed account of the work of the Scottish Economic Planning Council on this subject. It sets out a programme which will enable all parts of the country, including the North-East, to play a full part in an expanding economy. A substantial reduction in outward migration is one of the most important objectives of this programme.

asked the Minister of Transport if she will now publish the results of the traffic census taken in August and November, 1965, on the A.259 at Rye, the A.259 at St. Leonards-on-Sea, Bexhill Road, the A.259 at Cooden, Pevensey Road, and the A.28 at Hastings, London Road.

Traffic counts at the first three of these points were taken in the country-wide 1965 census now being analysed. We expect this work to take some months to complete but the results will be made available as soon as possible. The count at London Road is not a part of this census and results there are already available from the Hastings County Borough Council who are the responsible highway authority. I understand that the peak hour flow there was 1,157 passenger car units.

asked the Minister of Transport if she will state the amount of expenditure from local authority funds on major improvements and new construction, and maintenance and minor improvements, respectively, on classified roads in each of the years ending 31st March from 1960 onwards.

The information is contained in the following table:

asked the Minister of Transport how many accidents have occurred during the past two years on the Colnbrook Bypass; whether she is aware that the bridge on the railway on that road is especially dangerous because of the limited visibility over the rise; and whether she will erect Accident Black Spot notices at that point.

In 1964 2 fatal and 38 personal injury accidents on the bypass were reported and in 1965 13 personal injury accidents. The bridge and its approaches are marked by mandatory solid and dotted lines. Accident Black Spot notices would not be appropriate there.

asked the Minister of Transport whether she is aware of the hazards arising from three-lane roads; and what steps she will take to reduce these hazards.

The accident rate on three-lane roads is not significantly different from that on two-lane roads. Nevertheless, I recognise that there are certain hazards arising on three-lane roads, especially busy ones. Several existing lengths of over-loaded three-lane roads will be converted to dual carriageways when resources permit. In the short-term, experiments with offset double white lines are in progress.

asked the Minister of Transport if she is aware of the concern arising from possible failure of certain insurance companies to meet their obligations under the Road Traffic Acts; what action she proposes to take to protect the public; and if she will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.I am aware of the concern to which my hon. Friend refers. The Insurance Companies Act, 1958, confers certain powers on the Board of Trade with regard to the solvency of insurance companies. If my hon. Friend has any information about particular insurance companies and would send it to me, I would gladly consider it.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that voluntary gifts of shares to workers in a company by a shareholder are liable to be taxed on the individuals under Schedule E as arising from their employment; and whether, in view of the desirability of greater participation by workers in industry, he will exempt such gifts from Income Tax and exempt the donor from Capital Gains Tax in respect of the disposal.

The general rule is that employees are liable to Income Tax on all emoluments from their employment, whether voluntary or contractual. I see no reason to depart from this rule when the emoluments take the particular form of shares in a company, nor from exempting the donor from any liability to Capital Gains Tax that may arise in respect of his disposal of the shares.