asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what is the cost to date of installing, maintaining and broadcasting from the radio transmitter at Francistown.

The costs up to 31st March are estimated at £178,750 for the installation of the station and £29,750 for the broadcasting, maintenance and other operating costs.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what is the cost to date of the Zambia airlift.

The cost of the British airlifts into Zambia until 21st April, the latest date for which figures are available, is approximately £2,750,000.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the cost to date of maintaining the Royal Air Force in Zambia.

The additional cost of maintaining the Royal Air Force units in Zambia, including the cost of the original deployment of these forces to Zambia, is estimated to be about £850,000 up to 21st April, 1966. This figure includes some local costs which will be met by the Government of Zambia but excludes the cost of transporting oil to Zambia for the Javelin aircraft because this is not at present separately identifiable.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how soon he expects to have the Arts Council's recommendation on the possibility of including under copyright a public lending right, whereby authors shall be entitled to receive remuneration on copyright works borrowed by the public; and when he expects to introduce legislation on this matter.

The Literature Panel of the Arts Council has set up a working party to consider this matter but are unable to say as yet when they will report.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the amount, to the nearest £10 million, that has accrued to the official reserves under the 25 per cent. rule governing investment dollars; and whether he proposes to incorporate this rule in the forthcoming Finance Bill, as a taxation provision.

I would ask the hon. Gentleman to await my Budget statement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated annual loss to this country of the blocking of interest and dividend payments from Rhodesia.

The loss of payments from Rhodesia may be about £7 million in a full year, with a corresponding saving of between £4 million and £5 million in payments to Rhodesia.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost of exempting from Customs duty souvenirs brought into the country up to the value of £10, £15 and £20, respectively.

Anything up to £8 million, £16 million and £24 million, respectively.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost of exempting the first £100 of capital gains in each year from tax.

It is not possible to make an estimate. The cost would depend on the extent to which taxpayers took advantage of the exemption by spreading their realisations of capital gains.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will increase the tax on petrol and abolish the Road Fund tax when he presents his forthcoming Budget.

I cannot anticipate my right hon. Friend's Budget statement.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated effect on the balance of payments of the loss by insurance companies of Rhodesian and South African business.

No estimate is possible.

asked the Minister of Health what discussions he has had with the Council of the Dental Laboratories Association about securing a specified division of payment for prosthetic work between the dentist and the laboratory; what information he has concerning the availability of dental laboratory technicians in commercial laboratories; and what proportion of National Health Service prosthetic work is carried out by these commercial laboratories.

None, and I have no information on the points mentioned by the hon. Member.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will issue a small booklet for distribution to all ratepayers explaining their rights under the Rate Rebate Scheme.

Three million copies of an explanatory leaflet about the Act have been printed and supplies have been sent to all rating authorities to be made available on request. In addition some rating authorities have printed explanatory leaflets which have been sent to all the domestic ratepayers in their area. My right hon. Friend does not think that anything further is called for at this stage.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is the estimated cost of the Rate Rebate Scheme.

For the first financial year, about £29 million for Great Britain, of which the Exchequer will meet about £22 million.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when he expects to confirm the Beaumont Street clearance order made by the Manchester Corporation.

My right hon. Friend's decision on the Beaumont Street, Beswick, Housing Compulsory Purchase Order 1965 was issued yesterday.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when he expects to confirm the Devon Street and Carlisle Street clearance orders made by the Manchester Corporation.

My right hon. Friend hopes to issue his decision on the Devon Street, Beswick, Housing Compulsory Purchase Orders Nos. 1 and 2 very shortly. His decision on the Carlisle Street Housing Compulsory Purchase Order was issued on 14th December, 1965.

asked the Minister of Labour what provision his Department makes for the holding of courses to prepare those about to retire for their retirement; whether his Department sponsors any such courses; and whether his Department recognises any such courses organised by non-governmental bodies.

Such courses are not the functions of our Department whose concern is with those in, or preparing for, active employment.

asked the Minister of Labour what provision his Department makes for the compilation of regis- ters of part-time employment and of available part-time employees.

Part-time vacancies and registrations for part-time work are handled by employment exchanges in the same way as any others.

asked the Minister of Labour what progress is now being made towards the provision of a sheltered workshop in the Brighton area.

Following a meeting on 24th January with officers of the Ministry, the local authority is considering how the need for a sheltered workshop can best be met.

asked the Postmaster-General what is the telephone waiting list in Banbury; how many new telephone lines will be available in Banbury bettween now and the beginning of 1968; what proposals he has to overcome the shortage of telephones in Banbury; and if he will make a statement.

Some two hundred applicants are waiting for telephones in Banbury. Additional equipment to provide for 1,600 new lines is in course of provision, but as this will not start to become available until the spring of 1967, I regret that many applicants will have to wait until then for service. It is not easy to forecast the growth of telephones in Banbury, which is likely to expand considerably, but the current addition should meet requirements well beyond the beginning of 1968 and plans for the more distant future are being made.

asked the Postmaster-General what are the principal factors making for delays in the provision of telephones to would-be subscribers.

Nearly three-quarters of all telephone exchanges had no waiting list at the end of March 1966. More telephones are being provided than ever before and, subject to customers' convenience, orders are being met more quickly where plant is available. But, with stable prices, and a new social attitude towards the telephone, the demand for connections is unprecedented and outstripping the provision of new plant. In consequence, the number of people waiting for connections is increasing, mainly because of shortages of exchange equipment. The industry is planning to double its output of the present type of equipment and, in addition, new types are being ordered, but it will be some years before all the plant deficiencies can be overcome.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works, how many men are now employed on the Polaris submarine base at the Gareloch; and what are the trades at which they work.

Details by trades are as follows:

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what is the estimated expenditure on the school at the Polaris base at the Gareloch; and how much had been spent up to 31st March, 1966.

Excluding equipment for which the Minister of Defence is responsible, £750,000 of which £700,700 was spent up to 31st March, 1966.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the estimated dollar cost of replacing Rhodesian by United States tobacco.

Any additional cost to our balance of payments would be small.

asked the Minister of Transport if she is aware of the problem of heavy goods vehicles passing through the centre of Market Drayton; and what proposals she has to relieve the situation.

Yes. Our Divisional Road Engineer is discussing possible measures with the County Surveyor of Salop County Council, which is the highway authority for the two main roads intersecting the centre of the town.

asked the Minister of Transport if she will so regulate east-bound traffic using Eastern Avenue as to ensure that heavy lorries are prevented from turning into Oaks Lane, Ilford, where they cause danger and nuisance to residents and young children and elderly people; and what discussions she has had with the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and the Redbridge Borough Council about this problem.

We have no evidence that heavy lorries turning into Oaks Lane are creating conditions on Eastern Avenue that would justify me in prohibiting such turns. The behaviour of lorries on Oaks Lane is a matter for the Redbridge Borough Council and the Greater London Council as traffic authority. I have drawn the points raised to the attention of the Greater London Council.

asked the Minister of Transport, when she expects to publish plans for Radial Route 7 in so far as it affects property in the constituency of the hon. Member for Ilford, North; and what steps she is taking in the meantime to assist in the financing of the purchase of property elsewhere by owner occupiers in the area affected by possible routes for Radial Route 7 who now cannot sell their houses.

Our consultants are carrying out traffic investigations to determine the best line for the route. Their report is expected later this year, and my right hon. Friend hopes to be able to publish plans for the route in 1967, in the form of draft Orders under the Highways Act. Until Orders have been made she can consider claims for the advance purchase of properties affected by the route only when the owner-occupier of such a property is unable to sell at a reasonable price and can prove hardship.

asked the Minister of Transport if she will seek to make compulsory the registration of driving instructors.

My right hon. Friend is considering this and hopes to make a statement soon.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is to be the constitutional future of Kamaran, Perim and the Kuria Muria Islands.

The future of these islands will be decided as part of the constitutional arrangements for South Arabia as a whole. It is not possible to be more precise at present.