asked the President of the Board of Trade how many meetings of his Departmental Committee on Patent Law have been held; when he expects it to report; and how the report will be made available to the public.

The Committee has held 12 meetings. It is expected that it will report towards the end of 1969. The report will be published by H.M. Stationery Office.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will now give details of the latest available trade and investment figures of Great Britain with South Africa, with Portuguese Africa, and with the rest of Africa, respectively.

I am sorry that my hon. Friend had difficulty in interpreting the references contained in my Answer of 7th May to certain statistical reports.For the year ending March 1968, United Kingdom exports and imports were:

£ million
	Imports c.i.f.	Exports f.o.b.	Reexports f.o.b.
South Africa	235	251	4
Portuguese Africa	5	18	negligible
Rest of Africa	500	310	5

Portuguese Africa comprises Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde Islands, Portuguese Guinea, Principe and S. Tome Islands.The book values of United Kingdom investment at end 1965 were:—

				£ million
South Africa	…	…	…	392
Mozambique	…	…	…	10
Rest of Africa	…	…	…	398

A total for Portuguese Africa is not available.The figures almost certainly do not reflect the full value of our investments. Details are given on page vii of the Board of Trade Journal of 26th January, 1968.Details of net investment during 1966 have recently become available:

				£ million
South Africa	…	…	…	35
Mozambique	…	…	…	1
Rest of Africa	…	…	…	14
—[Vol. 764, c. 59.]

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many persons in his Department are concerned with the task of detecting violations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade rules by foreign countries; what were the corresponding figures for 1951 and 1964; and if he will make a statement.

Scrutiny of the trading practices of other countries and of the ways in which such practices may affect the interests of this country is part of the daily work of all the divisions of my Department concerned with our external trade and commercial relations, as well as of H.M. Embassies and High Commissions overseas. The compatibility of such practices with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is, of course, one of the matters taken into account.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many industrial development certificates he has issued this year to permit development in the North-West outside the development areas and also in the Merseyside development area and Skelmersdale New Town.

In the period 1st January to 30th April this year 166 industrial development certificates have been issued in the North-Western Region outside the development areas, 64 in the Merseyside development area and 7 in the Skelmersdale employment exchange area.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table of figures giving details of world trade, exports and imports, monthly averages, seasonably adjusted in millions of dollars, for each quarter from 1964 to date for Great Britain, the United States of America, Germany, France and Italy, respectively, from information available to her from international sources.

This information is available from "Main Economic Indicators" published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Data from the third quarter of 1965 to the fourth quarter of 1967, the latest for which information is available, are on pages 114 and 116 of the issue for April, 1968. Information for the earlier periods in question is shown on pages 116 and 117 of the issue for November, 1966.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs when the study of the North Atlantic Free Trade Area was started; when it ended; whether he will publish it; and if he will make a statement.

As the Prime Minister said on 21st March, in reply to the hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Marten) and the right hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Mr. Turton), the Government studied the possibility of a North Atlantic Free Trade Area before announcing our decision to apply for entry to the European Economic Community on 2nd May, 1967. All the considerations resulting from that study were presented to the House in the following debate.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what official assistance is given to the Great Britain— Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Association.

The Association receives a grant from the British Council of £20,000 per annum.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the breakdown of negotiations on aid to South Yemen, he will give an assurance that he will not recommend any further offer of bilateral aid to that country.

As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary told the House on 13th May we have discharged our obligation to hold further negotiations on aid, and my right hon. Friend said on 20th May that as our offer of aid had been refused the question of future aid did not now arise. —[Vol. 764, c. 182–3; Vol. 765, c. 14–15.]

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what is the total staff available for manning and maintenance at No. 1 Bridge Street.

No staff are permanently allocated to No. 1 Bridge Street. It receives attention as required from staff available for the manning and maintenance of the Houses of Parliament as a whole.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works whether the heating system at No. 1 Bridge Street has either thermostatic or time control.

This is an old automatic oil fired system which has not been modernised because the remaining life of the building is short. It has thermostatic control.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what instructions are given about the control of heating at No. 1 Bridge Street.

The Ministry's resident engineer is authorised to control the heating in accordance with outside temperatures and the nature of occupation. A brief warm spell in April has been followed by weather which is very cold for the time of the year. It is open to occupants to turn off radiators.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what is the annual cost of heating No. 1 Bridge Street; and what is the quantity of fuel consumed.

About £1,000: 20,000 gallons.

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works whether he will make the Banqueting House, Whitehall, more widely available for evening functions, such as receptions.

This very fine building has the status of a Royal Palace and my first duty is to open it to the public; any function must interfere as little as possible with the admission of the public and be in keeping with the dignity and traditions of the Banqueting House. After careful consideration, in consultation with the Palace and my colleagues in interested Departments, I have decided to extend the fields from which special users might be chosen so that in future they will cover:

(a) Government receptions:

(b) Registered charities of a national character, normally on distinctive occasions, for fund-raising activities which are in keeping with the dignity and traditions of the building;

(c) Receptions, normally on distinctive occasions, by non-profit making commercial and industrial organisations for the promotion of export trade or other suitable purposes, supported by the appropriate Minister;

(d) National and international learned societies, professional institutions and cultural organisations, sponsored by the appropriate Minister.

Applications within these spheres will receive sympathetic consideration on their merits, having regard to other demands and to the over-riding need to keep the Banqueting House open to the general public. A charge for the use of the hall will normally be preferred for occasions under (

asked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs how many persons were engaged in his Department in 1964 and 1966 in the supervision of retail prices.

None.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will arrange an inquiry into the method and practice of granting salmon fishing licences in Northumberland, with a view to amending those parts of existing general legislation which relate to this area alone.

The granting of salmon fishing licences in Northumberland is regulated by the Northumberland and Tyneside River Board (Limitation of Net Licences) Order, 1964. The Order follows the pattern of similar Orders made under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act, 1923. I know of nothing to suggest that the provisions of the Act or the Order are proving unsatisfactory and see no need for an inquiry.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what were the total amounts applied for and allocated to Nottinghamshire for primary school building for each of the years for 1961–62 to 1968–69.

The following are the figures for major programmes:

Year		Value of the Primary School Proposals (1)	Value of the Primary School Programme Approved (2)
		£	£
1960–62(3)	…	380,147	174,712
1962–63	…	416,675	294,459
1963–64 (4)	…	733,026	280,352
1964–65	…	270,050	260,715
1965–66(5)	…	1,757,250	871,320
1966–67	…	—	623,495
1967–68	…	299,185	264,023
1968–69	…	718,504	332,374(6)
Total	…	4,574,837	3,101,450

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many children of the age of five years and over have been refused admittance to Moulsecombe School, Brighton, to date; and how many have been refused entrance for the new term commencing September, 1968;(2) when demountable classrooms for additional pupils will be erected at Moulsecombe School, Brighton.

I am informed that 26 children who had just reached the age of 5 could not be admitted to the School at the beginning of the summer term and were offered places at other schools within statutory walking distance of their homes. The Brighton Authority do not expect any children of compulsory school age to be refused admission next term.The Authority plan to bring two demountable classrooms into use at the School next term.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans there are for the provision of facilities for the training of speech therapy at the North Wales School for Physically Handicapped Children at Llandudno.

None. The training of speech therapists is a three-year full-time advanced course, and the Llandudno School would not be a suitable location. The Welsh Joint Education Committee have written to the Department about therapy training facilities for Wales and we are carefully considering their proposals. Wider consultations will be necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science at what age, under his regulations, a student who has never worked outside school or university ceases to be eligible for grant as a student.

No age limit is laid down in the University and Other Awards Regulations, 1965.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many local education authorities at present organise residential courses for new teachers, similar to those planned by the Inner London Education Authority, details of which have been sent to him, which include an exploration into the nature of racial prejudice; and by what means guidance and information is made available on this subject for all local education authorities.

I do not collect detailed information about courses run by local education authorities for their teachers but I know that many authorities with substantial numbers of immigrant pupils organise courses for both new and experienced teachers on the sociological and linguistic problems of these children. Questions concerned with racial prejudice are commonly discussed at such courses. Information and help is made available through H.M. Inspectors as well as through local education authority inspectors and advisers, teachers' associations and the various publications and bulletins of such bodies as the Schools Council, the National Committee for Commonwealth Immigrants, the United Kingdom Committee for Human Rights Year and the local education authorities themselves.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many primary schools have been closed in Wales in each of the years 1957 to 1967.

The numbers are as follows:

1957	…	…	…	7
1958	…	…	…	17
1959	…	…	…	20
1960	…	…	…	12
1961	…	…	…	18
1962	…	…	…	18
1963	…	…	…	25
1964	…	…	…	22
1965	…	…	…	15
1966	…	…	…	27
1967	…	…	…	19

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what information he has, from international sources, as to the percentage of their national income represented by overseas aid given by the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

Figures for the 1966 net official flow alone, expressed as percentages of net national income at factor cost, have been given by the Development Assistance Committee of O.E.C.D. as follows:

			Official Flow per cent.
United Kingdom	…	…	0·60*
Belgium	…	…	0·64
France	…	…	0·95
Italy	…	…	0·24
Netherlands	…	…	0·55
* Subsequently revised to 0·63 per cent

asked the Minister of Health if he will make a statement on the shortage of measles vaccine in Essex, with particular reference to the constituency of Billericay, details of which has been sent to him.

My plans provide for vaccination against measles to be offered to all children aged one to fifteen who are susceptible to the disease because they have not been immunised nor had natural measles. Implementation of these plans will necessarily take time. In announcing them I informed local authorities that at the outset the amount of vaccine available would not be sufficient to meet all possible demands, and asked them to concentrate during May, June and July on susceptible children in certain priority groups, mainly those aged 4 to 6 inclusive.The entire available and growing supply of vaccine is being bought by my Department and distributed to local authorities. In my view the amount to be distributed during May, June and July should be sufficient for the estimated numbers of susceptible children in the priority groups likely to come forward for vaccination. But demands made by local authorities have exceeded the amounts of vaccine so far available, and supplies have had to be distributed fairly. Essex County Council, whose area includes Billericay, have accordingly received about one third of the order they placed for May, as have most other authorities.

asked the Minister of Health if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT, a list of the surveys carried out by management consultants into the management structure of teaching and non-teaching hospitals during the last five years.

During the last five years, studies known to have been carried out by Management Consultants or to be in progress at teaching and non-teaching Hospitals are as listed below. There may have been further studies carried out by Hospital authorities and paid for out of non-Exchequer funds.

Subject	Number of Studies
1. Management and Administration	6
2. Planning, Design and Project Management	8
3. Productivity Schemes	9
4. Management of Catering, Portering, Domestic etc., Services	10
Total	33

asked the Minister of Health if he will publish any of the reports made by management consultants into hospital management structures which would be helpful to the consideration of his proposed green paper on the future of the National Health Service.

Such reports belong to the hospital authorities who commissioned the studies and are not available for publication.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will introduce legislation to enable children crossing patrol personnel to assist the elderly and infirm as part of their duties.

The Transport Bill now before Parliament seeks to extend the powers and functions of traffic wardens so that they can do this.

asked the Minister of Transport out of how many of the 12,720 private vehicles stopped on spot road cheats in the year ending 30th September, 1967 were reports made that vehicles so stopped were not displaying a current road fund licence.

This information is not available since the purpose of the spot checks is to check on the observance of the Construction and Use and Lighting Regulations, particularly brakes, lights and steering.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will take the necessary action to obtain the national figures of the number of road vehicles reported for failing to possess and display a current road fund licence.

We already receive annual reports of vehicles reported to taxation authorities for not having vehicle licences. The offence of not displaying a licence is a matter for the police and the action taken by them was given in reply to my hon. Friend's Question on 10th May.—[Vol. 764, c. 157.]

asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that on numerous occasions the owner of commercial vehicle number 3688CD has been reported for failing to have a current road fund licence, but on 16th May this vehicle was still being used illegally; and if he will now initiate a prosecution.

I understand that the Greater London Council is investigating reports made to it about this vehicle. As my hon. Friend well knows, it is not for my right hon. Friend to initiate prosecutions in this matter.

asked the Minister of Transport when he expects to announce the next contract for the M1-M6 link motorway.

In about 3 months' time.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity how much was refunded to employers in development areas in the North-West area by way of Selective Employment Tax premiums in the last financial year.

Between 4th September, 1967, when regional employment premium became payable, and 31st March, 1968, about £6½ million was paid in regional employment premium to employers in development areas in the North-Western Region.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity how many persons employed in her Department are currently engaged in the supervision of retail prices.

My Department is responsible for co-ordination of the productivity, prices and incomes policy. The various sponsoring departments are responsible for watching retail price trends in their particular sectors working in close touch with my Prices Division, none of whom are engaged exclusively in watching retail price trends.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity whether she is aware that the National Union of General and Municipal Workers are proposing to increase their members' subscriptions from 2s. to 2s. 6d.; and, as this is contrary to the Government's prices and incomes policy, whether she will refer this to the National Board for Prices and Incomes.

As has been made clear on several occasions, such subscriptions are not subject to the requirements of prices and incomes policy.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table of figures sufficient to enable a graph to be constructed, showing for a taxpayer with no unearned income and with only child and personal allowances, the gross income and the change in income between 1967–68 and 1968–69 resulting from the increased family allowances and reduced Income Tax allowances for children, for families with two, three, four, and five children, respectively, up to a maximum gross income of £3,000.

If the net benefit (i.e. the increase in family allowances less the increase in tax) is plotted against the gross earnings for the points given in the table below, the straight lines joining neighbouring points, with horizontal lines at the ends, give the graph required for each family circumstance.

TABLE
	Earnings			Increase in net income 1968–69 over 1967–68
	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.
Married man with 2 children	643	13	0	22	2	0
	712	1	0	11	9	0
	772	5	0	11	9	0
	840	13	0	6	3	0
	1,029	8	0	6	3	0
	1,097	15	0		3	0
Married man with 3 children	697	3	0	44	4	0
	825	14	0	24	4	0
	833	18	0	22	6	0
	962	10	0	12	6	0
	1,082	17	0	12	6	0
	1,219	13	0		6	0
Married man with 4 children	750	12	0	60	11	0
	879	4	0	40	11	0
	950	0	0	24	0	0
	1,078	12	0	14	0	0
	1,136	7	0	14	0	0
	1,335	15	0	−3	8	0
Married man with 5 children	804	2	0	76	18	0
	932	13	0	56	18	0
	1,066	3	0	25	15	0
	1,189	16	0	16	3	0
	1,194	14	0	15	7	0
	1,451	17	0	−7	3	0

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the main elements of the £485 million of current account Balance of Payments Government Debits incurred in 1967.

These are published in Economic Trends (Table 5, page xxvi of the March, 1968 edition).

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, taking 1964 as equalling 100, he will publish a table of figures giving the annual percentage rise and fall since that date in industrial production in Great Britain, compared with the United States of America, Germany, France, Italy and Japan, from information available to him from international sources.

The figures are:

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION*
				1964=100
		1965	1966	1967
United Stales	…	109	118	120
Germany	…	106	106	106
France	…	101	108	110
Italy	…	105	117	127
Japan	…	103	117	140
United Kingdom	…	103	105	104
* Excluding construction.

Source: O.E.C.D.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will define the types of scrip issues which are, and are not, comparable with the Government's proposed ceiling on dividend increases, respectively, giving the reasons in each case.

Companies have been asked under the voluntary dividend restraint policy to defer making scrip issues for the time being.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give details of any statutory controls upon, or deterrent to, investment by United Kingdom residents in companies registered in the Republic of Ireland which are not subject to his proposed controls on increases in dividend distributions.

No statutory controls apply, but portfolio investment by United Kingdom institutional investors and direct investment in the Republic of Ireland is subject to the Voluntary Programme introduced in May, 1966.