asked the Secretary of State for Wales what special seating accommodation for the aged and the infirm he is arranging to provide at the Investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarvon Castle.

The guest list is still under consideration and until this has been completed it is impossible to say what proportion of the guests will be aged and infirm and what special arrangements, if any, need to be made for them.

What is likely to be the price of seats in the front row for old-age pensioners?

I hope to communicate with my hon. Friend when I have more information.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received about the development of a site in South Monmouthshire as an intercontinental airport.

The Welsh Advisory Committee for Civil Aviation has drawn my right hon. Friend's attention to a possible site on the Welsh Grounds shoal, off the coast of Monmouthshire, which the Committee thinks might be suitable for development in the long term as an inter-continental airport.

Whilst I welcome in principle the potential of such an airport to industrial development in the area, will the Government now say that they have learned the lessons of Stansted, and that the views of local people will be fully canvassed before the eventual decision?

I have no doubt that there will be ample local consultation. I emphasise once more that this is a long-term proposition.

How can a project for a large airport of this kind in South Monmouthshire easily be reconciled with the considerable expansion now projected for the Glamorgan airport at Rhoose?

I must reiterate that this is a long-term matter. I do not think that this will detract from the use of the airport at Rhoose, which is being expanded at present, as the hon. Gentleman knows.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the policy of his Department in regard to plans submitted to him to develop a National Bank for Wales.

All proposals put to me will be carefully examined, but I propose to await the result of the Welsh Council's study of the availability of private and public capital in Wales before forming a considered view on this matter.

This is good news. Will my right hon. Friend accept that those of us who are attracted by the proposal initially view it not as wholly essential to nationhood but as a practical contribution to industrial investment and putting the Principality on the map financially?

It is because of those considerations and others that I feel that this is not a mater for hasty judgment.

I am grateful that the Minister so readily saw Mr. John Ellis, who proposed the idea. Has he any intention of having talks with, for example, the Governor of the Bank of England about this matter and passing on any information he gleans to the Welsh Economic Council before it advises him?

The hon. and learned Gentleman should not be under a misapprehension. I was pleased to see Mr. Ellis, but the idea had been canvassed much earlier by the old Welsh Economic Council and considered by it and the present Welsh Council. The question of who shall be consulted must remain until I have the views of the Welsh Council.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will consider directing the Water Resources Board to limit its study of the demands and resources in Wales and the Midlands to those areas of Breconshire and Radnor-shire where there are proposals for reservoirs contemplated, to issue an interim report as soon as is possible and to recommend to the various river authorities not to proceed with their demands for the time being.

No, Sir. This is the last of three studies covering the whole of England and Wales and these widely based studies are essential to enable the Board to fulfil its responsibilities as national planners of water resources. My hon. Friend can expect that the Board will make its views known on any proposals relating to reservoirs in particular localities in the course of the thorough examination and public inquiry to which such proposals would be subject.

What advice do my right hon. Friend and my hon. Friend receive from the Welsh Advisory Committee which deals with water supplies? What I am anxious about is that the river authorities appear to be looking for water within their own areas instead of elsewhere, where there is not such good agricultural land.

The Usk River Authority has applied to my right hon. Friend for an order to confer on it compulsory powers to make a survey in a part of my hon. Friend's constituency, but this will be the subject of a public inquiry, and we have every expectation that the full facts will be laid before the public at that inquiry.

In the Welsh debate on Tuesday the question of water was discussed. Could the Government go a good deal further than they did on that occasion and tell us whether they have any large-scale plans in regard to barrages or with regard to experimentation with desalination, because the problem of the flooding of the Welsh valleys is a very great one?

We are aware of both methods of dealing with the problem, but that goes very wide of the Question.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will name individual lengths of motorways and dual carriageway roads, respectively, which will be started in Wales in 1969.

At the beginning of 1969 work will just be starting on two schemes on which contracts are expected to be let in 1968, the Tongwynlais—Nantgarw Section of the A470 Cardiff—Merthyr Road and the Raglan—Usk Section of the New Midlands Road. Before the end of 1969 we hope, unless unforeseen difficulties arise over land, to start work on Stage 2 of the Cardiff Inner By-pass (Eastern Avenue) and the Nantgarw—Glyntaff Section of the Cardiff—Merthyr Road. The principal road link between Eastern Avenue and A48 is also programmed to start in 1969. All these are dual carriageway schemes to near motorway standards.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the programme is totally inadequate to the needs of Wales? What is needed is not so much what we heard of from the Secretary of State on Tuesday—a pool of good intentions, which may stretch forward to the distant future, perhaps towards the end of the century—but immediate starting dates for great projects such as the road from Carmarthen to St. Clears?

We are fully conscious of the need for these dual carriage-way roads. The details that I have outlined come to 19½ miles altogether, bringing the total by the end of next year to 90, a remarkable figure.

Will my hon. Friend appreciate that the value of export trade from the South Wales docks in the first nine months in this year declined compared with the corresponding period last year? Will he appreciate, therefore, that there is also a need to expedite road building between South Wales and the Midlands and South Wales and the South-East of England if the South Wales docks are to win their battle for survival?

Yes, Sir. My right hon. Friend is very conscious of this and is examining programmes at the moment in connection with the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will state where and what lengths of dual carriageway roads have been completed in wales during the last 12 months.

The total mileage completed was 9·1. With permission, I will circulate the further details in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Will the hon. Gentleman try to get the Government to show their sincerity in their professions about Wales by embarking on a much more ambitious programme than this? Surely this is absolutely poverty-stricken in view of the great need that we have throughout Wales for highways, which are the key to industrial and economic development in our country?

Having regard to the resources available, we are doing far more than was ever done before, despite the importance of these roads. We are also doing a tremendous amount to improve traffic flows by well-designed smaller schemes where traffic volumes do not justify dual carriageway roads. In this connection, I would remind the hon. Gentleman of the Nant y Caws Hill in his constituency.

Will the hon. Gentleman recollect the number of fatal accidents and bad injuries caused by accidents on the main road from Barry to Cardiff through Wenvoe, which reveal the urgent necessity for a much better road and possibly a duel carriageway, and will he look at the matter again with a view to helping the Glamorgan County Council which has not the funds to provide the road that is needed?

We are very conscious of the importance of road safety, and that is why we are concentrating on the smaller schemes where we can possibly help.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales whether the 15 per cent. cut in road maintenance imposed on local authorities in 1968 is to be repeated in 1969.

Local authorities have been asked to reduce their planned expenditure on highways by 15 per cent. in 1968–69 and 1969–70—but they have been left free to decide how the savings should be achieved. No further cuts are planned for these years.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the continued maintenance of the 15 per cent. cut in road maintenance work on county council roads can do nothing else but lead to the deterioration of roads of this kind? Will the Government make a firm statement that this policy will not be continued?

Despite the cut, this is more than has ever been done before. In the light of the particular circumstances, I am sure that we can rely upon the local authorities to arrange the order of priorities regarding which projects can be cut with least harm.

Ought not the programme outlined by the Secretary of State this week to be seen in perspective if there is a 15 per cent. cut in road maintenance? Is not this bound to have a cumulative effect, and will the situation in Wales not deteriorate?

I said that the cut was in connection with 1968–69 and 1969–1970.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many houses he estimates will be built in Wales in 1968.

My right hon. Friend expects that between 19,000 and 20,000 will be completed during the year.

What reasons can the hon. Gentleman give for the fall in public authority building in Wales?

The fall is only slight at the moment, and it is, possibly, due to the economic difficulties and to certain restrictions. Despite this, I can very safely predict that the total completions again this year will be far higher than in any year under a Tory Government.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on student grants.

Statements were made to the House on 8th May and 11th July about new rates of award for undergraduate and equivalent, and post-graduate students, respectively. I have nothing to add.—[Vol. 764, c. 424–34; Vol. 768, c. 113–14.]

If the hon. Lady can make no statement, can she say when the whole question will again be reviewed and to what extent it lies in the hands of local authorities to withhold part or all of the grant where a student is convicted by the civil power of violence?

On the first part of the question, the answer will depend on the economic situation, and I am afraid that I can give no definite pledge on when the grant situation will be reviewed. As to the second part, as the hon. Gentleman no doubt knows, the regulations which have been laid down enable local authorities to suspend a grant on the ground of misconduct or a disciplinary offence in consultation with the academic authorities, and we should not wish that to be in any way changed.

Will the hon. Lady keep under review the increases in hostel charges in various universities, including those in Scotland, and also the increases in food prices in most students' canteens? Will she bear in mind that this is a vulnerable health period for young persons? Does she not consider the increase granted insufficient to meet all these matters?

That is rather a different question, but we are endeavouring to do everything we can to keep the increased charges as low as possible, in particular by encouraging the maximum amount of student self-help.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will introduce legislation to compel those authorities which have not already done so to produce plans for reorganising their secondary schools on comprehensive lines.

The next major Education Bill will provide that secondary education is to be non-selective. I cannot yet say when the Bill will be introduced. The general trend in the country is towards comprehensive education.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that many of us were greatly cheered by the announcement of his Minister of State at Blackpool that this legislation was on its way? But could he give an assurance that the legislation will take place in this Parliament?

I certainly hope so, but, as my hon. Friend pointed out, it is necessary to wait for the Maud Report.

Is it not perverse to be talking about legislative compulsion at a time when the most urgent problem facing the education service is whether there will be enough money in the next two years to avoid a serious setback in standards? Will the right hon. Gentleman at least give a firm promise that he will not coerce local authorities into attempting to carry out reorganisation projects which they have not the resources to implement properly?

Resources are a very important factor in this. I have always said so. But far more resources are available for education now than when the right hon. Gentleman was in office—very much more.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in my constituency the Rowley County Borough Council is considering a proposal to reintroduce the principle of selectivity where there is an existing comprehensive school, which is contrary to the wishes of a great majority of the parents? Will he give consideration to the matter?

I should not like to comment off the cuff on a specific local authority. However, I will say that where selection is retained it is flying in the face of all educational research since the war. I think that the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Handsworth (Sir E. Boyle) agrees with this. Also, in areas where selection continues, three-quarters of the children are suffering a very great injustice. This is the real brain-drain that has been going on in this country for years.

Will the right hon. Gentleman confirm that in areas where there is acute overcrowding problems due to immigration top priority will be given to relieving this instead of forcing through doctrinal Socialist philosophies?

I do not know about doctrinal socialist philosophies. Some of the best comprehensive schemes have been submitted by Conservative authorities. Certainly we will give priority to areas where we need roofs over heads and where there are acute problems due to immigration and other causes.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers who com- pleted their training in July failed to find employment at the beginning of the autumn term.

I have no evidence of any appreciable number of such teachers being unable to find posts.

Is my hon. Friend aware that many of us are relieved that some of the scare stories which were going around in the summer have not proved true, but will she pay particular attention to those teachers who have been trained as mature students and who are, to a large extent, immobile; it would be tragic if, just when they are trained, they cannot find a post because they live in a certain area?

Yes, Sir. In the middle of August there were still 20 authorities looking for teachers; these included authorities which have suffered from serious teacher shortages for many years. In reply to the second part of the Question, it is true that immobile teachers are likely to meet the greatest difficulty in finding posts, and we very much commend the attitude of those local education authorities which have decided to give some preference to immobile teachers in order to release mobile teachers for areas which are still desperately understaffed.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he intends to set up a General Teachers' Council for England and Wales; and whether he will make a statement.

My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is undertaking at my request exploratory talks with the interested parties.

Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate how welcome that reply will be, since many hon. Members will feel that, unless and until the profession is organised in a self-disciplinary, self-governing professional body, it will not have the status it demands?

I quite agree with the hon. Gentleman, and I am grateful for his support. This is why we have initiated these talks.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what discussions officials of his Department have had with representatives of Reading County Borough Council on that council's plans for secondary reorganisation in the borough.

Discussions are to take place next week.

Is it true that those discussions will take place not in London but in Reading, and does that appropriate approach by the Secretary of State indicate that he appreciates that he has no power to force upon a local authority a reorganisation scheme of which it disapproves?

It does not imply any such thing. It is simply a courtesy to the local authority members. It was a matter of convenience to them that we should meet in Reading; they asked us to meet there, and we are meeting there.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to review the educational services provided for handicapped children; and whether he will invite the Central Advisory Council to inquire and report thereon.

I am sending the hon. Member a list of surveys undertaken by medical officers and H.M.I.s and of research which the Department is sponsoring on various aspects of the education of handicapped children. Committees set up by my predecessors have reported this year on "The Education of Deaf Children" and on "Psychologists in Education Services". Further work is planned and I shall be announcing the appointment of a committee to inquire into the education of visually handicapped children in the very near future. The problems of handicapped children are very diverse, and I think this is the best way of proceeding.

Is this not necessarily a somewhat piecemeal approach, and has not the time now come for rounding off the great series of reports on the different stages of education, Crowther, Robbins, Plowden and Newsom, and completing the last category of children who are handicapped and suffering from physical and mental disabilities?

It is such a diverse problem; there are so many different kinds of handicap. The hon. Gentleman will see from the list which I have sent to him that there have been about 30 studies of one kind and another. I think that the best way is to pick out the problems and have them looked at individually.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the best way in which he can expedite the education of mentally handicapped children is to expedite the decision that the responsibility for the education of those children should be transferred to his Department? Is he aware that the National Society for Mentally Handicapped Children has accumulated funds of £80,000 for setting up a teachers' training college and will not be able to implement their plans until that decision is taken?

My predecessor gave a reply on this specific point. The general point is not one for me, but I am very interested in it.

Does not the scope of this question to which the right hon. Gentleman referred and also the point raised by the hon. Member for Lewisham, North (Mr. Moyle) strengthen the case for making this the next remit for the Central Advisory Council? It is now 18 months since the Central Advisory Council last reported, and will the right hon. Gentleman consider these suggestions which have been made to him?

Yes. There was a Question, or a supplementary question, by the right hon. Gentleman some months ago to my predecessor on this point. As he knows, it is quite normal to have a longish interval before the Council is recalled, but certainly we will look at this point.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to receive the Second Report of the Public Schools Commission.

In view of the importance of this investigation and its relevance to secondary reorganisation, I have asked Professor Donnison to let me have the report as soon as possible; it seems likely that it will be available in the autumn of 1969.

Will the Secretary of State ensure that the Commission has all the time that it needs to visit representative schools, to study them in depth and to consider the large body of evidence that will be submitted to it before it makes its report?

I quite agree that it needs time to do the job properly. The Commission had started to visit schools and already been to Bristol. It has gathered a great deal of evidence. In view of the tremendous importance of this second stage of their work and its relevance to secondary reorganisation, I have asked the Commission to do its work as quickly as it can. The Chairman assures me that he can probably finish the work by the late summer of next year.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what research facilities are available to the Arts Council in determining its policy.

The Arts Council employs a statistician and is empowered to commission research from any source it wishes. In recent years it has carried out inquiries into housing the arts, the London orchestras, theatre for young people, opera and ballet, and the professional theatre. The material collected is helping to provide a basis for Arts Council policy.

Although the right hon. Lady's Answer is very welcome, is she not aware that there is a case for even more research facilities for the Arts Council to make sure that value for money is being obtained for the grants that go to the Arts Council, and that research goes on to make sure that value for money is obtained?

The Arts Council is well aware of the need for that; it knows that research costs money and that it is necessary to be careful in case the instrument used costs more than the results achieved.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will take steps to appoint an expert body to supervise and assess all proposals which may involve sea pollution and to make recommendations.

Although my Department is responsible for the Natural Environment Research Council which deals with scientific aspects of the effects of sea pollution, proposals which may lead to pollution of the sea are for my right hon. Friends the Minister of Housing and Local Government and the Minister of Technology.

Since the Bognor Regis sewage controversy has highlighted our lack of knowledge about sea pollution, would my hon. Friend, together with the other Ministers to whom she has referred, examine the machinery for dealing with these matters so that the best brains we have can vet possible future sources of pollution before this menace gets beyond our control?

The Natural Environment Research Council is looking into the effects of marine pollution, but ad hoc studies of the kind my hon. Friend has in mind are normally undertaken by the Water Pollution Research Laboratory, which is a Ministry of Technology responsibility, so she will appreciate that I cannot commit my right hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of the police force were convicted of corrupt practices in the course of their duty during 1967; and what proportion of the total police personnel is represented by this figure.

I regret that this information could not be made available without a disproportionate expenditure of time and effort. In 1967, however, 80 officers were convicted of criminal offences of all kinds (other than traffic offences) committed both on and off duty, out of the total police strength of 91,043.

Would the hon. Gentleman agree that these figures are evidence of the basic integrity of the police, and that the screening of television documentaries which provide an opportunity for social malcontents to give disproportionate publicity to these isolated exceptions is a handicap to the police in their efforts to reduce the crime rate in the country, and does not contribute to good will between the police and the public?

Questions must not be read.

I certainly agree that this is clear evidence of the highest standards of integrity of our police. The figures which I have quoted show that a criminal offence is committed by less than one officer in every 1,000, or 0·09 per cent. The House might be interested to know that the number of males over 21 years of age convicted of criminal offences in 1967 as a percentage of the total was about 20 in 1,000, or 2 per cent.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suspended sentences of imprisonment have been imposed since the passing of the Criminal Justice Act, 1967; and what is the number of sentences activated by subsequent convictions.

From 1st January to 30th June, 1968, 16,097 suspended sentences were passed, excluding suspended sentences passed on appeal or in respect of offences originally dealt with by a probation order or order for conditional discharge. During this period 951 suspended sentences were put into effect.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware of the public concern that increases in crimes of violence have coincided with legislation which has weakened the inherent influence of custodial sentences?

That question does not really arise out of the original Question. That does not mean that I accept the hypothesis of the hon. Gentleman.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in the light of the latest returns on Common- wealth immigrants, what further proposals he has for control.

The recent changes made in the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1968, are proving effective and I have no further changes to propose at present.

I merely asked the Question in order to find out whether the Home Secretary has formed any idea of the ratio in respect of voucher holders now coming in to prospective dependants, and when the level of dependants entering, still running at about 50,000 a year, may be expected to taper off?

I think that it is in the proportion of ten dependants to one voucher holder. As the House knows, the number of dependants is not strictly related, because a recent survey shows that a great number of dependants still arriving are those whose original breadwinner came before the 1962 Act, and certainly before the number of vouchers was reduced in 1965. As to whether the numbers are expected to taper off, it is too early to make deductions. As far as one can see, the number of dependants has reached a plateau at the moment, and I would expect to see it falling away some time next year.

I noticed that the figures for voucher holders for August show a rather significant rise. Is that purely seasonal or does the right hon. Gentleman have some other explanation?

There is no significance in that. If one takes the whole of the first eight months of this year, the number of voucher holders was 3,291 against 3,214 in the first eight months of last year. That figure is pretty stationary. The number of dependants is lower this year than last year. I would not want to try to draw deductions from that.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has yet received a report on the circumstances in which Sidney Williams was released on parole; and if he will now make a statement.

Yes, Sir. Sidney Williams' case was examined by two separate bodies before he was recommended for parole, and they were both uanimous in making a favourable recommendation which I then accepted. This case shows the element of risk inherent in any parole system, but I know that all concerned with these matters recognise the heavy responsibility they carry.

The right hon. Gentleman and the House must be very alarmed by the carnage which resulted from this release. Surely the time has come to do something more than to be satisfied? Would it not be a good thing if this report were published or at least made available to those members serving on parole commissions? One cannot release a man when the consequences are two murders and a suicide and then hope that the parole system will be generally accepted

That shows a rather superficial approach. This man would in any case have been released in July of next year, and I assume that the right hon. Gentleman is not saying that he should be kept in detention indefinitely. I agree that there are heavy responsibilities here in the light of what happened, but I do not think that one can say that if there had been no parole system the result would have been very different.

All of us are very anxious that the parole system should prove a success, and we hope that it is doing so. Will the right hon. Gentleman accept that if it is to be a success and command public confidence very great care should be adopted in paroling men who have shown a tendency to homicide?

I have attended a meeting of the Parole Board and heard and seen the care which it gives to the cases it considers. This man was found at the time of his release to be mentally and physically fit. He needed no psychiatric treatment or advice during his sentence, and no further crime was thought likely. Clearly, the judgment of the Board was wrong, but this is inevitable and inherent in a parole system.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date he received the communication from the hon. Member for West Ham, North, concerning police using their private vehicles without a current road fund licence; why no reply had been sent by 14th October; and when a reply can be expected.

The letter was received on 7th October and a reply despatched on 15th October.

While warmly thanking my right hon. Friend for the very evasive letter which I have received, may I ask him whether he does not consider it regrettable that ordinary motorists should have action taken against them immediately if they, sometimes unconsciously break the law, while the police are continuously breaking the law and yet for weeks, and in some cases months, no action is taken by the police against their compatriots? Does he not think that the police should take action when policemen break the law?

I thought that there was a thorn amidst those roses. Obviously it exists. If my hon. Friend has had any evidence he has never been backward in bringing it to my notice in the past, and when he does so I always follow it up and try to ensure that there is equality of treatment between all citizens.

On a point of order. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of that reply, I beg to give notice that I shall seek leave to raise this matter on the Adjournment at the earliest possible opportunity.

asked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs what proposals he now has to reduce the levels of unemployment in the Northern Region and to phase redundancies in the traditional basic industries, and in the mining industry in particular, with the introduction of new labour-intensive industries.

We have introduced a wide range of measures designed to encourage the build-up of new jobs to replace those lost in the older industries, particularly in coalmining. One of these measures, the Regional Employment Premium, is expressly intended to encourage the setting up or expansion of labour-intensive industry.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that, while we in the Northern Region are very grateful for the amount of work that has been done in order to deal with the serious problem of unemployment, the proportion of national public investment in the region is considerably less than that required by the proportion of national population in the region? Will he remember that the amount of research done in the region is considerably less than elsewhere, and will he consider discussing with his right hon. Friends these areas where we might have some more sympathetic treatment as compared with other regions?

My hon. Friend's figures are rather dated now. He will be glad to know that there has been a very big increase both in public expenditure and in the amount of I.D.C.s now going into the Northern Region. I think that soon we will have other regions jealous of the Northern Region. It is significant to note that approvals for new factory space in the Northern Region have already exceeded the figure for the whole of 1967, by close on three million square feet.

Will the Minister say whether he has seen the report submitted by the Director to the North-East Development Council recently showing that a great deal more should be done to encourage new industries into our area? Is he taking any extra action as a result of that statement, with which I am in complete accord?

I doubt whether the problem is that we are not bringing new industry in. I agree with the Director; we would like more, but the problem is the pace of the rundown of the coal industry. As I pointed out, the figures for the first eight months of this year are very encouraging in comparison with any other area.

asked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs when he now intends to publish the findings of the Hunt Committee.

I expect to receive the Hunt Committee's Report before the end of the year, and I shall arrange for it to be published as soon as possible thereafter.

I thank my right hon. Friend for his visit to the Guildhall in Hull where the views of the Labour Council were forcibly conveyed to him. Will he not forget the urgency of finalising the findings of this Committee, because on Humberside we are in difficulty due to lack of forward planning and the competition of development areas in shipbuilding alone.

I am aware of my hon. Friend's concern and I have done all I could to spur on the completion of this report. However, as I think the House will understand, Sir Joseph Hunt and his colleagues are covering a very large question and inevitably, if they are not to make a superficial report, it is bound to take them some time.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that as long ago as January at Burnley the Prime Minister said that he was prepared to act in advance of the Hunt Committee's report? Will the right hon. Gentleman explain why the Prime Minister has not so acted in view of the obviously deleterious effect which the Government's development area policies are having on the grey areas?

I remember very well that both the Prime Minister and I looked at the situation in the intermediate areas and at that time we said that action would not be ruled out if the situation in those areas deteriorated. But I am very glad to say that taking the intermediate areas as a whole the rather pessimistic forecasts then being made have not been realised.

asked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs if he will now make a statement upon the findings of the Humberside Feasibility Studies Unit.

I expect to receive the report of the Central Unit within a day or two.

While I sympathetically understand my right hon. Friend's difficulties in waiting for these findings, may I again press upon him our difficulties on Humberside and Hull? We are waiting to get on with the full development of the Humber, particularly with the old problem of a decision about the future of the Humber bridge.

My hon. Friend will be relieved by my Answer. Obviously, while I cannot yet say what the contents of the report are, we have always taken the view that it would have relevance to the case for the Humber Bridge and to that extent it should bring us nearer to a decision.

asked the Minister for Overseas Development what economic aid is being given to Nigeria; what further aid is proposed; and if he will make a statement.

The value of our aid programme in the current financial year will be about £7 million, of which over £5 million is capital aid and the remainder technical assistance. We have told the Federal Military Government that if they have urgent reconstruction requirements from the United Kingdom which could be paid for during the current United Kingdom financial year, we would hope to be able to provide some additional assistance for them. I cannot now give details of what aid we may provide for Nigeria next year but I hope it will be at much the same level as this year.

I thank my hon. Friend for that information, but I hope that he will discuss with his right hon. Friends the illogicality—

The hon. Gentleman must ask a question.

Is my hon. Friend aware that many hon. Members, particularly on this side of the House, find the amount of aid illogical compared with the amount of weapons supplied? In other words, we do not see the point of providing medical aid to heal the wounds which are made by weapons from this country.

The aid which we are providing to Nigeria arises from commitments over a long period of years. I see no reason in the present situation why we should discontinue helping the projects which we have established jointly with the Nigerians.

I am sure that the whole House will be glad to hear that we are taking a hand in the long-term rehabilitation and development of Nigeria. However, is there not a much more pressing problem calling for assistance from this country? Can the hon. Gentleman give the House some information about the aid being given in respect of famine relief?

That is not a matter foe my Department. The hon. Gentleman will recall that a £250,000 grant for emergency relief was agreed to quite recently following Lord Hunt's Mission.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will state the calculations by which he arrived at the figure of £600,000 loss when the charge for telephone alarm calls was sixpence and the Post Office was collecting £337,500 for that service; and how much he estimates each alarm call, for which the subscriber now pays two shillings, costs the Post Office.

In 1967–68 the average cost of simply booking and completing an alarm call was 1s. 5d. and the average income 5·9d. There were 13½ million calls. Total income was therefore £330,000 compared with a basic cost of £950,000. To these costs must be added substantial additional costs, incurred because at some exchanges extra operators are retained on duty throughout the night to deal with the morning alarm call peak. Costs are continuing to rise.

Are not these estimates, such as a £600,000 loss on alarm calls, quite misleading? Are not alarm calls-made at times when the staff are not busy, so that no additional staff or additional equipment are required? How on earth does the right hon. Gentleman justify a 300 per cent. increase in the charge for alarm calls?

I advise the hon. Gentleman to listen to the reply before he formulates his supplementary question. He will understand from the reply that the estimates are not misleading and that the charge which we now make is the economic charge for the cost which we have to bear.