asked the Postmaster-General how many postmark slogans

Slogan	Office and dies	Date of use	Sponsor
UITP London 1969 International Union of Public Transport 38th Congress May 11–17	South Eastern District Office (1 die)	11th May-17th May	London Transport
London Borough of Lewisham Music and Drama Festival Get Your Syllabus Now	Catford (2 dies)	1st January-14th March	London Borough of Lewisham
Hampstead Antiques Fair Old Town Hall 7th-10th May	Hampstead (1 die)	16th April-17th May	Eric Ganlin Exhibition Services
Sheppey For Holidays Homes and Industry 50 Miles from London Kents Own Sunny Island	Ilford and Barking (1 die)	From 1st January	Borough of Queensborough (Sheppey)
TRW Twickenham rag week 9–16 February 1969	Richmond and Twickenham (1 die)	20th January-16th February	Students Union, Twickenham College of Technology
Britains Currency Goes Decimal 15 Feb. 1971. Consult Your Machine Supplier Now	Romford and Dagenham (1 die)	28th April-4th May	Central Office of Information
The Country Code Respect the Life of the Countryside	Eastern Central District Office (1 die)	1st July-26th August	National Parks Commission
Ideal Home Exhibition Olympia London March 4th-29th 1969	South Eastern, South Western, Northern, Eastern Central, North Western, Mount Pleasant and Paddington District Offices (7 dies)	24th February-30th March	Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition
Family Welfare Association Centenary C.O.S. 1869–1969 F.W.A.	South Eastern, South Western, Western Central, North Western, Northern, Western, Paddington, Battersea, Eastern Central and Eastern District Offices (10 dies)	10th February-5th May	Family Welfare Association
The 1969 International Furniture Show Earls Court London 30 Jan.-8 Feb.	Same as above (10 dies)	11th January-8th February	PR Communications Ltd.
Victoria Line Through the West End Now Open	Same as above (10 dies)	7th March-20th March	London Transport
National Children's Home. A Milestone in Child Care 1869–1969	Battersea, Northern, North Western, Paddington, South Western and East Central District Offices (6 dies)	1st January-31st December	National Children's Home
Pick an English Bramley	South Eastern, South Western, Western, North Western, Western Central, Northern, Paddington, Battersea, Eastern Central and Eastern District Offices (10 dies)	13th January-25th January	Apple and Pear Development Council
The National Postal Museum London Chief Office, E.C.1.	Eastern Central District Office and Mount Pleasant (18 dies (9 each))	From 19th February	The National Postal Museum

asked the Postmaster-General what is the present percentage of 5d. letters delivered next day; and

Following are the details:what percentage of letters are now being sent by 5d. post.

About 94 per cent. and 33 per cent. respectively.

asked the Postmaster-General what action he intends to take to reverse the loss made by the letter post in the past year.

On the contrary, a profit has been made since the increase in rates in September, 1968.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will now site a post office or sub-post office in Springhall, Rutherglen.

The area is adequately served by existing sub-post offices and a new one is not justified.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will now make a statement on his discussion with the staff

	1961–62	1962–63	1963–64	1964–65	1965–66	1966–67	1967–68
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Department
Board of Trade	240	192	126	147	207	250	266
Central Office of Information	305	291	311	344	253	214	175
County Courts	170	213	208	154	218	202	234
Customs and Excise	386	331	255	283	422	391	449
Diplomatic Service Admin. Office (includes CRO and Colonial Office)	394	358	262	220	110	120	124
Inland Revenue Dept.	5,428	4,652	4,323	5,184	4,625	5,951	4,677
Min. of Ag. Fish and Food	536	408	334	460	520	604	442
Min. of Defence (Air)	542	486	431	445	411	386	392
Min. of Defence (Army)	720	1,056	721	581	995	930	841
Min. of Defence (Navy)	415	455	365	419	326	508	471
Min. of Health	195	142	188	174	236	259	272
Min. of Health and Social Services (N. Ireland)	26	28	25	32	158	154	180
Dept. of Employment and Productivity (Ex. Min. of Labour)	482	386	718	683	774	880	1,134
Min. of Public Buildings and Works	112	99	236	322	470	505	305
Min. of Social Security	3,447	2,940	3,068	3,685	3,701	3,391	4,235
Min. of Social Security (NAB)	744	423	591	882	502	802	803
Min. of Technology (Ex. Civil Aviation)	126	140	185	147	195	243	191
Min. of Transport	189	129	152	199	209	188	195
Min. of Transport (Local Taxation)	258	79	71	115	164	218	195
H.M. Stationery Office	466	369	496	539	572	598	620
Savings Bank Dept.	1,125	1,163	1,281	1,335	1,240	1,424	1,335
Electoral Registration	296	323	382	376	359	367	354
Total	16,602	14,663	14,729	16,726	16,667	17,585	17,890

Joint working parties have been set up and discussions have begun but these are currently in suspense at the request of the staff, pending their further consideration of our proposals for the middle and senior grades.

asked the Postmaster-General if he will list the figures for expenditure on mail services by Government Departments and other official bodies whose expenditure currently exceeds £100,000 in each of the years 1961–62 to 1967–68, taking account of changes in postal rates and calculating the figures to the base of current postage rates.

The figures are below. It has been assumed that the traffic in this period would have been divided between 1st and 2nd Class in the same proportion as current postings.

asked the Postmaster-General what is the capital equipment value of the high frequency radio telephone installation at Burnham Radio which is lying idle because of staff shortages.

£25,000.

asked the Postmaster-General what proportion of telegrams is handed in over Post Office counters.

38 per cent. in 1967–68.

asked the Postmaster-General when the results of the market survey into data transmission, referred to in the White Paper Post Office Prospects 1969–70, will be available; and whether he will publish the results.

The final report is expected from the consultants in the early summer. It is not normal practice to publish such reports, which are based on information obtained in confidence from respondents.The general deductions that can be drawn from this survey will be made available, however, to the Post Office EDC Advisory Group on Data Transmission, announced yesterday. I welcome the Post Office's EDC's initiative in this and look forward to the advice of the distinguished group brought together to study this complex and exciting area of development. The Post Office will, of course, give fullest support, and I am sure that users and manufacturers will wish to do likewise.

asked the Postmaster-General what proportion of the post in the London area arrived by first delivery in the month of February, 1968, and February, 1969, respectively.

About 75 per cent. and 65 per cent. respectively.

asked the Postmaster-General what was the gross and net revenue accruing to the Post Office from their dial-a-disc service for January and February, 1969.

The estimated gross revenue was £25,000 and the net revenue £17,000.

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will make a statement on the number of new telephone kiosks, and the number of new private subscribers that have been connected since 1964 in the London Borough of Havering.

The number of new telephone kiosks, and private lines installed are:

Year ended 31st March			Kiosks	Non-business exclusive and shared lines
1965	…	…	—	2,276
1966	…	…	2	4,391
1967	…	…	1	1,670
1968	…	…	—	1,469
1969	…	…	1	4,630

There are now 235 kiosks serving the borough. The number (2,276) of private lines quoted for 1965 relates to the second half of the year only. Earlier figures are not available.

asked the Postmaster-General when subscriber trunk dialling calls will be available to the Irish Republic.

We hope to provide subscriber trunk dialling between London and Dublin early in 1970. Thereafter the service will be made available to other parts of the United Kingdom as quickly as circumstances permit.

asked the Postmaster-General how much investment in telephone kiosks represents; how much has been invested in telephone kiosks in each year since 1960; and what plans he has for future investment in kiosks.

Following is the information:Total investment in telephone kiosks and the equipment they contain (but excluding the associated lines and exchange equipment) is about £10 million. Investment for the years 1961–69 was approximately as follows:

Year ending 31st March				£ million
1961	…	…	…	0·2
1962	…	…	…	0·3
1963	…	…	…	0·7
1964	…	…	…	0·7
1965	…	…	…	0·6
1966	…	…	…	0·3
1967	…	…	…	0·2
1968	…	…	…	0·4
1969	…	…	…	0·4

Future investment is likely to continue at about the present rate but depends upon the needs of housing and other development; the use made of existing facilities and the profitability of the service.

asked the Postmaster-General what proportion of telephone kiosks run at a loss; and what is their total annual operating loss and the loss from theft and vandalism.

In 1967–68 74 per cent.The overall loss in that year was £1·5 million; loss attributable to theft was £48,000 and to vandalism, £360,000.In 1968–69 the overall loss is expected to be £2·8 million.

asked the Postmaster-General (1) how many telephones were out of order in the Royton area in March and for how long; what was the cause; and why it took more than a week to rectify the faults;(2) whether, in view of the long period during which telephone subscribers in Royton were without service in March, he will pay compensation; and by how much the rental will be reduced.

Flooding of a major cable caused loss of service to about 1,600 subscribers in the Royton area at the end of March. Service to emergency lines was restored in a matter of hours and to ordinary lines progressively over 10 days. Over half were in service within five days. Repair work continued night and day but was slowed up because a special type of cable was involved. Compensation cannot be paid but subscribers will be given full rebate of rental for the period of interruption.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in the light of the report of the National Board for Prices and Incomes on the salary scales paid to the higher-paid executives, he will take steps to increase the salaries paid to the chairmen of the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Independent Television Authority by 60 per cent. a year.

No.

asked the Postmaster-General how many representations he has received from editors and publishers of local newspapers regarding the setting up of local commercial radio stations.

Three: from organisations representing the publishers and the staff of the industry.

asked the Postmaster-General what will be done to improve commercial television reception in the Okehampton area of Devon.

The I.T.A. has no plans to build new stations to extend its V.H.F. 405-line services. It is too early to say when 625-line services will be available in the Okehampton area.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many speed restriction signs in Wales will need to be altered or replaced when road speed limits are expressed in metric terms.

Few, if any, signs will need replacement. My right hon. Friend estimates that about 20,000 signs will need to be altered, though this figure is subject to a wide margin of error.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what further discussions his Department has had with the local authority and other interested bodies on the provision of a dock access road at Newport, Monmouthshire; and if he will make a statement.

None. Provision of a new docks access, which would not be a trunk or principal road, is primarily a matter for the local authority and the British Transport Docks Board.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give estimates of expenditure for hospital administration for the years 1964 to 1968, inclusive, in Wales.

The information is as follows:

Year			Revenue Expenditure of Hospital Authorities	Expenditure on Administration by the Welsh Hospital Board, Board of Governors and Hospital Management Committees*
			£m.	£m.
1963–64	…	…	30·6	0·9
1964–65	…	…	32·7	1·0
1965–66	…	…	35·8	1·2
1966–67	…	…	39·2	1·3
1967–68	…	…	42·4	1·3
1968–69 (estimated)	…	…	45·9	1·5
* The expenditure on administration excludes that on administrative offices situated in hospitals where the expenditure cannot be separately identified.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give estimates of the revenue accruing to hospital services from miscellaneous sources other than central Government grants for the years 1964 to 1968, inclusive, for Wales.

The income of hospital authorities on revenue account which was received by hospital authorities as an offset to the revenue expenditure was as follows:

Year			£ million
1963–64	…	…	1·4
1964–65	…	…	1·5
1965–66	…	…	1·4
1966–67	…	…	1·4
1967–68	…	…	1·3
1968–69 (estimated)	…	…	1·3

Income from statutory charges does not accrue to hospital authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will seek to visit the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, Monmouthshire, at an early date in order to investigate at first hand the facilities there, with a view to their expansion.

Yes, as soon as I can fit a visit into my engagements.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what steps his Road Safety Unit is taking to prevent the causes of road accidents affecting children in Monmouthshire; and if he will make a statement.

The Unit has issued a report on road fatalities to children throughout Wales which will assist the authorities in Monmouthshire to tackle this problem. It has also investigated the accident situation on one length of road in the county and is at present investigating other lengths. These investigations are not related solely to accidents affecting children but obviously have a bearing on them.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales, in view of further fatal accidents at Wye Bridge Junction, Monmouth, what measures he proposes to take to alleviate the situation before the holiday season.

An improved traffic signal system was installed last year. Further improvements at the junction are now being carried out following discussion with the local authorities and the police. These will be completed as quickly as possible. The police control traffic at the junction at peak holiday times.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of clerical grade officers and senior officers employed by the Cardiff Executive Council to check the entitlement to exemption from prescription charges; what is their estimated annual cost; what was the number of prescriptions checked between September, 1968, and January, 1969; what was the number of patients found not to have been entitled to exemption; and what was the total of the charges recovered from those patients.

About three-quarters of the time of a clerical officer and a twentieth of the time of a senior officer, at an annual cost of about £500. Checks were completed on about 2,000 forms, and 21 patients were found not to have been entitled to exemption. The total amount recovered was £3 15s. 0d.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science in how many colleges of education where a course of divinity or religious instruction is a required subject on the curriculum does a right exist of conscientious withdrawal from these courses.

I would refer my hon. Friend to my right hon. Friend's Written Answer to his Question of 28th March.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many educational projects submitted by Luton County Borough Council for 1969–70 have been approved and of what value; and how many for the same period have been refused.

Three primary and three secondary school projects and one Youth Service project having a total value of £856,000 have been authorised to start in 1969–70. The secondary projects include the replacement of Barnfield High School which is being taken into use for further education purposes. One primary, two secondary schools and five Youth Service projects were refused.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give, separately, the estimates for 1969–70 for current and capital grants in England and Wales under the Physical Training and Recreation Act.

Provision has been made in the 1969–70 estimates as follows:

Current grants	Capital grants
£815,000	£1,105,000

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what Government assistance is being given towards the provision of a sports centre for the physically disabled at Stoke Mandeville.

I am pleased to say that the Department of Education and Science is making a grant to the Paraplegic Sports Endowment Fund of £30,000 towards the capital cost of this centre, which will enable the annual Stoke Mandeville Games to continue to be held and provide the first indoor sports facilities specifically designed for the physically handicapped. These facilities are likely to be used by the able-bodied members of the community as well as the physically handicapped.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many men and women there were in universities in Great Britain in October 1968; and how these numbers compare with those for 1965.

In October, 1968, there were 211,750 men and women in universities in Great Britain, an increase of 24 per cent. and 31 per cent. respectively over 1965.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on future Youth Service provision in England and Wales.

The Youth Service Development Council has spent two years in a detailed study of youth and community work in the 1970s and have recently submitted recommendations to my right hon. Friend, who is considering its Report. The Department, in association with the Y.S.D.C. is preparing new training arrangements for youth and community workers in the Education Service and an announcement will be made as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what progress has been made in connection with the provision of a National Sports Centre for Wales.

I am pleased to be able to say, as I announced in Cardiff last week, it is hoped that a start on the Centre will be made this summer. The Government, on the recommendation of the Sports Council, have agreed to make a capital grant of up to £600,000 in respect of building work fees and equipment to the Central Council of Physical Recreation which will build and administer the Centre on a site generously provided by Cardiff City Council. Local Authorities in Wales are being invited to contribute to the running costs and, pending an approach to them all, the Cardiff City Council and the Glamorgan County Council have together agreed to underwrite 50 per cent. of the estimated annual deficits up to a maximum liability of £10,000 to each Council. Tenders for the construction work are being invited this month and it is hoped that the Centre will be ready for use in the spring of 1971.Most of the training and competition facilities in the Centre will be provided under one roof. They include the main sports hall, a smaller hall which can be partitioned into two units, a hall designed primarily for movement and dance, a swimming training pool, a gymnasium with a separate fitness training room, four squash courts, an indoor rifle range and two lecture rooms. In the same building will be residential accomodation for 60 students, refreshment and dining rooms, and a suite of offices and committee rooms for use by the C.C.P.R. and national governing bodies of sport. An outdoor all-weather training area with tennis and netball court completes the sports facilities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department will issue casualty figures of fire deaths quarterly instead of annually; and if he will at the same time issue general warnings to the public on how such fire hazards can be avoided, especially those from the use of portable heaters.

Publication of quarterly figures began last month. The Home Office has a continuing programme of publicity and education designed to warn the public against the danger of fire and to help them to observe basic fire precautions, especially in the home.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for seeking to give local authorities greater control regarding fire precautions over premises used as overnight accommodation by road transport drivers.

My right hon. Friend has it in mind to introduce new legislation, when Parliamentary time permits, designed to strengthen and rationalise the law relating to fire precautions in certain residential establishments and places of public resort, and the particular premises referred to by my hon. Friend would be covered by such a measure. My right hon. Friend contemplates that enforcement would be a matter for the fire authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received the letter dated 22nd March from the hon. Member for West Ham, North, enclosing evidence of organisations posing as charities and thereby obtaining goods by false pretences; and what steps he is taking to institute proceedings in this matter.

My right hon. Friend received the letter on 24th March, and has brought to the notice of the Commissioner of Police the allegations in the newspaper cutting which was enclosed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will propose that, in the interests of relations with the public, those police officers who do not have numbers on their uniforms shall have name-badges.

I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to a Question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough, East (Mr. Bottomley) on 24th March.—[Vol. 780, c. 219–20.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he made of the experiment carried out at London Airport during 1966 whereby holders of British and non-British passports were grouped together for immigration purposes; and what plans he has for doing away with segregation on a permanent basis.

As the experiment showed that to group all passengers together would cause unnecessary delay to the great majority who are not subject to immigration control, without benefit to those who are, my right hon. Friend does not propose to alter present arrangements.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give a grant to the Television Research Committee specifically to investigate the effects of violence on television.

The committee's report, published on 27th March, makes proposals for the long-term financing by the Government and other interests of research into the influences of mass communications. The committee's recommendations are under consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the live dogs, cats and equidae subjected to experiments in 1967 were the subjects of more than one experiment; and how many of each were destroyed.

The Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876, requires that an animal subjected to any experiment, other than one performed entirely without anaesthetics, must be killed as soon as the object of the experiment has been

Date				Number of convictions	Total of fines awarded	Total of back duty ordered			Total of costs awarded
					£	£	s.	d.	£	s.	d.
12th February, 1969	…	…	…	25	855	357	5	0	53	5	0
19th February, 1969	…	…	…	30	720	298	4	2	63	0	0
26th February, 1969	…	…	…	24	420	189	6	8	50	8	0
The convictions were all of vehicle excise offences.
The figures exclude proceedings at the juvenile court.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken to prosecute those responsible for capturing the wild chaffinches used in a recent experiment at Cambridge University.

I have no reason to believe that the persons concerned have committed any offence.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how many chaffinches was a licence granted for the recent experiment at Cambridge University in which the birds were deafened in order to ascertain how they learn to sing.

No restriction as regards numbers was imposed on the certificates under which these experiments were authorised. The research project has now been completed and the relevant certificates are no longer in force.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT details giving particulars of the fines the penalties imposed at the Tottenham Magistrates' Court on the 12th 19th and 26th February for road traffic offences.

Following is the information.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give for the longest convenient period of time the amount of fines outstanding; how these compare with comparable periods for the previous three years; what action is taken by his Department to expedite recovery of fines from those found guilty and sentenced to these penalties; and whether he will make a statement.

On 31st December, 1968, the "arrears" in courts in England and Wales outside Inner London amounted to £3,749,625; but this figure includes fines the time for payment of which had not expired. The figures available for previous years are not comparable, since they do not include fines imposed by assizes or quarter sessions. It is for the courts to enforce the payment of fines.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied that the criteria governing the granting of entry visas for students from overseas, offers sufficient protection to prevent the infiltration of students trained to overthrow the Parliamentary Government in this country; and if he will make a statement.

The assessment of applications by foreign nationals to enter or stay here as students does not include scrutiny of their political opinions; but the record of the applicant is taken into account, and the Aliens Order provides adequate powers to exclude an alien whose entry would be undesirable, or to expel one whose presence here is not conducive to the public good.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in the light of the National Board for Prices and Incomes report on the salaries of higher-paid executives, he will take steps to increase the salary of the Chairman of the Race Relations Board by 60 per cent. a year.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in the light of the National Board for Prices and Incomes report on the salaries of higher-paid executives he will take steps to increase the salary of the Chairman of the Horserace Betting Levy Board by 60 per cent. a year.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will take steps to increase the pay of all those in the police by 60 per cent. per annum.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give a list of his official engagements undertaken on Thursday, 27th March, 1969.

Apart from meetings between Ministers which it is not customary to disclose, my official engagements were:

10.30 a.m.—Standing Committee on the Children and Young Persons Bill.

3 p.m.—Deputation from the Metropolitan Police Branch Boards of the Police Federation.

4.15 p.m.—Representation of the People Bill—consideration of Lords' Amendments.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate the circumstances surrounding the accident involving an oil tanker at Ongar Road, Brentwood, causing the evacuation of a number of houses on Friday, 28th March; and if he will make a statement.

Inquiries are not yet completed but the main facts are as follows. At about 7.30 a.m. on 28th March an oil tanker carrying petroleum spirit collided with a telegraph pole on an S-bend in Brentwood and overturned. The driver was uninjured. A seam in the tank split open and some petroleum spirit escaped. While the tanker was being righted two manhole covers fell off and a larger quantity of petroleum spirit spilled on to the roadway. In view of the risk of an explosion, the emergency services decided to ask the occupiers of neighbouring houses to leave their homes and to extinguish all naked lights until the spillage had been disposed of.

asked the President of the Board of Trade in view of the failure to curb imports and to produce a favourable balance of payments and the fact that over the nine years 1959 to 1967 the United States exports to the United Kingdom exceeded her imports from the United Kingdom by £1,303 million and in the case of Canada by £1,747 million, if he will seek to impose physical limits on imports from the United States of America and Canada.

No. It would be contrary to our interests as a trading nation to encourage the balancing of trade on a bilateral basis or to practice discrimination of this sort, which would also be contrary to our international obligations.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish a list of representations he has received against the details of the draft provisions relating to the Hosiery and Knitwear Industry Scientific Research Levy and a list of those representations he has received in favour of the draft provisions.

No. The draft provisions have been subject to considerable discussion and modification of both form and content and now take account, wherever practicable, of representations and suggestions for improvement received from industry. In the circumstances a published list of representations would serve no useful purpose.

asked the President of the Board of Trade to what extent the dock strikes holding up goods for shipment from 1967 accounted for the increase in the volume of exports in 1968; and to what extent he estimates this will affect the normal out-turn of exported goods and earnings in the current year.

These effects cannot be estimated precisely, but delays to shipments due to the strikes may have accounted for about one-third of the increase in the volume of United Kingdom exports in 1968. The level of exports in the current year is not expected to be affected by the 1967 dock strikes.

asked the President of the Board Trade what studies he has made of the extent of evasion of the Hallmarking Laws and Merchandise Marks Act by immigrant goldsmiths and of the effect of such evasion on established jewellers in the United Kingdom; and what steps he is taking to ensure that all goldsmiths' work in this country is of the standard required by the Assay Laws.

I am aware of reports of such evasion. Any evidence should be brought to the notice of the nearest Assay Office if it concerns offences against the hallmarking law, or of the local weights and measures authority if it involves the Trade Descriptions Act.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the recent steep fall in the production of motorcars, he will relax the present hire-purchase restrictions relating to motorcars.

The restrictions will be relaxed when circumstances justify this.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many apple import licences were issued on 1st July, 1966, 1967 and 1968, respectively.

Licences issued for the quota periods beginning 1st July, 1966, 1967 and 1968 were 303, 268 and 262, respectively.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many pear import licences were issued on 1st July, 1966, 1967 and 1968, respectively.

Licences issued for the quota periods beginning 1st July, 1966, 1967 and 1968 were 310, 305 and 294, respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the establishment of the South Eastern Fire Authority is up to strength; if he is satisfied that the equipment is up to date and sufficient; and if he will make a statement.

I am informed that the South Eastern Area Fire Brigade was under strength at the end of 1968 to the extent of 41 whole-time and 29 part-time (retained) men. I am satisfied that the brigade is well equipped to carry out its statutory functions.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what study he has made of the Interim Report on Home Rule, a copy of which is in his possession; and what further action Her Majesty's Government now propose to take in this matter.

I assume that the hon. Lady is referring to the Interim Report on Scottish Government which was considered at the Annual Conference of the Scottish Council of the Labour Party. This report has not been formally presented to the Government for consideration.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many speed restriction signs in Scotland will need to be altered or replaced when road speed limits are expressed in metric terms.

I estimate that the number to be altered will be of the order of 30,000. Very few will need to be replaced.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the cost of land reclamation in Scotland in the years 1960 to 1968, respectively; what type of land it was; what were the locations; and how much of it went back to producing for agricultural use.

I regret that I do not have all the information requested by my hon. Friend.Rehabilitation of derelict land is undertaken by local authorities with the aid of grant under the Local Employment Act, 1960, or the Industrial Development Act, 1966. The current rate of Government assistance is 85 per cent. of the net cost of the schemes, and the amounts paid in the years 1960 to 1968 are set out in the table below. All the schemes were in the Central Belt of Scotland; information is not available about the classification of the land or how much of it is directly devoted to agriculture, but bringing it into use reduces pressure on agricultural land:

				£
1960–61	…	…	…	25,841
1961–62	…	…	…	5,822
1962–63	…	…	…	28,884
1963–64	…	…	…	41,217
1964–65	…	…	…	348,364
1965–66	…	…	…	376,818
1966–67	…	…	…	432,316
1967–68	…	…	…	358,090

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide a table showing for each of the years 1945 to 1968 the number of people murdered, the number of people charged with murder, the number convicted, the number sentenced to death, the number subsequently hanged, the number of police officers or prison warders killed whilst discharging their duties and the number of convicted murderers who, having served their sentence, subsequently committed a second murder.

The table below contains the information required for the years 1957 to 1968. I shall write to my hon. Friend about the period 1945 to 1956 for which some of the information is

Year				Number of persons murdered	Number of persons charged with murder	Number of persons convicted of murder	Number of persons sentenced to death	Number of persons subsequently hanged
1957	…	…	…	14	7	2	—	—
1958	…	…	…	19	18	5	2	1
1959	…	…	…	13	13	5	—	—
1960	…	…	…	16	27	5	3	1
1961	…	…	…	10	15	4	—	—
1962	…	…	…	25	27	8	—	—
1963	…	…	…	15	13	3	2	1
1964	…	…	…	27	21	9	1	—
1965	…	…	…	29	33	15	—	—
1966	…	…	…	33	50	21	Not applicable	Not applicable
1967	…	…	…	39	43	26	Not applicable	Not applicable
1968	…	…	…	44*	40	24	Not applicable	Not applicable
* Subject to correction in the light of subsequent judicial determination.

NOTE:In the period 1957 to 1968 no police officers or prison officers were murdered whilst discharging their duties, nor were there any convicted murderers who, having served their sentence, subsequently committed a second murder.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland in how many criminal cases in each of the last three years, showing separately violent criminal cases, the consumption of alcohol was advanced on behalf of the defendant.

I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will cause research to be undertaken by his Department into the incidence of alcohol consumption in the commission of crime, including violent crime.

Criminological research in Scotland is not undertaken directly by my Department, but financial grants are made for research projects in this field proposed by the Scottish universities. No such project is at present exclusively concerned with the relationship between the consumption of alcohol and the incidence of crime, but it is recognised that the consumption of alcohol is a contributory factor in the commission of crimes, including crimes of violence.

		1963–4	1964–5	1965–6	1966–7	1967–8	1968–9	1969–70 (estimated)
		£	£	£	£	£	£	£
Current Grants	…	49,146	61,716	77,148	96,581	107,406	118,492	142,000
Capital Grants	…	40,006	96,720	141,800	228,254	305,783	269,038	290,000
The figures for 1968–69 are provisional.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to publish a revised version of the Green Paper, "Administrative Reorganisation of the Scottish Health Services".

I shall not be able to consider whether any revision of the Green Paper is required until I have received the views of all the interested organisations.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing the total amount of grants under the Physical Training and Recreation Act in Scotland in each of the years from 1963–64 to 1968–69 and the estimate for 1969–70, broken down into current and capital grants.

Grants paid under the Physical Training and Recreation Act, 1937, are as follows:—

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of all hospital beds are occupied by mentally ill patients; and of these how many are alcoholics.

The proportion of available staffed beds occupied by mentally ill patients at 30th September, 1968, was 32·6 per cent. I regret that figures are not available for the proportion of total bed accommodation occupied by alcoholic patients; admission figures do not indicate this because, on average, the length of stay of these patients is shorter than that of other mentally ill patients.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the number of alcoholic patients in mental hospitals for each of the years 1955, 1960, 1966, 1967 and 1968 at any convenient date.

Details of patients in hospital at a particular date in these years are not available. The number of patients admitted with a diagnosis of alcoholism or alcoholic psychosis was 732 in 1956 (the earliest year available), 1,091 in 1960, 2,755 in 1966, 2,903 in 1967 and 3,081 in 1968. From 1966 onwards the figures include admissions to psychiatric wards in general hospitals.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what steps he has taken, in the light of Her Majesty's Government's responsibilities for defence and external affairs, to inform himself whether or not there is good order in the island of St. Kitts;(2) what steps he has taken, in the light of Her Majesty's Government's responsibilities for defence and external affairs to ascertain how many nationals of other countries are in the islands of Nevis and St. Kitts.

The British Government Representative in the Associated States keeps my right hon. Friend in touch with the affairs of all those States.We have no reason to think that good order is not being maintained in the island of St. Kitts. There are a number of foreign nationals with property there and in Nevis, but in the circumstances I do not think that there is any need to ascertain their exact number or the value of their property.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken, in the light of Her Majesty's Government's responsibilities for defence and extenal affairs, to ascertain the estimated value of the personal property of nationals of any other country in the islands of Nevis and St. Kitts.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him earlier today.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what request has been received from the Government of British Honduras for further constitutional advance; and whether, in considering such further constitutional advance, he will give an assurance that he will hold a constitutional conference at which the Opposition in that territory will be represented and also ensure that a general election takes place before independence is conceded.

No such request has been received. When such a request is made I envisage that it will be necessary to hold a constitutional conference to which, in accordance with normal practice, representatives of all political parties represented in the local legislature would be invited. I cannot of course forecast the outcome of any discussion about a general election at such a conference, but under present arrangements an election must be held by March, 1970.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a comparative table showing the number employed at home and overseas in the Foreign Office, Diplomatic Service, Consular Service, Dominions Office and the Colonial Office in the year 1938–39 and the numbers engaged in comparable functions in the years 1968–69.

1938–39
Foreign Office (home)	…	1,052
Diplomatic Service (overseas)	…	474
Consular Services (overseas)	…	375
Dominions Office (home)	…	93
Dominions Office (overseas)	…	32
Colonial Office (home)	…	440
India and Burma Offices (home)	…	541
Total	…	3,007

1968–69
Diplomatic Service (home)	…	3,110
Diplomatic Service (overseas)	…	2,990
Total	…	6,110

The 1938–39 figures include the staff of the Department of Overseas Trade under the Foreign Office and Diplomatic Service headings; they exclude the staff overseas of the Indian Civil and Political Services and of Her Majestys Overseas Civil Service. In 1938–39 there was resident representation in 48 independent countries; in 1968–69 there was resident representation in 109 independent countries.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why a part of the postal services on the island of Anguilla has been suspended.

I understand that the Government of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla found it necessary to suspend Anguillan postal services with effect from 10th January, 1969, because of the internal situation in the island at that time.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further evidence of disreputable activities has now been discovered in Anguilla; how many prosecutions are being made; and for what offences.

Since the installation of Her Majesty's Commissioner a total of 32 weapons and 700 rounds of ammunition have been discovered or handed in. No prosecutions are pending at present.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, in the light of Great Britain's direct rule on Anguilla, British subjects previously declared persona no grata or prohibited immigrants in St. Kitts may now visit Anguilla.

The powers we have taken are to maintain public safety and public order and generally to secure the discharge of our responsibilities for defence and external affairs. Each case will be decided on its merits in the light of these considerations.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the agreement with the St. Kitts Government about the invasion of Anguilla.

There was no invasion of Anguilla. Troops were landed to act, if necessary, in aid of Her Majesty's Commissioner, who had been established with the agreement of the Government of the Associated State of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. The discussions with the State Government in this matter are confidential.

asked the Minister of Transport what progress has been made with the provision on the A10 of a pedestrian crossing near the junction of High Road and Bell Lane in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire.

It was installed in January, 1968.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the fact that the Green Paper, "Roads for the Future", makes no mention of improvement to the A21 road to Hastings, he will now state his Department's intention regarding this route which is urgently in need of improvement.

The Green Paper, "Roads for the Future", deals with future trunk road development. The A21 is a principal road and is the responsibility of the local highway authorities through whose areas it passes.Details of the proposed expenditure by the highway authorities concerned on the A21 during the next five years were given in Answer to the hon. Member's Question on 18th December last.—[Vol. 775, c. 408.]

asked the Minister of Transport (1) what consideration his Department has given, or is giving, to making the use of safety belts compulsory in the driving of commercial vehicles;(2) what consideration his Department has given, or is giving, to making the use of safety belts compulsory in the driving of lorries and other commercial vehicles under one-and-a-half tons.

The fitting of seat belts is compulsory in commercial vehicles up to one-and-a-half tons registered on or after 1st April, 1967.Belts are unlikely to be so effective in preventing injuries to drivers of heavier commercial vehicles but I intend to re-examine the case for fitting them when the cabs of these vehicles have been made more resistant to crushing.A requirement to use seat belts would be difficult to enforce and I have no plans at present for introducing it in relation to any class of vehicle.

asked the Minister of Transport which local authorities he has asked to participate in recent experiments to encourage the use of smaller cars by commuters; and whether he will make a statement.

Three local authorities, including Coventry, have been approached to find out whether they would co-operate in an experiment to establish whether there would be any advantage, in terms of the use of space in urban areas, in segregating cars parked off-street by size. Negotiations are continuing but no decisions have so far been reached. There is no question of discriminating, through the experiment, against large cars for city use.

asked the Minister of Transport when he will announce the names of his nominees for the four passenger transport authorities.

I shall be announcing the names shortly.

asked the Minister of Transport which local authorities in the West Midlands have sought his advice on the introduction of concessionary fares for old-age pensioners on public transport; what reply he has sent; and whether he will make a statement.

I have had no specific inquiries from these local authorities since the issue of my Department's circular of 29th January, 1969, to the local authority associations, but I will write to my hon. Friend further on this matter.

asked the Minister of Transport what action Her Majesty's Government has taken on Resolution (68) 31 adopted on 31st October, 1968, by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe relating to the medical aspects of road accident prevention.

We already comply with most of the recommendations contained in the resolution. The remainder are currently being examined to determine the extent to which we can meet them.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will give details of the basis on which he determined the support to be provided for the Truro—Falmouth branch railway line.

The grant for the Truro—Falmouth rail passenger service in 1969 was calculated in accordance with the methods recommended by the Joint Steering Group and accepted by the Government in the White Paper on Railway Policy of November, 1967 (Cmnd. 3439). The details are as follows:

		£
Movement costs	…	34,000
Terminal costs	…	13,000
Track and signalling costs	…	55,000
Interest and Administration	…	15,000
Total Costs	…	117,000
Less Earnings	…	18,000
Total grant required	…	99,000

asked the Minister of Transport how many reports on closures of branch lines and other matters of public dispute he has received from the East Anglian Transport Users Consultative Committee; and in how many of these cases the Committee has reported in a sense contrary to the proposals of British Rail.

Since I appointed the present East Anglian Transport Users Consultative Committee on 1st March, 1967, it has reported to me under Section 56(9) of the Transport Act, 1962, in respect of five passenger closure proposals on the hardship which it considers would be caused by closure and, where appropriate, on ways of alleviating that hardship.Area Committees in England do not report to me on quality of service questions. They may make recommendations on these matters to the Board concerned and to the Central Transport Consultative Committee, which in turn can make recommendations to me. I have received no such recommendations originating from the present East Anglian Committee.

asked the Minister of Transport on what geographical principle he appoints the members of Transport Users Consultative Committees; how many members of the East Anglian Transport Users Consultative Committee live within easy reach of the part of Essex served by the Wickford-Southminster branch line; and whether he satisfies himself, before accepting a report from such a committee, that a reasonable number of its members have been appointed as having personal knowledge of an affected district.

I appoint members of Transport Users Consultative Committees after consultation with organisations representative of a wide variety of transport users. In determining the final composition of a committee, I ensure that a geographical spread of membership is maintained, and this enables the committee to report authoritatively on matters affecting any part of its area. Four members of the present East Anglian Committee live and work in South-East Essex.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he forwarded to the Transport Users Consultative Committee the representations against the suspension of Sunday services on the Wickford-Southminster branch line he received from hon. Members and others; what steps he took to ensure that these were forwarded in time for their copying and circulation to the committee before the meeting at which this matter was discussed; and if he will ask the committee to provide, to be placed in the Library of the House, the minutes of this meeting.

The answer to the first part of the Question is, Yes.It is for the committee itself to decide what arrangements are appropriate to enable it to discharge its functions. I understand that in this case a list of those who made representations, together with a resumé of the points made by each, was circulated in advance to members of the committee.The answer to the last part of the Question is, No.

asked the Minister of Transport if he will give details of the number of railway lines, and of what mileage, originally scheduled as black line in the British Railways "Network for Development" published in March, 1967, which are now proposed for closure.

Proposals have been published for the closure of all passenger services of 11 sections of route shown as thick black on the "Network for Development" map. About 128 route miles are affected by these proposals.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity how many young persons were unemployed in the Wearside area at the latest available date.

In the area covered by the Sunderland, Pallion, Southwick, Seaham and Washington employment exchanges, 282 young persons were registered as unemployed at 10th March, 1969.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what is the current waiting list for entry into Government training centres in the Northern Region.

There were 673 accepted applicants on the waiting list on 10th March, 1969.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity how many men and women in the Basildon and Brentwood urban district council areas have completed industrial retraining courses in each of the last three years.

TOTAL NUMBERS REGISTERED AS UNEMPLOYED IN THE AREAS COVERED BY THE TONYPANDY (WHICH INCLUDES PORTH) AND TREORCHY EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES
		Men	Boys	Women	Girls	Total	T.S.	Per cent.
Tonypandy
March, 1969	…	758	70	157	13	998	3	4·8
March, 1968	…	699	71	156	12	938	—	4·9
March, 1967	…	808	113	298	52	1,271	10	5·4
Treorchy
March, 1969	…	421	0	69	0	490	—	—
March, 1968	…	462	0	107	0	569	2	—
March, 1967	…	599	0	123	0	722	5	—

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what extent farm rents in the Duchy of Cornwall have risen from 1952 to 1959.

I have no information about rents payable to the Duchy of Cornwall as these are the responsibility of the Duchy authorities.