asked Her Majesty's Government:How their representatives voted at the 62nd (Maritime) Session of the ILO on the:Continuity of Employment (Seafarers) Convention (No. 145);Seafarers' Annual Leave with Pay Convention (No. 146);Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention (No. 147);Continuity of Employment (Seafarers) Recommendation (No. 154);Merchant Shipping (Improvement of Standards) Recommendation (No. 155);And the Protection of Young Seafarers Recommendation (No. 153); and their reasons for so doing.

The representatives of the Government voted in favour of adoption by the conference of each of the Conventions and Recommendations listed because they were satisfied that the standards embodied in these instruments, which represented the outcome of extensive tripartite discussion both during the conference and during the preceding preparatory conference, were acceptable as international labour standards.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether aid to an overseas country is reduced

No. Such pension payments are, of course, included in our total aid programme and in the statistics of our gross spending of bilateral aid. This recognises the fact that we have relieved overseas Governments of a charge on their own revenues. However, pension payments do not reduce the amount of other aid available to the countries concerned. Many factors influence the allocation to particular countries of the aid available under a growing programme.House adjourned at twenty-four minutes before nine o'clock.