is due in the main to the provision by Supplementary Estimate in 1927 of a grant to London University in respect of the purchase of a site in Bloomsbury and accommodation of 212,500.

52. Receipts from fee stamps formerly paid to the Exchequer as Extra Receipts are shown as appropriations in aid of the Vote for the Ministry of Health.

53. The Estimate for the Ministry of Health (Vote 1) shows a net increase (after adjustment in respect of fee stamp receipts) of 1,176,4321.

54. On the administrative Subheads there is a net increase of 5571. Decreases in the provision required for salaries and wages of whole-time staff and payments of certain miscellaneous expenses of administration of Contributory Pensions together amount to approximately 22,500l. Other administrative Subheads show a net increase of about 23,000l. due to increased provision for travelling and for additional expenditure in connection with the Medical Referee Service. The cost of the administration of the Medical Referee Service is recovered and appropriated in aid of the Vote.

55. Housing Grants show an increase of 1,121,000l. Additional provision of 438,000l. and 658,000l. respectively is required for schemes under the Housing, etc., Act 1923, and the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1924, due to the increase in the number of houses built on which subsidy is payable under these Acts. Provision is also made for an increase of 25,000l. in the payments to Local Authorities and other bodies under the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1919.

56. Grants to Local Authorities, etc., in respect of Public Health Services show a net increase of 103,6007. the principal increases being 31,500. for Maternity and Child Welfare, 54,500l. for the Treatment of Tuberculosis, and 11,000l. for the Welfare of the Blind. These services continue to develop.

57. There is a net decrease of 207,000l. in the provision for Grants in respect of benefits, etc., under the National Health Insurance Acts. The additional provision of 49,000l. under Medical Benefit is due to the

increase in the number of insured persons. The reduction of 256,000l. in the provision for Sickness, etc., Benefit is due, to the extent of about 220,000l., to the cessation of Sickness and Disablement Benefits for insured persons attaining the age of 65 under those provisions of the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act, 1925, which came into operation on 2nd January 1928, and to the extent of some 36,000l. to the circumstance that in 1927 expenditure on these benefits was abnormally heavy, necessitating a Supplementary Estimate for 210,000l. provision is made in the 1928 Estimate on the assumption that the incidence of sickness in 1928 will be lighter than in 1927.

58. Appropriations in Aid show an increase of approximately 31,000l., decreases in sundry receipts (169,000l.) being more than counterbalanced by the inclusion of receipts from fee stamps (200,0007). There is a reduction of 120,000l. in the amount to be recovered in respect of the administration of the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act, 1925, due to the fact that the 1927 Estimate included provision for non-recurrent expenditure in connection with the investigation of claims and the award of Old Age Pensions to persons between the ages of 65 and 70 at 2nd January, 1928. The reduction of approximately 49,000l. in the amount to be recovered in respect of the cost of administration of certain Health Insurance services is due to the 1927 Estimate having provided for the recovery in that year, as a result of a change in procedure, of more than one year's costs of administration.

59. The Estimate for the Board of Control (Vote 2) shows an increase of 57,5621. which is almost entirely accounted for by an increase of 55,000%. in the provision for contributions towards the expenses of Local Authorities under the Mental Deficiency Acts consequent upon the larger number of cases of mental defect.

60. The Estimate for the General Board of Control, Scotland (Vote 11) shows an increase of 1,7421. for the same reason.

61. The Estimate for Grants in respect of Unemployment Schemes (Vote 5) covers (a) grants in respect of approved capital works financed ordinarily by loans and (b) grants, based on wages expenditure, on approved works financed otherwise than by loan. These grants have in previous years been provided for in separate Estimates (Votes 2 and 6 in 1927).

62. The grants in respect of capital works normally represent a proportion of the loan charges on the amount of the approved expenditure. As the expenditure on the bulk of these schemes is spread over three years, the provision for 1928 has to be increased to provide for full grant on schemes approved in 1925 and for increased grant in respect of schemes approved in 1926 and 1927, but against the addition of 125,000l. that would thus have been required there is a reduction of 65,000/. in the provision required for schemes approved in 1921 and 1922, where the final instalment of grant has been paid, making the net increase in the provision for these grants 60,000l.

63. The provision for the wages grants shows a decrease of 60,000l. due to a reduction in the number of schemes approved for assistance.

64. The Estimate for Old Age Pensions (Vote 7) shows a net increase of 901,000l.

65. The additional provision for pensioners qualified by virtue of the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act, 1925 is 2,420,000l., but this is largely offset by a reduction of 1,520,000l. in the provision for pensioners under the 1908-24 Acts.

66. Of the net increase, 240,000l. is attributable to a full years' provision for pensions to the wives of insured persons, under Section 20 (1) (d) of the 1925 Act, as compared with one quarter's provision in 1927. Of the balance, 660,000l. is due to the increase in septuagenarian population, and 1,000l. to a prospective decrease in cash recoveries.

67. The Estimate for the Ministry of Labour (Vote 9) which now includes expenditure in respect of Training Services hitherto borne on the Vote for the Relief of Unemployment, shows a net decrease of 332,1871.

68. The principal item in this Vote is in respect of the Contribution to the Unemployment Fund for which 12,244,000l. is required as against 12,412,500l. in 1927. The decrease of 168,500l. is due to an anticipated decrease in the contributions paid to the Unemployment Fund by employers and workpeople, the Exchequer Contribution being proportionate to the contributions so paid. The amount of the Exchequer Contribution equals about two-fifths of the estimated contributions paid to the Fund by employers and work-people (31,585,000/.).

69. In pursuance of the Unemployment Insurance Acts the Unemployment Fund has borrowed various sums from the Exchequer for the payment of Unemployment Benefit, etc. The Fund pays interest on the debt outstanding from time to time; the amount outstanding on 21st February, 1928, was 24,130,000l.

70. The provision made for salaries, wages and allowances is 3,478,5351. against 3,680,351. in 1927.

71. The estimated expenditure on Courts of Referees is 210,000l. as compared with 26,4507. in 1927, showing an increase of 183,550. This is consequent on the passing of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1927, which abolished the distinction between standard and extended benefit, and the Minister's discretion with regard to the latter. All claims to benefit will in future be determined by an Insurance Officer, subject to appeal to the Courts of Referees and the Umpire. Further, where an insured contributor has received benefit for periods amounting in the aggregate to thirteen weeks in the last six months, the claim is to be reviewed by a Court of Referees. The work of the Courts will therefore be greatly increased.

72. The full cost of administration of Unemployment Insurance, including expenditure borne on other Votes and the accruing liability to the Exchequer for payments under the Superannuation Acts, will, it is anticipated, be recovered from the Unemployment Fund and appropriated in aid of the Ministry of Labour Vote. The total amount estimated to be appropriated on this account is 4,930,000l. of which approximately

3,593,500/. represents expenditure borne on the Ministry of Labour Vote, 1,061,500l. expenditure borne on other Votes, and 275,000l. the accruing liability for Superannuation (Section 6 of the Unemployment Insurance (No. 2) Act, 1924). The net charge on this Vote for administration expenditure for all purposes other than Unemployment Insurance is 363,6311.

73. The estimated expenditure on Training Services is 350,0531. as compared with 341,2757. in 1927. This includes the Schemes for Training Young Unemployed Men and Women, the provision of Juvenile Unemployment Centres, and the Training and Resettlement of Disabled ex-Service Personnel.

74. The Estimate for the Scottish Board of Health (Vote 10) shows a net decrease of 439,650.

75. No provision is required in respect of the non-recurrent grant to Parish Councils for which 260,000l. was provided in the previous year.

76. Under Housing Grants a nominal sum of 100%. only is provided for expenditure in connection with the erection of steel houses. This compares with 357,510l. which is the amount of the provision for the same purpose in 1927 as reduced by the Supplementary Estimate. On the other hand there is an increase of 232,1351. for additional housing subsidies of which 46,9057. is in respect of schemes under the Housing, etc. Act, 1923, and 185,2301. in respect of schemes under the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1924.

77. The amount provided for Sickness, etc., Benefits is 40,000l. less than the provision for such benefits in 1927 as augmented by the Supplementary Estimate. This is mainly accounted for by the fact that the saving which results from the cessation at 2nd January, 1928, of Sickness and Disablement Benefits to persons over 65 years of age (Section 37 of the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act, 1925) will have effect for a full year.

78. The net Estimate for the Board of Trade (Vote 1) shows a decrease of 22,0051. Receipts from fee stamps (which were formerly paid to the Exchequer as Extra Receipts) sufficient to meet the charge in respect of the administration expenses of the Industrial Property Department are

shown as appropriations in aid of the Vote in 1928. The decrease is made up of savings on staff and general administration and an increase (in addition to fee stamp receipts) of 11,4731. in receipts including 4,2501. for Fees, etc., in connection with licences issued under the Cinematograph Films Act, 1927.

79. There is again a token net provision for the Bankruptcy Department (Vote 2). The gross estimate for administration (163,8921.) shows a reduction of 4,9291. on 1927.

80. The net Estimate for Mercantile Marine Services (Vote 3) shows a reduction of 19,1257. of which 16,003/. is accounted for by increased Appropriations in Aid of the Vote mainly under the heads of Surveyors' Fees and Red Sea Lighthouses. A saving of approximately 9,500l. has been effected in the cost of administration of the Mercantile Marine Offices by the discontinuance of transmission facilities, but this is off-set to some extent by the reintroduction into the Estimate of provision for the maintenance of three ex-Turkish Lighthouses in the Red Sea. It has been necessary to provide for the maintenance of a Sea Transport Service in China in connection with the situation there, but the whole of this cost is recoverable from other Government Departments.

81. The Estimate for the Department of Overseas Trade (Vote 4) shows a decrease of 7,9891. There is a reduction of 6,0977. on the cost of the Commercial Diplomatic Service. The Estimate includes 60,000l. for participation in exhibitions connected with Overseas Trade on behalf of the Empire Marketing Board which will be recovered from the Empire Marketing Fund. It also includes an increase of 14,428/. in the provision for the British Industries Fair which is covered by additional receipts.

82. The Estimate for Export Credits (Vote 5) shows an increase of 38,000l. Provision for implementing guarantees rises from 62,000l. to 94,500l. on a large expansion of the Department's business, while the estimate of receipts falls from 12,000l. to 7,500l. as most of the recoveries likely to be effected in respect of past payments have now been received.

83. The Estimate for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (Vote 8) shows an increase of 100,2831. due to the necessity for providing for the first full year's payments under the 1926 valuation under the Land Settlement (Facilities) Acts. Substantive provision is made for the relief of certain Agricultural Co-operative Societies from part of their liabilities arising in connection with the liquidation of the Agricultural Wholesale Society. A token (Supplementary) Vote for this service was taken in 1927.

84. The provision for the payment of the Beet Sugar Subsidy, Great Britain (Vote 9) amounts to 4,250,000l. as compared with 5,400,000. in 1927. The decrease is accounted for primarily by the fall in the rate of subsidy as provided in the First Schedule of the British Sugar (Subsidy) Act, 1925. This is, however, offset to some extent by the effect of an estimated increase in the acreage under sugar beet from 200,000 to 250,000, consequent upon the addition of new factories.