§ MR. KEIR HARDIE (Merthyr Tydvil)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he can state what contributions have been 1153 paid by the metropolitan boroughs and the great provincial centres of population, such as Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, and Glasgow, under the provisions of the Unemployed Workmen's Act, and what rate per £ they represent; and whether the twenty-nine distress committees represented on the deputation which waited upon him recently to claim a share of the £200,000 grant have exhausted their spending powers under the Act.
(Answered by Mr. John Burns.) The Central (Unemployed) Body for London called on the Common Council and the councils of the metropolitan boroughs for contributions from the rates in February and August last of £25,000 and £43,382, respectively. The sum actually paid up to date is £61,397, which is equivalent to a rate of one-third of a penny in the £ on the present assessable value of London. As regards the distress committees outside London, my information generally relates to the period up to 31st March last only. According to this, sums of £500, £525, and £750 were contributed by the town councils of Leeds, Liverpool, and Manchester. The distress committees represented on the deputation referred to do not appear to have exhausted their power of raising contributions from the rates under the Act on the 31st March, and I am not aware that they have done so since.