§ MR. SNOWDEN (Blackburn)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board, to how many distress committees, and to what proportion of the whole of such committees, the Board's circular letter of 13th October was sent in which it was intimated that no grant from the £200,000 fund would be made to the distress committee circularised; and if he can state the number of cases where grants have already been made or promised, the amount in each case, and also on what general lines he is distributing the grants.
§ MR. JOHN BURNSThere are in England and Wales and outside London eighty-nine distress committees. The general lines on which I am administering the grant are to make payments out of it to the distress committee of those districts in which, on the information before me, there seems to be exceptional need for assistance this winter in meeting the cost of providing or contributing to the provision of temporary work. It is, of course, difficult to determine now what the demands upon particular committees may be during the winter, so that at present I have largely to rely upon the experience of last year. To twenty-three of the distress committees I intimated that, on the information before me, I was prepared to consider an application for a payment from the grant. In the other cases I stated that J dirt not propose to make a payment. Portions of the grant will be allotted to Scotland and Ireland. As regards England and Wales, payments amounting to rather more than £21,000 have already been made by way of instalment to the Central (Unemployed) Body in London and to certain distress committees outside London. I am in communication with a number of other committees as to applications for payments out of the Grant.
§ MR. PICKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S.W.)Will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind the fact that the Salvation Army and Church Army are already making large provision for emigration purposes, and will he consider the claims of migration as against emigration?
§ MR. JOHN BURNSAll salient points will be considered.