§ MR. GEORGE THORNE (Wolverhampton, E.)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he has been informed by the Urban District Council of Willenhall that after careful investigation they are satisfied that there are 200 men in their district willing to work who are unable to find employment; and whether, in view there of and particularly of the near approach of Christmas, he will now consent to the application of the council for the establishment of a distress committee, or if not, in what other way he proposes to assist the council in their attempts to alleviate the distress there, which is already severe and which it is feared may soon become more acute.
(Answered by Mr. John Burns.) Information to the effect contained in the first part of the Question was supplied to me by the Urban District Council in October last. On 4th November I explained that I did not regard the information before me as sufficient to justify the establishment of a distress committee at that time. Since then no further particulars have been supplied to me by the Urban District Council.