HC Deb 02 November 1908 vol 195 cc784-5
MR. ARTHUR HENDERSON (Durham, Barnard Castle)

I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board if he will state the names of the thirty-three local authorities who applied for permission to establish distress committees and were refused, giving the population within their areas, and also the names of the eleven authorities who applied and afterwards withdrew their application, giving the population in each case.

MR. JOHN BURNS

I will send my hon. friend a list giving the particulars for which he asks, and it will be circulated with the Votes in the morning.

MR. ARTHUR HENDERSON

asked whether, in view of the exceptional distress existing, the right hon. Gentleman would favourably consider a second application from localities which had been refused the right to establish distress -committees.

MR. JOHN BURNS

I have already received, and am considering, the kind of application to which my hon. friend refers.

MR. CLYNES (Manchester, N. E.)

asked whether the refusal to permit the establishment of distress committees in these cases was based solely on reasons of population.

MR. JOHN BURNS

Oh, no—the necessities of the cases, the distress in the district as measured by the unemployed registered at the bureau, the trade union return, pauperism, and any other general information bearing on the subject.