§ MR. KEIR HARDIE (Merthyr Tydvil)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, with a view to securing the promised elasticity in the administration of the additional £100,000 proposed to be voted to the central fund for the relief of distress due to unemployment, the extra supplementary estimate in connection therewith will be so framed as to permit grants being made through approved channels other than distress committees.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEAs I informed the hon. Member on the 11th instant, the additional £100,000 will be voted as a supplement to the grant of £200,000, which has already been voted specifically in aid of expenses under the Unemployed Workmen Act, and can therefore, under the existing law, only be appropriated to the same purposes as the former grant. The Government, however, have the matter under consideration, as they are anxious to provide for all possible elasticity in the administration of these grants.