§ Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEasked the President of the Board of Trade whether it is the practice of labour exchanges to register men who are in employment for jobs that may become vacant; is such registration contrary to the principle of the Labour Exchanges Act; will the recent decision of the Government making 535 it compulsory for all men seeking employment in the Royal Naval establishments to register at the labour exchanges greatly swell the number of men obtaining employment through the labour exchanges; and, in view of the fact that the majority of these men only seek re-engagement, and their names and capacity are fully known to the heads of departments, what is the object of the new regulation?
Mr. BUXTONThere is no provision in the Labour Exchanges Act preventing persons from applying for employment through a labour exchange if they are still in employment at the time of registration, and the practice of the labour exchanges is to accept the registration of such persons. The arrangements which have been come to between the Admiralty and the Board of Trade for the engagement through the exchanges of all labour required by the dockyard authorities will no doubt to some extent increase the number of persons dealt with by the labour exchanges. The arrangements, however, do not apply solely to men known to the dockyard authorities, but to all labour required by them, and the object of the new regulation is to facilitate the prompt and effective supplying of all labour requirements at the yards.
§ Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEIs the right hon. Gentleman aware of the difficulty caused by this practice?