§ 45. Mr. G. TERRELLasked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the work which has been and is being performed by the newly-established Government Information Bureaux in distributing necessary and important information to the public on behalf of the various Ministries and Government Departments, the orga- 1712 nisers and other officials connected with this work are giving their services gratuitously or are receiving remuneration; if he will state the number of bureaux in London and the expenditure involved by the organisation; and whether, seeing that this Department has been a great success, it is proposed to extend the scheme to the provinces?
Captain GUEST (Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury)The kiosks referred to as the Government Information Bureaux have been erected under the auspices of the National War Aims Committee, and in carrying out the scheme the Committee has had valuable assistance of a voluntary nature. The number of kiosks in London is twenty-five, of which seventeen have been supplied free of all cost by the firms and others who provided the sites. The cost of the remaining eight kiosks is approximately £150, and the cost of running the whole twenty-five is estimated at £42 a month. All the workers are giving their services voluntarily. The scheme is only in its experimental stage in London, and the question of its extension will be considered by the National War Aims Committee in due course. The report to hand from one kiosk for one week shows that publications relating to the following Departments and in the following numbers were asked or and given:
| National War Aims | … | … | 2,000 |
| National Service | … | … | 300 |
| War Savings | … | … | 300 |
| Food | … | … | 3,400 |
| Labour | … | … | Nil |
| Pensions | … | … | 400 |
| Reconstruction | … | … | 650 |