§ 24. Mr. SITCHasked the Minister of Labour if he will state the primary factor that determines the retention or closure of a labour exchange; whether it is the number of the population, the particular characteristic, industrial, or commercial, or any other special circumstance of the area in which it is situated; whether he is aware that the number of workpeople and industrial concerns served by the present temporary labour exchange at Brierley Hill, Stafford, is greater than the number of workpeople and business undertakings at Stourbridge, to which it is apparently contemplated all exchange operations in that district shall be transferred; and whether he will take that fact into account when considering the application of the Brierley Hill Urban District Council for the temporary labour exchange in its area to be made a permanent centre for such affairs?
§ Sir R. HORNEAll the factors referred to by the hon. Member are taken into consideration in determining whether an exchange should be retained or closed. The office at Brierley Hill was one of a number opened for dealing with the pressure incidental to the payment of out-of-work donation; and in the ordinary course it would have been closed when the work was sufficiently reduced to permit of this being done. It has been decided to retain this office for a further period, and, in considering whether to retain it permanently, the factors referred to by the hon. Member, and the representations of the Urban District Council, will be fully borne in mind.