§ 83. Mr. THORNTONasked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been called to the fact that a large number of suitable and well-qualified local ex-service men who are at present unemployed applied for the position of branch manager of the Plympton Employment Exchange and that an applicant from Exeter, who is a stranger to the district and who was already in other employment, has been selected for the position; and whether he will reconsider this appointment with a view to selecting a local ex-service man?
§ Mr. SHAWCareful consideration was given to the claims of the local ex-service applicants for the part-time post of manager of the branch employment office at Plympton, but none of them was considered to be so well qualified as the candidate selected, who is himself an ex-service man.
§ Mr. THORNTONIs it a fact that the man who has been appointed was already at work?
§ Mr. SHAWMy information is that the candidate selected had military service from 1914 to 1921, that he had been disabled overseas, that he no longer receives a pension, and that he was the best qualified man.