§ 64. Mr. HANNONasked the Minister of Labour whether he can state the number of firms and local authorities, respectively, on the King's Roll, and the number of appeals which have been issued to local authorities on this matter; whether he can give any estimate as to the number of ex-service men thus employed; and whether he can state the number of ex-service men at present seeking employment?
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLANDThere are approximately 28,000 employers, including 1,373 local authorities, on the King's National Roll. Some eight appeals have been made by Ministers and by the King's Roll National Council to local authorities to enrol. These appeals are, of course, in addition to those made by King's Roll Committees throughout the country.
The Roll relates to the employment of disabled ex-service men, of whom approximately 360,000 are employed by firms on the Roll. The latest statistics available indicate that there are 38,286 disabled ex-service men registered as unemployed.
§ Mr. HANNONWill the right hon. Gentleman take into consideration the propriety of publishing the list of those municipal authorities who are not on the King's Roll?
§ Captain WATERHOUSEWould the right hon. Gentleman circulate to Members of this House who represent constituencies where there are errant municipalities a copy of that answer in order that they may forward it to their local authorities?
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLANDIf any hon. Member wishes to have a- copy of the answer I will gladly send him one, or he can use his own copy of the OFFICIAL REPORT for that purpose. As regards the steps to be taken, including that of publishing, I have been considering as carefully as I can what further action can be taken. I think there are many objections to making out a black list, but, apart from that, there are other steps which are more desirable in order to bring the desirability of joining the King's Roll to the notice of the authorities who have not already done so.
§ 70. Sir H. BRITTAINasked the Minister of Labour how many firms engaged on Government contracts are not yet on the King's Roll?
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLANDAs I informed the hon. Member on the 25th March, I am obtaining the information from Government Contracting Departments. The inquiries will take some little time to complete, as the number of Departments concerned is large, but I will send the information to the hon. Member as soon as possible.