8. Mr. TREVELYAN THOMSONasked the Minister of Labour the number of men at present employed on the various relief works subsidised by the Unemployment Grants Committee and the number similarly employed a year ago?
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLANDAt 27th February, the latest date for which figures are available, 33,799 men were employed on relief schemes approved by the Unemployment Grants Committee, as compared with 42,151 at 28th February, 1925.
Mr. THOMSONIn view of the largely reduced numbers employed on unemployment relief work, will the right hon. Gentleman make representations to the Unemployment Grants Committee that they should consider more sympathetically applications for assistance from towns where the unemployment is greatest?
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLANDThey already have instructions and their ideas as to the degree of unemployment, and the conditions upon which they may consider applications, and I can see no reason far asking them to vary that.
§ Mr. PALINGIs it not a fact that, if applications were considered more sympathetically, many more thousands of unemployed could be employed on these schemes?
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLANDThat is a matter entirely for argument, and hardly capable of being dealt with within the compass of question and answer. On the whole, my opinion is that the number of 185 unemployed would not be diminished, but would probably be increased, by diverting more to unemployment grants funds that would otherwise go into normal channels of trade.
§ Mr. PALINGHas it not been more difficult to get these grants during the last five years, and is it not a fact that local authorities are complaining of the difficulty of getting their applications accepted?
§ Mr. SPEAKERWe cannot now argue the matter.