§
That a Supplementary sum, not exceeding £3,250,000, be granted to His Majesty, to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1927, for Relief arising out of Unemployment.
§ Resolution read a Second time.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House doth agree with the Committee in the said Resolution."
Mr. TREVELYAN THOMSONBefore we part from this Resolution, may I ask the Minister of Health if he will elucidate some remarks that he made at the end of his speech last evening with regard to the assistance given to necessitous areas? He said:
I believe that by the system of block grants—when it is possible to allocate those block grants on a fair and proper basis, taking account not merely of population but also of capacity to pay as measured by rateable value—it may be possible to get a scheme which will bring relief to these necessitous areas without effecting injustice on any other part of the country. That is the permanent policy to which I look for- 1926 ward as a solution of this problem." —[OFFICIAL REPORT, 16th November, 1926; col. 1822, Vol. 199.]I should like to ask him how soon he can put that permanent policy into operation. This is a matter of very considerable urgency. The Minister himself, as he remarked last night, was one of a deputation to the Minister of Health in the Coalition Government urging that assistance should be given to necessitous areas. The urgency of the question is infinitely greater to-day. In my own district the Poor Rate, which was 1s. 2d. in the £ in 1913–14, is now 7s. in the £. These rates are crippling industry, and, unless something is done to relieve the situation, there will be no hope of industry being able to revive. I hope that the Minister can say something to-night which will bring some hope to these distressed areas, which have borne the heat and burden of the day for so long.