§ 43. Mr. KELLYasked the Minister of Labour the number of men and women registered as employed in the engineering trade on 22nd December, 1924, 21st December, 1925, 20th December, 1926, and 19th December, 1927, and in February and March, 1928?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY of LABOUR (Mr. Betterton)As the reply includes a number of figures, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. KELLYCould the hon. Gentleman say whether the unemployment figures for 1927 show an increase as compared with 1926?
§ Mr. BETTERTONNo, Sir, they show a considerable decrease in comparison with 1926.
§ Following is the statement:
§ Mr. BETTERTONBetween 1st January, 1928, and 2nd April, about 31,600 men and 1,100 women in Great Britain ceased to have current claims for unemployment benefit by reason of their having attained the age of 65. There are no statistics showing how many of them remained unemployed.
§ Mr. KELLYDoes the hon. Gentleman's Department take any steps to help these people of the age of 65 to get employment?
§ Mr. BETTERTONYes, Sir, we do all that we can.
§ Mr. W. THORNEIs there any record of the number of those people who are mentioned in the answer that are receiving the old age pension?
§ Mr. BETTERTONI am not sure whether there is, but in any case I should have to ask for notice of that question.