§ 23. Viscount SANDONasked the Minister of Health what is the reason that the unemployment returns, both in total and in detailed sectional classes of the building trade, have risen roughly in proportion to the annual increase of the output of houses built in the last five years?
§ The MINISTER of LABOUR (Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland)I have been asked to reply. I have compared the average percentages of unemployment in the building trades in each of the year, 1924 to 1928 with the numbers of houses built and do not find the correspondence which my Noble Friend suggests. If the estimated numbers in employment are taken there is a rise each year from 1924 to 1927, and a rise also in the number of houses built; in 1928 there was a drop in both figures. As regards any such comparisons, however, I should point out that a considerable proportion of the workers in the building trades are engaged in the construction of buildings other than houses, or in repairs and maintenance work, so that house construction alone would not accurately reflect the total volume of employment.
§ Mr. R. RICHARDSONIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that in various areas the Ministry themselves have prevented local authorities from building houses where there was a large amount of overcrowding, thus throwing people out of work.
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLANDNo, Sir, I was not aware of that fact.