§ 74. Mr. MANSFIELDasked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the success of the system introduced in the Borough of Redcar in October, 1921, and continued without interruption ever since, by which able-bodied recipients of out-relief are given full-time employment on schemes of public utility organised by the town council; whether he is aware that as a result of this system there are now no able-bodied men a charge on the poor rate of the Borough; whether he has any official reports upon the working of the system; and whether on the change of Poor Law administration from boards of guardians to the county councils, he will continue his approval of the policy of local authorities being encouraged to provide useful work rather than pay relief to the able-bodied without any ser vice in return?
§ Mr. GREENWOODThere are a number of instances in which I have sanctioned arrangements under which able-bodied applicants for relief are given employment on works specially put in hand by a local authority. The arrangements usually involve some contributions from the Guardians, and, in the case of Guisborough, the charge on the poor rates is the equivalent of the amount of relief which would otherwise have been paid to the men. These arrangements have been reviewed during the course of the inquiries which I have recently undertaken, and so long as the work involved is not work which would have been undertaken in the ordinary course 2078 and therefore does not involve the displacement of ordinary paid labour, I am prepared to continue the practice of sanctioning such schemes.