§ 25. Lieut.-Colonel Sir A. LAMBERT WARDasked the Lord Privy Seal the number of Private Bills which have been certified as containing provisions which would substantially contribute to the relief of unemployment; the number which have already received the Royal Assent; and the number of such Bills which have been rejected in either House of Parliament?
§ The LORD PRIVY SEAL (Mr. J. H. Thomas)The number of Private Bills which I have certified is thirty-nine; of these, twenty-two have already received the Royal Assent; two have been rejected by Parliament; two have been withdrawn and thirteen are still in progress.
§ Sir A. LAMBERT WARDCan the right hon Gentleman say, from memory, how many schemes have been turned down as a result of a poll of ratepayers, owing to the inadequate nature of the Treasury contribution?
§ Mr. THOMASAs far as I am aware, Hull, Sheffield and, I believe, Leeds, but I am unaware that they were turned down because of the inadequacy of the grant. On the contrary, the corporations both of Hull and of Sheffield not only agreed, but thought that the Treasury terms were both fair and generous; and, certainly, I have the strongest grounds for believing that the terms were approved of unanimously by the respective corporations.
§ Sir K. WOODIs it not the case that one of the Bills was rejected on the right hon. Gentleman's own advice?
§ Mr. MILLSWill the right hon. Gentleman say whether, after the experience of the last 12 months, he has come to the conclusion that the question of the transfer of labour to areas already suffering from unemployment, is a factor?