§ 14. Mr. PARKINSONasked the Minister of Labour if he will furnish a Return showing the number, nature, and cost of relief works in respect of which State assistance has been applied for since the present Government took office; the extent to which grants have actually been approved; and the number of persons employed on the schemes?
§ Sir H. BETTERTONI am collecting this information so far as it is readily available, and will circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT as soon as practicable.
§ 34. Captain ERSKINE-BOLSTasked the Minister of Health the attitude of his Department towards the employment by municipalities of their funds upon unemployment relief works this winter; whether he is sanctioning local loans for this purpose; and whether he is objecting to such relief works being financed out of revenue?
§ The MINISTER of HEALTH (Sir Hilton Young)Loans are not sanctioned for works put in hand for the sole purpose of relieving unemployment, but are sanctioned for works which are self-supporting or justified on urgent public grounds. The measure of employment which would be provided by the works is taken into account in considering applications. The execution out of revenue of works which an authority have the legal power to undertake is a matter within the discretion of the authority.