§ 12. Mr. DAVID ADAMSasked the Minister of Labour how many persons were registered as unemployed at the Employment Exchanges in the boroughs of Poplar, Hackney, West Ham, Bethnal Green, and Shoreditch on the 27th February, 1931, and 27th February, 1932; and how many persons were disallowed benefit during this period?
§ Sir H. BETTERTONAs the reply includes a table of figures, I will, if I may, circulate a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the statement: 1249
| Persons on the Registers of certain Employment Exchanges and Claims made at those Exchanges disallowed by Courts of Referees. | |||||
| Employment Exchange. | Numbers on the Registers. | Number of Claims†disallowed by Courts of Referees during the period 10th February, 1931, to 30th January, 1932. | |||
| 26th January, 1931. | 25th January, * 1932. | ||||
| Poplar | … | … | 10,017 | 10,697 | 4,009 |
| Hackney | … | … | 12,427 | 14,054 | 5,580 |
| West Ham: | |||||
| Canning Town | … | … | 12,018 | 12,135 | 3,668 |
| Stratford | … | … | 8,284 | 9,613 | 4,057 |
| Shoreditch | … | … | 11,685 | 12,075 | 5,062 |
| There is no Employment Exchange located in the Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green. | |||||
| *Figures for February are not yet available. | |||||
| † These figures relate to claims, and the number of separate individuals concerned is not available. During the same period the total number of claims made at the offices in question was 292,959. | |||||
| Figures in respect of the number of cases in which Public assistance Committees decided that the needs of applications did not justify the making of transitional payments are available only for Public Assistance Authority areas and not for separate Employment Exchanges. |
§ 21. Mr. STONESasked the Minister of Labour the number of persons registered at the Farnworth Employment Exchange as totally and temporarily unemployed on 27th October, 1931; the number registered up to date; and how many have been struck off the register through the application of the means test?
§ Sir H. BETTERTONAt 26th October, 1931, there were 4,860 persons wholly unemployed and 5,150 temporarily stopped on the register of Farnworth Employment Exchange. The corresponding figures for 25th January, 1932, were 3,840 and 4,954. Statistics are not available showing the number of persons who have ceased to register at the Farnworth Exchange as the result of determinations by public assistance committees that their needs did not justify transitional payment being made.
§ Mr. KIRKWOODDo not all these returns prove undoubtedly that unemployment is on the increase; and are not the Government prepared to do anything to mitigate the serious problem of unemployment?
§ Sir H. BETTERTONI cannot, of course, accept the premise of the hon. Gentleman's question. The fact that a considerable number of persons, after having been struck off, are not registering, may be due to one of two causes; it may be that they have found work 1250 elsewhere, or it may be that they do not need this assistance.