HC Deb 02 February 1937 vol 319 c1425
73. Mr. Sandys

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is in a position to announce the Government's plans for improving the national standard of physical fitness?

The President of the Board of Education (Mr. Oliver Stanley)

I hope that a White Paper explaining the Government's proposals will be issued on Thursday next.

The statistics of employment compiled by the Ministry of Labour relate only to workpeople insured under the Unemployment Insurance Acts, and figures for individual industries can be given only for 1923 and subsequent years. The following table gives the available information for the cotton industry in Great Britain for 1923, 1925 and 1935:—
Date. Age-group. Estimated numbers insured. Numbers of insured unemployed. Difference.
June, 1923 … … 18 years and over … 511,680 114,161 397,519
16 and 17 … 55,760 8,021 47,739
June, 1925 … … 18 years and over … 519,720 46,844 472,876
16 and 17 … 53,430 1,958 51,472
June, 1935 … … 18 to 64 … 421,390 96,922 324,468
16 and 17 … 20,940 1,363 19,577
14 and 15 … 27,100 772 26,328