§ 68. Major Carverasked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the fact that at the end of March, out of 9,842 vacancies of farm workers of various kinds notified to the Exchanges in England and Wales, over 1,500 such vacancies had not been filled by the Exchanges, he can make any statement as to the difficulties which existed in filling the whole of the 39 vacancies by the Exchanges, especially in view of the large number of unemployed farm workers?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydOf the balance of 1,510 vacancies not filled by the Exchanges 1,107 were cancelled, mainly owing to the fact that the employers had obtained the workers required from other sources, or no longer required them, and action was in progress by the Exchanges with a view to filling the 403 vacancies outstanding at the end of March. These figures do not point to any serious shortage of labour at the time. In the great majority of cases, suitable applicants were submitted by the Exchanges; it was only in a small number of cases that persons of the required qualifications were not available on the Exchange registers.
§ Mr. HicksIs it not true that in a large number of instances employers notify more vacancies than there are in order that they may be able to make a selection from among those who apply for the jobs?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI have no information to bear out that suggestion.