§ 71. Mr. Parkerasked the First Commissioner of Works whether, in view of the present extensive discharge of Office of Works staff and, in particular, of the recent dismissal of nine men from Somerset House and 27 men from the Law Courts depôt, he will contemplate putting men, who would otherwise be discharged from the Office of Works, on to work of national importance?
§ Sir P. SassoonConsiderable fluctuations in the number of men employed are, unfortunately, necessary in the building trade, and I am afraid that it would not be possible to give special preference to individual men in obtaining employment on work of national importance by reason of the fact that they may have been employed for a short period on Government work. All of the men discharged, except eight, were of less than one year's service and none had as much as four years' service.