§ 23. Sir William Jenkinsasked the Secretary for Mines whether any steps are being taken to develop the oil-from-coal scheme for South Wales; will he also give the number of miners unemployed in the South Wales coalfield for the year 1938 and for each month separately for 1939 to the latest available date?
§ Mr. LloydAs regards the first part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which my predecessor gave to him on 14th March last. With the hon. Member's permission, I will circulate in the Official Report a statistical statement giving the figures asked for in the second part of the question.
§ Following is the answer:
| Number of Insured Persons aged 14 to 64 recorded as unemployed in the Coal Mining Industry in South Wales and Monmouthshire each month in 1938 and to May, 1939: | ||||
| — | 1938. | 1939. | ||
| January | … | … | 27,840 | 31,017 |
| February | … | … | 27,521 | 40,838 |
| March | … | … | 31,902 | 34,320 |
| April | … | … | 39,493 | 29,680 |
| May | … | … | 45,948 | 23,345 |
| June | … | … | 37,832 | — |
| July | … | … | 34,300 | — |
| August | … | … | 29,443 | — |
| September | … | … | 31,837 | — |
| October | … | … | 27,797 | — |
| November | … | … | 32,697 | — |
| December | … | … | 34,431 | — |