1. Mr. W. Joseph Stewartasked the Minister of Labour the number of persons registered at the Employment Exchanges in Durham county who have been unemployed for periods of one to eight years?
§ The Minister of Labour (Mr. Ernest Brown)As the reply includes a table of figures, I will, if I may, circulate a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
Mr. StewartCan the right hon. Gentleman say what his Department is doing to deal with long-standing unemployment, and those cases in which men have been unemployed for years?
§ Mr. BrownWe have done a number of things to deal with that. I could not possibly go into them all in answer to a question.
§ Following is the statement:
§ An analysis of the unemployed according to duration of unemployment is available only in respect of those who were applicants for unemployment benefit or allowances. The available figures are given below:
| Unemployed Persons on Registers of Employment Exchanges in Durham County at15th May, 1939. | |
| Total number on registers | 87,664 |
| Number of applicants for benefit or allowances | 77,742 |
| Number of such applicants who had been continuously on the registers for— | |
| One year but less than two years | 9,314 |
| Two years but less than three years | 4,561 |
| Three years but less than four years | 3,752 |
| Four years but less than five years | 1,966 |
| Five years or more | 6,406 |
§ Some of the persons who had been on the registers for extended periods will have had one or more short spells of employment, lasting not more than three days each, during those periods.