§ 12. Mr. Parkerasked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the desire felt in all parties to protect the interests of the small tradesman, when such protection is not at the cost of the general public, he will consider, both from the immediate and long term point of view, the establishment of agencies or the utilisation of employment exchanges, so as to enable the ordinary person to get into easy direct touch with such tradesmen as carpenters, plumbers, painters, etc., without resort to firms of builders or contractors whose 361 intervention removes the personal touch between the client and the tradesman and doubles the cost of the services rendered?
§ Mr. BevinI presume my hon. Friend has in mind, not an engagement under a contract of service, but the making of a contract direct with an individual building tradesman for the performance of a particular piece of work. It is not normally the function of the Employment Exchanges to act as intermediary in such cases.