§ 4. Mr. Hepworthasked the Minister of Labour how many building trades' employees have registered at employment exchanges during the last month.
§ Mr. BevinI will write to my hon. Friend in a few days and give him such statistics as are available.
§ 5. Mr. Hepworthasked the Minister of Labour if he will expedite the erection of houses for immediate post-war occupation and, as during 1925 to 1929 in England and Wales there were erected 2,335,600 dwellings without State assistance by private builders as compared with 942,107 by local authorities, will he 1875 arrange to enable private builders, particularly the smaller firms, to operate speedily in the immediate construction of dwelling-houses; and, to this end, will he cease calling up the principal and employees of one-man businesses in this industry.
§ Mr. BevinThe first and second parts of the Question are matters for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health. For some months past I have not been calling up for the Forces principals of one-man businesses in the building industry, and cases of transfer to other work have been quite exceptional. I am not clear what is meant by "employees of one-man businesses," but what I have said would apply generally if there is only one worker concerned, whether as employer or employee.
§ Mr. LeachWill my right hon. Friend take note of the misleading nature of the comparison made in the Question between privately-built houses and those built by local authorities, in view of the fact that local authorities regularly get out of the way of private enterprise, when they ought to be doing their job?