§ 4. Mr. Maclayasked the Minister of Labour what is the cost of maintaining his Department's appointments register; what proportion of names listed on a convenient recent date were registered as in employment but desirous of making a change; and what proportion of the total cost is attributable to this category.
§ Mr. IsaacsIn October, 1950, the proportion of persons on the appointments register who were in employment was 62 per cent. I regret that there are no statistics which would enable me to apportion the cost between this category and the unemployed category. If the hon. Member will let me know exactly what further information he desires I will see whether it is possible to obtain it.
§ Mr. MaclayWhile I believe that the register serves a valuable purpose, is the Minister satisfied that this very large percentage of the register which covers individuals "in employment but desirous of making a change" is realistic, and that the results justify the large amount of work which must be entailed in preparing it and keeping it up to date?
§ Mr. IsaacsI should like to have a talk with the hon. Member on the particular point he has in mind. There does not appear to be a tremendous amount of work in keeping these names on the register, especially when the applicants are, at present, in employment.