2. Mrs. Whiteasked the Minister of Labour if he will reconsider the decision to close the hostel at Hawarden, as it is in an area in which private lodgings are particularly scarce.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour and National Service (Mr. Harold Watkinson)No, Sir. I recognise with regret, that there will be some disturbance caused to workers and to employers, but a number of the employers concerned are making special efforts to find lodgings for their workers affected by the closure and the local officers of my Department are doing all they can to help. It is our experience that by such means more lodgings are usually found when a hostel is closed than could be foreseen.
Mrs. WhiteIf this effort to find lodgings fails, will not the Minister keep this decision open for a little while? Is he not aware that a large number of foreign workers—Poles and Italians—are concerned, that a great many women in this area go out to work, and that it will be a serious matter to find accommodation for about 120 workers, most of whom are foreign?
§ Mr. WatkinsonI understand the difficulties, but our difficulty is that these hostels are losing an average of £1 per 2568 week per member of the hostel, and that is a very large sum of money. We can only consider deferring this decision if some firm offer is made by the local authority or by a group of businessmen which may lead to negotiations enabling us to dispose of them in that way.
§ Mr. RobensIt may well be the case that £1 per head per week is lost on these hostels, but does the Minister not recognise the value of the productivity of the workers concerned, and that, if hostels are not provided, these workers may be lost to the area?
§ Mr. WatkinsonThat is a proper point, but the difficulty is that this is to some extent subsidising firms which have workers in these hostels. I hope that the firms themselves may make some offer to take over the hostels, and if they do we will do all that we can to assist them.