§ 30. Mr. Patrick Maitlandasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many claims for National Assistance have been made by persons resident in the village of Douglas and Douglas, West, in the county of Lanark, during 1958, and this year, respectively.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI am informed by the National Assistance Board that information is not available in the form asked for, but that at the end of May 60 weekly assistance grants were being paid to persons in Douglas and six to persons in Douglas West, of whom six in all were persons registering for employment.
§ Mr. MaitlandCannot my right hon. Friend give any figures which measure the difference between last year and this year? Is he aware that about seventy families have already left this village and that it faces a grave problem of depopulation? Would he be prepared to consider trying to give help to the families which have transferred elsewhere to find work other than mining, many of whom encountered some hardship on the ground of disturbance when they moved?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe kind of thing which my hon. Friend has in mind sounds more a matter for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service than for me. On the question of figures, about which I am responsible for informing the House, my hon. Friend will appreciate that the numbers in these two villages are a very small proportion of those dealt with by the Board's big office at Hamilton.
§ Mr. J. GriffithsWill the right hon. Gentleman put his hon. Friend in touch with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster so that he can explain the achievements of the Government to his constituents?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI am sure that my right hon. Friend and my hon. Friend need no assistance in that good work.
§ Mr. MaitlandMy constituents are aware of it already.