§ 9. Mr. Kenneth Lewisasked the Minister of Labour what effect there has been on the work of employment exchanges by the development of private employment agencies.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsAs far as can be assessed the effect is probably only marginal at this stage because the established private agencies tend to specialise in certain white-collar categories of employment.
§ Mr. LewisHas the Minister or the hon. Lady read a book which has been published by the Employment Agents Federation on employment agencies which says that the services provided by the local employment exchanges under her Ministry are totally ineffective? How does the Minister propose to answer this, and how does he propose to make the employment agencies more effective?
§ Mrs. WilliamsI have read the book, and I regard it as a mildly prejudiced source of authorship. However, as the hon. Gentleman may know, attempts are being made to improve the service provided by employment exchanges. The Department, as announced in this House, intends to start the occupational guidance system and to improve the numbers and the training of staff in the employment exchanges.