§ Sir W. Jenkinsasked the Minister of Labour what were the numbers of persons unemployed in the Pontardawe area, including Gwaen-cae-Gurwen and Brynaman in January, 1936, January, 1937, and January, 1938; and what is the number for the last available date, giving the figures for various industries separately?
§ Mr. E. Brown, pursuant to his reply (OFFICIAL REPORT, 7th April, 1938; col. 493, Vol. 334), supplied the following statement
The table below shows the numbers of insured persons, aged 14-64 (excluding persons within the agricultural scheme), recorded as unemployed in the principal industries at the Pontardawe Employment Exchange at certain dates. There is no separate Exchange at Gwaen-caeGurwen or Brynaman and figures for these places are not available.
that the tanks of the depot are only to be partly buried and the excavated material piled over the tanks; and whether, in view of the unsatisfactory nature of these arrangements, he will cause a public inquiry to be held to examine all aspects of the scheme before it is started;
129W(2) whether, as the new bomb-proof oil-storage depot at Purfleet cannot now be built in the chalk pits as originally intended, he can reassure the House regarding the safety measures to be adopted in building the depot on an alternative site?
§ Sir T. Inskip:The plans for the scheme of oil storage at Purfleet, to which my hon. and learned Friend refers, have been examined in detail by technical experts from the Home Office and I have myself seen them. My hon. and learned Friend is misinformed as to the proposed position of the new tankage. It will be placed in open fields at a safe distance from the nearest houses. I can assure my hon. and learned Friend that a very considerable measure of protection against the dangers of air attack will be provided. The scheme has been thoroughly examined throughout the course of its development by every responsible body concerned; the necessity for a public inquiry does not, therefore, arise.