§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Minister of Labour if his attention has been drawn to a Resolution passed by the Hull City Council on the 4th December protesting against the cessation of the donation paid to civilian unemployed while there is still so much distress in that city 1359W through unemployment; and what steps he proposes to take with regard to the citizens of Hull who cannot obtain work, and their wives and children?
§ Sir R. HORNEThe Resolution referred to reached me on the 8th instant. On the 28th November there were 1,513 men registered as unemployed at the Employment Exchange at Hull. Of that number, 1,173 were ex-Service men in receipt of out-of-work donation. Of the remaining 340 men, 156 were in insured trades, and, therefore, eligible for unemployment benefit, leaving only 184 men for whom no State assistance was available. The total number of women registered as unemployed for whom no State assistance was available, was ninety-seven. The general question of making some temporary provision for any distress arising from unemployment is under consideration; but the figures I have quoted regarding the position at Hull do not appear to justify a demand for extraordinary measures.