§ Mr. PENNEFATHERasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether inquiries have been addressed by an Admiralty officer stationed in Liverpool to shipbuilders in the district regarding the number of hands employed in their yards; if so, the object of these inquiries; and whether the desired information could have been obtained at less expense from information already in the possession of the Ministry of Labour?
594W
§ Sir J. CRAIGMy attention has been drawn to the recently published statement referred to in the question. An Admiralty Book of Reference now in preparation includes information on the shipbuilding and ship-repairing resources of the United Kingdom. The necessary details are being collected by the district intelligence officers, and inquiries are addressed by them to the firms concerned. The information available at the Ministry of Labour has reference only to total numbers employed in shipbuilding and other trades and is insufficient.