§ Mr. EDEasked the Minister of Labour if he has issued, since 1st January, 1923, any certificates that serious unemployment exists in respect of any areas in the administrative county of Surrey; if he will give a list of the areas in respect of which such certificates have been issued, showing in each case the number of unemployed and the percentage that number is of the male unemployed population, and also classifying the areas into urban, rural, and semi-rural; if, since 1st October, 1922, his Department has refused to issue a certificate in respect of any area in the administrative county of Surrey; and if he will give a list of such areas, giving the same particulars in respect of each area at the time of the refusal as are asked for in respect of the cases in which certificates have been granted?
§ Sir M. BARLOW:Certificates have been issued since the 1st January, 1923, in respect of schemes submitted by the following authorities, in view of the Volume of unemployment prevailing as indicated in each case:
2803WExcept in the case of the Merton and Morton district, it has not been necessary to consider whether the above-mentioned districts should be classified as urban, rural or semi-rural, as the figures of unemployment were such that the decision as to the issue of a certificate would not be affected by such a classification. I am, of course, prepared at any time to consider representations which may be made regarding the issue of a certificate in respect of those areas for which a certificate has been previously refused, particularly if the local authority concerned will agree to accept a conditional certificate that a proportion of the labour for the work proposed should be drawn from an adjoining area where unemployment is more severe.