§ Mr. J. GARDNERasked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that the new Employment Exchange at Shepherd's Bush has no lavatory accommodation for persons attending to sign the registers, although they sometimes have to wait in a queue for nearly two hours; that the local public health authorities requested the provision of accommodation and were 1347W refused; and, in view of the great distance to the nearest public convenience, will he take steps to have matters remedied?
§ Miss BONDFIELDIt is not customary to provide lavatory accommodation for the use of applicants at Employment Exchanges. Experiments made in the past have proved that the expense of providing such accommodation and of maintaining it in a sanitary condition would be prohibitive. In the case of the Shepherd's Bush Exchange, I am informed that there is a public urinal 200 yards away and a public lavatory 500 yards away. Applicants attending at Employment Exchanges to sign the registers need not have to wait for any long periods if they come at the times when they are asked to attend. A communication on the subject of lavatory accommodation at the Shepherd's Bush Exchange was received from the local medical officer of health last October, and an explanation was given to him why the Department did not feel able to instal the accommodation.