Mr. C. WILSONasked the President of the Board of Education whether he can clearly define a depressed and or distressed mining area; whether, seeing that the condition of such mining areas is in part due to the severe depression in iron and steel areas, he can consider the extension of the definition so as to cover these areas?
§ Lord E. PERCYI think it would be most undesirable to attempt to define more closely the precise extent of any of the areas in which Divisional Committees46W of the Lord Mayor's Fund are now operating. These areas include all the mining areas of the country, except Kent, and the Fund cannot be extended to non-mining areas. It rests with the Divisional Committee in each area to decide whether the distress in any, particular district within that area is such as to justify assistance from the Fund, and in this respect districts dependent upon the iron and steel industry are in precisely the same position as districts dependent upon mining or upon other industries.