§ Sir N. GRATTAN-DOYLEasked the Minister of Labour, if she will inquire into the conditions governing the employment of men within the Newburn urban district area on works receiving State grants; whether she is aware that the names of able-bodied men available for this work are submitted by the Employment Exchange to the Newburn Urban District Council for final selection by the council works committee, one of the members of which is the agent of a political party; and that pensioners are employed on this work to the exclusion of those not similarly endowed.
§ Miss BONDFIELDThe procedure adopted at Newburn for the recruitment of men in connection with schemes of work approved for grant on the recommendation of the Unemployment Grants Committee, follows the normal practice. The manager of the Employment Exchange submits to the council a list of unemployed men on the register, selected in accordance with the conditions of2028W grant. Subject to the overriding condition of industrial suitability for the work in question, and to 'the employment of a stipulated proportion of ex-service men, preference is given to married men and single men with dependants. No other considerations are applied by the Exchange in the selection. As regards the personnel of the committee appointed by the Newburn Urban District Council to make the final selection, this is entirely a matter for the local authority.