§ 41. Mr. Awberyasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware that 11 per cent. of the dockers are unemployed; and what steps are being taken to discharge those vessels which have been lying idle in our ports and estuaries loaded with munitions and war material and so to release the tonnage to be used in normal trade and thus mitigate the unemployment problem in our port transport industry.
§ Mr. WatkinsonThough the present surplus of labour in the docks is slightly higher than the normal seasonal level, I do not think it has been significantly affected by the relatively small number of ships requisitioned. There are only 13 of34W these in United Kingdom ports and five of them are already in process of discharge with a view to release. The remainder will be discharged and released as soon as possible.