asked the Minister of Labour the number of permits that have been issued during the previous 12 months, under Article 1 (3) (6) of the Aliens Order, 1920, in respect to women and girls to enable them to take up domestic work in this country; and can she give the original nationality of these persons?

The number of permits issued in respect of alien women to enable them to enter and to take up domestic work in this country during the year 1929 was 4,151. I will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table giving the detail of this total.

Does my right hon. Friend think that it is necessary to bring in 4,000 people under the conditions which exist in this country?

Certainly

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of undesirable aliens of Russian nationality who have actually been deported since he assumed office; and how many of such persons were ordered for deportation by British Courts previous to the resumption of diplomatic relations?

When I came into office in June last I found outstanding some four cases of reputed Russians recommended by Courts for deportation. Between that date and the end of the year 21 similar cases were recommended, all prior to the resumption of diplomatic relations. The number of deportation orders actually made is two and the aliens concerned have left the country. In 11 cases investigation has definitely failed to establish Soviet Russian or any other alien nationality. In three cases I decided in view of all the circumstances not to order deportation. Investigation is proceeding in the remaining cases, which include a number in which the sentences of imprisonment passed by the Courts have not yet expired.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether those two deportations have taken place since we resumed diplomatic relations with Russia?

Yes.

Is it not a fact that these men or women are maintained at the expense of this country?

Some of them being in prison, they must necessarily be maintained at our expense.

Are any of the rich aliens being exported?

Is there any other country which will take them?

Can the right hon. Gentleman give the date when these two men were deported, and can he say whether he can hold out any hopes that the nationality of the others he mentioned will, in fact, be established?

I could not give an answer without notice.

But with regard to the prospect of identification?

I could not say without notice.

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the fact that admission to training centres is limited almost entirely to depressed mining areas, she will consider an extension of the scheme to enable persons in other areas to have an opportunity of receiving such training in order to assist those men who by the accident of residence outside the mining areas are deprived of the benefits of the scheme?

One of the objects of the centres at which men are trained for other employment in this country is to assist in finding an opening for the marked surplus of labour in the depressed mining areas, and men from such areas must continue for the present to have a definite preference, but the facilities are by no means entirely confined to them. At a recent date, out of 3,596 men at these centres, 1,453 came from areas other than those scheduled as depressed mining areas. There is no corresponding restriction as regards training for overseas.

Will the right hon. Lady give favourable consideration to a considerable extension of the system of training centres, in order to enable those who have been out of work for a long period, and who by the accident of residence are excluded from the scheme, to take advantage of those opportunities of training?

I am giving my closest consideration to those areas that are becoming depressed areas.

asked the Minister of Labour the location of training centres now established in the country, the capital sums expended on equipment, etc., the annual charges, and the number of trainees, men and women, respectively, on 31st January, 1930?

As the reply to this question is somewhat long, I will, with the hon. Members permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL RFPORT.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed in the building industry at the last convenient date; and the number of unemployed at the same date last year?

At 27th January, 1930, there were 149,403 insured persons classified as belonging to the building industry recorded as unemployed in Great Britain, as compared with 159,219 at 21st January, 1929.

Is the right hon. Lady aware that later figures were mentioned last week in another place by the Government spokesman?

I was under the impression that these were the latest figures.

The right hon. Lady realises, of course, how serious this matter is. How does she account for it?

Is it not a fact that the building industry is overloaded with employés owing to the late Government breaking an agreement entered into in 1924?

I think that that matter has been discussed more than once.

asked the Minister of Labour the total amount of money paid for unemployment relief for the year 1929?

During 1929 approximately £44,400,000 was paid to claimants for unemployment benefit. In addition about £6,000,000 was paid as domiciliary relief to able-bodied unemployed persons.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of male and female cotton operatives in the spinning and weaving sections who were registered as unemployed at the latest convenient date?

As the reply consists of a Table of figures, I will circulate a statement, if I may, in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Will the right hon. Lady say if there is a larger number of unemployed in the cotton industry to-day than ever before under similar circumstances?

I shall have to have notice of that question.

Will the right hon. Lady Dost in the smoking room—

The tea-room.

in the tea-room, a diagram, which I know exists, showing the position of the unemployment figure as between different trades and in different towns?

Certainly; there is such a diagram in existence.

If the right hon. Lady finds that what I say is correct, will she impress on the Chancellor of the Exchequer the necessity of instituting a policy of Safeguarding?

asked the Minister of Labour the general effect upon the local unemployment figures in the districts to which migration has taken place on account of the working of the system of industrial transference?

The number of men transferred from the depressed areas is regulated by the absorptive capacity of the receiving districts. The general effect of transference on the figures of unemployment in those districts is therefore negligible.

Did not the right hon. Lady say that this effect was not negligible a little while ago? When did she discover that it was negligible?

Were the fears of the Government when they were in opposition groundless?

asked the Minister of Labour whether she intends to make reciprocal arrangements for unemployment insurance with other countries on lines similar to those recently made with Switzerland?

I shall be quite happy to make a similar arrangement with any other country which is in the same position as Switzerland to make such an arrangement and desires to do do.

Has the right hon. Lady thought of the possibility of making such arrangements with Germany, where they have an unemployment insurance scheme not entirely dissimilar from ours?

I think that it is perhaps not sufficiently understood what is the arrangement. The arrangement is that these nationals are treated equally with ours if they are resident, and can qualify otherwise under the same conditions.

asked the Minister of Labour which are the 13 Employment Exchanges which have been authorised and completed since May, 1929?

The 13 Employment Exchanges completed and occupied since May, 1929, are as follow:

• Basford.
• Morriston.
• Workington.
• Kingston-on-Thames.
• Barnsley.
• Todmorden.
• Walham Green.
• Stamford.
• Failsworth.
• Clapham Junction (Battersea).
• Pontypool.
• Mansfield.
• Runcorn.

What steps is the right hon. Lady taking with regard to opening Employment Exchanges in those towns where unemployment is so rife owing to the action of the present Government with regard to Safeguarding?

What are the Exchanges to which the right hon. Lady refers, which were both initiated and completed under the present Government's regime?

I think that was a misunderstanding. If the right hon. Gentleman looks at the OFFICIAL REPORT, he will see that I said nothing of the kind.

I am in the memory of some hon. Members on this side that the right hon. Lady used the word "initiated."

No, the questioner, I think, intended to use the word "initiated." I said that they had been opened since the Government came into office.

asked the Minister of Labour the salary paid to branch managers who are appointed to areas which have no Employment Exchange; whether these branch managers are responsible for engaging their staffs; and, if so, are they compelled to pay wages at the same standard as that which operates in the case of those directly employed by the Ministry of Labour?

The fixed remuneration of branch managers ranges from £20 per annum plus Cost-of-Living bonus for a normal volume of work of four hours per week, to £200 per annum plus bonus for a normal volume of work of 40 hours per week. In addition, special allowances are paid for work in excess of the normal. Branch managers are responsible for providing any staff necessary for the performance of Ministry of Labour work, and it is stipulated that the remuneration and conditions of service of staff so employed shall be not less favourable than those given by good employers in the district.

Has the right hon. Lady any returns showing what are the rates paid to those people who are employed in this way?

I must have notice of that question.

asked the Minister of Labour if she is now in a position to give any information with regard to the average length of the spells of employment obtained by shipwrights and boilermakers?

I regret that I am not yet in a position to give any information on this point.

Shall I put another question down, or will the right hon. Lady send me the information?

The difficulty is that there is only one point at which I can make the necessary inquiries, and I am having that done.

asked the Minister of Labour the present rate of interest charged on the overdraft of the Unemployment Insurance Fund?

The average rate of interest is a little under 5 per cent.

Having regard to the conditions of the money market, does the right hon. Lady consider that an equitable rate?

I would refer that question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of advisory committees in connection with Employment Exchanges for the purpose of placing juveniles in employment; and whether reports of their work are presented each year?

The number of advisory committees for juvenile employment at present operating in connection with the Employment Exchanges is 174. Each of these Committees presents annually a report to the Minister. The majority of the reports for the year 1929 have already been received, and in accordance with the usual practice a summary of the reports will be published.

When is the report likely to be presented?

I cannot say within a week.

Is the right hon. Lady satisfied that most of these advisory committees serve no useful purpose?

Most emphatically, I regard them as very important.

asked the Home Secretary if he will, in the interests of law and art, consider making an alteration in the present uniform of the London women police?

I would refer to the reply I gave on the 13th February, to which I have nothing to add at present.

asked the Home Secretary whether he has yet been able to discover any means by which compensation can be given to Mrs. Sylvia Machin, of Ilford, who was robbed by a Metropolitan police constable when on duty on his beat, in view of the fact that Mrs. Sylvia Machin is not pecuniarily able to sue the police?

I have looked further into this matter with every desire to take a sympathetic view. According to my information Mrs. Machin stated, after the arrest of the constable, that she had lost two rolls of shirting valued by her at £7. One roll, valued at £1 5s. Id., was identified as her property and returned to her. Therefore the loss that she suffered as a direct consequence of the constable's action was limited, according to her own statement, to £5 14s. 11d. It is true that she said she had lost a contract, but it appears that that was due to her having failed to insure against burglary—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh!"]—as required by the terms of the contract. She has now insured and recovered the contract. I am further advised that she clearly has no legal claim upon the police inasmuch as it is a well established principle of law that no employer, whether public or private, has any liability for a criminal act of his servant, committed outside the scope of the servant's authority and indeed in violation of his authority. To depart from this principle would be an innovation, the effect of which might extend far beyond the Metropolitan Police, and I can only say that I have been unable to find in the circumstances of the case anything that would justify me in proposing such a departure.

Does the right hon. Gentleman realise that, as a result of the burglary, this poor woman lost her employment for many months, and, therefore, that her loss has been much more than that of the few yards of cloth referred to? She has lost £5 per week in wages for many weeks. In view of the fact that compensation has been given by the Metropolitan Police for wrongful arrest, cannot compensation be given where a policeman in uniform and on his beat robs a poor woman like this?

I have said, in answer to previous questions, that in no like case is there any precedent—[HON. MEMBERS: "Then make one!"] I understand that hon. Members believe that very serious loss has been suffered by this woman. I have no evidence of it. If hon. Members can furnish me with any proof of any such loss, I will try to find a way of affording some recompense.

May I point out that I sent a long letter from Mrs. Machin to the right hon. Gentleman? I have no doubt he kept a copy of it, but he kindly returned it to me. In this letter, the whole of her loss is set out, together with the facts that she has several children, that she is separated from her husband, is entirely responsible for the maintenance of her children and herself, has lost her house because she cannot pay the rent, and is now living with a brother-in-law.

The Home Office cannot accept statements in a letter as proof. But I shall be glad to discuss the terms of that letter with my hon. Friend.

Did not the right hon. Gentleman say on a previous occasion that he was anxious to meet the views of the House? Is he still prepared to do so?

I said on a former occasion as well as to-day that if any evidence is afforded of anything approaching a condition of ruin I will make further endeavours to afford some recompense for her loss.

rose—

The Home Secretary has said that he will do everything he can.

asked the Home Secretary when the Royal Irish Constabulary Force Fund is wound up, what it is proposed to do with the surplus remaining?

No, Sir. The process of winding up the fund cannot be completed for many years to come and it will be for the Government of the day to decide how any balance of assets should be dealt with; but I must point out that when in 1891 the fund was in danger of becoming insolvent, it received an Exchequer Grant of £150,000, on the express condition that any balance remaining to the credit of the fund after all its liabilities had been discharged should be returned to the Treasury.

asked the Home Secretary whether it is intended to provide foreign police officers with facilities at Scotland Yard; and if similar facilities are being offered abroad to English police officers?

asked the Home Secretary whether it is proposed to accommodate at Scotland Yard detectives from the police headquarters of Paris and Berlin; whether officials of the Criminal Investigation Department at Scotland Yard are to be installed at the headquarters of the Paris and Berlin police; and, if so, whether he can state the purpose of these developments?

It has for many years been the practice to afford to accredited foreign police officers facilities to acquaint themselves with the procedure and organisation of the Metropolitan Police. Similarly, officers of the Metropolitan Force who have visited foreign forces from time to time have always been given every possible assistance. There has been no recent change of practice or procedure in these respects, and none is contemplated.

May we assume that the same facilities will be given to Russian police as to German and French police?

asked the Home Secretary if this country is participating in an international police organisation; and if he can give the House some information on this subject?

Apart from international conferences—of a purely deliberative character—which representatives of the police have attended from time to time, I know of nothing that could be described as an international police organisation.

asked the Home Secretary whether it is upon his instructions that copies of Inprecorr are not delivered; and, if so, for what reason this publication of the Communist International is detained?

Copies of this periodical have for some time past been stopped under the authority of a Secretary of State's Warrant to the Postmaster-General on the ground that its circulation in this country would be contrary to the public interest.

asked the Home Secretary if, following the recent Report on the conditions of silicosis, further legislation is being prepared; and if he can give any information as to when the Bill will be presented to the House?

Yes, Sir. A Bill is being prepared and while I cannot pledge the Government I hope that it may be presented to Parliament before the end of the present month.

asked the Home Secretary if he can give particulars of the committee which has been appointed by the Medical Research Council further to investigate pulmonary silicosis, and other pulmonary conditions arising from industrial processes; and if he can indicate the scope of the inquiry?

The appointment of this Committee and the scope of their inquiry were announced in the Press of the 22nd February. The Committee will advise on the further investigation of pulmonary silicosis and of other pulmonary conditions associated with the inhalation of dust3 arising from industrial processes. It will be their duty to survey the whole field and to advise the council on new lines of inquiry that may be profitably pursued, and they will assist in the supervision of such investigations as it may be decided to initiate or support. The work will be directed particularly towards obtaining, in co-operation with the Factory Department, more accurate knowledge of the causes and diagnosis of silicosis and of other industrial pulmonary disorders.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to a document, dated 28th February, 1930, and circulated by the Workers' International Relief, British section; and, in view of the fact that statements in this document are calculated to lead to a breach of the peace, will he consider if he can institute proceedings?

I have seen a copy of the document to which I think the hon. Member refers. As at present advised I do not think that the case is one which calls for action with a view to proceedings.

Have the activities of this organisation anything to do with the number of extra police in the streets to-day?

Demonstrations of the kind referred to are sometimes made more successful by those measures.

asked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that a large number of employés of Arcos Limited, the Russian trade delegation in London, had been on 17th February discharged from their employment; whether any of these discharged employés are Russian subjects; and, if so, whether they have returned to Russia or are now upon the British labour market?

The answer to the first two parts of the question is in the affirmative. I am causing inquiry to he made in regard to the last part.

asked the Prime Minister if, in view of the controversy regarding intercessory services on the religious situation in Russia, the Government will arrange for the cancellation of all church parades on Sunday, 16th March, as part of the routine compulsory for the naval, military, and air forces, and issue instructions that all ranks of the forces shall be at liberty to attend, or refrain from attending, church services which may otherwise be available to them?

I am happy to say that it looks as though the matter can be satisfactorily settled on the lines indicated in the answer which I gave on Tuesday last in reply to a Private Notice question by the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition.

May I ask how the Prime Minister's pledge, given in this House, of full spiritual liberty, can be fulfilled if officers and men are compelled to attend parades and services at which even chaplains to the Forces have announced their intention to insist on making their protest?

We shall have to observe what happens. I am very unwilling, in connection with this subject, to raise the whole question of compulsory parades, which will be raised if the matter is not satisfactorily settled on this occasion.

Is not the Prime Minister aware that, if he allows the present position to obtain, men will be compelled against their will to go and listen to these intercessory prayers, and does he consider that to be a means of ensuring full spiritual liberty?

May I ask, quite irrespective of this particular issue of an intercessory service, what the Labour Government are doing, anyway, to compel soldiers and sailors to go to church whether they want to go or not?

Is there a single man in His Majesty's Services that would object to these intercessory prayers?

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I shall take an early opportunity of raising this matter on the Motion for the Adjournment of the House.

asked the President of the Board of Education what steps are being taken to ensure that a sufficient number of additional teachers are being trained in preparation for the raising of the school-leaving age?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the replies which I gave on the 6th and 13th February in answer to similar questions by the hon. Members for South-West Bethnal Green (Mr. Harris) and East Lewisham (Sir A. Pownall), of which I am sending her copies.

Do I understand that no additional means are being used?

That is the nature of my reply.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he has received schemes of reorganisation from Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle; and whether these schemes cover the school population under the control of these authorities?

The programme which has been received from the Liverpool Authority deals only with the year 1930–31 and therefore contains only an instalment of the Authority's general scheme of reorganisation. I have not yet received the Manchester programme but expect it very shortly. The programme submitted by the Newcastle Authority provides for a scheme of reorganisation covering the whole school population under their control.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he can state the number of local education authorities which permit women to continue teaching after marriage; and the total number of married women teachers now in employment by local education authorities?

I regret that I have no information showing how many local education authorities have regulations permitting women teachers to continue in employment after marriage. On the 31st March, 1929, there were 12,280 married women employed as teachers by local education authorities.

asked the President of the Board of Education, whether he can now make a further statement upon the main principles upon which need will be assessed in deciding the eligibility for maintenance of children under the Bill for raising the school-leaving age?

I am not yet prepared to make any further statement.

Can the right hon. Gentleman indicate when he will be able to make a statement on this important matter having regard to the general public interest taken in regard to it?

I am not sure when the committee meet again, and I do not quite know what they will do.

asked the President of the Board of Education if he has received from any local education authorities representations that the poverty of their district will prevent them from carrying out the necessary requirements for the compulsory raising of the school age in 1931; and, if so, what action he proposes to take in such cases?

I have not received any representations to this effect.

asked the President of the Board of Education if he has any information as to the school-leaving age in Turkey?

I am informed that in Turkey attendance at school is compulsory until at least the age of 12.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the school-leaving age in Turkey has been raised to 16?

I am not aware of that fact.

Will my right hon. Friend take steps to ascertain whether my information is correct?

I will make further inquiries. I do not know whether my hon. Friend wants to use it in argument.

Is that the English age or the Turkish age?

asked the President of the Board of Education, as there are three times as many women teachers in public elementary schools in England and Wales as men teachers, if he will take steps to see that boys over 14 years of age when the school age is raised compulsorily shall be taught by men teachers only?

I have no doubt that local authorities and managers will be generally anxious to have a large number of men teachers for the older boys in the schools.

The question to which I want an answer is whether the right hon. Gentleman will see that these boys are always taught by men teachers. I do not think that this question should be left to the action of the local authorities, and it is a matter which ought to be dealt with by the Board of Education.

The system under which we are working is that the local authorities use their own judgment in the matter.

Is the President of the Board of Education going to take any special steps to see that men teachers are provided?

I stated quite recently that the extra teachers who are being trained in the colleges this year have a larger proportion of men than usual.

Is it the policy of His Majesty's Government to teach the youth of this country by women?

Certainly not. I have already pointed out that the discretion lies with the local education authority.

Is it not the policy of this country to teach the children through the most efficient teachers who are available?

asked the President of the Board of Education whether, seeing that the Lancashire cotton industry has been suffering for eight years from depression resulting in the closing of several factories and much unemployment, he will consider the desirability of offering special financial consideration to such districts on account of the increased expenditure necessitated by the compulsory raising of the school age in 1931?

I do not think that any special arrangements are necessary. The formula under which grant is paid in respect of elementary education already operates so as to secure that the Exchequer bears an increased proportion of the cost in the poorer areas.

Is the President of the Board of Education not aware that there are districts in Lancashire in such serious financial difficulties that they are exercising their minds about the increase which is being put upon them by the proposals of the Government; and what are the Government going to do to help them out of those financial difficulties?

As a matter of fact a large proportion of the increased cost is provided by the State.

In view of the general interest which is taken in this matter on both sides of the House, does the right hon. Gentleman propose, before a Second Beading is given to this Bill, to issue a White Paper explaining more explicitly than has been done hitherto the principles on which the Bill will proceed?

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that it has been stated in a report in the "Manchester Guardian" that the textile workers have unanimously called for the raising of the school age in Lancashire?

I think the information which has been asked for will be found in the Financial Memorandum on the Bill.

asked the President of the Board of Education if he will, where possible, prescribe and elsewhere recommend that primary and other schools be no longed named after the street or road in which they are situated?

No doubt there is often little imagination used in the naming of schools, as of new streets, in our country. But I must leave matters of this kind to the discretion of the local education authorities.

Do I understand from the right hon. Gentleman's answer that there would be no objection on the part of the Board if the change indicated in the question were made?

Certainly. My personal preference would be for more interesting names.

Is it not the case that this change is taking place?

I think that some of them are thinking about it.

asked the President of the Board of Education if he has completed his inquiries with regard to the collapse of the school in course of erection on the Intake site, Doncaster; and, if so, whether he can state the result of the inquiry?

In accordance with the answer which I gave to my hon. Friend on the 28th November last, I asked the Doncaster Local Education Authority for a report from an independent expert on the stability of the new structure of the Intake School. The authority have now furnished me with a report by a firm of consulting engineers, who state that the necessary repairs and further strengthening measures have been completed to their satisfaction, and that the stability of the school, so far as the structural sufficiency of the steelwork is concerned, is now entirely beyond question.

Is it not the case that this disaster happened owing to the use of foreign steel?

No, Sir; the whole of the steel was British.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he has received a resolution from the Workers' Educational Association, south-western district, representing over 60 branches and groups, and over 2,500 adult students in Devon and Cornwall, urging the Government to proceed immediately with the Education (School Attendance) Bill on the grounds that its passing will contribute considerably to the social, economic and intellectual well-being of the nation; and whether he can state when it is proposed to introduce this legislation?

I have received the resolution referred to. In answer to the second part of the question, I cannot add anything to the answer given by the Prime Minister last week. The Bill has been introduced and is printed.

asked the President of the Board of Education when he proposes to make an announcement with regard to the provision of building grants for non-provided schools?

I cannot at the moment say when I shall be able to make a statement on this subject.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this delay in making a statement, in view of the increasing burdens on those responsible for these schools, is placing them in a very difficult position indeed?