asked the Attorney-General whether he will, for the protection of the public, open at an early date more provincial branches of the Public Trustee's department, and extend the areas of compulsory registration under the land registry, and thereby also be ready to provide, without hurry and at the last moment after demobilisation, clerical employment for demobilised men physically unfitted for heavy work?
| Numbers of Public Elementary School Children. | London. | Manchester. | Liverpool. | Sheffield. | Leeds. | Birmingham. | ||
| (a) In reception areas (approximate figures). | (9th March) 137,000 | (18th March) 10,980 | (21st March) 16,500 | (16th March) 1,550 | (16th March) 5,200 | (16th March) 14,500 | ||
| (22nd March) | (18th March) | (18th March) | (18th March) | (18th March) | (18th March) | |||
| (b) In home town receiving: | ||||||||
| (1) Full-time Instruction | … | — | 18,939 | 27,100 | 17,654 | 35,609 | 85,966 | |
| (2) Half-time instruction | … | *63,466 | 14,176 | 4,640 | 15,947 | 1,009 | 16,268 | |
| (3) Less than half-time instruction. | — | 22,847 | — | — | — | 563 | ||
| (4) Home service | … | … | 70,500 | 2,824 | 53,000 | 25,399 | — | 4,680 |
| (5) No instruction | … | … | 70,500 | 21,426 | 26,000 | — | 13,182 | 7,818 |
| Percentages are not given as the figures under (a) and (b) do not all relate to the same date. | ||||||||
| * I learn from the London County Council that on 1st April sufficient school accommodation was vailable to provide for the half-time education of approximately 140,000 children. | ||||||||
It must be borne in mind that the expenses of both these offices are met from the fees paid by those concerned, and the scale of fees is fixed so as to cover these expenses. My Noble Friend is not satisfied that it would be a sound business transaction to open another provincial branch of the office of the Public Trustee, and the question of any further extension of the compulsory system of land registration must await the coming of more normal times.