asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps his Department have taken to provide employment for unemployed painters in Edinburgh; and what consultations he has had with the Ministry of Works on the matter.

My Department is in constant touch with both the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Labour on the question of providing more work for painters during winter. In August, 1952, I asked local authorities and regional hospital boards to arrange that, as far as possible, painter work should be carried out in winter, and the number of painters in Edinburgh now unemployed is substantially less than the number a year ago. I hardly think it necessary, therefore, to repeat the request.