asked the Minister of Labour what, on the basis of 2,600,000 unemployed, is the total increase in the annual cost to the Exchequer and the Unemployment Insurance Fund due to the Acts of 1929 and 1930?

The Act of 1929 increased the charge on the Exchequer by about £3,500,000 per annum. The Act of 1930 increased the charge on the Exchequer by transferring to it for a period the cost of transitional benefit. At the present time, with a live register of about 2,600,000, the cost under this head is at the rate of £23,500,000 per annum. As regards the Unemployment Fund, apart from extending the transitional period and placing the cost on the Exchequer, the Act of 1930 altered certain conditions and increased some of the rates of benefit. It is estimated that with a live register of 2,600,000, the cost of these changes would be about £13,750,000, of which approximately £8,750,000 would be included in the amount already mentioned as chargeable to the Exchequer for transitional benefit.

Taking the whole of these figures, the amount added to the Exchequer will be a total of over £30,000,000?

Are not the figures mentioned in the question very much exaggerated?

They are only estimated figures; they can only be.

But may we take it that they are actuarial figures roughly based on the Treasury figures as given in public?

On these figures, shall we not require to borrow something like £1,000,000 a week for the Unemployment Fund, if not an increasing amount?

asked the Minister of Labour the total contributions paid into the Insurance Fund by employers and employed in the coal mining industry of Great Britain during each of the past three years, the cost of benefit, and the cost of administration for the same period, giving separate figures for Lancashire and Cheshire?

asked the Minister of Labour the total contributions paid into the Insurance Fund by employers and employed in the cotton industry during the past two years and the cost of benefit and administration during the same period?

Estimates of the receipts and payments in respect of each of a number of groups of industries were given in a table put before the Royal Commission on Unemployment Insurance and issued in a Stationery Office publica- tion (Volume II—Fifth Day's Evidence) which can be obtained by hon. Members in the usual way. I am arranging to have the table published separately as a White Paper.

asked the Minister of Labour the amount of the Treasury loan to the Unemployment Insurance Fund in April, 1926, and April, 1927, respectively?

The outstanding amounts of the Treasury advances to the Unemployment Fund at the beginning of April, 1926 and 1927, were £7,177,569 and £24,650,000 respectively.

asked the Minister of Labour whether employment as groundsman on an athletic ground attached to an industrial undertaking is treated by her Department as insurable employment?

Speaking generally, such a groundsman is not insurable against unemployment. In particular cases, however, the precise nature of the work performed might have to be ascertained before a decision could be given.

asked the Minister of Labour if she is still taking

asked the Minister of Labour to what extent the Ministry's scheme for training stone kerb-dressers has progressed?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. During the four weeks ended 12th January, 1931, 1,277 persons were transferred either direct or after a course of training at a centre.

Is any record kept of these men after they are transferred, and, if so, for how long?

For as long as they keep in touch with the Exchanges.

Will the right hon. Lady say how long the Members of the Socialist party were in putting spikes into this system?

asked the Minister of Labour what, on the last convenient day, was the number and percentage, respectively, of the unemployed in the quarrying industry in Aberdeenshire and Cornwall?

As the reply is in the form of a table, I will, if I may, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Proposals for a training scheme formulated by my Department are at present under consideration by the Granite and Roadstone Sectional Council of the Quarrying Joint Industrial Council.

Is there any unemployment in the kerb-dressing industry?

There is a prospective shortage.

asked the Minister of Labour the percentage of male and female workers, respectively, registered as unemployed in each of the following categories: pottery trades, textile trades, clothing trades, food, drink, and tobacco trades?

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons unemployed in the cotton industry at the last available date in January, 1931; and how it compares with the numbers unemployed in the same industry in May, 1929?

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons unemployed in the engineering trade on the last available date; and what was the comparable figure at the end of May, 1929?

As the reply is in the form of a table, I will, if I may, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

If more women, are unemployed in these trades than men, does not the right hon. Lady think that there ought to be some special schemes to deal with them?

Perhaps the Noble. Lady will look at the table.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons unemployed in the shipbuilding trade at the last available date in January, 1931; and how it compares with the numbers unemployed in the same industry in May, 1929?

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons unemployed in the woollen industry at the last available date in January, 1931; and how it compares with the number unemployed in the same industry in May, 1929?

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons unemployed in the iron and steel trades in Great Britain at the latest date available and in May, 1929?

The latest date for which information is available is 22nd December, 1930. The figures desired for that date and for 27th May, 1929, will be found in the issues of the Ministry of Labour Gazette for January, 1931, and June, 1929, copies of which I am sending to the hon. and right hon. Members.

Can the right hon. Lady say whether all these figures show an increase as compared with May, 1929?

I hope that the hon. Gentleman will look at, the table.

Surely the right hon. Lady can answer that question either in the affirmative or in the negative.

Has the promise been fulfilled to stimulate all these depressed trades, and are the figures to which the Minister alludes the result of the stimulus?

asked the Minister of Labour the increase in the number of unemployed on the live register at the present, time which is estimated to be due to changes introduced by the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1930?

I regret that the information necessary for making such an estimate is not available.

asked the Minister of Labour the percentage of persons on transitional benefit now and the percentage in May last year?

Of the current claims for benefit in which the position under the first statutory condition had been determined, 16.3 per cent, were for transitional benefit at 29th December, 1930, the latest date for which figures are available, as compared with 20.6 per cent. at 26th May, 1930.

asked the Minister of Labour the number, and financial extent, of schemes of work under consideration by the Unemployment Grants Committee submitted by the Pontefract Borough Council, and the position with regard to such schemes?

The Unemployment Grants Committee have at present under consideration two schemes of work for the relief of unemployment submitted by Pontefract Borough Council, of an estimated total cost of £9,800. Both schemes are being examined by the appropriate Government Department on behalf of the Committee.

Can the right hon. Lady say when this decision will be reached?

The present position is that the Department are in consultation with the council.

asked the Minister of Labour which areas are receiving a grant of 90 per cent. towards the wages of unemployed men employed on schemes of work; what is the total value of these schemes and the Exchequer liability; and how many men are thereby employed?

Since the inception of this increased grant for schemes financed otherwise than by way of loan, 123 schemes have been approved for grant, of an estimated total cost of £298,000, and calculated to provide employment equivalent to 1,490 man-years. The estimated Exchequer liability on these schemes is £190,000. The areas eligible to receive these increased grants are those in which the average monthly rate of unemployment among adult males during the 12 months ended 16th June, 1930, exceeded 15 per cent.

Do these schemes give any work for women?

asked the Minister of Health which are the specially necessitous areas which have received 100 per cent. grant of the estimated cost of schemes of work put in hand this winter; what was the amount of the grant to each area; what numbers of men are employed thereby in each area; and how much of the £500,000 set aside for this purpose has been allocated?

My right hon. Friend will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a tabular statement giving the particulars for which my hon. Friend asks, so far as relates to the amount, namely, £440,000, of the Vote for these grants in England and Wales. Any question with regard to the Vote for Scotland should be addressed to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State.

Will a definition of a necessitous area be published in that statement?

Could the hon. Lady assure the House that the children in these necessitous areas are getting milk and boots, as she promised would be the case immediately after the Labour Government got into power?

If the Noble Lady will put down a question, I will give her an answer, but her supplementary question has nothing whatever to do with the question on the Paper.

I am going to move the Adjournment of the House.

asked the Minister of Labour when it is intended to introduce an Unemployment Insurance Bill for agricultural labourers?

asked the Minister of Labour whether she intends to bring forward a Measure to include agricultural workers under the Unemployment Insurance Act, in view of the increasing numbers of unemployed agricultural workers?

I regret I have nothing to add to the reply given to the hon. Member for South-West Norfolk (Mr. W. B. Taylor) on 22nd January.

asked the Minister of Labour if she will call for and publish a return of the capital sums to be expended during the year ending 31st March, 1931, in respect of works put in hand by local authorities under Part II of the Development (Loans, Guarantees and Grants) Act, 1929, for which the Exchequer obligations have been officially stated to be £22,200,000?

I am afraid that a return, which in any event would have to relate to a past period, might be misleading as an index of work actually performed during the year. Local authorities are already required to supply monthly returns showing the numbers directly employed on the site of works. These particulars provide a more accurate index of work performed than the return asked for by my hon. Friend, and I do not think I should be justified in putting local authorities to the trouble and expense of extracting the additional information.

asked the Minister of Labour the nature of any complaints she has received from trade unions concerning the Ministry's training centres, with special reference to any effect upon trade union conditions of employment?

A few trade unions have represented that in the present state of trade the training of men in certain occupations is inimical to the interests of their members. I am watching the position closely, but am satisfied that there is no substantial ground for these apprehensions.

May I ask whether, as a result, there is any change in the policy of the Government, and whether that accounts for the trivial increase in the number of persons receiving training?

I am afraid I did not hear the first part of the question.

Can the right hon. Lady account for the trivial increase which has taken place in the number of persons receiving training? Is it accounted for by the representations she has received from trade unions?

It is not, and I do not accept the hon. Gentleman's premises.

Does the right hon. Lady remember stating that there was an increase of only about 500 men and women?

I said at the same time, or, at least, this is a very obvious explanation, that we are very carefully regulating the entries into the training centres by a consideration of the places we can get for the men after they have been placed; and quite obviously, from the figures of unemployment, it is becoming more and more difficult to find places.

Does not the right hon. Lady think it would be better to train them even if they did not get jobs?

asked the Minister of Labour whether, in view of the announced decision to give the Employment Exchanges the widest discretion possible in making a preliminary selection for vacancies that arise in His Majesty's dockyards, and to make a further review of the system of dealing with appointments in His Majesty's dockyards after a period of six months from February, 1930, she can now state what the present position is?

The degree of cooperation between the Employment Exchanges and the dockyard authorities at Devonport has been under review, and I hope shortly to send the hon. and gallant Member a note of the result. In the meantime, he should not assume that any decision has been taken of the kind indicated in the first part of his question.

Will the right hon. Lady be good enough to communicate her reply to the Member for Bodmin (Mr. Foot) also, seeing that his constituents are affected?

Is it not a fact that the present system is quite unsatisfactory, and that people who wait outside the Employment Exchanges in the hope of getting work will never be successful so long as the system of nomination prevails? Will she make it clear that it will be quite useless for men to apply to the Employment Exchanges for work if that is not the proper avenue for employment?

If the hon. Member will look at the first part of the answer, he will see that this matter is under consideration.

asked the Minister of Health if, in view of the large number of unemployed clerks and professional men, he will issue recommendations to local authorities to employ as many as possible of such men for the compilation of the coming census?

asked the Minister of Health if he will take steps to ensure that as many of the unemployed as possible are engaged for the forthcoming census?

My right hon. Friend has, of course, given the most careful consideration to this matter, since all would agree that the unemployed should have the maximum opportunity of work consistent with success in carrying out the census work, which, I may observe, so far as it is enumeration, does not last very long. It is a condition of such success that persons recruited as enumerators must be fully qualified for the work, and must also be so situated that they can be relied on to be available for instruction during the necessary interval between their appointment and the census, and to do the work without fail when the day comes. Therefore, enumerators are required to bind themselves under penalty not to make default. Wholesale recourse to the unemployed in such conditions is not consistent either with their interests or with safety in the census arrangements, since, if offered regular work in the interval, they must refuse the offer or make default. My right hon. Friend has, however, taken all steps practicable to see that full consideration is given to unemployed persons, with the necessary qualifications, so situated that they can be relied on to do the work efficiently when the time comes. The success of the census enumeration has, however, to be the paramount factor in deciding what can and should be done.

Will my hon. Friend represent to the Minister the desirability of seeing whether it is not possible and practicable to reduce the period of recruitment for these people?

I assure my hon. Friend that that matter has been under very careful consideration, and I am afraid I cannot hold out any hope that it may be possible.

Could the hon. Lady give the House any idea of what sort of number will be employed on this work?

I should like notice of that question, but it will be a large number.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will lay upon the Table a copy of the memorandum presented by the Treasury to the chairman of the Royal Commission on Unemployment Insurance?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make available for Members of Parliament the memorandum submitted by the Treasury to the Royal Commission on unemployment?

This memorandum, along with other evidence taken by the Commission on the tenth day of its proceedings, will be published as a non-parliamentary publication towards the end of next week, and will be available to hon. Members on application in the usual manner.

Cannot the right hon. Gentleman expedite publication, as, next Wednesday, there is a Motion for a Vote of Censure which will probably raise this question? If he does not publish the memorandum until after that, he will deprive the House of information except such as has been given in the "Times."

I will see if that can be done. If I remember rightly, the evidence of the Treasury expert and of the Government Actuary was reported practically in full, but I will see if it can be expedited.

I wish the right hon. Gentleman could be more hopeful in the matter. It is only a question of printing. Surely he could promise it by the end of this week?

Will the right hon. Gentleman publish all the evidence given in this memorandum?

Yes, certainly.

I mean from all sources and not only the Treasury memorandum.

Oh, no.

Can we have it in due course?

asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the national need for rigid economy, he will recommend that all ministerial and parliamentary salaries be reduced by 10 per cent.?

I do not propose to comment on particular proposals relating to economy in advance of the discussion next week on the Vote of Censure put down by the hon. and gallant Member's leaders.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this economy has been effected in Italy, and does he not think it is time that the Government should give a lead to the country in this much-needed direction?

Is the Prime Minister aware that for the last five years £20,750,000 has been paid in pensions to ex-Army officers and Navy officers, and is he prepared to reduce that sum?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will now consider the advisability of appointing a committee to consider how far the present incidence of taxation can be altered so as to remove, as far as possible, the burden at present placed on enterprise, re-equipment, and development?

I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the right hon. Gentleman on 25th November last in reply to a similar question.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this is the proposal of the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Carnarvon Boroughs (Mr. Lloyd George)? Has he contemplated the seriousness of the position?

I am not so well acquainted with the proposals of the right hon. Member for Carnarvon Boroughs as the right hon. Gentleman.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman think he ought to make himself acquainted with them?

I will do so when the necessity arises.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the sum of £1,110,000 transferred from the Exchange account to the Exchequer, or any part of it, was included in the receipts estimated in his Budget; and whether it is intended to make any further transfers in this financial year?

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part of the question, the Exchange account has surplus assets amounting to about £3,000,000 which are available as miscellaneous revenue this year.

Does the right hon. Gentleman intend to use it as miscellaneous revenue?

I cannot answer that question.

There is a large capital sum of £33,000,000.

It is quite evident that the hon. Gentleman does not understand it. There is a capital sum and interest on the capital.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that he will find the £33,000,000 Exchange capital sum in the Appropriation Account just published?

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any information showing the total amount of gold added to or withdrawn from the stocks available for monetary purposes in the United States, France, and Argentine, respectively, in 1930?

The gold added to stocks available for monetary purposes in the United States in 1930 was $309,000,000 (£63,500,000) and in France from 3rd January, 1930, to 2nd January, 1931, was Frs. 11,303,000,000 (£91,000,000). The figure for Argentina is not available.

Could the right hon. Gentleman tell us how much gold was withdrawn from England during last year on balance

Not without notice.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what percentage of the total amount of Income Tax collected and the cost of collection was in the years 1913–14, 1923–26, and 1929–30, respectively?

I regret that it is not possible to isolate the cost of the collection of Income Tax from that of the other duties collected by the Inland Revenue Department. The hon. Member will find in the Annual Reports of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue estimates of the total cost of collecting all Inland Revenue duties showing the percentage of cost to the gross amount collected.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what is the present strength of the personnel employed in the collection of Customs duties and the total annual cost to the Exchequer of the salaries and wages paid; and what were the corresponding figures for the financial year 1913–14?

The total staff employed in the Customs and Excise Department on 1st January last was 11,902, and the total cost of salaries and wages in the Department for the current financial year is estimated at approximately millions. The number of staff employed in the Department on 1st August, 1914, was 10,802, and the total cost of salaries and wages for the financial year 1914–15 was £1,843,000.

asked the Prime Minister whether he proposes to introduce, during the present Session, a Measure of Devolution for Wales?