Written Answers
Unemployment (Professional Workers)
asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the serious condition of middle-class professional workers for whom no provision in the shape of unemployment insurance exists; and whether, in the absence of legislation to give them some help, he will consider arranging for a broadcast appeal to those having employment in their gift to remember this fact?
I have every sympathy with the class of workers to whom my hon. Friend refers, and I am sure that employers will take full advantage of the revival of trade to afford them opportunities of suitable employment. The Government expects that that should be so, and the case of these workers is present to the mind of the Government in its efforts to revive the trade of the country.
Housing
Reconditioning, Wales
asked the Minister of Health if his Department possesses any statistics to show the number of houses which have been or are being reconditioned in Wales in the industrial and in the rural districts, respectively?
The information in my possession relates only to houses reconditioned under the Housing (Rural Workers) Acts, 1926 and 1931. I am sending my hon. Friend a statement of the number of houses reconditioned under those Acts in the area of each of the authorities administering them in Wales.
Slum Clearance
asked the Minister of Health whether he has anything further to report of the Committee which he intended to set up to consider the con- struction of tenement buildings on slum sites which have been or are to be cleared?
I hope to announce the composition and terms of reference of this Committee at an early date.
Building Materials (Prices)
asked the Minister of Health whether the increase in the prices of building materials during the past two years has been due to production costs or is the result of trade combinations aiming at price control?
It is not the fact that there has been a general increase in the prices of building materials during the last two years. While some materials have increased in price, others have declined in price within that period, and I have received no report from the Inter-Departmental Committee appointed to survey the prices of building materials suggesting any improper increase of price resulting from the operation of any trade combination, trust or agreement.
Roadside Planting (Fruit Trees)
asked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been called to the rapid extension of growing fruit trees along public roads and railways abroad; whether he will consider taking steps to enable similar tree cultivation in this country; and whether he will recommend it to those public authorities concerned?
I am familiar with the practice adopted in some foreign countries, but the choice of trees for roadside planting in the United Kingdom depends upon such widely varying conditions of climate, subsoil, altitude, aspect, etc., that I do not think it would be wise to issue a general recommendation of the nature suggested, especially as the cultivation of fruit trees is a somewhat expensive matter, demanding continuous and skilled attention.