Written Answers
Trade And Commerce
Machine Tools (Imports)
asked the President of the Board of Trade the values of machine tools imported into Great Britain and Northern Ireland during the nine months ended 30th September this year and in the corresponding period of last year?
My hon. Friend will find the desired information on page 77 of the Trade and Navigation Accounts for September.
Great Britain And Italy
asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can make any statement indicating progress in the restoration of trade between Great Britain and Italy and between the Dominions and Colonies of the British Empire and Italy?
The negotiations between His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the Italian Government which were temporarily suspended in July were resumed in Rome on 24th September. I have good hopes that an agreement will he reached very shortly. No negotiations are at present in progress on behalf of the Colonies, and I have no information as to what steps, if any, are contemplated by His Majesty's Governments in the Dominions.
Unemployment
Boot And Shoe Industry
asked the Minister of Labour whether he can give the figures of unemployment in the boot and shoe industry for the whole country and for the city of Leicester, respectively, at the last convenient date?
The table below shows the numbers of insured persons in the boot, shoe, etc., industry, recorded as unemployed (a) in Great Britain and (b) at Leicester at 21st September, 1936. The figures cover boot, shoe, slipper and clog manufacture and repairing. Separate statistics are not available for boot and shoe manufacture.
| — | Great Britain. | Leicester. |
| Aged 16 to 64 years: | ||
| Wholly Unemployed | 9,475 | 1,585 |
| Temporarily Stopped | 6,063 | 907 |
| Aged 14 and 15 years* | 233 | 3 |
| * Separate statistics of the numbers wholly unemployed and temporarily stopped are not available for juveniles under 16 years of age. | ||
Leicester
asked the Minister of Labour whether he will indicate the course of employment in the City of Leicester by industries, numbers, and percentages, respectively, for the months of July, August, and September, 1936?
The available figures relate to the area served by the Leicester Employment Exchange and Juvenile Employment Bureau. The following table shows for this area (a) the numbers of insured persons, aged 16 to 64 years, recorded as unemployed in the principal
| Industry. | 20th July, 1936. | 24th August, 1936. | 21st September, 1936. | |||
| Number. | * Per cent. | Number. | * Per cent. | Number. | * Per cent. | |
| Building | 432 | 6·1 | 387 | 5·4 | 408 | 5·7 |
| General Engineering, etc. | 224 | 2·2 | 277 | 2·8 | 242 | 2·4 |
| Printing, Publishing and Bookbinding. | 149 | 4·4 | 127 | 3·8 | 136 | 4·0 |
| Hosiery | 1,870 | 6·2 | 2,093 | 7·0 | 2,264 | 7·5 |
| Boots, Shoes, etc. | 4,045 | 20·6 | 3,127 | 15·9 | 2,492 | 12·7 |
| Distributive Trades | 810 | 5·9 | 928 | 6·7 | 876 | 6·3 |
| All other industries and services. | 2,638 | 7·5 | 2,654 | 7·5 | 2,506 | 7·1 |
| Total, all industries and services. | 10,168 | 8·5 | 9,593 | 8·0 | 8,924 | 7·5 |
| * These percentages may be subject to revision when particulars become available as to the numbers insured at July, 1936, based on the information obtained from the general exchange of unemployment books beginning in that month. | ||||||
Maternal Mortality (Institutions)
asked the Minister of Health whether he can give the number of maternal deaths that occurred in all institutions for the six months ended at the most recent convenient date, and a separate figure for the City of Leicester for the like period of time?
These figures are not available for six-monthly periods, and the last, available figures for England and Wales relate to 1933. In that year the number of deaths classified to pregnancy and child-bearing which occurred in institutions (public assistance institutions, hospitals, and mental hospitals) was 2,045. No separate figures are available for the City of Leicester for the year 1933, but it appears from the report of
industries in Leicester at 21st July, 24th August, and 21st September, 1936, and ( b) these numbers expressed as percentages* of the estimated numbers insured at July, 1935:—
the medical officer of health of the city for 1935 that 19 deaths in this category took place irk institutions in the city during that year.
League Of Nations
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in what manner His Majesty's Government are committed by any decisions of the League of Nations to any schemes guaranteeing loans to enable any member of the League to resist aggression by force of arms, and will he give particulars of the extent of such loans?
His Majesty's Government have no commitments of the nature referred to by the hon. Member. The second part of the question does not, therefore, arise.