42.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of applications by employers for workpeople, and the number of vacancies filled by the Employment Exchanges during the years 1921, 1922, 1923, and 1924?

As the reply includes a number of figures, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Following are the figures:

Year	Vacancies notified by Employers.	Vacancies filled by Employment Exchanges.
1921	986,266	807,328
1922	839,633	697,036
1923	1,056,970	893,713
1924	1,345,394	1,143,742

These figures exclude vacancies of a casual nature—such as dock labourers and coal porters—which amounted to between 20 and 30 thousand in each of the years in question.

43.

further asked the Minister of Labour the average number of persons receiving unemployment benefit during the years 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1924; and what percentage of these persons were, in each year, convicted of fraud in connection with benefit?

As the answer contains a number of figures, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

The following is the answer:

The weekly average number of claims current in Great Britain in the years mentioned were:

1921	1,595,776
1922	1,485,540
1923	1,198,899
1924	1,058,406

As the hon. Member will appreciate, the number of convictions for fraud over a whole year is not strictly comparable with the figure for claimants to benefit taken as an average over the year, but subject to this caution, the percentages for which he asks are approximately 005 in 1921, 0.1 in 1922, and 0.2 in 1923 and 1924.