Oral Answers to Questions — Unemployment. – in the House of Commons at on 1 February 1940.
Mr. W. Joseph Stewart:
asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons registered at the Employment Ex- changes in the Administrative County of Durham and the County Boroughs of Gateshead, Darlington, West Hartlepool, Sunderland and South Shields, respectively?
Mr Ernest Brown
, Leith
As the reply includes a table of figures, I will, if I may, circulate a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
The following table shows the numbers of unemployed persons, aged 14 and over, on the registers of Employment Exchanges in the Administrative County of Durham and in each of the associated County Boroughs at 11th December, 1939:—
| Area. | Number. | |
| Durham Administrative County | … | 41,693 |
| Gateshead County Borough | … | 5,894 |
| Darlington County Borough | … | 1,619 |
| West Hartlepool County Borough | … | 3,550 |
| Sunderland County Borough | … | 11,953 |
| South Shields County Borough | … | 8,434 |
| Total-Durham County | … | 73,143 |
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
