SUBSIDY MEN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 102, 1 May 1940, Page 5

SUBSIDY MEN.

POSITION IN DOUBT. GOVERNMENTS PROBLEM. EFFORTS TO REDUCE COST.

Their livelihood dependent on the ,a<*es they receive on subsidised employnent works under No. 13 scheme, many mndreds of men and their families in nd around Auckland see their future eiled in uncertainty as a result of the iovernment ? s intention to curtail the cope of the subsidy and so reduce the leavy burden on the Consolidated Fund *abour circles in the city regard a Ministerial announcement as imminent nit meanwhile information is limited] o the bare fact that the Government! nteuds to eliminate numerous worksl vhich at present qualify for the subsidy.! Citv and suburban local authorities, .vhich are intimately concerned in any) •hange, were informed six weeks ago! :hat a change was contemplated, butj nave since received no further informa-j tion. They are generally continuing the! ivorks which were in hand at the close! sf the last financial year. '•'While it is anticipated that the need'i of replacement in industry of men who! have enlisted for military service will; reduce the number of workers under No.' 13 scheme, the degree of diminution can-1 not be foreseen,'' said the Minister of Labour, the Hon. P. C. Webb, in a circular letter to the local authorities last month, in which he asked them to prepare a list of suitable works under a restricted schedule of conditions for twelve niontnc ahead. The Minister, stated that the "very generous subsidies of 1939-40 cannot again be made available."' Works to be Excluded. Among the works excluded under the new conditions laid <I<>" n are those for : which full provision i- made in local : estimates or from loan*, also normal; works and metalling, reading operations ; subsidised from the iuad,i

maintenance of recreation grounds, street lawns and public reserves, and building works. In the view of suburban local bodies the restrictions leave very little which the average borough council or town board can do under th* scheme. The subsidy of £4 10/ a week for eaA man employed on Xo. 13 scheme is being continued meantime. A year ago the total number of men employed in this way by 20 local authorities, including the Auckland City Council, the Auckland Drainage Board, the Manukau and Waitemata county councils and the suburban borough councils and road boards, was over 2000. and there was no marked seasonal reduction during the recent summer. , The aspect which particularly concerns the Government, is the heavy cost of the Xo. 13 scheme subsidy. In the winter the number of men dependent on the scheme usually rises, and it has been estimated that the liability on the Consolidated Fund during last winter reached a peak of over £400,000 a month.