§ Mr. Simmondsasked the Minister of Production whether he is aware that war production is frequently dislocated because the complement of labour permitted by the Ministry of Labour to industrial undertakings engaged on war contracts bears insufficient relation to the delivery requirements of the Supply 913W Departments; and what routine interdepartmental co-operation he has established in order to eliminate this cause of inefficiency?
§ Mr. LytteltonI am not aware that war production is frequently dislocated for the reason stated by my hon. Friend. I am, however, aware that, with the present acute shortage of man-power, it is not always possible to allocate labour to all undertakings to the full extent of their stated requirements. With regard to the second part of the Question, I have established no additional machinery to deal with the allocation of labour, since adequate machinery was already in existence and officers of my Department and of the Supply Departments are closely associated with it.
§ Mr. Simmondsasked the Minister of Production what precise steps he desires managements in war industries to take when, after both the Ministry of Labour and the appropriate Supply Departments have been informed, the complement of labour permitted to an undertaking remains insufficient to meet the required production programme?
§ Mr. LytteltonIn the circumstances envisaged by my hon. Friend, there are two courses which I should expect to be pursued. First, the management of the undertaking should make every endeavour to utilise its available labour force in the most efficient and economical manner possible; secondly, if in spite of their endeavours the management has real grounds for believing that production requirements cannot be met, representations should then be made to the Supply Department concerned for some modification in the firm's production programme.