§ MR. AKROYDsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If the Workshops Regulation Act, 30 and 31 Vic, c. 146, has been enforced by the Local Authorities at Birmingham; and, if not, what steps he intends to take to fulfil the provisions of the said Act?
MR. BRUCE, in reply, said, he was sorry to say that the Act had not been put in force in Birmingham, although he believed there was no great town in the Empire that required the application of that Act more strongly than Birmingham. The Secretary of State had no compulsory powers to enforce the attention of the local authorities to the Act. All he could do was to remind them of their duty. He wished to defer answering the Question as to what steps he intended to take until the Government had had an opportunity of discussing the whole subject more fully, which he was happy to say would be shortly given.