§ MR. LABOUCHEREI beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works whether, in view of the fact that this is the last year of the contract by which 36 of the men employed in this building under the Clerk of the Works are paid their wages through a middleman, it is intended that they shall on the expiration of the contract be paid by the Clerk of the Works, and receive the 7½ per cent, which is now charged by the contractor?
§ THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (Mr. H. GLADSTONE, Leeds, W.)The men employed through the contractor already receive the full recognised wage of their respective trades, and to discontinue the agency of the contractor would not affect their rates of pay. It is not intended to make any change in the present system.