§ SIR A. HICKMAN (Wolverhampton, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why it is considered necessary to establish factory offices in the towns of Norwich, Southampton, Plymouth, &c, and not in the much more important manufacturing town of Wolverhampton; whether he is aware that the Factory Inspector's business in the three towns first-named is less than one-tenth of that in Wolverhampton; whether he is aware that the public make extremely little use of these offices; and will he consider whether the granting of an allowance for clerical assistance would give much more effectual help to the Factory Inspectors in the performance of their duties?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. ASQUITH, Fife, E.)It was considered that the Factory Office in Birmingham was sufficient to include the Wolverhampton district. Norwich, Southampton, and Plymouth are all centres of districts. I do not think that the hon. Member need be under any apprehension that so important a place as Wolverhampton will be overlooked. The purpose of local offices is quite distinct from that of clerical assistance. How far the system of providing them will be extended is a matter which will be decided after further experience, but I hope that the establishment of these offices will remove any difficulty from which the public have suffered from not knowing where the Inspector was to be found. A considerable addition has already been made to the staff, and it is not proposed that there should be any further additions for the present.