§ MR. KEIR HARDIEI beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that the rate of pay received by the joiners employed in the Portsmouth Dockyard is under the rate paid to joiners employed in outside shipyards in the district; and, seeing that the pay for joiners employed outside the dockyard at Portsmouth is 8d. per hour and not 7½d. whether he will give instructions that the rate of pay of carpenters and joiners engaged at Portsmouth Dockyard shall be altered to correspond to the rate paid by outside firms.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. ARNOLD-FORSTER, Belfast, W.)I must refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on the 26th ultimo. The information at the disposal of the Admiralty is to the effect that the rate for outside joiners is 7½d., and not 8d., as stated in the question. Under these circumstances it is not considered necessary to make any alteration in the rates of pay of joiners in Government employment.
In reply to a further question the HON. GENTLEMAN said the difference between the two rates of pay was very small indeed.