§ MR. SCHWANN (Manchester, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to the inconvenience and delays which are being caused in the administration of the Workmen's Compensation Act by the uncertainty which exists as to the exact meaning of a week when the average weekly wage of a claimant has to be assessed under the Act; and, seeing that the Court of Appeal has decided not to deal with these cases until the House of Lords decides what is to be understood as the basis of calculation, whether he can take any steps, by legislation or otherwise, to obtain a prompt definition of the term.
§ MR. RITCHIEI am aware that there is in dispute a point of the nature indicated by the hon. Member; but I have no power to accelerate any decision of the courts of justice, and I am unable to contemplate the introduction this session of any measure for the amendment of the Workmen's Compensation Act.
§ MR. SCHWANNMay I ask whether it is in another place that the obstacle has practically arisen?
§ MR. RITCHIEI believe the question is rather mixed. I am not able to say at the moment quite where the difficulty lies.