§ MR. SHACKLETON (Lancashire, Clitheroe)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he proposes to take to enforce the provisions of The Factory and Workshops Act, 1901, relating to humid cotton-weaving sheds; and whether, in view of the report of the tests of air in humid sheds, he will consider the advisability of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide allowed in each 10,000 volumes of air as fixed by the Act.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Akers-Douglas.) An undertaking was given by the manufacturers that, if the result of the inquiry to which the hon. Member refers was to show that the statutory restriction upon the amount of carbon dioxide could be observed, they would accept the situation without further question and make every effort to comply with the requirement. The matter will continue to receive the attention of the chief inspector and his staff, but I have no reason whatever to doubt that that undertaking will be kept. The question of reducing the amount allowed by statute did not enter into the inquiry. There is no evidence before me pointing to the necessity of reduction, nor has that course been recommended by any of the expert committees which have inquired into the subject.