§ MR. FENWICK (Northumberland, Wansbeck)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he can state, approximately, the number of persons whose position will be affected by the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Bill now before the House.
§ MR. COCHRANEThe Bill, of course, affects both employers and workmen, but I presume the hon. Member's Question refers only to workmen. The Departmental Committee on Workmen's Compensation calculated that the employments which are wholly or partially covered by the existing Compensation Act represent perhaps about 7,250,000 of workmen, and I estimate that the workmen employed in the new employments which it is proposed to include by the Bill might number approximately 1,250,000 to 1,500,000, but only a very rough calculation can be made.