§ MR. ROWLANDS (Kent, Dartford)To ask the Secretary of State for War whether the Fair Wages and Factory Clauses are inserted in all Government contracts; whether the attention of the War Office has been called to the evasion of the clauses on the part of some contractors; and, if so, whether any penalty has been inflicted.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) The fair wages clause is inserted in practically all War Office contracts, and the factory clause in all contracts aflecting trades where sub-letting contrary to the recognised custom of the trade is believed to exist. All cases of alleged evasion are closely investigated, and such action is taken as is held to be appropriate to the particular case in question.