§ MR. H. J. TENNANT (Berwickshire)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state which are the local authorities who have made by-laws under the Employment of Children Act; in which cases do the bylaws so made prohibit street trading by girls under sixteen; in which cases have by-laws, prohibiting such trading, been proposed and failed to secure Home Office sanction; and what is the proportion of 78 local authorities who have taken action to those who have not taken action.
§ MR. GLADSTONESeventy - four local authorities, out of a total of 329 have submitted by-laws under this Act, usually in draft. Forty-four sets have been actually confirmed; seven others provisionally approved; one, the London set, has been made the subject of a formal inquiry; four, recently submitted, are under the consideration of the Home Office; one has been withdrawn, and the remainder are waiting for replies from the local authorities to the Home Office inquiries. I can give my hon. friend the names, if he desires them, privately. Of the fifty-one sets confirmed or provisionally approved, twenty-one entirely prohibit street trading by girls under sixteen, subject to the usual proviso for girls assisting their parents. In other cases, local authorities have fixed a lower age, or prohibited employment at certain specified places, such as the entrances of theatres, railway stations, and the like, in others a system of licensing only has been adopted. In no case has the Home Office yet refused to sanction such prohibitions.