§ MR. J. RAMSAY MACDONALDI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been drawn to the figures in the Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories, showing that in 1905, in the borough of Stepney, the medical officer reports only thirty-two inspections of outworkers out of 8,998 persons notified to be such in the two half-yearly Returns, and that the same medical officer reported no inspection in 1904; and why, in view of these facts, he has not authorised an independent inspection at the expense of 921 this borough under Section 4 of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901.
§ MR. GLADSTONEI am aware of the figures referred to and am communicating with the borough council on the subject. I am advised that it is doubtful whether the powers under Section 4 of the Factory Act cover a case such as this. But, in any event, for the Factory Department to assume in this and similar cases the duties in respect to home work which the Act imposes on local authorities would be to add greatly to the work of a Department already more than fully employed. The whole question of home work is now under the consideration of a Select Committee of this House, and pending their Report I cannot see my way to make the consider able change in the administration of these provisions which is suggested by the hon. Member.
§ MR. J. RAMSAY MACDONALDWas not Section 4 specially drafted to meet such cases?
§ MR. GLADSTONEI imagine that is so; but there are difficulties arising out of dual administration.
§ MR. J. RAMSAY MACDONALDI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to the fact, as shown in Table 8 of an Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories for 1906, that in 2,194 cases, on the showing of medical officers of health, employers were.discovered to have sent in to the district council no list of outworkers as provided by Section 107 of the Act, and that of these no fewer than 753 remained un-remedied, a substantial increase being thus shown in the neglect in this respect over last year; whether his attention has also teen drawn to the increased number of defects remaining unremedied as regards work being given out to be done in unwholesome premises, and allowing wearing apparel to be made in premises infected by scarlet fever or small-pox; and whether he can inform the House what steps the Home Office is taking to reduce the number of these cases of negligence on the part of so many medical officers of health.
§ MR. GLADSTONEI am aware of the figures to which the hon. Member calls attention. Taking all the figures which relate to outworkers' lists together, the Returns for 1905 seem to me to point to an appreciable increase of activity on the part of the local authorities in regard to the collection of these lists. 2,500 more lists were received, and 18,000 more names of outworkers, and the fact that nearly 700 more failures were discovered than last year, shows, I think, that the officers of the local authority are following up these cases more care fully than before, and perhaps also compiling the Returns for the Homo Office more carefully. I may call the attention of the hon. Member to the fact that the number of prosecutions taken by local authorities for failure to send in the lists is more than double that of 1904. As regards action under Sections 108 to 110, I do not think any trustworthy inferences can be drawn from the figures referred to in the Question, for the reasons mentioned in the introduction to last year's Return. I have already stated, in Answer to a previous Question, the action taken by me with a view to improving the administration of the home work provisions of the Act by the local authorities.