§ MR. JACKSON (Greenwich)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home 735 Department whether he has instituted any inquiry among certifying surgeons as to the extent to which large employers of labour made use of the sixpenny certificate, which was originally intended for small employers only; and, if so, whether he will state the result of such inquiry.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Gladstone.) Inquiry was made last year through the certifying surgeons, whose reports showed any considerable number of examinations of children and of young persons away from the factory, as to the size of the firms by whom the children or young persons were sent. The information obtained was very incomplete, but indicated that in a considerable proportion of cases the total number of persons employed by the firm was above the limit of ten suggested by the Association of Certifying Surgeons. The question will be borne in mind in connection with any amending factory legislation that may be proposed.