§ Mr. BARNESasked the Prime Minister if he is now in a position to state whether the undertaking given by the Secretary of State for War and the President of the Board of Trade that the grievances of War Office employés shall be submitted to the Fair Wages Advisory Committee also applies to employés under the Admiralty and other Departments; in what way are the grievances and the evidence thereon to be tendered to the Committee; and whether the Committee will receive and hear trade union representatives on behalf of the men?
§ The PRIME MINISTERThe allegation made in the Debate on the Army Vote was that the War Office itself was paying to certain employés wages lower than it would require a contractor to pay to such workmen under the provisions of the Fair 592 Wage Clause. Accordingly my right hon. Friends undertook, on behalf of the War Office, that where doubts arise in this matter, the Department should obtain the advice and assistance of the Fair Wages Advisory Committee in order to ascertain what rates of wages and hours of labour prevail among good employers in analogous circumstances, so as to satisfy the requirements of the Fair Wage Clause. The undertaking applied primarily to the War Office, but I am in consultation with my colleagues as to the extent to which it can be made applicable to other Departments. It is for the Committee to determine their own procedure for the purpose of carrying out the duties entrusted to them.