§ 63. Sir J. D. REESasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the middle women are in fact the employers of the outworkers of the Nottingham lace trade; that they should keep the books and accounts relating to work and wages; that efforts are being made to induce the manufacturers, who are not the employers in this behalf, to keep such books and accounts; and whether he will instruct the National Insurance Commissioners to recognise as employers the middlewomen, who alone engage and contract with the outworkers?
§ Mr. MASTERMANAs far as the information in the possession of the Insurance Commissioners goes, the middle woman in the Nottingham lace trade is in normal cases the employer within the meaning of Schedule I. of Part I. (c) of the Act. The point is not one on which the Commissioners are empowered by the Act to give an authoritative decision. The Commissioners will endeavour to secure that the persons who under the Act are legally the employers in this trade are treated as such for the purposes of the Act.