HC Deb 24 July 1912 vol 41 cc1183-4
54. Mr. LESLIE SCOTT

asked whether, on the national health leaflet, fishermen and others who claim exemption under the National Insurance Act are directed to apply to Customs and Excise officers for information, and that applications to such officers and to the Insurance Commissioners on the part of Liverpool fishermen and their employers have not elicited the information required; and whether the right hon. Gentleman can now state what is the position of employers and men where exemption is claimed under the Act?

Mr. MASTERMAN

I shall be pleased to make inquiries in the matter if the hon. Member will furnish me with particulars of the cases which he has in mind. If the latter part of the question relates to the power of the Commissioners under paragraph (k) of Part II. of the First Schedule to the Act to exclude share fishermen in certain circumstances by special Order, the answer is that only one such Order has been issued. That Order is confined to certain ports in Cornwall. The Commissioners are prepared where applications for the issue of further Orders are received to make such inquiry as may be necessary for determining whether there are sufficient grounds for the issue of an Order, but unless and until such Orders are made the ordinary provisions of the Act apply. Special instructions in regard to the position of fishermen, together with posters and forms of application for a special Order, were issued to marine superintendents and fishery officers throughout the country in the middle of May.

56. Mr. W. PEEL

asked who is responsible, employé or employer, for obtaining a card to be stamped by the employer in the case of an employé who has obtained a certificate of exemption, and to whom is the card to be sent?

Mr. MASTERMAN

Certificates of exemption are granted to employés, not employers. The employé is required by the Regulations to present to the employer his exemption book, which contains a copy of the certificate of exemption, and the employer thereupon becomes responsible for obtaining and stamping an exemption card. These cards, which can be obtained by the employer at any post office, are to be returned to the Insurance Commissioners direct immediately upon their expiry.