§ 21. Mr. MOUNTasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will include among the employed persons exempted from the National Insurance Act those women workers who are employed in top-stripping, in view of the fact that the majority of them obtain no benefit from the contributions paid?
Mr. MASTER MANApplication was made last year for a special Order excepting willow-peeling from the provisions of the Act as being subsidiary employment. The application was refused because, on the information then available, it appeared that the employment was not subsidiary in the ordinary sense, but was whole-time employment, lasting in many districts for a considerable portion of the year. From further reports received in the course of the last few days it appears that the practice varies greatly in different parts of the country, and owing to this variation the question is one of considerable difficulty. I should be glad of any information on the matter which the hon. Gentleman could give me.