§ 24. Mr. KEIR HARDIEasked the President of the Local Government Board, whether he is aware that one of his district auditors has surcharged twenty-four members of the board of guardians at Merthyr to the extent of £52 in respect of a contract given to a trade union establishment paying fair wages, that sum being the estimated difference in the cost of the contract compared with non-union firms; whether the guardians have a Fair-Wages Clause in all their contracts, under which they are bound to exclude the offers of all contractors who do not conform to its terms, and that it was in pursuance of this policy that the contract in question was let; and whether, in view of these facts, he will annul the surcharge proposed by the district auditor and give instructions to his auditors that in future they are to encourage and not penalise public bodies when endeavouring to grapple with the sweating evil by confining their contracts to such firms as pay a fair rate of wages?
§ The PRESIDENT of the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Burns)The district auditor has reported that on the 19th instant he surcharged twenty-five guardians with the sum of £51, representing loss which he considered the union funds had sustained through payments in the half-year ended Michaelmas, 1912, under the guardians' drapery contract with Messrs. Phillips and Company. The Local Government Board have no jurisdiction in the matter unless an appeal is made to them against the surcharge. The persons 1314 surcharged have the right of appeal to the High Court or to the Local Government Board.