§ 78. Mr. TICKLERasked the Postmaster-General whether it is his intention to adopt the recommendation of the Holt Committee in respect of the hours of male night operators, namely, forty-eight a week; and, if so, when the staff at present working fifty-four hours may anticipate the change?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThe recommendation of the Holt Committee that the hours of duty of night telephonists should be fixed at forty-eight net per week was not adopted because its adoption would have involved in London an increase in the net working hours previously in force. Although the authorised gross attendance in London, as elsewhere, was fifty-four hours a week, the reliefs from duty which were granted for purposes of refreshment, etc., reduced the normal net hours of work to forty-six a week. These reliefs are still allowed. Generally speaking, the night telephone work in the provinces is slacker than in London, and, although the attendance of fifty-four hours a week is maintained the operators as a rule have ample opportunities for rest and refreshment.