41. Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTasked the Minister of Munitions whether he has any official information showing that a work man who appealed to a munitions tribunal for a transfer certificate on the ground that carried food was bad for his digestion, and that it was therefore necessary for him to live near his home, had the certificate refused, although he produced a medical certificate in support of his claim?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEThere have been four cases reported of the type referred to by my hon. Friend, all at Glasgow. In two cases certificates were refused in the circumstances set out in the question; in one of these cases the evidence showed that a restaurant was in the vicinity of the works, and in the other that food was provided at reasonable terms in a dining hall on the premises. In a third case where facilities for obtaining food were not available, the tribunal adjourned the case for consideration of their suggestion that arrangements should be made for the man's food to be cooked in the district. In the fourth case a certificate was granted.
42. Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTasked the Minister of Munitions whether he has any information showing that a workman who applied to a munitions tribunal for a certificate permitting him to move to employment in another district owing to the fact that his wife's health was suffering from the locality of his present employment was refused a certificate?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEMy hon. Friend's question appears to refer to the case of Joseph Johnson, who sought a leaving certificate from Messrs. Davey Brothers, Limited, of Sheffield, on the ground stated. The decision of the local tribunal was to adjourn the case until the next hearing, with a view to the granting of a certificate if the man could produce a medical certificate as to his wife's health. At a subsequent hearing this medical certificate was duly produced and 721 a certificate under Section 7 was granted by the tribunal.
43. Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTasked the Minister of Munitions whether he has any official information showing that munition tribunals, in dealing with applications from workmen for permission to transfer their services from one employer to another, refuse such applications in almost every case?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGESo far from it being the fact that in almost every case applications by workmen for a certificate under Section 7 of the Munitions of War Act have been refused, the records of the Department show that out of 125 cases actually decided up to the 18th September, certificates were refused in sixty-five and granted in sixty cases.