§ 95. Mr. W. R. SMITHasked the Minister of Labour whether he has appointed any inspectors, male or female, to insure the proper observance of the decisions of the Trade Board in connection with boot and shoe repairing; if so, how many and at what salary; and can he say when the towns will be visited from which complaints are arising that employers are evading the agreed awards?
§ The MINISTER of LABOUR (Dr. Macnamara)In accordance with a decision which was announced in reply to a question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Kingswinford on 17th March last, it is not proposed to add to the number of special officers for non-compliance inspection under the Trade Boards Acts. Inspection under all Acts for the administration of which the Ministry of Labour is responsible is being carried out by one staff of inspectors distributed throughout the country, and the training of these for Trade Boards inspection is being pressed on. 377 visits have been paid to boot and shoe repairing establishments since the minimum rates came into force. 169 complaints have been received, and of these 141 cases have been or are being dealt with by the local inspectors. My hon. Friend may be assured that every case will have been investigated in the near future.