§ 56. Lieut.-Colonel HURSTasked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the critical economic condition of the country, he will consider the advisability of the immediate abolition of trade boards except in the few trades in which there is a genuine possibility of sweating?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY of LABOUR (Sir Montague Barlow)The Trade Board Act, 1918, provides that a trade may be withdrawn 229 from the operation of the Acts if the Minister of Labour is of opinion that the conditions of employment have been so altered as to render the application of the Acts to the trade unnecessary. I have no evidence that conditions in the trades covered by the Acts have so changed as to justify their withdrawal from the Acts. As already stated, I am proceeding with caution in the present difficult circumstances, and I have no doubt that the Trade Boards will have full regard to present conditions in their decisions. I am not prepared to agree to the general abolition of Trade Boards.