§ 31. Mr. WHITELEYasked the Secretary for Mines whether he will prepare a statement showing the hours worked in the various mining districts prior to the stoppage and the hours now in operation; and whether he will state the times of descending and ascending for the same periods?
§ The SECRETARY for MINES (Colonel Lane Fox)Before the stoppage of last May the full ordinary underground shift was seven hours not including winding-time. The only exceptions were the hewing shifts in Northumber land and Durham which were generally rather shorter. At the present time the corresponding figure is eight, except in Yorkshire, Kent, and Notts and Derby, and in Northumberland and Durham for hewers, where it is 7½. The winding times vary pit by pit, and shift by shift. The latest information that I have relating to the average winding time in each district will be found on page 269 of the Royal Commission's Report.
§ 34. Mr. GEORGE HALLasked the Secretary for Mines the average time spent below ground each working day by the miners in the coalfields of this country where the full eight hours have been enforced by the employers?
§ Colonel LANE FOXApproximately eight and a half hours, with a shorter period on Saturdays, in many districts.
§ Mr. HALLIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that in some of the larger collieries in South Wales nine and a half hours elapse from the time the first man goes down to the time the last man comes up?
§ Colonel LANE FOXThe hon. Member asked for the average, and I have given it.
§ NUMBER or Wage-earners employed above and below ground at Coal Mines in Great Britain during the weeks ended 27th February, 1926, and 26th February, 1927, and the number of Coal Miners insured under the Unemployment Insurance Acts recorded as Unemployed at 22nd February, 1926, and 21st February, 1927, respectively, the nearest dates for which information is available.
| Area. | Number of Wage-earners employed during the week ended | Number of persons unemployed at 22nd February, 1926. | Number of Persons unemployed at 21st February, 1927. | |||||
| 27th Feb., 1926. | 26th Feb., 1927. | Wholly unemployed. | Temporary Stoppages | Total. | Wholly unemployed. | Temporary Stoppages. | Total. | |
| England and Wales. | ||||||||
| Northumberland | 57,227 | 54,028 | 5,321 | 232 | 5,553 | 6,652 | 330 | 6,982 |
| Durham | 156,111 | 131,278 | 29,545 | 700 | 30,245 | 36,012 | 7,634 | 43,646 |
| Cumberland and Westmorland. | 11,416 | 11,417 | 1,193 | 525 | 1,718 | 732 | 126 | 858 |
| Yorkshire | 188,899 | 183,613 | 4,436 | 320 | 4,756 | 6,556 | 26,333 | 32,889 |
| Lancashire and Cheshire. | 97,562 | 90,562 | 6,083 | 6,268 | 12,351 | 7,626 | 3,127 | 10,753 |
| Derbyshire | 63,571 | 60,699 | 641 | 45 | 686 | 1,810 | 1,314 | 3,124 |
| Notts and Leicester | 68,313 | 68,253 | 736 | 893 | 1,629 | 1,249 | 4,671 | 5,920 |
| Warwick | 20,026 | 19,151 | 179 | 4 | 183 | 418 | 4 | 422 |
| Staffs., Worcester and Salop. | 71,302 | 67,668 | 4,218 | 995 | 5,213 | 3,817 | 686 | 4,503 |
| Gloucester and Somerset. | 13,627 | 11,556 | 1,205 | 714 | 1,919 | 1,535 | 80 | 1,615 |
| Kent | 1,837 | 2,186 | 93 | 1 | 94 | 76 | 335 | 411 |
| Wales and Monmouth. | 230,368 | 201,438 | 30,336 | 7,140 | 37,476 | 47,685 | 17,459 | 65,144 |
| Remainder of England. | — | — | 301 | 40 | 341 | 393 | 11 | 404 |
| England and Wales | 980,279 | 901,849 | 84,287 | 17,877 | 102,164 | 114,561 | 62,110 | 176,671 |
| Scotland | 127,247 | 110,835 | 15,829 | 743 | 16,572 | 19,967 | 1,101 | 21,068 |
| Great Britain | 1,107,526 | 1,012,684 | 100,116 | 18,620 | 118,736 | 134,528 | 63,211 | 197,739 |
§ It should be noted that the number of insured persons recorded as unemployed for any particular date includes some persons partially employed, who are also included in the number on the books of the colliery companies for the corresponding date: the latter number also includes some persons (e.g., persons under 16 years