The following question stood upon the Order Paper in the name of Mr. JOHN MORRIS:43. To ask the Secretary for Mines the number of public funds still in existence which have been raised in connection with colliery disasters in Great Britain; the total average value of all moneys vested in the trustees of such funds; the year when the oldest of such funds was established; and the number of the said funds where all dependants have died or ceased to be entitled to draw benefit.
Mr. MORRISOn a point of Order. I wish to point out that a mistake has occurred in the printing of this question. The word "average" has been substituted for the word "aggregate." I hope that my hon. Friend will have been able to gather from my question the nature of the information that I seek.
§ The SECRETARY for MINES (Mr. Ernest Brown)I will give my hon. Friend all the information that I can on the point.
Full information about these funds was collected in 1925 (White Paper H.C. 155 (1925)) when the position was as follows:
Of 73 funds created since 1860, 19 had exhausted available resources, two had transferred their surplus funds to other bodies, 39 had dependants and expected to have no surplus, while six with dependants and five without were using surplus money to assist other funds. Of the two remaining cases, one has since transferred 1130 its surplus to the Central Association of Miners Permanent Relief Societies, while the other is being administered by a permanent provident society, which will no doubt deal satisfactorily with any surplus which may remain when there are no longer any dependants. The unexpended balances in the hands of the trustees of the funds which were still active in 1925 amounted to approximately £430,000, as far as could be ascertained.
Mr. MORRISMay I have an assurance from the Minister that he will furnish the House with a White Paper giving the information asked for up-to-date; and, further, may I ask him if it is within his competence to direct that surplus funds shall be transferred to a national body in order that it may be able to distribute such funds in the case of future disasters?
§ Mr. BROWNIt is not within my competence either to do that ea, as my hon. Friend seems to assume, to order an inquiry. We can only get this information, as we did before, through the good will and with the assistance of the bodies concerned. I may add, for my hon. Friend's information, that, from particulars collected by my Department in 1931 in the case of half-a-dozen of the biggest funds, it appears that there has been very little change since 1925 in their financial position.
44. Mr. MORRISasked the Secretary for Mines whether he will consider introducing legislation at an early date for the purpose of indemnifying trustees of public funds raised in connection with colliery disasters in Great Britain where the income of such funds is in excess of the annual payments, and where the trustees may be disposed to augment funds raised in connection with recent or future pit disasters in Great Britain?
§ Mr. BROWNI am prepared to consider any suggestion of this nature, but I am afraid that the problem presents many difficulties, both technical and otherwise. My hon. Friend will have observed from the answer I have just given that the suggestion in the last part of his question has already been adopted in many cases.
§ Mr. SPEAKERWe cannot go into the merits of the matter at Question Time.