55. Mr. Adamsonasked the Minister of Agriculture how many inspectors are engaged in the work of ensuring the observance of the Agricultural Wages Act; and what are the areas to which they are allocated?
§ Mr. W. S. MorrisonThe number of inspectors engaged is 19, including one superintending inspector. As the answer to the second part of the question comprises a list of counties, I propose, with the hon. Member's permission, to circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
Mr. AdamsonIs the right hon. Gentleman satisfied that the number is sufficient to carry out these functions?
§ Mr. MorrisonYes, Sir.
§ Mr. T. WilliamsTo what extent do these inspectors conduct special inquiries about agricultural wages in various parts of the country without receiving instructions?
§ Mr. MorrisonThe inspector of each district has full discretion to initiate inquiries on his own, and he frequently does so.
§ Following is the list of counties:
- District No. 1. Cumberland, Durham, Northumberland, Westmorland.
- District No. 2. Yorks East Riding, Yorks North Riding.
- District No. 3. Yorks West Riding.
- District No. 4. Cheshire, Lancashire.
- District No. 5. Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire.
- District No. 6. Leicester, Warwick, Worcester.
- District No. 7. Anglesey, Caernarvon, Denbigh, Flint, Merioneth and Montgomery.
- District No. 8. Brecon, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Glamorgan, Pembroke and Radnor.
- District No. 9. Hereford, Monmouth, Salop.
- District No. 10. Berks, Bucks, Oxford, Wiltshire.
- District No.11 Bedfordshire, Cambridge and Isle of Ely, Herts, Hunts, Northants.
- District No. 12. Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk.
- District No. 13. Kent, Middlesex, Surrey.
- District No. 14. Hants, Isle of Wight, Sussex.
- District No. 15. Cornwall, Devon, Dorset.
- District No. 16. Gloucester, Somerset.
- District No. 17. Derby, Stafford.
56. Mr. Adamsonasked the Minister of Agriculture how many farms were visited by his inspectors during the recent area test investigations in Cornwall and Wales; how many cases of non-observance of the agricultural wages orders were revealed; and what action was taken for the recovery of the arrears of wages?
§ Mr. MorrisonDuring the area test inspections referred to, 97 farms were visited in Cornwall and 119 in the Welsh area. In the cases of 38 of the 150 workers whose wages were investigated in Cornwall and in 59 of the 221 dealt with in Wales a certain amount of nonobservance of the Agricultural Wages Orders was discovered. It was only, however, in the cases of 17 of the workers in Cornwall and of 12 in Wales, that the circumstances and extent of the nonobservance were such as to warrant my Department taking further action, and in all these cases it was deemed sufficient to require the employer to pay the arrears of wages found due.
§ Mr. T. WilliamsIn view of the statement made by the right hon. Gentleman that approximately 25 per cent. of the farmers are defaulting in some way, large or small, does he not think that these inspections ought to be the rule instead of the exception?
§ Mr. MorrisonI think there is room for both sorts of inspection, but the hon. Member will realise that many of these infractions of the Agricultural Wages Act are technical infractions, and that the offences vary greatly in gravity.
57. Mr. Adamsonasked the Minister of Agriculture why only one farm in Middlesex was visited for the purpose of a test inspection in connection with the Agricultural Wages Act in 1936–37?
§ Mr. MorrisonThe number of test inspections under the Agricultural Wages (Regulation) Act which are made in particular counties from time to time depends on a number of factors, such as whether the inspector for the district has reason to suppose that such inspections are likely to serve a more useful purpose in one part of his area than in another. In the previous 12 months there had been six such inspections in Middlesex.
§ Mr. H. G. WilliamsAre not the bulk of the farms in Middlesex sewage farms, which come under the Scavengers' Union?