§ 3. Mr. Mainwaringasked the Minister of Labour whether any plan has been adopted for placing men of reduced industrial capacity in jobs, at ordnance factories and other establishments, that otherwise would be filled by men whose higher capacity would be thus wastefully employed?
§ Mr. BevinI am in communication with my right hon. Friends the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Minister of Supply, the Minister of Aircraft Production and the Secretary for Mines as to arrangements for employing men fit for light work, wherever it is possible for such men to replace men of higher industrial capacity in establishments under their control.
§ Mr. MainwaringIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that considerable resentment has been created during past months by able-bodied men being drafted into forms of employment that could have been filled by men of the class referred to?
§ Mr. BevinI have no knowledge of that matter, but if there are particulars, I shall be glad to have them.
Mr. J. J. DavidsonIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that in one factory 100 moulders were dismissed, and dilutee people with not half their experience were brought in by the management?
§ Mr. James GriffithsWhat about superannuation?
§ Mr. BevinThat point is being carefully considered.I have already submitted to the Mines Department the point that a lot of these men are being kept away from the mines for surface work, not purely on the ground of incapacity, but to some extent on the ground of extra insurance involved. I suggest that, in the extreme difficulty of man-power, the position could be met by an extra insurance premium, and that insurance companies should not be allowed to prohibit men from returning to work.