§ 1. Mr. Rhys Daviesasked the Minister of Labour whether he will give up-to-date figures of the total number of prosecutions instituted by his Department and the number of persons involved for violating the several orders and regulations of his Ministry; how many of those are employers; how many employers and workmen, respectively, have been imprisoned; and how many of the prosecutions were against males and females, respectively?
§ The Minister of Labour (Mr. Ernest Bevin)The available records indicate that up to the end of June, 1942, the number of persons so prosecuted was 4,160. Of these, 3,801 were male workers, 323 female workers and 36 employers. No employers were sentenced to imprisonment; the number of workers so sentenced was 354.
§ Mr. DaviesIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that sometimes, in these cases, one court will fine a man 15 or 20 guineas for not carrying out his directions, while another, in close proximity, will fine a 140 man two guineas for exactly the same offence, and can he do nothing to avoid that sort of thing?
§ Mr. BevinI do not think that the duty of correcting the idiosyncracies of magistrates should be thrown on to me.