§ 76. Sir C. Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for Mines the average earnings of boys between the ages of 14 to 16 and 16 to 18, respectively, in mines?
§ The Secretary for Mines (Mr. David Grenfell)As the answer is long and contains a number of figures, I propose, with the hon. Member's consent, to circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the statement:
§ Information concerning the actual earnings of boys in the coal-mining industry is not at present available, though an investigation is being made at the request of the Coal Production Council and of the committee appointed by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service to inquire into the recruitment of boys into the industry. An inquiry was made recently into the rates of payment per shift for boys in each district. Differences between districts in the methods of payment and in the actual rates make it impossible for me to give the results of this inquiry within the limits of Parliamentary Question and Answer, but my hon. Friend may be interested in the average national rates for Great Britain calculated from the district figures. They include all bonuses and special additions and are as follow:
| — | Underground. | Surface. | ||
| Per shift. | Per shift. | |||
| s. | d. | s. | d. | |
| Aged 14 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 0 |
| Aged 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6½ |
| Aged 16 | 6 | 11½ | 6 | 2 |
| Aged 17 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 9 |
| Aged 18 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 10 |