§ 31. Captain Gammansasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works the additional cost of erection of a parlour-type working-class house on the assumption that a reasonable output for bricklayers for an eight-hour day is 240 and 336 bricks for 4½-inch and 9-inch brickwork, respectively, as compared with normal pre-war output; what will be a fair percentage increase in the time of erection of such a house to allow on this account; and whether his plans for postwar building are based on the assumption that such an output is reasonable?
§ Mr. HicksIn my reply to the hon. Member for Maidstone (Mr. Bossom) on 9th June, I made it clear that the figures for which I was then asked, and which are now quoted by the hon. and gallant Member for Hornsey (Captain Gammans), relate specifically to the basic datum from which calculations of bonus are made, as laid down in the payment-by-results scheme under the Essential Work Order. They do not represent the actual daily output of a bricklayer, but provide the theoretical basis by reference to which the bonus payments for output above these figures are to be reckoned. As the hon. Member may be aware, I am supplying, in reply to a later Question on the Order Paper, standing in the name of the 1148 hon. Member for West Willesden (Mr. Viant), information as to the actual number of bricks which are being laid in a working day, and the hon. Member will, I hope, await the reply to that Question. In these circumstances, the purpose which the hon. Member has in mind would not be served by making, on a purely hypothetical basis, the calculations referred to in the Question.
§ 34. Mr. Viantasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works the number of bricks actually being laid per working day under the operation of the system of payments by results; and whether there is any rule laid down by the bricklayers' trade unions which regulates the daily output of their members?
§ Mr. HicksInquiry has shown that during the three months ended 30th April, 1943, on 372 sites for which accurate reports have been kept, the number of bricks laid per bricklayer per 10-hour day on brickwork left rough, was: 4½-in. brickwork, 650; 9-in., 780; 14-in., 870. For brickwork pointed one side, the figures were 560, 700 and 790, respectively. I think these figures speak for themselves. As regards the last part of my hon. Friend's Question, there is no trade union rule restricting output in any way.
§ Mr. ButcherHow do those figures compare with the figures for five years ago?