§ 62. Mr. Mathersasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his attention has been drawn to the practice of the Fife County Education Committee of terminating the engagements of married women teachers at the end of each school session and of offering reappointment at the commencement of the following session; and, as this practice evades the responsibility of making payments during the holiday period, he will take steps to ensure its discontinuance.
§ The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. T. Johnston)The answer to the first part of the Question is in the affirmative. The issue as to whether or not payments for the holiday period should be made to this category of teachers is one which might competently be referred by their organisation to the recently reconstituted National Joint Council.
§ Mr. MathersWhile admitting the validity of that answer, might I ask my right hon. Friend if he is aware that some local authorities are not very keen to give effect to the findings of that body? Will he use his good offices to see that these findings are accepted by the local authorities?
§ Mr. JohnstonIt is true that occasionally the findings of the National Joint Council have with difficulty been accepted by all local authorities, but, by and large, I think it is the case that local authorities do accept the findings of this Council.