HC Deb 11 December 1947 vol 445 cc1194-6
65. Mr. Collins

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reply he has made to the further representations which have been made to him by bank employees, regarding shortage of staff and other difficulties, and asking him to reverse the decision not to allow the banks to remain closed on 1st January, 1948.

Mr. Glenvil Hall

All these points were taken into account when my right hon. and learned Friend confirmed the decision that a bank holiday should not be proclaimed on 1st January, 1948.

Mr. Collins

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this is not a holiday, but one of the busiest days in the bank's year, and that it is vitally important, in view of the shortage of staff, that they should have this break to maintain full efficiency and service to the public? Will he look at it again and see if it can be arranged?

Mr. Glenvil Hall

I think that my right hon. and learned Friend has made his position clear. At a time when we are asking everyone to work harder than perhaps they might normally have to, it would not be right to allow the banks to close on this particular day and to rob the citizens of the opportunity of using the bank facilities. Might I add that the Stock Exchange, which traditionally closes on this day, is next year going to open.

Mr. Oliver Stanley

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the two things are entirely different. The Stock Exchange holiday for the most part really was a holiday. The firms closed and the employees went away. This bank holiday is not a bank holiday in that way. The banks are closed on that date, but the staffs are left. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the staffs themselves have supported this demand in order to give them the opportunity of catching up with their work?

Mr. Glenvil Hall

That, of course, is quite true. It is the staff associations which have raised this matter. The banks themselves and the clearing houses have not, so far as I know, made any move at all.

Mr. Warbey

Could my right hon. Friend say whether any protest from any section of the general public has been received regarding the idea that the banks should close on 1st January, and is he aware that closing on one day would be of no great inconvenience to the public and would give an enormously well-earned relief to the bank staffs?

Lieut.-Commander Gurney Braithwaite

Does the Financial Secretary recall that after the first world war the banks were closed on 1st January and 1st July until the end of the year 1921, owing to the shortage of staffs, and that they merely closed their doors to catch up the arrears? Is that not a precedent which now could be followed?

Mr. H. D. Hughes

Is my right hon. Friend aware that from the various statements made by his Department it would seem that 1st January had been requested as a bank holiday, whereas, what, in fact, has been requested is not a bank holiday in the usual sense, and not even a holiday for the bank employees, who ask to be allowed to work while the banks are closed to clear off the arrears usual at that time of the year?

Mr. Glenvil Hall

All that is well understood and the phrase "bank holiday" has now become a term of art. When we use it, we mean that the banks will be shut to the public on that date, and no more.

Mr. McGovern

Does this apply in Scotland as well as England, for while Christmas is celebrated largely in England, New Year's Day in Scotland is a national holiday, and it would be taken very badly indeed if the banks were open on that day?