§ 53. Sir J. Mellorasked the Minister of Labour if he willdefine the authority delegated by him to post offices for the purposes of the Control of Engagement Order; if he will identify the instrument by which he delegated such authority; and the powers under which such instrument was made.
§ Mr. IsaacsThe authority given to head and sub-post offices is to make, between 1st November and 31st December, 1948, inclusive, direct temporary engagements of men and women, subject to the order, in order to deal with the additional work thrown on post offices during the period of Christmas pressure. The instrument by which such authority was delegated was a minute signed by one of the deputy secretaries to my Ministry on 8th October. The powers under which this instrument was made are contained in Section 2 (1) of the Control of Engagement Order, 1947, which enables the Minister to appoint any office as a "local office" for the purposes of this order, and thus put such an office in the same position in regard to the order as an employment exchange.