§ 61. Lieut.-Colonel Liptonasked the Minister of Education what steps are being taken to improve the working conditions of children in theatrical employment.
§ Mr. TomlinsonThe licensing of children to take part in entertainments is governed by Section 22 of the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, as amended by the Education Act, 1944, and the regulations made thereunder. This and related questions are being re-viewed by a departmental committee set up, in consultation with myself, by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department.
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonHas my right hon. Friend any information as to when the report of this departmental committee will be available, or when action will be taken on it after it becomes available? What is he doing in the meantime to prevent these children from having to work in squalid conditions scarcely fit for animals, referred to in the recent report submitted to the committee?
§ Mr. TomlinsonKnowledge of these conditions was the reason for the setting up of the committee. I think that before we are asked what action we are taking we should await the committee's decision.