HC Deb 26 July 1963 vol 681 cc1989-90

Lords Amendment: In page 10, line 4, after "use" insert at suitable places conveniently accessible to them".

Mr. Hare

I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.

The provision of seats in shops for shop assistants was debated at some length when I introduced a new Clause about sitting facilities on the Report stage. As the hon. Member for Ogmore (Mr. Padley) forecast, the Opposition returned to this subject in another place.

It was argued that some employers might locate seats in inaccessible positions so that in some kinds of shops employees would never have opportunities for using those seats without detriment to their work. This Amendment is intended to deal with that possibility. It provides that the seats have to be provided at suitable places conveniently accessible to the employed persons.

Question put and agreed to.

Lords Amendment: In page 10, line 11, leave out from "it" to end of line 14 and insert: facilities provided for their use in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section shall be deemed not to be sufficient if the number of seats provided and the number of persons employed are in less ratio than 1 to 3".

Mr. Whitelaw

I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.

This is simply a drafting Amendment. There is no change in the intention of this provision but the new wording makes it clear that a lesser ratio than one to three seats to persons employed would not be deemed to be sufficient for the purpose of subsection (1). I think that this rephrasing is an improvement.

Question put and agreed to.