HC Deb 14 June 1965 vol 714 cc6-8
7. Mr. Tinn

asked the Minister of Labour if he will seek to amend the Factory Acts, and any other necessary legislation, to allow pupils in their last year at school to gain personal experience of work along the lines recommended in the Newsom Report.

Mr. Thornton

The Newsom Report only recommends that experiments enabling pupils over the age of 15 to participate to a limited extent, under the auspices of the school, in the world of work in industry, commerce, or in other fields should be carefully studied. No amendment of the Factories Act is needed to allow pupils over school-leaving age to work in factories. A number of schools and local education authorities are conducting experiments in work experience and the Schools Council are considering further experiments. My right hon. Friend also intends to consult his National Youth Employment Council on the vocational guidance aspects of work experience schemes.

Mr. Tinn

Is my hon. Friend aware that his assurance that no infringement of the Factories Acts is involved in this experiment will be generally welcomed? In the case which I passed to his Department, there seems to have been some misapprehension on the part of one of his inspectors.

Mr. Ronald Bell

Is the Minister aware that difficulties have arisen in respect of factory legislation and the visits of school parties and individual scholars to these establishments? The hon. Gentleman will remember that I wrote a letter to him about a school in my constituency where this difficulty arose. Is not it a great pity that those who seek to organise these visits should be discouraged by factory inspectors, however properly? Will he look at the matter aeain?

Mr. Thornton

Where pupils are conducted on tours of a factory and given talks about the operations there and demonstrations of the processes, that is quite all right. If any young people participate in any work of a factory, however, whether for wages or not, which is part of a process or which is incidental to or connected with a factory process, they come under the Factories Act 1961. They are deemed to be employed in a factory and the factory inspectors have to do their job. We will certainly bear in mind the point made, but before we could envisage any amendment of the Factories Act in this respect we should have to have further experience of current and future experiments.

Sir Knox Cunningham

Will the hon. Gentleman ask his right hon. Friend to approach the unions to see whether they will co-operate in such a scheme?

Mr. Thornton

I will certainly convey that request to my right hon. Friend.