§ 55. Mr. Hugh Jenkinsasked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that the Winstanley Babes, a troupe of juveniles, employed in pantomime at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, were paid£1 12s. 6d. per week each; and if he will refer this to the National Board for Prices and Incomes.
§ Mr. HattersleyThe welfare of these children who, I am informed, are aged 12 and 13, is a matter for the local authority. I do not think this is an 29 appropriate matter for reference to the National Board for Prices and Incomes.
§ Mr. JenkinsIs it not the case that the terms under which the National Board for Prices and Incomes was set up do not preclude the possibility of raising salaries as well as reducing them? Does my hon. Friend agree that 32s. 6d. a week is a very small salary for anybody who appears professionally, even if under the age of 16?
§ Mr. HattersleyMy hon. Friend is right about the powers and functions of the Board, but I am not sure that he is quite so right about the wages of these children received. There is a question of whether they were wages or simply expenses.