HC Deb 14 December 1916 vol 88 cc928-9W
Mr. DEVLIN

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will explain why the recommendations made in November, 1912, by the Hatch Committee, which inquired with regard to sweating in the making up and of the linen trade in Belfast have not been acted upon; whether he is aware that the condition of these workers and of the outworkers is as bad to-day as ever it was; whether the proceedings of the Consultation Committee appointed under the Trade Boards Act have been little better than farcical; and what action he proposes to take in the matter?

Mr. ROBERTS

The Trade Boards Act was applied in 1913 to the linen and cotton embroidery trade, and a Trade Board has been established in Ireland for that trade. I am informed by the Chairman that the Trade Board has appointed from among its members a small consultative committee to examine into the question of fixing minimum rates of wages, and that there is good reason to hope that the committee's investigation of the difficult problems involved will lead to valuable results. The Board of Trade did not consider it advisable in 1013 to propose to Parliament the extension of the Trade Boards Act to the other branches of the linen making-up trade, but, as my hon. Friend has been previously informed, this matter is now being considered in connection with the whole question of extending the scope of the Act. The other recommendations of the Committee of Inquiry of which Sir Ernest Hatch was chairman related to matters that do not fall within the province of the Board of Trade.

Mr. DEVLIN

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state the names of the employers by whom information is supplied voluntarily to the Board of Trade concerning wages and the state of. employment in the linen trade in Belfast; the name of the Board of Trade representative to whom the information is communicated; and what steps are taken by the Board of Trade to test the accuracy of such information?

Mr. ROBERTS

I have already sent to the hon. Member a list of the firms, trade unions, and local correspondent reporting to the Board of Trade respecting the linen trade at Belfast. I may add that employers do not report to the local correspondent, but send their returns direct to the Board of Trade.