§ Mr. GAVAN-DUFFYasked the Secretary for Mines who are the members of the health advisory committee attached to the Mines Department; how is that committee constituted; does it issue any reports and, if so, when and to whom; and is he aware that the general inquiry into dangers from dust has been going on for 20 years, during which the general health of the iron-ore miners has depreciated?
§ Mr. SHINWELLThe members of my health advisory committee are:—Dr. J. S. Haldane, Sir Walter Fletcher, Sir Kenneth Goadby and Professor E. L. Collis. The committee was constituted
to advise as to the action to be taken to lessen occupational disease among the workers in mines.It reports to me from time to time. I am aware that there have been various inquiries as to particular aspects of the danger from dust. The latest general statistics available—those relating to the years 1910–1912—do not bear out my hon. Friend's suggestion that the mortality of ironstone miners from this cause has increased; on the contrary, they show an improvement on the figures of 10 years previously. The figures for 1920–22 are not yet available. But I shall be glad to consider the evidence on which my hon. Friend bases his statement if he will furnish me with it.