§ Mr. Capeasked the Secretary for Mines if he is aware that the nearest place to the Cumberland coalfield where an inspector of mines is situated is Newcastle-on-Tyne; and can he say if the Department is prepared to place a resident junior inspector in the Cumberland coalfield, as has been the custom in the past?
§ Captain CrookshankYes, Sir, the present arrangements for the inspection of mines in Cumberland were made at the end of 1935, when the employment of a resident inspector could no longer be justified because of the large and progressive decline in mining operations there; but of recent months there has been some recovery, and I hope the position will soon be such as to justify the re-employment of a resident inspector.