HC Deb 02 August 1939 vol 350 cc2417-8W
Mr. Groves

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the military camps about to be erected at South Benfleet, Essex, are to be erected under contract terms on a cost plus percentage basis; whether contractors will observe the London rates of pay and hours of labour; and whether these camps are for militiamen of the Essex Regiment?

Mr. Hore-Belisha

The contract is on a basis of net prime cost, plus a fee calculated as a percentage of the estimated cost, plus a bonus in respect of any saving on the estimated cost effected by the contractor.

The contract provides that the contractor shall not pay to building trade operatives rates of wages higher than those for the time being awarded for the relevant trades by the National Joint Council for the Building Industry. These are not the London rates. As regards hours of labour, the contract includes, as a condition, the Fair Wages Resolution passed by the House of Commons on 10th March, 1909.

The camps are for militiamen, but not of the Essex Regiment.