Mr. Callaģhanasked the Minister of Labour if he will make a statement about the working of the system for engaging prisoner of war labour and, particularly, who is responsible for allocating the labour: and what principles are followed.
§ Mr. Isaacs:Prisoners of war are employed on urgent arid important work for which British labour is not available. The prisoners available are allocated by my Department, in consultation with all other interested Departments, to the Government Departments responsible for' the industries and services concerned, according to the relative urgency of the work. It is the responsibility of the user Departments to decide on the detailed distribution of prisoners of war within the industries and services with which these Departments are concerned. Before prisoners are used on any particular job there is consultation with the representatives of trade unions affected and my local offices confirm that suitable British labour is not available for the work.