§ Mr. HOAREasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will state the number of local authorities to which the Employment of Children Act, 1903, applies; the number of those authorities that have put it into force in England, Scotland, and Wales, respectively; the number of boys and girls, respectively, trading under licence in England, Scotland, and Wales, respectively; and the number of boys and girls under the age of sixteen who, in areas where the Act has not been put in force, are known to the Home Office to be trading in the streets?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe hon. Member will perhaps address his question, so far as regards Scotland, to my right hon. Friend, whose Department is the central authority under the Act for that country. As regards England and Wales, the number of local authorities is: Sixty-two counties, seventy county boroughs, 139 other boroughs, fifty-one urban districts. Bylaws as to street trading have been made by six counties, sixty county boroughs forty-one other boroughs, and twenty-three urban districts. I have no information as to the number of boys and girls trading under licence later than that collected by the Street Trading Committee in 1909. In their report the committee give the number of boys under sixteen as about 33,000, and of girls under sixteen as about 4,000. The Home Office has no information as to the number of boys and girls trading in the streets in areas where no by-laws have been made, and it would be difficult to obtain the information. It will be seen, however, that the great majority of the big towns, where the question is of chief importance, have made by-laws.