§ Lieut.-Colonel COURTHOPEasked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the fact that employment in forestry falls within the purview of the Agricultural Wages Board, and that the employer in 1174W nearly all cases is the landowner and not the farmer, steps will be taken to secure representation of woodland owners on the Wages Board and district wages committees?
§ Sir R. SANDERSWithout making the Agricultural Wages Board and the District Wages Committees too unwieldy for practical purposes, it is impossible to provide for the separate representation on those bodies of every particular class of employer affected by the minimum wage provisions of the Corn Production Act, and in this connection regard must be had to the relatively small number of workers employed as woodmen in proportion to the total number of workers involved. The Minister is satisfied, however, that the interests of all classes of employers concerned are in actual practice adequately represented on the bodies in question.
§ Lieut.-Colonel COURTHOPEasked the Secretary for Scotland whether, in view of the fact that employment in forestry falls within the purview of the Agricultural Wages Board, and that the employer in nearly all cases is the landowner and not the farmer, steps will be taken to secure representation of woodland owners on the Wages Board and district wages committees in Scotland?
§ Mr. MUNROArrangements were recently completed by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland for the election of new Agricultural Wages Committees to take the place of the present committees as from the 1st April next, and the Board's scheme has already been made public. I shall be pleased to furnish my hon. and gallant Friend with a copy of a memorandum explaining the scheme if he so desires. It is proposed to entertain nominations for membership of the committees so far as possible from organisations of employers and workmen approved by the Board. I am informed that the Board's memorandum was circulated to the following among other bodies:—The Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society, the Landowners' Co-operative Forestry Society, and the Scottish Land and Property Federation. These bodies, on which landowners are largely represented, and other similar bodies may submit nominations subject to the approval of the Board in accordance with the scheme and the Corn Production Act, 1917.