§ Colonel DAYasked the Minister of Labour how many inspectors, officers in control and special inquiry officers are employed in the Trade Boards Department; if the numbers of the inspectorate and investigators have increased or decreased since he took office; and, in view of the small wages and bad conditions of many of the workers, will he ask the Treasury for a further grant to increase this inspectorate?
§ Mr. BETTERTONThe total number of officers appointed to posts of the kind mentioned in the question was 54 in November, 1924, and is 59 at the present time. Seven of these officers have recently been transferred for a period of three months to unemployment insurance work, but normally the full number of 59 are engaged on Trade Board work. I am not prepared at the present time to propose a further increase in the strength of this inspectorate, but the position is being carefully watched.