Mr. FOOT MITCHELLasked the Minister of Agriculture the minimum rates of wages fixed by the Agricultural Wages Committee in the various counties throughout the country, together with the overtime rates for weekdays and
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Agricultural Wages Committee Area. Minimum Rates in operation on 8th November, 1926. Minimum Rate (per week). Hours per week. Overtime Rates (per hour). Weekdays. Sundays. s. d. d. d. Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire 30 6 48 9 11 Berkshire 30 0 50 8 8 Buckinghamshire 31 0 48 9 11 Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely 30 0 48 9 11 Cheshire 35 0 54 9 9 Cornwall and Scilly Isles 31 0 51 9 10 Cumberland and Westmorland 31 0 48 8½ 8½ Derbyshire 8d. per hour. 54 8 10 Devonshire 32 6 50 8½ 10 Dorsetshire 30 0 48 8 8 Durham 32 0 50 9, 10* 10 Essex 30 0 50 9 9 Gloucestershire 30 0 48 9 11 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 30 0 48 8 8 Herefordshire 31 0 48 9 9 Hertfordshire 31 0 48 Time and a quarter.† — Kent 32 6 48 9 10 Lancashire— Eastern Area 42 0 60 11 11 Northern Area 37 6 60 11 11 Southern Area 33 6 50 11 11 Leicestershire 34 0 54 9 11 Rutland 32 6 54 9 11 Lincolnshire— Holland 35 0 48 9, 10½* 11½ Kesteven and Lindsey 32 0 48 9½ 11½ Middlesex 33 0 48 10¼ 10¼ Monmouthshire 32 0 48 9½ 11½ Norfolk 30 0 48 9 11 Northamptonshire and Soke of Peterborough. 30 0 48 9 11 Northumberland 33 0 48 Time and a quarter. Time and a half. Nottinghamshire 32 0 50 9½ 11½ Oxfordshire 30 0 48 9 11 Shropshire 32 6 54 9 9 Somersetshire 32 0 50 9 9 Sundays, as compared with the rates paid in 1914?
Mr. GUINNESSParticulars of the current minimum and overtime rates of wages applicable generally to male agricultural workers aged 21 and over, as fixed by the Agricultural Wages Committees, are hereafter given. In some areas special rates have also been fixed for special classes of workers, e.g., those engaged in tending animals.
Insufficient information is available as to wages in 1914 to enable precise comparisons for each county to be made far that year, but it is estimated that on the average of England and Wales as a whole wages of ordinary agricultural labourers were then about 18s. per week:
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Agricultural Rates Committee Area. Minimum Rates in operation on 8th November, 1926. Minimum Rate (per week). Hours per week. Overtime Rates (per hour). Weekdays. Sundays. s. d. d. d. Staffordshire 31 6 54 9 9 Suffolk 30 0 48 9 9 Surrey 32 3 50 10 11½ Sussex 31 0 48 9 10½ Warwickshire 30 0 48 9 11 Wiltshire 30 0 50 8 8 Worcestershire 30 0 48 9 9 Yorkshire— East Riding 35 0 48 10 1 0 North Riding 33 0 48 10 1 0 West Riding 36 0 48 11 1 1 Anglesey and Carnarvon 31 0 50 9 9 Carmarthenshire 31 0 54‡ 8½ 8½ Denbighshire and Flintshire 30 6 50 9 9 Glamorganshire 36 0 48 10 11 Merionethshire and Montgomery shire. 31 6 54 9 9 Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire 31 0 50 8½ 9½§ 11 Radnorshire and Breco 31 0 48 9 9 * Applicable only to Saturday afternoon. † No overtime rate on weekdays except for Saturday afternoon. ‡ Including Sunday. § For first three hours of employment.