§ Mr. GOULDasked the Secretary for Mines whether his attention has been called to breaches of the regulations in regard to the working hours in coal mines; what reports he has received: and what steps he has taken, or proposes to take, respecting them?
§ Mr. TURNERMost of the complaints which I have received about breaches of the Hours Acts have been found upon investigation to relate either to the proviso which allows overtime to be worked in certain circumstances of emergency, or to failure to keep the prescribed records. I have accordingly had a circular issued to all collieries reminding them of the law on these matters, and, if necessary, I shall be prepared to follow this by prosecution.
Sir H. SAMUELasked the Secretary for Mines, with regard to each coal-mining district in Great Britain, what are the daily average hours underground of the miners; what is the practice with respect to shorter hours on Saturdays; and what is the average time spent underground weekly, or fortnightly, in cases where the hours are different in alternate weeks?
§ Mr. TURNERThe information required is shown in the following table. The weekly figures are those which have 873W been used for returns made to the International Labour Office and published by them. For most districts they show a lower figure than would result from a calculation based solely on the first two
— Average daily hours underground. General practice with respect to shorter hours on Saturday. Average time spent underground weekly. hrs. mins. hrs. mins. Scotland … 8 26 Some pits work 11 days per fortnight, but the practice is not general. 48 53 Northumberland: (a) Hewers … 7 52 11 days worked per fortnight 43 14 (b) Others … 8 22 45 59 Durham: (a) Hewers … 7 57 See note below* 44 19 (b) Others … 8 27 47 17 Yorkshire … 7 59 ½ hour less on Saturdays 45 33 Lanes & Cheshire … 8 34 2 hours less on Saturdays 49 14 Notts & Derby … 8 8 2 hours less on Saturdays 45 53 South Derby … 8 32 2 hours less on Saturdays 49 2 Leicester … 8 30 2¾ hours less on Saturdays 47 58 Cannock Chase … 8 30 2½ hours less on Saturdays 48 28 Warwick … 8 29 2½ hours less on Saturdays 48 13 South Wales … 8 30 1 hour less on Saturdays 49 29 Forest of Dean … 8 36 1 hour less on Saturdays 49 1 Somerset … 8 31 1 hour less on Saturdays 50 0 North Wales … 8 38 1½ hours less on Saturdays 49 51 Bristol … 8 25 1 hour less on Saturdays 49 30 N. Staffs … 8 31 2 hours less on Saturdays 48 11 S. Staffs … 8 19 2 hours less on Saturdays 47 54 Salop … 8 28 2 hours less on Saturdays 48 48 Cumberland … 8 23 1½ hours less on Saturdays 46 11 Kent … 7 53 1 hour less on Saturdays 44 13 * At one-third of the collieries 6½ hours bank to bank are worked by hewers on every Saturday and 7½ hours plus one winding time by other underground labour. At two-thirds 7¼ hours bank to bank are worked by the workmen on alternate Saturdays.