Captain BALFOURasked the Minister of Labour whether his Department are able and willing to prepare statistics to show the effect of the passing of the last Seasonal Workers Amendment Order in respect of the whole country or in respect of selected areas?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MUIRHEADI would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply given to him on the 9th December, and to the reply given to the hon. Member for Birkenhead, East, on the 12th December. These replies give a comparison between the operation of the existing and the former Regulation on the only basis which is available. As my hon. and gallant Friend will appreciate, in order to obtain precise figures, it would be necessary to ask the statutory authorities to decide whether claims would or would not have been disallowed under provisions which are no longer the law, and this would obviously be outside the scope of their duties.