§ Mr. Kellyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will publish the standard cost-of-living scale for Malta and the date on which such scale was framed?
Mr. M. MacDonaldThe scale to which the hon. Member refers was published in the report of the Commissioner for Labour in Malta for 1936–37. This report was published in the Malta Government Gazette, and I am sending the hon. Member a copy. The scale was framed in October, 1936, after an investigation of58W the budgets of 100 working-class families, and changes in the cost-of-living index are published monthly in the Malta Government Gazette.
§ Mr. Kellyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware of the conditions of labour at the ports in Malta; and will he take steps to ensure that the wages are paid direct to the men instead of to certain individuals who divide the sum in shares without consultation with the men or regard for the work performed by the men?
Mr. M. MacDonaldComplaints have been received that port labourers in Malta are not receiving the full rate of wages laid down by the Malta Government, and I hope that it will be possible to enact legislation without great delay to remove the abuses which are alleged.
§ Mr. Kellyasked the Secretary of State for War how many men employed by the War Department at Malta are pensionable, and what percentage such number is of the total employed?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaNo men locally engaged by the War Department in Malta are pensionable.
§ Mr. Kellyasked the Secretary of State for War how many men were during the last three years discharged at Malta without pension although they had reached the age limit?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaDuring the last three years 25 locally engaged men in Malta were discharged for age with gratuities, none of them being pensionable.