§ Colonel Burtonasked the Minister of Labour the number of man-hours lost through strikes during the past 12 months; the number of successful prosecutions for absenteeism and the number of sentences remitted in whole or in part?
§ Mr. BevinStatistics relating to the numbers of man-days lost through stoppages of work due to industrial disputes are published regularly in the monthly issues of the "Ministry of Labour Gazette." The May issue of the Gazette, which will be published in the course of a few days, will contain statistics for the year 1942 and for the period from the beginning of January to the end of April, 1943. The available information is insufficient to enable me to state the number of man hours represented in the statistics. During the twelve months ending 31st30W March last there were 5,403 successful prosecutions of persons for absenting themselves from work without reasonable excuse or for being persistently late in presenting themselves for work; I understand that in only three cases was any part of the sentence remitted.