§ Sir C. Edwardsasked the Minister of Fuel and Power what is the position of men released from the Forces to work in the mines; is he aware that they were first given working furlough of six months, which was then extended for an indefinite period; does this mean that they are discharged from the Forces; and what has a man to do if he wishes to leave the mines and rejoin the Forces again.
Major Lloyd GeorgeMen specially released from H.M. Forces for underground employment in the coalmining industry are released for an indefinite period but not discharged. All the men leave the Forces voluntarily and they are expected to remain in coalmining unless they become physically unfit. Under the provisions of the Essential Work Order, a man who wishes to leave the coalmining industry must obtain the permission in writing of the National Service Officer.
The number of collieries (each employing 50 persons or more) which had canteens provided by grants from the Miners' Welfare Fund and in operation at the 31st October, and the approximate number of workers employed at those collieries were as follows: Name of Coal District Counties or parts of Counties included No. of Collieries No. of persons employed 1. Fife and Clackmannan Counties of Fife, Clackmannan, Kinross and Sutherland. 27 16,109 2. Lothians Counties of Mid-Lothian and Haddington 24 11,043 3. Lanarkshire Counties of Linlithgow, Lanark, Renfrew, Dumbarton, and Stirling. 85 34,807 4. Ayrshire Counties of Ayr, Dumfries and Argyll 32 10,956 5. Northumberland County of Northumberland 52 38,183 6. Durham County of Durham 130 100,638 7. Cumberland County of Cumberland and Westmorland 8 4,590 8. Lancashire and Cheshire Counties of Lancashire and Cheshire 68 49,824 9. North Wales Counties of Denbigh and Flint 8 8,630 10. S. Yorkshire South Yorkshire Coalfield 64 98,298 11. W. Yorkshire West Yorkshire Coalfield 46 41,225 12. Nottinghamshire County of Nottingham 38 41,009 13. Derbyshire County of Derby (exclusive of S. Derbyshire Coalfield). 44 39,954 14. S. Derby South Derbyshire Coalfield 11 6,651 15. North Staffs North Staffordshire Coalfield 21 21,506 16. Cannock Chase Cannock Chase Coalfield 22 17,280 17. S. Staffs. and Worcestershire South Staffordshire Coalfield 10 3,461 County of Worcester 18. Leicester Leicestershire Coalfield 8 7,384 19. Warwickshire County of Warwick 14 14,608 20. Shropshire County of Salop 4 1,916 21. Forest of Dean Forest of Dean Coalfield 8 4,144 22. Somerset County of Somerset 10 2,977 23. Bristol Bristol Coalfield 1 358 24. S. Wales Counties of Monmouth, Glamorgan, Pembroke, Carmarthen and Brecon. 165 104,190 25. Kent County of Kent 4 5,757 Totals 904 685,498