§ 46. Mr. Osborneasked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware that the gang labour service has involved losses amounting to more than £3 a week for 112W every man employed; that the labour has been unsatisfactory and inefficient; and what steps he is taking to ensure that agricultural jobs are offered first to British rather than foreign workers.
Mr. T. WilliamsI am aware of the losses incurred on the pool labour service of C.A.E.Cs. in 1947–48. While the pool labour system has its drawbacks, I do not accept the general charge that this labour is unsatisfactory and inefficient. It has been indispensable to farmers over a difficult period. As regards the last part of the Question, preference for British labour is automatic in the placing arrangements of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service.