Oral Answers to Questions — Royal Air Force. – in the House of Commons at on 29 April 1929.
Lieut-Colonel Sir Philip Richardson
, Chertsey
asked the Minister of Labour in what industries in this country there are agreements between employer and employé providing for a 48-hour week; and how many workers are covered by each of those agreements?
Sir Henry Betterton
, Rushcliffe
In the great Majority of organised industries the weekly hours of labour fixed by agreement between employers and workpeople are 48 or less. Particulars of the hours recognised in each of the principal industries will be found on pages 93 to 96 of the "Nineteenth Abstract of Labour Statistics" (Cmd. 3140). Particulars as to the numbers of workers covered by each of the Agreements fixing a week of 48 hours or less are not available, but some statistics as to the proportions of workpeople working a normal week of 48 hours, over 48 hours, and less than 48 hours, in a large number of industries, will be found on page 117 of the same "Abstract."
Mr William Kelly
, Rochdale
Has not the hon. Member the approximate figure of the num- ber of people who are working 48 hours or are not working 48 hours?
Sir Henry Betterton
, Rushcliffe
I have given the hon. Member all the information I have. If he will look at Command Paper 3,140, page 117 he will find statistics giving him all the information.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
