I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £10 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st March, 1945, for salaries and expenses in connection with unemployment insurance and employment exchanges (including contributions to the Unemployment Fund), unemployment assistance, the special register of agricultural and turf workers, and insurance against intermittent unemployment for certain services in connection with food allowances (9 Edw. 7, c. 7); 10 and 11 Geo. 5, c. 30; 11 Geo. 5, c. 1; 11 and 12 Geo. 5, c. 15; 12 Geo. 5, c. 7; No. 17 of 1923; Nos. 26 and 59 of 1924; No. 21 of 1926; No. 33 of 1930; Nos. 44 and 46 of 1933; No. 38 of 1935; No. 2 of 1938; No. 28 of 1939; No. 4 of 1940; No. 3 of 1941; No. 7 of 1942; and No. 20 of 1943) and for expenses in connection with the provision of labour for harvest work.
Deputies are aware that anxiety has been expressed from some districts concerning the possibility of a shortage of local labour for the saving of the harvest. For the purpose of endeavouring to provide for the requirements of farmers in districts where the shortage of local labour for harvest work may arise, we propose to introduce a scheme designed to arrange for the temporary supply of labour for harvest work to these districts from the congested areas of north-west, west and south-west where men, who are not required for harvest work in their own districts, may be available. The possibility of transferring labour for temporary agricultural employment from one district to another depends upon the provision of travelling expenses, the prospect of employment at remunerative rates and the availability of local lodging accommodation. The purpose of the scheme is to provide these facilities for workers travelling for harvest work from State funds. It was for the purpose of enabling those funds to be provided that this Supplementary Estimate was required.
It is proposed that men who are transferred for employment from congested areas to districts where there may be a shortage of local labour for agricultural work will be paid, out of State funds, free rail or bus fares from their homes to the places where they are going to take employment; that, in addition, they will be given an expenses allowance of 5/- for the journey; that while they are employed at the harvest work they will receive from State funds a board and lodging allowance of 4/- per day; and that, subject to their completion of their contract of employment, they will also be given free rail or bus travel to their homes, plus an allowance for out-of-pocket expenses of 5/-. It is proposed that farmers who employ these temporary workers under this scheme for harvest work, must guarantee to them a minimum rate of wages of 1/2 per hour worked, and 1/6 per hour worked in excess of 54 hours a week. They must also make arrangements to provide them with suitable board and lodging, for which the workers concerned will pay a moderate charge. They are, as I have mentioned, being allowed 4/- per day from State funds, for the purpose of helping to defray their board and lodging expenses.
A scheme of this kind, which is largely experimental and the full effects of which it is impossible to foresee, depends for its success upon the fullest co-operation of the farmers and the workers. It is contemplated that farmers who require men under the scheme for their harvest work, over and above the workers that are available to them locally, should notify their requirements as early as possible, so that arrangements may be made to approach the men, residing in the congested districts, who may be willing to undertake the work.
Forms of application for workers under the scheme will be available, on application, from the tillage inspector or tillage supervisor, from the employment exchanges or branch employment offices and at post offices. It is contemplated that a farmer who requires labour under the scheme would state on an application form the number of men he will require, in addition to those obtainable locally, and the periods for which he will require them. He must undertake, when completing the form, to employ the number of workers specified by him who are sent to him under the scheme. He must undertake also to pay at least the minimum rate of wages prescribed and must guarantee that suitable board and lodging will be available at a moderate charge.
When the needs of the farmers for men, in the areas where local labour is scarce, are thus made known, arrangements will be made to allocate to them men from those areas which broadly correspond with the congested districts of the west, north-west and south-west, whose services are not required for harvest work in their own districts.
Men from those areas will be asked to co-operate in the scheme by notifying their desire to participate to the nearest local offices of the Department of Industry and Commerce. On receipt of notification from men willing to make themselves available for employment under the scheme, a register of such men will be formed and from that register the requirements of the farmers needing help will be supplied. It is intended that every possible step will be taken to ensure that only good harvest workers will be sent to employment under the scheme; but it will, of course, be appreciated that the local officers of the Department of Industry and Commerce may have difficulty in determining the suitability of workers and that no guarantee can be given in the matter.
The success of the scheme will depend on the publicity given to it, as well as on the co-operation of the farmers and workers concerned. If this Estimate is passed, arrangements will be made to publicise the scheme as early as possible, for the purpose of bringing to the farmers of the districts in which a shortage of local labour is anticipated the possibility of securing workers under this scheme and for the purpose of bringing to the attention of the workers in congested districts the facilities that are available in connection with employment of this kind. It is impossible to estimate with any accuracy the number of workers who may be dealt with under the scheme, and the estimate has been based on the assumption that 2,000 workers will be employed under it and will, therefore, require to be recouped their travelling expenses and to receive also the proposed contribution to their board and lodging expenses.
I am sure that all Parties in the House will appreciate the desirability of taking every practicable measure to ensure that no difficulties will arise in saving the harvest by reason of a scarcity of labour, and that we can rely upon their co-operation in endeavouring to ensure that this scheme for the transfer of labour from congested areas for harvest work will be given every chance of success. I again emphasise that the success of the scheme depends on the willing co-operation of both farmers and men concerned. It is particularly important that farmers should not lightly fill in application forms for labour, without appreciating that, when they sign the form, they are entering into a contract to employ the number of workers which they specify, at the rate of wages which I have outlined—1/2 per hour for a 54 hour week, and 1/6 per hour for overtime.
There is a possibility, of course, that difficulties may arise in individual localities. The intention is that those difficulties, should they arise, will be met as well as they can be met by the tillage inspectors, who are being retained in the service of the Department of Agriculture for a longer period than would otherwise be necessary, in order to supervise the administration of this scheme.