Labour and Production—the Cost
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Comments on Topical Problems in the Seventh and Eighth Reports of the Select Committee on National Expenditure
THE Select Committee on National Expenditure issued recently its seventh and eighth reports. Specifically the Committee was appointed to examine current expenditure in the • matter of moneys provided by Parliament for the conduct of the Defence Service, Civil Defence and for other services directly connected with war prospects. It also puts forward suggestions for economies which might be effected.
Report No. 7 deals with the supply of labour and No. 8 with the organization of production. Both these subjects are of interest to all and affect most of us. Therefore time expended upon reading the reports will certainly not be wasted. The review is comprehensive and the recommendations are sound and practical.
There have, of course, been various man-power committees set up to deal with questions concerning the distribution of man-power between industry and the Services. It may be remembered that—at the beginning of the war—a committee was formed under the chairmanship of the late Mr. Humbert Wolfe; whilst later another committee came into being presided over by Sir William Beveridge: At the same time questions relating to man-power have been the concern of the Man-Power Committee of the Production Executive under the Ministry of Labour. In order to achieve centralized control and in an effort to estimate correctly the right distribution of man-power between industry and the Services the Committee recommended the establishment of a permanent body, independent of Departments, which would report direct to the War Cabinet. It further suggested that such body be responsible for the allocation of labour between the different categories of industry.
Absenteeism and Slackness Not Great
Report No. 7 calls attention to the many. complaints which are made concerning discipline—or the lack of it—under the Essential Work Orders; of absenteeism and slackness of employees. It is interesting to note that, in spite of complaints being widespread, it would appear that only a small percentage of employees can be charged with these offences. On the other hand, there are numerous complaints to the effect that the officials responsible do not fully ex-ercise their power under the Essential Work Order, for dealing with absenteeism. Since the publication of this Report an .Order has been made by the Minister of Labour and National Service making absenteeism a punishable offence.
Amongst the numerous subjects dealt with in the Report are the following:—Employment of Women, Factory Amenities, War-time Nurseries, Part-time and Home Work, Shopping Facilities, Transport, Concentration of Industry. In addition there is a description of the departmental machinery involved in supplying labour, explaining in detail the working of the scheme; including the man-power boards, inspectorate and the regional organization.
There are two recommendations made with regard to the employment of women, i.e., that where employers cannot be induced to employ available women in suitable occupations . compulsory methods should be employed; and that greater efforts should be made to persuade managements to make arrangements for the part-time employment of women.
In a former Report the Committee made appropriate reference to the effect upon production of transport difficulties which caused fatigue and absenteeism. Again, in the Report under review, further comments are made with particular reference to the high cost of transport. Payment by the Goyernment of workers' fares in excess of 3s. is restricted to new establishments and to those which have expanded to meet the needs of production. No provision whatever is made for the vast number of other establishments which are obliged to go farther afield in an effort to obtain female in substitution of male labour in accordance with Government policy. When it is remembered that the average earnings of women in the metal, engineering and shipbuilding industries in the week ended July 12, 1941, were 48s. ld., and of girls 27s. 11d, it is obvious that the omission of this provision is a serious obstacle to recruitment. The recommendation of the Committee is that the scheme of assisted travel should be extended to all establishments engaged on essential work which require such facilities to enable the recruitment of sufficient labour. No mention is made, however, of the many cases reported regarding lack of transport facilities.
Labour as Integral Part of Production In the conclusions reached by the Committee mention is made of the Essential Work Orcleks which prevent an employer from enticing labour away from another concern. However, the initiative in obtaining labour still rests with the employer, and in that sense competition continues. It is suggested, therefore, that there should be unified control and direction of labour; this to be treated as an integral part of production as a whole. The question of the distribution and utilization of labour cannot be separated from the problem of production.
A further recommendation of iinportance made by the Committee relates to the need for standardization of design and the elimination of unnecessary grades of -quality, which should be carried much farther.
So far as the Eighth Report is concerned it deals— as already stated—with the Organization of Production under three main headings, i.e., Planning the Programme, Execution of the Programme, Supervision Of Execution. Other subjects include matters affecting workers as, for example, Income Tax and Taking Workers into Confidence. One observation is the need for a tuning up for efficiency which should be treated as'an urgent necessity. The Committee emphasizes that the main need appears to be for a better use of the available forces than a mere increase in their volume.
In the matter of Planning the Programme, the Committee recommends that, at all times, there must be a programme planned sufficiently in advance to ensure a constant flow of production. As for Execution of the Programme, there should be decentralization by the Supply Departments for arranging and supervising the details of production. The recommendation' regarding the Supervision of Execution is that Departments should take more active steps to ensure that good methods developed in one factory are made known to others.