H.—lla

By the end of 1942 the coverage of these provisions had been extended to a point where some 230,000 workers were affected, or about one-third of the entire working population. The principal industries affected have been :— Mining Food processing Sawmilling Clothing and footwear Defence construction Provision of meals Railways Government departments Power supply Education Engineering and shipbuilding Hospitals, Fire Boards, sanitation. A fuller statement of this coverage is set out in the Ajjpendix. The farming industries have not, so far, been included, their omission being due to the difficulties which would arise from any attempt to apply the above conditions to these industries. It should be added that before any industry or undertaking is declared essential the views of the relevant Man-power Utilization Council and trade-union are obtained and considered. Evidence which has come to hand indicates that a very considerable redaction in the rate of labour turnover has been achieved by the adoption of these measures. Though more than 62,000 applications to terminate employment had been received by the end of March, 1943, these represent only a part of the total number of terminations which would otherwise have occurred, as many thousands of workers who would ordinarily have left their employment have not done so because they have realized that their applications would have little chance of success. Of the 62,000 cases where definite application was made, 8,400, or 14 per cent., were declined on investigation by District Man-power Officers. Of the cases where permission to terminate was granted— 22 per cent, transferred to another employer in the same industry ; 50 per cent, transferred to an employer in another " essential " industry ; 5 per cent, transferred to an employer in an industry which had not been declared essential; while 23 per cent, were lost to industry through ill-health, retirement, marriage in the case of women, &c. A large number of these terminations were from seasonal work, and were quite unavoidable. Many applications have been based on medical evidence, and where this has appeared to be satisfactory permission to terminate has been granted. Some medical evidence, however, has proved unsatisfactory, and arrangements for the setting-up of independent regular examining doctors have therefore been put in train. In the main, the decisions of Man-power Officers have been well received by both employers and workers. As against 61,000 decisions actually made by the 31st March, 1943, only 1,160 appeals had been received —i.e., 2 per cent, of the number of decisions. The administration of the regulations has been carried out with a wide exercise of discretion and the avoidance of harshness, and in the early period considerable leniency was allowed. Where young persons are affected, their long-range welfare has been given careful consideration. 6. REGISTRATION FOR WORK A preliminary step towards the transfer of individuals into essential employment has been the setting-up of registers covering those sections of the population from which it is desired to make a selection. The general plan has been to require persons of specified classes to register with the District Man-power Officer in whose district they normally reside. Twelve Registration Orders have been issued to the end of the period under review, these falling into two distinct classes : — (а) Occupational Registration Orders, which affect all civilians possessed of some particular type of skill or experience ; and (б) General Registration Orders, which cover specified age-classes of the civilian population. The occupational registration orders have covered : — Building and allied workers, Engineering workers, Timber workers, and Scientists and technicians, while the general registration orders have brought in the following classes in a series of progressive stages : — Men aged forty-six to fifty-nine inclusive, Male Aliens aged eighteen to forty-five inclusive, Women aged eighteen to thirty inclusive. As regards male British subjects aged eighteen to forty-five inclusive, their liability for military service overrides their liability for transfer into essential employment; those of them, however, who are found to be medically unfit for military service are deemed to be registered for employment, and details of these men are supplied to Man-power Officers. In the special case of the Scientists' and Technicians' Registration Order, the registration forms were concentrated in the office of the Director of Scientific Developments, and included details of members of the forces as well as of civilians possessed of scientific, engineering, and similar qualifications.

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