asked the Minister of Labour why the annual report of His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Factories for 1945 was only presented to Parliament in December, 1946; and whether subsequent reports will be made available nearer the time to which they refer.

Owing to heavy pressure of work in the Factory Department, the last annual report was not completed until exceptionally late. I hope it will be found possible to submit future annual reports considerably earlier than during the war years.