Employment and Training Act 1948
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1948 c. 46 |
| Year | 1948 |
Employment and Training Act, 1948.
(11 & 12 Geo. 6.) CHAPTER 46.
An Act to make fresh provision with respect to the functions of the Minister of Labour and National Service relating to employment and training for employment; to provide for the establishment of a comprehensive youth employment service; to consolidate with amendments certain enactments relating to the matters aforesaid; and for purposes connected therewith.
[13th July 1948]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I.
Functions of Minister as to Employment Services.
1 General functions of Minister as to employment and training for employment.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, it shall be the duty of the Minister of Labour and National Service (in this Act referred to as ‘the Minister’) to provide such facilities and services as he considers expedient for the purpose of assisting persons to select, fit themselves for, obtain and retain employment suitable to their age and capacity, of assisting employers to obtain suitable employees, and generally for the purpose of promoting employment in accordance with the requirements of the community.
(2) For the purpose of advising and assisting him in the performance of his functions under this Act, the Minister may appoint such advisory committees as he thinks fit, and any such committee may be appointed either in respect of the whole of Great Britain or in respect of any area therein.
(3) The Minister may make regulations with respect to the constitution and functions of any such advisory committee as aforesaid.
2 Employment exchanges and employment services.
(1) The Minister may establish and maintain, in such places as he thinks fit, employment exchanges, that is to say offices or places for the collection and furnishing of information, either by the keeping of registers or otherwise, respecting persons who seek to engage employees and persons who seek employment.
(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of the last foregoing subsection, the Minister may make such arrangements as he considers expedient, whether by means of employment exchanges or otherwise, for the collection and furnishing of information, and the provision of advice, guidance or other services for persons of any class (whether employed or not) for any of the purposes mentioned in section one of this Act.
(3) Subject to the approval of the Treasury, the Minister may defray or contribute towards expenditure incurred by any local authority under any enactment other than this Act in the provision of any such services as are mentioned in the last foregoing subsection, and may make such contributions as he may, with the consent of the Treasury, determine towards the funds of any voluntary association having among its objects the provision of any such services.
(4) The Minister may make regulations with respect to the management of employment exchanges provided by him under this section, and otherwise with respect to the exercise of his functions thereunder.
(5) No person shall be disqualified or otherwise prejudiced in respect of facilities provided at any employment exchange as aforesaid on account of his refusal to accept employment found for him through such an exchange if the ground of his refusal is that a trade dispute which affects his trade exists, or that the wages offered are lower than those current in the trade in the district where the employment is found.
(6) Subject to the approval of the Treasury, the Minister may, in such cases and subject to such conditions as he thinks fit, make payments by way of grant or loan to persons travelling to or attending at any employment exchange or other place for the purpose of availing themselves of services provided under this section, and may pay to medical practitioners, in respect of the examination of persons availing themselves of such services, such fees as he may determine.
(7) If any person, for the purpose of obtaining employment or procuring employees, knowingly makes any false statement or false representation to an officer of any employment exchange provided by the Minister under this section, or to any person acting for or for the purposes of any such exchange, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
(8) The Minister shall, so far as practicable, make arrangements with employers for the notification by them to employment exchanges of situations in their employment which are or are about to become vacant.
3 Provisions as to training for employment.
(1) The Minister may provide such training courses for persons, whether employed or not, who are above the upper limit of the compulsory school age as he thinks necessary or expedient for any of the purposes mentioned in section one of this Act.
(2) For the purposes aforesaid, the Minister may, in such cases and subject to such conditions as he may with the approval of the Treasury determine, defray or contribute towards the cost of training courses provided by any other authority or person for any such persons as are mentioned in the last foregoing subsection.
(3) References in this section to the provision of a training course shall be construed as including references—
(a ) to the making of payments to persons who attend at any such course, in respect of their maintenance or in respect of their travelling expenses;
(b ) to the provision of residential accommodation, board and facilities for recreation and welfare for such persons;
(c ) to the provision of any other facilities or services incidental to the purposes of the course.
(4) Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this section, where, in pursuance of arrangements made with the Minister, provision is made by an employer for the training of persons in his employment, the Minister may, with the approval of the Treasury, make any payment or provide any facility or service to or for the benefit of those persons which he could make or provide if they were attending at a training course provided by him under this section.
(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorising the Minister to defray or contribute towards the cost of any course of instruction provided by a local education authority under section seventy-six of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1935 , or to make any payment or provide any facility or service to or for the benefit of persons attending at such a course.
(6) Subject as hereinafter provided the Minister of National Insurance may, with the consent of the Treasury, authorise the payment out of the National Insurance Fund of contributions towards expenses incurred by the Minister under this section in respect of persons entitled to unemployment benefit under the National Insurance Act, 1946 , and persons who would be so entitled but for regulations made under that Act:
Provided that contributions under this subsection shall not exceed half a million pounds in any year.
4 Schemes for promoting regularity of employment.
(1) Where any scheme for promoting greater regularity of employment in any industry is approved by the Minister on the joint application of an organisation representing employers and an organisation representing workmen in that industry, the Minister may, in accordance with arrangements made with the consent of the Treasury, assist the administration of the scheme by attaching officers of the Ministry of Labour and National Service to help in the administration thereof, and by such other means as he thinks fit.
(2) The Minister may, in accordance with such arrangements as aforesaid, issue on behalf of employers to persons to whom any such scheme applies any sums payable to those persons whether by way of wages or otherwise:
Provided that any arrangements making provision for the issue of any such sums shall also make provision for paying to the Minister any sums so issued by him and any expenses incurred by him which are attributable to the scheme.
(3) If an organisation representing employers and an organisation representing workmen in any industry make to the Minister a joint representation as to any difficulty in the operation of any scheme for promoting greater regularity of employment in the industry, or in making any further scheme for that purpose for the industry, the Minister may appoint one or more persons to hold an inquiry into the circumstances giving rise to the difficulty and to make a report to him with respect thereto.
(4) The fee to be paid by the Minister to any person holding such an inquiry as aforesaid shall be such as the Minister may with the consent of the Treasury direct.
5 Payments towards cost of removal and resettlement of workers.
(1) Subject to the approval of the Treasury, the Minister may, for the purposes of his functions under section one of this Act, make provision by way of grant or loan or otherwise—
(a ) for facilitating the removal of any persons, with or without their dependants, to or from any place in Great Britain for the purpose of obtaining employment;
(b ) for the maintenance and welfare of persons so removed in the course of their removal or pending their resettlement, and, in the case of persons removed to any place in Great Britain, for their resettlement;
(c ) where any persons removed as aforesaid for the purpose of obtaining...
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