HC Deb 22 February 1965 vol 707 cc17-21
19. Mr. Kershaw

asked the Minister of Labour if he will introduce legislation to enable Her Majesty's Government to give financial compensation to aircraft workers made redundant by Her Majesty's Government's decisions to cancel aircraft.

Mr. Gunter

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Aviation on 17th February to the hon. Member for Newark (Mr. Bishop).

20. Mr. Kershaw

asked the Minister of Labour how many aircraft workers will become redundant in the Gloucester and Stroud employment areas as a result of the Government's decision to cancel the HS681 aircraft.

Mr. Gunter

Hawker Siddeley Ltd. announced last week that they intend to close their design office at Gloucester, which was then employing 169 workers. It is not possible to say to what extent this is due to Government decisions. Fifty-nine workers were given notice of discharge on 17th February, and my officers are visiting the establishment today and tomorrow with a view to offering other employment to those who need our help.

Mr. Kershaw

Does the right hon. Gentleman realise that his statement that he does not know why these men are being dismissed is quite astonishing? Will the right hon. Gentleman also appreciate that in this area there are no comparable forms of employment where these highly-skilled men with very special training can get anything like the wages which they have been having up to now?

Mr. Gunter

I could not be more specific at the moment, because we are awaiting, and we shall not know until Wednesday or Thursday, the qualifications and wishes of the men involved.

Mr. Dodds-Parker

Will not the right hon. Gentleman take really urgent action? Is he aware that this is the direct result of the action of his Government, contrary to all their promises at the General Election?

Mr. Gunter

It is not true to say that this is entirely due to the Government. There is a lot of doubt as to whether all these men are redundant as a result of Government action.

21. Mr. Fisher

asked the Minister of Labour what plans he has for the alternative employment of people made redundant by the Government's cancellation of the HS681 and the P1154 aircraft.

Mr. Gunter

As soon as they are informed of any impending redundancies the staff of the employment exchanges concerned are ready to interview the workers affected at their place of work with a view to arranging alternative employment or any necessary training.

Mr. Fisher

What happens to these people—I am thinking particularly of the design teams and draughtsmen who have lost their jobs—if there is no comparable employment locally? Is the right hon. Gentleman making plans to get comparable employment for them elsewhere in equally skilled jobs?

Mr. Gunter

It would be foolish of me to suggest that the highly-trained and specialist design groups who are affected could easily be found employment in the exact locality where they are, but my Ministry will make every effort to ensure as far as possible that they are found employment with the least inconvenience to them.

Mr. A. Royle

What steps is the right hon. Gentleman taking to make certain that his right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence increases the order for the P1127, thereby employing many of my constituents and those of my hon. Friend the Member for Surbiton (Mr. Fisher) on the same work in which they are skilled and which they have been doing for the last 15 to 20 years?

Mr. Gunter

I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence will note what has been said.

Mr. Hogg

Can the right hon. Gentleman say how many of the persons concerned are, in fact, qualified scientists or engineers?

Mr. Gunter

Not without notice.

29. Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

asked the Minister of Labour what steps he is taking to secure that suitable alternative employment in the neighbourhood is found for workers at the Hawker Siddeley factory in the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames who will lose their jobs as the result of the Government's decision to cancel the construction of certain British aircraft.

Mr. Gunter

Forty-five workers have sought my Department's help in obtaining other work, either through the special office which was opened at the factory on 12th February or at their nearest employment exchange. Most of them have already been put in touch with prospective employers within daily travelling distance of their homes.

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

The right hon. Gentleman refers to those workers who have sought his Department's help, but is he aware that among those affected are members of the highly specialised design team which, under Sir Sydney Camm, has been designing for the last 30 years aircraft which have been of great service to this country? Is he aware that they are losing their jobs as a direct result of the Government's decision to cancel the P.1154 and, therefore, there is a moral obligation upon him to take special steps to see that they secure suitable employment for their skill near their homes?

Mr. Gunter

Twenty-seven of the highly qualified workers registered with the Professional and Executive Register but two of them left immediately for the provinces. The other 25 have been put in touch with prospective employers for a total of 146 vacancies.

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

Yes, but in view of the numbers now under or threatened with notice, would the right hon. Gentleman observe that the original Question asked what special steps he was taking? Would he now answer that?

Mr. Gunter

If my Answer did not convey that very thing to the right hon. Gentleman, only God can give him understanding.

Mr. Lubbock

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that Rolls-Royce wants a substantial number of designers and that these might come from among those made redundant at the Hawker Siddeley works?

Mr. Gunter

Yes, Sir.

Mr. A. Royle

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that Labour candidates in my constituency and in that of my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston-upon-Thames (Mr. Boyd Carpenter) during the election gave firm pledges that the Labour Government would not cancel the P1154 or the P1127? When will the present Government keep some of the pledges made during the election campaign?

Mr. Gunter

As far as I am aware, my party made no pledge at all of the character stated by the hon. Member. In any case, I am answering the Question. If the hon. Member wants an argument about the matter, this is not the time.

36. Mr. William Hamilton

asked the Minister of Labour what consultations he is having with the aircraft manufacturers on the question of the payment of adequate severance pay to workers declared redundant as a result of the contraction of the industry.

Mr. Gunter

As my right hon. Friend the Minister of Aviation said in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Newark (Mr. Bishop) on 17th February, until the general legislation proposed on this subject comes into operation severance payments are a matter for negotiations between the employers and the unions. My right hon. Friend is urgently considering to what extent such payments can properly be claimed as a charge against the contracts recently cancelled by his Department.

Mr. Hamilton

Is my right hon. Friend aware that many of the workers affected by the contraction of the industry, which would be inevitable in any event, are greatly dissatisfied with the present schemes instituted by the aircraft industry? What consultations is my right hon. Friend having with the manufacturers to see whether they can improve their payments, and what steps is he taking to expedite legislation to make this compulsory upon employers?

Mr. Gunter

I hope that the legislation will be introduced shortly. Negotiations are at present going on between employers and unions about severance pay in the industry affected.

Mr. Godber

Does the right hon. Gentleman accept—from his previous replies, I take it that he does—that there is a special responsibility on the Government in this case to see that these workers do receive adequate compensation? Will he do all he possibly can with his right hon. Friend to see that they do?

Mr. Gunter

As I said in my original Answer, my right hon. Friend the Minister of Aviation is urgently considering this matter now.