4. Mr. Leeasked the Minister of Labour whether he will obtain from all employers in the motor car industry their estimates of the numbers and types of employees they will require by the end of the year.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodNo, Sir. Such estimates as employers might be willing to make would be based on so many assumptions that they would not serve any useful purpose.
Mr. LeeDoes the right hon. Gentleman recall that on 19th June I asked him whether he would take powers to require employers to give him notice of pending redundancies, and that in his reply he told me he was quite certain that employers would co-operate with him before such action was taken? Following upon the decision of the British Motor Corporation, which has caused him so much trouble and anxiety, is he now quite so certain that employers will willingly co-operate, and will he reconsider the answer which he gave on 19th June?
§ Mr. MacleodThat is a very different Question from the one on the Order Paper, which is whether there would be any value in having such an estimate of requirements by the end of the year.