§ 28. Mr. Doddsasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what effect the petrol shortage has had on British Road Services in respect of employment.
§ Mr. WatkinsonI am informed that the cuts in motor fuel have not yet made necessary any reduction in the staff of British Road Services.
§ Mr. DoddsCan the Minister deny that, as a consequence of this cut, many drivers employed by British Road Services have had their earnings halved, some of them having dropped to earnings of between £7 to £8 a week? Is it not a fact that people like those, who can ill 392 afford it, have to pay a very heavy price for the foolish policy of the Government?
§ Mr. WatkinsonI am not aware of that at all. The facts as I know them are that the British Transport Commission has tried, as every other industry has been trying, to limit the amount of petrol it uses. When doing that the Commission has been most careful to see that no man has been discharged. In that it has acted very properly.
§ Mr. G. R. StraussCan the Minister give an assurance that the cuts which it has been necessary to make in the use of petrol will apply equally on the same basis to British Road Services as to private road hauliers?
§ Mr. WatkinsonYes.