HC Deb 07 May 1957 vol 569 cc782-4
17. Miss Burton

asked the Minister of Labour whether he has any statement to make about arrangements to assist the temporary transfer of workers from areas where there is a redundancy of labour which is not expected to be permanent.

Mr. Iain Macleod

Yes, Sir. The new scheme applies to workers who have been unemployed for at least eight weeks, for whom there is no early prospect of obtaining suitable employment locally, and who continue to maintain dependants at home. Such workers who, on or after 11th June, with the prior knowledge of the local office of the Ministry of Labour, take up employment beyond daily travelling distance for which no suitable local unemployed worker is available, will be eligible to receive a free fare, a lodging allowance for a period of up to twelve months, and facilities to enable him to return to the home area to obtain employment there. The scheme will be available generally outside the areas covered by the present Resettlement Scheme, but will not be applied to workers who usually follow seasonal employment, nor in cases where similar assistance is normally provided by the prospective employer.

The rate of lodging allowance payable under this Temporary Transfer Scheme will be 35s. a week, and I have arranged that as from 11th June the lodging allowance under the existing Resettlement Scheme will be increased to the same amount.

Miss Burton

While thanking the right hon. Gentleman for that statement, I know he will appreciate that I shall certainly want to study it before commenting in detail on it. He has referred to seasonal work; will he give an assurance that he will not include the motor car industry in that category?

Mr. Macleod

Yes, of course.

Mr. Lee

The Minister spoke of seasonal workers. Supposing that they are going into work into which non-seasonal workers are going, how will he define them? Supposing a man has been engaged in seasonal work for a year or two and then transfers to a job of the type which the right hon. Gentleman has in mind here, how will the Minister differentiate between them?

Mr. Macleod

One would have to look at individual cases, but it seems to me to be a contradiction of terms to say that the man has been following seasonal employment steadily for a year or two. I think that this is irrelevant. Seasonal employment is not a new problem and, normally, a man engaged in that work is expected to make his own arrangements. What we are trying to do, which, we believe, will be of considerable assistance in relation to mobility of labour, is that if people are at work in an area which, perhaps, for a short time runs into difficulties, they may be helped to take employment somewhere else, even though they intend to come back to the home area, and even though they leave their dependants in that home area while working elsewhere.

Mr. Robens

As this matter is surely tied to the recent statement about the disposition of our Forces in this country, would the right hon. Gentleman reconsider the request that we made for a White Paper dealing with the subject, and, perhaps, with the methods by which the Ministry of Labour are to get these people into employment in other parts of the country—lodging allowances and the rest?

Mr. Macleod

This matter goes wider than any of those that arise immediately out of the defence debate. On the defence debate matter, I am, within a few days, laying before the House a detailed explanation of the Government's plans. particularly for National Service.

Mr. Osborne

Can my right hon. Friend state how much the scheme is likely to cost?

Mr. Macleod

No, I am afraid it is not possible to give an exact estimate. The figure obviously depends on how many people use the scheme. We are sending out detailed instructions now and they will be available in most areas from 11th June.

Mr. Lee

Is it the Minister's intention to inform people at the employment exchanges about this; that, unless they get the instructions to go to these jobs from the employment exchanges, facilities regarding payment and the like will not be available to them?

Mr. Macleod

Some of these matters are not yet finally worked out. As I said in my statement, it is obviously important that they should go to their new jobs with the prior knowledge of the local office of the Ministry of Labour; otherwise, it is impossible to check that they have fulfilled the requirements which I have laid down.