§ 2. Mr. Jannerasked the Minister of Labour what steps he is taking to ensure that men declared redundant in various industries are informed of the 622 vacancies in other industries and activities, and given every help in filling them.
§ Mr. HareMy local offices keep in touch with employers, and when redundancy occurs or is imminent they make special arrangements to help the workers affected to obtain other employment. Constant efforts are being made to encourage firms to make early contact with my local offices when redundancies are foreseen. As a general rule, employers are co-operating well with the exchanges and the arrangements for dealing with redundancies are working smoothly.
§ Mr. JannerIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that there is a serious shortage of signalmen on the railways? What action does he propose to take to bring that sort of case to the notice of the employers?
§ Mr. HareThat hardly arises out of the Question. In answering the hon. Member's Question, I wished to make it clear that we encourage employers to warn us whenever there are redundancies so that we can fill vacancies where-ever they may be. Signalmen would be included.