HC Deb 06 December 1961 vol 650 cc1375-7
25. Mr. Mellish

asked the Minister of Labour if he will state the average percentage of those unemployed during October who were registered port workers in London; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Hare

The National Dock Labour Board informs me that the average percentage of registered dock workers in the Port of London for whom no work was available was 15.7 per cent. during the period 1st-28th October, 1961. The Board has placed a standstill on further recruitment of dock workers in London, and operates a temporary release scheme.

Mr. Mellish

Is the Minister not going to say something other than just giving the bare figure of 15 per cent. unemployed? This is a disastrous figure. Cannot the right hon. Gentleman therefore say something about the future? Is he aware that having started to recruit labour early in the year the Board has now written to the dock workers saying that anyone wanting to leave the docks can do so? What sort of country is this where the early part of the year is spent recruiting labour and we end up with 15 per cent unemployment?

Mr. Hare

The basic answer is that there has been reduced activity in the London docks. It could be that this might have been partially due to what has happened in the London docks during the last 12 months. [Interruption.] As I have explained to the hon. Gentleman, the National Dock Labour Board has placed a standstill on further recruitment and has operated this temporary release scheme, and this is easing the pressure to which I referred.

Mr. Prentice

Is this not a national problem that applies to docks other than this one, including those where there has not been any labour trouble for a long time? Does the right hon. Gentleman think that the Government can escape all responsibility for the lessening of economic activities to which he referred?

Mr. Hare

I thought that the question applied to the London Docks.

Mr. Peyton

Would my right hon. Friend not agree that an unfortunate fact behind this is that the Port of London enjoys such a wretched reputation that the ship-owners avoid sending their ships there whenever possible?

Mr. Hare

I do not think that we want to labour this point. We all regret what happened in the London Docks and we hope that more confidence will be restored in the future. I believe that if advantage is taken the lead which has been given by Mr. Crichton and Mr. Cousins in their new plan for dealing with the problem of the docks, we can forget the errors of the past and have confidence in the future.

Mr. Mellish

Would the right hon. Gentleman not agree that in spite of the previous trouble, official or unofficial, this is still the most efficient port in the world—even though it does not possess all the modernised equipment it should have? This is a national problem and the dockers will resent the implication that the figure of 15 per cent. unemployment is due to unofficial action.

Mr. Hare

The hon. Gentleman might like to know that owing to this rundown the register has been reduced by over 1,800 and now stands at about 27,000.