§ 5. Mr. Ridleyasked the Minister of Labour what percentage of employees is on shift work.
§ Mr. HareThe latest available information is that derived from an inquiry carried out by my Department in 1954, and covering manufacturing and certain other industries. This showed that 12 per cent. of the manual workers in those industries were employed on shift work.
§ Mr. RidleyWould not my right hon. Friend agree that in capital-intensive industry this is a sure way of making ourselves more competitive and that our competitors in Europe are certainly doing better than that? Will my right hon. Friend suggest and implement ideas to increase the amount of shift working in the interest of our competitiveness?
§ Mr. HareI agree that, in certain industries where continuous production is an essential pan of the process what my hon. Friend says is absolutely right. I will certainly take note of it.