§ 1. Mr. Alisonasked the Minister of Power whether he will issue a general direction, in the public interest, to the Central Electricity Generating Board, requiring that labour employed by its contractors for new power stations be recruited from areas where unemployment levels are above the national average.
§ Mr. AlisonIs the hon. Gentleman aware that this is a very surprising and disappointing Answer? To eschew any sort of direction to the C.E.G.B. in this context is inimical to sound planning. Will he not undertake, when his Ministry is responsible for such huge volumes of national expenditure, that it should exercise some supervision as to how it is deployed regionally and locally?
§ Mr. MorrisThere would be severe practical difficulties in the Board attempting to control where its contractors recruited labour. Such control is not normally exercised by other industries. For the major projects the Board's contractors usually find it necessary to recruit labour from other districts so limiting the effect on the locality concerned.