HC Deb 04 May 1967 vol 746 cc738-9
Q5. Mr. Marten

asked the Prime Minister when he will hold his next productivity conference.

The Prime Minister

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave on 1st March to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Fife, West (Mr. William Hamilton).—[Vol. 742, c. 113.]

Mr. Marten

If and when the Prime Minister holds another productivity conference, will he take into account, and discuss the principle involved in, the recent railwaymen's pay settlement whereby the railwaymen were given increased pay for increased productivity but whereby the public, be they travellers or taxpayers, got no benefit at all from the increased productivity?

The Prime Minister

To answer the "if and when" part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary, the next conference is scheduled for 14th June. We are having discussions with both sides of industry, through the National Economic Development Office, about appropriate items for the agenda, but I cannot say at this stage whether there will be discussions on productivity pay agreements, a matter which we discussed last time. The general view of the Government, as shown in the White Paper, is that, wherever possible, productivity agreements should provide some dividend for the public as well as for capital and labour.

Mr. Ashley

As the first productivity conference was highly successful, will my right hon. Friend consider including shop stewards in any future conferences in view of the need to percolate ideas from the top to the shop floor level?

The Prime Minister

We are discussing with representatives of industry the question of who should attend the conference. I agree with my hon. Friend—and there has been a great deal of follow-up work done in this connection—that one of the main things is to ensure that the findings of the conference are known as widely as possible, and certainly at the shop floor level.

Mr. Heath

Will the Prime Minister do his honest best to see that the next productivity conference is not followed by a drop of 10 per cent. in investment?

The Prime Minister

I can certainly tell the right hon. Gentleman that some of the very gloomy pronouncements about investment that were made, understandably by industry at the time, are not now being fulfilled.