HC Deb 29 February 1968 vol 759 cc1752-4
Q3. Earl of Dalkeith

asked the Prime Minister whether he is satisfied with the co-ordination between the Secretary of State for Defence and the Minister of Labour in respect of the employment of servicemen and civilians working on military contracts made redundant by the recent cuts in defence expenditure; and if he will make a statement.

The Prime Minister

Yes, Sir, but the hon. Gentleman's Question raises some questions of importance, the answer to which would involve a long reply, and so, with permission, Mr. Speaker, I will circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Earl of Dalkeith

Can the Prime Minister say what specific action is emerging from the co-ordination that is taking place to stem the brain drain or any consequential drain of personnel of high quality and calibre, which Britain can ill afford to lose?

The Prime Minister

The hon. Gentleman is right to draw attention to this matter, although the wider subject of the brain drain has been dealt with in the House by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Technology. It is inevitably the case that when there is a closure of a particular kind of activity which involves the use of highly specialised personnel, there will be a danger of this kind, but we are seeking to minimise that and to minimise redundancy.

Mr. Maudling

The right hon. Gentleman has not answered my hon. Friend's question, which was about specific action being taken to deal with the very real problem of the brain drain being accentuated by cuts in the defence industry. Will he answer that?

The Prime Minister

I said that there would inevitably be some loss of highly skilled personnel if there was no longer a requirement for their skill as a result of defence closures; and there may be some of that as a result of recent closures. However. the right hon. Gentleman must realise that cuts in defence must be made if we are to cut down the growth of Government expenditure. We have had very little help from hon. Gentlemen opposite on this question, but it is bound to have some side effects of the kind that have been mentioned.

Following is the information:

Yes, Sir. There are well established arrangements for placing ex-Servicemen in civil employment and on these there is close cooperation between the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Defence. The two Departments are jointly reviewing the arrangements in the light of recent decisions which will increase the normal outflow from the Forces. As regards employment on defence contracts, co-operation between industry, the sponsoring Departments and the Ministry of Labour is close. The full range of the Ministry's employment services will be brought into action without difficulty in the event of redundancy.