HC Deb 06 November 1969 vol 790 cc1152-3
2. Mr. Dalyell

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what evidence she has received on the extent of abuse of the Redundancy Payments Act ; and if she will make a statement.

The Minister of State, Department of Employment and Productivity (Mr. Edmund Dell)

I have no evidence that payments are being made under the Act to which the recipients are not entitled.

Mr. Dalyell

Have there been any prosecutions? Is there any evidence of employers conniving with employees to take undue advantage of the Act?

Mr. Dell

I know of no prosecutions, but I will check and let my hon. Friend know. As for collusion, we investigate carefully particularly where rebate of redundancy payments is claimed. We have made a special inquiry, which we are repeating, which certainly did not reveal any case of clear abuse of the Act.

Mr. R. Carr

Can the hon. Gentleman say when the amending legislation which I believe was promised by his predecessor, dealing with one aspect of the abuse of this Act, will be forthcoming?

Mr. Dell

My predecessor promised amending legislation regarding anomalies. We are at the moment engaged in consultations with the C.B.I., the T.U.C. and other organisations, and in due course amending legislation will be brought forward.

Mr. Conlan

My hon. Friend may have no evidence of workers receiving redundancy payments to which they are not entitled, but is he aware that employers are often evading their responsibilities under the Act by depriving workers of redundancy payments because of the mergers of companies, in which case the legal responsibility falls?

Mr. Dell

As my hon. Friend knows, it is possible for anyone who thinks that he has been wrongly deprived of redundancy payments under the Act to make an appeal to the Industrial Tribunal. If my hon. Friend will let me know of any specific cases I will look into them.