§ 14. Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what action he intends to assist those employees affected by the closure of Courtauld's factory in Wolverhampton.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithI understand that the factory will close on 31st July. A team of my Department's officers is working full time in the factory interviewing the employees and giving advice about other jobs and training opportunities. Special approaches are also being 1707 made to employers likely to be interested in the people concerned.
§ Mrs. ShortIs the hon. Gentleman aware that this closure will affect 1,300 workers, which is a large percentage? Does he not think that he might make approaches to Courtaulds which, after all, is a private enterprise firm which has just declared £52 million profit? Does he not think that it might be persuaded to treat its workers rather more humanely than is proposed?
§ Mr. SmithI understand that this factory has been running at a loss for some time. Most of those who will be affected have fairly good prospects of getting other employment, because, fortunately, Wolverhampton has below the national average rate of unemployment.