CBI AND TUC (Hansard, 5 April 1973)

Ql. Mr. Edward Taylor
asked the Prime Minister if he will arrange a series of regular meetings, at least once per quarter, with representatives of the TUC and the CBI.

§ Q2. Mr. James Hamilton
asked the Prime Minister what recent representations he has had from the CBI and the TUC about the economy.

§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Edward Heath)
The meetings of the National Economic Development Council already provide a forum for regular monthly contact between the Government and the CBI and the TUC. I took the chair at a meeting of the council yesterday at which there was an exchange of views about the economy. I am always willing to arrange further meetings with the CBI and the TUC as the occasion requires.

Mr. Taylor
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the results of the polls in the gas industry and the mines, and the speech made by Mr. Hugh Scanlon, might have created a situation in which further discussion of the possibility of a voluntary prices and incomes policy would be fruitful at this stage?

§ The Prime Minister
I hope that is indeed the case. Yesterday at the NEDC meeting our discussion following upon the Budget was one of the most constructive discussions between employers, the TUC and the Government in which I have taken part over 10 years.

§ Mr. James Hamilton
At his meeting yesterday did the right hon. Gentleman talk to the TUC about the statesmanlike proposal put forward by Mr. Scanlon? Did he talk to the NEDC about the amount of money—between £15 million and £18 million—which has been given to the building societies and, at the same time, explain to the NEDC why he could not give old-age pensioners an increase until October this year? Finally, did he tell the NEDC that he cannot control and has not controlled prices, and that therefore his policy is a fraud?

§ The Prime Minister
No, Sir. None of those subjects was discussed yesterday.

§ Sir Harmar Nicholls
Will the Prime Minister bear in mind that in the nation's interest there are times when regular formal meetings can be of advantage and times when an absence of formal meetings is desirable to enable the discussions and thinking to be digested? Does not this seem to be such a time?

§ The Prime Minister
Yes, Sir. I quite agree with my hon. Friend.

§ Mr. Harold Wilson
As housing costs are a very important part of inflation, does the right hon. Gentleman recall that five times across these two Dispatch Boxes he has been pressed about mortgages and has refused to take any action, although the difficulties are due to Government monetary policy? Is "Mr. 9½-10 per cent." any relation to the author of "A Better Tomorrow" which was published in 1970 and in which the right hon. Gentleman said: We will reverse the decline in building, make home ownership easier again, and concentrate Government subsidies where they are most needed.

§ The Prime Minister
From the point of view of housing construction and making more houses available, the number of houses being started for sale rose from 165,000 in 1970 to 227,000 last year. That is essential for making more homes available.

§ Mr. Kaufman
Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that the atmosphere of the tripartite discussions could be greatly improved if he were to extend his new technique and promise to offer once-for-all, three-monthly bridging grants to bakers to keep down the price of bread, to cities to keep down the cost of rates, to landlords to keep down the cost of rents, and to shopkeepers to keep down the prices of various other goods?

§ The Prime Minister
I have already stated that the atmosphere yesterday was extremely constructive. I have seldom known better in talks between the CB1 and the TUC. If the Opposition do not want a constructive atmosphere, that is their responsibility.
Concerning the other matters raised by the hon. Gentleman, he will know that the Government have helped those who are paying rents, whether they are in local 608 authority houses or in private houses, by increasing the needs allowance so that it covers all those with two children who are earning up to the average industrial wage. That was a major step forward, as well as helping in particular those who are most affected by rating revaluation.

§ Dame Joan Vickers
As a large proportion of the workers of Britain are women, how many women representatives of the TUC and the CBI attended the conference?

§ The Prime Minister
The responsibility for choosing the representatives of the TUC and the CBI on the NEDC is for the TUC and the CBI. I can only state, as a matter of fact—and one for which I have no responsibility—that there are no women representatives.

§ Mr. Harold Wilson
As the right hon. Gentleman is showing signs of beginning to learn—even if he is a slow pupil—in view of the answer which he has just given about rents, will he now state categorically that he will not require local authorities to implement the next stage of increases in council house rents later this month?

§ The Prime Minister
No, Sir.