Mr. HealyAnother possibility which we have discussed with the Manpower Services Commission is that, in a period of high unemployment, special payments should be made to firms for a limited period if they were prepared to defer planned redundancies. There would be no question of using such a scheme to encourage overmanning or to prop up firms which would be incapable of standing on their own feet in normal times. The scheme would relate to large-scale redundancies in areas of high unemployment, and would be intended for situations where early recovery offered a sure prospect of economic employment in the firms concerned. Then it would make good sense from every point of view that the workers should be kept in productive employment rather than becoming unemployed. In some cases the extra time could be used to arrange for their redeployment into more valuable jobs.
The Government have decided that although this is not a measure called for by the present situation, we should put ourselves in a position to use it if the 291 circumstances required. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment will, therefore, be putting down an amendment to the Employment Protection Bill to provide the necessary enabling powers.