§ Mr. Donald Anderson (Swansea, East)The petition contains the names of 12,000 people of Swansea and south-west Wales. It has been compiled by trade unionists, by traders and by the general citizenry of the area. Effectively, it has been signed by those who are concerned about the threat to 3,000-plus jobs at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency at Morriston in my constituency. The petition is fully supported by my right hon. Friend the Member for Swansea, West (Mr. Williams), by my hon. Friends the Members for Gower (Mr. Wardell) and for Neath (Mr. Hain), by my right hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli (Mr. Davies) and by my hon. Friend the Member for Carmarthen (Mr. Williams).
The petition states that, if the Government proceed, as was threatened in a report prepared by the chief executive of the agency last October, to put the work now carried out at the agency out to contract as part of their privatisation programme, that will inevitably lead to the loss of those much-valued jobs in an area of high unemployment, will devastate employment prospects in the city and the area in the longer term, and will seriously reduce the quality of service now provided by the agency to the motor trade and to the public.
The petition ends with the prayer:
Wherefore your petitioners Pray that any proposals to contractorise the work of the Agency be withdrawn or rejected.
§ To lie upon the Table.