§ LORD BELSTEADMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what have been the total number of strikes from July to the most recent date available, exclusive of the coal-mining industry; how many of these stoppages were official; and how both of these figures compare with the average figures for the same period during the previous 10 years.]
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, SCOTTISH OFFICE (LORD HUGHES)My Lords, the provisonal total of stoppages of work due to industrial disputes, other than in coal mining, which began in the period July 1 to November 30, 1969, is 1,303, inclding 15 stoppages known to have been official. As the numbers of stoppages known to have been official are available only from 1960, I am relating the second part of the Question to the averages of the nine-year period 1960 to 1968. On this basis the figures of 1,303 and 15 represent an increase of 114 per cent. and a decrease of 32 per cent., respectively.
§ LORD BELSTEADMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his reply. From the figures given by the noble Lord, what conclusions do Her Majesty's Government draw?
§ LORD HUGHESMy Lords, that we should prefer the figures to be better.