HL Deb 01 February 1977 vol 379 cc720-1

2.37 p.m.

Baroness ELLES

My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend Lord Elton, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in his name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will now publish both a summary of the information supplied to them by companies complying with the requirements listed in Annex 2 of the White Paper Wages and Conditions of South African Workers employed by British firms in South Africa (Cmnd. 5845) and the names of those firms which have failed to do so.

Lord ORAM

My Lords, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Trade has recently confirmed his undertaking to name firms who have declined to co-operate with the Government's request for disclosure of information. He intends to make a Statement very shortly which will indicate generally the degree of response to this request. This exercise covers a large number of companies and it is important that it should be carefully done to avoid possible misrepresentation. I therefore ask for the noble Lord's forbearance for a little longer in the knowledge that information on the lines he has requested will shortly be forthcoming.

Baroness ELLES

My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend I should like to thank the Minister for that reply. Is the noble Lord able to give some indication of when this answer might be available, and whether those firms which have not yet replied will be reminded of their duty to do so and be encouraged to give as much information as they can?

Lord ORAM

My Lords, my right honourable friend wrote to the firms on 15th December, so they have had a recent reminder. The replies are now being examined. It is expected that my right honourable friend will be in a position to make a Statement certainly within the next two weeks.

Lord BROCKWAY

My Lords, is the Minister able to say the number of firms which have supplied the information and the number which have not, or should we wait until the further Statement is made?

Lord ORAM

My Lords, I would ask my noble friend to wait. He will not have to wait very long. There has been a distinct increase in the number of replies.