§ Mr. Biffenasked the Minister of Labour how many productivity proposals have been examined by his Department and confirmed as conforming with the Government's prices and incomes policy; how many civil servants are employed fully and part-time on this task, respectively; and how many were recruited direct from industry to provide expertise 336W in judging what working practices constitute genuine increases in productivity.
§ Mr. HattersleyMy Department has examined 361 productivity proposals of which 299 have been found to be acceptable.
Of the 29 officers at Headquarters and the 48 in the Regional Offices whose duties include consideration of cases under the productivity prices and incomes policy, including those specifically presented under the productivity criterion nine have been recruited from industry though not specially for this job and others have had industrial experience in the course of their training.