§ Mr. Swainasked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs if he will introduce legislation to implement paragraphs 58 and 62 of the Economic Review of the Trades Union Congress for 1968, details of which are in his possession; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. UrwinOn paragraph 58 my hon. Friend has already been assured, the Government will not overlook the contribution which any of the public enterprises might be able to make in helping to bring employment to areas affected by pit closures and the rationalisation of the steel industry. The problem, however, goes wider than these two industries. With the help of Government incentives, including the incentives available under the scheme for Special Development Areas, progress is already being made in attracting industry to such areas.
As regards paragraph 62, re-training facilities are available to help those needing to obtain other employment and they are being extended. As the Review re- 194W cognises, the Redundancy Payments Act was a major step in providing assistance for people affected by economic change and the introduction of the earnings related supplement to unemployment benefit has been a further step in this direction.