Mr. Edward M. Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that civil defence training officers who, for administrative reasons are paid through the ambulance service, are classified as health service employees and are not therefore entitled to redundancy payments; and what steps he will take to alleviate the hardship of those training officers who will lose their employment.
§ Mr. Ross:The officers concerned are employed by the St. Andrew's Scottish Ambulance Service, who are not National Health Service employers for the pur- 368W poses of the Redundancy Payments Act: accordingly their employees are not excluded from redundancy payments under that Act. It is my intention that any of these training officers who loses his employment, or otherwise suffers loss or diminution of emoluments, should receive compensation in line with the regulations for which provision is made in the Public Expenditure and Receipts Bill now before Parliament.