HC Deb 06 August 1976 vol 916 cc1140-1W
Mr. Grylls

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what proposals he has to help those employees made redundant as a result of Her Majesty's Government's proposals to protect certain medical journals, but not others.

Mr. Golding

Employees made redundant for whatever reason are entitled to the services of the Manpower Services Commission in finding or training for new jobs and, where appropriate, to redundancy payments, and to the protection afforded by the Employment Protection Act and other employment legislation aimed at safeguarding employees' rights in redundancy situations. To the best of my knowledge, the proposal by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Security to reduce the level of expenditure on sales promotion which is allowed as a cost, under the voluntary price regulation scheme, in assessing whether a pharmaceutical company's profits are reasonable, is not expected to lead to any significant loss of jobs.