§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will make a statement about the strike at North East Polytechnic, London; and for how long it has been going on.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsI understand that the dispute, which started at the beginning of the current academic year, concerns non-teaching staff of the polytechnic who are anxious about, amongst other things, the possible health risk associated with some asbestos boarding, installed as a precaution against fire in one of the buildings. This is entirely a matter for the polytechnic which is considering certain requests in readiness for a meeting next week with those concerned. I hope the dispute can now be settled quickly.