§ Mr. Craigenasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the average number of hours of overtime worked per employee in manufacturing industries during each of the past five years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. GoldingThe precise information is not available because overtime statistics are collected for only one week in each month and because they are collected for operatives but not for other employees.
The following table gives the average numbers of hours of overtime worked per operative in manufacturing industries in Great Britain in the weeks for which information is available. These weeks have been selected to avoid statutory holidays and it cannot be assumed that the weekly average can be multiplied by 52 to give an annual figure:
Weekly average 1974* 3.0 1975 2.5 1976 2.7 1977 3.0 1978 3.0 * In June 1974, a new sampling system was introduced. The figure give in the average from June to December.