HL Deb 13 January 1981 vol 416 cc35-6WA
Lord Beaumont of Whitley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will list the people or groups that have made representations to them about the post-entry closed shop agreement for college and polytechnic teachers in Leeds; and whether they will publish their replies to them, in particular to the Association of Polytechnic Teachers.

Baroness Young

The Government have received letters originating from four sources: the Association of Polytechnic Teachers, the Managerial, Professional and Staff Liaison Group and two individual correspondents. The substance of the reply from my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science to the Association of Polytechnic Teachers is as follows:

Closed-shop agreements are for negotiation, subject to the relevant legal constraints, between employers and local branches of the trades unions recognised by those employers.

I have no power to intervene in such agreements, although I deplore the incursion of any closed shop arrangement into the education service. However, I understand that the Leeds Branch of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education now intends to terminate its agreement with the Leeds City Council.