§ 87. Viscount Hinchingbrookeasked the Minister of Labour whether Her Majesty's Government have now considered the recommendations of the Devlin Committee on the Dock Labour Scheme; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Iain Macleod:The Report recommended that the main structure of the Dock Labour Scheme should not be altered, but that there should be greater co-operation between the employers and the trade unions to make the Scheme work more effectively and that the National Dock Labour Board should be given the opportunity to exert a greater degree of leadership in dealing with various problems of dock labour. On those recommendations I have not yet received the observations of all the bodies in the industry with whom it would mainly lie to implement them. The Report also recommended various minor amendments to the Scheme.
When I have the observations from all bodies on these, which I hope will shortly be the case, I propose to consider the desirability of amending the Dock Labour Scheme under the procedure laid down in the Dock Workers (Regulations of Employment) Act, 1946.