§ Mr. Ellisasked the Minister of Labour when the recommendations of the Devlin Report relating to decasualisation will be implemented in the Bristol Docks;
(2) what is the fall-back pay of dock workers in Bristol; and if he will take steps to rectify the anomaly whereby dockers on fall-back pay receive less than if they were on unemployment plus social security provision.
§ Mr. HattersleyI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 10th April to my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, West (Mr. Dickens) concerning progress towards docks decasualisation in general. This covers the position in Bristol.
In Bristol as in other ports the present weekly fall-back payment for Category A dock workers is£9 gross (generally less for those who are over 65 or not fully fit); the new pay structure recommended by the 1966 Devlin Report to accompany decasualisation includes a national weekly guarantee for all registered dock workers of£15.—[Vol. 744, c. 735–6.]