HC Deb 22 May 1969 vol 784 c112W
49. Mr. Gardner

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what is her latest estimate of the proportion of manual workers in the building industry working on a labour-only subcontract basis.

Mr. Harold Walker

The latest estimate I have is that quoted in the Report of the Phelps Brown Committee of Inquiry, which was published in July, 1968. The number of operatives working under labour-only sub-contract in the construction industry was then thought to be between 165,000 and 200,000 out of a total labour force of 1¾ million, or between 9 per cent. and 12 per cent.