§ Mrs. Lena Jegerasked the Minister for the Civil Service to what extent the cleaning of Government offices is carried out by contract firms and what proportion is cleaned by direct labour; what is the average payment by Her Majesty's Government per worker per hour to the contract firms; and what is the average payment received by employees, compared with cleaners directly employed by the Government.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerI have no later information on the first point than that contained in the answer to a similar Question by the hon. Member on 15th June, 1971, when she was informed that in October, 1970, about two-thirds by area of Government offices were cleaned by contract cleaners.
The remainder of the information requested is not available. Contract prices for office cleaning are quoted in pence per 100 square feet. Contractors have an obligation to observe the Fair Wages Resolution approved by the House of Commons in 1946, but otherwise there is no obligation upon them to inform Departments of the actual wages paid. However I would refer the hon. Member to paragraph 67 of the NBPI Report on the Contract Cleaning Trade (Cmnd. 4637, April, 1971) which comments on the relative levels of pay at the time of their investigation.
§ Mrs. Lena Jegerasked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he will make trade union recognition a condition of Government agreements with contract cleaning firms.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerNo. All cleaning contracts let by Government Departments include the Fair Wages Resolution, paragraph 4 of which requires contractors to recognise the freedom of their employees to belong to trade unions. The Industrial Relations Act covers recognition of trade unions by employers.
§ Mrs. Lena Jegerasked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he is satis- 146W fied with the operation of the Fair Wages Resolution approved by the House of Commons in 1946 for Government cleaning contracts; and if he will make a statement giving his reasons.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerYes. The National Board for Prices and Incomes Report on the Contract Cleaning Trade (Cmnd. 4637, April, 1971), paragraphs 63 and 64, stated that, from over 2,300 Government cleaning contracts, only 14 complaints in two years that cleaning contractors were not abiding by the terms of the Fair Wages Resolution reached the Department of Employment. Of this 14, only seven were referred to the industrial Court and, of these, only four were upheld. I have ascertained that in each case the contractor implemented the award and the contract was allowed to continue. Only one similar reference has been made to the Court since the report was published.