§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a detailed statement giving the monthly number of industrial disputes, the number of workers 158W electricity supply since 1st February, 1966, and railway engine drivers since 4th October, 1965, respectively.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithFollowing is the information:
on strike, the number of days work lost, the estimated cost for each month since June, 1970, and similar details for the same period of time prior to June, 1970.
§ Mr. BryanI regret that official estimates of the cost of lost production due to industrial stoppages are not available. The remainder of the information is published in the Department of Employment Gazette (Table 133 of the regular statistical time series).
§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many 159W working days have been lost in the last three months due to strikes; what were the comparable figures for each of the last five years; and what steps he intends to take to deal with the problem.
§ Mr. BryanFor the three months ending 21st January, 1972, 6,311,000. For corresponding periods in earlier years the figures are: 1971, 3,953,000; 1970, 1,374,000; 1969, 768,000; 1968, 593,000; and 1967, 325,000. I am confident that the number of strikes the most important indicator will continue to show a reduction as a result of the progressive improvement in all industrial relations which the Industrial Relations Act and the Code of Practice will bring about.