§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations he has received concerning the report of the Joint Working Party of the National Ambulancemen's Council on the structure of the ambulance service and the pay of ambulance men; what reply he has made; what action he is taking; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir K. JosephLast month I met representatives of the National Ambulancemen's Council, the body responsible for negotiating rates of pay and conditions of service for ambulance men, who explained that they wished to introduce some restructuring and a national efficiency scheme and that these appeared to exceed the limits for stage 3 outlined in the consultative document. They asked that stage 3 of the pay code should be amended to accommodate their proposals. I wrote subsequently to say that although their request had been carefully considered it was not possible to make special provision for ambulance men in the code, which nevertheless offered scope for useful improvements related to their particular circumstances. I understand that negotiations are in progress on the council.
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of vacancies for ambulance men in England and Wales at the latest date for which figures are available; and how these figures compare with those for each of the preceding four years.
§ Sir K. JosephI regret that this information is not available centrally.
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§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek to obtain and publish the figures for vacancies for ambulance men in each local authority area.
§ Sir K. JosephI do not think it would be helpful at the present time when authorities are already heavily engaged in running and planning the reorganisation of services, but arrangements are being made to improve the data on staffing which are collected by the Department.