§ Mr. Hattonasked the Secretary of State for Energy how many employees of the CEGB he expects to be made redundant as a result of the proposed closure of coal-fired power stations.
§ Mr. BennAs my hon. Friend may have seen, agreement was reached on 16th October within the electricity supply industry's National Joint Advisory Council on the closure or partial shutdown of a number of power stations employing at 31st July last a total of 4,952 staff. The unions made it clear that they would not accept any compulsory redundancies. Staff problems will be dealt with as far as possible through such measures as re-deployment to other sectors of the industry—with re-training where necessary—through natural wastage, and through early retirement in the case of older workers.