§ Mr. Ioan Evansasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give figures of the job opportunities lost to the United Kingdom consumer electronics industry consequent upon the importation of £100 million of such products from Far Eastern countries in the last year.
§ Mr. GoldingI regret that it is not possible on the basis of statistics maintained by my Department to estimate the effect of Far Eastern import penetration on the levcel of employment in the United Kingdom consumer electronics industry.
§ Mr. Ioan Evansasked the Secretary of State for Employment what action he proposes to take to prevent further loss of employment in the consumer electronics and components industry as a result of the current pricing policies of Far Eastern countries, notably Japan.
§ Mr. GoldingThe temporary employment subsidy which is administered by 547W my Department and which helps employers to retain workers who would otherwise have been made redundant is available to help prevent loss of employment in the consumer electronics and components industry as in other industry. The main governmental responsibility for imports of consumer electronics and components rests with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade.