§ 35. Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether in view of the recent attacks on the size and efficiency of the Civil Service and the increase in the load of work in local offices, he is satisfied with morale among those working in local offices; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FootI have been greatly impressed by the way in which staff in my Department and in the Crown bodies for640W tion about the agreements for two industries where I am not yet satisfied that discrimination has been removed.
As far as other agreements are concerned, as I said in my reply on 17th December 1975—[Vol. 902, c. 645–6.]—to my hon. Friend the Member for Ormskirk (Mr. Kilroy-Silk), where it comes to the notice of my right hon. Friend that there is a discriminatory collective agreement he will not hesitate to use his powers under Section 3 of the Equal Pay Act to refer the agreement to the Central Arbitration Committee provided that he has adequate details of the agreement and of the provisions in it which are believed to be discriminatory. Alternatively trade unions themselves may wish to use the power which they have under the Act to refer discriminatory collective agreements to which they are a party to the Central Arbitration Committee.