§ Mr. David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many of the 31,000 registered dock workers on the permanent register and of the 1,230 registered dock workers on the supplementary register in the fourth quarter of 1975, as reported in Table 1 of the Annual Report of the National Dock Labour Board, were not medically fit to perform all work likely to be required of a registered dock worker and hence were categorised as restricted; and what percentage of the total register such men represented.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI understand from the National Dock Labour Board that the board does not operate a national system of medical categorisation of registered dock workers. Information supplied to the board by registered employers in December 1975 indicated 1,608 dock workers on the permanent register were able to undertake only light duties. In addition there were 1,016 men categorised as "A Restricted" in the Port of London; this categorisation is used only in London and relates to men who for medical reasons are in some way restricted as to the work they can perform. Taken together these figures represent 8.2 per cent. of the total register of 31,968 in December 1975. No supplementary workers were notified to the board as falling within these categories.