§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will set out in tabular form the number of cases in which building contractors have been questioned, whether orally or by correspondence, by his Department about possible breaches of the £6 pay limits under the procedure set out in DOE Circular 123/75, indicating (a) how many involved variations of existing contracts under paragraphs 11–13, (b) how many involved alleged breaches of the limit itself under paragraph 14, (c) in how many cases a breach has in fact occurred and (d) in how many cases the contractor refused to modify the settlement found to be in breach.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThere have been no such cases.
§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Employment in how many cases contractors have been asked to attend his Department, or one of its regional offices, to explain why they breached the £6 pay limit, following the 89W indication in the reply by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. Member for Melton on 8th June that this procedure has in fact occurred; whether they were permitted to be represented by counsel, solicitor or officials of their trade association; whether any independent observers other than civil servants were present to ensure that natural justice was done during these hearings; and whether in all cases the contractors were present to hear an oral, reasoned statement of his Department's decision on the matter, followed by a written letter confirming the decision in sufficient detail to allow a contractor, if necessary, to challenge the decision in the court.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe reply by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. Member on 8th June covered all contractors with Government Departments or public authorities. None of the cases mentioned involved construction contractors.