§ Mr. Tebbitasked the Secretary of State for Transport why civil servants within his Department concerned with the issue and transfer of vehicle registration marks are selecting which of their duties they will carry out and which they will decline to carry out; what disciplinary action he has taken against civil servants refusing to carry out duties properly assigned to them; what is the most senior grade of civil servant concerned in the refusal to work normally; whether there are any precedents for the blacking of work by civil servants in his Department when he expects a resumption of normal working; and if the career prospects of those engaged in this industrial action are expected to be affected by their behaviour.
§ Mr. HoramThe unions concerned claim that widespread abuse of the existing extra-statutory cherished transfer system is adversely affecting their members.
Staff up to and including higher executive office in the Department are involved in the ban.
Regulations are being made to place the making of cherished transfers on a statutory basis. There have been joint discussions about revised rules designed to check abuses, which will be applied under these regulations, and the unions are currently balloting their members about restarting this work, and I expect to know the result soon.
No disciplinary or other action is envisaged at this stage. There are no precedents for blacking work in the Department.