§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many cases involving individual complaints were dealt with by officers of ACAS during 1976; how many involved alleged unfair dismissal; and how many unfair dismissal cases were cleared without reference to tribunals.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerDuring 1976, ACAS conciliation officers dealt with68W 39,060 individual conciliation cases of which 36,562 related to unfair dismissal; 20,399 cases of unfair dismissal were cleared without reference to an industrial tribunal.
§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many requests for advice were received by ACAS in 1976 under the provisions of the Employment Protection Act; and what were the main matters on which advice was sought and the main sources of the request.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerACAS officers paid 8,901 advisory visits to firms in 1976. In addition the Service carried out 208 surveys and projects. Requests came from both management and trade unions; in the case of surveys and projects over 30 per cent were jointly requested. The main subjects on which advice was sought were general industrial relations questions, procedures, contracts of employment, job evaluation and payment systems. Also in 1976 ACAS dealt with 390,000 inquiries received by telephone, letter and from personal callers.
§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many references were received by ACAS from trade unions for recognition under the provisions of sections 11 to 16 of the Employment Protection Act in 1976; and in how many cases in which investigations were completed recognition of the relevant union was recommended.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerAccording to the report of ACAS on its activities during the year 1976, the Service received 461 references under Section 11 of the Employment Protection Act 1975 during the year. By the end of the year 85 references had been formally withdrawn on settlement of the issues involved, the unions being fully or partly successful in securing recognition in 49 cases. ACAS had also issued nine reports covering 11 references, in eight of which ACAS recommended that the employer concerned should recognise the union making the reference.
§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many requests ACAS received for collective 69W conciliation in 1975 and 1976, respectively; and in what proportion of the latter settlements were promoted.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerACAS received 2,564 requests for collective conciliation in 1975 and 3,460 in 1976. Settlements were promoted in 77 per cent of cases completed in 1976.