§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will collect and publish statistics of the days indirectly lost through strike action in 1974, 1975 and 1976 in any establishments affected by disputes.
§ Mr. GoldingI would refer the hon. Member to the replies of 18th and 25th February 1977—[Official Report; Vol. 926, c. 393–4 and 740].
Because of the amount of work, I have no plans to compile separate statistics showing the numbers of working days lost, as distinct from numbers of workers involved, in respect of those indirectly involved at establishments where the disputes occurred. It would be impracticable to obtain comprehensive 516W figures of working days lost at establishments not themselves involved in the disputes but affected by disputes occurring elsewhere.