§ Mr. Woofasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the total cost to central Government, local government and public corporations, respectively, if all wage settlements in these areas in the current year, from 1st November were at the maximum under the Government's anti-inflation policy of 10 per cent.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettThe information from which the cost could be calculated is not available. Figures for the wage and salary bills of central and local government for 1976 are published in Table 3.1 of the National Income Blue Book and for public corporations in Table 6.1 of the same publication, copies of which are available in the Library.
§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will list in the Official Report all the powers and Acts which the Government have used to persuade companies not to pay wage increases beyond the 10 per cent. limit.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettThe main fields which offer scope for discretionary action by the Government are:
- Public Purchasing and the Placing of Contracts.
- Industrial Assistance under the Industry Acts.
- Temporary Employment Subsidy.
- Section 2 Export Credit under the Export Guarantees Act 1975.
Other possibilities are considered in the light of individual cases