§ Lord SHINWELLasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether there is any Government Department engaged in a study of the advance of technology in industry and the effect on employment, and whether the knowledge gained will affect future forecasts of unemployment.
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMThe Department of Industry is continuously looking at technological change and a range of implications for industry including productivity, competitiveness, employment, etc. A working party of the Advisory Council for Applied Research and Development (ACARD) is beginning an investigation of technological change and employment and DOI will be contributing to that study. The Department's concern with manpower requirements and employment levels is primarily for those sectors of industry for which the Department has a sponsorship responsibility. Furthermore, technological change is only one of many factors affecting unemployment levels and it is not expected that the Department's studies will have more than marginal impact on forecasts of unemployment levels which are the responsibility of Her Majesty's Treasury.