§ Mr. Maurice Macmillanasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list the settlements reached by each nationalised industry for which his is the sponsoring Department, the size of each settlement, and the date upon which it came into operation, and, if any settlements were over 10 per cent., the criteria he adopted for judging whether they were acceptable and within the Government's guidelines as defined in the White Paper "The Attack upon Inflation after 31st July 1977", the size of any productivity element within each agreement, and the size of any increase in productivity achieved so far by groups of workers covered by such productivity elements.
503W
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldIn the four nationalised industries—British Aerospace, British Shipbuilders, British Seel Corporation and the Post Office—for which my Department is responsible, there are over 200 groups which negotiate annual settlements. I am aware of no agreement so far concluded by these groups in the current pay round where the increase has been outside the Government guidelines.
Details of each settlement could only be provided at disproportionate cost. I am satisfied that the productivity schemes so far concluded during the period in question have met the criteria for self-financing productivity schemes.
Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Total 1976 … … — — — — — — — — — — — 5 5 1977 … … 17 18 41 32 17 10 20 19 11 23 23 21 252 1978 … … 21 14 22 30 17 33 — — — — — — 137 394 The scheme continues to attract considerable interest following my right hon. Friend's announcement on 29th June that it was to be extended for a year to 30th June 1979, and a further 19 applications were received up to 10th July.