§ Mr. Ron Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will enable those firms, such as Border Dairies, Carlisle, which have reached an agreement with the trades unions concerned on the basis of temporary short-time working on a 75 per cent, grant over six months, to meet agreements made on this basis rather than at the new basis of 50 per cent, over nine months.
§ Mr. Jim LesterWhere applications for support were received after 21 November—the date that changes to the temporary short-time working compensation scheme were announced—it is not possible to reimburse employers at a higher rate than 50 per cent, for payments made on workless days. However, there are no upper limits on the payments which employers may make for short-time working approved under the TSTWC scheme.