§ 33. Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current employment situation regarding textile workers in the North-West of England.
§ Mr. Jim LesterThe Government are naturally concerned about the problems facing the textile industry. Our policies are designed to provide the climate in which textile firms can compete and we are doing all we can to see that the industry does not suffer from unfair competition by ensuring, for example, that the multi-fibre arrangement is implemented as effectively as possible. Assistance through the temporary short time working compensation scheme will 83W continue to be available to firms as an alternative to redundancies.