§ Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Minister of Transport what savings he aims to achieve by his reorganisation and contraction of the road construction units.
§ Mr. FowlerThe present cost of the road construction units is about £20 million. They employ about 2,400 staff. My aims are to adapt the arrangements72W for carrying out the trunk road programme to suit its future level, and to give consultants a larger part to play. I hope there will be significant savings in public sector staff costs but the extent of these will not be known until the action study I have announced is complete.
§ Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Minister of Transport if he will give an assurance that where redundancies occur as a result of the reorganisation of the road construction unit system, those non-union members of staff affected will be no less favourably considered than those who belong to a union.
§ Mr. FowlerRoad construction units are staffed jointly by civil servants and by local government officers on secondment from participating county councils. No differentiation is made between union and non-union civil servants when redundancies occur. I cannot of course answer for the local authority staff who have their own terms and conditions of service but I cannot see any reason why county councils should act differently.