HC Deb 08 April 1981 vol 2 cc288-90W
Mr. Stoddart

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what procedures are followed by his Department when an employer notifies redundancies under the Employment Protection Act 1975; at what stage information given under the redundancy handling provisions of that Act is no longer regarded as confidential; and at what stage he regards redundancies as having been declared.

Mr. Waddington

Every notification is checked for compliance with section 100 of the Employment Protection Act 1975. It is then copied within my Department to those dealing with the temporary short-time working compensation scheme so that they may advise employers about the scheme and to those dealing with redundancy payments as an advance warning.

The notification is also passed in confidence to MSC so that it may deploy its services to assist the workers being made redundant, and to other Government Departments for consideration of any further steps that may be taken to avoid or minimise the redundancies.

Where 100 or more redundancies are proposed, permission to pass the information to the appropriate local authority is sought from the employer. Information given under the redundancy handling provisions of the Employment Protection Act remains confidential until made public by the company.

Mr. Stoddart

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied that adequate arrangements exist for trade union members who do not have a recognition agreement with their employer to be informed when that employer notifies him of redundancies under the provisions of the Employment Protection Act 1975.

Mr. Waddington

Where there is no recognised trade union there are no arrangements to inform employees of proposed redundancies under the provisions of the Employment Protection Act 1975. The employees will, of

Training year Engineering Construction Road Transport Hotel Air Transport and Travel Food, Drink and Tobacco
1980–81 18,188† 17,340† 6,200† l,750† 150† 680†
1979–80 22,083 20,783 10,397 1,643 150 976
1978–79 22,505 21,220 13,400 2,299 250 876
1977–78 20,613 19,926 13,000 2,576 280 798
1976–77 20,630 19,259 11,400 2,235 220 710
1975–76 20,187 20,187 10,800 1,961 160 602
1974–75 23,496 23,496 10,000 1,876 140 490
1973–74 * * 8,700 1,636 134 516
1972–73 * * 10,100 1,866 260 *
1971–72 * * 9,900 1,966 357 *
1970–71 * * 11,500 1,942 350 *
* Not available.
† Estimate.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many trained bricklayers and carpenters or joiners have received training at skillcentres in the West Midlands since they opened: and what information is available as to the percentage of those trained in these crafts who have stayed in the building industry over each year since.

Mr. Peter Morrison

[pursuant to his reply, 7 April, 1981, c. 258]: The statistics of those completing training in bricklaying and carpentry and joinery at skillcentres in the West Midlands are as follows:

Period Numbers who completed training Numbers placed in employment using their skills at the end of training
Bricklaying
June–December 1977 (6 months) 65 45
January–December 1978 109 93
January–December 1979 184 177
January–September 1980 (9 months) 146 120
Carpentry and Joinery

course, be entitled to their individual periods of notice under their contracts of employment subject to the minimum laid down in the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978.