§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Industry, pursuant to his reply of 18 February, Official Report, c. 137, how many employees of British Steel received over £18,000 in 1979; what was the highest amount paid to any one employee; and how entitlement to redundancy payment is calculated.
§ Mr. Michael MarshallThe redundancy payment is based on the statutory scheme which relates the payment to age and length of service. The corporation supplements this statutory entitlement in two ways—by a percentage supplement and by not imposing the upper limit on reckonable earnings. In addition, an extra payment has been negotiated at major works which have closed since 1977. The payments have varied at different locations and have been related to the extent to which the closure in question had been advanced from previously announced commitments to continue operation.
The sum of these payments exceeded £18,000 for only two employees in 1979, and the highest was £19,779.