§ Mr. Craigenasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the future of Her Majesty's Stationery Office printing works in Scotland; and what attempts have been made in recent years to place more printing work with the Scottish plant.
§ Mr. Hayhoe:Despite considerable investment to improve performance by the introduction of new technology the HMSO press in Edinburgh has continued to lose money. The forecast loss for 1982–83 is as much as 25 per cent. of the turnover of just over £1 million. HMSO has transferred a good deal of work in recent years in order to sustain it, but it has not proved possible to attain viability. A final review of all the work available to HMSO has just confirmed that a viable workload is not within reach.
There has been considerable consultation over the last year with staff representatives in the plant and more recently with trace union officials, both at branch and national levels. A further meeting with the union is being arranged in order to discuss an orderly programme for closure.