§ Mr. Leadbitterasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in the Official Report the representations he has received on the Serpell report; and if he will make a statement on those representations.
§ Mr. David Mitchell[pursuant to his reply, 14 November 1983, c. 290]: We have received well over 1,000 letters, including a number of petitions, about the Serpell report. Ministers have also discussed the report with members of the British Railways Board, the railway trade unions and others.
The correspondence and discussions have covered a wide range of issues, the majority of which were based on the quite incorrect assumption that the Serpell report recommended major cuts in the network. The Government have been called on to state their policy on the future of the railways and to establish clearly the framework within which they are to operate. My right hon. Friend did both in his statement of 24 October and his letter of the same date to the chairman of the British Railways Board.
§ Mr. Leadbitterasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in the Official Report for each of the preceding 10 years the levels of redundancies in British Rail, the total employed in 1973, 1983 and expected by 1988, using the general classification of employment most suitable to his Department.
§ Mr. David Mitchell[pursuant to his answer, 14 November 1983, c. 290]: These are matters for the management of British Rail. However, I understand from BR that the information the hon. Member requested is as follows:
367W
BR Staff Redundancies 1973–83 (corporate total) Number 1973 1,993 1974 720 1975 817 1976 1,569 1977 1,694 1978 1,032
Number 1979 1,097 1980 1,188 1981 5,722 1982 7,698 *1983 3,111 * At half year. The majority of redundancies listed were almost without exception voluntary.
BR Employees (corporate total) Number End 1973 250,088 Mid 1983 206,674 End 1988 * 175,000 * British Railways Board's forecast (contained in BR corporate plan 1983–88).