§ Mr. Brandon-Bravoasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what inquiries have been made by the Minister for Housing and Construction following the undertaking which he gave to the House during the debate on 1 July, Official Report, c. 67, concerning Stockbridge Village Trust; and what is the result of those inquiries.
§ Mr. GowI have made inquiries into the circumstances of the industrial dispute referred to by the hon. Member for Bootle (Mr. Roberts) and of the company involved, JGM Building Services Ltd. I understand that the sequence of events was as follows
—on 18 February 1985 all of those employed directly by JGM Building Services Ltd. at Stockbridge Village withdrew their labour. I understand that the reason for this action was that six men employed on a planned maintenance contract that was drawing to a close had been served with notices of redundancy by the same employer. Six men working on the same contract were retained for other work.—Several meetings between management and UCATT tailed to resolve the dispute and Mr. Michael Carter, Chief Executive of Stockbridge Village, agreed to chair a meeting between the two sides, although the trust was not involved in the dispute.—The meeting was held on 26 April 1985, and reached agreement on the basis for a settlement. The key elements were: that all those who were on strike would be taken back including those who had received redundancy notices; that four labour-only subcontractors employed by the company would be offered direct employment, and, that if they refused, they would be replaced by direct employees; and that there would be more flexible working arrangements between day-to-day maintenance and planned maintenance work.—The men resumed work on 7 May.—On 13 June the trust received a telephone call from JGM's bankers asking for urgent payment of monies owned to the company. The trust agreed to pay, on the basis of certified accounts available that day, for works completed satisfactorily on day-to-day maintenance. A payment of £19,000 was made on 14 June 1985. No money was paid at that time in respect of planned maintenance contracts, which are financed, in part, with the aid grant.—On 18 June the trust was notified that JGM Building Services Ltd. would be going into voluntary liquidation.I can make no comment on the allegations of intimidation and threats of violence. If these have validity they are a matter for the police. The four labour-only subcontractors are in possession of 714 certificates. Mr. Tom Baron, the chairman of the Stockbridge Village Trust, has no financial interest in the village and he was not involved in any way in this industrial dispute.