HC Deb 29 January 1986 vol 90 c552W
Mr. Cyril Smith

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make it his policy for the Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel to be represented on wages and conditions of service negotiating committees what information he has as to the proportion of ambulance personnel who are now members of that union; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Whitney

By long-standing convention, membership of the staff sides of the NHS Whitley Councils is a matter for determination by the staff sides themselves. Staff ought to be able to be represented by organisations of their own choice. The association claims that its audited membership in England and Wales at 31 March 1985 was 3,642—about 18 per cent. of ambulance personnel at 30 September 1984.