HC Deb 25 January 1990 vol 165 cc775-6W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many former registered dock workers have been made redundant on a port-by-port basis since the abolition of the dock labour scheme; how much the Government have contributed to the redundancy payments; how many of these redundancies are because firms went into liquidation and how many through shedding of labour; how many stevedoring firms have gone into liquidation and where; what is his estimate of the cost of further redundancies on both these bases still to come; and if he will make a statement on the liquidations.

Mr. McLoughlin

Total Government expenditure to date on compensation under the Dock Work Act 1989 is £84.5 million, of which £27.7 million relates to employees of firms which became insolvent. I am not able to forecast the numbers of redundancies or any insolvencies during the remaining period of the compensation scheme, but over 90 per cent, of the claims so far received were in the first three months since the scheme started in July. The table shows redundancies in each port.

Port Total redundancies Number of employers who became insolvent Resulting redundancies (including in first column)
Aberdeen 149 2 149
Ardrossan 15
Ayr 14
Barry 21
Bristol 62
Blyth 32
Boston 28
Cardiff 160
Charlestown 1
Clyde 108
Dundee 95 1 95
Falmouth 7
Fleetwood 44
Forth 152
Fowey 44
Garston 108 1 29
Goole 78
Grimsby and Immingham 511 3 374
Great Yarmouth 101 1 101
Hull 314
Ipswich 50
Kings Lynn 41
Liverpool 402 1 69
London 748 1 40
Lowestoft 27
Manchester 116
Medway 42
Newport 84
Par 28
Penzance 7
Plymouth 16
Port Talbot 4
Seaham 10

Port Total redundancies Number of employers who became insolvent Resulting redundancies (including in first column)
Sharpness 2
Silloth 1
Southampton 250
Sunderland 31
Swansea 79
Tees and Hartlepool 252
Tyne 59
Weymouth 4
Wisbech 11 1 11
Workington 10
4,318 11 868