§ 21. Mr. Jacques ArnoldTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the state of industrial relations in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe figures on industrial disputes demonstrate the healthy state of industrial relations in this country. The incidence of stoppages and working days lost in 1992 was the lowest since records began in 1891. The number of working days lost in the 12 months to the end of April 1993 was equivalent to 34 per 1,000 workers compared with an average for the 1970s of 569 per 1,000 workers. It can be no coincidence that these improvements have taken place at the same time as our step-by-step reforms of industrial relations and trade union law.