HL Deb 28 February 1997 vol 578 cc115-6WA
Lord Sefton of Garston

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What proportion of the shares of the Merseyside Dock and Harbour Company they still hold; and whether the statement by the Secretary of State for Employment "that there will be no return to the casual system of working" (H. C. Deb., 17 April 1989, col. 45) remains valid.

The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Fraser of Carmyllie)

The Government own some 12.4 million shares in the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, representing around 13.9 per cent. of the company's issued share capital. The statement by the then Secretary of State in 1989 remains valid. There has been no return to the widespread casualisation which was characteristic of dock work before the mid '60s when large numbers of unskilled labourers assembled each day at the docks in search of work. Dock work is now highly skilled and capital intensive. It requires a flexible and well trained workforce.