asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many shirt manufacturing establishments in Great Britain are working on short time; how many people are affected; and what estimate he has of the effects of low-cost shirt imports on the employment prospects in the industry.

I have been asked to reply.Official statistics do not make it possible to identify the number of shirt manufacturing establishments at present on short-time or the number of people affected. Nor is it possible to distinguish the effects of low-cost imports on employment prospects from those of the downturn in home and overseas demand. I hope that, so far as home sales are concerned, the impending Community negotiations with the main overseas suppliers of low-cost shirts will result in quite small future growth in imports into the United Kingdom, so as to give the industry a stable situation in which to plan its own production and employment.