asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on whether the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service has been called in to bring about an end to the industrial dispute between the Post Office Engineering Union and the Post Office.

The Post Office and the Post Office Engineering Union have been unable to reach agreement in response to the claim by the union for a reduction in its members' working week. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry has therefore invited Lord McCarthy to undertake a special review of the situation.