asked the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received from the National Association of Port Employers about the financing of the national voluntary severance scheme for dock workers; and if he will make a statement.
I have had two meetings and some correspondence with the National Association of Port Employers on this issue this year. The Government have not been prepared to agree to grant aid severances outside the ports of London and Liverpool. But to put the national voluntary severance scheme on to a sound financial footing and in recognition of the difficulties for the NVSS stemming from the special problems of the ports of London and Liverpool, I have told NAPE that for three years the Government will waive interest payments on the NVSS, defer capital repayments due and accept that the National Dock Labour Board shall raise from employers for severance purposes the same cash sum as they raised in 1981. I have also told it that the Government will seek parliamentary authority as necessary to extinguish NVSS debt of the order of £22 million in respect of past severances in the ports of London and Liverpool. The terms of this assistance are conditional on agreement regarding maximum severance payments.