§ 38. Miss Burtonasked the Minister of Labour what were the unemployment figures in Coventry up to the latest convenient date in May; and what proportion this bears to the figure for April.
§ The Minister of Labour and National Service (Mr. lain Macleod)Two thousand, two hundred and fifty-four males and 870 females on 13th May. The total of 3,124 showed a decrease of 12.3 per cent. compared with 15th April.
§ Miss BurtonIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that I am very glad to hear these figures? Does he realise that I keep pressing him upon this matter because some of the underlying trends are rather disturbing? Taking Armstrong Siddeley alone, is he aware that 250 workers' notices expired on 22nd May and that that figure has now grown to to 535? Do the consultations that he is having with the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Supply envisage any plans in advance for dealing with these men?
§ Mr. MacleodThe Armstrong Siddeley discharges come outside the scope of the Question and are not within the figure for 13th May to which I have referred. Naturally the consultations, which I have mentioned many times in the House, cover all changes in the defence programme.
§ Lieut.-Colonel Bromley-DavenportIs not the hon. Lady doing no good to Coventry by suggesting that there is heavy unemployment in that area when the opposite is the case and, in point of fact, that town is doing very well indeed?
§ Mr. MacleodI am bound to say that I sometimes find difficulty in recognising the facts about Coventry in the clothes in which the hon. Lady dresses them.
§ Miss BurtonMay I reply to that? [HON. MEMBERS: "No."] Is the Minister aware that the figures that I have given him are absolutely correct? If the hon. and gallant Member for Knutsford (Lieut.-Colonel Bromley-Davenport) would like to go to Coventry, and to Armstrong Siddeleys, he would find that they are completely verified and that the clothes that I wear in which to present them are very acceptable to Coventry.?
§ 39. Miss Burtonasked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that the number of vacancies for men and women notified to Coventry Employment Exchange on 10th April was 816 and if he will give the number for the latest convenient date in May.
§ Mr. lain MacleodThe figure for April was as stated by the hon. Member. The corresponding figure for 8th May was 867.
§ Miss BurtonDoes the Minister remember that on 14th May he told me that about 200 men out of the 250 out of work would not get jobs locally or within daily travelling distance? As that number has now increased to 535, does he suggest that all these men will have to leave Coventry, or are these continuous consultations going to bring work to the locality?
§ Mr. MacleodI did not suggest that at all. The Question asked for the facts about vacancies, which I have given. The vacancies over the last few months have increased in Coventry and the surrounding area. That is something which I am delighted to see. So far as the other part of the supplementary question is concerned, that is part of the consultation that goes on. and we notify, not only to Coventry but to all the other threatened towns, vacancies over a very wide area of the country.
§ Mr. UsborneDoes the hon. and gallant Member for Knutsford (Lieut.Colonel Bromley-Davenport) think that if he applied to Armstrong Siddeley for a job he would get it?
§ Sir P. AgnewIs it not a fact that some of these men who are now unemployed in Coventry have been in the motor and other trades for only a comparatively short time, and that their arrival in Coventry during the temporary high development of the motor trade has been at the expense of the full maintenance and development of many agricultural areas in the west Midlands?
§ Mr. MacleodIt is quite true that over a period of years, until the boom conditions disappeared a year ago, there was an enormous influx of labour into Coventry. It leaves us with something of a problem when those boom conditions change into more seasonal conditions, as, perhaps, has recently happened in the motor car industry.
§ Miss BurtonOn a point of order. May I, through you, Mr. Speaker, inform the hon. and gallant Member—
§ Mr. SpeakerI am not a channel for information between hon. Members. It would be better if the hon. Lady notified the hon. and gallant Member afterwards.