§ 38. Mr. Marquandasked the Minister of Labour the numbers of workers registered in Middlesbrough as unemployed at the latest date for which he has information; and what increase this represents above the numbers so registered four weeks previously.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodOne thousand nine hundred and forty at 16th June, an increase of 261 compared with 12th May.
§ 39. Mr. Marquandasked the Minister of Labour how many workers formerly employed in the steel industry are registered at the Middlesbrough Employment Exchange as unemployed; and how many vacancies suitable for such workers are at present known to the employment exchange.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodThree hundred and sixty-seven at 16th June. The number 420 of vacancies notified by employers in the steel melting industry to employment exchanges in Middlesbrough and remaining unfilled at 11th June was 28.
§ Mr. MarquandIs the Minister aware that there is considerable misgiving on Tees-side and in Middlesbrough about this increase in unemployment among steel workers? Can he give a better assurance than his hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Power was able to give me recently when I asked whether the Government are ready with new projects to use steel constructional materials in case these numbers should increase?
§ Mr. MacleodIt is true that the decrease, as I think my hon. Friend said in reply to the Question, is regarded, rightly, I hope, more as a fluctuation than as a permanent trend. We are trying, through such measures as the Distribution of Industry (Industrial Finance) Bill which we put recently before the House, to help in this sort of thing.
§ Mr. MarquandDo the Government still adhere to the policy contained in the White Paper on employment policy issued many years ago, and will the right hon. Gentleman move in quickly, if there is any substantial increase in these numbers, in order to increase steel consumption?
§ Mr. MacleodI cannot give a categorical undertaking on the second part of the right hon. Gentleman's supplementary question because that, I think, is not exactly within the province of my Ministry. As regards the first part, of course, full employment remains perhaps the chief primary aim in the domestic policy of the Government.
Mr. Jack JonesIs the Minister aware that, while we look with anxiety at the position in Middlesbrough, the position there is now becoming common throughout the whole steel industry? Will he whisper a word into the ears of his Cabinet colleagues, before they discuss any further capacity, about having a policy which will make the existing capacity more fully employed than it is at the moment?