HC Deb 29 June 1960 vol 625 cc1380-2
35. Mr. Callaghan

asked the Minister of Labour what percentage of ship-repair workers in South Wales has been out of work for more than four weeks and eight weeks, respectively; and how this compares with the rest of Great Britain.

The Minister of Labour (Mr. Edward Heath)

I regret that figures of duration of unemployment are not available for separate industries.

Mr. Callaghan

Then would the Minister accept it from me that, according to the figures that can be got, unemployment in the South Wales ship-repair yards is much higher than it is in the rest of the country; and that because of the irregular nature and the persistent nature of this unemployment that has now been going on for at least two years, many families are suffering hardship and growing poverty? Can I find some Minister who will accept responsibility for the situation, because the work is not coming to South Wales?

Mr. Heath

I would not be able to accept the first part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question without the necessary figures to enable me to make a check for other parts of the country and, as I have said, those figures are not available. But I agree that, because of the position of shipping, the figures for unemployment in the shipbuilding and ship-repairing industrial areas are quite high. It is difficult to make accurate comparisons month by month, because the figures fluctuate quite considerably overall dependent upon the particular day on which the count is taken.

Mr. Lee

Can the right hon. Gentleman say why it is not possible to produce figures? We get an agglomeration of figures on the basis of eight weeks and so on which, surely, must be built up from the knowledge obtained of the type of things about which my hon. Friend is asking. Why is it not possible to produce the figures?

Mr. Heath

It is not possible to produce the figures because, up to the moment, we have got these figures for all exchanges as a whole, and in the past we have not kept them for particular industries. The Ministry of Labour does keep a very large number of statistics, and we are continually altering them to meet special needs, but it would entail a great deal of work to keep figures of particular industries at particular exchanges.

Mr. Callaghan

If I asked about Cardiff only, would it be possible for the right hon. Gentleman to give a comparison? Although I do not want to rely on comparative figures it is important, because there is a substantial feeling in South Wales that there is more unemployment in the ship-repairing industry there than in other parts of the country. We do not want to live on other people's miseries, but I ask the Minister to bear in mind that there is considerable and growing hardship among shipbuilding workers and their families.

Mr. Heath

I quite appreciate the latter point, and we will look at the Cardiff position to see if it is possible to produce figures but, even then, to produce comparisons with other parts of the country would be difficult. The other solution to the difficulty in the shipbuilding industry is to find employment in other work, and there are expected to accrue in South Wales over 20,000 jobs within travel-to-work distance of the port area.