North-East Coast and Tyneside (Hansard, 11 July 1961)

§ 29. Dame Irene Ward
asked the President of the Board of Trade, in view of the uncertainty for the future of the fishing industry at the port of North Shields, what consideration he is giving to scheduling the north bank of the Tyne under the Local Employment Act.

§ Mr. Maudling
I do not consider that a high rate of unemployment exists or is expected on the North Bank of the Tyne. I have therefore no power to list it as a development district.

§ Dame Irene Ward
In view of the fact that he has rightly emphasised the need for new industries to come to the North-East Coast and Tyneside, may I ask my right hon. Friend why he does not try to protect the fishing industry from being slaughtered by his right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food? Will my right hon. Friend use his energy and charm to try to teach the fishing facts of life to his right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, who has acted very badly indeed in relation to the fishing industry on Tyneside?

§ Mr. Maudling
I must resist the implications of my hon. Friend's supplementary question, however attractively they may be presented. The fact is that unemployment in the North-East and on Tyneside is only 2.2 per cent. There are a thousand jobs in prospect, so I think that the prospects at the moment for that area are good. I shall continue to watch it carefully, particularly because of the position of the shipbuilding industry.

§ 30. Dame Irene Ward
asked the President of the Board of Trade what are the industries which will provide the new jobs forecast for the Northern Region.

§ Mr. Maudling
The industries are very varied. The engineering and electrical goods industries, the chemical industry and the clothing industry, in that order, account for the greater part of the new jobs forecast for the region.

§ Dame Irene Ward
May I ask my right hon. Friend why he is not interested in an old established industry, the fishing industry on Tynside? May I ask why he continues to refer to 21,000 jobs? Is he aware that no one has the slightest idea when these 21,000 jobs will materialise, and can he give a little more information, particularly about the fishing industry, which he entirely ignored when answering my Question No. 29.

§ Mr. Maudling
Of the more than 60,000 insured employees in the district only 630 are in the group comprising agriculture, forestry and fishing. There are more than a 1,000 jobs in prospect, so I hope that the position is not as bad as my hon. Friend thinks.