Youths, Scotland (Hansard, 1 March 1961)

§ 11. Mr. Lawson
asked the Minister of Labour what was the net increase in the number of youths under 18 years of age employed in the county of Lanark in 1960 as compared with 1957.

§ 13. Mr. Willis
asked the Minister of Labour what was the net increase in the number of youths under 18 years of age employed in Scotland in 1960 as compared with 1957.

§ 14. Mr. T. Steele
asked the Minister of Labour what was the net increase in the number of youths under 18 years of age employed in the county of Dunbar-ton in 1960 as compared with 1957.

§ 16. Mr. Hannan
asked the Minister of Labour what was the net increase in the number of youths under 18 years of age employed in the city of Glasgow in 1960 as compared with 1957.

§ 17. Mr. Manuel
asked the Minister of Labour what was the net increase in the number of youths under 18 years of age employed in the county of Ayr in 1960 as compared with 1957.

§ 18. Mr. Oswald
asked the Minister of Labour what was the net increase in the number of jobs for youths under 18 years of age in the city of Edinburgh during the period from 1957 to 1960.

§ Mr. Hare
About 1,000 boys in Scotland. The figures for Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Lanarkshire are not yet available. I hope to have them next month and I will communicate them to the hon. Members.

§ Mr. Lawson
Is the Minister aware that 1,000 more jobs for youngsters in Scotland is a negligible increase over 1568 three years? What indication does that hold out that by 1962, when the number of youngsters looking for work will have increased by one-third, there will be any prospect of their finding employment?

§ Mr. Hare
As I have said, there has been an improvement. The Government are well aware of the difficulties in Scotland, and every effort will be made to see that jobs are made available for these young people when they seek work in the years to come.

§ Mr. Steele
Surely the answer to this Question shows that the optimism of the Government on previous Questions was complete and utter nonsense. If over the past three years there have been only 1,000 additional new jobs for youths in Scotland, how can we look forward with any optimism to the years ahead, when the numbers leaving school will have increased by one-third?

§ Mr. Hare
As the hon. Member knows, I am glad to say that many extra available jobs are in prospect in Scotland.

§ Mr. Steele
In prospect?

§ Mr. Hare
Yes, but already there has been an improvement. Hon. Members have to be fair about this. There has been a definite improvement of employment for boys, because in February, 1960, the number of boys unemployed was 4,214, whereas in February, this year, the number was 2,414.

§ Mr. Willis
Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that 2,000 boys unemployed is still far too many, particularly in view of the numbers coming forward in 1962–63? While we are pleased to have the general sympathy and interest of the Government, is he not aware that what we need is a little action?

§ Mr. Hare
Of course, it is serious that there should be 2,414 boys unemployed, but that is considerably better than 4,214 unemployed, which was the story 12 months ago. I hope that these extra jobs will be available to meet the extra demand when more boys become available for employment.

§ Mr. Hannan
Is the Minister aware that there is no consolation in these figures for Scottish Members? Is he aware that in Glasgow alone the number 1569 leaving school in 1962 will be 20,000, which is 25 per cent. more than in 1957? Does not that situation call for some dramatic effort on his part to provide the jobs necessary? When will the figures for Glasgow and other areas be available?

§ Mr. Hare
The hon. Member could not have heard me when I said that I would try to make them available next month. I have said that Scotland has a special problem and that I am particularly anxious to see that jobs which are in the pipeline will be available for these boys when the time comes.

§ Mr. Manuel
I do not understand the right hon. Gentleman's figures. If he says that there are now only 1,000 more jobs available and last February more than 4,000 youths were unemployed and today about 2,000 are unemployed, then there is something wrong with his figures. Would he not agree that he must be concerned with the bulge year, 1962. when we will have approximately 25 per cent. more school leavers? Will he explore the position of the lack of apprenticeships for young people, which is the core of the matter, and consult his right hon. Friends to see that more youths are absorbed into proper apprenticeships instead of into dead-end jobs, coming on to the labour market again in a year or so?

§ Mr. Hare
I do not disagree with much of what the hon. Member has said. I hope that when the figures are published he will find that there has been an increase in the number of apprenticeships. I hope that he will do all he can, as I will, with employers and trade unions in this matter. We have to see that as many apprenticeships as possible are made available to boys in the coming years.

§ Mr. Brewis
Can my right hon. Friend say how many jobs are in the pipeline in Scotland, and does he not agree that many of them will provide employment opportunities for boys?

§ Mr. Hare
There are approximately 24,000 jobs in the pipeline. It is no use hon. Members opposite scoffing at that figure. They come from Scotland, and they must appreciate how much improvement has been brought about by 1570 the diversification of industry now taking place in Scotland. If that diversification had not occurred, things would be much worse than they now are.

§ Mr. Ross
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that we are getting a bit tired of this pipeline? His hon. Friend the Member for Galloway (Mr. Brewis) can tell us that there used to be jobs in the pipeline at Cairnryan but that there is now no pipeline there. The right hon. Gentleman has said that the position in Scotland is difficult and that Scotland has a special problem. Does he appreciate the effect of the 30 per cent. increase in school leavers on that problem, and is he aware that the Government appear to have no policy to meet that great need?

§ Mr. Hare
I am aware of many of the facts, and I hope to be visiting Scotland within the next two weeks, when I shall be able to refresh myself with information on the spot. It is not right for hon. Members to say that they are not interested in jobs in the pipeline, because jobs from the pipeline have already materialised and many more will do so.

Mr. Lee
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that from the areas which we are now discussing come many of Britain's finest craftsmen, especially those in heavy engineering? Is he aware that we know from his answers last week that as the bulge has increased the percentage going into apprenticeships has dropped rapidly? Will he take particular note of what my hon. Friends have been saying—that it is not a question only of getting the boys into jobs, but getting them into jobs which will eventually produce the same type of craftsmen which we have had from these areas in Scotland in the past?

§ Mr. Hare
I hope that when the figures are available it will be seen that the hon. Member is wrong when he says that the percentage of boys going into apprenticeships has dropped, I do not believe that it has—I am now talking about last year's figure compared with that of 1959. I hope that there has been an improvement. We all agree that there must be more apprenticeships for these boys, and I hope that hon. Members on both sides of the House will use all their influence in that respect, as I certainly shall.