§ 10. Mr. Lawsonasked the Minister of Labour what proportion of the total for Great Britain of young men of 20 years and under, unemployed for more than six months, was in Scotland and the Midlands, respectively, at the latest available date.
§ Mr. HareIn December, 1961, 34.8 per cent. of those under 20 years of age were in Scotland and 4.2 per cent. in the Midlands. However, since then there has been an improvement in Scotland but not in the Midlands.
§ Mr. LawsonDoes the Minister not feel that it is a humiliating position for Scotland that so many of the young men under 20 should be out of work for such a long period? Does this not indicate that the policies followed by himself and his right hon. Friends are quite inadequate to deal with the industrial problem in Scotland?
§ Mr. HareI know that the hon. Gentleman takes a great interest in this matter. The number of young men under 20 unemployed in Scotland for more than six months has, in fact, dropped by 26 per cent. since a year ago.
§ 12. Miss Herbisonasked the Minister of Labour what was the ratio of wholly unemployed boys of 18 years and under to the number of notified unfilled vacancies for boys in Lanarkshire and Warwickshire, respectively, at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. GreenAt mid-April this year, for every 100 unemployed boys, there were 31 vacancies in Lanarkshire (excluding Glasgow) and 362 in Warwickshire.
§ Miss HerbisonDoes the Minister realise that these figures show the very dire plight of these young people in Scotland? Is he also aware that most Scottish people have come to the opinion that the Act, which was supposed to bring so many jobs to our country, is not bringing them, and what do the Government propose to do to make people in Scotland really believe that the Government do not think that they are merely expendable?
§ Mr. GreenThe hon. Lady has put three Questions to me. So far this year school leavers in Scotland have been entering employment without undue difficulty and at much the same rate as in Great Britain as a whole. The increase in the number of school leavers in Lanarkshire this year is expected to be less than that for Scotland as a whole. The northern part of the county, where 13 the bulk of the population is concentrated, is scheduled as a development district and 7,700 jobs are expected to accrue because of it.
§ Viscount HinchingbrookeIs it not the case that a large number of the young men who have been unemployed for over six months in Scotland are not genuinely seeking employment elsewhere, and can my hon. Friend say to what extent they are being kept in Scotland by the very satisfactory rates of unemployment benefit?
§ Mr. GreenI think that my hon. Friend must have misheard the first part of my reply—that so far this year school leavers in Scotland have been entering employment without undue difficulty and at much the same rate as for Great Britain as a whole.
§ Miss HerbisonWould the hon. Gentleman on his next visit to Scotland take the noble Lord with him in order that he may learn the facts of life and the misery and tragedy which is being caused to many of the young people there?