§ 10. Mr. Mappasked the President of the Board of Trade what proposals he has to arrest the projected decline of 5,000 workers in the Oldham area during the next 10 years.
§ Mr. ErrollI am not aware of any projected decline of 5,000 workers in the Oldham area during the next 10 years.
§ Mr. MappSurely the President is aware that there has been a decline of 61 per cent., 30,000 textile jobs, in Oldham since 1951—during the era of affluence? Is he aware that a mill is closing in two or three weeks and that 160 people are involved? Is he aware that the population of the town of Oldham has shrunk by about 30,000 people in the last 20 years and that another 10,000 drop in the population is expected over the next few years? Will he take seriously the argument which was put to the Prime Minister about the grey areas in Lancashire, of which this is one, and the fact that migration figures are not included in the unemployment figures before him?
§ Mr. ErrollI know that there is a severe decline in employment in the cotton industry in Oldham. But the fact is that most of the workers have been able to get jobs in other industries, so that now the unemployment figure is at 1.7 per cent. Oldham is favourably situated, particularly as there are about 1,300 new industrial jobs in prospect in non-textile industries in the Oldham group of employment exchanges.