HC Deb 11 May 1964 vol 695 c27
29. Mr. Shinwell

asked the Minister of Labour what number of building and construction workers were registered at employment exchanges in the County of Durham at the latest available date.

Mr. Godber

At 13th April, 4,058 workers whose last employment was in the construction industry were registered as unemployed at employment exchanges in County Durham.

Mr. Shinwell

Is it not extraordinary that over 4,000 building and construction workers registered at employment exchanges cannot get a job and yet there is so much work for which they are fitted which requires to be done in the County of Durham? Why not speed up the advance factories? Why not build some more hospitals? Why not build the houses that we require? Why not deal with the slums? In particular, will the right hon. Gentleman bring pressure to bear on the Minister of Transport to speed up the road development which has been promised us for so long?

Mr. Godber

We are doing a great deal in all these fields in the way that the right hon. Gentleman has suggested. Some more advance factories were announced only last week by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry and Trade. The figure has substantially improved during recent months. However, I accept that it is high and I want to see it much lower.

Mr. Shinwell

Would the right hon. Gentleman tell me what he proposes to do to reduce the figure?

Mr. Godber

We are providing more facilities for retraining in order to assist these people. Many of them are unskilled workers and we should like to assist them with training. We are stepping up the number of training places.