HC Deb 25 November 1968 vol 774 cc9-11
10. Mr. Gordon Campbell

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what have been the reasons for the reduction in the total number of jobs in Scotland since 1964.

Mr. Fernyhough

It is provisionally estimated that the number of employees in employment in Scotland decreased by 35,000 between June, 1964, and March, 1968. Some of this decrease may be seasonal. In several sectors the number of jobs has been reduced as a result of technical advance. This effect has been reinforced in agriculture by the consolidation of farms, in coalmining and transport by some fall in demand and in the distribution trades by rationalisation.

Mr. Campbell

Is the Minister aware that up to the end of 1964, on the Government's own figures, the number of jobs in Scotland was increasing? Will the latest economic measures, known as the "touch on the tiller", have the effect of causing additional unemployment in Scotland?

Mr. Femyhough

The hon. Gentleman knows that if the previous Administration had been as generous in financial grants and as determined to solve the deep-seated, long-standing unemployment problems of the development areas as this Administration, he would have no need to ask that question.

Mr. R. Carr

Can the hon. Gentleman explain then how it was that in the last four years of the Conservative Government the number of actual jobs in Scotland increased by 30,000 whereas in the last four years the number has gone down by over 30,000?

Mr. Fernyhough

I think that it is obvious that some of the measures which we have had to take have affected Scotland, but the significant point is that Scotland has been affected less by these measures than has the nation as a whole. In other words, unemployment has grown less in Scotland than in the rest of the country.

Earl of Dalkeith

Is the hon. Member aware that the only credit which the Government can claim for success in respect of employment is in creating a vast number of new jobs in the Civil Service?

Mr. Fernyhough

If the noble Lord believes that, he needs a new pair of spectacles so that he may see what is being done in Scotland, as I saw it the weekend before last.

16. Mr. Eadie

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what were the unemployment figures for Scotland in the years 1952 to 1968, respectively, for October; and if she will provide a breakdown of the figures for male, female and juvenile unemployment in each year.

Mr. Fernyhough

As the reply consists of a table of figures, I will with permission circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. Eadie

Does my hon. Friend not agree that if we consider unemployment in Scotland in the past, the least that we can say is that my hon. Friends on this side of the House have not cultivated the bad habits of hon. Members opposite? Is he aware that in 1963 under the Conservative Government there were 136,000 unemployed in Scotland?

Mr. Fernyhough

I am well aware of what my hon. Friend said. It is one of the unpleasant facts which hon. Members opposite like to forget.

Mr. Edward M. Taylor

Will the Minister indicate whether in his opinion the figures for unemployment in Scotland between now and next October will go up or go down? Is he aware that as a direct consequence of the Government's policy of increasing the petrol duty so savagely there will be a particularly harsh effect on employment in Scotland?

Mr. Fernyhough

I am aware that the hon. Gentleman thought that the last Budget would send the unemployment figures up. Indeed, some of his hon. Friends suggested that they would rise to between 750,000 and 800,000. Their hopes in this respect have not come about. I have a feeling that expansion in Scotland will continue because we are now laying a firm industrial base—something which should have been done when the Conservatives were in power.

TOTAL NUMBERS REGISTERED AS UNEMPLOYED IN SCOTLAND
Men Boys Women Girls Total
13th October, 1952 … … 39,904 1,183 25,240 1,811 68,138
12th October, 1953 … … 35,277 1,207 19,462 1,171 57,117
11th October, 1954 … … 32,491 1,299 17,678 1,116 52,584
10th October, 1955 … … 28,521 1,246 15,049 963 45,779
15th October, 1956 … … 30,230 1,044 16,620 958 48,852
14th October, 1957 … … 31,747 1,032 14,752 914 48,445
13th October, 1958 … … 58,008 2,807 23,304 1,698 85,817
12th October, 1959 … … 59,740 3,389 21,933 1,555 86,617
10th October, 1960 … … 51,384 2,072 17,908 1,145 72,509
16th October, 1961 … … 44,596 1,781 17,666 1,241 65,284
15th October, 1962 … … 58,270 3,414 20,924 2,189 84,797
14th October, 1963 … … 61,456 3,925 23,118 2,253 90,752
12th October, 1964 … … 48,104 2,636 18,937 1,571 71,248
11th October, 1965 … … 40,805 1,840 15,708 1,233 59,586
10th October, 1966 … … 48,384 2,279 15,201 1,416 67,280
9th October, 1967 … … 60,514 2,666 18,859 1,794 83,833
14th October, 1968 … … 60.041 2.118 15,720 1,274 79,153