HC Deb 01 May 1969 vol 782 cc1614-8
Q3. Mr. Clark Hutchison

asked the Prime Minister if he is satisfied with the present arrangements for planning industrial development in Scotland, involving several Ministers; and if he will make a statement.

Q5. Mr. Buchanan-Smith

asked the Prime Minister if he is satisfied with the present arrangements for industrial planning in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Q7. Mr. Bruce-Gardyne

asked the Prime Minister whether he is satisfied with the existing arrangements for co-ordination between the Ministers with responsibility for the industrial and economic development of Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

The Prime Minister

My right hon. Friends work closely together on all matters affecting industrial and economic development in Scotland.

Mr. Clark Hutchison

I hope that the Prime Minister is feeling better. Will he please take note of how ridiculous it is that Edinburgh should be the only non-development area north of Yorkshire? Can he explain this hostility towards the city, and will the Government take note of the proposals of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce in this connection?

The Prime Minister

This question has been considered and discussed many times, and it came up again in relation to the Hunt Report. The hon. Gentleman will know, and I think will welcome, in relation to Leith the special intermediate status that was announced. In this case I should think that the hon. Gentleman would feel rather happy about what has been done.

Mr. Buchanan-Smith

If the Prime Minister is satisfied that industrial planning arrangements in Scotland are adequate, may I ask him to explain why there has been a loss of 35,000 jobs in Scotland since 1964 and what he is going to do about it?

The Prime Minister

I thought that the pre-local government election campaign for Scotland, which hon. Gentlemen have organised so well this afternoon, was going on when I came into the Chamber in Questions to my hon. Friend, and I see that there is to be a debate later in the day.

The figures quoted by right hon. Gentlemen opposite about their success in creating jobs is based on a highly selective use of years to quote. I find that if we take 1956 to 1964—eight years—there was, in fact, a fall.

The answer to the question on what we are doing about dealing with that period of drift, which the hon. Gentleman no doubt had in mind, and the loss in employment since that time, is that jobs expected from industrial development certificate approvals in the last four years are 84,200 against 54,600 in the last four years of the Conservative Government—an increase of 54 per cent.

Mr. Bruce-Gardyne

If the Prime Minister does not like selective periods, may I ask him about the period during which he has been theoretically responsible for the economy of Scotland? Will he tell us why, during this period, the total proportion of male jobs in the United Kingdom arising in Scotland has fallen? Does that lead him to think that co-ordination between his so-called Ministers has been adequate?

The Prime Minister

The hon. Gentleman will be aware of the impact particularly of the colliery closure programme in relation to male employment and, of course, the difficulties that the shipbuilding industry has been facing these many years, which are now being tackled as a result of our legislation. But in his speech later in the day perhaps we shall hear, those of us who are here, the hon. Gentleman note and expatiate on the fact that the unemployment rate in Scotland today is one and a half times that in the United Kingdom as a whole, whereas under the Conservative Administration it was double.

Mr. Shinwell

Is it any wonder that my right hon. Friend has had some tummy indisposition? Some of the Questions from hon. Gentlemen opposite would give anyone the belly ache.

Mr. Gordon Campbell

Does the Prime Minister realise that, far from being selected, the four years in question were chosen by the Secretary of State for Scotland on page 9 of his White Paper? Will the Prime Minister say whether measures such as the Selective Employment Tax and the massive increases in transport costs, which have been damaging and frustrating to Scotland, were applied deliberately or happened by accident?

The Prime Minister

The hon. Gentleman will no doubt have a chance of making all these points in the debate later in the day.

Selective Employment Tax was fully debated in the Budget debate. I remind the hon. Gentleman—and this is relevant to the figures, whatever years he takes for this purpose—that since October, 1964, we have authorised 1.2 million square feet of advance factories, which is nearly double the area authorised in the four years mentioned by the hon. Gentleman—and that, for the Tories, was the peak over 13 years.

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

Perhaps I might follow up the point about Selective Employment Tax made by my hon. Friend the Member for Moray and Nairn (Mr. Gordon Campbell). Will the Prime Minister approach the Chancellor of the Exchequer about the imposition of Selective Employment Tax on restaurants in Scotland, because it is hitting the tourist trade very hard and making things very difficult for it?

The Prime Minister

The right hon. Gentleman will be aware of the contents of the Bill at present before Parliament on help to the tourist trade. But the point made by the right hon. Gentleman, which is a perfecly fair one, seems to me a Committee stage point for the Finance Bill. No doubt the right hon. Gentleman will wish to move an Amendment on that point, and we shall look forward to hearing from him.

Mr. Eadie

Is my right hon. Friend aware that most counties in Scotland are at present advertising for miners? Is he further aware that there is some confusion on the other side of the House, because the hon. Member for Tynemouth (Dame Irene Ward) has a Question down protesting about employment going to Edinburgh?

The Prime Minister

I am aware of the confusion on the other side of the House referred to by my hon. Friend.

On the question about advertising for miners, there is a very acute problem caused by colliery closures in Scotland as well as in Wales, in the Northern Region, and in one or two other parts of the country. But my hon. Friend will be aware of the relative success of the special development areas which have been scheduled for dealing with the problem of colliery closures.