HC Deb 11 November 1971 vol 825 cc1215-6
21. Mr. Meacher

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current unemployment rate in Oldham ; and what steps he is taking to reduce it.

Mr. Dudley Smith

At 11th October the rate of unemployment for Oldham and Chadderton travel-to-work area was 3.3 per cent. The Government have already taken many measures to stimulate output, investment and employment throughout the country. Oldham is in a good position to benefit from these measures.

Mr. Meacher

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the increase in the rate of unemployment of full-time workers in my area during the last three months has been 52 per cent., which is second only to the figure for East Anglia? Is he further aware that mills in the North-West are closing at the unprecendented rate of one a week? In these circumstances, will he consult his right hon. and hon. Friends to ensure that the North-West gets at least its fair share of public investment, which it is not getting at the moment?

Mr. Smith

I am prepared to have words with my right hon. Friend on this subject. I am glad that the figure for Oldham is still below the national average, despite what the hon. Gentleman says. The total of new Government aid specifically aimed at creating jobs is about £400 million, which is a massive injection and will certainly benefit Oldham.

Sir B. Rhys Williams

While we must recognise that unemployment is a very serious problem in certain industries and certain areas, does it not give us ground for optimism to reflect that the rise in the number of people wholly unemployed for six months has been less than 50,000 since the Government took office?

Mr. Smith

The number of people unemployed for over six months expressed as a percentage of all unemployment was 29.2 per cent. The longer-term unemployed figure remained a relatively constant proportion of all those unemployed over the last four years, although undoubtedly the number of unemployed people has gone up. But the figure for the longer-term unemployed is considerably less than the overall figure.

Mr. Rose

With regard to the Oldham area, will the hon. Gentleman confirm or deny that it is the Government's intention to cancel the contract for the HS748? Does he admit that recently the Government preferred to purchase abroad rather than from Ferranti and that, as a result, there are 2,500 redundancies from Hawker Siddeley? Does he admit that he has created a depressed area and an enlarged number of unemployed skilled workers in what hitherto has been one of the more prosperous areas of the country?

Mr. Smith

Without accepting one word of what the hon. Gentleman has said, may I point out that he has been a Member long enough to know that these are not questions for me, even though they may be very interesting.