HC Deb 25 November 1971 vol 826 cc1706-16

11.30 p.m.

Mr. Thomas Torney (Bradford, South)

I make no apology for again keeping the House so late at night to talk about this terrible problem of unemployment. Bradford, part of which I represent, is in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and although we have had two recent debates on unemployment, one this week and one a little more than a week ago, there was not, in either of those debates, certainly not from this side of the House, a speaker representing a Yorkshire constituency.

A week ago the Chairman of the Yorkshire and Humberside group of the Engineering Industries Association called for a more positive Government approach towards the regions, and warned that unless something was done soon Yorkshire could become another Scotland or North-East. My purpose tonight is to demonstrate to the Government the need for some immediate and urgent aid for the regions, with particular attention to areas such as Bradford, which have special problems. The aid for which I am asking must be in addition to the measures which the Government have announced recently for dealing with the national problem, because the situation is appalling.

I do not propose to say very much about the national situation because much has been said about it, and as unemployment continues to increase, as I think it will for a little while at least, very much more must be said about it in this House. We must all try to get the appalling unemployment figures down.

The disastrous unemployment figure of nearly 1 million speaks for itself. I feel that one has to have experienced the scourge of unemployment, or to have been close to it, as I have during my lifetime, to understand the tremendous human suffering and the colossal loss of human dignity that is involved therein. I feel certain that the Conservative Party is not close enough to it, and has not that vital and real experience of it to appreciate what it means.

Yesterday saw a lobbying of Members of Parliament and a demonstration such as this House has not experienced since the black days of the 'thirties when unemployment exceeded 2 million. We must see to it that such a total is never reached again. After talking with my constituents, who came here yesterday from Bradford, I formed the very firm impression that never again would working people in this country tolerate the long years of degradation known to some of us and to some of our fathers in the bad and hungry 'thirties. The Government should take a very serious look at this feeling, which is deeply held not only in Bradford but in all the forgotten regions.

Bradford is of special significance because it is the home of woollen textiles. I am the first to acknowledge that, whatever the problem, before one can advance towards a cure one must undertand the underlying causes of the problem. Bradford, and the area of the West Riding around it, is the home of woollen textiles, an industry which for years has maintained a good export record. It has a very loyal work force, who serve the industry very well indeed. Hon. and right hon. Members on both sides of the House will agree that they produce some of the finest woollen materials in the world. These are workers whose skills are unsurpassed in the world and who have a good record of labour relations.

But, as a reward, they are now being thrown upon the industrial scrapheap. This is not the fault of these workers or of unemployed workers generally. I know that over the years there has been far too much dependence upon this one industry. Indeed, almost a quarter of the working population of the City of Bradford works, or did work, in woollen textiles. There are, of course, some lesser industries—not lesser in the importance of the job which they are doing, because some very important small sections of engineering exist in Bradford, but lesser in the number of workers and in the size of the industries. When there is a slump and a contraction in woollen textiles, as at present, there is little or no alternative work for those who are put out of work by mergers, for example, and other changes. Mills are closing in Bradford at an alarming rate, Modernisation and mergers mean redundancies and despair.

Men who have worked in the industry all their lives, who are now reaching the evening of their lives, find at the age of 55 and over that they must face all the hardships of redundancy. What prospect is there for men at that age to learn a new job? A man spends all his life in the mill, from the time he leaves school, and he becomes skilled in the operative job which he is doing in the mill. In the latter part of his life, when he should be reaching a more restful period, he finds that he is no longer wanted in the job which he has learned. At the age of 55 or over one does not easily turn to learning a new occupation and new skills. In Bradford, even if one does learn new skills, there are no jobs available. The Yorkshire unemployment figure is higher than the national average and the Bradford figure is higher still—4.8 per cent., against the national 4 per cent. But the real rub is in the figure for men, the breadwinners—7.3 per cent. against the national figure of 5.5 per cent. This is the alarming situation which has led to this debate.

The Government could help by sweeping away red tape and the stock Civil Service answers by taking action and not hiding behind words. For a year now, Bradford City Council, Bradford Area Development Association and I have been trying to persuade the Minister for Transport Industries to make a considerable grant towards an interchange from the motorway at Staithgate Lane, so that we can build an industrial estate. This would not cure our unemployment, but it would help to see that this terrible 7.3 per cent. does not get worse.

No transport Minister is here tonight, but I appeal to the Under-Secretary of State to show that he means business and to liaise with that Ministry. This is what we need if we are to tackle this problem. The Prime Minister might appoint a super-Minister to over-ride such weak arguments about the interchange as, "If I give way to Bradford, other towns will demand the same." I am asking for this red tape to be swept away.

The workers at English Electric's factory in Bradford, who are already on short time, are frightened that tomorrow the factory will shut. The Dick Lane foundry of English Electric is a case in point. It could close because the employers say that they cannot afford the equipment required under the Clean Air Act. I do not suggest we should ignore that Act, but something must be done by contacting these employers at the highest possible level to see whether some Government aid can be given to this firm to ensure that this factory does not close down. It would not give Bradford any more jobs, but it would prevent 300 or 400 men from adding to that 7.3 per cent. and making it as bad as in Scotland or the North-East.

Even the Rolls-Royce situation affects the Bradford scene. The firm of Hepworth and Grandage makes parts for Rolls-Royce and is owed a considerable amount of money. The firm has told me in writing that without this payment it will have to curb its activity in Bradford—which means more unemployment. The Government should do something about things like this. Talk is no good: we require some action.

The workshops for the blind in Bradford face possible closure. Blind workers were among those lobbying Members yesterday. We know how hopeless the position is for people afflicted by blindness. It is bad enough for someone who is able-bodied when unemployment is running at 7.3 per cent., but for blind people the position is even worse. I ask the Minister to promise me that representations will be made on this score in order to get things moving.

I do not want to take up the Minister's time, because I wish him to offer me something worth while, and rather than put me off with glib excuses I would rather that he went away and studied the position and then gave us something to work on at a later date. I ask the hon. Gentleman to approach the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry who should, in turn, approach the Prime Minister and urge him to take steps to co-ordinate the work of all the Ministries concerned with employment. The Government should consider setting up a separate Ministry while this crisis persists. Such a Ministry would be charged to work in conjunction with the authorities in localities like Bradford.

It is no solution merely to hand out money. We need organisation as well. Therefore, the Minister should have consultations before a factory closes, putting many people out of work. I know that this is contrary to the beliefs of the Conservative Party, but surely the lame duck policy is now dead. Surely it is accepted that if we are to make a dent in this terrible problem we must do what I have suggested.

I hope that the Minister will be able to give me some real hope to take back to my constituents.

11.48 p.m.

Mr. John Wilkinson (Bradford, West)

I should like to make a few positive suggestions.

We need a more flexible regional policy which takes into account earnings and environmental criteria as well as purely employment criteria. I urge the Minister to speed the review on this matter which is going on in the Department. May consideration be given to increasing the grants given under Housing Act, 1970, in areas like Bradford to the level of those given in development areas? Is it possible to increase the rate of grant for the clearance of derelict land from 75 per cent. for which we are eligible to the 80 per cent. which operates in development areas? Is it possible to bring forward certain Government schemes such as the one concerning the freight depôt at Low Moor and the transport interchange? Could more science-based industries be attracted to the area and the expansion of existing ones ensured by, for example, a production order for Concorde?

Overall, the Government's measures have done a great deal of good. For instance, there has been an expansion in employment in the manufacture of colour television sets and in the service industries due to the halving of selective employment tax. The policy of self-help is bearing fruit. If one takes, for example, the schemes already announced by the authority under general improvement area declarations, only Birmingham and the London Borough of Haringey have schemes which comprise better clearances and improvement of more dwellings. So the County Borough of Bradford is already doing well. The Government's measures are encouraging. If a few of the suggestions of more flexible policies could be adopted, as the Hunt Committee suggested, our position would be further improved.

11.50 p.m.

The Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Anthony Grant)

I have very little time to reply to the debate. I have listened extremely carefully to what my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Wilkinson) has said, as I have to the hon. Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Torney).

It is some months since we discussed the situation in Bradford and I am glad to have the opportunity of returning to the subject tonight. I fully appreciate the concern of the hon. Member for Bradford, South about current unemployment and I congratulate him on the vigorous way in which he presented his case.

On the rather party political note with which he started the debate, he can be assured that he and his hon. Friends are not the sole repositories of concern and anxiety, nor can he and his hon. Friends divest themselves wholly of responsibility for the level of unemployment that we have.

I deal quickly with the specific cases which the hon. Member was good enough to mention earlier. The question of the Staithgate Lane interchange is at present under Ministerial consideration within the Department of the Environment. Therefore, I cannot comment further tonight, but I will ensure that the hon. Gentleman's remarks are conveyed to my right hon. Friends.

The hon. Gentleman also mentioned the question of alleged air pollution from a foundry. I understand that the problem has not been brought to the attention of Alkali Inspectorate headquarters. But any further information or particulars that the hon. Gentleman is able to make available will, no doubt, assist in identifying the particular case, which will be looked at carefully.

On the question of difficulties of a particular firm, a creditor of Rolls-Royce, I cannot add further to the letter which my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State dealing with aerospace matters wrote to the hon. Gentleman on the subject, but from my recent correspondence with the hon. Gentleman, he will not expect me to agree with the view concerning lack of diversity of industry in the Bradford area; nor does it mean that the Government are insensitive to the needs of the unemployed in his constituency or that we do not recognise the need in the area during the next few years for additional industrial employment. I shall return to that point later if I have time.

I had the pleasure of visiting Bradford during October 1970. It was during the dustmen's strike, but in spite of that I saw for myself some of the significant progress made on local initiatives, to some of which I have already referred in replying to my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West, in an Adjournment debate on 8th April. In the context of Bradford's problems, environmental problems overlap and react on those in the economic and social fields.

I commend the initiative which the Bradford Council has shown in many respects in the general improvement areas under the Housing Act, 1969, its plans for homes for old people and its general improvement in cleanliness.

Regarding dereliction, to which my hon. Friend referred, this is a major problem arising from the rundown of the old mills and warehouses. I once again draw attention to the fact that under existing legislation Bradford is eligible for 75 per cent. grants for clearance purposes. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment gives every encouragement to local authorities to make full use of these grants.

The question of assistance with renovation of dilapidated premises which are nevertheless still in use presents more difficult problems, but the Departments concerned are studying these problems.

The substantial drop in the number of unemployed insured persons, some 7 per cent., during the period from 1964 to 1969 is due primarily to the restructuring and modernisation of the wool textile industry. But this will ultimately bring real and substantial benefits to Bradford's oldest and most important industry, with its notable world-wide contribution to Britain's export trade.

I remind the House that the study of the wool textile industry published by the Economic Development Council foreshadowed a substantial reduction in the number of establishments and employees by 1975 as a result of evident changes in consumer demand and re-equipment with more productive machinery. The expected rundown has been accelerated by the general slackness in the economy, coinciding with adverse cyclical effects in the industry. Some further slimming down cannot be ruled out. It is, however, of prime significance that both employers and trade union officials in wool textiles have expressed confidence in the industry's future prosperity once immediate problems are overcome.

In other industries the drop in employment is due mainly to the need for rationalisation—much of it, I stress, on account of cost inflation, but this feature is certainly far more severe in other parts of the country, especially in development areas.

I am sorry to note that both the total unemployment and the male rate have risen during recent months. I recognise that this situation spells human hardship for the men involved and for their families, but they flow largely from the long-standing need to rationalise the textile industry together with the results of cost inflation in other industries, a feature which has its origins in the policies pursued by the previous Administration and which has characterised many other parts of the country to a much greater degree of severity.

We have operated a flexible and liberal industrial development certificate policy for the Bradford and Shipley district, with the result that refusals of I.D.C.s have been very infrequent: 77 I.D.C.s were issued in the period from the beginning of 1969 to the beginning of 1971 and only one was refused.

In the face of what I have been saying and what the Government have been doing, as the hon. Gentleman recognises, I do not accept any suggestion that the Government are either blind or deaf to the needs of the Bradford area. Figures relating to the spread of insured employees for the area as at June, 1969, show that although approximately one-quarter of these are engaged in textiles, almost the same number are engaged in manufacturing industries of a diverse nature. I repeat the Government's assurance that we fully accept the need for additional industrial employment, but plans must be related to a long-term strategy.

As to future prospects, the currently high unemployment level in the area is spread over several industries, and all these categories, and to some degree the wool textile industry, can expect to feel benefit from the general expansion in the economy. For example, colour television sets are made by a leading firm—Baird—in Bradford and the demand for colour television has risen sharply following my right hon. Friend the Chancellor's July measures.

Furthermore, despite difficulties in recent years, the wool textile industry is essentially buoyant and confidence in its future, including the prospects of expanding exports in a greatly enlarged European Economic Community, has been expressed by both employers and trade union leaders.

Local government reforms, too, should assist the area. So I do not take a gloomy view of Bradford's future. To do so does a disservice to the courage and initiative of the people in the Bradford area. For my part, I am convinced that when the national economy has strengthened, Bradford will be able to absorb the necessary further rundown of the wool textile industry without undue difficulty, as it has done in the past, and that greater business confidence will have proportionate effects in providing more jobs in the many other industrial activities of the area.

At the same time, the Government fully acknowledge that the present situation gives no ground for complacency. I assure the hon. Member and my hon. Friend that we shall continue to keep a close watch on the situation in the Bradford area as a whole.

Mr. Torney

Mere words.

Mr. Grant

It does not inspire people to come to the hon. Gentleman's area if he is constantly and consistently run- ning it down. It is far better to talk of some of the great opportunities that exist for industry in Bradford and the way in which it will benefit from the measures the Government have taken.

Question put and agreed to.

Adjourned accordingly at one minute to Twelve o'clock.