SOUTH AYRSHIRE (EMPLOYMENT) (Hansard, 2 July 1973)

§ Mr. James Sillars (South Ayrshire)

As the Minister knows, I first obtained time for an Adjournment debate under the heading "The Effect of the Maxwell Colliery Closures on Dailly", but when major closures were announced in Cumnock late last week I thought the wisest course was to widen the subject and draw to the attention of the Government the problems facing both areas. I should also like to deal with two other areas, Doon Valley and Maybole, just to register them with the Minister, if time permits.

I shall deal first with Dailly, which lies within the Girvan exchange area and which must seek alternative jobs to mining. Those alternative jobs will have to he found at Girvan's Grangestone industrial estate.

For many years Dailly, in common with our mining communities, has lived with the uncertainty and apprehension that comes from a heavy reliance for jobs on a coal industry that has been subject to closure after closure. In Scotland, Dailly has been among the most vulnerable mining communities because of its relative isolation from the major part of the Ayrshire coalfield, which lies 30 miles to the north, and I am sure that 214 the Minister has been furnished by his Department with a map of South Ayrshire, which proves the point. It has been possible to redeploy men from some smaller pits in the north when closures have affected those areas, with them finding work in Barony and Killoch collieries, but similar solutions are not so easy in the case of Dailly miners.

It was recognition of those and other circumstances, together with the persistently high unemployment around Girvan, that led to the area being designated a special development area. One of the reasons for such designation—a pit closure—has, unhappily, occurred. At the moment the exact numbers of jobs lost is not known to me, and I doubt whether the Minister knows, either, because the National Coal Board and the National Union of Miners are still discussing the matter and no doubt will not be able to finalise arrangements for a few weeks to come.

We know that jobs will be lost, however, and that Dailly's mining hopes will now stand or fall on the performance of Dalquarran colliery, which lies just at end of the village. It is not my intention to throw a question mark over the future of Dalquharran. It is my experience—and I have some experience in this matter—that more pits than many suspect have been talked into closure in recent years, and I am certainly not going to be party to such an exercise in relation to Dalquharran.

However, I should be failing in my responsibilities if I did not point out to the Government that the natural forces that caused the closures at Maxwell are not themselves unknown at Dalquharran. Heating is a phenomenon that has been associated with the pits at Dailly for many years. That is a factor which the Government must take into account when deciding their policy towards the Dailly and Girvan area.

In the lights of events at Maxwell, what we require is an assurance from the NCB that, with the use, if necessary, of money made available by the Coal Industry Act 1973, it will continue to operate Dalquharran while coal reserves last, which should be for a good number of years. From the Government we need an assurance that they recognise that nature might intervene at Dalquharran and that they 215 are moving positively to establish more male-employing industry in the area as a safeguard to general employment needs.

I previously mentioned the special development area status accorded to the Girvan employment exchange area. This status has been put to good use by the local authorities so far, and every effort has been made to build upon the opportunity offered by that status. Advance factories have been built and filled, and we have to record a recent success in establishing a new tenant on the Grange-stone industrial estate.

Although I have some points of conflict with Girvan Town Council in other directions, a special tribute must be paid to its efforts in attracting new industry. Using the natural attractions of the area, which is one of the most beautiful in Southern Scotland—and I invite the Minister to come and see for himself—and employing a housing strategy that is geared to industry's needs, it has steadily built up the Grangestone estate which is a monument to the fine work done by members and officials of the council, both past and present. They have managed to do that against a background of difficult economic problems.

Whilst the Girvan Town Council takes justified pride in its achievements it will, I am certain, be the first to admit that the present level of development at Grangestone does not meet the employment needs of the district, especially on the male employment side. Further job losses in the coal mining industry at Dailly could not be met at Grangestone without further significant expansion of industry at that estate.

I am really putting forward two propositions. The first is that Dailly is a community worth preserving. The second is that we need Government help over and above that which is available at present.

I must emphasise the importance of maintaining Dailly as a living community. It is a small village peopled by men and women of high quality who value the comradeship, loyalty and social responsibility that is part of their way of life, and something peculiar to mining communities. Naturally, although recognising that their way of earning a living will 216 change with the years, they wish to retain and pass on the social ethos which makes this village important to all who know it.

Last Saturday I attended a joint branch meeting between the Maxwell men and the Dalquharran men at which the district secretary of the NUM and members of the executive discussed with me the problems involved in the colliery closure. It is a significant pointer to the quality of the people involved that in the middle of that meeting of men with their own human problems, one of the items raised by one of the men, who has a redundancy threat hanging over him, was what contribution Dalquharran and Maxwell collieries were able to make to the Sea-field disaster fund. Even in the midst of their own difficulties the men there had sufficient compassion and humanity to think about mining families on the other side of Scotland.

I must emphasise the importance of maintaining Dailly as a living community. If it is to escape from the break up which can follow loss of a basic employment or loss of confidence in the future there must be Government action to bring new male-employing industry to Grangestone.

This brings me to my second proposition, that additional Government help is now required. I think the Minister would agree that conditions are such at present that it is fair to ask the Government for action to "direct"—I put the word in quotation marks—industry to Grangestone. I put the word in quotation marks so as not to offend the ideological instincts of the Minister. It would not be new for the Conservatives to direct industry to certain areas of Scotland. I can remember the hon. Member for Ayr (Mr. Younger) boasting how they managed to do so in relation to Wiggins, Teape. The Minister will boast of growth in the United Kingdom economy; there has been considerable expansion in the South-East, the Midlands and in East Anglia. There has been a much lesser pace of expansion evident in the Scottish economy. We need more of the benefits of growth directed to the Scottish economy, and within that exercise we can fairly claim attention for Girvan, which has always had unemployment well above the 217 national average. The Government are a powerful institution. They are big purchasers in industry and the source of big handouts to industry in all parts of the country. I want the Government to use the power to "direct" industry to Grangestone by using their influence to lean on private and public undertakings to shift to our area.

Because of the pressure of time I think I should now shift attention to the other part of South Ayrshire presently experiencing difficulties, and that is Cumnock, but before leaving Dailly I want to put a specific question to the Minister. It concerns the assistance available under the provisions of the European Coal and Steel Community treaty, with which we are involved since joining the Common Market. My own personal view of the Common Market is totally irrelevant to this consideration, but since we are a contributor to the common agricultural policy and other Market policies I do not think it wrong that the Government, who boast of having entered the Common Market, should ask for something back from the Community in the form of the aid it gives. As I understand it, Community financial aid is available for areas facing difficulty with colliery closures and contraction of the mining industry; the purpose of the aid is to help in retraining men and improving the infrastructure.

If my information is broadly correct, will the Government make a specific request to the Commission for funds to be used in the Girvan-Dailly area? I can assure the Minister that the local authorities would quickly respond with schemes to improve the infrastructure and communications. Communications are an important matter; we need better communications with the north of the county, towards Hunterston, where we confidently expect big developments this year for the planning decision of the Government.

I turn to the question of Cumnock. I shall try to cover the whole of my constituency—about 700 square miles. It is not an easy task, but I shall try. When I say "Cumnock" I have to be careful, because it refers to the town and district—a number of villages and communities in the northern part of my constituency. When I say "Cumnock" I embrace a much wider area than the burgh itself.

218 I mean the whole of Local Government Area No. 5, which the Cumnock growth area has always been intended to serve.

The town council and the county council have been most vigorous in pursuit of new industry, and they have had some terrible experiences associated with pit closures in this area also. People have shown a remarkable determination to widen the structural base of the local economy. They have had their successes. Indeed, Cumnock town council is widely recognised as one of the most advanced and progressive small burgh burghs in the country. Everything that local authorities can do has been done in this area, to make it an attractive proposition to industrialists. The town of Cumnock itself is exceptionally well planned and a most pleasant place to live. Housing is readily available for key workers, educational provision is of the highest standard, there is redevelopment and improvement in every village, the whole area abounds with recreational opportunities and is set in a wonderful environment. Inevitably, such an effort is rewarded with success, and we can see the fruits of these efforts in the Caponacre industrial estate and in factories as widely spread as New Cumnock, Catrine and Drongan. In the last few weeks, however, much of the job build-up over many years has been undercut by two industrial decisions.

First, we lost over 30 jobs at a carpet factory at the beginning of June, and last week we had an announcement that the Bankend Mill will be run down and ultimately closed, with an eventual job loss of 225. I know that the management at Bankend is in discussions with the trade unions, and that it has given considerable notice of its intentions to the workers and the local authority. Although no one welcomes the decision of the company to move its whole operations to Yorkshire, I suppose we can be grateful to have received timely warning. It is a small mercy in a situation where a firm which has used the labour of Cumnock people since 1948—not unprofitably, one can safely assume—has now decided to waltz off. The practical situation is that we have been given notice of a gap that will need to be filled in 12 to 18 months' time. It is a considerable employment gap, and we are looking to the Government for action to help fill it.

219 Although it has not suffered the same level of unemployment as Girvan, Cumnock has always suffered from high unemployment in past years. The economy of the area is still heavily dependent on the coal industry, and in our view it is a candidate for more Government assistance than we have been receiving over the past few years. We should like the DTI to find a suitable tenant for the building which Bankend Mill presently occupies. The company will be a willing seller if the DTI can assist in finding a willing buyer. We would also like to see the Government show their faith in Cumnock's industrial future by building another advance factory at Caponacre.

It is easier to get an industrialist in the early stages to look at a factory of 20,000 to 30,000 square feet than to interest him in 80,000 square feet, which is the area of Bankend. Action of that sort would be most welcome. I have previously set out the self-help undertaken by the local authorities, and I am now asking for equivalent Government action to meet our urgent need for an injection of new industry into the Cumnock district.

The Minister should know that, although having received the set-backs mentioned, there is no loss of spirit in the Cumnock area. There is no danger of our drowning in despondency. I am coming to the Minister early, rather than after the horse has bolted. The people in the district have experience of setbacks. Anyone who has lived in a mining community has built into his nervous system an ability to face setbacks. This applies to Cumnock, where people are not easily knocked off balance.

What exists are communities that wish to see their district flourish; people who want to see their children enjoy wide and interesting job opportunities in their own area, not Australia. New Zealand or England; people who know the large contribution their councils have made to create the local conditions for growth; and who look to the Government to make their contribution to maintaining the life of the area.

As there is still time available before I give way to the Minister, I will take the opportunity of drawing his attention to the needs of two other areas—Maybole, and the Doon Valley.

220 Maybole is within the Ayr employment exchange area, and many of the people work in Ayr, in Kilmarnock and in Irvine. I cannot see that pattern being disturbed, but there is a need to recognise that Maybole requires more industry than it presently has to maintain a health local economy. It has to be borne in mind that Maybole is the centre of a catchment area which covers a large part of South Ayrshire.

As with the other towns mentioned it has to its credit a go-ahead town council, ably led by its Labour Provost, Willie Cuthbert, now in his second term, in recognition of his outstanding achievements for the town. The council has helped to establish a number of employers in the town, but it is naturally anxious to continue with progress. I would ask the Minister to place Maybole high on his list when the Government announce their next advance factory programme. Too often, Maybole feels that it is left off official maps, and official thinking. I ask the Minister to put it on the advance factory map as soon as possible.

Finally, I come to the Doon Valley, again heavily dependent on coal mining for employment, and which must look for alternatives at the Mosshill industrial estate. The Minister knows that we have recently been informed that a tenant has been found for the first advance factory at Mosshill. He also knows that I have pressed him to expand the estate immediately with the construction of another advance factory. I hope that it will not be long before he can give me a positive response to this reasonable request.

I draw the hon. Gentleman's attention to the Doon Valley's coal industry, where we are concerned about the future, say, some four or five years from now. Will he look at the position with the National Coal Board, get the facts from the board, and lay his contingency plans now, perhaps taking aid from Community funds in a similar approach to that suggested for the Girvan-Dailly area, and start the infrastructure improvements which we must have to attract new industry into that valley in my constituency?

I thank the Minister for his patience in listening to me.

§ The Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Peter Emery)

First, I congratulate the hon. Member for South Ayrshire (Mr. Sillars) on securing the Adjournment debate this evening and also on the most sensible use he has made of that opportunity. He will understand if I do not enter into a discussion concerning Maybole and the Doon Valley. He has registered his point. His request for extra assistance I will refer both to the Scottish Office—and we have present with us a Scottish Minister in the person of my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr (Mr. Younger)—and also to my colleagues at the Department of Trade and Industry concerned particularly with industrial policy.

I therefore turn particularly to the problems of South Ayrshire, which, in recent years, has suffered from relatively high unemployment and from an unbalanced industrial structure, as I would be the first to recognise.

At present the rates of unemployment in the Girvan, Ayr and Cumnock areas are around the level for Scotland as a whole, but still well above the Great Britain average. The main source of difficulty is, of course, an excessive dependence on coal mining for male employment. This has been recognised for some time—indeed, Girvan was one of the original SDAs in 1967—and efforts have been made under Governments of both political colours to diversify the industrial base and provide a wider range of job opportunities. In this work my Department has co-operated closely with the local authorities and, with the benefit of the various regional incentives that have been available, significant results have been achieved. Firms involved in such diverse activities as distilling, chemicals, ladies' underwear, assembly of moulding and encapsulation machinery, and metal finishing have been attracted to the Grangestone industrial estate at Girvan, for instance. I am delighted to be able to tell the House about that. I am certain that the hon. Gentleman is pleased to be able to welcome these industries into his constituency.

This estate now provides some 550 jobs altogether, while 700 are employed on the Caponacre Estate at Cumnock. But this is an uphill struggle. Nothing could 222 demonstrate that more clearly than the closure to which the hon. Gentleman has referred. The closure of Maxwell Colliery on 12th July again highlights features of a situation which can arise so quickly in the coalmining industry. I suppose that it is in that industry alone that this situation—I was about to use the phrase "flare up" but, being concerned with heating, that would be inappropriate—can arise and form the difficulties.

The hazards of the industry are known to us all. The problems of Ayr are known to my Department. I know the extent of the concern of my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Development, Scottish Office, who represents the constituency of Ayr. Although geographically next door, he is still ultimately concerned with the whole problem, as is the hon. Gentleman.

Apart from the dangers to life and limb in the problem which has arisen in the Maxwell Colliery, there are also the uncertainties associated with geological factors, of which Maxwell is a particular example.

The closure of this colliery has come about suddenly and will have an effect on the relatively small community of Dailly. I accept that immediately. The unavoidable suddenness of the closure makes it worse. However, there is no question of all the men involved immediately finding themselves unemployed. The usual period of notice of redundancy will be observed. Some men may be employed for a term on salvage work, and possibilities of redeployment to other pits will be explored. In all this there will, as usual, be close co-operation between the NCB and the unions and, as the hon. Gentleman suggested, negotiations are taking place to deal with that particular matter.

It is, perhaps, one slightly redeeming feature of this particular closure that the number of men involved is relatively small, when one thinks of the very much larger pits throughout the country. Nevertheless, I would not for a moment suggest that that diminishes the problem for individual families. It is a real problem even if it concerns only one family. It is a major problem which has to be faced.

223 Therefore, it is no easy matter with this loss of employment at a familiar workplace for many of these men who have given many years of work if not all of their life's work to their pit. There is the need, therefore, for each individual concerned to readjust himself, and to make the readjustment to a completely new set of circumstances. The hon. Gentleman has explained with great clarity the prospect before a group of men and their dependants situated in what some would describe as an isolated community, deprived of the opportunity, through no fault of their own, to continue working, in the industry of their choice.

I should like, therefore, to assure the hon. Gentleman that I and the Government as a whole are fully conscious of the difficulties that beset mineworkers as a result of colliery closures. There is little need for me to remind the House, however, of the massive financial aid recently provided by the Government to the industry under the provisions of the Coal Industry Act 1973. Under that Act powers were taken to make schemes for men becoming redundant in the industry up to March 1976 and, by parliamentary permission, they can be extended to 1978. The hon. Gentleman will know that my hon. Friend the Minister for Industry proposes shortly to present to the House for approval the draft order of a new redundant mineworkers payments scheme, the main features of which were indicated by the Minister for Industry in May. I reiterate this only because it is important that the men in the pit should realise that they will benefit from the new redundancy payments scheme, although it has not yet been laid before the House. It will be some slight compensation to them to know that they will benefit from its much more generous terms. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will make certain that no one, and they in particular, will be in any doubt about that matter.

I believe that the new schemes, whilst not as great as everybody would like, are, on the whole, much more generous than previously and, therefore, will be of some help. It must be right to consider the prospects of the men concerned finding new jobs, and we must look at the Girvan area as a whole. There are some hopeful signs. Unemployment has been falling rapidly and it now stands at less than half 224 the level of the beginning of the year. Part of this sharp fall is, no doubt, seasonal; but even compared with the position in June last year it is appreciably better. The second DTI advance factory at Grangestone was allocated in May to Century Aluminium, which will eventually provide 50 jobs, mostly for men. Production, I am able to announce, will begin next month. That may have been known, but I can now say it officially.

I do not wish to minimise the problems. Certainly no one can pretend that the prospects are excellent, but the area is certainly in a better position to stand the impact of the Maxwell closure than it was recently, last year or the year before last.

It would be right to emphasise that whilst the hon. Gentleman has asked that the DTI should "direct"—I accept the hon. Gentleman's inverted commas—industry to locate in Dailly or the Girvan area, he will realise that it really does no good, either to the community or to our policy of helping the regions or the areas of high unemployment, to direct—without the inverted commas—or twist the arm of industry to locate against its will because too often it only fails, and then the situation is made that much worse by a company not really working and having to pull out. It makes the situation doubly bad because it becomes a recurring factor.

With the little time left, I ought to turn to the announcement to which the hon. Gentleman referred—the closure of John Foster and Son Ltd. at Cumnock. Clearly this announcement must come as a blow to the Cumnock area and, of course, I understand why the hon. Gentleman has felt it necessary to widen the debate in the way that he has. I can assure him that my Department considered the implications and alternatives very closely before granting permission for the development—