TUC (Hansard, 21 June 1977)

§ Ql. Mr. Wrigglesworth
asked the Prime Minister when he next plans to meet the TUC.

§ The Prime Minister (Mr. James Callaghan)
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mr. Corbett) on 3rd February.

§ Mr. Wrigglesworth
When the Prime Minister does meet the TUC will he discuss the recent speculation about the future of public service pensions? Many pensioners in the public sector are anxious about reports that the Government may not uphold commitments under the 1971 Act made by the former Conservative Government in this matter. At a time when all the forecasts show that prices are going down while incomes are going up, would it not be nonsense to introduce legislation to do away with this commitment?

§ The Prime Minister
I saw the report in one of the newspapers. I can assure my hon. Friend that there are no proposals for modifying the Pensions Increase Act of 1971. The increases will go ahead in accordance with that Act.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
Does the Prime Minister agree that the first item on the agenda when he meets the TUC should be the alarming increase in teenage unemployment today? Unless more effective action is taken in this regard, it will prove to be one of the worst economic and social problems facing the country.

§ The Prime Minister
Yes. This is a matter that is frequently discussed between Ministers and representatives of the TUC and others. The Government are now considering what steps should be taken in response to the Holland Report before the rest of the schemes run out, as they will do in the not-too-distant future. Discussion on this matter will take place, as well, at the European Council when it meets next week. I hope that more funds can be devoted to the budget of the Social Fund in order to provide training or further education for these young 1090 people. This is a most serious problem and the right. hon. Gentleman is right to press it continually.

§ Mr. Mike Thomas
Is the Prime Minister aware of the serious unemployment prospects facing the Northern Region—not just in relation to the matter on which he must be bored with hearing from me but in the shipbuilding industry, which will be suffering from order book problems in the early autumn? There are also the problems of Plesseys and a number of other serious industrial difficulties that need the Government's urgent attention.

§ The Prime Minister
The position in the shipbuilding industry has been foreseen for some time. That is why action has been taken in connection with the Japanese shipbuilding industry. Sufficient orders are not coming through at present, and of those that are coming through the Japanese industry is taking a disproportionate share in relation to the facilities that exist in the world for building ships. There have been discussions on this matter with the Japanese, and the European Council has also discussed it, because it affects the whole of Europe.

§ Mr. Prior
When, on Saturday, the Prime Minister announced that better times were coming, had he in mind the fact that there would be an additional 35,000 people unemployed this month and that an additional 100,000 unemployed school leavers would now be on the list? What does he intend to do about the situation, and how can he go about the country saying that better times are coming when the results show quite the opposite?

§ The Prime Minister
The right hon. Gentleman knows as well as I do that if we can hold the position on incomes—[HON. MEMBERS: "If."]—yes, "if"—the prospects for this country for 1978 to 1982 will be better than they have been for many decades. Despite what the right hon. Gentleman said, nothing can alter that fact. That is why I place so much importance on not having a runaway increase in incomes in the next 12 months.