HC Deb 15 February 1978 vol 944 cc426-8
12. Mr. Fairgrieve

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the prospects for the Scottish economy in the forthcoming year.

14. Mr. Teddy Taylor

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a further statement on the economic outlook.

Mr. Millan

Progress in both the United Kingdom and Scottish economies over the rest of this year will be greatly influenced by the extent to which growth in world trade can be maintained, and by success in the continuing attack against domestic inflation.

Mr. Fairgrieve

Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that in Scotland there are far more businesses becoming bankrupt, fewer new businesses forming and fewer people being taken on by small businesses, and that the small business sector offers the only way in which we can cut into our unemployment problem? Will he consider introducing policies that will help the small business sector?

Mr. Millan

I think that we have already done that. On the general question of the state of the economy, I do not think that the CBI in Scotland, for example, takes the same gloomy view as the hon. Gentleman.

Mr. Taylor

As the policies of the Secretary of State have resulted in unemployment in Scotland more than doubling in three and a half years, and as the outlook for employment and investment is accepted as bleak, will he at least say that he will have a complete review of the Government's economic policies, which have been a disaster for the Scottish people?

Mr. Millan

I do not accept that. As for the level of unemployment, the Government have already introduced a number of employment measures that at present are catering for about 54,000 people in Scotland. We have already announced that we shall continue those measures, and in some cases strengthen them, after 1st April.

Mr. David Steel

Will the right hon. Gentleman undertake that in advance of that date he will associate himself closely with the work being undertaken by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in encouraging the development of small businesses, which is a considerable potential growth area for Scotland?

Mr. Millan

Yes, I agree with that. I shall do that. If the right hon. Gentleman considers the activities in this area of the Scottish Development Agency, which took over SICRAS, which was previously an independent organisation, he will find that since it was established it has continued and considerably increased and expanded the work done by SICRAS.

Mr. Sillars

Does my right hon. Friend recall that three months after taking office he gave an interview to the Daily Record, published on 14th July 1976, in which he said that the prospects for the Scottish economy never looked so good and that unemployment was set to come down? If he has been pursuing the correct economic policies since taking office, why has unemployment in Scotland reached 203,000?

Mr. Millan

I think that it has been a disappointment to all hon. Members that over the past couple of years we have seen in this country, and in the Western world as a whole, very high rates of unemployment, which are mostly a direct reflection of the considerable world recession through which, unfortunately, we are still passing.

Mr. Crawford

Leaving aside the Conservatives' imposition of the levy on the self-employed and their calls for further expenditure cuts, which will not help to provide jobs, what percentage growth rate does the right hon. Gentleman's Department expect in the Scottish economy in 1978?

Mr. Millan

On recent patterns, I expect that the growth in the Scottish economy will be about the same as it has been in the United Kingdom as a whole. That is how the pattern is running at present.

Mr. Robert Hughes

Will my right hon. Friend take into account that, although there are difficulties in the Scottish economy, by and large things are not as bleak and gloomy as Members on the Opposition Benches would wish? Will he publish in the Official Report the recent figures that indicate that, apart from London and the South-East, the wages of manual workers in Scotland are higher than those in any other region of the United Kingdom?

Mr. Millan

What my hon. Friend says is absolutely correct. That is only one indicator of how the relative Scottish position has improved in recent years.