Employment (Hansard, 18 January 1978)

§ 4. Mr. Dempsey
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the latest results of each of the special employment measures introduced to combat unemployment; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Gregor MacKenzie
About 53,000 people in Scotland are currently benefiting from the special employment measures. I am placing the detailed breakdown of the figures in the Official Report.

§ Mr. Dempsey
Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Government's bold and imaginative measures have been warmly welcomed in Scotland, as they have decisively reduced unemployment? Is it possible, however, to step up those provisions, especially in areas of high unemployment, such as Coatbridge and Airdrie?

§ Mr. MacKenzie
We are deeply conscious of the problems of my hon. Friend's constituency and of other industrial constituencies in all parts of Scotland. He will recall that it was not so many weeks ago that we announced new measures, which we think will be of considerable value. I am thinking particularly of the youth opportunities programme, which comes into being on 1st April this year and will provide 230,000 places for young people throughout the United Kingdom. We also propose to use the special temporary employment programme, which will give opportunities to 25,000 adults.

§ Mr. Monro
Does the Minister think that there might be ways of improving co-ordination between the large number of bodies involved in bringing jobs to Scotland? Is he satisfied that the present procedures are adequate, and will he consider looking at this matter in detail?

§ Mr. MacKenzie
For many years, particularly before I became a Minister, I was concerned about the number of people and agencies involved in job creation and inward investment. The hon. Member for Dumfries (Mr. Monro) will recall that interest from his experience in the Scottish Office. We now have a Scottish Economic Planning Department which works very closely with the Scottish Development Agency and the Scottish Council (Development and Industry) and we have reached a fairly satisfactory state which avoids the proliferation of organisations involved in these matters.

§ Mrs. Bain
Does the Minister agree that the so-called bold and imaginative plans that the Government are implementing are so effective that Scottish unemployment is running against the United Kingdom trend and is continuing to rise? Already this week there have been announcements of closures in places such as Clydebank, which will add to the jobless total. Can the Minister see his way to reintroducing the regional employment premium, the withdrawal of which has been estimated to have cost Scotland 20,000 jobs so far?

§ Mr. MacKenzie
The hon. Lady should acknowledge that about 53,000 people in Scotland are already benefiting from these measures. They are of considerable help to many young people. As to whether the measures are the right ones, I can tell the House that they are under constant review. We decided not to continue the REP, but we introduced other measures, such as the youth opportunities scheme and the temporary employment subsidy, and provided more money for the Scottish Development Agency. There have been selective schemes to help industries such as foundries and machine tools, from which we in Scotland have benefited to a great extent.

§ Mr. Sillars
Does my right hon. Friend expect Scottish unemployment to be reduced substantially over the next six months?

§ Mr. MacKenzie
The hon. Gentleman would not be foolish enough to think that I would be prepared to make guesstimates of that kind.

§ Mr. Younger
We welcome the measures which are helping unemployed young people, but is the Minister aware that 430 most of those young people are still, in effect, unemployed in terms of having long-term worthwhile jobs with career prospects? Most of the 53,000 people that he has mentioned should be added to the unemployment total if we are to get a true picture of the failure of the Government on unemployment.

§ Mr. MacKenzie
I do not think that one can add the 53,000 to the total unemployed. We are taking action in a very difficult time of world recession to help young people to gain job experience, and that is a matter of considerable importance. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have both said repeatedly that we do not regard these jobs as in any way a substitute for real jobs in the Scottish economy. We have taken measures to hold down inflation, and believe that those, with other measures that we are taking, will provide the real answer.