§ 1.27 p.m.
§ Mr. Gerard Fitt (Belfast, West)As we prepare to depart for a short holiday, I am mindful of the fact that for many thousands of my constituents there will be no question of a holiday as such. Indeed, their problem has been that for periods of from one year to 10 years they have been on a constant holiday. They have not been able to find employment in the city of Belfast.
It is with that in mind that I attempt to bring this problem to the Government's attention and to try to elicit from them whether they can see any remedy to the present intolerable situation of unemployment in the constituency that I have the honour to represent in this House—Belfast, West.
I have no hesitation in saying—and I defy contradiction—that my constituency is the most underprivileged and socially deprived of all, in housing, in the lack of opportunities and in the lack of employment. It is the worst constituency in any part of the United Kingdom, if not in Western Europe.
The electoral role of my constituency contains the names of 67,000 people. Indeed, when the new electoral role is published it may be found that the number is substantially lower. Taking the figures of 67,000, one must allow for the aged people in retirement, men over the age of 65 and women over the age of 60, who account for so many thousands. Then one takes the number of wives who are not seeking employment and are acting as housewives. One then deducts those numbers from the total electorate.
1955 By a series of Questions over the past few weeks I have ascertained that the total number of people signing the unemployment register in the Falls Road social security office in West Belfast is 6,214. The total number signing the unemployment register in the Shankill Road, which is substantially in West Belfast, is 2,190. There are parts of the West Belfast area that are not included in the social security office in the Shankill. I refer to Unity Flats and other parts of the area.
In the West Belfast constituency there is a total of 10,000 unemployed. I emphasise that that is in only one constituency. We have had to learn to live with the fact that Northern Ireland as a region of the United Kingdom has always had by far highest unemployment figures, even at times when the rest of the United Kingdom has been prospering economically. Northern Ireland has always accepted that its unemployment figures are substantially much higher than those in the rest of the United Kingdom. The present unemployment figure for the whole of Northern Ireland as a region is about 10.9 per cent.—62,000 or 63,000. That has been the situation over a number of years.
I appreciate that the Government have tried to introduce schemes to alleviate unemployment, but certainly in West Belfast they have not been successful. Let me give a further figure which I have elicited from the Government. A total of 6,214 people signed the unemployment register in the Falls Road social security office, but only 2,015 of those persons qualified for unemployment benefit. That tells a story. They have been so long unemployed that their claim to unemployment benefit has run out and they now receive full supplementary benefit. That does not surprise me because I know the districts concerned and, unfortunately, I know many hundreds, if not thousands, of people who find themselves in this difficult situation.
I tabled a number of questions on this subject and I discovered that in Northern Ireland it is not necessary to sign the unemployment register weekly. Some people sign the register quarterly. That is tantamount to an admission that the authorities concede that it is highly unlikely 1956 that a person over the age of 50 or 55 will find employment, particularly in areas such as West Belfast. Therefore, to save administrative work and staff, they inform the unfortunate person who is unemployed "You do not have to come to your local office. You can come here every three months."
Once a person is told that he does not have to sign the register every week but can sign every three months, he is virtually being thrown on the scrap-heap. That is bound to be highly demoralising and will knock the heart out of anybody. These people are being told, in language they know only too well, that it is highly unlikely that they will ever obtain a job.
Many people who find themselves in this position live on supplementary benefit allowance. We all know that such an allowance is not designed to let one live at very high or luxurious standards. People in this category have to live at the lowest possible standard, as designed by the Government. The majority of these people, having found themselves unemployed for so many years, naturally find themselves in debt. A number of them are in debt not for political reasons, not because of their objections to internment, but because they cannot live on the allowances which they are receiving.
The Government, in attempting to retrieve the debts owed to them, have had recourse to the Payment of Debt (Emergency Provisions) Act. They take substantial amounts of money from these persons by way of benefit allocation grants. That again considerably lowers the standard of living of these people—if that standard can drop any lower Than it now is.
There was a recent "Money Programme" on BBC television which sent researchers to Northern Ireland. In the West Belfast area, the lowest rate of unemployment they could find was 25 per cent. In some areas there were 35 per cent. unemployed, and in the West Belfast area some heads of households had not had a job for many pears.
I recognise that there is no magic wand to be waved to create employment overnight. The political troubles and violence in the constituency have caused industrialists to think twice about setting up industry in the area. However, there 1957 are many sites in the West Belfast area which could be used for industrial purposes. I am thinking of a large number of vacant sites on the right-hand side of the Falls Road up to the beginning of Royal Avenue. I believe that something could be done to try to industrialise that area and to bring employment to sadly deprived people.
We have recently been told that the EEC is considering making grants to Northern Ireland because of the high unemployment among youth there. I do not know how true this is, and I do not know the figures, but I hope that the Minister will be able to say what truth there is in that information and what are the prospects for financial help from the EEC to allay the scourge of unemployment.
A very well-known and respected clerical figure in West Belfast, Canon Murphy, saw so much poverty and social deprivation in his parish that he felt compelled to voice his concern about what he saw as the continuing tragedy of unemployment in West Belfast. I have known Canon Murphy for many years. He is not a political figure, but he has been clear in voicing his opinions. I know that some hon. Members, including the hon. Member for Belfast, South (Mr. Bradford), have tried to cast aspersions on Canon Murphy for trying to bring the problem to the attention of the Government.
Again, recently in Northern Ireland there was a meeting of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. My hon. Friend the Minister will be aware of the sentiments expressed at that meeting, and he will know the deep concern felt by sincere and honest trade unionists. Many of those trade unionists feel that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister should go to Northern Ireland and discuss these matters with them to see whether some extraordinary steps should be taken. We all know that every Tuesday and Thursday the Prime Minister is asked Questions calling on him to say when he will meet the CBI or the TUC. He replies, almost without fail, that he has just met the TUC or intends to meet it within a few days.
The trade union movement in Northern Ireland does not have such ready access to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister as it would like to have. I believe 1958 that, psychologically, it would be a tremendous boost for the trade union movement in Northern Ireland if my right hon. Friend were to go there and have discussions with its organisations.
In saying that, I am in no way suggesting that any Minister in the Northern Ireland Office is not interested, is unconcerned or is incompetent. But I am sure that it would be of great value if the Prime Minister himself were to go to West Belfast. I remember my right hon. Friend coming to Northern Ireland in 1969. I accompanied him on a tour of my constituency. Things were bad then, but they are a hell of a lot worse now. What has happened in the intervening years has brought nothing but distress and despair to many people in the area.
I do not expect the Government, especially when they have economic problems affecting the whole of the United Kingdom, to wish to give, or to appear to be giving, extra-preferential treatment to Northern Ireland. But Northern Ireland, which has been part of the United Kingdom in law since 1920, has been sadly neglected throughout all these years, and, if it might appear to some that Northern Ireland was getting priority treatment at this time, I feel that the Government would be fully justified in taking the steps which are so needed to alleviate the depression and despair now felt in that part of the United Kingdom.
The figures which I have given—almost 10,000 unemployed in a constituency with an electorate of 67,000—are sufficient to indicate the level of despair. If there were one other constituency in the length and breadth of the United Kingdom with such an intolerable unemployment figure, the Member representing that constituency, were he on these Benches or the Opposition Benches, would be doing everything he possibly could. I feel that I must be in no disadvantageous position in doing all that I can for the people of West Belfast.
My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State will probably say that he is aware of the figures. He will probably be right when he says that the Northern Ireland Office and the Government are aware of them. But I think it right to put the figures on record in the House so that hon. Members of all parties representing other constituencies may see the extent 1959 of the problem with which we have to grapple in Northern Ireland.
I remember that, when we were putting through the Act dealing with fair employment, there were some hon. Members from Northern Ireland who felt that that legislation was unnecessary. Indeed, some of them had the audacity to say during those debates that people with a certain political background or association with others of whom those hon. Members disapproved should not be given jobs—that they should be prevented from getting jobs.
That suggestion is in line with what we heard the other day from the hon. Member for Belfast, South. At a time when employment is so hard to come by in an area such as West Belfast, the hon. Member used his privileged position in the House to try to tell the Government not to employ people in security positions in the Royal Victoria Hospital because he did not agree with their politics. In fact, he went quite a long way to label and slander people who were trying to do a job in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
The Minister will recognise that, certainly in West Belfast, there are many who sympathise with the idea of an eventual Irish Republic. In fact, the majority of those who are now unemployed would sympathise with that ideal. But I am certain that the Minister will not allow himself, because they sympathise with that ideal, to be driven on to the path advocated by the hon. Member for Belfast, South and wish to deny these unfortunate people the employment to which they are just as entitled as are others living in United Kingdom constituencies.
I hope that the Minister will be able to offer some hope to West Belfast today. I recognise that there are other constituencies in Northern Ireland with a heavy unemployment problem, but nowhere is it as bad as it is in West Belfast, where Ballymurphy has 45 per cent. of the adult male population unemployed and Turf Lodge has between 20 per cent. and 30 per cent.—far exceeding the level of unemployment in other black spots such as Derry, Newry and other parts of the Six Counties.
I recognise that we have the Belfast areas of need programme, and we have 1960 the youth opportunities programme and other innovations designed to give training to our unemployed youth. But many young men who left school and were given Government training, taking that training in the hope that it would make them more skilled and able more easily to get a job, still find themselves without employment.
That experience only exacerbates the existing tensions. To some extent one can admit that somebody without skill does not easily find a job, but when people who have skills given to them by a Government training centre still find themselves without employment, this only serves to increase tension.
No one will suggest that unemployment is the sole reason for the criminal activities or the campaign of violence which has been continuing in Northern Ireland, but it is certainly a factor because, when young people leave school and cannot find employment, they stand around on the street corners and are easy prey for unscrupulous people who then use our young generation to carry out acts of violence.
There is, therefore, everything to be gained by the Government in taking whatever steps may be necessary to reduce the scourge of unemployment in Northern Ireland. I know that I have my hon. Friend's sympathy. I know that the Northern Ireland Office is sympathetic and is aware of the extent of the problem. I hope, however, that my hon. Friend will this afternoon be able to give us just a little more hope that something will be done in the near future to remedy this awful situation.
§ 1.49 p.m.
§ Mr. James Molyneaux (Antrim, South)In my brief contribution to the debate, initiated by the hon. Member for Belfast, West (Mr. Fitt) I shall not attempt to score political points. I wish merely to say that my right hon. and hon. Friends share the hon. Gentleman's concern over the high unemployment in Northern Ireland generally. The hon. Member is right to highlight the grave problem in his constituency. It spills over into my constituency of South Antrim, and I appreciate the problem in, for example, the area to the south of his constituency.
1961 I do not take the view that the most effective remedy would be an extension of the experiments in artificially establishing Government factories, because such experiments as have been made have not been conspicuously successful in the recent past. There is no evidence that workers employed in what are to them manifestly non-viable operations draw any satisfaction from their work.
I feel that the answer is for people with initiative in West Belfast and the immediately surrounding areas to make full use of the opportunities that exist in those areas to create, perhaps from small beginnings, undertakings which will be permanent and stay the course. In this respect, there is a great part to be played by the Northern Ireland Development Agency, which, as the hon. Gentleman is aware, is only too anxious to support such undertakings by people who are willing to take initiatives and risks.
If, however, such objectives are to be achieved, there must be a change in the atmosphere on the whole Western side of the city. Hard-headed industrialists and business men are not greatly interested in the political or religious complexion of a locality. The first question they ask is whether it is a separate area.
It cannot be denied—the hon. Gentleman did not seek to deny it—that the unrest has been one of the factors in the present situation. The remedy lies in the hands of all responsible people. I support the hon. Gentleman and, I hope, the Government, in appealing to all such citizens to assert themselves and do all in their power to try to restore the reputation of Belfast and Northern Ireland. Once that is achieved, all parties represented in this House can begin to make significant inroads into the unacceptably high level of unemployment throughout Northern Ireland and the appalling waste of human resources that it represents.
§ 1.52 p.m.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Ray Carter)My hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, West (Mr. Fitt) did not understate the extent or nature of the problems that he has in his constituency. They are historic and deep-seated and at the moment they seem to be intransigent. I have visited virtually every street of West Belfast and I have seen the effect on young people and those who had to be pre- 1962 maturely retired or who have lost their jobs for one reason or another. These problems must be dealt with, and the Government are determined to deal with them. I hope that what I shall now explain will cover the problems not only of West Belfast but of Belfast itself and Northern Ireland as a whole.
The hon. Member for Antrim, South (Mr. Molyneaux) said that he doubted the wisdom of innovation. The Government's view is that in the face of the high unemployment problem in Northern Ireland we must, as a public authority, experiment economically. The nature of the problems in Northern Ireland are now so deep-seated that it is the opinion of my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Minister of State that we must do everything possible to search out employment opportunities. If that means some form of experimentation here and there, I think that we are bound to do it.
The Government completely share hon. Members' concern about the unemployment problem in Northern Ireland, particularly in West Belfast. There is a difficult unemployment problem in the Province as a whole—at the last count 61,944 people were unemployed, which is a rate of 11.4 per cent. The problem is particularly severe in certain areas, including West Belfast. The 1973 survey of areas of special social need suggested that in parts of West Belfast it may be as high as 25 per cent. My hon. Friend put it higher than that.
This is a situation which causes us all great concern, and the Government are determined to tackle it as vigorously as possible. I would like to spell out in detail the action that the Government have been and are taking to remedy this very worrying situation, particularly in their industrial development and manpower development initiatives. I shall first of all deal with industrial development, because that is the keystone to the provision of sufficient jobs not only in West Belfast but in Northern Ireland as a whole.
The Department of Commerce is committed to taking positive action to provide new employment opportunities wherever jobs are needed. In West Belfast, special measures are available to meet the special circumstances and disadvantages which the area as a whole suffers. The package of incentives offered to potential investors is the best available.
1963 Since August last year, the maximum rate of financial assistance to new industrial projects in West Belfast has been 50 per cent. on plant, machinery and building costs, and, indeed, exceptional financial assistance may be offered in return for substantial investment by strong, soundly-based, international companies willing to establish an employment providing manufacturing capacity in the area. These levels of assistance are as good as can be obtained.
New investment for Northern Ireland, including West Belfast, is being sought on a world-wide basis. My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Minister of State have travelled extensively to promote the attractions of Northern Ireland as a location for industrial development. In addition, the Department of Commerce's industrial development team has been considerably strengthened. Earlier this month, my right hon. Friend the Minister of State announced that three new industrial promotion officers will take up their posts in the United States later this year. This will add considerably to the Department of Commerce's overseas strength and ability to persuade American companies to consider investing in Northern Ireland generally, and in particular in high unemployment blackspots like West Belfast.
As well as the efforts of the Department of Commerce, the Northern Ireland Development Agency is charged with the promotion of publicly financed industry in areas of high unemployment where private industry is reluctant to invest. The Agency, which is already actively involved in West Belfast, has been allocated £50 million to achieve its overall objectives and is expected to play an increasingly important role in the provision of job opportunities in high unemployment areas.
Small businesses are a critically important part of the Northern Ireland economy, and the local enterprise development unit, which has the responsibility of promoting such businesses, has recently appointed a new Belfast area officer and self-help adviser to encourage a growth of small businesses in the inner city area. Already, nine projects from West Belfast are under consideration.
I can assure anyone interested in investing in West Belfast that a substantial 1964 reserve of industrial land and factory accommodation is available to any new project. At this point, I am pleased to announce that a second new advance factory of 2,300 square metres will be built at Kennedy Way to supplement the factory scheduled to be completed in September this year. In addition, the Department of Commerce has over 150 acres already developed or earmarked for industrial development in West Belfast, including sites being developed at Glen Road and Musgrave Park, and a 65-acre site associated with the Poleglass project.
The Department of Commerce is also examing the possibility of developing facilities for industrial development between the Falls and the Shankill. The Department has recently received the final report of a survey of the Falls Industrial Estate, commissioned to investigate the condition and potential of this 24-acre complex. The Department is currently considering the report and hopes to be in a position to give details of its response in the near future.
The importance of maintaining small-scale businesses in the inner city is also recognised, and a total of five acres is being developed on two sites for small neighbourhood business units to provide 20 units varying between 80 square metres and 300 square metres, specifically geared to the requirements of businesses displaced for whatever reasons. The date of the completion of this project is November 1978. These are the first such units built in Belfast, and I can assure hon. Members that there will be more.
Clearly, then, as a result of the vigorous industrial development policies being pursued, we are in a position to give every encouragement to potential investors to locate in West Belfast. It is the case, however—I am sure that my hon. Friend will agree—that the solution to the unemployment problem in West Belfast will not be found in West Belfast alone and it is therefore very important to encourage as much labour mobility as possible.
Undoubtedly, the problem in West Belfast has been aggravated by the relative immobility of some elements in the West Belfast labour force—this perhaps understandable, given the background of sectarian violence which has, I am glad to say, reduced very considerably. It 1965 must be remembered that the great majority of employed people in West Belfast work outside the area and will continue to do so.
Perhaps I may now turn to the vital area of manpower development policy, with its emphasis on skill development and preparing people for work. The Government believe that every assistance should be given to unemployed people in Northern Ireland to train for and obtain employment. That is the aim of the sophisticated training and employment services provided by the Department of Manpower Services. Although these services are available throughout the Province, they are especially tuned to areas of high unemployment like West Belfast.
In West Belfast there are two Government training centres which together provide 12 per cent. of the total training places available in Northern Ireland. There are currently over 400 training places in these two centres at Boucher Road and Whiterock. In addition, approximately 150 people living in the West Belfast area are attached, for the purpose of training, to industry and other training facilities throughout Northern Ireland. Furthermore, two integrated work force units, comprising up to 12 persons in each unit, are located in the industrial estate at Whiterock. This concept offers an important opportunity to groups of workers under training to help themselves towards independent operation.
The range of training offered by the Department of Manpower Services and the large number of places available—particularly apprenticeship opportunities—are of the greatest importance to the West Belfast labour force, providing solid foundations for incoming industry and enhancing at a personal level the vocational qualifications of the people in receipt of training.
An important factor in the Department of Manpower Services strategy is the employment service, which offers comprehensive placement and guidance services. Further to assist people in West Belfast to find employment, the employment service supports the employment services provided by the Andersonstown and Suffolk industrial promotion associations job-centre in Andersonstown.
1966 Enterprise Ulster, which is sponsored by the Department of Manpower Services, also provides a number of opportunities for people in West Belfast. As the hon. Member is aware, Enterprise Ulster provides valuable employment for people who have difficulty in obtaining work, and contributes substantially to the enhancement of the environment. Enterprise Ulster operations in the area are presently providing employment for 81 people in three different projects.
The problem of youth unemployment, which is particularly difficult in areas of relatively high unemployment like West Belfast, is, of course, a major concern to Government, and for that reason last year the Secretary of State announced the youth opportunities programme. The programme will provide opportunities in training and work preparation for 6,000 unemployed young people throughout the Province. The programme will, however, be concentrated on areas of high unemployment.
A number of the places in the programme will be provided by the development of existing schemes for young people, including places in Government training centres, attachment places, Enterprise Ulster, Younghelp, and courses for young unemployed people provided by colleges of further education. In addition, a number of new places are being provided through new work experience schemes in employers' premises. The programme also aims to provide a substantial number of places in new schemes sought from community interests and supported by the Department of Manpower Services. These new schemes take the form of locally based experimental work preparation units.
The work preparation units will give unemployed young people training and experience in a wide range of activities over a period of, on average, 52 weeks. Although funded and supported by Government, the units will be organised and managed by local organisations which promote the schemes. These schemes therefore represent a unique opportunity for Government and the community to co-operate in dealing with the problem of youth unemployment. Four work preparation units have already been approved for the Falls and Shankill areas of Belfast. These units will provide places for over 120 young people. Negotiations 1967 are under way with other groups to provide additional units in the West Belfast area.
I have been stressing industrial promotion and manpower development policy, because naturally resolution of the unemployment problem depends to a significant extent on progress in these areas. There are, however, other aspects of Government social and economic policies which have an important impact on employment opportunities for the West Belfast community.
In March, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced the allocation of about £13½ million to public services in Northern Ireland. This will involve additional jobs, particularly in the education and health and personal social services sectors. The reallocation as a whole is expected to create a total of 3,550 new jobs in the years 1978–79 and 1979–80, and to preserve 1,800 industrial jobs. In announcing this reallocation, my right hon. Friend emphasised his intention that the maximum possible benefit of the reallocation should go to areas such as Belfast areas of need.
The Belfast areas of need programme is significant in terms of improving the environment of those parts of the city which have experienced the greatest difficulty in recent years. The greater part of BAN falls within West Belfast. The programme has also considerable significance in terms of employment. From its inception in 1977, to 1982, some £17.3 million will be devoted to the schemes under the BAN programme creating up to 900 jobs during the period.
One of my own particular interests—housing—has important employment implications. As the hon. Member is aware, a substantial number of his constituents look to the construction industry for employment. A multi-million pound programme is under way throughout the area to ensure rapid progress in new buildings, redevelopment and rehabilitation and improvement of existing stock.
A vital part of this housing programme is the Poleglass development scheme, which will include the provision of 2,000 new houses which are urgently needed. Appropriate machinery is being established to ensure the scheme's early implementation. As I have already mentioned, 1968 65 acres of land in the scheme have been reserved for industrial development.
Clearly, this significant housing programme will offer substantial employment in the construction industry. On a wider front, the Northern Ireland construction industry was allocated £9 million from the recent United Kingdom package to maintain employment. Two million pounds of this has been allocated to the renovation and rehabilitation of the major cities of Belfast and Londonderry. Apart from these moneys, the total amount of public moneys redirected towards inner Belfast, where many West Belfast people find employment, is now over £12 million.
As I have demonstrated, the Government are working strenuously to deal with the problems of West Belfast. Progress is being made across a wide front. I must not, however, suggest that there is an early or short-term solution to the difficult problems of the area which have accumulated over the years and, as the hon. Member will appreciate, the West Belfast problems aggravated in recent years by the economic situation and the security problem.
The recession and the continuing sluggishness in the international economy have taken their toll, not only in West Belfast but in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom as a whole. Unemployment in Northern Ireland has increased from 5.2 per cent. at June 1974 to the present level of 11.4 per cent. and in Great Britain during the same period from 2.3 per cent. to 5.7 per cent. The number of new jobs promoted in Northern Ireland over the last few years shows clearly the effects of this economic situation. In the years 1975–77, only 800 new jobs were promoted by new companies from outside Northern Ireland. Indeed, during this difficult period, maintenance of jobs has been a major concern of Government and West Belfast as other parts of Northern Ireland have benefited from the job maintenance action of the Departments of Manpower Services and Commerce. Over 1,900 jobs have been maintained in about 15 firms in West Belfast since 1975 with the help of the Department of Manpower Services. The Department of Commerce has also been active in job support. In this context I mention particularly Strathearn 1969 Audio and Antrim Crystal, which provide clear evidence of the Government's preparedness to commit substantial resources to the area.
I could have gone on and dealt in further detail with the extent to which the Government have in the past months and years tried to alleviate the unemployment problems of West Belfast. I can assure my hon. Friend—and, indeed, the Member for Antrim, South—that we shall leave no stone unturned in our search for satisfactory solutions.