HC Deb 16 July 1979 vol 970 cc1009-11
10. Mr. Barry Jones

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what studies he has made of the effect of the closure of major industrial plants on towns in Wales where the local economy, emloyment prospects and local services of which depend on such industries.

Mr. Nicholas Edwards

No formal studies have been made but there is experience based on closures in the time of the previous Government in steel making areas in Wales.

Mr. Jones

Will not the right hon. Gentleman need an economic miracle to find over three or four years the 7,000 jobs required to replace the proposed loss of Shotton steelworks? Will he not agree that his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry is exacting a pitiless, brutal and somewhat savage price from the steel men at Shotton in an attempt to obtain steel solvency? How hard has the Secretary of State pressed his right hon. Friend with regard to the weakest link in the case against Shotton? It is folly to try to support year in and year out the movement of over 1½ million tons of sheet steel each year from Scotland to Shotton. Will he assure me that he is fighting that battle?

Mr. Edwards

On the hon. Gentleman's last point, it is a management decision primarily for the British Steel Corporation whether it is practical to shift steel. I do not underestimate the scale of the problem that will result in the locality. My noble Friend Lord Trenchard has said that we are examining ways of tackling the problem and the upgrading of the Shotton travel-to-work area to special development area status is being considered. We shall be considering plans for factory building in the area and will do everything in our power to deal with the problems that arise.

I do not accept for a moment the intemperate words that the hon. Gentleman uttered about my right hon. Friend. The plant is estimated to make a loss next year of some £40 million. We have to consider the impact on the steel industry as a whole and on jobs elsewhere in industry that will be destroyed if we allow nationalised industries to continue to make losses on that scale.

Sir Anthony Meyer

Is my right hon. Friend aware that it is generally accepted in North Wales that nationalisation has allowed Shotton to reach the state where it is facing these problems today? Is he further aware that the intensity and concentrated nature of the unemployment that will occur as a result of the closure requires urgent and specific measures in North-East Wales?

Mr. Edwards

I note that no substantial investment in the steel making end of Shotton was authorised by the previous Government. Without that investment, the tears that Labour Members are weeping are a little suspect. I entirely agree about the scale of the action that is called for, and we are considering that urgently.

Mr. Anderson

Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that in politics it is not an honourable posture to seek to put at the door of other authorities, be they local authorities in education or the British Steel Corporation in the industrial sector, responsibility for policies that are properly the responsibility of the Government? Is he not sacrificing the steel men in Shotton and educational provision throughout Wales for the tax cuts that the Government have made for the more prosperous members of our society?

Mr. Edwards

The hon. Gentleman should understand that the steel industry is international. Our industry must compete with other countries and there is an urgent need to improve its competitiveness and efficiency. It would be quite wrong for the Government to stand in the way of the British Steel Corporation taking action to that end. If Llanwern and Port Talbot in South Wales are to play their part, they must also look to increased efficiency and competitiveness.

Mr. Alec Jones

Will the Secretary of State explain why, if nationalisation is part of the problem in Shotton, that is not so in many parts of the European steel industry which are also suffering? If his noble Friend Lord Trenchard is considering action, would it not be more sensible and fairer to those concerned to delay closing Shotton until the Government have at least produced plans to create new jobs and full employment in that area?

Mr. Edwards

Whatever may have happened had the steel industry not been nationalised, the previous Government were forced to authorise similar closures in Ebbw Vale and East Moors. They allowed those closures to go ahead while urgent consideration was being given to alleviating unemployment, and that is what we are doing.