HC Deb 21 April 1980 vol 983 cc12-4
9. Mr. Rowlands

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the number of new jobs likely to be created in Wales in 1980–81.

Mr. Nicholas Edwards

Nearly 19,000 manufacturing jobs are currently estimated to arise in Wales over the next three to four years from projects which have been allocated Government-financed factories or offered selective financial assistance. About 4,000 of these jobs should materialise within the current year.

Mr. Rowlands

Is not the right hon. Gentleman becoming something of a job charlatan in going around Wales and speaking of these jobs in the pipeline—18,000 jobs over the next four years—when, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Swansea, West (Mr. Williams) has just pointed out, about 44,000 net redundancies have been notified in a mere 10 months of the present Government? Are not some extra special measures now needed, given the jobs crisis that Wales is facing?

Mr. Edwards

That is why, of course, we have announced special measures. The hon. Gentleman repeatedly seems to cast doubts on these jobs. They are important projects. They are Government-financed and aided projects. They are well spread in Wales. Incidentally, they are only the manufacturing projects resulting from Government financial assistance for factories. In this total no account is taken of other jobs, particularly in the service sector. I give just one example. There are 600 jobs coming to Cardiff through the new AA offices. Plenty of other similar developments are taking place.

Sir Raymond Gower

Is it not a fact that the figures my right hon. Friend has given do not include any natural growth that might occur in existing firms and companies which do not apply for some grant or for some new building?

Mr. Edwards

That is absolutely right, and that is the point that I have just made. They do not include jobs in projects that do not receive financial assistance or are not allocated Government-financed factories: nor do they include jobs in the service industries.

Mr. Barry Jones

What are the prospects for school leavers? Can the right hon. Gentleman name any new projects for the Deeside and Buckley area in northeast Wales?

Mr. Edwards

The Manpower Services Commission hopes to meet the guarantees to school leavers. The hon. Gentleman knows that Shotton has some extremely attractive sites and is one of the best locations in Britain. Projects such as the titanium and Point of Air projects have been announced. The hon. Gentleman asked for specific projects, and I have referred to two.

Mr. Hooson

Does not my right hon. Friend agree that the constant stream of predictions of gloom and doom from the Opposition have done nothing to help create jobs in Wales for the coming years?

Mr. Edwards

Incitements to industrial action, such as have been made by the Opposition this afternoon, will certainly not help the creation of jobs in Wales in the coming year. I couple that with the previous talk of industrial deserts. Such talk is doing untold harm to Wales and is making the job of creating fresh jobs in Wales much more difficult. I agree with my hon. Friend that such predictions are disgraceful.

Mr. Alec Jones

Does not the right hon. Gentleman accept that if any damage is being done to Wales it is being done by a Government of whom the Secretary of State is a prominent member? Will he accept that some jobs in the pipeline do not materialise and that even when they do they often take longer to materialise than had been envisaged? It is all very well for the Secretary of State to trot around Wales talking about 18,000 jobs when he knows that they should be compared with the 50,000 redundancies that have been announced this year. When are we likely to see a fair match or, as the Prime Minister might say, "a broad balance" between the number of redundancies and the number of jobs created by the Government?

Mr. Edwards

It is pretty cool to be lectured by the right hon. Member from the Dispatch Box about things that do not materialise when jobs are in the pipeline. I have already told the right hon. Gentleman that of the 50,000 notified redundancies 6,000 have been withdrawn. They do not all materialise, either.