HC Deb 09 July 1980 vol 988 cc530-3
10. Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many unemployed people there are in Scotland; and how many are under 25 years of age.

Mr. Younger

On 12 June, 223,150 people were registered as unemployed in Scotland. An age analysis is not available, but on 10 April 77,800 of the 201,100 people then registered as unemloyed in Scotland were under 25 years of age.

Mr. Canavan

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that those figures are already out of date, because last month's school leavers will probably already have brought the total unemployment in Scotland to over ¼million? When will the Secretary of State for Scotland have the guts to stand up to the Secretary of State for Industry, whose mad monetarist policies are turning Scotland into an industrial desert, to such an extent that the Government's policies are being attacked not just by trade unionists but by leading Scottish industrialists, such as Robin Duthie, the man whom the right hon. Gentleman appointed to be chairman of the Scottish Development Agency?

Mr. Younger

I have not for a long time heard a question that consisted of such a series of headlines strung together. No doubt some of them will get through.

The problem of the young unemployed has existed for a long time. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will remember very well that in his own Government's tenure of office, from 1974 onwards, in the first year there was an increase in unemployed school-leavers of 135 per cent. By the second year there had been an increase of 234 per cent. By 1978 the increase was nearly threefold.

Mr. Peter Fraser

Does my right hon. Friend recognise that the only constructive approach to youth unemployment is a massive expansion of apprenticeships to bring us into line with our successful EEC partners? In those countries five out of 10 school leavers secure apprenticeships, compared with fewer than two in 10 in Scotland. Will my right hon. Friend urge the Scottish Trades Union Congress and Labour hon. Members to abandon their reactionary attitude to apprenticeships, and urge them to take those apprenticeships out of the collective bargaining process?

Mr. Younger

There is a great deal of sense in what my hon. Friend says. As he knows, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment and I are conducting a review of training in industry. I hope that the considerations that my hon. Friend has mentioned will be very much to the fore.

Mr. Dempsey

Does the Secretary of State realise that only two weeks ago, 1,484 school leavers left school in Monk-lands, thus increasing the juvenile roll to 1,611 young people unemployed and there is not a single vacancy to offer them? Will he consider increasing the Manpower Services Commission's budget to enable numbers of these young people to be trained? I can be shown that 70 out of every 100 find employment following short training courses of three months.

Mr. Younger

I share the hon. Gentleman's concern, especially for the young unemployed. It is partly for that reason that we have expanded the youth opportunities programme which should help the young unemployed. We have also given an undertaking that all unemployed school leavers who have not got jobs by next Easter will have a chance in the youth opportunities programme.

Mr. Myles

Will my right hon. Friend tell those in the many planning departments throughout the country who keep saying "No" to small businesses which want to set up and expand their businesses, that those small businesses provide employment and can provide much more?

Mr. Younger

I shall look into what my hon. Friend says. I know that he shares with me the great concern that every chance should be given to small businesses when they want to set up in new places.

Mr. Millan

When does the right hon. Gentleman expect the Scottish unemployment figure to reach ¼ million?

Mr. Younger

Like the right hon. Gentleman in his time as Secretary of State, I have no intention of making forecasts, because they always proved wrong when he made them; and I am sure that they would also be wrong if I made them.

Mr. Henderson

Will my right hon. Friend do more to draw to the attention of business men the 100 per cent. grants available to help take on young people in the work experience programme on employers' premises. Will he accept that this has been an extremely useful way of placing young people and giving great satisfaction to employers as well?

Mr. Younger

I agree with my hon. Friend. A high proportion of young people who take such employment in factories end up by getting serious jobs.

Mr. John Home Robertson

While the Secretary of State is considering the problem of unemployment, will he give the House the benefit of his views on the considered opinions expressed by the chairman of the Scottish Development Agency on the destructive effects of this Government's policies on employment and industry throughout Scotland?

Mr. Younger

The chairman of the Scottish Development Agency is doing an excellent job in that most important position. If the hon. Gentleman reads the whole speech, he will see that it contained a lot of good common sense. The concerns expressed by the chairman are concerns felt by a wider number of people. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will put the matter in perspective.