HC Deb 17 June 1981 vol 6 cc1008-10
5. Mr. Home Robertson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many construction workers are now unemployed in Scotland.

The Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Malcolm Rifkind)

On 12 February 1981, the latest date for which information is available, 47,600 people who had last worked in the construction industry were registered as unemployed in Scotland.

Mr. Home Robertson

Is the Minister aware that, regardless of what might be said in his statistician's filing cabinet, there are still 150,000 applicants for housing in Scotland and that there are still more than 100,000 houses in Scotland below the tolerable standard? In those circumstances, does he not think that he should do something about getting those 47,600 building workers back to work rather than pay them to do nothing on the dole?

Mr. Rifkind

The hon. Gentleman knows that there are not 150,000 homeless people in Scotland. What he is talking about are people, many of whom are housed, but would wish alternative accommodation. He should realise that the policy of reducing expenditure on housing was recommended by the Labour Government in their Green Paper in 1977, and is continued by the present Government.

Mr. Peter Fraser

Will my hon. Friend speculate on the number of construction workers who would be unemployed in Berwick and East Lothian if the Torness power station project were not proceeding? Will he also speculate on the number of building workers in Dundee who would have employment if Dundee district council had been sensible about its rates policy and had £3.75 million to spend on capital projects for housing?

Mr. Rifkind

My hon. Friend is right on both counts. There are about 1,400 people employed in Torness, many of whom are recruited locally, and Dundee would have had a much larger capital allocation for its housing expenditure, which would have helped the local construction industry, if it had made a reasonable response on rents.

Mr. Gordon Wilson

As projects initiated by the Scottish Development Agency lead to the employment of people in the construction industry, would the hon. Gentleman care to suggest why the agency seems to be going through turmoil as a result of the hobbles that are being placed on its activities by the Government? Does he not think that that will be harmful to the Scottish economy?

Mr. Rifkind

That is a tortuous question, with little relevance to the construction industry. I invite the hon. Gentleman to address it to the Department at the appropriate time.

Mr. James Hamilton

As one who worked in the construction industry, I ask the hon. Gentleman whether he is aware that last year 65,000 people emigrated from Scotland—an increase of 10,000 on the previous year —and that most of those workers were from the construction and engineering industry. As local authorities and public bodies are crying out for more money to carry out projects involving public expenditure in the construction industry, will the hon. Gentleman examine that matter and do something about it?

Mr. Rifkind

The Government have said that they believe that the resources available should, wherever possible, be concentrated on capital rather than current expenditure. If local authorities could accept the Government's advice in this respect, it would be possible to make even more resources available on the capital side, which would help the construction industry.

Mr. McQuarrie

Does my hon. Friend agree that if local authorities would release land that they are holding, and if planning applications did not take so long to go through the authorities, developers in the private sector, of whom there are plenty, could take up most of the unemployed construction workers and thus create more dwellings, which are alleged to be required in Scotland?

Mr. Rifkind

My hon. Friend is correct. We have appealed to all local authorities to review land in their possession and see whether some could properly be released to encourage development. My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that we have introduced a number of measures to streamline planning procedures so that necessary work can be begun as soon as possible.