HC Deb 15 December 1982 vol 34 cc275-7
8. Mr. Ancram

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when next he plans to meet the Scottish Trades Union Congress to discuss the prospects for industrial regeneration in Scotland.

Mr. Younger

I frequently meet the Scottish Trades Union Congress to discuss industrial issues.

Mr. Ancram

When my right hon. Friend next meets the Scottish Trades Union Congress, will he discuss with it the need for the congress to control its local officials? Will he remind the congress that the hot-headed local industrial action at Hoover's put in jeopardy that vital plant and the jobs and hopes that go with it? Will he also point out that industrial resurgence in Scotland depends on stable industrial relations and responsibile trade unionism?

Mr. Younger

I agree with my hon. Friend's remarks. Everyone must play a part in the improvement of Scotland's industrial performance. I am glad that the problems at Hoover's seem to have been resolved and I hope that the company can now go ahead and produce more goods with increased profits.

Dr. Bray

One matter on which the Secretary of State has received representations from the Scottish Trades Union Congress and from hon. Members on both sides of the House is the need to preserve the independence of Scottish companies. Is he aware that there has been a leak from either the Mergers and Monopolies Commission or the Department of Trade about the Charter Consolidated bid for Anderson Strathclyde, saying that the Monopolies Commission has recommended that the bid should go through? Does he agree that that has prejudiced proceedings under the Fair Trading Act? Will the Secretary of State take steps to ensure that such a bid, which will undermine a vital firm in the Scottish engineering industry, will be blocked?

Mr. Younger

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's concern, but I am not responsible for leaks in newspapers. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade has received a copy of the MMC report and he must consider the case.

Dr. J. Dickson Mabon

When the Secretary of State meets the STUC, will he present it with a balance sheet of the figures, which were absent during our previous Question Time, of the 7,000 closures that have taken place as against, on balance, the 8,000 firms that he said were registered for VAT and the insignificant number of jobs that those 8,000 firms can provide? Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that we need a major initiative to bring new jobs to Scotland?

Mr. Younger

The Government are undertaking many major initiatives on many fronts. The right hon. Gentleman knows the details of those initiatives as well as I do. As to the balance, the only point that I was trying to make during our previous Question Time was that it is not the case that a smaller number of companies are coming into existence than are going out of existence. I accept that new companies starting up do not employ as many people as do old companies going out of business. That is the sad difficulty that we have had to face in recent years.

Sir Hector Monro

Is my right hon. Friend aware that Conservative Members are extremely grateful for his outstanding efforts on behalf of the Scottish steel industry? Is he further aware that unemployment could be eased substantially if local authorities would provide green field and brown field sites to the construction industry to get on with building houses, which it is anxious to do? However, it has nowhere in which to do it.

Mr. Younger

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the first part of his remarks. I too, have been worried about the lack of ground available for such development. I shall do what I can through my Department to encourage authorities to make land available for construction.

Mr. Gregor MacKenzie

Will the Secretary of State remind his hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, South (Mr. Ancram) that the principal reason for the Hoover management's decision to keep open the Cambuslang plant last year was the fact that it had good industrial relations? Will he further suggest to his hon. Friend that interventions by hon. Members who know very little about the position at Cambuslang assist neither the management nor the trade unions in working out the good system that has been achieved?

Mr. Younger

I need not remind my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, South (Mr. Ancram) of any of the details of those cases, because he follows them closely. I was encouraged when Hoover decided to place its major development in Scotland. I hope that the factory can now look forward to stable industrial relations and a prosperous future.

Mr. Millan

As to the Secretary of State's meeting yesterday with the STUC about the Scottish steel industry, hon. Members on both sides of the House would welcome it if the outcome of the current review is that all the five major integrated steel plants are retained. However, we do not accept that that is the final extent of the Government's responsibility in this matter. We shall not accept the Government shuffling off the responsibility to the British Steel Corporation. Is the Secretary of State aware that there could be damaging rundowns at the Ravenscraig plant, added to the redundancies at Craigneuk and elsewhere, that would make the plant so uneconomic that it could be a victim of complete closure at a later date? A major rundown at Ravenscraig would be as unacceptable as a complete closure.

Mr. Younger

I appreciate and share the right hon. Gentleman's anxiety about the steel industry. Major decisions must still be taken, but my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry hopes to make a statement next week, which we must await.

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