§ 3. Mr. Ioan Evansasked the Secretary of State for Wales what are the latest figures of the number of people who are unemployed in Wales, Mid-Glamorgan and Aberdare; and how many of these have been unemployed for more than two years and one year, respectively.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsOn 15 April 1982, the latest date for which such figures are available, unemployment totalled 171,349, 32,815 and 3,814 respectively, of whom 21,473, 4,413 and 572 had been unemployed for more than two years and 59,658, 11,452 and 1,423 had been unemployed for more than one year.
§ Mr. EvansIn view of the announcements that 900 jobs will be lost at Hitachi-GEC in the Aberdare area and that 1,200 jobs are to go at BP and 300 at Panteg, and since it looks as though Nissan-Datsun will not be coming to Wales, will the Government reconsider the policies that they have been pursuing, which have led to these increases in unemployment? Will the Minister also restore to my constituency the special development area status, the removal of which has adversely affected the maintenance of existing manufacturing jobs as well as the attraction of new ones to the valley.
§ Mr. EdwardsI warned the House in a debate, I believe, in May that major redundancies might be coming. Nevertheless, the number of redundancies has fallen quarter by quarter, and the increase in unemployment in Wales has been less than in any other region in the United Kingdom. Indeed, it was the only region in which the number out of work fell in the last month.
With regard to development area status, we have just conducted a review and we shall of course keep the matter 4 under further review during the coming years. However, I do not think that one should make changes simply because of one or two individual redundancy announcements.
§ Mr. RowlandsDoes the right hon. Gentleman accept that there is not a shred of evidence of any upturn in manufacturing output in our constituencies, not only in terms of the production of goods, but in sales and marketing? Does he agree that that confirms the depressing CBI report on manufacturing? As he has not commented on the fact that the Nissan project seems to be disappearing into the distance, what new initiatives will he take to create new jobs and to bring new firms to the valley constituencies? Is he aware that not one new firm has come to Merthyr in the past three years?
§ Mr. EdwardsCurrent economic factors make it clear that the level of imports is still too high. That results, of course, from the striking loss of competitiveness in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is therefore vital that we continue to improve competitiveness. Industrial disputes such as that on the railways clearly will not help.
With regard to job creation, we brought a record number of new firms and new jobs to Wales last year. Moreover, I am glad to say that, despite the difficult economic conditions, the number of new factory allocations this year is almost 50 per cent. higher than last year's record level for Wales.
§ Mr. Alec JonesWe welcome the return of the Secretary of State after his illness, but is he aware that in the short time that he has been absent, taking account of the job losses mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdare (Mr. Evans), Wales has lost more than 3,000 jobs—that is in the past two weeks? Does the Secretary of State recall that in a recent debate he listed a number of factories that were coming to Wales? Does he realise that we have lost an equivalent number of jobs in those two weeks? Is it not time that he produced the balance sheet so that we can see whether any progress is being made in providing employment, for our people? Does he accept that unemployment, particularly long-term unemployment, is becoming more serious every day that he remains in office?
§ Mr. EdwardsI in no way underestimate the problems. Nevertheless, Wales was the only region in the United Kingdom in which, despite the influx of school leavers, the number of people out of work fell. The number of redundancies is sharply down on last year and has been falling quarter by quarter, even with the recent very unwelcome announcements that I foreshadowed in the debate to which the right hon. Gentleman referred. I repeat that last year we attracted a record number of new projects for Wales, more than was ever achieved under the Labour Government, and for this year the figures are almost 50 per cent. higher.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Questions Nos. 6 and 8 both raise this matter again.
§ Mr. EvansOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I shall seek to raise the matter on the Adjournment.