HC Deb 05 July 1982 vol 27 cc8-9
8. Mr. Barry Jones

asked the Secretary of State for Wales by what amount and by what percentage unemployment in Wales has risen since May 1979; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Nicholas Edwards

Between May 1979 and June 1982 unemployment, seasonally adjusted and excluding school leavers, increased by 80,600, or 99 per cent.

Mr. Jones

Does the right hon. Gentleman understand that Olives paper mills at Greenfield made 100 men and women redundant soon after his meeting there, when hopes were expressed that the mill would stay in business? Why was the grant offered by his Department so low? As regards Nissan, was, or is, Shotton on the short list of possible sites?

Mr. Edwards

I do not know what view Nissan has taken about sites.

I have been in touch with the Olives paper mills company. The financial director was specifically asked by a member of my Department why the company had decided to abandon the project. The financial director said that he was not at liberty to add anything to the statement that had been issued, but he could confirm that the decision had nothing to do with the amount of section 7 grant offered. He told my officials that he had been approached earlier by Granada Television, who had asked whether lack of support from the Welsh Office had caused the company to change its mind. He said that he had made it clear to Granada that the decision had nothing to do with negotiations with the Welsh Office.

Mr. Ioan Evans

Is it not a shocking indictment of the Government that unemployment should have doubled in three years? Does the right hon. Gentleman hope that by the next election unemployment will have been reduced to its level when the Government took office? Is there not need for a change in the economic policies that have added to the recession and created unemployment in many of the valleys of South Wales?

Mr. Edwards

I regret that unemployment under successive Governments has risen over the past 15 or 20 years and that the figure more than doubled under the previous Labour Government. Through improvements in competitiveness and productivity we shall regain our position. There is no simple and easy answer. Although matters are serious, and especially serious in Wales, I am glad that unemployment has risen less there than in any other region of the United Kingdom.