HC Deb 28 April 1983 vol 41 cc990-1
19. Mr. Lofthouse

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he next expects to discuss the United Kingdom's economic prospects with the National Economic Development Council.

Mr. Brittan

Future NEDC agendas have not been firmly fixed but ways of improving our economic prospects are discussed at every council meeting.

Mr. Lofthouse

Does the Chief Secretary recall that at a meeting earlier this month NEDC said that there were no prospects of an increase in jobs in either the industrial or service sectors of industry during the course of this decade? Why do he and the Chancellor think that it was wrong?

Mr. Brittan

One of the reasons was that the sector committees, whose views were reflected in the report to which the hon. Gentleman referred, cover only about one third of the economy.

Mr. Budgen

Will my right hon. and learned Friend point out to NEDC that recently the west midlands has derived considerable advantage from the 13 per cent. fall in the sterling exchange rate and that the west midlands is prepared to support even the present very high level of interest rates if that is necessary to constrain any increase in the money supply, but is emphatically not prepared to support these levels of interest rates to sustain an uncompetitive rate of sterling?

Mr. Shore

Does the Chief Secretary recall that the last time he met and had discussions with the NEDC on the most far-reaching report that it had had before it since the formation of the Government, the general conclusion of the 30 sector committees that drew up the report was that there would be no increase in employment, on present policies, between now and 1990? What response will the Government make to this serious condemnation of their policies and the appalling prospects that lies ahead?

Mr. Brittan

As the right hon. Gentleman knows well, the view of the Government and the CBI is that the report was unnecessarily gloomy and that the sector committees whose work was reflected in that report had probably taken insufficient account of a number of recent favourable developments, including the rapid fall in inflation and the vast growth in industrial productivity.