HC Deb 13 July 1983 vol 45 cc873-5
13. Mr. MacKenzie

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what new initiatives he proposes to introduce to reduce the number of people unemployed in Scotland.

Mr. Younger

The Government's policies are aimed at the overall improvement of the economy and this offers the best means of achieving a long-term improvement in employment prospects.

Mr. MacKenzie

Is the Secretary of State aware that those policies have been applied for the past four years and, so far, they do not seem to have worked, as the unemployment queues grow daily? Will he institute some way of improving those difficult circumstances? For example, will he use his considerable powers under the Industry Act 1972 to rescue some of the firms that are closing down?

Mr. Younger

I appreciate the right hon. Gentleman's anxiety—the issue worries us all. He knows that various factors, including the international recession, have made our industrial life difficult in the past few years. I am sure he recognises that we have spent a great deal of money and effort on helping firms such as he described. There are many notable examples of firms that have been rescued from liquidation because of help from the Government and the Scottish Development Agency.

Mr. Johnston

Does the Secretary of State remember visiting Fort William during the general election campaign —something that he refused to do for the previous three years? Does he remember committing the Government to finding wood-related industry? Will he report on the progress, because all that has happened so far is more redundancies and paperwork?

Mr. Younger

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's anxiety. Ever since the Wiggins Teape pulp mill at Fort William closed we have been doing everything we can to find ways of attracting wood-using industries to Scotland. We are continuing those efforts.

Mr. Corrie

What has happened to the concept of free ports? They appear to have been dropped from the Finance Bill. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that, when the House returns after the summer recess, we shall have something to establish the possibility of free ports in Scotland, because they would provide new jobs?

Mr. Younger

I assure my hon. Friend that the concept of free ports, which the Government generally welcomed during the March Budget, still stands and that the only reason for the present difficulty is that the general election took time from parliamentary business so that it was not possible to fit that matter into this year's Finance Bill. Their establishment remains Government policy and we shall draw up guidelines for the areas that wish to be considered to become free ports.

Mr. Ewing

The Secretary of State talks of Government policy being the only thing that will improve job prospects in Scotland and elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Did he miss what his right hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. du Cann) said, through his Select Committee just before the election—that 50 per cent. of the increase in unemployment was due entirely to the very Government policies about which the Secretary of State is telling us? Is the Secretary of State telling us that he will continue in this Parliament to be complacent and unconcerned about unemployment in Scotland, as was the case in the previous one? If that is his intention, it must be his duty to go as quickly as possible.

Mr. Younger

The hon. Gentleman must have thought a little more deeply than that about the problems of industry, a fair share of which he has experienced in his constituency. He knows that the main reason why British industry has experienced such difficulty during the recession is that it has lost competitiveness against overseas competitors for many years. That is what we are trying to put right and we are having considerable success.

Mr. Tom Clarke

Is the Secretary of State aware that the best initiative that he can take in respect of unemployment in Scotland is to start fighting to save the Scottish steel industry? If Mr. MacGregor was wrong when he said that the Secretary of State was not curious enough to seek information about that industry, what does the Secretary of State intend to do? What action will he take in regard to a highly paid public servant, who is apparently so badly informed?

Mr. Younger

I expect to be accused of many things but not of being inactive about the Scottish steel industry.

Mr. Buchan

What has the right hon. Gentleman done?

Mr. Younger

I have made it clear to everyone, including Mr. MacGregor, that if he proposes a new plan for operations at Ravenscraig or any other plant in Scotland, he must present it to the Government. The Government would then have to consider whether such a plan would be good or bad for Scotland.

Mr. Milian

May I now ask the Secretary of State direct whether he has asked Mr. MacGregor for details of the United States steel deal?

Mr. Younger

As Mr. MacGregor made clear, he and I have had several meetings about that — [HON. MEMBERS: "Answer."' At the moment, I am waiting to see whether Mr. MacGregor produces such a plan. As I have made clear, if he does he will have to present it to the Government and the Government will have to consider whether it is a good or a bad idea.