HC Deb 30 March 1983 vol 40 cc335-6
13. Mr. Tom Clarke

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people were employed in the construction industry in Scotland in each of the past four years.

The Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Allan Stewart)

The number of people employed in the Scottish construction industry in September of each of the past four years was 163,800 in 1979, 157,200 in 1980, 137,600 in 1981, 127,300 in 1982. These figures are estimates and do not include the self-employed, for whom information is not available.

Mr. Clarke

In view of those disgraceful figures, may I ask how many unemployed construction workers appeared in the pre-election poster whose caption was "Labour isn't working"?

Mr. Stewart

I shall endeavour to answer the serious issue which I think underlies the hon. Gentleman's question. Although the industry has been through a difficult period, there are now definite signs of recovery. Housing starts rose by over 20 per cent. in the first nine months of last year compared with the same period in 1981 and new construction orders rose by a similar percentage. Construction output has clearly begun to recover.

Mr. Henderson

Does my hon. Friend agree that there would be better prospects still for the construction industry if local authorities spent more wisely on current account so that more money was available for capital investment?

Mr. Stewart

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. It is deplorable that Scottish local authorities are forgoing so much capital expenditure on housing in the current financial year because of their expenditure under current headings.

Mr. McKelvey

On a previous occasion the construction industry mounted a campaign called CABIN, in which it expressed great support for the Conservative party and claimed that a Conservative Government would offer the only means by which the construction industry would be saved in Scotland. Has the Minister received any approaches from the industry along those lines and, since mounting the CABIN campaign, has it expressed any regrets that the promises made by the Government have not come to pass?

Mr. Stewart

No, but I am confident that at the next general election the majority in the construction industry, as in other industries, will vote Conservative.

Mr. Gordon Wilson

Does the Minister accept that it has been his controls over revenue spending which have, in effect, strangled the construction industry's prospects of development through capital spending? As the distinction between revenue and capital is not necessarily very effective in public terms, will he review his policies and allow capital spending to go ahead?

Mr. Stewart

No. There has been constraint because local authorities have chosen to forgo substantial amounts of capital expenditure. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that public expenditure on construction in Scotland this year will be about £1,000 million.

Mr. McQuarrie

Is my hon. Friend aware of the importance of capital expenditure in the housing construction industry? Will he assure the House that adequate funds will be made available for any requests that are made by local authorities for the removal of dampness from local authority houses, this being a great problem in Scottish housing?

Mr. Stewart

The Government are keenly aware of dampness and condensation problems and the hardship that they can cause. We very much welcome the interest that has been shown by the Select Committee. The responsibility is primarily with housing authorities, but I can assure my hon. Friend that individual housing allocations for 1983–84, which I expect authorities to receive tomorrow, will take full account of representations on dampness and condensation.

Mr. Dewar

The Minister has talked about local authorities having chosen to forgo certain moneys in their capital programmes. Surely that is an unacceptable euphemism. In fact, local authorities have been viciously penalised and fined for refusing to increase rents to unacceptable and arbitrary levels that have been chosen at the whim of the Secretary of State. At a time of increasing housing need, high unemployment in the construction industry and a tidal wave of bankruptcies, is it not an insult to Scotland that over the past two years £80 million should have been taken from Scottish local authorities, which could have been put to good use in the house building programme?

Mr. Stewart

I uttered not a euphemism, unacceptable or otherwise, but a statement of fact. The hon. Gentleman should be encouraging his friends in Socialist authorities to put capital expenditure first.