High Technology (Hansard, 20 June 1984)

§ 1. Mr. Henderson
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will consider with leaders of high technology companies in Scotland whether a major exhibition sponsored by him might improve international awareness of the scope of high technology capability in Scotland and result in improved prospects for orders and jobs.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Allan Stewart)
There is undoubtedly enormous potential for holding further events such as the Scottish computer and the Scottish electronics production shows, both of which took place recently in Glasgow. Proper facilities are required and I am pleased that the Government have been able, through the Scottish Development Agency, to help provide the new Scottish exhibition centre which opens next year.

§ Mr. Henderson
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that reply. Does he agree that there is something of a paradox, in that the capability of the Scottish high technology industries, whether in research or production, is sometimes better known in countries across the Atlantic and Pacific than in this country and in Europe? Does he accept that there is immense scope for improvement in terms of Scottish jobs and the profitability of Scottish companies if we could grasp, through better communication and understanding, the opportunities that exist in Scotland and the achievements that have been made?

§ Mr. Stewart
Events in Scotland are certainly important, as my hon. Friend said. In November this year there will be the inspection, repair and maintenance exhibition in Aberdeen, and in September 1985 there will be the Offshore Europe exhibition. I have no doubt that Scottish companies will take the kind of advantage of those opportunities to which my hon. Friend referred.

§ Mr. Gordon Brown
As there have been 1,145 closures in Scotland since 1979 — that is, one every working day—and as the vast majority of school leavers —71,000 leaving school this summer—have no hope of finding a regular job, something more than an international exhibition needs to be financed by the Minister. Is he aware that we need a programme of public works to stimulate the economy and get Scotland back to work?

§ Mr. Stewart
Since 1 June last year the Government have made selective financial assistance offers of £24 272 million to high technology industries. That is in respect of investment of £450 million. That will provide 5,000 new jobs and safeguard 1,800 jobs in high technology industries in Scotland. The success that we are having has been underlined by the announcement by Prestwick Circuits today.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
Does my hon. Friend agree that the universities have a considerable part to play in this process and that Edinburgh and Heriot Watt universities in particular are performing extremely valuable work in developing technology?

§ Mr. Stewart
My hon. Friend is right, although I would extend his comments to all the Scottish universities. There is an increasing awareness in the Scottish universities of the importance of developing effective links with industry and supplying the type of graduates that high technology and other industries need. That will be part of the remit of the Scottish Tertiary Education Advisory Council, which my right hon. Friend has set up to look at the need to ensure that higher education meets the needs of industry.

§ Mr. Ewing
The Minister referred to the exhibition centre in Glasgow. Is he aware that, if he were to house as an opening exhibition in that centre an exhibition of the Secretary of State and his industrial failures in Scotland, the centre would be packed to capacity and the exhibition would run for five or six years?

§ Mr. Stewart
That was a typically petty comment from the hon. Gentleman. I should have thought that even he could bring himself to welcome the Scottish exhibition centre.

§ Mr. Hirst
Does my hon. Friend agree that Scotland enjoys an enviable reputation, especially in the United States, for its ability to attract high technology enterprises? Will he take this opportunity to place on record his admiration for the excellent work being done by the Locate in Scotland bureau in attracting those enterprises to Scotland? Does he, like me, find it pathetic that the Opposition are capable only of moaning about factory closures and never seem to be prepared to welcome the new enterprises that have come to Scotland?

§ Mr. Stewart
I agree with my hon. Friend. Locate in Scotland is widely recognised as a great success. It will be taking part in more than 30 major exhibitions in the United States and western Europe.

§ Mr. Dewar
If the Government are boasting about their success, why are there ever-lengthening dole queues and record levels of unemployment, with 330,000 Scots looking for a job at the moment? If that is success, perhaps the Minister could explain what, in his rather unreal world, would constitute failure?

§ Mr. Stewart
The hon. Gentleman must recognise that unemployment is a wide-ranging problem that affects the whole of the industrialised world. After all, he supported a Government who doubled unemployment in Scotland. No one is suggesting that the answers are easy. The Government's policies are designed to create the right competitive climate for real and lasting jobs. For the hon. Gentleman's information, the total number of jobs in Scotland was rising in the last quarter of last year, mainly as a result of the considerable expansion of service industries.