§ 6. Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many unemployed people under 18 years of age there were in Mid-Glamorgan and Wales, respectively, at the latest available date.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsThe latest information available relates to April 1984, when in Mid-Glamorgan there were 1,711 unemployed claimants under 18 years of age and in Wales there were 8,096.
§ Mr. DaviesIs the Secretary of State aware of a reply that I received from the Home Secretary on 4 June about the increase in convictions of youngsters aged under 18 for drug-related offences? Is he aware that in Wales there has been a 100 per cent. increase in convictions of youngsters aged under 18 since 1979? Does he accept that there must be a direct correlation between the increase in unemployment and the increase in drug abuse? Does he recognise that during the past 12 months four youngsters have died tragically as a result of solvent abuse? Will he undertake to establish an independent inquiry to examine the correlation between unemployment and the lack of prospects for young people and the incidence of drug and solvent abuse? If and when that inquiry shows that correlation, will he agree to take the necessary economic and social measures to deal with the problem?
§ Mr. EdwardsI do not accept that there is a direct correlation, but, in so far as there is any relationship, I am sure the hon. Gentleman will welcome the fact that over the past year unemployment among the under-18 age group in Wales has fallen by a third and that in Mid-Glamorgan unemployment among the under-18 age group has fallen by almost a half.
§ Mr. RaffanDoes my right hon. Friend agree that the level of unfilled vacancies in Welsh jobcentres in March, the highest for any March since 1980, is yet another strong pointer to the economic recovery taking place? Does he also agree that in Clwyd, where the number of unfilled vacancies increased by nearly 50 per cent.——
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. This question is about Mid-Glamorgan.
§ Mr. EdwardsI agree with what my hon. Friend says about the signs of the economic recovery. It is amply borne out by the CBI's monthly trend survey published only this morning.
§ 9. Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many people, unadjusted and inclusive of school leavers, are unemployed in Wales; and by what percentage unemployment has increased since May 1979.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsI refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer that I gave him on 4 June.
§ Mr. JonesOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. For the convenience of the House, will the right hon. Gentleman, courteously, give us the answer in detail, as he usually does? Is he not evading the question?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The Secretary of State does what he wishes in this matter.
§ Mr. SpeakerMr. Ian Grist, No. 11.
§ Mr. Nicholas Edwardsrose——[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mr. Jones) did not have a reply. I have no reason to think that the Secretary of State would give any other reply. I have called Mr. Grist.
§ Mr. Ray Powellrose——
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder.
§ Mr. PowellOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder.
§ Mr. Ron DaviesOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I had a supplementary question which I had hoped to ask.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe question was from the hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside.
§ Mr. JonesOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. The right hon. Gentleman has not given us the figures which, traditionally in this honourable House, all Secretaries of State have been prepared to come before us to give. We have witnessed a form of parliamentary cowardice. The right hon. Gentleman is not prepared to give the shameful figures for which he knows he has responsibility. Will you, Mr. Speaker, give the right hon. Gentleman an opportunity to give the figures?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I can see that the Secretary of State wishes to respond.
§ Mr. EdwardsOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Naturally, I assumed that the hon. Gentleman would remember the figures that I gave him only three weeks ago. If he has such an appallingly bad memory and pays so little attention, I shall give the figures willingly now, if that is in order. The figures for May 1979 and May 1984 are 77,177 and 168,799 respectively—an increase of 118.7 per cent. I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman has such a bad memory.
§ Mr. SpeakerI had called the hon. Member for Cardiff, Central (Mr. Grist), but I now propose to call the hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mr. Jones) to ask a supplementary to his question No. 9.
§ Mr. JonesThank you, Mr. Speaker. Clearly the right hon. Gentleman did not wish to give those despairing, shameful and serious figures. Will he concede that he could give hope to the unemployed of Wales if he were to 677 announce the urgent building of a second crossing of the Severn, if he initiated a massive housing drive, if he enlarged the Welsh Development Agency's budget, and if new anthracite and coking coal mines were to be opened? Surely the right hon. Gentleman will concede, given the wretched and miserable figures which he wished to hide from the honourable House, that the people of Wales urgently need a change of policy.
§ Mr. EdwardsI find it absolutely amazing that the hon. Gentleman is so slow on his feet and that his memory is so bad that he gives such a disastrous performance from the Opposition Front Bench. What will provide jobs for the future are the large number of new companies that are setting up in Wales, many in the hon. Gentleman's constituency.