HC Deb 05 March 1985 vol 74 cc766-7
8. Mr. O'Brien

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest figures for the number of people who have been unemployed for over 12 months.

Mr. Alan Clark

On 10 January 1985 a total of 1,316,000 claimants had been unemployed in the United Kingdom for over 12 months.

Mr. O'Brien

Will the Minister accept the view of his right hon. and learned Friend the Minister for Health, who accepts that, without doubt, the great problems of unemployment affect the health of the nation, and particularly those recovering from mental illness? Will he give an assurance that he will work with local government and other agencies to reduce unemployment and therefore reduce the calls upon the overstretched social and health services?

Mr. Clark

Yes, I would not deny, and nobody sensibly could, that the stresses and strains of being unemployed must have an effect on an individual's health. It is one component of an extremely tragic and distressing topic, but the cure for this by public spending is extremely elusive. The amelioration of it by social spending is another approach, and one in which we play our part.

Mr. Andrew MacKay

Will my hon. Friend confirm that nearly 400,000 new jobs have been created in the past 12 months? Would he care to speculate on how many jobs have been lost through the disruptive strike in the coal industry?

Mr. Clark

The strike in the coal industry is behind us and I am happy to confirm what my hon. Friend says about the creation of new jobs. We should not lose sight of the fact that there are encouraging signs, notably increases in vacancies, investment and overtime work.

Mr. Fatchett

Will the Minister explain, against a background in which Ministers regularly advocate that lower wages will help the problems of the long-term unemployed, why it is that in West Yorkshire average earnings are below average and unemployment is above average?

Mr. Clark

It is true that certain people and certain institutions price individual workers out of the market. However, what is happening in West Yorkshire is related to regional factors, a point which should be addressed to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.

Mr. Latham

With regard to the giant social evil of long-term adult unemployment, will my hon. Friend confirm that he and other Ministers in his Department are pressing my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer hard between now and Budget day for more action to expand the community programme?

Mr. Clark

I am well aware of the feeling on this subject on both sides of the House. I assure my hon. Friend that his views are widely shared and that many other representations have been made.

Ms. Clare Short

Will the Minister admit that 1,316,000 out of work for more than a year is unacceptable? Will he confess that that is nearly 40 per cent. of the total number of unemployed, and that half of those people have been out of work for two years or more? Does he understand, realise, or care that this means grinding poverty for millions of families who live in despair and demoralisation, and with very little hope? Does he realise that it is an enormous waste for the economy? These people would like to work and support their families and make a contribution to the economy. Will he confess that this figure is an admission of the failure of the Government's economic policies? In 1979, when the Tory Government took power—[Interruption.] Tory Members do not like the figures. In 1979, when the hon. Gentleman's Government took power, fewer than one in four people were long-term unemployed. Will he cease to pretend to care and start to take action by creating real, permanent jobs in the public sector, rather than ever more marginal schemes under the Manpower Services Commission?

Mr. Clark

Unfortunately, as the hon. Lady must know, and as has been discovered by bitter experience by Socialist Governments all over the western world, the creation of jobs, as she calls it, in the public sector by draining the private sector of investment and capital never works, and in fact causes the situation to deteriorate. Of course, what the hon. Lady says is in part true. It is a highly distressing and intractable problem, and I can tell her that if we saw an easy solution we would apply it.