HC Deb 15 May 1985 vol 79 cc311-3
4. Mr. James Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he will next meet the general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress to discuss the employment prospects for Scotland and Lanarkshire in particular.

Mr. Younger

I have no such meeting arranged, nor has any such meeting been requested.

Mr. Hamilton

As the right hon. Gentleman is aware, Labour Members have been persistent and insistent and will continue to be persistent in trying to alleviate the scourge of unemployment in Scotland, and in Lanarkshire in particular. As he is aware, two cases of major redundancies have been made known to us in my own constituency, and one company is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. At the same time, many of the lads and lasses in the youth opportunities programme have not yet had their first job. Many people between 45 and 55 are still unemployed and have been unemployed for over two years. If the Government are not prepared to align themselves with the Centre Forwards, will they align themselves with the sweepers and try to sweep up this scourge?

Mr. Younger

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's great concern about unemployment, which is shared by hon. Members in all parts of the House. The hon. Gentleman's description of some of the ill effects of unemployment is correct and should be borne in mind by everyone in the House. But it is unfair not to mention the large amount of work that has been done, the huge amount of money put into the youth training scheme, and before that the youth opportunities programme, and also some of the items of good news industrially in his own part of the world, including the better news regarding Terex and new orders for TWC.

Mr. Hirst

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the future of Ravenscraig is vital to employment prospects in Lanarkshire? Will he and his ministerial colleagues do everything possible to impress on the British Steel Corporation the need to invest in new coke ovens so that Ravenscraig can continue to produce competitively priced steel?

Mr. Younger

As my hon. Friend knows, I watch the position very closely. No such proposals have yet been made to the Government. When they are, I shall be looking into them very carefully.

Mr. Martin

The right hon. Gentleman may know that it has been announced that by 1987 the work force in the British Rail workshops will be reduced to about 460 people, salaried and non-salaried. He will know that since the new year the Alliance Box Company has closed down, White Horse Whisky has closed down, and now it appears that the only railway workshop in the country will possibly close down, because it cannot be sustained with that number of personnel. Will the right hon. Gentleman come to Springburn and do something for the people in that community?

Mr. Younger

I am extremely concerned to hear the news this morning about the railway workshop, and I echo the hon. Gentleman's concern about it. I am glad that BREL and the Scottish Development Agency are financing a study, commissioned by Glasgow Opportunities, into alternative employment opportunities in the area, and that BREL has allocated £500,000 towards putting the recommendations of the study into effect. The decision is for BREL, and it is caused by the fact that it has spent so much money in modernising railway stock that it does not need so many people to maintain old stock. It is a commitment from British Rail which, alas, has very unfortunate consequences for us.

Mr. Malone

Is my right hon. Friend aware of the deep concern in the city of Aberdeen about the employment prospect for workers in the Hall Russell shipyard? Will he do what he can to ensure that the yard is disposed of as quickly as possible so that uncertainty can be dispelled? Will he also ensure that, when the yard is disposed of, it will be on terms that allow it to be as competitive as other yards in the United Kingdom?

Mr. Younger

My hon. Friend has expressed great concern to me about this matter. In the Scottish Office we are also very concerned. I agree with him that the most important task is to end the uncertainty, and that the yard should be given the best possible opportunity to be competitive and get new work.

Mr. George Robertson

Does the Secretary of State realise that one Lanarkshire person in every five is out of work and that each is a major human, economic and social tragedy? Does he accept that that well merits the-strictures in Oxford last night by the right hon. Member for Cambridgeshire, South-East (Mr. Pym). Instead of giving us, at Question Time after Question Time, soft words of sympathy on unemployment, will the Secretary of State take the advice of his right hon. Friend and embark on a major investment programme in Scotland and get people back to work?

Mr. Younger

I am very anxious not to make the position worse by putting many other people out of work through raising interest rates and taxation to levels that businesses cannot afford.

Mr. Henderson

Can my right hon. Friend confirm that during the past year there has been an increase in the number of people in work in Scotland? Can he say what sectors of the economy have shown that increase? Will he discuss with the Scottish TUC whether, in concert with the CBI, its experience is that the prospects for stability of employment in the manufacturing sector are now more encouraging than for many years?

Mr. Younger

It is encouraging that for the past year there has been an increase in employment in Scotland. That must be the first step towards obtaining a reduction in unemployment. The increases have been principally in the service sector, which has been performing very strongly during the past few years. However, during the past year the manufacturing sector has also begun to increase employment, which is an encouraging sign.

Mr. Ewing

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the only growth industry in Scotland is the working parties being set up by him to consider alternative employment for those made redundant by the Government's economic policies? What will he do about the 600 redundancies announced today at the British Rail workshop at Springburn? Is he in favour of British Steel investment at Ravenscraig to replace the coke ovens? When will he stop expressing such pious concern while unemployment in Scotland continues to go up and up?

Mr. Younger

The hon. Gentleman's remarks would hold water only if his opening remark had been true. I wonder where he has been during the past few years. What about the oil industry, the electronics industry and the health care industry?

Mr. Ewing

They are all employing fewer people.

Mr. Younger

That is a totally untrue statement. All the industries that I mentioned are employing more people. I suggest that the hon. Gentleman gets his facts rights before he makes such statements.