HC Deb 22 October 1986 vol 102 cc1150-2
5. Mr. George Robertson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the increase in unemployment in north Lanarkshire since May 1979.

Mr. Lang

Between May 1979 and September 1986 unemployment rose from 15,531 in the then north Lanarkshire travel-to-work area to 33,659 in the new Lanarkshire travel-to-work area, but because of changes in the travel-to-work area boundaries and in the method of count, these figures are not strictly comparable.

Mr. Robertson

When will the Minister realise the real human misery that lies behind those statistics of failure? What will people make of the contrast between the bland public relations nonsense from New St. Andrews House and the Government's view of the future for Strathclyde and north Lanarkshire contained in the report to the European development fund, which states that there is "little possibility of sufficient expansion in the economy to reduce unemployment significantly in the next few years." Is it not time that the Scottish people realised that we need not new Ministers at the Scottish Office but a new Government?

Mr. Lang

The Government take the problem of unemployment seriously. That is why we are dedicating almost £3 billion to employment and training measures. That is why almost five times as many Scots as in 1979 qualify for such measures. The document to which the hon. Gentleman refers was a working document based on figures compiled from submissions from local and other public authorities. A similar document was produced in 1982, and it is highly irresponsible to make the use of it that has been made in certain quarters. This is against the interests of Scotland.

Mr. James Hamilton

Following the two announcements made in my constituency about Caterpillar and Honeywell, which are not labour intensive firms, but have at least allowed a consolidation of jobs, will the Minister recognise that in the steel industry, particularly in my constituency in the Clydesdale tube works, morale is at a very low level after a large number of redundancies? There could be further redundancies, which will further aggravate the position. Is the Minister aware that in the Strathclyde region, where we have 14.1 per cent. unemployment, this will be catastrophic? Is the Minister thinking of doing something about it?

Mr. Lang

The hon. Gentleman is aware that we are already doing a great deal about it, as I have already said. I am glad that he welcomes the announcement made by Caterpillar of the £62 million investment in its Uddingston factory, securing the jobs of some 1,200 employees, and the Honeywell extension opened by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State the other day. Within Lanarkshire there are 4,600 community programme places and about 6,000 youth training places. There is evidence of our commitment to helping to solve the unemployment problem.

Dr. Bray

Is the Minister aware that none of the £30 million investment — announced by the Secretary of State during the recess—in Ravenscraig is new money, but merely for the relining of an existing blast furnace and for coal injection, and the attempt by the Secretary of State to suggest that there is any security there for the future is fallacious? Is he further aware that the male unemployment rate in Craigneuk in the ward that contains Ravenscraig is already 36 per cent.? Is he aware that there is no alternative but an entirely new industrial initiative, for the the future of Lanarkshire?

Mr. Lang

The hon. Gentleman's gloom is the last thing that Scotland needs at the moment. It was not my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State who made the announcement by BSC. I suspect that it is only the Labour party that would put £30 million into something that it intended to close.

Mr. Maclennan

In an earlier answer the Minister appeared to be casting doubt on the reliability of the figures that the Government have used to support bids for regional assistance from the Community. Does he accept the accuracy of these assumptions, or not?

Mr. Lang

The hon. Gentleman knows that the Government do not make employment forecasts. This was a working document compiled as the basis for negotiation for European regional development fund grants, from which Scotland has benefited over the past decade to the tune of around £616 million. If the hon. Gentleman thinks that it is a worthless exercise to submit a detailed document to secure these continuing grants for the benefit of Scotland, he is wrong.

Mr. Ewing

We congratulate the Minister on his appointment, and are immensely relieved that he will not be long in the job. My hon. Friend the Member for Motherwell, North (Mr. Hamilton) spoke about Ravenscraig. Why is the Scottish Office, in the regional development document, talking consistently about continuing job losses in the steel industry in Scotland—which is obviously the official view of the Scottish Office — when we get double standards from Ministers deceiving the work force at Motherwell into believing that they are in favour of developing the plant? When will the Minister make proposals for investment in the coke ovens, which would be a clear sign of the future security of the Ravenscraig steel plant?

Mr. Lang

Again, I would have thought that the hon. Gentleman might welcome the substantial investment already committed by BSC to Ravenscraig. The hon. Gentleman knows that we do not make employment forecasts. We can rely more substantially on the fact that some 50,000 new jobs have been created in Scotland in the past three years. That is a higher rate of job creation than has been achieved either in Germany or Japan.